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In December 2007, just as the worst recession in decades got underway, 54 leading U.S. economists were asked by Business Week magazine to share their economic outlook for 2008.

More than 96 per cent saw another year of modest growth. Only two predicted a recession -- even though it had already started.

In July 2008, when oil prices hit $147 US a barrel, some of the biggest brains on Wall Street -- along with famed energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens -- predicted crude would soon hit $200.

Wrong again. With oil now hovering around $50, the experts overshot the mark by $150.

As these gigantic goofs illustrate, forecasting anything -- from next year's economic growth, to the outcome of the Stanley Cup playoffs, to this weekend's weather, to the growth of man-made carbon emissions by 2050 -- is a fool's game.

Most forecasts turn out to be dead wrong. Why?

They're often based on faulty assumptions, an inability to anticipate the impact of complex future technological or societal changes, incomplete or inaccurate data, and last but not least, built-in biases.

Even the most fair-minded forecasters often see what they want to see -- depending on their particular vested interest -- and then do their best to rationalize the preordained conclusions their "research" inevitably produces.

All of which brings me to the current topic du jour: the glorious dream, perpetuated by the green lobby and its allies that the world can end its reliance on evil fossil fuels, slash carbon emissions, save the planet, and create millions of well-paid new green jobs, with little or no pain.

Along the way, we're told, we could also end the recession, replace the millions of North American jobs that have disappeared since the downturn began, and set the world on course for a bright, sustainable, shiny future.

This is pure fantasy, of course, and it's even more delusional in light of the current global economic crisis.

Entire countries are now flirting with bankruptcy, global bank losses are expected to top $4 trillion US, according to the International Monetary Fund, and the U.S. has already lost more jobs -- 5.1 million -- than Barack Obama's celebrated green-jobs plan promises to create over the next 10 years.

Yet, if anything, the fantastical dream of economic salvation through green jobs grows stronger by the day. But that doesn't change a simple fact. The world depends on fossil fuels for an obvious reason. They're cheap, plentiful, efficient and flexible.

The preferred green alternatives -- solar power, wind power, biofuels, geothermal, tidal power, fuel cells -- are far more costly, less reliable and largely unproven, on a mass commercial basis.

All rely heavily on massive public subsidies -- from cash-strapped governments that are already straining under the weight of huge deficits -- and in the case of corn-based ethanol, are arguably more damaging to the planet than fossil fuels.

Most thoughtful people know this. But that doesn't stop the greens from pushing their sanitized version of the future.

Witness the 70-page report issued Wednesday by Greenpeace, the Sierra Club Prairie Chapter, and the Alberta Federation of Labour, titled It's Time to Build Alberta's Future.

At a time when Alberta -- and the rest of the country -- is shedding thousands of jobs every month, the report suggests the province could create more than 200,000 green jobs in areas such as mass transit, renewable energy and publicly funded home retrofits.

Predictably, the report slams "false solutions" such as Alberta's $2-billion commitment to carbon capture and storage technology, which doesn't align with the green movement's selective enthusiasm for new technology.

I hope you read the report. It's thought-provoking. But after you do, I'd suggest you read another report, produced last month by a group of economists and legal experts from four U.S. universities, titled Green Jobs Myths.

The report can be downloaded, free of charge, from the U.S.-based Social Science Research Network.

Be forewarned: the painstakingly researched 97-page document doesn't make for easy reading. It's a scholarly study, full of footnotes, detailed tables, and comprehensive economic and energy data. It's not a polemic.

But in the end, it paints a damning, highly critical picture of the lofty job creation claims that are so casually tossed around by people like Al Gore, and pressure groups such as Greenpeace.

It's impossible to do the report justice in this column. It covers far too much ground, and the details are exhaustive. But it concludes that there are seven myths behind the current ideological push to create so-called green jobs:

Myth One: There is no coherent, standardized definition of a green job, thus creating a smokescreen behind which political coalitions, labour unions and lobby groups can hide in pursuit of other goals.

