Premier Alison Redford participated in a province-wide conference call last week designed to bring small community newspapers up to date with the upcoming fall session, as well as addressing several high-profile provincial and regional issues.
With legislature getting back into session last week, Redford said she felt it was important to touch base with rural media, discussing the work done over the summer months, as well as disclosing what Albertans can expect to see in the near future.
“We are working really hard right now as a government in caucus to make sure we are delivering on the commitments Albertans asked us to fulfill 18 months ago when we were elected and I know a lot of our officials spent a significant amount of time over the summer visiting different communities and finding out what people think are some of the province's top priorities,” Redford said.
She spoke in length about the province's Building Alberta plan, which she explained is the “most important thing for the long term sustainability” for the province and its residents, before discussing new legislation she expects to see passed in the coming weeks.
“We really want to ensure that we're talking about what Albertans want us to talk about,” Redford said. “Number one for everybody was safer roads, so we have a new transportation act on the table that we hope to introduce. We want to ensure we have new legislation in place to be able to offer faster and more efficient response for flood issues. Next year, we're hoping to have something in place for a donor organ registry, as well as introducing our Protecting Alberta environmental legislation that puts in place a comprehensive environmental monitoring program that deals with air, land and water.”
Following a brief round up of what she hopes to see happen in session this fall, Redford took questions on several provincial issues, with the ongoing issues at CNRL's Primrose site, the need for a seniors advocate in Alberta, and provincial healthcare at the top of the list.
With the Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development recently issuing CNRL an enforcement order which requires the company to determine the impact on subsurface groundwater and find the root cause of all four bitumen releases, Redford said she felt the provincial organization was handling the situation “fairly well,” in response to a question from the Nouvelle.
“Now that the regulator has put in place an environmental protection order, that ensures CNRL will have the opportunity to do more direct enquiries with regards to the technology they're using there, we might start to see some progress,” Redford said. “There are two parts to consider here – whenever we have economic development, we know unfortunately sometimes there is going to be some environmental impact, which is why we need to have a regulator in place to hold (companies accountable).”
She added, “I'm very pleased that the regulator has taken the steps that it has, because I want us to solve the problem. The technology that is being used to extract the (oil) isn't just used on that particular well, or even just used by CNRL. It's used by a number of industry leaders across the province, so I'm looking forward to finding a solution soon, as I know CNRL is too.”
With Minister of Health and Wellness Fred Horne introducing a new Health Act last year, Redford said the province now had legislation in place that specifically provides for a seniors advocate in the province, stating her belief that it's “very important” they look to press on and have an individual in place for the position in the near future.
“We have always said having a seniors advocate is important and in fact we passed legislation for that last year,” Redford said. “Advocates are important because they are able to assist families and work with the province to deal with whatever issues people may have. So we're looking forward to moving ahead with our commitment to seniors, and our commitment to put a seniors advocate in place.”
Finally, the Premier discussed some of the work Alberta Health Services was currently doing in the province, pointing towards a recent commitment to improve over 140 clinics across the province in the coming years.
“I'm really excited by the great work that's been happening courtesy of individuals at AHS, we made a commitment to improve 140 clinics throughout the province and we really want to get that work underway,” Redford said. “What we've tried to do, particularly with the first 24 communities involved in the project is make sure we are setting ourselves us for success in the future and from what I've heard so far, everything is moving along very well, so I'm really quite pleased with that.”
