No zeros, mandatory school fees not subjects for Education Act, MLAs say
November 1, 2012 By
By Sarah O’Donnell, Edmonton Journal October 31, 2012
EDMONTON – Alberta MLAs have rejected attempts to rejig the Progressive Conservatives proposed Education Act to include a ban on mandatory school fees, enshrine a teacher’s right to assign a grade of “zero” or to reference to the province’s human rights laws.
Opposition parties introduced several amendments to Bill 3, the Education Act, during a debate that started Tuesday morning and lasted until about 1 a.m. Wednesday.
The act, which will replace the School Act that has governed Alberta’s K-12 education system for more than two decades, is the third version of the proposed changes to be introduced in the legislature in the last two year.
Wildrose MLA Bruce McAllister proposed the amendment banning mandatory school fees, a move supported by the NDP and Liberals in the legislature.
“I’ve said that September is cheque-tember,” said McAllister, the party’s education critic. “If you have a few kids it does add up. For families, it does make a difference.”
Tory MLAs defeated the proposal, saying that the Education Act was not the right place to address concerns about annual classroom charges.
“I don’t disagree that we need to understand the costs,” Education Minister Jeff Johnson said. “We need to put some fences around these costs. But I don’t agree that we need to take away the local autonomy of the boards and that we can fix it with one fell swoop in legislation. This is something that needs to be dealt with in regulation.”
A Wildrose proposal related to a controversial “no-zero” policy used in some school districts, including some Edmonton public schools, also was rejected by other MLAs Tuesday night. McAllister said it was clear from the outrage over the dismissal of an Edmonton high school physics teacher that parents want teachers to have the right to assign zeros for work that is not submitted.
Johnson said that while he personally doesn’t support the “no-zero” concept, he said it is an issue best considered at the local school and school board level.
“Assessment is not a cut and dried thing, and it’s certainly not something that can be codified in a provincial Education Act and shouldn’t be codified in a provincial Education Act,” Human Services Minister Dave Hancock agreed, speaking against the no-zero amendment.
NDP and Liberal efforts to include a reference to Alberta’s Human Rights Act in the Education Act also failed Tuesday night.
The PCs removed a reference to the human rights legislation in Bill 3, which in previous versions of the Education Act had infuriated some home-school families, who worried that they could be hauled before a human rights commission for views they taught to their children.
Liberal education critic Kent Hehr said he was disappointed, but not surprised, that the Tories refused to return references to human rights legislation.
“I know full well that you’re not going to change what happens in the home, but when you change legislation that gives a wink-wink, nod to certain groups, home-schoolers, other educational boards and the like that the rules don’t apply to you, this bothers me,” Hehr said. “This is what has happened in this case.”
NDP education critic David Eggen expressed concern Wednesday that his amendment to reduce the influence of corporations on schools was defeated. Eggen told reporters the issue is real, referencing Calgary Board of Education plans to introduce corporate sponsor naming inside schools.“Maybe sponsorship is OK for hockey arenas and other things, but not for our schools,” he said. “Everything has a value, but it doesn’t mean everything has to be for sale.”
Eggen also complained about debate on the education legislation occurring during night sittings of the legislature.
“This process of legislating in the dead of night is entirely inappropriate,” he added. “We’re not getting the debate we need on landmark legislation, such as the Alberta education bill. If they expect Albertans to take them seriously then let’s perform legislation in the light of day.”
MLAs did approve one amendment to the Education Act introduced by Wildrose MLA Heather Forsythe that forbids people from doing anything that is “detrimental to the safe operation of a school.” The wording, she said, allows schools to tackle problems ranging from drugs to weapons to bullying.
The Education Act is expected to be voted on for a third, and final time, in coming weeks.
With files from Darcy Henton
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
Premier Redford promises to release results of probe into Katz donations
November 1, 2012 By
By Keith Gerein, Edmonton Journal October 31, 2012
EDMONTON – Premier Alison Redford has vowed to make public the results of an investigation into large donations her party received from Oilers owner Daryl Katz and people connected to him.“We will make whatever information is communicated to our party publicly available as soon as possible,” Redford told the legislature Wednesday in response to a question from NDP Leader Brian Mason.
The transparency of the investigation, being conducted by Elections Alberta, has been a question mark. Chief electoral officer Brian Fjeldheim has said current legislation prevents him from revealing the details of his probes, including the names of any person or institution found guilty of illegal political donations.
