Alberta Minute: MLAs Expelled, Judges Vacant, and a Pipeline Dispute Delayed

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

This Week In Alberta:

• The Legislature remains suspended for at least another week, with Government House Leader, Jason Nixon, saying that they will be extending the break until after the long weekend. The earliest the Legislature will now return is 10:00 am on May 25th.
  
  
• Committee meetings are continuing virtually so, on Monday from 10:00 am to 11:00 am there is a meeting of the Select Special Committee on Real Property Rights, to carry on deciding the Committee's mandate and other housekeeping items. On Tuesday from 8:00 am to 10:00 am the Standing Committee on Public Accounts will meet to discuss the Ministry of Community and Social Services' Annual Report and Auditor General Recommendations.
  
  
• The showdown continues between Calgary's Enbridge Inc. and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer over Line 5's crossing over the Great Lakes at the Straits of Mackinac. Although the original deadline for the shutdown was May 12th, the parties will be back in court with a mediator on May 18th. Energy East doesn't seem like such a bad idea now, does it Ontario?

Last Week In Alberta:

• The big news last week was the UCP Caucus voting to expel MLAs Todd Loewen (Central Peace-Notley) and Drew Barnes (Cypress-Medicine Hat) from the UCP Caucus for "dissent". Both MLAs have said they will sit as Independents and consult their constituents on their next steps.
  
  
• The Universities Academics Pension Plan (UAPP) removed some $2.7 billion in assets from the control of the provincial government's Alberta Investment Management Corporation. UAPP Board Chair, Geoffrey Hale, said that AIMCO had addressed some of their concerns the UAPP had brought to them, but that they were not entirely satisfied.
  
  
• Finally, it was revealed that the Alberta government did not participate in the most recent process to request funding for new federally-appointed judges in Alberta. We've got no problem with this - in fact, these judges should be appointed by Alberta, not Ottawa.

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