Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Flames0910

The park pass was designed with the money raised going directly to general revenue. Many criticized the lack of reporting, oversight and transparency but the UCP put in the ear plugs and rammed it through anyway.

So IMO it’s perfectly fair to criticize when trail groups that aren’t paying fees suddenly get millions of dollars while trail groups that do pay fees settle for pennies instead. Also the pass was billed as being needed to support conservation but has there been any measurable improvement in conservation in Kananaskis country?

People are right to be outraged when not only is there no evidence of their dollars being used effectively, but also when there is a sense that the dollars are being mismanaged. We’ll never be able to prove that dollar A was spent on program B (and that’s by design) but the sense of inequity is clear.

You missed my point. The Kananaskis pass is a terrible program, scrap it. But I'm also fine with government money going to maintaining trails.

The two aren't mutually exclusive, and I object to the idea that they're linked. Side note, I hate when a blogger goes on a twitter rant then it gets reported as news.

[MegaErtz]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

I thought that technically she didn’t need to until the following year, maybe I misread that somewhere though

Section 4 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states:

4.(1) No House of Commons and no legislative assembly shall continue for longer than five years from the date fixed for the return of the writs at a general election of its members. (2) In time of real or apprehended war, invasion or insurrection, a House of Commons may be continued by Parliament and a legislative assembly may be continued by the legislature beyond five years if such continuation is not opposed by the votes of more than one-third of the members of the House of Commons or the legislative assembly, as the case may be.

The PCs passed a fixed election date bill in 2011, but Jim Prentice broke it by calling an election a year early in 2015. Jason Kenney's government passed a similar bill fixing the election date as the last Monday in May every fourth year, which is why we can expect an election on Monday, May 29th, 2023.

Barring another Covid-like event, or aliens landing on earth, the election WILL be held on that day, although there is really nothing obligating Smith to call on that date. The provincial laws aren't worth the paper they're written on, as proved by an unsuccessful court challenge to Jim Prentice's early election call in 2015. Smith is rolling out her version of Ralphbucks which conveniently end in June, which tells you all you need to know.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by MegaErtz

Section 4 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states:

4.(1) No House of Commons and no legislative assembly shall continue for longer than five years from the date fixed for the return of the writs at a general election of its members. (2) In time of real or apprehended war, invasion or insurrection, a House of Commons may be continued by Parliament and a legislative assembly may be continued by the legislature beyond five years if such continuation is not opposed by the votes of more than one-third of the members of the House of Commons or the legislative assembly, as the case may be.

The PCs passed a fixed election date bill in 2011, but Jim Prentice broke it by calling an election a year early in 2015. Jason Kenney's government passed a similar bill fixing the election date as the last Monday in May every fourth year, which is why we can expect an election on Monday, May 29th, 2023.

Barring another Covid-like event, or aliens landing on earth, the election WILL be held on that day, although there is really nothing obligating Smith to call on that date. The provincial laws aren't worth the paper they're written on, as proved by an unsuccessful court challenge to Jim Prentice's early election call in 2015. Smith is rolling out her version of Ralphbucks which conveniently end in June, which tells you all you need to know.

The act and the fixing of the election is a bit weird. The UCP established fixed election dates but those dates are not actually the law and the government can still call an election whenever they want whether it be early or late (go for a full 5 year term.)

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Got door knocked by the NDP candidate in my area. Kind of nice since the election hasn’t been called yet and I didn’t get knocked by the previous candidate the whole election. She seemed passionate and qualified. Was a good visit.

Alberta Party candidate came to our place week before last. First time they have ever done that.

[powderjunkie]

https://calgaryherald.com/news/polit...ation_with_ads

the restructuring means fishing and hunting allocations will go to Forestry, Parks and Tourism, fish hatcheries management to Agriculture and Irrigation, and fish and wildlife species-at-risk decisions will be left to the Environment and Protected Areas ministry.

“It raises the spectre that the fish and wildlife resource is either being ignored, or trivialized, or diluted to nothing,” Fitch told Postmedia, adding he worries that could lead to some roles being contracted to the private sector.
Article content

“Once you break up an integrated unit into various other departmental factions that don’t have that primary role of being an advocate for the fish and wildlife resource, that is precisely the risk,” he said.

...

Since the previous PC government moved fish and wildlife conservation officer roles to the solicitor general, this next potential department shuffle means fish and wildlife functions could be spread between four different ministries, each with its own mandate, direction and budget.

