Alberta Hansard — 12 March 2012, Afternoon sitting (13:30) (Legislature 27, Session 5)

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Alberta — Debates (Hansard)

Province of Alberta The 27th Legislature Fifth Session Alberta Hansard Monday, March 12, 2012 Issue 15 The Honourable Kenneth R. Kowalski, Speaker

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The 27th Legislature Fifth Session Kowalski, Hon. Ken, Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock, Speaker Cao, Wayne C.N., Calgary-Fort, Deputy Speaker and Chair of Committees Zwozdesky, Gene, Edmonton-Mill Creek, Deputy Chair of Committees Ady, Cindy, Calgary-Shaw (PC) Allred, Ken, St. Albert (PC) Amery, Moe, Calgary-East (PC) Anderson, Rob, Airdrie-Chestermere (W), Wildrose Opposition House Leader Benito, Carl, Edmonton-Mill Woods (PC) Berger, Hon. Evan, Livingstone-Macleod (PC) Bhardwaj, Naresh, Edmonton-Ellerslie (PC) Bhullar, Hon.

Manmeet Singh, Calgary-Montrose (PC) Blackett, Lindsay, Calgary-North West (PC) Blakeman, Laurie, Edmonton-Centre (AL), Official Opposition Deputy Leader, Official Opposition House Leader Boutilier, Guy C., Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo (

W) Brown, Dr. Neil, QC, Calgary-Nose Hill (PC) Calahasen, Pearl, Lesser Slave Lake (PC) Campbell, Robin, West Yellowhead (PC), Government Whip Chase, Harry B., Calgary-Varsity (AL) Dallas, Hon. Cal, Red Deer-South (PC) Danyluk, Hon. Ray, Lac La Biche-St. Paul (PC) DeLong, Alana, Calgary-Bow (PC) Denis, Hon.

Jonathan, QC, Calgary-Egmont (PC), Deputy Government House Leader Doerksen, Arno, Strathmore-Brooks (PC) Drysdale, Wayne, Grande Prairie-Wapiti (PC), Deputy Government Whip Elniski, Doug, Edmonton-Calder (PC) Evans, Iris, Sherwood Park (PC) Fawcett, Kyle, Calgary-North Hill (PC) Forsyth, Heather, Calgary-Fish Creek (W), Wildrose Opposition Whip Fritz, Yvonne, Calgary-Cross (PC) Goudreau, Hector G., Dunvegan-Central Peace (PC) Griffiths, Hon. Doug, Battle River-Wainwright (PC) Groeneveld, George, Highwood (PC) Hancock, Hon. Dave, QC, Edmonton-Whitemud (PC), Government House Leader Hayden, Hon.

Jack, Drumheller-Stettler (PC) Hehr, Kent, Calgary-Buffalo (AL) Hinman, Paul, Calgary-Glenmore (W), Wildrose Opposition Deputy Leader Horne, Hon. Fred, Edmonton-Rutherford (PC), Deputy Government House Leader Horner, Hon. Doug, Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert (PC) Jablonski, Mary Anne, Red Deer-North (PC) Jacobs, Broyce, Cardston-Taber-Warner (PC) Johnson, Hon. Jeff, Athabasca-Redwater (PC) Johnston, Art, Calgary-Hays (PC) Kang, Darshan S., Calgary-McCall (AL), Official Opposition Whip Klimchuk, Hon.

Heather, Edmonton-Glenora (PC) Knight, Mel, Grande Prairie-Smoky (PC) Leskiw, Genia, Bonnyville-Cold Lake (PC) Liepert, Hon. Ron, Calgary-West (PC) Lindsay, Fred, Stony Plain (PC) Lukaszuk, Hon. Thomas A., Edmonton-Castle Downs (PC) Lund, Ty, Rocky Mountain House (PC) MacDonald, Hugh, Edmonton-Gold Bar (AL) Marz, Richard, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills (PC) Mason, Brian, Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood (ND), Leader of the ND Opposition McFarland, Barry, Little Bow (PC) McQueen, Hon. Diana, Drayton Valley-Calmar (PC) Mitzel, Len, Cypress-Medicine Hat (PC) Morton, Hon.

F.L., Foothills-Rocky View (PC) Notley, Rachel, Edmonton-Strathcona (ND), ND Opposition House Leader Oberle, Hon. Frank, Peace River (PC) O lson, Hon. Verlyn, QC, Wetaskiwin-Camrose (PC), Deputy Government House Leader Ouellette, Luke, Innisfail-Sylvan Lake (PC) Pastoor, Bridget Brennan, Lethbridge-East (PC) Prins, Ray, Lacombe-Ponoka (PC) Quest, Dave, Strathcona (PC) Redford, Hon.

Alison M., QC, Calgary-Elbow (PC), Premier Renner, Rob, Medicine Hat (PC) Rodney, Dave, Calgary-Lougheed (PC) Rogers, George, Leduc-Beaumont-Devon (PC) Sandhu, Peter, Edmonton-Manning (PC) Sarich, Janice, Edmonton-Decore (PC) Sherman, Dr. Raj, Edmonton-Meadowlark (AL) Leader of the Official Opposition Snelgrove, Lloyd, Vermilion-Lloydminster (Ind) Stelmach, Ed, Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville (PC) Swann, Dr. David, Calgary-Mountain View (AL) Taft, Dr. Kevin, Edmonton-Riverview (AL), Official Opposition Deputy Whip Tarchuk, Janis, Banff-Cochrane (PC) Taylor, Dave, Calgary-Currie (AB) VanderBurg, Hon.

George, Whitecourt-Ste. Anne (PC) Vandermeer, Tony, Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview (PC) Weadick, Hon. Greg, Lethbridge-West (PC), Deputy Government House Leader Webber, Len, Calgary-Foothills (PC) Woo-Paw, Teresa, Calgary-Mackay (PC) Xiao, David H., Edmonton-McClung (PC) Party standings: Progressive Conservative: 67 Alberta Liberal: 8 Wildrose: 4 New Democrat: 2 Alberta: 1 Independent: 1 Officers and Officials of the Legislative Assembly W.J. David McNeil, Clerk Robert H.

Reynolds, QC, Law Clerk/ Director of Interparliamentary Relations Shannon Dean, Senior Parliamentary Counsel/Director of House Services Stephanie LeBlanc, Parliamentary Counsel & Legal Research Officer Philip Massolin, Committee Research Co-ordinator Brian G. Hodgson, Sergeant-at-Arms Chris Caughell, Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms Gordon H. Munk, Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms Liz Sim, Managing Editor of Alberta Hansard

Executive Council Alison Redford Premier, President of Executive Council, Chair of Agenda and Priorities Committee Doug Horner Deputy Premier, President of Treasury Board and Enterprise Dave Hancock Minister of Human Services Ted Morton Minister of Energy Verlyn Olson Minister of Justice and Attorney General Fred Horne Minister of Health and Wellness Ron Liepert Minister of Finance Thomas Lukaszuk Minister of Education, Political Minister for Edmonton Diana McQueen Minister of Environment and Water Jonathan Denis Solicitor General and Minister of Public Security Cal Dallas Minister of Intergovernmental, International and Aboriginal Relations, Political Minister for Central Alberta Evan Berger Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Political Minister for Southern Alberta Frank Oberle Minister of Sustainable Resource Development George VanderBurg Minister of Seniors Ray Danyluk Minister of Transportation Jeff Johnson Minister of Infrastructure, Political Minister for Northern Alberta Doug Griffiths Minister of Municipal Affairs Greg Weadick Minister of Advanced Education and Technology Jack Hayden Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation Heather Klimchuk Minister of Culture and Community Services Manmeet Singh Bhullar Minister of Service Alberta, Political Minister for Calgary Parliamentary Assistants Naresh Bhardwaj Health and Wellness Alana DeLong Seniors Arno Doerksen Human Services Kyle Fawcett Treasury Board and Enterprise Art Johnston Executive Council Barry McFarland Agriculture and Rural Development Len Mitzel Transportation Dave Rodney Health and Wellness David Xiao Energy

STANDING AND SPECIAL COMMITTEES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ALBERTA Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund Chair: Ms Tarchuk Deputy Chair: Mr. Elniski Anderson DeLong Groeneveld Johnston MacDonald Quest Taft Standing Committee on Community Development Chair: Mrs. Jablonski Deputy Chair: Mr. Chase Amery Blakeman Boutilier Calahasen Goudreau Groeneveld Lindsay Snelgrove Taylor Vandermeer Standing Committee on Education Chair: Ms Pastoor Deputy Chair: Mr. Hehr Anderson Benito Brown Cao Chase Leskiw Marz Notley Sarich Tarchuk Standing Committee on Energy Chair: Mrs.

Ady Deputy Chair: Ms Blakeman Hehr Hinman Jacobs Johnston Lund Mason McFarland Ouellette Webber Xiao Standing Committee on Finance Chair: Mr. Renner Deputy Chair: Mr. Kang Allred Anderson Drysdale Fawcett Knight Mitzel Prins Sandhu Taft Taylor Standing Committee on Legislative Offices Chair: Mr. Blackett Deputy Chair: Mr. Lund Blakeman Brown Evans Hinman Lindsay MacDonald Marz Notley Ouellette Quest Special Standing Committee on Members’ Services Chair: Mr. Kowalski Deputy Chair: Mr. Campbell Amery Anderson Elniski Evans Hehr Knight Leskiw MacDonald Mason Rogers Standing Committee on Private Bills Chair: Dr.

Brown Deputy Chair: Ms Woo-Paw Allred Benito Boutilier Calahasen Doerksen Drysdale Evans Groeneveld Hinman Jacobs Kang Knight Lindsay McFarland Sandhu Sarich Snelgrove Swann Xiao Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing Chair: Mr. Prins Deputy Chair: Mr. Snelgrove Amery Boutilier Calahasen DeLong Doerksen Forsyth Jacobs Knight Leskiw McFarland Mitzel Notley Pastoor Quest Stelmach Swann Tarchuk Taylor Zwozdesky Standing Committee on Public Accounts Chair: Mr. MacDonald Deputy Chair: Mr.

Goudreau Allred Benito Calahasen Chase Elniski Fawcett Forsyth Groeneveld Kang Mason Rodney Sandhu Vandermeer Woo-Paw Xiao Standing Committee on Public Health and Safety Chair: Mrs. Fritz Deputy Chair: Dr. Taft Bhardwaj Blackett DeLong Doerksen Forsyth Notley Rodney Rogers Swann Woo-Paw

March 12, 2012 Alberta Hansard 413 Legislative Assembly of Alberta Title: Monday, March 12, 2012 1:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. Monday, March 12, 2012 [The Speaker in the chair] head: Prayers The Speaker: Good afternoon. Welcome back. Let us pray. As our members gather to begin a new week in our Assembly, we are remind ed of the blessings which have been bestowed upon Alberta, and we give thanks for this bounty. May we conduct ourselves in our deliberations in ways that honour our province and all of its people. Amen. Hon. members and ladies and gentlemen, we will now be led in the singing of our national anthem by Mr.

Paul Lorieau, and I would invite all to participate in the language of their choice. Hon. Members: O Canada, our home and native land! True patriot love in all thy sons command. With glowing hearts we see thee rise, The True North strong and free! From far and wide, O Canada, We stand on guard for thee. God keep our land glorious and free! O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. The Speaker: Please be seated. All hon. members will have on their desks a Commonwealth Day message from Her Majesty the Queen, Head of the Commonwealth. Man in Motion 25th Anniversary Relay Mr.

Rick Hansen’s Address to the Assembly The Speaker: At this point I would ask the Sergeant -at-Arms to open the main entrance doors of the Assembly pursuant to Motion 11, which was approved by this Assembly last week. [Mr. Rick Hansen entered the Chamber and took his place at the bar] [Standing ovation] The Speaker: Hon. members, this day is of particular significance as it is the second time in our history that Mr. Rick Hansen has spoken from the Chamber floor. On May 8, 1997, Mr. Hansen addressed the members from the floor of the Legislative Assembly.

