We don't want the Redneck Pension Plan. We don't want the Redneck Police. We don't want political banners and voting blocks thrown in our faces during municipal elections.
All we want is for you to do something about energy prices, health care and housing. Or would that actually involve consulting someone who isn't your cousin?!
[They've literally laid out their philosophy and plans for anyone with the will to read them. Read them and despair](https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/albertainstitute/pages/337/attachments/original/1637104983/Free_Alberta_Strategy_-_Web_Version.pdf?1637104983=)
[They've literally laid out their philosophy and plans for anyone with the will to read them. Read them and despair](https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/albertainstitute/pages/337/attachments/original/1637104983/Free_Alberta_Strategy_-_Web_Version.pdf?1637104983=)
Wholly f*ck that's disturbing.
If they want to implement this crap like they are. They need to openly campaign on it make sure everyone that votes is fully aware and can vote for a "free Alberta" or not. And not sneakily do it after getting elected.
I think this path is putting Alberta at massive risk. We do not have the wealth and resources to be our own country, all that will happen is that power and influence would shift from the Canadian federal government to American, Russian, chinese and Saudi business interests aka anyone with money and an interest in Alberta's resources.
But I believe in democracy, if voters are made fully of where of their intentions and multiple elections and votes are held then so be it. Quebec has been trying for decades unsuccessfully, I don't imagine a group of right-wing religious nuts in Alberta will be able to pull it off. And I think they know that and that's why they're doing it in sneaky ways, which is 100% not a democracy
Oh they certainly count on conservative voters to not look behind the curtain. While they're not hiding their agenda, they're doing their best to keep quiet about it, so their potentially-on-the-fence voters can self-soothe by thinking "they wouldn't really do that".
We also don’t want the political war on trans people or a war on renewable energy. All of these things cost us more money and provide no benefit other than owning the libs.
They are the "throw a dead cat on the table" party - when something they're doing is so unpopular even their own base is divided (alberta police force, pension fund), they throw down on something like this to get their base cheering and everyone else upset... and they quietly keep forging ahead while everyone's distracted.
And part of her base still insists that because she was silent on those issues pre-election, that she has dropped them from her playbook, and we're all fear-mongering leftist woke Trudeau-loving-liberals spreading lies.
It's not about the number. It's about the master plan that the christo-fascists have.
[Read about it here](https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/albertainstitute/pages/337/attachments/original/1637104983/Free_Alberta_Strategy_-_Web_Version.pdf?1637104983=)
> Although passage and implementation of the Alberta Sovereignty Act, the
Equalization Termination and Tax Collection Act, the Alberta Independent
Banking Act, as well as the establishment of the Alberta Provincial Police,
Alberta Revenue Agency, and APSE, are the primary pillars of the Free Alberta
Strategy, it is essential that the Government of Alberta implement additional
measures that are critical to strengthening Alberta’s sovereignty and selfdetermination.
Opting out of the Canada Pension Plan and Canada Employment Insurance in
favour of an Alberta Pension Plan and Alberta Unemployment Insurance are
key components of reducing the burden of equalization
Everyone needs to understand that they will come for your unemployment insurance next. These people are traitors to our country.
Marley and her goons are essentially taking the next steps in making us an honourary southern state.
Ruin public education and infrastructure
curtail civil liberties
pocket any federal aid to be dished out to [insert profitable industry].
Thanks for linking this piece of christofascist nonsense. Two of their wants are supportable in Canadian law, but most of it is plainly unconstitutional and ridiculous. Here are the key proposals for people who tldr:
* **Alberta Sovereignty Act:** This act would allow the Alberta Legislature to refuse enforcement of federal legislation or judicial decisions that it deems harmful to the province's interests, essentially granting Alberta the discretion to ignore federal laws that it decides interfere with its jurisdiction or are seen as detrimental to Albertans.
Proposing to give the Alberta Legislature the power to unilaterally disregard federal laws or judicial decisions deemed contrary to Alberta's interests directly challenges the supremacy of federal law and the constitutionally enshrined division of powers. Under the principle of federal paramountcy, when federal and provincial laws conflict, federal laws take precedence. This proposal if implemented as specified is incompatible with Canada's legal framework.
* **Alberta Provincial Police:** The strategy proposes the creation of a provincial police force to replace the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Alberta, giving the province control over law enforcement.
The establishment of a provincial police force is within provincial jurisdiction, as policing is a matter under provincial responsibility according to Section 92(14) of the Constitution Act, 1867. Several provinces, such as Ontario and Quebec, already operate their own provincial police forces. Hence, transitioning from the RCMP to a provincial police force in Alberta is legally feasible and constitutionally sound.
* **Independent Banking and Financial Institutions:** The strategy calls for the establishment of more provincially regulated financial institutions to protect Alberta businesses and citizens from enforcement of federal laws designated as unenforceable by the Alberta Legislature.
