Alberta Minute: Remembrance Day, Voting Opens, and Serious Incident Delays

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

This Week In Alberta:

• The legislature remains prorogued until November 29th, and there are no Committee meetings scheduled until December. The last time the Legislature sat was May 26th.
  
  
• Advance voting is open in the Brooks-Medicine Hat byelection. Premier Danielle Smith is running to replace MLA Michaela Frey, who had already announced she wasn't running again in next year's election, but stepped aside early for the new Premier. Former Brooks mayor and Alberta Party leader Barry Morishita, NDP candidate Gwendoline Dirk, Bob Blayone of the Alberta Independence Party, and Jeevan Mangat of the Wildrose Independence Party are also running for the seat. Election day is November 8th.
  
  
• Friday is Remembrance Day. To each and every one of our readers who have served in the armed forces, we thank you. Services and ceremonies are taking place throughout the province.

Last Week In Alberta:

• This year’s harvest for Alberta farmers was one of the best. Yields - and prices - were higher than the five-year average. But, this was also one of the most expensive crops farmers have ever grown - prices of feed, fuel, and especially fertilizer, were higher than usual. So, even though farmers are getting paid more, they are also spending more, meaning we're unlikely to see better prices in the grocery store any time soon.
  
  
• The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) finally released the findings - nearly four years later - of an investigation into a 2018 incident. The police oversight body is plagued by delays. Advocates say that waiting so long for information undermines public confidence and the police service itself says that, until details are released, internal reviews and inquiries are also delayed. Perhaps a rename to the Alberta Slow Investigation Reporting Team is in order?
  
  
• The price of oil rose again, to back up over $90/barrel. Unfortunately, the provincial government will still continue to collect a partial gas tax of 4.5c a litre despite the high prices. That's because each quarter's gas tax relief is calculated based on the average price of oil over a month-long period. So, while the tax is supposedly waived when the average oil price exceeds $90/barrel, it will stay at 4.5c until at least January 1st, when a new calculation will have been done.

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