Alberta.

• Author: Rempel, Jody
• Position: Legislative Reports

Second Session of the 29th Legislature

The Second Session of the 29th Legislature reconvened on October 31, 2016, and did not adjourn for the holiday season until December 13, 2016. During this period the Assembly passed 16 Government Bills including three Bills that added to the environmental protection initiatives that began with the passage of the Climate Leadership Implementation Act, during the 2016 spring sitting. Bill 25, Oil Sands Emissions Limit Act, sets a limit on the volume of greenhouse emissions permitted from the oil sands at 100 megatons per year. Bill 27, Renewable Electricity Act aims to facilitate the switch from coal-fired power generation towards more environmentally sustainable options by moving Alberta away from an energy only market and towards a capacity market in which private generators compete to secure contracts for produced energy and generation capacity. This legislation will be administered by the Alberta Electric System Operator, and approved projects will need to be operational by 2019 in order to coincide with the closure of the province's oldest coal-fired power plants. Finally, Bill 34, Electric Utilities Amendment Act, 2016, will give the "balancing pool," the entity that brokers the electricity system, the ability to borrow money from the provincial government to manage its funding obligations and help mitigate against price volatility for consumers.

Composition of the Assembly

On November 17, 2016, Sandra Jansen (Calgary-North West) announced she was leaving the Progressive Conservative caucus to join the governing New Democrats. The composition of the Assembly is now 55 New Democrats, 22 Wildrose Members, eight Progressive Conservatives, one Alberta Liberal and one Alberta Party Member.

Standing Order 30--Emergency Debate

On November 21, 2016, Nathan Cooper (Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills), Official Opposition House Leader, requested that an emergency debate take place regarding the death of children in the care of the province. Government House Leader Brian Mason (Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood) spoke in favour of the debate and, after the request was ruled in order by the Speaker Robert Wanner (Medicine Hat), the House gave unanimous consent to proceed with the matter. The emergency debate lasted almost two-and-a-half hours and centred primarily on the death of a fouryear old girl named Serenity who died in 2014 from physical injuries while in a kinship care placement with relatives. The Office of the Chief...