Alberta Minute: Committees, Courts, and Gas

Alberta Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Alberta politics.

This Week In Alberta:

• The Legislature's various Committees start meeting again this week, with a Standing Committee on Resource Stewardship meeting on Monday, including a review of the Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act.
  
  
• The Standing Committee on Alberta's Economic Future will meet on Tuesday, and will include a briefing from the Property Rights Advocate Office.
  
  
• BC's case against Alberta's Bill 12 (the so-called Turn Off The Taps law) will go to Federal Court after Alberta's Superior Court refused to hear the case, deeming it clearly a federal matter. This was expected, and the Federal court was always going to be where the real fight will happen.

Last Week In Alberta:

• Some natural gas producers are calling for limits on gas production in an attempt to raise chronically low gas prices. As with the recent oil curtailment, some in the industry would like to see the government get involved to force the issue, while others would prefer to retain a free market system. A "compromise" has apparently been reached, that involves "voluntary" curtailments, but this whole episode shows just how problematic government intervention can be, as it creates more and more problems requiring more and more intervention over time.
  
  
• Bill 2 (An Act to Make Alberta Open for Business), Bill 8 (Education Amendment Act), Bill 12 (Royalty Guarantee Act), and Bill 13 (Alberta Senate Election Act) all received Royal Assent on July 18th, and are now law.

• Finally, in more court news, the Court of Queen's Bench ruled that Alberta's Mental Health Act is unconstitutional after a man was detailed against his will for 9 months - the court gave the provincial government a year to fix the law, so expect to see some legislation on this issue coming forward soon.

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