He is the only individual in the 107-year history of this Assembly to have been invited twice to speak to the members. Mr. Hansen is an exceptional individual who is committed to motivating people to recognize their dreams and to turn them into reality. Twenty-five years ago Rick Hansen established his Man in Motion tour across the globe. For 26 months he and his team wheeled over 40,000 kilometres through 34 countries, raising awareness for spinal cord research. The Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay is retracing the Canadian segment of the original Man in Motion World Tour.

The relay, which started August 24, 2011, in Cape Spear, Newfound- land and Labrador, is travelling westward to British Columbia. The nine-month relay will cover 12,000 kilometres and visi t over 600 communities in every province and territory of our great country. Today we invite Mr. Hansen to make a stop on the tour, to join us, and to say hello. Mr. Hansen, welcome again to the Alberta Legislative Assembly. Would you please come forward. [applause] [Mr. Hansen proceeded to the head of the table] Mr. Hansen: Thank you, sir. The Speaker: Sir, the floor is yours. Don’t worry about me. Mr.

Hansen: I hate to turn my back to such a distinguished Speaker. [The Speaker left the chair and took a p lace on the floor of the Assembly] Mr. Hansen: Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you so much for this incredible honour. Members of the Legislative Assembly, it is an incredible honour to be here to present to you an ongoing journey, a vision, values of this country. I feel so privileged to have been a young kid growing up in rural Canada who had a devastating accident that seemed to have shattered hopes and dreams.

It was the values and the spirit of this country, family, friends, community, the medical pro- fession, and role models all working together to help me rebuild my life, to have hopes and dreams, to be able to then look back and think about what I could do to make a difference, to pay it forward to the lives of others.

It spawned the Man in Motion tour , to be able to find a cure for spinal cord injury, to make the world more accessible and inclusive for the hundreds of millions of people with disabilities just waiting for the opportunity to express themselves, to be welcome in families, in homes, and in communities. All those years wheeling across the country and around the world were a tremendous experience. You know, I felt so buoyed because I was looked up to as a Canadian no matter where I went in the world. I felt proud of our values and what we stand for.

I also was incredibly inspired when I came across this country in the middle of winter, facing insurmountable odds and obstacles, to see the wellspring of support from local citizens everywhere, people lining the streets, joining with me in a conversation about what this country aspires to be: a healthy and inclusive place for all, a country that also takes its rightful role in the world in leadership, in friendship, and in common spirit.

I’ll never forget the incredible response that I received when the Premier met me at the border here in Alberta and welcomed me to this great province, the incredible support here at the Legislature, in universities, in high schools, in hospitals and rehab centres, and on the streets every single day, making me fe el like that road wasn’t long and lonely but that it was surrounded by family and friends, one country united with one common purpose.

When I completed the Man in Motion tour in May of 1987, I crossed a finish line that said, “Welcome Home, Rick,” and abo ve it there was a sign that said, “The End Is Just the Beginning.” Well, you can imagine what I must have thought at that point, after having gone through all those miles and all those incredible challenges. In reality, the tour was over, but the dream had just begun.

It was a new conversation with our country, and millions of people picked up that cause and translated it into their own purpose and translated it into real change year in and year out, making fundamental progress towards a cure for spinal cord injury and accessible and inclusive communities. You know, it’s hard to measure those profound moments of change in one year, but after 25 years, looking back, there is so much to be proud of, so much to celebrate.

This is why we decided to conduct the 25th anniver- sary relay, going back to places all around the world and, of course, right across this great country, to be able to recognize local champions, to move from one man in motion to many, to make

414 Alberta Hansard March 12, 2012 this a nation’s journey, to continue to move forward for the next 25 years until we get to the goal. I feel so privileged to be doing this cross -Canada relay and joining 7,000 difference -makers who have been with me and so many others for all these years, to recognize the spirit of Albertans, to see close to a thousand Albertans actually out there on the relay, each one of them having their own amazing story. Of course, here in the gallery we have two amazing difference- makers that I’d like to recognize, Amanda Magyar and Benjamin Tumack.

If you could stand up and be recognized. Amanda, you are an incredible difference- maker. You are someone who has set goals and chased dreams. You exercise leadership and self -esteem amongst young people. But you also believe in a healthy planet, and you’re continuing to exercise stewardship of this great Earth here locally and inspiring others around the world. 1:40 Of course, Benjamin, I’d like you to stand up because you’ve also overcome many obstacles yourself from a physical disability, but we don’t see disabili ty in your attitude and spirit; we see only ability.

You not only translate and overcome your obstacles with muscular dystrophy in so many amazing ways to make a difference, but you have aspirations of representing your country as an elite wheelchair basketball player in the juniors and also dreams of the Paralympic Games to make all Albertans proud. You are the representation of 850 Albertans who have been part of this relay. I’d like to ask Members of the Legislative Assembly to join me in recognizing you and saying thank you and congratulations. We are proud of you. In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, we have come a long way, and there is much to celebrate.

I’d like to say a special thank you to the members here in this Legislature. Each and every one of you is making a difference. You have stepped up to serve your constituencies, your province well. You’re making change. You have been partners with us for all these years to make sure that Alberta has a world -class research organization with universitie s and hospitals, finding a cure and connecting with the world.

You’ve made sure that your communities are accessible and inclusive for all, and you see it reflected here in this Legislature, with people who happen to have disabilities but are expressing ability in an inclusive way. These examples of success are worthy. We appreciate your partnership. We look forward to the next 25 years together. It’s going to be a fantastic, accelerating contribu - tion that we all make. I’d like to say thank you so much for being part of my dreams, helping me to feel like our best work is in front of us.

I look forward to one year at a time, one stroke at a time, one contribution at a time until we get to that end. Thank you so much, and never give up on your dreams. I really appreciate it. Thank you. [Standing ovation] [Mr. Hansen left the Chamber] The Speaker: Please be seated. head: Introduction of Visitors The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Advanced Education and Technology. Mr. Weadick: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s indeed a pleasure to rise today after that wonderful speech and take a moment just to introduce some very, very special guests we have with us today. Our guests are accompanying Mr.

Rick Hansen, who has come to Edmonton as part of his 25th anniversary relay. In your gallery today we have Amanda Magyar, who is participating in the Rick Hansen relay, and her sister Kassandra Magyar. We have Benjamin Tumack, who is also participating in the Rick Hansen relay, along with his mom and dad, Terri and Ken Tumack, as well as the following staff members from the Rick Hansen Foundation: Jamie Levchuk, Pamela Berg, Nadine Jarry, Colin Ewart, John Gibson, Doramy Ehling, and Christine Myatt.

As they join us in the Alberta Legislature today, their presence reminds us that Rick’s journey and his message of hope are as relevant today as they were 25 years ago. I would ask them to rise and receive the warm greetings of this Assembly. head: Introduction of Guests The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Human Services. Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s a pleasure for me to rise today and introduce to you and through you to members of the Assembly a bright and enthusiastic group of 35 grade 6 students from Brookside elementary school, located in my constituency of Edmonton-Whitemud.

They’re here this week for School at the Legislature. I saw them very briefly earlier today. It looks like they’re enjoying the opportunity immensely. Accompanying the students are their teachers Shirley Szeto and Tara Price and parents Kym Schreiner and Sharon Gritter. Mr. Speaker, it should be noted that in recognition of Common- wealth Day these students were representing various foreign diplomats of the Commonwealth. In speaking with the students, I know they’re going to have some wonderful questions for me when we get together later on in the week.

They’re seated in the members’ gallery, and I’d ask them to rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of this Assembly. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Riverview. Dr. Taft: Yes. Thanks, Mr. Speaker. It’s a real treat for me today to introduce to you and to all members of the Assembly students from Lynnwood school. There are 44 of them here today. Lynnwood school is a terrific school. I always enjoy going there to read during Read In Week, and I hope to be back not long from now to speak to the grade 6 class, at least, about the Legislature.

The students are accompanied by a couple of teachers, Ms Adamson Cavanaugh and Mrs. Afreen, and they have tw o parent helpers with them, Mr. Pascoe and Mrs. Boucher. I would ask them to rise and please receive the warm welcome of this Assembly. The Speaker: Hon. Member for Edmonton-Mill Woods, your guests will arrive later? Mr. Benito: No. The Speaker: They’re here? Go ahead. Mr. Benito: I have two introductions today, Mr. Speaker. Both of them are in the public gallery.

On the date of March 4 four migrant workers from the Philippines are dead after a head -on collision in southern Alberta that police believe was the result of drunk driving. Two men, both 35, and two women, aged 52 and 39, were killed. The loss of Anthony Castillon, Joey Mangonon, Eden Biazon, and Josefina Velarde has left the Filipino community of Alberta heartbroken and in a period of mourning.

Mandy Servito, our guest for today, president of CEFA, or the Council of Edmonton Filipino Associations, is leading the way in providing comfort and support to those who have been greatly affected by this devastating incident. As well, Mandy, through

March 12, 2012 Alberta Hansard 415 CEFA an d in co -ordination with the workers’ employers and all Albertans, is standing behind Josephine Tamondong, the lone survivor, through this difficult time. I would ask Mandy to stand and receive the traditional recognition of this Assembly. My second introduction, Mr. Speaker, is Ms Julie Kallal, media relations of the Council of Edmonton Filipino Associations, or CEFA.

Through the leadership role of CEFA and the good media works of Ms Kallal the awareness and help from the community for the victims of the tragic accident of March 4 that killed four migrant workers from the Philippines is in full swing. More help is needed. The umbrella group of 24 Filipino associations is very appreciative and commending the full support of the media for this tragic accident . I would now ask Ms Kallal to stand up and receive the traditional welcome of this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Develop- ment. Mr. Berger: Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. It’s my pleasure to rise today to introduce to you and through you to all members of the Assembly two important people in my life. Seated in your gallery are my father, Mr. Alvin Berger, from Nanton, Alberta, who at 89 years young still goes out to his shop and works on machinery every day, and my brother -in-law, Mr. Reid McPherson, who farms near Ardrossan. I would like the Assembly to please show them the warm welcome of this House. The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Transportation. Mr. Danyluk: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to introduce to you and through you to members of this Assembly a family who travelled from Beauvallon in my constituency today for a tour of the Legislature Building and to watch question period. Marianne and her husband, Ross Amy, are here with the ir four children: Heather, Stephen, Sara, and David. They are seated in the public gallery, and I’d ask them to rise and receive the traditional warm welcome of this Assembly. The Speaker: The hon. Member for St. Albert. Mr. Allred: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I’m pleased to rise today to introduce to you and through you to the Assembly two constituents and close friends of mine, Arlene and Murray Barker. I believe they’re seated in the public gallery near the entrance. Murray is a retir ed detective from the Edmonton police force, but he has been on disability for 15 years now as a result of his contracting multiple sclerosis. Murray is very interested in the CCSVI treatment, but because of his size and his disability it is virtually impossible for him to travel to the United States for treatment. Nevertheless, Murray is a very positive force in St.

Albert, scooting about town in his motorized wheelchair no matter what the weather conditions are. Murray will be a participant in the Rick Hansen relay on Wednesday, enthusiastically carrying the Rick Hansen medal with pride in St. Albert. He is another difference-maker. I would ask Arlene to rise and ask members of the Assembly to give Murray and Arlene the traditional warm welcome of the Assembly. Thank you. 1:50 head: Oral Question Period The Speaker: First Official Opposition main question. The hon. Leader of the Official Opposition. Alberta’s Representative in Asia Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I’d like to welcome the Premier back to Canada. Lately as the PCs lurch from one scandal to another, the Premier has found a new hobby, throwing people under the campaign bus: the Member for Dunvegan-Central Peace, Shiraz Shariff, and now Gary Mar. I wonder who the next member of the under the campaign bus club will be. To the Premier: were there any other government officials or government MLAs involved in organizing this fundraiser or in donating prizes for the silent auction, and if so, will you please explain? The Speaker: The hon. the Premier. Ms Redford: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I was certainly pleased to be welcomed back to the province by the hon. member. Our trip to Washington and New York last week was terribly successful – invited by FirstEnergy to speak at the East Coast Energy Conference to talk about the future of Alberta – well received, very optimistic, and pretty excited about what a good long -term fiscal plan looks like for this province.

