AB Today – Daily Report December 7, 2018 Quotation of the day “There may or may not be a budget. There are two options and one of those two options will happen.” Premier Rachel Notley refuses to commit to either holding a spring session or tabling a budget ​ ​ prior to the forthcoming election. 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. Thursday’s debates and proceedings The House met for its last sitting day of 2018 on Thursday. The House approved first reading of a private member’s bill introduced by Sherwood Park NDP MLA Annie McKitrick. Bill 214, Traffic Safety (Safe Distances for Passing Bicycles) ​ ​ ​ ​ Amendment Act, aims to establish minimum safe passing distances for motorists when overtaking cyclists. Question period was held in the afternoon. In the House Treaty 8 First Nations prepared a statement for Indigenous Relations Minister Richard Feehan ​ to read in the House raising concerns over a proposed UCP policy to sell off Crown land in the Peace Country Area. UCP leader Jason Kenney first mentioned the plan during a speech at ​ ​ the Rural Municipalities of Alberta conference in Edmonton last month. “We are challenging the province’s assumption of Crown lands,” the statement from Grand Chief Arthur Noskey read. “The Treaty people have always had a different position on this. The lands ​ have always been our treasury, our food source, and our pharmacy since time immemorial — and are assumed to be unproductive by a man who hopes to be the next premier of Alberta.” Flurry of bills passed in fall session; date of writ drop remains a mystery As the fourth session of the 29th Legislature wrapped up, questions began to swirl around when MLAs will return to their seats in the House. An election must be held on or before May 31, following a 28-day campaign period. Speaking to reporters in the Edmonton International Airport en route to a first ministers’ meeting in Montreal, Premier Rachel Notley would only commit to ensuring “Albertans have a good ​ ​ understanding of what their options are before we go into the next election and that the election will be held within the times the current legislation suggests.” Notley says there “may or may not” be a budget. Reflecting on the fall session, Notley said she is proud of her government work to index income supports for vulnerable Albertans to inflation, cap post-secondary tuition and update family law. Government House Leader Brian Mason was also coy when asked about the legislature’s ​ ​ future, saying he would likely find out about an election call only two hours before the media. The NDP government was expected to bring forward a bill this session banning so-called “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ youth, but Mason said there were unresolved questions on what the legislation should entail and said the agenda became too crowded. Mason — who previously announced he would not seek re-election — delivered an emotional speech in the House meditating on his 18 years as an MLA. "I love this place and I'm going to miss it very much,” he said. “The legislature can get pretty heated at times, but I think we’ve shown a significant and unusual degree of unity over the last number of days and it shows when the chips are down, Albertans set aside their differences and work together,” Mason said, alluding to multi-party support for the oil production cap, as well as other pieces of government legislation. Meanwhile, opposition parties are keen to get into campaign mode and are calling for the election to be held sooner rather than later. UCP Leader Jason Kenney said he wants the NDP to call the election on February 1 so it can ​ ​ be held on the first week of March, the soonest the Elections Act allows. “It would be a huge mistake for them to try to foist on Albertans, as a lame duck government, a budget when their entire fiscal plan is in tatters,” Kenney said of the NDP He also characterized the NDP’s legislative agenda this fall as “remarkably light” and “uninspired,” calling the New Democrats “a government that is cleary running out of gas.” Alberta Party House Leader Greg Clark said he wants the government to release the ​ ​ third-quarter fiscal update before the election so voters can know the state of the province’s finances before heading to the polls. Today’s events December 7 at 6 a.m. – Montreal ​ Premier Rachel Notley will meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, other Canadian premiers ​ ​ ​ ​ and national Indigenous leaders at the Marriott Château Champlain. The meeting will focus on economic development, growth and prosperity of Indigenous communities and businesses. December 7 at 9 a.m. – Edmonton ​ Health Minister Sarah Hoffman will make an announcement about