Latest news with #NateHorner
CTV News
23-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
‘Unreasonable and unrealistic': Alberta finance minister comments on negotiations with AUPE
Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner presents the Alberta 2025 budget in Edmonton, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. Horner says a lack of progress in negotiations with the union representing government workers could result in a strike or lockout. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Global News
23-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
Alberta finance minister accuses AUPE of being ‘unrealistic' in negotiations
Alberta's finance minister says a lack of progress in negotiations with the union representing government workers could result in a strike or lockout. The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees has said members, who work in jobs ranging from administrative to wildfire work, have voted in favour of strike action. A statement from Finance Minister Nate Horner says the union has not been forthright with its members and is being unreasonable in its demands. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy He says if union leaders continue to be 'unrealistic,' the situation could escalate to a strike by workers or a government-initiated lockout. The union has said it's seeking wage hikes, improved working conditions and job security, and it reached an impasse with the government after more than a year of bargaining. Union leaders have said the government was prepared to table a 'revised proposal' when both sides return to the bargaining table June 2. Story continues below advertisement
CBC
13-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
5 million and counting? StatsCan model suggests Alberta has hit population milestone
Late Sunday night, ATB's chief economist Mark Parsons was watching his phone screen, waiting for a Statistics Canada computer model to predict that the province had its fifth millionth resident. At 11:18 p.m., Canada's population clock estimated that an immigrant arrived in Alberta, nudging the population to that new landmark number. It's a provincial milestone, Parsons said. "If you're in Alberta, you see it every day," he said. "You see licence plates from other provinces, the schools are filling up, [the] streets are busy." The years 2023 and 2024 saw exceptional population growth in Alberta. The number of people in Alberta grew by 3.9 per cent in 2023, then another 4.4 per cent in 2024, according to provincial budget documents. On Monday, Finance Minister Nate Horner told reporters that his ministry expected population growth to slow down a bit this year, to 2.6 per cent, and anticipated five million Albertans by July, not May. "Which makes me wonder if we still aren't growing faster than expected," Horner said. But there's a big caveat on that number, says Stacey Hallman, an analyst in Statistics Canada's centre for demography in Ottawa. The population clock is a computer model that uses past trends to predict future numbers. The federal agency won't finalize its second-quarter 2025 population estimates until September. Albertans will have to wait about five months to be five million official. A report released earlier this year by StatsCan that looked at a range of population growth scenarios predicted Alberta reaching 5 million people sometime in 2026 or 2027. Hallman said changes to federal limits on immigration, temporary foreign workers and international students will dampen the rate of newcomers to the country, and Alberta. The bulk of Canada's population growth is due to immigration, with the country's slowing fertility rate of 1.3 children born per woman, she said. Alberta attractive during tariff threat, economist says Unlike previous bursts of Prairie population growth, the latest influx isn't tethered to an oil boom, Parsons said. He said Alberta saw an inflow of young adults and young families hoping for good jobs and housing far more affordable than in British Columbia or Ontario. Despite the federal immigration policy changes, inter-provincial migration to Alberta remains swift, Parsons said. For those arriving with jobs, they're working in petrochemicals, biodiesel, food manufacturing, tourism, and other growing sectors, he said. Alberta's birth rate exceeds its death rate, and most of the new arrivals are settling in the province's four largest cities – Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, and Lethbridge. Parsons said the province may remain an attractive destination for economic migrants as Ontario and Quebec are potentially more exposed to tariff policies. Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally said that growth in private sector jobs has been a draw. "Our plan is working, but we agree, it's also creating pressure on infrastructure and services and it's something that we have to deal with," he told reporters at the legislature on Monday. NDP finance critic Court Ellingson says overcrowded classrooms, hospitals under strain and sometimes lengthy wait times for provincial services show the government was not prepared for rapid growth. "We need new ideas and new people coming into this province to keep helping us move forward," Ellingson said. "But we better be prepared to invest in the infrastructure for all of us to be successful."
National Post
09-05-2025
- Business
- National Post
'A system in crisis': What you need to know about possible Calgary teacher strike
Article content The proposed terms included a 12 per cent general wage increase over four years, benefit improvements, a new provincewide pay grid, increases in northern allowance and up to a 20 per cent pay increase for substitute teachers, according to a statement from Finance Minister Nate Horner. Article content The province also offered a new classroom improvement initiative, with a $125-million investment scheduled to begin in the 2025-26 school year. Article content 'This agreement would have provided $405 million in new classroom improvements that teachers would have had input on,' Horner said in an email on Tuesday. Article content 'I am disappointed that the Alberta Teachers' Association members did not accept the mediator's recommendation for a four-year central agreement. I hope the ATA will soon return to the bargaining table so that we can continue to work toward the best deal for students, families and parents.' Article content 'That's fine if (Horner) is disappointed,' Schilling said. 'Teachers have clearly spoken and given us direction on the way that they want to go. Article content 'The status quo is not good enough. Being the least funded in Canada is just simply not good enough,' he said. 'We have students who are falling through the cracks. We have students whose needs are not being met on a daily basis, and teachers who are burning out trying to do all of the things that are being asked of them. We need to get back to the negotiating table and see if we can find a path forward.' Article content Schilling said the ATA will work with the provincial executive council and its members for a strategy. 'It is very possible that we will see job action by teachers in the future. Now, when that timeline looks like will be hard to say,' he told Postmedia on Tuesday. 'It could include anything from action in June to the beginning of the next school year.' Article content
CTV News
09-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
AUPE begin historic strike vote, province applies for lockout
Thousands of Alberta workers have started voting on whether or not to strike. The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) represents workers in sectors across government, law enforcement, social services and the trades. AUPE said its employees have not seen a significant wage increase in decades and are being impacted by rising costs of living. AUPE said the province offered 11.5 per cent over four years while the union is asking for 24 per cent over four years. On April 16, the union told members negotiations had stalled and a strike vote would be held. Eight AUPE locals will vote from Thursday to Monday. Union vice-president Sandra Azocar said, due to legislation changes in 2017, this is the first time Alberta public sector workers have had the legal right to strike. 'Our members are ready. They're ready to take a stand,' Azocar said. 'We are basically asking for what's fair. It's not greedy to ask for what you're worth.' Finance Minister Nate Horner said the province has applied for a lockout vote should AUPE members vote in favour of a strike, but did not say if it would be used. 'They're in the process now of asking for the ability to strike,' Horner said. 'We go through the same process to ensure that we have that tool, but it's just something you have in (your) back pocket, and we'll see where it goes.' 'I certainly don't want to fan any flames here,' he added. 'Let them have their vote. Let them see what they come back and come to us with and we'll take it from there.' Azocar said lock outs are 'part of the course' of negotiations, adding she doesn't see how the province would meet obligations under the essential services agreement should they follow through. The province has said it has a plan and that there would be no disruption of essential services in the case of a strike.
