AB Today – Daily Report February 27, 2020

Quotation of the day

“Take a look at Bill 1. It’s an amazing bill.” ​ ​

Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer responds to backbencher MLA Mickey Amery’s question ​ ​ ​ ​ about action against ongoing rail blockades.

Today in AB

On the schedule The house will convene at 1:30 p.m.

The government is expected to table its budget just after 3 p.m.

Wednesday’s votes and proceedings In the morning, MLAs debated Bill 1, Critical Infrastructure Protection Act, at second reading. ​ ​

Two new government bills hit the clerk’s table on Wednesday.

Associate Minister of Red Tape Reduction Grant Hunter introduced Bill 2, Gaming, Liquor and ​ ​ ​ ​ Cannabis Amendment Act, which aims to loosen the province’s booze laws by April 1.

The proposed law will allow municipalities and provincial parks to make their own laws around liquor consumption in parks and at festivals. It also makes it easier for towns without liquor stores to apply for permits and scraps the province’s power to designate dry counties, instead leaving it up to each counties’ determination.

If passed, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission will be able to impose conditions on liquor and gaming licences even if the licence hasn’t been violated. For example, in an establishment where instances of violence have occured, the commission could require a coat check.

Service Alberta Minister Nate Glubish tabled new legislation that would allow mobile home ​ ​ landlords and tenants access to the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service.

Bill 3, Mobile Home Sites Tenancies Amendment Act, comes following Glubish’s summer ​ consultations where he “heard loud and clear from mobile home residents that they want access to our dispute resolution service.”

Currently, landlords and tenants of mobile homes have no dispute process aside from the courts.

The Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service charges lower fees and can adjudicate remedies of up to $50,000.

In the legislature NDP Mental Health and Addictions critic Heather Sweet joined a noon-hour rally on the steps of ​ ​ the legislature hosted by the Albertans for Ethical Drug Policy in support of supervised consumption services.

Several MLAs wore pink to mark Pink Shirt Day, an anti-bullying initiative.

Premier watch Premier Jason Kenney had a busy travel schedule Wednesday, touching down in three cities. ​ ​

In the morning, he delivered a keynote address to the Indigenous Participation in Major Projects conference at the Westin Calgary Airport Conference Centre.

Then he joined Health Minister Tyler Shandro in Red Deer to announce funding for the Red ​ ​ Deer Regional Hospital Centre.

Back in Edmonton, he left the chamber in the middle of question period to participate in a conference call with fellow premiers and territorial leaders to discuss ongoing rail blockades.

Government, Opposition say jobs should be the priority for 2020 budget On Wednesday, Finance Minister Travis Toews entered his office wearing the same cowboy ​ ​ boots he wore the day he tabled the 2019 fall budget, saying today’s spring budget will be a continuation of the policies the UCP laid out in the last session.

“I’m wearing these boots again because the work continues,” Toews said of his token cowboy boots. “There continues to be heavy lifting in front of us as a province.”

But business has changed.

Last fall, government projections pegged the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) average at $58USD in 2020-21. However, as the coronavirus outbreak has lowered global demand, WTI was trading at $49.25 as of Wednesday morning.

Toews said, while the government will continue to press forward with its agenda, there will be emphasis on economic diversification through the tech sector and other initiatives.

The finance minister also confirmed the government is continuing with plans to reduce the cost of the public service by seven per cent, but said he hoped most of it will be through attrition.

Meanwhile, a government official told CBC the budget will include a new tourism levy for ​ ​ short-term rentals, such as Airbnb.

NDP bracing for cuts NDP Finance critic Shannon Phillips said the Opposition is bracing for “another brutal budget.” ​ ​

“When you look at the economic forecasts, and consider the lost revenue as a result of the UCP corporate handout, it doesn’t take a magician to read the writing on the wall — we’re in for more cuts,” Phillips said in a statement.

Phillips cited economist Trevor Tombe’s projection that, with the downturn in oil, Alberta will ​ ​ ​ ​ have to find an additional $1.3 billion in cuts to hit its target of balancing the budget by 2023.

In the 2019 budget, the UCP projected growth at 2.7 per cent, but the six major Canadian banks have downgraded their forecast to 1.7 per cent growth this year, Phillips noted.

Today’s events

February 27 at 8:30 a.m. — Edmonton ​ ​ The UCP cabinet will hold a meeting in the cabinet room of the legislature. The UCP caucus will gather an hour later.