emergency medical services ​ ​ at the Queen Mary Park EMS Station. December 7 at 10 a.m. – Red Deer ​ Red Deer—South NDP MLA Barb Miller will announce a new Red Deer College facility for ​ ​ children and youth. December 7 at 1:30 p.m. – Lethbridge ​ Environment and Parks Minister Shannon Phillips and NDP MLA Maria Fitzpatrick will be at ​ ​ ​ ​ Lethbridge City Hall to announce new supports to fight the opioid crisis, as well as new housing support to address chronic homelessness. Topics of conversation ● Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz said the nation will feel the drop in Western ​ ​ Canadian oil prices, but not to the extent it did 2015. ○ “It is already clear that a painful adjustment is developing for Western Canada, and there will be a meaningful impact on the Canadian macroeconomy,” Poloz said in a year-end economic update on Thursday. ​ ​ ○ “That said, given the consolidation that has taken place in the energy sector since 2014, the net effects of lower oil prices on the Canadian economy as a whole, dollar for dollar, should be smaller than they were in 2015.” ● Prime Minister Justin Trudeau capitulated to Alberta and Saskatchewan, agreeing to ​ ​ add the oil price differential to the agenda of today’s first ministers’ meeting, Global ​ ​ News reported. ​ ​ ○ Speaking to reporters Thursday, Notley said the administrative update is not good enough. “The word ‘oil’ has been added to the agenda, but the amount of time allocated to the conversations, in our view, is not adequate. We are in a very, very significant and serious situation.” ○ “Canada needs Alberta to do well,” the premier said. ○ To coincide with the meeting the Alberta government will run its “Keep Canada Working” ads in three Montreal newspapers this weekend. ● UCP MLA Tany Yao apologized for flipping the bird at one of Deputy Premier Sarah ​ ​ ​ Hoffman’s staffers in the hallways of the legislature. ​ ​ ​ ○ “Hey @jkenney, if decorum is so important to you, why did @tanyyao feel it was appropriate to give one of my staff the finger in the hallway at #ableg today. Apparently he was supposed to pass it on to me…” Hoffman tweeted. ​ ​ ○ Yao replied his actions were in jest, but admitted it was “clearly inappropriate” and inconsistent with the tone Kenney was trying to set. ○ “I apologize wholeheartedly and without reservation for this,” Yao said. ​ ​ ○ In UCP Leader Jason Kenney’s end-of-session remarks, he said his party ​ ​ brought decorum to the House via acts like two-handed clapping instead of banging on a desk. ○ Hoffman said she doesn’t have a problem with banging on a desk in the House, but she does have a problem with MLAs going after her staff. ● United Conservative Party members are accusing newly nomination Calgary—East UCP candidate Peter Singh of winning the nomination through fraud, bribery, forgery and ​ ​ improper inducement, the Calgary Herald reported. ​ ​ ​ ​ ○ The riding is now open after Independent MLA Robyn Luff announced she will ​ ​ not seek re-election. ○ In a news release, the Alberta NDP called on Kenney to refer the fraud to police. ○ Kenney said the party is investigating internally. ● Ex-Fort McMurray MP and former Wildrose Leader Brian Jean wrote an op-ed in the ​ ​ ​ ​ Calgary Herald calling for creative methods to be used to increase petroleum storage. ​ ○ “The Alberta government should look to the example of the U.S. government’s strategic petroleum reserve, which holds the equivalent of a year’s worth of Alberta’s oil production in salt domes in Texas and Louisiana,” Jean said. ○ Jean said Alberta also has many salt and gas domes that could be used for added petroleum storage capacity. News briefs - Non-governmental Alberta Advantage Party Proposed oilsands defamation lawsuit ‘silly’ Alberta Advantage Party Leader Marilyn Burns, who is a civil litigator, says UCP Leader Jason ​ ​ ​ Kenney’s threat to sue environmental groups like Greenpeace for defamation over anti-oilsands ​ messaging is “silly.” Kenney made the threats at the UCP convention in Red Deer in May, as part of his “fight back” strategy. He also announced he would have a war room to correct misinformation on social media in real time. Burns said, filing a defamation suit would require the plaintiff — which in Kenney’s proposal would be the Alberta government — to prove it lost money from the alleged defamation. She questioned how such a lawsuit could proceed legally. “Where would such a lawsuit be filed? In the country or state where the derogatory statement is made? In Alberta? In the state or country where the offending party (defendant) has its head office? Much money could be wasted just arguing where such a lawsuit should be filed,” Burns said in a news release on Thursday.