Alberta has a long and proud history of community support, cooperatives and working-class struggle, yet in taking a page straight from the political playbooks of the US right wing, the United Conservative Party (UCP) continues to dismember, subdivide and undersell our province’s wealth and security, bankrupting current and future generations.
Jason Kenney recently announced a $100 million proposal to build the largest private surgical facility in Alberta’s history, aimed at replacing the legacy left by Tommy Douglas with that of a Trump-styled American health system. University of Calgary law expert Lorian Hardcastle says the lack of transparency and corporate lobbying surrounding this proposal is troubling and could result in massive debt and inadequate health care.
If good timing is vital to comedy, Kenney is no comedian. At the start of the global pandemic he picked a fight with the province’s doctors, cancelling their pay agreement, which has resulted in close to 40 percent of them now threatening to leave the province. As the fight continues, doctors are worried about growing privatization and the resiliency of Alberta’s health care system amongst increasing COVID-19 infections.
In another act of absurd timing, the UCP paid $1.1 billion for a share of the Keystone pipeline, which may well never be built. Oil prices have hit rock bottom and every barrel from the oil patch is selling at a loss. Alberta is in a deep recession, $1.1 billion is needed to support workers and public services – instead the UCP is cutting education and health care staff, supporting socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor.
In a classic case of Orwellian double-speak, Kenney claims to depoliticize Alberta’s school curriculum by enlisting an outspoken homophobic, right-wing xenophobe, Chris Champion, as the social studies advisor. Champion thinks including Indigenous perspectives in lessons is a fad and questions the suffering of residential school survivors. Moreover, in an obscene rush to send teachers and students back to school this fall, 90 percent of necessary masks are being outsourced to American-owned Old Navy, with the remaining 10 percent coming from a Red Deer company owned by a major UCP donor. Here, cronyism meets globalism in what has seemingly become the standard UCP disregard for Alberta resilience and prosperity.
True to this formula, Kenney continues to squander Alberta’s natural wealth as the global energy sector increasingly turns its back on Alberta’s Tar Sands, writing off billions of Alberta oil assets and thus sending a powerful market message about the future of diluted bitumen. COVID-19 and the global push to reduce carbon emissions have undermined assumptions about the profitability and long-term viability of our oil sands assets.
Moreover, and reminiscent of his disastrous War Room debacle, Kenney continues to promote an embarrassing energy policy, recently ending a decades-old restriction on coal mining in parts of the Rocky Mountains and Foothills despite global consensus for phasing out coal. This was done without First Nations’ consultation, breaking treaty obligations, and with utter disregard for our environment. This is especially frustrating given the renewed interest and clear ability for Alberta geothermal, solar and wind energy production, which could create lasting employment and sustained energy sovereignty.
All of this comes at a time when Alberta is hurting most. The province’s unemployment rate is the second highest in the nation, COVID cases continue to lean towards the upswing, and the future of our province hangs in the air. Yet, Kenney speeds up cut taxes for big business (projected savings for Alberta’s big five oil companies are around $4.3 billion) despite Alberta already having the lowest corporate tax rate and a runaway deficit, he’s held a pointless referendum on equalization payments (which falls under the federal purview) and passed a bill that raises the maximum that third-party advertisers can spend during referendums (from $150,000 to $500,000).
The government rolls out new attack legislation at a record pace. Bill 1, The Critical Infrastructure Defense Act, restricts fundamental rights to peacefully assemble and protest. It is a shield for extractive industries and corporate profits, criminalizing the obstruction of “critical infrastructure,” which includes almost anything. Bill 30 allows for the privatization of public health services, placing the emphasis on profit rather than patient care quality. Bill 32 aims to undermine unions’ democratic rights by dismantling their collective power, preventing them from advocating for issues that matter to them most.
How will working-class Albertans continue to pay rent without a functioning economy, how will our children learn within an atmosphere of uncertain health, and how will the future of our province look after Kenney and his crew have effectively partitioned and sold off our wealth and social security? Alberta is increasingly ready for change.
