Alberta Hansard — 2 November 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 Monday, November 2, 2009 Issue 53 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

November 2, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1655 Legislative Assembly of Alberta Title: Monday, November 2, 2009 1:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. Monday, November 2, 2009 [The Speaker in the chair] head: Prayers The Speaker: Good afternoon. Welcome back. Let us pray. Renew us with Your strength. Focus us in our deliberations. Challenge us in our service to the people of this great province. Amen. Hon. members and to all our special guests, today we will proceed with the singing of our national anthem. We’ll be led in the Assembly today by Mr. Paul Lorieau, and I would invite all here to participate in the language of one’s choice. Hon.

Members: O Canada, our home and native land! True patriot love in all thy sons command. With glowing hearts we see thee rise, The True North strong and free! From far and wide, O Canada, We stand on guard for thee. God keep our land glorious and free! O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. The Speaker: For the schoolchildren in the Assembly today, yes, that is the same Mr. Lorieau who does the singing at the Edmonton Oilers hockey games. Please be seated. head: Introduction of Guests The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Aboriginal Relations. Mr.

Zwozdesky: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It’s a great pleasure for me to rise and introduce to you and through you to all members of the House here today 43 extraspecial students from the Edmonton-Mill Creek constituency who attend Julia Kiniski elementary school. Today they are accompanied by two outstanding Alberta teachers, Susan Skillings and Dale Mandryk. They’re here to learn about the democratic process, and I want to say thank you for having invited me to be there for reading week with you. Please, if you would all rise, we’ll thunderously applaud you. Thank you for coming. The Speaker: The hon.

Member for Edmonton-Calder. Mr. Elniski: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s my pleasure this afternoon to introduce to you and through you 30 students from l’école St. Angela, who I believe are seated above me in the public gallery, and their teacher, Miss Meghan St. Pierre. An interesting note is that all of the grade 6 classes at l’école St. Angela will be participating in School at the Legislature. I would ask them all now to rise and receive the traditional warm greeting of the Assembly. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Lacombe-Ponoka. Mr. Prins: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It’s a real pleasure and an honour for me today to introduce to you and through you to all members of the Assembly 26 grade 9 students from Ponoka composite high school. They are very bright and eager young students. They’re here with their two teachers, Mr. Brady Teeling and Mrs. Lacey Elliott. They’re seated above me in the public gallery, and I’d ask them to rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of this Assembly. Thank you. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Gold Bar. Mr. MacDonald: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It’s my pleasure to rise and introduce to you and through you to all hon.

Members of this Legislative Assembly a group visiting this after- noon from St. Kevin school in the constituency of Edmonton-Gold Bar. They are in the public gallery. I would now ask them to rise as I introduce them. This is a small delegation. It’s led by teacher Mrs. Tammy Genge and parent helper Mrs. Laura Tetrault. The students accompanying them this afternoon are Zane Cumby and Rainy Gosselin. If they would now please rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of this Assembly. Thank you. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Ellerslie. Mr. Bhardwaj: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

It’s my honour to rise today and introduce to you and through you three constituents of Edmonton-Ellerslie who are seated in the members’ gallery: Otto Wollin; his wife, Traute; and son Harold. On September 10, 2009, Mr. Otto Wollin celebrated his 90th birthday, a celebration I was honoured to be part of. Some interesting facts about the couple: they met in January, got married in May, and moved to Edmonton on October 30, 1949. I want to thank them for 60 years of making Alberta a better place with their presence here.

I would now ask my guests to please rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of the Assembly. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Manning. Mr. Sandhu: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would like to introduce to you and through you to all members of this Assembly two special guests, dear to me, who are in the public gallery, Mr. Jagan Nath Gupta and Mr. Amit Gupta. Both of these gentlemen are here today to watch question period and see democracy in action. I would like to ask these gentlemen to rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of this Assembly.

Thank you. head: Ministerial Statements The Speaker: The. hon. Minister of Health and Wellness. H1N1 Influenza Immunization Mr. Liepert: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. One week ago I stood in this Assembly and announced the launch of Alberta’s H1N1 pandemic flu vaccine program, the largest immunization ever in the history of this province. I urged all Albertans to join in the effort to control this new virus and get vaccinated, and mass clinics started delivering the vaccine last Monday.

Now, I announced at that time that our efforts would focus on high-risk groups first, but I also said that we would not turn anyone away. And Albertans heard that message. In fact, the response was so great that clinics in Edmonton and Calgary were quickly overwhelmed. In the first week, thanks to the tireless efforts of this province’s health care workers, almost 400,000 Albertans received their flu vaccinations. That’s over 10 per cent of Albertans, and no matter what anyone says, that’s an amazing accomplishment.

Alberta Hansard November 2, 20091656 We also found out late last week that the amount of v accine that was going to be shipped to all pr ovinces was going to be signifi- cantly reduced over the next two weeks. Less than expected vaccine shipments from the manufacturer in Quebec and a huge unantici- pated demand at mass clinics resulted in a perfect storm. So on Saturday our public health officials made a decision. Under the direction of our chief medical officer of health we suspended our mass immunization clinics.

Alberta Health Services officials have spent the last two days refocusing their immunization plan to target only high-risk groups over the next few weeks. A new plan will be rolled out tomorrow. Details will be announced by Alberta Health Services. Priority will be given to children six months to less than five years of age, pregnant women, and, shortly after, people under 65 with chronic health conditions. Now, I need to assure all members that strict enforcement of this new plan will have to be implemented, and we are working through measures to ensure that we have a reasonable approach to ensure compliance.

No one likes to turn away citizens of this province from receiving their vaccination, but unfortunately, with a limited supply, we are left with no choice. Yes, Mr. Speaker, there will always be Monday morning quarter- backs who will be critical of our program, but the facts speak for themselves: Alberta has vaccinated approximately 10 per cent of our population in just six days, and that will reduce the impact on our health care system.

During the next two weeks we will refocus our efforts on vacci- nating only those at high risk, and over the next two months, as our vaccine supply increases, we will fulfill our obligation to vaccinate all Albertans that so choose. Mr. Speaker, that is a commitment that this government has made and it will stand by. Thank you. 1:40 The Speaker: The hon. Leader of the Official Opposition on behalf of Alberta’s Official Opposition. Dr. Swann: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The first duty of a responsible government is to protect its citizens.

The minister of health’s abysmal record over the past 18 months proves that this administra- tion has utterly failed to carry out this sacred responsibility. Tens of thousands of vulnerable Albertans – cancer patients, children and pregnant women, and the chronically ill – are at serious risk thanks to the lack of good leadership and management from the health minister and the Premier. Abruptly shutting down Alberta’s immunization clinics when we still have hundreds of thousands of doses of vaccine available shows that this administration is panick- ing at a time when Albertans can least afford it.

It’s just the latest bad decision in a long line of them. For years we and others have warned this administration that their mismanagement has left the health care system with no capacity to cope with a major crisis. Even on routine days our major hospitals are at or over capacity, with not a single bed available. It’s become normal for patients to wait in emergency rooms for days. For the last year and a half this minister has sown discord and chaos throughout the public health care system.

He dissolved the regional health authorities and the advisory groups – AADAC, the Alberta Cancer Board – with no transition plan and no evidence to base these decisions on. He oversaw the unexpected termination of three medical officers of health last spring and the chief of the provincial lab early this summer, people who would have been invaluable during this pandemic. He denies our critical nursing shortage despite the evidence.

We raised a red flag about the breakdown of management in August this year, when my Health critic wrote a five-page letter to the Premier with detailed questions and concerns about preparation for H1N1. It took two months for this administration to reply, with little more than an acknowledge- ment of the letter and a copy of some of the planning documents. Alberta has been unprepared for any kind of health care crisis for years thanks to Tory mismanagement, and now the chickens have come home to roost. We have no surge capacity in our hospitals.

Our system is already struggling to deal with the demands of a growing population and increased numbers of senior citizens. This administration has left the health care system in such a state that our health care professionals no longer have the confidence and the capacity to deal with any large-scale disaster. Mr. Speaker, I implore this government to provide the necessary resources to immediately inoculate high-risk Albertans as quickly as possible. Open a sufficient number of well-staffed clinics to handle the load.

Invite all available health care professionals, including students and retired professionals, to assist. As a physician myself I would be happy to again offer my services for this. It’s all well and good to talk about Monday morning quarterback- ing, Mr. Speaker, but when the general manager is on vacation and the coach has no playbook, Albertans are left with little choice but to let their leaders know when they’ve dropped the ball. No more excuses. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Strathcona. Ms Notley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I’m seeking the unanimous consent of the House to allow the leader of the third party to respond to the ministerial statement. The Speaker: Hon. members, there is a request for unanimous consent. That means everybody has to agree. If one person disagrees, consent is denied. I’m just going to ask one question. Anyone who is opposed to allowing the hon. Member for Edmonton- Highlands-Norwood to participate, please say no at this time. [Unanimous consent granted] The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Highlands- Norwood. Mr. Mason: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the House.

The ministerial statement we just heard sounded more like a ministerial fairy tale: after a few unavoidable bumps along the road, the H1N1 ogre is defeated by the heroic health minister, and everyone lives happily ever after. I wonder how this fantastic tale will be received by those who have stood for hours and hours in lines and still didn’t get vaccina ted or those who attended the pointless assessment clinics, standing in line for hours with people already sick with H1N1. As if the virus doesn’t spread fast enough on its own, this government designed a program to help it spread faster.

I wonder how vulnerable Albertans, those who should have been a priority, feel about this fairy tale as they watch those who are strong enough to stand in line for many hours get the vaccine which they needed. Mr. Speaker, I received this e-mail from my sister in Calgary on Saturday. Dear Brian, I just wanted to tell you to keep hammering away at . . . And she uses his name, but I’ll say the Premier. . . . about this vaccine fiasco. We just went up to the closest clinic at 5:45 a.m. (it opens at 8:30) and clearly people had been there all

November 2, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1657 night long. The lineup stretched the entire length of the mall and down the street. We couldn’t see the end of it. I estimate about 3000 people. This is at 5:50 a.m. for a clinic that opens at 8:30. This is the 6th attempt I have made to get the vaccine and I am considered high risk because I am immuno-suppressed because of the drug . . . that I am taking. It is unbelievable that the Governments (on all levels) can create this kind of panic and not have the resources to deal with the resulting chaos.

They created it because a poll showed that 47% of Canadians weren’t going to have the vaccine and so they went to work with their scare-mongering tactics and whipped people up into a frenzy and now they can’t handle it. I think [the Premier and the health minister] are getting off entirely too easy on this. Your loving sister, Jo-Ann. The minister has outlined his plan B, and it looks like what other provinces did from the start; that is, giving priority to those Alber- tans who are more likely to face a serious illness or death as a result of contracting H1N1.

