The SEIU-West Political Action and Awareness Committee recently sponsored two members to attend the Prairie Political Action Conference, presented by the Canadian Labour Congress. Below are the reports of the attendees.
Megan's Report
Workers Together CLC Conference 2025
**Thursday February 20th Speakers: Judith Ann Gale (land acknowledgement), Siobhan Vipond(CLC vice president), Gill McGowan (Alberta federation of labour president), Brent Farrington (Director of Political Action, Communications and Campaigns for the CLC), Blake Desjarlais (NDP MP for Edmonton), Jagmeet Singh (NDP federal leader)**
Siobhan: Discussed that we are in a chaotic state, We do not know what is happening and therefore we are just responding to the situations in the world right now.
2.4 million jobs will be gone due to tariffs
CLC working on collective union response with the US unions
Workers are the ones that pay the price when people with too much money
Elon Musk has endorsed Poilievre
We need to work on looking out for each other, make sure we are not arbitrarily making decisions and the money is not more important than people
We are in a stage of political divide and voting for the lesser of evils. People trust unions
Invest in jobs, and communities and thrive together when we invest in social programs and workers.
Policies about capping the food prices of essential goods, increasing family doctors, full universal pharmacare, affordable housing built by union labour, tax systems, transit and policy and platforms are key
Text campaign for CLC is 55255
Gill: Threat, Opportunity, Responsibility.
Under the biggest economic threat and political threat with Trump. He declared economic war on Canada and all allies.
Working people suffer the most when this happens, never had to this scale across all sectors.
Opportunity for us to wake up on the economic and political front so we can work on being more independent as we can't trust the US to be the ally they were and we are too vulnerable to their policies.
Responsibility to be a part of the solution in the face of this
We need working people to support us, as a labor movement we represent the working class. Fascism tends to come after the labour movement. We like minority governments as they tend to listen to special interest groups more.
Brent Farrington: focus on what good the government did that was linked to the NDP. Pharmacare, anti scab legislation, childcare, inflationary pressure.
Poilievre has the largest anti-worker voting record and even though he states otherwise he is an Ottawa centered politician, career politician of 20 years. He does not believe in the government providing services which is in direct conflict to his claims of representing workers.
Need commitments and concrete plans.
2 messages in Poilievre's campaign have taken a hit, axe the tax, regular joe stating that Canada is broken.
*Blame Canada* -Trump blames Canada for their problems
Conservative provinces split on how to deal with Trump, (Ford and Smith)
Carbon tax is a non-issue with the tariffs, Trudeau stepped down and new Liberal and NDP frontrunners also want to get rid of carbon tax and put the money into infrastructure and taxing the polluters not the people.
Polls are volatile, people are no longer set on conservative, and help people to decide what real change would look like. Accessible voters for conservatives were 60% before, now they are not.
Mark Carney is about big business though, not workers
Blake: Movement depends on all of us. One of the wealthiest places on the globe just in resources. Policy: only one job should be needed to survive and thrive. Canadians believe. Biggest changes come from hearts and minds not giving up hope. Members and neighbours have been divided more digitally than in reality.
Movement never gives up, helping workers face recessions, worker deaths. Workers are there on the frontlines, standing up with other workers in solidarity. Why are the conservatives determined to divide workers? When workers are divided they find out who is really responsible for their problems.
Greed has become nefarious and is attacking the dignity and respect of workers. Worker's are what make up Canada. Up to worker's to remind them it is up to us to overcome the barriers that are facing our workers. Ask people How they matter and what matters to you. Can organize a community to deliver head to toe healthcare. Vote for change and inspire hope, strength and unity. Hope unites us against fear. Participate in community, Canada is for all
Jagmeet Singh: How an NDP led government would change things federally.
NDP started by workers, CLC vice president is President of the NDP
Context: Canada is our home. Envy of workers. The Canadian dream is 1 good job means safety and security.
Fundamentally believe in universal healthcare, secure solid pensions, an economy that works for regular working families.
Canada is not for sale. This illegal trade war is a direct attack.
Canada is weak, poor and defenseless is what the conservatives are saying
Canada is actually worth fighting for. "We are considered polite but don't mistake our kindness for weakness."
What Canada are we fighting for? What do Canadians stand for?