Myth Two: Creating green jobs will boost productive employment. In fact, green jobs estimates include huge numbers of clerical, bureaucratic and administrative positions that do not produce goods or services.

Myth Three: Green jobs forecasts are reliable. Not so, say the report's authors. In fact, estimates vary enormously, and are often based on faulty logic, questionable assumptions, and reflect inherent bias.

Myth Four: Green jobs promote employment growth. Untrue, the authors conclude. Economic growth can't be mandated through central planning or regulation.

Myth Five: The world economy can be remade based on local production, and reduced consumption, without dramatically decreasing human welfare. "This is a recipe for economic disaster, not ecotopia," the report finds.

Myth Six: Mandates are a substitute for markets. History shows that markets are far more efficient at accomplishing the very goals greens purport to seek, the authors say.

Myth Seven: Wishing for technological progress is sufficient. Not so, say the authors, who decry the green lobby's "selective technological optimism/pessimism," and unrealistic expectations.

Edmonton Journal, Mon Apr 23 2009
Byline: Gary Lamphier

[Edmonton] - Delegates to the Alberta Federation of Labour convention will march to the Legislature Friday at noon to demand an end to provincial cuts to Medicare.

Three hundred delegates will march from the Chateau Lacombe to the Legislature at noon where they will hold a rally titled Medicare: Forward not Backward. Addressing the rally will be AFL President Gil McGowan, United Nurses of Alberta President Heather Smith, Noel Summerville, Chair of Public Interest Alberta's Seniors' Task Force, Elisabeth Ballermann, President of Health Sciences Association of Alberta, Carol Allan, spokesperson for the AFL Pride and Solidarity Committee, and David Eggen, Executive Director of the Friends of Medicare.

Another highlight for Friday include an address at 9:45 a.m. by Dave Engledow, the Field Director of the American Federation of Labour -Congress of Industrial Organizations' Working America program -a remarkable experiment in union outreach to the general public in the United States.

Finally, U of A Professor Jerry Kachur will discuss 10 Alberta Big Shots: the Face of Corporate Alberta at 4:00 p.m.

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For more information call:

Gil McGowan, AFL President (780) 483-3021 (office) (780) 218-9888 (cell)

 

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Creating a more environmentally sustainable economy could create tens of thousands of jobs in Alberta, according a report released Wednesday by the Alberta Federation of Labour, Greenpeace and the Sierra Club of Canada.

"There are many people who argue you can't have a strong economy and a healthy environment - that somehow we have to make a choice between the two," said Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

'Green jobs include familiar jobs with a new twist ...'-Green Jobs report

"We're starting to realize that in the long run, a healthy environment is essential for a healthy economy and that the economy can be put to work to improve the health of the environment."

A move toward creating more environmentally sustainable energy sources could provide jobs for electricians, computer and electrical engineers, iron and steel workers, welders, construction workers and sheet metal workers, the report says.

"Green jobs include familiar jobs with a new twist, like construction workers retrofitting homes to make them more energy efficient," the report says.

It calls on the Alberta government to shift its focus from oil and gas extraction to initiatives to improve energy efficiency, the expansion of light rail and transit and the expansion of the province's renewable energy sector.

By retrofitting every home, the province could put 6,500 to 14,000 people back to work over the next two years, while reducing energy consumption and emissions, the report says, adding that this would cost less and have a greater long-term effect than the $2 billion the province spent over six years on the recently cancelled natural gas rebate program.

Transit, rail projects could employ thousands

Spending $10 billion to build better transit systems and construct a high-speed rail link between Calgary and Edmonton could create 19,000 to 28,000 jobs over seven years.

Establishing renewable energy tariffs, mandatory renewable energy targets for utilities and bans on new carbon-emitting projects would encourage development of more wind, solar and geothermal technology.

