Recent Research
Alberta Charities to Lose Millions Under Bill 32
Survey Reveals Unions Reducing Support to Organizations by 38%
The UCP government’s Bill 32 will cost Alberta charities millions in lost donations. Based on an extensive survey of Alberta unions, this study shows how the law’s ‘opt-in’ provisions — which took effect in August 2022 — will affect the non-profit sector.
Finance in the Fields
Investors, Lenders, Farmers, and the Future of Farmland in Alberta
Alberta has over 50 million acres of farmland. What happens on this land? Who owns it? Who can access it? Most of all, why are land relations structured the way they are? And what are the current impacts of these land tenure dynamics and their implications for our future?
The answers to these questions are political, and we urgently need to face them together. This report draws on publicly-funded qualitative research conducted from 2019 to 2020. It seeks to contribute to a vibrant path forward for rural Alberta.
Recent Blog Posts
A Well-Being Economy
A New Paradigm for Health Equity in Alberta
It is well known that health and well-being are importantly influenced by the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age, including the quality and integrity of our natural environments. These are the social and ecological determinants of health. The unequal distribution and quality of those conditions create health inequities: differences in health and well-being between social groups that are unfair because they are avoidable.
In his response to the UCP government’s February 24, 2022 budget, President Bill Flanagan of the University of Alberta characterized its allocations for post-secondary education positively, as a “turning point for the University of Alberta.” In his statement, Flanagan highlights a UCP initiative called “Alberta at Work,” which promises to invest $171 million over three years to increase enrolment in programs selected by the government, and asserts that the U of A will move quickly to take advantage of this new funding program (along with 21 other post-secondary education institutions, or PSEIs).
When the Alberta government passed Bill 32: The Restoring Balance in the Workplace Act in the summer of 2020, a number of observers noted the many ways in which it unfairly targeted unions and their members. My Parkland Institute report analyzing Bill 32, however, made it clear that changes like those in the Act have broader implications for the rights of ALL Albertans. The report, Tipping the Balance, concluded that the legislation represented an Americanization of labour relations in Alberta and that many provisions undermined rights protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.