Mark Carney (shrink public service which means less help for Canadians). Balance operating budget in 3 years, which means cuts to EI, pensions and healthcare, reverse capital gains tax changes
People first and workers first. Great good union jobs, Canada made content and products.
Infrastructure using our own goods. Government needs to start doing the same by buying Canadian and supporting unionized workers.
Ban American companies from government contracts, retaliatory tariffs, 100% tariff on tesla, easier to join an union, change EI rules. The burden shouldn't fall on working people and there shouldn't be profit from a crisis. Cannot build a growing economy by giving more money to those who already have it. Announce a cap on essential foods. Penalties for price gouging.
Private sector isn't currently able to provide enough housing, rent evictions are too common.
1/5 rentals are owned by corporate landlords.
Municipalities cooperation for banning rent evictions.
Conditions of work are the conditions of care. Better pay and working conditions will lead to better care.
"It is always impossible until someone does it."
**Friday February 21st speakers: Greg Mady (President Edmonton District Labour Council), Trisha Estabrooks (NDP candidate Edmonton Centre), Chris Gallaway (Executive Director, Friends of Medicare)**
Greg: Provincial governments ask the federal government to stay in their lane and then do not do so themselves.
Change local authorities election act in Alberta so now any money federally has to go through the provincial government first. Provincial buildings don't pay tax but the city still has to provide services to them. The Alberta government cut photo radar but that was $30,000 worth of revenue to pay for the police services.
Housing and healthcare are provincial issues but they are blaming municipalities for not dealing with the issues.
Alberta is now introducing political parties to the city councils. Reintroducing corporate and union donations but no cap on number of donations, just amount per organization.
Trisha Estabrooks: Momentum going forward
Coming together, dealing with strategic voters. Solidarity with workers on picket lines for 6 weeks. Prior to candidacy was a CBC journalist, executive on Canadian media guild and a school board trustee (that stepped down due to not being able to be there for the workers due to cuts and costs)
People are looking for change and representation that speaks for them.
People want hope.
Engage- have difficult conversations, Activate-make your actions count, Agitate
Chris: People should come before profit. Everyone is worried about access to doctors.
The government's plan with healthcare is first they break it, then they privatize it.
Healthcare isn't broken, it's being dismantled. Chaotic restructuring is causing issues in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Deregulations of services are happening.
Long Term care is mostly private and conditions are deteriorating. Accountability for organizations and actions to improve conditions and regulations are being removed by the governments.
Privatization is worsening our healthcare workforce issues.
Reduced surgical capacity.
Respect, retain, recruit and train.
We can rebuild our healthcare system but we need to stop the destruction of it first.
www.rebuildourhealthcare.ca
"Workshops" were on both days but on the 2nd day they had separate ones offered. Lou-Ellen attended that one on issue based politics and I attended the "Making our campaign strategy your campaign strategy" one so we would have a wider coverage. We talked about the SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats), as well as making sure debriefing is an important part of understanding where you are succeeding and where you need to improve in regards to a campaign of any kind. Being critical of ourselves and local labour is hard but necessary in order to grow and succeed. Outlining the goals, objectives, theory of change, audience, tactics, measurements of success, and resources required for our strategies. We need to make sure we have key messages to promote, outline the problem, theory of change, and what our solutions might be.
Hopefully this was informative for everyone. I had an excellent time at the conference and hope that we can make some plans going forward on how to utilize the information Lou-Ellen and I were able to attain.
Thank you for the opportunity and let me know if there is anything else you have questions about.
Megan
Lou-Ellen's Report
So often, after attending a special conference – or meeting, I have had to read my notes to remember what I had experienced. I then have to sit with my thoughts to really examine and define what I have actually learned, so that I could scribble out a report to share with my sponsors. All the while, hoping that what I was able to gain was worth the investment and trust that sponsor had placed in me. I really do not think I have left an event before with a clearer sense of discovery, with a better sense of what to do, or with a more concise message and with an actual tool kit to utilize.
