Premier Danielle Smith has said what we've all been thinking — Gil McGowan is sort of trying to overthrow Alberta's government.What exactly Smith said Friday was this: "Gil McGowan's victorious trying to overthrow our government."Gil McGowan is known as the President of the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), and he previously ran for the NDP leadership race back in 2024. McGowan also dropped out of that race — a sore loser, methinks?.McGowan also announced the AFL will be "working" with Albertans on recall campaigns.A costly collaboration, Smith said, "potentially costs $5 million for every writing that he's doing it in."The cherry on top, he says the AFL is committed to "building towards a general strike."After reading what I have just paraphrased to you, it becomes clear that the teachers' strike that lasted three weeks, the teachers' back-to work legislation, the citizen initiative petition to defund private schools, and the recall campaign for MLAs who voted to use the notwithstanding act have culminated in this moment..An opportunity to attempt to take the government away from the UCP.And who better to rely on to build dissatisfaction with the government than those already dissatisfied — the Alberta Teachers Association (ATA) who have acted like a policy pusher for years.The best example of this is when Jonathan Teghtmeyer, Associate Coordinator for the ATA, posted on X in 2020: "We could raise an additional $14.4 billion in revenue and still. be the lowest taxed province in Canada if we adopted Ontario's tax rates."There is even an ATA article from 2024 which states, "The budget documents show that Alberta would collect $19 billion in additional revenue — and still be tied for the lowest taxed jurisdiction in Canada — if it followed B.C.’s tax scheme. It has more than $8 billion in tax room without even touching a sales tax.".The President of the ATA Jason Schilling even denounced the UCP government's use of the notwithstanding clause as "improper and invalid,” and that it “violates the freedom of association and freedom of expression” under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.Which is ironic, since the notwithstanding clause is found in Section 33 of the Charter, allowing provincial legislation to declare a statute can operate despite the rights and freedoms guaranteed by sections 2 and 7 to 15 of the Charter.And of course, we can't forget about the recall petition that has been issued by those a part of the ATA, like the recall for MLA Angela Pitt, initiated by Derek Keenan, a principal at W.H. Croxford High School in Airdrie, and the citizens' initiative petition to defund private schools, by Alicia Taylor, a high school science teacher with the Calgary Board of Education.When an opportunity comes-a-knockin' open the door and let the recalls and the strikes embrace you with open arms, I get you, McGowan..So dear reader, what I have observed is this — you can hate a guy for trying but you can't knock the hustle — and it seems McGowan's attempt at a government grab is only a consequence of what he can get away with.Hopefully, it won't be that much.
