Alberta Hansard — 29 October 2009, Afternoon sitting (13:30) (Legislature 27, Session 2)

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Alberta — Debates (Hansard)

Province of Alberta The 27th Legislature Second Session Alberta Hansard Thursday, October 29, 2009 Issue 52 The Honourable Kenneth R. Kowalski, Speaker

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

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

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

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

Hector G., Dunvegan-Central Peace (PC), Minister of Employment and Immigration, Deputy Government House Leader Griffiths, Doug, Battle River-Wainwright (PC), Parliamentary Assistant, Solicitor General and Public Security Groeneveld, Hon. George, Highwood (PC), Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hancock, Hon. Dave, QC, Edmonton-Whitemud (PC), Minister of Education, Government House Leader Hayden, Hon. Jack, Drumheller-Stettler (PC), Minister of Infrastructure Hehr, Kent, Calgary-Buffalo (AL) Hinman, Paul, Calgary-Glenmore (WA) Horne, Fred, Edmonton-Rutherford (PC) Horner, Hon.

Doug, Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert (PC), Minister of Advanced Education and Technology Jablonski, Hon. Mary Anne, Red Deer-North (PC), Minister of Seniors and Community Supports Jacobs, Broyce, Cardston-Taber-Warner (PC), Parliamentary Assistant, Agriculture and Rural Development Johnson, Jeff, Athabasca-Redwater (PC) Johnston, Art, Calgary-Hays (PC) Kang, Darshan S., Calgary-McCall (AL) Klimchuk, Hon. Heather, Edmonton-Glenora (PC), Minister of Service Alberta Knight, Hon. Mel, Grande Prairie-Smoky (PC), Minister of Energy Leskiw, Genia, Bonnyville-Cold Lake (PC) Liepert, Hon.

Ron, Calgary-West (PC), Minister of Health and Wellness Lindsay, Hon. Fred, Stony Plain (PC), Solicitor General and Minister of Public Security Lukaszuk, Thomas A., Edmonton-Castle Downs (PC), Parliamentary Assistant, Municipal Affairs Lund, Ty, Rocky Mountain House (PC) MacDonald, Hugh, Edmonton-Gold Bar (AL) Marz, Richard, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills (PC) Mason, Brian, Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood (NDP), Leader of the NDP Opposition McFarland, Barry, Little Bow (PC) McQueen, Diana, Drayton Valley-Calmar (PC), Parliamentary Assistant, Environment Morton, Hon.

F.L., Foothills-Rocky View (PC), Minister of Sustainable Resource Development Notley, Rachel, Edmonton-Strathcona (NDP), Deputy Leader of the NDP Opposition, NDP Opposition House Leader Oberle, Frank, Peace River (PC), Government Whip Olson, Verlyn, QC, Wetaskiwin-Camrose (PC) Ouellette, Hon. Luke, Innisfail-Sylvan Lake (PC), Minister of Transportation Pastoor, Bridget Brennan, Lethbridge-East (AL), Deputy Official Opposition Whip Prins, Ray, Lacombe-Ponoka (PC) Quest, Dave, Strathcona (PC) Redford, Hon. Alison M., QC, Calgary-Elbow (PC), Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

Deputy Government House Leader Renner, Hon. Rob, Medicine Hat (PC), Minister of Environment, Deputy Government House Leader Rodney, Dave, Calgary-Lougheed (PC) Rogers, George, Leduc-Beaumont-Devon (PC) Sandhu, Peter, Edmonton-Manning (PC) Sarich, Janice, Edmonton-Decore (PC), Parliamentary Assistant, Education Sherman, Dr. Raj, Edmonton-Meadowlark (PC), Parliamentary Assistant, Health and Wellness Snelgrove, Hon. Lloyd, Vermilion-Lloydminster (PC), President of the Treasury Board Stelmach, Hon. Ed, Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville (PC), Premier, President of Executive Council Swann, Dr.

David, Calgary-Mountain View (AL), Leader of the Official Opposition Taft, Dr. Kevin, Edmonton-Riverview (AL) Tarchuk, Hon. Janis, Banff-Cochrane (PC), Minister of Children and Youth Services Taylor, Dave, Calgary-Currie (AL) VanderBurg, George, Whitecourt-Ste. Anne (PC) Vandermeer, Tony, Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview (PC) Weadick, Greg, Lethbridge-West (PC) Webber, Len, Calgary-Foothills (PC), Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations Woo-Paw, Teresa, Calgary-Mackay (PC) Xiao, David H., Edmonton-McClung (PC), Parliamentary Assistant, Employment and Immigration Zwozdesky, Hon.

Gene, Edmonton-Mill Creek (PC), Minister of Aboriginal Relations, Deputy Government House Leader Officers and Officials of the Legislative Assembly Clerk W.J. David McNeil Clerk Assistant/ Director of House Services Louise J. Kamuchik Clerk of Journals/Table Research Micheline S. Gravel Senior Parliamentary Counsel Robert H. Reynolds, QC Senior Parliamentary Counsel Shannon Dean Sergeant-at-Arms Brian G. Hodgson Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms J. Ed Richard Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms Gordon H. Munk Managing Editor of Alberta Hansard Liz Sim

October 29, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1631 Legislative Assembly of Alberta Title: Thursday, October 29, 2009 1:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. Thursday, October 29, 2009 [The Speaker in the chair] head: Prayers The Speaker: Good afternoon. Let us pray. As we conclude for this week our work in this Assembly, we renew our energies with thanks so that we may continue our work with the people in the constituencies we humbly represent. Amen. Please be seated. head: Introduction of Guests The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-East. Mr. Amery: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It’s indeed a pleasure today to rise and introduce to you and through you a very special group of people who are associated with a very important organization situated in the constituency of Calgary-East, the Council of Sikh Organizations. This group is led by four community leaders: Mr. Virender Bhatti, Mr. Amandeep Khangura, Mr. Avinash Khangura, and Mr. Avtar Rehill. These very special seniors have had an opportunity to tour the Legislature this afternoon, and they had the distinct privilege of being in attendance at the morning poppy presentation.

I had the opportunity to meet and participate in a memento photograph with them, which I will be providing to each one of today’s visitors. I would like to sincerely thank all of these seniors for making the journey today. They are seated in the public gallery. I would ask them to rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of the Assembly. [Remarks in Punjabi] Hello and welcome. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Buffalo. Mr. Hehr: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to introduce a group of students and their teachers, Ms Susan Jolliffe and Ms Jeri Wylie- Smith, from Bow Valley College in my constituency.

I’ve been over to Bow Valley College numerous times since I’ve been elected, and I can assure you that both the teachers and the students there are very interested in what we’re doing at the Legislature and how democracy is being handled here in Alberta and in Canada. It’s been a wonder- ful experience. If they can please rise and accept the warm welcome of this Legislature, I’d be greatly happy. The Speaker: The hon. the Premier. Mr. Stelmach: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure today to introduce to you and through you to all members of the Assembly the Hébert family.

The Hébert family are long-time residents of the city of Edmonton, and they’re an example of a fine, young, hard-working Alberta family. They are here to observe government in action, and they are a great reminder of the impor- tance of our jobs and why we must continue to work very hard to make sure that Alberta is the best place to live in. Mr. Damon Hébert is accompanied by his wife, Heather Mateer, and their children Brennan and Quinn. I would ask them to all rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of the Assembly. The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Health and Wellness. Mr. Liepert: Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. I have three guests in the gallery today that I would like to introduce. Actually, I’m going to introduce two of them. I think my colleague from Livingstone- Macleod is going to introduce the third one. We’ve had meetings today with the leadership of the Alberta Medical Association. Joining us today is Chip Doig, th e newly elected president of the AMA. Accompanying him is Ron Kustra of the offices of the AMA. I’d ask them to stand and be recognized by this House. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-McCall. Mr. Kang: Thank you.

It’s a great honour and pleasure to rise today to introduce to you and through you to all members of the Assembly Mrs. Dalsit Kaur Grewal Consion, sister of the present premier of Punjab, Sardar Parkash Singh Badal, who is visiting her daughter in Calgary. Accompanying her are Mr. Darshan Dhaliwal, past president of the Council of Sikh Organizations, and his wife, Mrs. Parmjit Kaur Dhaliwal. They were also blessed with a grandson in October. Mr. Dhaliwal has been a strong supporter of me all the time. They are seated in your gallery, Mr.

Speaker, and I would ask them to rise and receive the warm welcome of the Assembly. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Livingstone-Macleod. Mr. Berger: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m honoured to rise today to introduce to you and through you to all members of the Assembly a physician member of the Pincher Creek Good Health Team in the incredible constituency of Livingstone-Macleod. Dr. Tobias Gelber is an integral part of a group of innovational health providers and is seated in the members’ gallery. I would now ask Dr.

Gelber to rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of this Assembly. head: Members’ Statements The Speaker: The hon. Member for Athabasca-Redwater. CFB Edmonton Visit Mr. Johnson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Many of us in this Chamber ran for office with the hopes of making a difference, helping leave this province better than we found it and making an impact for Albertans. Well, we soon realize, however, that on many days in this job it’s really Albertans that make a big impact on us. For many of my caucus colleagues last Thursday was just one of those days, a day we will not soon forget.

Thanks to the leadership of the Premier and the invitation of Brigadier General Mike Jorgenson our caucus was privileged to be hosted by dozens of Canada’s finest as they gave us a taste of their life on CFB Edmonton. In army fatigues we rode in LAVs and in tanks, fired weapons, inspected equipment, witnessed air force jets fly over, and visited with real-life heroes.

On behalf of my col- leagues I’d like to publicly thank Brigadier General Jorgenson, Lieutenant Colonel Bradley, majors Aleknevicus, Hildebrandt, Hynes, Mackay, Mackey, Morrison, Master Corporal Corbett, and all the soldiers for hosting us to an inspiring day. The most moving part of the day came as I watched an emotional Premier and Mrs. Stelmach bid a personal farewell to a small group of soldiers as they deployed for their mission in Afghanistan. The commitment and sacrifice of these heroes and their families is truly humbling.

I know this Assembly and all of Alberta will join me in thanking them and praying for their safe return. But, Mr. Speaker, as you know, some of our soldiers do not enjoy a safe return, a fact that hit home to an Alberta family on Tuesday. Lieutenant Justin Boyes had barely begun his mission in Afghanistan when he made the ultimate sacrifice while leading his men of the

Alberta Hansard October 29, 20091632 Princess Patricia’s. We are deeply saddened to hear of his loss, and on behalf of all of my colleagues in the Assembly I’d like to express our sincere condolences to his family and friends and in particular to his wife, Alanna, and his three-year-old son, James, on this tragic loss of one of our heroes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Egmont. Energy Efficiency Consumer Rebates Mr. Denis: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. When it comes to reducing our environmental footprints, Albertans are not asking why; they’re asking: why not?

Albertans told us clearly that they have a role to play and that they want to act. They told us over- whelmingly that consumer incentives need to be part of our climate change action strategy. With this in mind, Mr. Speaker, six months ago we launched a program to help Albertans realize these possibilities. We did this by creating a $36 mi llion, three-year investment in energy efficiency consumer rebates.

