ALF V1

Canadian premiers and territorial leaders at the Council of the Federation gathering in Quebec City announced a deal to harmonize job credential requirements, which will help draw workers to combat Alberta's labour shortage. 

Premiers and territorial leaders agreed Thursday to tear down barriers facing Canadians moving within the country for work, a new labour deal that proponents say will help Alberta address its crippling labour shortage.

Next summer, accredited workers -- who sometimes experience a hodgepodge of rules from province to province -- will see job-credential requirements harmonized. The changes should reduce delays and obstacles that keep some trained people, in occupations such as accounting, engineering or a construction trade, from moving to another region for a job.

"This brings some common sense to labour mobility," Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach said Thursday at the Council of the Federation gathering in Quebec City.

Stelmach noted the new deal will help the province fill a portion of the 400,000 jobs expected to be created over the next 10 years.

"We're going to be critically short, even with the very aggressive aboriginal workforce strategy, and incorporating more women, more people with certain disabilities."

Alberta isn't the only province grappling with a severe labour shortage, particularly skilled construction workers. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said his province has 100,000 unfilled jobs, even as it endures downsizing in the auto industry.

According to Quebec Premier Jean Charest, a quarter of jobs in Canada face "serious mobility constraints."

Manitoba Premier Gary Doer added: "We believe working people and their families want to have a situation where they do not have to go through 13 separate accreditation processes, but rather one accreditation process.

"We believe a nurse is a nurse, a teacher is a teacher, a welder is a welder."

The new rules will exclude some professions, such as pharmacists.

The provinces and territories have been talking about revamping Canada's labour-mobility rules for sometime

Since the Agreement on Internal Trade was introduced in 1994, many professions have moved to harmonize job credentials.

However, a report completed last year for Industry Canada found progress to remove barriers was unfolding slowly because of a lack of urgency at some of the organizations that oversee accreditation.

"Governments will have to get tough with some of their independent regulatory agencies who have been allowed to get away with dragging their feet for too long," said the 2007 review of interprovincial barriers to labour mobility in Canada.

The bodies governing nurses and land surveyors in Alberta said Thursday their organizations have already reached nationwide mobility agreements. They expect meeting the premiers' 2009 deadline will not be a problem.

"Registered nurses have been leaders in this for many, many years," said Margaret Hadley, president of the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta, adding nurses do not have to write a new exam when moving to the province.

"There's no barriers whatsoever."

Most barriers to land surveyors moving to Alberta were removed in 2001, said Brian Munday, executive director of the Alberta Land Surveyors' Association.

Before then, two years of articling was required no matter how long a person worked as a land surveyor in another province. Today, newcomers must only complete a few exams.

"Alberta has benefitted from that in terms of an influx of land surveyors," Munday said.

Also on Thursday, the premiers approved a new mechanism to resolve internal trade disputes, building on, in some respects, a trade, investment and labour-mobility agreement inked earlier between Alberta and British Columbia.

Under the national measures, an independent body will have the power to impose penalties of up to $5 million when trade rules are broken.

The old dispute system was based on finding consensus. It contained no binding settlement measures or penalties.

Some labour unions, however, are raising alarms about the independent body.

Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said the new policy could open the door to corporations suing all levels of government over actions hindering trade and profits.

"If there's not really a need for these changes, the question is why are they being made?" McGowan said. "We believe the premiers have buckled to pressure from the corporate community."

Business lobby groups don't share this perspective, instead applauding the new labour deal.

"This is a great thing to see on behalf of the workforce across Canada," said Calgary Chamber of Commerce president Heather Douglas.

"It will encourage people to move where the jobs are that will further their careers."

After inking their deal on trade and labour mobility within Canada, the premiers placed a spotlight on the North American Free Trade Agreement on Thursday, highlighting worries about its future.

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has said he might want to renegotiate NAFTA, if elected to the White House.

Calgary Herald, Page A5, Fri July 18 2008
Byline: Renata D'Aliesio and Marianne White

The National Energy Board has approved the TransCanada Keystone Pipeline GP Ltd. Cushing application to expand the Canadian portion of the Keystone pipeline.

The expanded facilities will allow Keystone to increase its transportation capacity by 24,800 cubic metres per day, equivalent to 156,000 bbls per day. The overall transportation capacity will increase from the previously projected 435,000 to 591,000 bbls per day.