Before attending this conference, the only word that I could utilize to describe my feelings about the Canadian political landscape was “despair”. I felt this on a national level, an international level, a provincial, a municipal and even a local level. I felt isolated and politically distanced from my friends, neighbors and co workers. How could I have such a different view? How could they not see what I saw? What was wrong with them – or more to the point – what was wrong with me…what was I not seeing that they were? What was wrong with our country? What was wrong with our province? I felt the urban/rural split in my heart, and I felt overwhelmed and discouraged. I felt that I had no real party to vote for that would speak for my neighbors and also speak for me. I did not see a clear platform anywhere… and as a result felt there was no one I could support. So I asked to come to this conference – not full of optimism but mostly with the feeling of how do we scramble and band together to try to save what is left of the labour movement in light of what I knew was coming.
Our first speaker was Siobhan Vipond the Executive Vice president of the Canadian
Labour Congress. She spoke of the choices we have before us in this defining moment as we face the biggest economic shock of our lifetime. She spoke of the chaos being created by Elon Musk and Donald Trump and the political threats we are facing. More importantly she spoke of the “politics of division” used by right wing governments – like our own Saskatchewan party and the Conservative Party lead by Poilievre. She spoke of how the chaos and division are backfiring - how Canadians are redefining ourselves as a united front not because of our similarities but because of celebrating our differences. No Canadian wants American style Education, Healthcare, Politics or Labour laws! We certainly do not want to be the 51st state and that is a powerful message uniting workers, our movement and all Canadians. She sees this chaos as an opportunity to win hearts and minds! As she was speaking, I felt like a weight was being lifted. You can see the unity Canadians are feeling in advertisements, on social media and in the grocery stores! Maybe all is not lost.
Gill McGowan the President of the Alberta Federation of Labour spoke next regarding the economic terrorism being waged by the United States and the potential impact on Alberta. He spoke that working people will suffer the most and it is estimated that with the tariffs in the first two months Alberta will lose 36,000 jobs. It really had an impact for me when he said this threat is an opportunity to start conversations – it is a wake-up call for people on the economic and political front and I agree with his message:
- We cannot trust the USA and can no longer have the vulnerability of trade with this
- We must do more for ourselves and work East to West building trade relationships within our country.
- We have a responsibility to be a part of the solution in the face of this crisis and to start difficult conversations with members of our unions and Polls have shown that Trump was supported by the working class more than any other sector.
Polling in Canada shows that Poilievre is having the same support. The labour movement must have conversations as fascism is rising and union leaders will be attacked first – because the labour movement has power. Poilievre is Trumps man in Canada and in the next federal election every vote will count.
One of my favorite speakers was Brent Farrington the director of Political Action,
Communications and Campaigns for The Canadian Labour Congress. He gave an analysis and set the political landscape at the Federal Level for the USA and Canada. Right now, there is chaos but there is a possibility of harnessing opportunity from this chaos as to what is possible. Working people are up against inflationary pressure and are fatigued with the Trudeau government. Poilievre has capitalized on the fatigue – but he is the most senior of all the politicians and has the longest voting record of voting against worker friendly legislation that would make life better for all Canadian workers. He is running on a platform of being worker friendly and had gained vast support with his “AX the TAX”, Canada is Broken and Trudeau is the problem catch phrases. Well, all parties are now pledging to ax the tax and Trudeau is leaving. The chaos from the south is uniting the country like never before, Canadians do not feel broken. The divisive messages from the Conservatives are falling flat and their polls are softening to the point they are scrambling for a new message. During his presentation the idea that a Poilievre government was not written in stone was truly inspiring. The idea of speaking out as workers to our friends and neighbors who might have been wanting to cast their vote for Poilievre just because he was not Trudeau became a little easier. With the presence of a clear labour platform with a few key notes
We also heard from Blake Desjarlais the MP for Edmonton Griesbach he spoke with passion about the unique challenges in Alberta with ordinary workers having to work two three and four jobs to make ends meet and his dream of the future. That workers in
Alberta would be able to make ends meet with one good job. He spoke of winning the hearts and minds of constituents through conversations, by going door to door and asking questions and discovering what we all have in common rather than what separates us. It really was powerful when he stated that it is not hopeless, it never is we have to act now, and it is up to us to remind each other that we can inspire hope in chaos and hope is more powerful than fear.
The last speaker of the morning was Jagmeet Singh who required no introduction. He laid out his platform’s key messages as a proworker government that would prioritize workers rights, address the affordability crisis and build a Canada that works for everyone. He spoke in detail on his platform. He was engaging and exciting and inspiring as well.
