EDMONTON - The Wildrose party pledged Monday to return 20 per cent of surplus oil and gas revenues to Albertans, a move that harkens back to the $400 “Ralph bucks” given out in 2006.
Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith said their energy dividend would funnel cash away from government and into Albertans’ wallets.
“Wildrose believes that Albertans can spend their own money better than government,” Smith said in a news release. “That is precisely why we’ve got a plan to put more money back in their pockets instead of government coffers.”
The plan would not take effect until the province chalks up a surplus again, but Smith estimates every Albertan would receive $300 in 2015.
The last time the government handed out energy surplus cheques was 2006, when then-premier Ralph Klein gave each Albertan $400. The move was lauded by many, but also heavily criticized by those who said it showed a lack of planning amid the resource boom.
On Monday, Progressive Conservative Leader Alison Redford said the Klein dividend did not provide great long-term benefit for the province.
“If we ask most families, I would ask them, what did that money actually do for your family?” Redford said. “Now I know some people put it into an education savings fund, but we all remember those days when people were talking about the fact it wasn’t actually connecting with anything long-term.”
Redford said Alberta’s population is approaching five million.
“We need to make sure we’re thinking long-term, that we’re building, that we’re building a community, that we’re building infrastructure, supporting programs that will allow us to grow and thrive.
“When I look around the province, I’d be very surprised if many Albertans didn’t already think that we were benefiting from that resource revenue on a daily basis.”
Liberal Leader Raj Sherman accused the Wildrose of trying to buy votes.
“That’s what the conservatives do when they don’t have a solution to the problems we face, ‘Let’s buy your vote,’ ” Sherman said.
NDP Leader Brian Mason called it an “election stunt.”
“It is a repeat of an old trick of Ralph Klein’s to pass people’s money back to them,” Mason said. “It is giving this generation benefit of the oilsands, rather than future generations. We would prefer to see that money invested.”
With files from the Calgary Herald
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