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CALGARY — Wednesday's surprise pay deal between the province and the doctors raises an obvious question: has the government bought their silence during the coming election campaign?

"The answer is no," says Linda Slocombe, the plain-talking Calgary family doctor who is president of the Alberta Medical Association. "Our positions are the same. There will be ongoing advocacy before, during and after an election on issues we feel are important to Albertans.

"We still feel strongly about a health care inquiry into doctor intimidation."

Slocombe said some advertisements are being prepared right now for the AMA. She wouldn't say if they'll be political stunners like the recent one that started, "Just How Sick is Alberta's Health Care System?"

The full-page ads went on to complain about intimidation, the lack of a full inquiry into the issue, and the government recently imposing "political control" through a unilateral, one-year pay decree.

That was dangerous stuff to appear just before an election. The Progressive Conservatives still have wobbly knees at the memory.

"Doctors can be pretty damned intimidating themselves," one says ruefully.

So there's no doubt that this deal, which somehow wasn't possible for two long years, suddenly came together because an election call is only days away.

The government needed to calm the doctors, who in turn applied maximum pressure just when the PCs were most vulnerable. They are wily adversaries who understand each other very well.

None of that changes the fact that doctors have been intimidated, are correct about the inquiry, and never again want to be prevented from advocating for patients.

But the lack of a pay deal was one of their main issues, and that's solved now. They will "advocate," but I doubt they'll attack government with as much force as they did in early March.

Health Minister Fred Horne and Finance Minister Ron Liepert now have to scramble to find $181 million in additional pay, most of which isn't in the budget passed Tuesday night.

The irony here is that the Tories created new spending within 12 hours of passing a budget with promises of stable allotments.

The main thing for patients is quality medicine, and this deal advances the cause by providing stability and better funding in some key areas, especially primary care.

One area that obviously needs help is senior care, following the Herald's revelation that over seven years there were more than 1,000 cases of Albertans being abused in provincial facilities.

These are proven cases, not just complaints. The average of 142 a year is far too high, even in a system with 40,000 residents.

Remember, these are people under direct professional, publicly funded care. If they aren't safe from abuse, who is?

In the legislature, Tory responses to questions about this issue were pathetic.

Without acknowledging any problem, deputy premier Doug Horner accused the Liberals of insulting health workers just by raising the issue. This old tactic is long past its spoil date.

Dr. Chris Eagle, the CEO of Alberta Health Services, at least said he finds the cases "very disturbing" and takes them seriously.

Finally, the PCs are being justly blasted for delaying the release of a regular AHS report card on health-care performance.

This measure of crucial wait times has fallen into the government hands for "review." But the PCs say this has nothing to do with the election.

If you fall for that, you'll also believe there's no link between politics and doctors raises.

Calgary Herald, Thurs Mar 22 2012
Byline: Don Braid

The province plans to reduce the number of nursing-home spaces this year, despite new figures that show a rising number of Albertans are still stuck in hospital or at home waiting for a bed to become vacant.

Doctors are worried delays in the province's emergency rooms could worsen and facility operators are concerned ailing seniors will suffer poor care if Alberta Health Services cuts 150 spaces with round-the-clock nursing.

"I'm baffled as to how we're going to eliminate the bottlenecks in our hospitals at the same time as we're cutting long-term care beds," said Paul Parks, past-president of the Alberta Medical Association's emergency medicine section. "I'm very afraid we're on the cusp of another crisis in our ERs."

Bruce West, executive director of the Alberta Continuing Care Association, said AHS seems determined to push seniors with complex medical needs into less-expensive supported-living spaces, which may not provide adequate care.

"My concern is these patients will end up back in acute-care hospitals because they won't get the care they need," West said.

"There appears to be a disconnect between the government's philosophy and the front-line reality that we have a lot of very sick seniors."

The provincial health authority released figures this week that show the number of seniors waiting for a nursing-home bed increased 14 per cent to 215 patients during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year.

More than 25 per cent of the 473 patients clogging the province's hospitals in January were waiting for a long-term care bed.

Just over nine per cent of the 1,021 seniors struggling to manage on their own around Alberta were also in the lineup to be ad-mitted to a nursing home.

