News
Province should pony up for more cops
Stelmach should loosen the purse strings during meeting with Calgary mayor
August 25, 2008
EDMONTON – It’s taken a Calgary crime wave to awaken the Tories to the fact that Alberta is in dire need of more police, and increased funding for police forces is long overdue, NDP MLA Rachel Notley said today.
Notley spoke in anticipation of Ed Stelmach’s Thursday meeting with Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier and Calgary Police Chief Rick Hanson, who are requesting city council earmark $25-million over the next three years to hire 200 more police officers.
“This meeting is an opportunity to make up for years of underfunding police forces in Alberta,” Notley said. “Alberta stills need another 800 officers just to meet the national average, and Stelmach should walk into this meeting with his chequebook.”
The NDP has been asking the Tory government to put more money into police forces for several years, and Notley called Bronconnier’s plan a much-needed step to curb growing violence in Calgary.
“Stelmach should support this initiative and also increase funding to police forces in Edmonton and the rest of the province,” she said.
Recent Alberta NDP news:
Red Faced Liberals
But the Liberals looked like hypocrites and were as red faced as one of their campaign signs...When the smoke had cleared, neither Liberals nor Conservatives emerged from the Beaver Regional Waste Management issue smelling sweet.
Graham Thomson, Edmonton Journal
June 16, 2007