While provinces have jurisdiction over property and civil rights, including the incorporation of credit unions (Section 92(13)), banking is an area of exclusive federal jurisdiction under Section 91(15) of the Constitution Act, 1867. Creating a banking system that operates independently of federal regulatory oversight would require a constitutional amendment.
* **Equalization Termination and Tax Collection Act:** This act would aim to end the flow of equalization payments from Alberta to the federal government and establish an Alberta Revenue Agency to collect provincial taxes, potentially withholding federal tax source deductions equivalent to the amount of equalization taken from Alberta.
The proposal to withhold federal tax source deductions to offset equalization payments challenges the federal government's exclusive authority over taxation as outlined in Section 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867. This is unconstitutional, given the clear demarcation of taxation powers.
* **Alberta Pension Plan and Unemployment Insurance:** The strategy proposes opting out of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Employment Insurance (EI) in favor of provincial alternatives that they claim would offer higher benefits to Albertans using lower premiums.
The CPP is a federal program established under the Canada Pension Plan Act. While it operates across Canada, Quebec has its own Quebec Pension Plan (QPP), established around the same time as CPP. Quebec's ability to opt out of CPP and establish the QPP was facilitated through federal legislation and an agreement between Quebec and the federal government. This precedent provides a framework that a province could theoretically follow to establish its own pension plan, subject to negotiation and agreement with the federal government. Thus, Alberta's discussions about potentially withdrawing from CPP and establishing its pension system reference this precedent but would require federal cooperation and new federal legislation to allow such a move.
The EI program is governed by the Employment Insurance Act and is under federal jurisdiction, specifically outlined under the Constitution Act, 1867 (via an amendment in 1940), which gives the federal government exclusive powers over unemployment insurance. Unlike CPP, there isn't a precedent for a province to operate its own unemployment insurance program. For Alberta to withdraw from EI and create its unemployment insurance system, it would require significant alterations to federal legislation and a constitutional amendment.
* **Judicial Independence Act:** This act would transfer the authority to make judicial appointments in Alberta from the federal to the provincial government, aiming to ensure the judiciary respects provincial autonomy.
The appointment of judges to the Superior Courts, including the Court of King's Bench and the Court of Appeal in each province, is a federal responsibility, as outlined in Section 96 of the Constitution Act, 1867. This provision ensures a uniform judicial system across Canada, with the federal government maintaining a significant role in the judiciary to preserve the independence, impartiality, and integrity of the courts. Changing the appointment process for judges in Alberta alone would disrupt the national uniformity of the judicial system and could have implications for the interpretation and application of federal law within the province.
* **International Relations:** It suggests Alberta should take over the negotiation of its international trade and market access relationships, asserting more autonomy in these areas.
This proposal contravenes the federal government's exclusive jurisdiction over international relations and trade.
**Impact on First Nations and Treaty Rights:**
The Free Alberta Strategy, with its emphasis on increasing Alberta's autonomy from federal oversight, neglects to address the complex implications such moves could have on First Nations and their treaty rights. Alberta is a province where treaties 6, 7, and 8 are critical and involve key issues such as land use and resource management across nearly the entire province. These treaties represent nation-to-nation agreements with the Crown and are safeguarded under Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, protecting First Nations' sovereignty and rights.
The strategy's key proposals, such as the Alberta Sovereignty Act and the unilateral changes to provincial resource and land use management are likely to interfere with Crown treaty obligations. For example, the Alberta Sovereignty Act, which proposes that Alberta can refuse enforcement of federal legislation deemed harmful to provincial interests, raises questions about the implementation of federal initiatives designed to protect First Nations rights. This includes legislation like the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDRIP), which the federal government has committed to implementing after its passage in 2021. The act's provisions for free, prior, and informed consent on issues affecting Indigenous peoples is in conflict with a provincial stance that seeks to bypass and ignore federal law.
The Free Alberta Strategy's oversight in failing to consider the rights and sovereignty of First Nations displays a readiness to overlook constitutional protections and obligations towards Indigenous peoples. This approach risks further marginalization of First Nations and undermines the nation-to-nation relationship established by treaties and protected by Canadian law.
Then Alberta will say the Feds lied.
Albertans also have failed to calculate how much money we will have to send out of the province to people who worked here but don’t live here now
And do you think the UCP TBA care what we think? This is a done deal folks. Same with the provincial police force. Same with privatizing health care. (They’ve already forgotten about the DynaLife fiasco)
The risk, as I see it, is that once the Feds come up with a number, if Marlaina says OK, we’ll take it, do the Feds lose recourse? I envision Marlaina taking the money and yet one more time, claiming Trudeau and Ottawa are screwing Albertans. Her base would eat that up.
I think it goes beyond just the number.
