AB Today – Daily Report December 6, 2019

Quotation of the day

“I don't think that was a ballot question.”

In a year-end interview with former Wildrose leader Danielle Smith, Premier ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ claims the carbon tax was not a question that drove federal election results.

Today in AB

On the schedule After wrapping up debate on all government bills, the house adjourned for the holiday break around 1:30 a.m. Thursday morning. No debates or proceedings were held Thursday.

The UCP says MLAs will be back in session in February, but the official parliamentary calendar has not yet been released.

In the legislature The scheduling of a pair of news conferences marking the end of the fall session turned into a partisan booking kerfuffle at the legislature’s media theatre Thursday.

The UCP had block-booked the theatre from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with government house leader scheduled to give a news conference at 10 a.m. NDP Opposition house leader ​ was scheduled to follow him up at 10:45 a.m. ​

But, due to a scheduling conflict, Nixon’s news conference was pushed until noon. The UCP refused to let Bilous hold his presser during his original timeslot, saying they had made the

room-sharing deal with the Opposition with the understanding that Bilous would not speak until after Nixon had delivered his remarks.

Ultimately, the NDP moved their news conference to the Federal Building at its originally scheduled time.

Political squabbles aside, the holiday season officially kicked off with the annual Light Up the Legislature ceremony on Thursday evening, attended by Lieutenant-Governor Lois Mitchell ​ and the premier.

Premier watch Premier Jason Kenney held a Christmas party with cabinet ministers on Wednesday night and ​ ​ announced $75,000 in funding for the Crystal Kids Youth Centre in on Thursday.

In a year-end radio interview with former Wildrose leader Danielle Smith, Kenney fired back at ​ ​ ​ ​ Moody’s for downgrading its credit rating of the province.

“The bigger challenge we have is, increasingly, financial institutions — and this apparently includes Moody’s — are buying into the political agenda emanating from Europe, which is trying to stigmatize development of hydrocarbon energy,” Kenney told Smith. “And I just think they are completely factually wrong.”

Kenney also said he expects Ottawa’s decision on whether the TIER program is tough enough on emissions to fend off the federal carbon pricing backstop to be announced in the coming days.

Combative fall sitting ends with 16 bills passed by UCP government The eight-week fall sitting of the legislature, which saw the passage of the United Conservative government’s inaugural budget, wrapped up with little reprieve from the flaring tensions between the government and the Opposition NDP.

Government house leader Jason Nixon, who started the session with a Randy Bachman ​ ​ ​ quote — “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet” — said he is thrilled by the UCP’s pace of progress, which included the passage of 16 government bills.

Opposition house leader Deron Bilous took the opposite tack, slamming the government for ​ ​ running on the promise of jobs, the economy and pipelines, and instead delivering “cuts, lies and corruption.”

“This session has been dominated by us trying to highlight the implications of this budget,” Bilous said, before promising NDP MLAs would use the holiday break to continue fighting for their constituents.

Bilous also slammed Premier Jason Kenney for firing the election commissioner while he was ​ ​ investigating the UCP, an issue that generated a significant amount of anger amongst Albertans this fall.

Reporters questioned both Bilous and Nixon on the tone of the session, which saw insults hurled during fiery question periods. The UCP frequently called the former NDP government the worst in Alberta’s history, while the NDP shot back by calling Kenney the province’s most corrupt premier.

“Our government is not confrontational,” Nixon said. “We will continue to stand up for Albertans against the official Opposition when they work against Albertans, because that’s what we’ve been hired to do.”

Despite the adversarial tone throughout the session, there was bipartisan support for a number of the UCP’s policy moves. The NDP supported four government motions and six government bills, including ones related to Indigenous economic development, domestic violence and a potential opioid class action lawsuit.

The UCP government did not accept any of the NDP’s dozen proposed amendments to bills.

Weekend events

December 6 at 9 a.m. — Calgary ​ Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions will make a funding ​ ​ announcement on opioid treatment at the Sheldon Chumir Health Centre.

December 6 at 10:30 a.m. — Edmonton ​ Premier Jason Kenney will speak about his upcoming trip to Ottawa in the legislature media ​ ​ room.

December 6 at 12:15 p.m. — Edmonton ​ UCP MLA will attend a public vigil for women affected by violence in honour of ​ ​ the victims of l’École Polytechnique de Montreal massacre at the Northern Alberta Institute for Technology.

December 7 at 12:30 p.m. — Calgary ​ Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women Minister will speak at the Calgary ​ ​ Multicultural Orchestra community performance at the Central Library branch.

December 7 at 2 p.m. — Calgary ​ Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women Minister Leela Aheer will speak at the Centre for ​ ​ Newcomers Winter Festival.

Topics of conversation

● Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s throne speech contained no mention of the “west,” “oil,” ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ “pipelines,” “carbon tax,” or “energy” — save for a reference to energy efficient homes — but it does call for “unity” and include a mention of a “price on pollution.” ○ The speech’s most Alberta-friendly remark was a pledge to “work just as hard to get Canadian resources to new markets” as it does on fighting climate change, and an offer of “unwavering support to the hardworking women and men in Canada’s natural resources sectors, many of whom have faced tough times recently.”

