Here’s your chance to tell the Alberta Government how you want the land in the Athabasca oil and gas region to be developed.
Right now they’re proposing a vague figure of 20 percent conservation. That really means 80 percent development! Is that what you want? Whether your answer is yes, or no, this is your chance to tell them!
Alberta Liberal environment critic Laurie Blakeman discusses the Official Opposition’s new environment policy. Clip courtesy CBC’s Provincial Affairs.
Alberta Liberal MLA Kent Hehr asks Alberta’s Minister of Sustainable Resource Development to list grizzly bears as an endangered species.
Official Opposition Leader David Swann asks the Premier to stop the imminent closure of urban core schools in Edmonton and Calgary, at least until a review can be completed to reconcile contradictory education and municipal policies. For more info, see http://bit.ly/aCuTNu
Official Opposition Leader David Swann asks Premier Ed Stelmach if the MLA pay review committee will have the power to make binding recommendations, and if the scope of the review will include extra pay for backbenchers sitting on cabinet policy committees.
Darshan Kang, Alberta Liberal MLA for Calgary-McCall, delivers his Response to the Throne Speech in English and Punjabi.
Darshan Kang, Alberta Liberal MLA for Calgary-McCall, concludes his Response to the Throne Speech, delivered in Punjabi and English.
Alberta Liberal MLA and Environment critic Laurie Blakeman holds Environment Minister Rob Renner accountable for the Stelmach administration’s poor environmental record.
Official Opposition Leader David Swann asks Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky why Albertans are still facing long wait times for hip and knee surgery, and if the Minister has a plan for fixing health care other than throwing more money at the problem.
Alberta Liberal MLA for Calgary-McCall and Official Opposition Infrastructure/Transportation critic Darshan Kang questions the Stelmach Conservatives’ decision not to fund the Calgary Airport Tunnel, a vital piece of infrastructure for the province.
Alberta Liberal MLA Kent Hehr tries to find out what exactly the Stelmach administration’s new “Political Ministers” do.
Official Opposition Energy critic Dave Taylor tries to get the new Energy Minister to reveal why the Competitiveness Review, much-needed by the oil and gas sector, has been delayed and delayed.
Ever wonder what $14 billion could buy? That’s how much Alberta’s new electricity grid will cost, and the Stelmach administration wants taxpayers to foot the entire bill - even though power companies will reap the profits. Those power companies, by the way, sponsored the recent Progressive Conservative Annual General Meeting…
Official Opposition Energy critic Dave Taylor asks the government why AltaLink has already been given the go-ahead to plan new power lines before Bill 50 has even been debated in the Legislature.
Kent Hehr, Alberta Liberal MLA for Calgary-Buffalo, asks Health Minister Ron Liepert why Albertans who suffer spinal cord injuries must wait longer and longer for rehabilitative care.
David Swann, Leader of the Official Opposition, demands the firing of Health Minister Ron Liepert over his botched H1N1 vaccine rollout.
Dave Taylor, Alberta Liberal critic for Energy, asks why the Stelmach administration is spending taxpayer dollars to promote the massive transmission construction the government wants to impose on Albertans.
Alberta Liberal Health critic Kevin Taft asks Health minister Ron Liepert why the Department of Health paid $135,000 to a company owned by Liepert’s former campaign manager.
When you look at the record of self-described fiscal conservatives, what you see is a long legacy of wild overspending and debt, typically corrected only when more moderate administrations take power. This video raises an important question: why should anyone believe that any politician who calls himself or herself a fiscal conservative will manage taxpayer dollars responsibly? History shows that the opposite is true.
On July 16th, David Swann, Leader of the Official Opposition, chatted with Edmontonians celebrating Capital Ex and even rode down Jasper and past City Hall for the Capital Ex Parade.
In this video from the Alberta Legislature, Minister of Culture and Community Spirit Lindsay Blackett takes a full eight seconds before he can recite Alberta’s new $25 million rebranding slogan. Fortunately, other PC MLAs came to his rescue.
Under direct questioning from Alberta Liberal Leader Dr. David Swann, Culture and Community Spirit Minister Lindsay Blackett admitted that the Stelmach administration will amend the controversial Bill 44, which has a parental opt-out clause that could chill free speech in Alberta’s public schools.
In this video from the Alberta Legislature, Alberta Liberal MLA Kevin Taft asks Health Minister Ron Liepert, “Since when did it become acceptable in Alberta to treat sick and injured children in a tent?”
In this video from the Alberta Legislature, Dr. David Swann, MD, Leader of the Official Opposition, asks Health Minister Ron Liepert why the case of a young Edmonton girl suffering from a serious case of swine flu has been hidden under a veil of secrecy.
In this video from the Alberta Legislature, Alberta Liberal Leader David Swann criticizes the Alberta government’s Bill 44, which if passed will enshrine a parent’s right to pull children from class for religious reasons - a right already covered in the School Act, but which if added to Alberta’s human rights code could lead to widespread abuse, logistical nightmares for teachers, and exposure of teachers to human rights tribunals.
In this video from the Alberta Legislature, Alberta Liberal Deputy Leader Laurie Blakeman calls on the Stelmach administration to protect consumers gouged by Ticketmaster.
In this video from the Alberta Legislature, Alberta Liberal MLA Harry Chase points out that the government’s plan to enshrine parental powers to remove children from classes on religious grounds puts our public school system in peril.
In this video from the Alberta Legislature, Dr. David Swann raises the issue of incredible hospital overcrowding in Alberta and how it hampers Alberta’s ability to deal with pandemics. Premier Ed Stelmach responds with some nostalgia about Alberta’s health care in the 1950s.
