Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[Fuzz]

The Alberta government is taking steps to oppose federal firearms prohibition legislation and the potential seizure of thousands of assault-style weapons.

Since May of 2020, Ottawa has prohibited more than 1,500 different models of assault-style firearms from being used or sold in Canada.

Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro says he received a letter from the minister of public safety asking for police resources to begin confiscating firearms starting this fall.

He says Alberta will not agree to having RCMP officers act as confiscation agents and will protest any such move under the provincial-federal agreement that governs policing.

While officers might seize weapons in the course of their duties, no one should worry "that, in rural Alberta, that the RCMP are going to be busting down their doors looking for illegal firearms," he said.

"That's not going to happen," King said. "I mean, let's be real."

As for telling the RCMP not to enforce a federal law, King said that would be "extraordinarily unusual," and not likely very effective.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...596683?cmp=rss

Goddamit Shandro, you ####ing useless toad. Way to give Smith precedence for ignoring federal law. These idiots are so dumb you can see the spittle rolling down their faces. How is this guy still employed?

[MBates]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

Alberta defence lawyers to refuse all legal aid cases starting Monday

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...nday-1.6593755

As lawyers escalate job action to demand reform of Legal Aid Alberta (LAA) funding, the organization itself is now joining in on calls for more provincial funding.

Members of four defence lawyer organizations along with family lawyers that take on cases for Albertans eligible for legal aid support staged a walkout at courthouses in Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary on Friday.

On Wednesday, the associations' members voted to ramp up action and will stop accepting any new legal aid cases starting Monday.

That means individuals charged with criminal offences that range from theft to homicide who can't afford a lawyer may find themselves unable to get one.

Some family lawyers who do legal aid work also plan to refuse new cases.

For those interested, I can answer most questions about this situation. I have been on the Legal Aid Alberta [LAA] Roster and doing this work since sometime in 2003.

There are some things that in general are helpful to know:

1. LAA certificates are issued to individuals who qualify and they are then (in theory) able to pick any Alberta lawyer they want to represent them. The catch is the lawyer has to be willing to accept payment by such a certificate.

2. The Financial Eligibility Guidelines [FEGs] at which people get cut off from qualifying for LAA coverage are shockingly low. If you are a single person who makes more than $20,021.00 per year you are expected to use your own 'wealth' to pay for your lawyer. If you live in a family of 4, you are cut off from coverage at anything above $38,134.00 of total household income.

https://www.legalaid.ab.ca/resources/#eligibility

3. A certificate is essentially a government funded loan. The individual getting LAA coverage signs a loan agreement with obligations to repay over time. There are of course many who will ultimately never be able to repay, and collections will be abandoned, but it is not just a gift of money without obligations.

4. Lawyers who accept LAA certificates are independent contractors. There is no employment relationship and no obligation to accept any LAA offers. There are about 1200 lawyers on the Roster. As of December 31, 2021 there were 10,829 active lawyers in Alberta. So only a fraction of the legal profession is even willing to accept these matters.

5. The notional rate that LAA pays for legal services is $92.40 per hour. That rate is the same whether you are 30 minutes at the bar or 30 years. The rate has remained unchanged since it was raised to that in 2015. For anyone who has had to hire a lawyer for anything, you will know this is a fraction of market rates in, well, any market.

6. The rate is 'notional' because you rarely get to be paid for the actual hours you work. Most LAA certificates are paid out via a tariff which sets block fee amounts for certain tasks or stages in a file. For example, for many cases, the tariff allows a block fee of 1 hour or $92.40 for a bail application. It is increasingly common for such application to require a couple court appearances and 8-10 hours of work to be done properly.

7. You can apply to LAA and ask them for 'extra hours' for a tariff item, but you need to spend significant amounts of time writing and submitting such formal requests. Regularly, LAA rejects these requests entirely or allows you a fraction of what you explained you needed the hours for. One can surmise it is obvious that a busy lawyer will not ultimately spend multiple billable hours of their time fighting to overturn unreasonably denied hours requests on an administrative appeal.

8. For the criminal side of the system in particular, no other justice system participant is not a government employee. So, when cases were mass adjourned multiple times over the pandemic, defence lawyers' incomes were halted - multiple times. If we cannot do the work, we cannot issue bills. Judges, clerks, prosecutors, sheriffs, police officers etc. all got paid full salaries and benefits through this same time period - notwithstanding almost all of the work was postponed.

9. The Justice Department has been busy raiding the LAA budget - reneging on the funding commitments agreed to in a Governance Agreement signed in 2018. The chart in this article displays this best:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1565832665412284416

10. LAA and the Justice Department have the numbers which show them a lawyer performing LAA work on a typical three day sexual assault matter in Alberta will get paid just above half of what a lawyer in Ontario or BC would be paid for the same work. LAA knows they are completely out of step with any reasonable assessment of 'fair' compensation.