Rebates ranging from $100 to $10,000 are available for new home buyers who purchase energy efficient homes, to existing homeowners who improve their energy effi- ciency, and to taxi operators who are transitioning their fleet to hybrid vehicles. Mr. Speaker, the rebates continue to be a wise investment in difficult times, ensuring an environmental focus while at the same time stimulating spending and creating jobs for Albertans. When it is fully subscribed, the rebates will help Albertans reduce green- house gases by about 1 million tonnes.

Now, in context, that’s the equivalent of taking more than 200,000 cars off the road per year. I’m pleased to say that in the first six months of the program nearly 14,000 cheques have been sent to Albertans, for approxi- mately $2.5 million in rebates. Mr. Speaker, approximately 6,000 Albertans have taken advantage of the home evaluation rebate to learn more about energy efficiency in their own homes. The next most popular rebate, with more than 4,000 issued, is energy efficient clothes washers. Mr. Speaker, this is just the beginning. I’m encouraged by the tremendous response of Albertans, but we can do more.

We need to spread the word. We all have a role to help in the transition of our province to a low-carbon economy in the future. Consumers have the power to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions through their day-to-day energy decisions. The choices we make, big or small, really do have an impact. For information on what purchases are eligible and how to apply for a rebate, Albertans are encouraged to visit climatechangecentral.com. That’s climatechangecentral- .com. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-McCall. 1:40 Opiate Drug Doda Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In my constituency of Calgary-McCall there is growing concern over a harmful and addictive substance called doda. Doda is created by grinding up dried poppies into a fine powder, then using that powder, rich in opiates, to make tea. This addictive concoction is growing in popularity in the East Asian and South Asian communities in Calgary, especially among blue-collar workers such as taxi and truck drivers and factory workers. Members of my community and even members of the Calgary Police Service have asked me to remind the members of this Assembly and, indeed, all Albertans of the serious- ness of this issue.

I want to thank the ministers of Justice and Health and the Solicitor General for their written responses to me regarding this issue. Their letters helped clarify why doda currently exists in a legal grey area, as the powder must be tested for opiate levels each time it is seized by police. Sometimes the opiate levels are too low to lay charges, but what about traffickers offering stronger doda? Surely such concentrations are out there on the streets. Mr. Speaker, that is why I urge citizens and the government to remain vigilant.

Any substance derived from the opium poppy presents health risks not only to the users but to the people around them, particularly when we are talking about people operating motor vehicles. And, of course, there are the serious consequences, both personal and cultural, of this addiction. Drugs destroy lives, communities, and families. I urge my fellow citizens to shun doda and all othe r illegal substances, if not for themselves then for the sake of their loved ones. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Livingstone-Macleod. Pincher Creek Primary Care Network Mr. Berger: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Today I am pleased to rise again to acknowledge the innovative health care delivery that takes place in my constituency at the Pincher Creek community health centre. This member’s statement is quite unlike the doom and gloom member’s statement we heard on health yesterday. This PCN is a model that sets a shining example for other facilities across our province. It is innovative and full of energetic and committed health care professionals.

The Chinook primary care network has been a leader in delivering excellent primary health care services, with a strong focus on improving access, chronic disease management, and interdisciplinary family practice. The Pincher Creek PCN was well ahead of the curve and champi- oned change to improve patient care. Pincher Creek has demon- strated significant achievements in improving patient access, a 20 per cent improvement in access despite an increasing number of patients. The leaders of this PCN now teach other primary care network clinics how to improve access.

This facility provides acute and continuing care and offers 24-hour emergency services, intensive care, obstetrics, surgery, and palliative care. It even has on-site diagnostic imaging and laboratory services. We applaud the health professionals who make this PCN a success and are thankful to the constituents in the area who have embraced the change in health care service delivery in order to receive better access to care. The doctors at the PCN can see more patients because the facility is run more efficiently and the right provider is providing the right service to patients. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker: The hon. Member for Strathcona. Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship Act Mr. Quest: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to bring to the attention of this Assembly the proclamation of the Adult Guardian- ship and Trusteeship Act, which comes into force tomorrow, October 30. This is indeed good news that all members can feel proud of. This act arose from extensive public consultation with over 4,300 Albertans as well as legislative reviews involving both sides of the House. I got a chance to review the details of this act as a member of the Standing Committee on Health. I am very pleased

October 29, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1633 to see this progressive piece of legislation, that balances individual rights with more protective measures, finally come into force. One of the important cornerstones of this legislation is the importance of an individual’s dignity and autonomy. Not only is the act designed to help people remain as independent as possible for as long as possible. It provides more choices to people who need assistance in making personal decisions.

Just as importantly, the act is designed to enhance the protection of vulnerable Albertans through enhanced screening of new co decision-makers, guardians, and trustees, a formal complaint and investigation process, and a more standardized and rigorous capacity assessment model. I was personally pleased to see the number of public information sessions held across the province to inform Albertans about the changes being introduced by this legislation. I think that once Albertans learn more about the changes, they will appreciate the positive benefits that the act provides. Mr. Speaker, I commend the hon.

Minister of Seniors and Community Supports and the hon. Minister of Justice and Attorney General as well as their staff for their commitment and dedication in developing this progressive and world-class piece of legislation. Thank you. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Highlands-Nor- wood. Nursing Shortage Mr. Mason: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Despite the denials of the Minister of Health and Wellness, the nursing shortage is very real. According to the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta there was a shortage of 1,483 nurses in March, and these positions have not been filled.

Alberta Health and Wellness continues to project a shortage of 6,000 nurses by 2016. Yet as of July over 500 nursing graduates were not able to find work in Alberta because of a hiring freeze, forcing them to go somewhere else to find work. I’ve talked to nurses who, over the last few days since the H1N1 vaccine arrived, have been overworked and short-staffed. Nurses are being pulled from their regular pos itions to help administer the vaccine.

Not only did the government lack foresight and vision regarding this public health emergency, but they have been system- atically eroding the public health care system at the same time. The minister’s scheme to cut nursing positions has left Albertans very vulnerable. Over the long term an acute shortage of nurses will leave all Albertans without the proper care they need and, indeed, deserve.

We need to value the critical work and valuable expertise that our nurses provide every day on the front lines of our health care system, not only during public health emergencies but in our hospitals, seniors’ homes, and clinics every day. This means that instead of cutting nursing positions, we need to consider a more proactive hiring of nurses as well as effective strategies for retaining those experienced nurses we do have.

At our NDP health care hearings, being held all across Alberta, we are consistently hearing the message that high levels of nursing care reduce mortality rates and contribute significantly to overall better health in our communities. Mr. Speaker, this is what we should all be striving for, and I urge the government to resume its efforts to increase the number of nurses in our health care system. Thank you. head: Presenting Petitions The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Currie. Mr. Taylor: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I rise in the House today to present this petition with over 1,200 signatures on it from people across Alberta. The petition reads: “To the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, in Legislature Assembled: We, the undersigned residents of Alberta, petition the Legislative Assembly to vote against Bill 50.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-East. Mr. Amery: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have a petition signed by 105 Albertans, and the petition reads: “We, the undersigned residents of Alberta, petition the Legislative Assembly to pass legislation to deinsure abortion in Alberta.” Thank you. head: Introduction of Bills The Speaker: The hon. Government House Leader. Bill 56 Alberta Investment Management Corporation Amendment Act, 2009 Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s my pleasure to beg leave to introduce Bill 56, the Alberta Investment Management Corporation Amendment Act, 2009, on behalf of my colleague the Minister of Finance and Enterprise.

The bill removes the requirement for the Deputy Minister of Finance and Enterprise to be a member of the board of Alberta Investment Management Corporation, AIMCo. [Motion carried; Bill 56 read a first time] The Speaker: The hon. Member for Lethbridge-West. Bill 57 Court of Queen’s Bench Amendment Act, 2009 Mr. Weadick: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to request leave to introduce first reading of Bill 57, the Court of Queen’s Bench Amendment Act. This legislation will help to increase the efficiency of Alberta’s justice system.

Currently under the Criminal Code applications for certain warrants can only be made to provincial court judges or justices of the peace. Applications for other types of warrants must be to the Court of Queen’s Benc h. This act will allow Court of Queen’s Bench justices the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace, allowing them to issue all types of warrants under the Criminal Code. Thank you. [Motion carried; Bill 57 read a first time] The Speaker: The hon. Government House Leader. Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move that Bill 57 be moved onto the Order Paper under Government Bills and Orders. [Motion carried] 1:50head: Oral Question Period The Speaker: First Official Opposition main question. The hon. Leader of the Official Opposition.

Alberta Hansard October 29, 20091634 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Dr. Swann: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. As a former public health officer I am committed to solutions, and I can tell the Premier that the best way to stop public fear around H1N1 is presenting a clear plan and demonstrating the capacity to deliver services without prolonged wait times. This spring I made several suggestions to the Premier prior to H1N1 arriving. To the Premier: how will the Premier demonstrate that there are enough doctors and nurses for this outbreak, as I suggested? Mr. Stelmach: Mr.

Speaker, just the other day I sent a letter to the health critic acknowledging the fact that the hon. leader was signed off on the pandemic plan, if we get there. But I just want to take this opportunity to thank all Albertans for their civic duty. I know they’re lining up in lineups, cold weather, et cetera, but they are getting their vaccinations, and this will go a long way in preventing any kind of a pandemic in the future once we get our population vaccinated. Dr. Swann: Well, for the record, Mr. Speaker, I signed off on the pandemic plan, not the vaccination plan.

Again to the Premier: how will the Premier assure Albertans that there will be enough acute-care bed capacity with the increased H1N1 patients? Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, part of the pandemic plan is to put in place with the health care professionals a detailed plan to ensure that we have the capacity to deal with a pandemic if it ever should happen. But, on the other hand, Albertans are doing their civic duty in spite of, you know, long lineups and cold weather and all of the other issues that we’re facing.

They’re doing their civic duty and receiving the flu vaccine, which will greatly reduce the risk of a pandemic in the province of Alberta, quite frankly, a province that is leading in terms of getting its population vaccinated as quickly as possible. The Speaker: The hon. leader. Dr. Swann: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question to the Premier is basically this: will the Premier commit to increasing staffing and stop cutting acute-care beds at this time? Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, I committed on behalf of our govern- ment to ensure that we will do whatever we can to prevent a pandemic in this province.

If people do get ill, we’ll take whatever steps are necessary to make sure that our citizens are protected and that they do receive the medical attention that they require. I know that we’re in tough economic times, but this is a serious situation, and we want to prevent further costs down the road by ensuring that people do receive their vaccine. But if we do need the additional beds, they will be there. The Speaker: Second Official Opposition main question. The hon. Leader of the Official Opposition. Dr. Swann: Thank you.

The public needs information and action to reduce fear, information and action this government is not demon- strating. One thing they’re giving is the number of hospitalizations in Alberta, and overnight it increased by 15 to 233 hospitalizations. Calgary is taking the largest load at 95 patients. Again to the Premier. The minister of health has been asked questions several times and has not given an answer. Will you tell Albertans how many of the 6,800 acute-care beds in this province will be available for H1N1 patients today? Mr. Stelmach: Mr.

Speaker, that detail in terms of what beds will be available for whatever issue at any particular time rests with the medical profession. They will make those choices based on the evidence that’s presented. It’s not the role of this Assembly to determine that; it’s through health care professionals, and I have every trust in them to do that properly. The Speaker: The hon. leader. Dr. Swann: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Calgary’s hospitals are already overstressed and facing the largest number of H1N1 cases in the province. Meanwhile, the Peter Lougheed expansion leaves 140 beds sitting empty.

