Jason Kenney, Premier of Alberta under the United Conservative Party has put all of his political effort to get Alberta workers back to the workplace whether it’s safe or not. Kenney’s Government continues to put pressure on the province to support the energy sector.
Kenney is using the pandemic as a tool to weaken decades of important environmental legislation and to slacken the rules on environmental testing within the energy sector. His government plans on closing and moving provincial parks to the private sector, and putting the focus and money in the oil and gas industry. Over one third of the sites in Alberta's park system, 184 sites, will be eliminated or privatized.
Colonialism
Alberta has a legacy of conservatism from the foundation of this province. Starting with the farmers who were incentivized to take over indigenous land, Alberta was built upon the foundation of colonization.
The Premier along with Minister of Energy, Sonya Savage have publicly stated that it's the ‘perfect time’ for present energy projects as the pandemic has stopped environmental activists from acting, due to the fact that protesters cannot organize in large groups.
In his attempts to paralyze environmental activism in Alberta, Jason Kenney has been at the forefront in stopping activism in its tracks. This UCP government has passed corrupt legislation, making it illegal for individuals to protest against energy projects, with this new policy an individual could be fined up to $25,000.
The Alberta government has not only tried to slow down protesters, they have also been responsible for cutting funding on crucial public sectors like education, and healthcare (during a pandemic no less!), using the typical Kenney excuse by claiming that the energy sector is the only way for the province to survive this 21st century economic depression. This exposes the truth behind the present conservative government, that they will continue to fund their unethical energy projects at the cost of Alberta workers.
Privatize agenda
Jason Kenney along with his Ministers have used the Coronavirus to push their agenda. This is a perfect time for environmental activism to revolutionize as the world changes through this pandemic. We use online platforms to organize and share these issues with our fellow comrades, through online meetings and live events. Through this collective struggle we have more individuals using online platforms, creating a larger audience and therefore a larger opportunity to educate workers on these environmental issues and the impacts that the cuts of the public sector will have for the future of Albertans.
Albertan governments of all political stripes have manipulated the province into believing that the energy sector is a part of the identity of all Albertans. That it’s the only way for us to survive, but based on many recent reports the energy sector has become an abusive power, with http://socialist.ca/node/4048">no long term gain attached to it. The lack of environmental testing in the energy sector, prevents us from understanding the health of the soil, water, and air. These things are crucial not just for wildlife, but any life. What does this mean for the health of the communities that live in areas where the oil and gas sector is the economic centre? What is our government doing to move to greener energy, when it has been clear that there is no future for the oil and gas sector? There are many questions, many concerns that the province avoids answering, and we have seen this type of issue in all levels of government, and across all parties.
System change
I ask you, fellow comrades to continue to speak the truth, use social platforms to reach out to your community. The Alberta government will continue under this parasitic system. Politicians are ignoring the hard work, and looking for an easy way out to expand, without consideration of the health of its citizens. We see this not only in Alberta, but around the world. This is the breaking point, a time to expose the intentions and the way our system has failed us, continue to organize and continue to show the state that we are watching and that their actions will not go unnoticed, nor allowed. This is more than just politics, this is about life and death, about the future generations that deserve better, a world where you can breathe in clean air, water, and earth.
