AUPE says Coaldale mayor wasting taxpayer dollars in battle against workers

Posted on September 18, 2025 by Sunny South News

Southern Alberta Newspapers

Coaldale mayor Jack Van Rijn is wasting taxpayer dollars in his attempts to defeat the Town’s locked-out workers.

AUPE is now saying the lockout is about Van Rijn’s ‘ego, power and control.’

“The mayor and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Kalen Hastings have bought misleading ads on massive billboards on the taxpayer dime, they have bought newspaper ads and ensured that every resident got that paper in their mailbox and they have paid for online ads to hire scabs,” says Curtis Jackson, vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), which represents the dozens of workers locked out.

“Clearly, this isn’t about fiscal responsibility, it’s about ego, power and control. This is further evident in the mayor’s social-media posts in which he shows his desire to win is more important than what residents want,” he said.

When told by picketing workers Tuesday (Sept. 9) that they wanted to get back to the table, Van Rijn replied “That ship has sailed. You can camp out here as long as you like.”

“The people of Coaldale want the workers to go back to work and they want bargaining to happen at the bargaining table, not on social media. Unfortunately, the mayor’s desire to win has likely cost the town what removing proposed rollbacks would have saved.”

Residents in Coaldale have been dealing with this sort of oppressive authoritarianism for years.

In 2017, while Van Rijn was deputy mayor, he was found to be in breach of the Town’s code of conduct when his own electrical firm was hired to do some work without getting approval first from council.

Van Rijn also oversaw a council vote in 2022 that give him a 42.01 per cent raise as mayor.

“Unfortunately for the people who live, work and own businesses in Coaldale, Van Rijn’s qualities are now being seen outside of Coaldale. It paints what is a beautiful town and wonderful people in a horrible light,” said Jackson.

“Regardless how many billboards the mayor wastes taxpayer money on, regardless how many tantrums he throws on social media, AUPE members will not take rollbacks,” he said.

Jackson said AUPE will not spend unnecessary dollars on billboards or paid media advertisements.

“We will instead focus on supporting the workers until such time as the mayor sees it in his best interest to end the lockout, remove the rollbacks and instruct his CAO to get back to the table,” said Jackson. “We will be on the picket line every day until that happens to remind the mayor and the public that elected him in case he forgets.”