Alberta Hansard — 25 April 2013, Afternoon sitting (13:30) (Legislature 28, Session 1)

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Alberta — Debates (Hansard)

Province of Alberta The 28th Legislature First Session Alberta Hansard Thursday, April 25, 2013 Issue 52a The Honourable Gene Zwozdesky, Speaker

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The 28th Legislature First Session Zwozdesky, Hon. Gene, Edmonton-Mill Creek (PC), Speaker Rogers, George, Leduc-Beaumont (PC), Deputy Speaker and Chair of Committees Jablonski, Mary Anne, Red Deer-North (PC), Deputy Chair of Committees Allen, Mike, Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo (PC) Amery, Moe, Calgary-East (PC) Anderson, Rob, Airdrie (W), Official Opposition House Leader Anglin, Joe, Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre (W), Official Opposition Whip Barnes, Drew, Cypress-Medicine Hat (

W) Bhardwaj, Naresh, Edmonton-Ellerslie (PC) Bhullar, Hon. Manmeet Singh, Calgary-Greenway (PC) Bikman, Gary, Cardston-Taber-Warner (

W) Bilous, Deron, Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview (ND) Blakeman, Laurie, Edmonton-Centre (AL), Liberal Opposition House Leader Brown, Dr. Neil, QC, Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill (PC) Calahasen, Pearl, Lesser Slave Lake (PC) Campbell, Hon. Robin, West Yellowhead (PC), Deputy Government House Leader Cao, Wayne C.N., Calgary-Fort (PC) Casey, Ron, Banff-Cochrane (PC) Cusanelli, Christine, Calgary-Currie (PC) Dallas, Hon. Cal, Red Deer-South (PC) DeLong, Alana, Calgary-Bow (PC) Denis, Hon. Jonathan, QC, Calgary-Acadia (PC), Deputy Government House Leader Donovan, Ian, Little Bow (

W) Dorward, David C., Edmonton-Gold Bar (PC) Drysdale, Hon. Wayne, Grande Prairie-Wapiti (PC) Eggen, David, Edmonton-Calder (ND), New Democrat Opposition Whip Fawcett, Hon. Kyle, Calgary-Klein (PC) Fenske, Jacquie, Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville (PC) Forsyth, Heather, Calgary-Fish Creek (

W) Fox, Rodney M., Lacombe-Ponoka (

W) Fraser, Rick, Calgary-South East (PC) Fritz, Yvonne, Calgary-Cross (PC) Goudreau, Hector G., Dunvegan-Central Peace-Notley (PC) Griffiths, Hon. Doug, Battle River-Wainwright (PC) Hale, Jason W., Strathmore-Brooks (

W) Hancock, Hon. Dave, QC, Edmonton-Whitemud (PC), Government House Leader Hehr, Kent, Calgary-Buffalo (AL) Horne, Hon. Fred, Edmonton-Rutherford (PC) Horner, Hon. Doug, Spruce Grove-St. Albert (PC) Hughes, Hon. Ken, Calgary-West (PC) Jansen, Sandra, Calgary-North West (PC) Jeneroux, Matt, Edmonton-South West (PC) Johnson, Hon. Jeff, Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater (PC) Johnson, Linda, Calgary-Glenmore (PC) Kang, Darshan S., Calgary-McCall (AL), Liberal Opposition Whip Kennedy-Glans, Donna, Calgary-Varsity (PC) Khan, Stephen, St. Albert (PC) Klimchuk, Hon.

Heather, Edmonton-Glenora (PC) Kubinec, Maureen, Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock (PC) Lemke, Ken, Stony Plain (PC) Leskiw, Genia, Bonnyville-Cold Lake (PC) Luan, Jason, Calgary-Hawkwood (PC) Lukaszuk, Hon. Thomas A., Edmonton-Castle Downs (PC) Mason, Brian, Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood (ND), Leader of the New Democrat Opposition McAllister, Bruce, Chestermere-Rocky View (

W) McDonald, Everett, Grande Prairie-Smoky (PC) McIver, Hon. Ric, Calgary-Hays (PC), Deputy Government House Leader McQueen, Hon. Diana, Drayton Valley-Devon (PC) Notley, Rachel, Edmonton-Strathcona (ND), New Democrat Opposition House Leader Oberle, Hon. Frank, Peace River (PC) Olesen, Cathy, Sherwood Park (PC) Olson, Hon. Verlyn, QC, Wetaskiwin-Camrose (PC) Pastoor, Bridget Brennan, Lethbridge-East (PC) Pedersen, Blake, Medicine Hat (

W) Quadri, Sohail, Edmonton-Mill Woods (PC) Quest, Dave, Strathcona-Sherwood Park (PC) Redford, Hon. Alison M., QC, Calgary-Elbow (PC), Premier Rodney, Hon. Dave, Calgary-Lougheed (PC) Rowe, Bruce, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills (

W) Sandhu, Peter, Edmonton-Manning (PC) Sarich, Janice, Edmonton-Decore (PC) Saskiw, Shayne, Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills (W), Official Opposition Deputy House Leader Scott, Hon. Donald, QC, Fort McMurray-Conklin (PC) Sherman, Dr. Raj, Edmonton-Meadowlark (AL), Leader of the Liberal Opposition Smith, Danielle, Highwood (W), Leader of the Official Opposition Starke, Hon. Dr. Richard, Vermilion-Lloydminster (PC) Stier, Pat, Livingstone-Macleod (

W) Strankman, Rick, Drumheller-Stettler (

W) Swann, Dr. David, Calgary-Mountain View (AL) Towle, Kerry, Innisfail-Sylvan Lake (W), Official Opposition Deputy Whip VanderBurg, Hon. George, Whitecourt-Ste. Anne (PC) Weadick, Hon. Greg, Lethbridge-West (PC) Webber, Len, Calgary-Foothills (PC) Wilson, Jeff, Calgary-Shaw (

W) Woo-Paw, Hon. Teresa, Calgary-Northern Hills (PC) Xiao, David H., Edmonton-McClung (PC) Young, Steve, Edmonton-Riverview (PC), Government Whip Party standings: Progressive Conservative: 61 Wildrose: 17 Alberta Liberal: 5 New Democrat: 4 Officers and Officials of the Legislative Assembly W.J. David McNeil, Clerk Robert H.

Reynolds, QC, Law Clerk/ Director of Interparliamentary Relations Shannon Dean, Senior Parliamentary Counsel/Director of House Services Stephanie LeBlanc, Parliamentary Counsel and Legal Research Officer Fiona Vance, Sessional Parliamentary Counsel Nancy Robert, Research Officer Philip Massolin, Manager of Research Services Brian G. Hodgson, Sergeant-at-Arms Chris Caughell, Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms Gordon H. Munk, Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms Liz Sim, Managing Editor of Alberta Hansard

Executive Council Alison Redford Premier, Pres ident of Executive Council Thomas Lukaszuk Deputy Premier, Minister of Enterprise and Advanced Education, Ministerial Liaison to the Canadian Forces Manmeet Singh Bhullar Minist er of Service Alberta Robin Campbell Minister of Aboriginal Relations Cal Dallas Minister of Internationa l and Intergovernmental Relations Jonathan Denis Minister of Justice and Solicitor General Wayne Drysdale Minister of Infrastructure Kyle Fawcett Associate Minister of Finance Doug Griffiths Minister of Municipal Affairs Dave Hancock Minister of Human Services Fred Horne Minister of Health Doug Horner President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance Ken Hughes Minister of Energy Jeff Johnson Minister of Education Heather Klimchuk Minister of Culture Ric McIver Minister of Transportation Diana McQueen Minister of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development Frank Oberle Associate Minister of Services for Persons with Disabilities Verlyn Olson Minister of Agri culture and Rural Development Dave Rodney Associate Minister of Wellness Donald Scott Associate Minister of Account ability, Transparency and Transformation Richard Starke Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation George VanderBurg Associate Minister of Seniors Greg Weadick Associate Minister of Municipal Affairs Teresa Woo-Paw Associate Minister of Inte rnational and Intergovernmental Relations

STANDING AND SPECIAL COMMITTEES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ALBERTA Standing Committee on Alberta’s Economic Future Chair: Mr. Amery Deputy Chair: Mr. Fox Bhardwaj Cao Donovan Dorward Eggen Hehr Luan McDonald Olesen Pastoor Quadri Rogers Rowe Sarich Strankman Xiao Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund Chair: Mr. Khan Deputy Chair: Mrs. Jablonski Anderson Casey Dorward Eggen Kubinec Sandhu Sherman Select Special Chief Electoral Officer Search Committee Chair: Mr. Rogers Deputy Chair: Mr.

Quadri Blakeman Eggen Goudreau Lemke Leskiw McDonald Saskiw Select Special Conflicts of Interest Act Review Committee Chair: Mr. Allen Deputy Chair: Mr. Luan Blakeman Dorward Fenske Johnson, L. McDonald Notley Saskiw Wilson Young Standing Committee on Families and Communities Chair: Mr. Quest Deputy Chair: Mrs. Forsyth Brown Cusanelli DeLong Fraser Fritz Goudreau Jablonski Jansen Jeneroux Leskiw Notley Pedersen Swann Towle Wilson Young Standing Committee on Legislative Offices Chair: Mr. Cao Deputy Chair: Mr.

McDonald Bikman Blakeman Brown DeLong Eggen Leskiw Quadri Rogers Wilson Special Standing Committee on Members’ Services Chair: Mr. Zwozdesky Deputy Chair: Mr. Rogers Casey Forsyth Fraser Kennedy- Glans Mason McDonald Quest Sherman Smith Standing Committee on Private Bills Chair: Mr. Xiao Deputy Chair: Ms L. Johnson Barnes Bhardwaj Brown Cusanelli DeLong Fox Fritz Goudreau Jablonski Leskiw Notley Olesen Rowe Strankman Swann Webber Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing Chair: Ms Olesen Deputy Chair: Mr.

Lemke Calahasen Cao Casey Hehr Jansen Kennedy-Glans Kubinec Luan McAllister Notley Pedersen Rogers Sandhu Saskiw Towle Young Standing Committee on Public Accounts Chair: Mr. Anderson Deputy Chair: Mr. Dorward Allen Amery Anglin Bilous Donovan Fenske Goudreau Hale Hehr Jeneroux Khan Pastoor Quadri Quest Sarich Stier Standing Committee on Resource Stewardship Chair: Ms Kennedy-Glans Deputy Chair: Mr. Anglin Allen Barnes Bikman Bilous Blakeman Calahasen Casey Fenske Hale Johnson, L. Khan Kubinec Lemke Sandhu Stier Webber

April 25, 2013 Alberta Hansard 2041 Legislative Assembly of Alberta Title: Thursday, April 25, 2013 1:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 25, 2013 [The Speaker in the chair] head: Prayers The Speaker: Good afternoon, hon. members. Let us pray. Hon. members, may this beautiful, warm, and sunny day be absorbed just as warmly within our hearts and souls as it is being shone upon our bodies, for it was surely on a day just like this one some time ago that someone first called our province sunny Alberta. May it forever be blessed so. Amen.

Pleased be seated. head: Introduction of Visitors The Speaker: Hon. members, yesterday I asked for and received some very good co-operation from you in keeping our introduc - tions as brief as possible so that all who had introductions could present them in the appropriate time. Today I would ask you to please do likewise. However, please know that for the very first introduction, which will be provided by the hon. Member for Calgary-Buffalo, he has requested that some added time be given for his introduction.

I have considered that, and I have allowed him a little bit of extra time today for his introduction should he wish to use it. I would ask for your co-operation and under - standing. Let’s proceed, then, with Calgary-Buffalo. Mr. Hehr: Well, Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to intr oduce to you and through you to all members of this Assembly someone you want in your corner when you’re in a fight, former Alberta Liberal MLA Rick Miller.

A number of you across the aisle sometimes entered the squared circle known as the Alberta Legis - lature with Rick, and as you know, he is a formidable opponent, a tireless technician, a resolute reformer, an audacious advocate, and a doggedly determined defender of the down-and-out. Rick was the MLA for Edmonton-Rutherford from 2004 to 2008 and served as the Alberta Liberal caucus chief of staff from 2009 to 2012. Rick is bravely battling cancer in the same style with which he battled the Tories, with honour and dignity.

