AB Today – Daily Report June 26, 2019

Quotation of the day

"The UCP treat the first half of Dickens’ novel A Christmas Carol like a how-to guide on labour policy. They’re stripping Albertans of holiday pay and youth of fair wages.”

NDP Labour critic Christina Gray slams the UCP’s Bill 2, An Act to Make Alberta Open for Business, in question period.

Today in AB

On the schedule The House is scheduled to reconvene at 1:30 p.m.

Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer is expected to introduce Bill 13, Alberta’s Senate Election Act, which would allow Albertans to vote on “senators-in-waiting” during the next round of municipal elections in 2021.

MLAs are expected to debate two bills at second reading: ● Bill 8, Education Amendment Act; ● Bill 11, Fair Registration Practices Act; and ● Bill 12, Royalty Guarantee Act.

Bill 2, An Act to Make Alberta Open for Business, could be debated at committee of the whole.

Tuesday’s votes and proceedings Speaker Nathan Cooper ruled against NDP house leader Deron Bilous’s point of privilege on the earplug fiasco. Cooper determined Government House Leader Jason Nixon did not intend to mislead the House when he described why Premier Jason Kenney doled out earplugs to caucus during last week’s debate, but acknowledged the Opposition rightly took offence to the gesture.

Three bills were debated at second reading stage: ● Bill 8, Education Amendment Act, (which faces NDP amendments); ● Bill 11, Fair Registration Practices Act; and ● Bill 12, Royalty Guarantee Act.

The House passed Bill 11 and Bill 12, the interim supply bills, at third reading.

Bill 2, An Act to Make Alberta Open For Business, was debated at committee of the whole. The NDP placed two amendments on the bill, stalling debate on the legislation that would lower the minimum wage for youth and reduce overtime pay for many workers.

MLAs also debated Government Motion 21, which asks members to support the government’s legal challenge against the federal carbon tax and an acknowledgement of the “negative impacts that a carbon tax has upon the people of Alberta.” The motion passed with UCP support (Ayes 50; Nays 12).

Once again, the House sat until nearly midnight.

The Standing Committee on Private Bills and Private Members’ Public Bills met Tuesday to consider NDP MLA Richard Feehan’s Bill 203, An Act To Protect Public Health Care. Friends of Medicare and the Parkland Institute appeared as witnesses, speaking in favour of the bill that attempts to crack down on the practice of “block billing” that public health-care advocates consider a creep towards privatization.

The committee’s report is due back to the House on Thursday.

Alberta joins Saskatchewan’s Supreme Court of Canada appeal against federal carbon pricing

Alberta is heading to the Supreme Court of Canada, after the United Conservative government announced Tuesday it will join Saskatchewan in the next phase of its court battle against the federal government’s carbon pricing system.

The province’s legal team filed a notice of intervention on Saskatchewan’s appeal Tuesday. The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal recently shot down Premier Scott Moe’s government’s argument that Ottawa’s carbon pricing system is unconstitutional.

“We are proud to stand together with Saskatchewan to fight the federal carbon tax,” said Premier Jason Kenney in a news release. “The federal government’s scheme punishes Albertans for heating their homes and driving to work. There is a better way to reduce emissions than this impractical and unconstitutional tax grab.”

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on December 5.

Alberta will also fight its own reference case, which was filed on June 20. The reference question asks the court to determine, “Is the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (Canada) unconstitutional in whole or in part?”

“One of the underlying principles of our federation is the right of the provinces to manage their own affairs,” said Attorney General Doug Schweitzer. “Imposing a one-size-fits-all federal carbon tax disrupts this constitutional balance and ignores provincial authority to legislate in ways that reflect local conditions and circumstances.”

The federal carbon levy will be imposed on Alberta on January 1, 2020, following Kenney’s cancellation of the NDP-era carbon tax.

Today’s events

June 26 at 9 a.m. – Edmonton MLAs will gather in the legislature’s rotunda to assemble relief kits for residents displaced by wildfires.

June 26 at 3:30 p.m. – Edmonton Health Minister Tyler Shadro will speak at a ribbon cutting ceremony to welcome residents to Eden House, an assisted living facility for seniors.

Topics of conversation

● Agriculture and Forestry Minister Devin Dreeshen released a statement on China’s suspension of Canadian meat exports. Dreeshen pledged support for Alberta farmers and said he is working with his counterpart in Ottawa to “ensure diverse market access and a timely resolution of this issue.”

● More information has arisen about the RCMP’s ongoing investigation into allegations of voter fraud in the 2017 UCP leadership race. CBC reports Infrastructure Minister Prasad Panda was interviewed by the RCMP last Sunday “about the matter.” ○ Panda’s chief of staff confirmed his boss was questioned but was tight-lipped with details. ○ Attorney General Doug Schweitzer — another contender in the leadership race — also met with the RCMP about the allegations last month.

● A new Angus Reid poll found the majority of Canadians are suspicious of politicians — but more so of their federal representatives than their provincial or municipal ones. ○ According to the survey, two-thirds of Canadians don’t think politicians can be trusted, while one-third think they are primarily motivated by personal gain. ○ Alberta had the highest percentage of respondents who said the quality of their provincial candidates had improved over the past five to 10 years.

● U.S.-based environmental monitoring organization Climate Investigations Center released a report revealing the wide scope of impact fossil fuel trade associations have had on the climate change conversation. According to the report, oil and gas industry groups sent more than 6,400 delegates to climate talks since 1995 with the goal of undermining scientific consensus and slowing policy progress, according to Bloomberg News.

● NDP Labour critic Christina Gray held a news conference in the legislature’s media with three business owners who have pledged to continue to pay youth $15 per hour and urged the UCP government to cancel its regulation creating a lower minimum wage for students, which takes effect today. ○ While the minimum wage was introduced in conjunction with Bill 2, An Act to Make Alberta Open for Business, the wage change was made through regulation. Bill 2 is currently at the committee of the whole stage.

Question period

NDP lead-off Crude-by-rail contracts

● Opposition Leader Rachel Notley began question period by asking how many jobs the United Conservative government will be sacrificing if it goes through with its stated plan of shredding the crude-by-rail contracts. ○ “Northern Gateway stopped in its tracks by [former Conservative prime minister] Stephen Harper’s unwillingness to consult. Energy East, Harper’s appointees again, botched that one,” Notley said. “TMX, now finally approved, but won’t reach tidewater for years. Those who believe Conservatives get pipelines built to tidewater need only to look at the last 60 years to see that’s not true.” ○ “Is it some sort of Conservative tradition to keep our oil away from market?” Notley asked.

● Premier Jason Kenney said all the ex-NDP government did by signing the crude-by-rail contracts was buy a headline — and questioned the party’s commitment to the oil sector. ○ “I’ve got to admit nothing makes me happier than having the socialists ask us about pipelines,” Kenney said. “That’s the leader of a party that half of whose caucus used to habitually attend anti-pipeline, anti-oil and gas rallies, saying: no more dirty Alberta oil.”

Education funding

● Notley also asked why boards have not received confirmation in writing that the government will fully fund student enrollment growth this fall.

● The premier responded by reiterating the UCP’s campaign promise to maintain or increase spending on education. ○ “In the campaign we committed to maintaining or increasing funding levels for education,” Kenney said. “We have since confirmed that there will be an increase in funding for enrolment growth in the upcoming school year.”