October 5, 2020

AB Today – Daily Report October 5, 2020

Quotation of the day

“This truly is a jobs crisis and an economic emergency, and it deserves to be responded to here in Alberta the same way it would be in Ontario or Quebec.”

Premier Jason Kenney weighs in on the thousands of layoffs in the oil and gas sector announced over the past week.

Today in AB

On the schedule The house will reconvene on Tuesday, October 20.

Committees this week The Standing Committee on Legislative Offices will meet Friday morning for a compensation review of legislative offices.

Premier watch Premier Jason Kenney said he will not consider a program to provide safe alternatives to toxic street drugs or a boost to supervised consumption sites. Kenney made the comments at a news conference in Calgary Friday when asked about measures the UCP would take to address the spike in accidental opioid poisoning.

“At the end of the day, the greatest increase in opioid deaths has been in the greater Vancouver region, which has the greatest availability of drug-injection sites,” the premier said on Friday. “So if that were the solution to the problem, we wouldn’t see the huge spike in deaths in Vancouver.”

According to the second-quarter report from Alberta Health, the overdose death rate in the province was 20 per 100,000 in 2020 and increased by 42 per cent compared to 2019. In Vancouver, the death rate for the same period was 50.3 per 100,000 and increased by 39 per cent compared to 2019, per the BC Coroners Service.

UCP’s focus on infrastructure spending will leave women out of recovery: report Without a critical mass of women in related trades, the United Conservative Party’s infrastructure-based economic recovery plan will leave women behind.

That’s according to a policy paper authored by Anna Cameron, Lindsay Tedds and Vanessa Morin out of the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy.

Morin said trades need a “critical mass” of women — at least 15 per cent — if they are to retain women and avoid tokenization, but only nine of the 48 skilled trades in Alberta meet that threshold.

Those that do, such as hair styling and baking, do not benefit from the UCP’s infrastructure-spending plan, the keystone of its economic recovery strategy.

The government announced $10 billion in infrastructure spending in late June to help Albertans recover from the recession caused by low oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Morin argued the cash injection will benefit men over women, whose careers were already hit hardest by pandemic-related job losses and have been slow to recover.

“It’s kind of a double whammy,” said Morin.

Morin, who spent a decade working in the construction industry, told AB Today the $10 million the UCP invested in Women Building Futures is a positive step and that overall more women are joining the sector — but action must be taken to retain them. The paper suggests launching government-led network building programs and improving data collection to understand barriers facing women in the trades.

“When there are only one or two women on-site, their ability to influence company policy, whether that’s hiring or promotion, is quite limited,” Morin said

According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate for women in Alberta was 13.9 per cent in August, compared to 11.9 per cent for men.

Women’s economic participation was down 2.2 percentage points year over year to 63.5 per cent. Men saw a larger drop of 5.5 percentage points, but still led in participation at 67.1 per cent.

Today’s events

October 5 at 10 a.m. — Edson Seniors and Housing Minister Josephine Pon will participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Parkland Lodge in Edson.

October 5 at 3:30 p.m. — Edmonton Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw is expected to provide an update on COVID-19.

Topics of conversation

● The province announced 122 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the total number of active cases to 1,558 (down 38). As of Friday, 272 people have died (up three). ○ There were 64 people hospitalized (unchanged), including 15 in ICU (up three). ○ Both the Edmonton Remand Centre and Calgary Remand Centre were added to the list of sites with outbreaks. ○ Subscription-based grocery delivery service Hello Fresh also had an outbreak of 35 cases in its Edmonton warehouse. The province said there is no threat to customers. ○ There were outbreaks at 48 schools, and seven schools are on the watch list.

