On the Campaign Trail, April 10: Mandel touring Grande Prairie, Notley pushing for conservative votes

“We think there is more jobs the Sheriffs, more funding for Sheriffs. A little bit more opportunities to free the RCMP to do the kind of work they need to do,” said Mandel.

“It’s really about sitting down with the RCMP, the Sheriffs and coming up with a solution collectively,” he added. “We’re not there to dictate, we’re there to listen and to work with them.”

He says his party also wants to develop better funding for municipalities for crime-reduction initiatives, while also investing in bringing in 25 more crown prosecutors to all areas of the province. He also would provide $10-million in funding, allocated for prosecutors in areas outside of Edmonton and Calgary.

Mandel started the morning touring the Rising Above Campus and Rotary House, before making the announcement at the Montrose Cultural Centre. He will be speaking at Teresa Sargent Hall this evening at 7 p.m.

Notley pushing for small-c conservatives to vote NDP

Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley is urging small-c conservatives to come on board because they share core values with her party and not Jason Kenney’s United Conservatives.

Notley says it’s clear from the policies and comments from some UCP candidates that a Kenney government wouldn’t protect some religions and LGBTQ groups.

Speaking in Calgary as advance polls remain open for Tuesday’s election, Notley also urged voters to cast a ballot for the NDP instead of for the Liberals or Alberta Party, so as to join forces to beat the UCP.

Polls suggest the UCP is leading in the campaign, but Notley said she is spending more of her time in Calgary because the gap is closing as people focus their attention on Kenney’s policies.

Kenney has said his party believes in equality for all and he has touted his party’s ethnically diverse candidates.

But he has also promised to roll back some privacy protections for children who join gay-straight alliances at schools.

Kenney continues fight for less restrictions on oil and gas

United Conservative Leader Jason Kenney is taking his pro-pipeline message to the heart of Alberta’s oilpatch where he’s promising to push back on policies he says are hollowing out Canada’s core industry.

Kenney told supporters at a rally in Fort McMurray that a UCP government would fight B.C. and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government if they continued to impede the oil sector.

Kenney has promised he would go to court to fight proposed federal legislation on how projects are assessed as both unconstitutional and as a major deterrent to future megaprojects.

He has also said he would proclaim legislation giving Alberta the power to reduce oil shipments to B.C. if that province continued to delay the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion from Alberta to the west coast.

Premier Rachel Notley has criticized Kenney’s approach as needlessly antagonistic and has said his plans could see Trans Mountain derailed just as shovels are ready to turn the ground on the pipeline.

Kenney says Notley’s failure to push back harder on Trans Mountain is the reason it remains in limbo.

by Shaun Penner/The Canadian Press

On the Campaign Trail, April 10: Mandel touring Grande Prairie, Notley pushing for conservative votes

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