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Labour leader urges voters to choose hope over fear when it comes to the oil sands

In the final days of the provincial election campaign, Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan is urging Alberta voters to “choose hope over fear” when it comes to development in the oil sands.

“We’ve all heard the story about the little engine who could,” says McGowan. “Well, with Ed Stelmach, what we seem to have is the little premier who can’t. He says we can’t take action on the pace of development in the oil sands. We can’t raise royalties. We can’t demand that oil sands jobs stay here in Alberta instead of being shipped down the pipeline to the U.S.

“At exactly the moment that we need bold action and leadership on the oil sands, we have a premier who has bought into the energy industry’s scare tactics and who, as a result, is paralyzed by fear.”

McGowan says Albertans deserve better and at the AFL election forums tonight in Edmonton and tomorrow in Calgary, he will discuss ways that the next Alberta government can get a better deal for Albertans – if they have the vision and the political will.

The centre piece of the AFL’s election forums will be the AFL’s new document, “Black Gold, Clear Vision – a Proposed Policy Framework for the Oil Sands,” which is available on the AFL website homepage (www.afl.org).

The Edmonton oil sands forum will be held tonight, Friday, February 29th, at 7:30 p.m., in Salon A, Crowne Plaza Chateau Lacombe

The Calgary forum will be held tomorrow, Saturday, March 1st, at 7:30 p.m., in Grand Ball Room, Ramada Hotel Downtown.