Alberta Minute: Official Gemstones, Byelection Results, and a Committee Goes To Edson

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

This Week In Alberta:

• The Legislature will sit for both an afternoon and evening session from Monday through Wednesday this week. On Thursday, there will only be an afternoon sitting. Now that the committee portion of the Estimates Considerations is concluded, MLAs will meet back in the Legislature on Monday night to consider the Main Estimates. This will be a confidence motion for the government.
  
  
• In committees this week, a full meeting schedule continues. On Tuesday at 8:00 am, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts will meet. The main item of business will be the Treasury Board and Finance Annual Report from 2020-21. From 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, the Standing Committee on Private Bills and Private Members’ Public Bills will meet. No agenda was available at the time of writing.
  
  
• On Thursday, the Select Special Information and Privacy Commissioner Search Committee will meet at 9:00 am. No agenda has been posted. On Friday, the Select Special Committee to Examine Safe Supply will meet from 9:00 am to 11:00 am to hear various presentations. Finally, also on Friday, the Committee on Real Property Rights will host a public meeting in Edson from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. This is the first of several meetings around the province that the Committee will hold.

Last Week In Alberta:

• Brian Jean, former Wildrose Party leader, won the byelection in Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche under the UCP banner. The election was triggered by the departure of MLA Laila Goodridge, who was elected to Parliament as an MP for the region. Jean beat NDP candidate Ariana Mancini, who placed second, as well as Wildrose Independence Party leader Paul Hinman, who placed third. There were 8 candidates in total. Brian Jean ran on an explicitly anti-Jason Kenney platform.
  
  
• The provincial government announced plans to add an official gemstone to the Emblems of Alberta Act, and declared ammolite as the choice. Ammolite is the fossilized remains of ammonites, a long-extinct mollusc. We’re not sure why this is a provincial government priority right now, but ok. Stay tuned for next week when we've heard rumours that the provincial government will be announcing Alberta’s official squirrel, official smell, and official forklift model.

• The provincial government introduced legislation that will force drivers to slow down and move over when they encounter snowplows and other worker vehicles on the side of the road, not just emergency vehicles and tow trucks. This will apply to vehicles travelling in all lanes in the same direction as the stopped roadside worker vehicle, and to vehicles travelling in the opposite direction on single-lane highways. The government anticipates enforcement will begin in the spring of 2023.

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