Alberta Minute: School Choice, Pandemic Review, and Fair Deal Promptness

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

This Week In Alberta:

• The Legislature is now back to a more normal Monday to Thursday sitting schedule, with a revised session that will run until late July.
  
  
• Bill 17 (the Mental Health Amendment Act), Bill 18 (the Corrections (Alberta Parole Board) Amendment Act), Bill 19 (the Tobacco and Smoking Reduction Amendment Act), and Bill 20 (the Real Estate Amendment Act) will be introduced this week.
  
  
• Bill 2 (the Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Amendment Act), Bill 4 (the Fiscal Planning and Transparency (Fixed Budget Period) Amendment Act), Bill 7 (the Responsible Energy Development Amendment Act), Bill 15 (the Choice in Education Act, 2020), and Bill 16 (the Victims of Crime (Strengthening Public Safety) Amendment Act) are all currently at Second Reading.

Last Week In Alberta:

• Premier Kenney announced that the Fair Deal Panel Report will be released June 15, as soon as the province's state of emergency ends. This is a big win for the Alberta Institue's Project Confederation as they have been pushing hard for the report's release after the Premier indicated the release could be delayed by several months.
  
  
• Alberta's Auditor General announced that he will review the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic with his initial findings to be submitted in the fall. Let's hope that the review will include the financial costs to Albertans of lockdown policies and not just a technical analysis of the health care response.
  
  
• The government announced that more school choice is coming to the province, with an opening up of the application process for new charter schools and unfunded homeschooling. This is excellent news. Studies show that choice in education improves outcomes for students - particularly those from more disadvantaged backgrounds.

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