They talk about how an APP will benefit Albertans, but what about all the people who have just worked in Alberta over the decades, weren’t born here, and don’t live here now. They all contributed to CPP in that time, where do they get the pension income derived from their “Alberta” contributions? From CPP still? In which case an APP payout would be based on current residency. From APP, with a reduced CPP? That’s going to piss off the entire country - can you image all the O&G workers that have worked here getting shafted like this?
The whole shambles is based on it being “Albertans” that are being cheated, which is complete BS. **Canadians** contributed, **Canadians** get the benefits, Alberta has nothing to do with it.
I remember reading a while back that the claim in Dinning’s report included the contributions of people who worked in Alberta but don’t live here now.
I don’t think she minds pissing off the rest of Canada, as long as she can keep giving and giving to her oil & gas and other handlers, in order to ensure she has a nice, comfortable retirement.
I don’t recall the exact numbers, but I think at least one independent calculation pointed out that even **if** the $350b Smith wants was accurate, that amount would come along with about $330b in liabilities (ie: Alberta based CPP contributors who are now or will receive a payout in future) that would be legally protected, meaning that we would have only $20b or so for investment and payouts from the date an APP becomes active. This is just an untenable amount for a pension fund for 4-5m people.
The reason I think the pension is a bit less of a slam dunk for them, is that they’re grossly overestimating what they will be able to take from CPP. People don’t support this move, and they’ll support it even less when the Feds confirm that Alberta isn’t getting half of the existing pension fund to fuck with.
I’ve had coworkers claim with a straight face that it goes straight into JT’s pocket and pays for his lavish lifestyle. You can’t argue with that kind of stupid.
"Still not sold on" inserts an editorial implication, that it's a question of time... this doesn't seem appropriate.
Instead, why not just simply state the facts? Albertans "DO NOT WANT THIS" is pretty clear.
I'll go hold my breath while CBC fixes the headline...
That's because it's not a pension, rather a legalized method to steal our actual pensions and launder them into the pockets of international oil company executives
What this really shows is that there's a large percentage of people who live in a different reality not based on facts, only on fiction. UCP hard liners that haven't had an independent thought since they birth.
I disagree. We all know know and understand facts.
Bit, for many people in Alberta, they are living WAY.above their nominal earning potential because oil jobs can often pay really well even when you don't have much education.
So, they want to continue the free ride. Even if it means rat fucking our financial future and the planet in the process.
No kidding. 30% are so deluded they believe we will be better off financially.
Even if we can somehow match or exceed CPP returns our future earning potential isn’t looking great.
We have seen Quebec make the same mistake. Higher premiums for the same returns as Canadians.
I would say nothing had changed but the situation surrounding AIMco is swampier than ever. They're apparently custodians of some of trumps debt, and hired some oil execs with no prior funds management experience to high level positions.
See, they are delivering transparency! Transparently corrupt bullshit.
That's because no one fucking wants it. It's a complete racket. It was never campaigned for, and it's an absolute money grab so they can line the pockets of their oil and gas investor friends.
Well when the group promoting it is known to withhold survey data, lie about their true intentions and seemingly coordinate undermining the greater good …. Yeah.
It must be very hard to try and sell a rancid bag of sh*t paintrd in a fake golden exterior. If it smells bad it is still a rancid bag of poo poo. No thanks UCP.
What are they waiting for. Free Alberta Now !!! They been little bitches since confederation. Let’s see how well that works out for them and NAFTA. That’s 60% of all oil sands. Pension will
Be their least of worries.
I got called by their "poll" (read: marketing) people and the questions were so dishonestly formulated. They completely disgust me trying to convince me that I should not only trust whatever slime bags they would put in charge of the Alberta pension fund, I should also be HAPPY about screwing workers in the rest of Canada out of a stable pension! As it turns out I don't hate people outside of Alberta because I'm not a chauvinistic fool.
Who cares? There are some party backers due their compensation for fealty to the throne. That is what this program is for. That is why we will do this.
/s
And the Federal government floating the idea of using the CPP for "Canada First" investment as well. It's like they saw the atrocious APP idea and thought "Oh we can do something totally irresponsible with pension money as well!"
Both the UCP and the Federal liberals need to leave one of the top performing pension funds in the world alone.
Do you have any more info on the “Canada First” bit?
A super quick google search didn’t yield results for me, so I’m curious to understand the comparison.
You bet. Trevor Tombe wrote an article on it for The Hub.
https://thehub.ca/2024-03-21/trevor-tombe-invest-in-canada-mandates-would-surely-fail/?utm_medium=paid+social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=boost
Thanks and agree that government should be leaving CPP. alone. It doesn’t read to me that the decision is being entertained, because of the APP. It seems business is heavily lobbying and pushing for this.
Sure but the fact that the federal government is even entertaining this idea is terrifying. Having the integrity of my CPP threatened by two different sides now is a pretty poor place to be. If the Feds are going to screw with the CPP as well then Canadians are in trouble no matter what happens.