With respect to a specific answer to the question of the hon. member if there is anyone wh o exhibits inappropriate behaviour that does not meet a code of values and ethics that matter to this government, then we will ask them to take responsibility for their actions, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. member. Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

Given that the Premier promised change, real change, and first she ripped into Gar Mar during the PC leadership race for his connection to Kelley Charlebois, famous for receiving a two-year $400,000 PC government contract to do nothing – Premier, you pro mised change – will the Premier please explain why she exercised such poor judgment in giving Mr. Mar a plum patronage post mere days after the leadership race was over and putting Kelley Charlebois in charge of the PC Party? Ms Redford: Mr.

Speaker, the f uture of this province will be opening markets, and we have had people in this province who’ve been public servants, who’ve done a very good job of doing that, and it’s important for us to ensure that we can gather all of the talent possible. Now, there’s no doubt – and I said it on Friday – that I have particular concerns about the information that was presented to me on Friday. We acted on it immediately. That matter is with the Ethics Commissioner, and that’s where it should be. Dr. Sherman: Mr. Speaker, the Premier is absolutely correct. Trade is so important.

A patronage position, a suspension of our representative, and our reputation yet again tarnished. To the Premier: given that accounts that that trip to Hong Kong was one of the fundra iser auction prizes and that it may have included a promise that Mr. Mar would show the winner around the city and make introductions to leaders, can the Premier say with certainty today whether or not this is true? Did a government representative attempt to profit from his office and his manner to pay his campaign debt? Ms Redford: Mr. Speaker, the comments that the hon. member has made are at this point speculative.

Now, I’m not going to say whether they are true or not true. That’s why, I think by 2:30 on Friday afternoon, within an hour of hearing what had happened, I

416 Alberta Hansard March 12, 2012 asked the Ethics Commissioner to look at that. If this did happen, there is no doubt that it is inappropriate. I’ve expressed my concern, and we need to ensure that there is due process wit h respect to this matter. The Speaker: Second Official Opposition main question. The hon. Leader of the Official Opposition. Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What was inappropriate was making that appointment in the first place. Long-term Care for Seniors Dr. Sherman: Mr. Speaker, before the last election, in 2008, a near crisis caused by the warehousing of seniors was making the news.

How little things have changed. Back then the PCs promised to solve the problem by adding hundreds of new long - term ca re beds to free up beds and eliminate ER waits in the process, and the previous Premier put his name to this. Now, the headlines are the same today as they were in 2008, and today we actually have fewer long -term care beds than we had back them. To the Premier. You’re not even building long -term care beds, except 30 of them and a whole bunch of for-profit beds . . . The Speaker: The hon. the Premier. [interjection] The hon. the Premier. Ms Redford: Mr.

Speaker, the reality is that there are more long - term care beds, there are more seniors in housing, there is strong, affordable public health care for seniors, and we have put in place plans to continue that program. We have had tremendous success. The only reason that the headlines might look similar today as they did four years ago is because, as we know, we are very close to an election, and there are a number of political parties that think that they can scare seniors into not supporting government, and that’s shameful. The Speaker: The hon. leader. Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The only one scaring the seniors and making them involuntarily separate and lifting the cap is you, Premier. Given that the Premier spoke glowingly of privatizing the delivery of seniors’ care, saying, “Allowing private indus try to meet seniors’ needs will create more jobs in many different sectors and steady growth for our economy,” when will this Premier stop selling out our seniors and follow the Alberta Liberal lead by building publicly delivered, nonprofit, long -term care ? Premier, our seniors are not commodities to be sold to your buddies. Mr. Horne: Mr.

Speaker, this government hasn’t built only hundreds of continuing care spaces for seniors; we have built thousands in the last few years. We are on track to meet our goal of 5,300 spaces over five years. Unlike the opposition, that would prefer to war ehouse seniors, apparently, in nursing homes of the 1970s, we intend to continue our plan to expand affordable services for seniors and bring health care to them in place. The Speaker: The hon. leader. Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The pot calling t he kettle black, the guy who wrecked this whole health system to begin with. To the Premier.

Given that the case of Audry Chudyk made it very clear that this current government does not adequately staff or resource seniors’ facilities already in place, resulting in such cases of severe senior neglect, could you please tell this House how you plan to upgrade the level of care and service in both existing and new long -term care facilities so that no senior ever suffers the shameful neglect Audry Chudyk did? How are you going to do it by reducing the level of care?

Ms Redford: A perfect example of what I’ve just been talking about, the hon. member standing up and using an unfortunate circumstance to scare seniors across this province. It is not appropriate. I am surely shocked that this is how we would have this conversation. I will go back, Mr. Speaker, to the fact that we are committed to publicly funded health care for seniors in appropriate accommodation that allows people to have choices and stay together. There is no doubt that the minister of health is correct. We have built thousands of new spaces, and we’ll continue to do so.

The Speaker: Third Official Opposition main question. The hon. Member for Calgary-Buffalo. Bitumen Upgrading Mr. Hehr: The Alberta First Nations Energy Centre project, an upgrader to refine our bitumen here at home that would have led to the first refinery to be built in North America in decades, has been shelved by this government. Crazy, given that this project would have also connected us to Asian markets by using already established pipeline routes. Furthermore, government bureaucrats, cabinet ministers, the former Premier, and the Prime Minister’s office were all enthusiastic about this project.

To the Premier: how come your government has shelved this project that would have brought $110 billion into our economy? Ms Redford: There are a number of projects that come forward to the provincial government and through the private sector to private investors that might make sense. Our job as the government has to be to ensure that we are spending taxpayers’ money wisely. Although I know there was a lot of enthusiasm about this project, Mr. Speaker, our job is to take a look at the business case and determine whether or not i t makes sense for Alberta taxpayers.

Now, of course, we would have had a role and been asked to make a contribution, and we made the decision that in some cases while there might be those opportunities to have partnerships that provide for value-added, this wasn’t one of them. Mr. Hehr: Well, Mr. Speaker, this government has sat on its hands for years, allowing our bitumen to be shipped south of the border to be upgraded and refined abroad, taking away jobs and revenue for our province. If not now for a project like this, Madam Premier, when? Mr. Dallas: Mr.

Speaker, actually, the hon. member suggested that there’s no bitumen upgrading happening here. You know, between 60 and 70 per cent of all of the bitumen produced is being upgraded right here. Certainly, the North West upgrader project is another example of a progressive attempt to increase that amount. The simple facts are that we have to gauge the merits of each project on a risk basis for the government, and obviously that translates into risk for taxp ayers, so we make some tough decisions. Mr.

Hehr: Well, the simple fact of the matter is that if we don’t start building upgraders or refineries, it’s not going to be at that 60

March 12, 2012 Alberta Hansard 417 to 70 per cent level. What are you going to do with all the bitumen that’s being produced here if you don’t get a refinery or project built right now? Ms Redford: Mr. Speaker, we make investments in value-added and upgrading that make sense for Alberta taxpayers. We are going to make sure that we do not sell our bitumen at a discount, and we will not enter into any agreement on a commercial basis that doesn’t make sense for all taxpayers. 2:00 MLA Remuneration Mr. Anderson: Mr.

Speaker, this Premier should look up the definition of hypocrisy in a dictionary because she just gave a textbook example of it. She has ordered her MLAs to not receive any committee pay for a whole, gasp, two weeks before an election. Meanwhile this Premier voted herself a huge increase in her salary in 2008 behind closed doors right after the election, pocket ing hundreds of thousands of tax dollars. Premier, how about you show some real-life leadership and roll back the 34 per cent wage increase that you and your cabinet voted yourselves and your friends back in 2008? Ms Redford: Mr.

Speaker, it’s been very in teresting the past three or four days to see exactly the point that I made in my leadership campaign last year. That was that we have a confusing system that doesn’t allow Albertans to understand what a transparent and open process looks like with respect to MLA compensation. The fact that we’ve had random suggestions here and there as to how to fix it in the last three or four days speaks to exactly that point. That is why on November 30 of last year I kept a commitment.

We called an independent commission that will examine MLA salaries and benefits, and we will take that recommendation seriously, accept those recommendations. Mr. Anderson: A 30 per cent salary increase. Thirty per cent. Shameful.

Given that the Member for Calgary-Fish Creek and the Member for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, who make probably half of what you do, Premier, have informed the Speaker that they will be returning all funds paid to them as members of this committee, will you roll back the ridiculous 34 per cent increase you gave yourself four years ago, right after the election, and return that money before the election to show that you are willing to sacrifice some of your own wrongful gains and not just those of your caucus members? Ms Redford: Mr.

Speaker, we will do exactly what I’ve committed to doing, which is to have an independent commission make a recommendation to not only how government members are paid but all members in this Legislature. When we take a look at the circumstances around compensation, I think there are a number of people in this House that are reflecting today on whether or not the system that we had in place was a system that allowed everyone to be accountable to the people that elected them. I’m looking forward to the results of that report. Mr. Anderson: You’ve been here since 2008. You could have changed it.

You certainly could have changed it in the last six months. You haven’t. Given you are the highest-paid Premier in Canada and given you are the highest-paid Premier of Canada because you voted for a 34 per cent increase in your own salary just a few days after the 2008 election was over and given you seem so happy to throw your caucus colleagues and their paycheques under the bus, surely you are willing to show some real-life leadership and commit to rolling back your salary 34 per cent and to paying back the money you took from Albertans behind closed doors. Quit being such a shameless hypocrite. Ms Redford: Mr.

Speaker, what I will submit is that this report is going to be very important in terms of setting a direction for transparency. The other thing I’ll say: I find it terribly interesting that a number of people in this House who today have come up with a convenient stunt to try to polarize an issue are people who were fully aware of exactly what they were receiving for payment and did nothing about it until today, Mr. Speaker. Alberta’s Representative in Asia (continued) Mr. Mason: Mr.

Speaker, when the Premier won the Tory leadership, one of her first acts was to appoint Gary Mar as the province’s trade commissioner in Hong Kong. She did this without an open competition and despite Mr. Mar’s previous ethical violations. Now she has suspended Mr. Mar wi thout pay, but she bears the ultimate responsibility for this situation. Why won’t the Premier step up and take responsibility and admit that she appointed Mr. Mar because it was politically expedient? Ms Redford: Mr. Speaker, there are a number of people that we appoint to trade offices all over the world that have a strong set of skills.

You’ll know that we also appointed the former Mayor of Calgary, Dave Bronconnier, to be in Washington, and he’s doing a tremendous job. I think it’s very important for government to be able to make decisions to identify a set of skills that matter to Alberta to advance Alberta’s economic interests. Mr. Speaker, when I appoint someone, I certainly expect them to follow all rules that are set out and codes of ethics. As I s aid, as soon as I was made aware of the situation on Friday, we took immediate action to get to the bottom of it. That’s the first thing we need to do. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr.

Mason: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given that Mr. Mar was cited by the Eth ics Commissioner for paying Kelley Charlebois $400,000 for work that was never done and given that Mr. Charlebois was recently appointed the executive director of the PC Party, will the Premier admit that she knew of Mr. Charlebois’ actions when she approv ed his appointment as executive director of the PC Party? Ms Redford: Mr. Speaker, this is the continuing discussion with respect to allegations that are unfounded.

Now, I’m not going to deny the fact that there have been discussions with respect to how people have earned income, and that’s fine, but what I will say is that I believe that anyone that I ask to do a job is going to follow codes of conduct that are in place, and if that has not been the case, then there will be consequences. Mr. Mason: Mr. Speaker, I think the Ethics Commissioner would differ that these allegations are unfounded. They come right out of his report. Will the Premier admit that she knew about Mr.

Mar’s previous ethical violations when she appointed him as Alberta’s trade commissioner to Hong Kong without a competition, and if so, why did she do that?