● Where’s the shadow budget? NDP Opposition house leader Deron Bilous said NDP ​ ​ MLAs and staff have focused their resources on understanding and fighting the government’s bills, putting the party’s much-touted shadow budget on the back burner. ○ Bilous said the NDP’s promised shadow budget will be forthcoming in a matter of “days.”

● , Alberta’s minister of economic development, trade and tourism, travelled to ​ Vancouver this week, looking to attract investors and strengthen trade ties in B.C. as well as “restore investor confidence in Alberta’s industries.” The four-day itinerary included a tour of the Port of Vancouver; an address to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade; and meeting with financial institutions, investment professionals and officials from India, Asia and Latin America. ○ She also met with B.C.’s Jobs, Trade and Technology Minister Bruce Ralston. ​ ​ The pair discussed cutting down on trade barriers and ways to “streamline ​ regulations to ensure small businesses have every opportunity to succeed” in both provinces, according to Ralston.

● The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has been given intervenor status in Ontario’s Supreme Court challenge of Ottawa’s carbon backstop. The Alberta government will also intervene in the cases.

● Lac Ste. Anne County says its region’s dissent against the new rural police funding model was ignored by the UCP. ○ “We were not part of the announcement,” said Lac Ste. Anne County Reeve Joe Blakeman in a news release. “We heard about it the same way ​

everyone else did: in the news. In fact, it feels like we weren’t even part of the Province’s consultation process. Numerous concerns were voiced by rural municipalities over the past year; none of which are reflected in their media spin as ‘a brand new day for rural Alberta.’”

● NDP MLAs revealed they did not vote in Speaker Nathan Cooper’s bi-partisan ​ ​ Alberta MLA Awards. In a now-deleted tweet, NDP MLA said the ​ ​ party did not participate because the exercise was about UCP members giving themselves awards with the “explicit aid of the Speaker.” ○ Nonetheless, NDP MLAs won two of the prizes: was recognized ​ ​ for Best Community Outreach and was granted Alberta’s MLA ​ ​ Lifetime Achievement Award.

● Al Jazeera and the Pulitzer Centre partnered to put together an interactive article ​ ​ covering the history of Indigenous opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. ○ Nations Divided: Mapping Canada’s Pipeline Battle includes perspectives from ​ ​ “Indigenous land defenders, community leaders, legal experts and proponents of the project along the pipeline route.”

News briefs — Governmental

Cabinet OKs Grizzly’s May River oil field project Cabinet passed an order-in-council Wednesday giving the thumbs up to Grizzly Oil Sands ULC’s proposed steam-assisted gravity drainage project located between Fort McMurray and Lac La Biche.

When operational, the project is expected to produce 12,000 barrels of bitumen per day.

“Moving these projects forward shows that Alberta is open for business, and we are dedicated to encouraging investment in our province,” Energy Minister said in a news ​ ​ release.

The cabinet approval follows the Alberta Energy Regulator’s review of the development plan.

The company’s next steps include making an investment decision and applying for development permits and environmental licences.

Lobbyist registrations

If you are looking for further information on any lobbying registry, it is all public and easily searchable here. ​ ​

Consultants who registered as lobbyists from November 29, 2019 – December 5, 2019

● Troy Jones, HSE Analytics Inc. ​ ○ Clients: Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers ​

● Velma McColl, Earnscliffe Strategy Group ​ ○ Clients: Reconciliation Inc.; Huron Clean Energy ​

● Hal Danchilla, CSG Canadian Strategy Group Inc. (also operating as Crestview ​ Strategy (Alberta)) ○ Clients: Valeant Canada LP ​

● Hugh McFadyen, Longview Communications Inc. ​ ○ Clients: Total E&P Canada Ltd.; Ember Resources Inc. ​

● Bruce MacLellan, Proof Inc. ​ ○ Clients: Institute for Optimizing Health Outcomes ​

● Jonathan Denis, Guardian Law & Public Affairs ​ ○ Clients: Guardian Law Group LLP ​

● Rob Dutton, Heartland Generation Ltd. ​ ○ Clients: Alberta Power 2000 Ltd. (AP2K) ​

● Randy Pettipas, Global Public Affairs ​ ○ Clients: My Viva Inc.; Caregivers Alberta ​

● Huw Williams, Impact Public Affairs ​ ○ Clients: Composite Panel Association ​

● Michael Lohner, 2139107 Alberta Ltd. (operating as Crestview Strategy (West)) ​ ○ Clients: Primerica Financial Services (Canada) Ltd. ​

● Barbara Fox, Enterprise Canada Inc. ​ ○ Clients: Shoppers Drug Mart; EVRAZ North America Inc.; Syngenta Canada Inc. ​

● Sheila Wisniewski, Hill+Knowlton Strategies ​ ○ Clients: American Medical Association ​ Organizations that registered in-house lobbyists from November 29, 2019 – December 5, 2019

● Music Canada

● Husky Energy Inc. ● Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers ● Heartland Generation Ltd. ● Innovative Medicines Canada ● Building Owners and Managers Association of Calgary ● Microsoft Canada Inc. ● NAIT Students' Association