Alberta’s United Conservatives: They can dish it out, but they can’t take it. Well, Premier Jason Kenney’s UCP wasn’t the first political party to discover turnabout is fair play, and it’s unlikely to be the last. United Conservative Party Caucus Deputy Executive Director Ryan Hastman in 2011 when he was
Continue readingTag: Alberta Federation of Labour
Alberta Politics: Inside Jason Kenney’s troll factory: the UCP propaganda ecosystem goes after Alberta’s registered nurses
The president of the Alberta Federation of Labour called out the Canadian Taxpayers Federation yesterday for the partisan role it plays supporting of the Kenney Government’s contract demands in negotiations with the union that represents the province’s front-line registered nurses. Calling the CTF “a secretive anti-union lobby group,” Gil McGowan
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Ernst & Young review of Alberta Health Services gives UCP cover to do lots, flexibility to do little
We’re not closing any rural hospitals, have you got that? Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro strove to make that point perfectly clear at his news conference in Edmonton yesterday on how Ernst & Young, the multinational management consulting firm based in London, England, thinks Alberta Health Services could save nearly
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Freedom of information filing reveals supposedly independent ‘Blue Ribbon’ Panel had help from staff in Alberta premier’s office
It turns out Janice MacKinnon’s six-member “expert panel” was using a script cooked up in Premier Jason Kenney’s office at least part of the time it was supposedly taking its “deep dive” into Alberta’s books last year. Alert readers will recall that when freshly elected United Conservative Party Premier Jason
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Linda Silas, president of Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, announces bid to lead Canadian Labour Congress
Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions representing 200,000 nurses across Canada, formally announced today she will seek the presidency of the Canadian Labour Congress. This doesn’t come as a thunderbolt out of the blue. Ms. Silas has been pondering a run for the leadership the CLC
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Budget Day reminder: Facts about Alberta public employees don’t support propaganda saying they’re too numerous or paid too much
Alberta’s a high-wage province! Who knew? Maybe the question ought to be … Who didn’t? At any rate, the Kenney Government’s “blue-ribbon” panel on Alberta’s finances, chaired by former Saskatchewan finance minister Janice MacKinnon and instructed not even to look at the revenue side of the province’s so-called public spending
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jim Stanford Part II: An Australian cautionary tale for Alberta and Canada
What do Albertans imagine will happen if we manage to build more pipelines to tidewater, as the ocean is known out here on the Great Plains of North America? Going into last April’s Alberta provincial election, there was a clear consensus by both Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party and Rachel
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The Lesson of the Beaver: Something for Alberta’s fossil fuel boosters to think about
If you forget everything else, just remember this about our country’s incessant and often bitter debate about fossil fuels: “Canada is never going to run out of oil, just like we never ran out of beavers.” We owe this pearl of insight to Canadian economist Jim Stanford, late of the
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Lessons from the AFL and AOC
What if we’ve run out of time? What if there’s no time left for baby steps; for one step forward and two steps back? What if it’s time to go big or go home? Last weekend Ms Soapbox attended two events focused on our future. One was a convention hosted
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Rachel Notley sets out to do a little narrative building of her own about what Jason Kenney is up to, now that he’s premier
CALGARY – In her first major speech since losing the Alberta election to Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party on April 16, Rachel Notley called on her supporters not to allow conservatives to rewrite history to suit their own ends. “Make no mistake,” she warned a friendly crowd at the Alberta
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney invites the tax-cut fairy back to Alberta! She’s bringing snake oil!
Oh for crying out loud! The tax cut fairy has returned to Alberta! She’s brought snake oil! United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney, lately rebranded The Policy Guy ™, has promised a massive cut in business taxes to create jobs. In Calgary yesterday, Mr. Kenney vowed to slash the lowest
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta honour for k.d. lang shows times are changing, but prompts memories of past Tory embarrassments
The elevation of Alberta-born chanteuse k.d. lang to the Alberta Order of Excellence last week is both a positive sign of change in Alberta and a timely reminder there’s nothing new about bozo eruptions from the back forty of the province’s conservative movement. Ms. lang, now 56, was born in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Call it what it is, says labour minister: successive Conservative governments denied Alberta working people their rights
CALGARY – For many years, Alberta working people were routinely denied rights other Canadians take for granted, Alberta Labour Minister Christina Gray said last weekend in a bluntly worded speech on labour relations policy in Alberta. The speech provided insights into the direction the NDP government of Premier Rachel Notley
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Alberta then and now: Marking the third anniversary of the unexpected victory of Rachel Notley and the NDP
CALGARY Three years ago today, Albertans did the unexpected in the province’s 29th general election and elected a majority New Democratic Party government. In truth, despite Albertans having been instructed for generations by those who are supposed to know better that they lived in the most conservative province in Canada,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Canadian labour movement abuzz in wake of Unifor decision to quit Canadian Labour Congress
PHOTOS: Unifor President Jerry Dias (Photo: Unifor Local 591-G). Below: Canadian Labour Congress President Hassan Yussuff and former Ontario Federation of Labour President Sid Ryan. The Canadian labour movement is abuzz debating and speculating on the potential ramifications of the decision of Canada’s largest private-sector union to quit the Canadian
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Celebrating a different kind of Labour Day in Alberta – one with something to celebrate!
PHOTOS: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and friend with unionized firefighters at last year’s Edmonton and District Labour Council Labour Day BBQ. Below: Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan at the same event, and Labour Minister Christina Gray. Today is Labour Day, which in recent years has become a traditional
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Few hints about coming NDP workplace law reform in minister’s speech to Alberta Federation of Labour
PHOTOS: Alberta Labour Minister Christina Gray at the Alberta Federation of Labour Convention in Edmonton yesterday. (Photo: Dave Cournoyer.) Below: AFL President Gil McGowan and Labour Code review chair Andrew Sims. As you might expect, Labour Minister Christina Gray got a very warm welcome from delegates to the Alberta Federation
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Guest Post: The time has come for a sober conversation about Jason Kenney … and his implied platform
ILLUSTRATIONS: Jason Kenney, the victor in the PC leadership campaign now trying to create a narrative of invincibility about his ambition to lead Alberta. Below: Author Barret Weber. Charts shown are based on the Royal Bank of Canada fiscal tables, updated as of March 22, 2017, that show Alberta’s debt
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Something for the NDP to think about: How about bringing Alberta’s labour laws into the 20th Century? (Never mind the 21st)
PHOTOS: Alberta Labour Minister Christina Gray. Below: Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, Athabasca University Labour Studies Professor Bob Barnetson and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. The CBC says the province’s businesses are “spooked.” The Chamber of Commerce is deeply worried by the prospect of “sweeping reforms.” Naturally,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Oilsands phase-out freak-out explained: Conservatives see the road back to Ottawa going through Edmonton
PHOTOS: G7 leaders including Canada’s then prime minister, Stephen Harper, wander down the garden path in Schloss Elmau, Germany, in June 2015. Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Alberta Federation of Labour leader Gil McGowan, Opposition Leader Brian Jean and would-be Progressive Conservative Leader Jason Kenney. OTTAWA “Funny,” Alberta Federation of
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