Author: Dave Cournoyer

Danielle Smith’s UCP comes down hard on Alberta’s municipalities

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date May 3, 2024

Changes will send chills through municipal councils and create a lot of grief for MLAs

One of my goals when I moved Daveberta over to this Substack newsletter in 2022 was to take a different approach to writing about Alberta politics. For 17 years I published, sometimes, almost daily commentary on Alberta politics. Now, being on this site gives me a chance to take a breath, observe, and not feel like I need to rush analysis of what’s happening on our province’s political scene.

With that in mind, it has been very interesting to watch over the past week how Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party government has unrolled its suite of changes to municipal governance and local election laws, and responded to the loud backlash from municipal leaders.

The UCP has spent a lot of political capital and government resources in its ongoing jurisdictional fights with the federal Liberal government in Ottawa, but Smith’s sovereignty agenda isn’t limited to challenging the powers of the federal government. This week’s Bill 20, Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act and last month’s Bill 18, Provincial Priorities Act are aimed at removing decision making powers from Alberta’s locally elected leaders and increasing the powers of the provincial government.

The drastic changes to the Local Authorities Election Act and the Municipal Government Act introduced by Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver gives the provincial government sweeping powers to overturn municipal bylaws and increased powers to remove locally elected municipal mayors, councillors, and school board trustees.

Changes also include legalizing corporate and union donations to municipal candidates and introducing a formal structure for political parties in municipal elections in Calgary and Edmonton.

It’s hard to imagine how most of these changes would improve municipal government or municipal elections, or that there is even broad support for some of these changes (there isn’t).

Read the rest on the Daveberta Substack.

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Tags 2024 Alberta NDP Leadership Race, Alberta Federal Candidate Nomination Update, Alberta NDP, Ali Haymour, Amarjeet Sohi, Bill 18: Provincial Priorities Act, Bill 20: Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, Brad Fadeyiw, Calgary McKnight, Calgary Signal Hill, Calgary-Skyview, Civic Government Association, Conservative Party of Canada, Cynthia Moore, Danielle Larivee, Danielle Smith, Dave Yager, Daveberta Substack, Delilah Miller, Demetrios Nicolaides, Edmonton Centre, Edmonton Voters Association, Edmonton-Riverbend, Erin Rutherford, Gary Davidson, George Chahal, Gil McGowan, Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, Jennifer Johnson, Jeremy Nixon, Jim Lightbody, Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse, Jon Dziadyk, Jyoti Gondek, Kathleen Ganley, Ken Johnston, Kyle Kasawski, Lacombe-Ponoka, Leela Aheer, Leslie Church, Malik Ashraf, Michael Janz, Michael Kim, Mike Nickel, Naheed Nenshi, Nathan Neudord, North Vancouver, Pamela Davidson, Paul McLauchlin, Rachel Notley, Randy Boissonnault, Red Deer-South, Ric McIver, Sarah Hoffman, Sherwood Park, Stephen Curran, Susan Cake, Take Back Alberta, Tanya Thorn, Toronto-St. Paul's, Tricia Velthuizen, United Conservative Party, Urban Reform Group Edmonton

Daveberta Podcast

Why Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse is running for the Alberta NDP leadership

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date May 1, 2024

Alberta NDP leadership candidate Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse (source: Facebook)

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Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse joins the Daveberta Podcast to share why she is running to succeed Rachel Notley as leader of Alberta’s NDP and why she feels so passionately about protecting and conserving Alberta’s headwaters, strengthening childhood education, and defeating Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party in the next election.

The Daveberta Podcast is hosted by Dave Cournoyer and produced by Adam Rozenhart. This episode was recorded on April 29, 2024 in comfort of the fully furnished bank vault podcast studio in the basement of the Homestead building in downtown Edmonton.

The full interview with Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse is available to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack

New and recent episodes of the podcast are available to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack. Sign up for an annual or monthly subscription to listen to the whole episode.

