Standing for Alberta – The Fight for a Fair Deal Within Canada

A new organization called Fairness Alberta has recently joined the ongoing national conversation discussing Alberta’s role in the Canadian landscape as a major contributor to the wealth and general prosperity of the country. Arguments surrounding the value of Alberta, which position it as Canada’s neglected province, have long been a contentious topic at the regional and national levels.

In 2016, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel famously made waves at parliament when she accused the federal government of treating Alberta like a “fart in the room, that no one wants to acknowledge or talk about” (1).
In October 2019, the results of the Canadian Federal Election saw the outrage of many across western Canada, giving rise to the popular Western Exit, better known as WEXIT, movement. Based on fundamental principles of economic liberty and social stability, WEXIT advocates for Western Canadian sovereignty through the secession of the western provinces from the rest of the country.
In January 2020, Alberta Proud hosted The Value of Alberta: A One-Day Conference on Alberta’s Future, featuring keynote topics such as “The Economic Value of Alberta”, “Is there a Canadian Manifesto without Alberta?” and “Reasons Alberta Struggles to fit and Where we go Next”.

On Monday, May 25, Fairness Alberta joined the ranks of Albertans dissatisfied with the federal government’s treatment of Alberta, seeking to take a stand against biased policies and regulations. This Proudly Canadian, Fiercely Albertan organization operates on non-partisan, factual fundamentals, seeking not to deepen the divide between Alberta and the rest of the country, but to bridge the gap through education, discussion and understanding.

Bill Bewick, Executive Director Fairness Alberta, brings extensive experience to the organization with a PhD in Political Science from Michigan State University and years spent working as a political consultant, as well as within the Alberta legislature. “It is entirely outside of our mandate to speculate about separatism,” says Bewick of the WEXIT movement, “our goal is to get a better deal for Alberta, within Canada.”

At the core of their organization, Fairness Alberta believes Canadians should recognize how a prosperous Alberta benefits Canada as a whole. According to Bewick, FA founders and members share a fundamental frustration regarding “how little people and politicians seem to understand about the amount of money leaving Alberta every year.” The Alberta Transfer Meter, operated by Fairness Alberta, features a running total of Alberta’s net contributions to other provinces in the form of federal taxes and EI premiums over the last two decades. According to the Meter, Albertans have seen an estimated total of $324 billion of their tax dollars spent in other Canadian provinces from the year 2000 to 2019.

Dedicated to informing the rest of the country about “the importance of Alberta’s contributions to Canada, and about the unfair nature of various federal policies, actions, and decisions from Ottawa”, Fairness Alberta hopes to help level the Canadian playing field in regards to fiscal, trade, energy, procurement and infrastructure issues.

“Alberta’s contributions are taken for granted,” says Bewick, “We want to encourage investment in a place that has shown high levels of productivity in the past and has a lot of potential for the future.” In achieving this goal, Bewick adds, “we really think education and open discussion are critical in reaching a common ground and having any significant change take place.”

Since their official launch, Fairness Alberta has experienced positive pick-up and feedback from the Alberta public, and is committed to continued growth and expansion throughout the rest of Canada. Dialogue based and donation driven, Bewick encourages the public to reach out, share feedback and join the conversation surrounding Alberta’s future.

For more information on Fairness Alberta and how to get involved, visit https://www.fairnessalberta.ca.

For more stories, visit Todayville Calgary.

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Alberta

Team says technical issues from ‘unprecedented demand’ left Oilers raffle in limbo

Published on August 8, 2020

The Canadian Press

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers’ record-setting online 50/50 raffle from Friday with a total estimated pot of more than $15 million remained in limbo on Saturday as officials attempted to sort out technical problems that the team’s management says were a result of “unprecedented demand.”

In a website post, the Oilers Entertainment Group says its technology provider’s servers were overwhelmed with requests to purchase tickets.

At certain points, it says demand for tickets exceeded $100,000 per minute, causing slow loading times, geolocation errors and duplication of some orders.

It says it’s trying to resolve customers issues and is in communication with the province’s gaming regulator, but that dealing with the issues “led to a delay in picking the winning number.”

Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis says in an email that it has been monitoring the situation and asks for the public to be patient with the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation as they address the issues.

Late Friday the foundation announced the 50/50 was closed in order to process transactions in the queue.

