A leading Canadian social activist, documentary filmmaker and co-author of last year’s controversial Leap Manifesto is one of two people set to deliver a keynote address at a conference on economic issues in Alberta’s capital next month.
Avi Lewis, a former journalist with the CBC and Al Jazeera, is scheduled to appear at a conference organized by the Economic Society of Alberta. The organization says its aim is to “promote better understanding and informed public discussion of important economic issues” and to “support academic achievement in economics.”
Lewis was among a number of notable Canadians behind last year’s Leap Manifesto, which called for an overhaul of the Canadian economy and for an end to the use of fossil fuels in Canada. The document was deeply unpopular among many people living in oil-rich Alberta and NDP Premier Rachel Notley lashed out at the federal wing of her party in April for considering the merits of the manifesto’s suggestions on fossil fuels.
READ MORE: What is the Leap Manifesto? Talk of the NDP convention explained
“The government of Alberta repudiates the sections of that document that address energy infrastructure,” Notley said at the time.
Watch below: In April of 2016, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley told Vassy Kapelos the federal NDP’s Leap Manifesto fails to understand the economic conditions facing her province, and she does not think it will be adopted as party policy.
Lewis is the son of Canada’s former United Nations ambassador and one-time Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis. Lewis’ wife is author and climate activist Naomi Klein whose most recent book, This Changes Everything, is critical of Alberta’s oilsands and their role in accelerating climate change. Last year, Lewis released his feature-length documentary on climate change also called This Changes Everything.
The Economic Society of Alberta’s conference is scheduled for Dec. 8, 2016 at the Chateau Lacombe Hotel. Aside from Lewis, others scheduled to speak include former governor of the Bank of Canada David Dodge, former Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay and Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan.
Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson and ATB Financial’s chief economist Todd Hirsch have spoken at the conference in the past.
Next month’s conference comes as Alberta’s economy continues to struggle because of the collapse in oil prices and as the provincial government introduces controversial economic measures including the introduction of a carbon levy, raising the minimum wage and implementing a plan to phase out the production of coal in Alberta.
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