AB Today – Daily Report December 17, 2018

Quotation of the day

“ set its cap and that’s part of our made-in-Canada climate plan, and that’s really important that Alberta follows through on that.”

Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna told reporters Canada is relying on Alberta ​ ​ ​ ​ to stick with its greenhouse gas emissions targets during a call from Katowice, Poland during UN climate talks.

Today in AB

On the schedule The House is now on winter break until February. The government has not committed to holding a spring legislative session or to tabling a budget before next year’s election, which must be held on or before May 31, 2019.

Yellow vests, counter-protestors clash at weekend rallies over immigration and carbon tax

Co-opting symbolism from fuel tax protests in France, for the second weekend in a row angry Albertans dressed in yellow safety vests to protest the carbon tax, the federal government’s Bill ​ C-69 and the United Nations global migration compact. ​ ​ ​

Protests were held at the Alberta Legislature, City Hall and in .

Outside the Alberta Legislature, counter-protestors denounced anti-immigrant rhetoric and at one point, arrests were made after punches were thrown between the two groups. At least one ​ journalist was pushed and told “we don’t need witnesses” while trying to record footage of the ​ altercation.

The “Wolves of Odin,” the recently renamed Edmonton chapter of the anti-immigrant group ​ ​ Soldiers of Odin, were in attendance at the rally.

Some demonstrators cited economic concerns, oilpatch woes and provincial and federal climate policies as their reason for joining the yellow vests, while others were openly anti-immigrant.

Yellow vesters held signs that included, “Trudeau treason” with an image of a man hanging and ​ ​ “open borders breed chaos.” Counter-demonstrators held signs that said “no one is illegal on stolen land” and “leave my Halal guy alone.”

In Churchill Square, a Calgary-based unregistered national political party that calls itself the “National Citizens Alliance” held a protest dubbed a “Public Rally Against the United Nations and Global World Order.” Organizers denied charges that they were racist, instead telling the ​ Edmonton Star they are against the “globalist” agenda being pushed by the United Nations. The ​ party claims to stand for “traditional identity, heritage, and culture.”

In addition to the protests in Edmonton and Calgary, a friendlier pro-pipeline rally in Grande Prairie on Sunday, organized by a local oilfield company, drew close to 2,000 demonstrators, ​ ​ including some dressed in yellow vests.

Economic Development and Trade Minister got a warm reception during his ​ ​ speech to the crowd, where he outlined steps the NDP government has taken to save jobs in the energy industry.

“This is a Canadian crisis and I think that’s really the message that Albertans, especially those here in the Peace Country are trying to send the federal government,” Bilous said in a video posted on Twitter on Sunday night. ​

UCP Leader also addressed the crowd in Grande Prairie, saying the world ​ ​ needs more Canadian oil and less dictator oil.

Kenney tweeted about the “gilets jaunes” protests in France earlier this month. At the time ​ ​ Kenney said did not condone the violence, but that “the majority’s widespread opposition to ever higher carbon taxes [should not] be dismissed.”

“The massive opposition to ever higher carbon taxes is what happens when ordinary people are pushed into energy poverty by political elites,” Kenney said.

Premier ’s office declined to provide a statement on the violent protests this ​ ​ weekend.

Today’s events

December 17 at 10:30 a.m. – Calgary ​ Environment and Parks Minister , Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd and ​ ​ ​ ​ Indigenous Relations Minister will be announcing Indigenous partnerships in ​ ​ renewable energy projects at McDougall Centre in Calgary.

Topics of conversation

● Premier’s Rachel Notley’s executive director of communications Cheryl Oates wrote a ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ response to Calgary Sun columnist Rick Bell’s citation of internal UCP polling in a ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ recent column. In the piece, Bell lists off a string of mostly Calgary-area ridings and states how many points the UCP is leading the NDP by, according to polling data from Maple Leaf Strategies that was paid for by the UCP. ○ “The data used in Bell’s column doesn’t just fail this basic test; it’s presented in a way that blatantly supports United Conservative Party messaging and campaign strategy,” Oates, a former journalist wrote. “Unlike the usual stories about polls, Bell does not include the poll questions, methodology or margin of error. Even the actual results have been skewed to present Jason Kenney’s party in a better ​ ​ light.”

● Premier Rachel Notley’s executive council blocked CBC’s Freedom of Information ​ ​ Request for the release of documents containing death threats and social media attacks ​ against the premier. Law enforcement agencies told the CBC they had no objection to the release of the documents; the public broadcaster was able to obtain similar information earlier this year.

● While in Poland for the United Nations climate change conference, federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna told reporters that Canada is relying on Alberta’s ​ ​ ​ greenhouse gas emissions cap in order to meet its Paris Agreement targets. ● Last week the province said it has not yet implemented regulations required by the Oil Sands Emissions Limits Act, which caps greenhouse gas emissions from industry at 100 megatonnes per year, despite passing the legislation two years ago. ○ The province confirmed regulations for enforcement would not be ready before a spring election, but said no set timeline was ever in place.

● is taking his third stab at a UCP nomination. Neudorf was a UCP ​ nomination candidate in —East but dropped out in June when the party told them they were running a “preferred candidate.” Neudorf tried his hand in the riding of Livingstone—Macleod but lost that race to Tim Hortons-franchise owner on ​ ​ December 8. ○ Neudorf now says he is considering running in the Lethbridge riding again after ​ ​ learning the unnamed “preferred candidate” was deemed ineligible to run.

● Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told CTV’s Question Period the revival of the Energy ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ East pipeline project is not on the table, despite interest from premiers, including Premier Notley, in resurrecting the project.

● Newfoundland Progressive Conservative Premier Ches Crosbie is distancing himself ​ ​ from UCP leader Jason Kenney and his social conservative beliefs. Crosbie told radio ​ ​ ​ station VOCM that, while he and Kenney agree on economic issues, Crosbie considers ​ himself both “socially progressive and financially responsible.”

● Kenney also tweeted a new social media ad Saturday that claims to contain a text ​ ​ message conversation with an NDP robocall bot. In the text messages, the bot says “the purpose of the carbon tax was never to build a pipeline.” The UCP leader contends this breaks with Premier Rachel Notley’s message that the carbon tax was needed to give ​ ​ Alberta social licence with the rest of Canada to pursue pipeline projects.

● All Calgary protestors want for Christmas is a pipeline. A small group of protestors gathered outside federal Liberal MP Kent Hehr’s Christmas party to denounce him as a ​ ​ “Grinch” for his government’s failure to build the Trans Mountain pipeline. ​

● Education Minister said he has asked to see the province’s 17 Catholic ​ ​ school board’s “Catholicity clauses” after reports of LGBTQ+ teachers fearing for their ​ ​ jobs.

News briefs - Governmental

Ministry of Service Alberta Second phase of new condo rules announced Service Alberta Minister announced most of the province’s new governance ​ ​ rules around condo boards will take effect on July 1, 2019.

The province passed the Condominium Property Amendment Act four years ago — but only began rolling out the legislation’s 50 supporting regulations this year.

Some of the new rules will not come into effect until January 1, 2020 in order to give condo boards time to update their insurance policies.

The new rules aim to make condo boards more fair and transparent by requiring they provide condo owners with additional notice for meetings; strengthening voting rights; regulating the process for issuing bylaw fines; improving how condo reserve funds are managed; and instituting new requirements for insurance and rental deposits.

“Last year, we unveiled stronger protections for condo buyers and now we’re introducing new rules to improve condo living,” Malkinson said. “These new regulations will make life better for everyone in the industry, including condo owners, condo managers and condo boards.”

Alberta Education

Alberta Teachers’ Association and Alberta Education approve field testing of new Kindergarten to Grade 4 curriculum

Education Minister David Eggen announced the province will begin “field testing” the re-written ​ ​ Kindergarten to Grade 4 curriculum.

Eggen said the field-testing process will help to “ensure that what looks good on paper also makes sense in the classroom.”

The rewrite process began in June 2016. The Grade 5 to 9 rewrite is expected in December 2019. The Grade 10 to 12 rewrite is expected in 2020 to 2022.

There is no timeline for when the new curriculum will be fully implemented.

Funding announcements ● The Ministry of Transportation will twin 19 kilometres of Highway 40 between Grande ​ Prairie south of the Wapiti River area at a cost of between $90 million to $110 million. ● The ministry also announced a new interchange at Highways 43 and 43X that is expected to cost $40 to $55 million. ○ The daily average 27,000 vehicle trips is expected to increase as the population of Grande Prairie is projected to grow from 63,000 to 121,000 by 2037. ○ The government says the highway work will boost the local economy.

● Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services held an official opening for 80 new beds at ​ ​ ​ the expansion of the Wing Kei Greenview nursing home facility in Calgary, which was constructed in part by $5 million in government funding granted in 2016. ○ The province announced $221 million in capital funding for long-term care and supportive living projects in the spring budget.

● The Ministry of Seniors and Housing opened 36 new affordable housing units and 22 ​ ​ designated supportive living units at the Wild Rose Assisted Living and Wild Rose Villa in Boyle. ○ The federal and provincial governments funded $13.1 million under the Investment in Affordable Housing Agreement.

Appointments and employments Alberta Enterprise Corporation

● Paul G. Haggis was named chair of the board of directors for the Alberta Enterprise ​ Corporation. Alice Reimer was named vice chair of the board. ​ ​ ○ Sharilee Fossum, Jim Gibson, Patricia Johnston, Neil Sadaranganey and ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Tracey Scarlett were also named members of the board for a term expiring on ​ December 31, 2021.

Alberta Investment Management Corporation

● James Prieur was named a member of the board of directors for the Alberta Investment ​ Management Corporation.

Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation

● Paulina Hiebert and James McKillop were reappointed as members of the Credit ​ ​ ​ Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation.

Council of the Alberta Order of Excellence

● Dr. Stanford Blade was named a member of the board of the Council of the Alberta ​ Order of Excellence.

Ministry of Transportation

● André Tremblay was appointed deputy minister of transportation effective January 1, ​ 2019.

Nominations

Alberta Party

● Jeffery Walters was acclaimed as the candidate for ​ Edmonton—Beverly—Clareview. ● Brenda Stanton was acclaimed as the Alberta Party candidate for Banff—Kananaskis. ​

Alberta Liberal Party

● Brandon Teixeira was acclaimed the candidate for ​ Edmonton—North West.

Alberta New Democratic Party

● Gurbachan Brar won the NDP nomination in Calgary—North East. ​ ● Two candidates — Brar and Roop Kaur Rai — faced off for the NDP nomination in ​ ​ ​ ​ the newly created riding.

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

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