Prepayment of gas will soon be required
New Democrats outline priorities for fall sitting of new-look provincial legislature
EDMONTON The NDP will introduce close to 15 pieces of legislation ranging from gay-straight alliance protections in schools to cannabis impairment driving laws in the Alberta legislature’s fall sitting.
“We’ll protect the identity of any student who joins a gay-straight alliance (GSA),” government house leader Brian Mason told a Friday news conference. The expected legislation would amend the School Act and require all schools to adopt a policy protecting LGBTQ students.
The sitting, which starts Monday, will be the first for the United Conservative Party — formed in a July merger between the Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties. The UCP is announcing its new leader Saturday after a race between hopefuls Brian Jean, Jason Kenney and Doug Schweitzer.
The floor of the legislative assembly will be markedly different, with a corner set aside for independents, including Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill MLA Karen McPherson, who quit the NDP caucus earlier this month.
Joining her will be Calgary-South East MLA Rick Fraser, who resigned from the UCP caucus in September, as well as Vermilion-Lloydminster MLA Richard Starke, who said he will continue to sit as a Progressive Conservative after he declined to join the UCP.
Embattled Strathmore-Brooks MLA Derek Fildebrandt is also sitting as an independent after leaving the UCP caucus following several controversies. Meanwhile, Calgary-North West MLA Sandra Jansen was sworn in as Alberta’s new infrastructure minister, 11 months after crossing the floor to the NDP from the Progressive Conservatives.
Mason said he’s expecting the government could receive some pushback from the Opposition when introducing the GSA bill — “I would expect ... some of their members are not entirely comfortable with it.”
Interim leader Nathan Cooper said the UCP will review legislation carefully, but emphasized that “in today’s day and age ... we shouldn’t be outing individuals in the LGBTQ community.”
Mason said the first bill to be introduced is related to pre-payment systems at gas stations. The move follows the death of a 54-year-old Fas Gas owner who was killed in Thorsby while trying to prevent a gas-and-dash.
The government is also preparing for the federal legalization of cannabis on July 1. Regulations around distribution and an amendment to the Traffic Safety Act on impaired driving will form two separate pieces of legislation, Mason said.
“I cannot imagine a scenario where we would support government-run distribution centres,” Cooper said Friday.
In response to potential gas-and-dash legislation, he said the UCP wants to “strike the right balance” between improving worker safety and avoiding undue costs for business owners.
“All too often, the government likes to rush legislation through without giving it the appropriate study and due course,” he said.