
The Dignity & Importance of Work
The use of one’s gifts to seek and serve God necessarily includes work, by which humans cooperate with God in God’s continuing act of creation. Work has a place of honour because it is a source of the conditions for a decent life, and is, in principle, an effective instrument against poverty. But one must not succumb to the temptation of making an idol of work, for the ultimate and definitive meaning of life is not to be found in work. Work is essential, but it is God — and not work — who is the origin of life and the final goal of man.
The underlying principle of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. The demand of justice, which stems from it, precedes concerns for profit: “Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it” (Prov. 15:16). “Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice” (Prov. 16:8). – 257, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Work is not only an essential part of life, but when we work in accordance with our inner passions – our individual vocations – it is a joy. And it is also an obligation to one’s family, neighbors, and nation. Man must work, both because the Creator has commanded it and in order to respond to the need to maintain and develop his own humanity. We are heirs of the work of generations and at the same time shapers of the future of all who will live after us. – 274, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
But work, and particularly dignified work, is not readily available for all who seek it. Those who are unemployed or underemployed suffer the profound negative consequences that such a situation creates in a personality and they run the risk of being marginalized within society, of becoming victims of social exclusion… –289, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
Poverty Reduction
The poor, the marginalized and in all cases those whose living conditions interfere with their proper growth should be the focus of particular concern. To this end, the preferential option for the poor should be reaffirmed in all its force… Today, this love of preference for the poor, and the decisions which it inspires in us, cannot but embrace the immense multitudes of the hungry, the needy, the homeless, those without health care and, above all, those without hope of a better future.” – 182, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
Catholics are called to remember Jesus’ own words: What we do to the least among us, we do to Him. – Matthew 25:31-46
“Helping the poor financially must always be a provisional solution in the face of pressing needs. The broader objective should always be to allow them a dignified life through work”. – Pope Francis, Laudato si’, 128
An Economy to Serve People
I encourage financial experts and political leaders to ponder the words of one of the sages of antiquity: ‘Not to share one’s wealth with the poor is to steal from them and to take away their livelihood. It is not our own goods which we hold, but theirs…’ Money must serve, not rule! –Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel, 57-58
The development of economic activity and growth in production are meant to provide for the needs of human beings. Economic life is not meant solely to multiply goods produced and increase profit or power; it is ordered first of all to the service of persons, of the whole man, and of the entire human community. For many people, a living wage and dignified housing are beyond reach. – 2426, Catechism of the Catholic Church
The planning capacity of a society oriented towards the common good and looking to the future is measured… above all on the basis of the employment prospects that it is able to offer. Maintaining employment depends more and more on one’s professional capabilities. Instructional and educational systems must not neglect human or technological formation, which are necessary for gainfully fulfilling one’s responsibilities.
Young people should be taught to act upon their own initiative, to accept the responsibility of facing with adequate competencies the risks connected with a fluid economic context that is often unpredictable in the way it evolves. -271-290, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Small businesses, trades, and crafts
The decentralization of production, which assigns to smaller companies several tasks previously undertaken by larger production interests, gives vitality and new energy to the area of small and medium-sized businesses. In this way, alongside traditional artisans there emerge new businesses characterized by small production interests at work in modern production sectors or in decentralized activities of larger companies.
Work in small and medium-sized businesses, the work of artisans and independent work can represent an occasion to make the actual work experience more human, both in terms of the possibility of establishing positive personal relationships in smaller-sized communities and in terms of the opportunities for greater initiative and industriousness. In these sectors, however, there are more than just a few cases of unjust treatment, of poorly paid and, above all, uncertain work. – 315, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Industries, Innovation, & Agriculture
Thanks to technological innovations, the world is being enriched with new professions while others are disappearing. In the present phase of transition there is a continuous movement of workers from the industrial sector to that of services… In particular, there is an increase in…part-time, temporary and “non-traditional” employment… – 313, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Unions & Workers’ Rights
The demands of competition, technological innovation and the complexities of financial fluxes must be brought into harmony with the defense of workers and their rights. – 313, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Any form of materialism or economic tenet that tries to reduce the worker to a mere instrument of production, a simple labour force with an exclusively material value, would hopelessly distort the essence of work and strip it of its most noble and basic human quality. 270-271, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
Among the rights of workers, the Church recognizes:
– the right to a just wage;
– the right to rest;
– the right “to a working environment and to manufacturing processes which are not harmful to the workers’ physical health or to their moral integrity”;
– the right that one’s personality in the workplace should be safeguarded “without suffering any affront to one’s conscience or personal dignity;
– the right to appropriate subsidies that are necessary for the subsistence of unemployed workers and their families;
– the right to a pension and to insurance for old age, sickness, and in case of work-related accidents;
– the right to social security connected with maternity;
– the right to assemble and form associations.
– 301, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
The Church recognizes the fundamental role played by labour unions… Such organizations, while pursuing their specific purpose with regard to the common good, are a positive influence for social order and solidarity, and are therefore an indispensable element of social life. Work, because of its subjective or personal character, is superior to every other factor connected with productivity; this principle applies, in particular, with regard to capital.
The Church’s social doctrine teaches that relations within the world of work must be marked by cooperation: hatred and attempts to eliminate the other are completely unacceptable. This is also the case because in every social system both “labour” and “capital” represent indispensable components of the process of production.
No Christian, in light of the fact that he belongs to a united and fraternal community, should feel that he has the right not to work and to live at the expense of others (cf. 2 Thes 3:6-12). Rather, all are charged… to make it a point of honour to work with their own hands, so as to be dependent on nobody (1 Thes 4:12), and to practise a solidarity which is also material by sharing the fruits of their labour with “those in need” (Eph 4:28). – 264, 305-307, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Corporations & Competition, and Consumers
You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
– the 10th Commandment
The individual profit of an economic enterprise, although legitimate, must never become the sole objective. Social utility is an objective of even higher order. When the free market carries out the important functions mentioned above it becomes a service to the common good and to integral human development. When focused on profit alone, however, the market can degenerate into an inhuman and alienating institution, with uncontrollable repercussions.
