Alberta's NDP Government performs well on its halfway point, say reports

Notley says her team has come a long way from the days when it grew overnight from a four-member opposition to a majority of more than 50 with a mandate to govern.

Premier Rachel said her government had been making much progress by virtue of her and her team’s sincerity and dedication to steer out province's current economic course towards a new direction where it's less reliant on oil boom-and-bust and rather exploring more opportunities in other areas of economic activities.

In last two years while grappling with huge job losses due to recession in oil market the NDP Government tried to maximize economic activities by taking advantage of  low interest rate, building hospitals, schools and roads, which resulted in boom in construction industry.

But in doing so funding gap became wider exceeding $10 billion, every year for consecutive two years tenure of NDP government.

Alberta's credit rating was under red eye and interest payment stood at $1 billion per year but even flouting all calls from opposition for spending cut she had emphasized more government spending to keep the flow of economy as non-government spending were getting reduced day by day because of prolonged recession.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties say Notley has refused to make the hard decisions, putting future taxpayers on the hook.

According to Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean, "They have gone and utilized their ideology to move the province in one particular direction without any kind of accountability or transparency,"

However opposition had been blaming her for refrained from making tough decisions for which they future taxpayers would be on the hook.

Lori Williams, a political scientist at Mount Royal University in Calgary and a resident of Alberta has praised Notley in her comments giving her full credits for a collaborative leadership style, bringing together a coalition of oil people and environmentalists for her climate plan.

This plan includes a carbon tax on gas and home heating, was cited by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a key reason he approved new pipeline projects last year, including a vital expansion from Alberta to the B.C. coast.

The NDP has also made front-line changes to help families, including school nutrition programs, new rules for payday loan operators, and cuts to school fees.

(Reporting by Chandan Som)

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