The 4 lawyer associations are seeking increases to the FEGs so that Albertans who need legal aid, and are clearly not able to actually pay for a lawyer out of their poverty-level incomes, can be allowed to have a government loan.

We are seeking reform to the tariffs so that you can get paid at all for work you actually have to do. And yes, we are seeking an increase in the notional hourly rate.

Is this about making more money? I mean, sure it is on a certain level...but, not really. The best way for a lawyer in Alberta to make more money is never help disadvantaged folks by accepting LAA certificates. The fact that we do this work is itself a public service - and means that we lose money from what we could make if we just stuck to our private practices. Moreover, we lose our time that we would otherwise have to spend with our family and friends.

The public service piece is important, because here is the thing: the government (ie the taxpayer) is legally (constitutionally) obligated to provide a lawyer to most people accused of crime who cannot afford one. You have to pay for the service whether you like it or not. The other option is just drop charges. So when the current government makes the offers of such work so abusively unfair, you get what we now have. The independent contractors just decline the work.

But the work does not go away. So the system will now clog up and bog down. Files that should be cleared in days will take weeks. Weeks will take months etc. Eventually the consequences flood the whole system. Civil and family cases will get less resources as the criminal ones eat them all up.

The only other option is a financially disastrous one (and also would require a blatant breach of the Governance Agreement) - build a public defender office and add massive amounts of people, benefits and pensions, office space and supplies, to the government payroll.

If you think all of this sounds like a bad self-inflicted wound, you can genuinely help. Email your MLA or Minister Shandro and tell them you support fair funding for legal aid.

Sadly, until such fair funding is provided, the current government has found a way to alienate hundreds of members of the profession like me, who have to date devoted countless hours to the public good by handling LAA files. And they have brought chaos to the entire system in doing so.

[Fuzz]

Thanks for that summary, appreciate the time you put into it. Shandro is a #### stain, but I guess he's doing a good job representing the UCP for all they are.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by MBates

For those interested, I can answer most questions about this situation. I have been on the Legal Aid Alberta [LAA] Roster and doing this work since sometime in 2003.


Sadly, until such fair funding is provided, the current government has found a way to alienate hundreds of members of the profession like me, who have to date devoted countless hours to the public good by handling LAA files. And they have brought chaos to the entire system in doing so.

As Fuzz said. Thanks very much for this.
I appreciate getting a better understanding of the process. what a cluster####.
no wonder lawyers were so pissed with the editorial from John Panusa.

[Fuzz]

Well, if you have noticed drivers getting worse and worse, this is bound to help...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...597083?cmp=rss

Alberta says it will no longer require the advanced road test for Class 5 (passenger vehicles) and Class 6 (motorcycle) driver's licences, saving those drivers $150.

That's what drivers need, LESS testing.. .sigh.

An additional road test will also no longer be mandatory to obtain a Class 4 driver's licence, which is required to transport passengers in taxis, ride-share vehicles, limousines, small buses and ambulances.

Right then, we all know taxi drivers are some of the worst on the road, best not to make them do anything to improve that...I've got a class 4, and there is no way current drivers are performing anywhere near the standards that road test required of me.

"It is common sense. It reduces costs for drivers and also, in a way, for businesses, without compromising safety in any way," Panda said.

Sure thing, Panda, if you say so. I presume you have the Fraser Institute studies to back that up?

This is all the opposite of what we should be doing, but I guess it's easier to remove "left on green" signals and stuff traffic lights on overpasses than expect people to know how to operate a murder machine safely.

[Ozy_Flame]

Tests compromise an individual's freedom. If you can't trust Albertans to be responsible for their own vehicles and how to operate them safely, then you're just feeding into the the Laurentian Elite-style regulatory oppression that stifle vehicle rights and the ability to drive the way you please.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Well, if you have noticed drivers getting worse and worse, this is bound to help...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...597083?cmp=rss

That's what drivers need, LESS testing.. .sigh.
Right then, we all know taxi drivers are some of the worst on the road, best not to make them do anything to improve that...I've got a class 4, and there is no way current drivers are performing anywhere near the standards that road test required of me.

Sure thing, Panda, if you say so. I presume you have the Fraser Institute studies to back that up?

This is all the opposite of what we should be doing, but I guess it's easier to remove "left on green" signals and stuff traffic lights on overpasses than expect people to know how to operate a murder machine safely.

More testing isn't the solution for getting better drivers on the road. The calibre of drivers has not improved under the GDL and two test system. Plus it is easy enough to pass a test and go out onto the streets and be a complete idiot.

