Province of Alberta The 27th Legislature Second Session Alberta Hansard Wednesday, March 11, 2009 Issue 13 The Honourable Kenneth R. Kowalski, Speaker

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The 27th Legislature Second Session Kowalski, Hon. Ken, Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock, Speaker Cao, Wayne C.N., Calgary-Fort, Deputy Speaker and Chair of Committees Mitzel, Len, Cypress-Medicine Hat, Deputy Chair of Committees Ady, Hon. Cindy, Calgary-Shaw (PC), Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation Allred, Ken, St.

Albert (PC) Amery, Moe, Calgary-East (PC) Anderson, Rob, Airdrie-Chestermere (PC), Parliamentary Assistant, Solicitor General and Public Security Benito, Carl, Edmonton-Mill Woods (PC) Berger, Evan, Livingstone-Macleod (PC), Parliamentary Assistant, Sustainable Resource Development Bhardwaj, Naresh, Edmonton-Ellerslie (PC) Bhullar, Manmeet Singh, Calgary-Montrose (PC), Parliamentary Assistant, Advanced Education and Technology Blackett, Hon.

Lindsay, Calgary-North West (PC), Minister of Culture and Community Spirit Blakeman, Laurie, Edmonton-Centre (L), Deputy Leader of the Official Opposition Official Opposition House Leader Boutilier, Guy C., Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo (PC) Brown, Dr. Neil, QC, Calgary-Nose Hill (PC) Calahasen, Pearl, Lesser Slave Lake (PC) Campbell, Robin, West Yellowhead (PC), Deputy Government Whip Chase, Harry B., Calgary-Varsity (L), Official Opposition Whip Dallas, Cal, Red Deer-South (PC) Danyluk, Hon. Ray, Lac La Biche-St.

Paul (PC), Minister of Municipal Affairs DeLong, Alana, Calgary-Bow (PC) Denis, Jonathan, Calgary-Egmont (PC) Doerksen, Arno, Strathmore-Brooks (PC) Drysdale, Wayne, Grande Prairie-Wapiti (PC) Elniski, Doug, Edmonton-Calder (PC) Evans, Hon. Iris, Sherwood Park (PC), Minister of Finance and Enterprise Fawcett, Kyle, Calgary-North Hill (PC) Forsyth, Heather, Calgary-Fish Creek (PC) Fritz, Hon. Yvonne, Calgary-Cross (PC), Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Goudreau, Hon.

Hector G., Dunvegan-Central Peace (PC), Minister of Employment and Immigration Griffiths, Doug, Battle River-Wainwright (PC), Parliamentary Assistant, Agriculture and Rural Development Groeneveld, Hon. George, Highwood (PC), Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hancock, Hon. Dave, QC, Edmonton-Whitemud (PC), Minister of Education, Government House Leader Hayden, Hon. Jack, Drumheller-Stettler (PC), Minister of Infrastructure Hehr, Kent, Calgary-Buffalo (

L) Horne, Fred, Edmonton-Rutherford (PC) Horner, Hon. Doug, Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert (PC), Minister of Advanced Education and Technology Jablonski, Hon. Mary Anne, Red Deer-North (PC), Minister of Seniors and Community Supports Jacobs, Broyce, Cardston-Taber-Warner (PC) Johnson, Jeff, Athabasca-Redwater (PC) Johnston, Art, Calgary-Hays (PC) Kang, Darshan S., Calgary-McCall (

L) Klimchuk, Hon. Heather, Edmonton-Glenora (PC), Minister of Service Alberta Knight, Hon. Mel, Grande Prairie-Smoky (PC), Minister of Energy Leskiw, Genia, Bonnyville-Cold Lake (PC) Liepert, Hon. Ron, Calgary-West (PC), Minister of Health and Wellness Lindsay, Hon. Fred, Stony Plain (PC), Solicitor General and Minister of Public Security Lukaszuk, Thomas A., Edmonton-Castle Downs (PC), Parliamentary Assistant, Municipal Affairs Lund, Ty, Rocky Mountain House (PC) MacDonald, Hugh, Edmonton-Gold Bar (

L) Marz, Richard, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills (PC) Mason, Brian, Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood (NDP), Leader of the NDP Opposition McFarland, Barry, Little Bow (PC) McQueen, Diana, Drayton Valley-Calmar (PC), Parliamentary Assistant, Environment Morton, Hon. F.L., Foothills-Rocky View (PC), Minister of Sustainable Resource Development Notley, Rachel, Edmonton-Strathcona (NDP), Deputy Leader of the NDP Opposition, NDP Opposition House Leader Oberle, Frank, Peace River (PC), Government Whip Olson, Verlyn, QC, Wetaskiwin-Camrose (PC) Ouellette, Hon.

Luke, Innisfail-Sylvan Lake (PC), Minister of Transportation Pastoor, Bridget Brennan, Lethbridge-East (L), Deputy Official Opposition Whip Prins, Ray, Lacombe-Ponoka (PC) Quest, Dave, Strathcona (PC) Redford, Hon. Alison M., QC, Calgary-Elbow (PC), Minister of Justice and Attorney General Renner, Hon. Rob, Medicine Hat (PC), Minister of Environment, Deputy Government House Leader Rodney, Dave, Calgary-Lougheed (PC) Rogers, George, Leduc-Beaumont-Devon (PC) Sandhu, Peter, Edmonton-Manning (PC) Sarich, Janice, Edmonton-Decore (PC), Parliamentary Assistant, Education Sherman, Dr.

Raj, Edmonton-Meadowlark (PC), Parliamentary Assistant, Health and Wellness Snelgrove, Hon. Lloyd, Vermilion-Lloydminster (PC), President of the Treasury Board Stelmach, Hon. Ed, Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville (PC), Premier, President of Executive Council Stevens, Hon. Ron, QC, Calgary-Glenmore (PC), Deputy Premier, Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations Swann, Dr. David, Calgary-Mountain View (L), Leader of the Official Opposition Taft, Dr. Kevin, Edmonton-Riverview (

L) Tarchuk, Hon. Janis, Banff-Cochrane (PC), Minister of Children and Youth Services Taylor, Dave, Calgary-Currie (

L) VanderBurg, George, Whitecourt-Ste. Anne (PC) Vandermeer, Tony, Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview (PC) Weadick, Greg, Lethbridge-West (PC) Webber, Len, Calgary-Foothills (PC), Parliamentary Assistant, Energy Woo-Paw, Teresa, Calgary-Mackay (PC) Xiao, David H., Edmonton-McClung (PC), Parliamentary Assistant, Employment and Immigration Zwozdesky, Hon. Gene, Edmonton-Mill Creek (PC), Minister of Aboriginal Relations, Deputy Government House Leader Officers and Officials of the Legislative Assembly Clerk W.J. David McNeil Clerk Assistant/ Director of House Services Louise J.

Kamuchik Clerk of Journals/Table Research Micheline S. Gravel Senior Parliamentary Counsel Robert H. Reynolds, QC Senior Parliamentary Counsel Shannon Dean Sergeant-at-Arms Brian G. Hodgson Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms J. Ed Richard Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms William C. Semple Managing Editor of Alberta Hansard Liz Sim

March 11, 2009 Alberta Hansard 333 Legislative Assembly of Alberta Title: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 1:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, 2009 [The Speaker in the chair] head: Prayers The Speaker: Good afternoon. Welcome back. Let us pray. Let us keep ever mindful of the special and unique opportunity we have to work for our constituents and our province, and in that work let us find strength and wisdom. Amen. Please be seated. head: Introduction of Visitors The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Employment and Immigration. Mr. Goudreau: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I rise to introduce to you and through you to the members of this Assembly His Excellency Werner Brandstetter, the ambassador of the Republic of Austria. Accompanying the ambassador is the honorary consul of Austria, Mr. Nikolaus Demiantschuk. This is His Excellency’s first official visit to Alberta, and I was very pleased to host a lunch reception for him earlier today. Mr. Speaker, Alberta and Austria share much in common. We’ve got well-developed market economies, we’ve got a very high standard of living as well as majestic mountains and world-class skiers.

Alberta looks forward to welcoming Austrian skiers who will compete in the World Cup events prior to the Vancouver 2010 games. I would now ask the ambassador and the honorary consul to please rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of this Assembly. head: Introduction of Guests The Speaker: The hon. the Premier. Mr. Stelmach: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’m very pleased to introduce to you and through you to all members of the Legislature 11 very special visitors from Vegreville composite school who drove out on this very cold day to visit us in the Legislature.

They are seated in the visitors’ gallery. They are accompanied today by teachers Ms Tracy Cook and Mrs. D onna Stepanick. I would ask them all to rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of this Assembly. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Mill Woods. Mr. Benito: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It is my honour to introduce to you and through you to all members of this Assembly a group of 24 students from John Paul I school in the constituency of Edmonton-Mill Woods. The group is led by their teacher, Mr. Dave King, and parent helpers Mr. Albert Pubantz and Mrs. Bosha Joyce.

They are seated in the public gallery, and I would ask them to rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of this Assembly. Thank you. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Rutherford. Mr. Horne: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It’s my privilege today to introduce to you and through you to members of the Assembly a very distinguished grade 6 class and their teachers from Richard Secord elementary school in my constituency of Edmonton- Rutherford. The class is here today to tour the Legislature and see the democratic process in action.

They are accompanied by teachers Deb Colvin-MacDormand and Richard Bonneville and parent helpers Rhonda Peter and Nick Smith. I’m very proud of all of these students, and I’d like to ask them to please rise along with their teachers and parent helpers and receive our warm welcome. The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Culture and Community Spirit. Mr. Blackett: Merci, Mr. Speaker. Today is part of Les Rendez- vous de la Francophonie. I have the privilege of introducing to you and through you to Members of the Legislative Assembly represen- tatives from Alberta’s vibrant francophone arts and cultural commu- nity.

Since 2005 the government of Alberta has proudly recognized Regroupement artistique francophone de l’Alberta, RAFA, as one of 11 provincial arts service organizations. This has led to enhanced support for local francophone artists in their professional develop- ment and marketing their cultural talent. Indeed, 2008 marked an important year for French language artistic and cultural products in Alberta with numerous albums, book releases, popular festivals like the cInéMAGINE international film festival in Fort Macleod, and pa rticipation of Alberta artists in national tours.

This year I’m proud to announce that Edmonton will host the 20th annual Chant’Ouest showcase, highlighting the best of our French language singer-songwriters from western Canada. I want to ask our guests to stand as I introduce them: Mrs. Josée Thibeault, president of RAFA and member of the Premier’s Council on Arts and Culture; Mrs. Mariette Rainville, director of RAFA; Mrs. Daniele Petit-Chatelet, visual and literary artist; and Miss Ariane Mahrÿke Lemire, singer-songwriter and winner of the 2008 western Canadian music award for outstanding francophone recording.

I would ask all members of this Assembly to give these guests a warm welcome to our Legislature. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Decore. Mrs. Sarich: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today is part of Les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie. On behalf of the hon. Minister of Education I have the distinct privilege of introducing to you and through you to the Members of the Legislative Assembly members of the Alberta federation of francophone school authorities. Alberta students recognize the importance of second language.

Alberta has the largest francophone program in western Canada and one of the strongest French immersion and FSL programs, totalling more than 180,000 students. This represents 1 in 3 Alberta students learning French, and we can be proud since our French-speaking students are achieving at the level of proficiencies that are recognized by many national and international standards. I am very pleased to welcome our guests representing francophone education in our province and would ask them to stand as I introduce them: Mr. Fred Kreiner, president of the federation; Mr.