418 Alberta Hansard March 12, 2012 Ms Redford: Mr. Speaker, this is exactly the point. The sugges- tion that’s been made over this weekend is that as Premier I should be jumping to a conclusion and making a decision without having all the facts before me. Th e

preamble to this question did exactly the same thing. I’m not going to do that. We’ve asked the Ethics Commissioner to look at this. That is appropriate due process, and we should respect the process. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Gold Bar, followed by the hon. Member for Strathcona. MLA Remuneration (continued) Mr. MacDonald: Thank you. Jay O’Neill, a spokesman with the Premier’s office, stated yesterday in the Edmonton Sun: “Cabinet ministers are not supposed to be collecting cash for sitting on committees.” My first question is to the Premier. Is this statement correct? Ms Redford: Mr.

Speaker, I received no payment for sitting on that committee. Mr. MacDonald: No. Again to the Premier: why did this spokes- man from the Premier’s office say that cabinet ministers are not supposed to be collecting cash fo r sitting on committees when we all know they collect on average $35,000 a year from sitting on government committees? Ms Redford: Mr. Speaker, there’s a compensation package in place with respect to all MLAs and ministers. I’ve said very clearly that I don’t believe that that’s the appropriate system. That’s why we called for Mr.

Justice Major to take on this report, and I’ll stand by the fact that we’re going to accept the recommendations in that report. Mr. MacDonald: Again to the Premier: will the Premier’s office issue a retraction of the spokesm an’s statement made yesterday, which was, in all truth, very disrespectful and misleading to taxpayers across the province? Ms Redford: There was nothing in that statement yesterday from my office that was in any way incorrect.

The only reason that anyone watching this might think that there was anything suspicious or incorrect about it is because of the insinuation and innuendo placed on it by this hon. member, and that is not appropriate. Every single year there is a public document in which every one of us in this House di scloses how we get paid and what we get paid. I certainly disclose that every year, as does everyone else. There is nothing suspicious or secretive about that. It is public. Now, Mr. Speaker, as I’ve said, it is not a system that I think we should continue with.

We’ve asked for the independent commission, and I’m looking forward to the recommendations. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Strathcona, followed by the hon. Member for Edmonton-Meadowlark. Spinal Cord Injury Research Mr. Quest: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Each year in Alberta hundreds of people suffer strokes or spinal cord injuries that leave them with varying degrees of disability. My first question is to the Minister of Advanced Education and Technology.

As the minister responsible for Alberta Innovates’ research system, with all the world-class research that’s being done in Alberta, can he tell us what’s being done to find a cure for spinal cord injury and to improve the quality of life for these injured Albertans? The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Weadick: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I sure appreciate this question, especially on a day when we’ve had Mr. Rick Hansen in our Chamber. This province is doing a large amount of spinal cord research; in fact, almost $40 million worth of research over the past three decades.

On top of that, Alberta Innovates: Bio Solutions has made a direct investment of $12 million into the Rick Hansen Foundation, working on unique research towards a cure for spinal cord injury. We’ve also funded the Rick Hansen network to help work towards cures for this very necessary thing. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Quest: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. My first supplemental to the same minister, then. The $40 million is quite a contribution.

Can he give us some specific examples of how the government of Alberta’s contribution to this important field of research is making a difference for these injured Albertans? 2:10 The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Weadick: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had the privilege of attending a Rick Hansen event about two weeks ago, where they highlighted some of the research that’s been done in Alberta especially around spinal cord injury and stroke patients. There were two items I remember seeing. One was a joystick called ReJoyce, that allowed people that had an injury to play games with a joystick on the computer.

It allowed them to gain the reuse of their hands, and as the game got tougher, they were able to co- ordinate and do a better and better job of it. Another product, developed right here in Edmonton, was a product called Smart-e- Pants, which allows people that can’t move to stay away from having things like bedsores from inactivity. The Speaker: The hon. member, please. Mr. Quest: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. My final question again to the same hon. minister: apart from th e obvious benefits that he was describing to these people with these life-altering injuries, what are the other advantages, specifically to Albertans?

The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Weadick: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We would like all of our citizens to be able to fully participate in our province and in our communities and in our environment. The annual cost of spinal cord injury to the province of Alberta is around $400 million. The research we do now, today, can have a direct impact on people’s lives and on future budgets. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Meadowlark, followed by the hon. Member for Lethbridge-East. Tobacco Reduction Strategy Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Everyone knows that the real solution to health care is not getting sick in the first place, prevention and wellness. Smoking is one of the leading causes of death and is responsible for a wi de variety of lung diseases – asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, lung cancer – as well as heart attacks, stroke, cardiovascular disease. Kids are especially vulnerable to second-hand smoke, and in Alberta despite all the

March 12, 2012 Alberta Hansard 419 work that we’ve done – and we’ve done some good work – the childhood smoking rates have gone from 10 to 14 per cent. To the Minister of Health and Wellness: what is your plan to attack the childhood smoking rate issue? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Horne: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government is currently reviewing our Alberta tobacco reduction strategy. The strategy did see significant improvement in smoking rates and exposure to second-hand smoke in the last few years.

In addition, our tobacco legislation here in Alberta is among the most aggressive in the country, going beyond simple exposure to second-hand smoke and then taking into account, for example, issues such as the sale of tobacco in pharmacies or in stores that include pharmacies. The Speaker: The hon. member, please. Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the Minister of Health and Wellness: given that there is first- hand smoke, where you’re directly smoking and it’s important to role -model for our young children, and given that second-hand smoke is an issue and there’s evidence to say that it’s bad for health and that now there’s also evidence that third-hand smoke, just smoke on someone’s clothes, is bad for our children, do you agree that protecting the health of our children in Alberta should be a top priority with respect to smoking? Mr. Horne: Well, Mr. Speaker, on this point the hon. member and I certainly do agree.

As I was about to say, we are in the process of updating our tobacco reduction strategy. We’re looking at a number of initiatives, including exposure to second-hand smoke as it relates to exposure of children in vehicles. We’re looking at the sale of flavoured tobacco products and a number of other issues that we believe will have a particular impact on reducing smoking among youth. The Speaker: The hon. member. Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the minister taking steps and looking at these issues.

I have a private member’s bill, Bill 203, the Tobacco Reduction (Protection of Children in Vehicles) Amendment Act, 2012, a special case of children being in small, enclosed spaces. To the minister: would you make it an offence to smoke in a vehicle with anyone under the age of 18 present? Mr. Horne: Mr. Speaker, I believe debate on the particular bill the hon. member refers to is on the Order Paper and may come up later this afternoon. I’ll leave the debate on the aspects of the bill to that time. What I will say, Mr. Speaker, is that the government takes this issue seriously.

Rather than one-off initiatives, we are looking at a comprehensive update to our tobacco reduction strategy, and we’ll continue to pursue that. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Lethbridge-East, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-McCall. Enhanced Support for Home Care Ms Pastoor: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Wellness. Last week the minister announced new initiatives regarding home care and rehabilitation services. Mr. Minister, what is the mandate for this new program called destination home? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Horne: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The initiative the hon. member refers to is part of a $25 million fund proposed in Budget 2012. Destination home is modelled after very successful programs in Ontario and other provinces that target a specific portion of home-care resources to seniors who may able to return home if they have the proper support. In addition, it helps prevent seniors from having to as a result of fall or injury seek treatment in emergency departments. The Speaker: The hon. member. Ms Pastoor: Thank you. To the same minister. We’re hearing concerns about long-term care and the long-term care beds that are required.

Why are we putting money into this type of a program when it perhaps could be spent better elsewhere? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Horne: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This funding is in addition to the over $450 million that Alberta Health Services allocates to home care at this time. These funds are important because they are geared specifically to the people that we spend a lot of time in this Legislative Assembly talking about, those people who through no fault of their own and as a result of lack of support in the home environment find themselves seeking treatment in the emergency department and hospital.

In addition, we certainly hope that these funds will help divert from the emergency department people who are currently living at home and who just need that little bit of extra support. The Speaker: The hon. member. Ms Pastoor: Thank you. Again to the same minister: how is this new initiative going to impact the employment of health professionals? Is it going to shift from registered nurses to personal support workers? Mr. Horne: Well, Mr. Speaker, we actually see a role for all staff disciplines in the destination home program.

It will c ontinue as an interdisciplinary team approach, that has been so successful in other aspects of the health care system. It is an initiative that will work in concert with other initiatives, programs, and services in the health system such as the 24/7 home -care RN on -call service that was announced along with the destination home program. There will always be a variety of needs in our communities. Therefore, we will continue to work with the most qualified health professionals who know the communities to meet these particular needs. Thank you. The Speaker: The hon.

Member for Calgary-McCall, followed by the hon. Member for Cypress-Medicine Hat. School Infrastructure Funding Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When it comes to government policy, after health care the most important issue for Albertans is education. I’m hearing a lot of complaints about government building new P3 schools under the ASAP program. New schools like Esther Starkman and Johnny Bright in Edmonton are already full, and there’s no room to grow. To the Minister of Infrastructure: given that there’s absolutely no money in the government’s three -

420 Alberta Hansard March 12, 2012 year plan to build new schools or renovate old ones, where will we send our growing population of children to school? Mr. Lukaszuk: Mr. Speaker, I have communicated on a number of occasions that it is this government’s plan to meet the needs of education. We do know that not only in this province but in this country we tend to have schools where we don’t have kids and kids where we don’t have schools.

That’s why we’re working with Treasury Board right now in making sure that we provide our children with the adequate spaces that they need to receive the education that they are receiving right now in the province of Alberta. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The minister may be planning on busing kids to those old schools. Whatever his plan is, he should be clear. To the minister again: given that the Premier promised full-day kindergarten but given that many schools just don’t have the space for it, when will the space be added to accommodate full -time kindergarten in Alberta? Mr.

Johnson: Mr. Speaker, my department is working with the Ministry of Education to understand what the implications of full - day kindergarten are and what kind of an inventory of infrastructure additions we’re going to need to be able to fulfill those commitments. As the Minister of Education has made clear in the recent month and through estimates, we’re working through that in a phased approach to deliver on the Premier’s promise. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Kang: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the minister again: given that I’m hearing from school boards that cookie -cutter designs of schools are not flexible enough to allow for boards to easily add extra modular classrooms, what is the minister doing to make sure that school board needs are met? Mr. Johnson: Mr. Speaker, that is a challenge. Not every school board is the same, and not every community is the same. We want to be able to use the infrastructure that we have and leverage that to be efficient for the taxpayer. But to be efficient for the taxpayer, we also need to be able to deliver as many schools and projects as possible.

So whenever we can, we’re looking at P3s, we’re looking at creative ways to deliver infrastructure to make sure that we get the best value for the taxpayer and then that we can deliver more schools and more spaces for the students that need it. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Cypress-Medicine Hat, followed by the hon. Member for Edmonton-Strathcona. 2:20 Disaster Recovery Program Mr. Mitzel: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In June 2010 – June 18, 2010, to be exact – hundreds of residents in Cypress county, Medicine Hat, and other communities in Alberta were hit hard by flooding.

In the almost two years since this disaster some disaster recovery program applicants have contacted me with concerns about the assistance they’re getting or not getting through the program. To the Minister of Municipal Affairs. It seems like improvements could and should be made to disaster assistance, particularly for flooding. Will you order a review of the program? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Griffiths: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no doubt that we have a tremendous amount of compensation for anyone that’s been affected by some sort of natural disaster or flood.

We know that there have been some concerns expressed around the way some of our projects have run. We’re doing a third-party independent review of how we deliver disaster programs. We’ve picked out specifically the southern Alberta disaster recovery plan and the central and Vermilion disaster recovery plans just to examine what has worked well. There are a lot of things that have worked very well but also things that might not have worked as well as they could have. We can learn from that and improve the programs. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Mitzel: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, we’re now in 2012.

To the same minister: thank you, but why did it take so long to order a review of the disaster recovery program? Mr. Griffiths: Well, Mr. Speaker, the three disaster recovery programs that are being reviewed right now just ended. They are not receiving any more applicants. It takes a while to assess damage, especially flood -type damage. It can take a couple of years to assess it all and come up with valuatio ns and finish out the program.

We want to make sure that when we are going to do a review, we have all of the pertinent data and information and all of the applications in so that we work from all of the information and not make half -guesses or changes bas ed on half -information. We want to do it right, not just fast. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Mitzel: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question is also to the Minister of Municipal Affairs. Given that I’ve also heard concerns about LandLink, the company that administers the program, will you ensure that they’re going to be a part of the review? Mr. Griffiths: Mr.