Other jobs could be created to provide water treatment for First Nations communities, reforestation, and cleaning up contaminated sites, the report adds.

The Alberta government needs to step in and make the policy changes for this shift to occur.

"This is a task that government will need to undertake. The private sector on its own hasn't been able to do this," the report says, adding the province has "tens of billions of dollars" available to move toward a greener economy

 CBC News, Wed Apr 22 2009

Stephani Carter earned a reputation early in her career as "the Green Girl who asks tough questions," constantly pushing the envelope of her Earth-first sensibilities about architecture and design.

Today, she heads her own company -- EcoAmmo -- researching materials, teaching commercial builders how to go green, and generally spreading the word about sustainable design.

In the past, Carter has observed Earth Day by challenging her staff to a spirited round of Eco Bingo, a game she invented years ago, where the spaces on the card are filled with eco-friendly initiatives instead of numbers, and prizes are organically prepared dinners for two rather than cold, hard cash.

Carter and a growing number of others with so-called green jobs believe a healthy environment and a healthy economy are intertwined.

That belief is at the heart of a report to be released today that calls on the provincial government to invest in creating more green jobs to strengthen Alberta's sagging economy.

The report says "tens of thousands" of such jobs can be made available "right away," not only shrinking the province's oily footprint, but developing "a new green economy" at the same time.

The report is the result of an unlikely alliance between organized labour and environmentalists.

Recent job losses in Alberta -- 44,000 full-time jobs in the past three months alone, according to government statistics -- have prompted the Alberta Federation of Labour, Greenpeace Canada and the Sierra Club's Prairie chapter to join forces in calling for a shift toward greater sustainability.

The report suggests the government stop pouring money into oil and gas and start investing in other green-job industries, such as transit.

The province can dramatically reduce automobile dependency by refurbishing buses and light-rail transit cars now in use, building rapid-bus systems, expanding LRT systems and creating a new high-speed rail system on the Edmonton-Red Deer-Calgary corridor.

The report also calls for the creation of a new provincial Crown corporation to focus on renewable energy resources, such as wind, solar and geothermal.

Energy efficiency should be another major focus for green-job investment, the report suggests.

By retrofitting homes -- insulating, weather-stripping and installing high efficiency windows and furnaces -- up to 14,000 Albertans could be put to work in the next two years, while energy consumption, emissions and heating costs would be reduced.

For Carter and her fellow advocates, the recommendations in the report are timely, if not overdue.

"I'm 29, and a lot of us from the Earth Day generation of the '90s have really embraced environmentalism," she said.

"We're actually out in the job market now, looking to change jobs to be green, or starting green companies ourselves.

"We want to be part of a green workforce."

Edmonton Journal, Wed Apr 22 2009
Byline: Jamie Hall

Following a record 53 charges laid against three companies for a 2007 accident that killed two workers at the oilsands work site, the Alberta Federation of Labour blames the provincial government for not being more vigilant to prevent such a tragedy.

Alberta Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) announced 53 charges yesterday in connection to the April 24, 2007, accident that also injured four other workers, two seriously, at the Canadian Natural Resources Horizon project, about 75 kilometres north of Fort McMurray.

Twenty-nine charges were laid against CNRL, the operator of the Horizon site where the accident occurred. Another 14 charges were laid against contractors SSEC Canada Ltd. and 10 against the Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Company Ltd. The charges included several counts of failing to ensure the health and safety of the workers. Other charges include failing to ensure that a professional engineer prepared and certified drawings and procedures; failing to ensure the roof support structure inside the tank was stable during assembly; failing to ensure that U-bolt type clips used for fastening rope wire were installed properly; and failing to ensure that wire rope being used was safe. The three companies are expected to make their first court appearance June 8 in Fort McMurray.

