Premiership of Jason Kenney

The premiership of Jason Kenney began on April 30, 2019 when Jason Kenney and his first cabinet were sworn in by Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, Lois Mitchell. Kenney was invited to form the 30th Alberta Legislature and became the 18th Premier of Alberta, following the 2019 Alberta general election where Kenney's United Conservative Party (UCP) won a majority of seats in the Alberta Legislature leading to the resignation of Premier Rachel Notley.

This article is about Jason Kenney's time as premier of Alberta and his policies. For the membership of the ministry and cabinet, see 28th Canadian Ministry.

Premiership of Jason Kenney
April 30, 2019 –
PremierJason Kenney
Cabinet30th Alberta Legislature
PartyUnited Conservative Party
Election2019 Alberta general election
AppointerLieutenant Governor of Alberta
SeatPremier of Alberta
← Rachel Notley •
Official website

By March 3, 2020 Kenney's approval rate among Albertans had dropped to 47 per cent from 60 per cent in September 2019.[1] Reasons for the drop in popularity included the UCP's response to the 2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests which included the bill targeting those who disrupt critical infrastructure with severe penalties. Other concerns included aggressive cuts in the 2019 and 2020 budgets designed to balance the budget and support the oil and gas sector. Reductions to funding for post-secondary institutions and to municipalities and the freeze on spending on health and public schools also raised questions. The provincial government unilaterally changed the way doctors could bill the province and warned that there would be freezes or cuts to government employees in the spring of 2020. Concerns were raised about the cost of the Canadian Energy Centre and about the March 4 decision to "fully or partially closing 20 provincial parks and seeking "partnerships" for 164 more." The bill that targeted those who disrupt critical infrastructure with severe penalties also raised concerns.[1]

By April 7, 2020, a combination of interconnected unprecedented global events—including the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, the coronavirus recession, the 2020 stock market crash, and the 2020 Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war with the "collapse in oil prices" represent—what Premier Kenney called—"the greatest challenge" in Alberta's "modern history, threatening its main industry and wreaking havoc on its finances."[2]

By April 19, as the collapse in the price of oil worsened, Alberta's benchmark crude oil—Western Canadian Select—descended to negative pricing.

Major events in the first year of Kenney's premiership

The UCP government moved quickly to repeal the Carbon Tax,[3][4] to take the first steps towards lowering corporate taxes to the most competitive rate in Canada—eight per cent by 2022-23,[5] and to defer arbitration on public sector wages.[6] They established the commission an inquiry into anti-Alberta energy campaigns,[7][8] called the Canadian Energy Centre—a 'war room'.[9] A report was commissioned on Alberta's finances by Janice MacKinnon's task force, that recommended freezes and cuts that would help to reach the UCP's goal of eliminating the deficit by 2023. It focused on slashing health care costs and various measures related to the public sector, including education.[10] The report's mandate did not include the impact of potential revenue if a provincial sales tax were introduced. By September 2019, polls showed that Premier Kenney had a 60 per cent approval rate.[1] The November 2019 fall budget closely followed the MacKinnon's August report's recommendations.[11] The first presumptive COVID-19 case in Alberta was announced by Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's Chief Medical Officer of Health on March 5, Hinshaw. On March 17, Premier Kenney declared a public health state of emergency.[12] By the end of his first year as premier, Kenney's overall performance approval rate had dropped to 47 per cent with the leader of the opposition rising to 46 per cent approval rate.[1]

2019 election
Main article: 2019 Alberta general election

Kenney won the United Conservative Party leadership election October 28, 2017. He previously represented Calgary Midnapore. In the 2019 Alberta general election held on April 16, 2019, Kenney won with won 54.88% of the popular vote and 63 seats in the legislature. The 30th Alberta Legislature was constituted after the general election on April 16, 2019.

Cabinet and Office of the Premier
Main article: Executive Council of Alberta

On April 30, the cabinet was sworn in by Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, Lois Mitchell. Ministers in the newly formed cabinet included Travis Toews who was appointed President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance on April 30, 2019.[13] Doug Schweitzer as Minister of Justice and Solicitor General,[14] Jason Nixon as Minister of Environment and Parks ,[15] Sonya Savage as Minister of Energy,[16][17] Nixon was appointed House Leader, and Doug Schweitzer, Ric McIver, and Savage were appointed as Deputy House Leaders on April 30, 2019.