Better late than never, but Albertans will not soon forget the fear, confusion, and chaos of Alberta’s H1N1 immunization program. I hope there is a happy ending, Mr. Speaker, but Albertans should not believe the fairy tale they heard from the health minister today. Thank you. head: Members’ Statements The Speaker: The hon. Member for Grande Prairie-Wapiti. Devon Energy Steward of Excellence President’s Award Mr. Drysdale: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to congratu- late Devon Energy for its extraordinarily innovative pipelining practices.

Devon’s pipelining strategies are so effective that the company received the 2009 steward of excellence president’s award. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers presents the steward of excellence awards every year, acknowledging improve- ments in environmental, health and safety, and social performance. This award honours Devon Energy’s ability to reduce their pipeline footprint on agricultural land. In fact, Devon’s new technique, called innovative pipelining strategies, reduces right-of-way impact by approximately 50 per cent. This greatly benefits farmers as well as the environment.

This technique helps to ensure that we continue to have responsible resource development, which is one of this government’s top priorities. Mr. Speaker, Devon Energy collaborated with Alberta Environ- ment’s partners in resource ex cellence initiative, which includes producers, contractors, inventors, landowners, and regulators, and it is obvious that these efforts have paid off, since they successfully minimized pipeline disturbance. Hopefully, other companies can learn from Devon’s best practices and collaborative partnerships.

I look forward to the future because this initiative is only the begin- ning in Alberta. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Montrose. Calgary Ring Road Mr. Bhullar: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It’s indeed a pleasure to rise in this Assembly to say a few words about the single- largest transportation project in Alberta’s history. Several members and I attended the opening for the new Stoney Trail ring road in Calgary this morning. This road represents an investment of over $1 billion by this government in Alberta’s highway network.

This new 44-kilometre road is the concrete result of a forward-thinking vision that began over 30 years ago. Today I wish to honour those who had the vision and the ambition all those years ago to start planning the transportation and utility corridor s around our two major c ities. Their foresight is paying dividends for Albertans today and will continue to benefit Albertans well into the future. Mr. Speaker, Calgary is a major city in a growing province that needs and deserves a world-class road on which to move its people and goods safely and efficiently.

This road will allow Calgarians more time to do what matters most. We are a government commit- ted to enhancing the quality of life of all of our citizens. Whether you live in Monterey Park or Tuscany, Citadel or Applewood, Signal Hill or Marlborough Park, this road allows Calgarians more time to spend doing things that matter most. This road means that Bobby in Citadel can visit family in Marlborough Park more often. My constituent in Monterey Park can get home from work in Tuscany sooner to help his children with homework.

A young family in Signal Hill can get to the North East Sportsplex sooner for hockey practice. This road is about government giving Calgarians more of what they value: time. 1:50head: Oral Question Period The Speaker: First Official Opposition main question. The hon. Leader of the Official Opposition. H1N1 Influenza Pandemic Planning Dr. Swann: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My first question to the Minister of Health and Wellness: given the complete failure of his ministry in responsibly dealing with pandemic H1N1, something this administration has been planning for for years, will the minister admit that he is ultimately responsible? Mr. Liepert: Well, absolutely, Mr. Speaker, ultimately responsible, but with responsibility we also have to deal with the facts. As I outlined in my ministerial statement, we have 400,000 Albertans who will not be using our emerg wards at our hospitals.

The concern that this member has just been expressing not only in his statement but consistently in this House is that we lack surge capacity. Well, what better way to deal with a so-called lack of surge capacity than to vaccinate? It has been tremendously successful in getting 400,000 Albertans vaccinated. Dr. Swann: Well, this minister clearly still doesn’t get it, that it’s the high-risk people that end up taking up the surge capacity, Mr. Minister. Again, the minister has shown himself to be incapable of manag- ing the system. Will he now do the decent thing, the right thing, and resign? Mr.

Liepert: I guess it would be nice if it were that simple, Mr. Speaker. You know, somehow this particular member seems to be implying that this has only happened in Alberta. Well, I’m here to tell you that all Canadians – all Canadians – have rallied around the necessity to get vaccinated, and all governments are dealing with the same issue. I can tell you what we will do. We will roll out tomorrow a staged approach going forward, and as I said in my statement earlier, high-priority Albertans will now be the priority. Dr. Swann: My final question.

To the Premier: given the disaster this week for your administration will you fire this minister today? Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, I have every confidence in my

Alberta Hansard November 2, 20091658 minister. I also have confidence in our medical officer of health. I met with both this morning plus the Minister of Municipal Affairs and the Solicitor General to ensure that as we move forward on the plan that will be articulated tomorrow by Alberta Health Services, all ministries that have anything to do with providing more comfort, reducing the waiting lines throughout all of the clinics across Alberta put all the resources that we can to ensure that this is done in an orderly manner.

Tomorrow there will be further news in terms of availability of the vaccine and how we’re going to proceed. The Speaker: Second Official Opposition main question. The hon. Leader of the Official Opposition. Dr. Swann: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier has a leadership review coming this Saturday. This is a key opportunity to show true leadership. To the Premier: does the Premier accept ultimate responsibility for the failure of Alberta’s health care system to cope with this H1N1 pandemic? Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, as Premier of the province, of course, all of the issues and responsibility rest in this office.

I can tell you that from what information I have and in looking at the news right across the whole nation, this province has vaccinated 400,000 Albertans of all categories – all categories – in terms of high risk and low risk. They did their civic duty. Yes, they stood in line, but you know what? That’s 400,000 more people that have a vaccination, that are now at little or no risk because they’ve received their vaccination, and they’ll take the pressure off our emergency wards. Dr.

Swann: With hundreds of thousands of doses of H1N1 available today in the province, why are those most vulnerable to H1N1 sitting on their thumbs waiting for this vaccine when you contacted people this weekend and closed clinics? Why do you not open these clinics today to provide those vaccines to those people? Mr. Stelmach: Well, misinformation: there are not hundreds of thousands of doses available. I’ll ask the minister to respond to the latter part of the question. Mr. Liepert: Well, Mr.

Speaker, one of the things that we will deal with in rolling out tomorrow is the fact that we need to ensure that we go in a staged approach going forward because we don’t want to get in the situation of stopping and starting. If we were to listen to the opposition, we would have had multiple clinics open throughout the province on days 1 and 2, and our vaccine would have expired. Albertans would have been showing up, and there wouldn’t have been vaccine. We want to ensure that going forward we have a consistent approach to vaccination. Dr.

Swann: Health care professionals are now calling and are not receiving H1N1 when it’s available even t hough they’re the ones that are facing the people with H1N1 in emergency departments and in the hospitals. What do you say to these health professionals, Mr. Premier, with doses of vaccine sitting available? Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, it’s ironic how the position of the Leader of the Opposition has changed over a matter of days. Early last week he was supporting all Albertans to go and r eceive the vaccine, and I guess that on November 1, yesterday, and into today, November 2, he has now changed his position.

At the beginning of the week he encouraged everybody to go to clinics and get their vaccine, and as of yesterday, well, they should have prioritized the high risk. You know what? Everybody can predict the past, even the Leader of the Opposition. The Speaker: Third Official Opposition main question. The hon. Leader of the Official Opposition. H1N1 Influenza Immunization Dr. Swann: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Premier needs to take immediate action to repair the damage that this minister of health has already done to our health care system.

Again to the Premier: will the Premier immediately contact retired doctors and nurses and students to assist in administering this vaccine as soon as possible? Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, those are decisions made by the medical officer of health. I know that last week the minister signed a ministerial order allowing more health care professionals to administer the vaccine. Again, I have full confidence and trust in Dr. Corriveau and Dr. Predy, and they are doing a good job given the limited supply of vaccine that’s available to every province.

We will make the best decisions based on the medical evidence that’s presented by the doctors. Dr. Swann: Interesting that the Premier is now interested in evidence when we’ve been ignoring evidence for the last couple of months. Every Albertan knows that the hospitals have no spare beds and no extra staff. Will the Premier commit to staffing our hospitals properly for this pandemic? Mr. Stelmach: Mr.

Speaker, last week I mentioned that we’ll make every resource available to ensure that we get through the vaccina- tion program and deal with any other circumstances that might avail themselves in the province, but once again I want to reiterate that it’s not an issue of not having enough medical professionals to adminis- ter the vaccine. The issue is that there is a shortage of the vaccine made available by the only one supplier in Canada, and that shortage is experienced by all provinces in the country of Canada. Dr.

Swann: Finally to the Premier: when the immunization clinics open later this week, will the Premier ensure that these clinics have the capacity to not keep the most vulnerable people waiting for four hours for their injection? Will you guarantee that? Mr. Stelmach: The plan will be unveiled, and certainly what we have learned from the past week will be taken into consideration. As well, there will be very clear communication. I just urge all Albertans to listen very closely to what we unveil tomorrow so that they can access in those high-risk groups, children and also pregnant women.

There’ll be clear indication where the clinics will be and at what times the vaccine will be made available. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Highlands- Norwood, followed by the hon. Member for Cypress-Medicine Hat. H1N1 Influenza Immunization for High-risk Albertans Mr. Mason: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Day after day Albertans waited in line for hours at flu clinics, camping overnight, missing work, and risking infection from others, only to be turned away again and again.

This government has created fear, confused people with contradictory messages, and did not ensure that high-risk popula- tions were vaccinated first. My question is to the Premier. Mr. Premier, can you explain to Albertans how you have failed in handling the largest public health crisis our province has ever seen? 2:00 Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, in reply to the question from the leader, there were a number of doses of vaccine that were said to be

November 2, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1659 available to the province in the earlier stages of planning. That changed significantly towards the end of last week. We have to make changes in the way the vaccine will be now administered, especially to those high-risk groups that I had mentioned: children six months to five years and also pregnant women. As I said, the plan will be unveiled tomorrow as to when the clinics will restart, where the clinics will be. We also want to make sure that where the vaccine will be administered, it’s as comfortable as possible for Albertans. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr.

Mason: Thanks very much. Opening just a handful of urban clinics to serve 3 million people was a terrible mistake. Failing to target high-risk groups, forcing those least able to line up and camp overnight in the dark and in the cold is unforgivable. Creating assessment centres where the sick are crowded together with the uninfected is not only stupid; it’s irresponsible. Why won’t the Premier admit that his government has made mistake after mistake after mistake? Mr. Stelmach: Mr.

Speaker, the advice in terms of how the vaccine should be administered comes directly from the medical officers of health, and quite frankly I do have confidence in them. They have the experience, the education. They know the evidence behind it. We listen to their advice, and then we incorporate whatever decisions based on the evidence brought forward by the physicians. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Mason: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. First the govern- ment scared people so that tens of thousands descended on clinics that couldn’t handle the load.

