Western Canada: Federal Throne Speech Concerns Running High in Alberta

Good morning. I’m James Keller from Calgary.

The federal government has high expectations for a speech from the throne at the end of this month.

The liberals have promised ambitious plans for an economy designed to “better recover” after the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland have informed them of spending more budget deficits to stimulate growth.

Freeland said the economy that emerges after the current financial crisis must be “green” and “fair.”

All this left the Albertans wondering how the state and its resource-based economy would fit into this new economy. After the oil price plunged six years ago, the state was struggling long before the pandemic, extinguishing the faint light of hope for a possible recovery for the New Year.

Currently, the state’s unemployment rate is the second highest, with the deficit projected to rise to more than $ 20 billion, and there is no clear way to dig through that serious hole.

It’s all anxious, as some states are concerned that the Toronto speech tips are the code for new laws, regulations and policies that disrupt Canada’s oil industry.

Natural Resources Minister Seamus Olegan stepped into that anxiety Tweet earlier this month It said Alberta was about hydrogen, batteries, carbon capture technology and geothermal energy. He responded to the opinion that Alberta is part of a low-carbon economy.

That’s Alberta’s Energy Minister Sonya Savage Respond with her own tweets I said this was all true, but “Alberta is also oil and gas.”

Alberta columnist, Kelly Criderman, this week I’m writing about what the episode says The federal government’s desire to rethink Canada’s economy is the key to increasing tensions between the state and Ottawa.

Alberta’s Conservative Government and Prime Minister Jason Kenny came to power last year in a campaign promising to go to war with the federal government on these issues. The temperature has been a bit cold since then, but the battle is by no means underwater.

Kelly wrote: “It is counterproductive to tell that oil is not a big issue for a country’s export-focused economy, and the Commonwealth Liberal Party can balance the environment and the economy, or reach out better. I’m not sure. To Alberta, as they had long promised. “

This is a weekly newsletter from Western Canada written by BC Editor. Wendy Cox And Director Alberta James Keller.. If you’re reading this on the web, or if it’s forwarded by someone else, you can subscribe to it and subscribe to all Globe newsletters. here.. Please let us know as this is a new project and we will be experimenting in the future. what you think..

Around the west

Allegations of racism: The Royal British Columbia Museum and Archives has hired a third-party investigator and dispatched a consultant, including diversity. Prominent indigenous staff resignsQuoting racism and toxic workplaces. Lucy Bell, Haida, head of the Indigenous Peoples Department and the Repatriation Program, resigned in July. In a farewell speech to a colleague that month, she called for a zero-tolerance policy on racism at a Victoria-based museum, and staff and executives cite examples of racist behavior she received and witnessed. I called to.

Watching the live stream of Mr. Bell’s speech from home, Chairman Dan Musica said she was disappointed and saddened by her remarks, and this was the first time she had heard the allegations. He says he immediately mobilized the board. The speech was given on Friday. The plan was in progress by Monday.

Discussion on police defense: The Minister of Justice of Alberta has warned Mayors Edmonton and Calgary not to cut law enforcement budgets, suggesting that pursuing such a strategy could jeopardize state financing. Casey Madu, Canada’s first black justice minister last month, admitted that there were legitimate complaints about police violence, racism and surveillance. But he said These problems cannot be solved by calling for police to cut back on funds..

Edmonton recently reduced its planned police budget increase by $ 11 million and directed the money to areas that could reduce demand for police stations, such as police and housing. In Calgary, the city council held a hearing on systemic racism in the summer and was interviewed by the city’s police chief on Thursday. Police Commissioners spend part of their police budget on mental health and often the addiction that underlies emergency calls.

Medical decision: British Columbia Supreme Court judges uphold important provisions in the state’s public health system, with critics Two-layer medical system By granting access to treatment based on the ability to pay instead of medical needs. Judge John Steves said in a 880-page ruling released Thursday that the provisions of British Columbia’s Medicare Protection Act were challenged, so he was private when he was waiting too long in public sector. He wrote that he did not violate the charter of patients who wanted to pay for medical expenses.

