The day after thousands of Albertans protested in 22 communities across the province, Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan called his union group’s event a success.
“What that tells us is that there is a deep vein of anxiety, anger, and dissatisfaction with the direction that our province is being taken under the current provincial government,” he said.
“Obviously there are a lot of people concerned about separatism, but it was also clear to us from all the people who participated in the demonstrations across the province yesterday that that’s the tip of the iceberg,” McGowan said, “so people are also concerned about two-tier health care, the threats to pull Alberta out of CPP and the RCMP, the expansion of data centres without any public consultation, attacks on programs and supports for the disabled community.”
McGowan said the government’s focus on separation does not reflect the concerns he is hearing from Alberta workers and families.
“What we saw yesterday is that neither the separatists nor the current provincial government speak for all Albertans, and in fact there is a large and I would argue growing community of Albertans who see an entirely different path forward for our province, and they’re really alarmed by the direction that we’re heading right now, ” he said.
Provincial press release
No one from the provincial government accommodated an interview request Friday.
The province did strongly push back against suggestions it’s not doing its job.
“Our government is continually responding to the issues on the minds of Albertans,” Jobs Ministry press secretary Hunter Basil wrote in a statement. “Health care, education, affordability, creating jobs, and growing the economy are all priorities for us, and we have demonstrated that with tangible action.”
As for claims the government is driving the province toward independence? Smith has framed the referendum as a response to what she describes as repeated federal encroachment on Alberta’s resources and economy.
On her Saturday morning radio program, Your Province, Your Premier, Smith pointed to a recently-signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Ottawa as proof that she hasn’t given up on Canada.
McGowan said the large turnout to protests across the province is proof that there’s “another Alberta” that’s not interesting in talking about separating at all.
“There is another Alberta that sees a very different future for our province,” he said. “They’re more hopeful, they believe that we have a strong place within confederation, they think that we can actually become a more forward-thinking, tolerant, inclusive province within a united Canada --and I don’t know about, you know, other people, but I want to be part of that Alberta.”
With files from CTV News’ Tyler Barrow, Kathy Le and Timm Bruch