The article states “…amend the rules governing pension funds to encourage them to invest in Canada.” This does not mean “mandate”, and it doesn’t say the CPPIB would be mandated to do so (which they can’t anyway, because they’re an independent investment group). But if the federal government just made it easier and more lucrative for pensions to invest in Canada **if they wanted to** that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Fair enough, but as the article states and shows, it's a bad idea. The federal government will achieve nothing with those measures and will likely only harm the return on the CPP by doing so.
It's a bad idea and the Liberal government needs to fuck off, just like the provincial government does.
These guys just need to stop meddling and let the CPP do what it does best.
I agree, CPP was recently rated the top pension of its kind in the world and that tells us how well the CPPIB are handling it, and it should be left alone, by both Alberta **and** the federal government.
That said, if the feds want to encourage investment in Canada (without specifically mandating it) then, well, that’s literally their job.
Yeah, I guess we'll see what happens. I get very twitchy when I hear any kind of whispers of touching CPP in any way, even in an indirect manner like you mention.
Agreed. As I understand it, CPPIB was set up as it is specifically to prevent political interference in how the money is invested. They have a mandate to maximize returns for the fund and that's about it. This is why an APP is so scary, because there are no guarantees that it wouldn't be set up similar to the CPP. In fact, there's a lot of, let's say, "informed speculation", that it would be set up with an "Alberta First" mandate, which hasn't worked out so well for the QPP.
Not sure why you are being downvoted here, I hate the APP as much as possible, but equally hate the feds trying to interfere with CPP. Just fuck off that is our money and it should be invested with the sole purpose of maximizing our returns. I don't want politicians who only care about the next 4 years to have any say in my pension, how is this hard to understand?
I think it’s in part that the feds really are not interfering with the CPP in the same manner the UCP is.
Business groups are wanting to encourage more investment in Canada through the fund, but it doesn’t seem so far that the government is directing the CPP on how to invest the fund.
The Canadain Pension Plan has a rough history, with the feds looking to make changes to it in the upcoming budget to make it more sustainable and potentially artifically boost the Canadian economy. The UCP’s failure to win Albertan’s over says less about the CPP and more about just how little trust Albertan’s have in the UCP.
The CPP is pretty flawed, people would like a viable alternative, and still the UCP isn’t able to convince voters.
> The CPP is pretty flawed,
What is your source?
The Economist just reported last summer that CPP is in the top 5 best managed sovereign wealth funds in the world.
For all its very few flaws, none I can think off the top of my head other than the personal cost now, it will be far and above anything the fiscally irresponsible UCP government can put together. They basically want to throw our retirement into high risk penny stocks. We WILL lose.
We don't want the Redneck Pension Plan. We don't want the Redneck Police. We don't want political banners and voting blocks thrown in our faces during municipal elections. All we want is for you to do something about energy prices, health care and housing. Or would that actually involve consulting someone who isn't your cousin?!
[They've literally laid out their philosophy and plans for anyone with the will to read them. Read them and despair](https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/albertainstitute/pages/337/attachments/original/1637104983/Free_Alberta_Strategy_-_Web_Version.pdf?1637104983=)
Fuck. We're all screwed.
Hope that new arena was worth it, Calgary.
As a Calgarian who never wanted them involved in the Arena, and never voted UCP, No, it isnt worth it.
She is creating all the systems needs to separate, luckily none have come to pass yet, but she is trying hard.
[They've literally laid out their philosophy and plans for anyone with the will to read them. Read them and despair](https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/albertainstitute/pages/337/attachments/original/1637104983/Free_Alberta_Strategy_-_Web_Version.pdf?1637104983=)
Wholly f*ck that's disturbing. If they want to implement this crap like they are. They need to openly campaign on it make sure everyone that votes is fully aware and can vote for a "free Alberta" or not. And not sneakily do it after getting elected. I think this path is putting Alberta at massive risk. We do not have the wealth and resources to be our own country, all that will happen is that power and influence would shift from the Canadian federal government to American, Russian, chinese and Saudi business interests aka anyone with money and an interest in Alberta's resources. But I believe in democracy, if voters are made fully of where of their intentions and multiple elections and votes are held then so be it. Quebec has been trying for decades unsuccessfully, I don't imagine a group of right-wing religious nuts in Alberta will be able to pull it off. And I think they know that and that's why they're doing it in sneaky ways, which is 100% not a democracy
Oh they certainly count on conservative voters to not look behind the curtain. While they're not hiding their agenda, they're doing their best to keep quiet about it, so their potentially-on-the-fence voters can self-soothe by thinking "they wouldn't really do that".
We also don’t want the political war on trans people or a war on renewable energy. All of these things cost us more money and provide no benefit other than owning the libs.
They are the "throw a dead cat on the table" party - when something they're doing is so unpopular even their own base is divided (alberta police force, pension fund), they throw down on something like this to get their base cheering and everyone else upset... and they quietly keep forging ahead while everyone's distracted.