Gérard Lavigne, executive director of the federation; Mr. Martin Blanchet, school trustee, Greater North Central Francophone Education Region No. 2. I would ask all the member s of the Assembly to give these guests the very warm welcome of our Legislature. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Manning. Mr. Sandhu: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s an honour to rise in the House today to introduce to you and through you to all members of this Assembly four women who are important to me. First, behind every successful man is a great woman, and in the public gallery today sits my wife, Kamal.

Kamal and I just celebrated our 25th

Alberta Hansard March 11, 2009334 anniversary at the end of January 2009, and I thank her for putting up with so much over the years. Second, I have Rupinder Sandhu. She was very helpful to me during my election campaign. She knocked on doors no matter how cold it was. Next, my sister-in-law Manpreet Sandhu is also here today. Finally, Kiran Pujji is visiting my family from New York. Even with how cold it is, she has braved our winter and is here in the gallery today. I would ask these four women to please rise and receive the trad itional welcome of the Assembly. The Speaker: The hon.

Member for Edmonton-Highlands- Norwood. Mr. Mason: Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. Today I’m very pleased to introduce to you and through you to this Assembly Emrys Jacobs, who is a second-year social work student at Grant MacEwan College and currently doing her placement work at my constituency office in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood. Emrys also volunteers as a relationship abuse prevention educator for the Canadian Red Cross violence and abuse prevention program, a program that does valuable outreach to Alberta youth.

I really do appreciate the work that she does in my constituency office, and I would now ask her to rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of this Assembly. 1:40 The Speaker: Are there others? The hon. Member for Edmonton- Calder. Mr. Elniski: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It’s my pleasure to introduce to you and through you to the members of the Assembly eight people from the Edmonton Neighbourhood Watch program: Merv Swityk, past president; Arlene Kemble, vice-president; Olive Sydor, treasurer – and I’d just like to add that Olive was a runner-up for this year’s SAGE awards for outstanding volunteer contributions to her community – Mr. Ralph Sell, the south director; Ms Linda Chasse, the central director; Mr. Lance Lamond, director at large; Miss Denise Thursby, program director; and, of course, my lovely wife, Barbara Grodaes, communications director.

I will be discussing Edmonton Neighbourhood Watch and what they do for our commu- nity in a member’s statement in a few moments this afternoon. For now I would ask the group to rise and r eceive the traditional warm greeting of the Assembly. head: Statements by the Speaker Average Length of Service of Members 12th Anniversary of Elected Members The Speaker: Hon. members, the Legislative Assembly of Alberta has now been in operation for 104 years, and nearly 800 different members have had the privilege of being here. The average length of service is about 8.1 years per member.

Today I’d like to acknowl- edge nine individuals who were elected for the first time on March 11, 1997. They have now served almost 50 per cent longer than the average length of service for an hon. member. The hon. Member for Edmonton-Whitemud and Minister of Education; the hon. Member for Calgary-Glenmore and our Deputy Premier and Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations; the hon. Member for Sherwood Park, our hon. Minister of Finance and Enterprise; the hon. Member for Banff-Cochrane, our hon. Minister of Children and Youth Services; the hon. Member for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo; the hon.

Deputy Speaker and hon. Member for Calgary-Fort; the hon. former Deputy Speaker and hon. Member for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills; the hon. deputy Leader of the Official Opposition, the hon. Member for Edmonton-Centre; and the hon. Member for Edmonton-Gold Bar are nine members who’ve now served 12 years in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. head: Members’ Statements The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Calder. Neighbourhood Watch Program Mr. Elniski: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Edmonton Neighbour- hood Watch Program Society is an organization that gets citizens involved and engaged in their communities.

We all value safe communities, and we all strive to live in one. The volunteers of Neighbourhood Watch report suspicious activities in their neigh- bourhoods and reduce crime by ensuring that everyone is aware of their surroundings and looking out for one another. Having more people involved in neighbourhood watches increases the safety of the community. I want my constituents to feel safe in their homes, neighbourhoods, and workpl aces, and I am sure that all my fellow MLAs would agree.

Albertans want to feel protected from crime and the fear associ- ated with it, and I believe that Neighbourhood Watch plays an important role in ensuring that each community is secure. If you aren’t already a member of Neighbourhood Watch, join. I am proud to say that my wife has been actively involved in Neighbourhood Watch for many years, as are the visitors in the gallery that I introduced earlier. Crime prevention and safety start with involve- ment, so let’s get started. Thank you. Agricultural Safety Week Mr. Griffiths: Mr.

Speaker, March 11 to 17 is being celebrated as Agricultural Safety Week across Canada. In Alberta our agricultural legacy has a wide-ranging influence across our province for the great economic benefit and the employment it provides. I’d like to encourage all Albertans to recognize and participate in Agricultural Safety Week. This year’s theme focuses on: Personal Protective Equipment Only Works If You Use It!

It is one thing to have the tools at hand to adequately protect yourself from danger, but it’s quite another to take a proactive approach and use protective equipment all the time, every day, and in every area of farm operations. We have all seen the tragedy of injuries and death that can occur due to lack of attention, lack of awareness, or from not using personal protective equipment.

Agriculture and Rural Development staff work with many groups, such as the Grande Prairie safe communities society, Red Deer safety city, Safe Communities Central Alberta association, Alberta Fire Chiefs Association, the Progressive Farmer Foundation, the Environmental Farm Plan Company, and many others to raise farm safety awareness and promote workplace safety best practices. Safety partners include 69 agricultural societies, agricultural service boards, 4-H clubs, schools, the Alberta Farm Safety Centre, and the Ag-Info Centre to deliver prevention programs and workshops.

In Alberta we promote farm safety through a number of initiatives and a variety of awareness programs during Agricultural Safety Week. These range from displays on hearing safety and protection to reminders to wash chemicals from contaminated clothing. Family and child safety is also a key component of the initiative. Among the notable events that occurred during Agriculture Safety Week is a series of safety sessions developed to run with 4-H clubs and rural youth. More importantly, this government also believes that farm safety goes beyond this week of commemoration and is a year-round priority.

March 11, 2009 Alberta Hansard 335 In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I call on all Albertans to promote farm safety during the week of March 11 to 17 and to reinforce good farm safety habits all year long. Thank you. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Centre. Neighbourhood Revitalization Project Ms Blakeman: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize and celebrate a special project taking place in the fabulous constituency of Edmonton-Centre between two communities, Queen Mary Park and Central McDougall.

Neighbourhood revitalization is a project to help communities identify their strengths, capacities, and resources and to then use these to revitalize their neighbour- hoods. Residents set their own goals and plan on how they want to do this. The project takes places over three to five years and is a long consultation, planning, and implementation process. The revitalization is guided and supported by the wonderful folks at the city of Edmonton community services. I’d like to single out Wai Tse Ramirez as the project co-ordinator and her colleague Marian Bruin as well.

In addition to these two, I’ve seen a number of other community services employees helping out as animators, session recorders, and facilitators. My thanks to all of them. We’re pretty excited about this process as we’ve seen it used to great success in the Alberta Avenue area. They have completed their planning and implementation stage, and it has brought great changes to their area. A local coffee shop featuring nearby artists is now in operation, a winter festival, a summer folk festival, and the list goes on. For Queen Mary Park and Central McDougall we have great hopes.

Both of these neighbour hoods have long, proud traditions. Queen Mary Park is built on the old Hudson’s Bay reserve land. It is a strong, tight community which has been home to many Ukrai- nian and eastern European immigrants and is now welcoming newcomers from Cambodia, Sudan, and Somalia. Central McDougall is also home to a United Nations of different cultures, ethnic backgrounds, and faiths and has a large, long-standing aboriginal community. Residents look to this process to help build a stronger, safe, welcoming neighbourhood in which to raise kids and grow old.

Many thanks to the city of Edmonton for investing in us and for committing to this process which allows the people who live there to define and build their own futures. Thank you. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Egmont. Alberta Consumer Champion Awards Mr. Denis: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It’s with pleasure that I rise today to acknowledge the winners of this year’s Alberta consumer champion awards. The awards were presented Monday morning by the hon. Minister of Service Alberta, and I had the pleasure of attending the ceremony. The consumer champion awards are unique in Canada.

They recognize and honour individuals and organizations that have gone above and beyond to advocate for Alberta consumers and to contribute to a fair marketplace. This year nine individuals, journalists, businesses, and organizations received an award in recognition of their outstanding efforts to help consumers make informed decisions. As well, three bright and talented young people received an award as part of a poster competition challenging teenagers to raise awareness of consumer issues facing Alberta’s youth.

Monday’s award recipients each demonstrated a clear commit- ment to informing consumers and businesses of their rights and responsibilities. Mr. Speaker, their contributions have made a tangible difference to our province, and they deserve to be recog- nized for that. I was very impressed by the array of different ideas and initiatives highlighted during the awards ceremony. This was especially true of the young people, each of whom designed an impressive poster that helps raise awareness about a specific consumer issue.

They all showed some incredible creativity and innovation, and it makes me proud to see what young people can accomplish. Youth today face more challenges with consumer issues than ever before, so having this specific award program is a good way of encouraging young people to become more involved in consumer awareness and education. Mr. Speaker, it’s exciting to see the variety of ways that Alberta organizations are doing their part to educate and inform consumers. The consumer champion awards are a great way to acknowledge and celebrate those in our province who are working hard to make a difference.

Thank you. head: Oral Question Period The Speaker: First Official Opposition main question. The hon. Leader of the Official Opposition. Release of Partially Treated Waste Water at Suncor Site Dr. Swann: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Athabasca River is without doubt being contaminated from releases related to resource activity. Last year a million litres of oil and grease leaked into the Athabasca River from a Suncor facility. Now Suncor has been charged with 90 counts of dumping untreated waste water into the Athabasca River. To the Premier.

Self-monitoring alone by industry has led to two years of crap going into the Athabasca River – two years. When will the Premier do the right thing to protect our most precious resource and fully fund government capacity to monitor and enforce standards? 1:50 Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is right: what went into the river was crap. It wasn’t any leak from the tailings ponds. These are sewage lagoons on-site for the camp and some of the other related activities. We have increased the dollars for monitoring. This shows that the system is working.

Anybody that abuses the law, especially environmental law, and regulations will be charged and brought to justice. The Speaker: I take it that we’re talking about human refuse. The hon. leader. Dr. Swann: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On Monday this week the minister stood here and repeated once again that the Athabasca River has never been contaminated from resource activity. Well, given the million litres of oil and grease last year, the now revealed two years of untreated waste going into the river, and decades of tailings ponds leaking into groundwater, how can the minister stand up and support these statements?

The evidence is overwhelmingly against it. Mr. Renner: Mr. Speaker, let’s get this straight. The issue that is at hand, the issue of this court case that is being heard, is over the

Alberta Hansard March 11, 2009336 release of contaminants from domestic sewage systems. It’s no different than a similar kind of occurrence that might happen with the city of Edmonton in their domestic waste sewer or any other municipality in the province. The fact of the matter is that it is not directly related to industrial development. It is, however, a serious offence. We take it very seriously, and that’s why we laid charges. The Speaker: The hon. leader. Dr. Swann: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These charges were laid a year ago, in February 2008, right in the middle of an election.