The Canadian portion of the Keystone pipeline will extend from Hardisty, Alberta to a point near Haskett, Manitoba. The expansion, consisting of seven new pump stations, increased motor sizes at seven pump stations, and the addition of pumping units at 13 previously approved pump stations, has an estimated value of $348 million.

In making its decision, the NEB heard from intervenors on several issues. The Metis Nation - Saskatchewan stated that Keystone failed to identify it as an interested stakeholder and to provide information at the start of project consultation. The Alberta Association of Pipeline Landowners and the Hadwin Cattle Co. Ltd. expressed concerns related to land use, including noise impacts. The Alberta Federation of Labour stated that the project could have negative consequences for domestic industries and employment.

The NEB said it was generally satisfied with Keystone's consultation efforts with stakeholders. In order to monitor ongoing consultation efforts, the NEB directed Keystone to provide further updates on its consultation with all potentially affected persons and groups, including the Metis Nation - Saskatchewan.

The NEB also directed Keystone to provide information from the detailed comprehensive noise assessment to the Alberta Association of Pipeline Landowners and the Hadwin Cattle Co.

On balance, the NEB determined that the Cushing Expansion will likely provide a positive economic benefit for Canadians. The NEB also determined that Keystone's proposal is consistent with tolling and tariff requirements of Part IV of the NEB Act.

Daily Oil Bulletin, Fri July 18 2008

The premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan scuttled notions of a national cap-and-trade program Wednesday, warning other provincial and territorial heads they consider it a thinly-disguised attempt to siphon their provinces' petroleum riches.

"There's only one inter-regional transfer of wealth in this country and it's called equalization," Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach warned. "There won't be another one from the province of Alberta, and that's as straight an answer as I can give."

Although climate change is high on the agenda for the Council of the Federation's three-day meeting in Quebec City, attempts to find common ground among the 13 leaders derailed at the onset.

The two Prairie premiers placed themselves firmly at odds with Canada's most populous provinces, Ontario,

Quebec and British Columbia, which, along with Manitoba, support a national or international carbon trading market aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, whose province is reaping the benefits of a burgeoning energy industry and other surging natural resource activity, vowed to battle alongside Alberta.

"We will fight aggressively against any initiative that would redistribute not just wealth, but opportunity, and threaten our 'have' status," Wall said.

"(Our prosperity) is good for the country," Wall said.

Prosperity, however, is only touching parts of the country these days.

As Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland contemplate what to do with huge budget surpluses and travel the country -- even the world at times -- to find workers to fill a bounty of jobs, recession fears are stalking other regions.

Ontario, home to roughly 40 per cent of Canada's population, is grappling with the loss of tens of thousands of auto industry jobs and the possibility of becoming a have-not province.

Although the federal equalization policy, which provides struggling provinces payments to provide comparable levels of public service, is not slated for discussion in Quebec City, talks on climate change are increasingly intertwined with worries about the economy.

Calls for harmonized greenhouse gas regulations are likely to remain unheeded in the fallout.

"Climate change requires a pan-Canadian approach -- not stop-gap measures, province by province," said Paul Moist, national president of the country's largest union, CUPE.

"We're worried. We can't have 10 versions of climate change plans."

Yet that is actually what's emerging in the absence of strong federal government leadership on the file, charged a new report from the David Suzuki Foundation on Wednesday.

The conservation group's climate change report card gave top marks to British Columbia, which recently introduced a carbon tax at fuel pumps and a cap on emissions from industrial stacks.

Manitoba ranked highly, too, and Quebec and Ontario garnered praise for their policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and proposed cap-and-trade system.

Alberta -- which produces the most greenhouse gases in the country -- rated dead last, according the Suzuki foundation. Saskatchewan was also cited as an environmental laggard.

"The worst offender (Alberta) has skyrocketing emissions and no plans to decrease them anytime soon," the report said.

Alberta Environment spokeswoman Kim Capstick dismissed the report card's assessment of the province's climate change performance.

She noted it failed to mention the province's blockbuster announcement last week to commit $2 billion to developing large-scale projects to capture carbon emissions and permanently bury them deep underground.

Another $2 billion has been set aside for transit projects encouraging Albertans to drive less.

"Once again we are not being given credit for the incredible work that is happening here, and I'm curious as to why," Capstick said.

