Alberta鈥檚 United Conservative government just wrapped up another busy session of the Legislature, during which we passed many bills and motions important to Albertans. I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of those accomplishments with you.
To ensure we are enhancing public safety across the province, we passed Bill 61: the Vital Statistics Amendment Act. This bill will ban dangerous offenders from being able to change their names and hide in our communities (similar to legislation we passed last session banning sex offenders from doing the same thing). By closing this loophole, we are taking steps to protect Albertans, particularly children, from dangerous people.
We also passed Bill 18: the Corrections (Alberta Parole Board) Amendment Act, to create an Alberta Parole Board that will provide a fairer, faster and more responsible justice system and end the 鈥榬evolving door鈥� that sees repeat offenders, particularly in rural areas, regularly come in and out of our communities. This follows a recommendation from the Fair Deal Panel, which was tasked with consulting Albertans on strategies to secure a fair deal in the Canadian federation and advance our province鈥檚 vital interests.
We passed Bill 52: the Recall Act, to give Albertans a way to remove elected officials they feel are not upholding their responsibilities, and Bill 51: the Citizen Initiative Act, to give Albertans a more direct role in the democratic system by enabling eligible voters to propose legislative, policy or constitutional action on issues that affect them.
And we passed Bill 211: the Municipal Government (Firearms) Amendment Act to act as a firewall against federal legislation that could have given municipalities the ability to create their own firearms laws 鈥� potentially leading to a confusing patchwork of firearms laws across the province. The vast majority of Alberta gun owners are responsible, trained and licensed. These folks are not the problem. This legislation will make it so firearms legislation is under the sole jurisdiction of the province.
Our government is done playing nice with politicians from other provinces who seek to block our energy products from getting to market. That鈥檚 why we passed Bill 72: the Preserving Canada鈥檚 Economic Prosperity Act. This legislation gives our province the authority, if necessary, to restrict the export of crude oil and natural gas from Alberta. This has also come to be known as the 鈥榯urn off the taps鈥� bill.
Our United Conservative government believes Albertans, not Justin Trudeau, should get to decide who represents our province in the Senate. That is why we reinstated Bill 13: the Alberta Senate Election Act. Albertans by and large want and deserve to have a say on who represents them in the Senate. We are going to give them that opportunity in October. We also passed a motion asking Justin Trudeau to delay filling two vacant Senate seats in Alberta until Albertans have had their democratic say in the fall. This was a prime opportunity for the Legislature to stand united, but the Notley NDP, who continues to do Trudeau鈥檚 dirty work for him in our province, voted against.
We also passed a motion establishing the question for the Equalization referendum this fall. The Notley NDP 鈥� who say they鈥檙e 鈥渁gnostic鈥� on Equalization 鈥� voted against this motion as well.
We also established the Select Special Committee on Real Property Rights. This committee will be engaging Albertans across the province soon and submitting a report of recommended changes to the Alberta Legislature. Among other questions, the committee will be seeking to determine whether the legal remedies available to a real property owner who is deprived of the use of their real property are adequate. Whether the real property rights should be expanded, or in the case of an individual, constitutionally protected. And whether the law of adverse possession should be abolished.
These are just some of the highlights of this past session, but so many more good things are happening, including the full reopening of our economy as we get to the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There will always be naysayers 鈥� but economic forecasts show our province leading Canada in economic and job growth this year and next. Alberta is coming back stronger than ever, and it is the honour of a lifetime to be representing you while we do it.
Martin Long, MLA
West Yellowhead