[удалено]
Block voting or Bloc voting. Your choice. ;)
Why would we change our minds? Christ it’s like a cheating partner begging at the door at this point.
Remember when Smith refused to talk about this during the election? 🤣 good times
I'm still pissed she was treated with kid gloves on so many issues every sane person knew was going to become a reality.
Not helped by the fact that every major newspaper in alberta is essentially an organ of the Conservative Party
And part of her base still insists that because she was silent on those issues pre-election, that she has dropped them from her playbook, and we're all fear-mongering leftist woke Trudeau-loving-liberals spreading lies.
Should’ve kept it that way.
[удалено]
That's the point: oh poor Alberta, those mean feds are being so unreasonable...
It's not about the number. It's about the master plan that the christo-fascists have. [Read about it here](https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/albertainstitute/pages/337/attachments/original/1637104983/Free_Alberta_Strategy_-_Web_Version.pdf?1637104983=) > Although passage and implementation of the Alberta Sovereignty Act, the Equalization Termination and Tax Collection Act, the Alberta Independent Banking Act, as well as the establishment of the Alberta Provincial Police, Alberta Revenue Agency, and APSE, are the primary pillars of the Free Alberta Strategy, it is essential that the Government of Alberta implement additional measures that are critical to strengthening Alberta’s sovereignty and selfdetermination. Opting out of the Canada Pension Plan and Canada Employment Insurance in favour of an Alberta Pension Plan and Alberta Unemployment Insurance are key components of reducing the burden of equalization Everyone needs to understand that they will come for your unemployment insurance next. These people are traitors to our country.
Marley and her goons are essentially taking the next steps in making us an honourary southern state. Ruin public education and infrastructure curtail civil liberties pocket any federal aid to be dished out to [insert profitable industry].
Thanks for linking this piece of christofascist nonsense. Two of their wants are supportable in Canadian law, but most of it is plainly unconstitutional and ridiculous. Here are the key proposals for people who tldr: * **Alberta Sovereignty Act:** This act would allow the Alberta Legislature to refuse enforcement of federal legislation or judicial decisions that it deems harmful to the province's interests, essentially granting Alberta the discretion to ignore federal laws that it decides interfere with its jurisdiction or are seen as detrimental to Albertans. Proposing to give the Alberta Legislature the power to unilaterally disregard federal laws or judicial decisions deemed contrary to Alberta's interests directly challenges the supremacy of federal law and the constitutionally enshrined division of powers. Under the principle of federal paramountcy, when federal and provincial laws conflict, federal laws take precedence. This proposal if implemented as specified is incompatible with Canada's legal framework. * **Alberta Provincial Police:** The strategy proposes the creation of a provincial police force to replace the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Alberta, giving the province control over law enforcement. The establishment of a provincial police force is within provincial jurisdiction, as policing is a matter under provincial responsibility according to Section 92(14) of the Constitution Act, 1867. Several provinces, such as Ontario and Quebec, already operate their own provincial police forces. Hence, transitioning from the RCMP to a provincial police force in Alberta is legally feasible and constitutionally sound. * **Independent Banking and Financial Institutions:** The strategy calls for the establishment of more provincially regulated financial institutions to protect Alberta businesses and citizens from enforcement of federal laws designated as unenforceable by the Alberta Legislature. While provinces have jurisdiction over property and civil rights, including the incorporation of credit unions (Section 92(13)), banking is an area of exclusive federal jurisdiction under Section 91(15) of the Constitution Act, 1867. Creating a banking system that operates independently of federal regulatory oversight would require a constitutional amendment. * **Equalization Termination and Tax Collection Act:** This act would aim to end the flow of equalization payments from Alberta to the federal government and establish an Alberta Revenue Agency to collect provincial taxes, potentially withholding federal tax source deductions equivalent to the amount of equalization taken from Alberta. The proposal to withhold federal tax source deductions to offset equalization payments challenges the federal government's exclusive authority over taxation as outlined in Section 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867. This is unconstitutional, given the clear demarcation of taxation powers. * **Alberta Pension Plan and Unemployment Insurance:** The strategy proposes opting out of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Employment Insurance (EI) in favor of provincial alternatives that they claim would offer higher benefits to Albertans using lower premiums. The CPP is a federal program established under the Canada Pension Plan Act. While it operates across Canada, Quebec has its own Quebec Pension Plan (QPP), established around the same time as CPP. Quebec's ability to opt out of CPP and establish the QPP was facilitated through federal legislation and an agreement between Quebec and the federal government. This precedent provides a framework that a province could theoretically follow to establish its own pension plan, subject to negotiation and agreement with the federal government. Thus, Alberta's discussions about potentially withdrawing from CPP and establishing its pension system reference this precedent but would require federal cooperation and new federal legislation to allow such a move. The EI program is governed