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Alberta is facing many challenges as the next boom approaches. It is more than likely that bounty of this boom will once again only benefit the rich and the larger corporations while yet again the people of Alberta must take a few of the crumbs that slip off the head table. The last part of the Parkland Institute report deals with what we can do make Alberta a better province for everyone, not just certain classes of society.
“1 STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY SERVICES:
Shift away from a business approach to one based on core service delivery and away from reliance on generosity and charity to one based on rights.
Recommendation 1: Develop a more inclusive and supportive attitude toward community service providers including:
• increased funding that is stable and longer-term;
• funding for staffing compensation equal to comparable direct public sector programs;
• accountability that is based on appropriate and manageable indicators and data collection; and
• funding and support to expand on community hub models for community-based service grouping and delivery.”
Accountable and based on data rather than whims of the rich? Novel idea.
“2 A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ALL ALBERTANS:
Improve access to quality social programs, increasing leisure time and reducing stress on families.
Recommendation 2: Provide greater support to improve the quality of life for all Albertans including: increased spending and program expansion related to culture and leisure, childcare and early learning, education, health care; and reduce working hours through shorter work weeks and increased vacation. Key recommendations include:
• expand community based public health services for Aboriginal communities and implement no child left behind policy;
• fully fund and deliver early learning programs based on the public school model (including junior and full-day kindergarten);
• fund universities to reduce tuition rates to $1,000 per year across all programs;
• increase paid leaves and reducing work hours to match European averages; and
• create adequate publicly funded, non-profit child care spaces at $7 per day.”
Will it be expensive to implement? Oh yes, but no more expensive that paying for the results of our current societal choices in terms of health care, police and prisons.
“3 INVESTING IN HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
Recommendation 3: Fulfill promise to eradicate homelessness by 2019 by complying with commitment of $3.3 billion in spending and building the necessary 8,000 new housing units.”
Are we just 8,000 units of affordable housing away in Alberta from making it a reality that no person needs to die of exposure during the winter? Instead of squabbling over powerlines and utility deregulation(still a bad idea) why isn’t this at the top of the political agenda?
“4 ENSURING DIGNITY AND AN ADEQUATE INCOME FOR THE MOST VULNERABLE
Recommendation 4: Strengthen the province’s social safety net through the development of programs that are universal, accessible and delivered in a non-stigmatizing manner. This includes:
• phase in a livable guaranteed annual income (GAI) to bring together programs for seniors, people with disabilities, unemployed workers, students and low income workers; and
• while working towards the GAI, social assistance rates need to be increased to the poverty line, rates must be indexed to inflation, asset levels increased, application process simplified, eligibility expanded and wait time shortened.”
Whot? Free handouts for the lazy?? How dare they? There will always be people who unfairly profit at societies expense, we stigmatize the poor because the rich do not want us to closely examine their privileged state and the dodges they are currently employing to game the system in their favour. Better to hit the poor hard and then cry for more police and prisons to warehouse the poor, all the while neglecting the conditions responsible for a good portion of the criminality.
5 PROTECTING WORKERS:
Improve income security, equality and quality of life through expanded worker protections.
“Recommendation 5: Provide more comprehensive protection and assistance to those working full-time, full-year to ensure an adequate standard of living. This includes:
• implement a living wage policy;
• strengthen labour protections including both employment standards and labour organizing procedures; and
• abandon the temporary foreign worker program, and expedite and better support foreign credential recognition.
Nothing radical here, just making working conditions adequate for all Albertans, not just those lucky enough to be part of a union.
“6 DEMOCRACY AND GOOD GOVERNANCE
Recommendation 6: Reform the democratic process to ensure that it accurately represents Alberta’s population diversity and distribution. This includes:
• adopt a proportional representation electoral system;
• establish an independent body with representation from Aboriginal, newcomers and women’s groups;
• implement an accountability and reporting system based on well-being indices; and
• work with Aboriginal groups to increase funding for and expand a comprehensive, community-based, culturally appropriate policy agenda with targets for improving quality of life and reducing disparities.”