The situation is dire in Calgary, where 55 hospital beds are occupied by seniors waiting for a nursing home space and another 40 seniors are coping on their own waiting for a vacancy to come open.

An AHS official said long-term care beds are being closed so they can be refurbished.

David O'Brien, the authority's vice-president of seniors' care, said normal turnover in nursing homes means space will be found for patients on the waiting list.

O'Brien said that, over the next 12 months, AHS is adding 1,000 supporting-living spaces - beds not equipped or staffed to handle residents with unpredictable behaviour, intensive rehabilitation needs or who require 24/7 nursing care - because that level of care is adequate for the vast majority of seniors in the queue.

"We're building supportive living as fast as we can," O'Brien said, "because that's the level of care Albertans want and need."

But a study published last year suggests more than a quarter of the patients the province is placing in supportive living beds may be unsafe because there is insufficient staffing and care for their complex medical needs. As a result, they were twice as likely as nursing home patients to end up in hospital or visit an ER.

O'Brien says changes have been made since the study was done to improve care at supportive living facilities by providing on call nurses who can deal with ill patients and nurse practitioners who regularly review a client's condition.

A recent report from the Health Quality Council of Alberta fingered the long list of seniors being warehoused in overcrowded hospitals for average stays of six weeks as one of the key causes of chronic, excessive waits of seriously ill patients in Alberta's ERs.

Dr. John Cowell, the council's top executive, said the province needs to reduce occupancy in its major hospitals to 85 per cent and develop accurate predictions of its growing need for both nursing home and supportive living beds to clear the backlog.

"It's critical that AHS match its resources to its needs," Cowell said, "and the numbers of people on the waiting list for long term care have me concerned that's not happening."

AHS documents show the health authority plans to hold the number of nursing home beds fairly constant through 2015 at just under 14,500 and add another 3,000 supportive living spaces to the system, but neither the health authority nor the government could provide figures this week to show whether the new capacity will match the needs of an aging population.

Health Minister Fred Horne said he hopes to have a new fore-casting model up and running later this year that will allow his staff to plan up to two decades into the future.

In the meantime, Horne said the level of care available in many of the new spaces being opened can be adjusted upwards, if that's what is required to match patient needs and to empty acute care beds.

"We have the flexibility," he said.

Calgary Herald, Thurs Mar 22 2012
Byline: Matt McClure

Tories accused of throwing money around before election

Days before an expected election call, the Tory government ripped up its physician salary hike imposed weeks ago and instead offered the province's 7,200 doctors a sweeter, $181-million compensation agreement.

Alberta's health minister said the tentative deal will help provide stability in the medical system, but opposition critics accused the PC government of trying to snuff out an outspoken physician advocacy campaign on the eve of a provincewide vote.

But Alberta doctor representatives vowed Wednesday not to back down from their increasingly vocal fight for a public inquiry into the intimidation of physicians who've advocated for patient care.

"These last-minute, Hail Mary negotiations have nothing to do with keeping us quiet," said Dr. Lloyd Maybaum, president of the Calgary and area medical staff association.

"There's no bloody way it's going to keep us quiet."

Last week, the province's five medical staff association presidents accused the government of stonewalling on physician issues.

And Maybaum called upon Albertans to bring in a "tsunami of change" and demand a health inquiry on physician intimidation.

The new physician salary proposal, which comes after doctors have been without a contract for more than a year, includes a 2.5 per cent fee increase each year for two years, retroactive to April 2011. The province's primary care networks will see per patient funding up $12 to $62.

The parties will continue working on a long-term agreement between Alberta Health Services, doctors and the provincial government.

If that can't be reached by March 31, 2013, the proposal gives physicians a cost of living hike in the third year. The tentative deal also provides a limited arbitration process on fees for insured services and some physician benefit programs.

Asked about the timing of the deal, Health Minister Fred Horne told reporters the agreement in principle is the product of discussions that have been taking place for months.

"I think it's what Albertans expect of government - they expect us to have a good relationship and a sound foundation in terms of our work with doctors," the minister said.

The new proposal comes just three weeks after the government imposed a controversial one-year, $93-million salary deal - including a two per cent fee increase - on doctors without negotiating.