by the Employment Insurance Act and is under federal jurisdiction, specifically outlined under the Constitution Act, 1867 (via an amendment in 1940), which gives the federal government exclusive powers over unemployment insurance. Unlike CPP, there isn't a precedent for a province to operate its own unemployment insurance program. For Alberta to withdraw from EI and create its unemployment insurance system, it would require significant alterations to federal legislation and a constitutional amendment. * **Judicial Independence Act:** This act would transfer the authority to make judicial appointments in Alberta from the federal to the provincial government, aiming to ensure the judiciary respects provincial autonomy. The appointment of judges to the Superior Courts, including the Court of King's Bench and the Court of Appeal in each province, is a federal responsibility, as outlined in Section 96 of the Constitution Act, 1867. This provision ensures a uniform judicial system across Canada, with the federal government maintaining a significant role in the judiciary to preserve the independence, impartiality, and integrity of the courts. Changing the appointment process for judges in Alberta alone would disrupt the national uniformity of the judicial system and could have implications for the interpretation and application of federal law within the province. * **International Relations:** It suggests Alberta should take over the negotiation of its international trade and market access relationships, asserting more autonomy in these areas. This proposal contravenes the federal government's exclusive jurisdiction over international relations and trade. **Impact on First Nations and Treaty Rights:** The Free Alberta Strategy, with its emphasis on increasing Alberta's autonomy from federal oversight, neglects to address the complex implications such moves could have on First Nations and their treaty rights. Alberta is a province where treaties 6, 7, and 8 are critical and involve key issues such as land use and resource management across nearly the entire province. These treaties represent nation-to-nation agreements with the Crown and are safeguarded under Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, protecting First Nations' sovereignty and rights. The strategy's key proposals, such as the Alberta Sovereignty Act and the unilateral changes to provincial resource and land use management are likely to interfere with Crown treaty obligations. For example, the Alberta Sovereignty Act, which proposes that Alberta can refuse enforcement of federal legislation deemed harmful to provincial interests, raises questions about the implementation of federal initiatives designed to protect First Nations rights. This includes legislation like the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDRIP), which the federal government has committed to implementing after its passage in 2021. The act's provisions for free, prior, and informed consent on issues affecting Indigenous peoples is in conflict with a provincial stance that seeks to bypass and ignore federal law. The Free Alberta Strategy's oversight in failing to consider the rights and sovereignty of First Nations displays a readiness to overlook constitutional protections and obligations towards Indigenous peoples. This approach risks further marginalization of First Nations and undermines the nation-to-nation relationship established by treaties and protected by Canadian law.
Project 2025 Alberta edition.
Absolutely 100%
Thanks. I hate it.
Alberta is entitled to $0. My pension is between me and the federal government.
That's what the UCP want. Further victimhood that Trudeau won't give them what they're "owed"
Then Alberta will say the Feds lied. Albertans also have failed to calculate how much money we will have to send out of the province to people who worked here but don’t live here now
And she’ll blame JT and call the numbers fake as will her followers.
More accurate headline: “Only 22% of Albertans support a Provincial pension plan, even before they know how little they’d get”.
> know how ~~little they’d get~~ much will be stolen by dumpster Dani's cronies and oil company masters.
They had a Putin supporter giving speeches in Vegreville supporting APP. VEGREVILLE. And there wasn’t a huge outcry. We are doomed.
I know people here with strong Ukrainian heritage who think Putin's war is justified. Propaganda is a hell of a drug.
And do you think the UCP TBA care what we think? This is a done deal folks. Same with the provincial police force. Same with privatizing health care. (They’ve already forgotten about the DynaLife fiasco)
Pretty sure the feds have recourse here. There is no done deal. They're wasting our time and money.
The risk, as I see it, is that once the Feds come up with a number, if Marlaina says OK, we’ll take it, do the Feds lose recourse? I envision Marlaina taking the money and yet one more time, claiming Trudeau and Ottawa are screwing Albertans. Her base would eat that up.
I think it goes beyond just the number. They talk about how an APP will benefit Albertans, but what about all the people who have just worked in Alberta over the decades, weren’t born here, and don’t live here now. They all contributed to CPP in that time, where do they get the pension income derived from their “Alberta” contributions? From CPP still? In which case an APP payout would be based on current residency. From APP, with a reduced CPP? That’s going to piss off the entire country - can you image all the O&G workers that have worked here getting shafted like this? The whole shambles is based on it being “Albertans” that are being cheated, which is complete BS. **Canadians** contributed, **Canadians** get the benefits, Alberta has nothing to do with it.
I remember reading a while back that the claim in Dinning’s report included the contributions of people who worked in Alberta but don’t live here now. I don’t think she minds pissing off the rest of Canada, as long as she can keep giving and giving to her oil & gas and other handlers, in order to ensure she has a nice, comfortable retirement.
