October 15, 2013 - No. 115

Growing Opposition to the Harper Anti-Social Offensive

Say No! to the Harper Dictatorship

Growing Opposition to the Harper Anti-Social Offensive
• Say No! to the Harper Dictatorship
• Conservatives' Convention Resolutions Declare Continued War on Workers and Their Organizations - Peggy Morton 
• Oppose Harper Dictatorship's Anti-Science Offensive - Dougal MacDonald 
• Construction Workers Demand Job Security and Upholding of Wage and Safety Standards - Peggy Askin
• Letter to the Editor

Education Is a Right!
• What's at Stake in Alberta's School Trustee Elections - Kevan Hunter 
• Alberta Government's Further Concentration of Power in Education to Serve
Private Interests

Coming Events
• Actions and Events at Conservative Party National Policy Convention

Growing Opposition to the Harper Anti-Social Offensive

Say No! to the Harper Dictatorship

On October 16 the Governor General will deliver the Speech from the Throne on behalf of the Harper government when the new session of Parliament is convoked. It is said that the speech will focus on showing Canadians the government is “pro-consumer.” The problem for the Harper government is that no one is buying the anti-social, anti-worker, pro-war, pro-annexation nation wrecking they are selling.

Momentum is developing in Calgary, across Alberta and Canada to make sure that when the Harper Conservatives hold their National Convention in Calgary from October 31 to November 2, people will be there to let Harper and his followers know what they think of their nation-wrecking. From the time the delegates register at the BMO Centre in Stampede Park on October 31, until the end of the Convention on November 2, actions and events in opposition to the Harper anti-social agenda are being organized.

A picket and rally October 31 will start off the events and set the tone with a resounding No! to the Harper Dictatorship. The picket begins at 2 pm just outside Stampede Park. The leaflet issued by Calgarians Against the Harper Dictatorship calls on everyone to bring their banners and demands to the Conservative Party Convention to tell the Harper Government what they think of its anti-social action plan. The main messages on the leaflet are:

No to the Neo-Liberal Anti-Worker, Anti-Social Offensive!
No to Getting Canada Embroiled in Wars of Aggression!
Our Future Lies in the Fight For the Rights of All!

Calgarians Against the Harper Dictatorship points out: "The Conservatives say that this convention is an opportunity for those attending to have a say in the future of Canada as they prepare for the next election in 2015. Convention Resolutions reveal that the same all-sided assaults on Canadians' rights, livelihoods and future will continue to make up the agenda for this government.

"Canadians are opposed to permitting this clique of wreckers to carry on causing more irreparable harm to both the social and natural environment, including their schemes to further plunder Alberta's resources, despoil the environment and dispossess the Indigenous nations.

"Canadians oppose the anti-democratic shenanigans, suspensions of Parliament, buffoonery in Question Period, microtargeting and robocalling, anti-worker legislation including low wage agendas and attacks on unions and migrant workers. They oppose the muzzling of scientists and the defunding of social programs and social organizations which do not serve the Harper wrecking agenda. Calgarians Against the Harper Dictatorship is strongly opposed to the deregulation of transportation and environmental safeguards, the privatization of everything, including healthcare, education and government services, as well as government itself. It opposes warmongering and the refusal to recognize the hereditary rights of First Nations, as well as Quebec bashing.

Locked out postal workers and their supporters rally at Harper's constituency office, June 2011.

"The people have the right to take the decisions over all aspects of their lives and the future of Canada, not the Harper Dictatorship. Let us together affirm that right!

"Harper and his crew of wreckers consider Calgary to be their home turf. Let's start showing them what they are up against in the next election!"

Events will continue over the weekend. On November 1, the Pros and Cons Teach-In organized by Common Causes will take place from 7 to 10 pm at the Castell Library.

On November 2 from 11:30-1:30 pm, the Public Service Alliance of Canada is holding a rally also outside Stampede Park. A BBQ will take place following the rally. In its call for the rally, PSAC points out:

"On top of cutting jobs and slashing crucial programs and services, the Conservatives have been attacking organized labour with anti-labour legislation such as Bill C-377 and Bill C-525. While in Calgary, convention delegates will debate policy resolutions that would support 'right to work' legislation, while severely limiting how unions can spend members' dues."

Public sector workers take a stand against Harper government's massive cutbacks to federal public services at Labour Day 2012 in Calgary.

