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Alberta threatens use of Sovereignty Act in throne speech

Published

11 months ago

October 30, 2023

The Alberta government intends to lower electricity and auto insurance costs, as well as use the Sovereignty Act against the federal government if it tries to enforce emissions caps or a net-zero electricity grid by 2035, Lt.-Gov. Salma Lakhani said in Monday’s throne speech.

The speech, which outlines the province’s priorities, marks the start of Alberta’s 31st legislature. It comes five months after Premier Danielle Smith and her United Conservative Party won a majority government.

The speech focuses on affordability issues as well as grievances against the federal government. Ottawa is called one of the “powerful forces” in Canada forcing Albertans to fundamentally alter our provincial economy and way of life.”

The province is prepared to use the Sovereignty within a United Canada Act in order to ignore legislation implemented by the federal government.

At a news conference Monday, Smith said motions could be used against emissions caps on oil, gas, methane, and fertilizer, and the plan to make the electricity grid net-zero by 2035, which she contends is not realistic.

“Those are all circumstances that if they proceed unilaterally, we would have to defend our constitutional jurisdiction,” she said.

Smith believes the recent Supreme Court opinion on the constitutionality of the Impact Assessment Act backs up her assertion that Alberta has sole jurisdiction over these areas.

Smith also suggested the government would even put money toward new natural gas electricity generation plants to “de-risk” them in light of the federal plan for the zero-emissions grid.

“Whatever it takes to be able to get natural gas plants built,” she said. “Right now, no one is offering up a large-scale natural gas because of the uncertainty that’s been created.”

High-speed rail?

The throne speech listed other actions the government plans to take, albeit in broad strokes with few details.

On the affordability front, the government is promising a package of “substantive reforms” to bring down high electricity prices.

A woman sitting and reading out loud. — Alberta Lt.-Gov Salma Lakhani reads the throne speech in Edmonton on Monday. The Alberta legislature resumed Monday with promises of a referendum on tax increases and more threats to unsheathe a law that the United Conservative Party government says defends the province from federal overreach. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)

That includes adding supply generated by natural gas plants to the grid, and ensuring the market isn’t subject to manipulation. Smith said the regulated rate option is a misnomer as it gives people a false sense of security.

“We will very likely abandon that terminology and talk about variable rates versus fixed rates,” she said.

The province also intends to provide incentives to homeowners who install solar panels or add other energy-efficient products to their homes.

Smith said a new regulatory regime for renewable energy will be introduced in early 2024, adding that the current pause on project approvals will not be extended past February.

Albertans can expect reforms to auto insurance when the current rate freeze expires at the end of this year. The measures will limit premium increases for good drivers and help insurance companies keep their costs down.

Smith also intends to take action on one of her election promises — to create a new eight per cent tax bracket for Albertans who earn less than $60,000 a year.

The throne speech indicates changes to Alberta Health Services promised by Smith will be introduced soon. The measures will decentralize decision making and move more resources and staff to the front lines.

The government is promising to plan for rail between the Calgary airport and Banff, as well as a high-speed line along the Calgary-Red Deer-Edmonton corridor.

NDP Leader Rachel Notley said the throne speech was full of vague commitments that do not address what Albertans are most worried about.

She said Smith’s threat to use the Sovereignty Act will create economic uncertainty in Alberta.

No pension mention

Notley noted the government’s consultation on creating an Alberta Pension Plan wasn’t mentioned at all in the 13-page speech.

“Why is that, I wonder?” Notley asked.

“Perhaps because the entire scheme is based on numbers that the premier herself admitted last week are made up.”

The throne speech was followed by the introduction of the Taxpayer Protection Amendment Act, the government’s first piece of proposed legislation. Under the bill, increases to personal or business taxes would need to be approved via a referendum.

Notley called the bill a gimmick. She said the government has many other ways to download costs onto families.

“It chains Albertans to the revenue royalty rollercoaster because it makes it impossible to confront and adapt to changing economic conditions,” she said.

The order paper, published on the Legislative Assembly of Alberta website, shows four other pieces of legislation are coming soon: Alberta Pension Protection Act, Opioid Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Amendment Act, Tax Statutes Amendment Act and the Public Sector Employer Amendment Act.

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Whitehead becomes 1st CHL player to verbally commit to playing NCAA hockey

Published

3 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

Braxton Whitehead said Friday he has verbally committed to Arizona State, making him the first member of a Canadian Hockey League team to attempt to play the sport at the Division I U.S. college level since a lawsuit was filed challenging the NCAA’s longstanding ban on players it deems to be professionals.

Whitehead posted on social media he plans to play for the Sun Devils beginning in the 2025-26 season.

An Arizona State spokesperson said the school could not comment on verbal commitments, citing NCAA rules. A message left with the CHL was not immediately returned.

A class-action lawsuit filed Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, could change the landscape for players from the CHL’s Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. NCAA bylaws consider them professional leagues and bar players from there from the college ranks.

Online court records show the NCAA has not made any response to the lawsuit since it was filed.

“We’re pleased that Arizona State has made this decision, and we’re hopeful that our case will result in many other Division I programs following suit and the NCAA eliminating its ban on CHL players,” Stephen Lagos, one of the lawyers who launched the lawsuit, told The Associated Press in an email.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Riley Masterson, of Fort Erie, Ontario, who lost his college eligibility two years ago when, at 16, he appeared in two exhibition games for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. And it lists 10 Division 1 hockey programs, which were selected to show they follow the NCAA’s bylaws in barring current or former CHL players.