Can the Premier tell us why the public was never informed of two years of contamination? Was this buried for political advantage? Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, the charges were laid against the company. I would think that at least in this province under a Conservative government people are innocent until proven guilty. I think that that’s the premise of the law that we follow. The Speaker: Second Official Opposition main question. The hon. Member for Calgary-Currie. Provincial Fiscal Policies Mr. Taylor: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The whole point of a Fiscal Responsibility Act is to make sure that the government is fiscally responsible. Of course, the legislation worked well when the government was rolling in money. But now, just months after things started to look bad, we’re changing the rules. If this government had been fiscally responsible from day one, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion today. But they weren’t, so we are. To the Premier: will the Premier admit that the Fiscal Responsibility Act was nothing more than a stunt in the first place since it was never actually effected? Mr. Stelmach: Mr.

Speaker, this government is very fiscally responsible. This question came up yesterday from the media. We talked about the $23 billion of debt that we paid off and also the money that went into the heritage savings trust fund and the billions that went into endowments. We also invested over $42 billion in infrastructure between 1993 and 2008. We set aside $14 billion both to the capital and sustainability funds.

The most important thing is that yesterday I was not able to determine how much money during this period of time, our net contribution, went to Ottawa to support programs across this country, which I would think would be in the billions. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Taylor: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Premier be introduc- ing a long-term fiscal strategy along with the legislation to scrap the Fiscal Responsibility Act to make sure they get it right next time around? Mr.

Stelmach: We will continue to do what we have done: be very fiscally responsible and lay out long-term plans for the province in terms of keeping up with our infrastructure and maintaining our health and education and social programs. We are, I believe, still the only jurisdiction that’s mandated by law to report on a quarterly basis. This is very open and transparent and gives information to Albertans, and they are able to track both the expenses and the revenue stream of the province. Mr. Taylor: Mr.

Speaker, will the Premier admit that it was a mistake to spend wildly rather than saving more aggressively when we had the money so that changing the law could have been avoided in the first place? Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, I think that if one was to look at Hansard over the last 15 years, he would see that the members opposite had been asking for even more spending. Whenever we brought forward budgets, I never heard at all, not once recorded in Hansard, the opposition say: “Oh, no. Please, no more. No more; this is just the right amount of spending. No. You’re spending too much.” I haven’t seen that as yet.

However, they will have a chance when the budget is introduced on April 7. We’ve listened to Albertans, who said to tighten up the spending, and we will. They want to see reductions in spending. They will see that, and I’m sure that they will be supporting the budget. The Speaker: Third Official Opposition main question. The hon. Member for Edmonton-Gold Bar. Assembly of Land for Large Infrastructure Projects Mr. MacDonald: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is clear that the government policy set out in Bill 19 is extremely controversial. Landowners across this province are stating that its powers are far too great.

They’re also furious about the arrogance on the part of this government in introducing this bill without consultation. In the face of this uproar the Premier is now talking a bout amending the bill, a lack of confidence, certainly, in his own legislation. To the Premier: what amendments will the government be introducing to this policy? The Speaker: Okay. Hon. members, this bill has not even been moved in second reading, and we’re already talking a bout amend- ments. Surely there’s a process for dealing with policy and nothing specific about any of this bill. Mr.

Stelmach: I won’t talk about the amendments but the policy. The policy is to obviously assure Albertans with clarity in wording that we will be open, we will be transparent, and we will be fair to all landowners. Speaking about changes, when this question came up yesterday in the news media, I said, you know, this Legislative Assembly is where we debate legislation that comes forward. And about the only bill that I know we didn’t do – sorry, Mr. Speaker – amendments was when we talked about songs or mushrooms. The rest of the time we did make changes. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. MacDonald: Thank you.

Given that the government is already talking about changing its own bill, it’s indicating that the b ill is seriously flawed. Now, we need to discuss improving the system of land acquisition, and we need to bring in affected and interested parties to a committee of this Legislature in order to do so. Again to the Premier: will the Premier refer this bill to the Standing Commit- tee on the Economy so that they can have a look at it and make changes that would be representative of the views of landowners? Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, I don’t direct legislation to the all-party committee.

This Legislative Assembly makes the decision. Mr. MacDonald: I don’t believe that. Why is the government afraid of the detailed study and the

March 11, 2009 Alberta Hansard 337 consultation that would come from a committee’s deliberations? What does this government have to hide regarding this flawed policy? Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, what we want to do is improve on the policy, entrench in legislation clarity so that all landowners feel comfortable as to how we’ll acquire land in the future for public roadways, transmission lines, infrastructure that the public benefits from. We have a duty to work with landowners, to treat them fairly, and at the conclusion of the debate I know that we’ll have a very good piece of policy and maybe some legislation.

Thank you. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Highlands- Norwood. Release of Partially Treated Waste Water at Suncor Site (continued) Mr. Mason: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. This government tries to hide its black eye in the tar sands by insisting that oil and gas companies are not polluting Alberta’s waterways. This government has trusted those companies to police themselves and lets them go on filing neat and tidy annual reports about how they run wonderful, clean operations.

It’s all very warm and fuzzy until we learn that this government allowed Suncor to dump raw sewage into the Athabasca River for three years while it looked the other way. My question is to the Premier: why did you hide it from Albertans that Suncor has been lying to the government about polluting the Athabasca all along? 2:00 Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, once again the hon. member uses language that’s quite offensive to people that are not in this Legisla- tive Assembly, infusing language so that he gets a headline in the paper. This is serious. We are prosecuting.

At the moment this is before the courts, and I would just suggest to let the courts do their work. We’ll monitor it as it’s proceeding through the court system, but it’s improper to talk about the charges in this Assembly. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Mason: Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, what went into the Athabasca is not too dissimilar from that answer. The government has avoided its responsibility to protect the environment, which has given this province an international black eye. It has not hired enough inspectors to police industry, depending instead on self-regulation by polluters.

The question is to the Premier. Why does this government naïvely trust in some of the biggest polluters in this province to turn themselv es in instead of getting serious about enforcing Alberta’s pollution laws? Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, one of the first things as elected Premier was to move on hiring additional environmental monitoring staff in the area around Fort McMurray. We’ve done that. We’ve also ensured that we brought more infrastructure dollars into the community.

Most importantly, we did hire more people in Environ- ment to monitor the situation, inspect, and as a result we’re able to of course track some of the alleged infractions. Again, we’ll let the court decide. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Mason: Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, this govern- ment likes to hide the truth about pollution in the Athabasca River from Albertans. It denies that there’s cancer in the water in Fort Chipewyan, and it looks the other way when Suncor flushes raw sewage into the river and then lies about it.

It took four years to swear some of the charges, and no public announcement was ever made. My question is to the Premier. Why did you take up to four years to bring charges against Suncor, and why did you fail to let Albertans know what was going on? Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, to give you an example of how some ramp up some of the stories around Fort McMurray, water in the Athabasca River has been monitored since the first day the oil sands were developed, well over 30 years. In fact, air quality is monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

You know, it wasn’t that long ago there was a fish, a goldeye, that was caught in the Athabasca River. In the headlines everywhere was this double-jawed fish. Finally, the investigation has been completed, and I think a University of Alberta professor has confirmed that the appearance of a second jaw on the fish is a natural phenomenon. Did we see that in the headlines? No. But it’s the continued assault on industry. We’re trying to grow jobs.

We’re trying to do the best job possible in terms of monitoring and controlling our environment and finding the balance between development and environment, and you hear this every day. It does get frustrating sometimes. Farm Worker Safety Mr. Drysdale: Mr. Speaker, today marks the start of Agriculture Safety Week, which runs until March 17. With more than 49,000 farms, more than 52 million acres of farmland, and more than 50,000 Albertans employed in primary agriculture, farm safety is important to many Albertans. We all know that education and awareness are vital components of farm safety.

Can the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development tell this Assembly what new steps are being taken to deal with farm safety? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Groeneveld: Well, thanks, Mr. Speaker. As the Premier has so patiently explained over the last two days, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Employ- ment and Immigration are working together to actively seek input of our agriculture industry. So we’ll look closely at the options of running nonfarm businesses operating on farmlands, such as construction workers.

We will also examine ways to distinguish between family farms and corporate farms for regulatory and legislative purposes. However, we’ve said all along that we would not make changes to this legislation without ensuring that all interested parties have a chance to provide input. Mr. Drysdale: To the same minister: what farm safety training opportunities and resources are currently available to Alberta’s farm employers and operators? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Groeneveld: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Indeed, we do have some new materials out there. We have a variety of print publications, of course.

We have CDs, DVDs, and fact sheets that are all available free of charge. The Farm Safety: It’s No Accident CD provides farm operators with safety information and a series of checklists to ensure that their operations are safe working environ- ments. Our farm employer’s guide to job orientation and training takes employers through a step-by-step process to ensure that new and young workers are properly trained.

Alberta Hansard March 11, 2009338 Mr. Drysdale: Mr. Speaker, farms tend to be family or communally owned operations in Alberta, employing a mix of family members and hired staff. My second supplemental question is to the Minister of Employment and Immigration. What protection do farm workers have under provincial legislation? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Goudreau: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Farm and ranch employ- ees are covered by the Employment Standards Code as it pertains to termination pay or maternity or parental leave as well as for payment of agreed-upon wages.

Farm employers may apply to have volun- tary WC coverage for their farm workers as well, and that’s a choice that they can make. If there is a mechanized process for packaging on site, then the provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act apply. Employers are required to assess hazards and have mechanisms in place for dealing with them, and our occupational health and safety officers investigate any incidents that may happen. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Centre, followed by the hon. Member for Edmonton-Meadowlark.

Groundwater Contamination near Calling Lake Ms Blakeman: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Albertans expect this government to protect water, our most important natural resource. An environmental protection order was issued against a chemical company yesterday, and it raises a number of questions about water protection systems in Alberta. My questions are to the Minister of Environment. Groundwater monitoring at Ward Chemical’s brine facility showed high chlorine levels in 2006 which exceeded both the provincial and the federal guidelines.

Why did it take the government three years to issue an environmental protection order? Mr. Renner: Mr. Speaker, there are a number of tools that are available to our compliance officials in Environment. Like any kind of a regulator role or a policeman role, it’s important that you work with the offender and try to resolve an issue as amicably as possible. If in some cases it’s an ignorance of the law, then sometimes it’s as simple as advising someone what it is. In this particular case we’ve worked with this company on an ongoing basis, and we found that it’s necessary to issue a compliance order.

Ms Blakeman: Well, there’s always someone downstream. To the same minister: given that potential sources of contamina- tion include the brine storage pond and surface runoff from the facility, does the minister accept that other i ndustrial sites likely have these same contamination issues and that self-monitoring from industry is not working? Mr. Renner: Mr. Speaker, let’s be clear: this is about dealing with the site that is contained within the bounds of the facility.

If there was any reason to believe that the actions of the business were contaminating adjacent land, then we would be acting much more aggressively. In this particular instance I am assured by my officials that we’re dealing with a contamination that is confined solely to the land that is operated by the industry. The efforts that are put in place now are to get them to clean up their own act. Ms Blakeman: Well, Mr. Minister, groundwater doesn’t stay in one place, so if these people, this company has contaminated groundwa- ter in one place, it is going to be moving somewhere else.

Given this contamination of groundwater that is near Calling Lake from Ward Chemical, does the minister accept that if it can happen at a brine facility, it can happen in a tailings pond? So far today we’ve talked about sewage, we’ve talked about oil and gas leaching, and we’ve talked about brine contamination. Someone is always downstream, Mr. Minister. 2:10 Mr. Renner: Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that in this particu- lar instance we’re not talking about groundwater; we’re talking about surface contamination. We’re talking a bout soil contamina- tion. There are plumes associated with soil contamination.

