Throughout 1981 and 1982, Alberta’s proverbial ‘house of
cards’ crashed. Trudeau’s National Energy Policy, world oil
prices, Alberta’s over-reliance on the energy sector,
general recession in the western world, and high interest
rates all helped to create Alberta’s economic bust.
Thousands of people were laid off by oil companies and
related service businesses. Bankruptcies, business closures,
and bank foreclosures were common-place. Local banks and
credit unions tumbled. Real estate values experienced a
major meltdown and Alberta’s imploding markets led to a huge
migration out of the province.
Alberta’s first food banks emerged in the early 1980s. By
the end of the 20th Century there were 80 food banks
scattered throughout the province. Food banks could not
provide their services without public contributions and the
help of volunteers.
In 1985, Conservative Premier Peter Lougheed retired and
was replaced by Don Getty. Oil prices fell again in 1986,
further aggravating Alberta’s economic plight. The need to
diversify Alberta’s economy was obvious. Over reliance on
just one or two industries has always perpetuated Alberta’s
boom and bust cycles. The need to diversify and promote
other revenue sources galvanized a number of groups to take
action. For example, the Book Publishers Association of
Alberta (BPAA) looked for a cultural sub-agreement under a
provincial/ federal Economic and Regional Development
Agreement (ERDA).
BPAA hired Margaret Barry to lobby provincial and federal
governments. In this role, she also contacted and invited
other cultural organizations to form the Alberta Cultural
Industries Ad Hoc Committee, and wrote the committee’s
mission statement. Volunteer committee members included
spokespeople from BPAA, AMPIA, ARIA, WGA, U of A Printing,
Brian Paisley (founder of the Fringe), and Tommy Banks. As
far as any one knew, this was the first time in Alberta’s
history that representatives from varied cultural industries
sat around a common table, shared notes, and discussed
future possibilities.Please go to Margaret Barry’s 1987 article
Why Not
Alberta for details. |
Diversifying Alberta’s economy remained a hot topic. The
Alberta government turned to forestry as their choice
sector. Starting in 1986, ten forestry-related announcements
were given over a fifteen-month period, with government
investments and loans reaching the $3.4 billion mark. None
of these developments received as much public and media
attention as the government’s 1988 plans to develop the
AlPac pulp and paper mill near Athabasca. AlPac represented
the largest mill ever built in Alberta and their massive
clear cut areas would take out immense tracts of the
continent’s last remaining unmarred forests. Opponents
coined this project "Brazil of the North", after the
devastation to Brazil’s rainforests by development. Forums
were held throughout the province, well-known
environmentalists were stridently opposed, as were some
native groups and organizations such as Friends of Athabasca,
made up of volunteer members. Diversification and putting
people back to work was the government’s priority so in the
end, the mill was built.
In 1992, Premier Getty announced his retirement as
Conservative party leader and was Replaced by Ralph Klein.
Klein took over the helm with the clear intent of getting
Alberta out of debt. The 1990s represented tremendous
reductions to government funding. Cut backs, roll backs, and
privatization ruled. Social services, health, and education
were particularly hard hit. Downsizing in the voluntary
sector was also a result. At the risk of staff and volunteer
burnout, many voluntary sector programs survived by forming
creative partnerships and by operating on shoe-string
budgets.
As the painting by J.P. Nourry-Barry demonstrates, the
history and evolution of volunteerism in Alberta during the
20th Century was dramatically influenced and shaped by
social and economic trends, international movements, two
World Wars, technological advances, political policies, and
the cultural revolution.
In one century, Albertans went from driving horse drawn
carriages to seeing televised manned space shuttles to the
moon. Scientific discoveries, medical advancements, urban
growth, changing family patterns and gender roles, human
rights, computerization, and quantum leaps in communication
made their marks during this century. The Information Age
heralded globalization.
Giving and
Volunteering In Alberta (PDF)
The aim of Giving and Volunteering in Alberta is to provide statistical data about the patterns of
charitable donations and volunteerism in Alberta. It is derived from the National Survey of Giving,
Volunteering and Participating carried out by Statistics Canada at the end of 1997. Survey responses took
place in the one-year period between November 1, 1996 and October 31, 1997. The report’s author Liane Greenberg
asserts that, while donating and volunteering are widespread in the province, there is little in the way of
statistical data to clarify who donates or volunteers, and why. The report aspires to fill this gap so that
organizations relying on public support may better refine their fundraising and volunteer recruiting
strategies.
With balanced budgets, high oil and gas revenues, and
major surpluses, Alberta’s economic ‘boom’ was restored. In
2004, Premier Ralph Klein announced that Alberta was debt
free.
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