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Public Interest Alberta’s
Ninth Annual Advocacy Conference
April 9 - 11, 2015
Chateau Louis Conference Centre
Edmonton, Alberta
A JUST
aND FaIR ALBERTa
Making It Happen
The 2015 PIA Conference is about
seeding new ideas and hopes for the
future. The speakers are dynamic and
progressive affording you some of the
best thinking and critical analysis of
current issues facing all of us in Alberta.
Welcome to PIA’s Ninth
Annual Advocacy Conference
Spring is in the air and what better time
to discuss and renew our positions and
hopes for a better Alberta.
Public Interest Alberta marked its
10th Anniversary last year and this
celebration offered the opportunity
to look back and reflect on all that the
organization has accomplished since its
inception in 2004.
Public policy changes come about in
painstakingly slow ways particularly
in a province like Alberta where the
population is so marginalized and
complacent. Mainstream media and
corporate influences further reinforce
old stereotypes and out of date thinking
despite new research, knowledge and
evidence our policies are imbalanced
and favor the advantaged. Whether
you examine health care, gender/
LGBTQ equality, environmental or
taxation policies, Alberta lags behind
many if not all Canadian provinces in
our adaptability and progressive policy
approaches to these issues.
A Just and Fair Alberta For All is
achievable if our minds are open
to considering approaches and
alternatives. Avi Lewis, Colleen Fuller,
Asbjørn Wahl and Bill Phipps are
guaranteed to get you thinking.
So, enjoy the dialogue and refreshing,
engaging outlooks on what approaches
Alberta could take. Remember
that change is rooted in the daily
conversations we have with other
people in our homes, workplaces and
communities. This conference will
equip you with new information needed
to influence others and collectively
contribute to the public policy evolution
Alberta so desperately needs.
In closing, I want to thank our
exemplary staff: Bill, Karen, Joel and
Julie for their tremendous work in
ensuring this conference is organized
and runs smoothly. Acknowledgements
would not be complete without also
mentioning the Board of PIA who
continues to advocate and lead the
way to a stronger and more democratic
province for all.
Sincerely,
Linda McCulloch, PIA Board Chair
A Just and Fair Alberta: Making it Happen
Page 1
Agenda
Thursday, April 9, 2015
7:00 pm
Welcome & Introductory Remarks
Grand Ballroom
Keynote Speaker - Avi Lewis
“Our Power: Battling Austerity with a Bold Green Vision”
8:30 pm
Reception
St. Michael’s Room
Friday, April 10, 2015
8:30 am
Registration
Foyer
9:00 am
Welcome
Grand Ballroom
10th Anniversary Video
Overview of the Day
Plenary - Asbjørn Wahl
“Fairness and Justice: A Question of Social Power”
10:25 am
Break
Solarium
10:45 am
Plenary - Sarah Hainds
Grand Ballroom
“Fighting Against the Corporate Attacks from
the Classroom to the State Capital & Beyond”
11:45 am
Organized Lunch
Solarium
12:45 pm
Plenary - Colleen Fuller
Grand Ballroom
“Driving the Wrong Way: Neoliberalism and
Health Care in Canada”
1:55 pm
Priorities for Change Workshops
Workshop 1
Executive
Workshop 2
Leland
Workshop 3
Roseberry
Workshop 4
Rosslyn
Workshop 5
Commercial
Workshop 6
Ballroom
3:25 pm
Break
Solarium
3:45 pm
Panel - Laura Benson, Kelly Dowdell
& Jacqueline Fayant
Grand Ballroom
“Effective Organizing for People and the Planet”
Page 2
A Just and Fair Alberta: Making it Happen
Agenda
4:45 pm
Action Wall
7:00 pm
“On the River” Performance
Grand Ballroom
Saturday, April 11, 2015
9:00 am
Overview of the Day
9:10 am
Panel - Ricardo Acuña, Elisabeth Ballermann
& Larry Booi
“Getting There from Here - Revenue Reform, Public
Services and Democracy”
10:10 am
Break
10:30 am
Making it Happen Workshops
Workshop 1
Executive
Workshop 2
Leland
Workshop 3
Roseberry
Workshop 4
Rosslyn
Workshop 5
Commercial
Workshop 6
Ballroom
12:00 pm
Organized Lunch
Solarium
1:00 pm
Plenary - Bill Phipps
Grand Ballroom
“Setting the Direction: Achieving a Just and
Fair Alberta”
2:00 pm
Wrap Up & Closing
2:15 pm
Adjournment
A Just and Fair Alberta: Making it Happen
Grand Ballroom
Solarium
Page 3
Keynote Presentation
AVI LEWIS
Our Power: Battling Austerity
with a Bold Green Vision
Thursday, April 9, 2015
7:00 pm - Grand Ballroom
MC - Linda McCulloch, President, Public Interest Alberta
How to build movement power in a one party state that is ruled by the
interests of the richest industry on earth?
