Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[Fuzz]

It’s as if this legislation has been modelled after J.R.R. Tolkien’s “one ring to rule them all” – Tourism and Sport Minister Jacob Schow and his successors will be able to arbitrarily exempt a resort proposal from any existing protective legislation, fast track the proposal without public consultation or input, and shield the development from review by the Natural Resources Conservation Board.
That is substantial power entrusted to a department (and a minister) with no experience or expertise in land-use planning, including assessing environmental impacts.

Added to this, the act, which was passed by the Legislature on Wednesday and given Royal Assent on Thursday, exempts development on all-season resort areas from the normal environmental planning, reviewing and permitting processes applied to activities on public lands.

What could possibly go wrong with headwaters water quality and quantity, species at risk habitats, wildfire prevention, and more human traffic with such a cavalier attitude?


In addition, there is no provision in the new law for consultation with Indigenous peoples, affected communities, or existing tourism-focused activities.

https://albertapolitics.ca/2024/12/g...season-resort/


I know people want new mountain playgrounds, and I'm not totally against that, but I'm not sure giving a UCP minister carte blanche powers to exempt private corporations from...well...everything, is the greatest way of getting there.



This also seems like a doorway to lawsuits, and I don't quite understand how provincial legislation allows for exempting them from federal review requirements. The most likely assumption is that they don't understand, either. Looks like another disaster in the making from this gang of goobers.

[Harry Lime]

The minister of Hunting and Fishing, who also happens to own a large hunting and trapping company, has opened up trapping for wolverines, river otters, fishers and other at-risk species. The reason given is that they do not have accurate reports on population numbers, and the trappers can report back how many they have killed, to give an idea of current populations.

The UCP isn't even trying to hide that the province is a personal slush fund. Why the hell is there a minister of Hunting and Fishing, and also one for Fish and Wildlife?

[Fuzz]

LOL, how does that work? "Well, there was a population of at least one river otter in the area, because I killed it. I'll let you know if I kill another one." Truly the gold standard of species at risk monitoring.

If this isn't idiocracy, I don't know what more it takes to get there.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

https://albertapolitics.ca/2024/12/g...season-resort/


I know people want new mountain playgrounds, and I'm not totally against that, but I'm not sure giving a UCP minister carte blanche powers to exempt private corporations from...well...everything, is the greatest way of getting there.



This also seems like a doorway to lawsuits, and I don't quite understand how provincial legislation allows for exempting them from federal review requirements. The most likely assumption is that they don't understand, either. Looks like another disaster in the making from this gang of goobers.

I read about this a few weeks ago with respect to finally hopefully getting Fortress back up and running. The changes are supposed to bring in the appropriate investment community which will open up Fortress. This is definitely encouraging on that front.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I read about this a few weeks ago with respect to finally hopefully getting Fortress back up and running. The changes are supposed to bring in the appropriate investment community which will open up Fortress. This is definitely encouraging on that front.

So ignoring regulations is OK if it gets stuff built? Why do we have regulations, if that's how we are going to proceed? Do you trust Jacob Schow to make the correct decisions around which regulations don't need to be followed for each project? Do you trust whoever their successor is as well?

[calgarygeologist]

Do I trust Schow or any of his successors? No. Do I want to see new recreational and leisure opportunities built and developed around the province? Absolutely.

[Fuzz]

So do you believe this is good legislation?

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

So do you believe this is good legislation?

It is moving in the right direction. It is far from perfect or ideal.

[Fuzz]

Lol. K.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Lol. K.

There will still be plenty of dirt and gravel paths for you to enjoy.

[KelVarnsen]

I’m convinced that the UCP could murder your family and you’d be ok with that

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

It is moving in the right direction. It is far from perfect or ideal.

It may have moved in the right direction but it way overshot. From ‘there are too many regulations’ to literally zero regulations. I’m all for fast tracking good projects but there needs to be some level of process and accountability. If a minister has sole discretion about whether a project can go or not it’s also ripe for cronyism and abuse.

[puffnstuff]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

The minister of Hunting and Fishing, who also happens to own a large hunting and trapping company, has opened up trapping for wolverines, river otters, fishers and other at-risk species. The reason given is that they do not have accurate reports on population numbers, and the trappers can report back how many they have killed, to give an idea of current populations.

The UCP isn't even trying to hide that the province is a personal slush fund. Why the hell is there a minister of Hunting and Fishing, and also one for Fish and Wildlife?

And cougars, with hunting dogs...inside provincial parks

https://thenarwhal.ca/alberta-cougar-hunting-hounds/

[Fuzz]

[puffnstuff]

Time to recruit workers...or at least give the ministers a free (for them) trip abroad.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...mith-1.7400752

[Locke]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

Time to recruit workers...or at least give the ministers a free (for them) trip abroad.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...mith-1.7400752

We could always got the Qatar route where you have to sacrifice your passport when you get here and then have to pay to get it back in order to leave.

"Hello there gentlemen from the Middle-East...here are your airline tickets to dig ditches in Wood Buffalo. Enjoy your stay in Canada!"

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

Time to recruit workers...or at least give the ministers a free (for them) trip abroad.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...mith-1.7400752

This quote is so funny. Perfectly encapsulates the stupidity of the UCP and their supporters.

"Alberta has experienced unsustainable levels of immigration due to the federal government's policies and we are advocating for more sustainable immigration policies.

"It is our belief that Ottawa's priority should be on reducing the number of temporary foreign workers, international students and asylum seekers — not on reducing provincially selected economic migrants."

Spending, government oversight, immigration, affordability… is there a single thing they waste countless hours whining about and pointing the finger at others on that they don’t turn around and actively make worse themselves?

[JJolg]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

And cougars, with hunting dogs...inside provincial parks

https://thenarwhal.ca/alberta-cougar-hunting-hounds/

Hunting with hounds is the only effective way to hunt and manage cougar populations.. as odd as it seems relying on trappers numbers is our most effective way to understand and monitor populations of fur bearing animals. You can't sit out and watch for them by eye so keeping track of how's successful trap lines are is the best method. Trappers tend to move sets around not to overtake in one particular area every year so it gives the most accurate assessment of what's going on... No one else is crazy enough to be out there in the weather they are anyway.

[Harry Lime]

That is the UCP talking point, word for word. It does skip over post secondary involvement, technology of any kind, or the need for this at all. None of the species have been targeted for culling, and that's a completely different conversation.

I'd support a necessary cull. I can't support a directive from the government that was made to financially benefit the minister who passed the directive.

[puffnstuff]

The renewable energy no-go zone rules are out...and stupid.

https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/...ff80dd631.html