News Archive

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22 February 2012

Health Quality Council report vindicates, disappoints Sherman

Edmonton – Alberta Official Opposition Leader Raj Sherman calls today’s release of the long-awaited Health Quality Council of Alberta report on quality of care and patient safety both a vindication and a disappointment.

17 February 2012

Premier a hypocrite on patient safety:  Sherman

Hospital workers owed an apology
Premier Alison Redford’s reaction to the AUPE hospital support workers’ wildcat strike reveals “a stupendous level of hypocrisy,” says Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman.

16 February 2012

Sherman stands behind striking hospital support staff

Edmonton – Official Opposition Leader Raj Sherman rallied striking hospital support staff at the Royal Alexandra this morning, and he will continue to support their call for fair treatment.

16 February 2012

MacDonald says PC government hiding the truth about its take from VLTs and slot machines

Edmonton – Finance Critic Hugh MacDonald says the government is taking a larger percentage of the cash played by Albertans in video lottery terminals (VLTs) and slot machine revenues than it claims, creating the illusion that the odds of winning are far better than they truly are.

15 February 2012

Sherman demands that Redford fire Carter, Griffiths

Edmonton – Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman says Premier Alison Redford must fire her Chief of Staff and require her Municipal Affairs Minister to either immediately apologize to the President of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) or resign.

15 February 2012

PC mismanagement of mental health services failing Albertans

Edmonton – Alberta Liberal Health Critic David Swann says government mismanagement of both inpatient and outpatient mental health services is putting Albertans and their families at risk.

14 February 2012

Statement: Sherman Apology to Town of Penhold

Yesterday the Official Opposition issued a news release suggesting that a cheque for $609 from the Town of Penhold to the Innisfail PC association may have been an illegal donation.

14 February 2012

AUMA boycott puts PC arrogance on full display

Edmonton – The PCs are lashing out at Edmonton City Councillor and Alberta Urban Municipalities Association president Linda Sloan. The crime? Criticizing the budget. The punishment? A boycott of Thursday’s AUMA breakfast by all PC MLAs and Ministers.

14 February 2012

Government threatens Alberta’s natural heritage, economy by allowing logging in Castle Crown

Edmonton – Harry Chase, Alberta Liberal Critic for Tourism, Parks and Recreation, says the government’s stubborn refusal to stop logging in the Castle Crown threatens water, wildlife, tourism and Alberta’s international reputation.

13 February 2012

No dignity for Albertans who die in provincial care

Edmonton – Edmonton-Centre MLA Laurie Blakeman reveals a deplorable government policy that robs children, AISH recipients and the poor of the dignity of a decent burial.

10 February 2012

Donationgate, Part Four: The Jasper Connection

In Alberta, important public servants such as city councillors, school boards and university officials are routinely invited to donate taxpayer money or participate in partisan political fundraisers for the governing Progressive Conservative Party. These public servants feel immense pressure to comply for fear of losing provincial government support for their communities.

09 February 2012

Alberta Liberals offer budget honesty while PCs hide behind a coward’s budget

Edmonton – Official Opposition Leader Raj Sherman says Alberta Liberals are being honest about their fiscal plans for Alberta, while today’s budget reveals Premier Redford is trying to please everyone with a pre-election spending spree and unrealistically high revenue predictions.

08 February 2012

Official Opposition sets ambitious agenda for spring session

Edmonton – Official Opposition Leader Raj Sherman says his approach to the spring session has one goal: to show that the Alberta Liberals are the positive alternative to the current government’s waste and mismanagement.

02 February 2012

Logging in the Castle threatening grizzlies

Edmonton – Laurie Blakeman, Official Opposition Critic for Sustainable Resource Development (SRD), says logging in the Castle Crown Special Management Area further threatens Alberta’s tiny population of grizzly bears – a species already listed as “Threatened” under Alberta’s Wildlife Act.

01 February 2012

The Warlords of Alberta, Part Three: County of Camrose

In Alberta, important public servants such as city councillors, school boards and university officials are routinely invited to donate taxpayer money or participate in partisan political fundraisers for the governing Progressive Conservative Party. These public servants feel immense pressure to comply for fear of losing provincial government support for their communities. In effect, powerful government MLAs are acting as warlords, intimidating local officials to toe the party line.

31 January 2012

Bed bugs biting Alberta seniors

Edmonton – Official Opposition Leader Raj Sherman and Edmonton-Centre MLA Laurie Blakeman say the state of some publicly funded seniors’ accommodations is unhealthy and an affront to the human dignity of Alberta’s seniors.

31 January 2012

Statement: Sherman on pipelines

Yesterday interim federal Liberal leader Bob Rae suggested that he does not approve the construction of the Northern Gateway oil pipeline. Alberta Liberals respect Mr. Rae, but he is on the wrong side of this issue.

27 January 2012

The Warlords of Alberta, Part Two: Big Lakes

In Alberta, important public servants such as city councillors, school boards and university officials are routinely invited to donate taxpayer money or participate in partisan political fundraisers for the governing Progressive Conservative Party. These public servants feel immense pressure to comply for fear of losing provincial government support for their communities. In effect, powerful government MLAs are acting as warlords, intimidating local officials to toe the party line.

26 January 2012

Sherman calls on government to listen to Albertans and make the Castle Crown a provincial park

Edmonton - While PC Ministers spread out across the province to supposedly consult with the public on decisions that they have already made, Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman asks why the government isn’t listening to Albertans when it comes to clear cut forestry in southwestern Alberta.

25 January 2012

The Warlords of Alberta, Part One: Athabasca

In Alberta, important public servants such as city councillors, school boards and university officials are routinely invited to donate taxpayer money or participate in partisan political fundraisers for the governing Progressive Conservative Party. These public servants feel immense pressure to comply for fear of losing provincial government support for their communities. In effect, powerful government MLAs are acting as warlords, intimidating local officials to toe the party line.

24 January 2012

Code Red crisis and weak ministerial response prompts Official Opposition to activate health hotline

Call 1-888-886-2834 to improve ambulance and emergency service in Alberta

Calgary – Official Opposition Health Critic David Swann has been following the Code Red crisis – the dangerous shortage of ambulances, paramedics, and backlogged emergency rooms– very carefully. The stories from paramedics and other front-line staff coupled with today’s response from the Minister of Health have prompted the Official Opposition to activate a hotline so that Alberta’s health care professionals and their patients can share their stories and help convince the government that urgent action is required to fix the system

23 January 2012

PDD dollars used to pad PC party pocketbook?

Edmonton – Official Opposition Seniors and Community Supports Critic Harry Chase is releasing documents today that show the PDD (Persons with Developmental Disabilities) board in Red Deer allocated some of their operational funding to reimburse board members for attending a partisan Progressive Conservative fundraiser.

20 January 2012

Keystone failure has lessons for Alberta

Edmonton – Official Opposition Environment Critic Laurie Blakeman says the delay of the Keystone XL pipeline project gives Alberta an opportunity to get better environmental practices in place before the next round of approvals.

20 January 2012

Sherman would put new federal health dollars to good use

Edmonton – Official Opposition Leader Raj Sherman says the PC government’s refusal to say whether or not billions of dollars in federal health transfers will be used on health care shows an appalling lack of common sense.

20 January 2012

Whack-a-mole cabinet tour shows Redford beholden to same old, same old Tory style

Edmonton – Official Opposition Leader Raj Sherman says the PC pre-election cabinet tour of Alberta shows that all that’s changed in the old PC party is the cut of the leader’s suit.