Will the Premier order these closed units in the Peter Lougheed to open to provide the relief needed for this outbreak? Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, the minister has a plan and can give the details once again to this Assembly and to all Albertans in terms of dealing with a possible pandemic. But, again, I stress the fact: please, I know, longer lineups, et cetera, but get the vaccine. We’ll keep providing the vaccine as soon as even more is made available.

I mean, we’ve come a long way in the last six months, from not having the vaccine to getting the research done, providing the vaccine, getting it, obviously, produced and now distributed across the country of Canada. We worked very hard as Premiers with the federal government to make sure that money was available, and now we’re doing our duty as Albertans to ensure that we have staff in place and the vaccine in place to make sure that people are vacci- nated. The Speaker: The hon. leader. Dr. Swann: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. More beds are useless, in fact, if there are no staff to provide the care.

I guess my question for this government is whether they’ve contacted retired nurses and doctors to help staff and work immediately to increase the prevention programs. Mr. Liepert: Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, there has been a plan in place for some time, long before this pandemic started to take place. In fact, we’ve had a policy in place through our department where we have paid for updated training for nurses if they wanted to come back, even part-time, out of retirement. That still exists.

Part of the staffing of this particular immunization program is around either moving those who are working part-time into full-time roles, or if there are health care professionals who are retired in the community and want to come back and work, we’re open to that. We’re quite flexible. The Speaker: Third Official Opposition main question. The hon. Member for Calgary-Currie. Electricity Transmission Lines Mr. Taylor: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the next 10 years, according to the government’s electricity transmission plan, there will be at least $14 billion worth of transmission lines built across this province.

The government is claiming that it’s all vital that we build this now. In the United St ates President Obama just an- nounced $3.2 billion in spending on the smart grid for the entire

October 29, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1635 United States. British Columbia’s 10-year plan calls for just $2.5 billion in new line spending. To the Premier: why on earth is this province so far out of line compared to other jurisdictions? Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, part of the critical infrastructure that is required is around $5.8 billion. There are about four lines that are critical. Getting back to the Americans, I spent a considerable amount of time with the Western Governors’ Association and Secretary Chu, Secretary Vilsack, and Secretary Salazar.

Their number one issue in the United States is more efficient transmission. They’re having the same issue in the United States that we have here. They are going through some unbelievable issues, of course: huge, huge deficits and larger debt. Secretary Chu was very clear. He said that the only way they can reduce as quickly as possible some of the carbon that they’re producing as a result of the ineffi ciency in transmission lines is to start building new ones. They’re beginning to undertake that. That’s nice to hear. There’s a lot more to come on that particular file in the United States. Mr.

Taylor: Well, here’s the thing, Mr. Speaker. The Premier isn’t an expert on transmission needs, I’ll admit that I’m not an expert on transmission needs, but among those who are experts, there’s widespread disagreement. But this government doesn’t want to address that disagreement; it just wants to make it disappear. So it cuts the public needs hearing out of the regulatory process. No more controls on spending. To the Premier: where is the check and balance on the spending of billions upon b illions of dollars on transmission lines? Where is it in the system? Mr. Stelmach: Mr.

Speaker, the Alberta Utilities Commission is responsible for making those determinations. We know that we’re growing demand in this province the equivalence of the size of the city of Red Deer twice in one year. We’ll see another 50,000 people move to this province this year. You know, they’re going to bring their families, they’re going to be working someplace, they’re going to be plugging their cars in during winter, they’re going to heat their homes, and it’s all increasing the demand. Another issue we have is moving some of the green power to where the consumer is.

We’ve got some good cogen going on in the province of Alberta. We want to tie that into a very good, new, very efficient grid so that the next generation has the same opportunity as we all have to have electricity at their fingertips. Mr. Taylor: We’ll have more electricity at our fingertips potentially than we could possibly imagine if we go ahead and build this gold- plated transmission system when we need something considerably less over the short term. The lobbyist registry is finally coming online, Mr. Speaker, but unfortunately it’s too late for this particular issue.

But billions and billions of dollars of Albertans’ money is too important to let this remain secret. Will the minister table in this House details of the discussions he and his ministers have had with the companies who are in line to build these multibillion-dollar power lines? 2:00 Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, the need for more electricity in this province is very, very clear. We import roughly 1.6 million kilowatt hours every year. That’s how much we’re short, and most of the time we bring that into the province of Alberta at the highest cost.

This is all part of a general plan to make sure that we have very efficiently transferred power in this province and also at a very, very reasonable rate. I know, given that we see construction costs across Canada coming down, especially here in Alberta, there’s an opportunity to start on some of the critical infrastructure that’s very, very necessary and will actually help bring in more i ndustry in the province of Alberta so we can grow more jobs and pay for all of these social programs that we dearly enjoy. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Highlands- Norwood, followed by the hon.

Member for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo. Nursing Shortage Mr. Mason: Thanks very much. Mr. Speaker, this government’s struggle to cut wait times at flu clinics in Edmonton and Calgary is about to be made more difficult by the increasing number of people infected with the flu who are showing up in hospital emergency rooms. The surge has begun, and the sick are beginning to learn just how dearly the health minister’s plan to cut nurses is costing the province. Lineups and wait times are rapidly growing at already- crowded waiting rooms.

Will the health minister please outline for us his plans to ensure that emergency rooms are properly staffed to handle the surge of H1N1 patients? Mr. Liepert: Well, Mr. Speaker, sometimes the best plan is to go talk to the people. Last night I spent some time at the University of Alberta emergency room. I met with the staff there. Yes, there is an increase in visitations to the emergency room. At the U of A, as an example, they’ve taken on their own initiative: what is the children’s clinic during the day has now become a triage centre simply for influenza patients from 4 in the afternoon till midnight.

All indication I had last night was that, yes, there is an increase, but they are dealing with it, and there was no panic that I saw last night. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Mason: Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, he didn’t outline his plans to deal with it, and I hope he’ll take the opportunity to do that. Now, yesterday the minister said: “Where did he ever get the impression that my job was to eliminate nurses?

Now, give me a break.” But it’s clear that there’s a serious shortage of nurses in the system, and we’re struggling to cope both in terms of flu clinics and in terms of emergency rooms as a result of this pandemic. Will the minister stand up and say to the 500 nursing students who have graduated in nursing and don’t have jobs available to them because of his hiring freeze that, in fact, he will offer them jobs to ease the problems that have been created in our health care system? Mr. Liepert: Well, Mr.

Speaker, again, if the member actually wants to be serious about what he’s asking about, maybe he should sit down and talk to some nursing students, as the Member for Lethbridge-West and I did last week in Lethbridge. What we discussed with the nursing students was that we cannot guarantee jobs for every graduate that comes out of any training in this province.

However, we want to ensure that when highly trained nurses come out of university with their degree, we want them to be involved in the front end of the health care system doing what they are trained to do, not necessarily in the back end of the system, because other professionals are trained to do some of the work that nurses are currently doing today. The Speaker: The hon. member.

Alberta Hansard October 29, 20091636 Mr. Mason: Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, we have met with nursing students. Nursing students actually came to the NDP caucus public hearings on health care and made a presentation. They were enticed into this profession by this government, and now they’re about to graduate after four years and there are no jobs. There are 1,400 v acant pos itions that have been frozen, Mr. Minister, and there are 500 nursing graduates. The math isn’t that hard. Why don’t you hire these students? Mr.

Liepert: Well, in fact, Alberta Health Services on a daily basis is hiring new nurses, Mr. Speaker. They’re offering opportunities for nurses who have been working part-time or casual to move to full-time. We have to remember that the economy in this province has changed in the last year. Many nurses, primarily those who are female, were working part-time. There’s been the desire by some of them to move to full-time. We’re accommodating that within the system.

Each time you move an individual from part-time to full- time, obviously that squeezes the system and takes up a position that may have been open for a graduating nurse. We’re working within the economies out there today, and I believe that over time there will be adequate opportunities for every graduating nurse in this province. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-McCall. Long-term Care in Fort McMurray Mr. Boutilier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members of this Assembly know very well what goes on in their own constituencies.

Our senior citizens who have built this province – it’s important for MLAs to listen to their bosses at a coffee shop or anywhere in their constituencies. The government uses some of this information in making decisions, which is good. Eighteen months ago a detailed government report recognized the gap in my city of almost 100,000 citizens that did not even have one long-term care centre, by comparison. The government announced to build a long-term care centre, which was welcome news. My question today is to the minister of health.

Why did he contradict these findings in the government report when 12 months later he commented: the urgent need is no longer, and the average age of your community is just too young? Mr. Liepert: Mr. Speaker, I will try and answer the member’s question. Because I have been accused in the past of talking gibberish, I’ll try and make sure that what I’m providing the member is factual. One of the things that did change in the last year and a half is the fact that we went from regional health authorities, who had their capital plans built around their region.

We’re now with one region throughout the province, and we have to ensure that we’re providing health care equitably throughout the province. When we did the reassessment within the budgetary constraints that we had, it was determined that the Fort McMurray long-term care centre was not the highest priority. Not to say it won’t happen, but it won’t be in the three-year capital plan. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Boutilier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The average age is too young, and it’s not urgent: I guess I beg to differ.

As MLAs we don’t deal with averages; we deal with real people, real Albertans whose families have helped their loved ones. So my question is to the minister of health. What would you want to say to a senior citizen, Charlotte Mitchell, who lived in her home for 99 years? She just celebrated her 101st birthday. She’s in an acute-care bed in the hospital, and based on your prev ious comments, she will have to wait until she’s about 103 or 104. Mr. Liepert: Well, Mr. Speaker, I can only go by the best advice that we receive.

The advice that we received is that Fort McMurray has the youngest demographic in the province. The growth rate in seniors is projected to decline, not increase. The acute-care beds in Fort McMurray are underutilized, and many of them are being used for seniors’ care. We also have to remember that what we’re trying to design in this province is a m odel where we take the care to the patient and not create a system where we’re forcing the patient into the system. There is a lodge in Fort McMurray that has some 42 spaces, and we want to ensure that we’re providing the right care there if required.

The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Boutilier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question centres on this. When a government makes a commitment with funding, should it not honour that commitment first, in this case to our seniors? Three weeks ago in my community we welcomed the announcement of more new money, $241 million. But the difficulty is that it doesn’t reflect the pr iorities on the infrastructure list. Nowhere on there is there mention of the announcement from 18 months before.

So my question to the President of the Treasury Board would be this: can he assure this member in this House that he will put that commitment of 18 months ago to the top of that $241 million new money that was announced three weeks ago to show that respect for our seniors? Mr. Snelgrove: Mr. Speaker, I have to be able to make the same commitment to all members of this House on an equitable basis. We have to understand that priorities change and that the way that growth develops, the way that the pressures on government expand or morph sometimes needs a second look.

But I will commit to the hon. member and to every member in this House that the number one priority of this government is to deal with Albertans openly and honestly, to deal with the most vulnerable Albertans firstly, to continue with the priorities that are set out by the Premier of making sure, not losing sight, that while we continue to provide health care and education, we also acknowledge the economic enablers that need to proceed to pay all the bills. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-McCall, followed by the hon. Member for Edmonton-Decore. 2:10 Cellphone Use and Vehicle Safety Mr.

Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last year a standing commit- tee of this Legislature referred the issue of cellphone use while driving to the Minister of Transportation. Their committee wanted this province to be leaders. Now, a year later the minister is saying that we have to wait even longer before he finally takes action to address this danger on our roads. To the Minister of Transportation. Action was expected, sir. Why are we waiting so long? Mr. Ouellette: Well, Mr.

Speaker, I think I’ve told this hon. member many times before that there’s more than just cellphones that are distractions in this province and with drivers right across the country. Yes, there are other provinces right now bringing legisla- tion – Ontario just put theirs into play at the beginning of the week

October 29, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1637 – but they’re all doing one-offs. If you look at our last report that I looked at about distracted driving, cellphones were about the middle of the road of distractions. We have a huge number of distractions out there. Our first priority is safety, making sure people keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel. We want them to pay attention while they’re driving. But to answer his question, we haven’t found all of the . . . The Speaker: You’ll have a chance, I’m sure. The hon. member. Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think we are talking about the same thing, people keeping their eyes on the road. This government talks about needing to see how other provinces handle this, but many, many jurisdictions in North America alone have long ago taken action to address the distractions of cellphone use: Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, California. To the minister again: how many more examples does the minister need before he takes any action? Mr. Ouellette: Mr. Speaker, all of those examples he’s talking about, all of those people are talking. Some of them have enacted. The ones that he’s saying have enacted. Others are going to.

But there’s no proof today yet that it’s reduced collisions on the highway. We’re wanting to make sure we get it right. That’s why we’re taking our time, to make sure we get it right. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This has already taken a long, long time. How many more accidents w ill happen? How many more lives will be lost? I think the Minister of Transportation must be overworked or something else. When can Albertans expect the study period to be finally over and the Minister of Transportation to act on this? Mr. Ouellette: I’m really happy he recognizes how hard I work.

I love that when I hear people say, “That minister is working so hard.” Let me tell him through you, Mr. Speaker, that we absolutely are working on making sure that we get the proper legislation in place before we bring it forward. But I have to add that if he’s looked at our stats that have come out, we have reduced our collisions by 10 per cent in this province and our fatalities by 10 per cent from ’07- 08. The Speaker: There are no childish pranks allowed in this Assem- bly, to my two children to my left. The hon. Member for Edmonton-Decore, followed by the hon. Member for Lethbridge-East.

H1N1 Influenza Pandemic Preparedness (continued) Mrs. Sarich: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As H1N1 moves across Alberta, there will be a greater need to identify and treat those Albertans who have contracted the disease. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Wellness. As Alberta’s emergency rooms fill up, what will be done to ensure that people with H1N1 are treated and not just waiting in emergency rooms? Mr. Liepert: Well, Mr. Speaker, I dealt with that a little bit in my answer to the Member for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood.

In addition to what’s happening at the hospital site itself, Alberta Health Services announced today that they are opening three influenza assessment centres where team-based care will be available to treat those patients who are suffering from influenza. I have signed a ministerial order which will allow nurses to prescribe. In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, we’ve taken the opportunity to allow through ministerial order doctors to prescribe medication by telephone for patients who are exhibiting symptoms of H1N1.

So we’re attempting not only with our vaccination program to keep Albertans out of emergency rooms and doctors’ offices but also make it easier to access. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mrs. Sarich: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My next question is to the same minister. How will the primary care networks like the one in my constituency of Edmonton-Decore, located at Northgate Mall, work with these influenza assessment centres? Mr.

Liepert: Well, I don’t know that there’ll be a direct relationship other than the fact of what will a llow a clinician’s office within a primary care network to be able to triage to these particular centres either by telephone or in person. I think what is important is that this assessment centre will very much work within the team-based concept where nurses, nurse practitioners, not just physicians, will actually be diagnosing and prescribing to patients. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mrs. Sarich: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My second supplemental is to the same minister.

Will these influenza assessment centres be in operation after H1N1 has peaked? Mr. Liepert: That’s a very good question, Mr. Speaker, because I’ve said on many occasions that sometimes very good ideas come out of trying circumstances. If this proves to be something that we should take a look at in continuing going forward, I think that I’m certainly open to that. I think some of the other initiatives that I’ve just talked about are other things that we should be looking at going forward. So I certainly would take that as: if it’s a means of increasing access to the system, we’ll absolutely take a look at it.

The Speaker: The hon. Member for Lethbridge-East, followed by the hon. Member for West Yellowhead. H1N1 Preparedness in Seniors’ Living Facilities Ms Pastoor: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Page 22 of the Alberta Health Services pandemic H1N1 response plan states, “All continuing care facilities . . . are expected to be self-sufficient, to the greatest extent possible.” This is concerning. There are already questions about staffing and care levels in some of these facilities.

To the minister of health: will the minister admit that in his plan for a pandemic continuing care facilities will be left to cope with an increasingly complex system of cases? Mr. Liepert: If I understood the member correctly, it is: what are we going to do to ensure that residents of long-term care are protected? Unless there are chronic conditions that put them in the high-risk category, they are not in the initial rollout. I think what we need to remember here, Mr. Speaker, is that this is a vaccination plan that will take place over several months. We are now in day 4.

We do not have an endless supply of v accine. In fact, we have some

Alberta Hansard October 29, 20091638 600,000 doses, and it is arriving as it’s manufactured. We need to ensure that the right patients are receiving the vaccine appropriately. The Speaker: The hon. member. Ms Pastoor: Yes. It wasn’t just long-term care I was referring to. I was referring to continuing care, which can be lodges, enhanced lodges, assisted living, designated assisted living, and long-term care. Whether it is seasonal flu or H1N1, in a seniors’ living facility illness spreads quickly, and often isolation procedures are necessary.

Can the minister guarantee that there will be enough staff to meet this possible situation? Mr. Liepert: Well, Mr. Speaker, I don’t run the long-term care, enhanced living facilities, all of the above that the member men- tioned. We trust those who do operate these facilities. They know better than we do. I would suggest they probably know better than the member knows how to manage a facility. They are profession- als, and they will deal with the circumstances. Ms Pastoor: I would know very well how to look after the care in a facility.

Having round-the-clock registered nurses on-site as a temporary measure will reduce the number of seniors that will need ambulances to take them to severely crowded ERs and acute-care beds. Will the minister order that all senior living facilities have registered nurses around the clock when they are needed? Mr. Liepert: No, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for West-Yellowhead, followed by the hon. Member for Edmonton-Riverview. 2:20 Arts and Culture Funding Mr. Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Albertans are increasingly looking to arts and cultural activities in the province as a source of celebration and entertainment, particularly during these challenging economic times. The recent Alberta Arts Days was only a three-day event. My question is to the Minister of Culture and Community Spirit. As the minister responsible for promoting arts and culture in Alberta, do you think that Alberta Arts Days did enough to inspire Albertans to come out and support our artists in communities? The Speaker: Well, okay. Try and stretch that one. We’re dealing with government policy, not information questions.

If that’s government policy, do you think, go ahead. Mr. Blackett: Mr. Speaker, we’re talking about Alberta Arts Days, a celebration. Last year we had the first, in 2008, one day. Thirty communities participated across the province, a hundred and some different events. In 2009 we expanded that b ecause we wanted to include schools; we wanted to include libraries. We wanted to have our young people exposed to it. We wanted to make sure that the people that are less fortunate and the people that are new immigrants to the country are exposed to it. This year, in tough times, Mr.

Speaker, we had 116 communities, up from 30. We had 571 events, up from 100. We had 80 schools and 110 different libraries participating. I think Albertans have overwhelmingly said: we believe in arts and culture. That was in communities from hamlets to villages to cities. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My first supplemental again is to the Minister of Culture and Community Spirit. Annual celebrations are fine, but there are also specific commitments that you agreed to in your ministry’s cultural policy, the Spirit of Alberta.

Do Alberta Arts Days actually deliver on any of these commitments? Mr. Blackett: Mr. Speaker, they absolutely fulfill those commit- ments. We talked about the Spirit of Alberta, four key points that we want to go forward with. We want to have access to all Albertans irrespective of where they live or their socioeconomic status. We want to build capacity in our communities to house the performing and literary and visual arts. We want to promote excellence. We want our artists to be recognized like our hockey players and our Olympic athletes, some of the very best in the entire world.

We want to make sure we preserve our cultural industries. Having our artists in all different parts of the province onstage together celebrat- ing Alberta: that’s what we’re supposed to be doing. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My second supplementary question is again to the Minister of Culture and Community Spirit. Were the dollars spent on Alberta Arts Days the best use of funding that could have gone instead directly to the organizations? Mr. Blackett: Well, Mr. Speaker, I’m proud to say that the govern- ment of Alberta spent $700,000 on Alberta Arts Days.

That was not money that was taken away from arts organizations. That was actually money to facilitate the 571 productions that we had. You know what? We funded five of them; we paid for artists. But the communities across this province stepped up themselves, and they put this on. They did that with their own dime. That’s what we’re trying to do – we’re a hand up, not a handout – and Albertans have responded. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Riverview, followed by the hon. Member for Edmonton-Strathcona. H1N1 Pandemic Ethics Framework Dr. Taft: Thanks, Mr. Speaker.

The Alberta Health Services pandemic plan estimates there will be between 130 and 400 deaths from H1N1. The same plan predicts a demand for ICU space that will overwhelm capacity, so life-and-death decisions about who gets treatment will need to be made. Mr. Speaker, could I have some order in the Assembly, please? The Speaker: I would ask for order, please. Yes. Dr. Taft: Thank you. The Speaker: That’s the first time, by the way, in 13 years that I’ve used the word “order.” Dr. Taft: The public has a right to know the ethical basis for these life-and-death decisions.

The pandemic plan briefly mentions an ethics framework but does not include it. Will the minister of health make public the pandemic ethics framework that is briefly referred to in the pandemic plan?

October 29, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1639 Mr. Liepert: Well, Mr. Speaker, I will take that question, and I will discuss with Alberta Health Services what they’re referring to. I’m not quite sure what this member is all twisted out of shape about, but we’ll figure it out, and I’ll report back to the Assembly. Dr. Taft: Well, Mr. Speaker, what I’m concerned about is the basis for which life-and-death decisions are going to be made, and the medical community is well aware that this is coming. People need to know how decisions like that are going to be made.

They can, for example, make preparations if they know that a loved one won’t be on a priority list in an intensive care unit. I’m going to table later today a pandemic ethics framework from Ontario which is fully public. Can the Minister of Health and Wellness tell the Assembly why Alberta’s ethics framework has not been made public? Mr. Liepert: I think I answered that question, Mr. Speaker. Dr. Taft: You did no such thing, and you’re sloughing off your job.

Why has it taken this administration several months longer than Ontario to even, apparently, begin to address the issue of an ethics framework for life-and-death decision-making? Mr. Liepert: Just to be clear, if the member didn’t understand my earlier answer, I said that I would check with Alberta Health Services, and I would provide him with an answer. I’m not sure what he didn’t understand about that, but I think his problem is that he didn’t know how to rephrase his supplementary question, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Strathcona, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-Bow.

