AB Today – Daily Report May 20, 2020

Quotation of the day

“Those who enjoy attacking others but are not able to endure counter-attacks are not fit to call the other side ‘wolf-warrior.’”

The Chinese Consulate General in responds to Premier ’s remarks ​ ​ ​ ​ that there will be a “reckoning” for China’s actions around COVID-19.

Today in AB

On the schedule The house is adjourned but can be called back with 12 hours notice from the government (this week was slated as a constituency week on the parliamentary calendar).

Premier watch The Chinese Consulate General in Calgary issued a stark response to Premier Jason Kenney ​ stating there will be a “reckoning” against China over its response to COVID-19. Kenney made the comments to the Canadian American Business Council on Thursday.

The consulate accused Kenney of trying to curry favour with U.S. President Donald Trump. ​ ​ ​ ​

“A final friendly reminder for the Premier: You are based in Edmonton not in Ottawa,” the statement reads. “And your China-blaming comment might not please Mr. Trump since he will not spare a glance, let alone those American audiences as many of them are not fond of Mr. Trump, but instead have profitable and unshakable business with China.”

The statement warned Kenney shouldn’t compare Wuhan’s handling of the never-seen-before virus with ’s response.

“If there is a comparison between what he has done during the outbreak with what Wuhan has, he will not look smarter,” per the Chinese consulate, adding that the superpower remains happy to help the province with testing and supplies.

Kenney met with Taiwanese officials last week and posted a photo to Twitter thanking them for ​ ​ a donation of 500,000 masks. China does not recognize Taiwan as an independent country and considers it a province of China.

Premier promises action after Joe Biden vows to quash Keystone XL U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden will rip up the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline if he ​ ​ takes a seat in the White House early next year, according to his campaign team.

Premier Jason Kenney put up his battle swords in a news conference Tuesday, stating he will ​ ​ use all legal tools available to fight the move if Biden is elected into office.

The premier emphasized the thousands of U.S. jobs the project would create, stressing their necessity during the post-COVID-19 recovery.

“As we hopefully begin to emerge from this pandemic, the public both in the United States and Canada will be increasingly focused on jobs and the economy, and that is why this project needs to proceed,” Kenney told reporters, while also zeroing in on environmental critics.

NDP Opposition Leader said the project has always been a political and legal ​ ​ risk and Biden’s opposition shouldn’t come as a surprise, given his policies as vice-president under president Barack Obama, who rejected the pipeline’s permit in 2015. ​ ​

“Unfortunately, these calls fell on deaf ears and Jason Kenney has effectively placed a $7.5-billion bet on Donald Trump winning the White House,” Notley said in a statement.

On March 31, the provincial government announced a $1.5-billion equity investment in the pipeline, and pledged a $6-billion loan guarantee in 2021 to get the pipeline built.

When asked what the province could do to recover costs in the event the pipeline is killed, Kenney said his government undertook “extensive legal analysis” on that question.

“The problem is the money doesn’t belong to Jason Kenney — it belongs to the people of Alberta,” Notley said.

Premier Kenney said the project would ramp up North America’s energy security on the heels of the price war with Saudi Arabia and Russia and make the U.S. less dependent on imports from OPEC and Venezuela, while also stimulating the post-pandemic economy.

In a statement on Monday, Energy Minister Sonya Savage said the pipeline enjoys bipartisan ​ ​ support in the U.S. due to its job creation.

“Rather than speculating about the outcome of the U.S. election, we will spend our time continuing to meet with our U.S. allies and speak to Alberta’s role in supporting North American energy independence and security,” Savage said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters he would press any president to approve the ​ ​ pipeline.

A crucial KXL permit was recently overturned by a Montana judge, but construction on other portions of the pipeline continues. Americans head to the polls on November 3.

Human trafficking task force appointed Premier Jason Kenney and Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer announced the membership of ​ ​ ​ ​ the province’s new Human Trafficking Task Force, which will be headed by country musician and anti-trafficking advocate Paul Brandt. ​ ​

The task force will give the UCP government guidance on implementing its nine-point strategy to combat human trafficking, a promise made during the election campaign.

Kenney said “modern-day slavery” is not a far-away crime, but is happening in the province right now.

The work will include recommending supports for survivors; preventing, protecting and ensuring their safety; advising on transformational and sustainable change; and lobbying other levels of government to take action.

Former Wildrose interim leader Heather Forsyth, who once described feminism as the “f-word” ​ ​ ​ ​ and said the idea that women have barriers to political leadership was “socialist crap,” is also on the board. (For a full list of task force members, see below.)

At Kenney’s news conference, Kate Quinn, executive director of the Centre to End All Sexual ​ ​ Exploitation, said she believes the panelists understand the suffering and trauma caused by trafficking.

“This is hopeful work, and I urge the task force to consider the demand component that drives human trafficking,” Quinn said.

Kenney criticized for lack of action during time in federal cabinet As a federal minister under ex-prime minister Stephen Harper, Kenney oversaw and defended ​ ​ the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program, which has come under fire throughout the years for exploitation of workers.

In 2014, Harper’s cabinet quashed a proposal that would have banned employers convicted of ​ ​ human trafficking and other offences from accessing the TFW program.

Kenney, who was Canada’s employment minister at the time, said his office had been ​ ​ bombarded by requests from restaurants to roll back proposed measures because they would have caused excess red tape.

“The current state of our Temporary Foreign Worker program creates opportunities for exploitation, resulting in a disproportionate number of workers experiencing human trafficking,” the Action Coalition on Human Trafficking (ACT) stated Tuesday. The organization also thanked ​ ​ Kenney for acknowledging the gaps in the TFW program and for the appointment of the task force.