CHL players receive a stipend of no more than $600 per month for living expenses, which is not considered as income for tax purposes. College players receive scholarships and now can earn money through endorsements and other use of their name, image and likeness (NIL).

The implications of the lawsuit could be far-reaching. If successful, the case could increase competition for college-age talent between North America’s two top producers of NHL draft-eligible players.

“I think that everyone involved in our coaches association is aware of some of the transformational changes that are occurring in collegiate athletics,” Forrest Karr, executive director of American Hockey Coaches Association and Minnesota-Duluth athletic director said last month. “And we are trying to be proactive and trying to learn what we can about those changes.

Karr was not immediately available for comment on Friday.

Earlier this year, Karr established two committees — one each overseeing men’s and women’s hockey — to respond to various questions on eligibility submitted to the group by the NCAA. The men’s committee was scheduled to go over its responses two weeks ago.

Former Minnesota coach and Central Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner Don Lucia said at the time that the lawsuit provides the opportunity for stakeholders to look at the situation.

“I don’t know if it would be necessarily settled through the courts or changes at the NCAA level, but I think the time is certainly fast approaching where some decisions will be made in the near future of what the eligibility will look like for a player that plays in the CHL and NCAA,” Lucia said.

Whitehead, a 20-year-old forward from Alaska who has developed into a point-a-game player, said he plans to play again this season with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League.

“The WHL has given me an incredible opportunity to develop as a player, and I couldn’t be more excited,” Whitehead posted on Instagram.

His addition is the latest boon for Arizona State hockey, a program that has blossomed in the desert far from traditional places like Massachusetts, Minnesota and Michigan since entering Division I in 2015. It has already produced NHL talent, including Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord and Josh Doan, the son of longtime Coyotes captain Shane Doan, who now plays for Utah after that team moved from the Phoenix area to Salt Lake City.

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AP college sports:

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Calgary Flames sign forward Jakob Pelletier to one-year contract

Published

3 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

CALGARY – The Calgary Flames signed winger Jakob Pelletier to a one-year, two-way contract on Friday.

The contract has an average annual value of US$800,000.

Pelletier, a 23-year-old from Quebec City, split last season with the Flames and American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers.

He produced one goal and two assists in 13 games with the Flames.

Calgary drafted the five-foot-nine, 170-pound forward in the first round, 26th overall, of the 2019 NHL draft.

Pelletier has four goals and six assists in 37 career NHL games.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Kingston mayor’s call to close care hub after fatal assault ‘misguided’: legal clinic

Published

3 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

A community legal clinic in Kingston, Ont., is denouncing the mayor’s calls to clear an encampment and close a supervised consumption site in the city following a series of alleged assaults that left two people dead and one seriously injured.

Kingston police said they were called to an encampment near a safe injection site on Thursday morning, where they allege a 47-year-old male suspect wielded an edged or blunt weapon and attacked three people. Police said he was arrested after officers negotiated with him for several hours.

The suspect is now facing two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

In a social media post, Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson said he was “absolutely horrified” by the situation.

“We need to clear the encampment, close this safe injection site and the (Integrated Care Hub) until we can find a better way to support our most vulnerable residents,” he wrote.

The Kingston Community Legal Clinic called Paterson’s comments “premature and misguided” on Friday, arguing that such moves could lead to a rise in overdoses, fewer shelter beds and more homelessness.

In a phone interview, Paterson said the encampment was built around the Integrated Care Hub and safe injection site about three years ago. He said the encampment has created a “dangerous situation” in the area and has frequently been the site of fires, assaults and other public safety concerns.

“We have to find a way to be able to provide the services that people need, being empathetic and compassionate to those struggling with homelessness and mental health and addictions issues,” said Paterson, noting that the safe injection site and Integrated Care Hub are not operated by the city.

“But we cannot turn a blind eye to the very real public safety issues.”

When asked how encampment residents and people who use the services would be supported if the sites were closed, Paterson said the city would work with community partners to “find the best way forward” and introduce short-term and long-term changes.

Keeping the status quo “would be a terrible failure,” he argued.

John Done, executive director of the Kingston Community Legal Clinic, criticized the mayor’s comments and said many of the people residing in the encampment may be particularly vulnerable to overdoses and death. The safe injection site and Integrated Care Hub saves lives, he said.

Taking away those services, he said, would be “irresponsible.”

Done said the legal clinic represented several residents of the encampment when the City of Kingston made a court application last summer to clear the encampment. The court found such an injunction would be unconstitutional, he said.

Done added there’s “no reason” to attach blame while the investigation into Thursday’s attacks is ongoing. The two people who died have been identified as 38-year-old Taylor Wilkinson and 41-year-old John Hood.

“There isn’t going to be a quick, easy solution for the fact of homelessness, drug addictions in Kingston,” Done said. “So I would ask the mayor to do what he’s trained to do, which is to simply pause until we have more information.”

The concern surrounding the safe injection site in Kingston follows a recent shift in Ontario’s approach to the overdose crisis.

Last month, the province announced that it would close 10 supervised consumption sites because they’re too close to schools and daycares, and prohibit any new ones from opening as it moves to an abstinence-based treatment model.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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