Democracy

Public Interest Alberta was recently invited by the Alberta Government’s Royalty Review Panel to a consultation on the Panel’s review process (that is, this meeting was a consultation on the process to be used to consult with Albertans, rather than a discussion of the substantive issues of royalties, which will then soon follow).

Two articles released today, one by Parkland Institute researcher Barret Weber and the other by Dave Cournoyer on his daveberta.ca blog, show a clear path to making Alberta's elections more fair and democratic.

"One result of the remarkable May 5 provincial election is that things that for so long seemed unlikely are now not only possible, but suddenly even probable. A good example is the prospect of provincial campaign and party finance reform, which has long been seen as badly needed. We now have not only an NDP government that is committed to this type of reform, but also an Official Opposition that favours it as well, with both parties having made it part of their election platform."

In April 2015, Public Interest Alberta released a report entitled "A Just and Fair Alberta: Priorities for Change," which was designed to serve as a key resource for individuals and organizations in Alberta's 2015 provincial election.

EDMONTON—Public Interest Alberta is releasing A Fair and Just Alberta: Priorities for Change, designed to serve as a key resource for individuals and organizations in the coming provincial election.“The election presents a major opportunity for those who care about public services to make a difference in our province,” said Bill Moore-Kilgannon, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta. “It is important that we all take advantage of this chance to advocate effectively for much-needed revenue reform that will provide the foundation for much stronger public services, and to state clearly what should be the priorities for change.”

We recently had the below video commissioned to commemorate our 10th anniversary advocating for the public interest in Alberta. Please share it widely to bring greater awareness to what we do and the issues we advocate for. The video was made by Don Bouzek, and the music is by Maria Dunn. [VIDEO]

PC leadership candidate Thomas Lukaszuk did not respond directly to our questions on democracy, but he did send us a statement on his overall outlook on democratic reform in Alberta.

Bill Moore-Kilgannon, executive director of the Public Interest Alberta advocacy group, said revealing who gave money to a candidate months after the votes are counted is 'completely useless. People want to know who these leadership candidates — and our future premier — are actually going to feel most connected to because of their financial support for their campaign,' he said.

"Public Interest Alberta recently began a year-long campaign called 'Alberta Could' in order to talk with Albertans about improvements that could be made in the province if a progressive tax rate was reintroduced. 'In a lot of people’s minds, they think that Alberta’s flat tax equals Alberta’s low taxes,' says PIA’s executive director Bill Moore-Kilgannon. 'But they don’t realize that it’s actually low- and middle-income earners who are paying a higher percentage of the total amount we would pay in taxes than if we had a progressive tax system.'"