Alberta.

• Author: Rempel, Jody

Fall Sitting, 2nd Session of the 30th Legislature

Following an extended spring sitting that ended in July and a special sitting on August 27, 2020, the fall sitting began on October 20, 2020, a week earlier than originally indicated on the sessional calendar, and the Assembly continued to sit later than scheduled in December, adjourning on December 8,2020. Just prior to adjournment Speaker Nathan Cooper noted that the Assembly had set several new records, stating:

Today marks the 78th sitting day of the session, including a rare sitting day in August. No other province or territory has sat as often. The next-closest will be Quebec, which has not yet sat 60 days this session. The Assembly sat for over 560 hours. This breaks the record from 1994 of 434 hours under then Premier Klein and Speaker Schumacher. In addition, we have had a record-breaking 20 sittings past midnight.

The session saw the introduction of 15 government Bills, all of which have received Royal Assent, and seven Private Members' Public Bills, one of which has received Royal Assent. A Private Bill, introduced in the spring, also received Royal Assent. Bills that received Royal Assent following consideration during the fall session include:

Bill 33, Alberta Investment Attraction Act, which establishes the arms-length Invest Alberta Corporation, which is mandated to increase investor confidence in industries such as energy and agriculture and to pursue investment opportunities in industries, including technology and financial services;

Bill 36, Geothermal Resource Development Act, which outlines rules and processes for responsible development of the industry and establishes the government's authority to collect royalties and other revenues;

Bill 43, Financing Alberta's Strategic Transportation Act, which permits the government to fund infrastructure projects through the collection of tolls;

Bill 47, Ensuring Safety and Cutting Red Tape Act, 2020, which amends several pieces of legislation to update language and definitions, clarify serious incident reporting requirements and dangerous work refusals, limit presumptive coverage for psychological injuries to first responders, remove requirements for reinstating injured workers, and cost of living increases to lost wages benefits are now set by the Worker's Compensation Board instead of being tied to the Alberta consumer price index; and

Bill 204, Voluntary Blood Donations Repeal Act, which repeals the 2017 ban on compensation for...