AB Today – Daily Report January 18, 2019

Quotation of the day

“It didn’t get a lot of coverage, but Albertans deserve to know that ‘user fees’ on infrastructure can mean one thing and one thing only: tolls.”

Premier Rachel Notley warns UCP Leader Jason Kenney plans to introduce infrastructure tolls on bridges and roads.

Today in AB

On the schedule

The Legislature will reconvene on March 18 for the government’s final throne speech before the spring election.

Today’s events

January 18 at 10 a.m. – Edmonton

Education Minister David Eggen, Indigenous Relations Minister Richard Feehan and Government House Leader Brian Mason will be at Ben Calf Robe school to announce plans to give every junior high and high school in the province a copy of the Canadian Geographic Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada.

January 18 at 1 p.m. – Edmonton

NDP MLA Lorne Dach will speak at the official opening of the Edmonton Veterans Service Centre.

Premier Rachel Notley accuses UCP of plotting mass infrastructure tolls

Premier Rachel Notley is warning Albertans that UCP Leader Jason Kenney has plans to unleash a spree of road and bridge tolls across the province in order to fund new infrastructure.

While addressing an audience of energy industry stakeholders in Edmonton Thursday, Notley pointed to a November speech Kenney made to the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce where he said new infrastructure projects could be paid for via user fees.

“It didn’t get a lot of coverage, but Albertans need to know that ‘user fees’ on infrastructure can mean one thing and one thing only: tolls.”

“I will say ‘no’ every time to tolls,” Notley said, admonishing the revenue-generation proposal. “And I say Mr. Kenney needs to come clean about what his plan to toll your roads is going to cost you, your family and your businesses.”

UCP spokesperson Christine Myatt said Kenney never suggested tolling existing public infrastructure — but did not rule out the use of public-private partnerships or other revenue tools to fund new builds.

“Thanks to the fiscal disaster left by an NDP government that has put the province on track for $100 billion in debt, we need to find new and creative approaches for needed industrial infrastructure,” said Myatt in a statement to AB Today.

Myatt said Kenney’s speech alluded to a “policy framework that’s used in most other jurisdictions to meet infrastructure needs,” as opposed to the NDP’s “ideological government-only approach to infrastructure.”

The Freedom Conservative Party also weighed in to agree with the UCP, saying public-private partnerships and user-pay funding can be a smart way to fund infrastructure, as long as it’s not done in an “ad hoc” way.

No investigation into MLA accused of pressuring staffer to perform partisan duties, Notley says

Premier Rachel Notley says she does not believe allegations that West Yellowhead MLA Eric Rosendahl bullied his ex-staffer into performing partisan political duties and that the NDP will not be investigating.

The premier received questions from reporters Thursday following a report in the Star Edmonton, where an ex-Legislative Assembly Office employee claimed Rosendahl fired her for refusing to illegally perform partisan tasks — including working on his re-election campaign — during work hours.

“I don’t believe it happened,” Notley said, noting her office has not received an official complaint. “If it is happening, of course we will respond, but I haven’t seen evidence to suggest it’s happening.”

Notley said she could not get into specifics, but said the woman’s employment did not end for her refusal to work on Rosendahl’s campaign.

LAO staff are encouraged to hold party memberships and can volunteer for their party when they are off the clock.

“Politicians typically speak to members and ask them to volunteer for things, but it’s not part of their employment,” Notley said.

Topics of conversation

● Ousted-UCP MLA Prab Gill sent a letter to his former colleagues urging party leader Jason Kenney to address the scandals plaguing his party — lest they tarnish the UCP’s electoral chances this spring. ○ In the letter, obtained by the Edmonton Journal, Gill warns his former colleagues “There are more scandals coming.” In particular, Gill directs his plea to UCP MLAs who are not running for re-election, asking them to “end [their] political careers in service to higher ideals” by “demanding honour” from Kenney. ○ The UCP responded by referencing the reason Gill was kicked out of the party — allegations of ballot box stuffing during his nomination race. ○ Gill told the Journal he is not motivated by “sour grapes,” but by proving there is a “crisis of leadership” in the UCP.

● With Alberta’s oil production cap in full force until at least April, some oil producers told the Globe and Mail they have begun shifting their capital to Saskatchewan.

● Premier Rachel Notley says the province is currently in active talks with 14 companies about new energy diversification projects. ○ Notley gave the update on the province’s “Made-in-Alberta” strategy to industry stakeholders at Alberta Industrial Heartland’s annual meeting in Edmonton on Thursday.

