AB Today – Daily Report July 6, 2020

Quotation of the day

“It just underscores how crazy this whole situation is.”

Premier said he’s “glad” the Irving refinery is receiving shipments of ​ ​ ​ ​ Cenovus oil from , but he would prefer it was shipped by pipeline or rail, not through the Panama Canal.

Today in AB

On the schedule MLAs are back in the chamber at 1:30 p.m. to continue the summer session.

Monday afternoons are set aside for private members’ business. The NDP indicated it will use the allotted time to bring forward a motion to affirm the legislature’s commitment to national unity.

UCP MLA could also introduce Bill 204, Voluntary Blood Donations Repeal Act. ​ ​ ​ ​

The order paper remains jam-packed for the rest of the day.

Health Minister is expected to introduce Bill 30, Health Statutes Amendment ​ ​ ​ ​ Act, and Environment and Parks Minister could introduce Bill 31, Environmental ​ ​ ​ ​ Protection Statutes Amendment Act.

MLAs could also debate Bill 23, Commercial Tenancies Protection Act, at committee of the ​ ​ whole. The bill would temporarily ban commercial rent evictions.

The following government bills could be called for second-reading debate: ● Bill 21, Provincial Administrative Penalties Act, which would set up an online traffic court ​ and decriminalize first-time impaired driving offences; ● Bill 25, Protecting Alberta Industry From Theft Act, which will require scrap-metal ​ dealers to report all transactions of frequently stolen items such as catalytic converters and copper wire; and ● Bill 26, Constitutional Referendum Amendment Act, which gives the government the ​ power to choose referendum questions and timing.

A government motion that asks the legislature to denounce racism could also continue to be debated.

Committees this week The Standing Committee on Private Bills and Private Members’ Public Bills meets this morning to discuss NDP Labour critic ’s private member’s bill, Bill 203, Pension ​ ​ ​ ​ Protection Act.

On Tuesday morning, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts will receive an update on the Economic Development, Trade and Tourism ministry. The Standing Committee on Resource Stewardship will meet to review the Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblower Protection) Act in ​ ​ the evening.

Premier watch Speaking at a Keystone XL pipeline construction site in Oyen Friday, Premier Jason Kenney ​ told reporters he thinks presumptive U.S. Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden could be ​ ​ persuaded to support the project.

On March 31, Kenney announced the province will purchase a $1.5-billion equity stake in the pipeline, which is considered part of the government’s $3-billion boost to infrastructure spending amid the economic recovery.

Alberta’s trade office in Houston, Texas, will officially open this week, Kenney also announced Friday.

Kenney also visited the Global Village Centre in Brooks and the Rosedeer Hotel and Last Chance Saloon in Wayne.

On Saturday, he held a tourism roundtable in Banff with Economic Development, Trade and Tourism Minister and UCP Banff—Kananaskis MLA . ​ ​ ​

Review of AHS response to 2016 racist incident ordered Health Minister Tyler Shandro has ordered an independent, third-party investigation into ​ ​ Alberta Health Services’ response to a racist act at a Grande Prairie hospital that occured in 2016.

A white South African-born surgeon taped a noose to the operating room door at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Grande Prairie. The noose was directed at a Black Nigerian-born surgical assistant.

As detailed in a CBC investigation, the doctor admitted to hanging the noose but said he ​ ​ considered it to be “a lasso” and didn’t intend it to be a racist symbol. However, in an apology letter written in 2016 he referred to it as a “small rope noose.”

“Recently, individuals with first-hand knowledge of the incident have raised this matter again, questioning how AHS handled this matter in 2016,” said Shandro in a news release. “I share their concerns and I am not satisfied that this matter was handled appropriately.”

Numerous complaints about the incident have been filed, including one sent directly to Shandro by a former College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta council member in August 2019 (shortly after the UCP pledged a full-throttle review of AHS with an eye to reducing spending).

