Opposition pushes for quick election as fall session ends
EDMONTON The fall session of Alberta’s legislature ended Thursday with a standing ovation for its longest-serving MLA, NDP member for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood Brian Mason.
Mason, who isn’t running for re-election, became visibly emotional, prompting speculation that the NDP has decided not to hold a spring session or introduce a budget before calling the election.
Premier Rachel Notley said Thursday morning before boarding a flight to the first minsters meeting in Montreal that the election will happen within legislated timelines, but she was tight-lipped about what that means for legislative business. Asked if she would commit to a pre-election budget, she said “there may or may not be a budget.”
“I will commit to ensuring we consider all the options that are available to us to ensure Albertans have a good understanding of what their options are before we go into the next election,” she said.
Notley said she was pleased with the fall session, particularly legislated indexed benefits under the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped program, post-secondary tuition-fee caps, and changes to the family law act.
‘LIGHT AND UNINSPIRED’
United Conservative leader Jason Kenney begged to differ.
“If you look at the NDP’s legislative agenda this fall, it was remarkably light and uninspired for a government that is clearly running out of gas,” he said.
Kenney said he thinks the government has been “stumbling through the most important issues facing Albertans,” and said it’s “living on borrowed time.”
Speaking with reporters at the legislature Thursday, Kenney said he wanted Notley to call an election as soon as possible under the election act. That means dropping the writ early February for a vote in early March. He said it would be a “huge mistake” to foist a budget on Albertans “when their entire fiscal plan is in tatters.”
Alberta Party house leader Greg Clark also told media Thursday “the sooner the better” for an election, saying his party is ready to go.
FALL-SESSION BILLS
The fall session saw 14 government bills hit the table, starting with Bill 19 which capped postsecondary tuition fees.
Other legislative changes included revoking doctor and health-care licences in cases of patient sexual abuse, a rejig of child-protection laws, removing political control of public pensions, introducing new rules around municipal-election donations, and a deal with large cities that ties their funding to provincial revenues.
One bill that never made it was proposed legislation to ban conversion therapy, the controversial practice of trying to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.