Bills, Appointments, and Leadership Updates

Next week will mark the one-year anniversary of the 2023 provincial election that saw the United Conservative Party re-elected to the government side of the Alberta Legislature. If you are looking at this term as a timeline of sorts, we are just exiting the honeymoon phase and getting to the nitty-gritty phase.

As we are nearly 25 per cent of the way through the 31st Legislature (or a little less if the fixed election date indeed moves to October), we wanted to use this opportunity to provide a bit of an update on the many things currently happening in and around provincial politics.

Update on Bills

It is expected that the Legislature will rise for the summer sometime next week. Before then, the government will work to finish up debate so they can pass:

·         Bill 18 – Provincial Priorities Act

·         Bill 20 – Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, 2024

·         Bill 21 – Emergency Statutes Amendment Act, 2024

·         Bill 22 – Health Statutes Amendment Act

While there are times when a government will leave bills unresolved before an extended break in the Legislature, the four bills above are critical for the UCP to pass and begin to implement before summer. All of the above legislation come with certain time urgencies (responding to wildfire season, setting up new health agencies, etc.) that cannot wait for the fall sitting.

If the government is able to get all of this legislation passed before the break, it would be quite likely that the fall session would be kicked off with a speech from the throne and a fresh order paper. There are a couple reasons this approach would make sense.

First, it provides a clean slate after a particularly controversial session. Second, it would force the NDP to split their attention on even more items, especially with a new leader incoming.

We are also beginning to see some amendments to the bills above, specifically Bills 18 and 20.

At the time of writing, the amendments for Bill 20 have not been introduced; however, we suspect they will likely be available by Thursday afternoon. Stay tuned to our social media channels as we plan on hosting a webinar to provide updates about what amendments are tabled and how they will impact stakeholders across the province.

This week, Indigenous Relations Minister Ric Wilson introduced an amendment that would include exceptions to who must go through the province to receive federal funding.

In Committee of the Whole, Minister Wison said “this amendment to Bill 18 states that if passed, this bill will not affect Indigenous groups in Alberta. This means that First Nations and Métis settlements will not be affected by this bill. I want to assure Indigenous communities across Alberta that this bill will not affect them or their rights. This is of vital importance as we continue to build new relationships across the province, to strengthen our existing ones.”

In response to the amendment, NDP Critic for Indigenous Relations & Reconciliation Brooks Arcand-Paul shared his support for the amendment, but went onto say “I want to focus on the importance of passing this amendment so that more Indigenous leadership is not bound by the misguided priorities of the provincial government. I’d also like to note that this amendment clearly states to Indigenous leadership that its sovereignty cannot and will not be usurped by the provincial government so long as I and my colleagues on this side of the House sit here.”

New Ethics Commissioner Appointed

Source: Global News

About two weeks ago, we learned who will succeed outgoing Ethics Commissioner, Marguerite Trussler, K.C.

Shawn McLeod, a lawyer by trade, will return to the public service in a new role following the conclusion of a six-month search process. McLeod has served as legal counsel for the federal government as well as the Alberta Labour Relations Board. Additionally, he is the former deputy minister for labour and immigration from 2019-2023. After the last provincial election, he transitioned into a new role as an advisor on special projects for Executive Council.

However, the official opposition is raising red flags about the potentially partisan nature of McLeod’s appointment. Specifically, the NDP point to his nomination bid to run as the UCP candidate in Edmonton-Riverview in 2018. He removed himself from the contest prior to the nomination vote.

They also point to his past donations to the United Conservative party.

Justice Critic Irfan Sabir told media that “the position of ethics commissioner should be someone who is non-partisan, someone who has no previous political ties to the parties that make up the government of Alberta or the official Opposition.”

NDP Leadership Update

The lengthy opposition leadership contest is inching ever closer to a conclusion with just under one month remaining before the results are announced on June 22.

Since we last wrote on this subject, Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan has made the decision to withdraw his name from the ballot. The decision came just before the final payment deadline of May 12. He is the second candidate to withdraw from the race, following Rakhi Pancholi who is now the executive chair of Naheed Nenshi’s campaign.

McGowan has chosen not to endorse another candidate at this time.

In an email to campaign supports, McGowan wrote that “I hope that whoever wins this race will take my insight about workers being the “missing piece” and use it as part of a strategy to beat the UCP and fix the things that are broken in Alberta — so that our province can truly live up to its potential.”

With his departure, the names that will be included on the leadership ballot will be:

·         Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse

·         Kathleen Ganley

·         Sarah Hoffman

·         Naheed Nenshi

The final leadership debate will take place in Edmonton on Sunday, June 2. The party has until June 3 to mail ballots to members, with a voting deadline of June 22.