Stelmach brought Alberta's carbon-capture plan to Quebec City, while Wall has details of a massive pilot project in Weyburn, Sask., where more than seven million tonnes of carbon dioxide have been injected into an oil field since 2000.

The pair are expected to deliver presentations on carbon sequestration technology to their provincial and territorial counterparts today.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, though, expressed doubts Wednesday that the technology is the best answer to Canada's growing greenhouse gas emissions.

"Carbon capture is something I remember President Reagan talking about," McGuinty said in Quebec City.

"Billions and billions have been invested in this worldwide, and we're not there yet."

Meanwhile, labour mobility and trade is also expected to grab the spotlight today at the Council of the Federation conference.

Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan is warning major changes to Canada's internal trade rules are afoot.

He said the premiers are on the verge of signing off on new rules that could give businesses the right to sue governments for policies that hinder profits.

Calgary Herald, Thurs July 17 2008
Byline: Lee Greenberg and Renata D'Aliesio

QUEBEC CITY - The leaders of all of Canada's provincial and territorial labour union federations will hold a news conference in Quebec City tomorrow morning, challenging the provincial premiers to justify their plans for major changes to Canada's internal trade rules.

Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan and all of his provincial and territorial counterparts warn that the premiers are on the verge signing off on new internal trade rules that will significantly reduce the range of policy options available to governments as they grapple with pressing issues like climate change, the manufacturing crisis and the rapidly rising cost of living.

The new rules, which will be discussed tomorrow by the Premiers at their annual conference being held in Quebec City, will likely give corporations the right to sue governments for policies, regulations or programs that business perceives as standing in the way of private-sector profit-making.

"The premiers say these changes are necessary to deal with barriers to labour mobility," says McGowan. "But the truth is that workers already move almost effortlessly across provincial boundaries. So all this talk about mobility is a smoke screen for something else - something much more sinister."

The labour federation news conference will be held at the Hotel Manoir Victoria in Quebec City tomorrow, July 17, at 11 a.m. The hotel is located at 44, Cote du Palais.

- 30 -

For more information contact:

Gil McGowan, AFL President @ 780.483-3021 (office) or 780.218-9888 (cell)

Some strong words for The City of Calgary when it comes to the discovery of dangerously toxic asbestos in Calgary streets.

A report for The City shows core samples taken from various roads in March, indicate more than half contained high levels of the toxic mineral. The finding has raised health concerns for the public, as well as construction crews.

The President of the Alberta Federation of Labour tells 660News asbestos is deadly, and the city needs to take the issue more seriously.

Gil McGowan says that asbestos is the leading cause of workplace deaths worldwide, and the city should follow Toronto's lead when dealing with it.

Toronto issued a public safety warning this week after asbestos was found in some of it's streets. Construction crews are outfitted with hazmat suits while working on the roads.

Calgary Alderman Jon Mar plans to take the issue-up with City Administration at the end of the month.

He calls the findings scary, and is concerned about public safety.

660 Staff, July 18 2008

CALGARY - A new poll has uncovered some support for a merger of Alberta opposition political parties in the wake of a Conservative landslide victory in the March election.

Four in 10 Albertans surveyed by Angus Reid Strategies said they would support, in principle, a coalition of opposition parties before the next provincial election, while a quarter were uncertain what to think of the concept.

Most of the supporters identified themselves as Liberal backers. The least likely to approve of an opposition merger were Progressive Conservatives.

"For a place that has been so dominant for one single party, it's interesting that two in five would say maybe it's time to do something different," Angus Reid pollster Mario Canseco said. "The fact that there is something new on the horizon appears to interest people."

What remains unclear from the online poll of 802 Albertans between June 24 to June 26, is whether support for a coalition would translate into votes.

A melding of the Liberals and NDP was the most popular coalition combination, followed by a combination of Liberals, NDP and Greens. Respondents weren't offered the Wildrose Alliance as an option.

Calgary Liberal MLA David Swann views the survey results as a sign some Albertans are eager for an opposition shake-up.

"This is an encouragement, I think, at the very least to working more constructively together," said Swann, who's chairing a cross-party town hall meeting in Edmonton on Monday focused on re-engaging Albertans in democracy.

Four in 10 Albertans voted in the March provincial election, the worst turnout in the province's history.

While the Liberals are in the midst of their own shake-up, searching for a new party leader and debating a name change -- some members are even musing about starting a new political movement -- the NDP appear firm on flying solo.