“The integrity of the draw is intact. We apologize for the inconvenience, and the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation will post the winner as soon as possible at EdmontonOilers.com/5050,” the update on the team’s website on Saturday stated.

Friday’s record broke a previous one that was set by another draw Wednesday. That draw had to close early when the server provider reached maximum allowable ticket sales.

Officials had said the provider had increased its capacity by 2.5 times for Friday night’s draw, but many people reported on social media that they were having trouble getting through to buy tickets.

Half of the pot raised from the raffles go to the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation, which supports organizations focused on vulnerable populations in downtown Edmonton and youth sports throughout northern Alberta.

The Oilers were eliminated from the playoffs Friday when they lost Game 4 of their best-of-five series against the Chicago Blackhawks.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2020.

The Canadian Press

Alberta

Tuch scores in OT, Knights beat Avs 4-3 for top seed

Published on August 8, 2020

The Canadian Press

EDMONTON — Alex Tuch scored 4:44 into overtime, Jonathan Marchessault had two goals and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 on Saturday to earn the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

The Golden Knights will face Chicago in the first round of the playoffs. The second-seeded Avs take on Arizona.

“We came here to take care of every challenge ahead of us. We did a good job,” Marchessault said. “We wanted the first seed after the round robin and we got it done. So I think it’s pretty positive. We’re really happy where our game is at as a team.”

Tuch scored the winner on a shot over the shoulder of Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer. The Avalanche tied the game with 1:02 left in regulation when J.T. Compher poked in the puck.

Marchessault scored in the second period and again early in the third when he was pulled down by Avalanche defenceman Ryan Graves on a breakaway. Awarded a penalty shot, Marchessault beat Grubauer to the glove side.

Nicolas Roy also scored for the Golden Knights, who finished 3-0 in the playoff seeding round between the top four teams. Colorado wound up 2-0-1.

It was Tuch’s third goal in round-robin play.

“Feels pretty good,” Tuch said. “Honestly it was a big goal to get the first seed. I didn’t care who scored it as long as we did.”

Robin Lehner finished with 32 saves in starting over Marc-Andre Fleury. Lehner was acquired in a trade with the Blackhawks in February.

Now he gets to face them in the post-season.

“It’s going to be fun,” Lehner said. “They’re a very good hockey team.”

Joonas Donskoi and Nathan MacKinnon scored for the Avalanche. Grubauer was in net over Pavel Francouz, who stopped 27 shots in a shutout win over Dallas on Wednesday. The veteran Grubauer was solid in saving 22 shots.

Colorado’s Pierre-Edouard Bellemare had a breakaway chance late in the third against his former team, only to send the shot high.

“We’re talking like we lost and that our game was poor. I don’t see it that way. I don’t see it that way at all,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “If we were expecting this thing to be easy, we’re in the wrong tournament. This is going to be work. That’s a real good hockey team. I’m not really that disappointed.”

The intensity was raised to another level in a second period that featured four goals. The scoring spree got started when Marchessault tipped a power-play shot past Grubauer. MacKinnon was in the penalty box for an unsportsmanlike call after voicing his displeasure over an icing call.

MacKinnon, a candidate for the league’s MVP honours along with the Lady Byng Trophy, atoned for losing his cool by tying the game with a spinning, backhanded shot on the power play.

Vegas jumped in front again when Roy pounded in a shot with heavy traffic in front of the net. It would last less than two minutes as Donskoi tied it up.

Colorado had a golden opportunity in the first period during an extended 5-on-3 power play. The best scoring chance was by Mikko Rantanen, but his shot down low was plucked out of the air by the glove of Lehner.

“I was fortunate to get over there,” Lehner said.

The Twitter accounts for both sides were certainly entertaining leading into the game. The Vegas crew sent: “Rock Paper Scissors for the No. 1 seed???”

The Avalanche side responded: “You guys just love to gamble don’t ya?”

NOTES: Vegas F Max Pacioretty is getting closer to a return after suffering a minor injury during training camp before heading to Edmonton. How close? “Really close,” coach Peter DeBoer said. “That’s all I can tell you.” … Golden Knights D Shea Theodore had two assists. … Avs F Nazem Kadri and Rantanen each had two assists.

___

More AP NHL coverage: https://apnews.com/NHL

The Associated Press