Employment Standards for Sick Leave Ms Notley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Unlike other jurisdictions in Canada, Alberta’s Employment Standards Code provides no protection whatsoever for workers who miss work because of illness. In many cases these workers are in the service industry, and they have the most interaction with the public but at the same time have the least amount of job security. Why won’t the minister of labour amend our Employment Standards Code to protect Alberta workers who fall ill? The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Employment and Immigration. Mr. Goudreau: Mr.

Speaker, there are no provisions under our Employment Standards Code that speak to paid sick leave, but I might add that there are no jurisdictions in Canada that address paid sick leave. Ms Notley: Mr. Speaker, I wasn’t talking about paid sick leave. I was talking about the right to be away from work without pay and not lose your job, which is not a right currently enjoyed by Alber- tans, unlike most of the rest of the provinces. Now, Alberta Health Services estimates that up to 35 per cent of Albertans will fall sick and have to stay at home for the next seven days.

Why can’t the minister of labour use common sense and display common decency and join most of the rest of Canada in protecting the jobs of sick workers? Mr. Goudreau: Mr. Speaker, for many Alberta workers sick leave is addressed through their collective agreements, company human resources policies, or other arrangements with their employers. This has worked really well in our province in the past, and I would suspect that it will continue to work quite well in the future. Ms Notley: Well, Mr. Speaker, it works well for employers, not for workers.

Vulnerable low-paid workers are not in any position to negotiate on an equal footing with their employers. If the minister doesn’t understand that, he doesn’t understand his job. Now, the government itself is calling for employers to stop asking for doctors’ notes, yet the government’s own policy is that they ask their employees for doctors’ notes after three days. Will the minister take his own advice and get rid of this policy for his own employ- ees? Mr. Goudreau: Mr. Speaker, there are collective agreements, as I’ve indicated. It’s working, and it’s providing solutions between employers and employees.

The employers as well as the employees have certain rights in terms of responding to some of the activities that occur within their work environments. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Bow, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-Buffalo. Ms DeLong: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Most of my questions have actually been asked just previously, but there is one piece that has not yet been addressed, and that is a final question to the same minister. Is there anything to stop an employer from firing an employee who might be laid up at home with H1N1? Mr. Goudreau: Mr.

Speaker, I would say that these workers and their employers should be having good discussions about the provisions in the event of any type of illness. There are no reasons to have to wait until a worker is sick before determining possible solutions, even if they never need to have those solutions exercised. I would continue to encourage all employers and employees to be proactive, to become aware of the sick leave arrangements that may be available to them, and to use common sense. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Bow. The hon. Member for Calgary-Buffalo, followed by the hon.

Member for Drayton Valley-Calmar. Affordable Accessible Housing Mr. Hehr: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the minister of housing assured Albertans that she is doing a good job of providing accessible affordable housing to people with disabilities. Well, it isn’t a good enough job for the 30 people with disabilities in Calgary who need accessible housing, many of whom have been waiting over a year now.

To the Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs: what does the minister have to say to these people in Calgary who have been waiting, sometimes over a year, to get an affordable, accessible unit? 2:30 The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mrs. Fritz: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d be pleased to meet with these – I don’t know if they’re your constituents, hon. member, or if they’re a particular group in your constituency, but I have been meeting with this member’s constituents on a regular basis as you refer them with these types of issues.

I’d be pleased to meet with this group in order to assist them with whatever it is that their need is.

Alberta Hansard October 29, 20091640 The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Hehr: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks for that kind offer. However, I did just call down and get that information from the Calgary housing people down there, so maybe the minister could place a call down to those people and find out who the 30 people are who’ve been waiting sometimes up to a year, maybe doing her job instead of asking me to do it for her. Nevertheless, of the 1,600 units that are available, how many of these have been rotated in the last year with new people coming onboard these affordable, accessible houses? Mrs.

Fritz: Well, I’m sure you have the answer to that question as well if you had the answer to the first question. But I’m uncertain about the number here today, about the 1,600 units and what became available and how those are being filled, you know, with an immediacy right now. I don’t know that. Mr. Hehr: Well, Mr. Speaker, I guess what I’m saying is that the 1,600 housing units you provided for affordable and accessible housing are full. When can we see some more affordable, accessible units provided so people are not in long-term care, on the street, or wherever they may be hiding?

We want some affordable, accessible units on the street. When can we expect some more to be available? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mrs. Fritz: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you know, we’ve had a request for proposal for affordable housing. We have a mandate of developing 11,000 housing units over a five-year period. We are over halfway there within the first 24 months. Of that housing I can tell you, hon. member, that we’ve ensured that developers and municipalities, nonprofit organizations are definitely providing housing that is accessible for people with disabilities.

So I can tell you that that’s happening today. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Drayton Valley-Calmar, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-Varsity. Grade 12 Diploma Exams Mrs. McQueen: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Education announced that the grade 12 diploma exams in math and science will no longer include a written response but will only include multiple choice numeric responses. Given that the Minister of Education has talked many times about the importance of our students developing literacy and communication skills, why would he dumb down the exams by removing the

section that tests these essential abilities? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, a context, I think, is necessary. Over the last number of months, over a year that I’ve been in the portfolio, I’ve certainly heard from students, from teachers, from school boards that we have too many exams, it takes too long, and it’s too much exam anxiety on the students: too much, too much, too much.

When we looked at what we could do differently, we determined that the correlation between the part A and the part B, the written and the multiple choice and numeric portions of the exams in maths and sciences, was extremely high. In other words, students were doing as well on the part A as they were on the part B. If you’re looking for an exit result, which is what the diploma exams are, and you’re getting the same mark on both exams, one of them is redundant. So reducing the number of exams for students, reducing the time frame for exams answers the questions that I have been asked.

The Speaker: The hon. member. Mrs. McQueen: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The teachers that I’ve spoken with say that multiple choice questions cannot properly assess all of students’ abilities or allow them to show their thinking processes. How does the minister expect our students to be fairly assessed if the diploma exams don’t reflect all of what they are learning in the classroom? Mr. Hancock: Mr.

Speaker, while teachers in the classroom are really pivotal and key to student assessment, obviously, as part of learning, we do have very strong assessment expertise in the Department of Education working with teachers from across the province to design valid and reliable questions. Multiple choice and numeric questions are valid and reliable. They test not only knowledge but comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Most of our questions are at the application and analysis level while some are at the synthesis and comprehension level.

In other words, it’s not just testing and regurgitation of facts, and you can’t succeed by guessing. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mrs. McQueen: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question to the same minister. In addition to changing the format of the math and science exams, the Department of Education changed the exam calendar so that students were to write math and chemistry, two very challenging tests, on the same day. It is my understanding that this has been changed. Can you clarify this and how you’ll let staff, parents, and students know, and can you ensure that this will not happen again in June? Mr.

Hancock: Mr. Speaker, we have sent out a revised exam

schedule for both January and June to all jurisdictions. It’ll be communicated in the same way that the original exam

schedule was, through the classroom to the students immediately. It’s also on our website. I think what happened is that when we looked at how we could shorten the amount of time taken for exams and return more time to the classroom and less stress on the students in writing exams, we got a little bit overexuberant in that, perhaps, and that resulted in the doubling up of the chem and math on one day. We’ve changed that. They’ll be written on separate days. We’ve res ponded to that concern that’s come in from students across the province and also to the concern about exams being written on the 28th and 29th of June. We’ve backed that

schedule up. The new

schedule is out. Schools should have it as of yesterday, and it’s on the website. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Varsity, followed by the hon. Member for Edmonton-Ellerslie. Child Protection Mr. Chase: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Ministry of Children and Youth Services is constantly making changes to practice without making the necessary changes in policy, which causes confusion and inconsistency in casework across the regions. The Auditor General and the children’s advocate have raised concerns regarding the lack

October 29, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1641 of clear policy, especially surrounding investigations of maltreat- ment of children and youth already in care. To the Minister of Children and Youth Services: what is being done to ensure consis- tency in practice and policy across the child and family services authorities and the designated First Nations agencies? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Ms Tarchuk: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that when we’re talking about workloads, there are actually two things that would be helping to take care of what you’re talking about.

One is the work that’s being done on the casework practice model. As you know, that’s been implemented across the province. The other is workload issues, which I’ve mentioned before. We have all kinds of mecha- nisms that are in place to make sure that we have appropriate workload levels for all of our staff. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Chase: Thank you. With the rising number of students in care and a freeze on working staff employment, a crisis is occurring as we speak.

Since the establishment of a working group in 2008 what specifi- cally is being done to address the very real and problematic lack of regulation surrounding investigations of maltreatment of those children and youth who are already in government care? Ms Tarchuk: Mr. Speaker, I’m not exactly sure what the member is talking about here. What I would suggest is that if you could get more information to me, I will get a response. Mr. Chase: I appreciate that follow-up.

Will the minister provide a date for when clear and consistent policy will be in place regarding investigations into the maltreatment of children and youth in government care? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Ms Tarchuk: Yeah. Again, Mr. Speaker, I don’t know what the member is talking about in terms of the maltreatment here. Please do follow up, and I’ll get back to you. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Ellerslie, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-Lougheed. Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship Act Mr. Bhardwaj: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

The new Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship Act received royal assent last year. However, I have heard from constituents expressing concerns that the new legislation does not respect people’s rights to make their own decisions. To the Minister of Seniors and Community Sup- ports: is this true information? Mrs. Jablonski: Mr. Speaker, this is certainly not true. In fact, the opposite is true. The Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship Act provides more, not fewer, protective measures and options for Albertans who need help making decisions.

It focuses on the least intrusive approach to respectin g an Albertan’s right to make decisions for as long as possible. This is good legislation. The significant amount of work and effort over the last four years to get to this point has been worth it. This progressive legislation benefits Albertans both today and in the future. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Bhardwaj: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My first supplement to the same minister. The other concerns I have heard relate to capacity assessment. Can the minister advise the House on how capacity assessments will be done under this new act? 2:40 Mrs.

Jablonski: Mr. Speaker, another great improvement in the act is the more standardized and rigorous capacity assessment model. The act’s regulations clearly outline the represented adult’s rights during the capacity assessment process, including the purpose of the assessment and their right to legal counsel. In addition, in-depth training is being provided to capacity assessors, and guidelines have been developed to further standardize the assessment process. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Bhardwaj: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My final supplement to the same minister.

There have been a lot of stories in the news this past year about the abuse of vulnerable people, specifically seniors. Will this new act do something to better protect seniors? Mrs. Jablonski: Mr. Speaker, the abuse of vulnerable Albertans is a significant concern of this government. This act is a great step forward. It provides more safeguards and protective measures. This includes enhanced screening of new co decision-makers, guardians, or trustees as well as a formal complaint and investigation process. I would also like to add that it’s not just me that thinks that the AGTA is great legislation.

New South Wales in Australia have asked for details on AGTA as they review their legislation. Again, Alberta is leading the way forward. The Speaker: Hon. members, that was 92 questions and responses today. Speaker’s Ruling Oral Question Period Rules Go Green Initiative The Speaker: Just a couple of comments before we move on. First of all, there were a couple of interjections by the chair today, one having to do with a question that said: what do you think?

Well, please, let’s all remember that we’re dealing with policy questions here and government policy questions, not dealing with personal opinions from people, particularly ministers. Secondly, for a couple of my colleagues here to my left House of Commons Procedure and Practice page 520 deals with exhibits being inadmissible in the House. A little reading over the weekend might be in order. Thirdly, thank you all for all of these little pamphlets being returned to me about Go Green.