● Moody’s issued another credit downgrade for Alberta — the second from the credit ratings agency within a year and the fifth since the UCP took office. ○ Moody’s lowered long-term debt ratings to Aa3 from Aa2, and its Baseline Credit Assessment dropped from AA3 to A1. ○ The province’s consolidated deficit is projected to reach 57 per cent of revenues in 2020-21, per Moody’s. That is the highest deficit ratio among Canadian provinces and more than twice the largest deficit recorded since the global financial crisis. ○ The agency said “continued weak bitumen and crude oil royalties” will lead to a “less robust” tax base for the province even as the pandemic eases, “given a forecast of weak investment in the oil sector.”

● More details about Suncor layoffs rolled out Friday. The firm will lay off up to 2,000 employees in Alberta over the next 18 months, Premier Jason Kenney confirmed Friday. Suncor CEO Mark Little described the cuts as part of a 15 per cent reduction in the company’s Canadian workforce. ○ The news had the UCP on the defensive about its corporate tax break, as Suncor had previously reported $1.1 billion in savings thanks to the cut. ○ “Instead of shovelling money off the back of a truck to finance corporate layoffs, the Premier and his UCP need to build a plan to guarantee job creation and job protection,” said NDP Leader Rachel Notley in a news release.

● RBC will no longer lend to new coal-fired power generators, thermal coal mines or arctic drillers, the Canadian Press reports.

● AFP Canada offered up a fact check of an inaccurate Facebook post about Alberta’s Public Health Act that went viral. ○ The Facebook post inaccurately stated that Alberta will allow people with allergies to be dragged to an isolation facility and forced to be vaccinated. ○ A special standing committee struck to review the law voted last week to remove mandatory vaccinations from its powers (as recommended by Dr. Deena Hinshaw, who told the committee they had never been used). ○ Meanwhile, the number of Albertans who would consider getting a COVID-19 vaccine has dropped by 13 per cent, according to a new Angus Reid Institute survey

● NDP Community and Social Services critic Marie Renaud said she plans to start living off $1,685 a month, the maximum allowed for AISH recipients, the province’s benefits program for people with severe disabilities.

● Education Minister Adriana LaGrange granted conditional approval for an agricultural charter school west of Leduc, the province’s first new charter school in 13 years, CBC reports. ○ The school would run out of the former New Humble Centre School, which closed permanently last year because of enrolment challenges and maintenance costs. ○ The UCP’s Choice in Education Act, which passed earlier this year, lifted the cap on the number of charter schools allowed in the province and changed rules to make it easier for groups to apply.

Appointments and employments

Alberta Investment Management Corporation ● Robert P. Kelly was appointed to the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) for a three-year term. Kelly is the former CEO of BNY Mellon, a Wall Street investment bank, and chaired the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. ○ Sharon Sallows was reappointed to the board for a three-year term.

Parliamentary secretary for small business and tourism ● UCP MLA for West Yellowhead Martin Long was appointed parliamentary secretary for small business and tourism under Jobs, Economy and Innovation Minister Doug Schweitzer.

News briefs

Government signs 130-year lease with U of C for innovation campus ● Infrastructure Minister Prasad Panda announced the signing of a 130-year lease agreement with the University of Calgary for the new University Innovation Quarter lands, formerly known as the University Research Park. ○ The quarter will be dedicated to “commercializing innovation and new technologies” and is expected to create 6,300 new jobs over the next 20 years, including 4,500 jobs in the private sector, per the government.

Funding announcements

Homes for Heroes Foundation ● Premier Jason Kenney and Brad Rutherford, the provincial government’s liaison to the Canadian Armed Forces, announced $1.1 million for the Homes for Heroes Foundation to help build 20 “tiny homes” in Edmonton for at-risk veterans.

Alberta-Stoney Nakoda-Tsuut’ina Tribal Council Protocol Agreement ● The province announced a $200,000 grant to implement an agreement the government signed with the Stoney Nakoda-Tsuut’ina Tribal Council. ○ Ministers, chiefs and councils of four bands will meet several times a year under the agreement to discuss health, economic growth, education and family services.

AB Today is written by Catherine Griwkowsky, reporting from the Alberta Legislative Press Gallery.

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