Conservationists say that once parks lose their protected area status they are not protected and are open to other uses, including industrial and commercial uses, which compromise conservation goals and public accessibility. Peace Wapiti Public School Division has lost $2 million in funding this year after the UCP cancelled tax credits that helped with classroom size, classroom improvements and school fees. Premier Jason Kenney says an extra $10,000 will be made available per organization — on top of previous grants totalling no more than $20,000 — for a new maximum of $30,000. You can keep track of cuts that happen daily, or filter for issues that affect you the most, like health care and education. By cutting the provincial tuition cap, the UCP opened the door for tuition to increase on average 7% as post-secondary institutions deal with funding cuts. The Alberta government cuts funding for an opioid treatment program offered as a last resort to people with severe addictions. The UCP has delisted a series of medications including one pain medication for palliative patients who do not respond to other medications, January 09, 2020 • Post-Secondary Education. And that discrepancy is starting to grate. Lukaszuk says that when Jim Prentice lost in 2015, the same people who had recruited him took their package to Jason Kenney. “I think there is a group of people who followed the public health directive in good faith,” says Thomas. The UCP are signalling cuts to minimum wage with new panel stacked against hospitality workers. The UCP funding cuts force Red Deer College to continue to cut more staff. https://www.theprogressreport.ca/oil_company_turned_healthcare_company_got_significant_covid_testing_contract_after_hiring_ucp_connected_lobbyist_whose_son_works_in_health_ministry, https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/alberta-workers-covid-kenney-copping, https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/02/08/opinion/fall-of-jason-kenney, https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/02/08/Critics-Skeptical-Alberta-Reverses-Course-Open-Pit-Coal-Mines/, https://calgaryherald.com/news/braid-ucps-retreat-on-coal-mining-is-a-step-forward-for-alberta, https://www.producer.com/news/alberta-farmers-lose-carbon-credit-program/, https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/alberta-leaving-more-than-675-million-in-emergency-funds-unspent-report, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-government-wins-legal-bid-but-urged-to-take-care-when-cutting-benefits-to-young-adults-1.5890011, https://www.reddeeradvocate.com/news/alberta-federation-of-labour-says-school-outbreaks-very-alarming/, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/husky-cenovus-merger-layoffs-1.5886923, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/provincial-funding-cut-for-central-alberta-camp-for-adults-with-developmental-disabilities-1.5884845, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-registry-land-titles-1.5882678, https://edmonton.citynews.ca/2021/01/21/union-leader-said-kenney-lost-his-bet-on-keystone-xl-calls-for-diversification/, https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/alberta-teachers-unions-livid-after-province-issues-ministerial-orders-changing-terms-of-public-sector-pensions, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/corb-lund-coal-mine-opposition-alberta-1.5871428, https://globalnews.ca/news/7573976/ucp-order-teacher-pension-management/, https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-albertans-wont-soon-forget-aloha-gate, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-cabinet-minister-premier-s-chief-of-staff-resign-over-holiday-travel-other-mlas-demoted-1.5860869, https://globalnews.ca/news/7553115/tany-yao-mla-covid19-mexico/, https://globalnews.ca/news/7551875/kenney-ucp-travel-controversy-jan-2-2021/?fbclid=IwAR1Vyxa5lNWBcWsWEusn2fUamayE4tvX6SFeGYgwjy2EMsGkPzH3dh6KyMI, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/ucp-mlas-holiday-trips-abroad-1.5859728, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/jason-kenney-conference-1.5859278, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-minister-hawaii-vacation-1.5859031, https://thenarwhal.ca/alberta-coal-mining-rockies-elk-valley/?fbclid=IwAR0qP0FvEf3rG-BX9YKgUKTDSlldk0lhpxlnuYtOzxwKJcunHNNGnK5qEZo, https://www.parklandinstitute.ca/government_takeover_post_secondary, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-government-water-use-coal-oldman-reservoir-1.5826994, https://kimsiever.ca/2020/12/07/ucp-spending-20m-to-wean-non-profits-off-government-funding/, https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/12/07/Threatened-By-Coal-Ranchers-Take-Kenney-Court/, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/proposed-end-to-wcb-fair-practices-office-shortsighted-critics-say-1.5827848, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/road-ahead-jason-kenney-alberta-covid-politics-1.5818058, https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/alberta-introduces-labour-legislation-that-reverses-several-worker-protections-put-in-place-by-ndp. On January 4, Albertans saw a meek and cowed premier admitting wrongdoing for the first time in, of all things, a Facebook post. UCP introduces a Bill aimed to lower minimum wage for youth, brings back union secret ballots which favours