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Renaud, Wood face off at raucous forum

Economy, health care hot issues
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THE DEBATERS — NDP incumbent Marie Renaud (left) and UCP challenger Angela Wood (right) prepare to start debate during an all-candidates forum at the St. Albert Inn May 16. About 150 people were in the audience. KEVIN MA/St. Albert Gazette

Two candidates faced off Tuesday in a wide-ranging debate over who should be St. Albert’s next MLA — a debate sometimes drowned out by the antics of their raucous supporters.

Incumbent Marie Renaud of the NDP and challenger Angela Wood of the UCP went head-to-head Tuesday night at a provincial election forum at the St. Albert Inn organized by the St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce. Green Party candidate Cameron Jefferies did not show up to the event.

Some 150 people were in the audience, with many more watching online.

The crowd was loud and raucous, with audience members often muttering, heckling, and shouting as candidates were speaking. When Renaud said UCP leader Danielle Smith would make Albertans pay for health care given the chance, audience members drowned her out entirely with angry shouts and boos.

“Excuse me?” said an audibly frustrated Richard Kniel, who was a member of the crowd, during one period of heckling.

“Can we have a dialogue and a democratic process without the cat-calling please? I didn’t come here to look at what looks like Trumpian politics in the United States!”

Moderator Jason Leslie repeatedly called on the crowd to pipe down, warning that he would ask repeat offenders to leave the forum.

“We’re here to listen, but we’re not here to listen to lies!” a man retorted.

“Shame! Shame!” a woman said in response.

Asked to comment on the crowd’s conduct, St. Albert Chamber executive director Shelly Nicol said that while it was important to be passionate about the issues in this campaign, “it’s also equally important to be respectful of other candidates.”

Malissa Dunphy, spokesperson for the Renaud campaign, said in an email that Renaud was focused on connecting with the people of St. Albert on their doorsteps.

In an email, Wood said she did not find the commentary from the crowd offensive or intimidating.

Health care and homelessness

Leslie posed written questions from the audience to the candidates, with their answers restricted to one minute per question.

Wood said her party had made historic investments into Alberta’s health care system and reduced wait times for surgeries in recent months.

“We stand by our guarantee that no Albertans will ever have to pay out of pocket to access medical care,” she said, to loud applause and at a least one laugh.

Renaud said the UCP’s time in office had been four years of health care and affordability crises and internal politics. The NDP would create family health teams similar to primary care networks to give all Albertans access to family doctors backed by teams of specialists.

On opioids and homelessness, Wood said her party’s Safe Streets Action Plan (which emphasizes law enforcement) and strong lines of communication with municipalities would support people and not “throw people away” to safe injection sites — sites she said the NDP wanted to bring to every community in Alberta “including St. Albert.”

“We do not want St. Albert to end up like places the NDP has ruined like Vancouver and Kelowna,” she said.

Renaud said the NDP would invest in poverty reduction, police, and social workers to address opioids. Addictions need a range of treatment options, and it was not true that her party would open safe injection sites everywhere.

On homelessness, Renaud said Albertans had sunk deeper into poverty in the last four years as the UCP cut income support programs. Her party would make significant investments into affordable housing if elected.

“The only way to end homelessness is to have homes for people,” she said.

The economy

Asked how they would diversify Alberta’s economy, Wood said the UCP had done a great job on that front, with significant growth in the film, digital, aerospace, hydrogen, and other industries in the last four years.

“When you do create that environment, the business community thrives.”

Renaud said her party would repeal the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act, which she said repelled investors, and create a regulatory fast-pass system for well-developed projects.

“We will be a place where stability is the norm, not weird things said on the news,” she said, prompting derisive comments from some in the audience.

Wood said the UCP would make Alberta a competitive environment for investment by not raising the corporate business tax rate by 38 per cent. (The NDP announced Tuesday that it would raise corporate income taxes to 11 per cent from eight if elected, a roughly 38 per cent increase.)

Renaud said the NDP would drop the small business tax rate to zero at the same time it raised the corporate one, saying that the UCP’s cuts to the corporate rate had produced little gains.

Asked about their party’s stance on implementing a provincial sales tax, Renaud said, “We will not.”

Wood said her party would not implement such a tax, adding, “Unlike the NDP, I’m not going to say ‘no’ and do it after.”

Those who missed the May 16 forum can view a recording of it on the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce Facebook page.

Advance voting for the 2023 provincial election begins May 23. Visit elections.ab.ca for details.


Kevin Ma

About the Author: Kevin Ma

Kevin Ma joined the St. Albert Gazette in 2006. He writes about Sturgeon County, education, the environment, agriculture, science and aboriginal affairs. He also contributes features, photographs and video.
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