Hong Liang Liu, 33, an electrical engineer, and Genbao Ge, 27, a scaffolder, died after a roof collapsed in a large oil tank where they were working. Both were non-union employees of Sinopec Shanghai Engineering. CNRL had contracted the company to build the tanks in 2006. Liang had been in Canada since September 2006, while Ge arrived in January 2007. Four other Chinese labourers were injured in the collapse. All were temporary labourers.

No one was injured when a second tank collapsed a few weeks later because the area was still under a stop-work order that covered the three of the 15 tanks from the April 24 accident.

"For the duration of the Horizon project, we maintained a strong safety record on the construction site. We were deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of the two contract workers and the related injuries to the associated contract workers. Our heartfelt sympathies are again extended to their families, friends and co-workers," said CNRL in a statement issued yesterday afternoon.

Through that same statement, the company noted that as the incident is now in "formal legal proceedings," it will issue no further comments until the matter has been resolved.

Meanwhile, the Alberta Federation of Labour says that once it was learned that a company from a Third World country with substandard construction safety history had been contracted to do the work, the government should have immediately stepped in to ensure the safety of the site.

"The government ignored the warning signs," said Gil McGowan, AFL president.

Saying the provincial government dropped the ball, he said when it became public knowledge that CNRL was hiring a Chinese contracting firm to do all the work involved in construction of the tank farm, the provincial government should have stepped in to ensure this company was observing Canadian standards for both worksite safety and construction practices, and not importing substandard Third World practices.

McGowan said it's a company that has had all of its experience in China, which has an abysmal record when it comes to workplace safety especially in the construction industry.

"That fact alone should have been setting off alarm bells for provincial regulators and inspectors. The government should have had its inspectors on that site from Day 1 supervising the project and making sure Canadian practices and rules were being observed," he said. "That didn't happen, and the result was this unprecedented tank collapse, which took the lives of two workers and inured four others." McGowan said this is a tragedy that could have been prevented if the government had seen the red flags and sent inspectors to the site even before ground was broken. Everyone involved in the construction industry knew this was an accident waiting to happen.

"The real tragedy here is that the government ignored the warning signs."

An important lesson from this case, he said, is the government needs to be extra vigilant when it comes to construction companies coming into Canada from abroad that are not familiar with the Canadian construction context and that are not up to speed on Canadian health and safety rules or accepted Canadian construction practices.

"We think that the Chinese contractors' lack of familiarity with Canadian standards and practices is at the root of this tragedy. Frankly, we're concerned that they imported substandard practices along with their management team."

Though he's pleased the government is proceeding with charges against the companies involved, McGowan said he's "troubled" over the time it took and is concerned Crown prosecutors "dragged their heels."

"We think what happened on the CNRL site was one of the most serious violations of occupational health and safety rules and standards that we've seen in this province in a long time, and this is clearly a case where the companies involved have to be held to account," said McGowan, acknowledging it was satisfying to see the charges hadn't forgotten the injured workers. Some of the charges, all laid under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, also take into account the injured workers and the severity of their injuries as well as workers present when the accident occurred.

But the bigger concern for the AFL is that it's not convinced the charges are enough to prevent a another incident. The only way to avoid such a repeat is if the provincial government becomes more serious about enforcing its own health and safety rules, especially on construction worksites before accidents happen instead of waiting until after someone has died.

"Despite the number of charges being laid, it will be the courts that will determine the facts of the case, and determine the appropriate penalties, if any," said Barrie Harrison, OH&S spokesman, yesterday. The OH&S Act allows for up to a maximum $500,000 fine for each charge.

It's expected the Crown will only move ahead on those charges that carry a reasonable likelihood of conviction, Harrison said.

"Whether it's 53 charges or one, Occupational Health and Safety takes workplace health and safety extremely seriously and whether it's an injury on site or a death, or in this case a double fatality, all are taken seriously. I think our record over the last number of years when it comes to the number of charges and prosecutions have proven that."

When a workplace accident - fatal or not - occurs, OH&S has two years to lay charges. In this case, charges came three days shy of the deadline.