● UCP candidate for Calgary—North West Sonya Savage met with Ontario Energy and Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford in Calgary Thursday to talk about their provinces’ shared dream of scrapping the federal government’s carbon pricing backstop. ○ Savage and Rickford were also photographed with former Alberta PC cabinet ministers Gary Mar, Rick Orman and Ted Morton.

● The government has yet to ink a final deal on Calgary’s forthcoming Green Line LRT, the Star Calgary reports. The Green Line — which Premier Rachel Notley recently called “Calgary’s highest public transit priority” — is set to receive $1.53 billion from the province over eight years, and at least some of that cash is scheduled to come from carbon tax revenues. Per the Star, municipal and provincial officials are worried the LRT line could be cancelled if a UCP government is elected this spring and scraps the carbon tax. ○ The UCP denied the suggestion that the LRT funding would evaporate if the carbon levy was scrapped. “Governments in this province were funding transit infrastructure projects long before the carbon tax, and they will continue funding them long after it’s gone,” UCP spokeswoman Christine Myatt told the newspaper.

● MEG (McCaffrey Energy Group) Energy Corp. will not be taken over by energy giant Husky, despite last fall’s pending hostile takeover bid, the Canadian Press reports. ○ The Calgary-based oil producer let its bid expire Wednesday, citing a lack of progress in getting new pipelines built and the oil production curtailment as disincentives for making the MEG acquisition. ○ MEG, which uses steam-assisted gravity drainage to extract bitumen at its oilsands sites in Southern Athabasca, saw its share price drop 35 points Thursday morning following the news.

News briefs - Governmental

Calgary art school officially upgraded to university status

Culture and Tourism Minister Ricardo Miranda and Advanced Education Minister Marlin Schmidt announced the Alberta College of Art + Design will be rebranded as the Alberta University of the Arts, or AUArts, as of February 1.

While the new designation was announced last year, the new name and status will mean more provincial funding down the line for the post-secondary institution, which already has experience offering bachelor and master’s degrees in the arts.

“Creative minds have come to Calgary for nearly a century to launch international careers in graphic design, fashion and traditional media,” Schmidt said. “By granting this iconic school university status, we’re cementing an already sterling global reputation. And by investing in AUArts, we’re ensuring it remains a destination for Alberta’s artists, designers and creative leaders.”

News briefs - Non-governmental

Alberta Party outlines “holistic” approach to pipeline crisis

The Alberta Party added fuel to its energy platform Thursday, outlining the “practical, multi-pronged approach” it would use to get resources to market.

The party has previously called for a $2 per barrel surtax on foreign oil with proceeds directed to the purchase of new oil tankers. It is also pushing for the speedy completion of the North West Redwater Sturgeon Refinery project and for the creation of a PR engagement department within the economic development and trade ministry — a proposal that counters UCP Leader Jason Kenney’s stated plan to set up a “war room” in the Department of Energy to shut down anti-oil criticism.

In a statement released Thursday, Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel said the Alberta Party wants to establish an “active engagement process with Indigenous proponents,” including the Indian Resource Council and both hereditary and elected leaders, “to negotiate mutual benefit agreements and address concerns in a meaningful manner.”

He also announced the Alberta Party has made a submission to testify at the Senate committee studying Bill C-69 in support of the Indian Resource Council, a group of First Nations preparing a partial pipeline purchase bid, who say they are concerned about the federal legislation’s impact on their investment plan.

Mandel said, if elected, an Alberta Party government would “work productively, proactively, and innovatively” to get the best value for the province’s resources.

Freedom Conservative Party releases plan to balance the budget in three years

The Freedom Conservative Party says, if elected government, it would bring the province’s coffers into the black within three years. The party proposes ending years of deficits by cutting government-wide spending during its first year in office then holding all spending for the next two years.

The FCP published a report Thursday with extrapolated data on how it thinks the province’s budgetary future would look under governments helmed by its rival parties. Per the FCP, it would take nine years for the United Conservative Party to reign in the provincial deficit and the chance of the NDP balancing spending by even 2031-32 is “slim.”

Finance Minister Joe Ceci made a pledge in the 2018 budget promise to “return to balance” by 2023-24.

Jason Kenney’s director of communications, Blaise Boehmer, threw shade at FCP Leader Derek Fildebrandt’s plan on Twitter, calling it a “gimmick.”

AB Today is written by Catherine Griwkowsky, reporting from Alberta's legislative press gallery.

What did you think of this Daily Report? What else would you like to see here? Email [email protected] and let us know.