ALF V1

Inequality among Alberta's non-unionized women at "shocking" levels – McGowan

Edmonton – Unions are the best cure for the unfair pay gap that exists between men and women working in Alberta, according to new figures released today by the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) (click here for Backgrounder).

"Alberta has the highest levels of wage inequality in Canada, but unions provide the most equal workplaces for women in our province," says McGowan, president of the AFL, which represents 145,000 workers.

"Today, on International Women's Day, it is disappointing to see the unfair treatment endured by Alberta women workers. However, it is clear that unions in Alberta are successfully leading the fight for equality."

The union advantage is particularly stark for young women, aged 15-24. Young women in Alberta, without union coverage, have seen their wages stalled at $12/hour since 2009. But unionized young women earn a median $17.84/hour.

Unionized women's wages are higher than non-union women in all age groups, says McGowan. The presence of a union means a smaller pay gap between women and men in all age categories.

The AFL also revealed Alberta's stunning pay gap. Alberta women working full-year, full-time earn only 68 per cent of the amount men earn. Canada-wide, women earn 79 per cent of what men earn. The recession did not change the pay gap for Alberta women, which remains at the level most other provinces were at in the 1970s.

"Alberta women face higher levels of income inequality because our province lags behind the rest of Canada – and most of the industrialized world – in policies that allow women to balance family obligations with the workplace, such as investments in child care," says McGowan. "Alberta has among the worst family leave policies in Canada and low employment standards compared to other jurisdictions."

Alberta is also the only province in Canada without some kind of voice in the Legislature for women. All other Canadian provinces and territories, as well as the federal government, have either a ministry responsible for the status of women, an advisory council on the status of women, or some combination of these institutions.

McGowan repeated the Alberta Federation of Labour's call for Premier Redford to establish a Minister for the Status of Women.

--30-

MEDIA CONTACT: Gil McGowan, AFL president, 780-218-9888

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Lingering voter anger over the state's now-rejected collective bargaining law played out Tuesday as an issue in several state legislative primaries.

Contenders in the primary contests included educators and other public workers who were against the union-limiting bill passed last spring by the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

The measure would have affected more than 350,000 teachers, police, firefighters and other government employees. It was rejected by 62 percent of voters in November.

Democratic candidate Donna O'Connor was successful in her bid to seek a House seat in the Columbus suburbs for the first time. The Dublin teacher said she wanted to represent the voices of her fellow public workers inside the Statehouse.

She took 43 percent of the vote to win a three-way race that included businessman David Robinson, who narrowly lost a legislative bid in 2010, and David Donofrio, a former Ohio Legislative Service Commission fellow and deputy clerk of courts in Franklin County.

One GOP candidate for the Ohio House was not as successful in his attempt to use his opposition to the measure to distinguish himself in a three-way race.

Eric Spicer, a Republican from Beavercreek, saw his stance as a chance to present himself as a "nonpolitician" looking to avoid partisan fights. He was defeated by Greene County Commissioner Rick Perales, who grabbed about 60 percent of votes in the southwest Ohio district in preliminary results.

Incumbent state Rep. Jarrod Martin, who voted for the legislation, trailed the pack.

Martin was one of six Republican representatives with primary opponents, but the only one who lacked the support of the House GOP caucus.

Martin was arrested in July on a drunken-driving charge that was dismissed. He pleaded guilty to a traffic violation for failing to keep a trailer he was hauling in a marked lane and was fined $150 plus court costs.

House Speaker William Batchelder has told Martin it would be in the best interest of his family and the caucus if he would step down.

Republicans had three Ohio Senate primaries and 18 Ohio House matchups, including one write-in contender. Democrats had 14 House contests and no Senate races.

Among familiar faces in the primaries was Cincinnati Tea Party founder Mike Wilson.

Wilson, a Republican, won his race against Lonnie Bowling Jr., setting him up to again challenge Democratic incumbent Rep. Connie Pillich. Their matchup in 2010 triggered automatic recounts. Pillich, a Cincinnati lawyer, edged out Wilson by just over 600 votes.

All six incumbent House Democrats who faced primary challengers won Tuesday, including Minority Leader Armond Budish of Beachwood.

Republican Peggy Lehner of Kettering, the only sitting senator in a primary contest, won her race.

Dayton Daily News, Wed Mar 7 2012

Politics in Alberta. Money for nothing and the cheques for free. Dire straits indeed.

