Alberta Federation of Labour plans to stand up to UCP's Bill 81

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Legislation aimed at banning elections advertisers with political party ties is an attempt to “silence the voice of working Albertans” the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) says.

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On Thursday, Alberta’s United Conservative Party (UCP) introduced Bill 81, the Election Statutes Amendment Act, in the legislature. Among other amendments , the bill, if passed, will require Elections Alberta’s chief electoral officer to refuse groups affiliated with political parties from registering as third-party advertisers.

AFL president Gil McGowan said the bill targets the federation, which is listed as an affiliated organization in the Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP) constitution but also campaigns for workers’ interests in and outside Alberta election periods.

“We’re just doing what our organization was created to do, which is to run advocacy campaigns on behalf of workers,” McGowan said. “The UCP twist it around to make it sound like something nefarious is going on and that we’re just using workers’ money to promote the NDP, which is not the case.”

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Alberta’s NDP banned corporate and union donations to political parties shortly after winning the 2015 provincial election.

Bill 81 follows a UCP campaign promise listed in the party’s 2019 platform to prohibit “groups formally affiliated with political parties from running (political action committees),” otherwise known as third-party advertisers, and specifically mentions the AFL by name.

According to the bill, when considering whether or not a third-party advertiser is affiliated with a registered political party, Alberta’s chief electoral officer will consider factors such as the extent to which a potential advertiser is involved in a party’s decision-making process in accordance with its constitution, as well as its support for — or opposition to — parties and candidates.

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“We decided that one of the ways that we can pursue defending the best interests of workers in this province is to run public advocacy campaigns, but also to find allies or political parties who share our values,” McGowan said, adding that the AFL won’t let the government prevent the federation from siding with parties or candidates who support workers’ rights.

Duane Bratt, a political scientist at Mount Royal University in Calgary, said the bill, while attempting to prevent political parties from coordinating with third-party advertisers, seems to be singling out the AFL, although it could apply to member unions as well depending on how broadly the bill is worded.

However, Bratt added, the AFL has at least one option to take the target off its back.

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“They could simply sever their formalist ties with the NDP, if they so desire,” Bratt said. “It wouldn’t mean that the NDP would suddenly become anti-labour.”

For McGowan, cutting those ties is not an option.

“The thing we’re not going to do is renounce our association with the NDP,” he said. “And we’re also not going to let them shut us down or shut us up.”

The AFL has a legal team analyzing the bill so that members can decide the next course of action, McGowan added, which may involve an injunction and a court challenge.

– With files from Lisa Johnson

hissawi@postmedia.com

twitter.com/hamdiissawi

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