Speaker, that’s a very fair question. We are reviewing every aspect of the program, from communication about how the program operated to service delivery and customer service to whether or not the protocols of the program operated in place and if the appropriate information was out there. LandLink delivers quite a few of those services on behalf of the province. We’ve heard a lot of positive stori es, but we want to make sure that they’re doing the best they possibly can, too, so they’ll be part of the review. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Strathcona, followed by the hon.

Member for Calgary-Mountain View. Private Operation of Continuing Care Centres Ms Notley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week this government stepped into a labour dispute to block the rights of workers. In so doing, they protected a private long -term care operator diverting public funds meant for employee salaries into t heir profit margin. Now this government claims they are protecting seniors, but they are only protecting the company using taxpayers’ dollars to pad their bottom line.

To the minister of labour: why is he helping a private long-term care company to shortchange its employees by 20 per cent while pocketing the difference?

March 12, 2012 Alberta Hansard 421 Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, my role as Minister of Human Services is to ensure that vulnerable Albertans are protected and to make sure that labour standards are effectively carried out. In this particular circumstance, it is very clear that the vulnerable individuals involved, those who are residents of the home, would not be well served by having to move if there are not sufficient staff to take care of them in their place. It’s not clear that there would be sufficient staff to care for them in their place.

Therefore, the most important thing to do is to ensure that the labour dispute that’s happening is dealt with appropriately and, more importantly, that the individuals involved have a safe environment in which to live. Ms Notley: To the minister of health then.

Given that this government already funds the company on the basis of what AHS pays its employees and given that money clawed back from front - line caregivers will neither save the taxp ayer any money nor improve services to these residents, will the minister admit that this is a perfect example that having the private sector deliver publicly funded services hurts the quality of service received by vulnerable Albertans? Mr. Horne: Mr. Spe aker, the success of Alberta in the area of continuing care is a result of a partnership that involves government, not-for-profit organizations, and the private sector.

To take this particular instance, which is an unfortunate instance and is under the disputes inquiry board that the hon. colleague referred to, and to generalize that as a failure of the system as a whole is a non sequitur that I’m not going to participate in. Ms Notley: Well, Mr. Speaker, the system has not been a success.

Now, given that private companies will repeatedly attempt to divert public money for services toward padding their bottom line – that’s what their shareholders want them to do – why won’t the government really stand up for seniors and finally start funding more long-term care centres, or any, that are publicly administered so that seniors don’t have to pay the cost of inflating a private company’s profit margin through higher fees and compromised services? To the minister of health. Mr. Horne: Mr.

Speaker, with all respect to the hon. member, I do not think what Albertans want is a philosophical or an ideological debate about public versus private versus nonprofit. What they do want is a continuing care system and a range of options that work for them, that bring health care to them, in place in their own communities. That’s what we’re endeavouring to do. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Mountain View , followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-East. Labour Protection for Paid Farm Workers Dr. Swann: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

My questions are for the ministers of Transportation and Human Services. On February 16 the Minister of Transportation asserted that he did not believe it to be “legal for individuals, whether they be farm workers . . . to ride in the back of a pickup truck on our highways” when asked by the Member for Calgary-McCall. However,

section 85 of the Alberta rules of the road regulation exempts those who work in agriculture. To the minister: will the minister admit he was wrong and tell this House why this group of Albertans are allowed to travel in an unsafe way on the highways? Mr. Danyluk: First of all, Mr. Speaker, it is not legal for individuals to travel in open vehicles in the back unless in the exempt areas, and I think farming is one of them. Dr. Swann: Thank you for admitting that. You didn’t admit that last week.

Given the minister’s very public position that safety on our highways is a high priority, why does the minister allow paid farm workers in Alberta to be treated differently from all other Albertans? Mr. Danyluk: Mr. Speaker, I very much believe that we have to have a common-sense approach, and that common-sense approach is very much about: there are a lot of businesses, whether it be a construction crew or whether it be farmers, that need to have individuals that are in the back of vehicles.

There is no doubt that if you look at the recreation aspect of it or at individuals riding in the back of a truck, it’s not allowed. Dr. Swann: We just heard a nonsense approach, Mr. Speaker, not a common-sense approach. Let’s try the Minister of Human Services. Why is your ministry and this government perpetuating this discriminatory and danger - ous double standard? Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, it’s important always to loo k at the context of things that are happening.

I think it’s very clear from the Minister of Transportation’s response that in most circumstances it would not be appropriate for people to ride in the back of a pickup truck on a highway, and it’s illegal in most circumstances. There may be short circumstances where you’re moving from one field to another. There’s no good reason for anybody to be in the back of a pickup truck, farmer or otherwise, if they’re going to town. But if you’re moving from one field t o another or some contextual situation, it may well be appropriate as long as it’s done carefully. The Speaker: The hon.

Member for Calgary-East, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-Glenmore. Charter Schools Mr. Amery: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently I was pleased to be at Foundations for the Future Charter Academy, where they received the good news that their charter was being renewed for a 15-year term, the first school to receive this extended term. Also announced that day was that the enrolment ca ps for charter schools were being reviewed and would increase for some schools.

Can the Minister of Education explain what that means to schools like Foundations for the Future, which has thousands of children waiting for spots in this program? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Lukaszuk: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The hon. member is correct. The charters have been extended up to 15 years for those charters that meet the requirements of Alberta Education relative to the quality of education that they deliver, and most do. That was to diminish their bureaucratic nightmare of having to continuously apply for a charter renewal.

We also have allowed the existing charter schools to rightsize themselves, meaning that if they were in buildings that simply had the capacity to absorb more students and their cap was below that capacity, we lifted their capacity to the maximum that the school can absorb. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Amery: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If, as the minister says, the growth will happen only in a few schools, then why get people’s

422 Alberta Hansard March 12, 2012 hopes up that they may get an opportunity to have their child enrol in one of the charter programs that is already operating at capacity? Mr. Lukaszuk: Well, Mr. Speaker, that speaks very well to the quality of education and to the choice that charter schools offer. Obviously, parents are in some cases choosing charter schools over other modalities of delivering education.

We will continu- ously be reviewing the uptake of students in charter schools, but we also encourage other education providers to look at some of the programs that are being offered by charter schools and replicate them so that more children in Alberta can have access to similar programs offered by a variety of school providers. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Amery: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the same minister: will the minister commit to providing funding to these schools so that they can buy or lease new spaces to expand their programs? Mr. Lukaszuk: Mr.

Speaker, right now charter schools are in a variety of lease or ownership arrangements throughout the province. At this point in time the budget has been tabled in the Alberta Legislature, and we have debated it. Subject to it passing, there are no specific provisions to increase funding for infrastruc - ture for charter schools. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Glenmore, followed by the hon. Member for Dunvegan-Central Peace. 2:30 Alberta’s Representative in Asia (continued) Mr. Hinman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We know from the promotional advertising that Mr.

Mar used his position to auction off a trip to Hong Kong to help pay off his leadership campaign fund. Was Gary Mar’s plane trip back to Alberta from Hong Kong to attend this unethical fundraiser paid for by the Alberta taxpayers? To the minister of international relations. Mr. Dallas: Mr. Speaker, as we discussed earlier today, this matter was placed before the Ethics Commissioner, and I’m not prepared to comment until the Ethics Commissioner has concluded his work. Mr. Hinman: They know that they paid for it. Again, cover -up and corruption.

Given that the appointment of Gary Mar was a pure political appointment and given that Premiers have fired other political appointments for far less, when will the Premier do the right thing and ask Gary Mar to give the money back and fire him? Mr. Dallas: Mr. Speaker, I don’t know how much clearer I could be about this. The matter has been placed with the Ethics Commissioner. We’ll allow him to go about doing his work. He will report back, and we’ll go from there. Mr. Hinman: It didn’t take so long with a letter to a school board, yet they need to review with the Ethics Commissioner. Unbelievable.

Given the amount of the scandal in the health care, MLA committees, and the Gary Mar affair that is now coming to light under what is clearly a PC cultur e of corruption, why is the Premier refusing to do anything about these scandals until after the votes of the next election? Mr. Dallas: Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, the matter is before the Ethics Commissioner. He’ll do his work and report back. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Dunvegan-Central Peace, followed by the hon. Member for Edmonton-Centre. Farm Safety Mr. Goudreau: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Other members have alluded to and talked about farm safety, and farm safety week is upon us as we speak. My question is to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Does the minister have anything planned to heighten the awareness of farm safety? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Berger: Thank you. Plan •Farm•Safety is the theme of a three- year Canadian Agricultural Safety Association campaign, which started back in 2010. Mr. Speaker, 2010 promoted plan, with an emphasis on planning for safety. In 2011 the focus was on farm, with highlights on implementation, documentation, and training.

This year’s focus is on safety, recognizing that everyone has a role in farm safety. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Goudreau: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the same minister: what other steps is the minister taking to improve farm safety? Mr. Berger: Mr. Speaker, adults and children all deserve a safe place to work and play. That’s why our government believes that education and awareness are best suited to the practical realities of Alberta farming.

This government provides annual funding to farm safety programming, inclu ding workshops, awareness cam - paigns, in -school presentations, and grants to farm community agencies. I recently announced a $2 million regional agricultural society grant to increase farm safety, to help the next generation of farm producers with farm safety programs and ongoing initiatives to that end. The Speaker: The hon. member. Mr. Goudreau: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a past agrologist I know that activities on farms are rapidly ramping up.

We’re going through calving season, and there is very, very little snow left out there, so crops and the cropping season will come upon us very soon. To the same minister: what more is the government prepared to do to improve farm safety during this important time? Mr. Berger: Mr. Speaker, I am in receipt of the farm safety council’s recommendations, but our government will deal with that in due time. In th e meantime, education and awareness, of course, are the best ways to deal with the practical realities of the farm.

As I stand here this afternoon, my son will be at home doing chores, and what I count on is his awareness and his education on safety to protect him and keep him safe, just the same way I went through it because of the fellow that I introduced earlier pounding farm safety into me. That’s how we’ll do this. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Centre, followed by the hon. Member for Calgary-Mackay. Midwifery Services Ms Blakeman: Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. There are few seats for the one midwifery education program in Alberta, so many Albertans obtain their training elsewhere.

Now, because Alberta has not signed on to the international midwifery preregistration program, our internationally trained midwives face

March 12, 2012 Alberta Hansard 423 a $32,000 bill to go through this process. My questions are to the minister of health. Given the shortage of midwives in the province is the minister aware of the number of internationally trained midwives seeking registration in Alberta? Mr. Horne: Mr. Speaker, yes. I met with the college of midwives and their association representatives a little more than a week ago. It is true that there is a shortage of midwives in Alberta. We are concerned about that.

We are also concerned about ensuring that we provide an environment that allows midwives to practise to their full scope of training and expertise. The health professions legislation in Alberta and the midwives’ regulation are based on the parameters of the scope of practice in the Canadian midwifery framework. We intend to support our midwives in achieving the ability to practise to the full extent of their expertise. Ms Blakeman: Thanks very much, Minister, for that answer.

Again to the same minister: given that it appears that recently about nine applicants for preregistration were advised to apply to bridging programs, which would require that same $32,000, is the minister considering creating a made-in-Alberta preregistration program? Dr. Sherman: Good question. Mr. Horne: Mr. Speaker, it is a good question. I have not had any specific discussions with the midwives or their association about a bridging program.

What we have discussed is making sure that the midwives who are licensed to practice in Alberta have the opportunity to go beyond the traditional maternity services, maternity support role in our hospitals and be able to practise in the community, supporting home births and other alternatives that Alberta women want and expect. The Speaker: The hon. member. Ms Blakeman: Thank you. Back to the same minister: well, wouldn’t the minister agree that this a perfect opportunity to consider this? We have the existing midwifery multidisciplinary project under review. We have a brand new college of midwives.

