Alberta Minute: Property Taxes, Ottawa Decides Alberta's Future, And Constitutional Rights

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

This Week In Alberta:

• Bill 5 (Supplementary Supply), Bill 8 (Education), Bill 9 (Public Sector Wage Arbitration Deferral) and Bill 10 (Alberta Personal Income Tax) are all at Second Reading.
  
  
• Bill 7 (Municipal Government Property Tax Incentives) is likely to pass this week and, while lower property taxes are always good, they should be lower for everyone, not just for special interest groups.
  
  
• The future of Alberta's energy industry is at stake in Ottawa, with the federal Parliament debating Bill C-48 (the Oil Tanker Moratorium Bill) today (Monday), announcing their decision on TransMountain on Tuesday, and debating Bill C-69 (the so-called Pipeline Ban) later in the week.

Last Week In Alberta:

• Bill 3 (Job Creation Tax Cut) and Bill 4 (Red Tape Reduction Act) passed the Legislature and are now awaiting royal assent.
  
  
• Bill 9 (the Public Sector Wage Arbitration Deferral Act) was introduced and is designed to delay negotiations with public sectors unions until after the "Blue Ribbon" panel reports back on the province's finances. Unions called the bill a breach of union members' constitutional rights - a bit rich coming from organizations whose entire existence is dependent on breaching Canadian's constitutional right to freedom of association.

• The Government also announced it will "review" the previous government's decision to socialize driver testing. We're not sure why they need to waste time with a review, the change was a complete disaster and should be reversed asap.

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