With 16 days to go until the provincial election, Albertans are learning more about what New Democratic Party (NDP) Leader Rachel Notley and United Conservative Party (UCP) Leader Jason Kenney would do if elected premier.

The parties released their election platforms over the weekend, focusing on the economy and the movement of oil; the environment and the carbon tax; and education.

Economy and environment

Notley promised she will continue to diversify the economy and bring in $75 billion in private investment and 70,000 jobs by 2030, get the Trans Mountain expansion built and use rail cars to move crude.

“I will not waver in my commitment to move our energy products by rail,” Notley said in Calgary on Monday. “We will not strand our oil; we will not leave it in the ground as Mr. Kenney is proposing.”

Kenney insists the private sector can do rail on its own.

“This is one of the most irresponsible decisions taken by an Albertan government,” he said.

Kenney also maintained his first order of business would be to scrap the NDP’s carbon tax, which the UCP claims would create 6,000 jobs and save Albertans as much as $1,150 in tax cuts. The conservatives would also reduce tax rates for businesses, from 12 to eight per cent—a move the UCP says would create 55,000 jobs in the private sector.

Education

To match Alberta’s growing population, Notley said her government would build and upgrade 70 schools across the province, as well as make the Classroom Improvement Fund—a $77 million grant to hire more teachers and support staff—permanent.

The UCP government promised to “maintain or increase” education funding and build more schools, but would put an end to the NDP’s new curriculum—an idea Education Minister David Eggen criticized in February.

Kenney was criticized for his stance on gay-straight alliances when he announced his education platform last week. If elected, the UCP leader would bring back the Education Act, a legislation that allows GSAs but does not protect students from being outed by school officials to their parents.

With files from Timm Bruch