Wouldn’t this be the perfect opportunity to create a fair and unbiased preregistration program? Mr. Horne: Mr. Speaker, I’ll be happy to take the hon. member’s comments about a bridging program under advisement and use that idea along with other issues that we’re trying to address in my discussions with midwives. As I said, our intention as a govern- ment is to do everything we can to support midwives in practising to the full extent of their training and expertise. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Mackay, followed by the hon. Member for Edmonton-Riverview.

Skilled Workforce Training Programs Ms Woo-Paw: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, one of Canada’s leading business associations, declared that our nation’s relatively strong economic standing will be in crisis if we don’t take steps to tackle the impending skilled labour shortage as the growth performance and competitiveness of our businesses and industries are critical to Alberta’s economic future. My questions are to the Minister of Advanced Education and Technology.

What is your department doing to ensure that Alberta busin esses stay competitive and have enough skilled tradespeople? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Weadick: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you know, it is critically important that as we come out of this slowdown, we have appropriately trained people in place. Over the past year my ministry has provided bridging funding of $17 million to our postsecondaries to keep positions available for skills training even though those seats were not full.

We’ve also changed the ratio of apprentices to journeymen so that we could get more apprentices into the workplace, and we’ve started to put trades training online. We have four trades online now, with more to come. Ms Woo-Paw: When employers are desperate to find more skilled workers, why aren’t you adding more apprenticeship seats? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Weadick: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I was saying earlier, we’ve managed to maintain seats for apprenticeships even though they weren’t being utilized this year because we believe that as the economy comes back, we’re going to need them.

There’s a critical importance of jobs and employment for apprentices to be able to train, so we do need our employers to step up to the table with us to make sure that we can have appropriately trained apprentices in place for the workforce. The Speaker: The hon. member. Ms Woo-Paw: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My third and final question is to the same minister. What about those that don’t have a job yet like our youth and newcomers? Can they get started? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mr. Weadick: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is an important thing, working with newcomers to the province of Alberta.

As part of that we’ve streamlined our processes for assessing the skills of people coming into the province and looking for ways to bridge their skills into our workforce. Some of the other things that have been done along with our Premier’s visit to the United States are looking for ways to prequalify people in certain trades from other jurisdictions like the United States so that when they come in here, we know what their skills are and can take them right into our workforce very quickly and take advantage of their skills within the needed trades. The Speaker: The hon.

Member for Edmonton-Riverview. 2:40 Provincial Tax Policy Dr. Taft: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. My questions will be to the Minister of Finance. This government is running deficits, raising tuition, deferring maintenance on public infrastructure, draining its savings, and spending a hundred per cent of its nonrenewable resource revenues. At the same time, taxes in Alberta could rise $11 billion and still be tied for the lowest in Canada. This is completely unsustainable. Given that this government has ruled out tax increases, how will this problem be fixed? Mr. Liepert: Well, Mr.

Speaker, I think it’s important, because this member started off with a

preamble, that maybe I have a

preamble to the answer. The

preamble to the answer is this. This is the only province in Canada that has no net debt. This is the province in Canada that has the lowest unemployment rate. This is the only province in Canada that has a sustainability fund and a

424 Alberta Hansard March 12, 2012 heritage fund. This is the only province in Canada that will be looking for workers, not having people unemployed. The whole issue around taxation we’ve discussed thoroughly in this Assembly, and we’ll continue to discuss it as we move forward. The Speaker: The hon. member. Dr. Taft: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Well, the minister mentioned the heritage trust fund. Given that the per capita inflation -adjusted value of the heritage fund has declined 60 per cent since its peak in 1982, does this government plan to rebu ild the value of the fund, and if so, how? Mr. Liepert: Mr.

Speaker, I think that we’ve been very clear that as we move forward, we need to have a discussion with Albertans relative to not only taxes, not only the resource revenues and where they go and what they pay for but also the savings strategy of the province going forward. We have to remember that in the past six or seven years this government has invested some $30 billion to $40 billion in critical infrastructure in this province.

If this particular member is suggesting that we should not have done that, that that money should have gone into the heritage savings trust fund, well, then I’d suggest he stand up and say so so that constituents in Edmonton understand they would not have a ring road, they would not have an Edmonton clinic, they would not have a dozen new schools, and they would not have an LRT that goes to the south side of the city. The Speaker: The hon. member. Dr. Taft: Well, thank you. [interjections] This is great fun. I would not s ay that.

What I would say is that taxes on the rich and on corporations should be raised. [interjections] I told you it would be fun, Mr. Speaker. [interjections] This is a serious question if I could have the floor. Given the growing reports that the sam e technology that caused a glut of the natural gas market and gutted the government’s natural gas royalties could do the same for oil in the next year or two, which would also hammer this government’s treasury, what is this government’s contingency plan for this significant risk? Mr. Liepert: Mr.

Speaker, it’s good to hear that more than just the leader in the Official Opposition are on the record that we need to tax people more. That’s good to hear, and we want to hear that continually from that particular group as we move through the next 30 or 40 days. I think Albertans will make the choice. We will soon be asking Albertans to make a choice. They will have the opportunity of whether to vote for a group of individuals who don’t want to spend any money on infrastructure or whether they want to vote for a group of individuals who want to tax more and put some money away in the savings account.

They’ll make the choice. The Speaker: Okay. Hon. members, that concludes the question- and-response period today. Nineteen members were recognized, 114 questions and responses. head: Statement by the Speaker Member Anniversaries The Speaker: We are going to move very quickly, but first of all, before we go back to the Routine, there is a recognition here for a number of members in this Assembly who were elected for their first time on March 12 of 2001, so their 11th anniversary: the hon. Member for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake; the hon. Member for Lac La Biche-St. Paul, the Minister of Transportation; the hon.

Member for Vermilion-Lloydminster; the hon. Member for Dunvegan- Central- Peace; the hon. Member for Grande Prairie- Smoky; the hon. Member for Calgary-Shaw; the hon. Member for Edmonton-Castle Downs; the hon. Member for Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert; the hon. Member for Calgary-Bow; the hon. Member for Whitecourt- Ste. Anne; the hon. Member for Edmonton-Riverview; the hon. Member for Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview; and the hon. Member for Cardston-Taber-Warner. Congratulations. It’s happy birthday time for the hon. Member for Stony Plain. head: Members’ Statements The Speaker: The hon.

Member for Calgary-Lougheed. Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay Mr. Rodney: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to salute a truly inspirational Canadian, today’s very special guest, Mr. Rick Hansen. Few people in the history of the world have demonstrated the vision, endurance, and effectiveness at the levels that Rick has. Twenty-five years ago Rick did something that was thought to be impossible. He wheeled himself 40,000 kilometres through 34 countries in 26 months on his epic Man in Motion World Tour, and as Rick just told us, that was just the beginning.

Ever since then Rick has cultivated innumerable powerful partnerships, including with our Alberta government. Over the past 30 years we’ve been proud to provide $34 million in support for spinal cord research, and we are seeing great results, including with Dr. Arthur Prochazka and his revolutionary ReJoyce reha - bilitation system; Dr. Vivian Mushahwar, whose Smart-e-Pants prevent painful pressure ulcers; and Dr. Richard Stein with his WalkAide, which helps people with stroke or spinal cord injury to walk. These are innovations developed right here in Alberta, with the spark supplied by Rick Hansen.

Rick is now sharing his vision and his action with an entirely new generation via his 25th anniversary relay, which is shining the light on over 7,000 differe nce makers of all kinds clear across the country. Having experienced a back broken in six places myself in the past, it was a great honour recently to support the cause by carrying the medal in the relay with my family and to a mountaintop with a great friend.

With Rick’s friends and fans around the world I thank him and his family and his team for kick -starting the race for a cure for paralysis, jolting people into changing their minds and actions, and, quite simply, making this world a better place for us all. Through continued collaboration we will live in a more inclusive world, a world in which the newly injured will walk away from spinal cord injury. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Meadowlark. Second-hand Smoke Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Every adult citizen has a duty to help protect children.

Human beings have an instinctive awareness of this duty because we see that children are vulnerable, that they are our future, and that they have not yet developed the full capacity to care for themselves. One of the very best ways to protect children is to insulate them from the harmful effects of

March 12, 2012 Alberta Hansard 425 second-hand smoke. That’s the goal of my private member’s bill, which would make it an offence for adults to smoke in vehi cles while anyone under the age of 18 is present. Second-hand smoke leads to a wide range of health problems, including asthma, emphysema, lung cancer, stroke, heart attacks, and respiratory illnesses. As an ER doc I’ve seen kids suffering from asthma attacks, and I can’t tell you how frustrating it is when the parents have smoked on the way to the hospital. When adults smoke in cars with children present, it creates two problems.

The first, of course, is that they’re exposing kids to second-hand smoke in a confined space with no escape. In the winter you can’t even roll the window down for some fresh air. The second problem is that smoking in the car with kids sends the message that smoking is okay. It’s about leadership and role modeling, Mr. Speaker. I f my parents do it, why shouldn’t I? That’s the message. If adults stopped smoking in cars with kids present, that’s one less place where kids can get the idea that smoking is cool, especially from their parents.

That’s important because we need to remember that teen smoking rates have been rising lately, and we must reverse that trend. Prevention, my friends, is the key. It’s the key to preventing tobacco-related illnesses, to lowering the cost of public health care, to raising the quality of life for every single Albertan in this province. I hope that all members of this House will see the wisdom in preventing second-hand smoke from hurting Alberta’s children. We have not just an opportunity but a duty to protect our kids from second-hand smoke. Thank you. The Speaker: The hon.

Member for Calgary-Mackay. 2:50 Ethnocultural Inclusivity and Integration Ms Woo-Paw: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to rise today to recognize some dynamic community builders. The Ethno-Cultural Council of Calgary acts as a collective voice for Calgary’s ethnocultural communities towards full civic participation and integration through collaborative action.

Its key initiatives include dialogue between community and government; supporting research and policy analysis on issues affecting their communities such as voter participation, racial profiling, and racial discrimin ation; as well as community -based primary prevention, that focuses on the root causes of domestic violence, as an example. The Edmonton Multicultural Coalition aims to advocate for healthy and inclusive public policies and to build the participat ory capacity for institutional/sector partners.

Their Injera initiative with the Edmonton Police Service, Reach Edmonton, and the city of Edmonton enhances the capacity of the police to work with the community through a crime prevention project where stakeholders learn the culture of police and the cultural communities they serve. Since 1995 the Edmonton Multicultural Health Brokers Co- operative has tirelessly supported immigrants and refugees to attain optimum health through education, community develop- ment, and programs such as perinatal outreach and multicultural family support for children with disabilities.

These organizations possess incredible capacity and commitment to bridging between sectors, operate within a dynamic cross -cultural and multicultural framework, and also position themselves for continual innovation. The leveling the playing field initiative between the Edmonton health brokers co -op, the Creating Hope Society, and Human Services through deepening the understanding of aboriginal and immigrant/refugee families aims to identify practice and policy changes most supportive of culturally respectful and responsive services for these families. Mr.

Speaker, these organizations came together recently to form DiverseCT Alberta, a network of Alberta cit ies and towns for diversity, focusing on advancing community -based and public policy solutions to issues affecting the province’s diverse citizens. Thank you. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Grande Prairie-Wapiti. Arctic Winter Games 2012 Mr. Drysdale: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is with great pride that I rise today to recognize 230 members of Team Alberta North, including athletes from my own constituency, who travelled to Whitehorse for the 2012 Arctic Winter Games.

The Arctic games are also known as the Friendly Games. Having hosted them in Grande Prairie in 2010, I know that this reputation is well deserved. These games are as much about sharing and culture as they are about athletic competition. For six memorable days teams from northern Alberta, t he Northwest Territories, Yukon, Nunavut, Quebec, Alaska, Greenland, Russia, and Scandinavia participated in events that celebrate northern traditions and promote active lifestyles.

Alberta’s athletes competed in sports like badminton, ski biathlon, cross-country skiing, curling, snowshoeing, and hockey and in Arctic sports and Dene games like arm pull, one -foot high kick, kneel jump, knuckle hop, head pull, and snow snake. Placing fourth overall, Team Alberta North brought home a total of 104 ulus, including 40 gold, 37 silver, and 27 bronze. The ulu, a symbol of athletic achievement at the Arctic Winter Games, is styled after the traditional Inuit knife used as an all -purpose tool in the Arctic for centuries.

