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New Democrats no longer content to be Albertans’ conscience
Forming government in 2016 or 2020 was top of mind for Alberta New Democrats as they celebrated their party’s 50th anniversary at its annual convention in Edmonton September 21–23.
Party leader Brian Mason told participants that the 2012 provincial election had unleashed a new Alberta New Democratic Party, marking the beginning of significant political change in the province. The New Democrat vote increased by 57 per cent over the 2008 election, and the number of winnable seats doubled from five to 10, he said. Membership has also doubled over the last two years, and the party is raising more money than ever before.
Mason emphasized that his party has a tremendous legacy. That legacy includes making the child and youth advocate an independent officer of the legislature and defeating the Third Way, which would have led to the creation of a two-tiered healthcare system, he said. Invoking the spirit of former federal New Democrat leader Jack Layton’s last letter to Canadians, Mason encouraged members to look forward to the party’s next 50 years with great hope and optimism.
He suggested that the legacy of former premier Peter Lougheed has been misinterpreted, with Albertans overlooking his efforts to ensure a fair deal for workers and to increase oil royalties. Students with special needs no longer receive the care they need; inner-city schools are being closed; and Bill 44, Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Amendment Act, 2009, lingers on, he said. There are increasing attempts to introduce private healthcare, and with thousands of seniors unable to secure long-term care beds and emergency rooms in crisis, government has no plans to create more long-term care beds. Corporate income tax has been slashed from 16 to 10 per cent, and a flat tax has been put in place. Alberta now boasts some of the lowest oil royalties in the world, and the province’s deficit has ballooned to between $2.3 billion and $3 billion.
“Every time the price of oil drops, they lay off nurses and teachers,” Mason said. Noting that government has said there is no new money for teachers, he added, “When you attack teachers, you also attack kids.”
Mason concluded that there is no reason why the Alberta New Democratic Party cannot be a serious contender in the 2016 or 2020 provincial election. No longer content to be Albertans’ conscience, the party is setting its sights on forming government, he said.
Edmonton-Strathcona MLA Rachel Notley also took on the provincial government in her house leader’s report. Suggesting that Premier Alison Redford has set a new tone in the legislature, she noted that, unlike former premier Ed Stelmach, Redford does not remain in the house long enough during oral question period to accept at least one set of questions from each of the opposition caucuses. In addition, cabinet ministers have press secretaries; press conferences are held in the Cabinet Room, from which opposition MLAs are barred; and while the legislature internship program has been resurrected, the interns are assigned to cabinet ministers rather than to the government and opposition caucuses, she said.
Nor did the federal government escape unscathed. In his keynote speech, Federal New Democrat Leader Thomas Mulcair suggested that, for the first time ever, the tough, structured, disciplined Conservative government is facing a tough, structured, disciplined official opposition. He described as shameful the third-world conditions that exist in First Nations communities, the poverty that forces many Canadian children to go to school without breakfast and the federal government’s decision to further reduce Canada Pension Plan benefits for early retirees and to increase from 65 to 67 years the age of eligibility for Old Age Security benefits. Over the last 25 years, the top 20 per cent of Canadians have seen their income rise while the remaining 80 per cent have seen their income fall, and if that income continues to fall, the current generation will be the first generation to leave less to its children than it received, he said.
Mulcair insisted that his party is not against development but for sustainable development, not against trade but for fair trade and not against a prosperous Canada but for a Canada prosperous for everyone. “The orange wave is here to stay!” he exclaimed, encouraging the party faithful to convey the message that they are confident and competent to run Canada and that the only interest a New Democrat government will ever serve is the public interest.
Meanwhile, delegates adopted a resolution urging the New Democrat caucus to advocate at every opportunity for refugees’ rights and for services to enable new Canadians to become fully engaged citizens in their schools, communities and workplaces. Also adopted were resolutions committing a New Democrat government to invest in poverty reduction in such areas as education, early childhood development and affordable housing and directing the party to collaborate with the Alberta Federation of Labour and certain other labour organizations to develop policy reflecting the challenges, interests and priorities of organized labour and workers.
Referred to the party’s provincial executive for disposition were resolutions urging government to institute a fully funded, full-day kindergarten program for all publicly elected school boards; updating party policy on supports for students with special needs; and seeking restoration of the 50 per cent cut from funding for the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement.