A spokesman for Elections Alberta confirmed Thursday the agency must operate under the same parameters for the probe into election donations, meaning only brief, vague details can be shared with the public.
That means it will likely fall to the PC party to release whatever report or directive it receives from Fjeldheim when his investigation concludes.
Deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk joined Redford in confirming the party will do just that.
“We will not object to the releasing of the results,” he said. “We are very supportive of giving the chief electoral officer the ability to release these findings.”
He noted the government plans to introduce new legislation this fall that will compel Fjeldheim’s office to publicize the results of any investigations, though it is unclear if the bill will apply retroactively to events that happened before the bill’s proclamation date.
The PCs’ financial statement from the campaign period last spring shows Katz, three family members, his company and executives with the Katz Group collectively donated $300,000 to the party. Those donations came in $25,000 or $30,000 increments.
However, the Globe and Mail has reported, using an anonymous source, that Katz provided a single $430,000 cheque that was broken into smaller pieces.
Under Alberta’s election finance rules, the maximum that can be donated by a single source is $30,000.
After reviewing opposition complaints about the matter, Elections Alberta announced Wednesday that “sufficient concern” had been raised to warrant an investigation. Much of the probe will likely centre on any cheque, or cheques, the party received from Katz, his family and his associates.
While Redford has said she is confident her party complied with all election finance laws, opposition leaders have said the Tories could end the speculation now by proactively releasing copies of the cheques. The party has declined, citing a policy of not talking about specific donations, though Lukaszuk said Fjeldheim’s office will get full co-operation.
“Whatever he asks for, he will receive,” he said. “Albertans deserve to know and we will comply with any recommendations of that investigation.
“It will clear some air, because a lot of things are being said in the house which would leave Albertans with the impression that there is a lot of wrongdoing,” Lukaszuk added. “A lot of names are being dragged through the mud; now we will have an independent investigation and I think some of the accusers will have an opportunity to apologize.”
Lukaszuk joined other PC politicians in saying he doesn’t know any details of the Katz donations.
“That is absolutely ridiculous. Of course they know,” Mason said. “All they would have to do is pick up the phone (to their party executive) and ask.”
Opposition parties have spent the past week attacking the contributions, noting the Oilers owner has been seeking $100 million for a downtown arena, as well as provincial help to obtain gaming revenue to offset operational costs of the facility.
Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith pursued a different angle Wednesday, pressing Finance Minister Doug Horner for details on any meetings he had with Katz Group representatives to discuss funding or casino rules. She suggested such meetings constitute lobbying, though the Katz Group has not registered any lobbyists on the provincial list in 2011 or 2012.
Horner said he met with the Katz Group on the casino issue two-and-a-half years ago when he was deputy premier. At that time, the company did have a registered lobbyist, Peter Elzinga, who has served as provincial cabinet minister, chief of staff to former premier Ralph Klein, and as president of the PC party.
Horner was more vague about 2012, saying any meetings he had were with people who did not fit the definition of an official lobbyist. Under Alberta rules, anyone who spends more than 100 hours a year lobbying for an organization must register with the province.
“If you’re meeting with a president of a corporation, they don’t necessarily register themselves as a lobbyist because they’re there on behalf of their corporation,” Horner said. “I would also ask, how many people in Edmonton do you think don’t know what Mr. Katz is trying to do?”
Horner said the province has consistently said no to any requests for casino licence changes or arena money, which should remove suspicion that Katz’s donations influenced government policy.
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
PGA welcomes new executive director
November 1, 2012 By
Written by Stan Ashbee
Wednesday, 24 October 2012 18:45
Potatoes of the cooked kind are delicious whether they are roasted and covered in herbs and garlic, deep fried and powdered with salt or in mashed form, slathered in butter. Any way you slice them, potatoes are plentiful and a big part of agricultural business in Alberta and the Potato Growers of Alberta (PGA) represents all the potato growers in the province. The PGA, Taber office, recently hired Helmut Leili, as the association’s new executive director. Leili has been in the new position since Sept. 4 and was previously a consultant in business analysis and market development for fruits and vegetables in Mexico and Vancouver.
“Consulting is a business that you might work for three months and then you might be looking for work for four months, so its not steady, and when you’re involved with customers you really don’t see the end result. So this job came up and it was an opportunity to finally work with a group where I could also see the end results, and what we’re trying to achieve, and it brought me back to Canada,” said Leili.