The afternoon was spent working with the Workers Together Play Book. We were introduced to the labour movement platform which included three strong messages that have been supported by research and polls as three of the issues Canadians are responding the most favorably to:
- Make life more
- Strengthen public
- Support workers
Under each of these three points we were introduced to Key messages to support the platform. We then worked on the process of having tough conversations. Listening to understand, contributing our experience, focusing on what matters and being open, curious and brave. It was really interesting and there was a lot of conversation… one of the most important skills we worked with was redirecting and focusing the conversation while remaining open and curious. It was sometimes difficult to pull the discussion back to the key messages, when you were at a table of passionate people!
We also worked with how to debunk myths and build solidarity, how to start and manage difficult conversations utilizing various skills. The skills we worked on were so transformative. Being the only socialist in the great Southwest, I actually think I could now start a politically centered conversation with a coworker without them thinking I am a complete communist or whackadoodle. I really loved that we were encouraged to being open and empathetic and curious, rather than being encouraged just to drive our key message home. By framing the issue, watching our body language, asking open ended questions, summarizing and restating, acknowledging the other persons feelings, understanding and valuing interests we were able to have some really interesting conversations and find connecting points with people that had very different perspectives. We worked on skills of generating options and solutions as well as setting limits.
It was a long but very exciting day - I really enjoyed the entire experience.
The next morning, we heard from Greg Medy the president of the Edmonton District Labour Council. He spoke on the impact the provincial government is having on Municipalities. How this government is working to change the Local Authorities Act so that now all federal funds must go through the provincial government and now is talking about how the provincial government will take over collecting and distributing all municipal tax monies. There are no longer any grants in lieu of taxes – the province no longer pays any monies to municipalities for provincial buildings and has disallowed photo radar which generated 30,000.000 dollars for police services that has not been replaced. The provincial government is also talking about introducing political parties to municipal elections and the limit for corporations supporting municipal electors has changed. The ideology of the province has changed, and it is now critical for workers to become involved and realize what is going on. These ideas really frightened me as what happens in Alberta seems to drift over the border sooner than later.
We heard from Trisha Estabrooks the NDP candidate from Edmonton Center of her experience as a journalist in the North and about her campaign and platform in Edmonton. She was passionate and interesting and full of optimism and hope.
Our last speaker was Chris Galloway the executive director of the Friends of Medicare. He gave a horrifying talk about the state of the health care system in Alberta. He spoke about the right-wing privatization of health care and how they are systematically dismantling public health care in Alberta. The government is using chaotic restructuring of the management system, union busting tactics, dismantling regulations to break the system and replace with privately funded options. They have created “recovery Alberta” to deal with the addiction’s epidemic which as an ideological approach of forced recovery. It uses for profit recovery centers who will own the data with private curriculum development and training and unregulated counsellors. Long Term care has a new CCA act with no regulations and no minimum standards, the Alberta government has already stated it will not accept any Federal standards, and they have also closed the office of the senior’s advocate. Acute care has expansion of for-profit health centers including private urgent care centers and private surgical centers. Large corporations like Loblaw’s and Shoppers and wanting to build private clinics and being supported by politicians. It was the scariest talk I have heard for a long time.
The rest of the morning we spent in an activity where we split into a small group and using the CLC campaign strategy as a blueprint, developed our own framework that would align with the CLC’s campaign and our own unique goals and circumstances. The table I was at were people from southern Alberta and Manitoba. We decided that the key point that spoke to all of us was strengthening public care. I spoke about the terrible urban/rural split in the last provincial election in Saskatchewan… which was very similar to the urban/rural split with Edmonton and the rest of Alberta. We then talked about health care and decided that our platform would be universal access to health care. Rural Alberta and Manitoba is facing the same crises of access that rural Saskatchewan is facing with chronic closures of emergency services, lack of physicians moving to rural or small sites and lack of services. We thought that would be a message or platform that could open conversations for both rural and urban Canadians and could possibly open a window of discussion to consider looking at different representation. It was a really interesting process, and I felt we were really successful.
As I mentioned at the start of this long report, I found this conference to be transformational. I feel I went in defeated and came away with hope. It was set up well, the materials provided are excellent, the group was small enough that we were able to have great group discussions, and the speakers were inspirational. It was well focused, and our time was utilized well.
Thanks so much for giving me this opportunity.