Freedom in the economic sector… must be regulated by appropriate legal norms so that it will be placed at the service of integral human freedom… A great deal of educational and cultural work is urgently needed, including the education of consumers in the responsible use of their power of choice, the formation of a strong sense of responsibility among producers and among people in the mass media in particular, as well as necessary intervention by public authorities. In order to balance the principle of solidarity with the rights and obligations of the individual, the State’s intervention in the economic environment must be neither invasive nor absent, but commensurate with society’s real needs. “The State has a duty to sustain business activities by creating conditions which will ensure job opportunities, by stimulating those activities where they are lacking or by supporting them in moments of crisis. The State has the further right to intervene when particular monopolies create delays or obstacles to development. -305-307, 351, 376 Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
There is a growing loss of the sense of history, which leads to even further breakup. A kind of “deconstructionism”, whereby human freedom claims to create everything starting from zero, is making headway in today’s culture. The one thing it leaves in its wake is the drive to limitless consumption and expressions of empty individualism –12, Fratelli Tutti
Transportation & Infrastructure
The demands of the common good… are strictly connected to respect for and the integral promotion of the person and his fundamental rights. Among other things, these demands concern commitment to the provision of essential services to all, some of which are at the same time human rights: food, housing, work, education and access to culture, transportation… -166, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

As one of the six key values upon which it is committed to building a policy framework, the party states that it believes that:
– private enterprise and entrepreneurship are the keys to Alberta’s economic success
– the government should foster an environment which facilitates economic investment, reduces red tape and encourages creativity
The party further states that:
– the key to social justice is the equitable distribution of resources to ensure that all have full opportunities for personal and social development
Poverty Reduction
The party advocates:
– conducting a thorough review of existing poverty reduction programs and producing a comprehensive plan to support Alberta’s working poor
– as part of such a plan, introduction of a wage top-up program that will provide the working poor with targeted benefits while maintaining the incentive to work
– enacting a provincial poverty and homelessness elimination strategy, which would seek to address the root causes of poverty
– implementing a policy to have financial literacy as part of the core curriculum in schools, including the lessons on the impacts of financially related social issues
– evaluating the adequacy and effectiveness of the current curriculum in teaching financial literacy
Industries and Corporations
The party advocates:
– promotion of economic development policies based on efficient markets, the removal of barriers for both large and small businesses, collaboration with industry, and an entrepreneurial ecosystem reflective of Alberta’s strengths and natural assets
– diversifying the economy through tourism, green energy, and emerging industries
– creating strategies for implementation of value-added products and processing in forestry, agriculture, and other key industries in the province
– collaborating with all levels of government to secure market access for oil and gas resources through pipelines
Infrastructure
The party advocates:
1) a comprehensive transportation, social, and electronic infrastructure plan which satisfies the needs of Albertans
2) use of a wide range of funding methodologies
3) prioritization and execution of projects in an open, consultative, and transparent manner
The party states that:
– the six principles of the Global Green movement include a commitment to social justice
– the key to social justice is the equitable distribution of resources to ensure that all have full opportunities for personal and social development
As one of the six key values upon which it is committed to building a policy framework, the Alberta Green party believes that:
– private enterprise and entrepreneurship are the keys to Alberta’s economic success
– the government should foster an environment which facilitates economic investment, reduces red tap and encourages creativity
Poverty Reduction
The party states that:
– inequality is growing in Alberta and people with lower incomes are falling further behind
– poverty and inequality cause human suffering but also impact all Albertans through less vibrant and inclusive communities, higher costs for health care and the justice system and lost economic opportunity
– it will work together with communities to implement a comprehensive strategy to end poverty and to achieve a more equitable distribution of resources
The party advocates:
– automatic annual increases to all financial social supports, indexed to changes in the provincial Low-Income Cut Off measure (LICO)
Guaranteed annual income
The party advoates:
– implementaation of a Guaranteed Annual Income in the province. Implementing this program would eliminate many of the current bureaucratic, highly administrative interventions that now exist; their ineffectiveness only exceeded by the humiliation they perpetuate. The current income tax system can administer this program without any additional bureaucracy
– it supports supplementing the guaranteed annual income where needed
Housing
The party states that:
– it takes very seriously the need of Albertans forbaffordable, suitable to their needs and sustainable, for example, energy efficient, housing
The party advocates:
– support for a new small house philosophy and development of policies to help accommodate this style of housing
– adoption of a building code for straw and earth structures
– revision and updating of current provincial social housing regulations, including development of a long-term capital plan for additions to, and maintenance of, that portion of the social housing stock that is owned by the province and municipalities
– encouragement of affordable cooperative housing
– support for the the approach to ending homelessness known as “Housing First.” A Green Party of Alberta government will recognize that Housing First is an empty slogan and cannot be successful anywhere in the province unless there is an adequate supply of affordable and supported housing for those needing it
– ensuring there is an adequate supply of both affordable and supported housing and other required resources throughout the province
– requiring all municipalities to facilitate alternative approaches to more sustainable housing, such as housing cooperatives and co-housing, in order to assist groups wanting to build or retrofit existing buildings for cooperatives, co- housing or other alternative approaches to housing, in getting through the approval process successfully and as quickly as possible
– requiring all municipalities to review their bylaws, regulations and procedures so as to remove unnecessary or unreasonable barriers to meeting the need for affordable and alternative forms of housing, including for cooperatives and co-housing
Jobs, Unions & Employment
The party recognizes that:
– for most ordinary Albertans employment – a good job – is key to their financial security and sense of well-being
– the move to a smart, greener economy will provide more good work, not less, and thus will improve the lives of Albertans and that of newcomers to the province
Foreign and out-of-province credentials
The party advocates:
– establishing a commission to review the processes whereby foreign-trained and out-of-province professionals are certified to practice in Alberta
Flexible Work Hours
The party advocates:
– reasonable access to flexible work practices, including telecommuting and flexible work hours in order to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by unnecessary commuting, heating empty offices and homes, and rush hour idling
– requiring employers to justify refusing a request for flexible work arrangements. And stipulating occupational health and safety standards for staff who work off-site
Non-discriminatory hiring
The party states that respect for human dignity and individuality lies at the heart of human rights, and it advocates:
– robust legal protection for the human rights of all Albertans, including ensuring that the Alberta Human Rights Commission functions effectively to promote respect for human rights in the province
– amendment of the Alberta Human Rights Act to require prospective employers to eliminate names, gender, and age from initial hiring and application processes in order to reduce discrimination
– amendment of the Alberta Human Rights Act to make it illegal to discriminate in employment on the basis that a person has been convicted of a criminal or summary conviction offence that is unrelated to the employment, or to the intended employment, of that person
– amendmento f the Alberta Human Rights Act so that a. it is illegal for an employer to ask for a criminal record check until a job offer has been made, and b. where an offer is made and a criminal record is shown to exist, it would be illegal for the employer to withdraw the job offer, unless the offence for which there is a conviction is related to the intended employment of that person
Industries, Corporations, and Consumers
Agriculture
The party advocates:
– ensuring that a resilient food system is a main provincial priority. A resilient food system is one that is biodiverse, decentralized, decarbonized and regenerative; based on local production and processing, small and medium organic farms, and co-operatives and local markets, including farmers markets
– dialogue with farmers and ranchers to assist them in shifting to an agroecological system, meaning farming in harmony with nature, in order to create a resilient food system that strengthens food security and sovereignty, enables sustainable farmer livelihood, supports rural economies, and helps to resolve the climate and biodiversity crises
– subsidies, tax breaks and other financial incentives for agroecological practices, including but not limited to maintaining and planting shelterbelts, protecting wetlands, conserving native-grass prairie, regenerative soil practices, non-industrial no-till methods, use of natural fertilizers that benefit both crops and soil, complex crop rotation and inter-cropping, and by assisting farmers and ranchers who wish to obtain organic or regenerative organic certification
– assistance for all producers to certify under the existing Alberta Environmental Farm Plan process and to continue applying the prescribed environmental protection measures
– engaging with producers to restructure the farm product commissions into producer member-led producer commissions to facilitate their voice in policy and advocacy
– improvement of marketing options for farmers by encouraging competition, increasing training for butchers, bakers, millers and processors, and encouraging local sourcing within publicly run operations (farm to hospital, farm to school, etc.)
