Alberta Minute: Record Deficits, Oil Curtailments, and a Calgary Airport Trial

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

This Week In Alberta:

• The Alberta Legislature has released an updated Order Paper detailing plans for this week's sitting. Private Members Bill 204 (the Voluntary Blood Donations Repeal Act) is currently before the Committee of the Whole and should be debated further.
  
  
• Bill 35 (Tax Statutes Amendment Act, 2020), Bill 36 (Geothermal Resource Development Act), Bill 37 (Builders' Lien Amendment Act), Bill 38 (Justice Statutes Amendment Act), and Bill 40 (Forests Amendment Act) are all currently in Second Reading.
  
  
• Still to be introduced are Bill 39 (Child Care Licensing (Early Learning and Child Care) Amendment Act), Bill 205 (Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month Act), and Bill 206 (Property Rights Statutes Amendment Act).

Last Week In Alberta:

• We're Number One! We're Number One!... But not in a good way... The IMF's semi-annual Fiscal Monitor report shows Canada is running the largest deficit of all countries - advanced, emerging, and developing - at 19.9% of GDP.  We're also "winning" at spending too, spending 57.3% of GDP, more than Sweden, Germany, and the EU average.
  
  
• The Alberta government is finally ending its oil-curtailment policy. While the government still refuses to acknowledge the harm these production limits caused to Alberta producers, they are now claiming that the removal of the restrictions will be a good thing - so that's something.
  
  
• In COVID news, it was announced that Calgary Airport will play host to a trial program that would see quarantine for international travellers drop to just a couple of days, if a test on arrival is negative and they promise to take a second test after 6 or 7 days. Meanwhile, Alberta's Minister of Municipal Affairs, Tracey Allard, tested positive for COVID and Premier Jason Kenney, as a close contact of hers, has tested negative but is isolating for 14 days as a result.

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