PR would be a breath of fresh air in the stagnant backwater that is Alberta politics. Proof? The PC have been in power for longer than I have been alive, it really is time for a change.
“7 PROGRESSIVE REVENUE REFORM
Recommendation 7: Re-establish the link between taxes and public services. Revenues should be returned to levels that allow continued support commensurate with changing demographics and inflation for public goods like health care, education, and social programs that Albertans feel are citizenship rights. This includes:
• reinstate progressive taxes, with increased progressivity at the top end and brackets indexed to inflation;
• raise corporate taxes to the Canadian average;
• reinstate the liquor tax;
• remove gambling revenues from general revenues and instead adequately fund arts and culture, communities and early learning from progressive taxes; and
• collect all natural resource rents and keep them out of general revenues for use in building a future for the province.”
The first sentence is the most important – “Re-establish the link between taxes and public services.” This linkage needs to be reestablished so people can see the results of their taxes working for them making their lives better. The current decline in the standards of living in Alberta can be traced back to when this link was broken and we have been picking up the pieces ever since.
“Alberta is at a crossroad. This report has highlighted what it means to have economic growth at the expense of social cohesion. With over 80 per cent of incomes concentrated in only half of households and the lowest ranking in the nation for sense of belonging to their communities, Alberta needs a new policy framework. This report provides the framework for a new development path; one where economic growth serves social goals and where disparity is minimized, ensuring an adequate income, quality of life and dignity for all Albertans.”
Could not say it better myself. :)
This is the middle third of a brief overview of the Parkland Institute report on the decline of equality in Alberta that will focus on the specific contributing factors mentioned but not enumerated in part one. Starting with:
“a | The Tax Cut Agenda: The flat tax was a transfer of wealth to high-income Albertans. Middle-income Albertans actually pay more tax than in most other provinces, while the top income bracket pays by far the lowest taxes in the nation. Alberta also has the lowest corporate taxes in the nation and collects by far the lowest taxes in the nation, $10.7 billion less than BC, the next lowest province in 2008.”
Ah, Alberta where we penalize the middle class for daring to be successful. The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well as long as you’ve already ‘made it’.
“b | Stalled Social Spending: Alberta spends less on average than many other provinces on a per capita basis. As a percentage of GDP, total spending of combined provincial and municipal governments in Alberta fell from a high of 21 per cent in 1991-1993 to only 13.4 per cent in 2007. For comparison, the OECD average was 21 per cent, while at the top end Sweden and France spend 29 per cent.”
We bleat and moan about our healthcare spending and then never think to look at the precursors to ill health, that is the social conditions we face and the supports in place to ensure healthy living for everyone in Alberta. As the statistics show, we spend less on the front-end social supports and then wonder why the back end is costing us so much.
“c | Labour markets: Jobs have become increasingly contingent – temporary, part-time and self-employed – while average wages have barely been keeping pace with inflation. A study of inequality trends in OECD countries found that the most important factor in equality was trade union membership. On this front, Alberta compares poorly with the lowest rate of unionization in Canada.”
Of course Alberta has the lowest rate of unionization, we need our workers free of the protections unions offer so they can be more easily exploited.
“d | Offloading of community services: In downsizing government many services were offloaded to the voluntary or community sector which has been shifted to a ‘contract culture,’ with insecure funding and low wages and benefits.”
Ah, the hallowed “Charities will pick up the slack” balderdash makes its appearance. Private charities are not comparable to public institutions when it comes to taking care of the disadvantaged. The private charities meme exists more to assuage the guilt of the wealthy of society rather than making a meaningful effort at tackling the conditions that presuppose the necessity of a private charity in the first place.
