AB Today – Daily Report June 17, 2020

Quotation of the day

“The Calgarians I talk to don’t want hydrology reports. They want help.”

NDP Municipal Affairs critic calls on the government to support Calgarians whose ​ ​ property was damaged in Saturday’s hail storm (the Emergency Management Agency is doing a hydrology study to help make that call).

Today in AB

On the schedule The house is scheduled to convene at 1:30 p.m. today.

The government still has a packed roster of legislation to choose from.

Three bills could be debated second reading:

● Bill 21, Provincial Administrative Penalties Act, which removes charges for first-time ​ impaired driving offences and sets up an online traffic court; ● Bill 22, Red Tape Reduction Implementation Act, an omnibus bill that makes 14 different ​ amendments to various pieces of legislation; and ● Bill 23, Commercial Tenancies Protection Act. ​

The following bills could be debated at the committee of the whole stage:

● Bill 7, Responsible Energy Development Amendment Act, which overhauls the Alberta ​ Energy Regulator’s approval processes; ● Bill 15, Choice in Education Act, which makes changes to affirm parental choice in ​ education; and ● Bill 16, Victims of Crime (Strengthening Public Safety) Amendment Act, which expands ​ the scope of programs eligible to draw from the Victims of Crime Fund.

Three bills more bill could face third-reading debate:

● Bill 4, Fiscal Planning and Transparency (Fixed Budget Period) Amendment Act; and ​ ● Bill 18, Corrections (Alberta Parole Board) Amendment Act, which would bring in a ​ provincial parole board; and ● Bill 19,Tobacco and Smoking Reduction Amendment Act, which contains new vaping ​ restrictions.

Premier has said the Fair Deal report would be publicly released after Monday’s ​ ​ expiration of the public health emergency, meaning it could be incoming as early as today.

Tuesday’s debates and proceedings Economic Development Minister introduced a new government bill, Bill 23, ​ ​ ​ ​ Commercial Tenancies Protection Act, which will prevent some business evictions during the pandemic (more on this below).

NDP MLA called for an emergency debate to call on the house to appoint a panel ​ ​ to examine systemic racism. Unanimous consent was not granted.

However, government house leader countered by giving oral notice of a ​ ​ government motion to condemn racism and to consider issues of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, specifically in the context of the government’s upcoming review of the Police Act. ​

NDP Justice critic proposed an amendment to Bill 18 that would enshrine ​ ​ ​ ​ space on the incoming parole board for members of the Black and Indigenous communities — but the amendment was voted down by the UCP.

Government Motion 20, which asked MLAs to denounce the changes to gun laws made by the federal government, passed on division, with 43 UCP MLAs in favour and seven NDP MLAs opposed.

Bill 7, Bill 16 and Bill 17 were debated at committee stage and Bill 18 and Bill 19 cleared that ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ stage in the evening.

In the legislature

The fountains in front of the legislature have been turned back on again as part of Phase 2 of the pandemic relaunch strategy.

UCP aims to temporarily ban commercial evictions, but questions linger over the legislation’s mechanisms A new Alberta bill aims to ban commercial evictions until the end of summer for businesses hard hit by the pandemic, but questions remain over how the legislation will be enforced.

On Tuesday, Economic Development Minister Tanya Fir introduced Bill 23, Commercial ​ ​ ​ ​ Tenancies Protection Act, which prevents commercial tenants from being evicted if they can’t pay their rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In order for a business to qualify for eviction protection under the bill, it must have been forced to close, have seen a 25 per cent drop in revenue, or its landlord must have refused to participate in the federal government’s Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program.

While legislation and its corresponding regulations cover the period beginning March 17, when the province declared a state of public health emergency, until August 31, the ban on evictions will not be retroactive and it will not do much for tenants who have already been kicked out.

“It is extremely difficult to reverse a lease that has already been terminated, and therefore a decision was made not to include that provision in the bill,” Fir’s spokesperson Justin Brattinga ​ told AB Today in a statement. ​ ​

Only late fees, penalties or rental increases will need to be reimbursed by the landlord.

If a business owner and their landlord cannot reach a rent payment reduction or other deal, they will have to sort it out through the courts, Brattinga said.

NDP Service Alberta critic said the bill does not solve the problems with Ottawa’s ​ ​ CECRA program and called on the UCP to do more to advocate for improvements.

The three-month timeframe is also not long enough to ensure business confidence, he added.

