Craven Opportunities for Private Monopoly InterestsJust like the dangers lurking beneath the raging rivers and muddy waters flooding the streets, homes and entire communities, so too the aftermath of the flood poses a danger for the people from the opportunities seized by private monopoly interests to enrich themselves. This danger makes it urgent that the spirit of organizing themselves to provide solutions, which has characterized the people of Alberta, be brought to the fore to block private interests from using this natural disaster to cause further wrecking of the social fabric. Premier Alison Redford declared "the world changed" the day the floods began. The Alberta Taxpayers Federation is already calling for the government to impose an even more onerous austerity budget, demanding funds be withdrawn from social programs to provide disaster relief, which means for it to pay the rich. The template has been set with the Harper government blackmailing communities across Canada that to receive federal funding they must build infrastructure as "public-private partnerships." Private monopoly interests see the flood as a craven opportunity to increase their control of public infrastructure, which they demand should not only be privately designed and built, but privately operated and maintained to expand their seizure of public funds. This means that to pay the rich, privatization is introduced to feed private monoply interests. A layer of parasites is introduced into public infrastructure, which is driven by the motive of private gain. To meet the added claims of the parasites, funding is taken out of the communities, their public facilities and social programs, as demanded by Harper and the Alberta Taxpayers Federation. Public sector workers who build, maintain and operate public facilities are held to account by public officials. The value they create as public infrastructure is claimed only by themselves and the public enterprise or government. With privatization, workers become employees of private companies whose ownership introduces an additional claim on the created value reducing the amount claimed by the public. The money to pay the rich must come from somewhere. The somewhere is mostly from transferring funds out of social programs and public services and by increasing user fees. This must not pass! Another issue with privatization of public infrastructure involves corruption. Those companies vying for lucrative contracts, as has been seen across Canada, often involve not only themselves in corruption but drag public officials into the mire. The people must not allow social responsibility and solidarity to become drowned in the swamp of private monopoly greed. Another danger facing many people involves the ability of the real estate monopolies to impose massive rent increases. Rental housing, already extremely scarce, is becoming almost impossible to find. All of these and other problems facing the people show the need for people to continue to come together in social solidarity, discuss what is taking place and decide what actions are required. A starting point is not to permit the rich to use this disaster to further enrich themselves at the expense of the working people through privatization of public infrastructure and other ways. Needed funds could come from a disaster levy on the monopolies, especially the global energy companies, who are seizing more and more of the added value created by the workers and have declared record profits. Another way would be for government to exercise control over wholesale trade beginning in the energy sector. Most energy-producing countries exercise public control over both the production and sale of their energy commodities from which they derive enormous public revenue. Eighty-nine per cent of all energy commodities throughout the world are produced by public enterprise. The energy wholesale (and production) sector as it exists in Canada is not only lucrative for the private monopolies but also a source of corruption. Most monopolies sell Alberta crude to their own U.S. refineries at low prices set by themselves, and U.S.-based commodities' traders buy and sell oil and natural gas produced in Alberta skimming off fortunes for themselves. Not one penny should come out of social programs and existing public services, many of which are needed more than ever to help people recover.
Public Right Yes! Monopoly Right No! Call for a Public Inquiry into Provincial Inaction on Flood Mitigation!In light of the disastrous flooding in southern Alberta and the extensive human, environmental and economic damage, with an estimated clean-up cost of at least $1 billion, the provincial government's refusal to implement the recommendations of its own comprehensive November 2006 Flood Mitigation Report, raises serious questions.[1] The 2006 report, released only in 2012, built on a previous draft report completed in 2002. The report was commissioned following the June 2005 flooding in southwestern Alberta that took three lives and caused $165 million damage, and also references serious flooding in 1995 and 1997. The main upshot of the 2006
report was development of a flood mitigation
strategy, with an estimated one-time cost of
$300 million and a $1.2 million a year
addition to government operating budgets.
