Edmonton - The Alberta Federation of Labour’s work has been driven by one crucial message:  Albertans are the owners of Alberta’s plentiful non-renewable resources and therefore deserve a fair royalty system that they can trust.

URGENT MEDIA ADVISORY

For Immediate Release:  Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Media Advisory
for Immediate Release

Friday, January 22, 2016

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

The new Government of Alberta – following through on an election promise – has appointed a Royalty Review Panel to ensure Albertans get a fair price for their resources. As part of the review process the panel is encouraging Albertans to visit letstalkroyalties.ca where they can answer questions, submit comments, and engage with the panel. Working people have an enormous stake in these discussions. This is our opportunity to encourage the government to negotiate on our behalf to get the best possible framework for Albertans. We may never have another chance again, as panel chair Dave Mowat is on record saying that “we might never have another royalty review again.”

Provincial budget hurts front-line services as government blames workers

Edmonton – Alberta’s 2015 budget shows that the government has public services in the crosshairs.

The budget, tabled on Thursday, March 26, will eliminate 2,000 public sector jobs – mostly in health care – and will increase fees for services. The government’s budget documents also included promises to undermine public-sector wages. In all, the budget promises to cut $1.9 billion overall from the services Albertans need.

“Prentice is more interested in maintaining low taxes for his corporate buddies than maintaining quality front-line services in health care and education for everyone else,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. “This isn't a balanced approach, it isn’t a ‘hold-the-line budget.’ This is a budget that will hurt everyday Albertans, and it doesn’t spread the burden by increasing corporate taxes.”

On the chopping block in the budget are 1,700 health care employees and 244 education employees.

“You can’t cut 1,700 jobs from health care without having an impact on front-line services. Everyone will see fewer public services – especially health care – in the next few years,” McGowan said. “It’s galling to think that they’ve brought back a health care levy while taking an axe to the health care system. Albertans are going to start paying more for their health care, while getting a lot less.”

Despite clear public support for proposed revenue measures the budget did not include any changes to corporate taxes or to royalty rates on the province’s natural resources.

“The government is not listening to its citizens,” McGowan said. “Albertans want to be paid fairly for their resources. They want large and profitable corporations to pay a fair tax rate – something closer to what we had under Lougheed.”

MEDIA CONTACT:

Olav Rokne, Communications Director, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780.218.4351 (cell)
or via e-mail [email protected]

Urgent Action

Sign the Better Way Alberta petition

The Better Way Alberta coalition is urging the government to fix the province’s broken revenue system. And we’re asking you to sign our petition. Join the thousands of Albertans who have already signed, and help be part of the solution.

The Petition

We the undersigned residents of Alberta, petition the Legislative Assembly to ensure there is enough money to pay for necessary public services like education and health care by introducing tax and royalty reforms that include the following measures:

• increasing the tax on corporate profits to a rate that is closer to the national average;
• replacing Alberta’s flat income tax with a progressive tax that requires high-income earners to pay higher tax rates than middle and low-income earners;
• and introducing royalty changes that ensure Albertans receive a fair share from the sale of their resources.
•  

You can sign the petition online at www.BetterWayAlberta.ca or in person at the Alberta Federation of Labour offices (Parkington Plaza, #300, 10408 – 124 Street NW, Edmonton, AB T5N 1R5).

News

Better Way Alberta campaign turns a mirror on Tory mismanagement

Over the next few weeks, voters will be hearing from the Better Way Alberta campaign, showing them that there are sensible, moderate measures that can help ensure the long-term financial stability of the province.

The province-wide campaign will consist of a central website and petition; a radio and online advertising campaign; a direct-mail campaign to every household in Alberta; and a door-to-door campaign in which canvassers will have face-to-face conversations with Albertans about the Better Way Alberta campaign.

 “Who created the current budget mess? It’s time for Premier Prentice and the Tories to look in the mirror,” says Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan. “We’re not facing a budget crunch because of anything individual Albertans did. The real problem is that successive PC governments have blown holes in the revenue base we need to fund education, health care and other services that Albertans rely on.”

According to the government’s own numbers, Alberta could increase the amount it gets from taxes by $11.6 billion a year and still have the lowest taxes in Canada. Most of that $11.6 billion that is going uncollected by Alberta’s inequitable tax code is being left in the pockets of the province’s richest individuals and most profitable corporations.

“If we’re all in this together, as Premier Prentice says, why should corporations and the wealthy get a free pass?” McGowan said. “And why should ordinary Albertans pay for the mistakes of politicians again?”

The campaign was created by a coalition of the Alberta Federation of Labour, United Nurses of Alberta, the Health Sciences Association of Alberta and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (Alberta Division). Visit www.betterwayalberta.ca for more information about the campaign, or to sign the petition calling on the government to reform its revenue system.

Looming Temporary Foreign Worker deportations highlight inhumanity of program

Thousands of vulnerable Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) are facing deportation.