The rest of the women not found: The RCMP says the body of a woman, who was reported to have gone missing two months ago, was found in southern Manitoba. 36-year-old Tamara (Norman) Benoit Ruins Discovered in the municipality of Portage La Prairie on September 3rd. Mountainous areas say her death is being investigated as a murder.

Special support student: Chantel Sherwood said last week that the night before face-to-face lessons began, he learned that his son with severe autism would have an educational assistant part of the day. His school’s sensory room, where comfortable items are installed, was closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. “Sidelining special needs students has been something the government and the board have done forever, but COVID-19 only makes that gap even clearer,” she said.

family Alberta All over the country, we are under pressure to educate our children and decide whether to send them to school, and in some cases, information about what the year will be is incomplete. Once decided, it can be locked in for months or more before you can switch from face-to-face learning to online classes, for example.

Award-winning work: According to Dr. Brian Kwon’s study of spinal cord injury, he $ 1 million prize From the Craig H. Nielsen Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports people with such injuries. The Vancouver General Hospital Orthopedic Spine Surgeon is the only Canadian among the three winners nominated Thursday as the first recipients of the Foundation’s new Visionary Awards.

Manitoba’s first school-related COVID-19 case: Students in Manitoba tested positive for COVID-19 for the first time since school reopened, but other students and staff do not need to be self-isolated, the state health official said Thursday. Said. of Unidentified 7th grade at Churchill High School in Winnipeg Lucin said he had been tested for COVID-19 by the first day of Tuesday, even if he had no symptoms. Lucin added that the student quit school when the student’s test results returned positive early Tuesday afternoon. The school is clean, but the class continues as long as the students wear masks while at school and maintain physical distance. Other students are told to self-monitor their symptoms, but they do not need to be self-isolated.

Happy News of J-POD ORCAS: An endangered female killer whale, who once kept her dead calf for more than two weeks, has recently become a mother again. Two years ago, Tahlequah, also known as the J35, gained worldwide attention. A 20-year-old marine mammal pushed a dead newborn around the Pacific Ocean for 17 days, recording the longest recorded mourning among southern murderers. But A once screaming killer whale was swimming with a very small new calf On Saturday, the US-based Group Pacific Whale Watch Association and the Whale Research Center described the newborn as “healthy and precocious.”

opinion

Andrew coin on Medicare ruling: “Relieving this problem actually suggests that the conflict between individual rights and the majority of interests is more pronounced than it really is. Usage fees and private insurance are the answer to waiting times. It may not be, but it is not impossible to reform the system to make more efficient use of resources without compromising the universal principle of public funding. “

Adrian Tanner on Tent city: “The federal government is far less likely to vote for Vancouver’s most vulnerable people facing it, so it’s completely unsuccessful when it comes to support. It sounds like a ruthless political calculation, and I think it I want to think that is not true, but it is difficult to interpret that Ottawa does not want to argue in any other way. “

Gary Mason on Possibility of BC elections this fall: “The bigger concern is calling elections in states on the cliffs of another outbreak of the virus, which can have serious implications not only for the general health of the population but also for the economy.”

Editorial Board of The Globe and Mail on Why pandemics shouldn’t upset future transportation plans: “Some jurisdictions are looking ahead. British Columbia Announced this month The builder of Vancouver’s Broadway subway. The $ 1.7 billion project is scheduled to begin in 2025, as previously planned. In Ontario, the state government enacted legislation in July, Housing density around the new station, Including the Ontario Line subway. But in Alberta, the state government Dating $ 4.9 Billion Long-Term Promised Funds Calgary Green Line LRT, Approved in June. “

Mark Tindal on Canada’s Overdose Crisis Correction: “Our approach to drug use and addiction is completely the opposite. We continue to prioritize abstinence-based programming so that the most vulnerable people understand it for themselves. We” recover “. It sounds like anyone who defends what is called and has the abstinence and support to overcome addiction can achieve that, but 16,000 Canadian friends who have died of drug addiction in the last five years. And tell your family about it. “