Let's hope somewhere in their skulls or souls they know it's wrong.

We can always hope but precious few show any evidence of knowing and no one is stepping up to give back the cash.

What we're talking about this day is the fact a group of provincial politicians, most of them from the governing Tories, sit on a committee that doesn't sit.

It's a group of 21 seatwarmers, that's more than a quarter of the legislature, who never have to warm a seat.

They just have to keep breathing and pick up the dough — $12,000 a year. If you're the chairman you score $18,000, to do nothing as you head up the group of do-nothings.

In this financial year, $261,000 has gone to this do-nothing farce. Since the committee last met 39 months ago, we're moving close to a million dollars for politicians in this absurd and immoral deal.

Yes, the group haven't met since 2008 and that meeting was ... wait for it ... 14 minutes long. Then they stopped huddling since, unlike the old days, these mugs don't get paid by the meeting, they get their coin for being in the group whether it meets or not.

Tory MLA Ray Prins, the chairman with the $18,000 for heading up nothing, doesn't appear to see a problem.

He feels the group is ready to respond as needed.

Yes, it's like the Standing Committee on Privileges, Elections, Standing Orders and Printing are on call, ready to go down the pole and out to the trucks, sirens on, to what we're not exactly sure.

Genia Leskiw, another Tory MLA on the committee, isn't sure what this group who don't meet is supposed to do when it's not doing nothing.

It's quite the gig and a lot of former heavy hitters get a stop at the money-for-nothing committee before they head out the door or because they've been taken down a notch or two.

Unsteady Eddie, the former premier pocketing a million bucks to go away, is at the trough of troughs.

There's former health minister Gene Zwozdesky, with his name on the list for the free grand a month after he was dumped from the Tory inner circle.

There's David Swann, whose regular cheque must not be as fat since he's no longer Liberal leader.

There's Lloyd Snelgrove, Eddie's old budget boss and Mel Knight who couldn't handle the energy file with two hands and a flashlight.

Lookee here, it's the less-than-legendary Janis Tarchuk who is leaving politics with $645,000 as a parting gift. That extra grand a month is just a little icing on her cake.

At the Canadian Taxpayers Federation they talk about how, in the real world, people go on committees where it's long hours and no pay. On this committee, it's no hours and $12,000 a year.

This is so bad, the taxpayer group gives the committee an award Wednesday for the most ridiculous provincial government waste to be found from coast to coast to coast.

Top-of-the-line piggery right here in free-spending Alberta.

Why mince words? This committee stunt is an obscenity, it should be toast and the politicians pocketing the dollars should put them back into the public kitty.

Alas, this is just the absurd top of an ugly iceberg.

There's the bye-bye bucks the provincial politicians gobble up at the exit door with the biggest winner being Ken Kowalski, the legislature Speaker who happens to be the head of a committee that does meet because they're in charge of fiddling with MLA pay and perks.

He will walk away in a month with $1.2 million.

Then there's the MLA pay, where you'd have to earn between $127,000 and $164,000 a year to make the same take-home pay as a backbencher daydreaming in the back row, voting on command and not spending a whole lot of time actually in the legislature.

Don't forget the RSP allowance, a free cheque of $11,225 this year.

The Wildrose have been pushing for a single wage for MLA with no extra committee pay. But it's Calgary Liberal MLA Kent Hehr who doesn't hold back.

Hehr demands action from the Tories, saying they should get the committee to kill itself.

The Tories have a majority on the committee.

Deputy Premier Doug Horner does diddly but dance and accuses Hehr of "playing to the media."

"This has to be cleaned up. We have a bad enough image without adding fuel to the fire," says Hehr.

"You have to be open and honest or people see through the BS sooner or later."

Sadly, it's usually later.

Calgary Sun, Wed Mar 7 2012
Byline: Rick Bell

EDMONTON - The Alberta Federation of Labour says energy companies exploited a loophole in the province's drilling stimulus programs, forcing the province to spend about $2.9 billion, more than double the projected cost.

Government officials, however, say the incentive programs worked to stimulate the economy during the economic downturn and created jobs during the recession.

Federation spokesman Gil McGowan said Wednesday that documents obtained under access to information laws show it is clear the energy companies were squeezing as much out of the program as possible, at Albertans' expense.

"The governments' own staff knew that certain energy companies were gaming the system," McGowan said. "They presented that evidence to senior decision-makers within the government bureaucracy who have the ear of cabinet ministers.