While sometimes we go to battle wearing different colours, I know today everyone in this House is in Rick’s corner. Hon. members, please join me in welcoming the man, the myth, the legend, Rick Miller, with the traditional warm welcome of this Assembly. [Standing ovation] The Speaker: Thank you, hon. members, and thank you, hon. member in our gallery. The hon. Member for Calgary-Foothills. Mr. Webber: Thank you. I’m privileged to introduce to you and through you to all members of the Assembly a number of visitors seated in your gallery, Mr. Speaker.

The first is well known to many of us here in the Legislature and is a friend of mine and a friend of many, Mr. Art Johnston. I’d ask you to stand, Art, please. Art is a past two -term Alberta Progressive Conservative MLA who represented the constituency of Calgary -Hays from 2004 to 2012. His i mpressive career also included 11 and a half years serving in the Canadian armed forces and 25 years serving with the Calgary Police Service, retiring as a patrol sergeant.

Art is up here to participate in the annual Scotiabank Alzheimer’s hockey challenge in Leduc this weekend, and he’s playing on the Alberta MLA all-star team. We all know that Art is not only an all- star on the ice, but he’s an all-star off the ice as well. Absolutely. Accompanying Art, Mr. Speaker, is his son Ed Johnston, who is from Calgary. I’d ask Ed to stand. We recruited Ed as one of our ringers for our MLA all -star team. He is a natural playmaker, and he’s a selfless son who sets up his dad for goals all the time.

Also here with Art is his granddaughter Jordon Johnston and her frie nd Travis Brittain, both from Pigeon Lake. They’re here today to watch the proceedings in the House, and we are privileged to have them all here today. We thank Art for his many years of dedicated service to his city, to his province, and to his country. I ask that my MLA colleagues greet them with the warm welcome of the Assembly. The Speaker: Welcome, hon. member. The hon. Member for Little Bow. Mr. Donovan: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to introduce to you and through you to all the members of this Assembly my wife, Serena Donovan.

She is sitting in your gallery also today. I’d like to thank her for all she does for me and our family. She has also come to Edmonton this week to cheer on all MLAs from all the different parties, but especially the Wildrose goaltender, playing in the Alzheimer’s hockey fundraiser, which you helped organize, and I’m gratefully thankful for. If she could please rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of this Assembly. Mr. Jeneroux: Mr. Speaker, it’s an absolute pleasure to stand here today and introduce you to a gentleman seated in your gallery.

This is certainly not this gentleman’s first time in the Chamber. As a matter of fact, I imagine this gentleman has logged more hours inside this Chamber than most elected officials. He spent nearly 13 years in this Chamber and had the power that most of us dream of, the power to be able to turn on and, more importantly, turn off any of our microphones whenever he wished. He was, in fact, the former console operator, sitting right above that very clock. He introduced me to politics in the Legislature long before I was even school aged and has continued to support my passion and chosen career path.

I ask that my father, Mr. Doug Jeneroux, please rise and receive the traditional welcome of the Assembly. head: Introduction of Guests The Speaker: The hon. Member for Cardston -Taber-Warner, followed by Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville. Mr. Bikman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to stand and introduce to you and through you to all members of the Assembly a fantastic group of students from Glenwood school in my constit - uency of Cardston -Taber-Warner. They are here with Mr. Kelly Thomas, their principal; Mrs. Kathy Thomas; and Mr. Ken Selk. Please rise, students, and receive the warm welcome of this Assembly.

The Speaker: The hon. Member for Fort Saskatchewan - Vegreville, followed by Lacombe-Ponoka. Ms Fenske: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On be half of my colleague from Bonnyville-Cold Lake I would like to introduce to you and through you a group of 60 students from H.E. Bourgoin middle school from the constituency of Bonnyville -Cold Lake. They are not with us in the Chamber right now. They will be joining us

2042 Alberta Hansard April 25, 2013 during question period. I would ask th at they be recognized at this time. Thank you. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Lacombe-Ponoka. Mr. Fox: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is my great pleasure to rise today and introduce to you and through you to all members of the Assembly 82 incredibly bright grade 6 students from the Iron Ridge junior campus in Blackfalds. They are accompanied today by their teachers Mrs. Ashley Kovitch, Mrs. Amanda Mayert, Mr. Bill Carter, Mrs. Shelly Miller, Mrs. Irene Allen, Mrs. Cheryl Drobot, Mrs. Cheryl Taylor, Mrs. Jodi Vanderzwaag, and Mrs.

Joni Olsen. Please rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of this Assembly. The Speaker: Are there other school groups? Let’s move on, then, to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Mr. Olson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I’m fond of saying, the future of agriculture is very bright in Alberta, and we have proof positive with us today. It’s a great pleasure to introduce to you and through you to all members of the Assembly Jacob Onyschuk, who is this year’s Alberta 4-H Premier’s award winner.

He is from Legal, and his family home and fami ly farm kind of straddle two constituencies, Barrhead-Morinv ille-Westlock and Athabasca- Sturgeon-Redwater. We have two very proud MLAs who are happy to see him here today, too. This prestigious award recogniz es an individual who exhibits outstanding leadership, communicati on, and interpersonal skills. It’s a one-year term during which Jacob has been and is represent- ing youth and 4-H at various events. He was a member of the Bon Accord 4-H and Vimy Dunrobin 4-H Multi Club, and he’s been extremely active in many clubs.

He majored in animal science at the U of A and just finished his exams. He was formally presented with his award by the Premier earlier today. He’s here with his parents, Te resa and George; siblings Larissa, Nicholas, and Benjamin; and 4-H specialists Leila Hickman and Jocelyn McKinnon. They’re all standing, and I’d ask that the Assembly give them a warm welcome. 1:40 The Speaker: The hon. leader of the New Democrat opposition, followed by the leader of the Liberal opposition. Mr. Mason: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

It’s my honour today to rise and introduce to you and through you to all members of this Assembly my guest Lorne Dach. Lorne has been a real estate associate broker in Edmo nton for the past 26 years. His slogan Call Lorne Dach and Start To Pack is well known to many of us. For six years he was a member and chair of the city of Edmonton Non-Profit Housing Corpor ation, which is responsible for managing more than 600 units of multifamily housing owned by the city. In the 2012 election Lorne was also a candidate for the NDP, running in the constituency of Edmonton-McClung.

I would now ask Lorne to rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of the Assembly. The Speaker: The hon. leader of the Liberal opposition, followed by Calgary-Varsity. Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I have three introductions. It’s my pleasure to introduce to you and through you to all members of this Assembly Sabina Florence Zutter. I met Sabina at the gym while I was trying to lose weight for this hockey tournament. She was clipping along like a 24-year-old, and she told me she was a senior.

Sabina prides herself on keeping in good physical shape, taking personal responsibility, and main- taining her independence. She’s here to oppose the cuts to financial assistance for seniors. These subsidies have helped to keep seniors active and health y so they don’t end up spending their last years in bed, burdening the health system. I would ask Sabina to rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of the Assembly. Mr. Speaker, my second introduction.

I’d like to introduce to you and through you Betty Wedman, who continues to advocate on bullying and teen health and we llness since the suicide of her son in 2008. Betty’s son Alex chose to end his life due to depression caused by bullying. Betty is here today as she feels there is a lack of accountability regarding bullying. She hopes that government will incorporate health and wellness classes into our school system to help combat this societal problem. I would ask Betty to rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of the Assembly. Mr.

Speaker, it’s my pleasure to introduce to you and through you Madeline Rainey on behalf of her son Connor, who has autism. According to Madeline C onnor endured horrific abuses in the Edmonton public behaviour cl assrooms, culminating in a chokehold that Ms Rainey reported to her trustee. The response? She said that there was a staunch denial. For years Ms Rainey has advocated to spare others the ni ghtmare. There are legal protec- tions against staff bullying sta ff, students bullying students, students bullying staff, but what’s missing is protection against staff bullying students.

Ms Rainey, I apologize for whatever happened to Connor, and I would ask you to rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of the Assembly. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Varsity, followed by Calgary-Mountain View. Ms Kennedy-Glans: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It’s my honour to rise today and introduce to you and through you to all members of our Assembly members of the results-based budgeting economic development challenge panel: Brad Anderson, executive director of the Alberta Chamber of Resour ces; Ruth Kelly, president of Venture Publishing Inc.; Jeremy Heigh, principal economist and founder, Sift Every Thing Corpora tion; and John Swendsen, vice- chairman, corporate and inves tment banking, National Bank of Canada. We’ve been meeting today, and we will continue to meet until 9 o’clock tonight.

There is our panel – it’s a bit like Dragons’ Den – and we’ve pulled them out for an hour to watch question period. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Mountain View, followed by Edmonton-Decore. Dr. Swann: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Some of you will have met Eric Musekamp and Darlene Dunlop yesterday. They’re here to advocate for res ponsible legislation to protect farm workers and also to honour the International Day of Mourning next week for dead and injured workers.

This morning they were on the Legislature steps, where a documentary film- maker is making a trailer to be shown at the Global Visions Film Festival for a proposed feature-length film with the National Film Board on the plight of farm workers in Alberta. I’ll ask them to rise and receive the warm welcome of the Legislature. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Decore, followed by Edmonton-Strathcona.

April 25, 2013 Alberta Hansard 2043 Mrs. Sarich: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s my honour and privilege to rise today to introduce to you and through you to all Members of the Legislative Assembly 11 representatives from Edmonton’s Chinese community here in celebration of their 100 years of history in our great capital city. The Chinese population in Edmonton has grown along with our city, and they have developed strong organizations to assist them to promote and preserve their culture and to support one another in their chosen country.

My guests are seat ed in the members’ gallery, and I would ask them to please rise as I mention their names: Mrs. Mei Hung, president of the Chinese Benevolent Association; Mr. Games Choy, vice-president of the Chinese Benevolent Association; Mr. Lap Check Kwong, national chairman of the Chinese Freemasons Society; Mr. Ken Kwong, chairman of the Dart Coon Club, Edmonton chapter; Mr. Henry Fung, president of Edmonton Chinatown Multicultural Centre; Mr. Frank Gee, chairman of Gee Association of Edmonton; Mr. Donald Mah, chairma n of Mah Society of Edmonton; Mr.

Dan Wong, chairman of Wong’s Benevolent Association; Mr. Allan Kwan, president of Assist Community Services Centre; Mr. Raymond Ng, president of Edmonton Chinese News community newspapers; Mrs. Barbara Fung, public relatio ns person for the Chinese Freemasons Society and Dart Coon Club. I would now ask the Assembly to please give them the traditional warm welcome. Thank you. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Strathcona , followed by Calgary-Buffalo. Ms Notley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have two introductions today.

First, I’m very pleased to introduce to you and through you to this Assembly my guest Jim Brenan. Jim is the chair of theatre, speech, and music performance at Mount Royal University. Due to recent provincial budget cuts to postsecondary education Mount Royal University has had to cut diplomas in jazz and theatre. This threatens the very existence of Calgary’s Shakespeare in the Park festival, which has been running for 40 years and hosted 45,000 people last year. By cutting these programs, 120 seats will be reduced from Mount Royal, and many of the arts students will have to leave Calgary for study.

I would now ask Jim to rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of this Assembly. As well, Mr. Speaker, I’m very pleased to introduce to you and through you to this Assembly my guests from the Coalition for Action on Post -Secondary Education. CAPSE is returning to the Legislature today to remind the Legislature that the government of Alberta has solutions to the financial problems before it that do not involve imposing cuts to its postsecondary system. They are also here to provide a representative face to the over 67 per cent of Edmontonians who oppose these cuts.

I would now ask my guests to rise as I call their names: William Anselmi, Cressida Heyes, Natasha Hurley, Carolyn Sale, and Janice Williamson. I would ask everybody to join me in welcoming them to the Legislature. head: Ministerial Statements The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Human Services. National Day of Mourning Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sunday, April 28, is a sombre day across our nation as we pause to commemorate all the men and women and children whose lives have been forever altered by workplace fatalities, injuries, and illnesses .