– providing a subsidy to farmers to support transitioning to organic/permaculture, agroecology and other sustainable agricultural practice
– creation of a land bank commission to preserve agricultural land for small, family and locally owned co-op farms, assist retiring farmers to pass on their land to new farming families, support environmental stewardship and ensure resilience of rural communities and our food supply
– guaranteeing the right of farmers to save and replant their seeds, promote seed saving to increase diversity in crop genetics and to develop region specific cultivars and promote seed exchange and heritage seed use
– funding of public research on seed varieties
– banning of terminator gene testing, use or imports
– freeing farmers from seed royalty payments
Forestry
The party advocates:
– sustainable conduct forest management practices that prioritize the ecological services of forests in water retention and management, air purification and cleaning, and maintaining species diversity
– treating the economic values of timber extraction, food foraging reserves, and recreational use of as important secondary considerations
– banning the practice of clear-cutting of forests
– phasing out all logging practices that do not meet standards of sustainability and preservation of forest ecosystems
Infrastructure
The party advocates:
– application of sustainability principles to proposals for new infrastructure; for example, the question of new transmission lines would have to be evaluated in light of the need to transition to production of electricity from renewable sources which by their very nature tend to be more dispersed than huge coal-burning plants
– treating broadband internet access as a human right, and working to provide Albertans with wired broadband internet access to the premises wherever feasible, in order to ensure internet access that is fast, reliable, cyber-secure, and economically affordable, while also protecting the environment
– development and implementation of a government-funded job creation program called the Alberta Resilience Corps (ARC), having three main components:
1. (DM) Disaster Management jobs that provide mitigation and recovery for areas suffering from natural and man-made disasters such as flood, fire, drought and unsafe drinking water
2. (CM) Conservation Management jobs that expand park trail systems and support ecotourism. Also, preserve our environment, water, soil, and biodiversity by regenerating our natural areas and bolstering our water and food security
3. (RM) Reclamation Management jobs that restore areas damaged and polluted by industry and repurpose abandoned infrastructure for sustainable uses such as solar or geothermal optimization
– vigorous opposition of all P3, that is, public-private partnership, initiatives
– assessment and regulation of the density of all linear developments (roads, utility corridors, pipelines, railways, power lines, telecom infrastructure, right of ways, etc.) in order to minimize their negative impact on watershed health
– developingment and promotion of essential green energy infrastructure, including a variety of solutions for communities such as distributed smart grids, microgrids, district heating and cooling, community-owned energy, renewable energy generation, distributed generation, energy storage, electrification of transportation systems, and a network of high voltage direct current transmission lines
– democratization and decentralization of energy
Transportation
The party advocates:
– forms of transportation that are consistent with the need to reduce dependency on fossil fuels, and development and expansion of such public transit systems wherever feasible in the province
– creation of a provincially funded Public Transportation Agency responsible for coordinating the delivery of Interurban and rural sustainable public transportation within the Province of Alberta
– prioritization of the development of low emission ground-based public and mass transportation systems over air and private automotive transportation

Poverty Relief
Social Assistance
For those who do not qualify for worker assistance, or who are unemployable, the party advocates:
– providing assistance under an Alberta Social Assistance Program (ASAP)
– providing, as a part of such assistance, coverage for childcare, special dietary needs, lodging, education, healthcare, and other necessities
– providing all persons collecting assistance with a life coach to ensure they reach their full potential and to ideally ensure their mental health and physical wellbeing is improved
– for assistance beneficiaries with long-term physical or mental disabilities that preclude them from employment, the services provided shall be sufficient to guarantee the beneficiary a reasonable standard of living
– including senior citizens who meet the current eligibility criteriawith the necessary services to provide them with a reasonable standard of living
Jobs, Unions and Employmet
Worker benefits
The party advocates:
– providing occasional and temporary income support to unemployed workers seeking employment or upgrading their education in approved areas of competence, if they have paid premiums in the past year and meet eligibility requirements
– providing benefits to workers taking time off work due to specific life events, including illness, pregnancy, caring for newborns or newly adopted children, or caring for a critically ill or injured person
– assistance for workers caring for a senior citizen
– providing may be eligible to receive assistance services or benefits under the WA program
– unless mentally or physically unable to do so, requiring assistance recipients to work at an assigned job, participate in community projects or be enrolled in approved training programs focused on building skills for full-time employment
– providing for workers who need retraining to remain competitive in industry and meet eligibility requirements meetings with a career coach and access to a series of qualifying aptitude tests. For qualitied applicants, providing such necessary training free of charge
– allowing self-employed individuals to participate in the WA program if they meet individualized qualifying conditions
– requiring no waiting periods after approval
Pensions
The party advocates creation of an Alberta Pension Plan (APP) to supersede the current Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) benefits:
– all current recipients of CPP and OAS would see no change in benefits, as the Canadian government continues to provide benefits to citizens residing in foreign countries
– Albertans who have not begun claiming CPP and OAS benefits would see their investments rolled over into the APP program
– the APP would operate at arm’s length from the government and would be directed to maximize revenue for beneficiaries
– all working Albertans and employers would contribute six percent (6%) of wages up to an established limit to the APP and would be eligible to begin receiving benefits at the age of sixty-five (65)
Trades and Labour
The party advocates:
– encouraging the education of more skilled tradespeople to provide a strong foundation for our industries
– creating an improved and streamlined equivalency testing system for non-resident trade specialists
– ensuring that trade-affiliated organisations work seamlessly with employers to improve worker education, productivity, labour outcomes, and efficiency
– banning the use of union dues for political and social advocacy, and ensuring that labour groups are held to the highest standards of professionalism
– limiting the portion of tax-deductible union dues to the amount spent on negotiations with employers
– ensuring that all labour organisations adhere to strict privacy and voting standards
– banning use of intimidation tactics in labour organisations, and strong prosecution of all individuals and entities employing similar labour strategies
– ensuring businesses that have become insolvent due to the activities of labour organisations have a mechanism to obtain expedient redress and relief
Industries, Corporations & Consumers
Agriculture
The party advocates:
– in order to bring accountability to producer groups, requiring adoption of a “one member one vote” or loss of rights to an automatic check-off system
– ensuring that seed companies may only collect royalties for five (5) years and may only own a variety outright for ten (10) years if they choose to enact Plant Breeders’ Rights. If the company does not invoke Plant Breeders’ Rights, they may own and market that variety indefinitely
– implementation of “Right to Farm” legislation to protect farmers from activists, nuisance lawsuits, and other threats to their businesses by anti-agricultural elements. People who wish to live in a rural environment must accept that noise, dust, and smells will be a part of their lives
– ensuring priority for agricultural operations on arable land
– binding of mineral rights to land ownership
– phasing out foreign ownership of agriculturally viable land in Alberta
– allowing farmers to purchase routine medicines for stock once again without a prescription
– allowing farmers to drive large trucks with a regular class five licence so long as they are no more than one hundred fifty (150) kilometers from their farm
– exempting vehicles and heavy equipment being driven in a reasonably safe manner from check stops
– introducing special vehicle fleet licensing and rates for farm equipment on a per operating hour or per kilometer basis
– replacing all the federal and provincial Business Risk Management Programs with new alternatives that work better for our farmers and the taxpayer
– ensuring that the cost of administration of Business Risk Management Program alternatives do not exceed 2% of the total cost of the programs
– replacement of all supply management and quota systems with free market alternatives that strive to promote the interests of all Albertans, safeguard the family farm, improve productivity, and increase our agricultural competitiveness in relation to foreign markets
– covering liabilities incurred by farmers during the abolition of supply management systems where established criteria are met, with a maximum payout of $750,000 per farm
– working with industry stakeholders to bring more agricultural processing plants to Alberta
– increasing the number of agricultural product processors to eliminate the current 90% production deficit
– encouragement of partnerships with Albertan corporations and investors that explore innovative forms of agricultural product processing
– development of a business atmosphere that can support a pulse fractionation facility in Alberta
– provision of capital for Alberta-owned agricultural start-ups through at-cost-interest Alberta Treasury Branch (ATB) loans and the purchasing of shares by crown corporations
– reduction of red tape in order to entice Albertan investors and make access to funding more accessible for Alberta companies and farms
– increasing trade missions to help get provincial products to market
– partnering with agriculture industry stakeholders to develop new export programs to sell more products abroad
– increasing agricultural market access outside of our traditional trading partners
– ensuring that the provincial agricultural industry maintains access to markets through rail, highways, and ports
– creation of a common-sense safety licensing program for farms that wish to sell sensitive food products directly to market
– allow farmers to sell produce, eggs, and other agricultural goods to local restaurants and grocery stores without government intrusion
– permitting farmers to harvest their own livestock and sell the meat without government intrusion, insofar as they are properly licensed to ensure food safety standards are maintained
– allowing direct sale of raw milk to the consumer and will taking steps to ensure this is done in a safe manner
– encouraging studies on holistic agriculture techniques and taking a results-based approach to economically and environmentally sustainable agriculture
– encouraging research into more efficient organic farming practices without harming conventional farming operations. Agribusinesses will be expected to take good care of the land they own and operate, to ensure it remains productive for future generations
– encouraging research into vertical farming and greenhouse technology
– ensuring that Alberta maintains a healthy bee population and encouraging the continued development of our apiculture industry
– promoting diversity in local agriculture to become self-sustaining as a country, with the goal of rendering agricultural imports unnecessary. This includes traditional agriculture (beef, poultry, swine, sheep, goats, grain, dairy, etc.) as well as greenhouses (non-traditional fruits and vegetables) and aquaculture
– providing an “Agricultural Education” online course to Alberta High School students, integrated with in person sessions and practical experience provided by famers who volunteer
– development of educational greenhouses and farms in each region of the province to encourage the development of a production-focused, entrepreneurial mindset in our youth
– promoting an “Alberta First” agricultural philosophy and striving to limit and regulate foreign investment in Albertan agribusinesses
Manufacturing
The party advocates:
– striving to make Alberta completely self-sufficient with regards to its manufactured products and services
– to that end, starting a process of systematic and results-based deregulation to increase the feasibility of manufacturing in Alberta
– creating and evaluating streamlined, quick, efficient, and automated systems of product safety testing to reduce government-imposed overhead costs
– productivity- and efficiency-oriented approaches to labour relations to quickly build a modern industrial base
– preventing takeover of Albertan industrial companies and services by foreign companies and inviduals
– building up manufacturing infrastructure in northern Alberta with private sector driven initiatives and crown corporations
– reviving the aerospace industry in Alberta through research, the promotion of aerospace entrepreneurship programs, improved engineering practices and standards, and increased access to advanced manufacturing processes
Computers and electronics
The party advocates:
– leveraging cutting edge technologies to better compete with other nations, produce value more efficiently, and solve social challenges
– striving, as an ideal, to technologically eclipse all other nations through self-improvement rather than anticompetitive sabotage
– ending subsidization of private research companies, and preferring contract-based or in-house approaches to research
– encouraging research into dual graphite battery technology to combat battery minerals shortages with a cheaper, less energy intensive and more sustainable alternative
– encouraging development and manufacturing of domestic battery technologies that can utilise Alberta’s rich carbon and lithium reserves
– providing free market incentives to tech start-ups in Alberta and will work towards the development of a strong tech industry in Alberta
– encouraging research into the health risks associated with electronics
– use of crown corporations and at-cost ATB loans to encourage the development of quantum computing technologies through Albertan entities
– use of corporations and at-cost ATB loans to encourage the development of machine learning technologies as a matter of national importance
– working with private sector partners to implement this technology in public sector departments to drastically reduce costs, improve health services outcomes, provide fairer and more expeditious court rulings, and increase the labour pool available to private sector industries
– leveraging machine learning technologies to increase the productivity of industries, improve the chances of success for entrepreneurs, and to improve the productivity of all Albertans
Forestry
The party advocates:
– promotion of sustainable logging practices that preserve the natural structure and habitats of Alberta’s forests
– ensuring that reforestation activities mirror the land’s former natural condition
– encouraging the use of selective logging and cut blocks to decrease reforestation expenses and protect our forest’s natural environment
– changing the current leasing structure to allow the development of small forestry companies
– promoting an “Alberta First” forestry philosophy and will limit and regulate foreign investment in Alberta’s forestry-related industries.