With examples and film clips from his forthcoming global documentary,
“This Changes Everything”, Avi Lewis argues that it’s time for those
defending the public interest to go on the offensive with an inspiring,
positive vision of the future we want.
Social movements around the world are fighting back against the logic of
austerity and endless extraction by harnessing the urgency of the climate
crisis to advocate for a massive transition to a low-carbon economy.
Alberta could be a crucible of this strategy in Canada. With his trademark
wit and journalistic rigour, Avi will challenge Albertans to connect the dots
between climate, social justice, and a fairer economy: beyond the election,
there is a world to win.
Avi Lewis is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and television
journalist. His first feature length film, The Take (2004), followed
Argentina’s new movement of worker-run businesses and was released
theatrically, winning several awards. In 2009 and 2010 Avi hosted
Al Jazeera English Television’s Fault Lines. He has also worked at the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as the host of On the Map, The Big
Picture, and counterSpin.
Page 4
A Just and Fair Alberta: Making it Happen
Plenary Speakers
ASBøjRN WaHL
Fairness & Justice: A Question of
Social Power
Friday, April 10, 2015
9:25 am - Grand Ballroom
MC - Jason Heistad, Secretary Treasurer, Alberta Union of Provincial Employees
Social development is a question of social power. The post World War II
development with welfare states and social progress was the result of
an important shift in the balance of power in society – first and foremost
due to the strengthening and the struggle of the trade union and labour
movement. The economic crisis and the neoliberal offensive since about
1980 have reversed this development. Labour and social movements have
been pushed on the defensive, market forces have gained ground, and the
result is increasing inequality and unfairness, weakening of our democracy
and a demobilisation of social forces. If we want to turn the tide, we
will have to shift the balance of power again, and this can only be done
through the mobilisation of social power through broad social alliances.
Based on Norwegian and other experiences, the speaker will analyse and
draw some conclusions on how this can de done.
Asbjørn Wahl is Adviser at the Norwegian Union of Municipal and General
Employees and director of the broad Campaign for the Welfare State.
Trained in history and sociology, he has many years of experience in the
trade union movement, at the national as well as at the international
level. He is currently Section Vice President of the International Transport
Workers’ Federation and also member of the Co-ordinating Committee of
Forum Social Europe (an informal trade union network). He has published
a number of articles on political, social, and labour questions in magazines
and books both in Norway and internationally.
A Just and Fair Alberta: Making it Happen
Page 5
Plenary Speakers
SaRaH HaINDS
Fighting Against the Corporate
Attacks from the Classroom to
the State Capitol & Beyond
Friday, April 10, 2015
10:45am - Grand Ballroom
MC - Jonathan Teghtmeyer, Alberta Teachers’ Association
Sarah will describe how an activist group of teachers evolved from fighting
against privatization and military expansion in the Chicago Public Schools
to leading one of the country’s largest teachers unions, and becoming
an inspiration for labor and community groups across the country and
abroad.
Sarah Hainds has been working as a member of the research team at
the Chicago Teachers Union since 2010. Focusing on the negative effects
of socio-economic inequities on disadvantaged communities, Sarah
researches the privatization of school district programs, the expansion of
charter schools, and disparities in school facilities and school funding. Her
research is published in union position papers, media communications,
conference presentations, policy briefs, and union member
communication documents. Sarah has a masters in urban planning and
policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago and serves as the Treasurer
on the Board of Directors of ARISE Chicago, an inter-faith workers’ rights
advocacy organization.
Page 6
A Just and Fair Alberta: Making it Happen
Plenary Speakers
COLLEEN FULLER
Driving the Wrong Way:
Neoliberalism and Health Care
in Canada
Friday, April 10, 2015
12:45pm - Grand Ballroom
MC - Sandra Azocar, Executive Director, Friends of Medicare
Neoliberalism – often called neoconservatism in Canada – is a belief in
unfettered capitalism, free trade, individualism, and less government
social spending. The main role of the state in a neoliberal economy
is to aggressively expand private property rights and markets, and
deploy political, legal, and regulatory systems to achieve these goals.
The passage of the Canada Health Act in 1984 was a significant “push
back” against the diffusion of neoliberal ideology in Canada. But it was
framed by two other events in line with neoliberal reforms that reflected
a dramatic shift in Canadian domestic and foreign policy – the Charter of
Rights and Freedoms and free trade with the United States. These two
events have had an impact on both the delivery and financing of health
care and, indeed, on the basic foundations of universal medicare.
Colleen Fuller is a health policy researcher, consultant, and writer.