Workers from many sectors, First Nations peoples, artists, scientists, health care activists, environmentalists and other social activists are organizing to participate and take their stand. Calgary is home base for Harper and for his anti-labour minister Jason Kenney, amongst others. They very arrogantly consider this as "safe ground" despite their nation-wrecking agenda, destruction of Canada's institutions, scandals, corruption, cover-ups and bullying of anyone who stands in their way.

Let's all join in to make the actions beginning October 31 and carrying on right through the Convention a big success and a taste of what the Conservatives are up against in 2015!

Hold the Harper Government to Account!
Our Future Lies in the Fight for the Rights of All!

Conservatives' Convention Resolutions Declare Continued War on Workers and their Organizations

- Peggy Morton -

Eleven resolutions have been submitted to the Conservative Party national convention from riding associations across the country calling for more draconian measures attacking workers and their organizations. The resolutions make it clear that the government's agenda is to continue its all-sided assaults on Canadians' rights and livelihoods. These resolutions continue the assault contained in the Harper government's private members Bill C-377, an Act to amend the Income Tax Act (requirements for labour organizations). C-377 imposed an onerous system of public reporting on labour unions, which is not required of other organizations. Among other things, the bill would force trade unions to report all transactions greater than $5,000, identifying the recipient, the payer, the purpose and description of the transaction. Disbursements to officers, directors and trustees would have to be reported with an added disclosure of the percentage of time dedicated to political and lobbying activities. Information garnered would be posted for public viewing on the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) website. C-377 was amended in the Senate and returned to the House of Commons. However, prorogation does not alter the progress of a private members' bill, so the bill can now be returned without amendment to the Senate.

The Harperites have ridden roughshod over the right of workers to determine the wages and working conditions acceptable to themselves and their peers. It is pursuing a low wage agenda and has criminalized workers for defending their rights, declared strikes illegal and passed back-to-work legislation against postal workers, railway workers, and Air Canada workers. Far from a re-set, the Conservative National Convention resolutions show that with Jason Kenney, as the new Minister of Employment and Social Development, more attacks on the rights of workers to organize and resist are being planned. Workers and their organizations are to be declared "enemies" if they take a stand against the Harper dictatorship's all-sided wrecking of everything of value to workers and their allies because only those who recognize Harper's values are deemed worthy of rights. The Harper dictatorship hopes that depriving the unions of funds will prevent workers from using their collective strength to defend their interests and develop their own independent politics. It is also directed at acts of social solidarity of the organized workers' movement, including providing financial and other resources to projects and organizations that are resisting nation-wrecking and defending the rights of all.

A number of Conservative Party resolutions aim to deprive unions of the funds needed to operate and organize. The Calgary-Nose-Hill electoral district association (EDA) calls for abolition of the Rand formula altogether and introduction of so-called "right to work" legislation. The resolution reads, "The Conservative Party believes that mandatory union membership and forced financial contributions as a condition of employment limit the economic freedom of Canadians and stifle economic growth." The monopolies and their political representatives think such "right to be a slave" laws will cripple the union movement by depriving it of necessary funds for operations and organizing.

The Montreal Ahuntsic Conservative EDA proposes that unions should be prohibited from collecting dues under the Rand Formula for any purpose other than to cover the costs of collective bargaining and union administered benefits. It declares, "Contributions to causes or initiatives unrelated to those objectives should be collected on an individual, voluntary basis." In a second resolution from Ahuntsic, the EDA states, "Whereas unions meddle in political affairs, their finances are not transparent, that the Conservative party is addressing the opacity of the financing of trade unions and compulsory membership of these unions for their members within the limits of federal jurisdiction."

The Edmonton-Sherwood Park EDA proposes, "The government should prevent mandatory dues collected by unions from being diverted to fund political causes unrelated to workplace needs." The Nepean-Carlton EDA calls for "protections against forced union dues for political and social causes that are unrelated to the workplace." The Ottawa-Centre EDA calls for unions under federal jurisdiction to be required to provide an annual accounting "to their membership" revealing the funds allocated to political donations, donations to media organizations, and to political activism and campaigns. Then, the resolution proposes unions would be required to permit members to opt out of the portion of their dues allocated to these activities.