Wednesday's tentative agreement, which must still be ratified by the AMA and the government, supersedes those terms.

Liberal Leader Raj Sherman, an emergency room physician, said the government is obviously running scared.

"They're desperate and they are trying to cut deals with everybody on the eve of an election."

Wildrose House Leader Rob Anderson said the agreement smacks of electioneering.

"They're throwing money around like crazy right now," Anderson said. "I think it will be difficult to buy the silence of doctors. They're pretty passionate about getting their tsunami of change."

Alberta Medical Association president Dr. Linda Slocombe said the agreement could provide some stability for doctors who have been in compensation "limbo" for more than 12 months.

It will also help build a strong working relationship with the government, she added.

"We have been working on this for a long time," Slocombe said.

"The timing is what it is."

The Calgary family physician said the doctors' association is still committed to its vocal advocacy efforts, which included recent full page newspaper ads calling for a full public inquiry on doctor intimidation.

"Those sorts of advocacy initiatives will be ongoing, before, during and after the election," she added.

Last month, an independent report by the Health Quality Council of Alberta found more than half of all doctors surveyed said they'd been intimidated or bullied in the past year.

A few felt they were pushed out of the province or had their hospital privileges threatened after speaking out about the state of Alberta's $16-billion health-care system.

The government acknowledges the problem, but insists such cases do not need to be aired in a public forum, but rather the medical system must build a "just culture."

On the salary front, doctors and the government have been trying to work out a contract since the former eight-year agreement expired March 31, 2011.

With the 2012-13 budget already passed by the legislature on Tuesday, Alberta's health minister may have to ask Treasury Board to help fund the new doctors' deal.

Finance Minister Ron Liepert said the money promised to doctors may not increase Alberta's budget deficit if there is a revised quarterly update reducing the red ink forecast.

"I wouldn't jump to the fact that it will increase the deficit," he said. "It will increase the project spending."

Liepert said he assumed Health Minister Fred Horne will come to Treasury Board seeking the money, which was not included in the budget.

Likewise, Premier Alison Redford said she didn't expect the physician costs to impact the deficit in this year's budget.

"As we move ahead into next year, it could have a slight impact, but with the surpluses we're projecting, it's always a matter of balancing as we go forward."

Calgary Herald, Thurs Mar 22 2012
Byline: Jamie Komarnicki and Darcy Henton

Alberta's chief electoral officer has found 23 cases where improper donations to political parties and constituency associations were made by municipalities and other public bodies.

In a news release, Elections Alberta said administrative penalties will be applied in 15 cases to "prohibited corporations" that made donations.

Eight of those situations occurred after April, 2010, when the law was changed to prohibit political entities from taking illegal donations. In those cases, the parties and constituency associations have been ordered to return funds.

In a further eight cases, contributors and recipients have been censured and ordered to implement procedures to ensure no repeat of the circumstances.

No cases have been referred for prosecution.

Nine files have been closed because no wrongdoing has occurred.

"I am satisfied that the remedies being applied are consistent with the law and appropriate to the situation," said chief electoral officer Brian Fjeldheim in the statement.

Elections Alberta also reported a significant jump in cases that have been reviewed or are under review. There are now 73 files, compared to 53 cases two weeks ago.

The release does not identify any municipalities or political entities.

All public cases known to have been referred to Elections Alberta for investigation have involved the ruling Progressive Conservatives.

Calgary Herald, Thurs Mar 22 2012
Byline: James Wood

Liberals say government is 'hiding abysmal record' until after election

CALGARY — A regular Alberta Health Services three-month report card on wait times and medical data across the province will be delayed several weeks — potentially until after the spring election — as it undergoes government review.

Opposition critics contended the Tory government is holding on to the health superboard's third quarter report on surgery, emergency department and cancer therapy wait times until after the vote to ward off unwanted attention on the heated health care file.

But Health Minister Fred Horne said the government is "absolutely not" stalling on the report — rather is looking at how specific resources in the new provincial budget might improve performance in some problematic health care areas.

"We want to be able to talk about specific things we're trying to do to improve performance in specific areas," Horne said in an interview.

"Taking into account resources we might be able to apply in the budget after it's passed is part of that."

