NDP Leader Rachel Notley made a direct appeal to undecided voters on Wednesday while taking several verbal swipes at UCP Leader Jason Kenney.
“If you have voted Progressive Conservative in the past but you just don’t feel quite right voting for Jason Kenney because of his risky economic plan and his deep ties to extreme fringes, then my message to you is, join us,” she said at a campaign stop in Calgary where she again announced plans for $25 a day childcare.
“You may not agree with everything I’ve done but we share core values and we won’t attack minorities.”
Notley also made an appeal to voters leaning toward supporting the Alberta Party or the Alberta Liberals.
“I also say, join us, we have much in common, but we need to stick together in order to defeat Mr. Kenney,” she said,
“Also, we need to stick together so we can build a strong economy that will actually support all Albertans.”
The most recent ThinkHQ poll suggests 13 per cent of voters remain undecided. It also suggested the UCP hold a six point lead province-wide over the NDP, 46 per cent to 40 per cent.
Looking at regional breakdowns, the poll suggests the UCP lead by more than 40 points in rural areas and Alberta's two main cities are split, with the NDP leading in Edmonton and the UCP leading in Calgary.
Traditionally, a party needs to win two of those three to form government.
Notley outlined some of the major policy differences between the NDP and UCP on Wednesday.
“This election is about you and who will fight for you, me or Jason Kenney,” she said.
“Jason Kenney says that he’s going to create jobs. He won’t. His plan is too big a risk, he will hand big corporations a big tax cut. He will kill the rail deal that’s moving our oil and he will add tolls to your roads, cut you overtime pay, and even though he says he will build a pipeline, he won’t.”
Notley also touched on the issue of healthcare, saying Kenney will bring in “American-style” changes.
“He can’t pay for his $4.5 billion tax gift to big corporations, otherwise,” she said.
“So he will gut and privatize your healthcare and he will bring in more American-style healthcare changes, where there’s one kind of healthcare for those who can pay extra and another kind of healthcare, that’s not as good, for the rest of us.”
Kenney was campaigning in Fort McMurray on Wednesday, where he held a noon-hour rally.
In a written response, UCP spokesperson Matt Solberg called Notley’s comments, “just more desperate fear-mongering and lies.”
“It's clear Rachel Notley can't run on the NDP's record and their failed alliance with Justin Trudeau, so they have just resorted to making things up,” read the statement.
“It's beyond rich for Rachel Notley to talk about jobs, given that under the NDP's watch Alberta has the highest unemployment rate outside of Atlantic Canada, with over 170,000 Albertans out of work. Calgary and Edmonton rank second and third for the highest unemployment rate in all of Canada.
“The UCP has proposed a comprehensive plan to get Alberta working again after four years of NDP failure.”
Advance polls are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. until Saturday and voters can go to any location in the province to mark their ballot. You must be 18 or older, a resident of Alberta and provide two pieces of identification.
Election day is April 16 and voters must vote in their riding on that day.