employers and limits workers. Landowner and conservation groups greeted the announcement with skepticism. July 14, 2020 • Worker Rights and Safety. One of the recent UCP patronage appointments went to one of their failed Edmonton candidates and former Edmonton Eskmos CEO, Len Rhodes. The UCP have undertaken a review of education in Alberta and have cut teachers from the actual review panel. Delays in processing disability funding is leaving families worried and unsupported. Rocky View Schools are worried after facing a $10 million cut due to the austerity measures in the UCP budget. Alberta Environment and Parks plans to move ahead with its plans to remove 175 sites from the Alberta Parks system. There may be some job losses as a result. If you haven’t yet, take the pledge to Stand up to Kenney! The UCP has put the $100 million earmarked for the artificial intelligence sector on hold, leaving many in the province's AI sector now uncertain of their Alberta prospects. Varsity student athletes will no longer be participating in certain sports as a way of dealing with UCP cuts. Dr. Melanee Thomas from the University of Calgary says that this inconsistency is a feature, not a bug in Alberta politics. The UCP government will not be renewing Alberta’s conservation cropping protocols for Alberta grain farmers to generate carbon offsets under the province’s greenhouse gas reduction strategy. Despite an uncertain economic forecast, the UCP government maintains committed to cutting funding for the province. The UCP continues attacks on workers with introduction of new bill which seeks to remove certain bargaining rights. But if like me, you want to understand how Alberta got to this point, you have to start at the beginning. Janice MacKinnon, who chaired a panel calling for deep budget cuts, has been appointed by the province as a member of the board of the Governors of the University of Alberta. B.C. It was very empowering.”. Some low-income Albertans say their voices aren’t being heard and their lives are in limbo while the province reviews rental-supplement programs. Doctors say 2,000 patients in Alberta will pay a price as the Kenney government stops funding Remicade, a drug used to treat people with Crohn's, ulcerative colitis, or certain types of arthritis. UCP cuts a highly specialized program that helps fight wild fires that will hinder the ability to fight fires in remote locations. But Jansen and Lukaszuk see little opportunity for change within the UCP. Alison Redford’s subsequent campaign drew Sandra Jansen back into politics after returning to Alberta from a successful journalism career in Ontario. First, the UCP rescinded a policy preventing coal companies from surface mining the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Alberta was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, fourth … Friends of Medicare break down the 5,100 recent layoffs in the health care sector as a result of UCP budget cuts. Some of the many changes include limiting workers' right to refuse unsafe work. It would give me opportunities to serve and contribute. Both Red Deer School Divisions are concerned after the UCP cut funding for classroom sizes and improvements. “Where we have conversations about the kinds of things we want to focus on for the future of this province.”. “They influenced government policy by controlling the funding of the political party.”. “They were the gatekeepers,” continues Lukaszuk. Grande Prairie Public School Division is left dealing with one of the deepest funding cuts in the last 20 years after the UCP budget cuts. And she recounts hearing a group of young, male Kenney supporters chanting, “Better dead than red.”. Class size data will no longer be available to the public, so we won’t know how bad it gets. A financial program set up to assist victims of violent crime recover from physical and psychological injuries is being cut by the Kenney government. Nurses have already taken two years of zeros and teachers have had zero wage increases in 7 of the last 8 years. Selling that vision hasn’t always been easy. U of L students will likely see tuition increases averaging 7 per cent due to UCP cuts. Diagnostic imaging services like X-rays, ultrasounds, bone scans and MRIs ordered by certain practitioners will no longer be covered by the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan. He noted this means the federal government will impose one and collect the revenue. The UCP shifts post-secondary to problematic performance-based funding. Workers are being left with small pensions, sometimes half the amounts they would have been, because of changes put in place by the UCP government. This recycled approach to helping the economy has failed Albertans time and again. Agriculture will be affected and will result in job loss. The UCP has lifted the ban on seclusion rooms in schools, allowing their use. Lukaszuk reminds me how he and Ric McIver raised ethical concerns about the Prentice campaign markedly similar to those that have dogged Jason Kenney. The UCP cut the Human Rights Education and Multiculturalism Fund during a time that police-reported hate crimes are on the rise. Last week, the UCP announced the Civil Society Fund, designed to increase funding for the non-profit sector, presumably non-government funding. The UCP government is planning to sell