30th Legislature - 1st Session (2019)

During the Spring Sitting of the 1st Session of the 30th Alberta Legislature, which spanned May through July, 2019, the Kenney government passed about thirteen pieces of legislation, including the Act to Repeal the Carbon Tax,[3][4] the Alberta Corporate Tax Amendment,[5] and the Public Sector Wage Arbitration Deferral Act.[6] Premier Kenney established a one-year $2.5 million Public Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns[7][8] and a Calgary-based $30 million 'war room' to "fight misinformation related to oil and gas".[9]

Carbon tax

As promised in his election platform, Premier Kenney's first piece of legislation was Bill 1: An Act to Repeal the Carbon Tax,[3][18] which had been put into place in November 2015 during the premiership of Rachel Notley.[19] Premier Kenney was one of four provincial premiers that challenged the constitutionality of Canada's carbon tax.[20] Kenney has loudly "denounced" carbon taxes and threatened "more legal action" after a Saskatchewan superior court dismissed the legal "challenge of the constitutionality of the federal carbon tax."[20] Both Ford and Kenney have increased their criticisms of carbon taxes saying they will "either trigger a recession or sink the oil patch," according to an October 10, 2019 article in The National Observer.[20]

On October 10, 2019 the UCP tabled Bill 19, the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) legislation, which is a provincial carbon tax on industrial emitters. Industrial emitters will pay "$30 per tonne of emissions" with an estimated reduction in emissions of "32 megatonnes in 2030." The funds collected will go towards "deficit reduction and technological advancements with respect to climate change." There is no carbon tax on consumers.[21]

Premier Kenney had said that Climate Leadership Plan introduced by Rachel Notley "crippled the Alberta economy."[22] This claim was refuted by the November 15, 2019 Government of Alberta report, "Economic Assessment of Climate Policy in Alberta,"[23] which was submitted by the Kenney's government as a court document to the Alberta Court of Appeal, as part of Alberta's constitutional challenge of the federal government's carbon tax. The Alberta government's "own analysis" revealed that Notley's carbon tax economic effect was "an average reduction in annual growth of Alberta's gross domestic product (GDP) of only 0.05 per cent."[22]

Public inquiry into anti-Alberta energy campaigns

On July 4, 2019 Premier Kenney announced a one-year $2.5 million Public Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns.[7][8] The inquiry, which is led by the former board chair of the Calgary Economic Development—a forensic accountant—Steve Allan, "has a mandate to investigate foreign-funded efforts."[24] The inquiry will include interviews, research, and potentially, public hearings.[24] Kenney announced the creation of the public inquiry along with the "Energy War Room" in a release by the UCP party during his election campaign. Kenney cited "the intrepid reporting of journalist Vivian Krause," who has spent ten years examining foreign funding of Canadian environmental non-profit organizations (ENGOs).[25] In the press release, Kenney said that the inquiry may follow up on investigations done in other jurisdictions, including "the January 6, 2017 Backgrounder for the United States investigation, "Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections" that contained, "clear evidence that the Kremlin is financing and choreographing anti-fracking propaganda in the United States." He could also include evidence from the March 1, 2018, House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology report, "Russian Attempts to Influence U.S. Domestic Energy Markets by Exploiting Social Media" from the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology", which states, "the Kremlin manipulated various groups in an attempt to carry out its geopolitical agenda, particularly with respect to domestic energy policy." Premier Kenney says that "foreign-funded efforts" are undermining Alberta's oil and gas sector.[24][8][7] The backgrounder said that RT ran "anti-fracking programming, highlighting environmental issues and the impacts on public health."[26]

In a talk at Manhattan Institute on September 12, 2018, "The Real Fuel of the Future: Natural Gas", Kenney said that there were "domestic economic benefits from an expanded shale gas industry," but there was a "potential American upset of the former hegemony in global gas trade."[27] In 2018 the media was "preoccupied" with Russian social-media meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In 2018 Russia attempted to "sow discord in our domestic energy debates".[27] The March 1, 2018, House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology report, "Russian Attempts to Influence U.S. Domestic Energy Markets by Exploiting Social Media" from the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology" said that over "4,000 social-media accounts linked to Russian entities were engaged in inflaming online debates over pipelines, fossil fuels, and climate change".[28] Kenney said that these "fake accounts advocated for 'the complete abandonment of specific fuel sources, such as fossil fuels, by touting exaggerated claims about alternative energy sources,' while sometimes both promoting and mocking climate change, all intended to “generate further domestic [U.S.] controversy."[27]

In September 2019, Vancouver-based Ecojustice issued a letter of warning of potential legal challenge to commissioner Allan asking for a response within 30 days.[29]

The University of Calgary's Martin Olszynski and Shaun Fluker from the Faculty of Law, raised concerns about the Alberta Inquiry "from the perspective of the rule of law and procedural fairness."[30] Their colleagues said that the Inquiry could unjustifiably violate the "freedom of expression of the Canadian organizations it is aimed at as well as those associated with such organizations, including their members and supporters."[30]

Energy war room
Main article: Canadian Energy Centre

In June 2019, Premier Kenney announced the creation of a Calgary-based $30 million 'war room' to "fight misinformation related to oil and gas."[9] In an October 9, 2019 press release, Minister Savage announced the appointment of former journalist and lobbyist Tom Olsen as CEO and managing director of the war room which will be called the Canadian Energy Centre Limited (CECL).[31][32]

The Canadian Energy Centre Limited is a private corporation, which means that it is not subject to Alberta's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP Act).[33] Premier Kenney's press secretary Christine Myatt said that keeping CECL's internal operations secret is a "tactical and/or strategic advantage to the very foreign-funded special interests the CEC is looking to counter."[33]

CEC's board of directors is composed of Minister Savage, Minister of Justice and Solicitor General, Doug Schweitzer, and Jason Nixon, Minister of Environment and Parks.[33]