Financial sector
The party advocates:
– drafting of “Alberta First” banking regulations to ensure that banking services are used to enrich and strengthen Albertans
– encouraging ATB to become the bank of choice for Albertans by increasing their services to exceed those of major Canadian banks
– promoting and encouraging ATB to be the lender of choice for major projects in Alberta
– working with ATB to offer at-cost interest loans to businesses that are completely Albertan owned and operated
– promoting, encouraging, and supporting ATB in establishing a global presence
– working with ATB to provide lower than par interest mortgage rates with a five percent (5%) of principal down payment for qualifying Albertans wishing to purchase their first homes
– working ATB to provide all forms of routinely used insurance policies for Albertans at the lowest possible rates, and continuing to guarantee ATB deposits
– ensuring that are not subject to “no fault insurance” to ensure that responsible Albertans are not penalized for the poor habits of others
– striving to ensure that vulnerable Albertans are not taken advantage of by predatory insurance schemes
– creating an Alberta Stock Exchange (ASE) as a crown corporation, and striving to ensure that the exchange has a full and robust set of Policies and Procedures that will be applied equally to all companies participating in the exchange.
– classifying companies listed on the ASE into two tiers based on their market capitalization and other factors that are outlined and defined within the exchange’s policies and procedures
– ensuring that ASE’s trading seats are owned and overseen by the exchange
– striving to ensure that secure computerized trading systems are utilized, allowing the exchange to be logistically competitive with international markets
– allowing the exchange to set trading fees will be set by the exchange, and using fees to sustain operations, encourage corporate listings, and to attract capital investment to Alberta
– strengthening the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) to ensure it becomes a leader in securities market oversight and reporting issuer management
– closing loopholes in financial legislation to fight white collar crime and corruption, ensuring investors and companies can have confidence in investing in Alberta
Entrepreneurialism
The party states that:
– the entrepreneurial spirit is a key factor in a person’s ability to improve themselves and contribute more to our society
– the strongest societies have strong, collaborative individuals
The party advocates:
– provide all Albertans with an affordable, solid educational foundation on the art and science of entrepreneurialism
– working Albertan educational institutions to offer courses that provide the prerequisite knowledge to succeed in competitive markets, at a cost of fifty dollars ($50.00) per seat in 2020 dollars, with the cost difference being covered by public agencies, to ensure that all Albertans have access to basic entrepreneurial skills
– such courses would delivered on an online medium, to maximize cost efficiency and promote standardization, would be prepared to the highest standard of professional excellence, have a heavy emphasis on simulation projects to give participants an accurate and authentic industry experience, while promoting creative problem solving, and be tailored to different sectors, such as online businesses, the service industry, heavy industries, etc.
Small business start-ups
The party advocates:
– providing at-cost loans to small business start-ups through ATB
– eliminating subsidies and grants to private businesses, to ensure the wealth of Albertans is not being used to decrease industry competitiveness
– greatly simplifying the registration and incorporation process, leveraging online forms to greatly decrease processing times
– during a transition to national independence, ensuring that internet-based businesses providing online services that do not use public infrastructure will be exempt from municipal business fees, since there is no interaction with the municipality
The party states that:
Among its core values are commitments to:
– deliver prosperity and protect the environment
– improve the economy and provincial public services
– support vulnerable Albertans and encourage entrepreneurs
– with its pro-growth tax shift, create jobs and get Alberta’s economy back on track
– put more cash into the pockets of Albertans by eliminating income tax for two out of three Albertans
– provide funding to help Albertans retrain and learn new skills to grow our economy
– create an investment-friendly province to bring capital and companies to Alberta
– boost equality of opportunity for all Albertans; and that
Its economic strategy is based on three foundational principles:
– improving market access
– creating an investment-friendly climate
– creating a World-Class Workforce
Poverty Reduction
The party states that:
– it is committed to making sure no one falls through the cracks
– a compassionate society takes care of their vulnerable, creates opportunity for all and strives to free all citizens from poverty
Basic Income
The party states that:
– it supports creation of a Basic Income, as the future of social assistance programs
– rather than a sprawling bureaucratic system that leaves many Albertans behind, a basic income promises every Albertan security and does so in a cost-efficient and flexible manner
– as a policy, basic income has the potential to change our society for the better and help us adapt to a changing world where jobs are threatened by automation and globalization
– however, any policy so bold is complex, and shouldn’t be rushed in. It will also require support from the federal government
The party advocates:
– pushing for the eventual implementation of a Basic Income, including lobbying the federal government and other partners in confederation to achieve this goal and launch an exploratory committee to study how to best implement the policy
– launching a pilot program to study the implementation of a Basic Income policy in a region of Alberta
Affordable Housing
The party states that:
– addressing homelessness frees up health care beds and reduces mental illness, crime, addiction and violence
– if we fail to invest in its eradication today, the result will be considerably higher social costs down the road
The party advocates
– doubling the funding for new affordable housing over the next five years, and putting forward an additional $50 million directed towards repairing and upgrading existing affordable housing facilities
– in recognition of the invaluable work done by Family and Community Support Services in the fields of advocacy and preventative social support programs, maintaining its current funding levels
Jobs, Unions, & Employment
The party states that:
– oil and gas will be critical to Alberta’s economic future for generations. We need to make sure our industry can compete for investment and get full market value for our product. We need to make sure we get the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion and other pipeline projects built
– yet, the province can’t rely on oil and gas alone. The world is changing and we need to change with it. Alberta needs to grow other sectors like technology, agriculture, and our film industries
– The best way to grow these industries is to invest in education and training to ensure Alberta has a highly-qualified and flexible workforce
The party advocates:
– rather than pursuing giveaways to industry and picking economic winners and losers, investing in people
– providing $80 million annually in grants to out-of-work Albertans who want to pursue job training and post-secondary studies, including up to $2500 each to as many as 32,000 out-of-work to help them train for new job opportunities, and prioritizing applicants based on their period of unemployment or underemployment and on where there are skilled labour shortages in Alberta
– expanding the number of new post-secondary spaces to train the next generation of technology workers, increasing the number of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) graduates in Alberta by 25% within the next five years
– in order to assist small and medium-sized businesses, which are harmed by late payments, particularly from large companies, amending the Judgment Interest Act to increase the penalties for late payments to creditors
– streamlining the corporate registry process and cutting the cost of incorporation in half by moving to an online model to reduce overhead
– committing generally to the reduction of red tape and unnecessary regulation, but not at the expense of environmental, safety or other important standards