Tags 2024 Alberta NDP Leadership Race, Adam Rozenhart, Alberta NDP, Alberta Podcast, Alberta Politics Podcasst, Danielle Smith, Dave Cournoyer, Daveberta Podcast, Daveberta Substack, Edmonton-Rutherford, Gil McGowan, Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse, Kathleen Ganley, Michel First Nation, Naheed Nenshi, Rachel Notley, Richard Feehan, Sarah Hoffman, United Conservative Party

Alberta Politics

Danielle Smith’s Fundraising Machine

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date April 20, 2024

Premier Danielle Smith at the United Conservative Party's leader's dinner in Edmonton (source: Danielle Smith / Facebook)

A special weekend episode of the Daveberta Podcast

It’s rare that I send out a newsletter on the weekend but I thought subscribers would enjoy listening to a new episode of the Daveberta Podcast we recorded this week.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode of the Daveberta Podcast, including:

Premier Danielle Smith’s recent packed leader’s dinner fundraisers in Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer and Bonnyville.
how the Alberta NDP leadership candidates are leaning into digital advertising on the Meta platform and what this might say about their campaigns.
how federal boundary changes are impacting the electoral map in south east Edmonton (I’m calling it the Mill Woods Shuffle) and former Progressive Conservative MLA Naresh Bhardwaj’s campaign for the Conservative nomination in the new Edmonton-Southeast riding (I’ve updated the list).
how electoral boundary commissions work in Alberta (one of my favourite topics).

The full episode of this Daveberta Podcast is available to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack.

Alberta Politics

Alberta First in Red Tape

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date April 11, 2024

Government House with a repossession notice attached on April 1, 2024 (source: michaeljanz.ca)

“FINAL NOTICE. PROPERTY REPOSSESSED FOR SALE (Effective April 1st, 2024).”

Anyone walking by Government House in Edmonton’s posh Glenora neighbourhood on April 1 might have noticed a white paper sign attached to the grand mansion-turned provincial government conference facility.

The sign was put there by Edmonton City Councillor Michael Janz, and as far as April Fools’ Day jokes by politicians go, it was pretty good – and it made a good point.

The Government of Alberta currently owes the City of Edmonton around $60 million in unpaid property taxes that have accumulated since 2019. That’s a point that Janz first wrote about in a December 2023 op-ed in the Edmonton Journal and that Mayor Amarjeet Sohi raised in a public letter to Premier Danielle Smith this week.

Alberta Politics Daveberta Podcast

Why Naheed Nenshi is running for the Alberta NDP leadership

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date March 27, 2024

Naheed Nenshi speaks to supporters in Calgary on the day he launched his campaign (source: Naheed Nenshi / Facebook)

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Nenshi shares his thoughts on Rakhi Pancholi’s endorsement and what it means to be NDP in 2024

He’s a household name in Calgary, Alberta, and across Canada, and now he’s running to become the next leader of the Alberta NDP. Former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi joins the Daveberta Podcast to share why he jumped into the race to replace Rachel Notley.

Since Nenshi entered the race on March 11, the NDP has seen the size of its membership double from around 16,000 to more than 30,000, a factor that likely played a big role in convincing rising political star Rakhi Pancholi to bow out of the race and endorse Nenshi.

“We must move forward to offer a positive alternative to the UCP that Albertans can enthusiastically support in the next election. And I believe that means uniting behind the next leader, Naheed Nenshi,” Pancholi said in her surprise endorsement of the now perceived frontrunner.

In this episode of the Daveberta Podcast, we sit down with Nenshi to discuss Pancholi’s endorsement, what it means to be an Alberta New Democrat in 2024, his time as mayor of Calgary, growing up in Red Deer, empathy in politics and much more.

The Daveberta Podcast is hosted by Dave Cournoyer and produced by Adam Rozenhart. This episode was recorded on March 26, 2024. The Daveberta Podcast was the 2020 winner in the Outstanding News & Current Affairs Series category in the Canadian Podcast Awards.

The full interview with Naheed Nenshi is available to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack.

Tags 2024 Alberta NDP Leadership Race, Alberta NDP, Alberta Podcast, Alberta Politics Podcast, Danielle Smith, Daveberta Podcast, Daveberta Substack, Gil McGowan, Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse, Kathleen Ganley, Naheed Nenshi, Rachel Notley, Rakhi Pancholi, Sarah Hoffman, United Conservative Party

Alberta Politics

What Danielle Smith said she wouldn’t campaign for in the 2023 election

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date March 26, 2024

Minister of Energy and Minerals Brian Jean and Premier Danielle Smith during their trip to Texas last week. (source: Danielle Smith / Facebook)

Smith said she wouldn’t campaign on an Alberta Pension Plan and police force, but it looks like that’s what we’re getting.

