Spring is upon us, and I wanted to write to you with an update from the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton. The United Conservative Opposition has been very busy during the past sitting on a great number of files, a summary of which is below:
- Alberta’s NDP government gets an “F” for red tape. Lacking any real strategy to help businesses and entrepreneurs, Alberta’s government recently was awarded the worst ranking in Canada for excessive red tape and regulation. In contrast, the province of Quebec got an “A”.
- Pushing for Trans Mountain. We have been working with our federal colleagues in Ottawa to push the Prime Minister to act for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which, as you know, continues to be held up by the BC NDP. We called actively for an emergency debate to be held in the Alberta legislature, similar to the ones being held in both the House of Commons and Senate in Ottawa. We also have been working to actively support Senator Doug Black’s bill which calls upon Government of Canada to invoke its Constitutional authority under s.91(29) and s.92(10)(c) to declare the much-needed Trans Mountain project to be in the national interest.
- End the Carbon Tax. We continue to work actively on the carbon tax file, particularly since newly released content suggests the federal government wants to require provinces to increase the tax further (something Alberta’s NDP government has been very willing to do thus far). I encourage you to visit our website and sign our End the Carbon Tax petition.
As always, if you have comments about the above or other matters, I encourage you to get in touch with me at [email protected]. I appreciate hearing from you!
Mike Ellis, MLA
Calgary-West