Massive lineups meant that only the strong and healthy could get the vaccine while the vulnerable people who needed it most had to return home, sometimes in tears. Albertans want to know who is accountable for this mess. Who is ultimately responsible, Mr. Premier? Is it Dr. Corriveau, is it the Minister of Health and Wellness, or is it you? Mr. Liepert: Mr. Speaker, I think that we have to put some things in perspective here. Last week in question period this particular member was asking us what we’re doing about the homeless. Well, let me tell you what we did about the homeless.

The homeless have been vaccinated. Last week we heard about our aboriginal popula- tion, another very high-risk group. I can tell you that our aboriginal population has been v accinated. Another high-risk gr oup is our health care workers. Every health care worker in this province who wanted to get vaccinated has been vaccinated. Let’s talk about the success of this program, not continue to dwell on the fears of this particular member. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Cypress-Medicine Hat, followed by the hon. Member for Edmonton-Riverview. H1N1 Influenza Immunization (continued) Mr. Mitzel: Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. Over the weekend the mass H1N1 vaccination clinics were temporarily closed. Most of the focus has been on lineups in the cities, but the people in my area have great concerns there isn’t a plan for rural and remote communi- ties. Planned clinics in Cypress-Medicine Hat were advertised on the government website and then cancelled. To the Minister of Health and Wellness: what are you doing to ensure the pandemic plan includes Albertans in rural areas just as much as those living in cities? Mr. Liepert: Well, Mr. Speaker, that’s a very good question, unlike what we’ve just heard.

That particular plan will also be part of what Alberta Health Services will be announcing and communicating tomorrow. I should say that there’s no question that our intention in some of the smaller communities around the province was to try and get the vaccine to physicians and pharmacists as quickly as we could. The tremendous take-up of the mass clinics derailed that particular effort. There probably are some areas of the province that did get neglected, and that’s what we have to deal with going forward. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Mitzel: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

For the past few days my office has taken calls related to the mass immunization clinics set up for the H1N1 vaccine. Many never did get the vaccine after waiting in long lines, and they would like some answers. To the Minister of Health and Wellness: what is the plan for school-age children that cannot wait in line for the H1N1 vaccine? Mr. Liepert: Well, again, I don’t want to preannounce what Alberta Health Services is going to be announcing tomorrow, Mr. Speaker. That will be dealt with. Keep in mind that school-age children, unless they have underly- ing medical conditions, are not the high priority.

I know I’ve had some members ask me about vaccinating in schools. Again, as the Premier has indicated, the chief medical officer of health is the quarterback of this planning process, and he will adjust as we need. Right now school-age children are not the highest priority. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Mitzel: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again to the Minister of Health and Wellness. Seniors in my area lit my phone lines off the hook last week and this weekend with complaints about the long lines either inside or outside in the cold.

With the clinics tempo- rarily closed this week will vaccinations for seniors also be re- viewed? Mr. Liepert: Well, there will be some review, Mr. Speaker. Again, unless seniors have underlying medical conditions, they are not in the highest priority category. As we’ve heard here today, with a lot of yipping across the way, we want to ensure that the highest priority, those at highest risk in the province, are dealt with, and that’s what we will be announcing tomorrow. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Riverview, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-Egmont.

Medical Tent at Stollery Children’s Hospital Dr. Taft: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of Health and Wellness threw Alberta’s health system into confusion and crisis when he dissolved the health regions and the Alberta Cancer Board. We’ve been receiving increasingly panicked calls from cancer patients who urgently need the H1N1 vaccine. Because of chemo- therapy some of them literally cannot wait until tomorrow, and they cannot stand in line for hours. My question is to the Minister of Health and Wellness. Does he understand that dissolving the

Alberta Hansard November 2, 20091660 Alberta Cancer Board created a leadership vacuum in which nobody considered the high-risk needs of cancer patients? Mr. Liepert: Mr. Speaker, the Alberta Health Services Board has a mandate to provide equitable health care across this province; it doesn’t matter where you live. That will be the same policy and priority that will take place with the H1N1 vaccination program. The member should listen attentively tomorrow when Alberta Health Services rolls out its plan. Dr.

Taft: Well, in a bizarre example of how one hand doesn’t know what the other hand is doing in the department of health, because this minister created total chaos, the pandemic tent at the Stollery children’s hospital, having been set up 18 months ago, was taken down last week just as the pandemic hit. To the Minister of Health and Wellness: how does he explain leaving up the pandemic tent at the Stollery for 18 months when there was no pandemic and then taking it down the first week the pandemic hits? Mr. Liepert: Well, as a matter of fact, Mr.

Speaker, it was the day that I visited the University emergency, last Wednesday, when the head of emerg at the University was proudly showing me the fact that the tent was gone and construction was going to start the next day. If the member is going to suggest here that he doesn’t like that idea, well, then, I suggest he should say so b ecause it’s in his constituency, and there are a lot of constituencies around this province that would gladly have health care construction tomorrow. Dr. Taft: Mr.

Speaker, the physicians from that department who were talking to me are saying, quote: it is beyond stupidity to take down a pandemic tent that has been set up for 18 months the first week the pandemic hits. Will this Minister of Health and Wellness take steps to ensure that that pandemic tent is set up somewhere else, where it can be used for the purposes it was paid for? Mr. Liepert: Well, Mr. Speaker, this just shows that this member doesn’t even know what’s going on in his own constituency because the tent was never set up for pandemic purposes.

The tent was set up for emergency services at the Stollery children’s hospital. Now, with the announcement that this government is going to pro ceed with the construction of the emergency services at Stollery hospital, is this member suggesting that we should stop just because we have a vaccination program going? I suggest he should stand up and say so if that’s what his view is. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Egmont, followed by the hon. Member for Edmonton-Centre. Calgary Ring Road Mr. Denis: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

This morning I had the privilege of joining the Minister of Transportation and several other members of this Assembly at the opening of the northeast and northwest Calgary ring roads. Obviously, people in Calgary are very excited to be able to use these new sections of the ring road. I know this project has been in the works for a number of years, and it’s great to see it come to fruition, but I do have some questions. To the Minister of Transportation: can the minister tell this Assembly what has led up to this opening and the timeline behind it, please? 2:10 Mr. Ouellette: Well, Mr.

Speaker, this vision began 30 years ago, and today it became a reality. That foresight is paying dividends for Albertans today and will continue to benefit Albertans in the future. Thinking big and planning for the future and being innovative is what Alberta is all about. Today we opened 44 kilometres of world-class ring road that will benefit the residents of Calgary and our entire provincial highway network, Mr. Speaker. This new road will help move people and goods safely and efficiently in and around Calgary.

It is such a good road that I hope the hon. member will make sure he obeys the speed limit in his new blue van. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Denis: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again to the same minister. We’re all concerned about money these days. How much did this program cost, and how can we ensure that Albertans got good value for their money? Mr. Ouellette: Well, Mr. Speaker, it’s the single-largest transporta- tion project dollarwise in Alberta’s history, an investment of over $1 billion by this government: Stoney Trail northwest, $460 million; Stoney Trail northeast, $650 million, in 2007 dollars.

The northeast was built as a P3 project. In fact, when the Premier was Minister of Transportation, he knew we could do things better. We have now successfully used the P3 model on both Calgary and Edmonton ring roads. P3s are only considered when a thorough business case. . . The Speaker: The hon. member. [interjection] The hon. member has the floor. If he doesn’t want it, he doesn’t have to take it. Mr. Denis: Well, Mr. Speaker, one more question to the same minister. Now that the northern sections of the Calgary ring road are open, when can I expect to drive my blue van on the southeast leg? Mr. Ouellette: Mr.

Speaker, the southeast

section is out for tender right now, and we expect to start construction in the spring of 2010 and open the road to traffic in the fall of 2013. As far as the southwest

section we all know that the Tsuu T’ina Nation voted against the agreement in July. We respect that decision. We are moving forward, and we’re committed to complet- ing the ring road. We’re now working with the city of Calgary to find an effective transportation solution that will meet the immediate traffic issues in Calgary and support this province’s long-term plans. This work is going well and moving ahead. There have been no decisions made. I have to admit that we probably will have a tough time meeting our 2015 guideline on that southwest now, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon.

Member for Edmonton-Centre, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-Lougheed. Climate Change Ms Blakeman: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. While the Premier is fearmongering on climate change, the rest of the world is taking action. A report came out last week stating that Albertans can enjoy continued growth and prosperity while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. That message is clearly lost to this government.

To the Minister of Environment: given that Shell is asking for stricter greenhouse gas targets and regulations to stay internationally competitive, when will the minister protect our energy industry’s assets and reputation by implementing absolute targets and meaning- ful regulations? Mr. Renner: Mr. Speaker, I want to remind this member that

November 2, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1661 Alberta still is the only jurisdiction in Canada that actually has legislation in place that mandates reductions in CO 2. That being said, Alberta has been more than open in working with our partners not only at the Canadian national level but internationally, with particular emphasis on our neighbours to the south, and has been engaged very actively in discussing a balanced approach on a go- forward basis so that we can achieve that very target that the member is alluding to. The Speaker: The hon. member. Ms Blakeman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Back to the same minister.

A prominent Calgary-based solar energy firm is moving to Ontario. Why will this government not invest in renewable energy and stop the wealth transfer and the loss of jobs? Mr. Renner: Mr. Speaker, because this government believes that it’s not the role of the government to invest in energy. It’s the role of the private sector, and we’ll do everything we can to assist them. Ms Blakeman: No wonder they’re leaving. Again to the same minister.

According to a government of Alberta report, if energy efficiency measures had been instituted in 1990, we would be emitting 60 per cent less emissions and enjoying an annual $2.2 billion return. Will the minister tell us: what was the business case for doing nothing? Mr. Renner: Mr. Speaker, that is just a gross exaggeration of reality. Nothing could be further from the truth. Again I remind this member that this government is the first jurisdiction in all of Canada to bring forward legislation that requires reductions in CO 2, and that has led to some very direct results .

In addition to the fact that we have $120 million in a technology fund, the bonus, as far as I’m concerned, is that there have been a great deal of savings that have accrued through industry working very diligently on that very energy efficiency file that she talks about. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Lougheed, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-McCall. Tourism Marketing Mr. Rodney: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Virtually every industry is feeling the impact of the global economic downturn, and experience teaches us that, sad as it is, tourism is often one of the first sectors negatively affected in a recession, for obvious reasons. My first question is to the Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation. How extensively was Alberta’s important tourism industry negatively affected this past summer season? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mrs. Ady: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. The hon. member is right. We have heard from tourism operators, and there was a decrease in our international visitors in this province.

But the silver lining in this is that the Travel Alberta corporation ran the Stay campaign for the last two years, and Albertans have really taken that to heart. Our campgrounds, our RV units, and our attractions saw a major increase this summer, just Albertans using the Alberta product. So they were busy, and this helped go a long way to offset the decrease in the international market. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Rodney: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My only supplemental is to the same minister.