I want to congratulate all the members of Team Alberta for their many achievements at this year’s games. These dedicated young people from north of the 55th parallel are the pride of our entire province. I’d like everyone here to give them a round of applause to show our appreciation and pride in all the members of Team Alberta North. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Strathmore-Brooks. Greenhouse Research and Production Complex Mr. Doerksen: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

On March 1 I had the pleasure of participating in the official opening of the greenhouse research and crop production complex, GRPC, at the Crop Diversification Centre South in Brooks. This new facility is an investment of more than $17 million by the Alberta government into our province’s greenhouse and crop research and production industry and is a valuable asset to our province. The complex supports Alberta greenhouse growers by conducting scientific crop research and by growing test crops in a simulated large-scale commercial greenhouse setting.

In touring this impressive facility, I sa w production greenhouses where tomatoes and peppers were grown and research greenhouses where research into areas such as crop disease, molecular farming, greenhouse robotics, and aquaponics take place. This facility will help to ensure that our province stays on the leading edge of applied and adaptive crop research, technology transfer, and technology commercialization. It is one of the most advanced facilities of its kind in North America, truly a world - class facility.

Every aspect of its design and operation is equipped to create and test greenhouse innovation for scientists, growers,

426 Alberta Hansard March 12, 2012 agribusiness, and educators. It is a place to go for solutions, support, and training. Greenhouses provide other benefits to Albertans beyond supplying fresh and local food to markets. There are currently 328 greenhouses operating in the province, creating 4,800 full -time and part -time jobs and an annual gross revenue of around $160 million. Mr. Speaker, this new research facility contributes economically to Alberta.

It will also generate a significant amount of experi- mental data, invaluable technical information, and business models for the greenhouse industry in Alberta and western Canada. This government is working hard to ensure that our crop industry is among the most competitive and progressive in the world, and by investing in this world-class greenhouse research and production facility, we will accomplish that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-East. Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped Mr. Amery: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When Albertans are in need, they can count on this government to stand up and do what is right. Recently our government took a big step in doing the right thing to improve the lives of severely handicapped Albertans. In Budget 2012 we announced an increase of $400 to the monthly financial benefit for the assured income for the severely handicapped. At the same time we also doubled the income exemption thresholds, allowing AISH clients to earn twice as much money without it affecting their benefits.

This was a commitment that the Premier made to Albertans, and it is yet another example to show that when this Premier makes a commitment, this Premier keeps a commitment. Mr. Speaker, AISH is important to many Albe rtans as it provides both financial and health-related assistance necessary to meet clients’ basic needs. With this $400 increase AISH clients are now eligible for a total monthly living allowance of $1,588. Furthermore, in terms of health benefits AISH cl ients will continue to receive prescription drugs, dental assistance, optical coverage, diabetic supplies, and ambulance services.

For those AISH clients living in long -term care, they will continue to have their room-and-board costs covered at the private-room rate of up to $1,700 per month plus a personal allowance of $315 per month for a maximum of $2,015 per month in benefits. Mr. Speaker, increased funding to the AISH program represents our government’s commitment to assisting our most vulnerable citizens and maintaining their living standards, which together will enhance their quality of life. As a government we have a responsibility to ensure that Albertans are able to meet their basic needs.

I’m proud to say that under this Premier we are fulfilling this responsibility. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Cardston-Taber-Warner. Alston Scout Park Mr. Jacobs: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s a pleasure today to acknowledge the Alston Scout park, located in the constituency of Cardston-Taber-Warner, which I have been proud to represent. This park is named in honour of Louisa Grant Alston, who moved to Magrath from Utah in 1900 along with her eight children to join her husband, who had come to Alberta to live.

Louisa and her family were pioneers in the area, and Louisa was part of the first primary presidency in Magrath, an organization which taught Christian values to children. More than 100 years later, in 2003, the Alston Park Foundation was established, and it raised $25,000 in short order through golf tournaments, family and private donations. Over the next nine years additional funds were raised between numerous community fundraising efforts and grants through Alberta’s community initiatives program which led to the building of the park and the official dedication of the park on July 22, 2011. Mr.

Speaker, the construction of the Alston Scout park in Magrath is a perfect example of how the spirit and support of community and government initiatives work together in benefiting Alberta communities. The Alston Scout park is located on main street in Magrath. The park features many scouting exhibits and serves as a great place for families to go to relax, spend time together, and reflect. I would like to acknowledge the history of the Alston Scout park and commend the Alston family and community for all their hard work in realizing such a worthwhile project. Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. 3:00 The Speaker: Hon. members, I should point out that in a few seconds from now we will arrive at a situation where Standing Order 7(7) kicks in. “At 3 p.m. the items in the ordinary daily routine will be deemed to be concluded and the Speaker shall notify the Assembly.” Having done that, shall I now recognize the hon. Deputy Government House Leader? Mr. Denis: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I can’t even cite the rule number. You’ve taken it out of my mouth. The Speaker: It’s my job. Mr. Denis: I would like to move for unanimous consent to waive rule 7(7) for today only.

The Speaker: Hon. members, the request is to waive the standing order so that we can conclude the Routine. It has to be unanimous so I’ll just ask one question: is anybody opposed? If so, say no. [Unanimous consent granted] head: Tabling Returns and Reports Mr. Blackett: Mr. Speaker, as chair of the Standing Committee on Legislative Offices and in accordance with

section 20(2) of the Auditor General Act I would like to table five copies of a report by the Auditor General entitled Report of the Auditor General of Alberta, March 2012. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Lougheed. Mr. Rodney: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to rise today to table an op -ed from the March 11, 2012, Calgary Herald entitled A New Perspective: The Health -care Glass Is Not Half Empty, written by Dr. Tom Feasby, dean of medicine at the University of Calgary. The op-ed states: “Criticism of health care is fine, in fact necessary, if it is constructive and balanced.

This has not been in the case in Alberta for some time.” I would encourage all hon. members to read this op-ed. I thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: The hon. Member for Edmonton-Strathcona. Ms Notley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to table the appro- priate number of copies of a petition signed by 776 Albertans. The

March 12, 2012 Alberta Hansard 427 petition reads: “We, the undersigne d residents of Alberta, petition the Legislative Assembly of Alberta to take immediate action to regulate electricity prices, recognizing that electricity is an essential service.” These are in addition to the 1,200 signatures for this petition that were previously tabled. Thank you. The Speaker: Are there others? The hon. Leader of the Official Opposition. Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have six tablings.

I’d like to table a letter to Cheryl Scarlett, director of human resources, information technology and broadcast services, tabling the return of $43,656.17 back to the Ministry of Finance, Legislative Assembly Office. I’d like to table five copies of my cheque, that was delivered today. With respect to youth smoking rates I’d like to table five copies of the youth smoking rates among Albertans aged 12 to 19. The source is the Canadian community health survey.

I also have five copies of an e-mail from the Canadian Cancer Society, Alberta/NWT division, dated March 9, 2012, supporting Bill 203, the Tobacco Reduction (Protection of Children in Vehicles) Amendment Act, 2012. Five copies from the Lung Asso ciation, Alberta & NWT, dated March 9, 2012, again supporting a free vote on Bill 203. Five copies from the Alberta Policy Coalition for Chronic Disease Prevention dated March 9, 2012, again supporting Bill 203.

Finally, I’d like to table five copies of Smoke-Free Vehicles: Protecting Youth from Exposure to Tobacco Smoke in Vehicles, from Campaign for a Smoke-free Alberta. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. head: Tablings to the Clerk The Clerk: I wish to advise the House that the following document was deposited with the office of the Clerk. On behalf of the hon. Mr. Hancock, Minister of Human Services, responses to questions raised by Ms Notley, hon. Member for Edmonton- Strathcona, and Mr. MacDonald, hon. Member for Edmonton- Gold Bar, on February 13, 2012, Department of Human Services, supplementary supply estimates.

The Speaker: The daily Routine is now concluded. head: Orders of the Day head: Public Bills and Orders Other than head: Government Bills and Orders Second Reading Bill 203 Tobacco Reduction (Protection of Children in Vehicles) Amendment Act, 2012 The Speaker: The hon. Leader of the Official Opposition. Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Health care accounts for 40 to 50 per cent of every provincial budget across the nation. In Alberta we can’t balance our budget because we’ve got a lot of sick people here.

What we need to do is focus our health care system and the way we think as a society not on a sickness system but on a prevention and wellness system. Mr. Speaker, did you know that the leading cause of death in Canada is no longer heart disease? It’s actually cancer. Lung cancer is one of those cancers. Some of the other causes of costs to health care are asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, addictions. Smoking is a major cause of these problems, major costs not only in terms of health care dollars but actually in terms of human suffering.

If you have a business, the health of your labour work force determines the economic productivity of your labour workforce. Lost productivity actually affects the bottom line of business. A healthy population is a wealthy population. So, Mr. Speaker, it’s my pleasure to rise for a second time to discuss Bill 203, the Tobacco Reduction (Protection of Children in Vehicles) Amendment Act, 2012. I move second reading of Bill 203.

When this act comes into force on January 1, 2013, the province will have taken one very large, positive step towards the protec- tion of our children from a dangerous killer, second-hand smoke. Although the wording of the bill is quite simple, to amend the Tobacco Reduction Act in order to prohibit smoking “in a vehicle in which a minor is present,” th e outcome would be nothing short of monumental. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to talk about some facts and figures, and I believe that facts actually speak for themselves. It’s incumbent upon us as policy-makers to make decisions based on merit, evidence, and fact.

We in Albert a, I will acknowledge, have taken steps in the recent past to a ddress smoking in public places. I believe that was a very good thing. Smoking rates amongst children is where we are failing. We’ve failed to meet the youth tobacco reduction target for the last few years. We were trending properly. We went from 12 per cent to 11 per cent from 2007 to 2008, but in 2010 childhood smoking rates went up to 14 per cent, approximately a 30 per cent increase. Alberta kids continue to be exposed to second-hand smoke in a number of settings, including mo tor vehicles.

The levels of second-hand smoke in cars are worse than levels previously experienced in bars and taverns, especially in small, teeny, little child-sized lungs. Tobacco use is a known contributor to many of the leading causes of disease and premature death in Alberta: cancer, heart disease, et cetera. Tobacco use cost the Alberta health care system an estimated $470 million in 2002 alone, and it’s much more than that in 2012. We now have one of the highest youth smoking rates in the nation, and I just recently tabled this chart.

Alberta and Quebec are the only remaining provinces without legislation to protect children from second-hand smoke in vehicles. Real-life examples, Mr. Speaker. I will tell you that nothing bothers the bejesus out of me more than when I’ve got a four- month- or six-month-old baby suffocating – suffocating – and struggling to breathe 60 times a minutes, sucking in between the ribs, and the parents have been smoking on the way to the hospital. It’s absolutely tragic. What’s even more tragic is to actually know that this child is going to go home, and they’re going to be smoking again.

Th ese children end up back in hospital. You know, after 20 years of practising medicine, if there’s one thing we’re going to accomplish in the Legislature, we must stop this practice. We must send a message to our society. Please don’t smoke in front of your kids, and especially in enclosed spaces. It’s dangerous to the health of your children, literally. The health risk of second-hand smoke for young children: there’s extensive evidence that it damages their lung lining and hurts their immunity. 3:10 Arguments against intrusion or private residence. Mr. Speaker, many people are going to say: “You know what?

Get out of my

428 Alberta Hansard March 12, 2012 bedroom. The government is playing too big a role in my behaviour.” You know what? We shouldn’t actually have to legislate common sense. We don’t want to get inside people’s homes. We don’t want to get inside people’s bedrooms, but unfortunately I believe that we as policy-makers must take steps to protect these young babies who have no voice.

