Editorial
As the Alberta government prepares to release a budget widely expected to be full of bad news this week, physicians and teachers remain locked in bitter disputes with the Redford Tories.
With the premier and her cabinet colleagues having repeatedly said the province's fiscal picture is anything but bright, Albertans shouldn't be surprised if the new budget includes cuts to both education and health funding, as well as to other areas such as environmental protection and infrastructure.
And if that happens, what hope, if any, is there for timely settlements of the doctor and teacher disputes?
On the education side, things have gone from bad to worse in recent days, with the latest government contract offer being rejected outright by teachers.
ìI want to express my personal disappointment that we could not reach a negotiated agreement with the leadership of the ATA that would have benefited Alberta's students, our hard-working teachers and local school boards,î said Minister of Education Jeff Johnson.
For their part, the teachers place the blame for the impasse squarely in the Tory camp, with Alberta Teachers' Association president Carol Henderson calling the latest government offer ìunacceptable.î
ìIn financial terms, it is actually worse for teachers than what he proposed in December,î said Hendersen. ìThere still remains the need to guarantee stability for teachers just as it guarantees stability for school boards and the province.
ìThere are no provisions for placing reasonable limits on the amount of time that teachers can be assigned to work by their employer boards.î
Not surprisingly the official Opposition says the Tories are to blame for the current education labour mess.
ìThis government has once again failed to come up with a deal that protects taxpayers, and failed to take away the burden of paperwork and wasteful administration on teachers so they can spend more time doing what they do best: teaching,î said Wildrose education critic Bruce McAllister.
ìNow after voting themselves an eight per cent pay raise in the fall, this government has lost ability and the authority to lead by example.î
On the health side, Alberta doctors have been locked in a bitter dispute with the province since the government imposed a contract settlement last year.
Whether doctors will take the dispute to the next level by starting to withdraw services remains to be seen.
The Redford Tories have been saying that the current fiscal mess is a result of lower than projected resource revenues; the opposition parties and other critics place the blame squarely on what they say is past and current Tory mismanagement.
Welcome to budget week in Canada's richest province.
-D.S.