I want to focus on the lede from this widely shared Canadian Press story published on March 5, 2023:

United Conservative Leader Danielle Smith says she won’t be campaigning on some of her party’s more contentious ideas — sovereignty legislation, a provincial police force and an Alberta pension plan — ahead of the May 29 election.

The reason why this story is notable is because of how much of the re-elected UCP’s political agenda today focuses on those three things Smith specifically didn’t want to talk about during the campaign.

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It’s not unusual for parties that form government to back away from campaign promises or even implement policies they didn’t campaign on at all. But it feels a little more unusual for a party leader to implement policies she said she didn’t want to talk about during a 28-day election campaign that happened less than a year ago.

It was a shameless and cynical move, because despite Smith saying she didn’t want to campaign on those issues during the election, it was clear the UCP was going to move forward on pensions, police and sovereignty if they were re-elected.

Read the rest on the Daveberta Substack.

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Alberta Politics

Here comes Naheed Nenshi

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date March 8, 2024

Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley and former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi during the May 2023 election (source: Rachel Notley / Twitter)

He’s the candidate NDP activists will loathe and NDP voters will love.

The countdown is on.

Former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi is set to enter the Alberta NDP leadership race on Monday, March 11.

Nenshi hasn’t publicly said he’s interested in the race. He’s been busy promoting the novel Denison Avenue by Christina Wong and Daniel Innes on CBC Radio’s Canada Reads 2024 this week. Instead, his intentions are being telegraphed through political back channels.

Nenshi left office in 2021 after 11 years as mayor of Alberta’s largest city and barely skipped a beat before jumping back into the punditry that helped vault him into the mayor’s office in the first place. He’s thoughtful, well-spoken, entertaining, and thrives in the political fray. He’s a champion of civic engagement and was named the World’s Best Mayor in 2014.

Read the rest on the Daveberta Substack.

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Tags 2024 Alberta NDP Leadership Race, Alberta Federation of Labour, Alberta NDP, Brian Mason, Danielle Smith, Daveberta Substack, Gil McGowan, Grant Notley, Kathleen Ganley, Naheed Nenshi, Pam Barrett, Rachel Notley, Rakhi Pancholi, Ray Martin, Ross Harvey, Sarah Hoffman, Shane Getson, United Conservative Party

Daveberta Podcast

Why Sarah Hoffman is running for the Alberta NDP leadership

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date March 2, 2024

Edmonton-Glenora MLA Sarah Hoffman launches her campaign for the Alberta NDP leadership (source: Sarah Hoffman / Facebook)

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The former health minister shares her plans for health, climate, and housing

NDP MLA Sarah Hoffman joins the Daveberta Podcast to talk about why she is running for the Alberta NDP leadership and her plans for health care, climate, and housing.

We discuss Hoffman’s experiences as Minister of Health and chair of the Edmonton Public School Board, the NDP’s challenges in rural Alberta, the party’s focus on Calgary and it’s relationship with the federal NDP. We also chat a bit about the possibility of former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi entering the race to replace Rachel Notley.

The Daveberta Podcast is hosted by Dave Cournoyer and produced by Adam Rozenhart. This episode was recorded on March 1, 2024.

New and recent episodes of the podcast are available to paid subscribers of the Daveberta Substack. Sign up for an annual or monthly subscription to listen to the entire episode.

Alberta Politics

How the Heritage Fund was launched

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date February 29, 2024

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith delivers a pre-budget televised address on February 21, 2024 (source: YourAlberta / YouTube)

It was 1975 and Lougheed’s PCs were swimming in oil money like Scrooge McDuck

The Heritage Savings Trust Fund was front and centre in Premier Danielle Smith‘s pre-budget televised speech last week, so there’s a good chance Albertans are going to hear a lot about it when Finance Minister Nate Horner rises in the Legislative Assembly this afternoon to table the provincial government’s annual budget.