An AHS spokeswoman said the performance report — providing data from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2011 — will likely be on the board's public agenda in May or June.

The reports are generally released roughly every three months. The last quarterly report on performance measures was made public following a Dec. 8 AHS board meeting.

The newest figures on performance measures, however, were "delayed" and weren't ready for approval when the AHS board met in Canmore last week, said AHS communications vice-president Colleen Turner.

The next board meeting isn't until May 3.

With the passing of the provincial budget yesterday. the PC government is expected to drop the election writ by next week and send voters to the polls in late April.

Before the board can approve it, the AHS report card must first be forwarded to the Alberta Health and Wellness (AHW) Department for "review, recommendations, and the joint development of action plans and timelines tied to improving the results," Turner said in an email.

"We want to work with AHW on a closer link between the results and the budget being developed now."

The medical data will be sent the government by the end of the month, she added.

The previous performance report showed the medical system is making improvement in some key areas, but still falling below its own targets in many areas.

Liberal Leader Dr. Raj Sherman accused the Tory government of trying to keep the information from Alberta voters.

"The PCs are desperate. They're hiding an abysmal record on health care from voters," Sherman said.

He said the delayed report is a sign of the "blurred" boundaries between the Health Department and AHS, which provides medical care to Albertans.

Wildrose health critic Heather Forsyth said the government should allow the report to be seen on schedule.

"This government is notorious for hiding things they don't want Albertans to see," she said.

"If they had something to brag about, you can be guaranteed that report would have been released."

Calgary Herald, Mar 21 2012
Byline: Jamie Komarnicki

There have been more than 1,000 confirmed cases of elderly and disabled Albertans being abused in provincially funded facilities over the past seven years and thousands more have filed complaints that were dismissed for lack of proof or other reasons, the Herald has learned.

The province has received an average of 500 abuse complaints a year from facilities housing more than 40,000 seniors and disabled adult residents, according to documents obtained under provincial Freedom of Information legislation.

Less than two per cent are referred to police, government documents show.

Government officials say the figures prove tough new reporting legislation is working, but elder advocates and opposition critics say the system needs major changes to protect Albertans in provincial care from harm.

"It just goes on and on," said Ruth Adria of Elder Advocates of Alberta. "Complaints are usually trivialized or dismissed. There has to be accountability. It has to be known that when there's an assault, someone will be held accountable."

Since the governing Tories proclaimed Protection of Persons in Care legislation in July 2010 to make it against the law not to report abuses, there have been 142 confirmed cases of abuse, documents show.

That data, until the end of January 2012, includes 37 confirmed cases of bodily harm, eight incidents of nonconsensual sexual activity, 67 cases of emotional harm, 22 cases of residents being denied basic necessities, four cases of them being over or under medicated and one case of misappropriating residents' money or property.

Seniors Minister George VanderBurg said he is partly responsible for the high number of abuse complaints because he promotes an abuse hotline number whenever he speaks to seniors or is questioned in the legislature.

"Part of the reason we're getting more concern and more reported incidents is probably my fault," he said. "Every time at question period I'm saying if you have issues of abuse, you're obligated to report it."

He noted most of the cases of abuse reported are emotional, "but that's important, too."

"We're seeing more instances of reporting and I think that's good. It tells us it is working and our message is getting across."

He said the department's contracted investigators do thorough investigations of complaints. "Sometimes they're founded; sometimes they're not."

VanderBurg wasn't concerned 70 per cent of complaints are dismissed and less than two per cent reported to police. "It's a very small number that are criminal in nature," he said.

Since April 2005, there have been 1,021 confirmed cases of abuse, according to government documents.

That includes 549 cases of emotional harm, 216 cases of residents being denied basic necessities, 160 cases of bodily harm, 55 sexual offences, 27 thefts or money or property, and 14 cases of improper medication, according to the Protection of Persons In Care summary of founded complaints.

"We care for a lot of people," said VanderBurg. "I am not downplaying the numbers, but I am telling you one is serious to me."

Wildrose seniors critic Heather Forsyth said many seniors and their families don't want to complain about their treatment in long-term care for fear of retaliation or retribution. She said a former RCMP inspector was "too afraid to complain" and the daughter of a senior delayed filing a complaint until her mother died.

