2023 Platform Priorities Update March 22-29
By Alexa Briggs, CCVO Director, Policy & Research
Your Weekly Update on The Nonprofit Vote 2023 Platform Priorities
2023 Election Priorities
Election season is upon us!
With a Provincial Election scheduled for May 29, Alberta’s provincial parties have a critical opportunity to ensure essential nonprofit services are there for Albertans when they need them. Last week, CCVO and The Nonprofit Vote partners launched five platform priorities help us get there. They are: Appropriate Funding, A Workforce Strategy, Better Data Collection, A Door to Government, and An Empowered Sector.
Nonprofits employ nearly 300,000 Albertans and together contribute $5.5 billion to the economy every year. They provide food and basic needs, settlement and senior supports, sports and recreation, arts and culture, entrepreneurship, environmental health – and more. They are proven, established partners in the delivery of essential services.
Our sector – its employees, volunteers and beneficiaries – has a responsibility to speak up about the issues that matter to us. If we stay silent, we let other sectors drive the agenda and we may not see meaningful commitments on issues that matter to us. Let’s use our collective voice to make nonprofit sector issues election issues! #nonprofiitsvote
In the News
Media is taking notice of the impact and importance of nonprofits in Alberta, and we are very grateful to LiveWire and CTV for their coverage of the launch of these election priorities!
The Parties Respond
In response to CTV, the UCP and NDP responded to the election platform priorities and we are pleased to hear that both parties are committed to supporting the nonprofit sector. While these verbal commitments are a great start, we will be looking for firm commitments to the five priorities in party election platforms. We will continue to advocate and to meet with all parties to advance these priorities. The response from each party is noted below and taken verbatim from the CTV coverage.
UCP RESPONDS
Jeremy Nixon, minister of seniors, community and social services, says the UCP is committed to partnering with the non-profit community.
"Which is why we increased funding to the Seniors, Community and Social Services budget by nearly $700 million this year. This funding supports countless non-profit organizations as they care for Albertans throughout the province," he said in a statement.
NDP RESPONDS
Nicole Goehring…says the NDP can't commit to the $300 million, but would support all the other asks if elected.
"What I can do is commit to working with them to ensure they have strong stability in their funding formula," Goehring said.
"Having them at the table, having a clear understanding of what their needs are, and a definite commitment to work alongside them to make sure that their needs are met, is a commitment that we have."
Election Resources
While the election is still more than two months away, the parties are gearing up. Dave Cournoyer keeps a running list of the candidates in each riding on his blog. And of course, elections Alberta has a lot of good information on how to find your riding and what you’ll need to vote.
Support the Priorities and Share
The nonprofit sector has the attention of the political parties, and we can keep the momentum going with your help!
Go to https://www.thenonprofitvote.ca/platform_priorities and send a letter with one click to the party leaders asking them to include the 5 priorities (Appropriate Funding, A Workforce Strategy, Better Data Collection, A Door to Government, and An Empowered Sector) for the nonprofit sector in their election platforms. Then send that link to everyone you know who supports nonprofits and ask them to do the same!
Share this campaign on social media!
Election season is upon us! Let’s use our collective voice to make nonprofit sector issues election issues.
Ask provincial political parties to prioritize the nonprofit sector in their election platforms: https://www.thenonprofitvote.ca/platform_priorities
#ableg #alberta #2023ABelxn #2023ABelection #nonprofitsvote #tooessentialtofail #yyc #yeg #yql #yqu @edmcvo @unitedwaycgy @volunteerlethbridge @calgarycvo @nonprofitvote
Send us Election Advocacy Efforts to Share
The election season is just getting underway and we’d love to promote the advocacy efforts of your nonprofit. Send them our way so we can share here and on our socials!