All of the above are gross violations of the rights and responsibilities of unions to implement the decisions of their members. The Conservative anti-worker resolutions aim to weaken the organized workers' opposition and its defence of the rights of all so that all power is concentrated in the hands of the monopolies, which have almost unlimited financial and other means to promote their private interests.  The resolutions promote right to be a slave laws, and more and more layers of difficult and onerous reporting mandated not by the unions' membership but by the state. The neo-liberal goal is to render the working class powerless to defend its rights and fight for a new direction for the economy to serve the public interest and the general interests of society.

Harper's wrecking ball is also aimed at security in retirement and the pensions of workers in the federal public service. Several resolutions call for the elimination of federal public sector defined benefit pensions, to be replaced with savings plans known as defined contribution plans. The resolutions also call for pensions to be made "comparable to the private sector," which aim essentially to deny people the right to security in retirement, with Canada's seniors forced to fend for themselves within Harper's law of the jungle. Instead of guaranteeing the right of workers to security in retirement with defined benefit pensions for all, the Harperites want to smash the pensions that exist and push everyone into insecurity.

The majority of the other resolutions dealing with the working class call for dictating how unions can spend union dues. The principle of the members deciding what activities the union is engaged in is replaced with state-organized dictate.

Finally, a resolution is proposed requiring unions in industries under federal jurisdiction to hold a secret ballot in a strike vote. This is a deceptive ploy to suggest that union members are intimidated and prevented from voting their conscience. The Canada Labour Code already provides the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) with broad powers to order a vote on an employer's offer and supervise the vote. If the Canada Labour Code specifically requires secret ballots, then this would extend the CIRB's powers, so that all votes would have to be CIRB supervised to make sure they complied with Harper's state-organized dictate, further denying the right of workers to organize and run their own affairs.

The fact that the Conservative Convention has on its agenda the attempt to stop unions from participating in political and social affairs shows the extent of Harper's wrecking of Canada's institutions and the attempt to destroy all social forms in which Canadians are organized. How to defeat the Harper dictatorship and send his minister of labour Jason Kenney packing have become major questions facing workers and their allies.

Oppose Harper Dictatorship's Anti-Science Offensive

- Dougal MacDonald -

Scientists rally on Parliament Hill, September 16, 2013.

It is noteworthy that on the Conservative Party of Canada's Convention Website, the list of resolutions the Harperites will discuss October 31-November 2 in Calgary makes no specific mention of anything directly related to science and scientific research. This is surprising in view of the fact that the Harper dictatorship's muzzling of science and of scientists' right to speak about their work is a major issue at this time. On September 16, scientists, researchers, and their supporters held rallies in at least 17 cities across Canada, including in Alberta, to defend the important scientific work they do in the service of the public. The largest rally took place on Parliament Hill where over 1,000 people, including hundreds of scientists in white lab coats, demanded "evidence-based decision-making."

The work of scientists in the service of keeping Canadians well-informed, safe and healthy and to further the country's social, environmental, industrial and technological development has been under increasing assault by the Harper dictatorship. At the same time, strong opposition to the anti-science offensive continues to build. On July 10, 2012, a rally against the muzzling of scientists was held on Parliament Hill. On November 16, 2012, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), whose members include many scientists and technicians, held a rally on Parliament Hill to defend public services and oppose layoffs. On February 20, 2013, the Environmental Law Clinic at University of Victoria published a 128-page report entitled Muzzling Civil Servants: A Threat to Democracy. Also, a campaign is continuing to save the Experimental Lakes Area in the Kenora, Ontario region, a research facility of global significance, which had its funding cut last year. Opposition continues to develop against the Harper government's cancellation of the long form census, which has for decades provided invaluable data to social scientists across the country.

A major aspect of the Harper attack on science has been withdrawing funding from basic research and shifting priorities to short-term commercial applications in the service of the monopolies. This has also been a major theme in Alberta where the Minister of Enterprise and Advanced Education continues to call for universities and other research institutes to focus on "practical" work that will enhance the profits of industry, especially the energy industry. Obviously the implicit threat is that federal and provincial funding will only come to those who follow that dictate. Research institutes that focus on the exploitation of the oil sands have already been established with public money at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary. Now the Minister has put in place an "advisory committee" of mainly foreign members that will oversee the creation of a new Alberta research institute that will focus on research with a potential for commercialization, as well as oversee the rest of Alberta's research facilities.