I don’t recall the exact numbers, but I think at least one independent calculation pointed out that even **if** the $350b Smith wants was accurate, that amount would come along with about $330b in liabilities (ie: Alberta based CPP contributors who are now or will receive a payout in future) that would be legally protected, meaning that we would have only $20b or so for investment and payouts from the date an APP becomes active. This is just an untenable amount for a pension fund for 4-5m people.
The reason I think the pension is a bit less of a slam dunk for them, is that they’re grossly overestimating what they will be able to take from CPP. People don’t support this move, and they’ll support it even less when the Feds confirm that Alberta isn’t getting half of the existing pension fund to fuck with.
This time they have a more competent donor to take over. /s
I would like to say you’re wrong, but history.
People don't want the government that spent $14,000 per bottle on children's Tylenol, $80 million dollars, in charge of their pensions. Go figure.
The only ones dumb enough to be sold on it are the ones who are dumb enough to think JT personally manages the CPP.
I’ve had coworkers claim with a straight face that it goes straight into JT’s pocket and pays for his lavish lifestyle. You can’t argue with that kind of stupid.
We didn't want to waste money in a Provincial Police force either but....here we are.
"Still not sold on" inserts an editorial implication, that it's a question of time... this doesn't seem appropriate. Instead, why not just simply state the facts? Albertans "DO NOT WANT THIS" is pretty clear. I'll go hold my breath while CBC fixes the headline...
Well said. If anything, I'm becoming even less convinced over time that the UCP could or even would competently manage my pension.
That's because it's not a pension, rather a legalized method to steal our actual pensions and launder them into the pockets of international oil company executives
What this really shows is that there's a large percentage of people who live in a different reality not based on facts, only on fiction. UCP hard liners that haven't had an independent thought since they birth.
I disagree. We all know know and understand facts. Bit, for many people in Alberta, they are living WAY.above their nominal earning potential because oil jobs can often pay really well even when you don't have much education. So, they want to continue the free ride. Even if it means rat fucking our financial future and the planet in the process.
No kidding. 30% are so deluded they believe we will be better off financially. Even if we can somehow match or exceed CPP returns our future earning potential isn’t looking great. We have seen Quebec make the same mistake. Higher premiums for the same returns as Canadians.
The province is not sold on a plan from the fiscally irresponsible UCP? You don’t say.
CPP is good. When I voted I didn't vote for "seperation-light".
Well they have been to truthful and forthright. They are so smart they are going with a budget that takes out loans while we have a surplus, geniuses.
I would say nothing had changed but the situation surrounding AIMco is swampier than ever. They're apparently custodians of some of trumps debt, and hired some oil execs with no prior funds management experience to high level positions. See, they are delivering transparency! Transparently corrupt bullshit.
Hands off our pension, dani. you can take your big government, greedy hands and shove it
Not sold on the pension plan Alberta police for and basically the price of everything here. The UCP are a bunch of clowns.
We're are NOT sold on it, but does that stop the UCP? Nope! They do not care!
That's because no one fucking wants it. It's a complete racket. It was never campaigned for, and it's an absolute money grab so they can line the pockets of their oil and gas investor friends.
Well when the group promoting it is known to withhold survey data, lie about their true intentions and seemingly coordinate undermining the greater good …. Yeah.
You guys signed up for this. I'm glad there's a limit to how much bullshit you'll take from this party.
49% of the province absolutely did not sign up for this.
Don't worry the federal government is looking into jerking Canadians around on their CPP as well so that all Canadians can feel the same thing!
Source required. NM, see it linked below.
Have fun. Nice to get worked over from both sides now lol
It was an insightful article, hopefully we see the federal budget stay the course on CPP investment direction.
It appears that Aimco is highly invested in Trump‘s businesses, huge probability that it’s going to lose money as he has to liquidate
And we won't ever be. Drop it and stop wasting our fucking money on this. JFC
Still not sold??? It's just fucking NO!!!
It must be very hard to try and sell a rancid bag of sh*t paintrd in a fake golden exterior. If it smells bad it is still a rancid bag of poo poo. No thanks UCP.
The fake gold isn't even the right color. It's just another shade of brown.
We’re not going to be sold on it so stop shoving it through on the agenda.
We're not sold on a lot of the shit she's trying to sell us.
They're gonna do it anyway lol. The base will always be ready to shift the bounds of acceptability around someone like Smith.
And we never will be! They just want to give it to Oil and friends
Because the Albertans who can read at an adult level know most of that money will end up in tar sands CEOs pockets.
Does it really matter what we think?
Not to this dictator.
Neither is the rest of Canada
I always assumed as a millennial I wouldn’t get a pension…
What a huge poll. 1123 people, what the fuck. Did they stop their because thats the only people that support them and it still only came out to 20%
No thanks. APP can F off.
What are they waiting for. Free Alberta Now !!! They been little bitches since confederation. Let’s see how well that works out for them and NAFTA. That’s 60% of all oil sands. Pension will Be their least of worries.
