Union leaders urge Ottawa to match U.S. inflation measures

Alberta union leaders representing energy, construction and manufacturing have penned a letter to the federal government asking it to help the province attract investment and create jobs.

A joint letter from Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) president Gil Mcgowan and five other Alberta union leaders asked federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to make the upcoming federal budget “a definitive response to the American Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).”

“For the sake of the workers we represent, we urge you to match the scale, scope and ambition of the American IRA,” said the letter. “If we don't, we're worried that our country and our citizens will be left behind.”

Ottawa and the Alberta government have been at odds over who is responsible for industrial subsidies. UCP Finance Minister Travis Toews recently sat down with his provincial and territorial counterparts and Freeland to discuss global economic pressures and the transition to a low-carbon economy.

At a news conference Friday in Toronto, Freeland said the provinces and territories need to pitch in to help the federal government compete with the American Inflation Reduction Act, which offers massive subsidies to U.s.-made products.

In response to the comments, Mcgowan and the other union leaders say this is “the opportunity of the century” to attract investment and create jobs in the province as the “world is in the early stages of the biggest economic paradigm shift since the Industrial Revolution.”

“We are convinced that if the federal and Alberta governments embrace the kind of industrial-policy approach being advocated by both the Alberta labour movement and the Alberta business community, the issue won't be job losses. Instead, the real problem will be finding, training and mobilizing enough workers to get all of the work done,” stated the letter.

Mcgowan and the labour leaders are asking that the federal government put “serious money on the table — with strings attached,” to ensure that the investments made are good for both Alberta workers and Alberta communities and by doing so would make co-operation by the province more likely.

“That will make it easier (and more likely) for the Alberta government, led by whoever wins the upcoming election, to respond in kind,” stated the letter.

Mcgowan will be in Ottawa early this week to speak with Parliament and cabinet ministers on these issues and others.