Questions for the 3 PC Leadership Candidates

This morning I sent out a personal letter to each of the leadership candidates. This letter contains 3 questions that relate to very important issues to the residents of Strathcona County. A large number of residents have approached me with these concerns and I have a responsibility to residents to find out from these three candidates what their stand on these issues are. I had spoken to them prior to the first ballot and wanted  once more to state these concerns. I look forward to soon be reading their replies. 

Here is an excerpt from the letter:

Good job and congrats on arriving to this point on your bid to being the next leader of the PC party and the next Premier of Alberta.

I am personally asking all three remaining candidates three very important questions before I give my support to them. I would like to hear from you to get back to me with your position in a very timely matter. These are crucial issues that effect the Municipality and the residents of Strathcona County. Your opinion on these items may have been stated before but this a new opportunity to revisit or explain any changes that you may have.

1. Will you, if you become Premier, ask the AUC (Alberta Utility Commission) to await their final decision on the placement and the work needed on the Heartland Transmission lines until Bill 50 (especially the electrical transmission area) is revoked and a formal impact assessment study is done?  This assessment would include revisiting the real need for such a huge electrical line, true costs other than Altalink's and Epcor's stated costs for burying and above ground lines, and finally but most importantly commit to burying the lines where there is high density population and schools (This also means the 200 meter extra setback that is also proposed).

 2. Will you commit, as Premier, that the Strathcona Community Hospital be built and be operating in a timely matter as a full treatment active hospital including obstetrics and medical surgical suites? This hospital would be a solution for you and the residents of Alberta north and south by relieving pressure off emergency rooms, be a center of excellence for diagnostics for Medivacs to fly into our Strathcona County airports (Josephburg or South Cooking Lake), also a center for possible clinics that residents are using in BC or USA. We are number 1 for live births in the Capital Region and we are in the center of the Industrial Heartland where a sealed emergency room is needed to be in place in case of an industrial incident occurring. We need it commitment to this hospital and NOT a "shelled-in" commitment.

3. Will you commit to supporting the BRIK 2 program and value added for the industry we have in the Heartland? We need to keep our jobs and refined oil in our Province! This includes Alberta Transportation reassessing the roads where heavy loads and traffic volumes for industry are effected.

These topics are crucial to this Municipality and impact thousands of people here and in our wonderful Province.

God Bless. I look forward to your answers.

Linda Osinchuk