MLA optimistic 2017 will be better

Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Nathan Cooper is pretty confident 2017 will be a better year for the constituency than 2016 was - primarily because oil prices are higher and he says the agricultural sector is still relatively strong.

The provincial government's carbon levy, which Cooper's Wildrose Party calls the carbon "tax," took effect Jan. 1.

It taxes consumption of gasoline and other fossil fuels in an effort to encourage Albertans to use less energy and turn to other forms of energy which don't leave a big carbon footprint on the environment.

The provincial government says proceeds from the tax will go toward supporting greener forms of energy than oil and gas, like wind and solar technologies.

"People are still concerned about the carbon tax and the impact that the carbon tax is going to have on the larger economy," Cooper told the Albertan.

"But I think as they look out towards the later parts of 2017, there are some things to look forward to, just in terms of the price of oil increasing a little bit. Our agricultural sector is still quite strong, and so I think there are a lot of positives around that."

However, Cooper says constituents who talk to him are very concerned with what he called the government's "sort of risky, ideological" policies which it seems determined to push through, regardless of how much opposition there may be to those ideas.

"There seems to be no putting the brakes on with the provincial government," he says. "They just are headed down this path that ultimately isn't a path that Albertans asked to go on.

"We're going to see an increase in lots of our costs around the carbon tax. They're taking a $7-billion gamble on reworking the electricity system. We will continue to see minimum wage increases.

"All of these things create - turmoil might be a strong word - but create frustration and concern for Albertans. And not just Albertans, but people right here in the constituency," he says, adding that small business owners in Olds and area are still facing many "challenges" in today's economy.