Archived Reports from the Legislature
Although the Assembly was not in session in January, it was a busy month of attending committee meetings and various events around the constituency. The Spring Session of the Assembly began on February 10 with the Throne Speech. Since then, I have been confined much more to Edmonton from Monday through Thursday. Fridays are constituency days, so they are usually the best for meetings, if you need to see me.
At the start of the Session, a number of changes were made to committee appointments. I have been reassigned from the Heritage Savings and Trust Fund Committee to the all party Field Policy Committee on Public Accounts. I have also been appointed Chair of the Private Members’ Business Committee. This is a caucus committee which meets with our Private Members (government backbenchers) to review their ideas for Private Members’ Bills and Motions. We make suggestions for improvements and also provide a weekly report to the whole caucus.
I am still serving on the caucus Health Policy Committee and the all party Health Field Policy Committee. Presently, the Field Policy Committee is working on Bill 52, the Health Information Amendment Act. The intent behind the Bill is to achieve a more efficient and effective electronic health records system. There have been some concerns about privacy issues. TheMinister has indicated that he will consider the recommendation of the field policy committee as to any proposed changes that may address these concerns.
The First Nations, Metis and Inuit (FNMI) Workforce Planning Initiative Committee which I am chairing is also picking up speed in terms of its activity. Our mandate is to engage in discussions with Chiefs and Councils to discuss ideas for job creation, training and economic development. The committee will be visiting many FNMI communities between now and next fall to discuss how we might collaborate, building on action plans which have been developed in a number of communities over the last few years.
As part of the preparation for these visits, I have recently been to a number of communities to hear about some of the projects they are working on. In February, I visited the Aseniwuche Winewak Nation (AWN) near Grande Cache and heard about their training programs and the mutually beneficial parterships they have developed with local industries. A few weeks ago, I was at the Whitefish Lake First Nation where I toured a factory which makes protective workwear and overalls for Suncor and Syncrude, and is the home to Canada’s biggest commercial dry cleaning plant (which, by the way, is an industry leader in its use of environmentally friendly technologies). These trips have been a great education for me and I am looking forward to the many visits to come.
There is lots happening right here in the constituency as well. My office is always busy fielding calls from people who have issues or concerns with various Government policies, legislation, proposed legislation or regulations. I would say that, recently, the most common concerns have related to Health reorganization, fears of delisting of services or pharmaceutical coverages, and Bill 19, the Land Assembly Project Area Act. We do our best to get answers and be advocates for constituents. Sometimes we’re successful, sometimes we’re not, and sometimes we find out that the concerns were based on media headlines that were not accurate in the first place.
Of course, we’re all waiting for April 7, 2009, which is Budget Day. Once the Budget is introduced, we will embark on weeks of debate and review. Obviously, the finalization of the budget will have a big impact on each Government department, and its programs. I remember back just a short 8 months ago, when we were all talking about a potential 8 billion dollar surplus. That underscores the difficulty in budgeting for the next year. However, I don’t think any MLA in Alberta would want to trade places with elected representatives in any other jurisdiction in North America. I agree with an approach which is cautious, conservative, and not given to panic.
Two things that I always look forward to are interacting with students in their classroom and having students and other guests come to visit the Legislature. If you would like to have a tour of the building, please call my office and we can help set it up. Depending on the day of the visit, I may be around to greet you and possibly introduce you in the Assembly. The Legislature is a public building that belongs to all Albertans. You should feel at home there.
Please do not hesitate to contact my office if you have questions or concerns. Many of you have already given me input on a host of issues and I hope to have some time in the coming weeks to absorb it, and see what I can do to help. I can be reached in my constituency office at Camrose at 672-0000, Wetaskiwin 352-0241, or in Edmonton at (780)415-0977 (please dial 310-0000 first for a toll-free connection).
The fall has raced by without my writing to give you an update on my activities so I’ll try to “catch up” in this column.
As a new MLA, I don’t have anything to compare to but I am told that the 2008 Spring and Fall Sessions have been two of the heaviest on record in terms of legislation passed by the Assembly. Since last spring, we have introduced some 53 pieces of Government legislation. I thought it might be helpful to say a few words about what goes into passing a piece of legislation.