According to Leili, there are three groups within the potato growers of Alberta that the PGA represents.
The first group are the potato growers that grow for the processing industry which is chips and french fries. Leili said that a lot of the fries a fast food customer would purchase at McDonald’s or Burger King are grown locally. The second group grow seed potatoes which has markets in the U.S., Mexico and other parts of Canada and there is a third and smaller group, the fresh table market, which is one of the groups Leili is working with to try to expand it. Leili noted that the potatoes a consumer would buy in the store and have for their own table would be grown by members of the PGA and would be a part of the fresh table market group.
“What we do is help the groups with market development. The association connects the groups to government in terms of legislation whether its labour or environmental issues. We get the information from the government and then we bring that to the growers,” said Leili.
“The PGA has been very successful here and what they’re trying to do is continue that success and they’re trying to take advantage of my marketing expertise. What we’re hoping we can do in the future is, to get Alberta potatoes and Alberta products as a whole, more exposed in to places outside of Alberta,” added Leili.
Leili said that the PGA is also responsible for getting information on what’s going on in the potato business in the rest of Canada and the U.S. while always being aware of where the PGA’s competitive position is. As for initiatives that Leili and the PGA are looking at, one is the organizing of packaging to make Alberta products a brand. Another is working on programs to alleviate the gap that exists in the area of agricultural research between theoretical research and practical on-the-farm research.
Currently, Leili lives in Lethbridge but the German-born former Ontario resident said the western hospitality he has received has been great and that the growers in the area and throughout the province have been friendly and hospitable and starting a new job in Alberta has been a very easy transition. Leili has a son that still resides in Ontario and he has two grandchildren. Leili’s wife continues to live and work in Mexico but upon retiring plans to move to Canada and the Leili’s will call Mexico and Canada home.
Utilities commission regains power under new bill
October 31, 2012 By
By Darcy Henton, Calgary Herald October 24, 2012
EDMONTON — Energy Minister Ken Hughes has introduced legislation to repeal controversial Bill 50, but he says the law that empowered cabinet to approve $8-billion worth of critical transmission projects without a public hearing was necessary at the time.
He said Tuesday it was not a mistake to pass the Electric Statutes Amendment Act to seize that power from the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) in 2009. “Different times; different needs,” he told reporters at the legislature.
“Now it’s important that we send this responsibility back to the Utilities Commission. The decision to pass that bill to move forward with that critical infrastructure was needed at the time it was done by the government.”
The law, which sparked outrage across the province, enabled cabinet to give the green light to five transmission projects, including two high voltage lines connecting Edmonton and Calgary — worth more than $3 billion — as well as a $400-million line into the industrial heartland northeast of Edmonton.
On Tuesday, critics blasted the Stelmach government’s decision to enact Bill 50 in the first place and also called for the immediate release of a review of Alberta’s electricity retail market that was commissioned to address price volatility.
Hughes said he doesn’t plan to release the report until he has decided how to respond to its 41 recommendations.
“I think it helps the discussion because then people can either focus on certain recommendations that they think there should be adjustments to or not, and we see quite clearly what we’re going to implement right off the bat.”
He said the Conservative government won’t be ready to implement any recommendations before the end of the year and that may not be in time to affect this winter’s electricity prices.
But NDP Leader Brian Mason said Hughes doesn’t want to release the report while the legislature is in session because he doesn’t want the recommendations debated.
“We need to be having that discussion. Other people need to be involved, including the citizens of Alberta, who pay electricity bills every month to keep their lights on,” he said.
“But the minister is withholding the information from the public so that he can make every single decision on every single recommendation in the report, and once that report is released, it will be too late.”
Mason said repealing Bill 50 now that construction has already begun on the transmission lines still leaves Albertans stuck with 100 per cent of the costs of lines that may not be necessary.
Wildrose energy critic Joe Anglin said Bill 50 was wrong and the province should admit it. He said there’s still time to send the projects to the AUC for expert assessment.
“We have time to correct this and save Albertans a tremendous amount of money,” he said.
Keith Wilson, a lawyer who represents landowners in the heartland, said Bill 50 was a mistake because it enabled the lines to go ahead without a public cost-benefit analysis.
He said industry experts have concluded the Bill 50 lines are a massive overbuild that will result in significant increases in monthly power bills and undermine the competitiveness of Alberta’s economy.
Wilson said landowners have opposed the lines because they don’t believe they are in the public interest.
