AB Today – Daily Report November 13, 2019

Quotation of the day

“I’m 100 per cent confident that they’re going to absorb a lot of steam being blown off, and I don’t think they’re going to come up with one damn thing.”

Former Progressive Conservative MLA Ian McClelland, who chaired a 2003 committee that ​ ​ rejected the bulk of the recommendations from the so-called “firewall letter,” tells the ​ ​ Edmonton Journal he doesn’t think the government’s Fair Deal plan will amount to much. ​

Today in AB

On the schedule The legislative assembly is on break for a constituency week. The house will return on Monday, November 18.

Premier watch Premier Jason Kenney was at the Stoney Nakoda Resort in Kananaskis on Tuesday to ​ ​ announce a highway improvement project on Highway 1A between Cochrane and Canmore. ​

NDP deputy leader Sarah Hoffman accused Kenney of omitting a donor appreciation event for ​ ​ ​ ​ Conservative Quebec candidates from his weekend schedule.

“Not sure what the NDP ‘acting leader’ is trying to insinuate,” Kenney’s issues management director Matt Wolf replied on Twitter. “Yes, the Premier wanted federal Conservatives to win. ​ ​ ​ ​

Contrast to Notley's endorsement of Jagmeet Singh’s anti-pipeline NDP. All Canadians are free ​ ​ to *voluntarily* donate to federal candidates in Canada.”

‘Voucher system’ for education proposed in UCP resolution NDP Education critic Sarah Hoffman warned Tuesday that a proposed United Conservative ​ ​ Party resolution could open the door to U.S.-style education funding, with more money being ​ ​ directed towards private schools.

The government recently launched consultations on the upcoming Choice in Education Act, which is expected to be tabled in the spring.

The policy resolution, brought forward by the Lacombe—Ponoka UCP constituency association, proposes Alberta bring in a “voucher system” to provide equal funding per student regardless of whether the student attends public, separate, charter, home or private schools.

“It’s an American-style system that is failing students in the United States and will mean even more resources taken out of Alberta classrooms,” Hoffman said.

The policy could be debated at the UCP’s upcoming AGM, which will be held in Calgary from November 29 to December 1.

Currently, Alberta funds private schools at 70 per cent of the school jurisdiction rate, which cost the provincial coffers just under $174 million last year. The motion would allow private schools ​ ​ to be funded 100 per cent per student.

In an emailed statement, Colin Aitchison, press secretary for Education Minister Adriana ​ ​ ​ LaGrange, said the government has committed to maintaining the education funding formula for ​ independent school options at 70 per cent.

“That platform received an overwhelming mandate from Albertans,” Aitchison wrote. “We will not be commenting on a proposed policy resolution that has not even been debated.”

The 70 per cent rate is the highest among provinces that provide public funding to private schools, the others being British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec.

Currently, private schools must follow the provincial curriculum to be accredited. Hoffman said the motion, if adopted, could open the door to changing that.

The UCP’s campaign platform committed to introducing a Choice in Education Act, which would make parents primarily responsible for the education of their children, reaffirm parental rights of choice in the type of education students receive, and protect the status of independent schools “given that they save the public education system $168 million annually.”

The government is gathering feedback on the proposed bill until December 6. ​ ​

The full text of the proposed policy motion reads as follows: “Alberta Education no longer provides curricula that give students adequate English/French literacy, mathematical literacy, scientific literacy or historical literacy. Alberta students are no longer literate in democratic civics nor in human, civil and economic rights and responsibilities. The public school system is not currently able to provide this knowledge and students are entering adulthood unemployable and increasingly radicalized by extremist ideologies.”

Oops! The November 12 edition of AB Today incorrectly stated that former health advocate Kathleen ​ ​ ​ Ness was not entitled to a salary. In fact, she earned a bi-weekly salary of $7,067. ​

Today’s events November 12 at 8:30 a.m. — Edmonton ​ UCP MLA Jackie Lovely (Camrose) will speak at the Diverse Voices Family Violence ​ ​ Conference at the Fantasyland Hotel in the West Edmonton Mall.

November 12 at 9 a.m. — Edmonton ​ Municipal Affairs Minister Kaycee Madu will speak at the Rural Municipalities of Alberta fall ​ ​ convention at the Edmonton Convention Centre. Madu is expected to announce changes to property assessments and tax rules. Associate Minister for Natural Gas Dale Nally will deliver a ​ ​ follow-up speech.

November 12 at 9 a.m. — Calgary ​ Infrastructure Minister Prasad Panda, Health Minister Tyler Shandro, and Labour and ​ ​ ​ ​ Immigration Minister Jason Copping will speak at an announcement about capital projects in ​ ​ the Calgary region at Colonel Belcher veterans care facility.