For those Albertans or hon. members who may have concerns with this act on the grounds that they view it as too intrusive or that their vehicle is an extension of their private residence, I would remind them of the need to balance the public interests and the private interest and ou r duty as a moral, civilized society to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

The maximum fine of $1,000 associated with the first offence will be consistent with all current violations of the Tobacco Reduction Act: smoking in a public place, smoking in a workplace, smoking within a prescribed distance from a doorway, window, or air intake of a public place or workplace. It is also consistent with the specific goals of this government’s tobacco reduction strategy that, I believe, all members of all political parties would support: preventing tobacco use by youth, cessation of tobacco use by current tobacco users, and protection of all Albertans from second-hand smoke.

Finally, there is no restriction on people smoking in their own vehicles. You can smoke all you want in your car. Please don’t do it in front of a baby or a young person. However, the confined space of a vehicle is not like the interior of a home or a big building. If someone is smoking at home, they can go out to the patio, and those who don’t want to be affected won’t be affected. They can move to another room. There are no options for a minor in a vehicle but just to sit there and breathe toxic air: toxic, poisonous air.

It’s a well-known fact that there are a number of carcinogens and very toxic chemicals inside cigarettes. The principle of protecting our children’s welfare should always be paramount. In fact, as an emergency doctor if we become aware of child abuse or suspected child abuse, it’s our duty to report it. I’m not sugges ting this is child abuse, but I am suggesting that we must protect our children. Mr. Speaker, role modelling. I’d like to speak for a moment about the power of role modelling. Anyone who raises children is familiar with the reality of monkey see, monkey d o. I’m going to be honest. You know what?

I smoked when I was nine years old. Why? Because I saw my father smoke. You know, I’ll make light of this. He gave me a beating. He did. He gave me a beating because I smoked, and I probably deserved it. I wish my father had quit smoking. The one-year anniversary of his death is coming up on March 20. I will tell you that after three strokes, 15 heart attacks, two pacemakers, five brand -new blood vessels that they put in his heart, two brand-new blood vessels in his legs combined with diabetes and hypertension: I wish my father had stopped smoking when I stopped smoking.

I stopped smoking at the age of nine after that beating. After his retirement – he’d worked extraordinarily hard – he really didn’t enjoy his life. It was so tough to see him suffer. Not only should we not smoke in front of our children; people should take that sense of personal responsibility and, beyond that, role-model for our children. Mr. Speaker, when parents smoke in front of their children, especially in cars, our children learn how to smoke and are essentially smoking from the day they’re born. In fact, if the mother smokes, there is great evidence out there that it produces lower birth weight babies.

That child has been smoking before it was even born. We’ve got to put a stop to that. We must put a stop to that. We need a cultural change with regard to minors and smoking. It cannot be okay to smoke while pregnant, for youth to smoke, for parents to smoke in a confined area like vehicles when children are present. It’s an important preventative health step, the wisdom of which certain municipalities in this province, for example Okotoks, and many provinces in this country have already implemented. Mr. Speaker, sometimes Alberta shows leadership by leading; sometimes we show leadership by following.

There are only two provinces that haven’t passed this law, Alberta and Quebec. We’ve got to get with the game here. This is a no-brainer. Mr. Speaker, I know that sometimes we all get stuck with partisanship and accept good ideas because of where they came from or reject good ideas because of where they came from. When I was the parliamentary assistant to the minister of health, on that side, I tabled Bill 215, the same bill, in the Legislature. It was tabled. The Ministry of Health and Wellness supported it. The minister at the time, the hon. Member for Calgary-West, supported it. The bureaucracy supported it.

It came to the floor of the House. Unfortunately, we ran out of time in 2008. It didn’t ge t to second or third reading. I brought this bill up when I was on that side of the House and now on this side of the House. I would ask all members to please consider: this isn’t a Liberal idea; it’s not a Conservative idea; it’s the right idea. I would ask all hon. members to think about their children and our future and to support Bill 203, the Tobacco Reduction (Protection of Children in Vehicles) Amendment Act, 2012.

I ask them: please do not let the opportunity in this instance to do the right thing, to protect our children from a very real killer, second-hand smoke, pass you by for partisan reasons. We will argue and fight and debate on many other things. We will. We will disagree on many things and agree on many others. But this, I believe, we can all agree on. At least, I hope we can. I would plead with you, please, to not use the old excuse in not supporting this legislation that the government sometime in the future will introduce broader legislation with many other things lumped in, which would also be important.

The hon. Member for Edmonton-Rutherford mentioned some of those today, and I would ask that he support this as well. I would ask the hon. members not to use that excuse, the overall tobacco reduction strategy, because I believe that would be a cop -out. The bill is here. We’re here doing the work. We’re going into the election. Let’s not wait and delay this any longer, because it would be leadership delayed. A decision delayed with respect to our children in this instance would be leadership delayed. 3:20 I’m going to give you an example. There was legislation tabled by the hon.

Member for Edmonton-Gold Bar about EpiPens. That’s a public safety issue. We have defibrillators in public places. Many people have anaphylaxis and life-threatenin g, severe anaphylactic reactions. This idea I supported, but it was rejected because of the source. It came from a Liberal MLA. Mr. Speaker, I ask forgiveness from the hon. Member for Lac La Biche-St. Paul , but the day after I was removed from caucus, that hon. member had a near fatal anaphylactic reaction from a peanut, and we didn’t have an EpiPen on-site. I was PA for Health and Wellness.

This bill had the support of Alberta Health and Wellness and the government caucus but died on the Order Paper. You have a very straightforward bill before you, and if you agree with it, I would ask you to support it now. We can start saving our children’s lives today if we have the courage to act now. It’s the right thing to do, so why wait? Mr. Speaker, I thank you for this opportunity to speak on a very important issue that affects our children. Thank you.

March 12, 2012 Alberta Hansard 429 The Speaker: Hon. members, might we revert briefly to Introduc - tion of Guests before we move on? I have two speakers that have indicated their desire to speak. One is the Minister of Municipal Affairs, and then the hon. Member for Cypress-Medicine Hat. If others are interested, kindly send a note. [Unanimous consent granted] head: Introduction of Guests (reversion) The Speaker: The hon. Member for Calgary-Mackay. Ms Woo-Paw: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to combine my two introductions into one.

It is my great pleasure to introduce to you and through you to all members of this House participants and friends from the Ethno-Cultural Council of Calgary’s leadership, engagement, action, and development project, the LEAD initiative. This initiative seeks to increase the level of community leadership, civic engagement, and volunteerism as well as cross-cultural collaboration in Calgary’s ethnocultural communities to advance issues and point to them. Our guests are seated in the members’ gallery, and as I say the name of their society, would they please stand.

I apologize that I cannot include all of the names because of the length of the list: the Ethno -Cultural Counci l of Calgary, the Council of Filipina - Canadian Women, connecting elders of ethnocultural communities project, the Calgary -Chinese Elderly Citizens’ Association, the Bangladesh Canada Association of Calgary, the Calgary Japanese Community Association, the C algary Korean Scholarship Foundation, the Calgary Korean Seniors Association, the cultural engagement project, the Peruvian Cultural Association in Calgary, Possibilities in Motion, the Vietnamese Christian faithful fellowship, the Excel Family and Youth Society, the Fountain of Orphans and Vulnerable Women, the India Canada Association, the AIDS Calgary African communities project, the Arsii-Oromo, the Assam community of Alberta, the Aweil Union Society, the Calgary Vietnamese Women for Friendship and Prog ress Association, the Canadian Latino Newspaper , the Coalition for Equal Access to Education, as well as representatives from the Edmonton Multicultural Health Brokers Co-operative, members of the Edmonton Multicultural Coalition, and representatives from the Creating Hope Society.

Mr. Speaker, as the founding member of the Ethno-Cultural Council of Calgary I’m very proud to have worked with many of these remarkable individuals and community leaders in past decades, and I’m very pleased to have had the opp ortunity earlier today to make a member’s statement about the great work that these groups of people are doing to benefit Albertans from all corners of our province.

I would like to ask the members in this House to extend to them the warmest traditional warm welcome of the Assembly. head: Public Bills and Orders Other than head: Government Bills and Orders Second Reading Bill 203 Tobacco Reduction (Protection of Children in Vehicles) Amendment Act, 2012 (continued) The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Municipal Affairs, followed by the hon. Member for Cypress-Medicine Hat. Mr. Griffiths: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s an honour today to rise to speak to private member’s Bill 203.

I’ve thought a lot about this piece of legislation, and quite frankly it’s had me thinking a lot about my last 10 years as a Member of this Legislative Assembly. I actually find it somewhat humorous, I guess is the only way I could describe it, that of all of the pieces of legislation I’ve seen us debate in this House for the last 10 years, the sins are some of the most hotly contested and debated pieces of legislation.

To give consideration, we’ve just discussed upping the penalty, from a 24 -hour suspension to a three -day suspension and a three - day vehicle seizure, for those people who have a blood-alcohol content of between .05 and .08. They are impaired when they’re driving. Maybe they’re not criminally impaired, but they’re impaired. In fact, 300 people in this province have been killed by people with an impairment between that level. It’s so hotly contested and debated.

I can tell from other pieces of legislation on smoking that we’ve passed in the past that this is going to be a hotly contested and debated piece of legislation, maybe not in this House, but it will be on Alberta’s streets. I find it very interesting. [The Deputy Speaker in the chair] You know, I remember when we introduced in the legislation on smoking a setback from doorways, and there was so much controversy about it. Comments were made to me that we were taking away people’s fundamental rights, that pretty soon they weren’t going to be able to smoke anywhere but in their vehicle.

Now they won’t be able to smoke in their vehicle as long as there are minors present. I can tell that I’m going to receive many cards and letters for my position on this. Mr. Speaker, this is a fundamental debate about responsibility versus rights. You have the right to smoke, but do you have the right to smoke when young people are present in a confined area where they have to breathe it in? You have a right to smoke, but perhaps you have a responsibility to not smoke in an area where young people are going to be forced to breathe in the second-hand carcinogens.

You have the right to drink, but does that mean you necessarily have the right to drive on Alberta’s highways at a blood-alcohol level of .05, putting other people’s lives at risk? Perhaps you have the right to drink but the responsibility not to drive on our streets when you’ve done so, when you’re at a level of impairment tha t can damage other people’s lives or put them at risk. It’s a fundamental debate, Mr. Speaker, where people will stand up and say: I have the right to do this.

But there is also – and I’ve debated this among all of my Conservative friends – a responsibility to not harm others while you exercise your rights. That’s what makes this such a challenge. I know that some people will argue for their rights. I hope they argue just as vehemently about the responsibilities they have in exercising those rights. Mr. Speaker, we know that smoking is not a harmless vice. It causes all levels of health care concerns to individuals who do the smoking. We know just as much about second- hand smoke and how dangerous it is as well.

There are countless studies that dictate and demonstrate exactly how harmful second -hand smoke is. I’ve seen videos of the testimonies of spouses who are 70 years old, whose wife or husband passed away 20 years earlier from lung cancer and had never picked up a cigarette or died of heart disease and had never picked up a cigarette, but the spouse that remained alive did smoke and testified: if only they’d known exactly how harmful second -hand smoke was. I heard one spouse say that they wouldn’t have been responsible for killing the one they loved the most. That is a very powerful, emotional argument

430 Alberta Hansard March 12, 2012 and demonstrates just what we would do if we knew what kind of harm we caused. Now, smoking in a vehicle with a young person, Mr. Speaker, is a very confined space. There is no doubt that a young child wil l inhale second-hand smoke, which we know is dangerous. An adult can stand up and say: “Wait a second. I’m not smoking in the vehicle with you. You pull over and smoke outside.” They can debate and protect themselves, but young people can’t always do that. Now, I know that parents or adults would not intentionally want to harm a young person.

The majority of people really do want to protect their children or other young people that they have custody or care over, Mr. Speaker, but oftentimes we make decisio ns without appropriate information. Look; a grown adult who is having a drink

Document details

Collection	Alberta — Debates (Hansard)
Citation	20120312
Type	hansard
Volume / chapter	L27 S5 20120312 1330 01 han.pdf
Language	en
Format	json
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	0eb4754b35369cde3f9cf3ea825d1a990e56ea40

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