With all the information that she has access to, can she tell us when the industry is expected to recover and also what the province is doing to help speed up that process? Mrs. Ady: Well, Mr. Speaker, it’s difficult to predict how quickly we’ll see a rebound in the tourism market, but we know that it’s resilient and that it’s weathered tough times before. We’re doing things like investing in major high-profile events like seven World Cups coming to Alberta and the 2010 Winter Games to generate awareness.

Those World Cups alone will generate some 41,000 30- second commercials that will go right back into those European markets and remind them why this is a great place to come visit. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-McCall, followed by the hon. Member for Edmonton-Strathcona. Commercial Vehicle Driver Safety Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Auditor General’s report contained many concerning investigations. One was this govern- ment’s commercial vehicle safety programs. My questions are to the Minister of Transportation.

Why has the government failed to make driver training mandatory for the operation of commercial vehicles? Mr. Ouellette: Mr. Speaker, there is driver training available for any level of driver in Alberta. If they want to go take class 1 training, Red Deer College has a great program for that. We do make sure that we test those drivers so that they’re safe on the street, but I don’t think I have to tell them who has to teach them how to drive. We just have to make sure that they’re capable and they’re safe when they’re out there. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We are talking about making it mandatory, not just leaving it up to the person to have the safety training or not. The Auditor General points out that there are some commercial vehicle carriers who operate indefinitely despite identified safety issues. To the minister again: what measures is the minister going to put in place to ensure that carriers ca nnot repeatedly fail safety tests and continue operating? Mr. Ouellette: Mr. Speaker, all of the different companies that are in the business are on a point system, and at some point in time they do lose their running rights.

I can’t off the top of my head recall exactly how that system is in place, but I do know that the system is in place to make sure that our roads are safe. 2:20 The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the minister again: when will the system be in place to monitor commercial vehicle drivers and carriers so that our roads are made safer? Mr. Ouellette: Mr. Speaker, there are a number of different systems in place to make sure of everything he’s talking about. PIC, our partners in compliance program, is one of the highest rated programs across Canada.

If you rate high enough to belong to partners in compliance – there are automatic readers now on the highway, if you’ve seen them, right by our scale houses. They allow people to miss the scales because their compliance is so high with our

Alberta Hansard November 2, 20091662 regulations. We do have random checks even on them to make sure that they comply. We are continually working on our traffic safety plan, and we are continually trying to make sure that our roads are safer for you and everyone else to get home to their families in the evening. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Strathcona, followed by the hon. Member for St. Albert. H1N1 Influenza Immunization for High-risk Albertans (continued) Ms Notley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

While Alberta’s most remote Métis settlements are hoping to get their H1N1 immunizations sometime this week, there is no word about whether they will have enough vaccines for every member of their community. Last week in Fishing Lake they ran out of vaccine after only 100 of the 700 people living there got their shots, and they still don’t know when they can expect their next batch. My question is to the minister of health.

Why did the health minister not plan ahead enough to ensure that these most highly vulnerable Albertans had enough vaccine for their entire population before inviting healthy Albertans to line up at mass clinics? Mr. Liepert: Mr. Speaker, we have made it very clear and I restated in my statement today that over the course of approximately the next two months we will ensure that every Albertan has the right to be vaccinated if they so choose. Now, the population that the member is referring to is part of our high-risk group. That will be exactly what Alberta Health Services will be detailing tomorrow.

Ms Notley: Well, Mr. Speaker, in Alberta there are roughly 40,000 pregnant women, and there are around 200, 000 kids between the ages of six months and under five years. After hours and even days waiting in lineups, many of these Albertans were turned away because of this government’s first-come, first-served policy. Can the minister tell us how many pregnant women and how many young children are still waiting for their vaccine because of this govern- ment’s hapless invitation to low-risk Albertans? Mr. Liepert: Well, Mr.

Speaker, I have no idea because I haven’t asked every woman who got vaccinated whether she was pregnant or not, and we are not going to do that. What we are going to do is lay out a plan tomorrow that will deal with women who are pregnant and with young children. I would suggest that the member wait, and we’ll have the details tomorrow. Ms Notley: Well, Mr. Speaker, in most other provinces people aren’t waiting. In almost every other province in the country they had a solid plan ready to go that ensured that high-risk people got the vaccine first, unlike here.

In contrast, yesterday the minister was quoted as saying that he had no idea how many Albertans even fall into that category. How can Al bertans possibly trust that this minister has the capacity to care for their health when he doesn’t even know the basic information needed to put an effective pan- demic plan in place? Mr. Liepert: Well, Mr. Speaker, the chief medical officer of health was asked yesterday how many Albertans fell into what was deemed to be the high-risk category. It was his best estimate that it could be as high as 30 per cent.

I would suggest that the member take the advice of the chief medical officer of health, and we will assure her that those will be the next group that we will deal with. The Speaker: The hon. Member for St. Albert, followed by the hon. Member for Edmonton-Gold Bar. Edmonton Ring Road Mr. Allred: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Transportation. The contract for the northwest leg of the Anthony Henday ring road was let a little over a year ago, and I continue to be amazed at the progress they’re making in the vicinity of St. Albert.

The roadway is taking shape, and several overpasses appear to be nearing completion. In fact, they even put the first lift of asphalt down in several sections. If this pace of construction is occurring throughout the northwest leg of the Anthony Henday, does the contractor anticipate that this project will be completed ahead of the fall 2011 completion date? Mr. Ouellette: Mr. Speaker, the province of Alberta is making a major investment in highway infrastructure at a cost of $1.42 billion to construct the northwest Anthony Henday. Again I’d like to stress the vision of this great government 30 years ago.

I understand that possibly 30 years ago today’s Speaker was the deputy minister of transportation with that great vision. But I’d better get back to answering the question here. I’m pleased to say that the project is on

schedule and on budget. Construction has been progressing very well on the 21-kilometre roadway, and the complete project is on

schedule to open in the fall of 2011. The Speaker: It’s not my fault, Mr. Minister, that it took 30 years. The hon. member. Mr. Allred: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s interesting to learn these little historical anecdotes all the time. I appreciate them. My first supplemental is to the same minister: can we anticipate that the Anthony Henday and Stony Plain Road interchange will be completed at the same time as the northwest sector of the Anthony Henday ring road? Mr. Ouellette: Mr. Speaker, I have to answer yes.

The province is investing $169 million to construct a major interchange at Stony Plain Road, and that interchange is scheduled to open in the fall of 2011 alongside the northwest leg of the Henday. In add ition, the province is investing $45 million to construct the Lessard Road interchange and the Callingwood Road interchange, and both of those interchanges will also open in the fall of 2011. This means that by 2011 motorists will have no traffic lights from Lessard Road in the south to the Manning Drive freeway in the north. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Allred: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That is indeed good news. To the same minister: why did the province not include the paving of the ramp at the 137th Avenue flyover as part of the current construction work? Mr. Ouellette: Mr. Speaker, there will ultimately be a full inter- change at Anthony Henday Drive and 137th Avenue. The current stage 1 construction of a flyover will meet today’s current traffic volumes. I think that hon. member knows that. Most importantly, the flyover will keep a free flow movement of traffic on both 137th Avenue and the Henday, and there will be no traffic lights.

When development proceeds in the area and when there’s a need to pave the interchange ramps, the province will of course be looking at the

November 2, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1663 developers and the two cities, which I’ve explained to the hon. member. I’ve talked to both mayors, and everybody is onside for that. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Gold Bar, followed by the hon. Member for Leduc-Beaumont-Devon. Provincial Marketing Costs Mr. MacDonald: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier didn’t think it was important enough to address Albertans when the recession hit or when tens of t housands of Albertans were losing their jobs or whenever we went $7 billion into deficit.

Only when the Premier’s own job is on the line does it suddenly become urgent to address Albertans on television at the taxpayers’ expense, of course. My first question is to the President of the Treasury Board: how can the President of the Treasury Board justify spending over $134,000 of taxpayers’ money just weeks before the PC leadership review? Mr. Snelgrove: I guess the hon. member could try and make the connection. The fact, Mr. Speaker, is that Albertans need to hear a lot of what’s important without the filter of media or some of the spin that could be put on by the opposition.

The simple fact is that $134,000 to a budget of roughly $36 billion or $37 billion is probably the least amount percentagewise that any corporation would ever spend to get the go-forward to the people that they’re working for. It’s not our money; we’re very aware of that on this side. It’s Albertans’ money. It was a very careful, conscious choice to let Albertans know the way this government is going forward. 2:30 The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. MacDonald: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again to the same minister. Good governance should sell itself.

If it has to be glossed up through expensive marketing campaigns, then there’s something wrong with the government. How much of the $134,000 spent on the Premier’s address was for marketing and advertising in advance of the speech itself? Mr. Snelgrove: Let’s just back up and say why it’s important that Albertans understand. The hon. member made a statement there: “What happened there? What about the $7 billion deficit?” Mr. Speaker, the projected deficit after second quarter last year was $7.8 billion, $8.5 billion. That never happened.

They can’t seem to get it out of their minds that that’s what would have happened if oil had stayed where it was, our surpluses. Our deficits are projected on best information at each quarter, and if the hon. member stays tuned to the end of the second-quarter update, we’ll see what the numbers are then. We don’t make these numbers up, Mr. Speaker. We use very real projections from real companies to give Albertans a best indicator of where our financial situation is. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. MacDonald: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again to the same minister: you were certainly making up those numbers when the budget was tabled here last April. Now, again, on top of the $25 million branding campaign and the millions spent through the Public Affairs Bureau, this government has spent an additional $24 million in contracts with the marketing firm DDB Canada over the past three years. Why is this government spending millions of dollars ma rketing itself when it could be directing the money towards public health care or public education, for an example? Mr. Snelgrove: Selling what we have in Alberta is a big job, and the millions that he – Mr.

Speaker, we’re talking about billions that we’re saving on behalf of Albertans: $25 billion that we’ve saved in the last five years, $17 billion in the bank, $8 billion in endowments, $20 billion put into infrastructure, $17 billion in a savings account. No other province in Canada, no state can even consider it. They’re worried about whether we take the opportunity and the time to tell Albertans what the real financial picture is. Maybe they ought to take a look at the real financial picture. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Leduc-Beaumont-Devon, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-Varsity.

