A Premature Conclusion – The Impact of the Spring Sittings and Things to Watch This Summer

After thirty-seven days of legislative debate, the spring sittings in the Assembly have come to a close. Although this round of sittings wrapped up a couple of weeks early, there were still a number of pieces of legislation tabled. In total, there were:

·         Twenty-four government bills

·         Eight Private Members’ Public Bills

·         Two Private Bills

Of the thirty-four pieces of legislation that made their way to the Assembly floor, twenty-two remain outstanding. At the time of writing, there does not appear to be much speculation that this current session will be prorogued – meaning that these bills will likely be spoken to when session resumes on Halloween.

Now, Alberta’s governing and opposition parties enter what will be the final summer before the next provincial election – May 29, 2023. This means developing campaign platforms, completing candidate nominations, and deciding which last-minute legislation will leave the best taste in the electorates’ mouth.

With nearly five full months away from the Assembly, we officially begin the transition to the home stretch of the 30th Legislature.

A Relatively Quiet Sitting

Now, when this writer says “quiet”, it should not be interpreted to mean a lack of legislation or storylines to remember. However, given the everchanging political climate over the past three years, these past three months have felt much less tumultuous government sitting than years prior.

For the premier, there was reason to be optimistic about how this session has gone to date.

“This sitting of the legislature was yet another in which Alberta’s government delivered on the commitments it made to Albertans to create jobs, grow the economy and build a stronger province. I’m particularly pleased we were able to provide real relief to Albertans’ pocketbooks and commit to further action to make life more affordable.” - Premier Jason Kenney

If we were to sum up the three biggest news items in the province since February (outside of internal party politics), we would point to:

1.       The near universal removal of COVID-19 public health restrictions in February;

2.       A 4-1 decision in favour of the provincial government on a Court of Appeal reference on the Impact Assessment Act; and

3.       Bill 15, the Education (Reforming Teacher Profession Discipline) Amendment Act 2022

With respect to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, we now have the benefit of hindsight to look at whether or not things have significantly improved on the health front. As of February 26th, Alberta had 1,259 individuals in hospital with COVID-19 (88 of which were in intensive care).

As of May 25th, there were 1,040 in hospital (-219) and 31 in ICU (-57) as the province continues to manage the Omicron wave and its subvariants that have emerged. 609 Albertans have lost their lives to COVID—19 since February 26th. This data tells us a few things, but one of those conclusions is that the province’s death rate is a significant factor in the reduction of hospitalization totals.

The Impact Assessment Act opinion from the Court of Appeal was perhaps the biggest win for the United Conservatives in this session to date. The Government of Alberta asked the court to provide its opinion on the constitutionality of the so-called “no more pipelines” bill that was implemented by the federal government. When all was said and done, the province’s top court agreed with Alberta.

“The negotiated division of powers lies at the heart of what makes this country what it is, and why, despite significant tensions from time to time, Canada has been able to survive and prosper since Confederation. It remains one of this country’s greatest strengths.”

The federal government has already announced its intention to appeal the decision.

Finally, we saw the impact of Bill 15 on the latest chapter of relations between the provincial government and the Alberta Teachers’ Association. In essence, the bill will establish the Alberta Teaching Profession Commission that will take over the responsibility of teacher discipline from the ATA. This legislation has easily become the most controversial bill of the session, but it ultimately passed earlier this month.

ATA President Jason Schilling issued a statement when the bill passed, arguing that “Bill 15 is an effort to punish the Association and teachers for daring to stand up to the government’s bad decisions when it comes to education, and to coerce us into complying with their agenda, but we will not waver. We will continue today and into the future to stand up for students, for teachers and for public education.”

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange also issued a statement on the bill – hers in the form of an open letter. “Currently, Alberta is the only Canadian province where the teachers’ union has sole responsibility, set out in legislation, to deal with discipline of their active members. This new legislation and arms length process focuses on student safety and public assurance.”

Of course, it is difficult to summarize months of work in two short pages. Although plenty has occurred since late-February, it is perhaps more critical to look at what is yet to come. We will dive more into the next chapter of provincial politics in this article as well as on page four.

UCP Leadership Race

While both parties are undoubtedly preparing for Election 2023, the United Conservatives find themselves balancing those responsibilities with the work needed to run an internal campaign process to determine who will be their next leader.

At the time of writing, we do not know exactly when the leadership race will come to an end, nor the official rules that will govern candidates. If I were a betting man, I’d suspect the race will come to a conclusion before session resumes on October 31, 2022. But there are a few things that we do know, namely, the committee established to determine the rules.

At the very top is Chair David Price – a labour and employment lawyer from Strikeman Elliot LLP. He will be joined by:

·         Former Members of Parliament Devinder Shory (Calgary Northeast, 2008-2015) and Rick Casson (Lethbridge, 1997-2011);

·         Maryann Chichak (former mayor of Whitecourt);

·         Ryan Becker (former UCP president);

·         Constituency association presidents Casey DesChamp, Larry Spagnolo, Tim Heger, and Ron Young.

·         UCP President Cynthia Moore, CFO Maxwell DeGroat, and Vice President Joe Friesenhan will join as non- voting members.

Additionally, the board of directors for the United Conservative Party has confirmed that only personal credit cards, personal cheques, or money orders will be accepted as forms of payment as of June 1.

“A leadership race is a time of renewal and we’re excited to showcase the strength of our team and get on with the race.” UCP President Cynthia Moore

As we get a better sense of the names who will be official candidates in the race, we will provide in-depth coverage in a future issue of The NEWS.