AB Today – Daily Report June 14, 2019
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AB Today – Daily Report June 14, 2019 Quotation of the day “This is authoritarian. This is illogical. It does nothing but create labour unrest.” Guy Smith, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, decries the government’s Bill 9, Public Sector Wage Arbitration Deferral Act. Today in AB On the schedule The House is scheduled to reconvene on Monday at 1:30 p.m. Thursday’s debates and proceedings The morning session was cancelled and much of the time in the afternoon was eaten up by points of order following a particularly raucous question period. (Per a motion from Government House Leader Jason Nixon, there will be no morning debate periods next week either.) MLAs briefly debated Bill 7, Municipal Government (Property Tax Incentives) Amendment Act, at the committee of the whole. It passed committee stage and will be at third-reading stage the next time it is called in the House. The government introduced the following bills: ● Bill 9, the Public Sector Wage Arbitration Deferral Act; and ● Bill 10, the Alberta Personal Income Tax Amendment Act. In a rare move, the NDP opposed unanimous consent of Bill 9, forcing a vote on its tabling that passed first reading on division (Ayes 49; Nays 23). NDP MLA Richard Feehan introduced a private member’s bill — Bill 203, An Act to Protect Public Health Care — which was granted first reading. MLAs also continued with their responses to the throne speech. In the Legislature Project Learning Tree Canada’s Green Ride for Green Jobs hosted a meet and greet outside the legislature. Representatives from 10 of the province’s labour unions were at the legislature on Thursday, gearing up for a battle against Bill 9, the Public Sector Wage Arbitration Deferral Act. Sergeant-at-Arms Brian G. Hodgson had words with the union leaders over their loud chants of “solidarity” in the legislature building. The following representatives showed face at the legislature: ● Gil McGowan, president, Alberta Federation of Labour; ● Guy Smith, president, Alberta Union of Provincial Employees; ● Heather Smith, president, United Nurses of Alberta; ● Mike Parker, president, Health Sciences Association of Alberta; ● Rory Gill, president, Canadian Union of Public Employees, Alberta Division; ● Greg Jeffery, president, Alberta Teachers’ Association; ● Guy Desforges, Prairie regional chairperson, Unifor; ● Brad Readman, president, Alberta Fire Fighters Association; ● Jolene Armstrong, president, Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations; and ● Joy Correia, acting director, University of Alberta’s Non-Academic Staff Association. Premier Watch Premier Jason Kenney was in Fredericton to meet with New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs, While in Fredericton, Kenney said he doesn’t believe federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna’s statements that 90 per cent of money collected as part of the federal carbon tax will go back to Alberta taxpayers through rebates. McKenna gave notice Thursday that the federal government will impose its carbon pricing backstop on Alberta beginning January 1, 2020, now that Kenney has axed the NDP-era carbon levy. Canada’s carbon price is currently $20 per tonne and is scheduled to reach $50 per tonne in 2022, after which it will be frozen, per McKenna. "I just can't buy any of these promises about the carbon tax," said Kenney. "Minister McKenna's own Environment Department has said that it should go up to $300 a tonne to meet Paris climate targets. If you really believe in a carbon tax as an instrument of climate policy, then you need a carbon tax of $200 to $300 minimum to have any meaningful effect on consumption." Higgs’ Progressive Conservative government introduced a plan of its own to put a carbon tax on major industrial emitters, while adding that it will continue to challenge the federal carbon tax backstop alongside Alberta. On Friday, Kenney will give a keynote address at the Saint John Board of Trade before heading to Charlottetown to meet with Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King. He flies back to Edmonton on Saturday. The premier has also been chosen as this year’s parade marshall for the Ponoka Stampede parade on June 28, the Ponoka News reports. Labour unrest looms with tabling of anti-union bill The heads of the province’s largest unions were at the legislation on Thursday, warning of a fight against the UCP government’s newly introduced Bill 9, the Public Sector Wage Arbitration Deferral Act. Finance Minister Travis Toews, who introduced the bill, said the legislation is intended to delay arbitration so the province can make responsible financial decisions after it receives the report from the blue ribbon panel on finances. The bill puts off any arbitration until after October 31, months after the panel’s deadline August report deadline. “It is unfortunate we must take this step, but we introduced this legislation because time is of the essence,” Toews said. “Some arbitrations have already begun, and others are scheduled for early this fall.” Dozens of union members watched from the gallery and gathered in the rotunda of the legislature as the bill was introduced, their chants echoing off the marble. Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, said the bill isn’t about process — it’s about breaking contracts and imposing wage cuts on tens of thousands of workers who already took years of wage freezes. “This is a bully bill,” McGowan said. He called the bill, which pushes back contractually agreed-upon arbitration dates, the first in a two step process that will result in rollbacks to workers’ wages. Guy Smith, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, said his workers are currently in arbitration with the province and called the bill “authoritarian.” “If a government can use the power of the state to take away collective bargaining rights to this degree, they’re capable of anything,” Smith said. “And we’re capable of anything to fight back.” The NDP dubbed Bill 9 the “bad-faith bargaining bill,” a follow-up nickname to Bill 2, which the Opposition is calling the “pick your pockets bill.” For the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA), the bill confirms the worst. The union has already seen its May 13 arbitration deadline delayed since the UCP took office, which will likely void its contract’s wage reopener clause. “Even Ralph Klein in the depths and darkness of the ‘90s didn’t use legislation to reach in and violate workers contracts,” said UNA president Heather Smith. Opposition Leader Rachel Notley said Albertans are in for service disruption, noting the Supreme Court of Canada decision that reaffirmed a right for public sector workers to strike. Notley delivered her message alongside a billboard claiming the average worker will lose $150 per week in overtime pay under Bill 2. Today’s events June 14 at 9 a.m. — Calgary Labour Minister Jason Copping will speak at the Lancaster House Labour Arbitration and Policy Conference. June 14 at 1 p.m. — Edmonton Seniors and Housing Minister Josephine Pon will make an announcement about resources to help prevent elder abuse. She will speak at a World Elder Abuse Awareness Day event in the Central Lions Recreation Centre. June 14 at 2 p.m. — Medicine Hat Brooks—Medicine Hat UCP MLA Michaela Glasgo will speak at the Medicine Hat College science and health departments convocation at Medicine Hat College. June 14 at 4 p.m. — Lacombe Education Minister Adriana LaGrange will speak at the Prime Minister's Awards for Teaching Excellence celebration. June 14 at 5:30 p.m. — Calgary Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides will speak at the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute seminar at the University of Calgary. Topics of conversation ● The House of Commons has passed a motion concurring the previously announced fleet of Senate amendments to Bill C-69. The Senate must now consider the motion. ● The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers released its 2019 Crude Oil Forecast, Markets and Transportation report on Thursday warning that growth forecasts from 2019 to 2035 are constrained and “significantly reduced” from previous outlooks. ○ The lobby group says pipeline constraints, a lack of market diversity and inefficient regulations are holding the oil sector back. ○ The report projects a 1.27 million barrels per day increase by 2035, which is lower than 2014 forecasts. ○ Overall capital investment is expected to drop precipitously to $37 billion, down from $81 billion in 2014. ● Speaker Nathan Cooper continued his edu-tainment video series on social media, explaining interim and supplementary supply bills. ○ In his last video, Cooper provided a behind-the-scenes look at royal assent. ● Alberta has the highest number of child marriages in the country, the Edmonton Journal reports. ○ Between 2000 and 2018, Alberta issued 791 marriage licences to teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18. Five times as many licences were issued to allow teenage girls to marry, compared to boys. ● Environment Canada and Climate Change confirmed spring 2019 was the driest month on record for several parts of Alberta including Edmonton, Lloydminster, High Level and Fort Vermilion. Question period NDP lead-off Wage arbitration ● Opposition Leader Rachel Notley kicked off question period by asking why the government is using legislation to break contracts with public-sector workers, a move that was not outlined in the UCP’s campaign. ○ “The most comprehensive platform in Alberta history, 117 pages, 375 commitments, yada, yada, yada,” Notley said. “Yet I can’t find a single word giving this finance minister the green light to break legal contracts in order to grab money from teachers, nurses, youth support workers, you name it. It looks to me like promise hidden, workers broken.” ● Finance Minister Travis Toews repeated that the government was only seeking to delay arbitration so it can make fiscally responsible decisions.