“If their land is to be imposed upon, they want it to be for a good reason and one that is in the public interest,” he added.
Wilson has asked the Alberta Court of Appeal to order new hearings into the Heartland line so the AUC can decide whether Bill 50 lines are really in the public interest. A decision is expected in two to four weeks.
Lawyer says Alberta consult plan could make benefits agreements harder
October 30, 2012 By
Sunday, 28 October 2012 08:00 Bob Weber, The Canadian Press
EDMONTON – An Alberta government proposal to regulate how energy companies negotiate benefits agreements with aboriginal bands could make it harder to work such deals out, says a lawyer whose firm assists in such talks.
A discussion paper, released by the government last week, suggests that a levy should be applied industry-wide to help bands pay for the work involved in setting up such deals.
It also suggests reversing current practice by recommending that all such deals be made public. That could deter companies from entering into them at all, said Neil Reddekopp.
“The confidentiality is generally a request of our industry partners and it’s something that our clients agree to,” said Reddekopp, whose firm is currently helping about six bands negotiate benefits agreements with energy companies. “I have a hard time seeing this call for disclosure as anything more than an indirect way of discouraging this type of agreement.”
Energy companies frequently negotiate so-called community benefits agreements with aboriginal bands on whose traditional lands they wish to operate. The deals may include cash for community purposes, promises of local employment, environmental agreements or dispute settlement mechanisms.
They are not intended as compensation, said Reddekopp.
“What they’re doing is assisting communities deal with massive changes forced on communities.”
Making such deals public would allow bands to point to other settlements during negotiations, something that would effectively create a tariff, said Reddekopp.
He said the situations are too individual to benefit from standard settlements and throwing other examples into the mix during talks would just confuse matters.
“There would be more information,” said Reddekopp. “Whether there would be more understanding is another question.”
Alberta Aborginal Relations spokesman David Dear said the disclosure proposal is part of an overall plan to bring the secretive benefits negotiations process into the open.
“We thought this made a lot of sense,” he said. “It just adds clarity and honesty around the process.”
He said the proposal to fund the negotiating of such agreements through an industry levy is intended to replace the current practice, where individual companies are asked to make up shortfalls in provincial funding.
Instead, the levy would be assessed evenly throughout the industry and paid out to bands by the government on the basis of need.
Industry wouldn’t be paying more money in total, but the burden would be more evenly spread, said Dear.
Dear acknowledged both ideas came from government and weren’t being requested.
Reddekopp said the government is trying to make benefits agreements harder to reach as a way of discouraging industry from entering into them. Some, he said, view those deals as a form of “ransom.”
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said it’s still reviewing the government proposals.
“Industry is interested establishing consistency, clarity, and fairness in aboriginal consultation matters associated with oil and gas projects,” said vice-president David Pryce in an email. “The paper will be reviewed by CAPP and our members and we will constructively contribute to the discussion over the coming weeks.”
The public consultation period on the proposals will close on Nov. 30.
Court of Appeal – Shaw Bill 50 Challenge
October 30, 2012 By
Keith Wilson appeared before a panel of three justices of the Alberta Court of Appeal on October 12, 2012.
Despite Altalink, EPCOR, and the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) all having a number of lawyers present, Keith was able to guide the Justice through his argument why the Commission has a legal duty consider the public interest and the socio-economic impacts of the Heartland and the other Bill 50 lines.
Keith explained that if the court were to accept Altalink’s and the AUC’s interpretation of the law it would mean that nowhere in the regulatory approval process is anyone looking at the cost of these lines and whether we can afford them. It would mean that the utility companies can add billions of cost without any accountability.
In the end, Keith requested that the court overturn the AUC approval and send the case back to the hearing room so the AUC can receive proper socio-economic evidence and make a decision as to whether the Heartland line is in the public interest.
The justices reserved their decision. We are expecting them to release their decision sometime later in November or possibly early December.
Attached is an Edmonton Journal story about the court case. We will keep you posted.
_____________________________
Bill 50 being Repealed?
On October 23, 2012, the Alberta Government announced that it was repealing Bill 50.
The government has decided that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to move the decision on whether new transmission lines are needed from the AUC hearing room into the backroom of Cabinet. Go figure?
So, the Alberta Government has just brought in Bill 8 (Electric Utilities Amendment Act). This new law will transfer the decision on “need” back to the AUC. This means that all future new transmission lines will have to undergo a public needs assessment.