Party members overwhelmingly rejected a coalition with the Liberals and Greens at the NDP annual convention in Calgary last month. But Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour and NDP member, contends the Angus Reid survey underscores Albertans are open to a change of the political landscape.

McGowan, who favoured a merger, said both the NDP and Liberals need to "think outside the box" in order to defeat the Tories.

The survey offers "a very significant finding," McGowan said, "and it's one that the Liberals and New Democrats ignore at their own peril."

However, University of Lethbridge political scientist Peter McCormick doesn't put much stock in coalition talk or the survey's findings.

He thinks the main question asked by the Angus Reid poll, which has a margin of error plus or minus 3.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20, is too ambiguous to gauge support for a merged opposition.

"Supporting them forming a coalition is not the same as supporting them," he said, adding a tough road faces any new political movement after Ed Stelmach breezed through his first election as Tory leader.

"The Conservatives are in a beautiful position right now."

Edmonton Journal, Page B10, Sat July 12 2008
Byline: Renata D'Aliesio

A new poll has uncovered temperate support for a merger of Alberta opposition political parties in the wake of a Tory landslide victory in the March election.

Four in 10 Albertans surveyed by Angus Reid Strategies said they'd support, in principle, a coalition of opposition parties before the next provincial election, while a quarter were uncertain what to think of the concept.

Most of the supporters identified themselves as Liberal backers. The least likely to approve of an opposition merger were Progressive Conservatives.

"For a place that has been so dominant for one single party, it's interesting that two in five . . . would say maybe it's time to do something different," said Angus Reid pollster Mario Canseco. "The fact that there is something new on the horizon appears to interest people."

What remains unclear from the online poll, which contacted 802 Albertans between June 24 to June 26, is whether support for a coalition would translate into votes.

A melding of the Liberals and NDP was the most popular coalition combination, followed by a combo of Liberals, NDP and Greens.

Respondents weren't offered the Wildrose Alliance as an option.

Calgary Liberal MLA David Swann views the survey results as a sign some Albertans are eager for an opposition shakeup. "This is an encouragement, I think, at the very least to working more constructively together," said Swann, who's chairing a cross-party town hall meeting in Edmonton on Monday focused on re-engaging

Albertans in democracy.

Only four in 10 Albertans voted in the March provincial election, the worst turnout in the province's history.

While the Liberals are in the midst of their own shakeup, searching for a new party leader and debating a name change -- some members are even musing about starting a new political movement -- the NDP appear firm on flying solo.

Party members overwhelmingly rejected a coalition with the Liberals and Greens at the NDP annual convention in Calgary last month. But Gil

McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour and NDP member, contends the Angus Reid survey underscores Albertans are open to a change of the political landscape.

McGowan, who favoured a merger, said both the NDP and Liberals need to "think outside the box" in order to defeat the Tories.

The survey offers "a very significant finding," McGowan said, "and it's one that the Liberals and New Democrats ignore at their own peril."

However, University of Lethbridge political scientist Peter McCormick doesn't put much stock in coalition talk or the survey's findings. He thinks the main question asked by the Angus Reid poll, which has a margin of error plus or minus 3.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20, is too ambiguous to gauge support for a merged opposition.

Calgary Herald, Page A15, Sat July 12 2008
Byline: Renata D'Aliesio

Alberta's temporary foreign workers -- which number in the tens of thousands -- will finally get some much-needed government help.

On June 1, the provincial government quietly launched a $1.4-million pilot project to help temporary foreign workers settle in the province.

The two-year project will give money to nine immigration organizations across the province, allowing them to expand their services to include temporary foreign workers.

Previously, government funding for centres that help immigrants was earmarked for immigrants only. But at least 23,000 temporary foreign workers have flooded into Alberta over the last few years and when they seek help from such centres they are often turned away.

"This is a long overdue step in the right direction," said Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

Temporary foreign workers are especially vulnerable to exploitation, McGowan said. He calls them an "underclass of workers" because many of them face the threat of being shipped home if they complain.

The Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers receives about a dozen inquires from temporary workers every day, said executive director Jim Gurnett. Questions range from where to find housing to how to deal with abusive employers.

Calgary Herald, Fri July 11 2008
Byline: Jennifer Yang

The 40-year-old contractor killed on an oilsands site Tuesday was crushed by a giant dump truck.