Sunday is the National Day of Mourning, a day that we recognize the tremendous loss experienced by far too many Canadian families each year. We think of those whose mother, father, sibling, or loved one failed to come home from work healthy or, worse, failed to come home at all. We do not have to ask for whom the bell tolls. Death or injury in the workplace affects us all. It weakens the strength of our families, our communities, our province, and our country. But a workplace fatality affects none of us so much as the family left behind.

The constant reminders of a lost loved one throughout the year are the tears and memories rather than the warm embrace or the bright future. When a loved one is killed on the job or when an injury or illness snatches away their quality of life, a family is shattered, children left without a parent. The fibres of our community are stretched. Tensions rise.

Loss, anger, and fear fray the bonds that were once thought of as strong and unbreakable. 1:50 The National Day of Mourning, founded by the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Canadian Labour Congress, is meant to help ensure that we as individuals and as communities understand those challenges and help with those challenges. It’s meant to remind us that despite our losses and our pain, there is a community of support in Alberta and across the country that can help guide us through our sadness and, more, provide help and support where needed.

Our government is committed to help strengthen those families and communities by enabling and encouraging all members of our society to help one another and to improve the social policies at the very foundation of our strength. Although today is a reminder of those we’ve lost, it’s also a challenge to us to protect the living, to maintain constant vigilance in our goal of ensuring that every working Albertan is able to arrive home safely at the end of each and every working day, that each of us as an employer, as a worker needs to make safety our first priority.

As a governm ent we are demonstrating this commitment in a number of ways. There are no excuses, no accidents, and no circumstances under which a workplace death or injury can be accepted. I’m confident that our fellow Albertans and Canadians will take some solace in t he efforts that we’re using to make our communities safer places in which to work. Those efforts include ongoing improvements to our employer records database, an approach which makes companies accountable by making their safety records publicly available.

We’re improving our occupational health and safety measures, including the hiring of additional officers. This means more rigorous and focused investigation procedures and some of the most stringent compliance enforcement measures of any juris - diction in Canada. Those measures include fines of up to $10,000 for repeated violations of safety legislation and are intended to send a clear message to workers and employers. The message is this.

Those who senselessly risk the health and safety of others will be held accountable, and the cost to them for doing so will be far greater than the cost of doing business in a safe and healthy manner. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of all of my Legislature colleagues I offer my most heartfelt sympathies to those whose lives have been forever changed by workplace injuries and fatalities. Last year there were 145 fatalities in Alberta. Each one of those fatalities was preventable. Each one of them diminished our province and our lives, and we are committed to changing that. The Speaker: The hon.

Member for Cardston -Taber-Warner on behalf of the Wildrose opposition. Thank you.

2044 Alberta Hansard April 25, 2013 Mr. Bikman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Minister, for rising to commemorate this occasion. Nothing we say here will erase the pain families of Alber tans killed in the workplace live with every day. Yesterday I shared a story of a friend of mine. Mel Ondryk was probably not all that different from many of the workers who are killed on the job in Alberta: hard working, hum - ble, dependable, professional. In a workplace like the Legislature a momentary lapse in judgment might earn you some scorn and ridicule from the other side, maybe even a bad headline or two.

I learned that pretty quickly. But at workplaces like Mel’s a momentary lapse can cost you your life. That’s why safety is so important and why we mark the National Day of Mourning to assess where we are in regard to workplace safety and what more we can do. Mr. Speaker, I owned and operated an oil field services trucking company for 25 years. Mel lost his life while working with me, I’m sad to say. Over the years I witnessed a lot of dangerous situ - ations unfold that were completely avoidable. Because of that, I did all I could to put safety first. There are many reasons why accidents happen.

Mos t have to do with pressure: pressure from field supervisors, from managers, from customers, pressure to get the job done quicker. But that can never be an excuse. The very best are the ones who say: I don’t care what pressure there is; I’m going do this by the book. That can’t be an attitude just for front-line workers. It must be a culture from the top down. If you’re a boss, talk to your staff. Find out what challenges they face. Never put them in a situation where they have to compromise safety. If you’r e a worker, talk to your boss. Speak up. Stand up for yourself.

Don’t be pressured into cutting corners. Wildrose supports measures to make companies more account - able for their safety records. I encourage Albertans to take time on the National Day of Mourning, on Sunday, to think about what they can do on their own job sites to protect one another. Thank you. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Mountain View. Dr. Swann: Thank you. Can I respond to the minister?

The Speaker: Hon. members, I would anticipate that the tradition should now be followed, and that is to ask for unanimous consent to allow the other two opposition parties a moment to have one of their representatives speak to this very serious issue. I will ask you one question. Is anyone opposed to granting unanimous consent for the other two opposition parties to offer their comments on this issue? [Unanimous consent granted] The Speaker: Calgary-Mountain View, please proceed. Dr. Swann: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It’s my honour to respond on this soon to be International Day of Mourning for worker deaths and injuries. Last year in Alberta 20 people and a similar number of companies were convicted or under active investigation for various offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act for causing workplace fatalities and injuries. Sadly, none of these investigations or enforcements applied to industrial farming opera- tions. This is because still in 2013 agricultural operations are explicitly exempted from these la ws for reasons that only this Conservative government can answer.

Industrial farming operations contributed in the last 20 years to 355 deaths, over 12,000 hospitalizations, and hundreds of millions of dollars of public cost according to the most recent r eport of the Alberta Centre for Injury Control & Research. The unique negli - gence of the Alberta government in relation to paid farm workers is now well known across Canada and widely condemned by those who respect international standards of human rights, worker rights, and Charter rights. In an upcoming international conference in Florida two occupa - tional health experts, Dr.

Shirley McDonald of the University of British Columbia and Dr. Bob Barnetson of Athabasca University, will tell delegates that Albe rta officials justify the exclusion of paid agricultural workers from basic health and safety rights on the basis of three myths. Myth 1, education is better than regulation. The evidence shows that both education and regulations work synergistically to s ignifi- cantly reduce injury and death. Myth 2, farms cannot be regulated. The fact is that every other Canadian province has a combination of both education and regulation. Myth 3, farmers don’t want and can’t afford regulation.

In fact, the Wild Rose Agri cultural Produ- cers have again unanimously called on government to work with producers and bring in responsible occupational health and safety and child labour standards, which would not only save lives but protect owners from criminal negligence charges. Enlightened governments know that occupational health and safety benefits employers, employees, and all society. We await the time when this government exercises its fiduciary duty to both farm workers and farm owners and moves the agri - cultural industry into the 21st century.

Government carries the responsibility for protecting basic human rights and workplace equitably across this great province. Sufficient, qualified, and committed occupational health and safety staff are needed to accomplish this impo rtant responsibility. Political leadership is needed in Alberta today if we are to ensure our great agricultural enterprise meets its goal of becoming an ethical industry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Strathcona. Ms Notley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As we recognize and pay tribute to workers killed, injured, or who become ill because of their work, I join with Canadians across the country to anticipate marking the National Day of Mourning. To give honour to this tribute, it is important for us to note that much work remains to be done to make Alberta’s workplaces safe and healthy. The reality is that Alberta as a province has among the highest workplace death rates in Canada. As things stand now, we also have some of the weakest standards and weakest rules in the country.

We remain the only province in the nation that does not legislate mandatory work site health and safety committees, there- by withholding a fundamental tool that workers in every other province in the country use to keep themselves safe. 2:00 As well, the safety of farm workers in this province is another issue that this government is ignoring. Fatalities on Alberta farms, as tragic as they are, are preventable with the proper legislation to protect those workers.

Instead of keeping their promise to include farm workers in safety legislation, this government has recently taken active steps to preclude public access to information about farm fatalities. No one should have to fear for their life as they do their job, Mr. Speaker. Risks and possibilities of danger must be eliminated. Workers need to know they can demand safety measures to reduce hazards or threats to themselves or their co -workers. This govern- ment must improve safety standards and then invest adequate

April 25, 2013 Alberta Hansard 2045 resources to enforce those standards that keep workplaces safe. The safety of workers should never be sacrificed in the name of cost savings. Mr. Speaker, as we reflect and mourn those who have lost their lives and the families who have lost the ir loved ones, let us com - mit to ensure the safety of our workers and prevent as many tragic accidents as we can because, as we all know, one death is too many.

I would also like to extend an invitation to all Alberta workers, including those in this Hous e, to attend the formal day of mourn- ing ceremony and tribute being put on by the Canadian Labour Congress at Grant Notley park this Sunday at 1:30 in the after - noon. Thank you. The Speaker: Hon. members, thank you for those recognitions. Please be advised that the flags that fly on this glorious building, the Alberta Legislature Building, will be lowered from sunrise to sunset in recognition of this day on Sunday. head: Oral Question Period The Speaker: The Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition.

First main set of questions. Support for Couples Aging in Long-term Care Ms Smith: Mr. Speaker, a family doctor contacted the Wildrose opposition to advocate on behalf of his patients on an urgent matter. I want to tell you about a couple in Crowsnest Pass. This couple has been married for 63 years and rarely ever spent time apart. The 90-year -old husband has Parkinson’s, but he’s able to get along quite well with minimal help. His wife, though, has terminal cancer and is very ill.

Their doctor has been able to keep them together in the local long -term care facility for the last two months, but the AHS superboard has now told the husband that he has to move out next week. To the minister: why can’t they stay together for the time that they have left? Mr. Horne: Mr. Speaker, I’m unaware of this particular situation, and I’d certainly be happy to look into it if the hon. member would like to provide me with the details.

What I can tell you is that we are working very hard to allow couples to stay together as long as possible, particularly in very tragic circumstances like the ones that have been described. Because of the demand for continu- ing care across the province, we do have a first available bed policy that Alberta Health Services has in effect, but I know th ey make every effort to ensure, particularly in very difficult circum - stances such as these, that couples are not unnecessarily separated. Ms Smith: I’ll just give a bit more detail, Mr. Speaker.

Their doctor has found a way to keep them together for the l ast two months by having them in community support beds in the long - term care facility. It’s worked well, but AHS rules say that these beds can only be occupied for a maximum of two months, which seems kind of arbitrary. The husband isn’t blocking access to any- one else. There are 20 empty beds at this facility. Will the minister step in and make the caring and decent decision to allow this couple to spend their last days together? Mr. Horne: Well, Mr. Speaker, certainly there are situations where exception s should be granted.

As I said, I don’t have any specific information about this case. If the family physician or the hon. member wants to provide me with more details, I’ll certainly look into it. Ms Smith: Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the minister’s undertaking. I just want to get on the record a couple of last details. To add insult to injury, if the husband is forced out, he is going to have to take a taxi over to see his wife, plus pay additional charges every day for his meals. Meanwhile, of course, they ’ve raised the issue of the AHS health executives who still do enjoy their lavish expense accounts.

I want to get an undertaking from the minister, because this is not the only issue we’ll raise today. Will he agree to put pa- tients first, give local careg ivers the power to serve their patients the way they want to with compassion and with respect? Mr. Horne: Mr. Speaker, as I said, I don’t have the particulars of this case. I’d be pleased to look into it. As Leader of the Official Opposition I’m sure the hon. member would not expect me to have those details at hand. If her intention is to raise awareness about a particular constituent in this province and their issues, she’s accomplished that.

There are ways to do that more directly, and I’d invite her to provide the details to my office. The Speaker: The hon. Leader of the Official Opposition. Second main set of questions. Ms Smith: I certainly will give the minister the information he needs. I hope he can help out. Prescription Drug Coverage Ms Smith: Mr. Speaker, there are also more stories coming in about the mess that the Minister of Health has created with generic drugs. In a few moments you’ll hear about one such story from one of our MLAs.

The mess is bad enough, but the government has made it worse with an advertising campaign that distorts what’s really going on. Here’s what one pharmacist had to say about that, and I quote: maybe instead of spending $400,000 to advertise how great these generic cuts are, you could have invested the money into pharm acy to allow us to provide much-needed care for our patients. What does the minister have to say about that? Mr. Horne: Well, what we have to say, Mr.

