Battle River-Wainwright MLA Wes Taylor gave a presentation to County Council on Wednesday, June 22 in order to provide Council with updates.

“It’s really an honour to be able to come here and meet everyone,” said Taylor.

“The past year has been very interesting.”

Taylor described his election on May 5, 2015, which marked his first term in the provincial government.

“It’s been a very steep learning curve. You don’t understand what the people do until you do it yourself.”

Taylor touched on Bill 10, which he referred to as “the unlimited debt ceiling.”

He gave a brief history of provincial debt, starting with Ralph Klein’s balanced budget.

Taylor added that soon after Klein left office, the balanced budgets were abandoned, and debt began to increase.

The current debt projection with the NDP government, he said, is $60 billion.

“They can keep borrowing and borrowing, to infinity and beyond,” said Taylor.

He added that with that level of debt, the interest paid would be $2 billion.

“We should not be going into that kind of debt,” he said. Taylor stated that $2 billion paid in interest could be better spent on schools and job creation, among other important issues.

He also discussed Bill 20, which is more commonly referred to as the Carbon Tax.

Taylor noted that it currently does not affect farmers’ fuel costs, but does affect processes and transportation involved in farming.

He also stated that there is no definitive plan in place for where the money from the tax will be spent.

“They’re using this as behaviour modification,” said Taylor.

Councillor James Brodie said, “It feels like it’s urban versus rural.”

Taylor agreed, and added that there are some questionable enforcement guidelines included in the legislation. While houses cannot be searched without a warrant, records can, so enforcement officers may be able to enter homes and offices in order to search computers and files.