ATHABASCA – An Athabasca car dealership has been targeted by the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) in a boycott intended to make consumers aware of businesses in their communities that have supported pro-UCP political action committees (PACs).
A list of the companies and a detailed map of their locations was posted to the AFL website last week and included a donation of $4,000 by Athabasca’s Hunter Motors to the Shaping Alberta’s Future PAC.
The information was previously disclosed and publicly available as part of legislated election financing requirements, but was posted by the AFL in an effort to put the information in one easily accessible place for those who were interested, said AFL president Gil McGowan when the website, boycottucpdonors.ca launched Oct. 5.
“These are businesses that have been bankrolling the UCP agenda, which many Albertans agree has been vindictive and punitive, especially against people who support public services and work in the public sector,” McGowan said. “To us, it seems like an obvious question. Why should a teacher or a nurse or a municipal worker buy a car from an auto dealer who wants them to be fired or have their wages cut?”
Shaping Alberta’s Future is one of the most influential PACs in the province and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in third-party advertising in support of UCP policies going into the last election. With the NDP’s subsequent 2015 election financing legislation barring corporate and union donations from the political process, many turned towards PACS in an effort to support their interests.
The list is mostly comprised of car dealerships, homebuilders, lawyers and energy companies.
Hunter Motors, which is the only business in the Town and Country region to appear on the website, did not return a call or subsequent email requests for a comment on the boycott, but premier Jason Kenney made his thoughts very clear at an Oct. 6 news conference, where he pointed out AFL’s close ties to the NDP, and called the boycott “un-Albertan.”
“I think this is deeply disturbing, that in the middle of a huge recession, we have the NDP and its special interest friends attacking Alberta job creators at their most challenging time in a century,” said Kenney, adding it was nothing more than bullying and a “smear-campaign,” using “intimidation tactics.”
McGowan also noted AFL was not encouraging people to stop shopping or to stop spending money with Alberta businesses.
“All we’re saying is when people are considering making a big purchase like a car or a home, they should consider the information we’ve provided.”