Speaker, is that we just added $40 million in additional benefits to pharmacists to enable them to work t hrough the transition to lower generic drug prices. As the hon. member knows, that is on top of the over $80 million that has been provided over the last few years. The very specific reason that we are taking these measures is to allow pharmacists to be pa id directly for many of the services that they have provided for free to Albertans over the years. That can only be accomplished if we as payers on behalf of taxpayers have access to lower generic drug prices. Ms Smith: The problem is, Mr.

Speaker, that th e claims being made by the Premier and her Health minister are just not true. Here is an example of the government misleading the public in its advertising. The government claims that their changes will have limited financial impact on pharmacies, but the fact is that the average pharmacy will see a loss of annual revenue of about $600,000. How can the minister expect pharmacies to survive with that kind of loss? Mr. Horne: Mr. Speaker, this might be a good opportunity to help inform the hon. member about some of the facts.

First of all – and I don’t know where she’s getting her information – there is no evidence that has been presented to me to suggest that $600,000 is the average loss in rebates that pharmacists would experience. In fact, the nature of those payments, which are rebates – they are

2046 Alberta Hansard April 25, 2013 financial transactions between individual pharmacies and distribu- tors – is not transparent. That’s data that’s not available to us. That’s not right. That’s why we don’t have the lowest generic prices that we should have. We’re going to invest the money that we do save in expanding pharmacy services in the province. Ms Smith: Well, I’m getting my information from the Phar - macists A ssociation of Alberta, whom the minister claims he’s been listening to and consulting with.

Clearly not, because the government claims other jurisdictions like Ontario are reducing prices, too, yet have more pharmacies open. But here’s the truth. Ontario pharmacists are allowed to charge higher dispensing fees, so they have higher revenues, and even then Ontario’s pharmacy wages and hours have been reduced, pharmacy unemployment is up, and, more importantly, Ontario’s price reductions were to 25 per cent, n ot 18 per cent like Alberta’s. Why does the minister keep distorting the truth? Mr. Horne: Mr. Speaker, we’ll leave that last comment aside for a moment.

The fact of the matter is that we in Alberta have followed the lead of other jurisdictions like Ontar io, which began many years ago to reduce generic drug prices. I don’t think any member on this side of the House wants our pharmacists to continue to rely on rebates and other under-the-table payments that are not transparent to the public, that result not only in higher drug prices for government and for Albertans who pay out of pocket and for em - ployers but also deny pharmacists the opportunity to be paid for the very professional services they do provide. Our pharmacists deserve better.

They are getting better as a result of this plan. We’ll continue to work with them directly. The Speaker: The hon. Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposi - tion. Third main set of questions. Ms Smith: The problem is that there is a limit to how low you can go, and the minister’s plan goes too far. Provincial Fiscal Policies Ms Smith: Mr. Speaker, Albertans know that the Premier’s ex - cuse for borrowing billions of dollars in the back-in-debt budget is phony. It’s the unicorn of Alberta politics.

Even the former Fi - nance minister, Lloyd Snelgrove, was critical of his former colleagues for using the bitumen bubble as an excuse. He correctly pointed out that the spread between bitumen prices and conventional prices has been a fact in the real world for years. We pointed out that the spread on budget day was almost the same as the spread on election day, when the Premier was making all of those promises to spend, spend, spend. Will the Premier now concede that we’re going into debt because she’s spending too much? Ms Redford: Mr.

Spe aker, the fascinating thing is that between election day and budget day there was an entire 12 months of an increasing differential that impacted our revenue to the tune of $6 billion. Not only that; let’s just look at the newspaper today, Brian Ferguson, CEO of Cenovus.

It says: “Cenovus predicts the differential – which on Wednesday stood at about $18 . . . will widen again in the last half of this year.” He said: “All things tak - en as a whole, we’re expecting that supply will increase somewhat more than demand.” I’m going to take Brian Ferguson’s advice from Cenovus well before the Leader of the Opposition’s. 2:10 Ms Smith: The fact of the matter is that the bitumen spread has been there for decades, Premier. When we raise the issue of debt and borrowing, the Premier with the backing of her Finance minister insists it’s a good idea to borrow.

Of course, that wasn’t what they were saying during the election a year ago. But if the government cut its wasteful spend - ing on things like layers of managers managing managers, on things like corporate welfare, it could pay cash for core govern - ment responsibilities like building schools and hospitals. Wouldn’t that be better? Ms Redford: Mr. Speaker, one of the things that was very exciting in this budget was the fact that we made a commitment to continue to invest in the infrastructure that matters to build Alberta, unlike the opposition.

But on top of that, let’s remember – oh, I don’t know – that on budget day we kept spending to zero

whereas the opposition suggested that spending should increase to population plus inflation. On top of that, we’ve enhanced savings, saving $24 billion. [interjections] We continue to increase funding for education and health care. We have a deal with teachers and with doctors to ensure that we keep our fiscal framework strong. That’s something we’re proud of. [interjections] The Speaker: I see the usual Thursday afternoon chorus is alive and well. Hon. members, on a more serious note the Member for Airdrie rose on a point of order at 2:11:30, and that has been noted.

Let’s go on with your final question, hon. leader. Ms Smith: Well, Mr. Speaker, Albertans aren’t nearly so enthu - siastic about the governmen t’s direction on finances. Only 13 per cent approve of the direction. Earlier in the week the Energy minister pretty much admitted that future bitumen revenues will not be high enough to save them. If the Premier refuses to prioritize spending, as we’ve s ug- gested, how will they ever stop the downward spiral of constant deficits and ballooning debt?

Ms Redford: In estimates two weeks ago we had a fascinating discussion where the Leader of the Opposition used exactly the same language, and this is what she said: we would prioritize spending on infrastructure and find the savings on services some - where else. Well, I don’t know about them, Mr. Speaker, but from our perspective we weren’t going to cut $6 billion in services to Albertans because we’re committed to savings, to building Alberta, to supporting families and communities, to ensuring that schools and hospitals continue to open.

We will build for the fu- ture because that’s the commitment that we made to Albertans. The Speaker: The hon. leader of the Alberta Liberal opposition, followed by the New Democratic leader. Political Party Donations Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. According to a story by Chuck Rusnell of CBC it appears that in exchange for major financial donations to a leadership campaign a promise was made to amend Alberta’s labour legislation. To the Premier: was this promise to amend Alberta’s labour legislation made in return for a campaign donation? Ms Redford: Mr. Speaker, I saw part of this story.

Do you want me to answer this or not?

April 25, 2013 Alberta Hansard 2047 The Speaker: Well, I think we all know the rule about campaign donations and political party references and so on. But if you wish to . . . [interjections] Excuse me. The chorus does not get an encore. If you wish to provide an answer, I welcome you. Ms Redford: I will. Mr. Speaker, I saw a copy of this story this morning. In fact, I welcome the report. What did this report say? It said that someone made a political contribution and, as a result of that, expected to get access. As far as I can tell, the story was that they didn’t. That’s a good system.

That’s what we’re proud of. That’s what change looks like. We’re going to continue to do the work that’s right for Albertans. Dr. Sherman: Mr. Speaker, according to the story they had access. A commitment w as made. It was reflected in the party’s platform. People are just so cynical in this province. One political commentator says that this is just how things are done in this province, behind the scenes. When all of these types of campaign donations are made, Premier, how do Albertans trust this Premier and this government when each day brings a new scandal? How, Premier? Ms Redford: Mr.

Speaker, as far as I can tell, what each day brings is another story in the newspaper that the opposition brings up to try to get some political traction. This story today exactly proves the point that that’s not the way that business should be done. It’s not the way that we are involved in doing public policy. It is not something we subscribe to or support in any way. And it simply did not happen and will not happen in the future. Dr. Sherman: Mr. Speaker, we had illegal campaign donations. We’ve had a $430,000 donation. We’ve had Tobaccogate. We’ve had all these kinds of election campaign finance issues.

You just passed legis lation recently, Premier. You could still drive a $430,000 truck through that legislation. Premier, my question to you: what other decisions are for sale in this province under your leadership? Come on, Premier. Ms Redford: None, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. leader of the New Democrat opposition, followed by Innisfail-Sylvan Lake. Mr. Mason: Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. Unlike the leader of the Liberals I actually have the documents.

Now, this morning more revelations of shady backroom politics came to light, this time involving years of collusion between a coalition of big construction companies and the PCs. During her PC leadership campaign the Premier accepted $26,900 from the Construction Competitiveness Coalition and its members. At the same t ime she assured this coalition that she supported their antiunion agenda and then included proposals in the PC election platform that were almost word for word. Can the Premier tell us why she promised big construction corporations to bring in union- busting amendments . . . The Speaker: The hon.

Premier. Ms Redford: Well, Mr. Speaker, the only fact in that entire ques - tion is that there was, in fact, a political contribution. We, our party, before any other party, before there were even rules in place, ensu red that we disclosed those contributions. That was consistent then with amendments that we made to the Election Act. The other thing, again, is that it proves the point. Even though people may choose to participate in the political process, there is no reason to ever presume, as this story shows today, that that will do anything more than allow them to feel like good, solid citizens.

The Speaker: The hon. leader. Mr. Mason: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The fact that they revealed it doesn’t change the fact that they got them. Following large, ongoing donations to the PCs members of the antiunion construction coalition received about $1 billion in grants and contracts over a six-year period. On top of that, they received a promise to make union-busting revisions to the labour code in this Progressive Conservative platform from the last election.

Will the Premier admit that the donations from the antiunion construc - tion coalition not only got them their contracts but also got them the promise of labour code reviews intending to facilitate union- busting by these antiunion construction companies? Speaker’s Ruling Questions about Political Party Activity The Speaker: Hon. mem ber, please review your third question because if it’s along the same lines, it won’t be allowed. The rules specifically say: no questions with respect to political parties or political party donations. We’ve talked about this before, so please rethink, re craft your question.

You’re a veteran; you’ll figure it out. Hon. Minister of Human Services, if you wish to respond. Political Party Donations (continued) Mr. Hancock: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes. And I guess that would mean it would be totally in appropriate for me to men- tion that the AFL gave the NDP $30,000 in 2012. [interjections] Speaker’s Ruling Questions about Political Party Activity The Speaker: Hon. members, you can see that if I allow something like that on one side of the House, I have to allow it on the other side. Then you can see what happens between members of this House. Please.

So let us remember that there are rules in our practice of parliament books. Those rules and those guidelines exist for a reason, and it is exactly to prev ent outbursts like we just had during the Liberal leader’s questions, during the NDP leader’s questions, and certainly during the Minister of Human Services’ answer. Hon. Minister of Human Services, would you like to conclude your answer now, bearing in mind the rules and practices? Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad we’re very clear on that now. Political Party Donations (continued) Mr.

Hancock: What I’d like to indicate to this hon. member is that there’s no surprise in this. We for two years have been talking. The Competiveness Council provided a brief to govern- ment some two years ago, and the previous minister opened up a discussion on that. We’ve had the discussion with the building trades council, with unions. We’ve had letter -writing campaigns.

2048 Alberta Hansard April 25, 2013 We’ve had open, transparent discussions. Everybody involved now knows that Andy Sims is mediating the process. There’s nothing hidden here, and there’s no special . . . The Speaker: The hon. leader of the New Democrat opposition. 2:20 Mr. Mason: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, we know that the PCs have received $186,750 in something we’re not allowed to talk about from the antiunion constructi on coalition.

Coincidentally, I’m sure they received not one but two reviews of the labour code intended to undermine the rights of working people and a campaign promise in the PC platform document to allow union -busting. To the Premier: now that Albertans know how this government makes policy, will she finally do the right thing and ban corporate and union election donations, including for leadership races? The Speaker: The hon. minister briefly. I think the ND leader got his point onto the record, and I’m prepared to move on, but if you can do something briefly to comment, I invite you to offer your comment. Mr.