In this video from Question Period at the Alberta Legislature, Alberta Liberal MLA Kevin Taft asks the Alberta government why the highly-touted Mazankowski Heart Institute remains unable to treat patients months after the government declared the facility open for business. Health Minister Ron Liepert attempts to dodge the questions.
Alberta Liberal Deputy Leader Laurie Blakeman explains the purpose of her Private Member’s Bill, Bill 204, which will provide Alberta’s cities with a steady stream of revenue for operations.
In this video from the Alberta Legislature, Official Opposition Leader David Swann and Alberta Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald grill the government on outrageously high bonuses - tens of millions of dollars - for senior government officials.
In this video from the Alberta Legislature, David Swann, Leader of the Official Opposition and a medical doctor, asks why the government hasn’t implemented the Calgary health region’s innovative ban on trans-fats provincewide instead of letting the idea fade away with the dissolution of Alberta’s separate health regions.
In this video from the Alberta Legislature, David Swann, Leader of the Official Opposition, demands that the government monitor industry compliance with environmental protection laws, and asks why the government failed to properly notify the public that the Athabasca River had been contaminated with human waste.
In this video from the Alberta Legislature, Alberta Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald asks the government to refer Bill 19 to committee so that the concerns of affected landowners can be properly addressed. Some landowners fear that Bill 19 will prevent them from developing properties they own without compensation.
Supporting Albertans whose lives have been severely impacted by on-the-job farm accidents, Kevin Taft, Alberta Liberal Shadow Agriculture Minister, calls for implementation of Justice Peter Barley’s recommendations to improve farm worker safety in Alberta, including changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Act to cover paid employees on farms.
In this video from the Alberta Legislature, Alberta Liberal MLA Dave Taylor asks the government to cover the cost of the cancer drug Avastin for Albertans needing such treatment. Taylor and the Alberta Liberals have been asking for these costs to be covered for several months, and today the Alberta government has indicated that they will cover Avastin starting April 1, 2009.
In this video from the Alberta Legislature, David Swann, Leader of the Official Opposition, asks the government to explain why the government feels it is necessary to give away billions in additional royalties to Syncrude and Suncor - revenues that belong to Albertans.
In this video from the Alberta Legislature, Alberta Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman asks the government to take action to protect Albertans - ticket buyers, artists and stagehands - from Ticketmaster’s secondary ticket sales scheme, which causes huge price ripoffs on concert tickets and robs arts and culture workers of revenue.
In this Question Period clip from the Alberta Legislature, Alberta Liberal Shadow Energy Minister Kevin Taft asks the government to justify its transfer of $18 billion in oil and gas royalties from the people of Alberta to Syncrude.
Concerned by recent incidents in which tenants were trapped (and sometimes killed) in secondary suites during fires, Alberta Liberal MLA Dave Taylor asks the government to review their legislation to see if secondary suites can be made safer. Video from the Alberta Legislature.
In this video from the Alberta Legislature’s Question Period, Dr. David Swann, Leader of the Official Opposition, calls upon the Alberta government to present a long-term plan to protect Albertans from the boom-and-bust cycle that has caused so much economic strife for Albertans.
Alberta Liberal Shadow Finance Minister Dave Taylor reacts to the news that Alberta will return to deficit spending - and offers some suggestions for a new slogan to replace the “Alberta Advantage.”
Alberta Liberal MLAs Kevin Taft, Kent Hehr and Hugh MacDonald ask tough questions on last year’s mishandled provincial election - questions the government clearly doesn’t want to answer.
Source: Alberta Legislature video feed
Asking his first questions in the Legislature as Leader of the Official Opposition, Dr. Swann holds the government to account on the economy and health care.
On October, 28, Harry Chase, Alberta Liberal MLA for Calgary-Varsity, spoke out passionately on behalf of Albertans with special needs and the caregivers who work so hard on their behalf, for so little monetary reward.
Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft reacts to the Auditor General’s revelation that lax computer security puts medical records and driver’s licence information at risk. He also comments on the Auditor General’s criticism of the government’s climate change plan and compensation of the CEOs of public agencies.
Shadow Finance Minister Laurie Blakeman calls on the government to save more of its windfall revenues and stop using unbudgeted surpluses as slush funds for putting out political fires.
Being Leader of the Official Opposition isn’t always about debating in the Legislature or coming up with new policies to help Alberta; sometimes, you get a chance to relax. On July 17, Kevin Taft and his wife Jeanette Boman had a blast participating in the annual Capital Ex Parade.
Kevin Taft brings forward the concerns of Albertans who feel that the 2008 election was one of the most poorly run in history.
On March 14, 2008, Kevin Taft appeared on CBC Radio One to talk about one of the most important issues of our time: responsible management of the oil sands.
(audio)
Clip courtesy of Provincial Affairs, CBC Radio One
At a speech at Calgary’s Downtown Rotary Club, Kevin Taft describes his vision for Alberta’s future as the heart of a new Western Canadian economic tiger.
Kevin Taft continues to describe how Western Canada could be transformed into a new economic tiger, with Alberta as its heart.
Kevin Taft concludes his remarks, outlining a vision for Alberta and Western Canada as a new economic superpower - a Western Tiger.
Kevin Taft shows that Albertans are ready to act to stop global warming, and that they’re waiting only for a government that will take the lead on this issue.
(audio, 4:25)
Clip courtesy of Provincial Affairs, CBC Radio One