NDP Municipal Affairs Critic Joe Ceci echoed the criticism, calling the bill “many days late and ​ ​ many dollars short.”

Restaurants Canada applauded Alberta’s move, saying restaurants’ little or no revenues, combined with “the inability to convince landlords to participate in the CECRA program or other rent relief arrangements,” is the number one concern of Alberta restaurateurs.

British Columbia has taken stronger action to prevent evictions. The province’s NDP government issued an order banning commercial landlords who do not apply for CECRA from evicting their tenants for rent arrears on June 1; it is set to remain in effect as long as the federal program lasts.

Ontario’s PC government led by Premier Doug Ford plans to introduce legislation this week that ​ ​ will reverse commercial evictions that occurred on or after June 3 and make it illegal for landlords to kick out business tenants through August 31, 2020.

Today’s events

June 17 at 9 a.m. – ​ The UCP’s member policy committee will hold a closed-door meeting at an undisclosed location.

Topics of conversation

● As of Tuesday, there were 35 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Alberta, bringing the total number of active cases in the province to 449 (this number has been slowly ticking upwards since June 4). ○ There are 36 people hospitalized, five more since the last update, including seven in intensive care. ○ To date, 151 people have died, but there have been no new deaths since the last update.

● The Globe and Mail takes a peek at what Calgary’s airport looks like now that the ​ ​ ​ number of daily travellers has plummeted by 95 per cent and the province’s infrared thermal cameras are up and running. ○ Meanwhile, about 20 vehicles carrying U.S. citizens are crossing into Alberta ​ every day claiming they are destined for Alaska, the Globe and Mail reports. ​ ​

● Fairness Alberta, an advocacy group with the goal of revamping the relationship between Alberta and Ottawa, released eight proposals for reforming equalization. ​ ​ ○ The group says the first four recommendations would reduce the net contribution of Albertans to equalization payments by $3 billion. ○ The recommendations are broken down into three categories — changes to the Canada Health Transfer and Canada Social Transfer, proposals about the size and scope of equalization, and overall tweaks to the formula.

News briefs

NDP, health-care advocates sound alarm over private member’s bill

● NDP Health critic David Shepherd is warning a forthcoming UCP private member’s ​ ​ bill could threaten the province’s voluntary blood donation system. ○ UCP MLA for Fort McMurray—Wood Buffalo ’s Bill 204, Voluntary ​ ​ ​ ​ Blood Donations Repeal Act, hit the order paper Monday but has yet to be introduced. ○ While in government, the NDP passed the Voluntary Blood Donations Act, which ​ ​ explicitly bans the sale of human blood and blood products. Yao’s bill aims to repeal that law, which was a response to Canadian Plasma Resources, a for-profit blood donation firm, and its attempt to open a location in Alberta. ○ Friends of Medicare also chimed in, calling it “shameful” and “appalling” that a member of the government is encouraging further privatization of the health-care system. “Given its political bent on privatizing Alberta’s public resources, it is not surprising that our current government sees no problem with commodifying our blood, and opening up our province to this huge, exploitative, multi-billion dollar market of plasma sale,” the organization said. ○ Yao was not available for comment.

Question period

NDP asks about anti-racism actions, hidden impacts of red tape reduction bill

● NDP Environment and Parks Critic kicked off question period by ​ ​ asking about a measure under the UCP’s omnibus Bill 22, Red Tape Reduction ​ ​ ​ ​ Implementation Act, that allows royalty rate changes to be made unilaterally by the ​ energy minister rather than through an order-in-council, which must be publicly posted. ○ “Can you give us one concrete reason why the minister of energy should have sole discretion over royalty rates? If not, when did you decide that democracy was red tape?” Schmidt asked.

● Premier Jason Kenney responded by denying the legislation would have that effect. ​ ​ ○ “The answer to the question is no ,” Kenney said. “We have no such intention.”

Other NDP questions NDP MLAs also asked about suspension of environmental monitoring, compensation for Calgarians whose property was damaged in a hail storm, commercial eviction bans and cuts to support of children with special needs in schools.

MLAs also asked about a broad review of systemic racism, changes to the Provincial Court Nominating Committee, whether Black and Indigenous people would be appointed to the UCP’s promised Alberta Parole Board, lowering incarceration rates for racialized Albertans, and what actions are being taken on the report on murdered and missing Indigenous women.

UCP friendly questions UCP backbenchers asked about support for commercial renters, road tests during the pandemic, red tape reduction, driver’s licence renewals and the opening of drug treatment courts.