Better Way Alberta

Part of the Parkland Institute’s mandate has always been to support Albertans’ engagement with the issues and policies that affect their daily lives. This support comes in the form of peer-reviewed research on public policy and alternatives in Alberta, producing evidence-based recommendations for ensuring those policies serve the public good.

For over 26 years we have conducted research on how to reform our provincial revenue system to get us off the oil and gas boom and bust rollercoaster and sustainably fund the public services that make our province better: public health care, primary and post-secondary education, and human services.

Recently we had the opportunity to work with our friends at the Alberta Federation of Labour, Public Interest Alberta, and Friends of Medicare on a campaign called Better Way Alberta. The idea was that Parkland Institute would produce short research reports that would include clear, implementable, and evidence-based policy recommendations on five areas of public policy that are of critical importance today.

At the core of the Better Way Alberta campaign was a five-city tour around the province. Hosted in late October, the Better Way Alberta Tour brought the themes discussed in the five Parkland reports to life in a series of engaging  events. Attendees and facilitators used the reports as the basis of a conversation about reimagining Alberta’s future and mobilizing for fair and predictable revenues, world-class public services, and a thriving and sustainable economy.

Even though the official Better Way Alberta is now over, we feel that it is still critically important for Albertans to keep having these conversations — especially as we head into an election year in our province. We encourage you to visit the Better Way Alberta website, download the five reports, and use them in conversations with your friends, family, and co-workers, and to inform your conversations with the politicians from all parties that will soon be knocking on your doors.

Here are the links to each of the five reports:

Revenue Reform, by Bill Kilgannon
Health Care, by Rebecca Graff-McRae
Post-Secondary Education, by Ricardo Acuña
K-12 Education, by Lisa Everitt and Neil Hepburn
Inequality and Human Services, by John Kolkman

Ricardo Acuna

Ricardo Acuña has been executive director of Parkland Institute since 2002. He has a degree in Political Science and History from the University of Alberta, and has almost 30 years of experience as a volunteer, staffer and consultant for various non-government and non-profit organizations around the province. He has spoken and written extensively on energy policy, democracy, privatization, and the Alberta economy, and is a regular media commentator on public policy issues. He is co-editor, with Trevor Harrison, of the 2023 book Anger and Angst: Jason Kenney's Legacy and Alberta's Right, available from Black Rose Books.

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