For immediate release: Sunday, March 21, 2004

EDMONTON — Albertans and Canadians want and deserve quality public services and next week’s federal and provincial budgets need to reflect that reality, says the president of Alberta’s largest union.

“Federal and provincial politicians should keep in mind the fact that Canadians in Alberta and elsewhere want the kind of quality public services that public employees are best suited to cost-effectively provide,” said Dan

MacLennan, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.

The Alberta government is scheduled to hand down its new budget on Wednesday, the day after the federal budget is handed down in Ottawa.

MacLennan noted that elected officials have made disturbing comments over the past few weeks that would suggest plans are afoot to attempt to dismantle the province’s system of public health care.

“This is very clearly not the wish of the people of Alberta,” MacLennan said. “Albertans, like most Canadians, want a fair, properly funded system of public health.

“They do not want a privatized, more American-style model, which despite the fact it leaves literally millions of Americans with no health insurance, costs taxpayers in that country more per capita than does Canada’s more effective public system,” MacLennan added.

Albertans also want properly funded public education, and they are concerned about public-private partnerships, which are a form of direct public subsidy for private companies, he said.

“The province is presently projecting a $3.3-billion surplus and we hope that money is used to strengthen our province by ensuring fair funding formulas for public service and public service providers,” MacLennan concluded.

For more information, please contact:
Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-232-8392 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)