"We're dealing with seniors who are afraid to report incidents and that sends shivers down my spine," she said.

Forsyth said there are not enough inspections of care facilities and not sufficient public reporting of the complaints. The situation cries out for whistleblower protection legislation and a mechanism for anonymous reporting of abuse, she added.

Seniors Department spokesperson Carolyn Gregson said the law puts the onus on the service providers in publicly funded facilities to report any abuse of residents.

"We're making them the front-line watchdog under the act. They are obligated to report anything and everything they see and when it comes to us, it's reviewed and investigated, if warranted."

She said the abuse line receives almost 4,000 calls annually.

"I think this has made a difference," she said. "Any time you actually report it and it is investigated, results and outcomes can happen from that."

Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald said he was surprised when the Alberta Seniors deputy minister told the Legislature Public Accounts committee he chairs that there were 22 fatal accidents or serious injuries in provincial care facilities last year and refused to elaborate.

But VanderBurg said Tuesday there was only one death and five serious injuries and they were all attributable to falls.

MacDonald said the protection of Persons In Care legislation doesn't seem to be improving the plight of people in care.

"It's good legislation, but it's obviously not being enforced," he said. "It's necessary. It's needed, but it's frightening that it doesn't seem to be making a difference in the number of allegations or incidents where people have been abused and neglected."

But PC MLA Neil Brown, who introduced the legislation, said it make take some time for the law to show positive benefits.

"I believe the changes we made are working," he said.

Abuse reports, by the numbers:

Founded complaints of abuse of elderly and disabled adult Albertans in provincially funded facilities since 2005:

Calgary Herald, Wed Mar 21 2012
Byline: Darcy Henton

The BC Teachers' Federation revealed some elements of its new action plan to fight Bill 22 today, including the possibility of a full-scale walkout in the coming months.

Union President Susan Lambert told reporters this afternoon that the over 700 delegates at the teachers' Annual General Meeting, which took place in Vancouver from March 17-20, debated and reworked the plan over the course of the three days, finally voting "overwhelmingly" in support of taking it back to their local members for a vote.

The plan starts this coming Monday with teachers heading back to their teaching duties after spring break, but also informing the public about their issues with Bill 22, the Education Improvement Act, which they plan to take government to court over.

"We believe that this bill has all the hallmarks, all the characteristics of previous bills that have been found illegal by the United Nations, illegal by our Supreme Court, and so there will be a legal challenge," Lambert says, referring to the teachers' challenge of Bills 27 and 28, which stripped teachers' collective agreements of the right to bargain class size and composition in 2002. Both the International Labour Office and the BC Supreme Court ruled in the teachers' favour.

But that's just the beginning. On April 17 and 18, BCTF members across the province will vote on phase two of the plan, which includes the possibility of withdrawing from extracurricular activities, and even a full-scale teacher walk out.

"We're putting government on notice," Lambert warns.

"Government has a choice: government can rethink this legislation, government can rethink its policies around public education, and we're expecting that government will listen to the voice of teachers, we've been asking for so long."

Some union locals have already declared their intention to withdraw from extracurricular activities beginning next week, which Lambert says is their right as autonomous locals.

Lambert says if government still refuses to make changes to Bill 22, the union's executive committee will meet after the vote to decide when and if another vote would take place for a walkout. The union requires 51 per cent of members in favour for the vote to pass.

Bill 22 makes walkouts illegal, fining the union at least $1.3 million per day, union leaders or representatives at least $2,500 per day, and individual teachers $475 per day of illegally striking. Lambert told reporters she didn't know where the union would find the money to cover those costs.

In the meantime, the BCTF has complied with a government request for suggested mediators to further the bargaining process between the union and their employer under Bill 22. Lambert says they wrote a letter to the Ministry of Education last week, suggesting Justices Stephen Kelleher and Ian Donald for the position, but that doesn't mean the union supports the mediation process laid out under the bill.

"We have done it with a caveat, because in our view the entire process is skewed, is biased, and there is no level playing field here. There's a predetermined end, we call it a mock mediation, and so we have done that, we have forwarded those names with a provisio that we will be looking at the legal implications of legislation that forces one party to play hockey without the sticks. It's unfair," says Lambert.

