Recent Research
Shifting Gears
Exploring Edmonton’s Financial And Political Pressures And Ways Forward
With spending growing faster than revenues, the City of Edmonton is feeling the pinch of an increasingly challenging financial situation. This report examines how cuts to provincial funding, rising service demands, and underutilized revenue streams have left the city struggling to meet the needs of its residents. It highlights concerns about homelessness, mental illness, addiction, and the rising cost of living, calling for a reevaluation of spending priorities to address root causes rather than relying on reactive services.
A Thumb on the Scale
Alberta Government Interference in Public-Sector Bargaining
In 2024, about 200,000 public-sector Alberta workers will be negotiating new contracts. This report examines the ways governments, and specifically the Government of Alberta, interfere in public-sector collective bargaining. It also explores how this growing interference may impact the 2024 bargaining round. The report concludes by offering several options for how public-sector workers and their unions can respond to growing government interference, both at the bargaining table and through increased political pressure.
Recent Blog Posts
The way out of oil revenue dependency is clear: increase royalties and replace oil and gas dollars with tax dollars. The numbers add up, and the impact on the long-term well-being, economic stability, and viability of Alberta would be huge. The only thing missing is a government with the courage and political will to make it happen.
Saskatchewan just raised its minimum wage to $15, which means Alberta now officially shares with our neighbour the dubious honour of having the lowest minimum wage in Canada. As the “Alberta Advantage” dies a slow death amid low wages and public services in crisis, Albertans might need to ask themselves who is taking advantage of its demise.
Misleading Narratives
Pay-to-play queue-jumping won’t fix surgery wait times
This blog post critically responds to a recent Calgary Herald opinion piece on surgical wait times in Alberta. It shows how spending taxpayers’ money in private surgical centers not only failed to resolve the issue but also made it worse. The post also presents evidence-based solutions to reduce wait times in the public system.