Hancock: Briefly is very difficult for me, Mr. Speaker, but I would like to say this. Nothing has been bought, nothing is bought in this government in terms of policy. We have had a very clear, very open, very transparent process in which there’s been no secret about the fact that the Competitiveness Council wanted change, there’s been no secret in the fact that many of the things they asked for are not happening, and there’s no secret in the fact that there has been discussion with all parties very publicly . . . The Speaker: Wonderful. Thank you. Support for Couples Aging in Long-term Care (continued) Mrs.

Towle: Babe is a 96 -year-old World War II veteran current- ly in a private care facility and on the waiting list for extended care. Fran, the love of his life for 71 years, was put into extended care in October. When Babe can visit Fran, they find comfort holding each other’s hands even though Babe can no longer express his words and Fran is confused. Babe and Fran deserve to be together. How many other Alberta couples, having spent decades together, will have to spend their last days apart because this government will not make it a priority to keep them together? Mr. VanderBurg: Well, Mr.

Speaker, we have known going back to 2010 of the issue that we’re facing today, and that’s an aging population. Since 2010 this government has made a commitment to build a thousand new spaces each and every year. Every one of the new facilities and every one of the facilities that we co - announce with opposition members and members on this side, mayors, community members, all have spaces for couples. We know we have to get our stock of couples’ residences higher, and we’re going to. Mrs.

Towle: Well, given that recently released documents show that the policy allowing seniors to be placed in care facilities up to a hundred kilometres away from their home was supposed to be an interim policy to deal with bed shortages during the H1N1 pan- demic, which was four years ago, and given that couples in the last years of their life are still ending up 200 kilometres apart, why does the minister allow this so -called interim policy to continue well after the pandemic has ended? Mr. Horne: Mr. Speaker, I have an idea of the document the hon. member is referring to. It’s from 2009.

The hon. member should well know that the demand for continuing care spaces in Alberta is very high. There is a first available bed policy that’s in effect. As the associate minister has indicated, today’s modern facilities, the thousand spaces that we’re opening each year, offer opportunities for couples to stay together because we recognize that need, Mr. Speaker. That’s what leadership in continuing care is about. Mrs. Towle: Couples are separated every day, Mr.

Speaker, and given that in 2009, when the hundred-kilometre placement policy came into effect, Alberta Health Services said, and I quote, that Alberta Health Services is committed to getting these clients back into their comm unity of choice as soon as there is relief from the unique H1N1 pandemic pressure, will the minister scrap the hundred-kilometre rule immediately, or will he continue this government’s cruel policy of divorce by nursing home? Mr. Horne: Well, Mr.

Speaker, what we will continue to do is what we have been doing; that is, increasing continuing care spaces at a rate not seen anywhere else in this country on a per capita basis. I’m sure all of us would welcome the opportunity in question period to stand up and talk about the very specific details of constituents. If the hon. member’s question is about policy, she’s aware of the policy that’s in effect. It’s nothing any of us want to continue longer than possible, but it is a necessary response to a very temporary situation.

The Speaker: Hon. members, please review your questions from here on out because I’m going to clamp down on supplementals. We’re running late today. We’re going to call and recognize yesterday’s champion of no

preambles to supplementaries, the hon. Member for Edmonton- Mill Woods. Mr. Quadri: I’ve got lots of

preambles today. Access to International Markets Mr. Quadri: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the CEO of a leading Alberta energy company raised concerns about the thr eat to our economy of the bitumen bubble and that Alberta lacks market access. This is an issue that concerns everyone who has looked at it seriously, including industry, economists, and financial institutions. That has not only had a serious impact on Alberta’s revenue outlook, with a $6.2 billion drop this year, but it’s also had a big impact on our federal partner in Ottawa as well. To the Premier.

We know that all those who would like to build walls around Alberta like to deny that there are problems. The Speaker: Hon. member, we were hoping for a repeat performance, but we’re not getting it. Hon. Premier, if you wish to respond. Ms Redford: Well, Mr. Speaker, the unique challenge that we’ve always faced in Alberta is that we’re an export -driven economy. When we face some of these difficult financial challenges, one of the things that we need to do is make sure that we’re putting strategies in place to allow our markets to continue to grow.

That, of course, is why we understood in the last election that we couldn’t live within our borders, that we couldn’t build firewalls or perhaps other kinds of fires, and that we needed to make sure that we were building markets. That’s why we have incredible work going on in our government in our international offices on

April 25, 2013 Alberta Hansard 2049 Keystone, on pipelines to the east, on pipelines to the north, and on Gateway. That’s what allows us to continue to have the quality of life that we’re entitled to. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Mill Woods. Mr. Quadri: Thank you, Mr. Speake r.

Again to the Premier: given that yesterday a report surfaced that indicated that Alberta is looking to do even more to build international markets and given that the budget increased funding to strengthen Alberta’s presence and growth and to diversify markets in Asia and the United States, do Albertans receive tangible benefits from the work that takes place outside our borders? Ms Redford: Mr. Speaker, I am sure that the hon. member will not be surprised to hear that the answer to that question is yes, we do receive tangible benefits.

We see that every day in Washington and Quebec and New Brunswick, where we have strong partner - ships with people that understand what our environmental record is, that we’re important economic partners, and that the economi c engine of Canada, right now located in Alberta, can share the wealth across this country so that we can have refining in Quebec, refining in New Brunswick, and exports to Asia. That’s an international strategy outside of our borders, and that’s what matters to Albertans. Mr. Quadri: Mr.

Speaker, can the Premier explain how Albertans can understand the important opportunity that exists international - ly and how small- and medium-sized businesses can get help from the government to gain a competitive edge in those markets? Ms Redford: Well, Mr. Speaker, one of the things that’s very important for us to understand if we look at Alberta’s economy is that everything doesn’t happen only through energy, and every - thing doesn’t happen only in very large corporations.

It’s very important for us to be working with agricultural producers, with companies that are exporting to Asia such as honey producers, that have very successful markets. The only way that we can ensure that we’re finding customers and supporting those trade strategies is to have international offices with people that understand Alber - ta’s businesses and economy and to make sure that that ongoing relationship continues to expand markets in lots of commodities around the world. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Lac La Biche-St. Paul -Two Hills, followed by Calgary-Bow.

Police Integrated Information Initiative Mr. Saskiw: This Justice minister is now infamous for throwing tens of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money down the drain. For several years this government, including the Premier when she was Justice minister, spent at least $69 million on a police inte - grated information system, known as API3, but then scrapped the project. That’s money spent on nothing just like the $10 million spent on not building the police college in Fort Macleod. What excuse does this progressive Justice minister have for his reckless incompetence in spending hard-earned, taxpayers’ money?

Mr. Denis: Well, Mr. Speaker, if anybody is incompetent, it’s this very member. [interjections] In fact, the $69 million: guess what? That can be used throughout this entire province. I invite him to go and contact the chief of the Calgary police, who has even indicated that . . . Speaker’s Ruling Inflammatory Language The Speaker: Hon. member, do you see what you’ve prompted with your reference to incompetence? Then we have another one firing back at your incompetence and his incompetence. It’s in that category of personal attack.

So craft your questions a little better, hon. members, and gov - ernment members, craft your answers a little bit better. Don’t take the bait all the time, both ways. Lac La Biche-St. Paul -Two Hills, let’s see how you do on your first supplementary. 2:30 Police Integrated Information Initiative (continued) Mr. Saskiw: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given that the Premier was the Justice minister as the API3 program was being developed, can the current Justice minister clarify whether this million -dollar boondoggle occurred under his watch or hers? Mr. Denis: Actually, Mr.

Speaker, the API3 program was found- ed before either the Premier or myself was elected in 2006. Regardless, there’s no money wasted here. The chief of Calgary police, Rick Hansen, has even said so publicly. I invite this mem - ber to check his quotes in the Herald . He has indicated that he can use the coding from the actual API3 system and much of the hardware can be used throughout much of the entire government, so this member’s statements are inaccurate. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Saskiw: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Given that the Calgary Police Service cited that the API3 project would help – and I quote – increase public safety and enhance efficiency and effectiveness, can the minister explain how he’s going to fill these gaps in the justice system now that millions spent on the project have been flushed down the drain? Mr. Denis: Well, again, Mr.

Speaker, I don’t know which inaccu- racy to talk about first, but perhaps this member would first want to talk about his party’s weak and soft record on crime, the fact that his leader wanted to go and create a red -light district, the fact that he wanted less enforcement on highway 63. [interjections] No matter what this member does, we’re continuing with enforcement in this area. [interjections] The Speaker: All right. Let’s just take a few seconds to cool off. Alberta is sunny Alberta, but it’s also been known to be cool Alberta. Ah, I feel better. I’m sure you do as well. Let us move on.

Calgary-Bow, followed by Calgary-Buffalo. Support for Volunteer Organizations Ms DeLong: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. This week is National Volunteer Week, and across the province Albertans are honouring the amazing volunteers who make a difference in their communities. Every year these volunteers make it possible for our citizens to access programs and services worth an estimated $9 billion, supporting youth and families and keeping our province strong. My question is to the Minister of Culture.

Given the incredible contribution of our nonpr ofit volunteer sector, how can you justify cuts to grants that are so vital to helping volunteer organizations achieve their goals? The Speaker: The hon. minister.

2050 Alberta Hansard April 25, 2013 Mrs. Klimchuk: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, volunteers do indeed make our province hum, and I’m so thankful for everything they do. That’s why funding has been maintained to many of our community investment programs, including the francophone community and arts and heritage programs – those are very, very important programs – as well as the comm unity initiatives pro - gram and the community facility enhancement program. The Speaker: The hon. member. Ms DeLong: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again to the Minister of Culture: why was the community spirit program, one of the few programs where Albertans helped to determine where dollars went through their donations, eliminated? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mrs. Klimchuk: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Indeed, that was a really difficult decision to make as a minister, but we know that $65 million now has been allocated towards the core programs and services that community initiatives and community facility enhancement do provide. As well, the applications for the commu- nity spirit donation program are being processed.

Those cheques are being mailed out in May. I want to note that Alberta has one of highest charitable tax credits in all of Canada, and I know Albertans will continue to donate to their charities of choice. The Speaker: The hon. member. Ms DeLong: Thank you. To the same minister: what is this government doing to ensure that the nonprofit, voluntary sector remains viable for future generations of Albertans? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mrs. Klimchuk: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are indeed committed to helping Albertans now and into the future.

One of the things that we have is community development officers that are across Alberta. They will assist organizations with fundraising, strategic development, and board development. As well, the government has incredible partnerships with organizations like the Alberta nonprofit, voluntary sector, and I’m currently working with the Minister of Human Services on some other prog rams to engage and keep communication open with the nonprofit, voluntary sector. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-McCall, followed by Edmonton-Strathcona. Deerfoot Trail Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Like the Fort Macleod police college, the Deerfoot Trail handover is something that we keep hearing about, but nothing ever really happens. To the Minister of Transportation: when is this now expected to occur, Mr. Minister? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. McIver: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the hon. member knows, when he talks about the Deerfoot, it’s not a single location issue. There are a whole bunch of changes that eventually we’d like to make.

I can tell the hon. member right now that there are big improvements going on as part of the southeast Calgary ring road project, with better interchanges between highway 22X and Deerfoot Trail that will accommodate a lot more traffic. Through that, Mr. Speaker, I also expect we’ll take off a lot of the truck traffic that ties up Deerfoot Trail, particularly during the rush hour, when that finishes by the end of this year. We’re hoping that will at least be one improvement although certainly not the last one. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The minister has said that before this happens, he will have to fix the problem with the Glen- more Trail. But there was no money in the budget. Will he still fix the problem at the Glenmore Trail before he hands Deerfoot Trail to the city of Calgary? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. McIver: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the hon. member: I’m sure he’s aware, because we just finished estimates and we just finished quite a bit of discussion on the budget, that the Glenmore Trail interchange is not in the three- year plan, but we hope to get it in there in the future, and I thank the hon. member for the reminder of that project. It’s certainly something that we want to get done. In terms of handing the Deerfoot Trail over to the city, that will happen at some point, we hope, in the future but not un til after we have, I would hope, a good discussion with the city and try to actually come to an agreement on when that’ll happen.