"They could have taken action. They didn't."

McGowan said the federation is not against incentive programs that put people to work but that "there has to be some performance measures, there has to be some oversight.

"These foregone royalties represent the lion's share of the deficit, which the government has used to justify massive cuts to social services and public infrastructure," McGowan said.

"The government is telling Albertans the cupboard is bare for public services, but it's bare in large measure because of this irresponsible and out-of-control corporate giveaway."

Alberta's Drilling Incentive Program was announced in March 2009 to stimulate the economy during the recession.

It included three programs: the Drilling Royalty Credit, the New Well Incentive and the $30-million Orphan Well Fund.

The government originally said the incentives would cost about $1.6 billion in foregone royalty revenue over two years.

Budget documents show that in 2009, costs ballooned to $1.2 billion from the estimated $842 million. In 2010, costs surged to $1.8 billion from the original $732 million estimate.

The final price tag for the Drilling Incentive Programs was about $2.9 billion, roughly $1.3 billion over the budget.

Of that spending, the Drilling Royalty Credit accounted for $1.7 billion, more than triple the original estimated of $466 million. The New Well Incentive program cost for $1.2 billion, just over the initial estimated of $1 billion.

The documents released by the federation suggest bureaucrats knew the Drilling Royalty Credit program was going over-budget because energy companies were swapping credits on a "grey market" to increase the incentives they received.

Energy Minister Ted Morton said he was aware of the credit swapping.

"I was aware of the fact that the program was costing more than we anticipated. We looked at it, and we were getting good pick up and it was creating more jobs," Morton said.

"At the time we thought that if it gets the rigs back working again, then it's achieving its effect."

In 2009, fewer than one in five drilling rigs were working in Alberta. By 2010, that figure had climbed to one in three, due in part to the stimulus programs, Morton said.

Similarly, the number of rigs working had dropped to 141 in 2009 as a result of the recession. In 2010, 237 rigs were up and working.

Gary Leach, executive director of Small Explorers and Producers Association of Canada, said governments around the world launched stimulus packages at the time.

"I don't believe that companies were gaming the system," he said. "This wasn't a loophole. The program was designed to make sure the companies spent the money because the government wanted to make sure the companies were investing. ... These credits were designed to be transferred."

Leach said most of the money was spent in rural Alberta where "it gets turned into jobs, it gets turned into property taxes for rural areas, and it turns into royalty streams for the government.

"Two years later, I think it was a success. Nobody is looking for another one."

Edmonton Journal, Wed Mar 7 2012
Byline: Karen Kleiss

Horne says province trying to mend relationships with MDs

CALGARY — Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne said he's not aware of political intimidation in the province's medical system — and said the Tory government is trying to mend its relationship with physicians.

Under fire from opposition critics at a health-care town hall Tuesday, Horne acknowledged Alberta's medical system is in a "tumultuous" time, but said there's no crisis and the government is taking steps to improve public health care.

"I do not believe our health-care system as a whole is in crisis in Alberta," Horne said. "There are some relationships in our health-care system that need attention."

About 200 community members, physicians and other health-care professionals attended the forum Tuesday.

With an election call potentially just weeks away — and Alberta's doctors promising to ramp up public advocacy — Horne and representatives from four opposition parties fielded questions on politically charged health-care problems.

Horne fended off accusations from opposition parties that the Redford government has lost the trust of health workers and Albertans over its handling of medical issues in the wake of a scathing Health Quality Council of Alberta report.

Alberta Liberal health critic Dr. David Swann said a "chronic uncertainty" in the system must be resolved.

"The professionals in the system have not seen the kind of changes that would actually build trust, build a sense of solidarity, and a plan going forward they can buy into," he said.

Heather Forsyth of the Wildrose contended the health-care system is "broken," and the government must do a better job managing resources.

The panel, hosted by the Alberta Medical Association, the Canadian Medical Association and the Calgary Herald, also included Alberta Party Leader Glenn Taylor and Alberta NDP candidate Shannon Phillips.

It comes as the government has promised to enact 21 recommendations to improve care following the health quality council report last month that found lengthy emergency-room waits and widespread problems of physicians being bullied.

A judicial inquiry on health care will only examine allegations of queue-jumping in the Alberta medical system.

The health quality council report found stories of physicians who were being intimidated, but didn't identify specific cases.

"If we really want accountability in this system, we need that full judicial inquiry and we need it now, not after the election," Phillips said.

