Alberta is arguably the wealthiest jurisdiction in all North America and perhaps the world. Yet there is never enough money in the public coffers to sustain Alberta as a functioning society.

Amidst manifest opulence, the province's minimum wage is the lowest in the country, and real wages for the bottom 90 per cent are scarcely higher than they were three decades ago, eaten away by inflation. Homelessness, spousal abuse and suicide blight the social landscape. The daily news carries repeated stories of over-crowded schools and hospitals, strained universities and of seniors living in sub-standard care facilities; and of underpaid and over-worked child-care and day home workers, correctional officers, nurses, public school teachers, social workers and on and on.

A government that doesn't learn from its mistakes is bound to repeat them. Case in point: Alberta's provincial government, which refuses to alter its regulatory approach to the tarsands.

A new report released this morning by the Parkland Institute finds that Alberta’s new whistleblower legislation will be ineffective in terms of protecting those who blow the whistle on incompetence or corruption, and will not ensure that allegations are properly investigated.

A new report released this morning by the Parkland Institute finds that Albertans strongly favour setting election spending limits in Alberta and recognize the important role that protest groups play in a democracy.

A new report released this morning by the U of A’s Parkland Institute says another out-of-control bitumen boom would not be in the best interests of Albertans, and that the Alberta government should take action today to bring the pace of development under control.

A new report released this morning by the U of A’s Parkland Institute says that the solution to Alberta’s current fiscal woes, and to growing inequality in the province, lies in an increase in corporate taxes and a return to a progressive tax system—a move that a majority of Albertans would support.

A new report released this morning by the U of A’s Parkland Institute says that Alberta’s contracting out of infrastructure maintenance to private firms has resulted in decreased transparency and accountability, and has put Alberta taxpayer dollars at risk.

Analysis by the Parkland Institute and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives of new data on Canada’s richest 1% shows that Alberta has become the country’s most unequal province and Calgary its most unequal city.  The new data shows that incomes (adjusted for inflation) for the top 1% of Albertan doubled between 1982 and 2010, posting a shocking increase of $320,000.  By comparison, the bottom 90% of Albertans saw their incomes increase by a total of only $3,900 over the same time period.

A new report released this morning by the U of A’s Parkland Institute and the Alberta College of Social Workers says that despite Alberta’s obvious wealth, inequality and disparity in the province are growing faster than almost anywhere else in the country.

Saskatchewan’s public liquor system is superior to both Alberta and British Columbia’s private liquor delivery system in terms of price, revenue generation and the mitigation of social harm. That is the conclusion of a new collaborative report by the Saskatchewan office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Parkland Institute.