However, Bill 8 will not change the status of the Heartland, WATL and EATL lines. Those lines stay under the old Bill 50.
Our only hope is that the Court of Appeal will rule in favour of the Shaws. If the Court does, it will mean that the Heartland, WATL and EATL will be forced by the Court to undergo a public interest and socio-economic assessment. There is no way these lines will survive that scrutiny. All of the experts agree these lines are a massive overbuild and will not get used. They will rust out before they are needed.
Attached is a Calgary Herald articles about Bill 8.
_______________________________________
Lawyer Keith Wilson has reviewed Bill 2 (Responsible Energy Development Act). This is what he has to say. (followed by CBC newscast, link below)
The Bill repeals landowners’ sec. 26 standing rights under the Energy Resources Conservation Act. It does not replace those rights with anything substantive.
The Bill also removes the rights of landowners to appeal decisions under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and Water Act relating to “energy projects” to the Environmental Appeals Board.
I believe the new legislation should respect landowners and recognize that much of the energy development in Alberta either occurs on private property or impacts it.
TransAlta powers up gas – Partners with Buffett firm to build plants
October 29, 2012 By
By Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press; With Files From Herald News Services October 27, 2012
TransAlta Corp. is partnering with a subsidiary of billionaire Warren Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, to build new natural gas-fired power plants.
The Calgary-based power generator announced the agreement Friday with Iowa-based MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.
“It’s a unique opportunity for TransAlta to be much more aggressive about the size and number of plants that we could develop. We like MidAmerican’s disciplined approach to development and, more importantly, we share a common view on returns,” TransAlta CEO Dawn Farrell told analysts on a conference call to discuss the company’s third-quarter results.”
Farrell said Canada will need more than $200 billion in new power generation investment over the next two decades, driven by growing energy development in Western Canada.
“If you look at Canada, there’s a huge potential for expansion of (liquefied natural gas), which potentially will need power. There’s lots of opportunities here in Alberta in the oilsands as the oilsands guys build up their plans over the next 10 to 15 years. There’s opportunities in Saskatchewan,” she said.
“And many of those projects are fairly big projects with fairly big price tags, so I think as we look at Canada and its expansion over the next 10 years and the kind of generation that’s required, that offers some pretty big opportunities.”
TransAlta and MidAmerican have a relationship dating back more than decade, including investments in geothermal generation in California and several U.S. gas-generating assets. The deal announced Friday is MidAmerican’s first foray into the Canadian market.
“At MidAmerican, we have been seeking an entry point to the Canadian electricity generation market, where we see strong potential for growth,” MidAmerican CEO Greg Abel said in a release.
The agreement encompasses all new natural gas-fuelled generation opportunities considered by either TransAlta or MidAmerican in Canada, including TransAlta’s proposed Sundance 7 project, an up to 800-megawatt project based in Alberta, which under current plans, would be completed by 2016 or 2017. “This gives us the opportunity to be much more aggressive here in the short-term about projects that we think are possible, and also be much more aggressive about larger projects,” Farrell said.
All development and construction or acquisition of approved projects will be funded on a 50-50 basis and TransAlta will be responsible for construction management, operation and maintenance of projects that proceed.
Farrell said it’s too soon to know just how big the partnership with MidAmerican may become.
TransAlta has spent about $4 billion since 2005 to build 1,600 megawatts of new power capacity, including coal and renewables, according to the company’s website.
In a research note, Desjardins analyst Jeremy Rosenfield said “notionally, we view MidAmerican’s support as a positive development that could accelerate some of (TransAlta’s) growth.”
TransAlta made the announcement while reporting that third-quarter profit grew 12 per cent on lower maintenance costs and strong margins in most of its operations. Earnings for the quarter were $56 million, or 24 cents a share, up from $50 million, or 22 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell nearly 15 per cent to $538 million.
The company said results were constrained by a loss in its energy trading business and lower power prices in the Alberta and Pacific Northwest.
Lower natural gas prices have brought power prices down to 10-year lows in several regions. Farrell said she expects power prices in the U.S. Pacific Northwest region to improve with a recent climb in U.S. gas prices, but warned Alberta pricing will likely remain weak, with the return to service of TransAlta’s Sundance 1 and 2 coal-fired units after the company was forced by regulators to rebuild them.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
Tory plan for single energy regulator sparks debate among landowners, politicians
October 29, 2012 By
By Tamara Gignac, Calgary Herald October 26, 2012
Landowners and politicians are divided on the merits of a single regulator to oversee all future oil, gas, oilsands and coal development in the province.