Education Minister George Abbott is in China this week, but told The Province on Monday he hopes teachers think twice before embarking on an illegal walkout.

"I hope that cooler heads will prevail," he said. "When people go on strike, it's not the government that is punished – it's students and parents.

"They have to find childcare alternatives, they have to find employment alternatives."

The Tyee, Wed Mar 21 2012

'Pork-barrel politics,' says political science professor

Several Alberta post-secondary institutions gave tens of thousands of dollars in illegal donations to the provincial Progressive Conservative party, in one case with the party's direct knowledge, reveals a CBC News investigation.

Athabasca University, Portage College and Grande Prairie Regional College variously used taxpayers' money to attend numerous Conservative fundraisers between 2004 and 2011, including dinners and golf tournaments, show documents obtained through Freedom of Information show.

'It's a means of buying influence and it is clearly unacceptable'

—Political scientist Jay Smith"It is pork-barrel politics," said Athabasca political science professor Jay Smith. "It's a means of buying influence and it is clearly unacceptable."

It is against the law in Alberta for publicly-funded institutions to make political donations.

Between 2006 and 2008, Athabasca University spent $10,675 on Conservative fundraising events. Portage College spent $7,675, while Grande Prairie Regional College spent more than $5,000 between 2007 and 2010.

The three institutions say all the public money used for political donations has been repaid either by the people who attended the events or by the Conservative party.

Institutions held close relationship with Tories

Emails and other documents show the post-secondary institutions maintained a close relationship exclusively with the ruling Conservative party, and that their governing boards and senior executives actively supported this exclusive relationship. In hundreds of pages of documents there is not a single reference to communications with, or support for, another political party.

"For them, it's a symbiotic relationship," Wildrose MLA Paul Hinman said. "If I am doing well, you are doing well.

Read more

Athabasca University donated $10,000 to Tories

Portage College donated $7,600 to Tories

Grande Prairie college donated $5,000 to Tories

"They have entrenched this behaviour and they do not see anything wrong with it," Hinman said. "The end justifies the means. This is the way you carry out business with the Tory government."

In October, a CBC News investigation revealed that municipalities and counties across Alberta had made illegal donations to the Tory party for years.

Wildrose and Liberal researchers subsequently uncovered dozens of cases of questionable donations. In January, Wildrose also revealed the University of Lethbridge had donated $15,000 to the Tories. CBC News has learned Alberta Elections subsequently sent letters to every post-secondary institution in the province warning them about their obligations under the law.

Alberta's chief electoral official is now investigating more than 50 cases involving municipalities and post-secondary institutions. It is not known if these recent cases uncovered by CBC News are part of that investigation.

Thousands spent on dinners and tournaments

The documents show Tory fundraisers sent direct email solicitations to university executives and boards. The post-secondary institutions, in turn, bought entire tables at premiers' dinners, for as much as $4,500, and the 10 seats were filled with senior executives, including the president, and board members, who are appointed by the Conservative government.

Portage College and Athabasca University also paid for Tory MLAs and ministers to attend dinners and golf tournaments as their guests.

Athabasca University board chair Barry Walker said the university made the donations because it was "trying to develop a relationship with the government at the time, trying to further our needs as far as funding and the like.

"It is public knowledge that probably 35 to 40 per cent of our entire funding comes from the government," Walker said.

Political scientist Jay Smith said that is the essence of pork-barrel politics.

"You're trying to get an inside track to access money by giving the government money," he said. "And all this is public money. It is circular, it is insidious and it is wrong."

Tory insider approved donations

The documents show at least one Conservative party official knew public money was being used for political purposes.

Carol Lund is head of Athabasca University's secretariat and as such, is responsible for administration of its policies and procedures, including its policies governing conflict of interest. Lund is also president of the Athabasca-Redwater Conservative riding association.

Documents show Lund personally signed off on several requisitions for Tory fundraisers, including for the Athabasca-Redwater riding association. Lund also actively recruited university executives to attend these functions.

Athabasca-Redwater MLA Jeff Johnson declined an interview request. Lund did not respond to a CBC interview request.