The strategy consists of three main
elements, each accompanied by a number of
recommendations: (1) Making resources
availablefor informed decisions about flood
risks; (2) Providing support to
municipalities through guidelines,
regulations and programs to limit future
developments in flood-prone areas; (3)
continuing to provide technical expertise to
municipalities for river and lake-related
flooding. Noteworthy was that the report involved extensive consultation with municipalities but not with First Nations, which was to be held later. The Siksika, Stoney, and Tsuu T'ina First Nations have been hard hit by the current flooding. The 2006 report made 18 specific
recommendations based on the three elements
of the strategy. The first six
recommendations were the making and updating
of flood risk maps for identified urban
flood risk areas, mapping priority rural
risk areas, recording water levels of
provincial lakes, collecting and sharing
information on high water and flooding, and
making historic flood information available
to the public. Recommendations 7 to 16 concerned
designating flood risk areas; notifying
buyers if properties were in flood risk
areas; preparing and circulating information
on flood risk to municipalities; ending the
sale of Crown lands in flood risk areas;
funding new facilities which follow
mitigation guidelines; developing programs
to cost share with federal and local
governments; prohibiting damage payments for
inappropriate developments; excluding
provincially owned or operated flood
insurance; and supporting local authorities
in educating their citizens. The final two recommendations were the
expanding of the forecasting network to
provide appropriate warning of risk and to
extend the flood risk mapping program to an
emergency mapping program. The Canadian Pacific Railway and Flooding
of Populated Areas
|
Blockade in the Castle Wilderness to oppose logging of the area. |
A 2011 study conducted by the University of Saskatchewan in the Marmot Creek Basin in Kananaskis Country pointed to the increased danger of flooding which comes from managing forests to supply maximum water volumes. Douglas commented on the study, adding: "As anybody who lived through the 1995 and 2005 floods in southern Alberta will remember all too vividly, the issue is not just how much snowmelt enters the rivers, but how much of that water is concentrated at peak flow times." The study reported that "peak daily streamflow discharges responded more strongly to forest cover decrease than did seasonal streamflow with increases of over 20% in peak streamflow with removal of forest cover."
Logging as it is currently carried out to enrich private interests will have serious consequences not only for the communities directly faced with forestry monopolies, but also for communities downstream. Alberta will see more floods and consequent loss of people's homes and even their lives. Dams and spillways will need to be built, and monopolies will seek to use these as another means to make a big score. A government that has been completely overwhelmed by private interests and which rules for their benefit necessarily jeopardizes the security and well-being of the people and Mother Earth.
Resources must be managed not by upholding monopoly "right" to do whatever it takes to grow their capital, but through scientific inquiry, involvement of the communities affected and concern for future generations.
1.
Douglas, Nigel. "Logging to Supply Timber
vs. Logging to Supply Water: Is There a
Difference?" Wild Lands Advocate.
May 2013.
http://albertawilderness.ca/issues/wildlands/forests/rocky-mountain-foothills-forests/archive/
2013-05-00-logging-to-supply-timber-vs.-logging-to-supply-water-is-there-a-difference
Uphold the Dignity of Labour
As flood rebuilding gets under way in earnest and property owners begin to apply for compensation, Southern Alberta's small businesses and employees are on the outside looking in. Many businesses have been forced to close, leaving some employees without an income for the foreseeable future.
"A loss of livelihood, even a temporary loss, can multiply the damage of a disaster like this, and make it more difficult for employees and employers to recover even long after the waters have receded," Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) President Gil McGowan said. "The Alberta government has responded quickly to help many touched by the flood, but so far workers have fallen through the cracks because the federal government is not doing its part."
The AFL is asking the federal government to modify Employment Insurance (EI) to better serve working people in this and future disasters. EI must be flexible in times of crisis if it is to be an effective safety net. The federal government should:
- Waive the EI waiting period for all workers who have lost income during the flood
- Streamline the EI Work-Sharing program to work for employers and employees as they slowly ramp up production to pre-flood levels
Small businesses across the flood-hit regions are struggling with an EI program too rigid to respond in a disaster. "I had to take our employees to the EI offices yesterday and I worry about how they'll pay their bills since we've had to shut down. That's been the hardest part for us," local business owner Jane Miller said.
The AFL is also asking the Alberta government to expand the flood-relief debit card program to workers who have lost income due to business closures.
"Workers are worrying about buying groceries, and employers are worried about losing qualified staff who are forced to find another job," McGowan said. "Expanding the debit card program to employees who've lost income will help both employees and employers get through this difficult time and focus on getting back to work as soon as possible."
Workers at large and small businesses alike are hurting in the pocketbook from flood-related closures. A lack of potable water has kept Cargill's High River meat-processing facility offline since the flood, leaving 2,000 employees without an income. "Cargill wants to hold on to its employees and we want to stay, but some workers may need to look for other sources of income if the plant doesn't get back to full capacity soon," said Albert Johnson, President of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1118, the union that represents 1,500 workers at the Cargill plant.