On April 1^st, thousands of work permits will expire, and the workers who hold those permits will be forced to leave. They and their employers were not allowed to renew those work permits because the government tightened the rules on the Temporary Foreign Worker program.

“The Temporary Foreign Worker program needs to be reined in, but without affecting the workers who are already here,” AFL president Gil McGowan said. “There should not be any more TFW permits for low-wage employers, but the workers who are already here should have been allowed to stay.”

There are more than 70,000 Temporary Foreign Workers in Alberta. The province has the highest percentage of its workforce composed of Temporary Foreign Workers of any jurisdiction in the country. In particular, it is in Alberta where low-wage employers have made the most aggressive use of the program in an attempt to drive down wages.

Did you know…

• Even before the price of oil crashed, revenue generated from Alberta’s shrunken taxes on personal income and corporate profits covered only about 40 per cent of the cost of public services, compared to about 60 per cent in other provinces.

• Women working full-time only earned 63 per cent of the annual average salary their male counterparts earned in Alberta.

• Alberta’s spending is $9,786 per person on public services — $434 less than the national average, despite the fact that cost-of-living is higher here.

Events

• March 21:  International Day for the Elimination of Racism

• April 16-19: AFL Convention “Dream No Little Dreams”

• April 28: International Day of Mourning for Workers Injured or Killed on the Job

Province does not collect fair share for conventional oil and gas

Calgary – Alberta is close to last place in collecting a fair share of royalties from conventional oil and gas.

Government budget documents obtained by the Alberta Federation of Labour show the province leading the race to the bottom on oil royalty rates. This stands in stark contrast to claims made by the Redford government in a taxpayer-funded mail out about the state of the economy in Alberta.

“Alison Redford wants us to believe – is willing to spend $350,000 trying to convince us – that her government is getting a fair price for Alberta’s natural resources,” AFL president Gil McGowan said. “The numbers show it isn’t true, and no amount of spin will make it true.”

The budget document includes a chart showing that every U.S. state is ahead of Alberta in collecting a fair share. The measurement used – called Combined Royalty and Tax Measure (CRTM) – is a composite of various forms of revenue collection and is a widely used measurement for the public share of oil and gas revenue. Every U.S. state has a CRTM of more than 50 per cent, while Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia are at less than 40 per cent.

“It’s the government’s stated goal to have one of the cheapest oil and gas royalty regimes in North America,” McGowan said. “Our government should work on behalf of Albertans who own the resource, not on behalf of oil-industry donors who want Alberta to give everything away under the smokescreen of keeping us ‘competitive.’”

Of our competitors, Louisiana gets the most out of its non-renewable resources: 60.9 per cent for natural gas and 64 per cent for conventional oil – more than 20 percentage points higher than Alberta.

Alberta’s revenue problem has become an area of ongoing public concern in light of the provincial budget of 2013, which brought in drastic cuts to services despite the province’s booming economy. Over the last ten years, Alberta has repeatedly cut royalty rates despite the findings of the 2007 Royalty Review Panel, which showed that the province does not collect enough for its oil and gas.

“The government knew that the 2013 budget deficit was on the way. Their projections showed that cuts to royalty rates would result in a deficit, but they went full-steam ahead with those royalty cuts,” McGowan said. “The reason their brochure has gone over like a lead balloon – and the reason audiences have applauded our cinema ad – is that Albertans know that we’re giving away billions to the super-rich.”

The AFL released an internal government document earlier this year that showed the last year’s deficit was not caused by the so-called ‘Bitumen Bubble,’ but was entirely due to royalty giveaways.

AFL Backgrounder: Conventional Oil and Gas Royalties

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Olav Rokne, AFL Communications Director at 780-289-6528 (cell) or via email [email protected].

The budget document includes a chart showing that every U.S. state is ahead of Alberta in collecting a fair share. The measurement used – called Combined Royalty and Tax Measure (CRTM) – is a composite of various forms of revenue collection and is a widely used measurement for the public share of oil and gas revenue.

Government mail-out misleading about efforts to collect fair share for taxpayers

Alberta is nearly in last place in collecting a fair share of royalties from conventional oil and gas.

On Friday, May 9, the Alberta Federation of Labour will release internal government budget documents that show the province has one of the cheapest royalty regimes in North American.

“Alison Redford wants us to believe – is willing to spend $350,000 trying to convince us – that her government is getting a fair price for Alberta’s natural resources,” AFL president Gil McGowan said. “The numbers show it isn’t true, and no amount of spin will make it true.”

What:
News Conference tomorrow at 11:30 a.m.

Who:
McConanchie Room 1, Lobby Level
Delta Airport Hotel
2001 Airport Road NE, Calgary AB

When:
11:30 a.m., Friday, May 10

Who:
Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan

MEDIA CONTACT:
Olav Rokne, AFL Communications Director at 780-289-6528 (cell) or via email [email protected].

2013 BackgrounderConventional Oil and Gas Royalties