Temporary Foreign Worker Wages Mr. Rogers: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s been brought to my attention that the food service and hospitality sector is being forced to pay wages that in many cases are not reflective of the marketplace that they’re operating in. My question is to the Minister of Employ- ment and Immigration. Why is the Alberta hotel industry forced to pay temporary foreign workers wages higher than Alberta workers doing the same job? Mr. Goudreau: Mr. Speaker, my colleague is certainly referring to the temporary foreign worker program operated solely by the federal government.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada assigns a prevailing wage rate for each occupation and each region. If an employer wants to hire a new temporary foreign worker, they must pay this rate, and because the rates are assigned by geographic regions, some employers have received a labour market opinion with wages that are higher than in their community. For example, communities that are near high-cost communities are affected. My department is aware of this particular issue and will be working with our federal counterparts to address this issue. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Rogers: Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. My first supplemental, then, to the minister: Mr. Minister, will you immediately seek a meeting with your federal counterpart to address this issue on behalf of Alberta’s employers? Mr. Goudreau: Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that I will be sending a letter to my federal counterpart as Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development shortly to outline our continuing concerns. This has been an ongoing issue for quite some time. We need to reopen our dialogue with our counterparts in Ottawa, and hopefully this will resolve the issues being addressed. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr.

Rogers: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Minister, in your answer you acknowledged that this is not a new issue. Wage disparities within the temporary foreign worker program are an ongoing problem for Alberta’s employers. Do you have a plan of action to solve this problem once and for all? Mr. Goudreau: Mr. Speaker, as I’ve said, the temporary foreign worker program is the responsibility of the federal government, and generally employer complaints are referred to them. However, we’ve had occasion where we act on behalf of employers, and this

Alberta Hansard November 2, 20091664 is when we see significant disparities in the wage rates between communities within a region. Our goal still remains to hire Alber- tans first, then Canadians. We have staff and resources to help employers address their labour needs. Employers in the capital region, for instance, have access to labour market information centres or job boards, the employer connection events as well as designated business and industry liaison services. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Varsity, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-Mackay. Postsecondary Tuition Fees Mr.

Chase: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The global economic downturn is hitting university and college students and their faculties hard. The University of Alberta is facing a $59 million shortfall in its next budget, the University of Calgary has begun to lay off 200 of its employees, and the universities of Lethbridge, Mount Royal, and Grant MacEwan are similarly experiencing funding shortfalls. It is imperative that institutions scrambling for lost dollars do not download unfair burdens onto the backs of our students. My questions are to the minister of advanced education.

Is the minister in discussions that will allow postsecondary institutions to raise base tuition rates beyond the government’s own tuition caps? Mr. Horner: Mr. Speaker, several months ago we brought in a budget in this House which indicated to our postsecondaries that the 6 per cent increase that they got this year in their budgets brought their total base operating grant increases over the last five years to more than 40 per cent.

That’s unprecedented in North America and certainly in this climate right now, where you have places like the University of California, Berk eley, cutting 20 per cent across the board on their faculty on their entire campuses. I think it’s important that we recognize that we’re not immune to that economic situation. So we have put it out to all of our postsecondary institutions that we’re open to their ideas, to the things that they can do to make our system more accessible, more efficient. We’re going to continue. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Chase: Thank you.

Will the minister of advanced education commit to keeping the mandatory cap limiting tuition increases to the consumer price index, and w ill he make sure that institutions aren’t allowed to wiggle around the caps to increase costs to students? Mr. Horner: Well, Mr. Speaker, I think it’s fair to say that what I have suggested to the postsecondaries is that I’m open to any and all ideas that they can bring to us.

We’re not actively engaged with them in those discussions, but if they bring forward some proposals that are fair and equitable to the students, that are fair and equitable to the taxpayers of this province, and that are fair and equitable as it relates to the economy and this society, we will look at those. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Chase: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Postsecondary institutions are going to be making painful cuts to programs and staffing levels to avoid going into the red.

How will the ministry monitor those decisions to ensure that students do not end up paying more for less when it comes to the quality of their education? Mr. Horner: Well, Mr. Speaker, I’m sure the hon. member has been aware of the Campus Alberta approach that we have built over the last 18 months in this province, that is the envy of many jurisdictions in the world, really. We’ve had a number of other jurisdictions coming to talk to us.

Within that Campus Alberta context we sit down with all of the postsecondaries, all of the chairs of the boards of governance, and all of the presidents, and we talk about best practices within the system. It’s a ll for three clients. It’s for the student, it’s for the taxpayer, and it’s for the economy and society. It isn’t about the institution. It’s about those three clients. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Mackay, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-Buffalo. English as a Second Language Programs Ms Woo-Paw: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Having a knowledgeable and skilled workforce is key in meeting the future needs of our economy. Between 1988 and 2008 the number of identified English as a second language students in Alberta has tripled from about 15,000 to 50,000, yet those students in Alberta are faced with one of the highest dropout rates in our province. In a recent study by the Coalition for Equal Access to Education students and parents have expressed concerns that the schools allocate less than five hours per week to ESL instruction and that schools stop t eaching ESL to students when students are considered at the levels . . .

The Speaker: I’m afraid we’re going to have to move to the answer now. I don’t know who the question is to, though. The hon. Minister of Education. Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I want to clarify that the dropout rate for ESL students is not one of the highest in the province. In fact, at 4.4 per cent it’s actually lower than the provincial average of 4.8 per cent. Neither are acceptable. But ESL is not higher; it’s in fact lower. We have developed tools and resources to provide clearer direction on intake and assessment of ESL students.

We have curriculum – for example, the K to 12 ESL proficiency benchmarks, teaching resources, sec ond language guide to implementation for kindergarten to grade 9, and a senior high school program of studies for ESL, assessment resources; there’s a list of assessment resources for English as a second language – and, of course, professional development. So we are working with the system to provide that kind of education. 2:40 The Speaker: The hon. member. Ms Woo-Paw: Thank you.

What specific policy and requirements does the ministry have in place to ensure that sc hools are account- able for ESL funding they receive from the school boards? Mr. Hancock: Well, Mr. Speaker, funding is provided to school boards for students who have insufficient fluency in English to achieve grade level expectations; in fact, $1,155 per eligible funded child or student up to a maximum of seven years. Additionally, enhanced ESL funding is available to assist boards in providing support services for immigrant students who have little or no formal schooling.

But we don’t tell school boards how to allocate their monies or what to do with their monies. We give them the money based on their student population, and we hold them accountable for the results. The Speaker: The hon. member.

November 2, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1665 Ms Woo-Paw: Thank you. What performance measures does your ministry have in place to ensure that sc hools in Alberta systemati- cally address cultural diversity and competence in all aspects of school structures and functions? Mr. Hancock: Well, Mr. Speaker, one of the measures that we do utilize is comparing the results of the ESL students to the results of students overall. This enables jurisdictions and schools to assess how well ESL students are doing and to develop strategies to improve their results.

An example of this would be the diploma examinations, where 77.1 per cent of the ESL students achieve the acceptable standard compared to 84.4 per cent of students overall. We measure overall accountabilities, and we’re able to differentiate between ESL students and other students to determine whether they’re achieving at the same level as other students. Then school boards can put in place processes and systems to ensure that ESL students have that ability to get to the same level as other students. The Speaker: Hon. members, that was 94 questions and responses today.

In light of the time and our standing order rules we’re going to proceed back to the Routine with Members’ Statements. head: Members’ Statements (continued) The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Varsity. H1N1 Influenza Immunization Mr. Chase: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s a hole in your Duckett, dear Premier, dear Premier. There are several holes in our health care, unclear Premier, unclear Premier.

The fear-filled flu fiasco that unfolded last week saw first nine, then 10 primarily outdoor only accessible clinics struggling to provide indiscriminate inoculations for a meagre fraction of the 2 million-plus people yet to be served in Calgary and Edmonton. The doctors and nurses, the sheriffs and peace officers, the mall security guards, the merchants who, despite having their store entrances blocked, brought out refreshments and allowed those standing for hours to use their facilities are to be congratulated for their support of the thousands of Alberta health care refugees.

It is unfortunate that these people who lined up in the cold and dark in order to secure a spot, a shot for themselves or a vulnerable family member, won’t have the opportunity to line up and cast their vote in the Premier’s leadership review this Saturday in Red Deer. Prior to this past week it seemed that no graphic images could symbolize poor health planning more than the implosion of Cal- gary’s general hospital. However, this superboard-supporting government has now surpassed that save a buck now, pay several later gang with its latest short-sighted scenario.

Ralph’s plan for the SARS pandemic was to simply stockpile surgical face masks. Our current Premier’s plan appears to be to create chaos and confusion for his Survivor Albertan show. In this Darwinian dash children under five and pregnant women are pitted against able-bodied men in the struggle for the serum. The last one standing before the line is cut off gets to play another day. In this week’s episode tension builds as the clinics close, leading up to the leadership review. Will the Pr emier survive this weekend’s confidence vote? Will Albertans survive this government’s health care . . .

The Speaker: Alas, we must move on. The hon. Member for Edmonton-Castle Downs. Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital Fundraiser Mr. Lukaszuk: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week on October 27 the Edmonton Glenrose hospital foundation was a beneficiary of a fabulous fundraiser, and this really needs to be highlighted. Edmon- ton’s Chinese community decided to put together a fundraiser dinner, not for themselves, not for the benefit of the Chinese community only, but for the benefit of all Albertans. They raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Glenrose rehabilitation hospital. The honorary chair, Mr.

Speaker, for the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation happens to be our Premier’s better half, Mrs. Stelmach, who spearheaded this fundraiser. Our Minister of Employment and Immigration and my colleague from Edmonton- Meadowlark and myself had the pleasure of participating in this dinner. I would like to extend my sincere thank you to all members of Edmonton’s Chinese community for having the citizenship, duty, and obligation of raising money for such a fabulous cause. Thank you very much. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Leduc-Beaumont-Devon. Adoption Awareness Month Mr. Rogers: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I’m pleased to rise today in recognition of Adoption Awareness Month. Every November we celebrate the tremendous contributions adoptive families make in the lives of children and youth who dream of having a loving family to call their own, something that most of us take for granted. At any given time Alberta has about 200 children and youth ready and waiting to be adopted by fam ilies who w ill help ensure these kids have the love and support they need to achieve their full potential.

Alberta’s adoption program is considered by many to be one of the best in the country, exemplary in its aggressive, proactive approach to recruiting families for children and youth who need loving, nurturing homes. Just last month, Mr. Speaker, recruitment efforts were enhanced by the launch of a new grassroots strategy that reaches out to Albertans across the province. A Child’s Hope is designed to get people talking about the many benefits of fostering, providing kinship care, adopting, or mentoring a child or youth who needs our help and support.

Families who have adopted say that at the time they decided to reach out and give a child or youth a loving, stable home, they had no idea how much of a positive difference the experience would make in their own lives. Mr. Speaker, there is no better time or better place to adopt a child than right now, right here in the province of Alberta. Every kid deserves to grow up in the kind of caring environment that they can call their own.

I encourage all families interested in adopting to first consider kids in our province and visit the adoption website at www.child.alberta.ca to find out more a bout the amazing children and youth ready and waiting to be matched with you to bring love, joy, and fulfillment into your home. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Manning. Anniversary of the Birth of Guru Nanak Mr. Sandhu: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to rise today and talk a little about a very important day to the Sikh religion.

