Alberta Liberals unveil election platform

The Alberta Liberals are off and running for a provincial election that hasn't been called yet, with promises to eliminate health-care premiums, lower electricity rates and cap greenhouse gas emissions within five years.

Liberal Leader Kevin Taft announced the party's platform for the campaign — expected to start early next week — before 200 people at a University of Alberta lecture hall Thursday night.

Taft described the coming battle as "David versus Goliath" because Liberals hold only 16 seats in the legislature, compared to 60 for the governing Conservatives. But he said people are ready for change after 36 years of Tory rule in Alberta.

"Time for change is just so pronounced among the people I think once the dam begins to break, anything can happen in this campaign," he said.

Taft acknowledged it won't be easy. "The Tories will wage an air war. They've got millions of dollars and they will bombard people with advertising and television," he said. "We'll wage a ground war. We've been preparing for that. We know where we'll go, why we'll be there and what we'll do."

There is reason for the party's optimism, said Debbie Cavaliere, Liberal candidate for Edmonton-Meadowlark, who was at the event.

"I just don't see that anything will ever change with the Tory government. They've been in power for years. Yes, they have a new leader. I don't really believe they can change from within," she said.

Other priorities in the Liberal platform include:

• Train more nurses, doctors and health-care professionals.
• Reduce hospital waiting times.
• Bring in a pharmacare program.
• Provide homeowners and businesses with $250 million for energy-efficient retrofits.
• Eliminate school fees.
• Reinvest 30 per cent of energy royalties in the Alberta Heritage Trust Fund and infrastructure programs.
• Put a temporary cap on rent increases at 10 per cent per year.
• Put a moratorium on condominium conversions.

The Liberals have nominated 79 candidates and expect to have a full slate of 83 before the election is called, Alberta Liberal Party executive director Kieran Leblanc said Friday.