They’re highly predictable; nevertheless, it’s important that we deal with them. So in this particular instance we have put in place compliance orders that will requi re the industry to do what they have been politely asked to do in the past. Now we’re not being nearly so polite. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Meadowlark, followed by the hon. Member for Lethbridge-East. Personal Directives Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. End of life is a difficult time for the many Albertans who built this great province.

Many seniors of Edmonton-Meadowlark tell me that there is confusion and anxiety over changes to the Personal Directives Act that came into effect in June 2008. My first question is to the Minister of Seniors and Community Supports. What is the minister going to do to educate Albertans about personal directives? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mrs. Jablonski: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is currently an education and awareness campaign under way encouraging Alber- tans to make their personal wishes known by writing and registering a personal directive.

New tools have been developed that make it even easier for Albertans 18 years and older to write a personal directive, and these new tools include an online registry and a personal directive information kit. This kit includes a personal directives form, instructions to help you complete the form, a wallet card to show that you have a personal directive, and who to contact in an emergency. To date we’ve put 200,000 copies of these information kits in different offices, including doctors’ offices. The Speaker: The hon. member. Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My second question is to the same minister.

My colleagues on the front lines in health care tell me that in life and death emergency situations we need to utilize technology, specifically the electronic health record, in order to make the right decision. Is there a requirement for personal directives to be registered online, and if not, why not? Mrs. Jablonski: Mr. Speaker, the online personal directive registry is the first of its kind in Canada. When this new tool was introduced last June, we chose not to force Albertans to register their personal directives because our approach is to respect the choices of Alber- tans and to have a voluntary registry.

However, we do encourage Albertans to voluntarily register their personal directives to help ensure that their wishes are followed if they become unable to make decisions for themselves due to an injury or an illness. Dr. Sherman: Mr. Speaker, my final question is also to the same

March 11, 2009 Alberta Hansard 339 minister. How are you going to overcome the challenge of educat- ing not only Albertans but also Alberta’s health care providers about these changes? Mrs. Jablonski: Mr. Speaker, a new guide to assessing capacity has been developed and distributed to health care professionals across the province as part of the changes to the Personal Directives Act. Over 40 training sessions on capacity assessment were held in communities across Alberta this past fall, and over 1,000 health care professionals were in attendance. Alberta is the leader in the area of capacity assessment.

Changes to the Personal Directives Act and the introduction of the new Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship Act ensure that capacity assessments are done using standardized and credible assessment tools. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Lethbridge-East, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-Egmont. Ambulance Services Ms Pastoor: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The minister of health’s assertion that the transition of ground ambulance authority is happening smoothly leaves some questions regarding changes that he’s proposing.

To the minister of health: will the minister explain what extra education emergency medical personnel will be required to have so that they can properly diagnose and triage patients that are in the field? Mr. Liepert: Mr. Speaker, it’s my understanding that currently one of the frustrations that paramedics have is that they don’t have the ability on most occasions to use the training that they already have. I don’t think it’s a matter of extra training; it’s making better use of what training they have. Let’s also make it clear that diagnosis will be done by phone in consultation with a physician.

The Speaker: The hon. member. Ms Pastoor: Yes. Being an RN, I can understand the paramedics’ frustration in not being able to work to scope. But are all levels of emergency medical personnel going to have the authority to triage patients in the field? Mr. Liepert: Well, obviously not if they don’t have the training, Mr. Speaker. There are several levels of paramedics. Any diagnosis or any treatment will be comparable to the level of training that they have. Ms Pastoor: Not quite clear enough.

Will the minister provide a list of the exact types of facilities that possible emergency room patients are going to be diverted to? Mr. Liepert: I could, Mr. Speaker, but by and large what we’re talking about are urgent care centres. It may be even just a clinic that is required. In some cases – who knows? – it may be other facilities. But, by and large, that would be in consultation with a physician and to make the decision then. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Egmont, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-Buffalo. Environmentally Friendly Affordable Housing Mr. Denis: Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker. On Friday I attended the affordable housing announcement in Calgary where Kanas Shelter Corporation received $7.5 million to build 100 units of affordable housing. Last year Kanas received the green building award at the platinum level from the Canadian Home Builders’ Association. My question is to the Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs. How are you and your department encouraging other affordable housing developers to follow similar environmentally friendly procedures in this province? Mrs. Fritz: Well, Mr. Speaker, the Member for Calgary-Egmont is absolutely correct.

Kanas Shelte r Corporation is leading the way, and they set the bar pretty high for private developers. Through our RFP process, hon. member, we have asked that developers use green technologies, and that would include the conservation of nonrenewable resources, minimizing the environ- mental impact. It would include building components that would reduce operating costs over the long term. I want to assure you that we are working with developers to utilize best practices. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Denis: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There’s a lot of discussion in my community about the housing market and its c ondition these days. My question to the same minister: has the changing market affected the need for new affordable housing developments? Mrs. Fritz: Well, Mr. Speaker, the housing market has changed. There’s a lot of discussion throughout Alberta about the market change. We know that the cost of purchasing a home or a condo is normalizing with the mortgage rates coming down and the number of homes, more homes, on the market. We know that affordability is increasing for some people, hon. member, especially for first-time homebuyers.

Having said that, our low- to moderate-income individuals still are unable to purchase homes in this market, which is why we are developing our affordable housing units and why they’ve remained a priority, 11,000 units by 2012. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Denis: Thank you again, Mr. Speaker. A final question to the same minister: we’ve talked a bit about affordability, but how does this impact low-income housing or people of meagre incomes in this province? Mrs. Fritz: Well, Mr. Speaker, I’ve had this discussion with the hon. member.

We know that there has been an impact on the rental market for low to moderate income, which I know, hon. member, is your interest. You’ll recall that two years ago rent increases were approximately 20 per cent. I can tell you that those kinds of increases are no longer there. They have stabilized, hon. member, at around 2 to 3 per cent.

Having said that, though, as I indicated to you in my second answer, there are more units becoming available for the rental market through condos that are being placed on the market, and putting them on the market has had a positive impact and will have on our low- to moderate-income individuals. Opening of Calgary Courts Centre Mr. Hehr: Mr.

Speaker, eight days before the last election the Deputy Premier, then Justice minister, had planned a partisan pre- election soiree at the Calgary courthouse, this in violation of the general rule that there’s a complete separation of the judicial and political branches in our democracy. This party cost us $37,000, by the way. To ease the financial burden on taxpayers during these

Alberta Hansard March 11, 2009340 tough times, will the Deputy Premier commit to refunding all proceeds collected from ticket sales before the cancellation of this partisan fundraising event on January 20, 2008? 2:20 Mr. Stevens: Mr. Speaker, you know, what really interests me is that in January 2008 there was this incredible celebration of the opening of this North American best-of-its-breed courthouse in Calgary. I know I was there.

I know that representatives of the courts were there – the Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal, the Chief Justice of the Queen’s Bench, the Chief Judge of the provin- cial court – the Premier, hundreds of lawyers; not this one, I suspect. Fourteen months later for the first time you hear about this. I can tell you that that courthouse opening was well received. It was well covered by the media.

None of these allegations that the hon. member makes today were hinted at then, but 14 months later he has some crystal ball that he is looking at that allows him to stand, figuratively speaking, in this House and make these allegations. Mr. Hehr: I filed the documents yesterday on the courthouse. They’re not allegations; they’re truisms. Turning to the question now, my question is again to the Deputy Premier. You know, last year the opening of the courthouse was delayed several, several times. Then this big party was to announce the opening of the courthouse eight days before an election.

Was the delay in opening this courthouse for you guys to have this announce- ment eight days before the election? Speaker’s Ruling Questions about a Previous Responsibility The Speaker: It is customary, hon. members, that questions are directed to the minister of the day, not a previous minister in their capacity or activity with respect to their previous ministry. If we’re going back, when the hon. Deputy Premier is not the Minister of Justice, asking him about activities when he was the Minister of Justice, that would violate most of our traditions in the House. I’m not sure if the hon.

Deputy Premier wants to proceed, though. Opening of Calgary Courts Centre (continued) Mr. Stevens: Well, unlike this particular member, I have some involvement in this particular aspect. Once again, he wasn’t there. I was, so I can explain matters. This was a good-news story, Mr. Speaker. Now, I recall that the opposition, over the course of the courthouse being built, didn’t see anything positive about it. But I can tell you that there was reason for celebration in January.

The reason that January was chosen is because the court house became available to us as a government for move-in towards the end of August, September. Over the course of the balance of that year, which would be September through December, the five locations in which the courthouses in Calgary were located moved into this facility. Then you were into Christmas. So it only made sense that the celebration be held in January 2008. Mr. Hehr: Clearly, it made sense to me: eight days before an election.

Anyway, moving on, I’d like to ask the Minister of Justice whether she would find it appropriate for the Progressive Conserva- tive Party to advertise for a fundraiser in the Calgary courthouse. Would the Ministry of Justice find this proper? An Hon. Member: Point of order. The Speaker: Point of order. It deals with personal opinion, hon. Minister of Justice. Do you want to comment or not? You can let it go if you don’t want to. Ms Redford: I won’t comment. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Strathcona, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-North Hill.

Environmental Self-monitoring Ms Notley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Suncor and its subcontractors illegally dumped dirty waste water into our rivers and lakes, and then they lied about it to the government over and over again. Even while he knew about this, the minister stood in the House and on the topic of industry self-monitoring told us, “We have the utmost confidence that that system is secure.” To the Environment minister: how can you possibly have confidence in a system that asks the fox to guard the henhouse and then self-report on how many hens it had for breakfast that day? Mr. Renner: Mr.

Speaker, we have literally hundreds of such facilities operating around this province. The system that we operate is based upon monitoring, self-monitoring, and self-reporting. It would be, I think, inappropriate use of valuable resources within Environment if we were to send one of our employees out to every one of these hundreds of facilities around the province every day to do the monitoring. Our role is one of auditing. Our role is one of holding the operators accountable.

We take very seriously the instance that in this case led to charges being laid, where that reporting and monitoring is apparently not taking place appropri- ately. The Speaker: The hon. member. Ms Notley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, the system didn’t work in this case. They did it for two years before you realized they were ly ing. Who knows how many other times industrial polluters falsified reports to the government? I don’t know, and neither does this government. Even after laying these charges, this minister insists that industrial self-reporting and the occasional spot check are good enough.

To the same minister: given that they may have lied more than 90 times, how can you possibly think that spot checks can ensure the safety of our environment? Mr. Renner: Mr. Speaker, everything we do in a civil society is based upon personal integrity. I would suggest to the hon. member that there is probably the odd person in this nation that falsifies records on their income tax returns. That’s why we have audits. That’s why we prosecute when we find them. I would suggest to this member that, in fact, the system did work. We did an audit; we laid charges.

Ms Notley: They had two years to dump waste water into the river. They could have destroyed a whole water system in that time. It didn’t work. Industry is responsible to their shareholders. They’re here to make a profit. This Environment minister is supposed to be responsible to ordinary Albertans. He’s supposed to be here to protect the environment. When industry pollutes, it’s not because they hate the environment. It’s because it’s cheaper, and it’s because this government lets them. To the minister: how can you be so naive

March 11, 2009 Alberta Hansard 341 as to think that industrial polluters will just admit to environmental degradation when they clearly now have a track record showing that they won’t? Mr. Renner: Mr. Speaker, I can’t get into the details of this specific case. The fact remains that the penalties are extreme, and we take as seriously, if not more seriously, falsifying records as we do the offence itself. That’s why this court case is being heard. I cannot comment any further because there’s evidence that’s before the courts.