The investigation takes a number of months and is followed by a review of the file and work with Crown prosecutors to determine what charges, if any, are warranted.

"It's that process that takes a fair bit of time," said Harrison. More important, he added, OH&S had to ensure this investigation was proper and thorough because it was focusing on the loss of two lives.

"At the end of the day, that's probably the most important thing. To us, of course, regardless of where these workers are from, their place of origin, or country of birth, has no bearing, because every worker in Alberta has to be treated the same, and these are people who have friends and families and co-workers like the rest of us, and they deserve nothing less."

During the OH&S investigation, Alberta Employment and Immigration determined that 132 Chinese temporary foreign workers were not paid from April to July 2007. Their employer was SSEC Canada, and it is yet not clear why they weren't paid.

As a result, CNRL transferred $3.17 million to the province within the past couple of months for distribution to these workers.

"These funds are now held in a government trust account and we've begun the process of verifying individuals' identity and establishing a process for the distribution of these unpaid earnings," said Harrison. "We want to make sure that we do exercise all due diligence to ensure that these are getting directly in the hands of those who deserve it."

Meanwhile, he said the province will make "every reasonable effort" to collect the money from SSEC. If successful, CNRL will be reimbursed accordingly, he added.

Fort McMurray Today, Wed Apr 22 2009
Byline: Carol Christian

The president of the Alberta Federation of Labour says the dozens of charges laid Tuesday in the deaths of two foreign workers aren't enough.
Gil McGowan says while the charges are unprecedented, it's taken far too long for them to be laid.

And, he says the government still needs to put tighter restrictions on international companies who don't have experience in Canadian construction standards.

Three companies face a total of 53 charges in the deaths of two temporary Chinese workers at an Oilsands project near Fort McMurray two years ago.

CHQR Newsroom, Wed Apr 22 2009

Edmonton - Alberta can create more than 200,000 long-term green jobs and build a strong economic future, according to a groundbreaking report on green jobs released by two prominent environmental groups and the Alberta Federation of Labour.

The report, entitled Green Jobs: It's Time to Build Alberta's Future, was commissioned by Greenpeace, Sierra Club Prairie Chapter and the Alberta Federation of Labour. This unique coalition responds to the interest Albertans have in a strong bottom line that also supports ecological health.

"This report shows what we've been saying for some time now: that a green economy is a healthy economy. Right now, we have the ability to put tens of thousands of Albertans back to work building the future," said Jeh Custer, Energy Campaigner with the Sierra Club Prairie Chapter. "All we need is a little bit of vision and a lot of leadership."

The green jobs strategy is needed now at a time when Alberta has record job losses and its first deficit in over a decade. Alberta has slipped from having the lowest unemployment levels in Canada to third. Since August 2008, employers have cut over 135,000 full-time positions.

The vision in the report will breathe new life into the province's economy and help improve its environmental track record, which has recently come under international criticism.

Green Jobs: It's Time to Build Alberta's Future, shows a new way forward. It outlines what a green economy should look like. The green jobs of the future include electricians, computer software engineers, iron and steel workers, electrical engineers, electrical equipment assemblers, welders, metal fabricators, electrical equipment technicians, construction workers, machinists, construction labourers, operating engineers, and electrical power line installers and repairers, and sheet metal workers - a truly "green collar" industry.

"It's time this government invests in people and put our dollars towards building safe, vibrant and sustainable communities in Alberta," said Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour. "This report shows undeniably that a green investment will allow us to diversify our economy, to stabilize it and to put tens of thousands of people to work immediately building our green energy future."

Other green jobs could be created in providing water treatment for First Nations communities, improving wastewater treatment systems, reforestation, and cleaning up contaminated sites. These opportunities can create many more good green jobs in rural and urban areas.

"Instead of investing $2 billion in false solutions like Carbon Capture and Storage, the government should choose solutions that will help every Albertan," said Mike Hudema, Climate and Energy campaigner with Greenpeace, Canada. "The time has come to let go of what's clearly not working and begin focusing our energy on creating the clean, green economy that will sustain us for generations to come. It's time to build the future."