There is no date per se, Mr. Speaker, when we’re planning it. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given that it costs about $4 million a year to operate a freeway like Deerfoot and the road has some major design problems, will Calgary see any increase in transportation grants to help pay for the upkeep, or will those costs be downloaded to the city of Calgary? Mr. McIver: Well, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that the hon. member wants to negotiate something here in the House when the discussions haven’t even begun yet with the city.

Obviously, the question can’t be answered because the negotiations haven’t e ven begun, but I can you this. When we go ahead, we will talk to the city in advance. We’ll actually try to get their agreement, and when that will happen – again, I’ll repeat myself because the question was asked again – we don’t know, but we look forward to looking after the Deerfoot Trail very well until such time as we turn it over. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Strathcona , followed by Cardston-Taber-Warner. Child Poverty Ms Notley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

A year and a half ago this Premier made a promise to end child poverty in five years. Since then not only has she allotted zero new dollars to this promise; she’s actually cut funding to countless programs which fight child poverty in Alberta. My question is to the Premier. Who promises to eliminate child poverty in five years, puts no money toward that promise, and cuts funding that currently exists? Who does that, Madam Premier? Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, this is a typical NDP approach to policy, just add money and stir.

What we’re actuall y doing is looking at every program that we have that affects children to determine how effective they’re being. We’re looking at a poverty strategy based on the social policy framework. [interjections]

April 25, 2013 Alberta Hansard 2051 We’re looking at that to determine how we can do bett er. We’re continuing the very good programs we have. There are a lot of good things happening. There will be more good things hap- pening. But you don’t start by putting in billions of dollars. [interjections] The Speaker: Hon. Member for Edmonton-Centre , y ou may be on the list later. We’ll give you a chance then if you want. Hon. Member for Edmonton-Strathcona, please proceed. Ms Notley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, given that this budget cuts child intervention, cuts support for youth in transition, cuts retraining for parents and poor families and given that this Premier’s social policy/public relations framework calls for government to, among other things, actually reduce its role as a funder of antipoverty initiatives, will the minister admit that not even his substantial rhetoric is enough to feed growing numbers of hungry children in Alberta? Mr. Hancock: Mr.

Speaker, what I think Albertans understand and certainly what we understand from Albertans in the discus - sions we’ve had through the social policy framework and others is that when you deal with issues like poverty, in particular child poverty, it has to be owned by the community. We have to come together to do these things. It’s not simply a matter of creating, for example, a school breakfast program that you apply right across the province at a substantial cost. You look at targeted programs. You look at communities coming together. You look at effective use of public resources to actually achieve results.

That’s what we’re committed to doing. Ms Notley: Well, here are your results. Given that the number of Alberta children living in poverty has grown by 70 per cent in the last four years alone and given that this government has already had over 46 years to fix this problem, is the minister really trying to tell this House that the Premier broke her promise to children in this budget because you really have no idea about where to start the fight against poverty? Is that really what you’re telling us? 2:40 Mr. Hancock: No, Mr. Speaker, because the Premier did not break her promise.

The Premier is keeping her promise to Alberta’s children. We are putting children first. We are making sure that our programs are effective and achieving results. Most importantly, we’re making sure that all Albertans come together in this very important battle to fight child poverty to make sure that each and every child has the opportunity to have a successful start because their successful start will be our successful future. Provincial Labour Supply Mr. Bikman: Mr. Speaker, small business is the engine of our economy, encouraging competition, spurring innovation, and creating jobs.

Two days ago CFIB’s report, Looking for Hire Ground, indicated that over half of all entrepreneurs in the wes t are giving up business opportunities due to the shortage of labour and skills. A stunning 84 per cent of small -business owners look- ing for help in the last three years say that they’ve had difficulty finding new employees. Over two-thirds are hiring underqualified people. This government claims to be taking action. Why haven’t we seen better results? Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, there are a number of answers to that question.

We’ve done some very good work in conjunction with the federal government to change some of the rules so that we can get the skilled workers we need and make it easier for them to come. The helmets to hard hats program would be a good example of that, where people who have skills coming out of the armed services, whether they’re the Can adian or American armed services, can get the accreditation they need to put those skills to work here in Alberta. So there are a number of very successful recruitment programs happening. We’re also, Mr.

Speaker, working within Alberta to make sure that people, whether from the aboriginal community, perhaps, or persons with disabilities or women in rural areas, who haven’t had access to the skill sets that they need to get those jobs have proper programs to get that access, to get those skills. So Albertan s working, Canadians working, and bringing in people from other jurisdictions that have the needed skills: that’s a comprehensive program, and it is working for Alberta. Mr. Bikman: Mr.

Speaker, given that this labour shortage hurts not only our own provincial economy but Canada’s too and given that the Calgary Chamber of Commerce’s chief economist, often quoted here, calls the labour shortage a structural challenge, when can small-business owners expect this government to address the structural nature of Alberta’s labour shortage? Mr. Hancock: Well, Mr. Speaker, it’s a very good question because small businesses in Alberta through the chambers of commerce and other organizations have been partnering with us in this very important process.

They have been working with us as we’ve talked to the federal government, for example, about increasing the allocated number of spaces in our provincial immi - grant nominee program and other programs, which would help us to actually bring people here not on a temporary basis but on a permanent basis to add to our community, add to our businesses, and add to our economy. So business has been working fully with us. They have offered to go to Ottawa with us, and they have gone on their own.

But it’s not just about going to Ottawa; it’s about looking at how we bring those people who are here in this province who need to be part of the economy into the economy as well. So we’re working on both fronts. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Bikman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given the CFIB Alberta director said, “Policy -makers have begun to respond, but much more needs to be done to help employers find the qualified people they need to build their business and grow our economy,” what else will this government do to address this shortage and help our economy? Mr. Hancock: Well, Mr.

Speaker, it’s obviously a continuing piece of work because a skill shortage, for example in the oil sands, translates into demands in all other aspects of our economy. It’s a fairly comprehensive piece. You can’t just say: we need more welders. You have to look at the whole structure of the economy and where we need people. The answer is not just in temporary foreign workers. The answer is in how we can bring people here, how we can increase the skills of the people who are here so that they can be true contributors to our economy on a long -term basis. That’s an ongoing strategy.

We’re working with business on that strategy. We’re working with communities on that strategy. It is working, but more needs to be done, absolutely, and we will partner with all of our communities – chambers of commerce, business – to ensure that that strategy continues to be successful.

2052 Alberta Hansard April 25, 2013 The Speaker: The hon. Member for Sherwood Park, followed by Lacombe-Ponoka. Victims’ Assistance Programs Ms Olesen: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. April 21 to 27 is Victims of Crime Awareness Week all across Canada. The theme for this week is We All Have a Role, and I encourage everyone in th is Legislature to pause and reflect on what they can do to support victims of crime and see if they can do even more. My question is to the Minister of Justice and Solicitor General.

In keeping with the theme of We All Have a Role, is our government taking its share of responsibility when it comes to supporting victims of crime in their time of need? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Denis: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’m very pleased to rise and answer this question, specifically because it deals with the many services that Alberta Justice provides to victims. Last year we were able to help over 66,000 victims in a budget of over $30 million.

We also wouldn’t be able to do this if it weren’t for the many community-based organizations in the nonprofit sector such as Project Kare, Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse, the Canadian Society for the Investigation of Child Abuse, and the Zebra centre, a few blocks from here, or it was a couple of weeks ago. If it wasn’t for these valued organizations, we wouldn’t be able to do it. Ms Olesen: To the same minister: if that is the case, what kinds of services are available to victims of crime in Alberta. Mr. Denis: The first thing to note, Mr.

Speaker, is that every crime is unique and every victim is unique. The grants that we talked about go to 76 police -based programs that operate 138 victims’ services units and 33 community -based victims ’ organ- izations. I also want to take this opportunity to thank the more than 2,000 volunteers each year that contribute more than 189,000 hours – that’s 189,000 hours – of their personal time to help victims of crime. The Speaker: The hon. member. Ms Olesen: Thank you.

Again to the same minister: while it’s easy to understand the value of assistance that goes directly to victims, what is the value of conferences such as the one being held today by the Victims of Homicide Support Society? Mr. Denis: Well, first off, there was that meeting today. Unfor - tunately, I wasn’t able to attend, but I want to thank the Member for Edmonton-Gold Bar for doing so on my behalf. The conference is a great forum, a learning opportunity for victims, law enforcement, criminal justice professionals, everyone who works with victims of crime. The theme is very appropriate, Mr.

Speaker, because it reflects the government’s commitment to ensuring that victims are treated with dignity, compassion, and respect. It’s our belief that victims’ rights should be placed above criminals’ rights. The Speaker: Thank you, Sherwood Park, for no

preambles. Prescription Drug Coverage (continued) Mr. Fox: Mr. Speaker, every day we see more fallout from the Health minister’s reckless Fred-icare plan. Another pharmacy, this time in my constituency, is at risk of closing its doors for good, possibly leaving patients without access to their much -needed medications. This irresponsible plan is resulting in shorter hours, less direct care, no more complimentary services, and reduced stocks of medications at local pharmacies. Minister, the time for grandstanding is over. Your ad campaign is a sham.

Will the min- ister finally accept that his plan has backfired and is causing physical and financial distress for Albertans? Mr. Horne: Well, Mr. Speaker, I think the situation is quite the contrary. We’ve already talked about the financial transition assistance that’s provided by government to pharmacists. I’m pleased to tell the House that we’ve now received price offerings from all generic manufacturers for May. They have made the right decision. I can tell Albertans that they will be seeing lower prices for drugs in this province starting on May 1. Mr.

Fox: Given that this minister’s reckless Fred -icare plan has already failed, with pharmacies facing closure, drug costs rising, and patients suffering, what will it take for him to finally hit the reset button on this disastrous plan and stop putting the health of everyday Albertans at risk? Mr. Horne: Well, Mr. Speaker, that is a gross exaggeration. If the hon. member wants to have a discussion about patient safety and quality assurance in this health system, I’d invite him to ask a real question, and I’d be pleased to explain to him exactly how the system operates in that regard.

We are proud of the work that we are doing to reduce generic drug prices in Alberta. We are supporting pharmacists in provid- ing the professional services that they are trained to deliver. We are delivering lower generic drug prices, beginning in May, for Albertans that pay out of pocket, for government, for taxpayers, and, most importantly, for employers across this province who give people jobs. Mr. Fox: Albertans would like a real answer, Minister. Mr.

Speaker, given that a pharmacy team from Blackfalds has asked their customers to tell their stories, explaining how the min - ister’s changes are deteriorating their quality of care, and given that I have a stack of these letters filled with one sad story after another, can this minister explain why he continues to plow ahead with his reckless Fred -icare plan without any regard to how it’s failing Albertans? Mr. Horne: Mr. Speaker, where to begin? A real answer would involve asking a real question, one that recognizes the facts that have been presented over and over in this House and to Albertans.

The reason we’re doing this, as I said in an answer to an earlier question, is not only to reduce taxpayers’ costs although that’s a laudable goal and one that we would expect the hon. member to share as an MLA in this House. What we are doing is freeing pharmacists from the tyranny of rebates and other payments that are made to them, which are not transparent, and we’re replacing that with professional fees for professional services that they provide to Albertans.

April 25, 2013 Alberta Hansard 2053 2:50 Homelessness Mr. Dorward: Mr. Speaker, today at a news conference held in Edmonton, the Edmonton Homele ss Commission released its four-year update, and the results show real progress in meeting the goals of Edmonton’s 10-year plan to end homelessness. It’s al- ways good to hear good news, particularly when it comes to sup- porting less fortunate individuals. One of the challenges that many vulnerable individuals experience is feeling excluded from main- stream society. My questions today are for the Minister of Human Services.

What is your ministry doing to address the need for community acceptance in addressing homelessness? Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, that’s a very important question. We’ve seen both in Edmonton and Calgary situations where com- munities have been concerned about the demographics of their community in terms of a higher number of lower income people and whether they have too much social housing already in their community. That’s a very importa nt question to be raised.

