Alberta Election 2019: Here's what the parties have promised so far.

Now that the writ has dropped, Alberta enters official campaign mode until voters head to the polls on April 16.

Expect full election platforms soon, but parties are continuing to release bits and pieces. Here’s what we know so far.

New Democratic Party

Given the NDP is currently the governing party, it’s likely to run on its record.

Promises kept: Flipping back through the party’s 2015 election platform, Rachel Notley’s government has completed the vast majority of items including increasing Alberta’s minimum wage to $15 per hour, rolling out $25-a-day daycare and creating a status of women’s ministry.

It also raised Alberta’s corporate tax to 12 per cent from 10 per cent, implemented strategies for energy efficiency and renewable energy, and promised to work with Indigenous and federal governments to resolve land claims, such as the Lubicon Lake Band settlement.

Promises not kept: What it hasn’t done is phased in all-day kindergarten or ban gas drilling in urban areas, which was an issue recently raised in Lethbridge.

In 2015, the NDP also promised a Resource Owners’ Rights Commission within six months of taking office, which would report to the premier and legislature on measures to promote greater processing of energy resources. That idea included acting on recommendations within the first year as government.

Other promises fell below expectations, such as an infrastructure sunshine list to make project priorities more transparent. That was released in 2016 and included a list of 111 “unfunded capital projects” in alphabetical order, giving Albertans no indication as to which projects would be selected first.

Fighting for: The NDP remained tight-lipped about its platform until the writ drop, with Notley only saying her party would build the province and fight for things — not against them. That includes the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, but also public health care, education and the environment.

Economy: The NDP has for a long time pushed the line that Alberta’s recovery must reach everyone, so you can expect  ideas around job creation and diversification. It may prove a tough sell for Albertans, though, with the latest employment figures showing a higher unemployment rate despite the creation of more jobs. Then there’s the latest fiscal update. Although the projected deficit fell by $1.9 billion, the Conference Board of Canada has predicted Alberta will have the lowest projected growth rate of any province.

In her first campaign promise, Notley said a re-elected NDP government would double incentives for petrochemical and upgrading projects from $3.6 billion to $7 billion over the next decade. It carries on the NDP program that was a pivotal part of Notley’s energy diversification plan as premier. The promised funding would unlock $75 billion in global value-added petroleum investment and create 70,000 jobs by 2030, said the NDP. The incentives include royalty credits, loan guarantees and grants.

Health care: Notley has doubled down on the message that the NDP will protect Alberta from “American-style” health care under the UCP. She announced that an NDP government would add 2,000 more long-term-care beds, costing about $170 million. It follows a similar campaign promise in 2015 for 2,000 beds — something the NDP delivered on.

Flood mitigation: Notley rolled out a flood mitigation strategy in Calgary, saying an NDP government would invest $1 billion from Alberta’s climate leadership plan to build major infrastructure, such as a reservoir, on the Bow River. It builds on Notley’s commitment to build the Springbank dam.

United Conservative Party

Jason Kenney was clear on parts of his conservative vision for Alberta before the UCP even existed — back when he was driving around in that blue truck drumming up support. Those ideas have since firmed up into policies, but Kenney’s promised policy Grassroots Guarantee, upon which he campaigned to win leadership, has evaporated into thin air.

Taxes: The most ingrained UCP policy is killing off the provincial carbon tax, though Albertans will have to wait to hear the party’s environment or greenhouse gas emission reduction plan. So far, Kenney has hinted at some kind of alternative to the carbon tax, such as the former Progressive Conservative government’s levy on major emitters “to support science and technology.”

Kenney has reneged on a UCP-member approved stance to take Alberta back to a flat tax, but said a UCP government would cut corporate taxes to eight per cent from 12 per cent over the next four years. He has said repeatedly Alberta is in for a series of fiscal belt-tightening measures, but hasn’t elaborated on what they might look like. If there’s insufficient movement on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion by fall 2021, Kenney has also promised a referendum on removing equalization from the constitution.

Energy and regulations: A UCP government would set up a $30-million, taxpayer-funded “war room” to defend Alberta’s energy industry here and abroad, setting up satellite offices if need be. It would also appoint a minister of deregulation, tasked with decreasing regulations by one-third across all ministries, establish a $10-million litigation fund for pro-oil development First Nations, push for a series of resource corridors to help with energy project approvals, and launch a public inquiry into foreign-funded efforts to undermine Alberta’s energy industry.

He has also highlighted plans to immediately file a constitutional challenge should Bill C-69 become federal law. On oil, he said the UCP would support the use of Turn off the Taps legislation if there is no substantial work on pipelines. Another UCP tactic to push Ottawa for movement on pipelines would include holding a referendum on removing equalization from the constitution.