It is not all doom and gloom, we as Albertans can push to make Alberta better for everyone and here is how. How we can fix Alberta will be tomorrows post. :)
The constant boom/bust cycle in Alberta allows the Tory government to evade the valid concerns of its citizenry and consistently mismanage the wealth of the province. In a report by the Parkland Institute the failures of the current government are highlighted and summarized. I’ll be commenting on the executive summary, but you can get it and the full report here.
“Alberta has been prone to booms and busts but overall has seen long-term growth in the size of the economy and a dramatic increase in wealth. However, along with this wealth has come disparity; inequality in both income and quality of life is creating problems across Alberta. Alberta’s economic growth has gone mostly to those in the higher incomes. Quality of life indicators such as income security, personal disposable income, social cohesion, food security, housing affordability, leisure and family time, and educational attainment show that middle and low-income Albertans are struggling to keep the status quo and many are being left behind.”
Funny how that works when you have a flat tax that absurdly favours the rich. I’m not sure where we ditched the idea of progressive taxation, but it is a major coup for socialism for the wealthy.
“Research shows that the costs of this inequality cut across all of society. Some of the impacts visible in Alberta include: economic and social exclusion evidenced by increasing food bank usage and homelessness; Alberta has the highest rates of family violence in the country and leads the country in domestic assault, homicide-suicide and stalking; Alberta has record low voter turnout; Albertans rank the lowest in the nation for sense of belonging in their community; Alberta has low university participation; and Albertans have the lowest leisure time in the nation.”
Ah, the hardworking Albertan. More likely to be abusive, poor and atomized within society. Not exactly the cherished “Alberta Advantage” that was the talk of the town not so long ago. Lets look at the inequalities the report mentions.
“• Aboriginal families, single parents, and newcomers in Alberta live in deeper and a more persistent state of poverty than in any other province in Canada. The unemployment rate for newcomers is double that of the general population. Women continue to earn 72 cents of the male dollar.”
Yep, a big thanks to the inherent Patriarchal and racist memes that are so prevalent in our culture.
“• Minimum wage does not pay enough to live and work at levels that allow people to realistically meet their costs.”
Is it really surprising that one cannot make it on 8.80/hr?
“• Middle income families have come under increasing pressure. Wages have barely kept up with inflation and in some cases fallen, they are working more hours, have less disposable income, higher debt loads and they pay amongst the highest out-of-pocket costs for services such as childcare, health care, education, utilities, recreation and vehicle insurance in the nation.”
Ah yes, enjoy all the benefits of the free market, you can in fact, pay more for less and be less well off as a result of your hard work. Universal day-care, that is the ugly scourge of socialism that the people of Alberta will not stand for.
“• Albertans work 1,880 hours per year, the highest in Canada, and much higher than many other developed economies. Albertans work an additional 300 hours or about 7.5 weeks more than the OECD 15 average. This is because Alberta has a much longer work week and has less paid holidays and vacation entitlements (two weeks compared to six weeks for the EU).”
Because working harder not smarter is the paradigm that we have chosen for our little sweatshop of a province.
“• Social assistance rates are far below the poverty line and have not been keeping pace with inflation. Increasingly stringent asset and earnings exemption regulations make it difficult to escape from poverty. The current patchwork of different programs means people can fall between the cracks.”
I think we’ve channelled social-Darwinians to construct our social programs. The delusional idea that helping people less makes for a better society remains proudly(?) emblazoned upon the Alberta boilerplate.
“• Alberta’s Aboriginal peoples experience the most extreme disparity: income disparities are severe (Aboriginal incomes at 2/3 the average income for men and ½ for women); levels of unemployment are triple the average; Aboriginal children are very over-represented in children in care; there is disproportionate representation of Aboriginal people at all stages of the justice system, both as victims and offenders; levels of educational attainment are much lower; health outcomes are much poorer; housing quality is lower; and food security is lower.”
