Albertans must be prepared to fight against the “Americanization” of our electoral system: AFL

Alberta Federation of Labour

Ordinary working Albertans will pay a high price if American-style partisan gerrymandering is allowed to take root in our province, says the president of Alberta’s largest worker organization.

“One of the reasons the American political system has become so dysfunctional is because politicians have been able to choose their voters rather than voters choosing their politicians,” says Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) president Gil McGowan.

“Democracies around the world have inoculated themselves against this fate by entrusting the creation of electoral maps to independent commissions and panels. That has been the practice in Alberta and Canada, too. But the UCP has taken a sledgehammer to this foundational norm of our democracy. We can’t let them get away with it.”

McGowan says he will be calling an emergency meeting of Alberta union leaders to discuss the labour movement’s response to what he describes as the “dangerous Americanization of our electoral system.”

“Democracy is a worker issue,” says McGowan. “When politicians rig the system so they don’t have to worry about losing elections, democracy dies – and along with it goes the ability of ordinary citizens to have any real influence over the political decisions that impact their lives. For the sake of ordinary working Albertans, this is a red line that we can’t allow the Smith government to cross.”