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Addresses Our Needs

Calgary-Bow Asks for MLA Nicolaides to Address Our Needs

Calgary Bow residents have been raising concerns about key issues both before and after the 2023 election. People expected their MLA to reflect the priorities they consistently voiced at the doors. Recent provincial surveys show that most Albertans share those same expectations. For example, residents have been telling MLA Nicolaides that these are their priorities:

  1. The moratorium on coal mining would remain intact. 
  2. An Alberta Police Force would not be pursued.
  3. Public healthcare would be prioritized.
  4. The free market would rein.
  5. The Canadian Pension Plan would prevail. 
  6. Evidence would guide decision-making.

The issue is not about agreeing on every policy. It is about whether an MLA listens to the people they represent, provides accurate information, and acts on the commitments they made during and after the election. The recall speaks to that gap in trust and performance, not partisanship.

1. The moratorium on coal mining would remain intact

Despite assuring residents that coal mining in the Eastern Slopes would not return. As our UCP MLA and cabinet minister, Nicolaides has consistently voted with his party on government policies including the Coal Industry Modernization Initiative | Alberta.ca a way of circumventing the 1976 coal policy. The result has been legal settlements with coal speculators amounting to more than $240 million.

2. An Alberta police force would not be pursued

During the 2023 election, Calgary-Bow constituents were clear that we did not want a provincial police force. As a member of the United Conservative Party (UCP) cabinet, Alberta’s Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides supports the UCP government’s plan to create an Alberta police force, which is currently being established as the Alberta Sheriffs Police Service (ASPS) despite constituent and public disapproval.

3. Public healthcare would be prioritized

Alberta’s Minister of Education, MLA Nicolaides, has been criticized by constituents and public sector unions and advocacy groups for his support of privatization efforts within the education system, with these groups suggesting this indicates a broader pro-privatization agenda that also affects views on public services like healthcare. As a member of cabinet, Nicolaides supported the transfer of the Alberta Health Services facilities into Alberta Infrastructure. A move that led to Minister Guthrie’s removal from cabinet and ultimately the UCP, after he stood in opposition of this blatant $13 billion land grab of public assets.

4. The free market would rein.

The Alberta government undermined the free market by placing a moratorium on the renewable energy industry while reopening the Eastern Slopes to coal mining.The renewable moratorium, pristine landscapes, landowner restrictions, and increased financial security deposits targeting the renewable industry alone has resulted in more than $33 billion in lost investment as well as more than 24,000 jobs. Constituents have been loud and clear about their objections to this.

5. The Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) would prevail

Public opinion surveys have shown the majority of Albertans strongly oppose an Alberta Pension Plan. A point that Calgary-Bow residents, opposition and union groups have made prior to the 2023 election and beyond, asking the UCP government to abandon the idea. The results of these surveys indicate growing support to remain in the Canadian Pension Plan.

6. Evidence would guide decision-making.

Alberta released a final report addressing classroom complexity after the October teachers’ strike, not in September when the report was needed to inform the bargaining process. Without this information classroom size limits were not included, this and the use of the notwithstanding clause on top of this, is operating in bad faith. Nicolaides has been accused of ignoring the advice of librarians and education experts regarding the removal of books from school libraries and the handling of explicit content. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) has also written to him, arguing that broad government prohibitions on books end vital conversations and amount to censorship. Many constituents have been vocal about their concerns about these issues.

Further, and highlighted on the Calgary-Bow Notice of Recall Statement, MLA and Education Minister Nicolaides has ignored Alberta’s role in promoting misinformation in classrooms across Canada.