Shandro pledged that the review would be made public and that he expects the “health-care system to reject racism and intolerance. If our system failed, we will fix it.”

NDP MLA , who was health minister at the time of the incident, said it is “deeply ​ ​ disturbing” that Shandro did not take action until now.

Hoffman said she would have fired the doctor who hung the noose if she had known about it, noting she fired two AHS employees who used a racial slur against an Indigenous woman in 2017.

On Friday, Shandro also issued a directive that gives AHS 60 days to revise its medical staff bylaws that govern how it responds to complaints, saying those bylaws limited the health agency's ability to investigate the incident. AHS has not updated its bylaws in a decade, according to the minister.

Legislation to double public representation on professional college councils, hearing tribunals and complaint review committees is also incoming.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta said it cannot comment on ongoing ​ ​ investigations due to the Health Professions Act. ​ ​

Topics of conversation

● The province hasn’t received a COVID-19 update since Friday, when there were 542 active cases.

● Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms president John Carpay penned an op-ed in ​ ​ ​ ​ the Globe and Mail outlining the threats to freedoms posed by Public Health (Emergency ​ ​ ​ Powers) Amendment Act, formerly Bill 10, and Bill 24, COVID-19 Pandemic Response ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Statutes Amendment Act. ○ He argued both laws constitute government overreach by allowing the province to hand over personal and confidential health information to the chief medical officer and police. ○ “Thanks to Bill 24, the Health Minister now has permanent power to make ​ ​ regulations based on orders issued by the Chief Medical Officer under the Public Health Act, which are unilateral laws made by one doctor without any input from the Legislature,” Carpay wrote.

● The Canadian Energy Centre, a.k.a the war room, paid to promote an article from right-wing magazine Quillette by a former climate activist who argues humans aren’t ​ ​ causing mass extinctions, climate change hasn’t made natural disasters worse and carbon emissions are dropping in rich nations. ○ NDP Leader tweeted, “let me clear up one thing that you still ​ ​ ​ ​ seem to struggle with. Climate change is real.” ○ Since the war room’s launch it has spent $15,905 on Facebook ads, including $2,070 in the past week. ○ According to Facebook’s ad library, 41 per cent of the viewers of the ad were from Ontario and the war room spent less than $100 on its promotion.

News briefs

NDP accuses government of withholding Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund report ● Despite a legal requirement to make the annual report on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund public by June 30, the government has not done so. ○ The Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund was scheduled to meet to discuss the report last Friday, June 26, but it was hastily cancelled the day before and rescheduled for July 13. ○ NDP MLA , who is a member of the committee, said he has already ​ ​ received a copy of the report, but is not authorized to discuss it until the committee meets. ○ The NDP contends the report would have informed today’s meeting of the committee studying NDP Labour critic Christina Gray’s Bill 203, Pension ​ ​ ​ ​

Protection Act, by revealing the extent of AIMCo’s recent financial losses, which will impact the state of the trust.

Twenty million more masks to be distributed ● The province will distribute another 20 million masks for free through fast food restaurants, municipalities, long-term care facilities, addiction treatment centres, First Nations and Métis Settlements, and other organizations beginning July 13. ○ 7-11 Canada is shipping the masks to transit operators across Alberta at no cost.

UCP changes rules around sandhill crane hunting ● Its open season on sandhill cranes in southern and east-central beginning September 1. ○ Alberta Environment and Parks Minister Jason Nixon said changes to hunting ​ ​ restrictions are expected to increase the total number of sandhill cranes harvested by two per cent across North America and follows in the footsteps of hunts in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Appointments and employments

Alberta Order of Excellence ● The government announced seven new Albertans will be invested in the Alberta Order of Excellence, including former premier Ed Stelmach. ​ ​ ○ Other recipients of the highest civilian honour include JudyLynn Archer, Jim ​ ​ ​ Boucher, Charlie Fischer, Frances Harley, John Mah and Holger Petersen. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​