According to ACT, 41.6 per cent of trafficking survivors are either temporary foreign workers or internationally trafficked victims; 22 per cent of those trafficked are Indigneous women and girls.

Earlier this month, the house passed Justice Minister Schweitzer’s Bill 8, Protecting Survivors of ​ ​ Human Trafficking Act, which was billed as the Saving the Girl Door Act in the UCP’s campaign ​ ​ platform. It aims to give victims of human trafficking the power to sue their abusers in civil court and seek three-year protection orders.

Today’s events

May 20 at 9 a.m. – Edmonton ​ The UCP’s Priorities Implementation Cabinet Committee will meet in the Windsor Room of the Federal Building.

Topics of conversation

● There were 33 new positive COVID-19 cases reported Tuesday, and the total number of active cases in the province is 1,004. There are now 5,584 recovered cases. There were no new reported deaths since Monday, holding the death toll at 128. ○ There are currently 61 people in hospital, eight of whom are in ICU. ○ The province increased limits on gatherings from 15 to 50. Road tests for commercial carriers can also resume. ○ Infection rates in Calgary and Brooks, the two cities held back from Phase 1 in Alberta, have held steady. Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw ​ said the province will provide an update on the impact of the relaunch in a few days.

● The Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) will tap into the expertise of ​ ​ Barbara Zvan, former chief risk and strategy officer of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension ​ Plan, in a review of how the investment body lost $2.1 billion as a result of its volatility trading strategy during the pandemic.

● Edmonton law firm Liberty Law sent a letter to the premier, health minister and justice ​ ​ minister asking for fewer restrictions on the court system. ○ While courts have been deemed an essential service, the Court of Queen’s Bench says restrictions will continue to be in place until at least June 26 and that jury trials and selections are adjourned until at least September.

● Ex-Wildrose-turned-UCP MLA Don MacIntyre was granted parole last August after he ​ ​ ​ ​ pled guilty to sexual interference, according to documents obtained by Postmedia. ○ The former MLA for Innisfail—Sylvan Lake was kicked out of the UCP caucus after the charges of him touching a girl under the age of 14 came to light in 2018.

News briefs

Fair Deal Panel’s report release delayed over COVID-19

● The Fair Deal Panel submitted its final report to the government, but it won’t be publicly released until the COVID-19 crisis is over. ○ Premier Jason Kenney struck the panel in November 2019 as a response to ​ ​ growing western alienation. The panel held a series of town halls to hear from

Albertans on potential policies, such as pulling out of the Canadian Pension Plan and creating a provincial police force. ○ “The members of the panel are incredibly proud of the work we have done together, and we fully support the government's decision to postpone its assessment and response to the report until we are safely through the current public health crisis,” panel chair Oryssia Lennie said in a news release. ​ ​

Coal regulations updated for the first time since 1976

● Through a series of orders-in-council, the government updated the province’s coal policy for the first time since 1976. ○ The government removed coal categories and classified the industry under the same land use policies as other commodities. ○ The changes do not affect the plan to phase out low-quality thermal coal in domestic electricity production by 2030, per the government. ○ They will also not affect what was formerly known as Coal Category 1 lands, as it pertains to private property or freehold mineral rights.

Funding Announcements

Alberta Health

● Health Minister Tyler Shandro announced $14 million per month for designated seniors ​ ​ living facilities to help pay for additional expenses incurred during the COVID-19 response, including wage top ups and the cost of personal protective equipment. ○ Seniors and Housing Minister Josephine Pon announced $35 million per year ​ ​ for cleaning procedures and additional staff.

Economic Development, Trade and Tourism

● The government announced it will forego the collection of the tourism levy between March 1 and December 31, 2020, which will allow the hospitality industry to keep between $16 and $27 million.

Appointments and Employments

Human Trafficking Task Force

● The government appointed a seven-member human trafficking task force to provide guidance on the government’s nine-point human trafficking plan. The following people were appointed to the panel:

○ Paul Brandt, chair and founder of #NotInMyCity and anti-human trafficking ​ advocate; ○ Heather Forsyth, Alberta’s former solicitor general and former minister of ​ Children’s Services; ○ Dale McFee, chief of police, Edmonton Police Services; ​ ○ Jan Fox, executive director of REACH Edmonton, which does both preventative ​ work and aids survivors in escaping trafficking; ○ Douglas Reti, director, Backwoods Energy, and former RCMP director general; ​ ○ Patricia Vargas, director, Catholic Social Services; and ​ ○ Tyler White, CEO, Siksika Health Services. ​

The panel does not include anyone with lived experience as a survivor of human trafficking.

Lakeland College

● Jo-Ann Hall and Dianne Harder were reappointed as members of the board of ​ ​ ​ governors of Lakeland College for a three-year term. New board members Brent ​ Fischer, Jessica Kelly, Lloyd Snelgrove and Adam Waterman were appointed for a ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ three-year term.

ATB Financial

● Wendy Henkelman and Mary Ellen Neilson were reappointed for three-year terms to ​ ​ ​ the ATB Financial board. Jim Davidson, Andrew S. Fraser and J. Robert Logan were ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ named to the board for three-year terms.

Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission

● W. Kent Breedlove, Jack Fujino and Robert Sartor were appointed for a three-year ​ ​ ​ term to the board of the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis commission.

Public Sector Pension Plan Corporation

● Graham Statt was appointed for a three-year term to the Public Sector Pension Plan ​ Corporation.

Juul

● Former federal health minister and interim Conservative Party of Canada leader Rona ​ Ambrose was appointed to the board of e-cigarette company Juul. ​ ○ Ambrose represented the riding of Edmonton—Spruce Grove in the House of Commons from 2004 to 2017.