Remember, there are three of them because there are three documents that we’re trying to basically say that you can access in ways other than printed material. One is Votes and Proceedings, one is the Order Paper, and the other is Hansard. That’s the reason there are three. Secondly, it was a subjective decision to do it in one day only and not kill some more trees to do it in four days. But my experience is that it usually takes about four days to get the message through. So today is the last day of the messaging with respect to this. On Monday you will not see this.

Let us continue the Routine in 30 seconds from now.

Alberta Hansard October 29, 20091642 head: Introduction of Bills (continued) The Speaker: Hon. members, we’re back on the Routine now. The hon. Member for Battle River-Wainwright. Bill 58 Corrections Amendment Act, 2009 Mr. Griffiths: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s a pleasure for me to rise today to request leave to introduce Bill 58, the Corrections Amendment Act, 2009. These amendments clarify the roles of monitoring and recording and allow for electronic monitoring or recording of nonprivileged inmate communications.

The intent here is that it will increase the opportunities that we have to intercept and report active or planned criminal activities within our communities. The amendments also will allow remission to be granted to offenders serving sentences for provincial statutes or municipal bylaw offences, Mr. Speaker, which are nonviolent crimes. This encourages good behaviour and encourages inmates to take courses to improve their quality of life so that when they get out, they’re active in society, and it will reduce the offender population, which should give us significant savings within our facilities. Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. [Motion carried; Bill 58 read a first time] The Speaker: The hon. Government House Leader. Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would move that Bill 58 be moved onto the Order Paper under Government Bills and Orders. [Motion carried] The Speaker: The hon. Member for Strathcona. Bill 60 Health Professions Amendment Act, 2009 Mr. Quest: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to rise and request leave to introduce first reading of Bill 60, the Health Professions Amendment Act, 2009. This bill proposes two categories of amendments. One category of amendments will impact midwives, acupuncturists, and dentists.

The amendments add teaching, management, and research activities to the scope of practice statements for these three professions. This change will allow their colleagues to regulate members’ practice in these areas. It’s important because it enables colleges to put in place measures like ethical guidelines for research. The second category of amendments reserves additional titles for the nursing, paramedic, and pharmacy professions. All health professions reserve titles that may be used only by registered members.

These titles enable the public to distinguish accredited health professionals from others who may provide a similar service but do not have equivalent knowledge and training. I’d ask all members to support this bill and to move this bill to the next stage. I move first reading of Bill 60. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [Motion carried; Bill 60 read a first time] The Speaker: The hon. Government House Leader. Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move that Bill 60 be moved onto the Order Paper under Government Bills and Orders. [Motion carried] head: Tabling Returns and Reports The Speaker: The hon.

Minister of Culture and Community Spirit. Mr. Blackett: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to table the appropriate number of copies of annual reports for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Alberta Historical Resources Founda- tion, the historic resources fund, and the Wild Rose Foundation, as well as the annual review for the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Varsity. Mr. Chase: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I have three sets of tablings.

I have e-mails from concerned Albertans Mariella Villalobos, Jenny Regal, Stephan Verrier, Marsha Hales, Marilee Sharpe, Joy Lutz, Agnes Thurmeier, Kelly Russell, and Kelly Waterman urging the Minister of Education and the Premier not to cut funding to education b ecause the future prosperity of Alberta depends on the knowledge and skills of its children and because it’s even more important now to invest in education. My second tabling is a letter from Mr.

Leslie Zydek to the Education minister stating that he has always found the minister to be very honest with teachers in the past, reminding the minister of his comments at the teachers’ convention in February, and asking him to “honour the agreement that is in place with a 5.99% increase and help to build some faith and trust back.” My last e-mail is to the Premier from Joan Farkas, who is “outraged that due to your lack of leadership, your lack of planning, and your completely inept financial management” your cuts “to education, health and social services demonstrate that you . . . do not care about Albertans.” Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Centre. Ms Blakeman: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I have two tablings today. The first is the appropriate number of copies of a report released by the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership entitled Dashed Dreams, New Realities: Calgarians Talk Frankly about the Impact of the Economic Downturn. The report is sponsored by Alberta Global Forum, University of Calgary; Calgary Counselling Centre; Calgary Foundation; Canada West Foundation; and the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership.

The second is an information pamphlet on the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, the Ukrainian Women’s Association of Canada, Alberta branch. This is an organization that has a museum in my fabulous constituency of Edmonton-Centre. I was able to be at a most recent exhibition of their collection, and it’s pretty impressive, so I’m happy to table copies of that information brochure. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Gold Bar. Mr. MacDonald: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I have two tablings today.

The first is a letter dated August 25, 2009, that I received from the Alberta College and Association of Chiropractors regarding the delisting of chiropractic services from Alberta health care insurance benefits. It’s sign ed by a Dr. Clark Mills, and it’s certainly informative.

October 29, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1643 The second tabling I have today is a letter dated August 20, 2009, from the Capital Region Board: regional action, global opportunity. It’s addressed to the hon. Minister of Transportation and also to the hon. Minister of Infrastructure. It’s a letter regarding the importance of the Green TRIP program to the capital region. Thank you. 2:50 The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Riverview. Dr. Taft: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. I am tabling a document that I referred to in question period today.

This document is titled Adult Critical Care Triage and Resource Allocation Protocol for Pandemic Influenza. It’s dated July of this year. It’s from Ontario, and the purpose of it is “to apply to an influenza pandemic, when demand for critical care needs outstrips available resources.” Thank you. It’s important reading for the Minister of Health and Wellness. 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.

Goudreau, Minister of Employment and Immigration, pursuant to the Government Organization Act the Alberta College and Association of Chiropractors radiation health administrative organization annual report for the year ended June 30, 2009, with attached financial statements; the Alberta Dental Association and College 2006 radiation health and safety program annual report January 1, 2008, to D ecember 31, 2008, with attached financial statements; the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association radiation protection program 2008 annual report with attached auditor’s report on the radiation protection program; College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta radiation health administrative organization annual report for the period April 1, 2008, to D ecember 31, 2008; University of Alberta authorized radiation health administrative organization annual report 2008-2009; University of Calgary radiation health administration organization annual report for the period April 1, 2008, to March 31, 2009, with attached financial statements; pursuant to the Regulated Forestry Profession Act the College of Alberta Professional Forest Technologists annual report 2008. head: Projected Government Business The Speaker: The hon.

Official Opposition House Leader. Ms Blakeman: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Under Standing Order 7(6) could I ask the Government House Leader if he would share with the House the projected government business for next week. The Speaker: The hon. Government House Leader. Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course, Monday, November 2, is occupied with private members’ business.

On Tuesday, November 3, in the afternoon under Government Bills and Orders for second reading we would anticipate a debate and progress on Bill 46, Gunshot and Stab Wound Mandatory Disclosure Act; Bill 48, Crown’s Right of Recovery Act; Bill 49, Municipal Government Amendment Act, 2009 (No. 2); introduction for second reading of Bill 55, Senatorial Selection Amendment Act, 2009; Bill 56, Alberta Investment Management Corporation Amendment Act, 2009; Bill 57, Court of Queen’s Bench Amend- ment Act, 2009; Bill 58, Corrections Amendment Act, 2009; Bill 59, Mental Health Amendment Act, 2009; and Bill 60, the Health Professions Amendment Act, 2009.

Some of those bills w ill be introduced for first reading, of course, on Monday. Time permitting, Committee of the Whole on Bill 31, Rules of Court Statutes Amendment Act, 2009, and I believe members have been advised that there will be amendments proposed for that; then Bill 46, Gunshot and Stab Wound Mandatory Disclosure Act; Bill 48, Crown’s Right of Recovery Act; and Bill 49, Municipal Government Amendment Act, 2009 (No. 2).

Wednesday afternoon, November 4, for second reading Bill 53, Professional Corporations Statutes Amendment Act, 2009, and Bill 54, Personal Information Protection Amendment Act, 2009; Committee of the Whole on Bill 55, Senatorial Selection Amend- ment Act, 2009; third reading of bills 46, 48, 49; and as per the Order Paper.

On Thursday, November 5, in the afternoon for second reading Bill 56, Alberta Investment Management Corporation Amendment Act, 2009; Committee of the Whole on Bill 53, Professional Corporations Statutes Amendm ent Act, 2009; Bill 54, Personal Information Protection Amendment Act, 2009; Bill 56, Alberta Investment Management Corporation Amendment Act, 2009; third reading of bills 31, 53, 54, 55; and as per the Order Paper. head: Orders of the Day head: Government Motions Alberta Capital Bonds 16. Ms Evans moved:

Be it resolved that the Assembly approve in general the issue of Alberta capital bonds by the government in s upport of the development of public infrastructure projects and facilities. [Adjourned debate October 28: Mr. Hancock] The Speaker: The hon. Government House Leader to continue. Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do want to take the opportunity to spend just a few minutes to talk about Alberta capital bonds and the opportunity that I think they provide for Albertans and for Albertans’ government. Alberta is and has been recognized as one of the best places to live, to work, and to raise a family.

Certainly, I think all Albertans are very, very proud of the province that we have. When we looked at what we aspire to in terms of the 20-year horizon for Alberta and talked a number of years ago about unleashing innovation and leading and learning and competing in a global marketplace and making Alberta the best place to live, work, and visit, that was about how we help to unleash the potential that Albertans have in a province that has a wonderful wealth of resources and a wonderful environment to live in.

When we talk about the best pl ace to live, to work, and to visit, we’re really talking about how we proceed with the development of our resources and our economy while we maintain the wonderful environment, the big blue sky, the clean water, the place that we have, the quality of life that we have, which includes not only our environment but also our ability to celebrate the arts, the ab ility to share our culture, and then, of course, the need for us to develop our potential through making sure that we have an excellent education system and making sure that we have the opportunity to ensure that there’s health care available for our children when they need it, for our parents when they need it.

That’s what we talk about when we talk about Alberta being the best place to live, work, and visit: the ability to unleash our potential, our human potential and the potential

Alberta Hansard October 29, 20091644 of the place in which we live so that we can trade out into the world, be citizens of the globe and trade into the world economy. Now, there’s a world recession happening, and Alberta has become an unwilling participant. The reality is that some of the things that we rely on in our current economy – the ability to export particularly our carbon energy products, oil and gas – depend on a world price. That world price is set to a great extent by demand, and when you’re in a world recession, demand goes down.

We have this recession happening that has impacted our citizens in terms of their ability to invest their hard-earned resources, the money that they’ve saved for their retirement, the money that they’re building towards their retirement. It’s impacted the revenues to government in terms of what we do going forward. It’s created this uncertainty in the economy. Now, luckily, as most prognosticators would say, Alberta was best positioned going into this recessionary time, and Alberta is best positioned to come out of that recessionary time, but in the mean- time there are some issues that need to be dealt with.

One of those issues is: how do we help Albertans to weather the financial crisis that’s happened across the world? It truly is a financial crisis. I’ve talked to seniors in my constituency and even members of my own family who probably shouldn’t have had money in the market because when you’re a senior, you’re really looking for stable investments, for income-based investments, essentially investments that will give you an interest stream and an income, but because of the meltdown of the financial market, interest rates are at an all-time low.