In her 8-minute address to Albertans, Smith said she wants to funnel oil and gas royalty revenues into the Heritage Savings Trust Fund to increase it to between $250 and $400 billion by 2050. A report to the Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund reported the fund had a market value of $21.6 billion in 2023.

Many Albertans know the patriotic version of the Heritage Savings Trust Fund story – a visionary rainy day bank account created in the 1970s by former premier Peter Lougheed meant to preserve Alberta’s oil wealth for future generations. But like many political stories that reach legendary status it is missing a lot of relevant historical context.

Alberta Politics

Alberta NDP leadership candidates consider splitting from the federal NDP

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date February 21, 2024

NDP leadership Rakhi Pancholi (photo source: Rakhi Pancholi / Facebook)

NDP members should remember there is no easy fix. Just ask the Alberta Liberals.

“This action reflects the isolationist politics of Alberta, but more importantly it is the result of the deep, deep malaise at the top end of the federal party. There is the little Toronto power group which throws the ball back and fourth to each other – they feed off each other.”

That was a quote from an Alberta Liberal activist attending the party’s convention in Calgary where members of the seatless party voted two-to-one to break ties and declare provincial independence from the Liberal Party of Canada led by Prime Minister Trudeau.

That was in February 1977.

Fast forward to today and, although the circumstances are different, you might hear something similar come from the mouth of an Alberta NDP member when talking about the provincial party’s relationship with the federal NDP in Ottawa.

Alberta Politics

Danielle Smith’s transgender youth policy isn’t really about parental rights

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date February 9, 2024

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (source: Government of Alberta / Flickr)

“Parental rights” has a long history in Alberta and it’s not what it sounds like

When you write about politics for long enough you begin to notice certain themes and issues that pop up perennially year to year.

So when Premier Danielle Smith’s office released a 7-minute video last week laden with messages about parental rights, my mind immediately wandered back to the first time I heard that term in 2006.

Those were heady days to be a political writer in Alberta. The Ralph Klein era was coming to an end and there was a whiff of change in the air.

From the Progressive Conservative backbenches came a private members’ bill that, under the guise of parents rights, would force schools to notify parents anytime school material included a mention of same-sex marriage and that no student be required to attend or teacher be required to teach that part of the course. This was less than one year after same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada.

Read the rest on the Daveberta Substack.

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Tags 2024 Alberta NDP Leadership Race, Alberta Medical Association, Alberta NDP, Alberta Office in Ottawa, Alberta Pro-Life Political Association, Alberta Teachers' Association, Alex Puddifant, Alison Redford, Brian Mason, Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Danielle Smith, Daveberta Substack, Eric Bouchard, Feo Snagovsky, Gay-Straight Alliances, Irfan Sabir, Jeff Gunnarson, Jim Prentice, John Carpenter, Jonathan Teghtmeyer, Justin Trudeau, Kathleen Ganley, Libertas Alberta, Lindsay Blackett, Naheed Nenshi, Raj Pannu, Rakhi Pancholi, Ralph Klein, Richard Dur, Sarah Hoffman, Shane Getson, Shannon Phillips, Sing for Love 2024, Take Back Alberta, Tanner Hnidey, Ted Morton, Transgender Rights in Alberta, Tucker Carlson, United Conservative Party

Alberta Politics

Alberta NDP announces pre-Calgary Stampede leadership vote

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date January 30, 2024

Edmonton-Glenora MLA Sarah Hoffman resigned as the party’s deputy leader and is expected to join the race to replace Rachel Notley as leader of the Alberta NDP (source: Sarah Hoffman / Facebook)

Race to replace Rachel Notley starts on Feb. 5, new leader to be named on June 22. Yahoo!

If you had told me ten years ago, on January 30, 2014, that the perceived frontrunners for the Alberta NDP leadership race in 2024 would be the MLAs for Calgary-Mountain View, Edmonton-Glenora and Edmonton-Whitemud, I probably would have laughed. Ten years ago today, Rachel Notley was nine months away from becoming NDP leader and none of these ridings would have even been on that party’s radar as winnable at that point.

Probably the most believable prediction from a decade ago might have been that then-Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith would be Premier in 2024, but there’s no way anyone back then could have predicted her path to the Premier’s Office today.