She is the author of several books, including “Caring for Profit: How
Corporations Are Taking Over Canada’s Health Care System” and (with
Diana Gibson) “The Bottom Line: The Truth About Private Health
Insurance In Canada.” Colleen is currently working with the BC Health
Coalition, an intervenor in the Brian Day Charter challenge against BC’s
medicare laws. She is also a cofounder of PharmaWatch Canada, a critical
consumer voice on Canadian prescription drug policy and an advocate
of greater regulation of the drug industry to support safe and effective
medicines for Canadians. She is on the board of Women and Health
Protection and is a coauthor of “The Push to Prescribe: Women and
Canadian Drug Policy.”
A Just and Fair Alberta: Making it Happen
Page 7
Plenary Speakers
BILL PHIppS
Setting the Direction:
Achieving a Just and Fair
Alberta
Saturday, April 11, 2015
1:00 pm - Grand Ballroom
MC - Heather Smith, President, United Nurses of Alberta
This closing session will layout the foundations for how we can take action
together to achieve a just and fair Alberta. Bill Phipps will be pulling the
ideas, strategies and stories from the plenary speakers and reviewing the
input and commitments made from people in the breakout sessions, into
a closing talk that will set the direction and inspire citizens’ action for the
year ahead.
Bill Phipps is the Co-founder and Chair of Faith and the Common Good
network and Chair of the Calgary Peace Prize committee. He is active in
issues of climate change and right relations with First Nations. He was the
Moderator (spiritual leader) of the United Church of Canada from 19972000 and is a former lawyer. He has been the Minister of United Church
congregations in Toronto and Calgary. He learned community organizing
with Saul Alinsky’s organization in Chicago. He has traveled to Congo,
South Sudan, East Timor, Israel, Palestine, Japan, Jordan, and all of Central
America representing the United Church of Canada, focusing on human
rights. Now retired and living in Calgary, he calls himself an Earth Urbanist.
He is married to writer Carolyn Pogue, with children and grandchildren in
Yellowknife, Winnipeg, and Toronto.
Page 8
A Just and Fair Alberta: Making it Happen
Panel Presenters
Effective Organizing for People and the Planet
Friday, April 10, 2015
3:45 pm - Grand Ballroom
This plenary panel will explore various strategies used by other advocacy
organizations to mobilize and organize people for more effective advocacy. The
panelists will share their experiences and insights from their past and current
campaigns: working to phase out coal, organizing campaigns with First Nations,
Metis, and Inuit communities, and using digital tools for organizing mass
grassroots public pressure.
MC - Sherry Hunt, Southern Alberta Council Rep, Public Service Alliance of Canada
LaURa BENSON is the Director of Dogwood Initiative’s
Beyond Coal campaign. She has a master’s degree in
Urban Studies from Simon Fraser University and 15
years of experience working on organizing and advocacy
campaigns in British Columbia, California, and Oregon.
This work has taken her through everything from
local elections to living wage policies and toxic-free
neighbourhoods to port accountability and responsible
investment. She lives atop Burnaby Mountain with her
husband, her two sons, and her tuxedo cat.
KELLY DOWDELL is the Online Campaign Manager
for Leadnow responsible for developing responses to
current events and policy developments through online
campaigns while coordinating online integration support
for longer-term, strategic, organizing initiatives across
the country. Over the past 15 years she has been both a
scholar of and participant in citizen-based movements
and initiatives supporting participatory democracy,
community development, indigenous rights, economic
and social justice and peacebuilding.
JacQUELINE FaYaNT is an Edmonton-born Métis
woman, with strong family roots in the Fishing Lake
Métis Settlement. She has had extensive experience
working with marginalized populations, and advocacy
has always been the common thread in her work.
Jacqueline has enjoyed specializing in community
development and social/environmental justice. Currently
she works for Mother Earth Action Cooperative, in
partnership with other ENGO’s to bring environmental
justice to disenfranchised groups and communities.
A Just and Fair Alberta: Making it Happen
Page 9
Panel Presenters
Getting there from here – Revenue Reform,
Public Services and Democracy
Saturday, April 11, 2015
9:10 am - Grand Ballroom
This panel will help participants to ‘connect the dots’ for building a just and fair
Alberta through advocacy founded on three key elements: revenue reform, improved
public services and stronger democracy. The panel of local advocates will share
their insights into how effective advocacy on these cross-cutting elements will be
instrumental in building the Alberta we want.
MC - Siobhan Vipond, Secretary Treasurer, Alberta Federation of Labour
RIcaRDO AcUÑa is Executive Director of the Parkland
Institute, a political and economic research institute
at the U of A. He has a degree in Political Science and
History and over 20 years experience with various nonprofit organizations. Ricardo has spoken extensively and
written on issues of water, NAFTA, commodification of
the commons, and energy policy in Alberta to students,
teachers, and numerous community groups. He is a
regular media commentator and writes a column for
VueWeekly in Edmonton.
