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Why have democratic governments failed to take serious steps to reduce carbon emissions despite dire warnings and compelling evidence of the profound and growing threat posed by global warming? Most of the writing on global warming is by scientists, academics, environmentalists, and journalists. Kevin Taft, a former leader of the opposition in Alberta, brings a fresh perspective through the insight he gained as an elected politician who had an insider's eyewitness view of the role of the oil industry. His answer, in brief: The oil industry has captured key democratic institutions in both Alberta and Ottawa. Taft begins his book with a perceptive observer's account of a recent court casein Ot...
Alberta's most insightful political commentator is back with another essential book. Kevin Taft, together with economists Mel McMillan and Junaid Jahangir, follows the money to uncover why Alberta--one of the richest places on earth--still talks poor when it comes to public services. Do we really spend more than we can afford, more than we can sustain, on health care? On education? Why doesn't Alberta have enough hospital beds? Why have our schools faced teacher layoffs? Why are our city streets potholed, and why are rising numbers of Alberta children living in poverty? Where is all our wealth going? Follow the Money uncovers the truth behind the government's austerity slogans and cutbacks. The hard-hitting evidence of Follow the Money challenges Albertans to rethink the past and remake the future.
Alberta had the tightest controls on spending in Canada during the very period when the Klein government has claimed costs were soaring out of control. Now, public programs in Alberta-including health care-have become the most poorly supported in Canada. (6 weeks on the Financial Post national best-seller list!)
The Government of Alberta under Ralph Klein has asked a reasonable question: can health care be better provided partly as a private, for-profit product rather than as a not-for-profit public service? But-despite the claims of advocates for market-driven medicine-private hospitals are neither cheaper nor more efficient than public ones. Clear Answers summarizes the huge body of evidence showing that they are more expensive and less efficient.
Bill 6, the government of Alberta’s contentious farm workers’ safety legislation, sparked public debate as no other legislation has done in recent years. The Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act provides a right to work safely and a compensation system for those killed or injured at work, similar to other provinces. In nine essays, contributors to Farm Workers in Western Canada place this legislation in context. They look at the origins, work conditions, and precarious lives of farm workers in terms of larger historical forces such as colonialism, land rights, and racism. They also examine how the rights and privileges of farm workers, including seasonal and temporary forei...
A guide to 27 great day hikes and overnight backpacking trips on the Appalachian Trail in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont.
Social Policy and Practice in Canada: A History traces the history of social policy in Canada from the period of First Nations’ control to the present day, exploring the various ways in which residents of the area known today as Canada have organized themselves to deal with (or to ignore) the needs of the ill, the poor, the elderly, and the young. This book is the first synthesis on social policy in Canada to provide a critical perspective on the evolution of social policy in the country. While earlier work has treated each new social program as a major advance, and reacted with shock to neoliberalism’s attack on social programs, Alvin Finkel demonstrates that right-wing and left-wing fo...
The days of buoyant capital investment, jobs, and wealth are passing Alberta by as the boom-and-bust cycle runs its course and the global climate crisis becomes more acute. As the province scrambles to boost the dying oil economy and curb spending, one solution is all but ignored—a sales tax. In this collection, Alberta scholars and policy experts map out why and how a provincial sales tax can and should be implemented. They examine energy revenues, household incomes, and political support as well as opportunities for improving democracy and reducing the volatility of government revenues. Finally, this volume offers recommendations on structuring a consultative review process to improve Alberta’s long-term fiscal sustainability. Contributions by Ergete Ferede, Ian Glassford, Kenneth J. McKenzie, Melville McMillan, Elizabeth Smythe, and Graham Thomson.
In fall 2015, the newly elected Trudeau government endorsed the Paris Agreement and promised to tackle global warming. In 2016, it released a major report which set out a national energy strategy embracing clean growth, technological innovation and carbon pricing. Rather than putting in place tough measures to achieve the Paris targets, however, the government reframed global warming as a market opportunity for Canada's clean technology sector. The Big Stall traces the origins of the government's climate change plan back to the energy sector itself — in particular Big Oil. It shows how, in the last fifteen years, Big Oil has infiltrated provincial and federal governments, academia, media a...
Facing and overcoming destabilizing challenges associated with the historical phenomenon of boom-and-bust economies.