Alberta Politics

10 things I’m watching in Alberta politics in 2024

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date January 22, 2024

Premier Danielle Smith (centre) at a November 27, 2023 press conference with Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz (left) and Minister of Affordability and Utilities Nathan Neudorf (right). (source: Alberta Newsroom / Flickr)

From the price of oil to the influence of right-wing populist groups to the NDP leadership race and more

January is usually a quiet month in politics, making it a good time to look ahead at what to expect in the year to come. Here are ten things I will be watching that could have a big impact on Alberta politics in 2024:

1. Price of oil

Alberta is probably the only province where the international price of oil is at the top of the Premier’s daily briefing notes. The price of oil not only has a big impact on a lot of Albertans’ jobs, but also the provincial government’s revenue stream.

Relying heavily on the price of oil to pay for the day to day operations of public services, the Alberta government’s 2023/2024 budget projected as much as 25 percent of its revenue will come from oil and gas royalties.

“If we go into this coming fiscal year starting April 1 with $72 per barrel, that might put the government into a situation where they either have to revise their spending plans or face a modest deficit,” University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe told CBC.

In Alberta, governments live and die by the price of oil.

2. Influence of right-wing populist and separatist groups

Without a doubt the influence of populist and separatist groups has grown in Alberta politics in recent years. Nowhere is this more pronounced than inside the governing United Conservative Party since Danielle Smith became Premier in October 2022 after riding the wave of populist discontent that pushed out former premier Jason Kenney.

In the closing months of 2023, newly elected UCP President Rob Smith spent nearly two hours on a livestream hosted by Alberta Prosperity Project CEO Chris Scott and past Independence Party of Alberta candidate Kerry Lambert.

The APP has advocated for the creation of a Republic of Alberta and is currently calling for a referendum on Alberta’s independence from Canada. Scott gained notoriety in conservative circles during the COVID-19 pandemic when his restaurant in the central Alberta hamlet of Mirror remained open in contravention of public health rules.

Also, in the final days of 2023, the UCP highlighted an endorsement from University of Calgary professor Barry Cooper in its year-end fundraising pitch on social media. Cooper has compared Alberta to pre-revolutionary colonial America in 1775 and has called for a referendum on separation from Canada. He is also a co-founder of the Free Alberta Strategy, an autonomist documentchampioned by Premier Smith’s Chief of Staff Rob Anderson.

And, on January 24, Smith will host and interview American media personality and conspiracy theorist Tucker Carlson at an event in Calgary that has been promoted by the APP and other influential right-wing groups like Alberta Proud, and Take Back Alberta (which is reported to be under investigation by Elections Alberta).

3. The race to replace Rachel Notley

It is hard to imagine the modern Alberta NDP without Rachel Notley, but she announced last week that she will not lead the NDP into the 2027 election and will step down as leader when her successor is chosen, likely later this year.

The leadership race jockeying has already begun, with at least five MLAs sending signals that they plan to run: Calgary-Mountain View MLA Kathleen Ganley, Edmonton-Glenora MLA Sarah Hoffman, Edmonton-Whitemud MLA Rakhi Pancholi, Edmonton-City Centre MLA David Shepherd, and Edmonton-Rutherford MLA Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse.

The NDP Provincial Council will meet on January 27 to discuss timelines and rules for the leadership race. The winner of the race will lead the 38-MLA NDP Caucus into 2025 and the party into the 2027 provincial election.

I am planning to write a lot more about this leadership race in the weeks and months to come.

Read the rest on the Daveberta Substack.

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Tags 2024 Alberta NDP Leadership Race, Alberta Federal Candidate Nomination Update, Alberta NDP, Alberta Prosperity Project, Alberta Proud, Barry Cooper, Calgary Signal Hill, Calgary-Mountain View, Chris Scott, Danielle Smith, Daveberta Substack, David MacKenzie, David Shepherd, Dean Mikalauskas, Edmonton-Centre, Edmonton-City Centre, Edmonton-Decore, Edmonton-Glenora, Edmonton-Rutherford, Edmonton-Whitemud, Free Alberta Strategy, International Price of Oil, James Cumming, Jason Kenney, Jeremy Nixon, Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse, Kathleen Ganley, Kelly Hopper, Kerry Lambert, Leela Aheer, Michael Kim, Rachel Notley, Rakhi Pancholi, Randy Boissonnault, Rob Anderson, Sarah Hoffman, Sayid Ahmed, Take Back Alberta, Trevor Tombe, Tucker Carlson, United Conservative Party, University of Calgary, Wyatt Claypool

