May 24, 1998
SOME HAVEN'T FELT THE BOOM
Ralph Klein intends to be out and about spreading the word that Albertans should stay focused on the big picture. The land is strong and the boom is on. And what's made it happen is good, old, boring government. "Albertans have turned their province into the envy of the nation," Klein boomed in a recent test drive of his summer stump speech in Red Deer. "Albertans worked hard to get where we are today," Klein continued. Then he reeled off a number of impressive stats about construction activity and growth projections. "Alberta is a land of hope and a place that prosperity can call home," Klein whooped. But Klein hardly had time to begin spreading his good-news gospel when along comes a study that threatens to rain on his rodeo parade. After crunching some Statistics Canada numbers it concludes that Ralph's boom has so far been rather selective in who it benefits. And for many Albertans, average weekly wages are still 4.1% lower than they were in 1983 when inflation is taken into account. The document called "Missing Out on the Boom" was commissioned by the Alberta Federation of Labor so it comes with a certain amount of prejudice and self interest attached. The AFL has long been a mouthpiece for the white collar, civil service unions and has been rejected by thousands of unionized Alberta building trades workers for not necessarily acting in their best interests. In the past it has been the haven for radical political hotheads who were more interested in fostering the revolution than actually looking after the dues-paying members of its member unions. So it's not surprising that the document concludes with some familiar Marxist rhetoric. "The statistics seem to show what many of us already suspected, the rich are getting richer, those in the middle are losing ground and the poor are getting poorer." Of course the predictable conclusion is that the government must pump billions more into what are described as "core public services" and get back into the dubious business of interfering in the economy. The so-called report card on the benefits of the boom certainly comes with a lot of political strings attached. If the statistical analysis is anywhere close to the truth, then Klein could be in for trouble selling his Up With Alberta message this summer. "Our study shows that many Albertans are not sharing in the benefits of the province's ongoing economic boom," AFL president Audrey Cormack snapped. "While business people and professionals at the top of the income ladder are enjoying rising wages and profits, many ordinary Albertans are still having to settle for less." There still is a lot of slap-me-I-can't-be-this-happy feelings about the Alberta economy these days. After the terrible fall Albertans took when a worldwide recession coupled with the Ottawa Liberals' destructive national energy program turned the booming '70s economy into roadkill, the response has been more subdued this time around. But sooner or later, Albertans are going to begin asking the questions that Audrey and her socialist number crunchers posed in their report. "Free-marketeers always say the payoff for individual working people is just around the corner," the document sniffed. "Unfortunately, we're still waiting." The study points out that Albertans are working long, overtime hours but not necessarily for the double-bubble that's supposed to go with it. And the increase of owner/operator "micro-businesses" may not be the sign of a healthy economy, either. "Many of the jobs being created in Ralph Klein's Alberta are not good jobs. This is the other side of the Alberta economy that government and business never talk about," Cormack said. Alberta may be on a roll. But if the good times haven't trickled down to whom Klein's calls his "severely normal" Albertans, as Cormack contends, then Ralph's Revolution may yet prove to be a big flop. Next Story: FINALLY, AN END TO SUHARTO'S CRONYISM Previous Story: TAKING THE GOOD WITH THE BAD
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