"Workers in flood-affected areas have been
instrumental in stemming the losses and
beginning to repair the damage," McGowan
said. "Government at all levels must make
sure they receive the support they need."
Just like the dangers lurking beneath the raging rivers and muddy waters flooding the streets, homes and entire communities, so too the aftermath of the flood poses a danger for the people from the opportunities seized by private monopoly interests to enrich themselves. This danger makes it urgent that the spirit of organizing themselves to provide solutions, which has characterized the people of Alberta, be brought to the fore to block private interests from using this natural disaster to cause further wrecking of the social fabric.
Premier Alison Redford declared "the world changed" the day the floods began. The Alberta Taxpayers Federation is already calling for the government to impose an even more onerous austerity budget, demanding funds be withdrawn from social programs to provide disaster relief, which means for it to pay the rich. The template has been set with the Harper government blackmailing communities across Canada that to receive federal funding they must build infrastructure as "public-private partnerships."
Private monopoly interests see the flood as a craven opportunity to increase their control of public infrastructure, which they demand should not only be privately designed and built, but privately operated and maintained to expand their seizure of public funds. This means that to pay the rich, privatization is introduced to feed private monoply interests. A layer of parasites is introduced into public infrastructure, which is driven by the motive of private gain. To meet the added claims of the parasites, funding is taken out of the communities, their public facilities and social programs, as demanded by Harper and the Alberta Taxpayers Federation.
Public sector workers who build, maintain and operate public facilities are held to account by public officials. The value they create as public infrastructure is claimed only by themselves and the public enterprise or government. With privatization, workers become employees of private companies whose ownership introduces an additional claim on the created value reducing the amount claimed by the public. The money to pay the rich must come from somewhere. The somewhere is mostly from transferring funds out of social programs and public services and by increasing user fees. This must not pass!
Another issue with privatization of public infrastructure involves corruption. Those companies vying for lucrative contracts, as has been seen across Canada, often involve not only themselves in corruption but drag public officials into the mire. The people must not allow social responsibility and solidarity to become drowned in the swamp of private monopoly greed.
Another danger facing many people involves the ability of the real estate monopolies to impose massive rent increases. Rental housing, already extremely scarce, is becoming almost impossible to find.
All of these and other problems facing the people show the need for people to continue to come together in social solidarity, discuss what is taking place and decide what actions are required. A starting point is not to permit the rich to use this disaster to further enrich themselves at the expense of the working people through privatization of public infrastructure and other ways.
Needed funds could come from a disaster levy on the monopolies, especially the global energy companies, who are seizing more and more of the added value created by the workers and have declared record profits. Another way would be for government to exercise control over wholesale trade beginning in the energy sector. Most energy-producing countries exercise public control over both the production and sale of their energy commodities from which they derive enormous public revenue. Eighty-nine per cent of all energy commodities throughout the world are produced by public enterprise.
The energy wholesale (and production) sector as it exists in Canada is not only lucrative for the private monopolies but also a source of corruption. Most monopolies sell Alberta crude to their own U.S. refineries at low prices set by themselves, and U.S.-based commodities' traders buy and sell oil and natural gas produced in Alberta skimming off fortunes for themselves.
Not one penny should come out of social programs and existing public services, many of which are needed more than ever to help people recover.
The Alberta Federation of Labour's Gil McGowan is calling on the federal government to extend EI coverage to all those affected by floods in Southern Alberta.
Only about 22% of unemployed Albertans are eligible for EI and the waiting period is 2 weeks.
McGowan is asking Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Diane Finley to undertake a number of changes immediately including waiving all the waiting periods for those who qualify for benefits.
McGowan is also asking that EI benefits to small business owners affected by the flood be extended. He says many of the establishments under water in Calgary and surrounding communities, including High River, are in fact small businesses, therefore a special benefits class for small business owners whose businesses are not operational for up to four weeks should be created and all waiting periods should be waived.
McGowan says EI coverage to workers on commission and others, such as those who work for tips, who rarely qualify for EI, should be extended. Many of the workers affected by the floods are employed by small business and work on commission or for tips.
"The economic impact of this flood will be felt across Canada. The federal government should ensure no workers or small business owners are left out of reconstruction efforts," says McGowan.
"Almost all of Alberta's first responders are unions members and they're working hard in health care and emergency services delivery, remediation and restoration to help deal with the aftermath of the flood," says McGowan.
"We're hoping the federal government recognizes that not all workers have access to EI benefits. Extending them in these circumstances is the right thing to do for the people of Southern Alberta."
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