It must be because they are lazy and just do not want to work. It is almost like they have a victimhood complex and just want handouts from the government (insert anecdata about the lazy Indian you know about here). Would they be in such a bind if they started out with the same privileges white males get in society? It is about as fair as running a 100 yard dash but some people have 50 pound sacks of potatoes strapped to their ankles.
So here are the problems, what are the causes?
“Key causes of Alberta’s disparity: The erosion of social infrastructure through the adoption of a flat-tax regime and 25 years of governments spending too little on social assistance programs have exacerbated inequalities as have labour market policies and offloading to community services agencies.”
It is almost like the rich are setting the agenda so that only they do well and a big hearty “frack-you” to the rest of us. That gentle readers, is the political truth in Alberta.
The specifics of the mismanagement of Alberta will be covered on Tuesday as 900 words for a post is already well into TL;DR. territory.
In the fiefdom known as the province of Alberta, the current right-wing King is stepping down. Ed Stelmach for glancing once to often toward the center has been ousted by the more radical elements(?) of Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party. But really, does it matter? Certainly the fracture between the PC’s (right) and the Wild Rose Party (further right) will allow some electoral fresh air into the next election.
Doubtful at best.
Thanks to an amazing job of jerrymandering the rural/urban ridings and a political climate laced with near terminal apathy, Alberta is in line for yet another Oil pandering, business friendly (read raping the public-trust friendly) conservative premier. Full marks to the CBC for attempting to make people care about the upcoming election, going through the motions has never sounded so exciting.
“Ted Morton’s appeal to supporters of the Wildrose Alliance could lead to split loyalties for the province’s federal Tories The province’s former finance minister, who resigned from cabinet in order to seek the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party, said he plans to bring Wildrose Alliance members back into the Progressive Conservative fold.”
Isn’t that cute! They are arguing who gets to wear the boot that continues to stomp on the face of ordinary Albertans. I mean there is the serious consideration of who is going to run the province for the benefit of the oil conglomerates and business, plus differing influence peddling price structures are in place to ensure the correct business policy becomes Alberta Government Policy.
“There isn’t going to be any chance at all that the Wildrose is simply going to fold into the PC Party,” Smith said in an interview broadcast Saturday on CBC Radio’s The House. “People, myself included, were very hopeful that Ted would be able to lead a movement from within the PC Party to get them back on track. And I think that what we’ve seen is he’s not been effective doing that.
This could spell trouble for federal Tories in the province, some of whom have been quietly supporting Wildrose to the detriment of the provincial PCs. But now that Morton hopes to lead the PC Party, those federal Conservatives may have to pick a side.”
Oh the Drama! Which brand of proto-fascism will make it into the Great Leaders Chair? I can only bitterly contemplate this poisonous choice and wonder when if, ever, the population of Alberta will finally have enough of one party rule.
Way to go Alberta!
With the amount of imprudent tampering that is going on with the publishing of scientific results in Canada as of late it is quaintly surprising to see that Alberta will be leading the way with free flu vaccinations this year.
“EDMONTON – Alberta will offer seasonal and H1N1 flu protection in one shot when the province’s immunization program begins after Thanksgiving.
The shot will be free.
Health officials say the province has already received large shipments of influenza vaccine and will receive more throughout the flu season.”
We are acting on evidence based ideas and carrying them out. Alberta politics has way of surprising people, in this case, with a brief instance of lucidity.
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Oh as a related bonus, the anti-vaxxer bingo card I found at ratbags.com. See if you can complete yours today!
Oh to be at the table for this meeting. Eddie ‘Big Oil’ Stelmach and the Pembina institute are going to talk about the Tarsands in Alberta and their viability as a resource for the US.
“Premier Ed Stelmach is scheduled to meet with the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, next Wednesday in Ottawa. The powerful U.S. Democrat is a key figure in the debate over energy resources and she wants to know more about the Alberta oilsands.”
The initial reports were that it was only going to be the oil companies front man our democratically elected and beloved Premier. This however is not the case. The Pembina Institute has also been invited to participate in the meeting with Pelosi.