It would be inappropriate to discuss details in this House until after the courts have dealt with it. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-North Hill, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-McCall. Inspiring Education Public Consultation Mr. Fawcett: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today the Minister of Education announced a number of ways in which citizens of this province can participate in Inspiring Education: A Dialogue with Albertans. In addition to daylong sessions around the province, Albertans can also join the conversation online or use conversation kits to host a discussion in their own community.

My question is to the Minister of Education. What is he doing to ensure that disadvan- taged Albertans are being reached out to, those such as the homeless, to ensure that their voices are heard as well? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Hancock: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. In light of your comments yesterday in the House I would advise members that they can also Twitter me or send me a message on Facebook. I don’t want to diminish the importance of this question because it is absolutely, vitally important that we get all Albertans involved in the conversation.

We know that some people will not necessarily either be aware of or be able to find ways to participate, so we’re having what we’re calling personal conversations, working with social justice agencies to identify groups that might otherwise be left out and going out to seek out those groups and have those conversa- tions. I’ve seen the results of the group from Calgary, some street youth that were involved in the discussion, and the comments that they made were, quite frankly, powerful. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Fawcett: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The minister has outlined a very ambitious agenda for Inspiring Education, and I can’t help but think that at the end of this pr ocess we’re going to have a very comprehensive report with an extensive list of recommendations attached. Can Albertans really expect substantial change from this process? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Hancock: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re in a very blessed time, actually, when it comes to education.

The Premier had the foresight to work with the previous Minister of Education and the ATA to resolve a five-year agreement with teachers in the province to deal with labour issues, leaving us an opportunity to focus on the policy issues and focus on professionalism in education. So it’s a great time to have this discussion. We’ve asked the steering committee not to come back with an extensive list of recommenda- tions but, rather, to come back with a profile of what an educated Albertan looks like in 20 years and what policy framework and policies and government structures we need to get there from here.

The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Fawcett: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question to the same minister. Looking into the future is very important, and as the minister says, this is a good time to do that. However, I’m hearing a number of issues about our current education system from my constituents. How does this Inspir ing Education dialogue help fix those issues? Mr. Hancock: Well, we need to be perfectly clear, Mr. Speaker, that Inspiring Education is about the education system of the future.

We need to be planning now and implementing now so that we can be sure that not only do we have a great education for our children today but that that great education and all the aspects that are needed will be there for our children tomorrow. There are issues, and we’re not overlooking the issues. We’re not stopping the work on the day- to-day work. We have the Member for Edmonton-Ellerslie, for example, chairing Setting the Direction for Special Education. That’s very important. My parliamentary assistant, the Member for Edmonton-Decore, is looking at transportation issues in the prov- ince.

There’s a lot happening, but Inspiring Education is a very, very important dialogue about the future not just of education but the future of this province. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-McCall, followed by the hon. Member for Lacombe-Ponoka. 2:30 Submetering for Energy Use Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Boardwalk stated today that they would no longer be imposing submetering on their tenants, yet the government still has not taken any action on their part to protect the tenants.

To the Minister of Service Alberta: how is it that Boardwalk is being more responsive to the concerns raised over submetering than this government? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mrs. Klimchuk: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s great to be able to clarify some issues here. It’s important that Boardwalk has come forward and indicated to the tenants that they have made a mistake. With respect to this whole submetering issue, we are entering a whole new territory, especially in the area of heat submetering.

Since last fall I’ve begun to check into this matter because I was very concerned about how this was going to affect tenants, and we are indeed moving forward in a number of areas, firstly writing to Minister Clement of Industry Canada to get his concerns on the measurement issue. That’s one of the first steps. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the same minister again: why is the minister proclaiming the wonders of their consumer tipsheet when commercial landlords don’t even consider it to be worth the paper it’s written on? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mrs.

Klimchuk: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s great that individuals are reading the tipsheet. That’s what it’s about. That’s the input that

Alberta Hansard March 11, 2009342 I certainly need. I should mention that right now there is a pending legal process under way with the residential tenancy dispute resolution service on this whole issue. We are monitoring that issue very carefully, and that’s someth ing that we will bring forward to make sure that tenants are protected. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think we’ve been monitoring this issue for too long. It’s about time the minister took some action.

Given that Boardwalk acted so quickly, when will this govern- ment stand up for tenants and introduce legislation on submetering? Mrs. Klimchuk: Mr. Speaker, it is important as a minister that we do not do anything that’s viewed as a knee-jerk reaction. We have to do things right. I will be meeting with the Alberta residential tenancy advisory committee in the next couple of weeks on this issue to talk with stakeholders, to get the input from the tenants and from the landlords as well, to see what the conversation is out there.

This is an opportunity for us to look to see if legislation is required, and I’ll be looking at every option. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Lacombe-Ponoka, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-Varsity. Livestock and Meat Strategy Mr. Prins: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Animal Health Act was proclaimed in part on January 1 of this year, 2009, along with three regulations. My first question is to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. How does the Animal Health Act support the Alberta livestock and meat strategy? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Groeneveld: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Of course, one of the priorities of the Alberta livestock and meat strategy is animal health and food safety. The goal of the Animal Health Act was to ensure rapid and effective response to an animal disease emergency. This is done through age verification, tr aceability, reportable and notifiable diseases regulations that we have out there. Together these regulations will help validate the safety of Alberta’s herd to meet international standards and achieve the priorities of the Alberta livestock and meat strategy. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Prins: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again to the same minister: by imposing these new regulations, isn’t the government just adding to the regulatory burden already being felt by the livestock industry? Mr. Groeneveld: Mr. Speaker, certainly not. The goal of the Alberta livestock and meat strategy is to reduce the unnecessary regulatory burden currently on the livestock industry. We’re continuing to work with industry to reduce regulations that are burdens and not necessary. There may be some initial extra work required up front; however, we’re only talking perhaps a couple of hours spread over a whole year.

We can’t forget the fact that these requirements that have been introduced are the ones that our trading partners are certainly demanding. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Prins: Thank you again, Mr. Speaker. To the same minister: is there support or what kind of support is available to producers to help them to comply with the age verification and premises ID? Mr. Groeneveld: Yes, Mr. Speaker, there certainly is. In June 2008 the Alberta government announced $300 million in disaster funding through the Alberta farm recovery plan, which was and is being distributed in two instalments.

To help to make the process easier, we dedicated 30 department staff members as well as additional staff from livestock identification services to visit producer operations and help them age verify those animals. We’ve also reopened 13 hub offices so that our producers have better access to knowledge- able staff. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Varsity, followed by the hon. Member for St. Albert. Results of Education Achievement Tests Mr. Chase: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yesterday the Minister of Education claimed that results from FNMI students are not included in the averaging and reporting of school results because it “could be harmful or detrimental to an identifiable group of people.” Setting aside the harm done to all students by making grades public, it seems to me that the chief motivation for excluding the results of FNMI students is that it would highlight the ministry’s failure to adequately support aboriginal education. To the minister.

ESL students and students with special needs are identifiable groups of students, yet their results are included in the school su ccess rate, which is made public. Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, what the hon. member misses in the equation is that the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy law does not protect identifiable groups per se. It protects against people who could be identified if they’re in a group that’s so small that by releasing the results, they could be personally identi- fied. That’s the issue.

My preference would be not to release the information in the manner in which it’s being utilized but to use the information for the improvement of the school system in the way we do release it to the school jurisdictions. The hon. member will know from discussions that have happe ned in public and will certainly know from discussions in the futu re in this Legislature that we’re working very hard to get appropriate data relative to the FNMI population so that we can be held accountable. Mr.

Chase: The school results can be improved internally without beating them over the head extern ally with the publication of their results. Given that a private school’s higher test scores can be partially attributed to the limited enrolment of ESL or special-needs s tudents in their school, will the minister commit to exempting these definable groups of children from taking provincial achievement tests? Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, we do not publish the results. We provide the results to school jurisdictions so that they can use them within their jurisdiction for appropriate purposes.

We release the results when required to do so under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy law. With respect to the students that are included in the assessment processes, we should be very clear that I’m absolutely open to talking about whether we’re doing assess- ment in the most effective way possible and, if it’s demonstrable that we’re not, to moving to more effective ways of doing it. But assessment has been one of the pillars of our system, accountability is a pillar of our system, and it’s extremely important to our results.

March 11, 2009 Alberta Hansard 343 Mr. Chase: If we’re talking accountability, diagnostic would achieve a much better result. It sounds like you’re passing the blame on to school boards for releasing results that you control. If the minister will not exempt children that are learning English as a second language or children with special needs from taking the stressful provincial achievement test, then will the minister at least commit to not including those results in school averages? Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, I couldn’t have been more clear. We do not publish the results.

I’m not accusing sc hool boards of publishing the results. The results are released to the Fraser Institute because they demand those results under our Freedom of Informa- tion and Protection of Privacy law. That’s how those results get out into the public domain. They use them inappropriately, and I’ve said that over and over in the public. We do an accountability process within our system so that we can both provide tools back to school jurisdictions and schools to improve their systems and so that we can account to Albertans for the effectiveness of their investment in education. The Speaker: The hon.

Member for St. Albert. Seniors’ Benefits Mr. Allred: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Many of Alberta’s seniors have seen their financial situation drastically affected by the recent downturn in the economy. My questions are for the Minister of Seniors and Community Supports. Is there assistance available to help these Albertans, especially those seniors with low incomes, to assist them with their monthly bills? Mrs. Jablonski: Mr. Speaker, the Alberta seniors’ benefit program provides more than $21 million each month . . . Mr. Prins: How much? Mrs.

Jablonski: That’s $21 million each month. . . . in direct financial support to approximately 138,000 low- income seniors. Generally, single seniors with an annual income of $22,700 or less and senior couples with a combined annual income of $36,900 or less are eligible for assistance. This program supple- ments federal income programs. Additional assistance is available to seniors who reside in long-term care facilities or designated assisted living facilities. 2:40 The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Allred: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My second question is for the same minister.

Some of the more common expenses for seniors are dental work and eyeglasses. Does the province provide any assistance for these types of expenses? Mrs. Jablonski: Mr. Speaker, we assist low- and moderate-income seniors with up to $5,000 towards dental work every five years and up to $230 towards the purchase of prescription eyeglasses every three years. More than 200,000 seniors are eligible for benefits from the dental and optical programs, which are available to single seniors with incomes of $31,325 or less and couples with combined incomes of $62,650 or less. Mr. Allred: Mr.

Speaker, my final question is also for the same minister. Key to seniors being able to remain as independent as possible is the ability for them to continue living in their own homes and being able to afford the upkeep. Is there any assistance to help seniors maintain their own homes? Mrs. Jablonski: Mr. Speaker, we’re also very proud of the special- needs assistance program for seniors, which provides assistance to low-income seniors with one-time or extraordinary costs such as appliances and essential home repairs as well as some medical expenses.

Low-income seniors can receive up to $5,000 per year through the special-needs assistance for seniors program. A senior’s income level and the type of expense applied for determines the amount that is funded. Almost 26,000 seniors received this special benefit in 2007-2008. The Speaker: Hon. members, that was 96 exchanges today, questions and responses. In 30 seconds from now we’ll call upon the remaining members under Members’ Statements. head: Members’ Statements (continued) The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Meadowlark. National Nutrition Month Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to speak about National Nutrition Month. The wealth of Albertans depends on the health of Albertans. It’s often said that we are what we eat. Never before has there been such high public awareness about food and nutrition and what impact our daily eating habits have on our health and well-being. Nutrition Month is recognized each year to provide access to reliable and accurate nutrition information and tips that will motivate Albertans to make sound, informed food choices.