The Redford government is proposing new legislation to bolster oversight of the province’s energy industry.
Companies currently must file applications to the Alberta government as well as to the arms-length Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB).
But under Bill 2, also known as the Responsible Energy Development Act, a single provincial body would be responsible for energy resource developments.
The Tories say the legislation will give Alberta the regulatory teeth it needs to issue higher fines for individuals and companies who break the law.
The new rules are also good for property owners, who for the first time can register private surface agreements, according to the province.
“That’s a big one,” said Mike Deising, a spokesman for Alberta Energy.
“If a landowner and the industry have a deal — but industry doesn’t live up to their end of the bargain — the landowner can take it to the regulator,” he said.
“Previously, they could have gone to court but there wouldn’t have been regulatory enforcement.”
Disputes sometimes arise over the placement of pipelines or gas wells, with landowners and conservation groups pitted against large petroleum producers.
One such case involves Rosebud resident Jessica Ernst, one of the province’s most outspoken critics of fracking, a process where water, chemicals and sand are blasted deep underground to break up coal formations and release natural gas.
Ernst alleges that fracking has contaminated the hamlet’s water supply. She’s launched a lawsuit against Encana, the province and the ERCB, and remains skeptical that a new single regulator will do much to protect landowners
“It’s a way to deregulate the industry,” she said. “It means less red tape for the energy companies. They used to have to go to the different agencies to get all their permits and there were different eyes reviewing each application. Now it’s just going to the ERCB.”
The new regulatory regime involves combining the 75-year-old ERCB with the regulatory functions of Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development.
That’s a problem, believes NDP critic Rachel Notley.
Energy Minister Ken Hughes said the point is to provide a single window for industry, thus reducing duplication.
But Notley argues the move hurts landowners because it creates a conflict of interest for the regulatory body charged with environmental protection.
“One of the mechanisms that helped landowners was being able to go the Ministry of Environment. Now that is all moved into this new agency, which is essentially ‘ERCB plus,’” she said.
Notley fears that under the new system, projects will be pushed through too quickly without proper consideration given to potential effects on Alberta’s land and water supply.
Jason Hale, Wildrose MLA for Strathmore-Brooks, said his party plans to take a close look at the new legislation and may propose some amendments, if necessary.
“The PC government seems to have lost the importance of individual property rights,” Hale said. “We’re going to talk to some of the stakeholders and the land-rights groups to see if they have any concerns with this bill.”
Alberta has seen its share of conflict between energy companies and communities where the industry builds pipelines and wells.
The province is even considering a new urban policy for oil and gas projects after the Calgary neighbourhoods of Royal Oak and Rocky Ridge raised concerns about a sweet oil well in their community.
Some landowners, however, agree with the notion of a single energy regulator.
Barbara Gardener, who owns a ranch south of Longview, was pleased earlier this year when Suncor Energy withdrew a contentious plan to drill 11 sour gas wells and build a pipeline on land in Kananaskis County.
But she said in many cases, there needs to be compromise. “We’d like to keep everything pristine and nice but you have to have balance,” she said. “Everybody gets mad and up in arms but it comes down to economics. If we want to have nice roads, schools and hospitals we all have to work together.”
—With files from the Canadian Press
Twitter:/TamaraGignac
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
Province to get public input on water, development and conservation in southern Alberta
October 29, 2012 By
By Colette Derworiz, Calgary Herald October 26, 2012
A land-use strategy focusing on water, economic development and conservation needs in southern Alberta will get a full public airing during a series of consultation sessions this fall.
The South Saskatchewan Regional Plan, which includes an area spanning 83,774 square kilometres from just north of Calgary to the United States border, is the second in a series of land-use plans in the works by the Alberta government.
They are based on the province’s major watersheds.
In the South Saskatchewan region, it includes Calgary, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and Airdrie. It also contains the Castle wilderness area, where a logging plan was recently put on hold by the province until the completion of the plan for the area.
Residents interested in commenting on the strategy will be able to attend any of the public sessions being held across Alberta.
From Nov. 6 until Dec. 6, the sessions will be held across the province — including in Cardston and Red Deer on Nov. 6; Calgary on Nov. 13; Airdrie and Pincher Creek on Nov. 20; and Canmore on Nov. 21.
For more details on sessions in your area, go to www.landuse.alberta.ca.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald