New virtual information website will help Aboriginal discussion

January 5, 2016

Progress Alberta wants Albertans – and Canadians – to understand that that there is much to be proud of in a province that is often labelled “red neck.”

“Alberta is more progressive than it is conservative,” said Lewis Cardinal, one of 10 members of Progress Alberta’s advisory board.

Progress Alberta, a virtual information site that can be accessed at www.progressalberta.ca/quiet_majority, officially launched today with the results of a survey that indicate Albertans are “very socially-oriented,” says Cardinal, who notes that food banks and community leagues started in this province.

The report, entitled Progressives in Alberta, is the result of a survey commissioned by Progress Alberta in early December to examine public opinion on policy, political leaders and political identity. According to the report prepared by Abacus Data, 59 per cent of Albertans consider themselves progressive. On the progressive-conservative spectrum, 38 per cent put themselves on the progressive side compared with 30 per cent who said they were conservative; 31 per cent placed themselves in the middle.

What was interesting about the results, says Cardinal, is that Albertans viewed their province as having a more conservative population.

Cardinal is hoping that Progress Alberta will get Albertans and Canadians to more fully understand the make-up of the province and how its population really thinks.

Among the discussions that have yet to happen, and which Cardinal wants to see Progress Alberta facilitate, is that about Aboriginal people and how Aboriginal people view the issues.

“I’m there to ensure that the story of Indigenous people in Alberta and the creation of Alberta and the many things that have come out of Alberta that have been connected to Indigenous people, that’s a part of the story that hasn’t been told. I want to ensure that not only those stories, but the Indigenous perspectives around social issues are also brought into the forefront as well,” he said.

Initially, Progress Alberta will be taking an active role on social media, but Cardinal anticipates speaker series and other live forums.

Cardinal was drawn to the organization, which has been in the works for the past six months, because he wanted to see Alberta viewed in a positive light.

“We are leading the way in so many ways and that’s the story that’s being forgot,” he said. “It’s the progressive side of the Alberta story that’s being missed out.”

Cardinal sees Progress Alberta as an important educational tool.

“Education is the inoculation to ignorance. The more information people have… the more Albertans feel proud about who they are (and) the more Albertans recognize the real diversity of what Alberta is, and secondly, how the perspective of Alberta is viewed by the rest of the world,” said Cardinal.

Cardinal is a social activist and former federal NDP candidate. He runs a consulting firm in Edmonton. He is from Sucker Creek First Nation.