This year’s theme is Stay Active, Eat like a Champion by making healthy eating and physical activity choices a part of our daily lives. Government supports and encourages Albertans to stay active and make wise nutrition choices. In 2008 Alberta was the first province in Canada to release nutrition guidelines to equip facility operators of daycares, schools, and recreational facilities with the tools that they need to give young people healthy food choices. While the guidelines are not mandatory, we are encouraged to see more schools and facilities adopt policies that promote better nutrition choices. Mr.

Speaker, despite the wealth of information available on nutrition about 22 per cent of Alberta children and youth are overweight or obese, leading to adult obesity rates of 30 to 40 per cent. Our children are at greater risk of developing chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes or heart disease or hypertension. Today in Alberta we have 150,000 diabetics and 10,000 extra diabetics every year. The World Health Organization states that 80 per cent to 90 per cent of type 2 diabetes could be prevented through simple changes in lifestyle and eating habits.

Most chronic diseases like these can be prevented by having a healthy diet and being physically active. Individuals, families, organizations, and communities all need to work together to increase the ava ilability and appeal of healthier food choices. As adults and parents we need to take greater responsibility for our own health and be good role models for our children. Making the effort to eat healthy and be physically active every day means we can all enjoy better health and reduce our risk of preventable chronic disease. Thank you.

Alberta Hansard March 11, 2009344 The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Mackay. ACT Foundation CPR Program Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Association Ms Woo-Paw: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Creating vibrant, safe, and inclusive communities is a key priority for the government of Alberta. I rise today to speak on the unique work of two Calgary- based nonprofit, voluntary organizations I had the privilege to get to know recently. In celebration of Heart Month the ACT Foundation and the Kiwanis clubs of Calgary organized an event to celebrate the life- saving ACT high school CPR program in Calgary schools.

ACT has worked in partnership with Alberta Education since October 2001 to help senior high schools and school divisions throughout the province implement a CPR program where teachers are trained to teach CPR to all students prior to graduation. Today more than 45,000 Alberta youth from more than 300 schools in 200 communi- ties are empowered to save lives each year. In Calgary the Kiwanis clubs along with Calgary EMS and the STARS Foundation have played key roles in implementing the program. Mr.

Speaker, in recognition of International Women’s Day Calgary’s Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Association invited me to moderate an interfaith symposium entitled Solutions of Modern Social Problems According to My Faith, with presenters and guests from the Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Islamic, and Sikh faiths.

It was enlightening to listen to these women sharing perspectives on issues such as poverty, injustice, drugs and addiction, the environment, loss of faith, and lack of equality for women, to name just a few, and their belief in the need to be compassionate, have good knowledge and strong faith in their own religion, and develop critical thinking and analysis on issues and policies through a justice and impacts perspective. The sharing of a meal afterwards just allowed everyone to experience the sense of connection through our diversity. Mr.

Speaker, with dedicated citizens, our collective willingness to give and contribute, and people’s commitment to work in collabora- tion, I think our desire to have a safe and vibrant community is being reached in different ways every day in this province. head: Introduction of Bills Bill 22 Appropriation (Interim Supply) Act, 2009 Mr. Snelgrove: Mr. Speaker, I request leave to introduce Bill 22, the Appropriation (Interim Supply) Act, 2009. This being a money bill, His Honour the Honourable the Lieutenant Governor, having been informed of the contents of the bill, recommends the same to the Assembly. Mr.

Speaker, the Appropriation (Interim Supply) Act, 2009, will provide spending authority to the Legislative Assembly and to the government from April 1, 2009, to June 30, 2009, inclusive. During that period it is anticipated that spending authorization will have been provided for the entire fiscal year ending March 31, 2010. When passed, the interim supply estimates will authorize approxi- mate spending of $9.01 billion in expense and equipment/inventory purchases, $581.1 m illion in capital in vestment, $48.9 m illion in nonbudgetary disbursements, and $409 million in lottery fund payments. Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. [Motion carried; Bill 22 read a first time] head: Tabling Returns and Reports The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Varsity. Mr. Chase: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I have two tablings today. This past December 5 I was able to participate in the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women. This upcoming December 6 will be the 20th anniversary of the murder of the 14 women at l’école Polytechnique in Montreal. It’s important that we eliminate violence. My second tabling has to do with International Human Rights Day, which took place in Calgary on M onday, December 8, 2008.

Among the memorable speakers was the Member for Calgary- Montrose. I appreciated the opportunity to listen to his comments about international rights. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Strathcona. 2:50 Ms Notley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to table the appropri- ate number of copies of a letter from Laura Franceschini regarding Bill 19, the Land Assembly Project Area Act. The letter expresses concern for the financial effect on property owners and urges the government to assemble the project land in ways that do not impinge on citizens’ rights.

I’d also like to table the appropriate number of copies of a letter from Kirsten Goa, a friend and resident of my constituency, expressing her opposition to TILMA and Bill 18. She’s concerned about the undemocratic process under which the agreement was reached. I’d also like to table the appropriate number of copies of 10 reports from long-term care workers indicating specific problems on shifts – they were short staffed – including residents receiving their meals late and not receiving personal care until after lunch.

Finally, I’d like to table the appropriate number of copies of court documents related to the charges against Suncor for allegedly dumping undertreated water into the Athabasca River. These documents were referred to in the questions asked by our caucus today. Thank you. The Speaker: The hon. Member for St. Albert. Mr. Allred: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think I’m in the right spot here as to tablings. I rise to table the appropriate number of copies of 54 postcards that were delivered to my office. These postcards were sent in by residents of St.

Albert in support of chiropractic services in Alberta, including many people who urged the govern- ment to keep chiropractic services as a listed service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Government House Leader on a purported point of order. Point of Order Allegations against a Member Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier in question period today in a question from the hon. Member for Calgary-Buffalo, repeating a theme that he raised, actually, Monday in the House as well, the hon. member made allegations against another member, which is a violation of our Standing Order 23(h).

I would say that he also imputed false or unavowed motives to another member under 23(

i) and certainly was abusive and insulting, which, as you know, always causes disorder under 23(j).

March 11, 2009 Alberta Hansard 345 The topic, of course, was the alleged party that – well, it’s not an alleged party; there was actually a celebration of the opening of the courthouse in Calgary, I believe on January 28, 2008. It could have been the 25th. I don’t think there’s any question of the fact that one of the best, if not the best, courthouses in North America opened in Calgary in August of 2007. The courts, as the hon. Member for Calgary-Glenmore indicated, moved in over the course of the fall.

Then in January, as is normal w ith public buildings and certainly normal with courthouses, there was an official opening. The hon. Member for Calgary-Glenmore, who was then the Minister of Justice, as would have been expected in accordance with his office, attended that opening. I don’t think there’s any question about that. The hon. Member for Calgary-Buffalo tabled documents the other day which are all, most if not all, matters of public record in terms of the costs that need to be disclosed from time to time with respect to those sorts of issues. Again, not a problem at all.

What becomes a problem is when the hon. member fails to do even the most elemental of research and tries to drag in a political fundraiser, which is an entirely different event at an entirely different time on the same date, perhaps, but in an entirely different location, not using a public building, not using public funds, and not in any way related to the courthouse opening other than the fact that it happened to be a fundraiser for the Minister of Justice. All of us as political personae need to raise funds for campaigns, need to raise funds for organizations.

It was, as I understand it from the docu- ments that the hon. member tabled, hosted by Brownlee LLP. That’s a matter of public record because the hon. member tabled it. He has deliberately confused in his questions a fundraiser hosted by Brownlee LLP with a court opening, that happened legitimately at a courthouse, which is a normal process of government, and by confusing the two – not confusing the two; deliberately entwining the two – suggested that the hon. Deputy Premier, then Minister of Justice, now Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations, did something inappropriate and improper.

So under 23(

h) there were allegations that were absolutely false against another member. They impute false or unavowed motives to another member, the motives being to use a public facility and public money inappropriately, and quite frankly are close to a breach of the personal privilege of that member under Beauchesne’s because, as you know and as all members of this House know, it’s extremely important that members are seen to have integrity. The one thing that each and every one of us needs to have as we go out and talk to the public is our personal integrity and our honesty.

Our public needs to know that we treat them with dignity and respect, that we act in their best interests. We may have differences of viewpoint. Absolutely we would expect, with 83 members in the House, that each of us would bring our personal viewpoints and the viewpoints of our constituents to the table here, that we would have disagreement on matters of public policy. But to intentionally try to besmirch the character of a member, having done not even one iota of research, is absolutely, fundamentally foul and against the rules of this House and should be a point of privilege.

I’m asking you as Speaker of the House to rule it out of order under our standing orders and to ask that hon. member to do the honourable thing and to retract the allegation. If he wants to suggest that we spent too much money on the grand opening of the best courthouse in North America, that would be a policy issue, and he’d be fine to do that.

If he wants to suggest even, quite frankly, although illegitimate as it is, that the celebration was too close to an election, although the people who planned that operation planned it well in advance – how they would know that an election would be called a week later is beyond me. I think that if the hon. member had any – any – investigation into the idea at all, he would understand that.

So making the allegation of the closeness could be a policy issue or an appropriate suggestion, but to stoop to the depths of impugning the integrity of a member for the sake of trying to make some political point on which he’s absolutely off base is actually reprehensible, Mr. Speaker. I would ask this member to apologize to the Member for Calgary-Glenmore and to the House. The Speaker: The hon. Opposition House Leader. Ms Blakeman: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Government House Leader.

That was certainly an impas- sioned point of order that he brought forward, but I’m going to disagree with my hon. colleague because I do not see – well, I don’t always disagree with him, so it’s worth noting when I do. I’m afraid I don’t agree with him that there have been allegations brought against the member, that there were any imputed motives, or that there was abusive language used. What is concerning my hon. colleague from Calgary-Buffalo is the interlinking and the closeness of two different events. That’s what those questions were about.

At no point, in my understanding of the questions that were asked – and, again, I don’t have the benefit of the Blues – was the integrity of the Deputy Premier and his work in this House brought into any kind of question. It may be that my colleague improvised a bit and I’m not aware of it, but certainly I don’t see anything in his wr itten questions that would indicate that anything that was uncomplimentary was said about the Deputy Premier.

It is of concern to us when we look at documents where the line is clearly, to us, being blurred and where you have a partisan event that is set up to be in the same place at an interlinking time. That is of concern to us. I mean, at one time my hon. colleague the House leader for the government, the Minister of Education, you know, somehow tried to say that elections are dropped from God on some sort of strange timing schedule.

In fact, election timing is chosen completely and entirely by the government, and despite our best efforts we’ve not been able to convince this government to go away from that to something like fixed election dates. No, indeed, the timing of elections is completely under the control of this government. Yes, they work through the Lieutenant Governor to have those an- nounced.

Timing of things is completely under the control of this government. 3:00 The questions that were being asked were around trying to ensure that there was an understanding and a separation of a partisan event and a public event paid for by the tax dollar in a public building. To us, the questions we raised were around whether in this planned event – and let me underline that – there was not too close an interlocking and there was enough separation. I think that’s a perfectly legitimate question to ask, particularly when we look at things like the Conflicts of Intere st Act.

It’s outlining the way a member would breach, if they participate in a decision that they know would further a private interest of that member. That’s our concern, and we just want to make sure that the government shares that level of concern with us. I would argue that the event that we were discussing – again, we tabled documents on Monday which clearly showed that there had been an event that was planned. We were not able to find confirma- tion that the event took place, but certainly according to the sessional documents, there was an event that was planned. It was clearly a partisan event.

