Updated 25 June 2020
One of the most curious recommendations in the Fair Deal Report is section III which encourages “telling Alberta’s story.” This call to action urges the sharing of “common messages”. The authors suggest that “transparent” civic society groups like municipalities, unions, companies, advocacy groups, non-profits and “indeed, every citizen” have a “critical and essential voice” to tell Alberta’s story. However, this section includes the invocation to tell a story about Alberta’s “leading practices in the energy, agriculture, and forestry sectors and the full cost that Alberta’s failure would have on benefits currently shared by the country as a whole.”
Critics would charge that the panel was pandering to enduring grievances accentuated by the volatile roller- coaster economy Alberta governments persistently endorse. Supporters of the report would simply say that the panel was just listening to the public and the underlying message that Alberta is unfairly carrying the rest of the country on its back. (Abpolecon.ca will take a deeper look at the panel’s report in the coming weeks.)
In this extract, a contribution to telling the Alberta story, from a decision-maker’s perspective, comes from the Provincial Archives’ Social Planning Committee. Jim Horsman’s note was written just 4 days before Allan MacEachen’s budget which unleashed a bitter row between the Government of Alberta and the federal government. Horsman, as Advanced Education and Manpower minister, advises his colleagues on the latest Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada. At this time, most everything looks quite benign for the provincial government. As the historical chart below shows (1976-2020- Alberta and Canada), this message was the calm before the storm. Soon, unemployment would reach double digits and the Premier was facing a separatist movement.
FROM: James D Horseman
Minister Advanced Education and Manpower
TO: Honourable Peter Lougheed
Members of Cabinet DATE: October 24, 1980
SUBJECT: Labour force statistics for Alberta
Further to the decision made out of previous social planning committee meeting, I have attached, for your information, highlights on the September 1980 labour force statistics for Alberta with comparisons to the statistics for September, 1979 this. This material will continue to be provided on a quarterly basis.
The data are based on the results of Statistics Canada’s monthly labour force survey. If you require additional information on current labour market conditions in the province, I would be happy to provide them upon request
James D. Horsman
Minister
Highlights on labour force statistics for Alberta for September 1980
- Alberta’s estimated working age population for September 1980 was 1,535,000, up by 7,000 from August 1980, and up by 61,000, or 4.1% from September 1979
- Alberta’s total labour force for September was 1,074,000, a decrease of 24,000 from August. The male labour force for September was 643,000, a decrease of 18,000 from August. The female labor-force in September was 431,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous month.
- Alberta’s labour force participation rate for September 1980 was 70.0%, down by 1.9 percentage points from August 1980, and up by 0.2 percentage points from September 1979. The male participation rate was 83.5%, down by 2.7. percentage points from the previous month. The female participation rate was 56.3%, a decrease of 1.1 percentage points from the previous month. Alberta’s participation rate was the highest in Canada
- Alberta’s total employment for September 1980 was 1,038,000, down by 18,000 from August, 1980, and by 45,000, or 4.5% from September 1979.
- Employment in the 15 to 24 age group for September was 291,000, a decrease of 27,000 from August. Employment in the 25 and over age group in September was 747,000, up by 9,000 from the previous month.,
- Alberta’s total unemployment in September 1980 was 36,000, down by 7,000 from August 1980, and up by 1,000 from September 1979.
- Alberta’s unemployment rate in September 1980 was 3.4%, down from 3.9% in August 1980, and unchanged from 3.4% in September 1979. Alberta’s unemployment rate was the lowest in Canada.
- The unemployment rate for the 15 to 24 age group for September was 6.1%, down from 6.5% in August. The unemployment rate for the 25 and over age group for September was 2.2%, down from 2.7% in the previous month.
- On a seasonally adjusted basis, from August 1980 to September 1980, Alberta’s labour force rose from 1,066,000 to 1,076,000, employment increased from 1,023,000 to 1,036,000, unemployment decreased from 43,000 to 40,000, and the unemployment rate decreased from 4% to 3.7%. Alberta’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was the lowest in Canada.
Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, Accession 160-5-1, Social Policy Committee, Vol. 3.