"Why don't we do what Albertans want, instead of what the government wants, in regards to the inquiry?" said Forsyth.

Horne said Tuesday the government has already begun work to build a "just and trusting" culture in health care and an inquiry isn't needed into physician intimidation. Asked whether there are cases of political interference from cabinet or caucus in the instances of intimidation documented in the report, Horne said: "Not to my knowledge."

The forum covered a broad range of issues, including plans for the Redford government's new family care clinics, alternate models of payment for physicians and an increased role for Alberta's pharmacists.

The province's plan for continuing care spaces also came under the microscope. The government has committed to reducing acute care bed occupancy to 95 per cent by Oct. 31, and that means, in part, ensuring more seniors are moved from hospital beds into nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

The health minister said there are 14,600 long-term care beds in Alberta, and as of January, about 325 Albertans waiting in acute care beds for the spaces.

"We're interested in placing people in facility-based care who need it. We are equally interested in facilitating a return to home with appropriate support for people who don't need to be in a facility."

Forsyth noted that in 2010, the government said Alberta had 14,800 long-term care beds and questioned why the number has gone down while the need increases.

Grilled about the new family care clinics, promised by Premier Alison Redford during her Tory leadership bid, Horne said work is underway to open three pilot projects by the end of this month. The centres are supposed to support better primary care in Alberta by having a team of health professionals in one facility with extended hours.

Critics questioned how the centres will be different from existing primary care networks. Horne said the family care clinics will be designed to offer small communities services to meet their unique needs.

Tuesday's forum came as the AMA appealed for an end to political interference in physician advocacy, and promised a "higher level of public advocacy."

The group took out full-page ads in the Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal, asking, "Just how sick is Alberta's health-care system."

The ads, which were published as doctors have been without a long-term agreement since March 2011, state that advocacy "requires physicians being involved in decisions that really matter surrounding the care of you and your family. It also requires an end to political interference and the creation of a respectful relationship between Alberta's doctors and the government."

Last month the Tory government imposed a one-year salary arrangement on Alberta doctors, including a two per cent increase in fees and a boost to the amount given to primary care networks to $62, up from $50 per enrolled patient.

Negotiations on a long-term deal with doctors are continuing.

Calgary Herald, Wed Mar 7 2012
Byline: Jamie Komarnicki

The government has it backwards when it comes to the new public inquiry being launched into queue-jumping in the health-care system.

Sure, it's a troubling issue. But former Alberta Health Services CEO Stephen Duckett, who red-flagged the problem of go-to guys in the system MLAs could use to fast- track treatment for influential Albertans, said he put a stop to it before he was canned.

The new inquiry, which Premier Alison Redford insists fulfils a promise she made in her leadership campaign, will determine if queue-jumping "is occurring."

With the microscope trained on health care these days, it's a safe bet the inquiry, headed by retired N.W.T. court judge John Z. Vertes, won't unearth much hanky panky.

It's also safe to assume that, given human nature, queue-jumping took place in the past, but ostensibly we'll never know for sure, because that won't fall within the scope of this probe.

"We have an independent judicial inquiry starting their work today on the issue that matters to Albertans," Premier Alison Redford said Monday.

An odd conclusion, given that most Albertans are far more alarmed that the queues exist in the first place.

Redford and Health Minister Fred Horne blow off demands for a broader inquiry by suggesting a "task force" will take care of such issues as physician intimidation and the impact of the massive 2008 restructuring.

Better yet, as a government heading into an election in April, they hope it will put a lid on this mess until well after Albertans cast their votes.

Not much chance of that.

There were too many questions raised in the troubling report by the Health Quality Council of Alberta on physician intimidation, inability to cut wait times and the impact of the major shakeup initiated by Health Minister Ron Liepert after the last election.

Add to this the brutal criticism contained in a full-page ad by the Alberta Medical Association Tuesday that asks: "Just how sick is Alberta's health-care system?"

It addresses patients who've had problems with access to family doctors and specialists, long waiting times in emergency rooms and the lack of long-term care services.

"Unfortunately, the news about the health-care system over the past few days won't give you much hope for improvement in the future," reads the startling "message from the doctors of Alberta."

It's clear physicians, who revealed brutal accounts of bullying and intimidation during the Health Quality Council probe, won't let themselves get kicked around any longer.

It's been a bad week for the Tories, with the revelation a government MLA advised a Catholic school board to shut up if it wanted funding to replace a school that was shamefully rundown.