In addition, in the interests of the energy monopolies, both the Harper dictatorship and the Alberta Tory government have actively suppressed any science that questions the claim that unrestricted exploitation of the Alberta oil sands has little negative effect on the environment. This campaign goes back at least to 1997 when the Alberta government set up the Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program (RAMP), financed by the oil companies, with a 28-member steering committee consisting almost entirely of industry and government representatives. RAMP was heavily criticized by scientists, Aboriginal communities, and many others, as over the years its questionable reports kept giving the oil sands operations a clean bill of health. In 2010, David Schindler, a world-renowned aquatics expert at the University of Alberta, made a breakthrough in the public interest when he and his colleagues offered irrefutable evidence that the oil sands industry was polluting the environment of northern Alberta with thirteen pollutants including arsenic, lead and mercury. Schindler and his colleagues' report was first dismissed by the government and the monopolies but it could not be explained away. The findings were also later confirmed by Environment Canada scientists.

Harper's anti-science offensive has also adversely affected Alberta's agriculture industry. An outbreak of E. coli at the XL Foods plant in Brooks in October 2012 was a direct consequence of both the provincial government facilitating the monopoly owner's unrestricted drive for profits and the Harper dictatorship's downsizing of the national team of Canadian Food Inspectors. Data provided by the Public Service Alliance of Canada shows that as of May 13, 2013, the federal government had issued layoff notices to 69 food inspectors in Alberta.

To give another example, the April 2012 Harper federal budget made a 9 per cent cut to the budget of the Department of Agriculture, wiping out such important research entities as the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) branch, which was created in 1935 to rehabilitate areas affected by drought and soil drifting in the western provinces, and the Cereal Research Centre in Winnipeg, an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research facility that investigates cereal grains.

It is very important that scientists, researchers and their allies take advantage of the Conservative Party Convention in Calgary at the end of October to escalate the fight against the Harper dictatorship's anti-science offensive. They should take the opportunity to denounce in the strongest terms the Harper dictatorship for the muzzling of government scientists and demand that open communication of publicly-funded science must be made available to the public. They must demand that all governments use the best available science and evidence to make decisions, rather than ignoring or suppressing any findings that contradict their neo-liberal agenda. Scientists, researchers and their allies should also demand adequate federal and provincial government support and funding for scientific research, from basic science to applied research and technology innovation.

Construction Workers Demand Job Security and Upholding of Wage and Safety Standards

- Peggy Askin -

Last month, 270 unionized welders and pipe fitters were informed that there was no longer work for them at the Husky Sunrise oil sands project, located 60 miles northeast of Fort McMurray, Alberta. The general contractor for the construction on the site's central processing facility is Saipem Canada Inc., an Italian-owned company that makes extensive use of the Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) Program. Laid-off workers contacted the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) and the media. They are demanding answers as to why they were laid off and why the general contractor was permitted to use the TFW program to bring in workers to continue their work. "Layoffs are pretty standard when there is no work to be done, but there was plenty of work for us to do out there," a worker commented.

The workers report that the TFWs brought in through this human trafficking program governed by Jason Kenney's Ministry of Employment and Social Development are not covered by a union contract and are not being trained to operate equipment safely. Rules are not being enforced regarding wearing protective gear in restricted areas; there is a lack of training on the Alberta labour code and they are not being provided with proper training to be able to read basic warning labels on hazardous materials. Other dangerous conditions have been documented by workers on the site. Attempts by the workers to uphold safety standards before they left the project were ignored by Husky.

While the trades workers are demanding job security, Minister Kenney is looking for ways to once more circumvent the government's own regulations. Federal regulations require that before hiring a TFW, an employer must apply for and receive a positive Labour Market Opinion (LMO). A positive LMO is supposed to confirm that there are no Canadian workers available to do the work. "We're looking at the question as to whether we should re-start accelerated processing for certain labour market opinions," Kenney recently stated. Kenny claims that bringing back the Accelerated LMOs, which guarantees the employer a ten-day turnaround, would deal with labour shortages.

What just occurred at the Husky Sunrise project is proof positive that the TFW Program has nothing to do with labour shortages and everything to do with the Harper government's low wage agenda. The government is acting on behalf of private interests to lower the wages and working conditions of all workers. The demands of the workers to uphold wages and safety standards are entirely just. One step in this direction would be to abolish the anti-worker TFW Program and establish proper immigration methods, where all workers' rights are upheld and guaranteed.