Topics of conversation

● Federal Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidate Erin O’Toole held ​ ​ Wednesday evening campaign rally in Leduc at the Royal Hotel Edmonton Airport.

● Conservative Party of Canada MP James Cumming (Edmonton—Centre) introduced a ​ ​ private member’s bill in the House of Commons to repeal the federal law banning new tanker traffic off the coast of British Columbia, formerly Bill C-48. ​ ​

● A Court of Queen’s Bench justice in Calgary granted a stay on the order that would have ​ ​ forced cabinet to make a decision on Prosper’s Rigel mine project by Friday. ○ Prosper Petroleum Ltd. had been granted an order that would have forced the province to make an imminent decision on whether to approve the oilsands mine; the government has already mulled over the proposal for 19 months. ○ An appeal hearing is scheduled for April 27. Fort McKay First Nation, which opposes the mine, has requested intervenor status. ○ FortMcKay Chief Mel Grandjamb said he was “encouraged” by the government’s ​ ​ appeal of the expedited decision process, saying it signals a “commitment to a collaborative solution that recognizes the importance of Moose Lake to Fort McKay and respects our constitutionally recognized and affirmed right to exercise Aboriginal and Treaty rights and traditional land uses.”

News briefs

Government approves diluent recovery facility

● Energy Minister Sonya Savage announced the approval of a Gibson Energy project at ​ ​ the Hardisty rail terminal. ○ The project, a diluent recovery unit, will remove diluent from bitumen in order to free up rail car capacity to ship more oil to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The recovered diluent will be reused by upstream oilsands producers, per Savage’s office. ○ The project has already cleared the Alberta Energy Regulator’s approval process but still requires additional environmental approvals before it can go ahead.

Funding announcements

Indigenous Litigation Fund ● The first grant from the Indigenous Litigation Fund will go to the Woodland Cree First Nation to help fund a legal challenge against the federal law that overhauls the regulatory approval process for natural resources projects, formerly Bill C-69. ​ ​ ○ Premier Jason Kenney, who has dubbed the law the “no more pipelines bill” ​ ​ announced the $187,688 grant Wednesday.

Alberta Health ● Health Minister Tyler Shandro and Premier Jason Kenney announced $100 million in ​ ​ ​ ​ funding for the first phase of the Red Deer Hospital

Appointments and employments

New Democratic Party ● NDP MLA Heather Sweet (Edmonton—Manning) is now the official Opposition’s house ​ ​ leader, trading roles with MLA Deron Bilous (Edmonton—Beverly—Clareview), who will ​ ​ now act as the NDP’s deputy house leader.

Elections Alberta ● The Standing Committee on Legislative Offices voted to renew the term of Chief Electoral Officer Glen Resler. ​ ​

Environmental Appeals Board ● Chidinma B. Thompson, Barbara Johnston and Kurtis Averill were appointed to the ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Environmental Appeals Board for one-to-two-year terms. ○ Dave McGee and Tamara Bews were reappointed to the board for ​ ​ ​ two-to-three-year terms.

Question period The first question period of the spring session saw the UCP repeatedly linking the NDP to Extinction Rebellion while NDP MLAs slammed the UCP for the lack of a concrete job creation

plan.

● NDP Leader Rachel Notley used her first query to ask about job losses under the UCP’s ​ ​ governance. ○ “It was less of a blueprint and more like those flyers selling timeshares in Florida swamp land,” Notley said of the throne speech’s economic promises. ○ “Why won’t the premier admit his plan is failing?”

● Premier Jason Kenney said far too many Albertans are out of work but cast the blame ​ ​ on the former governing New Democrats. ○ “We’re doing everything we can to restore growth, that’s why banks, think tanks and economists all project Alberta will lead Canada in growth this year,” he stated.

Other NDP questions NDP MLAs also asked about the UCP’s climate change policy, the new physician compensation model, the UCP’s proposal to launch state-funded oil projects, whether the education system will face more cuts, downloading costs onto municipalities, infrastructure spending, spikes in electricity pricing, changes to the income support payment dates, and changes to public sector pensions.

UCP friendly questions UCP backbenchers asked about increasing the number of women in trades, rail blockades and physician compensation.

Oops! Monday's issue of AB Today erroneously reported that the UCP's planned Choice in Education ​ ​ Act will make more provincial funding available to private and charter schools.

Actually, what the UCP has said thus far is that it wants to allow more charter schools to open and operate while maintaining funding for private schools. We apologize for the error.