Before a bill reaches the floor of the Assembly, it is dealt with in numerous meetings by committees of the Government Caucus, as well as the Caucus itself. After what is often many months of work and debate by the Government side, the bill is presented to the whole Assembly and goes through 1st and 2nd Reading, Committee of the Whole and 3rd Reading. During this process, some legislation is also referred by the Assembly to Field Policy Committees (which are all party committees of the Legislature) for further consultation, research and debate
I am finding that much of an MLA’s time is taken up by this process. MLA’s are often asked by Ministers to conduct consultations with Albertans about a specific issue. The MLA committee reports back to the Minister with recommendations. Government takes those recommendations into account as it develops policy and legislation.
A good example of this process would be Bill 24, The Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship Act. It replaces the 30 year old Dependent Adults Act. Back in 2005, MLA Cindy Ady was appointed to lead a review of the old Act. Over 4300 submissions from Albertans were received. Ultimately, based on the Ady Review, Bill 24 was drafted and worked on by the Government Caucus Policy Committee for Health, of which I am a member.
Another Committee on which I sit, the Legislative Review Committee, also reviewed the Bill. Its job is to make sure that the words in the draft Bill accurately reflect the policy goals of the Caucus Policy Committee. I find this to be one of the heaviest committees to serve on because it involves reading each and every Bill and policy document in great detail.
Eventually, the whole Government Caucus had the chance to review and debate Bill 24. Then it was ready for presentation to the Assembly. Once there, it was the subject of debate at several stages before it was referred to the Health Field Policy Committee, of which I am also a member. That’s the all party Committee. This fall, we held public hearings and heard some 13 submissions from stakeholders. Ultimately, our report went back to the Assembly and the Bill was finally passed in November.
The new Act deals with the different ways in which an adult who is, or is becoming unable to make his or her own financial and personal decisions, can receive help. The old Act basically said that if you couldn’t manage your own affairs and hadn’t planned ahead for your own incapacity by doing an Enduring Power of Attorney and Personal Directive, a court order could be obtained to name someone to make decisions for you.
Among many other refinements, the new Act provides some additional options for people to consider, such as “supported decision making” and “co-decision makers”. I won’t go into more detail here but I encourage anyone who has questions to speak to their lawyer, contact my office or go to the website of the Department of Seniors and Community Supports for more information. (Camrose Office 780-672-0000, Wetaskiwin Office 780-352-0241 – Seniors Website – www.seniors.gov.ab.ca)
It has been an interesting time to sit on the Heritage Savings and Trust Fund Committee, another all party committee. We meet with Minister Iris Evans and her officials to receive reports as to how the Fund is doing. Obviously, for any investor these days, most of the news has been bad. The Report for the Second Quarter ending September 30, 2008 was just released and it shows that the Fund has a market value loss of 7.2% for the first 6 months of 2008. However, the approach in terms of the Heritage Fund is very much a long range one. Investment decisions aren’t made in reaction to short term market swings.
The Minister has been asked by the Premier to do a review of our savings policy and you may know that the Report of the Financial Investment and Planning Advisory Commission was released recently. It is available on the department’s website www.finance.alberta.ca. In the new year, the Minister will be working on the issue of our savings policy.
Once a year, The Heritage Fund committee holds a public meeting at which people can come to ask questions and share their views about the Fund. We held that meeting in
Recently, Gene Zwozdesky, the Minister of Aboriginal Relations, and Hector Goudreau, the Minister of Employment and Immigration, appointed a committee on Aboriginal Workforce Initiatives. Over the next year or so, MLA’s Pearl Calahasen, Tony Vandermeer, Evan Berger and myself, as Chair, will be visiting First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities around
With the Fall Session now ended, I should be in the constituency more often. It is a great time to get in on the many festivities taking place and, of course, like all of you, I’m hoping for some quiet time over the holidays to spend with family. The Spring Session isn’t scheduled to begin until early February but the Committee work will start up again in early January.
If there is any way we can be of assistance, please contact my Camrose office. In the meantime, I want to wish all constituents the best of the holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
As the summer races by, I thought I should provide a brief report of my activities.
Since the end of the Spring Session, my time has been spent attending functions both in and out of the constituency, attending committee meetings, meeting with constituents and trying to catch up on reading the great volume of paper that arrives at both my constituency office and legislative office daily.
Some of the events which I have attended in the constituency are the opening of the new Wetaskiwin City Hall, the Pioneer Days Parade in Wetaskiwin, the opening of the Tin Lizzie Model T Exhibit at Reynolds Museum, the Relay for Life in Camrose, the Peter Pan Ballet in Camrose, the Camrose Association for Community Living Barbeque, the DARE presentations in Camrose, the Canada Day celebrations in both Camrose and Wetaskiwin, the Pê Sâkâstêw Healing Center Pow Wow in Hobbema, the 11th Annual Samson Pow Wow in Hobbema, the Wetaskiwin Airshow, the Camrose Parade and Big Valley Jamboree. Speaking of parades, I have a new respect for the Queen! It’s not the easiest thing to smile and wave for block after block.
