Alberta

Alberta Dept: Sadly, we focus on what immigrants can do for us fill jobs rather than on what we can do for them provide beautiful communities and the chance to participate in building something amazing . It won t end well for Alberta if we keep that attitude. Migrant workers will treat Alberta like the national ATM: Get your cash and get out, according to Globe and Mail. Sometimes, the attitude in the energy patch has been: We must build pipelines. The world needs our oil. Nothing can get in the way. This is not negotiable. Oil and pipeline companies are running headlong into some unanticipated opposition from folks who don t see it the same way and alberta is experiencing some record-setting immigration. Job seekers from around the country and the world are choosing Alberta because of the excellent opportunities. We talk of labour shortages and insufficient human resources in phrases that regard immigrants like commodities rather than human beings. Welcome to Alberta, you human resource. Take your place and get to work! Van Gogh s words also strike a chord when we think of Alberta s abundant resources. The worrying question used to be: What if we run out of oil? That s been answered. We will never, ever run out of oil. Now the more daunting question is: What if we can t transport our oil to the buyers? Or worse, what if they don t need our oil any more? Those questions should send shivers of terror down the spines of Albertans with children in schools or parents in hospitals. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Conservative MP: Canada may be 12 to 24 months away from a total fiscal collapse!"-- Jason Kenney, President, Association of Alberta Taxpayers, May 9, 1993Yesterday, tout le monde political Alberta was abuzz with word Jason Kenney, Conservative MP for Calgary Midnapore and former Harper government cabinet heavyweight, is about to abandon federal politics and make big waves here in landlocked Alberta, according to Rabble. The media punditocracy apparently unanimously agrees: Kenney, 48, is about to embark on a career in Alberta politics, uniting the discombobulated provincial right with the snap of his fingers and swiftly sweeping the province New Democratic government from the field. "Kenney decision will be huge, not only in Alberta where the fractured right-of-centre vote contributed to the NDP stunning majority win last year, but in federal politics," Chris Hall, the CBC National Affairs Editor, hyperventilated yesterday. Chip in to keep stories like these coming. "There is an end to our line of credit. The general consensus appears to be that Kenney, who served as prime minister Stephen Harper defence minister and multiculturalism maven, will be an unstoppable juggernaut, crushing anything that wanders into his path as he steams majestically toward inevitable power. In 2014, Prentice, a former banker and federal Conservative cabinet minister, looked like the guy who could work the miracle necessary to make the Alberta Progressive Conservatives, then creakily approaching the 43rd year of dynastic rule in this province, whole again. Given the burgeoning excitement on the political right and among its journalistic auxiliary, it is fair for us to ask: Are Alberta conservatives about to make the same mistake with Jason Kenney their hapless Progressive Conservative wing made in 2014 when it chose Jim Prentice Call it Saviour Syndrome. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

canadian citizenship: It's given birth to the political careers of Stephen Harper, Preston Manning, Jason Kenney, Ted Morton, and, good God, Rob Anders the only parliamentarian to vote against awarding honorary Canadian citizenship to Nelson Mandela, according to Rabble. Lawyer and polemicist Ezra Levant first became famous in Alberta. It's no surprise that the University of Alberta has come under fire for planning to award an honorary degree to famed environmentalist David Suzuki.RELATED STORIESMartyn Brown There's dumb, and there's Alberta dumb and Rachel Notley's Bill 12 is both Alberta premier Rachel Notley calls Kinder Morgan pipeline the poster child for cooperative federalism Grand Chief Stewart Phillip accuses Justin Trudeau and Rachel Notley of brazenly ignoring First Nations rights Martyn Brown Rachel Notley's days of whine and poses University of Alberta honorary degree for David Suzuki ruffles feathers across campus After all, its campuses are in what is still the most right-wing province in Canada. The Byfields ran their publishing operation from Alberta, giving a platform to Ken Whyte, the first but not the last right-wing editor of the National Post. Alberta-based writers such as Kevin Taft and Andrew Nikiforuk have chronicled the grip that the Alberta oil industry has had on that province's political culture. And the University of Calgary has been home to several of Canada's most conservative academics, including Barry Cooper, who's been linked to the climate-change-denial movement, and Rainer Knopff, whose been slamming the Supreme Court of Canada for years. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

commerce alberta: The Filipino community has a huge presence in Alberta, but it hasn't traditionally had long-standing organizations to promote its businesses in the same manner as other major ethnic groups in Canada, according to Toronto Star. Brian Morales, an entrepreneur of Filipino descent, said he's interested in getting involved with the Filipino Chamber of Commerce Alberta to tackle youth social issues within the community. Out of that conference came the recently announced Filipino Chamber of Commerce Alberta, an organization established to represent Filipino-Albertan business owners of all stripes. Supplied There's a chance for influence, said Morales. According to the 2016 federal census, Tagalog was the second most-spoken home language in Alberta, after English. There's also a chance for responsibility, now that we're a big enough community. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

foreign workers: Details of the internal government documents, obtained through an Access to Information request, were shared by the group at a news conference Friday morning in Calgary. Alberta leads way in fast-track requests for temporary foreign workers Temporary foreign worker plans won't help, says Alberta minister Alberta wants more control over Temporary Foreign Worker Program , according to CBC. Many of the foreign workers had jobs as nurse aides, front desk clerks, truck drivers, service station attendants and heavy equipment operators, among others. Documents show the Harper government allowed Alberta companies to pay thousands of foreign workers less than Canadians in 2013, the Alberta Federation of Labour AFL says. Behind closed doors, they knew the rules were being bent and broken, and they knew thousands of temporary foreign workers were being underpaid, said AFL president Gil McGowan. Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, says the federal government allowed Alberta businesses to underpay thousands of temporary foreign workers in 2013. But he would not say how many of those cases happened in the first half of the year, when it was still legal to underpay those workers. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

