Alberta Minute: Teacher Transparency, Passport Strengthened, and Youth Vaccines Approved

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

This Week In Alberta:

• The Legislature will sit this week on Monday in the afternoon and evening, Tuesday and Wednesday morning, afternoon, and evening, and Thursday morning and afternoon. The first order of business this week will be Bill 78, The Alberta Housing Amendment Act, 2021.
  
  
• In committee news, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts will meet on Tuesday from 8:00 am to 10:00 am to consider the Annual Report of the Ministry of Health for 2020-2021, as well as outstanding Auditor General recommendations. On Thursday, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm the Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund will host the fund’s annual public meeting.
  
  
• COVID vaccinations will be rolled out to 5-11 year old children, with the first doses making their way to Alberta later this week. There are more than 390,000 Alberta children in this age group. Children in this age group will not (yet?) have to show proof of vaccination status to enter a business participating in the vaccine passport program.

Last Week In Alberta:

• The UCP held its Annual General Meeting at the Grey Eagle Resort and Casino outside of Calgary. The meeting was dogged by controversy as both pro- and anti- Jason Kenney camps sought to strengthen their position within the party. A resolution to increase the number of ridings required to initiate an early leadership review from 22 to 29 failed to pass.
  
  
• The province implemented the QR code program for the (not-a-vaccine-passport) vaccine passport. The change means previous provincial immunization records, including those issued at the time of vaccination and saved from MyHealth Records, will no longer count as valid proof for businesses. This should allay the forgery concerns that accompanied the paper record. At least we were given more than 5 days notice this time!

• The provincial government announced legislation that would make teachers' disciplinary records public. Bill 85 (the Students First Act) will allow parents to search an online registry which would show the names of teachers, the type of certificates they hold, and whether any of those certificates have been suspended or cancelled since 1990. The opposition for their part, called the bill a "distraction".

-----

Donate:

The Alberta Institute doesn't accept any government funding and never will. We think you should be free to choose, for yourself, which organizations to support. If you're in a position to contribute financially, you can make a donation here.

-----

Share:

If you're not in a position to donate, we understand, but if you appreciate our work, you can help by spreading our message. Please forward this email to your friends, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and help make sure every Albertan knows what's going on in our province.