The Highwood MLA spent 2018 battling the governing party, but ended the year wondering what his political future is.
Carbon tax might have been the biggest issue for Highwood constituents to swallow.
“The carbon tax still has a huge impact on a lot of people, not just those in the Highwood but most Albertans,” said Highwood UCP MLA Anderson said. “The fact that the NDP government is still projecting almost a $10-billion deficit is really going to weigh heavy on people’s minds when they go to polls [in the spring].
“I think the NDP is trying to claim people are doing fine and employment is up. In reality we are getting hit hard with the end of the recession but moreover with the discrepancy in the price of oil and we can’t get our product to market that has had a huge impact [in the economy].”
Not only has it hit the oilpatch economically, but it has stalled investment in Alberta as corporations and entrepreneurs wait for better times before putting their money in the Wild Rose province, Anderson added.
He said rural crime will continue to be a big issue in the constituency.
“There has been some movement to bring in some capital to help provide additional resourcing, but we still need a bigger investment,” Anderson said.
The education curriculum was also concerned Highwood residents, particularly in Okotoks.
“A lot of parents were concerned the curriculum is being changed without a lot of consultation with parents and teachers,” Anderson said.
He said some feel the NDP government is trying to force ideological issues such as climate change and renewable energy as well as social licence issues into the curriculum.
“Let’s talk about math, geography, history, the biology…,” Anderson said. “It seems to be advanced by the NDP to change the curriculum to more ideological contents versus the basics that a lot of students need to carry forward in life and for their jobs.”
The Highwood MLA also put forward a private members bill in 2018 to ensure volunteer firefighters keep their benefits and their jobs in the event something happens to them.
That bill failed to get passed as it sat in committee before the dissolving of the legislature in the spring.
However, as 2019 begins there will be large changes for the Highwood constituency. The riding itself has changed – south of Aldersyde, including High River is out and the Black Diamond-Turner Valley area is in.
