A visit from the Swann

Alberta Liberal Leader David Swann, left, stands with his assistant Bryan Wade at the Best Western Denham Inn during his stop in Leduc on June 15.

Earlier this week Alberta Liberal Leader David Swann paid a visit to the Best Western Denham Inn to come talk about some issues to whoever wanted to do.

Myself and five other citizens from Leduc were waiting patiently for the MLA from Calgary to arrive and he finally did around 3 p.m. One of the other people that was waiting for him said something along the lines of "he's late, he must be a politician" and I chuckled a bit. Swann did apologize for being late and being as busy as he is I definitely could let it slide.

We were ushered into the restaurant at the hotel and we all sat down for some coffee and a chance to voice some of our problems that we hoped Swann would have an answer for. The five other people that showed up to meet Swann voiced their opinions on some issues like car insurance and the title word 'Liberal' of the Liberal party. 

When I got my chance to speak to him I wanted to see what his opinions were on the situation with the Conservatives and the economic update. He was very much in favour of Ignatieff and felt that the advertisements against the Federal Liberal Leader were very offensive and not needed.

“Like many Canadians I’m very offended by the attack ads on Ignatieff, and I don’t think these ads show what Ignatieff is trying to accomplish,” said Swann.

The key issue was employment insurance. This whole issue got resolved yesterday and thankfully there will be no election in the summer, but we could be out voting come fall so who knows how good this new panel will be for the government.

The opposition had proposed that the government should lower employment insurance eligibility to 360 hours, which works out to 45 workdays. 

Swann also went on to talk about Bill 44 in which he was strongly against and for a good reason.

“This bill is not only offensive to the teachers but also to young people who want access to have information and be free to discuss it, debate it and get to their own conclusions with their families about what is true and what isn’t,” said Swann, leader of the Alberta Liberal Party.

He was very adamant the Alberta government didn't give a free vote like the premier had said. 

“The premier said it was a free vote yet not a single one of them went against it, so that just shows you how free it is,” said Swann.

Swann also comments about Bill 44 on his blog.