There aren’t good places to put your money to get an interest income return, and going into th e market to get those interest instruments puts people at risk. We’ve seen people whose portfolios have been, if not devastated, certainly diminished significantly, and they’re not in a position to recoup that because they don’t have the time left in their lives to be able to recoup that.

We have people, senior citizens, but we also have others who are saving through their RRSPs, who are saving in other ways to try to make sure that they can take care of themselves and their families in future years, and they’re at a loss as to where to put their invest- ments at this point in time. With interest investments, as I say, if you put your money in the bank, which is the safe, secure place, in Canada at least, where deposits are guaranteed up to a certain level, you only get a .5 per cent return. I haven’t looked recently at the Canada savings bond return, but it’s pretty low.

There’s a lot of money that’s parked on the sidelines, that’s not actually going into our economy to help bring us out of this recession. 3:00 We also have the other fortunate position to be in; that is, that Alberta is recognized as being a very, very strong, well-managed, well-governed jurisdiction. It’s been recognized, as some of the members of the opposition have indicated in their comments in the last couple of days, with a triple-A credit rating, which you don’t get by being a place of fiscal mismanagement. You only get it if people recognize that you have sound management.

Here we have a government with a triple-A credit rating, an ability to get the best rates, with a strong covenant, a good place to invest. In fact, we find people coming from all over the world to look to invest in Alberta. When you look at that sort of a scenario, you say – perhaps I could add a little bit more before I get to that conclusion.

We also are looking to say: in Alberta, where we were well posi- tioned going into it but are participating in this world-wide recession and do have some issues, what is the best way to prepare to come out of that recession, to make sure that we can be leading-edge and that we can trade out into the world? When you have that discussion, you have to say: well, we want to have our people prepared. We need to be up to date. We need to be leading edge in education, and that requires some physical infrastructure although probably not in the same way as we’ve traditionally done it over the years.

We have to invest in our education infrastructure. We want a healthy, vibrant population, which means we need strong health infrastructure. We want to have places where people can enjoy quality of life so that their families can know that they have a good place to stay, that they’re going to be safe and well cared for. We need seniors infrastructure in terms of long-term and continuing care places. We need our economic infrastructure. We need roads. We need power lines. We need utility corridors.

We may want to be talking about looking to the future in terms of a corridor, perhaps for a high-speed train link or something of that nature. We need to be looking ahead to the grids as we’re ready for development but want to contain certain elements of that development so that we can preserve our environment. We need environmental infrastructure, water treatment, those sorts of things. We’re also in a time where one of the silver linings, of course, in the cloud is that costs have been reduced, so it’s a good time to look to infrastructure, to build that in frastructure. It has two benefits.

One, we get the infrastructure in place that we need for that long- term growth of the province, for that long-term growth in our human potential and our physical infrastructure, and we can do it at a lower cost than we’ve been receiving for the last number of years. Here we have a population with money to invest and no place to invest it.

We have a province that’s poised for growth again, that needs to be ready for that growth, needs to have the infrastructure – the human infrastructure and the physical infrastructure – in place for that growth not only so that we can trade out into the world but so that we can protect our environment and continue to build our quality of life. It all comes together very nicely in the concept of saying that Albertans want to invest in Alberta.

Albertans want to have the opportunity to put their money in a safe place, get a reasonable return, know that that return will be assured, and have the pride of being able to build the infrastructure that we need, the human and physical infrastructure that we need, for that future of the province that we are so poised for and so ready for. Capital bonds, Mr. Speaker, are an instrument that we’ve used before in this province, but they’re an instrument that would be particularly well suited, in my view, for the time that we have today.

It allows Albertans to invest in Alberta, to take pride in being part of building the physical infrastructure that we have and the human infrastructure that we need. It allows Albertans to show their confidence in Alberta. It allows Albertans to have access to a covenant which is strong, an investment which is assured, and a reasonable return on that investment. It’s a good time for us to do the work. It’s a good opportunity for us to have Albertans em- ployed. It just makes sense for all those purposes.

Now, we heard yesterday that there should be constraints around it, that we shouldn’t borrow too much from Albertans, that we shouldn’t leave it out for too long, that we shouldn’t use the money to hire anybody but an Albertan. I think those were the gist of the three amendments that were tabled yesterday, and maybe there’ll be more today. Mr. Speaker, I don’t think we should constrain the idea at this stage.

As we build forward and as we go out with an instrument for the investment of Albertans, we should be looking to the full power or the potential of this tool to make sure that we can have a sufficient amount of bond available, a sufficient level of investment available for Albertans so that all Albertans have an opportunity to participate. I remember when my aunt passed away, quite a few years ago now, and in her estate were her Alberta Energy Corporation shares.

October 29, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1645 Albertans had a chance to invest at that time in a government company that was set up for a purpose that would provide them with, in that case, some risk, yes, but an opportunity to be a part of the growth and development of this great province. They took that opportunity with great pride, some of them investing as little as a hundred dollars. I don’t know if you could even invest less than that. But it’s not about how much.

It’s about every Albertan having that opportunity not only to have a secure investment but to have what I would call a prideful investment, an opportunity to put your money into something you care about, not just into a bank, not just into some investment that may go somewhere else, not having to worry about whether it’s an ethical investment or whether the company that you’re investing in is doing something in some part of the world that you may or may not agree with, investing here at home, in our province, to build this place so that we can be poised, so that the future children of this province and our grandchildren and their children will be able to live and work in this province and trade out into the world.

What could be a better concept? What could be a better way of bringing the concept together than to have Albertans who are proud of their province have the ability to invest in a stable investment, get an appropriate return on that investment, and help to build the future in this way? Mr. Speaker, it’s an idea whose time has certainly come again. The Speaker: Hon. members, Standing Order 29(2)(

a) is available. Under 29(2)(a)? Mr. MacDonald: Yes, please, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Please proceed. Mr. MacDonald: Thank you. To the hon. Minister of Education. I certainly listened with interest to your remarks regarding Motion 16. You said that you were reluctant to constrain the idea by having limits to the amount of the bonds that could be purchased. I’m just looking at your own budget from 2008-09, and I see where you were precisely over budget in your ministry support services by $2,474,000. It’s not quite 10 per cent of your budget.

At the same time that we see that overexpenditure in your ministry budget, we see some of the same senior managers who would be working out of that office receiving almost the identical am ount, ironically, in an achievement bonus of $2.4 million. When you talk about being reluctant to constrain the idea, my question to the hon. minister is this: when your own track record here is not very good in your department, in your ministry office regarding sticking to your budget, why should taxpayers have faith in this government to give you, essentially, a blank cheque to go into debt for any amount that you so choose?

Mr. Hancock: Well, Mr. Speaker, first of all, in the comments that the hon. member makes, he sort of mixes things up. He talks about my office. Well, my office wasn’t $2.5 million over in its budget. I think we spent about $60,000 more than was budgeted. Actually, in the budgeting process it’s interesting. You do things line by line in the budget, but you do have the opportunity to move things around to areas of need. I did a little bit more travelling, actually, last year in terms of going to Singapore.

Alberta is recognized as one of the leading-edge education jurisdictions in the world, so we got invited to Singapore. There’ll be a report out soon on that conference, about looking to the future of education and what the best jurisdictions in the world are doing in that regard. 3:10 I went to London to meet with 69 ministers of education from around the world to talk, again, about what’s happening in education in the world, which is pretty profound for Alberta.

While we’re leading edge now, we compete in a world economy, and we need to know what it’s going to take for our children and our grandchildren to be educated to compete in that world economy.

I don’t apologize for that, nor do I apologize for the $2 million that he’s talking about, an overage in ministry supports, which was spent primarily on Inspiring Education, Setting the Direction, and Speak Out Alberta, three initiatives which are clearly set up for the sole purpose of making sure that not only are we leading edge today but that we continue to be leading edge for tomorrow, all those things I was talking about in terms of developing the human potential of this province. That’s why it’s important. Mr. Speaker, he needn’t take my word for it that we do fiscal management well.

The bond agencies around the world, the financial agencies around the world, that rate the best places to invest, rate Alberta as a triple-A best place in the world to invest, the best credit rating that you can get. That’s an independent assessment by people who put their money where their assessment is. He doesn’t have to take my word for it that fiscal management is good. He can take the advice of the people who have managed money around the world that this is the best place to invest your money. The Speaker: The hon. Member for P eace River on the Q and A side. Mr. Oberle: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I wonder if I might ask the hon. minister to clarify, based on the comment of the Member for Edmonton-Gold Bar and a number of comments I heard from that side last night to the effect that we’re talking about an unconstrained blank cheque, unending spending, those sorts of things. I wonder if the minister might want to clarify that we’re not actually debating whether the government is going to spend any money here, uncon- strained or otherwise. We’re de bating whether or not this House supports the notion of bonds. Any actual spending won’t be authorized by this motion.

It would be authorized by subsequent legislation and a discussion around budget, all of which comes back to the floor of this House. I just want to clarify that point. Mr. Hancock: Well, Mr. Speaker, clearly the hon. member makes a very good point. The Member for Edmonton-Gold Bar as chair of the Public Accounts Committee would know that all spending by government is both voted by the House and accountable to the House, and it has nothing to do with where the money comes from. It’s a question of: before you can spend money, you have to get authority to do so.

The hon. member would know that we are constrained by the processes of the House in terms of what you spend, but what he was referring to in his question was how much you should . . . [Mr. Hancock’s speaking time expired] The Speaker: We have to now move on. The hon. Member for Edmonton-Centre to participate in the debate. Ms Blakeman: Yes. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’m sorry that I had to cut off the Minister of Education when he was in full flight because I know how much he enjoys that. I’m pleased to have an opportunity to join this debate on Govern- ment Motion 16.

I have done my best to listen from my Annex office on the Tannoy and to follow up on the parts that I missed by

Alberta Hansard October 29, 20091646 reading the Hansard. I’ll apologize in advance if I have misunder- stood or missed somebody putting something on the record, but I don’t think I have. What I heard in listening over the two days was essentially two debates running concurrently or woven together. One was a debate about the content of Motion 16, and a second was an ongoing debate about the process that we’re involved in today. Let me look at the debate around the motion itself. I’m just going to remind myself what the motion actually said because it’s worth reviewing at this point.

Essentially, we’re looking at the idea of Alberta bonds being considered by the province. I read the remarks from the finance minister as she laid this out on Tuesday, and she had some very good points in the way she laid it out about what she was looking for from people and some questions that she put on the record that she wanted to see answered. I’m on page 1578 of the Hansard from October 27. She essen- tially put a couple of things out that she was looking for.

We’re talking about Motion 16: “Be it resolved that the Assembly approve in general the issue of Alberta capital bonds by the government in support of the development of public infrastructure projects and facilities.” Then she talks about and a lot of people have talked about how much Albertans want to invest in this. That, of course, is not in the text of the motion, but the minister of finance did mention that Albertans are looking for a way to proudly invest in the province. That is the way she put it.

Then she got into some questions, that she was seeking advice through debate on the motion on a couple of things: the type of bond that should be offered, who should be able to buy the bonds, whether it should be a fixed rate of interest over the life of the bond or a variable rate, shorter or longer, minimum and maximum amounts available for purchase, whether it would be RSP eligible, sugges- tions on where it could be available to purchase, and what kind of interest rate should be offered.