In a press release issued October 10, the AFL said, "Over the next months, Albertans can expect to see more cases of Canadian workers being displaced thanks to a new program that allows some employers to skip the usual process of applying for Temporary Foreign Workers. Under the Alberta Pilot for Occupation-Specific Work Permits, some employers can hire TFWs without any attempt to advertise the job locally."

"This allows employers to recruit overseas without having to consider hiring Canadians who can do the job," AFL President Gil McGowan said. "The government has been very secretive about this pilot program. We do not know the number of workers and their occupations utilizing this pilot project. The Alberta Federation of Labour has submitted an Access to Information request to the federal government to obtain this information, but the request has yet to be fulfilled."

Of the over 300,000 TFWs now employed in Canada, 70,000 are working in Alberta. The federal government is at the ready, finding ways so that employers can make unrestricted use of TFWs who are deprived of their rights. This shows how the owners of capital impose their private interests through their domination of state institutions. It shows that the Harper government on behalf of the monopolies are the biggest human traffickers of workers. Their aim is to expand the labour market globally to drive down wages, benefits and working conditions, and weaken the organizations of the Canadian working class. It must not pass!

The TFW Program must be shut down and any new program restricted to providing work permits for genuinely short-term employment, such as academic exchanges. Permanent resident status with full rights must be granted to all current undocumented workers and temporary foreign workers resident in Canada based on the modern principles of Status for All and that People Have Rights by Virtue of Being Human.

Shut Down the Temporary Foreign Workers Program!
Uphold Wage and Safety Standards!
Jason Kenney Has to Go!

Letter to the Editor

The Conservative Party National Convention was postponed from its original date in June 2013 because of the devastating floods which hit Calgary. As the people of Calgary and southern Alberta stood together to deal with the flood, the contribution of first responders and emergency personnel, public sector and utility workers was recognized and greatly appreciated by the people. The workers went to tremendous effort to safeguard the water and power supply, maintain telecommunications networks, keep hospitals open, look after the sick and vulnerable, and keep people safe despite their own personal situations.

In the intervening period, the people of Lac-Mégantic suffered a terrible loss of life and of their community. This brought to the fore the reality that the private monopolies are permitted to exercise control over peoples' lives and the safety of their communities, with devastating consequences for public safety. Derailments in Calgary have brought the same issue home.

The tragedy in Lac-Mégantic and the Calgary derailments showed the importance of the fight of railway workers for safe working conditions on the railways for communities right across Canada in the face of the drive of the monopolies and the Harper government in their service to further degrade safety on the railways to enrich private interests.

The attacks on unions are justified by fabricating that it is unions and other organizations, which keep Canadians organized in one form or another, which lack "accountability." This is not going to wash when everyone knows it is the Harper government and the Conservative Party itself which are mired in an unprecedented level of scandal, corruption, intrigue, and endless cover-up and denial.

Calgarians showed who they are during the floods and their aftermath. No doubt many of those who showed up unannounced at the doors of people who had been flooded and came forward in other ways consider themselves to be Conservatives. Their concept of being conservative has nothing to do with corruption, wrecking of Canada's institutions and the use of privilege for naked self-interest.

Calgarians want a say in deciding the affairs of the country as do all Canadian citizens and residents. Harper, Kenney and others present themselves as people who are accountable, "speak for the west" and so on, but their actions have put the Harper government in conflict with the vast majority of Canadians, including Calgarians. How to stop Harper has become the most important question facing people. Let's all join the work to defeat the Harper dictatorship in the next election and reverse the neo-liberal direction of the economy.

[Signed]

A Worker in Calgary

Education Is a Right!

What's at Stake in Alberta's School Trustee Elections

- Kevan Hunter -

On October 21, Albertans will vote for school board trustees for Alberta's 62 school boards. These elections are taking place in the context of deteriorating conditions for both the students and the education workers -- teachers, educational assistants, and support staff -- who work tirelessly to ensure that the students' needs are met.

