Alberta

The Alberta government has done it.

On October 1^st, the minimum wage increased by one dollar to $12.20 per hour, making it the highest provincial, but not territorial, minimum wage in Canada. 

In the midst of the catastrophic fires that have devastated homes and livelihoods in the city of Fort McMurray, the Alberta government has declared a state of emergency. All focus is now on ensuring the safety of Albertans in this time of need.

On a public policy Richter scale, Alberta’s new Climate Leadership Plan is an 11. It is enormously positive and forward-looking and will yield measurable benefits for the health and quality of life of Albertans. Significantly, the new plan is supported by oil industry leaders, environmental organizations and other important stakeholders.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley spoke at the Broadbent Institute's Progress Gala in Toronto on November 12. Here is a condensed copy of her prepared remarks. 

Canada’s right-wing have fiercely denounced the Alberta NDP government’s first budget for its failure to deeply cut spending on social programs and public services so as to balance the books. The Fraser Institute has even gone so far as to claim, absurdly, that the large Alberta deficit of $6.1 billion this year is due to years of so-called over spending rather than because of the recent collapse of oil prices.

Vancouver—The Broadbent Institute and the Simon Fraser University School of Public Policy are pleased to co-host Beyond the Headlines: Learning from the Historic Alberta Election on June 1.

If your Facebook feed is anything like mine, Tuesday night was nothing but wall-to-wall jubilant "OMG RACHEL!" and "WOW! ALBERTA!" posts.

Winning an NDP majority in Alberta is galvanizing. If progressive forces can pull that off, suddenly any victory seems possible.

Right across Canada and around the world, jurisdictions are moving away from coal-fired electricity generation in favour of cleaner options, and this critical debate has finally come to the mainstream in Alberta.

The Alberta NDP has reignited this much-needed discussion with its platform commitment in the current election to “phase out coal-fired electricity generation to reduce smog and greenhouse gas emissions and expand cleaner, greener sources, including wind and solar”.