change: Service Alberta Minister Brian Malkinson blamed Alberta's previous Conservative government for the 2012 change that barred refugee claimants from using federally issued ID to apply for a driver's licence, according to Toronto Star. Madeline Smith / Star Metro Calgary Calgary Centre for Newcomers CEO Anila Lee Yuen praised the change as an important part of helping refugee claimants build lives in Alberta. Service Alberta Minister Brian Malkinson said Alberta is the only province that had this type of barrier in place, and the change brings the government in line with policy in the rest of the country. Madeline Smith / Star Metro Calgary Mahmoud Al-Astal, a refugee claimant from Palestine, described the barriers he experienced when he couldn't get a driver's licence after arriving in Calgary. Malkinson blamed Alberta's previous Conservative government for the 2012 change that barred refugee claimants from using federally issued ID to apply for a driver's licence. Madeline Smith / Star Metro Calgary Refugee claimants are allowed to live and work in Canada while they wait for their immigration confirmation hearing with the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, and there is no reason why they shouldn't be allowed to drive during that time, he said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

University of Alberta: Dean Lesley Cormack of the Faculty of Arts informed staff at the University of Alberta via memo that numerous programs should be suspended, each of which has had 10 or fewer students enrolled as majors since Fall 2005, according to Huffington Post. NDP's Advanced Education critic Rachel Notley, says the cuts are another disappointment by the Alberta government and The University of Alberta plans to axe twenty Arts programs with low enrollment - a move that is being heavily criticized by many as a blow to both the school and community. "I want us to be able to offer new programs that students might now be interested in and its very hard to do that if we never close old programs, Cormack told The Edmonton Sun. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Alberta Health Services Dept: Horne admits he didn't know about Allaudin Merali's previous troubles over similar spending when he was a health consultant in Ontario. Nor does he know if the board who hired Merali as chief financial officer for Alberta Health Services knew anything either, according to Winnipeg Free Press. Documents show that between 2005 and 2009 when Merali first worked in Alberta for a health authority that looked after Edmonton and region he filed expenses totalling $346,000. They included a bill to taxpayers for almost $1,750 to fix his Mercedes when his annual salary was $487,000 and eDMONTON - Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne has promised to get to the bottom of how a senior official was allowed to rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses for everything from fancy meals to car repairs. "I'm as much dumbfounded by this as anyone else," Horne said Thursday, the day after Merali's sudden resignation just weeks after he was hired by Alberta Health Services and three years after he left Ontario. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Alberta election results: With the worldwide oil price in the dumpster, now is not the right time to upset the business community, Conservative Premier Jim Prentice intoned, according to Rabble. Capital is mobile, warned Deborah Yedlin, a business columnist for CBC Calgary. On Alberta election-day morning the headline in the Globe and Mail Report on Business was: "Energy industry braces for Alberta election results." The NDP leader, now Premier-elect Rachel Notley had, horror of horrors, promised a "review" of the cash benefits -- the royalties -- that the people of Alberta get from the oil and gas that private corporations, many of them foreign, pull out of their soil. And if Notley "royalty review" does not chase away some of the holders of that capital, Yedlin added, raising Alberta corporate tax from a miniscule 10 per cent to a tiny 12 per cent certainly would. The Premier-elect even argued that a more environmentally conscious Alberta government might, possibly, have the moral clout to get some of those stalled pipeline projects moving. Ending boom and bust cycle It is not surprising that in her much-praised victory speech Notley extended her hand in friendship to the corporate bosses of the oil patch. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Alberta Dept: Here's a look at some of the changes coming into effect in Alberta on July 1: Pharmacists may offer medical services such as prescription renewals, injections and others Reduced prices for generic drugs Reinstatement of chiropractic coverage for seniors Stiffer penalties for drivers with blood alcohol over .08, which includes an immediate license suspension Changes to the Alberta Insurance Act, which extended limitation periods, strengthened consumer protection and revised rules to various legal processes Closure of "Ask a Question," a service offered by Alberta libraries for the past 12 years Inflation-adjusted Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit rates. Maximum income level eligibility raised to $34,897 Parents may force their severely drug-addicted teens into longer detox programs, according to CBC and as the midpoint in the calendar year, and a nationally symbolic one at that, June 30 and July 1 are dates on which new regulations or tax changes often come into effect or current ones expire and quarterly adjustments are made to some government programs. Other changes happening this holiday weekend in Canada and beyond: Tobacco products for sale anywhere in the Canadian market must carry the federal excise stamp The maximum basic Old Age Security benefit paid to people age 65 or older rises $4.86 a month to $544.98 for people making less than $69,562 a year Refugees will no longer receive dental and vision care and will have reduced prescription drug coverage MPs' pension fund will be $23 million richer Most applicants for semi- and low-skilled professions under the Provincial Nominee Program will have to undergo testing and meet mandatory minimum language standards in English or French An immediate freeze under the Skilled Worker Program and the Immigrant Investor Program to reduce the backlog of applicants seeking to come to Canada under those programs div (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.