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For more information, please contact:

Gil McGowan, President, AFL, office - 780-483-3021; cell � 780-218-9888

Jeh Custer, Sierra Club Prairie Chapter, 780-660-5483

Mike Hudema, Greenpeace Tar Sands Campaigner, 780-504-5601

Jessica Wilson, Greenpeace Media and Public Relations Officer, 778-228-5404

 

 

 

EDMONTON - The death of two foreign workers from China at a sprawling oilsands project in northern Alberta has led to the most charges ever laid in a single workplace accident in Alberta.

The Tory government announced Tuesday - two years after their deaths - that three companies face a total of 53 charges in the collapse of a giant holding tank at a construction site in April 2007.

The charges against Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (TSX:CNRL) and two other companies have been laid under the province's Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The maximum penalty for a first offence under the act is $500,000 for each charge.

Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Company Ltd., and SSEC Canada Ltd. also face numerous charges including several counts for failing to ensure the health and safety of the workers.

But Barrie Harrison, spokesman for Alberta's labour ministry, said the province has not been able to serve the charges on the Chinese engineering company, which no longer has an office in Calgary.

"At some point there may have to be clarification by the courts as to whether we have jurisdiction to charge this company," he said. "Our prosecutors are not going to lay the charges unless they feel we have jurisdiction."

"But at this point, we're expecting all three companies to appear in court June 8th in Fort McMurray."

The two Chinese workers were killed and two others were seriously injured when the roof of a huge oil container collapsed as it was being put in place.

The charges include failing to ensure that a professional engineer prepared and certified drawings and procedures and failing to ensure the roof support structure inside the tank was stable during assembly.

The construction was part of expansion at the Horizon oilsands project near Fort McKay, about 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray.

Harrison said it's the largest number of the charges laid in relation to a single workplace incident in the province.

Premier Ed Stelmach said the province places the highest priority on worker safety.

"We've got to be very clear to anybody that's doing business in Alberta," he said. "Whether it's a temporary foreign worker or an Albertan, these are the rules that you follow and the safety of workers is paramount."

One of Alberta's most outspoken labour leaders says this deadly incident was especially shocking because oilsands companies have a relatively good safety record.

"Up until that incident, fatalities were a rarity in the oilsands," said Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

McGowan also says the labour group's own research has confirmed that there have been almost no accidents in the province involving large oil storage tanks.

"We weren't able to find any other example of either tanks collapsing during construction or after they've been built," he said.

The labour leader is glad the companies involved are being prosecuted and wondered why it took two years for the charges to be laid.

The premier said the investigation was "very complex."

McGowan also raised concerns about labour safety standards before the collapse.

"The big question for us is where was the provincial government before this accident happened?" said McGowan.

"While these prosecutions are welcome, it's a little bit like closing the barn door after the horses got out."

Hector Goudreau, Alberta's minister of employment and immigration, said the charges reflect the government's concern about protecting workers.

"The fact that there's 53 charges is an indication of how serious we're taking this," the minister told reporters Tuesday.

"But having said that, the oil and gas industry is one of the safest places to work when you look at the thousands of people that are involved."

New Democrat Rachel Notley scoffed at the minister's remarks, saying Alberta has a poor record when it comes to worker safety.

"If you want to stop people from dying on the job, you have to inspect before the accidents happen," said Notley. "You have to have enough people in the field to do the inspections.

"People didn't have to die for them to finally get that message."

Canadian Natural Resources issued a statement late Tuesday.

"For the duration of the Horizon Project we maintained a strong safety record on the construction site," it said. "We were deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of the two contract workers and the related injuries to the associated contract workers."

A spokeswoman for SSEC Canada Ltd. said the company received the charges late Tuesday afternoon and wanted time to review them before offering comment.

