This weekend, the United Conservative Party of Alberta will hold its annual general meeting and vote on 20 policy resolutions, including to challenge anti-racism education initiatives and review utility transportation fees.
This is the first conference of the party headed by Premier Danielle Smith. According to the UCP, constituency associations and the party’s policy and governance committee drafted the resolutions to be heard on Saturday.
After being drafted, each policy idea was then reviewed by individual members using the party’s online filing tool.
“Thousands of members got involved and told us their likes and dislikes,” Joe Friesenhan, UCP’s vice president of policy and governance, said in the policy manual.
“The political resolutions you see come directly from that list of priorities,” Friesenhan added.
The potential adoption of these resolutions by party members present at the AGM does not guarantee that they will become debated proposals in the Legislative Assembly.
Here are some of the political resolutions and what you need to know.
AGAINST RACISM
The Edmonton West Henday Constituency Association is proposing that the UCP “end the practice” of teaching students that they have privilege because of their “ethnic heritage”.
The resolution adds that there should be no differential treatment of students on the basis of ethnic heritage and seeks to prohibit the teaching of several concepts, “whether advanced under the title of so-called critical race theory, intersectionality, anti-racism, diversity and inclusion or another name.”
Concepts should not include that “all of society is a racist system” or that segments of the population “carry historical guilt because of said ethnic heritage”.
The rationale points to an incident last year when the Edmonton Public School Division reported a “hate-filled” Instagram account called the “Scona White Student Alliance” to police.
One post from that account said in part that “white lives matter,” while another also said that “society is dominated by victimization and anti-white racism.”
At the time, the school principal denounced the account and said there was no tolerance for posts that made students “feel unsafe” or “unwanted” at school.
“A public education system should not be ideological in its outlook or focused on promoting a political message to impressionable students,” the resolution’s rationale adds.
“The goals of our education system should be focused on teaching literacy, numeracy and be skill and knowledge based.”
DEVELOP COMMODITY EXPORTS
Resolution 1 proposes to create a transportation utility corridor from Alberta to the Port of Churchill, Manitoba on the shores of Hudson Bay to facilitate the shipment of oil and gas.
The policy proposal, drafted by the riding of Edmonton Centre, says the government would liaise with Saskatchewan and Manitoba to secure the “grand nation-building project.”
“Modern marine technology allows ships to traverse (sic) Hudson Bay in first-year ice,” the rationale reads.
“Alberta must do its part to help European states break their dependence on Russian oil and gas.”
PROTECT AGRO-INDUSTRY
The second resolution, proposed by the Cardston Siksika riding association, would call on the province to protect agribusinesses from “harmful” federal regulations.
“Alberta is a world leader in agribusiness and efficient farming practices,” the rationale states. “The federal government is threatening the ability of agribusiness to cut fertilizers and other modern farming practices under the false name of climate change.”
He argues that modern farming practices have evolved to balance production and security, and that any harmful change threatens the world’s food supply.
ELECTRICITY COSTS AND SUPPLEMENTS
Another resolution calls on the UCP to overhaul the electricity pricing system to reduce transmission and distribution costs.
“We should be focused on ensuring the next generation is reliable and affordable for Albertans,” the rationale reads.
“The costs of moving the next generation to the distribution system should be kept as low as possible.”
The Vermillion-Lloydminster-Wainwright Constituency Association drafted the policy proposal.
REDUCE BUREAUCRACY AHS
The Calgary Fish Creek Riding Association has drafted a resolution calling for increased funding for preventative health care and the removal of barriers to care by reducing the number of managers in Alberta’s health services.
According to the resolution, the sunny list of AHS executives earning more than $140,000 a year should be reduced from over 900 to around 200.
“Alberta has the most expensive/least efficient system in Canada, making us one of the worst universal health care systems in the developed world,” the rationale reads, adding that managers and bureaucrats add “little” to productivity.
A different resolution, taken by the St. Albert Constituency Association, calls on the province to ensure that licensing and credentials of health care practitioners are reviewed “easily and efficiently” within a “period of time.” specified”.
The rationale indicates that this would help accelerate the ability of newcomers to Alberta to practice medicine.
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