Legislative reports: Alberta.

The Spring Sitting of the Second Session of the Twenty-Fifth Legislature adjourned on May 14, 2002 after 37 sitting days. At the conclusion of the sitting, 28 Government Bills, 3 Private Members' Public Bills and 1 Private Bill were passed by the Assembly. Three Government Bills were left on the Order Paper.

The second session began on February 26, 2002 with the Speech from the Throne, delivered by Alberta's Lieutenant Governor, Lois Hole. It began with a moment of silence to mark the passing of Princess Margaret and former Lieutenant Governor H.A. (Bud) Olson and an expression of support and appreciation for the armed forces serving in Afghanistan. The speech focused on initiatives to enhance the health, education and economy of the province.

Some of the Bills passed during the spring sitting include:

* Bill 9, Child Welfare Amendment Act 2002, introduced by Children's Services Minister Iris Evans, amends the current legislation to facilitate the inter-provincial movement of children with child welfare involvement and streamlines the process for obtaining emergency apprehension orders;

* Bill 12, Education Services Settlement Act, introduced by Learning Minister Lyle Oberg, establishes a three person Arbitration Panel, with one member appointed by the Alberta Teachers' Association, one by the Alberta School Boards Association with the Chair appointed by the Minister of Human Resources and Employment, to settle a breakdown in negotiations for a new collective agreement between teachers and several school boards;

* Bill 20, Justice Statutes Amendment Act, 2002, introduced by Minister of Justice David Hancock, amends several statutes including the Fatal Accidents Act to provide for increased entitlements for surviving adults and children -- the Survival of Actions Act is also amended to bring Alberta in line with other western Canadian jurisdictions by restricting compensation to a deceased's estate to actual financial losses resulting from death, not for future or anticipated losses;

* Bill 26, Workers' Compensation Amendment Act, 2002, introduced by Human Resources and Employment Minister Clint Dunford, amends the Act by, among other things, ensuring the independence of the WCB Appeals Commission by separating it from the WCB, providing that Appeals Commission staff will no longer be WCB employees and creating a medical panel to resolve differences in medical opinion that affect a worker's claim;

* Bill 29, Intestate Succession Amendment Act, 2002, introduced by Minister of Justice David Hancock, provides for the right of an "adult interdependent partner", defined as "a person in a common law or same sex relationship of at least three years or where there is a child of the relationship", to share in the estate of that person's partner should the partner die without a will. Bill 29 was introduced in response to an Alberta Court of Queen's Bench ruling that struck...