The episode makes it painfully clear the lengths to which this government will go to silence criticism.

It also raises the question of the price we've paid as a result of this enforced silence.

Redford says "we have to move ahead" on fixing health care, rather than dwelling on "reliving the past to the point where we cannot improve the health care system."

She's probably right, but before we can do that, we have to figure out why our health-care system has gone so horribly off-course, despite the riches poured into it.

The Tory government, which has ruled with an iron fist to stifle dissent, has bungled health care to the point where the province's doctors are now in open revolt.

Somebody needs to be held to account for this mess.

If Redford won't do that, it will be up to Alberta voters.

It's beginning to look like a fix for health care won't come while the Tories are running the show.

Calgary Sun, Wed Mar 7 2012
Byline: Roy Clancy

Wildrose party cries political electioneering

The Redford government is under attack from opposition members over spending more than $1.3 million of taxpayers' money on advertising campaigns - including $425,000 promoting the 2012 budget - just weeks before an election call.

Wildrose MLA Guy Boutilier charged Tuesday that many of the advertisements constitute blatant political electioneering that should be paid for by the Progressive Conservative party rather than taxpayers.

Boutilier drew attention to a new campaign to assure Albertans there are no new taxes coming this year.

"This government ad isn't about a new program or project," Boutilier told the legislature. "It's not a public service announcement. It's a purely political ad using Albertans' hard-earned tax dollars."

He said the campaign contains lines like: "No new taxes means you can keep spending money on things that matter to you."

But Redford contends the advertising is a legitimate use of taxpayers dollars.

"We want Albertans to be informed with respect to the budget," she said Monday before heading to Washington. "We want them to clearly understand how optimistic we are with respect to the future of the economy, that we have made no decisions and will not make decisions that would suggest we would make cuts in services."

According to a script tabled in the legislature, the ad features various people talking on the street about how they want to spend their money, with an announcer concluding: "We're keeping money in Albertans' wallets."

Boutilier said he believes using taxpayers dollars to convey such a message on the eve of an election is "unethical."

"It's fundamentally wrong and it doesn't pass the smell test."

Deputy premier Doug Horner accused the Wildrose party of "political grandstanding.

"Every year we do a budget," he said. "We spend dollars on informing Albertans what is contained in that budget and what it means to their lives. Albertans want us to do that."

Premier's spokesman Jay O'Neill said the government is spending $425,000 on a radio, online and newspaper ad campaign that runs from Feb. 10 to March 15 to promote the budget. It is spending an additional $260,000 on advertising to promote its recentlyannounced review of electricity pricing mechanisms.

"Just because there is an election coming doesn't mean government stops business," O'Neill said. The government is also running a $270,000 ad campaign to promote traffic safety and its new distracted driving law and a $377,000 ad campaign against family violence, but those ads haven't been the focus of the opposition criticism.

Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith said it is "outrageous" the Redford government is using taxpayers money to promote itself on the eve of an election call.

"You should not be able to use taxpayer dollars for blatant partisan advertising in advance of an election," she said.

Manitoba has a law that bans government advertising 60 days in advance of the election being called, Smith said. She pledged to set a fixed election date so a similar election advertising ban could be imposed in Alberta to prevent the abuse of taxpayers dollars.

Saskatchewan, which also has a fixed election date, also has a ban on government advertising 30 days before the writ is dropped.

But Redford said the advertising informs Albertans her government is not going to raise taxes and that "the budget we're going to pass is the fiscal plan for the future of the province."

Wildrose House Leader Rob Anderson accused the Tories of using taxpayers money as their own campaign "piggy bank."

NDP Leader Brian Mason said his party would be in trouble with the Legislature Assembly Office if it attempted to use money set aside for caucus research on such partisan advertising before a vote. He said legislature officials "would come down on us like a ton of bricks."

"They are using their position as government to spend taxpayers money to convince people to vote for the Progressive Conservative party," he said.

He also criticized the premier for doubling her communications office staff with the addition of five employees seconded from the province's Public Affairs Bureau.

Calgary Herald, Wed Mar 7 2012
Byline: Darcy Henton

Government advertising should be used to inform the public about programs and services, not to promote the party in power. The Redford government's new $425,000 ad campaign on its recently passed budget clearly seems to be doing the latter. The ads contain no public service value and, on the cusp of an election, come across as shameless electioneering.