ELISaBETH BaLLERMaNN has been President of
Health Sciences Association of Alberta since 1995,
becoming the first president elected by the membership.
She joined HSAA in 1980 when she started her health
care career as a physical therapist at the Glenrose
Rehabilitation Hospital. In order to enhance her
academic background in labour relations, Elisabeth
graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the U of A. Her
extensive community service was recognized in 2005
with the awarding of the Alberta Centennial Medal.
LaRRY BOOI has long worked to strengthen education
and support the public good. The former President of
the Alberta Teachers’ Association and vice-president
of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, he has been
actively involved in curriculum development and written
textbooks used in Alberta schools. Currently, he is an
Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Education, U of A.
Larry has played a central role in the establishment and
growth of Public Interest Alberta and is Chair of PIA’s
Democracy Task Force. He was the Chair of
PIA’s board from 2007 to 2014.
Page 10
A Just and Fair Alberta: Making it Happen
Advocacy Workshops
Concurrent Breakout Session One - Friday, April 10 @ 1:55 pm - 3:25 pm
Priorities for Change Workshops
Conference participants will be divided into six breakout sessions to discuss
the “Priorities for Change” document included in the kits. Each session
will focus on recommendations of one or two of the nine action areas in
the document. Through this process we hope to be able to get insight and
feedback from people with varying levels of experience and backgrounds
into the proposed recommendations. The conference participants are
being divided up so that we get a good cross section of people from various
organizations and backgrounds. To that end, we ask that people go to the
workshop number that is listed on your name tag (see room listing below).
Concurrent Breakout Session Two - Saturday, April 11 @ 10:30 am - Noon
Making it Happen Workshops
Conference participants will go back to their same workshop breakout rooms
to discuss how individuals and organizations can best advocate for the
priorities outlined in the document. People will be asked to take the learning
from the plenary sessions and/or from their own advocacy experiences to
outline what can be done to achieve a just and fair Alberta for all.
Breakout Session Rooms:
Workshop 1
Executive
Workshop 2
Leland
Workshop 3
Roseberry
Workshop 4
Rosslyn
Workshop 5
Commercial
Workshop 6
Ballroom
Upper Floor
Upper Floor
Lower Floor
Lower Floor
Bottom Floor
Main Floor
A Just and Fair Alberta: Making it Happen
Page 11
On the River Performance
Friday, April 10, 2015
7:00 pm - Grand Ballroom
Edmonton Singer Songwriter
With Aboriginal Women’s Trio
Maria Dunn
Asani
ON
THE RIVER is a live performance by singer-songwriter Maria Dunn
and Asani, an acapella Aboriginal women’s trio. Through the lens of the
life of former chief, Dorothy McDonald, this multi-media presentation tells
the story of the Cree, Dene, and Metis’ peoples community of Fort McKay
which is a town located just north of Fort McMurray in the midst of major
oil sands sites.
Suggested eateries in the Kingsway area for the dinner
break prior to the “On the River” performance:
Chateau Louis Hotel
Julian’s Piano Bar
Royal Coach Dining Room
Best Western Hotel
Runway 29 Restaurant & Lounge
11310 109 Street
Ricky’s All Day Grill
11431 Kingsway
Boston Pizza - Kingsway
11440 106 Street
Chateau Nova Restaurant
159 Airport Road
Ramada Hotel
GRAZE Restaurant
11834 Kingsway
Moxie’s Grill / Bar
10628 Kingsway
Page 12
A Just and Fair Alberta: Making it Happen
Conference Planning Committee
Bill Moore-Kilgannon, Public Interest Alberta
Karen Werlin, Public Interest Alberta
Joel French, Public Interest Alberta
Julie Hrdlicka, Public Interest Alberta
Larry Booi, Public Interest Alberta
Ricardo Acuña, Parkland Institute
Sandra Azocar, Friends of Medicare
Chris Galloway, Council of Canadians
Shelley Magnussen, Alberta Teachers’ Association
Conference Sponsors/Supporters
Alberta Teachers’ Association
Alberta Union of Provincial Employees
Alberta Union of Provincial Employees Local 54
Aspen Foundation
Civic Service Union Local 52
Friends of Medicare
Health Sciences Association of Alberta
Parkland Institute
Public Service Alliance of Canada
United Nurses of Alberta
CKUA Radio
Vue Weekly
A Just and Fair Alberta: Making it Happen
Page 13
Public Interest Alberta
Public Interest Alberta
3rd Floor, 10512 122 Street NW
Edmonton, AB T5N 1M6
Ph: (780) 420-0471 email: [email protected]
www.pialberta.org
Facebook Page: facebook.com/PIAlberta
Twitter: @PIAlberta
Conference Twitter Hashtag: #PIAconf
Advocating for a Better Alber ta for All