An Alberta Party bump, forestry merger and Eid al-Adha celebration

Alberta Party leader Greg Clark couldn’t keep the smile off his face Monday.

Speaker Robert Wanner has ruled his party will get additional questions in the house and more cash now that it has another MLA.

Clark would also like official party status. It’s still not quite there but, as he said Monday, “baby steps.”

He said the change means his party, which doubled in size when former NDP MLA Karen McPherson crossed the floor, can better hold the government to account.

OFFICIAL MERGER

Bill 25 isn’t the sexiest news, but it formalizes a change among forestry regulators to reflect how they already work. The bill, introduced Monday, merges the College of Alberta Professional Foresters and the College of Alberta Professional Forest Technologists to save time and money. More than 90 per cent of members recently voted in support of the change.

EID AL-ADHA CELEBRATION

The legislature building rotunda was packed Monday for an Eid al-Adha celebration hosted by Wanner.

Eid al-Adha, the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice, is the culmination of the hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

Community and Social Services Minister Irfan Sabir and United Conservative Party house leader Jason Nixon joined representatives from Alberta’s Muslim community to deliver remarks.