November 12 at 9 a.m. — Edmonton ​ Seniors and Housing Minister Josephine Pon will speak at the Care Hacks: Future Technology ​ ​ for Seniors Reverse Trade Fair at the Radisson Hotel Edmonton South. Pon will speak at the Vision 2030 Symposium in the same location at 12:30 p.m.

Topics of conversation

● Premier Jason Kenney told reporters on Tuesday that his government will not make the ​ ​ shift to an Alberta Pension Plan or create a provincial police force without first holding a referendum on the issues — and that referendum will only take place if the Fair Deal panel recommends it should.

○ Kenney teased plans to withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan and to create a provincial police force at the Manning Centre conference in Red Deer on Saturday. During his speech, he reiterated plans for a referendum on equalization in October 2021 — and another on enshrining property rights in the constitution.

● Asked by a reporter about the firing of Don Cherry from Sportsnet, Kenney declined to ​ ​ weigh in. Instead, he pivoted to say he was sorry to see the Calgary Stampeders eliminated from playoff contention, but hopes the Edmonton Eskimos will take home the Grey Cup.

● The former chair of a 2003 committee tasked with a mandate similar to the UCP government’s Fair Deal panel says he thinks the review will let off steam, but won’t ​ ​ change a thing. ○ Ex-PC MLA Ian McClelland chaired a committee on “Strengthening Alberta’s ​ ​ Role in Confederation” in response to the so-called “firewall letter,” sent to ​ ​ then-premier following Jean Chrétien’s third general election victory ​ ​ ​ ​ in 2001. ○ Signatories to the letter, which called for a new “Alberta Agenda,” included then-president of the National Citizens Coalition and former ​ ​ MLA , among others. ​ ​ ○ Alberta political watcher David Cournoyer noted the earlier committee’s ​ ​ ​ ​ recommendations — and its mandate to travel the province to gauge support for ​ Alberta-first reforms — feel very familiar today.

● Budget 2019 news continues to trickle out. Alberta’s Office of the Seniors Advocate announced that, pursuant to the budget, it is merging with the Office of the Alberta ​ ​ Health Advocate. ○ According to a notice from the seniors advocate, the transition is expected to wrap up by the end of the calendar year.

● The Concordia University Foundation, which oversees $240 million worth of assets at the Quebec-based university, says it will divest from oil, gas and coal by 2025, the Globe ​ and Mail reports. ​ ​ ○ The university’s interim president Graham Carr said the decision to divest is ​ ​ ethically and financially consistent with the university’s goals.

● Conservative Party of Canada Leader Andrew Scheer met with Prime Minister Justin ​ ​ ​ Trudeau for the first time since the October 21 election Tuesday. Scheer released a ​ seven-point list of items he wants to see in Trudeau’s throne speech, scheduled for early ​ ​ December. ​

○ Scheer’s top priority is a national energy corridor to move Western Canadian oil and gas to other parts of Canada and bring hydroelectricity from Ontario and Quebec to new markets. ○ Fourth on his list is a call for the PM to release concrete deadlines for construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and the repeal of federal bills C-48 and C-69, priorities also expressed by Kenney. Absent is the demand ​ ​ ​ ​ to axe the carbon tax.

● Following media reports that online commenters expressing opposition to the Fair Deal ​ ​ plan during the Facebook livestream of the premier’s announcement had seen their comments blocked, comments have been reinstated. ○ Premier Jason Kenney told reporters on Tuesday he did not direct staff to delete ​ ​ comments that oppose the UCP’s views, saying his office only deletes comments that are hateful or offensive. He added that he has more important things to worry about than comments on social media. ○ The premier’s office said some of the comments should not have moderated, which is why they were reinstated. “We cannot be perfect in this regard given the high volume of comments in general,” Kenney’s deputy press secretary Harrison ​ Fleming said in a statement. ​ ○ NDP deputy leader Sarah Hoffman told reporters she believes no staffer would ​ ​ make a decision to delete comments without direction from the premier, adding the issue reflects a larger pattern of the UCP not listening to Albertans.

● Suncor inked a new deal with Microsoft to use cloud computing, artificial intelligence and ​ ​ machine learning in the oilsands.

● The value of building permits issued in Alberta rose by a seasonally adjusted 7.2 per cent in September, marking three subsequent months of improvement. The value of construction permits was up 5.4 per cent year over year compared to September 2018.

● Wexit organizers have launched a monthly newsletter called the Wexit Alberta Tribune. ​ ​ ​ ​

Funding announcements

Ministry of Transportation ● The provincial government committed $26.5 million over four years for the $76.5-million cost of widening 29 kilometres of Highway 1A between Cochrane and Canmore. The remaining $50 million “will flow in future years,” per a news release. ○ The project is commencing after a long-awaited deal was inked between Alberta Transportation and the Stoney Nakoda First Nation.