Today, November 2, marks the 540th birthday of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, founder of Sikhism. Every year Sikhs around the world celebrate Sri Guru Nanak Dev’s birthday with an Akhand Path, or reading the holy scriptures, Sri Guru Granth Sahib, from start to

Alberta Hansard November 2, 20091666 finish. This reading takes about 48 hours and concludes in the early morning of the guru’s birth. Mr. Speaker, the Sikh community is doing a lot to mark this special day. The Sikh community of Edmonton and the Punjabi Media Association of Alberta have joined together for the third annual food and fundraising event. This time there is $50,000 plus three tonnes of food. Every year near Sri Guru Nanak Dev’s birthday the members of the Sikh community join together and raise food and money to help support the Edmonton food bank.

I would like to give special thanks to Desh Punjab Radio and Radio Sursang- am for their radiothon, which fund raised a lot of money. The fundraising portrays Guru Nanak’s concept of Langar, or the community kitchen. The Sikh community raised $2.5 million for the Mazankowski Heart Institute’s Guru Nanak Dev Healing Garden. I am proud of the hard work of these organizations, proud of the positive impact they are having on our community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. head: Presenting Petitions The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Egmont. Mr. Denis: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I rise today to present a petition signed by 113 Albertans that reads: We, the undersigned residents of Alberta, petition the Legislative Assembly to urge the government of Alberta to: • Grandfather the rights and status of all currently-practic- ing Registered Massage Therapis ts . . . in Alberta in a manner that they may continue their practice undisturbed and, when necessary, gradua lly upgrade to newly-pro- claimed standards of training, so as not to force current therapists to lose their ongoing income whilst upgrading and so to ensure that clients of said therapists will be able to use their insurance coverage in order to pay for massage services from current therapists.

These signatures are mostly from Calgary. 2:50head: Notices of Motions The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Strathcona. Ms Notley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In accordance with Standing Order 30 I wish to give notice that at the appropriate time I intend to move that the ordinary business of the Assembly be adjourned to discuss a matter of urgent public importance; namely, the govern- ment’s inadequate preparations for the pandemic H1N1 influenza program. Thank you. The Speaker: The hon. member will be doing this? Ms Notley: I’m giving notice on behalf of the hon. member. The Speaker: Okay.

But the hon. member said that she would be rising to do certain things. Is she doing this on behalf of the hon. Member for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood? Ms Notley: I’m giving notice on behalf of the hon. Member for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood. Yes. The Speaker: Okay. head: Introduction of Bills The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Meadowlark. Bill 59 Mental Health Amendment Act, 2009 Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to rise and request leave to introduce first reading of Bill 59, the Mental Health Amendment Act, 2009.

This bill supports the implementation of community treatment orders by clarifying, firstly, the ro le of psychiatrists in issuing and overseeing community treatment orders; secondly, the criteria that will be considered by mental health review panels when reviewing community treatment orders; and the Mental Health Patient Advo- cate’s legal authority to access records and information for investiga- tions involving community treatme nt orders. Mr. Speaker, these community treatment orders will enable individuals to maintain their mental health treatment in the community.

These orders will be introduced when the remaining sections of the Mental Health Amendment Act, 2007, are proclaimed, which is expected to occur early next year. I ask all members to support this bill and to move this bill to the next stage. I move first reading of Bill 59. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [Motion carried; Bill 59 read a first time] The Speaker: The hon. Government House Leader. Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move that Bill 59 be moved onto the Order Paper under Government Bills and Orders. [Motion carried] The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Castle Downs.

Bill 61 Provincial Offences Procedure Amendment Act, 2009 Mr. Lukaszuk: Thank you again, Mr. Speaker. It is my pleasure to move first reading of the Provincial Offences Procedure Amendment Act, 2009, otherwise known as Bill 61. Mr. Speaker, this bill is designed to not only simplify and unclog our currently busy court system, but it also aims at making sure that more police officers spend their time actually on the streets, doing the work that they want to do, and not in busy courthouses.

Among many other clauses in the bill it will allow for the filing of evidence by police officers by way of affidavit as opposed to having to appear in person. The details of the bill will be unveiled in second reading. Thank you. [Motion carried; Bill 61 read a first time] The Speaker: The hon. Government House Leader. Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would move that Bill 61 be moved onto the Order Paper under Government Bills and Orders. [Motion carried] head: Tabling Returns and Reports The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Gold Bar. Mr. MacDonald: Yes. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I have two tablings today. The first is a letter written by Faith Paul, and I

November 2, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1667 certainly have permission to table this letter. It is her letter to me dated October 27, 2009, and it outlines reasons that we should consider keeping Alberta Hospital open. The second tabling I have is a document from the Friends of Medicare. It’s titled Stop the Cuts, a rally November 7, 11:30 a.m., with march and rally to PC Party convention at 12, at the Kinsmen community hall in Red Deer. Reserve your seat on a free bus from Edmonton and Calgary. Contact friendsofmedicare.org.

Thank you. head: Emergency Debate The Speaker: Hon. members, we do have a matter of business to deal with, and that’s an application under Standing Order 30. I’m going to listen attentively to the arguments, but I’m also going to limit the number of speakers with respect to the application for the motion as there is a process in the standing orders to deal with this. I’ll invite the hon. Member for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood to make a brief statement with respect to the urgency of this matter, and we’ll recognize one spokesperson from each of the other two caucuses in the House. Then we’ll make a decision.

H1N1 Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Mr. Mason: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. As required under Standing Order 30(1) I gave written notice to yourself at least two hours prior to today’s sitting. My colleague from Edmonton- Strathcona gave oral notice of this motion during today’s Routine, and copies of the motion have been distributed to members of the House. I believe, Mr. Speaker, that this motion meets the urgency requirement under Standing Order 30. Each day for the past week we have seen Albertans reacting with frustration and confusion to the government’s pandemic H1N1 influenza program.

The H1N1 virus is a significant threat to the health of Albertans. We have seen over the last week that there is extremely high public interest in protection against the virus, but we have also seen the government send out very mixed messages about when individuals should seek to get immunized. The government has now been forced to change its plan, which adds to public concern about the spread of the virus and raises questions about whether the government had properly prepared for the second wave of the virus.

I believe the govern- ment’s most recent decision to stop mass vaccinations while a new plan is developed to immunize only high-risk populations underlies the urgent need for this House to discuss the government’s plan for minimizing the spread of H1N1. We know that over the past week many Albertans in high-risk categories stood in line for hours without being able to get v acci- nated while others with lower risk received a vaccination. Others in the high-risk categories were unable to get to a clinic and stand in a long lineup because of their health problems.

We also know that other provinces were able to deliver the vaccine to people at higher risk first. Albertans need to hear why this did not happen in our province. Beauchesne’s 387 says that a debate under this standing order “must deal with a matter within the administrative competence of the Government and there must be no other reasonable opportunity for debate.” Mr. Speaker, the H1N1 vaccine program is clearly within the responsibility of this government, and I know of no other motions or other such opportunities which would allow this House to have a full discussion of the issue.

This is a most urgent question, very much on the minds of Albertans throughout the province, and it seems to me that this motion would give opportunity for this Assembly to discuss this most urgent question. So I submit that clearly this motion meets the urgency requirements under Standing Order 30. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Government House Leader. Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

While it would have been, I think, preferable if this motion had been worded in a more appropriate way, I don’t think there can be any question that the issue of the H1N1 virus and the preparation by government and by the health authority to make sure that Albertans get vaccinated is a very, very clear issue on the minds of Albertans.

I think it is quite appropriate for us in this House to address that kind of an issue in this open forum so that Albertans can know and understand clearly the amount of preparation that has gone into pandemic preparation and the way in which this government and the Health Services authority have been able to make sure that as many as Albertans as possible get vaccinated as quickly as possible.

So while I ca nnot agree with the wording of the motion in terms of inadequate preparation, I certainly do agree and would urge all members of the House to support the concept that we adjourn the normal business of the day and speak to the preparation for the H1N1 pandemic influenza program. The Speaker: The hon. Opposition House Leader. Ms Blakeman: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

As always with Standing Order 30 there are two categories of tests: one is that the genuine emergency that exists must be proven and, secondly, that there is no other opportunity for a debate to have taken place on the particular issue. In this case I will argue the second category first, that there has been no other opportunity for us to have any substan- tial debate; therefore, following the words of the Government House Leader, it would be appropriate to do that this afternoon. 3:00 It is within the administrative competence of the government. There’s no government bill on the Order Paper.

There’s nothing on notice on the Order Paper, nor has the Government House Leader indicated to me in our presession meeting that there would likely be a bill coming forward specific to the H1N1 implementation. There’s no private member’s bill, public bill, or private bill. Of course, there’s no budget, and again there’s no indication that there would be a supplementary supply budget that would open up for debate on this. There are no government motions. Oral Question Period allows us a very, very brief time: 35 seconds to ask the question, 35 to answer. A number of mentions, including Beauchesne 408(1)(

e) and (

f) and 408(2) and 410(7), all speak to brevity, which is not a debate on the issue. The second category, the genuine emergency. We’re seeing a number of issues take place. This caucus heard this morning from a resident at the Royal Alexandra, a few blocks from here, admitting that those residents are admitting people suffering from H1N1 to that hospital and to the emergency ward while the residents themselves have not been inoculated and are not being allowed to be inoculated. That increases their risk as health care providers substantially and, of course, affects their families.

As well, it increases the risk that the virus will be passed on by those very same health care providers. The government has inoculated a little over 10 per cent of the population, but it has not completed or even started in some locations. Again I reference health care providers and a number of those from particularly vulnerable groups. I will focus on cancer patients, as raised by my colleague earlier today, who have very

Alberta Hansard November 2, 20091668 strict and limited windows, given their cancer treatment, of when they would be able to sustain a vaccination. They are not physically able to stand in lineups, but there have been no provisions made for them that we’re aware of. So that’s a third group of very vulnerable people who have not been able to be helped. I would argue that they would qualify under the genuine emergency considerations that are before us today. So I would ask the Speaker to please rule in favour of the Standing Order 30 application. Thank you.

The Speaker: Hon. members, I am prepared to make a decision with respect to this matter. Standing Order 30(2) provides an opportunity for members to speak, allowing as many of them to be in the debate as possible. I’ve heard the three petitions we’ve had here with respect to this. The motion itself certainly arrived at my office in time, met the requirement of two hours’ notice. It arrived at 11:27, so it beat it by three minutes.

Secondly, the question here is whether or not there is “a genuine emergency, calling for immediate and urgent consideration.” For those members who follow this sort of thing, Beauchesne’s para- graphs 387 to 390 and Marleau and Montpetit, House of Commons Procedure and Practice, 586 to 589, deal with this particular matter. There are two key points with respect to this and a third one which is quite subjective. In fact, all three are quite subjective, but the third one is important as well.

