CALGARY—Hundreds of protesters from around the province gathered outside the United Conservative Party’s annual general meeting on Saturday to protest cuts to the public sector.

Provincial unions, nurses, teachers, advocacy groups and other supporters from the public braved the cold weather to meet outside the Westin Hotel, near the Calgary Airport, which was hosting the AGM on Saturday. The event was organized to send a message to UCP MLAs meeting inside that protestors opposed many of the cuts to the public sector that the province has experienced since the UCP took office after the spring election earlier this year.

“We are one voice today, but there are many voices across this province that do not agree with the cuts that are happening,” said Stephanie Quesnel, one of the protest’s organizers. “We want what’s best for Albertans, and these cuts are not it.”

The UCP declined to comment on the protest.

Some of the issues raised at the event included cuts that have resulted in job losses for nurses and teachers around Alberta, changes to teachers’ pensions plans and the government untying disability benefits like Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped from inflation. Chants rang out supporting public workers who’d lost their jobs and in support of a possible general strike.

Quesnel originally reached out to other teachers to see how many would organize outside the AGM, but the protest soon evolved into a much larger rally as more and more groups from around the province agreed to join. By 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Calgary police estimated a crowd size of roughly 700 people while organizers said they had a total turnout in the thousands throughout the day.

Quesnel is a Grade 2 teacher at Royal Oak School where, she said, the school had already seen two teaching positions cut for classes of more than 20 students each.

“They have to either increase class sizes or you’re going to have teachers be shuffled around the whole board, which is incredibly disruptive, not only for the teachers but for the students,” Quesnel said.

One protester on Saturday directly affected by the government’s cuts was Andrew Clapperton, who’s worked as a teacher for 23 years before losing his temporary contract earlier this year due to education budget cuts. Clapperton said he’s now working as a substitute teacher.

Clapperton wants to see protesters continue to fight and hopes their action will follow the government moving forward.

“I want every person to keep their signs and find out where their MLAs are going to appear in public and protest them openly,” Clapperton said. “We need to keep fighting.”

Rebecca Brown, who’s worked as a nurse in Calgary for 11 years, was pushed to protest against the government when public job losses have come after the government passed corporate tax breaks. She was especially upset with recent job losses with this week’s announcement that the government plans to eliminate 500 nursing jobs in the next three years

“We’re already short-staffed. I’ve heard people go ‘A lot of nurses (take) overtime,’ you’ll hear that a lot. The only reason nurses are doing overtime is because there aren’t enough nursing staff. You don’t do overtime for fun,” Brown said.

The party’s AGM, which runs from Friday to Sunday, will debate and vote on 25 policy proposals the party can choose to support, with hundreds of party members in attendance. These decisions will help pave the way for the party’s next platform. Some of the policies up for debate include an education voucher system, referendums on the Canadian Constitution and more private options in the provincial health-care system.

Barry Brookes, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees 417 in Red Deer, travelled 90 minutes to Calgary with other union members in hopes the government would see the strength in numbers at this protest and show compassion to public employees. Brookes called the government’s cuts, and the job losses and worsening services they bring with them, shameful.

“We’re speaking together; we’ve got each other’s backs. That’s what it’s all about. We got a big fight up ahead of us with this government making changes that impact all workers across this great province of ours,” Brookes said.

UCP Saturday AGM

Inside, the tone of the conference on Saturday was more cordial, but party members still faced some division over what policies should be accepted as part of the future foundation of the UCP.

The Saturday morning session saw four out of five policy proposals passed, including incorporating financial literacy into the K-12 curriculum, not recognizing as stakeholders organizations that receive a majority of their funding from foreign countries and advocating for changes to the federal transfer system.

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They also accepted one on holding a referendum on the Canadian constitution to negotiate what the province sees as Ottawa encroaching on its ability to capitalize on resource development. It’s the second proposal for a referendum stemming from the UCP.

The lone rejection was the suggestion that the party commit to upholding principals in the Canada Health Act when making reforms to the Alberta health-care system. The policy received almost no support from the floor.

Further policy debate continued Saturday afternoon, with a speech from Kenney scheduled in the evening.

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