We need to have and we do have th rough the social policy framework discussions some real understanding that all of us as a community have to come together to deal with these issues. All of us own these issues, and we have a shared result of the process. Now, a lot of the real answer ends up at the civic level with respect to zoning and with respect to how they plan the city so that all citizens have the opportunity to live in any community. Mr. Dorward: Is your ministry undertaking any focused work to address the youth issue?

We hear time and time again that there are too many youths and children who are homeless. Mr. Hancock: Absolutely, Mr. Speaker. The youth homelessness agenda is an additional agenda that has been embarked on not just by our department but also by the Interagency Council on Home- lessness, working together to say that with respect to the specific youth population we know that a homeless youth who doesn’t find a secure place within a very short period of time may go on to have a very long life of homelessne ss.

It’s an important issue, it’s an important concern, and it’s being worked on diligently right across this province. Mr. Dorward: What is the government doing to address the need for permanent supportive housing? We want permanent solutions. The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Hancock: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s a real suc- cess story in this area, with approximately $255 million in 2013 that will go to various housing programs, including supports to social housing, seniors’ lodges, and rent supplements.

Now, the government will continue to make investments in affordable hous- ing a priority by using existing resources in the Alberta Social Housing Corporation to match fede ral contributions in this very important area. The government has a long-term plan, which started in 2011-12, to invest up to $320 million over five years to develop 36,000 government-owned or -supported housing units and affordable housing units where appropriate.

The federal government just recently announced a five-year commitment to housing, and we’re examining our five-year plan to consider a variety of funding models and ensure that our prior- ities are aligned and approaches are sustained to make the best possible use of the funding. The Speaker: Thank you. Hon. members, just because of the outbursts and delays and the interventions and somewhat lengthier

preambles on the parts of some members, six other members did not get a chance to get recog- nized for their questions today. I know you’ll think about this over the next week and come back prepared differently when we resume. Hon. members, in 20 seconds I will call on the first of several members to read their member’s statement. Before we do, the hon. Government House Leader. Mr. Hancock: While we’re waiting that 20 seconds and people are shifting around, Mr.

Speaker, in anticipation that we will reach 3 o’clock before we reach the finish, perhaps we could ask for unani- mous consent now to extend past 3 o’clock if necessary to conclude. The Speaker: Hon. members, one ques tion to you: do we have unanimous consent to proceed w ith the Routine beyond 3 p.m. should it become necessary today? Does anyone object to that? [Unanimous consent granted] head: Members’ Statements The Speaker: Let us carry on with private members’ statements, starting with Edmonton-Decore. Centennial of Edmonton Chinatown Mrs. Sarich: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It’s truly my honour and privilege to rise today in recognition of Edmonton’s Chinatown centennial anniversary and the tremendous contributions by the Edmonton Chinese community over the past 100 years in our province’s capital city. Albertans of Chinese ancestry have a proud history, heritage, and identity in the province. They were amongst the many founding cultural groups that helped to build this province from its very beginnings. The first Chinese settler arri ved in Edmonton in May 1890 and established a laundry business on Jasper Avenue near 97th Street, known then as Namayo Avenue.

The migration of Chinese settlers to Edmonton continued over the deca des as there was a desire to create familiar communities filled with support from individuals and organizations in a new hom eland. One such community, located in the heart of Edmonton , is known as Chinatown, which features the Harbin gate, built in 1987. This gate symbolizes the friendship between Edmonton and its sister city Harbin in the People’s Republic of China. This is an eclectic and enticing area, built by local dedicated entrepreneurs, community and service organizations, and tireless volunteers.

Edmonton’s Chinatown is truly a living part of the Alberta spirit, where generations of people may discover, experience, and enjoy exciting festivals, traditio nal cuisine, fellowship, old and new Chinese architecture, and local professional and business services. Congratulations and best wish es to all those from the past, present, and future in the Edmonton Chinese community on the occasion of their 100th anniversary of the establishment of Edmonton’s Chinatown and for their dedicated leadership to add immeasurably to our great city, province, and country.

May they have continued success in the many years to come. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-McCall, followed by Edmonton-Gold Bar. Bitumen Valuation Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Most Albertans don’t believe the Premier when she claims th e bitumen bubble is the reason her

2054 Alberta Hansard April 25, 2013 government is breaking nearly every promise they made to get elected. In fact, a recent poll says that a whopping 65 per cent of respondents do not buy the Premie r’s excuse. Alberta Liberals called it what it was, BS, a bitumen sham. We were right then, and we are right now. But you don’t have to take our word for it. A former Finance minister and Treasury Board president, Lloyd Snelgrove, thinks so, too. He even went so far as to state on the public record that the Premier’s excuse might work for the people who don’t follow the financial history of Alberta.

So either they weren’t going to listen, or they chose to ignore what would just be common sense. What happened? Where did the Premier go so wrong? When the bitumen differential cycle peaked in December, smack in the middle of budget preparations, the Premier panicked, and she decided then to make bitumen prices the scapegoat. But for the bitumen sham to work, the Premier had to convince Albertans that the bubble was both real and unforeseeable. She couldn’t, and because her televised propaganda address failed so miserably, the Premier deflected attention by calling an economic summit.

Sadly, even then she did not find the courage to address our province’s overreliance on volatile resource revenues despite the fact that that was exactly what economists were telling her to do. Instead of pro- gressive taxation and asking large corporations to pay their fair share, as Alberta Liberals propose, she put our savings and services at risk by tying them to the price of a barrel of oil. Now that’s a shame, just as the story she told us about bitumen is a sham. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Gold Bar, followed by Edmonton-South West. Jacob Onyschuk Mr.

Dorward: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to recognize a special young Albertan. During last year’s annual 4-H selections program in Olds Jacob Onyschuk of Legal was chosen from amongst the province’s top 4-H members to receive 4-H’s highest honour, the Premier’s award. Over the past year Jacob has done a great job representing youth and 4-H at various events, and he had the opportunity to meet with the Premier, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, and his local MLA, the Minister of Education, this afternoon.

Jacob has been an important member of the Bon Accord 4-H and Vimy Dunrobin 4-H multi clubs. In addition to having market steer, heifer, cow/calf, and goat projects, he’s contributed at the district and regional levels by facilitating workshops and chairing the Northwest Regional Beef Committee. Jacob has also been involved in the U of A Multi-Species Judging Club and Collegiate 4-H Club. Mr. Speaker, 4-H has been shaping the lives of youth and adults for a century. One of the longest running youth organizations in Alberta, it has more than 6,000 members participating in close to 400 clubs across the province.

With more than 250,000 alumni, 4- H is also one of the most respected and admired youth programs in Canada. In fact, it would be nice to see by a show of hands, Mr. Speaker, with your permission, ho w many of the hon. members in the House today are former 4-H members. Mr. Speaker, the 4-H motto is Learn To Do by Doing. Through various activities they develop pr ofessionalism, strong leadership qualities, and build the confidence they need to succeed.

I want to acknowledge the outstanding work done by the 4-H clubs in Alberta, extend a warm thank y ou to the volunteers, applaud our young people, and extend special congratulations to Jacob. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-South West, followed by Highwood. 3:00 Postpartum Depression in Men Mr. Jeneroux: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to take a few moments to recognize, discuss, and bring a bit more attention to the issue of postpartum depression and anxiety in men.

It is well known that postpartum depression is a condition that can manifest itself in women who ha ve recently given birth. Symp- toms include social withdrawal, f eelings of guilt, irritability, low self-esteem, insomnia, and even panic attacks, among others. Though we always can and always will strive to do better, the prevalence of postpartum depression in women means that a number of resources are predominantly geared toward the women who suffer from it.

I don’t intend to take any attention or focus away from the seriousness of how this affects women, but though this type of clinical depression is starting to be socially accepted and docu- mented in women, it is often fo rgotten that men, too, can suffer from a form of postpartum depre ssion and anxiety, often referred to as the daddy blues. This depression is an experience of anxiety and other problems of mood by fathers after the birth of a child.

Because the condition is so well known in women and because the idea of male postpartum depression may seem counterintuitive to some, men are often left to suffer alone and in silence. Research is also beginning to suggest that men often experience depression and anxiety in ways that are different from women. Men sometimes cope with their symptoms in different ways, too. These findings might help explain why even trained mental health professionals frequently overlook or misdiagnose this form of depression. However, it has been found that certain symptoms exist that are unique to the men who experience them.

The mani- festations of these symptoms include such things as increased anger, the misuse of prescription medication, and even thoughts of suicide. I’m hopeful, Mr. Speaker, that as time and research progress, increased awareness may be raised as to the full extent of the prevalence of postpartum depression and anxiety in men as well as women. Thank you. Provincial Borrowing Ms Smith: Mr. Speaker, we’ve been discussing the province’s finances in the Legislature lately in the debate on the financial management act, or, as I like to call it, the financial mismanage- ment act.

Let me re inforce the Official Opposition’s position on why the Minister of Finance and the Premier are wrong on debt and borrowing. We’ve heard the Finance minister cite multiple chambers of commerce as supporting his position, but we really should look more closely at what they are actually saying. What the Alberta Chambers of Commerce said is that for debt to make sense, it had to have five key limitations. Number one, there had to be a spending limit law because if you don’t have limits, you’ll never control spending. Strike 1.

Number two, borrowing only makes sense if you have a priority list and you have pre-identified all of the projects you might borrow for. Oops. Missed that one, too. The third rule is that government should not be borrowing for projects that will have a higher operating cost than the capital cost. Wrong again.

April 25, 2013 Alberta Hansard 2055 The fourth, a strict limitation on finance charges as a percentage of revenues. The government has said 3 per cent. The chamber has said 1 per cent. Another broken rule. The fifth rule that’s been broken is the requirement to have a plan to pay the borrowing back. The minister likes to compare the province’s borrowing to a mortgage, but mortgage payments in- clude a portion for the principal. All the minister plans to pay is the interest. Finally, here you see what economist Jack Mintz had to say about the government’s finance.

Now, first off, although Mintz has argued for tax changes, he has never argued to increase and close the gap on taxes, as the Finance minister claimed yesterday. What Mintz actually said is that the government must learn to deal with its spending problem. He also said – and this is more important – that provinces with natural resource revenues are borrowing significant amounts from the future already since they are selling off physical assets that would provi de revenues to sup - port future generations.

So when the government spends every dollar’s worth of resource revenues and also starts to borrow money, they’re double-dipping on future generations. I hope that corrects the record, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-McClung. Edmonton Music Awards Mr. Xiao: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As many of my colleagues may know, I’m a big supporter of the arts. Over the years I have organized and sponsored many cultural events and performances at Edmonton’s Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton’s Winspear Centre, and other places.

Such exciting events treat Edmontonians to a variety of colourful performances from Italian opera singers to Chinese folksingers, from traditional violinists to Japanese drummers and Ecu adorian pan flute players, from European folk dancers to Indian Bollywood dancing and bamboo dancing from the Philippines. We are very fortunate that Alberta is home to such an array of talented artists and musicians, many of whom have achieved national and international success. Mr. Speaker, this Sunday, April 28, musical excellence will take the centre stage in Edmonton during the 2013 Edmonton music awards.

The awards are an opportunity to celebrate and pay tribute to the outstanding local talent we hav e in the Edmonton area, including St. Albert, Sherwood Park, Leduc, Spruce Grove, and Stony Plain. It is also a chance to hear some of the capital region’s best. There will be live performances by Corb Lund, The Com - mand Sisters, Owls by Nature, Nuela Char les, KingDoom, SIIINES, and Il Duo. On Sunday night there are not enough awards to recognize the countless efforts and hours that many talented and dedicated artists have put into their craft.

I want to say that all of this year’s nominees are deserving o f a heartfelt thank you from all of us. Thank you for your hard work, thank you for sharing your talents, and thank you for your contribution to the cultural mosaic of our great province. head: Notices of Motions The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Transport ation and Deputy Government House Leader. Mr. McIver: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise pursuant to Standing Order 34(3) to advise the House that on Monday, May 6, 2013, written questions 36, 37, and 39 will be accepted, and written questions 38 and 40 will be dealt with.