First of all, to meet the requirements of urgency, there must not be another opportunity for members of the Assembly to discuss this matter. Secondly, the matter must relate to a genuine emergency. There’s one other that I do take into consideration, and that is the general mood of the House with respect to this as well. The chair certainly has heard spokesmen on behalf of the other caucuses in the House advocating that there might be something to this today. I am a little concerned about the specific words of the motion itself.

Having said that, ordinarily the motion itself, the wording in it, might not necessarily meet all three tests, but the third test – that is, the general mood of the House – is one that I’m considering today. No hesitation on my understanding that there is an element of questioning going on in the province of Alberta with respect to this matter. I also wish to advise that the Canadian House of Commons will also be proceeding to such a similar debate as this almost immedi- ately now.

There’s a two-hour time difference between ourselves and the Canadian House of Commons, but the Speaker there ruled a few minutes ago that, in essence, such an opportunity s hould be afforded to the men and women of the Canadian House of Commons as well. In essence, I’m going to find that the request for leave is in order. We are going to move to this, but it’s your decision as to how we move to this and if we move to this. There are rules with respect to how we move to this. Standing Order 30(3) requires that the question be put to a vote of this Assembly.

If there are any objec- tions to the question, then the chair will ask those members who support the motion to rise in their pl aces. So if there are any objections to my question, members then have to move physically in order to endorse and uphold what the Speaker has ruled with respect to this. I’m going to ask the question. Shall the debate on the urgent matter proceed? All those in favour, say yes. Hon. Members: Yes. The Speaker: Those opposed, say no. Okay. We are now going to proceed, and you can follow the rules in our standing orders with respect to this.

I should advise all members that, in essence, you have a 10-minute speaking time with respect to this. Standing Order 30(6) says, “An emergency debate does not entail any decision of the Assembly,” and there are some conditions which the standing orders provide with respect to this emergency debate. Whoever is in the chair this afternoon may have to bring this to the attention of the members participating. A key one is that “not more than one matter may be discussed on the same motion.” So we do have a motion. It’s very clear what the motion is. There has to be attention to the motion per se under the debate.

It also will preclude any further discussion on this matter by way of a Standing Order 30 application on this subject for the remainder of this session if it’s a similar concept. So this is the shot. Hon. Member for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood, I’ll invite you momentarily, but might we revert briefly to Introduction of Guests? [Unanimous consent granted] head: Introduction of Guests (continued) The Speaker: The hon. Member for Bonnyville-Cold Lake. Mrs. Leskiw: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It’s a privilege to introduce to you and through you to all members of this Assembly a good citizen and friend of mine from my constituency, Denis Ducharme. Denis Ducharme is our former MLA. He served our community extremely well for 11 years. His early retirement and encourage- ment have allowed me to fill his shoes, which was not an easy task. I would like to now ask Mr. Ducharme to stand so that we can give him the traditional warm welcome of this Assembly. head: Emergency Debate (continued) H1N1 Influenza Pandemic Preparedness The Speaker: Hon. members, we are going to proceed. We’ll proceed in this order.

First of all, I’m going to call on the hon. Member for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood, then I’m going to recognize the hon. Minister of Health and Wellness, then I will recognize the hon. Member for Edmonton-Riverview, and then we’ll try to find a rotation as we go forward. After the hon. Member for Edmonton-Riverview I will recognize the hon. Minister of Aborigi- nal Relations. They’re the next four speakers. The hon. Member for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood. Mr. Mason: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity to have this debate in the House today.

I know that the Government House Leader indicated some disagreement with the suggestion in the wording of th e motion that the government’s preparations were inadequate, but I assure him that this is about the fourth draft of the motion, and this is by far the most favourable reference to the government that we have. I want to say that I’ve never seen a situation yet in this province in the time that I’ve been elected to this Assembly where there was so much anger on the part of many Albertans towards an action of the government.

Each day for the past week we’ve seen them responding with frustration and confusion to the government’s pandemic H1N1 influenza program. The H1N1 virus is a significant threat to the health of Albertans. We’ve seen over the past week that there is extremely high public

November 2, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1669 interest in protection against the virus. Although severe illness due to the virus may be relatively low, the number of people infected could be so large that the disease will put a severe burden on schools, businesses, and public services due to a high rate of absenteeism, not to mention, Mr. Speaker, the surge in emergency rooms and in our health care system generally. 3:10 Albertans got the message that the government was trying to deliver, that H1N1 immunization was an urgent matter which all responsible citizens should take.

The minister of health urged in this House last Monday, “Albertans have to roll up their sleeves and help us get the job done.” But, Mr. Speaker, the government was not prepared for the very high level of public participation in the vaccination program. The news of the past week has been filled with stories of long lineups at clinics, people waiting for hours and hours to be immunized, only to be turned away. Earlier, Mr.

Speaker, in my response to the minister’s statement I read an e-mail from my own sister indicating that even though she’s a high priority for immunization, she has made six unsuccess- ful attempts to get immunized in the city of Calgary. There is, in fact, a very, very serious problem. The government will argue – and I’m sure the minister will when he gets up – that the indicator of success of this program is that 400,000 Albertans have been vaccinated. That is not the real measure of the success of this program. In fact, we heard earlier that according to Dr.

Corriveau, up to 30 per cent of Albertans may in fact be considered in the high- risk category. That’s just under a million people, Mr. Speaker. Now, we’ve just expended our first tranche of vaccine of 400,000 doses on people in, essentially, a random way. In fact, I would go further than that; I would say that the way it’s been set up, with the requirement that people stand in line for lengthy periods of time, has favored strong and healthy individuals who are most likely not on the list of people who should get the vaccine. The question is important, Mr. Speaker.

Why do we have certain people who are considered vulnerable on a higher priority list? The simple fact of the matter is that these are people who are more likely to have a very severe illness and may more likely die if they are infected with H1N1, and that’s why they are a priority. But the government has allowed people to get to the front of the line. In fact, they’ve set up a system that allows people who are stronger and healthier to get the first dose, to be inoculated ahead of people who actually need the vaccine. That’s the problem. That’s the core problem with what’s happened.

Now, we’ve got another 80,000 doses coming, but that is insufficient to even cover some of the categories of vulnerable priority i ndividuals. That is why this is a fundamentally flawed and, in fact, very badly organized and managed process. There are some secondary things: for example, the fact that people have to line up, that particular target groups weren’t targeted. Mr. Speaker, we’ve run out for the moment, I guess, of large supplies of the vaccine, and the government has now decided that they’re shutting the entire progra m down. This very day, Mr.

Speaker, in Ontario the government announced that they would be doubling the number of clinics. I think that’s about 100 additional clinics. Today they’re opening another hundred clinics, on the same day that Alberta is shutting down all of its clinics. But the clinics are very different. They’re not mass immunization where everyone can come. They’re specific; they’re small. They’re specifically targeted to the key groups that need to be immunized, and if you’re not one of those people that qualify at that clinic, you don’t get immunized. That’s important, Mr.

Speaker, because that is what protects the lives of people who are most vulnerable. Manitoba I think has done a much better job as well. For example, a call was put out in Manitoba last spring to retired health care professionals to work in the vaccination clinics. The recertifica- tion necessary for them to inject people with a vaccine was fast- tracked. The result was 600 workers who were ready to help staff the clinics. This allowed Manitoba to set up more clinics than we’ve seen in Alberta.

In Winnipeg, for example, which is a little smaller than Edmonton, 12 clinics were set up compared to only four in Calgary and five in Edmonton. Like Alberta, Manitoba initially made its immunization program available to everyone regardless of their risk factors, but it has now decided to immunize only target populations. Ontario, on the other hand, has only provided the flu shot for these target populations. People in these high-risk groups have been able to make appointments at flu shot clinics with minimal inconvenience. Ontario has now announced, as I men- tioned, that they’ll double the number of clinics.

In Alberta the experience of the past week has shown that this government failed to properly prepare for the second wave of the H1N1 virus. The government failed to ensure that the most vulnerable Albertans would receive the vaccine quickly. People across the province have spent frustrating hours in lineups at clinics, and now they’re closed while the government goes back to the drawing board. Well, all provincial governments have had to deal with the sudden shortage of vaccine. This is not the provincial governments’ fault. This is the federal government’s responsibility. I’ll put it mildly, I guess.

But how we are positioned to react to that is the question, and how soon this government knew a bout that shortage is a question that I would like to have answered. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to address the whole question of the pressure that’s now going to be put on our health care system by people who are infected with H1N1 influenza, and that’s a very serious problem. Because of the minister’s health care reform, led by Dr. Duckett from Australia, we are in a process of limiting the number of nurses in the health care system.

Now there’s a hiring freeze which applies generally, and that’s another question of the level of funding. The strategy of Dr. Duckett is to replace nurses as much as possible with other health care professionals and remove the number of nurses that are involved in the health care system, but there’s plenty of research that shows that there’s a direct relationship between the number of nurses in a health care system and the incidence of mortality and morbidity within the health care system.

So taking nurses out of the system makes it less responsive, makes it less able to respond, and there are other cuts that do the same thing. In general, the changes that have been made to our health care system by this government have thrown it into chaos, and it is unable to respond. I heard the Premier say just the other day: well, you know, give us a break because we’re trying to run a health care system, too. It just struck me as someone who didn’t understand that a health care system has to have the capacity to deal with things like a pandemic.

My last point is that, in fact, the government doesn’t seem to get the fact that they’ve had months and months to prepare for this pandemic yet have failed to do so adequately. Mr. Speaker, just in closing, I want to say that the government has completely failed Albertans in this respect. The Speaker: Hon. members, just two housekeeping matters. First of all, because this was a change to the Routine today, there was no opportunity for the chair to say: Orders of the Day. So, yes, you can proceed to have that liquid refreshment, whether it be tea or water or the like. I’ll make that very clear.

Secondly, there is no Q and A of five minutes awarded to this, so we’re moving right along. I’ve got a long list of speakers at a maximum of 10 minutes each. There are

Alberta Hansard November 2, 20091670 over 20 now on the list. We’re going to proceed in the following order for the next six speakers: the Minister of Health and Wellness, followed by the hon. Member for Edmonton-Riverview, then the Minister of Aboriginal Relations, then the hon. Member for Calgary- Glenmore, then the Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, and then the Minister of Municipal Affairs. The hon. Minister of Health and Wellness. 3:20 Mr. Liepert: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s actually my pleasure to stand here this afternoon and participate in this debate.

I’m sorry that we have to participate in a debate where we have the member introduce this particular motion, worded in such a way that it takes away from the incredible good work that our public health officials have done in preparing for this influenza campaign. As I’ve said on many occasions, this is a plan that has been well thought out, it’s a plan that has been put together with other provincial officials and the federal government, and it’s a plan that was put together by our chief medical officer of health and public health officials.

