News

If you’ve been reading the news lately, you’ve probably seen very superficial coverage of the Premier’s Mandate Letters.

In some cases, what’s actually in the letters has been ignored altogether in order to talk about what’s not in them.

But, our team took the time to read and analyze every letter and we’ve been very pleased to see provincial autonomy take center stage in the Premier’s directives to her Ministers.

It was bound to happen eventually.

Justin Trudeau was finally right about a policy:

“I’ll be blunt ... housing isn’t a primary federal responsibility,” said the Prime Minister in a press conference earlier this week.

I know, right?!

After every election in Alberta, once the new government is formed and Cabinet has been selected, the Premier provides documents called mandate letters to each of their new Cabinet Ministers.

These mandate letters outline the government's priorities and policy objectives, as well as the Premier's expectations, for each Minister's performance in their respective roles.

It is also common for these mandate letters to be released publicly, giving us as the public an early look at where the government is likely headed in the coming months and years.

Over the last few days, the first of these mandate letters have been released, so we wanted to bring you a few of the highlights.

The Calgary Stampede was the place to be this last week.

Sure, we often joke that no real work gets done during Stampede, but we all know that amidst the 10-day spectacle of bull riding, calf roping, extreme food, country music, and parties galore, there remains a serious undertone of deal-making and networking, reflective of the province's enterprising spirit.

So, in true Stampede fashion, while the rodeo action was front and centre, the real main event was going on behind the scenes. 

Last week, the federal government tabled Bill C-50 in Parliament, titled “An Act respecting accountability, transparency and engagement to support the creation of sustainable jobs for workers and economic growth in a net-zero economy.”

In other words, it’s the rebranded “Just Transition” legislation, a policy that Ottawa has been preparing to force down the throats of western Canada’s energy industry for the past two years.

While Ottawa has made it clear that its ambitious climate agenda is a top priority, Premier Danielle Smith's new Cabinet makes it clear that fighting back is her top priority.

The new Cabinet will likely come face to face with the federal government sooner, rather than later, given the federal government’s plans. 

Now that we’ve had a chance to sit down and digest last week’s election results, it strikes us just how big of a whirlwind the past twelve months have really been.

Since Danielle Smith made our Alberta Sovereignty Act proposal the centrepiece of her campaign to replace Jason Kenney as Premier of Alberta, our small team has worked tirelessly to defend and promote our proposed package of reforms. 

And we’ll continue to do so.

Less Ottawa, More Alberta.

That idea was a major theme throughout the premierships of both Jason Kenney and Danielle Smith over the last four years.

It’s also a phrase that has been used as a rallying cry on the campaign trail for generations - for good reason.

Last night saw the long-anticipated Alberta Election 2023 debate between NDP leader Rachel Notley and UCP leader Danielle Smith.

While the whole thing was interesting (and you can watch a replay here), one moment that particularly stood out to us was an exchange about capping oil and gas emissions.

There’s been a lot of misinformation swirling around Alberta politics in the last few months, and with the election now underway, it’s only ramped up even further.

Perhaps no issue, though, has been as misrepresented as the idea of an Alberta Pension Plan.

As of right now, the UCP says they are still studying the issue, and that any actual implementation of an Alberta Pensions Plan would be conditional on the holding of a referendum after all the research has been done and the reports that have been commissioned have been received and publicised.

The NDP, meanwhile, has completely dismissed the idea entirely, before the research has even been finished, and has spread some pretty crazy ideas around about what a provincial pension plan would mean.