An excerpt from a casting call for one of the radio ads says that Alberta is not introducing any new taxes this year, with a young man's voice saying that will allow him to buy a new mountain bike. A mom says she's going to buy a candy-apple red cake mixer, and an older couple effuse that they are going on vacation. An announcer says: "No new taxes means you can keep spending money on things that matter to you," according to the radio script.

Opposition critics says the ad is an example of the Redford Tories trying to buy votes from Albertans with their own money. "This government ad isn't about a new program or project," Wildrose MLA Guy Boutilier said. "It's not a public service announcement. It's a purely political ad using Albertans' hard-earned tax dollars."

The claim of no new taxes may technically be true, but the Redford government has indicated that tax hikes, including possibly even a sales tax, are on the table in future budgets. Finance Minister Ron Liepert, in tabling the budget last month, said "we must diversify our economy and grow our economic pie."

"As we move away from volatile resource revenues to fund ongoing programs, and move toward a more sustainable revenue base, we know that a discussion on taxes must lie in Alberta's future," Liepert said. "While the tax system may change, one thing that must not change is Alberta's tax advantage."

In other words, the Redford government will consider raising taxes as long as everyone else's are higher. It is thus specious to run ads saying there are no new taxes now just weeks before Redford is expected to call an election.

Other provinces ban government advertising in the lead up to an election. Alberta shouldn't go that far. The business of government does not stop because of an impending election. But ads that are partisan in nature should be paid for out of party, not government, funds.

"They are using the $40-billion budget of the province to campaign," Liberal Leader Raj Sherman recently told the Herald's editorial board. "It's wrong and it's got to stop."

By blurring the lines between communication and self-promotion, the Tories are accomplishing only one thing: instant cynicism.

The Tories also spent $100,000 on a recent cabinet tour of the province and $70,000 on a caucus retreat to Jasper that opposition members called a campaign planning session.

For the first time in their 40-year history, the Tories will be launching attack ads in an election. By spending money from the public purse in their pre-campaign on soft, positive spin, perhaps it's left them more money for their advertising attacks that are specifically targeted against the Wildrose Party.

Calgary Herald, Wed Mar 7 2012

Ramp-up planned for September 2013

Alberta parents shouldn't expect to see the full-day kindergarten promised by Premier Alison Redford this fall, but the province's education minister says as much as 50 per cent of Alberta kindergarten spots will be in full-day programs by the beginning of the 2013 school year.

When fully ramped up, Thomas Lukaszuk said, full-day classes will cost the province an extra $200 million per annum, and will probably be an option rather than mandatory program.

However, the minister expects abundant uptake because "parents see value in this."

Under questioning by the Alberta Liberals in the legis-lature on Tuesday, Lukaszuk said the Redford government's commitment to full-day kindergarten stands, but more classroom space will be needed to house what he said is essentially a new grade.

"It is obvious that you just can't flick a switch and make it available September 2012," Lukaszuk said.

"There simply isn't enough space capacity in many of the schools."

In an interview, the minister said the program funding will come, and the only limiting factor for getting children into full-day kindergarten, which many educators believe improves literacy and social skills development, will be available infrastructure.

"You will see it in September of 2013; you will see a wide-scale implementation," Lukaszuk said, noting already one quarter of kindergarten children attend full-day classes.

"It will be somewhere probably between 25 and 50 per cent by 2013, and building year by year." Lukaszuk said his department is doing an analysis of classroom availability. Some school boards have excess capacity, he said, and others that have "zero capacity" will request portables.

"Some school boards may consider actually redesignating an entire school that's empty into all kindergarten," Lukaszuk said. "Different school boards will find different ways of doing it."

In the PC party leadership race last year, Redford said within a year of forming the government, she would implement full-day kindergarten. Last December the premier said the program would be phased in within two or three years.

But Alberta Liberal education critic Kent Hehr said he doesn't see the Tories putting money or a real commitment behind the full-day program. The Calgary-Buffalo MLA said the budget doesn't contain firm numbers for staffing or building new school infrastructure.

"This is simply a promise to do something in the future," Hehr said.

"It's another leadership promise that has fallen by the wayside."

The public Calgary Board of Education already provides full-day kindergarten in 16 schools, while the Calgary Catholic School District has the program in 22 schools.

Those programs are paid for out of the boards' existing funding and are in schools where it is felt a significant portion of the students would benefit, such as schools with a large number of children who speak English as a second language.