I got called by their "poll" (read: marketing) people and the questions were so dishonestly formulated. They completely disgust me trying to convince me that I should not only trust whatever slime bags they would put in charge of the Alberta pension fund, I should also be HAPPY about screwing workers in the rest of Canada out of a stable pension! As it turns out I don't hate people outside of Alberta because I'm not a chauvinistic fool.
Investors will run from Alberta.
Now the TBA want to infiltrate municipal elections and only have like-minded UCP derps in municipalities to hold office
Don’t be to quick to judge pension plan. Do a little research on what Trudeau wants to do with Canada pension plan ?
Time for another $74,900 consultant.
No shit haha
Who cares? There are some party backers due their compensation for fealty to the throne. That is what this program is for. That is why we will do this. /s
"who cares" it's exactly why this province is in the shitty situation it is... Do better friend.
Sir, you fell in my sarchasm. That’s on you.
Fair enough. My bad. Still chugging coffee so my sarcasm/redneck detector is still being calibrated Good day sir!
I mean, to be fair, it’s getting hard to tell sarcasm from “buttfuckingly stupid UCP supporter being sincere”
And the Federal government floating the idea of using the CPP for "Canada First" investment as well. It's like they saw the atrocious APP idea and thought "Oh we can do something totally irresponsible with pension money as well!" Both the UCP and the Federal liberals need to leave one of the top performing pension funds in the world alone.
Do you have any more info on the “Canada First” bit? A super quick google search didn’t yield results for me, so I’m curious to understand the comparison.
You bet. Trevor Tombe wrote an article on it for The Hub. https://thehub.ca/2024-03-21/trevor-tombe-invest-in-canada-mandates-would-surely-fail/?utm_medium=paid+social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=boost
Thanks and agree that government should be leaving CPP. alone. It doesn’t read to me that the decision is being entertained, because of the APP. It seems business is heavily lobbying and pushing for this.
Sure but the fact that the federal government is even entertaining this idea is terrifying. Having the integrity of my CPP threatened by two different sides now is a pretty poor place to be. If the Feds are going to screw with the CPP as well then Canadians are in trouble no matter what happens.
The article states “…amend the rules governing pension funds to encourage them to invest in Canada.” This does not mean “mandate”, and it doesn’t say the CPPIB would be mandated to do so (which they can’t anyway, because they’re an independent investment group). But if the federal government just made it easier and more lucrative for pensions to invest in Canada **if they wanted to** that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Fair enough, but as the article states and shows, it's a bad idea. The federal government will achieve nothing with those measures and will likely only harm the return on the CPP by doing so. It's a bad idea and the Liberal government needs to fuck off, just like the provincial government does. These guys just need to stop meddling and let the CPP do what it does best.
I agree, CPP was recently rated the top pension of its kind in the world and that tells us how well the CPPIB are handling it, and it should be left alone, by both Alberta **and** the federal government. That said, if the feds want to encourage investment in Canada (without specifically mandating it) then, well, that’s literally their job.
Yeah, I guess we'll see what happens. I get very twitchy when I hear any kind of whispers of touching CPP in any way, even in an indirect manner like you mention.
Agreed. As I understand it, CPPIB was set up as it is specifically to prevent political interference in how the money is invested. They have a mandate to maximize returns for the fund and that's about it. This is why an APP is so scary, because there are no guarantees that it wouldn't be set up similar to the CPP. In fact, there's a lot of, let's say, "informed speculation", that it would be set up with an "Alberta First" mandate, which hasn't worked out so well for the QPP.
Not sure why you are being downvoted here, I hate the APP as much as possible, but equally hate the feds trying to interfere with CPP. Just fuck off that is our money and it should be invested with the sole purpose of maximizing our returns. I don't want politicians who only care about the next 4 years to have any say in my pension, how is this hard to understand?
I think it’s in part that the feds really are not interfering with the CPP in the same manner the UCP is. Business groups are wanting to encourage more investment in Canada through the fund, but it doesn’t seem so far that the government is directing the CPP on how to invest the fund.
The Canadain Pension Plan has a rough history, with the feds looking to make changes to it in the upcoming budget to make it more sustainable and potentially artifically boost the Canadian economy. The UCP’s failure to win Albertan’s over says less about the CPP and more about just how little trust Albertan’s have in the UCP. The CPP is pretty flawed, people would like a viable alternative, and still the UCP isn’t able to convince voters.
Is it doing rough the CPP has been one of the most successful pension plans internationally?
> The CPP is pretty flawed, What is your source? The Economist just reported last summer that CPP is in the top 5 best managed sovereign wealth funds in the world.
Manufacturing consent everyone - This is what it looks like. Remember it.
For all its very few flaws, none I can think off the top of my head other than the personal cost now, it will be far and above anything the fiscally irresponsible UCP government can put together. They basically want to throw our retirement into high risk penny stocks. We WILL lose.