Canadian Press, Tues Apr 21 2009
Byline: Jim Macdonald

Thursday, April 23, 2009 - Sunday, April 26, 2009

Crowne Plaza Chateau Lacombe, 10111 Bellamy Hill, Edmonton

The Alberta Federation of Labour will be holding its 46th Constitutional Convention in Edmonton this week. An expected 350 delegates will gather to discuss how labour should respond to the current economic crisis and to set the AFL's agenda for the next two years.

Highlights of the Convention will include:

Thursday, April 23rd:

• 1:30 p.m. - Guest Speaker: David Foster, Executive Director, Blue Green Alliance, "Creating a Green Jobs Strategy that Works for Workers: Lessons from the U.S." 3:30 p.m. - Panel: "Understanding the Global Economic Crisis and its implications for Alberta," with Jim Stanford, CAW and Diana Gibson, Parkland Institute

• 7:30 p.m. - Book Launch: Jim Stanford, CAW, "Why the Current Economic Crisis Forces us to Rethink Economics"

Friday, April 24th:

• 9:45 a.m. - Guest Speaker: Dave Engledow, Field Director, AFL-CIO Working America Program. "New Strategies for Organizing the Unorganized and Mobilizing them to make Political Change" 12:00 noon - March and Rally: Health Care - Forward, Not Back

• 4:00 p.m. - Guest Speaker: Jerry Kachur, "Ten Alberta Bigshots: Exposing the Face of Corporate Alberta

Saturday, April 25th:

• 10:00 a.m. - Guest Speaker: Michelle Bissett, Australian Council of Trade Unions, "Using union power to influence policy agenda and win elections"
• 12:00 noon - Media Conference: Release of Second Temporary Foreign Worker Advocate Report

Sunday, April 26th:

• 11:15 a.m. - Election of President and Secretary Treasurer

Media are welcome to attend all portions of the agenda.

The AFL is Alberta's largest labour organization, representing 29 unions from both the public and private sector with a combined membership of about 140,000. It was formed in 1912.

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For more information call:

Gil McGowan, AFL President (780) 483-3021 (office) (780) 218-9888 (cell)

A year after Premier Ed Stelmach said he was considering electoral reforms to limit outside advertising during campaigns, a government backbencher is introducing a private members' bill that would do just that.

"What it does is, it opens up the process, it makes it more accountable and transparent," Airdrie-Chestermere MLA Rob Anderson said. "It also treats third parties exactly like political parties during election periods, so it sets up the same contribution limits that political parties have on them."

If Bill 205 is approved, trade unions, employee organizations, corporations and other organizations would have to register with the chief electoral officer before they advertise, and would have to reveal where all their money comes from and how it's spent.

Critics say Anderson's bill is a direct response to Albertans for Change, a group of unions that spent $2 million in 2008 on an anti-Conservative campaign.

After his party won 72 seats, leaving the Liberals and NDP with 11, Stelmach said he was considering legislation that would change electoral financing laws, including banning or limiting third-party spending during campaigns.

The legislation was never tabled, but Anderson's bill would bar money from being raised outside Alberta by third parties and fine those who break the rules.

"I'm not sure there ever was a real problem about anonymous ads. This piece of legislation may be dealing with a problem that never existed," said Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

The Albertans for Change banner included McGowan's organization and the Alberta Building Trades Council, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, the Health Sciences Association of Alberta and the United Nurses of Alberta. The advertising campaign accused Stelmach of having no plan.

Anderson said his bill has nothing to do with targeting unions, and could easily be used to limit rich individuals or oil companies, too.

Edmonton-Gold Bar Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald said he has many questions about the bill. "This bill as it's drafted, in my opinion, it's not fair and it's not balanced," he said. But NDP Leader Brian Mason said the bill doesn't go far enough.

"I don't support third-party financing in election campaigns at all," he said.

Edmonton Journal, Sat Apr 18 2009
Byline: Trish Audette