I have also attended a number of events outside the constituency, including the 100th Anniversary celebration at Wessenthal Baptist Church north of Millet, a tour of the Rosebud School of Performing Arts, a Press conference at K Division Headquarters in Edmonton (to announce the gun amnesty program at Hobbema), the Premier’s Breakfasts at the Calgary Stampede and Capital Ex, and a dinner with visiting German parliamentarians at Fort Edmonton.
Just because the Spring session has ended does not mean that the work of Government stops. However, the schedule is less frenetic. That is good though because it allows MLA’s to spend more time in their constituencies. Nonetheless, over the summer, I have attended meetings of the Caucus Policy Committee on Health, the Standing Legislative Committee on Health, the Heritage Trust Fund Committee and, on behalf of one of my colleagues, the Legislative Offices Committee. In addition to these, there have been Government Caucus meetings in
I have had a number of meetings with constituents dealing with topics too numerous to mention here. However, if I were to identify several oft-recurring themes, they would be concern over health care and also staffing for persons with disabilities. We don’t always have the answers on the tip of our tongues, but my staff, Laurie and Kirstyn, are very good at tracking down information for constituents. I am also working hard at getting up to speed on all of the various grant programs available to organizations. I have had many meetings with various groups working on worthy projects, and am hopeful that I will be able to maximize the help that government has to offer.
I continue to be very much in a period of transition in that, even though I have not taken on any new files at my law office since sometime last fall, I am still working at finishing off a great number of old files. I had hoped to be completely done by the end of June, then the end of July. Now I have resigned myself to the fact that it is likely to be well into the fall. I want to take this opportunity to thank my partners and the staff at Andreassen Borth (formerly Andreassen Olson Borth), and of course my clients, for their patience in dealing with my “drop in/drop out” schedule. Likewise, I owe a debt of gratitude to my constituency office staff, and my constituents, for bearing with me through this transition. Eventually, I’ll just be doing one job!
Before the busy fall season, Mardell and I are going to get away for a few weeks. Upon my return, I am sure that there will be much more to talk about as we head towards the beginning of the Fall Session in October. In the meantime, please keep in mind that September 6 has been designated “Arts Day” in
Enjoy the rest of the summer!
Now that the Spring Session of the Legislature has ended, I’ll use this first column to give you something of a “look back” . The weeks after the election were spent trying to organize constituency offices, finding a place to live in
I have been challenged to get a feel for the “rythmn” of the Assembly. Because we got off to a late start this spring, we sat in the evening 3 days a week. A typical day (Monday through Wednesday) would include various meetings and caucus in the morning followed by Session in the afternoon, and also in the evening until 10:30 or 11:00 pm. There is usually a full morning of caucus on Thursdays followed by an afternoon sitting, then home to the constituency on Thursday nights. Fridays and Saturdays are for meetings with constituents and attending community functions. In the Spring Sitting, 33 pieces of legislation were introduced and 13 were given Royal Assent. The remaining Bills will be dealt with in the Fall.
So far, I have been appointed to 6 different committees. They are: Legislative Review, Private Bills, Private Members’ Business, Heritage Savings and Trust Fund, Caucus Policy Committee on Health and the Standing Legislative Committee on Health. The first 3 committees relate primarily to the technical review of draft legislation. The Heritage Trust Fund Committee has the job of reviewing the reports of the Fund managers and arranging public meetings, and the 2 Health Committees review and discuss Health policy.
In addition to these committees, I have been privileged to spend some time with the new Safe Communities Secretariat, at the request of the Justice Minister, in talks with the Hobbema community. I want to say that good things are happening there, thanks to the leadership of community members.
One of the big events for a new MLA is his or her Maiden Speech in the Assembly. I gave mine on the evening of April 22. For anyone interested, all of the activities of the Assembly, including speeches, are archived on www. assembly.ab.ca.
Please do not hesitate to contact my office if you have questions or concerns. Many of you have already given me input on a host of issues and I hope to have some time in the coming weeks to absorb it, and see what I can do to help. I can be reached in my constituency office at Camrose at 672-0000, Wetaskiwin 352-0241, or in