You know, cheques were to be made payable to the constituency association of the home riding for Calgary-Glenmore.

Alberta Hansard March 11, 2009346 It was advertised heavily on the Progressive Conservative associa- tion website, and it does not distingu ish on that website that this is a different event than the opening of the Calgary courthouse. If anything, it goes in the other direction and seems to say that it’s all part of the same thing.

To us, when we looked for what exactly this event was, we felt, as is often required of us, that we should be clear a bout what was the government piece of this and what was not. [interjection] Well, we are often questioned by members opposite to provide the documenta- tion, so we were very happy to do that when the original question was asked and did so, so it’s on the record. I argue again that there has been no name-calling of the member. There was no disrespect shown to the member.

Certainly, his integrity in the position that he occupies now and the work that he does in this Assembly has not been called into question. I think there were legitimate questions asked by the Member for Calgary- Buffalo, and I would argue that there is no point of order. Thank you. The Speaker: Hon. members, I’ve listened very attentively to the overtures of the Government House Leader and the Opposition House Leader, but I need more information with respect to this matter. This is not clear to me at all. Very serious questions were raised on Monday. Documents were tabled. Questions came again today.

The rules are very clear about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. There are some pretty serious allegations being made in here, but what is not clear to the chair at all – and the chair will need clarification; it’s going to invite the Deputy Premier, and it’s going to invite the Member for Calgary-Buffalo – is: did a political partisan event occur? It’s not clear to me that one did. Did a political partisan event occur in a taxpayer-funded building in the province of Alberta, which seems to be the gist of all of this? That’s not clear either to me.

There’s a lot of stuff going around and round and round here. Hon. Deputy Premier, I would certainly invite you to participate. Mr. Stevens: Two or three points, Mr. Speaker. First of all, a perfectly legitimate celebration of the opening of the Calgary Courts Centre occurred in January 2008.

The ceremony, which involved the courts, the lawyers in Calgary and across the province, the Law Society, members of Alberta Justice, the Premier, members of Alberta Infrastructure, and others, took place starting formally at around 4 o’clock in the afternoon, ending probably around 4:30 in terms of presentations and whatnot, followed by a brief reception. There was no political fundraising at this event, which involved, as I’ve indicated, the Chief Justice of Alberta, the Chief Justice of the Queen’s Bench, the Chief Judge of the province, the head of the Law Society, and others. It was well advertised.

It was covered by the media. We probably could go back and find numerous reports from the media, reported in newspapers. We could probably find numerous television clips associated with this. In any event, I was there and, as I have indicated earlier, the hon. member was not. This is 14 months later, so something, obviously, has given him insight that others who were there in the hundreds did not have at the time. There was no fundraising by me or anyone else at that event. There was on that evening at a different place, at a different time a fundraiser that I was involved in, Mr.

Speaker, so later that day, a different place. As you know, that does occur. Those of us who are on this side do work hard, and sometimes our evenings are not work but other matters. That was that time. The way I look at this, Mr. Speaker, is that those who were part of this celebration include the people in this government, this civil service, the Justice department. They were the ones that were looking forward to this. They are the ones that organized this, referring to the celebration.

What I’m going to do, candidly, when this is all finished – I don’t really much care what happens – is that I’m going to take a copy of the transcript, and I’m going to send it to the people who were there, the people I know that were part of this, so that they have some sens e of how this party, that member, feels about this. I think the best way to deal with a person’s reputation is to establish that reputation firmly, and hon. member, you will have your reputation firmly established by the way you conduct yourself in this House. This is but part of that, but it is going to be a significant part.

There is a reference on the other side to a conflict of interest. I encourage you to pursue whatever avenues you want – bring it on, if you will – if you think something was done that was improper. Go ahead. Do it. It will force him, Mr. Speaker, to articulate clearly as opposed to innuendo and suggestion and sleight of hand about whatever he thinks went on. He will maybe have to make some inquiry. Once again, he wasn’t there; I was. Hundreds of reputable people were there. He wasn’t. That happened 14 months ago, and he has insight today. In any event, Mr.

Speaker, you will make your ruling accordingly, but from my perspective there are other opportun ities the hon. member can pursue. I encourage him to do that. I’d be happy to take it on. It will also force him, I think, to be a bit more focused in his perspective on this matter if he wants to take it outside. The Speaker: Hon. Member for Calgary-Buffalo, you need to say something. [interjection] Well, I’ve challenged the hon. Deputy Premier. I’ve raised a couple of questions. Did an event occur? The only information I have is that the opening of a courthouse occurred at a courthouse.

Did a partisan event take place in a provincial taxpayer-funded building? I’ve been advised that none did take place, but an event that evening at a different time and at a different place has nothing to do with the opening of a courthouse. Hon. Member for Calgary-Buffalo, you on Monday and today again very clearly in the Blues said words to the effect that the Progressive Conservative Party advertised for a fundraiser in the Calgary courthouse. This is the gist of what we’re talking about. We’re saying that no event occurred. Go ahead. 3:10 Mr.

Hehr: Sir, I thank you for the opportunity, and I do appreciate that the member opposite, the hon. Deputy Premier, has served the Alberta people well and honourably. The Speaker: Sorry, but that’s not the issue. I want to deal with the issue of the integrity here right now, okay? Mr. Hehr: And that’s fair enough. Let me tell you that from my perspective this was one of those situations where when you look at this, this was advertised on a Progressive Conservative website.

It says at the top: Please join Deputy Premier Ron Stevens and other distinguished guests celebrate a Milestone – The opening of the new Calgary [court- house] It’s a public event but at a location that is the judiciary, a place that is supposed to be separate from the political process, and that was my point in these questions. It appears that that line has been crossed. That is what I asked those questions around, and that’s what I centred the debate on. This was being solicited: it was $100 to support, you know, the

March 11, 2009 Alberta Hansard 347 Ron Stevens election campaign. Also take a look at the location of this event. I note under this, Friday, January 25, that it was supposed to be the new Calgary Courts Centre. You will realize that in my

preamble I said that this event was pulled on January 20. Nonethe- less, it was scheduled and put out on a PC Party website that this event was supposed to be held at the new Calgary Courts Centre. What I’m highlighting and trying to bring forward is the fact that we need a separation between the judiciary and our political process. It shouldn’t be advertised. I’m not suggesting, maybe, anything. I don’t know how this happened; nonetheless, it did. It was advertised to be handled in the new Calgary Courts Centre, and it was to be a fundraiser for the Hon. Ron Stevens.

That’s what it says on page 2 of the document, and that’s what I’m bringing. I’ll wait for your ruling, but I was just trying to argue that it seems that there has to be a separation between the judiciary as well as the political process. Thank you very much. The Speaker: I’m afraid, hon. member, it’s way too premature for me to provide a ruling. There are a lot of questions here. The hon. Member for Edmonton-Riverview. Let’s get to the gist of this. Dr. Taft: Thank you.

Well, the gist seems to be exactly what’s being debated, so I am presenting for all MLAs to review printouts here that say: Please join Deputy Premier Ron Stevens and other distinguished guests celebrate a Milestone – The opening of the new [courthouse] To Support Our Justice Minister and Attorney General The date is here. It’s hosted by Brownlee Fryett. Please make cheques payable to the . . . Glenmore PC Association On the next page, the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta printout, for Friday, January 25, it describes the event, and it says: Location: The new Calgary Courts Centre Mr.

Speaker, this is the evidence that we’re bringing forward. Some Hon. Members: Read the next line. Dr. Taft: Yeah. It says: Join Minister Ron Stevens and . . . other MLA’s, MP’s, and PC Candidates at Brownlee LLP. The location indicated here is the new Calgary courthouse. Now, Mr. Speaker, the member has acknowledged from the beginning that the event in the end didn’t occur as described. The point here is that it is inappropria te in our view – and this is the question – for an event like this to be tied so closely to the court- house. That’s the point here.

I would argue that it’s simply inappropriate for a partisan event raising money for the Justice minister to be linked at all to the Calgary courthouse. The Speaker: Fair game, hon. Member for Edmonton-Riverview, but you did not raise that as a point of order or a point of privilege. You only raised that in argument with respect to this. The hon. Government House Leader. We’re going on until 6 o’clock if we have to. We’re going to clear this up. Mr. Hancock: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think because the member was goaded into it, he read past the piece that he wanted to stop at and got to the piece which any idiot could determine on the face of it. It says right on here . . . The Speaker: Hon. Government House Leader, we’ll assume that there are no such people in this Assembly. Mr. Hancock: I wasn’t suggesting th at, just suggesting that anyone . . . Ms Blakeman: Why are you referring to it like that? That’s not being respectful. The Speaker: Will you please proceed? Mr. Hancock: I’m sorry. I will take that back. Ms Blakeman: Thank you. Mr.

Hancock: It is obvious to anyone who wishes to read with any discernment that in posting an event to this website, somebody made a very tiny mistake. That mistake is so obvious, if you read the whole thing, that anyone reading it could discern it. Now, I understand that that was discerned early and was corrected very early. When the hon.

Member for Edmonton-Riverview reads the location line – and he’s right – it does say, “the new Calgary Courts Centre,” but given that we asked him nicely to read further, it’s very clear in that very statement that the event is not at the Calgary courthouse, that in fact it’s at Brownlee LLP. Anyone reading that could discern on the face of it exactly what was going on. The other piece of paper that was tabled is, in fact, an invitation to an event hosted by Brownlee LLP. That’s clear on the face of it. The point, Mr.

Speaker, is that people who are elected to this House have a higher duty than just picking up pieces of paper and tossing them around. They actually ought to read with discernment. They actually ought to understand, particularly before they make allegations that impugn a member’s character. It goes to the fundamentals, and the fundamentals are this.

If these hon. members want to drag politics, governance, and the Legislature into disrepute, they’re doing a very good job of it, but it brings us all down, not just the people – in fact, I don’t think it probably harms at all the person that they hurled the allegations at because he’s above any allegation of disrepute. He’s a very highly respected person. But it does bring us all down. It’s very clear on the face of even the documents that they filed in the House, very clear on the face of it what happened. Mr. Snelgrove: Mr.

Speaker, one of the arguments that the hon. member put up was, “Oh, well, we’re trying to keep the separation of political life and judicial life,” in the same statement where he made allegations against the Deputy Premier. It would be incredu- lous to assume or expect that th e Chief Justices, the judges of this province, and all of the supporting cast would attend, would ever have put themselves in that situation. Mr.

Speaker, I don’t know them personally, but I know this hon. member personally, and I know that neither he nor anyone else in this government would put themselves in a position so completely asinine as was tried to be portrayed by the opposition. Even if you had nothing, none of the documents that back up very clearly that there were two separate events, for the hon. member over there to suggest that the Chief Justices would even allow in their courthouse a provincial PC fundraiser is absolutely past anything I can imagine.

The suggestions they’ve made not only bring disrespect to us, but if they were even slightly true, they would bring huge disrespect to the judges that have been referred to. The Speaker: The hon. Member for P eace River on this point of order.

Alberta Hansard March 11, 2009348 Mr. Oberle: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to point out – and I believe it’s an important point in this argument – that the allegation was about an event occurring. In his response to the point of order the hon. member himself admits that no such event occurred. The allegation was about our Deputy Premier, a man of very high integrity, having conducted a political fundraiser in a public building, which, he obviously and rightly pointed out, never happened. The hon. member in his response agreed that no such event ever happened.