“Marlo Raynolds, the executive director of environmental think-tank Pembina Institute, has been invited to join a round-table discussion with Pelosi on Thursday along with other non-governmental organizations and First Nations groups.
“I think this is probably one of the most important meetings that the Pembina Institute has been invited to,” he said.”
I can just imagine the dear leaders eyes rolling as his governments assertions about the oilsands will actually be scrutinized and called into question. Poisoning the Athabasca river in the name of resource extraction might not fly too well with Pelosi. Not that our magnanimous government would consider covering up or smearing people who have the audacity to raise concerns about what is happening to the people and the environment because of the tarsands resource extraction project. After-all, what is a little more cancer and increased mortality for Fort Chipewyan, compared with serving the energy needs of the USA? (See the study here and the controversy about the study here.)
Forest Ethics has been kicking up quite a fuss over the carbon output of Oil Sands, enough of a stink to cause many major US corporations to exclude Alberta crude from their lists of energy suppliers. Oil courtier Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach’s role in the upcoming meeting becomes a little more clear as Stelmack’s concern for corporate profit the people of Alberta will be front and centre on his agenda.
My hope is that the Pembina Institutes’s representative can interject some much needed balance and a people based perspective to counter the corrosive effects of a mendacious PR campaign our province has been waging trumpeting how awesome the Oil Sands are.
Oh! A smooth ride ahead for the citizens of Alberta. Now the Deregulated Powah!
Alberta, Alberta, Alberta… The home of batshite crazy capitalist thinking and tomfoolery in general when it comes to fiscal policy (among many other things).
It is amazing to me that we are in such a mad rush to get back to the good ole’ days of being gouged by private utilities for what should be a public corporation. The Alberta Government has changed the rate structure in an attempt to scare and intimidate Albertans into signing long term contracts with private power companies, whose rates, of course, are higher than the current regulated rate.
I just laugh now when people start to whinge and complain about how unresponsive their government is to their demands. To make thinks perfectly clear, we do not have a democracy in Alberta, but rather a hepped up redneck Failarchy that believes, honest to god and jebus, that the only policies that are worth doing come solely from the right end of the political spectrum. And we (F’n) LOVE it here in Alberta as we continue to vote them in again and again.
The Calgary Herald has some interesting information about the power rates in Alberta:
“The concern stems from the regulated rate option changing in July to be fully based on short-term market prices, rather than a mix of short-and long-term contracts.”
Essentially, lets add instability into the price of power and see how many people we can scare into signing up with the private power companies. People should be up in arms, marching in the street, righteously pissed off with this sort of over-the-top pandering to the business class. But no, past a few irate letters to the local paper the Alberta sheep bleat on, blissfully happy with their Tory Kleptocracy.
Please notice the wonderful phrasing of what in short stands for “Bend Over Here Comes the Spiny Shaft of Capitalism.
“The intent that we expressed with this change is that this would give consumers a clearer picture of the market price of electricity,” Cummings said. “It gives them a clearer understanding of the cost of electricity so they can adjust their usage, and understand better when prices are high and can adjust accordingly.”
Boo! Aaaaaah! Quick run (don’t even think about walking you seniors and low income families) to the private sector to pay them more money for the same power you were getting before! Did you ever wonder who the Government of Alberta represents? If you are not incorporated Buck-O, it ain’t fracking you.
However there is a bit of bright side to the naked ratbaggery that is going on here.
“Consumers choosing to remain on the regulated rate could see more fluctuations in monthly bills, but, historically, electricity rates in Alberta have ranged between six cents and eight cents per kilowatt hour, Wachowich noted. And spikes in price are generally short-lived.”
So those who have more than two neurons to rub together and decide to stay on the regulated rate will be fine, but need to plan ahead accordingly for the minor fluctuations ahead. Crisis put on hold until the insipid clowns politicians that lead us decide we need to more directly fund the corporate elite become more competitive.
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