[Monahammer]

The only positive thing this UCP cabinet has done is plow extra money into debt relief and lock some away in the heritage fund so Danielle Smith can't use it for patronage spending before the next election. Everything else has been detrimental to our society. Happy to debate this matter with literally anyone.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

More testing isn't the solution for getting better drivers on the road. The calibre of drivers has not improved under the GDL and two test system. Plus it is easy enough to pass a test and go out onto the streets and be a complete idiot.

When around 25% of Alberta drivers don't complete the second part, you know, the more testing bit, I'd argue maybe that is the problem? It was a dumb design to begin with. They should have allowed 2 years max before requiring getting a full license. You could apply for maybe 2 x 6 month extensions, then your license reverts to a class 7 and you start over. Require foreign licenses to take the full test within 5 years of moving to Alberta.

Simple things. But no, now we've dumbed it down to only requiring the basic test? How does that improve matters?

Here are the 2...
Basic:

The test will include identifying and operating your vehicle's controls. This includes:

• handling the vehicle (steering, braking and speed control)
• selecting the proper lane for turns
• observing and obeying speed zones
• determining right of way at intersections and while changing lanes
• demonstrating knowledge and skill at intersections with and without sign and signal controls
• interacting with other road users in a non-obstructive manner
• parking – perpendicular, uphill or downhill parking, and parallel (drivers over 65 are not required to complete a parallel park)

Advanced:

This road test is approximately 60 minutes, including your driver examiner's pre-test instructions and summary of your results. The advanced road test will also include:

• a variety of intersection types, including uncontrolled 'T' intersections
• high speed roadways of 80 to 100 km/hr
• merging on the highway, with acceleration and deceleration lanes
• high volume traffic areas
• parking – an angle or perpendicular park. The advanced test does include a parallel and hill park

https://www.alberta.ca/class-5-road-tests.aspx

And now "professional drivers" only have to meet the basic road test standard? This is stupid. This will make our roads more hazardous. #### the UCP with a rusty pitchfork.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Well, if you have noticed drivers getting worse and worse, this is bound to help...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...597083?cmp=rss

For Class 5 licences this makes sense. Look at what Saskatchewan (for example) does and it makes more sense. It's a two step process and you do not advance unless your driving record is clean for that period of time.

Can't wait to tell my kids, they just stressed through and got their full Class 5 this summer.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

When around 25% of Alberta drivers don't complete the second part, you know, the more testing bit, I'd argue maybe that is the problem? It was a dumb design to begin with. They should have allowed 2 years max before requiring getting a full license. You could apply for maybe 2 x 6 month extensions, then your license reverts to a class 7 and you start over. Require foreign licenses to take the full test within 5 years of moving to Alberta.

I don't recall a lot of the specifics but I do remember hearing that accessing testing to get out of the GDL process was a huge problem and cluster#### because the government brought testing under the public service and destroyed a lot of availability and access. Apparently that move eliminated about 50% of the testers at that time so I'm sure that impacted people getting a full license.

[Zarley]

That second road test was such a joke - when I took it we didn't even go on the highway, there was no merging, and they didn't even test parallel parking. It was a complete money grab. Good move to axe it.

[TheIronMaiden]

I would assume the folks who didn't take the test are promoted automatically?

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

The only positive thing this UCP cabinet has done is plow extra money into debt relief and lock some away in the heritage fund so Danielle Smith can't use it for patronage spending before the next election. Everything else has been detrimental to our society. Happy to debate this matter with literally anyone.

does anyone have a running list of what policies the UCP has put in place since being in power?

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

I would assume the folks who didn't take the test are promoted automatically?

Currently, no. They stay with the GDL indefinitely. Sounds like the new system will provide for conditional promotion to a full condition as long as certain conditions are met.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

does anyone have a running list of what policies the UCP has put in place since being in power?

You can find that logged in detail here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...z2M/edit#gid=0

[Ashasx]

Everyone who has taken the test knows it is a joke and a cash grab. Lots to complain about with this government. I don't think this is on the list.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Everyone who has taken the test knows it is a joke and a cash grab. Lots to complain about with this government. I don't think this is on the list.

So maybe, I dunno, make the test not a joke? There is a reason we have so many dangerous drivers on the road. The solution isn't to give up, it's to fix what is broken. Or I guess we just accept more injuries and deaths costing our healthcare system needlessly, and higher and higher insurance premiums. Yay?

[btimbit]

Even if you are a person that wants more or more stringent driver testing, you should realize that this system was a joke and I don't see how ditching it would really move the needle

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

So maybe, I dunno, make the test not a joke? There is a reason we have so many dangerous drivers on the road. The solution isn't to give up, it's to fix what is broken. Or I guess we just accept more injuries and deaths costing our healthcare system needlessly, and higher and higher insurance premiums. Yay?

Does Alberta have more dangerous drivers than other provinces?