Also, on Monday, May 6, 2013, Motion for a Return 7 will be dealt with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. head: Introduction of Bills The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-North West. Bill 21 Environmental Protection and Enhancement Amendment Act, 2013 Ms Jansen: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I request leave to introduce Bill 21, the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Amend- ment Act, 2013. Bill 21 will create a funding mechanism between industry and government to support the joint Canada-Alberta implementation plan for oil sands monitoring.

The funding arrangement will enable Alberta to collect, hold, and disburse funds and continue to implement the joint plan. Changes to the act will also allow gov - ernment to move forward on a prov incial monitoring system by identifying programs and setting fees to support those programs. The goal of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development is full integration of all hazardous waste management systems in the province.

With this in mind, Bil l 21 will remove the requirement for personal information numbers, PINs, for hazardous waste manage- ment to support implementation of the regulatory enhancement project. Removal of the requirement for a PIN will support the integration of the two waste man agement systems under the new Alberta energy regulator. Removing the PIN requirement will sim- plify administration and will not affect environmental assurance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [Motion carried; Bill 21 read a first time] The Speaker: The hon. Government House Leader. Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move that Bill 21 be moved onto the Order Paper under Government Bills and Orders. [Motion carried] head: Tabling Returns and Reports The Speaker: Hon. members, I rise just to remind you to please be brief with the introductions to your tablings. Let’s carry on. The hon. Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, followed by Grande Prairie-Smoky. Ms Smith: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad the Finance minis - ter is back for my tabling. I was correctin g the record of what he said last night about how Jack Mintz had argued to increase and close the gap on taxes.

I’ve got, actually, five copies of a column that Professor Mintz wrote himself, where he does say: “In my view, Alberta does not have a revenue problem, but it does have a spending problem . . . More spending does not necessarily mean better public services.” He proposes revenue-neutral tax reform, and he finishes with “Let me repeat: None of the tax reform revenue should be used to reduce the def icit. The government must learn to deal with its spending problem.” I trust that corrects the record, Mr. Speaker. 3:10 The Speaker: The hon. Member for Grande Prairie-Smoky , followed by Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview.

2056 Alberta Hansard April 25, 2013 Mr. McDonald: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have the appropriate number of copies of a report released to the public earlier this year. This report is a review of the retail electricity system of Alberta. There were 41 recommendations. Six recommendations related to removi ng the default rate were rejected, two were accepted immediately, and the remaining 33 recommendations have been approved in principle and are in the implementation phase. The remaining work of these recommendations will be done by an MLA team chaired by m yself and supported by Department of Energy experts.

We’ll be working closely with the Minister of Energy to ensure that the public interest is considered when developing the implementation plan. Thank you. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview. Mr. Bilous: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to table the appropriate number of copies of 24 handwritten notes from postsecondary students calling on this PC government to reverse the devastating cuts to colleges and universities. One note fro m an anonymous student includes a five -dollar bill, and it reads: “Dear Hon. Mrs. Redford . . .

Please, have my last $5 and do something nice for yourselves . . . You really haven’t been looking out for your own interests. It’s not much, but it’s all I hav e, enjoy yourselves.” Instead of giving the money to the Premier, we will donate it to CAPSE to continue their fight to stand up for post - secondary education in Alberta. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Let’s be reminded not to use proper names of members in this Assembly. Even if we’re quoting, it’s still inappropriate. The hon. Minister of Transportation. Mr. McIver: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have two tablings.

One is a letter from March 19 to the Member for Calgary -Shaw, and the other, the same let ter on the same date, is to the Member for Edmonton-Centre, fabulous Edmonton-Centre if you don’t mind. The letters: I’ve been putting on the record some information about the estimates, and they’re necessary to correct the record, based on the question asked by the Member for Cypress-Medicine Hat yesterday. Hopefully, he’ll avail himself of the information, which was sent to his party over a month ago. The Speaker: Are there others? The hon. Member for Edmonton- Centre. Ms Blakeman: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I get to table on behalf of my colleague from Calgary -McCall a number of documents that were the basis for the opposition leader of the third party’s questions today, the quotes from Mr. Conacher, the founder of Democracy Watch and professor now at the University of Toronto. In addition, a CBC news

article on the one-year anniversary and people’s unhappiness with what’s happening. Finally, some information I believe based on the initial announcement by the government and followed up on by the media on the bitumen bubble not being the source of Alberta’s financial pain. Thank you. head: Tablings to the Clerk The Clerk: I wish to advise the House that the following documents were deposited with the office of the Clerk. On behalf of the hon. Mr. Horne, Minister of Health, response to Written Question 1, asked for by Mrs.

Forsyth on November 26, 2012, “How many long -term care nursing beds were available to Albertans as of March 31, 2012?”; response to Written Question 2, asked for by Mrs. Forsyth on November 26, 2012, “How many mental health beds and addiction beds on average were available to Albertans in 2011?” On behalf of the hon. Mr. Drysdale, Minister of Infrastructure, response to Written Question 3, asked for by Dr.

Swann on November 26, 2012, “What was the original 2007 estimate of con- struction costs and projected opening day for the South Campus Hospital in Calgary versus the actual cost on completion, and actual opening date?” The Speaker: Thank you. Hon. members, there were two points of order today, the first of which was brought forward by the Member for Airdrie. The hon. deputy House leader for the Wildrose. Point of Order Factual Accuracy Mr. Saskiw: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll endeavour to be brief. I rise today under Standing Order 23(h), (i), and (j).

This is with respect to some comments that were made by the Premier. In her statements the Premier indicated that the Wildrose financial recovery plan somehow increased spending at inflation plus population growth. I think this is, you know, an ongoing situation. If you continue to make outright false assertions, people won’t believe a word you say. We see this in the polls, where the trust factors are way, way down. This has to stop. I know the Premier may not have read our financi al recovery plan.

What we did in our plan was ensure that in two years’ time, given how badly this province has been managed, we would be back in the black. What the Premier should know in terms of our plan is that our cuts went to things like bonuses to health execu - tives, cutting that, cutting MLA pay raises, cutting corporate subsidies, cutting the expensive add-ons for MLA offices like rooftop gardens, theatres. I’m guessing there’s marble flooring as well. Our plan is quite a bit different, Mr. Speake r.

I just would like to clarify on the record that her statement is false, and maybe we can send her a copy of our plan if she would like that. Mr. Hancock: Well, Mr. Speaker, when the point of order was raised, I recall there being shouts of derision in t he House, quite appropriately, because once again this is not a point of order. This is the opposition trying to justify their platform and showing incredibly thin skin. There is no standing order that says that you can raise an objection every time somebo dy talks about the things that you’ve talked about in public.

The thing that’s really incredible about this is that the hon. member talks about how their real cuts would be on these things and then goes on to list a number of a things which, if you added them all up and added a dollar, wouldn’t fund half of the things that they’ve tried to spend it on. I think the number in the budget this year for the federal building renovations is something like $20 million.

They keep talking about this building that’s going to house luxury offices, and they wilfully neglect to add that it’s going to house all sorts of civil servants coming out of the Terrace Building and the LAO offices coming out of the Annex. They keep talking about it as though they could spend $375 million when there’s only $20 million in the budget, which, if they were to cancel the project, they wouldn’t be able to spend because the cancellation

April 25, 2013 Alberta Hansard 2057 costs would probably be twice that. This is the problem when they’re using points of order to try and c larify something which cannot possibly be either clarified or considered good public policy. Nonetheless, the standing orders are not the place to raise it. The place to raise it is the debate. They can try and justify that out on the streets if they want. They can add it to their speeches in the House if they want.

The fact of the matter is that it’s quite ludi- crous that they think they could prioritize the budget and finance all of the things they think they should cut out of the budget with the numbers that they’re using. It’s ludicrous. But the point is that it’s not a point of order. The Speaker: Hon. members, I would agree that it’s not a point of order, but let me make a couple of brief comments. I’ve gone through the Hansard Blues, and here’s what got said. I’m going to use this to some effect, I hope.

The Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition stood up and in her question said, amongst other things, the following: “If the government cut its wasteful spending on things like layers of managers man aging managers, on things like corporate welfare, it could pay cash for core government responsibilities,” and it goes on. That gave rise to the Premier then standing and saying, among other things, the following: “On budget day we kept spending to zero

whereas the opposition suggested that spending should increase to population plus inflation. On top of that, we’ve enhanced savings, saving $24 billion,” and then interjections will show in the record of Hansard as having occurred. Subsequent to that, we had the point of order raised by the Member for Airdrie.

Now, it’s not infrequent in this House for positions to be misunderstood or misinterpreted, perhaps even misused by one person against another or one caucus against another or however it goes, so let me just remind you of what I reminded you of yesterday in this regard: page 510, second paragraph of House of Commons Procedure and Practice, which I won’t read again, and Beauchesne’s 494, both of which talk about receiving two different variants of a fact and so on.

In particular, though, with regard to 510 House of Commons it did say this, and I want to mention this one quic kly. “These matters” such as the one we’ve just been hearing about here now “are more a question of debate and do not constitute a breach of the rules.” 3:20 Now, points of order, as we have all experienced in the past and in this past year in particular, are not an opportunity as such to get up and disagree with someone else on a position or some proce - dure that is commenting on a position.

What it is is a time for you to stand up and raise a point of order because a rule of this House has been violated o r some guideline given in some other par - liamentary practice book has been violated, has been breached. That’s what points of order are all about. They should never be used as a reason or an excuse or an opportunity to extend or promote further debate on a point, and they should only be used to address violations such as I’ve just mentioned. Again, we’ve just passed our first-year anniversary. None of us are rookies anymore. You’ve heard me speak to this before.

You’ve probably read Hansard from the past of previous Speaker’s rulings in this regard. And I know you’ve all paid strict attention to the parliamentary practices that have been mentioned in those comments. Let’s note that and move on to our second point of order, which was raised by the Member for Lac La Biche-St. Paul-Two Hills. Mr. Saskiw: I thought the Government House Leader actually rose on a point of order during the debate. The Speaker: I’m sorry. I distinctly remember you standing. Mr. Saskiw: I’ll withdraw it. The Speaker: You’ll withdraw it. Okay. Thank you.

That second point of order has been withdrawn, and we can move on. head: Orders of the Day head: Government Bills and Orders Third Reading Bill 20 Appropriation Act, 2013 The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board. Mr. Horner: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to rise today to move third reading of Bill 20, the Appropriation Act, 2013. This act will provide funding authority to the offices of the Legislative Assembly and the government for the 2013-14 fiscal year. The

schedule to the act provides amounts that were pre- sented in greater detail in the 2013 -14 government and Legislative Assembly estimates tabled on March 7, 2013. These were since debated in Committee of Supply and legislative policy committees over the past several weeks. Mr. Speaker, there is no question that Budget 2013 is one of the toughest budgets this government has seen in some time. When we prepared this budget, we did s o knowing that we had some serious and immediate fiscal challenges to address.

Namely, we were facing a $6 billion shortfall of revenue due to low energy prices as well as the even lower price that Alberta producers are getting for their product. Forecasting at its best is an inexact science. We rely on the knowledge and expertise of experts in both the public and the private sector to arrive at our own forecast. Traditionally, if our forecast turns out to be too high, we’re accused of padding the forecast. If it’s lower, we’re accused of lowballing it.

I heard a member’s statement today in this House talking about the fact that, well, we must have made a sham instead of using what industry has, yet in today’s papers there are three or four different companies that are talking about the fact that this bitumen bubble has affected their earnings this year and will next year. In Budget 2013 we arrived at a forecast for oil of $92.50 a barrel with the differential estimated to be at 27 per cent. The one thing t hat we know we can predict with some certainty is that energy prices will continue to be volatile.

We see proof of that volatility now when we look at the differential, the discount Alberta producers get for bitumen. We’ve seen this in the months leading up to the budget, when Alberta was getting about $30 less for its bitumen. Today the discount sits at around $17.50. The smaller discount is good news for Alberta, but it’s not something we can bank on. As quickly as we saw prices recover, we know they can fall again just as quickly. We need to take action now to deal with this reality.

I know that the Premier, in response to one of the questions, was talking about the Cenovus executive who was talking about how that differential is quite likely to spread to $40 in the secon

Document details

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Citation	20130425
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