Health care: Kenney is pushing for private options in Alberta’s health-care system, much like the system in B.C. and Quebec. He would also kill the planned superlab project in Edmonton, because he doesn’t think a government should be “rigid and ideological” when it comes to health care. The UCP has also pledged $5 million to sexual assault centres.

Employment: A UCP government would freeze minimum wage increases, repeal rules related to statutory holiday pay and allow young workers to be paid less than their adult colleagues. It would also repeal Bill 6, the Farm Safety Act, and replace it with a Farm Freedom and Safety Act which would allow farmers to choose where they buy workplace insurance for their employees and exempt small farms with three or fewer employees from employment legislation.

Environment: Kenney plans to auction off around 100,000 acres of public land in Peace Country to the highest bidder, similar to a program under former premier Ed Stelmach, and will consult on expanding the public land sell-off across the province. He has also hinted he will kill Energy Efficiency Alberta and the multitude of carbon tax-funded programs under the agency, leaving the province as the only jurisdiction in North America without an energy efficiency program. Kenney has also pledged to stop the statutory shutdown of coal. Federal regulations passed under Kenney’s former government in Ottawa in 2012 would shutter most of Alberta’s 18 coal-fired plants. The remaining six have to close by 2030 under a deadline set by Alberta’s NDP government. The UCP also has a 13-point conservation plan, including a $30 annual trail fee and 50 per cent increase to the Alberta Land Trust Grant Program.

Kenney has also promised the creation of an Alberta parole board, similar to the processes in place in Quebec and Ontario.

No consultation: What the UCP won’t do is consult with Albertans about its major plans. In October, Kenney told a Calgary Chamber of Commerce luncheon he didn’t want to get “bogged down” with public consultations. Instead, he’s planning “100 Days of Change” to roll back NDP policies. The UCP has already hired former public servants and a transition team to pen legislation so the party can avoid opposition and push through changes “within days” of forming government.

Alberta Party

Health: An Alberta Party government would make vaccinations mandatory for children enrolled in publicly-funded schools, expand provincial health care coverage to include annual dental check-ups for all children under 12 and require fluoridation of municipal drinking water. It would also introduce one provincial picture ID card for all government services (health care, drivers’ license, the Alberta WIN Card) and launch a digital government identification app.

Oil and gas: Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel also wants to establish a division within the economic development and trade ministry to change the conversation around — and social acceptance of — Alberta’s energy industry “through a proactive, positive and productive method that will move public opinion, not further isolate Albertan opportunity.”

Education: Mandel promised an Alberta Party government would double the number of educational assistants in the province.  He also wants to increase funding for inclusive education by 50 per cent, pledging to bump funding for school boards to aid students with disabilities and challenges to $690 million a year. Mandel also promised to fund student enrolment growth in the same school year students show up — funding the Alberta NDP restored when it formed government in 2015.

Childcare: The Alberta Party would create a billion-dollar voucher system to offset child-care costs for those who can least afford them. Families earning between $30,000 and $49,999 a year would pay no more than $5 a day for daycare. The subsidy would decrease as family income rises, to a maximum combined income of $110,000 a year.

Liberal Party

Alberta Liberal Leader David Khan said in a year-end interview his party’s platform will likely concentrate on jobs, the economy and, of course, the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

The party passed a raft of policies in April. Some of those were rolled back, but party policies so far include a pilot project for a universal basic income as a poverty reduction strategy, mandatory class size caps and more funding for mental health supports and supports for inclusive education.

The party also wants to implement an immediate ban on the practice of conversion therapy.

Khan also unveiled an Indigenous platform, including education and justice reforms, the creation of a Regional Indigenous Child Protection Office, Indigenous Language immersion programs, and adding six new seats to the Alberta legislature for Indigenous Peoples MLAs.

Freedom Conservative Party

As the newest political party with a sitting MLA, the Freedom Conservatives have a job ahead of them to cobble together a robust platform ahead of the next election.

Still, leader Derek Fildebrandt has already unveiled the centrepiece of his party’s platform — Alberta’s government must come to an agreement with the feds on major constitutional reform, or face an independence referendum.

For him, that includes the right to govern ourselves within our own provincial jurisdiction like Quebec does and keeping more of Alberta’s wealth and decision-making at home.

Energy: Fildebrandt said he wants to end the curtailment policy brought in by Notley to reduce the oil differential last year, calling the move intrusive on a free energy market.

He also said an FCP government would demand that Ottawa sell the Trans Mountain pipeline back to the private sector immediately, and demand a repeal of the controversial federal Bill C-69. The FCP also wants to kill the carbon tax and join court actions against the federal carbon pricing plan.

Finally, Fildebrandt said if elected, the FCP would allow coal plants to remain open if they meet “reasonable environmental standards,” as opposed to phasing out coal power, which has been a pillar NDP policy.

With files from Janet French