Alberta Politics

Rachel Notley made the NDP relevant in Alberta

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date January 16, 2024

Rachel Notley (centre), with her husband, Lou Arab (left), and daughter Sophie (right), announces she will not lead the Alberta NDP into the next election. Notley leads the 38 MLA Official Opposition in the Legislature. (source: Rachel Notley / Facebook)

Notley announces she won’t lead the NDP into the next election, kicking off a leadership race

It’s the end of an era in Alberta politics. Former premier Rachel Notley announced today that she will not lead the Alberta NDP into the next election.

Alberta politics hasn’t been the same since Notley won the leadership of the NDP almost ten years ago.

When the 3,589 votes were counted on October 18, 2014, Notley won 70 percent of the vote and assumed the leadership of a party that was in fourth place with 4 MLAs and hadn’t won a seat outside of Edmonton in 25 years.

That all changed in Spring 2015, when Notley and her NDP slayed the 44-year old Progressive Conservative dynasty and shattered the mould of Alberta politics.

Tags 2024 Alberta NDP Leadership Race, Alberta NDP, Danielle Smith, Daveberta Substack, Kathleen Ganley, Rachel Notley, Rakhi Pancholi, Sarah Hoffman, United Conservative Party

Alberta Politics

Janis Irwin voted Best Alberta MLA for fourth year in a row

Post author By Dave Cournoyer
Post date December 20, 2023

Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood MLA Janis Irwin, voted the Best Alberta MLA of 2023 (photo source: Janis Irwin / Facebook)

Advanced Education minister Rajan Sawhney voted best cabinet minister

With thousands of submissions and votes cast over the past two weeks, the winners of the Best of Alberta Politics 2023 Survey have been selected.

Best Alberta MLA: Janis Irwin

Always a fan favourite, for the fourth year in a row Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood MLA Janis Irwin has been voted the Best Alberta MLA.

A savvy communicator, Irwin (and her internet famous cat, Oregano) has a huge social media following and is widely considered one of the hardest working constituency MLAs in the province.

Her reputation has led to invites to speak at NDP conventions across the country, including at the recent federal NDP convention in Hamilton and the BC NDP convention in Victoria.

After Irwin was re-elected to a second term last May, she took on a new role as housing critic in the expanded 38-MLA official opposition caucus, which has placed her on the forefront of one of the biggest political issues of the year.

“Across the province, I hear from single parents, young professionals, seniors, students and dual-income families who are struggling to afford 20, 30, even 50 per cent increases to their rent,” Irwin recently wrote in the Calgary Herald.

Responding to the huge spike in rental costs in Alberta, she introduced Bill 205: Housing Statutes (Housing Security) Amendment Act, 2023, which would establish a two-year temporary rental cap at 2 per cent, followed by a two-year rental cap tied to inflation, and increase reporting requirements to ensure the government is meeting its intended housing targets.

“Everyone deserves a place to call home,” Irwin said at the press conference announcing the private member’s bill. “However, many Albertans are experiencing the impacts of the housing crisis, reflected in the steep increases to rental costs across the province.”

Just this past week she walked the talk on housing when she spoke compassionately against the Edmonton Police Service’s plans to forcibly decamp hundreds of Edmontonians just days before Christmas in what is likely the city’s largest encampment sweep ever. Many of the people who live in those camps are constituents in the inner city riding she represents.

“The UCP government must be able to guarantee a safe place for every person impacted before police take action,” Irwin said. “We must stop criminalizing poverty as a province and a community. We can’t enforce our way out of the housing crisis.”

Thank you.

1. Price of oil

2. Influence of right-wing populist and separatist groups

3. The race to replace Rachel Notley

Advanced Education minister Rajan Sawhney voted best cabinet minister

Best Alberta MLA: Janis Irwin

Best Alberta Cabinet Minister: Rajan Sawhney