Chris Smeaton, superintendent for the Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Separate Regional Division No. 4, said his southern Alberta school division would need to add a number of modular classrooms to existing schools to accommodate the change.

Smeaton said only one of the school division's 10 elementary schools now has the space for full-day kindergarten programming.

"Currently the infrastructure doesn't support it," he said.

In Calgary, the public board also said not every elementary school today has room for full-day kindergarten classes. Through a spokeswoman, board chairwoman Pat Cochrane said she and the board of trustees are "looking forward to working with the minister on this issue and to exploring further with him what his vision for all-day kindergarten will be."

Calgary Herald, Wed Mar 7 2012
Byline: Kelly Cryderman

The Canadian Construction Association (CCA) and a group of Alberta business associations are pushing for immigration reform to deal with a shortage of skilled labour.

The initiatives are happening at the same time the federal government is proposing changes to the skilled worker program.

"Canada's current immigration system does not adequately address the needs of the Canadian construction industry or the projected growth of the Canadian economy," said Michael Atkinson, president of the CCA.

"On the surface, the reforms outlined sound like they would go a long way to addressing the challenges that employers currently face to bring in skilled workers, which would ultimately contribute to a more competitive Canadian economy."

Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney outlined plans for immigration reform, during a keynote address to the National Metropolis Conference on March 1.

The minster highlighted changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), which would require applicants to have a job offer in Canada or experience in one of 29 occupations in demand.

The Federal Skilled Worker Program is Canada's most important pathway for immigrants to obtain permanent residency.

For several years, the CCA has been advocating for reforms to the FSWP, which make the immigration system more user friendly to the construction industry.

While Kenney was talking about a vision for immigration reform, a group of 19 business organizations called the Alberta Coalition for Action on Labour Shortages (ACALS) is asking the federal government to take action to deal with labour shortages in western Canada.

"Overall, what the group is saying is that we need recognition that the pending labour shortage has got to move up on the public policy agenda, in order for the economy to move forward," said Bill Stewart, vice president of Merit Contractors Association in Alberta, which is a member of the ACALS.

"The federal government knows there are labour market needs that could be better met by looking at how points are allocated to specific sectors under the skilled worker program."

Both Stewart and Atkinson agree that the current immigration system puts too much emphasis on language proficiency and post secondary education.

A maximum of 16 points (out of a total of 100) is awarded for high proficiency in the first official language.

Education points are awarded based on the credential and the number of associated years of education.

Skilled tradespeople often have a credential in their trade, but not the required years of education, so they lose points.

The latest data released by Statistics Canada last week shows that 36,770 skilled workers obtained Canadian permanent residency in 2011.

Skilled tradespeople make up a very small share of the total number of these people, who are entering Canada under the FSWP.

Added to this problem, a large backlog has developed over the last several years, as applications have outstripped annual processing targets.

As a result, there are significant delays in processing applications, with some application not being looked at for more than four years.

As of June 30th, 313,825 applications remained in the backlog.

"Regardless of the backlog, the current system does not work very well for the trades or technical requirements," said Stewart. "Under the current system, only 3.0 per cent of the people have a trades background."

In response to this problem, Citizenship and Immigration Canada is proposing to increase the maximum points awarded for proficiency in the first official language from 16 to 20, while establishing minimum language requirements, depending on the immigrant's occupational skill level.

According to Kenney, the new points system will place greater emphasis on the importance of language and recognize that a doctor and a welder need a different language ability to successfully integrate in Canada.

The Construction Sector Council forecasts rising labour requirements for new construction in Alberta between 2011 and 2019 will increase the labour force by 30,000 workers.

At the same time, expected exits from the labour force due to retirements and mortality total 35,000 workers.

Half of the total requirements will be met with 26,000 new entrants, which means there is a shortage of 40,000 construction workers that will need to come from outside Alberta.

The ACALS argues that the reform of the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program is an important part of an overall strategy to fill this labour shortage.

Others disagree.

For example, the Alberta Federation of Labour argues that calls to expand the TFW are designed to drive down the wages in the province.

"Blowing the doors off the TFW program is not the solution that Alberta needs," said Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

Instead, McGowan recommends that the government follow the advice of former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed and set a more reasonable pace of development in the oilsands.

He said that a more reasonable pace of development will allow labour needs to be met by the existing labour force in Canada.

Journal of Commerce, Wed Mar 7 2012
Byline: Richard Gilbert