public profitable land titles, corporate and personal properties registries to a private company offering an 'exclusive 35-year contract' to successful bidder. Some patients are even paying $800 for scans at private clinics. Later, in October of that same year, the UCP announced the layoff of up to 11,000 health care workers in the middle of a global pandemic. The recently inroduced budget attacks education in Alberta with deep cuts to post-secondaries and no new funding to account for new enrollment in elementary schools. Thomas believes that a lot of the anger coming from conservatives like Dave Rutherford stems from the realization that there is one set of rules for the political elite and a different set altogether for everyone else. Kenney also dismantled Notley’s climate change measures and announced the privatization of 175 parks. Attacking the Calgary Board of Education, UCP Education Minister LaGrange is threatening the board and calling for governance and fiscal reviews, siting that their budget is too high. That little man was on full display as Jason Kenney reckoned with the blowback from Albertans. As a result some of the programs will close and others will be cut back. January 20, 2020 • Social Programs, Health Care. A group says it has gained tentative political support from Health Minister Shandro for a proposal to build and operate the largest private, contracted surgical facility in the Alberta's history. October 27, 2019 • Post-Secondary Education. This introduces an extra step and may mean longer waittimes for those in emergencies. Jansen adds that she hasn’t been surprised to see the UCP attacking academics and doctors. The court has overturned the injunction on Bill 9, which allows the UCP government to delay negotiations set out in the collective agreement. Red Deer is not getting funding from the UCP for an addiction clinic, something they have long called for and need. The change lifted long-standing restrictions around coal mining, specifically on the eastern slopes of the Rockies. The previous government had banned seclusion rooms after controversial use. More increases are expected as UCP cut the tuition freeze. Initially he scrapped Notley’s limited economic diversification programs, before reviving them. And in rural Alberta, they don’t trust people from outside of the community.”. Conservationists say that once parks lose their protected area status they are not protected and are open to other uses, including industrial and commercial uses, which compromise conservation goals and public … December 18, 2019 • Post-Secondary Education, Jobs. After Crowsnest Pass applies for exisitng provincial grant funding to fight mountain pine beetles, UCP government turns around and says there’s no, there’s no grant money for this. The Westwind School Division is forced to make cuts that affect classrooms, programs and students after the UCP cuts $1 million in funding. Will the UCP’s most recent and most damaging scandals have lasting impacts? After a long, contentious debate, the UCP have passed their new education bill that, among other things, weakens protections for vulnerable youth. In the wake of budget cuts that have already led the University of Calgary to slash 250 jobs, the U of C law dean asks part-time instructors, mostly full-time lawyers, to donate their pay. Feature image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/5of7/, anger coming from conservatives like Dave Rutherford. Agricultural sector worries about even more government job cuts and the privatization of needed research. Albertans will no longer know class sizes in schools across Alberta as the UCP cancel the reporting requirements. Kenney announces plans to scrap provincial carbon levy and put forth a legal challenge to the federal carbon tax. The UCP cut funding for Stettler Parent Link centre that offers services to children and families. The UCP government merged two educational financial support grants into one lesser grant that could make post-secondary education less accessible for students with children or other dependents. Kenney doubles down on corporate handouts and introduces bill to slash Alberta's corporate tax rate to 8%, making it the lowest in the country. June 19, 2019 • Worker Rights and Safety. The UCP cuts mean Red Deer will loose two Parent Link centres which have served thousands of families for over a decade. She describes being chased by Kenney supporters and grilled on her pro-choice stance. “Get a premier who they can influence and control, who will give them a heads up so that they can monetize that connection.”. Sandra Jansen remembers similar experiences. The U of C has eliminated 25 jobs a few days after the UCP released their provincial budget which includes big funding cuts for post-secondary institutions. Multiple unions received notice from the UCP that they intend to privatize upwards of 7,400 of their jobs over the next 4 years. In Jim Prentice, Lukaszuk’s insiders finally found their man. Alberta's tech sector has been forced to pause or cancel plans for expansion and hiring after the UCP axed a tax credit that made Alberta competitive with other provinces. Proposed changes in the UCP's two new omnibus bills include lifting the ban on replacement workers for essential services, cutting indexing of AISH and directing where doctors practise.