"He was run over by the heavy hauler truck," Workplace Health and Safety spokesman Barrie Harrison said, updating the progress of the investigation on Wednesday.

The contractor worked for Finning Canada at Suncor's Millennium Mine site, about 25 kilometres north of Fort McMurray. The accident happened shortly before 11:45 a.m. while employees were trying to move a broken-down truck. Two other employees were injured. One was treated on site and the other was taken to a hospital in Fort McMurray and released.

The man's name and hometown have not been released, but RCMP say he was not a temporary foreign worker.

Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said he has been told the man was a third-year apprentice machinist and member of the International Association of Machinists.

Tuesday's accident is at least the third serious accident involving a giant oilsands mine truck in just over three months. Christopher Van Moorsel, 26, died April 26 after his small pickup was run over by one of the massive trucks. Police told his family the driver just didn't see him, said future brother-in-law David Charlton.

Then on May 24, a 46-year-old man was forced to jump out of the cab through a wall of flames when his truck caught fire.

He suffered second- and third-degree burns and had to be airlifted to a hospital in Edmonton.

Oilsands trucks are the largest in the world. The Caterpillar 797B stands more than three storeys high and has a hauling capacity of 400 tons.

McGowan said historically the oilsands have been one of the safest areas of the sector. A spokesman for Suncor said the company has only had one incident in the past two years in which an employee or contractor had to take time off work due to an injury.

"But these two fatalities raise red flags," McGowan said.

He is worried the pace of development in the sector endangers workers' lives.

"We're concerned that people are being rushed and that in some cases they're being thrown onto work sites without the proper training."

Edmonton Journal, Page B8, Thurs July 10 2008
Byline: Elise Stolte

The death of a teenager working at a building material supply store near Edmonton last month is raising questions about the need to improve Alberta's safety code.

Mitchell Tanner, 16, was killed on June 7 at the Rona Building Centre in St. Albert. According to media reports, Tanner was a passenger on a forklift, which was being operated by a 17-year-old, when it tipped over and crushed him. The incident is still under investigation by police and provincial officials.

"What we hear is that neither one of these young men were trained and shouldn't have been on the forklift, but we have no way to confirm this," said Gary Wagar, executive director of the Alberta Construction Safety Association.

"If this turns out to be true, there are significant implications for the company, because they were using the forklift without proper authority or training."

The Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) said Tanner's death may have been avoided with tougher legislation.

"We sent a letter to the minister and have been raising concerns for two years about a lack of a code of practice for forklifts," said Gil McGowan, AFL president.

"There is some language in the occupational health and safety code about heavy equipment in general."

Wagar agreed that there is a requirement in the safety code to train workers when they operate equipment that poses a hazard, but that the forklift is not specifically mentioned.

According to McGowan, Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Code is too quiet on the matter. The only two provisions require a legible load rating chart and that if the lift has seat belts, the belts must be used and be maintained in good condition.

"Because our code says nothing about forklifts, employers do very little to ensure they are used safely," he said. "There is inadequate training on what should and should not be done and the result, unfortunately, are accidents."

McGowan said forklifts are a regular and particularly problematic safety problem in workplaces.

"There needs to be regulations about forklifts in particular, because the accident rate is so high. Every year there are dozens of accidents that involve the improper use of a forklift," he said.

"These are dangerous pieces of equipment and nobody should get behind the wheel without proper training in safety and forklift operation."

Wager said that the provincial government and industry associations already developed a safety awareness program for schools.

A safety video for the program deals with the issue of mobile equipment and specifically addresses the use of forklifts.

"The provincial government spent $750,000 on the program, but it was pulled before the last election," Wagar said.

"We have written a letter to Hector Goudreau, minister of employment and immigration, to make this program available. The construction industry in Alberta supports the release of that program aimed at young workers."

McGowan said that worker and some employer representatives pushed for tougher forklift rules, including certification of operators, when the safety code was revised a few years ago. However, it was rejected by other employer groups and the government.

McGowan said he believes that the government needs to move immediately to implement the Manitoba model for safety protection on forklifts, which has more substantial training and ongoing monitoring of credentials.

"There is so much more that can be done," he said. "Look at Manitoba. They have a comprehensive code of practice for forklifts. Operators must be certified by an independent trainer, and the employer has a series of responsibilities for keeping the forklifts safe."

Journal of Commerce, Mon July 7 2008
Byline: Richard Gilbert