Finance committee  Establishing a youth climate corps in Canada makes sense in every province, but it might be particularly useful in a province like Alberta, given what we've just gone through over the past couple of years, especially last spring and this summer. We experienced an unprecedented

Finance committee  Yes, for sure. There's absolutely no doubt from our perspective that we are already experiencing a shortage in the skilled trades, in particular. That problem is set to get worse rather than better, because a lot of our tradespeople, at least here in Alberta, are in their late fo

Finance committee  Can I respond?

Finance committee  I think there's an important distinction that needs to be made between what was proposed by the Wynne government in Ontario and what's being proposed by the Smith government here in Alberta. The big distinction is that what was being proposed in Ontario and, frankly, what was bei

Finance committee  Honestly, it would be better if it were an augmentation to the CPP, and the labour movement actively participated in the expansion of the CPP that is currently being implemented. I was involved in those conversations, and I would like to have seen more, because it's still not eno

Finance committee  We, in the Alberta labour movement, support both of those suggestions: open permits and a quicker path to citizenship. However, we're concerned that the program is being used as a replacement for real immigration. We humbly suggest that this government should reconsider the low-w

Finance committee  Thanks for the question. The Government of Alberta has asked the federal government to task the chief actuary in coming up with a number for the transfer amount. With due respect, we think that is too narrow a scope. We would like the finance minister to ask the chief actuary to

Finance committee  I just want, if it's okay, to respond to one of your initial comments. Then I'll respond to the comment on normalization. With due respect, and I appreciate your saying that you hear our concerns about temporary foreign workers, this government has announced a fast track for the

Finance committee  The top advice is that this government should continue on the track it's on. We've already dealt with the transition for workers in the coal-fired power sector. We're the only province I think that has negotiated a sector-wide just transition package for a group of workers who ha

Finance committee  Thanks. Good morning. As you said, my name is Gil McGowan, and I have the honour of serving as the elected president of Alberta's largest worker advocacy group, the Alberta Federation of Labour, which represents workers in all sectors of the Alberta economy. On behalf of our me

Natural Resources committee  To your first question, it's absolutely crucial to have workers at the table when we're building an IRA-style industrial policy. We have to make sure that workers have input and that they're at the front line. I would also say it's really important to have their input for politi

Natural Resources committee  Our coalition that produced our economic blueprint looked at all of the avenues for development that we thought would support our economy and create jobs. We did look at nuclear. We brought in a bunch of experts to give us advice. We chose not to put it in our final report as a

Natural Resources committee  It was devastating. I think the moratorium has to be put in context. Alberta was leading the country in terms of attracting investment in the renewable sector. In fact, there was no other province that was keeping up with us on a proportionate basis. We were attracting more inves

Natural Resources committee  —to all members of this committee: Where will the jobs and future prosperity come from in this global energy transition if we don't embrace an IRA-style industrial policy to pivot our economy? Thank you.

Natural Resources committee  The UCP government's announcement of the moratorium on renewable energy development was, frankly, devastating and demoralizing for the workers we represent in Alberta and, frankly, for the majority of Albertans. It came out of the blue. We weren't expecting it, and it's exactly t