To say that somehow Alberta was inadequately prepared is to take a direct shot at those hardworking officials within our government. I find it really quite remarkable because we have this particular member who introduced this motion today introducing it somehow on the basis that he could have predicted what happened last week. I remember that when I made my ministerial statement in the House last week, he did not even respond to it. I would have thought that when he had the opportunity to respond, Mr.

Speaker, he would have stood up, and he would have said, “You are inadequately prepared for this pandemic,” but he didn’t. He sat there. He didn’t move. He didn’t say one word. So, you know, this member, I’ve noticed over the years that I’ve been in this H ouse, has this incredible ability to see miles ahead by looking in the rear-view mirror. He always does that. Mr. Speaker, this is also a member that, any chance he gets, tells us about how good he is at looking at an individual and assessing whether or not they’re in the high-risk category.

I remember when the Member for Edmonton-Riverview last week stood up and responded to the ministerial statement. He said that he went to the clinic to get his vaccination shot, and the lineup deterred him. Now, he may very well have been in the high-risk category. I can’t tell by looking at him whether he is or isn’t, but I’ll bet the Member for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood can tell because he seems to be able to predict that none of our people who took this vaccine were in the high-risk category. Absolutely despicable. Now, the member just referred to Ontario. I would refer him to last week’s Globe and Mail.

All there was was lineups in Ontario all across the front page of the Globe and Mail, so don’t try to lead this House, Member, that somehow this isn’t happening somewhere else in the country. Now that I’ve got that off my chest, Mr. Speaker, let’s talk about the most successful week that we have had when it comes to vaccinations in this province. This is the largest in the history of the country. There is no template. Our officials in public health, working with the federal government and the other provinces, had to put together a plan and then launch it.

I can remember that I was at a health ministers’ conference in Winnipeg in August, and the discussion around that table with the federal minister and the other provincial ministers was the fact of the concern about how Canadi- ans were not going to take up this challenge to get vaccinated. In fact, we were talking about numbers somewhere in the range of 30 per cent. We had a great deal of concern that aboriginals, for instance, in the high-risk group were not going to get v accinated, and those groups that are highly vulnerable were going to put great pressure on our health care system.

I am so proud to stand here today, Mr. Speaker – and I know the Minister of Aboriginal Relations is going to speak to this – and say that we’ve done an incredible job of vaccinating a large percentage of our aboriginals in this province. We’ve done a very good job in getting to a large majority of the homeless in this province, and I hope that the Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs addresses that as well.

We have in our best estimation – because, again, unlike the Member for Edmonton- Highlands-Norwood, I can’t look at someone in a line and say whether they’re in that high-risk category or not; I trust them that they’re in that high-risk category. They’re a large portion of that 400,000 that we have vaccinated. You know, we launched this campaign last Monday, and we had an incredible take-up on Monday. There was no question that as we moved into Tuesday and Wednesday, it was reported that our lineups had dwindled considerably.

I know my colleague from Edmonton- Calder sent me a note last week in the House that he had received a note from a constituent that in 15 minutes they went and got their vaccination. But something happened mid-week last week, Mr. Speaker, and it was the unfortunate death of a young boy in Ontario. We could just see things turn. We could see the panic start to set in. Once that started, it was very difficult to turn around. In addition to that, about 24 hours later the federal government issued a release that said that we were going to be running short of vaccine. Those two situations, Mr.

Speaker, caused what were eventually, on Friday and Saturday, situations that were no longer acceptable. The chief medical officer of health called me on Saturday morning. He outlined what he wanted to do. As I have throughout this, I supported his recommendation, and his recommendation was that we stop all of the clinics, that we take a pause, that we bring out a plan that will deal with those that are most vulnerable.

Our vaccine supply stands at about 180,000 doses in Alberta right now despite the comments of the Leader of the Opposition, where I think he was quoted today as saying that we have hundreds of thousands of doses of vaccine. That is incorrect, Mr. Speaker. We have somewhere in the range of 180,000. We are anticipating that this Thursday we will receive about another 50,000 of the regular vaccine plus some for pregnant women, the unadjuvanted, and then we have no guarantee next week what we’re going to get.

We are in a situation where if we don’t ensure that we have a staged rollout of this over the next two weeks, we will clearly run out of vaccine. We’ll have to shut everything down again, and that is not what we want to have happen. I just want to take a couple of minutes here. I’d like to thank all of those who have been involved in rolling out this campaign, everyone from our chief medical officer of health to public health officials to front-line health care workers to all of those who took it seriously and actually stood in lineups. I would just quote.

Through the noon hour I was speaking to the head of the Alberta Medical Association. He assured me that he’s got a meeting with the Leader of the Opposition tomorrow, and he’s going to make sure that he passes on the fact that there is no other way that you can describe 400,000 people being v accinated in six days as anything but a tremendous success, Mr. Speaker. That’s coming from the medical community.

I would just conclude that we will hold to our commitment that all Albertans will be vaccinated by Christmas, all of those that choose to be vaccinated, and I would just ask that we talk about what we can do to ensure that we accomplish that. Laying blame, pointing fingers is going to get us nowhere, Mr. Speaker. With those few words, I would ask all hon. members to participate in this debate, support our public health system, and not fall for the

November 2, 2009 Alberta Hansard 1671 member who introduced this particular motion because, quite honestly, for the most part, again, he has no idea how the system operates and is attempting to only score cheap political points, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Hon. members, I have a list of approximately 18 members, and the following six will be recognized immediately: the hon. Member for Edmonton-Riverview, followed by the Minister of Aboriginal Relations, then the hon. Member for Calgary-Glenmore, then the Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, then the Minister of Municipal Affairs, then the hon.

Member for Edmonton- Meadowlark. The hon. Member for Edmonton-Riverview. Dr. Taft: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. I’ll start just by trying to raise the spirit a little bit here. My initial intention last Monday morning was to actually work with the government and to help advance the public interest in obtaining vaccines, and that’s the spirit in which I went to the clinic on Monday morning. I think it’s regrettable that the minister of health and other members here are somehow holding that against me. I saw the extensive lineup, and I didn’t stay. It was pretty apparent immediately that there were problems.

But like everybody, I’ll assume, in this Assembly we in the end want this to work out. I’m going to just cover a few key points here. I’m going to begin with what are for me among the many dozens of e-mails and phone calls I’ve received on this issue in the last week, some of the most heart-wrenching, and those are coming from cancer patients. I had an e-mail Thursday or Friday in which the subject title read: Please Help My Sister.

It came to me from a woman living in a smaller town in Alberta who was pleading on behalf of her sister here in Edmonton who was in cancer treatment, and her immune system was compromised. She was unable to stand in line, and she was unable to get the vaccine because no provisions had been made for cancer patients. [Mr. Mitzel in the chair] As things turn out, she’s not alone. I have had other people contact me, including people phoning me at home on the weekend yesterday in something of a panic.

For example, in one case a constituent of mine scheduled for chemotherapy the day after tomorrow – he’s in the midst of a series of chemotherapy treatments – had been told that the only day in which his system would be able to absorb the effects of the vaccine was today. When they an- nounced yesterday that there would be no clinics open today, his family and he were, frankly, frightened.

I think it’s shocking, and I would urge the minister, please, to pay attention to ensure that special provisions are made for cancer patients so that when their systems are able to accept the vaccine safely, that vaccine is provided. 3:30 It’s hard for me to believe that we are at this point, with a supposedly sophisticated health care system, where that kind of provision was never made and those cancer patients were not thought about. I’ve heard a similar account about a child with leukemia in Lethbridge who is having difficulty getting the vaccine.

I just think that we have really, really dropped the ball with cancer patients, so I would plead to the minister and urge the minister to make sure that there are special provisions for cancer patients in the plan that gets rolled out tomorrow. The second point I would raise is one I raised last week, and that’s the development of an ethics framework for what we hope will never happen but could happen, and that’s a situation in which there are not enough resources to look after all people requiring critical care.

This kind of situation has come close to occuring in the United States and could occur here if we get into an extreme position. My information is that while there is reference to developing an ethics decision-making framework in the pandemic plan – I’ve read that – there is, in fact, no ethics framework in place. Just so people understand how serious this is, imagine a situation in which 10 patients require ventilators and there are only five ventilators. Who gets the treatment, and who doesn’t? What’s the basis of that decision? These are very real issues. Can you discrimi- nate, for example, Mr.

Speaker, in that situation on the basis of age? On the basis of disability? On the basis of ethnic background? Can you discriminate on the basis of survival possibilities? What are the frameworks by which people will make those decisions? Those things need to be laid out. They need to be thought through, finalized, and made public in advance. As controversial and difficult as that is, it has been done elsewhere, and I recommend to all members of this Assembly and, frankly, to all Albertans a document put out by Hamilton Health Sciences in Ontario addressing specifi- cally this.

I tabled copies of it last Thursday. So, Mr. Minister, please get your department finalizing that ethics framework, and when it’s done, please make it public. My third point is around surge capacity. I have been warning this government for years that it has created a health care system in which there is no surge capacity. There is literally no capacity for something as serious as a major bus crash or a major plane crash, much less a pandemic. In fact, a couple of weeks ago I was in a meeting with doctors where this topic came up.

They were telling a story in which two or three years ago they were put on notice to prepare for the possibility of a huge influx of patients because a passenger jet in the area was in some crisis. Well, luckily the passenger jet landed safely, but the doctors were saying: “There was nothing we could do. We didn’t have a bed available. We didn’t have the equipment. There was nothing available.” Now, Mr. Speaker, it’s important for people here who don’t know that historically the ideal operating rate of a hospital is about 85 per cent so that on any given day you would have about 15 per cent spare capacity.

That allows for all kinds of absorbing of challenges in the system, but, most importan tly, it allows for dealing with a genuine major emergency like a pandemic. Well, Mr. Speaker, it’s been more than a decade since the major hospitals in Alberta had anything close to a 15 per cent surge capacity. In fact, as we’ve often heard in this Assembly, they routinely operate without a single spare bed. So we need to address that. We can address that through permanent measures like reopening the empty beds at the Peter Lougheed hospital and other hospitals.

We can do it through interim measures like a pandemic tent, which potentially could be very helpful. Ultimately, we need a long-term solution to this. We need to rebuild the capacity of our health care system so that it can provide necessary services at times of major emergencies. The fourth point I’d like to make, Mr. Speaker – and I hope the minister and his officials are paying attention – is that given the situation we’ve got with lineups, let’s at least make the best of what’s not a very good situation. What do I mean by that? Well, how about providing chairs for people to sit in?

If we have a lineup, and we know there’s going to be a long lineup, then, you know, let’s dip into the sustainability fund or the emergency fund somewhere and rent some chairs and put them at the clinics so that our women and children an

Document details

Collection	Alberta — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	20091102
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	L27 S2 20091102 1330 01 han.pdf
Language	en
Format	json
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	ddde4ab1bc0181b4092a12cde94add21126624dd

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