Interestingly, I didn’t hear a lot of debate that answered those specific questions, but there was a lot of sort of visioning and . . . Mr. MacDonald: Blue skying. Ms Blakeman: . . . blue skying – that’s fair – of what people imagined this could result in. Fair enough, if that’s the way people wanted to debate it. But from our side, the Official Opposition side, we had a number of issues. Actually, we did try a little closer to answer some of the questions that she had raised.

The Minister of Education and others have raised a number of times the credit rating that this province receives, but the idea of fiscal management is larger than a credit rating. It’s not only about comparing ourselves with outsiders but also comparing ourselves with ourselves and with our own performance over the years. Of course, the one big thing that we’re dealing with right now is that we’ve gone from $8 billion up to $7 billion down in a period of about 12 to 15 months, so on our own performance I think that argues that there’s a fairly significant turnaround here.

Is the government responsible for some or all of that? Most definitely. Are they responsible for all of it? No. Clearly not. You know, there are a lot of people who suffered a downturn in their finances. I’m not going to lay that whole issue at their door. But did they make choices that made this worse for us? Yes, I would argue that they did. Now, the second part of this is the limits that are pl aced.

We brought forward a number of amendments yesterday to try and put some limits on that motion: the idea that there would be a maximum of a quarter of a billion dollars that would be borrowed through the creation of this debt.

In other words, we couldn’t embrace a debt larger than a quarter of a billion dollars through the issuance of this bond, that we would not go into debt for longer than 10 years with the issuance of this bond, and that we would have an Alberta-first policy for those who would be the recipients of the contracting work that flowed through the infrastructure projects that were enabled through this bond. Those were the concerns that we raised.

We put them in the form of amending motions to the motion because we wanted to make sure that they were recorded and that we were able to refer to them later, and it’s a way of getting the discussion on the floor, which it clearly did. Now, Mr. Speaker, there are a number of reasons for debt. Of course, you don’t ever want to be incurring debt for operating because that money is gone, and you have nothing to show for it other than the fact that you ate a meal. But, again, it’s gone. You provided a program, but it’s gone. You have no tangible asset for it.

Going into debt for capital projects is a different matter entirely. You end up with an asset. What we need to be careful of here is that the money that we borrow now so that people can enjoy or make use of the infrastructure today, which is equivalent to someone taking out a mortgage for a home – you’re not going to save your money until you’re 60, and when you’ve saved that $350,000, then you can go out and buy a home. You’re going to buy that home when you’re 30 or 35, get a mortgage, and pay that money off over the life of that so that you can enjoy it at a good time in your life.

That’s what we’re looking at doing now, but that’s where we have to be careful that we’re doing that in the right way. We have to be careful that the money, the debt, is paid off before the asset is either used up, we need to rebuild it, or we need to put massive amounts of money into it. So those are the issues that the Official Opposition has concerns about around the issuance of these bonds. 3:20 The second thing that has happened is a lot of questions a bout whether we were able or why we were raising issues like this around the motion. In fact, the Member for Peace River just raised it again today.

But when I went and looked in my documents, in fact, you are certainly allowed to do that because in Beauchesne 552 it does say quite clearly that you can put a motion on the floor. That’s okay; that’s what you’re supposed to do. You can also amend it. That appears in Beauchesne 567 and 569. Beauchesne 567 says, “The object of an amendment may be either to modify a question in such a way as to increase its acceptability or to present to the House a different proposition as an alternative to the original question.” It also references Erskine May, page 395. Of course, 569 says: “A motion may be amended by: (

a) leaving out certain words; (

b) leaving out certain words in order to insert other words; (

c) inserting or adding other words.” There’s a second

section there as well. Certainly, what the Official Opposition was doing yesterday was well in order, and that was reflected in the rulings from the Speaker. There’s been some discussion that, well, this is just a general motion, and we should just talk generally to it and trust that at some point we’ll be able to get down to the nitty-gritty of it. But what I looked for very carefully was any kind of a guarantee from anyone that there would be legislation that would follow, and all I could find was remarks that this would come up again in the budget debate.

Well, the way the budget debate is structured now, it’s done in committee, and if we’re lucky, members of the Official Opposition might get in maybe two at-bats, maybe 20 minutes of questions for an entire department. To be able to concentrate on one issue such as the issuance of bonds as a part of the debate on the entire department of finance would not satisfy what we would be looking for as a vigorous give-and-take in debate. So, of course, we have used this opportunity over the last couple of days to do exactly that, and in fact we should be doing exactly that.

October 29, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1647 Now, the other way is through Public Accounts, of course, and that’s after the fact. We’d be talking about whether it was appropri- ate to be issuing these bonds in Public Accounts way after the fact, so that’s not an appropriate place either for us to be doing it. I hope that’s helpful to those that were not understanding the process that was being used by the Official Opposition. I do want to demarcate the difference between a visioning exercise, marketing, which we have also heard some members use, and a business case.

I was really looking for the business case of why these bonds would be a good way for the government to be embracing debt, to be knowingly entering into a position of debt for infrastructure. The motion before us does clearly indicate that the monies would be used for infrastructure. Good. Fair enough. But this government has already reached the limit that it set out for itself and that its members all supported in the budget. It said that it would go to no more than $1.1 billion of debt, and they’ve done that already.

To now embark upon a second series of debt, to take on additional debt beyond what the government has already allocated itself in the last budget, the budget that we’re in, is I think problem- atic. I need to be much more convinced that there would be a limit on the bonds that are going to be embr aced as new debt here, that there would be a time limit set on when the debt would be paid off so that we weren’t in sort of perpetual debt here. I think it’s very appropriate to be embracing an Alberta-first policy.

There was a great deal of pretty pointed discussion and criticism of the member for pu tting that motion on the floor yesterday and all kinds of detailed demands for clarification, which of course was very interesting because they had spent the earlier part of this debate insisting that we should be having a very wide- reaching and wide-ranging debate. But when the opposition starts to speak, boy, the government wants details. You’ve got to love it.

I think it’s very appropriate that we say that if we are going to get into debt and the government will owe Albertans that money – that’s what this is all about; it’s about debt – I think it’s more than appropriate to say that we have an Alberta-first policy. Now, of course, you have to be reasonable with all of that. You’re not going to say, you know, that we would take an Alberta company even if they’re a terrible company just because they’re an Alberta company. Of course you’re not going to do that. Nobody here would be suggesting that you would.

But I think that as a general policy to say that if we can look to and encourage Alberta companies to be engaged in these infrastructure projects, which the province has gone into debt to fund, I think that’s very appropriate. I feel much better as an Albertan knowing that we’re incurring debt that will at the very least benefit Alberta companies rather than saying, “Yeah, boy, let’s go into debt so that we can give money to companies that are in other countries or even other provinces.” The issue of, well, goodness, we’re going to get into real trouble with TILMA – not necessarily.

I don’t think that need be a huge issue. I mean, we have trading partners there, and I don’t think that saying Alberta first but Saskatchewan and B.C. second is that big a deal. Again, if we’re embracing debt here, if the government is looking to embrace debt, I would like to see us have a reasonable Alberta-first policy. I have a union-first policy in my office, for example. I always look to buy products that are made in a union shop first. If I can’t find it, then I’ll go outside of that. I’m not going to say: no, I won’t buy it because I can’t find a union-made article.

If I need the article, th en I’m going to go somewhere else and get it, but I’m going to look for union-made first. That’s the point of that, and I think it’s a good idea to have an Alberta-first policy here. That is what I was looking for with this motion, a clarification that we would have a limit on the amount of debt that we were going to incur as a result of these bonds, that we would have a limit on the time that we would be in debt for these infrastructure projects, and that we would have an Alberta-first policy to go along with it.

I’m not comfortable with the looseness and the lack of detail in the motion. I’m not comfortable because I don’t see another opportu- nity. The Speaker: Hon. members, Standing Order 29(2)(

a) is now available should one want to participate. There being no interest in that section, we shall now move on to recognizing the next speaker. The hon. Member for Strathcona. Mr. Quest: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s my pleasure to express my support for the government motion to issue Alberta savings bonds. In a time of economic uncertainty every person and entity – individuals, families, businesses, and government – are inclined to take a look at previous spending patterns and identify new opportu- nities to invest wisely.

When I look back at this province’s budget- ing, I find myself truly proud to be an Albertan. When I consider that moving forward there’ll be the opportunity to purchase Alberta savings bonds, I can take pride in the fact that I’m part of this government. This province continues to demonstrate a level of sound financial planning that rivals any other jurisdiction. Issuing savings bonds is another testament to this government’s legacy of financial sustainability.

For example, in 2002, following a successful elimination of the provincial debt, the government acknowledged not just the need for change in our budget structure but also the changing economic environment. In response to this, the financial management commission was struck to review fiscal and accounting policies and to ensure that Alberta remained a leader in fiscal planning. One of the key recommendations made to government was the establishment of the sustainability fund. Mr. Speaker, it was recommended as a means to stabilize volatile resource revenue.

This is what I mean when I refer to sound financial planning. It was forward thinking and fiscally responsible, and now this planning and saving is paying off. In a time when the global economic climate is less profitable than it used to be, Alberta remains a leader in terms of recovery. While others are running major deficits in order to stimulate their economies, this province is able to use dollars from the sustainability fund to fuel capital projects. By issuing Alberta savings bonds, this government is providing Albertans with a unique opportunity to invest and save.

The issue of these bonds is a demonstration of this government’s economic leadership. 3:30 In addition to the sustainability fund, in 1976

an act of the Legislature established the Alberta heritage savings trust fund. This fund is designed to provide prudent stewardship of savings from Alberta’s nonrenewable resources by maximizing financial returns. In fact, this year the fund is expected to exceed the forecasted net income, and due to the strong growth in the equities over the first quarter the net income is estimated at $1.34 billion in 2009-10, up from the $711 million for ecast. Mr. Speaker, this trust f und is unique to Alberta. No other province has such a fund.

It’s a demonstration of the prudent financial leadership that this province takes, leadership that’s being demonstrated again and again with the establishment of the Alberta savings bonds. Furthermore, as part of this effective financial planning, residents of this province benefit from Alberta’s tax advantage. Mr. Speaker, Albertans have the lowest personal income taxes in Canada as a result of this low single tax rate system, no general sales tax, and the lowest gasoline tax rate amongst all of the provinces. Further,

Alberta Hansard October 29, 20091648 Alberta’s business taxes are amongst the lowest in the country. This is a result of low corporate income tax rates and no payroll or capital taxes. Businesses, like individuals, also benefit from the lowest gasoline tax and the absence of a provincial sales tax. These competitive tax rates will continue despite the economic downturn as we’ve heard our Premier announce that taxes will not be raised. Mr. Speaker, this government has a history of creating sound financial plans, effective budgets, and being innovative in booms and busts.

This continues today with this government’s commitment to limit spending and live within our means while using the sustainability fund to cover revenue shortfalls and protect key programs. Further, the effective planning can be seen with the promise to continue to invest in public infrastructure and thereby invest in our province while crea ting jobs. Keeping taxes low and creating Alberta savings bonds are additional in itiatives that complement this government’s fiscal leadership. It

Document details

Collection	Alberta — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	20091029
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	L27 S2 20091029 1330 01 han.pdf
Language	en
Format	json
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	801d82cdd4c2f1a9935bff82dfe76ea3701838f7

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