At a Glance - May 30, 2023
Ethics Commissioner Report
Thursday morning saw the release of the highly anticipated Ethics Commissioner Report concerning Danielle Smith’s involvement in the Artur Pawlowski criminal prosecution. The report concluded that Smith had improperly attempted to influence the independence of the legal system.
Several other highlights of the report include mention that the Commissioner, contrary to what CBC published, could not find any evidence that Danielle Smith or anyone within her office ever contacted any Crown prosecutors. Additionally, the Commissioner recommended that newly elected members of the Legislative Assembly be given mandatory training about the separation of powers between the branches of government. Also recommended was an amendment to the Conflicts of Interest Act to provide a stay of ongoing investigations from when the writ is dropped until the election results are certified.
Jason Kenney Loses Attempt to Have Lawsuit Thrown Out:
Alberta’s top court has denied former premier Jason Kenney’s attempt to have a lawsuit dismissed. Kenney is facing a lawsuit from five environmental groups. The five groups in question were the subject of an inquiry that examined whether they were using foreign funding and misinformation to landlock Alberta oil. The groups allege Kenney intentionally misrepresented findings from the report.
The Alberta Court of Appeal deemed Wednesday the argument that Kenney didn’t identify the groups by name to be insufficient to dismiss the suit.
Endorsements:
So far, this election has seen numerous endorsements on both sides from high-profile figures.
The NDP have been endorsed by several high-ranking PC MLAS including Doug Griffiths, former cabinet minister, and Thomas Lukaszuk, former deputy minister. Additionally, Jim Foster, former PC attorney general, and Blake Pedersen, former Wildrose and PC MLA, also shared their endorsements for the NDP.
Similarly, Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre released an endorsement for the UCP Thursday morning. Poilievre was not the first federal conservative to endorse the UCP as prior to the official start of the election, Stephen Harper, former Prime Minister and leader of the Federal Conservative Party also endorsed them.
Capacity Crisis Open Letter:
Almost 200 emergency room doctors in Alberta have signed a letter calling for the next Albertan government to take action to address the dire situation in emergency rooms. The open letter is not baseless as Albertans that visit the hospital may wait as long as 15 hours to be seen by a doctor in the ER. The open letter attributes the spike in wait times to a shortage of family doctors in Alberta.
Advance Polls Breaking Records:
Advanced polls opened Tuesday and within the first two days, Alberta has seen a record number of advanced voters casting their ballots. As of Wednesday evening, over 317,000 votes had already been cast. Many attribute this surge in advance polling to the convenience resulting from Election Alberta’s Vote Anywhere concept.
Wildfire Updates:
Wildfires continue to burn; however, recent rainy conditions have helped firefighters to battle the blaze. The number of active fires has dropped to approximately half as many as there were two-and-a-half weeks ago when the government declared a state of emergency.
Additionally, while 7,200 Albertans remain displaced, residents in Fox Creek and Swan Hills have been notified that the evacuation orders have been lifted and they can start preparing to return home.
Despite this week having so far yielded positive news for the Alberta wildfires, officials remind the public that the danger is far from resolved and wildfires continue to actively burn.