Some universities stalling information requests

In January, CBC News made Freedom of Information requests to 10 post-secondary institutions in Alberta. Three have provided documents so far. Red Deer College, Olds College and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology say they found no records of any political donations.

The University of Calgary, the University of Alberta and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology have yet to respond.

The University of Lethbridge charged nearly $1,800 in processing fees which it refused to waive, saying the information is not in the public interest, even though eight other institutions had either assigned no fees, or waived the fees because they agreed the information was in the public interest.

Political scientist Jay Smith says these recent revelations about pork-barrel politics involving post-secondary institutions is a watershed moment in the province's democracy.

"This is now a test for the people of Alberta," Smith said. "If they are willing to accept this, then I would say democracy is in serious jeopardy in this province because the ultimate custodians of the democratic process are the electorate.

"And if they accept this, what is left in terms of a healthy democratic process? We are in admitting that things are rotten, and that it is OK."

CBC News, Wed Mar 21 2012

Alberta farm families are being strangled by skyrocketing electricity costs that stick them with monthly bills of $1,000 or more, cabinet ministers heard at a meeting of rural municipalities Tuesday morning.

Reeves and county councillors from across the province erupted in applause when veteran Grande Prairie farmer Richard Harpe pressed Energy Minister Ted Morton to explain how the government will fix the problem of growing electricity costs.

"The average small farm in rural Alberta - a small cowcalf operator or a small grain farmer - is paying anywhere from $750 to $1,000 per month for electricity, said Harpe, a county councillor who has been farming 2,428 hectares of grain for 40 years. "Before the government deregulated electricity, they were paying $300 every three months, or $100 a month.

"The government promised us cheaper power when they deregulated. They said we'll create competition and you'll get cheaper power."

Morton said he is in the process of appointing an independent panel to review variable and regulated rate options and consider what, if anything, the government can do to reduce volatile costs attached to the variable default rate.

In the meantime, he said rates are expected to return to normal in coming months, bringing power bills down to a level consistent with what people paid last year.

"Rates are back down to eight cents on the regulated rate option, we've frozen the ancillary charges, we're reviewing the regulatory rate option," Morton said.

Calgary Herald, Wed Mar 21 2012
Byline: Karen Kleiss

EDMONTON - The spring session of the Alberta legislature moved close to the finish line Tuesday, beginning the countdown to the kickoff of the provincial election.

MLAs debated several pieces of legislation late Tuesday, including the 2012-13 budget, which passed by a vote of 23 to seven.

Premier Alison Redford has said she would call an election shortly after the budget was approved. That is expected to happen next Monday, paving the way for an April 23 vote, though the premier has not confirmed a specific date.

Also expected to pass late Tuesday was legislation creating a new property rights advocate, and a bill that would allow seniors to defer paying the property tax on their homes. Under the program, the province would pay the taxes on a senior's home until it is sold, at which point the taxes would be repaid to the province, with interest.

In addition, MLAs were expected to approve legislation that would provide for non-religious schooling in Morinville.

What is less clear is the fate of the Education Act, which has come under controversy in recent days, particularly from home-schooling parents worried about the inclusion of human rights in the act. Opponents say the legislation will undermine parents' ability to teach children in accordance with their values — a claim Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk has said is unfounded.

Lukaszuk said he hopes the act can still pass, despite the controversy. MLAs continued to debate the Education Act as of press time Tuesday.

During a heated question period, Redford rebuffed demands from the Wildrose to fire Lukaszuk over comments he made about opposition MLA Rob Anderson, who represents Airdrie-Chestermere.

In a conference call with parent councils on Monday evening, Lukaszuk was questioned about school overcrowding in Airdrie.

He suggested the residents "call your MLA and ask him not to oppose me every day on considering new ways on funding infrastructure."

He then spoke about the need to amortize funding of new schools needed across Alberta, an idea the Wildrose opposes.

Anderson, a Wildrose MLA, accused Lukaszuk of "threatening" Airdrie residents that they would only get a new school if he "shut up."

Redford said the education minister's comments were appropriate because he was simply talking about the debate over infrastructure funding, something Anderson called a "spineless answer."

The session could wrap up Wednesday.

Calgary Herald, Wed Mar 21 2012