– reversing overly restrictive and punative statutory holiday pay rules in order to relieve both workers and employers
Support for women entrepreneurs
The party advocates:
– working with economists to ensure an Alberta Liberal Government’s economic and fiscal policies support women entrepreneurs, as part of our Gender-Based Analysis Plus (“GBA+”) of our public policy
Continuing Adult Education
To help Alberta compete for the high-paying jobs of tomorrow’s economy and reverse the trend that has seen a 10,000-person decrease in technology and trade programs since 2015, the party advocates:
– protecting existing continuing education programs and making post-secondary education more accessible to lower-income Albertans
– making financial supports for post-secondary students more progressive, modeled on changes made federally and in Ontario to ensure the Albertans who need the most help receive the most financial assistance
– working with universities to address the billion dollars in deferred maintenance currently faced by them
– launching a committee to explore the creation of a campus for the Alberta University of the Arts, which currently shares a campus with SAIT
– working with industry to reverse the trend of shrinking trade enrollments, including identification of labour shortages—present and upcoming—and creating education opportunities for both young Albertans and out-of-work Albertans looking for a new career
– to help compete with other jurisdictions, offering ambitious postsecondary education plans, including by expanding the number of new post-secondary spaces to train the next generation of tech workers, increasing the number of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) graduates in Alberta by 25% within the next five years
– mandatory fair students fees to fund vital student services that enrich and improve campus life
– improving the lives and training of student workers by transformi ng the Summer Temporary Employment Program (“STEP”) into a year-round program whereby employers are eligible to receive a $7-per-hour wage subsidy to provide students with work experience in one of three four-month periods during the year
Workers
The party states that:
– it believes n fairness for workers: Albertans work hard and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and to be adequately compensated
– it seeks to strike a balance between the needs of workers and businesses to ensure all Albertans prosper
The party advocates:
– amending the Labour code to ban double-breasting, which is a practice that enables unionized employers to escape the obligations of their collective bargaining agreements and to operate non-union
– improving the lives and training of student workers by transforming the Summer Temporary Employment Program (“STEP”) into a year-round program whereby employers are eligible to receive a $7-per-hour wage subsidy to provide students with work experience in one of three four-month periods during the year
– reversing new “banked overtime” rules, which allows workers who could previously bank up to 3 months’ worth of overtime and use the banked time to cover vacation or study periods, thereby destroying flexibility for both employers and workers
– undertaking a proper and thorough stakeholder consultation on the Employment Standards Code and the Labour Relations Code, including recent additions to the Code
– shortening the 10-day pay-delay period to five days, to help ensure that employers pay employees the wages they’ve earned in a timely fashion
– uphold the recently-gained and hard-fought inclusion of waged, nonfamily employees of farms and ranches under Alberta’s occupational health and safety and workers’ compensation legislation
– maintaining the $15/hour minimum wage, including support for the concept of a living wage through use of the minimum wage
– banning the practice of “tip skimming” by restaurant management
Industries, Corporations, and Consumers
Oil & Gas
The party states that the province needs access to new markets. The price differential we’re seeing on our oil is hurting our economy and is hurting Albertans
The party advocates:
– fighting to make sure the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion is responsibly built
– working constructively on building a Canada-wide coalition dedicated to reviving the Energy East Pipeline and displacing foreign oil imports in eastern Canada
– encouraging First Nations and Indigenous economic participation in/ownership of resource development projects, to share in the prosperity
Small Businesses
The party states that:
– as small businesses inject over $100 billion into our economy every year, the province should support them
The party advocates:
– focussing on supporting small businesses during the first few years, to help them get off the ground, become profitable, and employ more Albertans
– to that end, exempting any new small businesses from paying small business corporate income tax for the first three taxation years after incorporation
Agriculture
The party states that agriculture is a major contributor to the provincial GDP and the pauarty is committed to helping the industry thrive
The party advocates:
– because issues around water quality and supply for agricultural uses are now of such critical importance that public policy decisions in this area can no longer
afford to be motivated by politics, using evidence-based, expert opinion to inform and guide water and irrigation policy in Alberta
– working with farmers to promote soil health and regeneration, boosting organic matter and reducing the use of herbicides, insecticides and fungicides by encouraging more producers to use multi-species cover crops where feasible
– to protect Alberta’s livestock and meat industry from the serious risks posed by chronic wasting disease, an infectious and incurable brain disease found in deer, elk and moose, akin to Mad Cow Disease, adopting appropriate measures to control and eliminate the potential for it to be transmitted to livestock and/or human populations
– expanding market access for the agriculture industry, including not allowing the risky oil-by-railcar plan jeopardize rail access for the agriculture industry
– addressing shortages in the agriculture labour market by making immigration a high priority in labour programming and immigration policy in part
through reforms to Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (“AINP”)
Transportation
The party advocates:
– safe, affordable and efficient transportation, with a focus on both rural and urban needs
– building new infrastructure, maintaining existing infrastructure and making travel safer and more affordable
– investing in public transit and infrastructure, as a critical part of the fight against climate change and in order to provide a cheap alternative to driving for low-income Albertans, including support for projects like the Calgary Green Line and the Edmonton West Valley LRT projects
– monitoring market reaction to issues pertaining to the demise of Greyhound and stepping in to address gaps in a way that minimizes government overreach while protecting the rural way of life
– to ensure winter safety, requiring all insurance companies in Alberta to provide drivers a discount for buying and installing winter tires. This
will make our roads safer while saving Albertans money.
– preventing future tragedies by making bus seat belts mandatory in Alberta
– investigating the feasibility of a high-speed rail between Edmonton and Calgary, in order to grow our economy, create jobs and improve Albertans’ lives
– to prevent tradegies such as the Humboldt Bus accident, instituting more stringent regulations for truck drivers and trucking companies
The party states that:
– its purpose is to promote the principles of democratic socialism in Alberta and to establish and maintain a democratic socialist government in Alberta through the electoral process
– socialism is essentially the application of democracy to the economy. Economic democracy, i.e. democratic socialism, assures production to supply the needs of all people. Decisions about what shall be produced, when and where, and decisions about where we shall make our living and under what conditions, are now left largely in the hands of private interests. The market economy produces transnational corporations, who give private profit priority over public interest, social justice and workplace democracy. Through the efforts of many, we have achieved a degree of social and political democracy. Economic democracy demands a co-operative rather than a competitive system
– its priorities centre on diversification, including $75 billion in new investment and creating 70,000 new jobs by 2030.
Poverty Reduction
The party advocates:
– helping families buy their first home by establishing Attainable Homes Alberta, modeled on successful programs
– providing mobile home owners with additional rights to resolve disputes with mobile home park owners without having to go to court
– providing additional resources to more actively enforce new consumer protections on door-to-door sales, payday loans, auto sales and repair and unfair contract provisions
– enacting new rules requiring auto repair shops to provide reasonable warranties to consumers
– building 4,000 new affordable housing units to make sure low-income Albertans have access to safe, quality housing, and work with municipalities to plan for future needs
– increasing support for Family and Community Social Services organizations
Jobs, Unions and Employment
The party advocates:
– ensuring Alberta’s employment and labour laws are modern, up-to-date and fair to both employers and workers in all sectors
Industries, Corporations & Consumers
The party states that:
– its priority is to build a stronger, more diversified economy, to get pipelines built and to create good jobs in every sector of the economy
– its priorities centre on bringing $75 billion in new investment and creating 70,000 new jobs over the next ten years
– since it assumed office, it has attracted $13 billion in private investment with its Made-in-Alberta program to support upgrading and refining, bringing 10,000 new jobs in the coming years. These new investments will include two new petrochemical facilities
– it introduced strategic investment tax credits that spurred more than $1 billion in new investments in manufacturing, processing, clean energy and health technology
– it cut small business taxes by 33%.6
– it worked with the craft beer industry to help it thrive, so that today more than 100 craft breweries, representing a five-fold increase from 2015, create jobs and made-in-Alberta beer
– it started a pilot project to create $25-a-day child care to include more women and families with children in Alberta’s economy
The party advocates:
– remaining steadfast in our commitment to get additional pipeline capacity, including the Trans Mountain expansion, built
– implementing $25-a-day child care in order to reduce Alberta’s labour force participation gender gap
– working with industry to deliver a major expansion of refining, upgrading and petrochemical production capacity, targeting $75 billion in new private investment
– attracting and retaining high-tech investment, including artificial intelligence and health technology
– spuring growth in value-added agriculture, food processing, interactive media and film and television production
– creation of a a Small Business Investment Office to streamline small business regulation and support new and growing businesses
– creation of 3,000 new post-secondary spaces dedicated to technology education
– attracting and retaining high-tech investment, building the province’s reputation as a national leader in new technologies through ongoing support of Alberta Innovates and creative programming such as GreenSTEM, the Alberta Entrepreneur Incubator Program and regional innovation networks
– building a global reputation for excellence in artificial intelligence and health technology, bringing investment and jobs through a five-year Artificial Intelligence Acceleration Initiative
– working with the film and television industry to capitalize on growing production demand, increase Alberta’s share of production, and make Alberta a creative economic hub in western Canada
– creation of a Small Business Investment Office to streamline small business regulation and support new and growing businesses, and we’ll keep small business taxes low
– continuing to fight against punitive U.S. tariffs, including lumber and steel
Oil & Gas
The party advocates:
– support for the oil industry and for new pipelines
– significant changes to Bill C-69, which threatens future projects, and scrapping of C-48, which ignores decades of safe shipping from Canada’s coast
– moving Keystone XL and Enbridge’s Line 3 forward
– acquisition of a supply of rail cars to increase the amount of crude oil that can be transported by rail, to shore up the price of Alberta oil without displacing grain capacity, bringing a profit of $2.2 billion to Alberta
– pressuring the federal government to re-approve Trans Mountain and to move promptly on getting it built
– to ensure that the province gets full value for its resources, carefully managing curtailment to prevent the price differential from artificially rising
– in the medium term, ensuring that the crude-by-rail plan generates profits for the province
– completion of the High and Heavy Load corridor network to facilitate moving large industrial equipment around the province
– a series of reforms to speed up and streamline regulatory processes for oil and gas projects without undermining environmental and safety standards, including full implementation of the One-Stop online platform for applications by the end of 2020, and establishing the Alberta Regulatory Competitive Task Force, led by the Department of Energy and comprised of industry representatives and all applicable government ministries
– reviewing transportation regulations related to oil well drilling, including considering re-classifying rigs as off-road vehicles, creating an annual provincial road permit, and pushing the federal government to harmonize rig classification standards to improve cross-border operations.
Agriculture
The party states that:
– farmers are the backbone of Alberta, and a major contributor to Alberta’s economy
– during its term in office it improved efficiency programs for farmers, ranchers, and food processors to help the industry succeed against competition in other provinces
– it worked with industry to promote Alberta’s agricultural products worldwide and to create greater food processing capacity within the province
– it addressed a culture of waste and entitlement at Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC)
– it provided $81 million to farmers from the carbon levy to transition to lower energy and energy efficient equipment
– it introduced the Local Food Act to raise the profile of local food industry
– it doubled loan limits to livestock providers, allowing farmers to invest in new stock
The party advocates:
– streamlining of processes and reduction of wait times for farmers applying for government approvals related to farmland, including environmental permits and lease transfers, and creation of a one-stop portal for farmers to access government programs and services
– helping farmers reduce waste with a new system for recycling agricultural plastics
– directing the Agriculture Finance Services Corporation to extend financing for non-traditional crops and livestock
– developing a unit to assist retiring farmers in succession planning and to encourage younger farmers into the industry
– maintained funding for local 4-H societies and agricultural societies, and working with 4-H to improve governance to ensure it remains a vital part of agricultural communities
Small and Medium Businesses
The party advocates:
– enacting prompt payment legislation to ensure construction sub-contractors get paid in a timely fashion
Transportation and Infrastruture
The party advocates:
– incorporating Community Benefit Agreement (CBAs) plans into larger government infrastructure projects, ensuring projects create tangible benefits for the local community, including encouraging local hiring, training and jobs for groups under-represented in construction, and design features that enhance the community’s quality of life.
The party has published no official statement regarding its policies or positions regarding:
– the dignity and importance of work
– poverty reduction
– jobs, unions, and employment
– industries, corporations, and consumers
The party states that:
– a full life includes work that provides not only a living, but dignity. Therefore its first priority is to boost the economy and bring quality jobs back to Alberta
– however, “the good life” includes much more than material well-being
– while government can’t guarantee a good life, it has a central role in establishing many of the conditions for it like health, safety, education, and support for the vulnerable
To make life better for Albertans, the party advocates:
– supporting Post-Secondary Education as critical both to Alberta’s future economy and to a vibrant Alberta
– promoting workplace skills through experiential and vocational learning from high school through post-secondary and into the workplace
– building more affordable housing for those who need it, including seniors in need of specialized housing
The party states that:
– at the last election, 183,000 Albertans were out of work, and there existed nearly 25,000 fewer private sector jobs than four years earlier
– over the last several years Alberta’s labour force participation rate for ages 15-24 dropped from 69% to 62%
– since 2014, the average duration between jobs for workers rose from 14 weeks to 22 weeks
– in the same period, average take-home pay went down by $6,400 a year, and bankruptcies have risen by more than 25%, insolvencies by more than 75%
– home sales in many parts of the province are at least 18% below their 10-year average
– in addition to the energy sector, investment has also fallen by:
* 7% in agriculture and forestry
* 10% in manufacturing
* 21% in construction
* 27% in finance, insurance, and real estate
* 35% in transportation
* 36% in utilities
* 65 % in retail trade
The party advocates, among its top 5 commitments
– enacting a Job Creation Tax Cut by reducing the tax on job creators by 1/3 from 12% to 8% over four years, in order to create at least 55,000 new fulltime jobs
– cutting red tape on on job creators by 1/3 over four years
– passing an Open for Business Act to make it easier for job creators to hire workers
– repealing the carbon tax and suing the federal government if it tries to impose a carbon tax on Alberta
– standing up against the federal government and special foreign interests that are trying to block pipeline development, to complete pipelines
– a referendum on equalization payments
Poverty Reduction
The party advocates:
– retaining the $15.00 minimum wage
– Introducing a Youth Job Creation Wage of $13.00 for workers who are 17 years of age or younger to encourage job creators to hire young Albertans
– appointing a Minimum Wage Expert Panel to: analyse and publish all of the available economic data on the labour market impact of the recent 50% increase in the minimum wage; assess whether hospitality industry workers who serve alcohol would likely generate higher net incomes (i.e. by working more hours) with a wage differential similar to those that exist in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia; returning to a regular / irregular workday distinction for calculating holiday pay; returning to a holiday pay qualifying period of 30 work days in the 12 months preceding a general holiday; and reversing the change in 2018 that eliminated the option for workers and employers to develop straight-time banked hours arrangements
Affordable Housing
The party states that although provincial home prices are lower and home ownership is higher than in other major provinces, and while Alberta’s rents are low compared to Ontario or British Columbial, affordable housing is a critical issue for some Albertans, particularly those on low incomes, seniors on fixed incomes, and young people entering the housing market
The party advocates:
– reducing red tape burdens on home builders to lower the regulatory cost that has increased the price of new housing
– repurposing some of the capital funding for new and refurbished affordable housing projects into public-private partnership (P3) projects when we can be assured of getting more housing per tax dollar
– expanding use of mixed-income housing that enables people, including seniors, to continue to reside in their communities, including allowing for the creation of innovative community options (more care at home, and new personal care homes (PCHs) with a maximum of 15 people for seniors who need more care than can be provided at home alone but who require less care than provided at supportive living facilities)
– terminating the inefficient Building Communities of Care grant program and restoring the Alberta Supportive Living Initiative (ASLI) to build more community care facilities for fewer dollars
– ensuring that local municipal bylaws and rules provide flexible and affordable housing options for seniors, including unrelated seniors who want to live together and support each other in a single dwelling, as provided for in Ontario’s Golden Girls Act
– revising Municipal Government Act as needed to streamline the planning approval processes for affordable housing projects at the local level
– seeking an exemption from the Canada Home and Mortgage Corporation (CMHC) stress tests
– encouraging provincially-regulated financial institutions such as credit unions to return to pre B-20 mortgage underwriting standards, which are more appropriate for Alberta’s housing market
Jobs, Unions & Employment
The party states that the evidence is clear that competitive tax rates, private property rights, and sensible regulation create growth and jobs
To put Albertans back to work, the party advocates:
– repealing the carbon tax, which represents a $1.4 billion tax on everything
– lower the taxes on employers from 12% to 8%, to creating 55,000 jobs and grow the provincial economy by $12.7 billion
– restoring workers’ right to a secret ballot
– protecting workers from being forced to fund political parties and causes without explicit opt-in approval
– reversing the replacement worker ban in the public sector
– requiring the Labour Relations Board to provide legal support to all union workers in order to better understand and exercise their rights
– strengthening new provisions in the Labour Relations Code that have reduced the duplication of employment claims in multiple forums (such as labour relations, employment standards, arbitration, and privacy)
– cutting red tape by one-third to reduce costs and speed up approvals
– repealing and replacing Bill 6
– building public infrastructure to support services like health care and education
– implementing a Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) Fund to achieve real greenhouse gas emission reductions while encouraging investment across industries
– ensuring that the provincial electricity market is affordable for consumers and job creators and produces market-driven green energy
– retaining the current essential services legislation
– retaining new forms of leave adopted in recent legislation including:
* Personal and Family Responsibility Leave
* Long-Term Illness and Injury Leave
* Bereavement Leave
* Domestic Violence Leave
* Citizenship Ceremony Leave – A new unpaid leave that provides up to a half-day of job protection for employees attending a citizenship ceremony
* Critical Illness of an Adult Family Member
* Critical Illness of a Child
* Death or Disappearance of a Child
Industries, Corporations, and Consumers
The party advocates:
– to promote job creation in the tourism sector, promoting a stable and predictable funding formula for Travel Alberta that links its funding and performance to tourism industry outcomes as a whole
– standing up for forestry jobs to ensure that the industry thrives as a s sustainable sector
Small and Medium Businesses
In view of a review by the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB) indicating that the province received low marks for business regulation, the party advocates:
– passage of a Red Tape Reduction Act to measure, report, and reduce the province’s regulatory requirements for busineses, including:
+ appointing a Minister for Red Tape Reduction to lead the Action Plan and meet the one-third reduction target
+ forming industry panels to help the Minister identify unnecessary red tape in every sector of Alberta’s economy
+ implementing a “One-In / One-Out” rule requiring ministries to identify at least one offsetting regulation to be revokeded for every new regulation created
+ creating a Red Tape Challenge Website at StopRedTape.ca to replicate the United Kingdom’s successful Red Tape Challenge by crowdsourcing input from businesses, organisations, and the public on which regulations should be improved, kept, or scrapped
+ cutting red tape within government to allow the public sector to focus on serving the public
+ moving from a process to outcome-based regulatory approach
+ fighting for an end to interprovincial barriers to free trade
Agriculture
The party states that:
– provinical farmers and ranchers are challenged by the carbon tax, higher WCB premiums, new labour regulations, power prices, and market access failures, particularly with respect to the sustainability of multi-generational farms and ranches
– in recent years, employment in Alberta’s agriculture sector has fallen by 19%, meaning that 11,300 jobs no longer exist
The party advocates:
– immediate and comprehensive consultations with farmers, ranchers, agriculture workers, and others on how best to balance the unique economic pressures of farming with the need for a common sense, flexible farm safety regime, including development of recommendations for the introduction of a Farm Freedom and Safety Act (FFSA) to:
+ repeal Bill 6 (i.e. the 2015 Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act)
+ require employers to maintain workplace insurance for farm workers, but allow employers to choose whether to purchase insurance from the market or from the WCB as long as basic standards of coverage are met for such things as medical and return-to-work support services, and protection against loss of income
+ exempt small farms from employment legislation, following the example of New Brunswick that exempts farms that “employ three or fewer employees over a substantial period of the year (not including family members)”
+ ensure basic safety standards
+ recognize that operating a farm is unlike operating a conventional business and that farmers and ranchers require much greater flexibility in meeting employment standards, minimizing red tape for farmers
+ strengthen property rights by pursuing the constitutional entrenchment of property rights and adopting an Alberta Property Rights Protection Act
+ fight for market access and reduce interprovincial trade barriers
+ streamline the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation to improve services and responsiveness to farmers
+ eliminate the carbon tax and reduce the corporate tax and red tape burden on farmers and ranchers by one-third
• fight back against attacks on agriculture by well-funded special interests, which in many ways resemble campaigns targeting thes energy industry in recent years
+ ensure that farmers, not government, set key agriculture research priorities
+ perform a comprehensive review of risk mitigation programs
+ consult on land sales in order to replace good agricultural land lost to urban expansion by cooperating with municipalities seeking auctions on parcels of Crown land for agricultural use, where appropriate, including consultation with First Nations communities and others
Transportation & Infrastructure
The party advocates focusing on infrastructure investments that support key public services, like health and education, and our economy, like roads:
– maintain the existing Government of Alberta Capital Plan for 2019/20 through 2022/23
– passing the Alberta Infrastructure Act that will provide transparency o prioritization criteria, establish predictable funding levels, and ensure adequate maintenance of existing assets
– using alternative financing, i.e. public-private partnerships (P3s), design and build, construction management, etc., for procurement of capital projects when there is a solid business case and value for money can be achieved for taxpayers
– limiting the use of “cost plus contracts” for procurement of capital projects
– preparing and publicly releasing an annual Government of Alberta Infrastructure Report as part of the province’s Annual Report to provide detailed information to Albertans on the progress made in meeting the various commitments in the Five-Year Capital Plan
– preparing and publicly releasing a 20-year Strategic Capital Plan for Alberta
Oil & Gas
The party states that Alberta’s energy sector is a global leader in environmental standards, labour standards, and technological innovation.
In order to create jobs in the energy sector, the party advocates:
– guaranteeing in law that the royalty regime in place when a well is permitted will remain in place for that project in perpetuity
– in order to increase the number of rigs n the field, (i) reclassify service rigs as off-road vehicles, such as farm equipment; (ii) replace rural road permits with an annual provincial permit; (iii) reclassify service rigs as provincial carriers even when crossing provincial boundaries; (iv) extend BOP Level IV certification from three to five years; (v) extend mast and overhead equipment level IV certification from 1,000 to 2,000 operating days
– ensuring that Alberta intervenes at all National Energy Board hearings that affect Alberta oil and gas interests
– to take advantage of opportunities to attract private sector capital investment to leverage inexpensive feedstock into petrochemical diversification and upgrades, respecting agreements made by the current government under the Petrochemical Diversification Program (PDP) and being open to extension of the PDP royalty tax credit model to incentivize future projects
– to preserve Alberta’s reputation as a world leader in responsible development of resources while also respecting the province’s reputation with investors as a leader in predictable and efficient regulation, (i) appointing a new Board of Directors to the AER that will focus on improving approval times and cutting red tape, and (ii) etablishing clear benchmarks for approval times and maintaining a public dashboard of the AER’s key performance metrics, (iii) aiming to have the fastest approvals in North America
– to protect provincial gas production, (i) appointing an Associate Minister for Natural Gas, (ii) appointing Associate Deputy Minister for Natural Gas in the Department of Energy, (iii) reviewing and implementing key recommendations of the 2018 Roadmap to Recovery (aka the Kvisle Panel), (iv) increasing regulatory efficiency and streamline project approvals to increase the pace of activity, (v) working with producers, the National Energy Board, and TransCanada to evaluate changes to regulations and policies pertaining to the NGTL system, including tolls and tariffs, and interconnection to the TransCanada Pipeline System through to the export points in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and to increase pipeline throughput, reduce price volatility, and lower shipper tolls on major natural gas pipeline systems,and (vi) working with the natural gas industry to facilitate infrastructure for shipping Alberta gas to Asian markets through Liquified Natural Gas projects
– to address the number of suspended or inactive oil and gas wells and associated facilities in Alberta that have reached the end of their economic lives, (i) streamlining the process for well and facility abandonment and environmental reclamation, (ii) working jointly with the AER and industry to overhaul the liability management framework in Alberta, ensuring liabilities are covered without unduly discouraging new investment, (iii) propose that the federal government provide tax incentives and financial support such as “green” flow-through shares for the abandonment and environmental reclamation of oil and gas wells and associated surface facilities, and (iv) urging the federal government to establish alternative financial vehicles that focus on environmental reclamation in the oil and gas industry, such as adapting Qualifying Environmental Trusts (QET) to include well decommissioning costs
Foreign interests
The party states that:
– journalists have reported that over a period of more than a decade millions of dollars have been spent in a complex international effort to stymie the oil industry in Canada
– decisions about the provincial economy and the development of its natural resources should rest with the people of Alberta
The party advocates:
– establishing an ‘Energy War Room’ to respond in real time to lies and myths told about Alberta’s energy industry through paid, earned, and social media, with a $30 million budget ($20 million from carbon charges on large emitters and $10 million re-profiled from the existing government advertising budget)
– using the persuasive power of the Premier’s “bully pulpit” to tell the truth in both official languages across Canada and around the world about how Albertans produce energy with the world’s highest environmental, human rights, and labour standards
– creating a $10 million litigation fund to support pro-development First Nations in defending their right to be consulted on major energy projects
– asking the energy industry to significantly increase its advocacy efforts
– seeking out and supporting Alberta energy companies that are willing to challenge the campaign of defamation by anti-Alberta special interests, similar to for $300 million in damages
– boycotting, by the provincial government, of multinationals who boycott Alberta products, and working with like-minded allies to challenge the campaign seeking to have institutional investors boycott Alberta oil
– challenging the charitable status of groups that are funneling foreign money into anti-Alberta campaigns
– ending any and all provincial government funding for groups involved in the “Tar Sands” campaign
– launching a public inquiry under the Inquiries Act into the foreign sources of funds behind the anti-Alberta energy campaign, and ensuring that the inquiry has power to compel witness testimony and a $2.5 million budget
– – approving a law banning foreign money from interfering in Alberta politics, making it illegal for foreign entities to finance third party advertisers (also known as political action committees)
– actively supporting and seeking of adoption of Senator Linda Frum’s Bill S-239, which would ban foreign money in federal Canadian politics
– removing Ed Whittingham from his position at the Alberta Energy Regulator
Forestry
The party states that:
– Alberta’s forestry sector employs over 16,000 Albertans directly and another 23,000 indirectly
– provincial forest companies and workers are world leaders in sustainable forestry practices and in managing Alberta’s land base for future generations
– policies of the current government are costly and threaten long-term timber supplies
– while it recognizes the federally mandated need to propose a caribou range protection plan, that plan must be done in close collaboration with all who are affected and must be based on science and common-sense conservation policies
The party advocates protecting, promoting, and partnering with Alberta’s forestry workers and companies to expand the sector’s economic opportunities at home and abroad, including:
– ensuring that forest companies have long-term access to a sustainable fibre supply with our Forest Jobs Guarantee, including current quotas and forest management agreements
– offesetting federal or court-ordered policies that inhibit access to fibre with access to an equal or larger area for forestry in the same region
– supporting environmentally sustainable forestry practices by working with Alberta’s forestry companies to optimize land management practices
– restoring funding for the fight against the mountain pine beetle by increasing funding by $5 million to $30 million annually
– defending Alberta’s forest sector and fighting for Alberta’s proper national share of trade-allocated export quotas
– directing Alberta’s foreign trade offices to work with forestry companies to improve export opportunities, especially in Asia
– immediate formation of a Caribou Range Task Force of local municipal governments, the Northwest Species at Risk Committee, forestry and other industries, Indigenous representatives, and habitat scientists to review the Alberta Caribou Draft Plan
– ensuring that that the province’s land use consultations and planning are completed before any new long-term decisions are made on habitat protection
– including Alberta’s forestry sector in our “fight back strategy” against foreign funded attacks on Alberta’s resources
– ensuring that the caribou range plan, and any other environment policies affecting the forestry industry, are subject to a comprehensive social-economic impact assessment
Innovation
The party states that
– the province has recently received a D- grade in the Conference Board of Canada’s most recent innovation report card in research and development outcomes. Alberta also received an overall grade of D in early stage R&D support, patents, and venture capital investment
– at the same time, 67% of employers in Alberta say the lack of access to digitally skilled talent is the biggest obstacle to growth. Companies are forced to move out of the province, or country, to fill these needs
– entrepreneurs and businesses looking at different potential jurisdictions to set up a new business find the Alberta government extremely hard to navigate
– government has an important role to play in fostering innovation, particularly through ensuring that Albertans are receiving proper training
The party advocates:
– driving innovation by creating the best business environment in Canada
– fixing the current approach to innovation funding by simplifying the way starts-up and growth companies secure public – and private – funding, including by reducing duplication and coordinating efforts of the many investment agencies in the province and requiring that investments of public money meet a clear ‘return on investment’ criteria
– apllying technology and processing improvements to the government itself, including active engagement in pilot projects to test global ‘best practices’ that can help deliver public services faster, more securely, and at lower cost
– to make Alberta a destination for global entrepreneurs, creating streams within the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program

An Economy to Serve People
Consider discussing the following questions with your local candidates, elected officials, and the parties, and with your family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and fellow parishioners:
Poverty Reduction
– What can be done to ensure that all Albertans are encouraged and enabled to apply the full range of their talents and gifts to the care of their families, to lift themselves out of poverty, and in doing so to give praise to God as co-creators, through meaningful creative work?
– How can Alberta best strike a balance between the principles of solidarity – ‘we’re all in this together’ – and subsidiarity – ‘everyone should do what he or she can to support themselves, before burdening others?’
– What is an appropriate definition of poverty, particularly in a society overflowing with consumer objects and material wealth? Should such definitions include consideration of the ability of individuals to seek personal fulfillment in pursuing truth?
– What, if anything, should be done to ensure that a dignified living wage, capable of providing a dignified home and opportunity to support a family is available to workers, or those willing to work, or to reduce poverty in Alberta? Should a basic income policy be considered? If so, what form should it take? What can or should be done by the provinces, and what should be left to the federal government, or to private or community organizations?
– It has been observed that debt levels among the elderly are increasing, especially as the costs of long-term, dignified care increase. What can or should be done to alleviate poverty and debt among the elderly?
GDP & Well-Being
For decades, governments have focused exclusively on gross domestic product – a measure of an economy’s sheer productivity – as the best measure of national economic health. More recently, some voices have begun to advocate for a broader index of national well-being, to include factors such as the physical and emotional health of the people, the health of the environment, equity in housing, income, and opportunity, and food security, in addition to raw production.
– Which of these approaches is more likely to reflect the well being of current and future national, provincial, or local populations, and their ability to achieve personal fulfillment in seeking and finding truth?
– What else can or should be done to ensure that Alberta’s economy serves the people, rather than the other way around? Is it reasonable to demand continuous economic growth, or might it be preferable to seek sustainable contentment?
Businesses and Corporations
For decades, corporate lobby groups and business schools have taught that the only legitimate object of a business corporation is to make money for its shareholders. More recently, some business voices have begun to advocate a broader role for corporations, to include service of its employees, its customers, and the community, and protection of the environment, as part of a corporation’s proper role.
– Which of these object definitions is more consistent with church teachings? Should anything be done to encourage development of a corporate and business culture that aims to serve people, communities, and future generations, in addition to profits? If so, what?