I believe that this is a legitimate point of order and that an apology and a retraction are due immediately, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Are there others who would like to add additional information of pertinence to this matter? The hon. Member for Calgary-Varsity. 3:20 Mr. Chase: To the point of order, Mr. Speaker. In defending the Deputy Premier’s choices, the government has suggested that we are somehow impugning the reputation of the judges, of the lawyers. They are suggesting that somehow we are opposed to the courthouse or that we’re opposed to celebrations taking place in the courthouse.

I have stated – and it’s in Hansard from last week – that I believe in the integrity of the Deputy Premier. It is not the integrity of the Deputy Premier that is being brought up, that is of concern. It is the confusion that resulted from a Progressive Conservative website suggesting that they should meet and celebrate and then at some point drop a hundred dollar cheque for the benefit of the hon. Deputy Premier. The problem exists in th e separation. It is not in the integrity of the Deputy Premier.

It is in the mistaken connections that have been made by a Progressive Conservative Association working hard to get this member of great integrity re-elected. It’s the overlapping and the muddying that is causing confusion. It isn’t the gentleman’s integrity that’s called into question; it’s the co- ordination of the supporters of the individual who have caused this confusion. Whether it’s 14 months later or 14 minutes later, the timing was questionable, the way it was advertised was questionable, and confusion has resulted. Mr. Oberle: Mr.

Speaker, what appears on a Progressive Conserva- tive website, I hesitate to point out, is not the purview of this Legislature. If the hon. member wishes to make some allegations to the Ethics Commissioner or, as our Deputy Premier pointed out, to any other party out there that might have some jurisdiction here, go ahead. That was not the original accusation that was made in question period. The accusation directly attacked the integrity of this hon. member. I again point out that it is a legitimate point of order, and I ask for an apology and a retraction.

The Speaker: Are there additional comments, involvement that additional members would like to make with respect to this point of order? There being none, okay. On Monday of this week I sat in this chair, and I was particularly moved – and you can interpret what I mean when I say “moved” – when this series of questions came up. They came up again today. Documents were tabled the other day. Now, there could have been intervention by the chair as early as Monday. If one looks at Beauchesne’s Parliamentary Rules & Forms , Oral Questions,

section 409(6), it very clearly says: A question must be within the administrative competence of the Government. The Minister to whom the question is directed is responsible to the House for his or her present Ministry and not for any decisions taken in a previous portfolio. This question, raised by the hon. Member for Calgary-Buffalo on Monday, was directed to the Deputy Premier. The chair could have intervened immediately and ruled it out, and that would have been that. The question would have never come back again, presumably, other than in a different form.

In addition to that, I’d like to advise and draw to the attention of all members the House of Commons Procedure and Practice. This is something in question period that’s not appropriate: a question is out of order if it addresses “a Minister’s former portfolio or any other presumed functions, such as party or regional political responsi- bilities.” Very clearly on page 427: ruled out again. The chair listened very attentively to find what this punch was going to be with respect to all of this.

As best this chair can understand, some day in January – and I’m not sure yet if it was January 25 or January 27 – a very important building was opened in the city of Calgary, a new provincial court building. It was a big deal. I know because years ago when I was the minister of public works, supply and services, I think we started opening that file. It seemed to be a 10- or 15- or 20-year venture. An Hon. Member: Twenty-four years. The Speaker: A 24-year venture to get this Calgary court. So it was a big deal event.

I would suspect as well that virt ually every Chief Justice in the province and every Chief Justice probably in Canada was invited or attended. The event would have been taxpayer funded; there’s no doubt at all a bout that in my mind. The cost of that means abso- lutely nothing. It’s had no significance to any of this discussion here today. We’ve heard about why the date was there. Clearly, this member was a candidate in the provincial election in the spring of 2008, and this member did not know the date of the provincial election until it was called.

If other members in this House had been privy to other information, they could have raised it in here, saying that they knew that January 12 or January 14 or November 23 or some other date was when the election was going to be. So that is a point of no significance to the discussion at hand in here. What is very, very clear to the chair, though, is that the event is important. Closeness has nothing to do with it. Cost of it has nothing to do with any of this. The suggestion is being made very, very clearly by the hon.

Member for Calgary-Buffalo that a member of this Assembly, in this case the Deputy Premier, the former Minister of Justice, willingly somehow organized a political event at the Calgary courthouse. From what I’ve heard, that didn’t happen. It would suggest to me that there are lots of violations of 23 in here that really go in. I think there’s a requirement here that if there was an issue that was moving the hon. Member for Calgary-Buffalo, then the hon. Member for Calgary-Buffalo might have had a few minutes of conversation with the Deputy Premier, the hon.

MLA for Calgary- Glenmore, about this as a discussion to basically verify this, to have authenticity, veracity, truthfulness. Then if it was true, the hon. member absolutely, clearly, could go for it in the Assembly or any other place. In this case it seems that the research was less than what would have been expected. Clearly, if I were the hon. Deputy Premier, the hon. Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations, I would have been the one rising a lot earlier than today with respect to a point on this matter, and I would have sought clarification for this before today. Hon.

Member for Calgary-Buffalo and hon. Government House Leader, I do believe that this is an infringement on the integrity of the hon. Deputy Premier. This is a matter that we’re dealing with in a point of order. The point of order could be dealt with now, this

March 11, 2009 Alberta Hansard 349 afternoon. I would ask the hon. Member for Calgary-Buffalo, who I do believe is an honourable member, to find the words to convey a message that basically says that this matter is behind us. Now, you’ve heard other members demand certain things. I’m asking the hon. Member for Calgary-Buffalo to find the appropriate words to make sure that we’re not impugning anybody’s integrity, that the integrity of this Assemb ly is sacrosanct, and then move forward. Would you do it, sir? Mr. Hehr: Well, I thank you for the opportunity. I apologize to the hon. member for what was asked.

I do respect his contributions to Alberta political life and all that he’s done in that regard. Does that suffice? Mr. Stevens: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, hon. member. The Speaker: This matter is now behind us. Let’s go forward with Orders of the Day. head: Orders of the Day head: Government Bills and Orders Second Reading Bill 18 Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement Implementation Statutes Amendment Act, 2009 [Adjourned debate March 3: Mr. Stevens] The Speaker: The hon. Member for Lethbridge-East. Ms Pastoor: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This bill basically is to harmonize the various Alberta legislations in an effort to remove the barriers to the trade and labour mobility act that will become TILMA and is necessary for the signing of such to have it come into effect as of April 1, ’09. This side of the table doesn’t necessarily support TILMA, mainly because it was developed in a very f undamentally undemocratic manner.

There wasn’t a proper debate on it in the House, and there are certainly some genuine concerns about how TILMA’s measures on various levels of government will be effected in Alberta. 3:30 Ultimately, it really comes down to the argument of what I’ve just spoken about, whether TILMA is good or not. That’s not what this bill is about. This b ill is about being able to enable the aspects of TILMA that will become in effect within less than three weeks.

Some of the aspects of this bill will be that it will remove the term “Alberta” and insert “Canada” from legislation where its use would be counter to the province’s TILMA obligations. It allows for loans and income pools to reflect the new TILMA impact on certain agricultural and charitable institutions. One of the other things that the amendments will do is provide extraprovincial charitable organizations and businesses the option of keeping records in their place of residence.

For instance, if the Canadian Cancer Society has an office in Alberta, it wouldn’t be necessary for them to have an address in B.C. as well. They’ll be able to keep it in both. It will give the authority to the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations to temporarily amend noncompliant legislation. I think that that provision probably could have received a little bit more debate in this House; however, it is very similar to provisions adopted by the B.C. Legislature in the spring of ’08, and these are to jibe with each other. The other one is the Marriage Act.

It would amend the act to enable the minister to appoint any adult resident of Canada as a temporary marriage commissioner in order to solemnize marriages in Alberta. It will not change the rules under which any marriage must take place. It doesn’t change the rules. It just changes who, in fact, might be able to perform the actual ceremony. As we all know, any MLA in this House can get permission to perform a marriage ceremony, and it is as legal as any.

The Mobile Home Sites Tenancies Act, which will be the same as the Residential Tenancies Act, requires that a landlord provide a postal address and a street address and a physical location in Canada for serving tenants with a notice of landlord. That really just tidies things up and is consistent with Alberta’s and B.C.’s regulations that they will have together. Basically, as I’ve said before, the discussion isn’t about the right or wrong of TILMA. It is that this will allow this TILMA agree- ment, that has already been signed between B.C. and Alberta, to go forward.

These were amendments that they found later that needed to be addressed in order that it would be a smooth transition on both sides of the border. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Varsity to participate on this bill. Mr. Chase: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’m not going to be long. The benefits of TILMA could be that, for example, if Alberta and B.C. shared a pharmaceutical plan, a pharmacare plan, based on sort of riding on the back of B.C.’s population, we could tremendously lower our drug prices. So there is a wonderful potential there.

Another potential would be that we could jointly provide much greater environmental protection, particularly for our shared waterways. So, again, TILMA has tremendous possibilities. The event of our signing the TILMA agreement will hopefully lead to the province of Alberta, in particular the Ministry of Transportation, working more committedly on the twinning of highway 3 to facilitate our east-west transportation of goods, which are primarily rail and highway. A concern that was originally brought up with TILMA is the labour and the trade negotiations.

Now, the city of Calgary recently, for example, published and adopted a living wage policy whereby basically each individual who is employed on a permanent basis for the city of Calgary earns something in the area or $13 plus an hour, which is considerably above even our increase in the minimum wage.

Concern has been expressed that someone from B.C. who is wanting to do a contract-out servi ce for the city might suggest that this wage requirement that the city had for its own employees would be a disadvantage, and therefore in order to provide service for which the $13 is being paid by the city, they should be allowed because of TILMA to provide that same service for $8. It can have very negative effects on contracting out by the city of Calgary. So this is one of the areas of TILMA that we’ll have to very carefully watch and have legal provision for.

In very similar ways as to under GATT and the free trade agreement there are possibilities for trade lawsuits to be filed and penalties in the millions of dollars being awarded. Hopefully, this will be a very p eaceful, amicable, economically and environmentally sound project. With that, I thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Hon. members, Standing Order 29(2)(

a) is available. Questions, comments under 29(2)(a)? There being none, then the hon. Member for Edmonton-Centre.

Alberta Hansard March 11, 2009350 Ms Blakeman: T h a n k s v e r y m u c h . I j u s t w a n t t o s p e a k r e a l l y briefly here because both the process and the content of TILMA, I think, is not always in the best interests of Alberta, the process particularly. A number of people have spoken at length about that, the fact that Albertans were not allowed to be consulted in this, that in fact the agreement itself never came before this House, which I think is a real insult to all of the people that elected us to be here.

To not even give duly elected people here representing folks the opportunity to comment on this agreement was really pretty shabby. [The Deputy Speaker in the chair] As I watch these various bills come through that are to implement TILMA and give the government the tools that it feels it needs to adhere to the various parts of the agreement, frankly, the hairs on the back of my neck are starting to go up. There’s just some stuff in here that does not sit right. I mean, first of all, let’s look at this process of today.

Prior to when the standing orders were changed at the insistence of the government – I certainly didn’t agree to it – this would have been considered an omnibus bill because we’re looking at amending the Agriculture Financial Services Act, the Business Corporations Act, the Cooperatives Act, the Charitable Fundraising Act, and the Government Organization Act, all of those. Yet members are restricted to 15 minutes and whatever use they can make of the 29(2)(

a) provision. 3:40 Some of the things that are starting to come off the page for me are particularly around what I’m seeing in the Government Organi- zation Act. I would like to get some answers back ab