The spring 2013 austerity budget froze funding for education. Meanwhile the number of students continues to increase. The result has been the only one possible -- increased class sizes. While for many years a class of 30 was considered "full," now "40 is the new 30." Classes of 35-38 in Grades 7-9 have become commonplace with classes of more than 40 students in grades 10-12. Some classes in Alberta high schools have as many as 53 students in one class. Lack of funding for education is having other real consequences for students. Support for students with special needs, English as a Second Language positions, as well as guidance counselling and student services have been cut again.

The Alberta government callously dismisses concerns about class sizes. Education Minister Jeff Johnson has stated that Alberta "shouldn't see changes in class sizes because of the budget" and that classes will somehow mysteriously "stabilize" in November. Premier Redford suggested it was a problem of poor management on the part of school boards, saying, "We know that there are communities that are making some difficult choices and there are some excellent school boards that are really ensuring that the resources that we provide to them are going directly to the classroom and the students." The government's own figures show that 85 per cent of school boards have average class sizes exceeding the Alberta Commission on Learning recommendations for Kindergarten to Grade 3. Even these averages do not reflect reality because they fail to account for some classes which are necessarily smaller. While Edmonton Public Schools reported a class size average of 26.1 students in the 2012-2013 school year, one-quarter of its classes had 31-35 students and 9 per cent had 36-40 students. With more students in 2013-14 and no increased funding to accommodate them, these numbers are no doubt significantly higher this year.

Education is a right! The main issue in this round of trustee elections is that school boards must be advocates for children and push for the necessary funding to ensure that the right to education for every student will be provided with a guarantee.

Alberta Government's Further Concentration of Power in Education to Serve Private Interests

Every school board election, the monopoly media repeatedly call into question the relevance of public school boards, the latest being an editorial in the Calgary Herald entitled, "A lesson learned: School boards have lost the ability to make local decisions."

It is argued that since Ralph Klein took away the power of taxation, school boards have no relevant role. In 1993, during Klein's anti-social offensive, the Alberta government assumed control over the portion of property tax that was previously set by school boards to fund the education system. It was argued that this would solve the problem of disparity amongst school boards with a larger property tax base compared with other boards. Today, retrogressive property taxes are still used as the basis of education funding, but school boards have no control over the size of their budgets. Provincial control has been used to reduce funding for education, while imposing various pay-the-rich and privatization schemes, including the funding of private schools. Education workers have found themselves in the predicament of trying to bargain collectively with school boards that no longer hold the purse strings.

The Redford government continues to insist that new schools be built as public-private partnerships (P3s). P3s place school operations under the control of private interests and allow them to seize more of the social product, as their own private profit. This social product is created by the workers of this province but increasingly it is seized by privileged private interests. School construction has become a form of blackmail, where school boards in Edmonton and Calgary are told that if they want schools built in new communities that desperately need them, they must create space for charter schools elsewhere.

Clearly the centralization of power has taken place in the service of the most powerful monopolies. The Redford government uses both its majority and arbitrary or prerogative powers to threaten and silence school boards that are concerned with funding cuts and privatization, school boards and individuals who expose how neo-liberal practices are doing great harm to students, teachers and the society.

Regardless, every teacher knows that decisions taken by school boards have a huge impact on teacher workloads and the context in which they teach students. Decisions on how reporting to parents will be carried out, school board requirements such as the hated "Results Reporting" in the Calgary Board of Education, and digital learning systems make a world of difference for a teacher in terms of how they organize their workday. These decisions affect whether a teacher is focused on diagnosing and meeting student needs or focused on bureaucratic non-instructional tasks. Increasingly, however, trustee boards are left out of the process. They are relegated to the role of hiring the Chief Superintendent, who then takes the decisions about what direction the school system will take.

The present government and many school boards have huge changes in mind for education. School boards are adopting "personalized learning" where technology is presented as the solution to increasingly complex and larger classes of students. In the United States, the Common Core State Standards Initiative has led to the creation of a national database of student information, which includes data on student achievement and sometimes even hobbies and attitudes towards school. This information is being placed in private hands, as a resource for data-mining for further private profit or other, more nefarious purposes.

Education workers, parents, and students are demanding school boards that defend public education, not school boards that acquiesce to the monopolies' demand to open up education as a source of private profit at the expense of student learning. To further erode the power of school boards will take control of public education one step further away from the people and concentrate more power in the hands of the Alberta government, which acts as if its role is to facilitate profiteering by monopoly corporations.

Coming Events

Actions and Events at the Conservative Party
National Policy Convention

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