News Archive

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18 May 2012

Statement from Dr. Raj Sherman - Emergency Medical Services Awareness Week

On behalf of the Alberta Liberal Caucus, it gives me great honour to recognize and celebrate Emergency Medical Services Awareness Week, May 20th to 26th, 2012.

16 May 2012

Alberta Liberals announce critic and committee roles as MLAs sworn in

Edmonton – With today’s swearing in of Alberta Liberal MLAs, Alberta Liberal leader Raj Sherman says his team is looking forward to continuing to speak up for Albertans on issues of critical importance.

03 May 2012

Major misses the mark

Edmonton – Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman says Justice Major’s review of MLA compensation is well-intentioned but misses the mark.

23 March 2012

Sherman joins concerned parents as they fight for their school

Edmonton – Only a year and a half after Sister Annata Brockman School opened its doors, grades seven through nine face elimination due to the government’s refusal to amend the P3 contract and expand the school.

22 March 2012

Sherman: government must release AHS quarterly report

Edmonton – On the eve of an election, the PC government has delayed the release of the latest Alberta Health Services (AHS) quarterly report, prompting Official Opposition Leader Raj Sherman to speculate that the news it contains must be devastating for Premier Redford.

22 March 2012

Do-nothing government commissions yet another review

Edmonton – Official Opposition Energy Critic Kent Hehr doesn’t expect a new committee to provide Albertans with much relief from skyrocketing power bills.

21 March 2012

Lukaszuk confirms homeschoolers will be allowed to deny evolution, the Holocaust and climate change

Edmonton – During Question Period this afternoon, Official Opposition Education Critic Kent Hehr asked Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk if the minister would “continue to uphold the Alberta curriculum, which teaches evolution, climate change, and racial and sexual orientation tolerance?”

21 March 2012

Pre-election physician contract sounds oddly familiar

Edmonton – Official Opposition Health Critic David Swann says the government is again trying to silence disgruntled physicians with an agreement in principle on doctor compensation to avoid labour strife during the upcoming provincial election – a reversal on last month’s announcement of a temporary one-year salary scheme for doctors.

20 March 2012

Way too little, way too late: PC ploy to pay back fraction of committee pay a slap in the face

Edmonton – Official Opposition Leader Raj Sherman says Premier Redford clearly doesn’t have enough control over her caucus to make them pay back all the money they received to sit on the infamous no-meet committee.

20 March 2012

Sherman calls for Redford to eliminate school fees and properly fund public education

Some school boards using collection agencies to go after families with overdue school fees
Edmonton – Official Opposition Leader Raj Sherman says that school fees have become so onerous for some families that they simply can’t pay, prompting some school districts to employ collection agencies to go after the fees.

19 March 2012

A huge win for Alberta’s children: MLAs cooperate to pass Sherman’s Bill 203

Edmonton – On a historic day for Alberta’s children and the Alberta Legislature, Official Opposition Leader Raj Sherman’s Bill 203 to protect children from second-hand smoke in vehicles passed third reading and will come into force when proclaimed.

19 March 2012

Say no to AIMCo’s plea to borrow, Sherman demands of Redford

Heritage Fund, pensions, endowments may be threatened
Edmonton – More than $70 billion in Heritage Fund and provincial endowment and pension funds may be threatened if Premier Redford allows the Alberta Investment Management Company (AIMCo) to borrow money to invest, says Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman.

16 March 2012

Sherman asks premier to pass bill to protect children before election call

Edmonton – Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman wants Premier Redford to ensure that his bill to outlaw smoking in vehicles with children present passes before she calls an election. Bill 203 has already passed second reading unanimously.

15 March 2012

AWOL premier shows disdain for democracy

Edmonton – Premier Redford has missed more than half of the final sitting days of the spring legislative session, prompting Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman to demand the premier return to the legislature and face the opposition. 

15 March 2012

PC government sells out public education to private interests

Edmonton – Last night the PC government sold out public education by enshrining in law a commitment to charter schools and private schools.

14 March 2012

Another Alberta family goes through hell in long-term care

Edmonton – Grace Denyer is currently in acute care at the Grey Nuns Community Hospital. She doesn’t need acute care, but like hundreds of other Alberta seniors across the province, she’s been bounced from place to place as her family struggles to find accessible, affordable, quality long-term care – a vital public service in short supply in PC-run Alberta. Official Opposition Leader Raj Sherman learned Grace’s story in a meeting with her children last Friday.

13 March 2012

Redford pulls bait and switch on committee pay; Alberta needs real reform

Edmonton – Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman says Alison Redford’s bait and switch on committee pay for government MLAs is a desperate attempt to distract Albertans from the fact that not a single PC member of the committee that rarely met has paid back a cent of the money they received for doing nothing. 

13 March 2012

Hehr seeks ethics investigation into government pullout from $6.6 billion upgrader

Redford and Morton abruptly throw “textbook perfect” project under the bus. “Something smells,” says Hehr. 

Edmonton – Alberta Liberal Energy Critic Kent Hehr has asked the ethics commissioner to investigate whether backroom PC party politics were involved in the sudden reversal in the Alberta government’s involvement in a $6.6 billion upgrader and refinery project.

12 March 2012

Sherman debates bill to outlaw smoking in vehicles while children present

Edmonton – Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman is debating his first private member’s bill as Leader of the Official Opposition today, Bill 203, which would make it an offense to smoke in vehicles while children are present.

09 March 2012

Joffe email raises new concerns about HQCA recommendation

Edmonton – A November 2010 email from Dr. Mark Joffe – then President of the Capital Region Medical Staff Association (CRMSA) – raises new concerns about the HQCA report’s recommendation not to investigate physician intimidation in Alberta.

08 March 2012

Hehr says MLA pay must be simplified; committees should only be paid when they work

Edmonton – Official Opposition Deputy Leader Kent Hehr says Albertans are right to be outraged about MLAs being paid to work on committees that rarely meet, and that an Alberta Liberal government would completely revamp MLA pay to eliminate such waste.

07 March 2012

Pattern of bullying from ministers reflects Redford’s values

Edmonton – In the wake of the smoking gun letter from Hector Goudreau that put the PC culture of fear and intimidation in writing, Premier Redford claimed on Monday that she wants her MLAs “to reflect my values.” Today in Question Period, Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman put that claim to the test by asking Fred Horne, Doug Griffiths and Ron Liepert if their bullying behaviour reflects the premier’s values.

07 March 2012

Official Opposition’s work helps uphold Alberta democracy

Edmonton – Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman is pleased that Elections Alberta is using information gathered by the Official Opposition to investigate illegal donations to the Progressive Conservative party.

06 March 2012

Sherman challenges Redford to appear at health care debate

Edmonton – Official Opposition Leader Raj Sherman has written a letter to Premier Alison Redford urging her to take part in an Alberta Medical Association-sponsored debate in Edmonton March 12th.

05 March 2012

Redford’s selective firing practices

Edmonton – Now that Hector Goudreau has “resigned” as Chair of the Community Development policy committee, Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman wonders why only Goudreau and the luckless Shiraz Shariff were punished by the apparently very selective Alison Redford.