Fitch and others have also raised concerns now that Forestry, Parks and Tourism Minister Todd Loewen, who disclosed in December that he receives at least $5,000 in dividends per year from a wilderness outfitting company that offers guided hunts, could become the minister in charge of rules that might benefit such outfitting companies.

[Fuzz]

I was wondering what had happened to this, so had to Google...

The expectation was an influx of children’s pain relief medication would land on Alberta shelves by Christmas. Now – almost two months later – the Alberta government continues to acknowledge delays in shipping pediatric ibuprofen and acetaminophen into the province from a Turkish pharmaceutical company.

On Thursday, Health Minister Jason Copping said it’s likely that the supply will be brought in “over the next couple of weeks” but did not provide a definitive timeline.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cana...tion-on-store/

Just curious, anyone still notice a shortage out there? I haven't looked.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I was wondering what had happened to this, so had to Google...

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cana...tion-on-store/

Just curious, anyone still notice a shortage out there? I haven't looked.

Given the relatively easy fix to turn adult Tylenol into children’s, it kind of seemed like a wasted effort? Was there even a reason to have gone ahead with that in the first place?

[The Fisher Account]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Given the relatively easy fix to turn adult Tylenol into children’s, it kind of seemed like a wasted effort? Was there even a reason to have gone ahead with that in the first place?

To try and one-up the Feds. Only to have it blow up in their faces and as usual, cost AB taxpayers a ton of money.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I was wondering what had happened to this, so had to Google...

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cana...tion-on-store/

Just curious, anyone still notice a shortage out there? I haven't looked.

I haven't had a need to look for the medication but using Reddit as a source there were still people talking about shortages a week or two ago in Edmonton area pharmacies.

[Monahammer]

I have two kids who have been sick. No problems getting tylenol or advil, outside of one week at beginning of december. Right now the sickness going around is stomach related.

[Major Major]

"Getting things done."

[CactusJack]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I haven't had a need to look for the medication but using Reddit as a source there were still people talking about shortages a week or two ago in Edmonton area pharmacies.

The shelves have had plenty on them for the last couple months. We’ve had no problem getting anything for our little guy since Christmas.

[powderjunkie]

Firm led by former Danielle Smith campaign manager awarded $72K provincial contract
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...ract-1.6756487

FiScAlLy ReSpOnSiBlE

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

I have two kids who have been sick. No problems getting tylenol or advil, outside of one week at beginning of december. Right now the sickness going around is stomach related.

Gravol for kids is shorted and cold meds are still the worst in stock I've ever had outside of last month. I'm still looking at 70-95% of the items I'm ordering not coming in those OTC categories

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[Muta]

I don't want to be a downer here, but if the amount was for less than $75K, getting sole sourced in this case is not an unrealistic scenario. I'm not sure about the provincial government's policies, but the City of Calgary sole sources stuff under $75K all the time; it's easier to do this than to go to RFP because the the project value is so low that going to a public or shortlisted RFP would just add significant costs to an already small value project. $75K just isn't a lot of money anymore, for better or worse.

Now, if Nordic Media was picked BECAUSE of their connection to Smith, that's a problem. They would have had to declare that as a conflict of interest, so either they did NOT do that, or they straight up weren't asked (which is what I suspect).

[Ozy_Flame]

I agree with Muta. I'd like to see why Nordic Media was picked specifically, and who else could have been an option that had equal or better services (and/or also a competitive rate).

I've worked in both private and public sectors, and when people are chummy/close with the vendors they hire on a personal level it gives me dubious vibes. Not saying it's illegal or entirely unethical, it just raises my flags about how serious they want good services rendered.

[GGG]

Usually sole sources will have have previously worked for the organization though and proven they could provide good work. It’s not clear if this firm worked for the government before.

[Monahammer]

75k sole source is pretty tame, but in this case Nordic media was definitely picked for existing connections. However, existing connections are a huge part of GR/PR work, so i am not sure this line of questioning is entirely fruitful. Is it a bit dirty? Yeah. They're doing way worse things to target though.

[Roughneck]

Really it shouldn't necessarily be a big issue unless you have a quote or something from your previous stint in the legislature speaking out against sole source contracts from the government...

https://twitter.com/user/status/1628908309238673408

[Fuzz]

Hypocrites tend to have a tweet for everything.