Alberta Minute: Light Rail, Charter Schools, and a Provincial Sales Tax Is Coming

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

This Week In Alberta:

• We hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend, and are enjoying your Thanksgiving Monday, whether it is a holiday for you or not. Government offices are, of course, closed today.
  
  
• This week will be the last week of "summer" break for Alberta's MLAs before the Legislature returns on Tuesday, October 20th - slightly earlier than the originally planned return date of Monday, October 26th.
  
  
• After conducting detailed reviews in recent weeks, the provincial government has identified concerns with both Edmonton's West Valley Line LRT and Calgary's Green Line LRT. Provincial officials will be holding further discussions with both municipalities this week in an attempt to relieve these concerns, but the province has, however, confirmed their funding commitments to both projects.

Last Week In Alberta:

• Alberta's first new Charter School in 13 years has been approved by Alberta's Education Minister. The school will open in September 2021, and provide a K-6 education with a special focus on agriculture and stewardship. Teachers Unions and Public School Board Trustees are, of course, still opposed to giving parents and students more choice.
  
  
• The usual suspects are continuing to apply pressure on the provincial government to implement a Provincial Sales Tax. Perhaps most concerning, however, we're starting to hear rumours that some of the more progressive elements of the UCP caucus are on board too. Albertans voted for lower spending, not higher taxes, at the last election and our MLAs would do well to remember that.
  
  
• Premier Kenney continued his support for a lighter touch on COVID-19 restrictions, repeating Dr. Hinshaw's advice from spring that "we're not gonna enforce our way out of this".

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