Edmonton – Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan will participate in the pre-budget lock-up alongside other stakeholder groups.

McGowan says he has concerns about the direction that budget discussions have taken, and is glad to have an opportunity to look over the document in advance.

“Ralph Klein celebrated getting us out of debt by putting us back on the road to debt,” AFL president Gil McGowan said. “The reason that the Redford Government is having problems with budgeting is that they haven’t stopped giving Ralph Bucks to the province’s super rich.”

The lock-up, which allows media and stakeholders to read and analyze the budget before it goes public, is a longstanding parliamentary tradition. This is the first year that the AFL has been allowed to join the lock-up.

“We appreciate the unique role that journalism plays in a democracy, and we therefore have always supported media organizations being granted early access through the lock-up,” AFL president Gil McGowan said. “But the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation is not a media organization. They’ve used their exclusion from the lock-up to create unnecessary drama.”

When last-minute collusion with the Wildrose Party allowed some other groups to join the lock-up, the AFL made a formal request to the office of Finance Minister Doug Horner.

“We’re pleased to have been given an advance opportunity to see how this budget will affect the more than 160,000 union members we represent,” McGowan said.

MEDIA AVAILABILITY:

Immediately following release of the provincial budget (Estimated at 3:30 pm)
Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan
Legislature Rotunda

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MEDIA CONTACTS:

For more information, please contact Olav Rokne, AFL Communications Director at 780-289-6528 (cell) or via email orokne@afl.org.

Gil McGowan, President, Alberta Federation of Labour will be available by phone at 780-218-9888 (cell) to out-of-town media following his in-person availability.