The Canadian Energy Centre (CEC) was launched on December 11 by Premier Kenney, Minister Savage and Olsen at a press conference at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT).[34] The CEC will "highlight achievements in Alberta's oil and gas sector" and will "refute what it deems to be misinformation about the industry." Kenney said the centre will "counter misinformation" "coming from some environmental groups and others seeking to landlock Alberta's oil and gas".[34] On December 11, Olsen described the centre as a place to tell the story of the oil and gas industry in Alberta, which includes rebutting its critics respectfully.[35][34]

A December 14 Medicine Hat News opinion piece,[36] that was critical of the CEC, said that the centre was not "subject to freedom-of-information searches and could be used to stifle legitimate dissent and commentary on the oil and gas industry." In his December 18 rebuttal, Olson, who is a former Calgary Herald journalist, said that "oversight" of the CEC is "rigorous" and that the centre is subject to the Fiscal Planning and Transparency Act, the Whistle Blowers Act and audits by Alberta's auditor general.[37] Olsen said that "campaigns to shut down new pipeline projects and damage the reputation of our oil and gas industry have received tens of millions of dollars from U.S. environmental foundations." This has resulted in the "landlocking of Alberta energy" which had resulted in the loss of jobs, "tens of billions of dollars" in capital, less money for public services, as well as "lower value for their shareholders that include many of the country's biggest pension plans and investment funds."[37]

The CEC logo, which was unveiled at the launch, was also used in the December 11 promotional video, on the CEC's website, "on the wall of its downtown Calgary office, and on signs".[34] By the evening of December 18, "social media users" on Twitter began to share side-by-side versions of the CEC logo and the "trademarked symbol" for Progress Software Corporation, the Massachusetts-headquartered "software giant"—Progress Software,[38][39] A December 19 Canadian Press report said that the icons were "identical, stylized sharp-angled depictions of what appear to be radiating waves... the Progress one is emerald-green and the war room version is two shades of blue."[34] According to a CP report, the Massachusetts-headquartered "software giant"—Progress Software sent an email that morning saying that it was "looking into whether Alberta's new energy war room has violated the company's trademarked logo."[38][34]

In a December 19 statement, the energy centre's CEO and managing director, Tom Olsen, said that the logo was pulled and was to be replaced.[34] Olsen said that the "design debacle" "mistake" was an "unfortunate situation".[39] He said that the CEC was in "discussions" with the marketing agency—Lead & Anchor "to determine how it happened".[39] The CEC had selected Lead & Anchor over eight other contractors proposed to the CEC by the Calgary marketing agency, Communo.[40]

Steven Lee, the founder of the Foundation for Environmental Stewardship (FES) became the first to be "scrutinized by the centre".[41] Lee was criticized in a December 10 post entitled "Alberta father irked by charity group that targets fossil fuel industry" that was posted on the newly launched CEC website.[42][41] An irate parent was concerned about the presentation and the Three Percent Project handout given to his fifteen-year-old son at his Airdrie, Alberta school on December 5, 2019.[42][41] Lee received a phone message from a caller saying, "I'm a reporter with the Canadian Energy Centre. Our website is launching next week and we will be writing a story about the 3% Project, which has raised concerns among some parents who reached out to us following presentations at their children's schools."[41] The 3% Project is a "flagship project" of FES, established by then-19-year-old Steve Lee in 2012.[43]

Fair Deal panel

On November 9, 2019, in a speech at the Manning Centre in Red Deer, Premier Kenney announced the creation of a Fair Deal panel, to respond to the "frustration, the anger, and even the fear felt by many Albertans and other Western Canadians, arising from our current circumstances within the Canadian federation."[44] Panel members include Preston Manning, former premier Peter Lougheed's son, Stephen Lougheed, former MLA Donna Kennedy-Glans, among others.[45] Panel member, Jason Goodstriker, who died in January 2020, had previously served as the Alberta Regional Chief for the Assembly of First Nations and was also a councillor with the Kainai Nation.[46] Kenney demanded "reforms to the equalization formula."[44] CBC News reported on May 16 that the panel had submitted its final report.[47] Kenney said that he would not release either the report or the province's response to the public, until "the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is over."[47]

Bargaining rights bill

On June 20, 2019, the Public Sector Wage Arbitration Deferral Act (Bill 9)—informally known as the "bargaining rights bill was passed into law. Bill 9 was introduced by Minister Toews in order to "suspend and delay" hearings related to wage arbitration for public sector workers until after the MacKinnon panel report was submitted.[6] which was passed into law on June 20, 2019.[6][48][49]:933–972[50][51] is a bill, informally known as the "bargaining rights bill".[6] The bill affected Alberta's 180,000 public service employees represented by unions in 24 collective agreements.[51]

Corporate tax lowered

The Alberta government has set a goal of balancing the budget by 2022-2023.[52][53] As part of Premier Kenney's "main strategy to lure investment to the province, stimulate job growth, and resurrect the oilpatch" promised during his electoral campaign in their April 2019 campaign platform "Alberta Strong and Free,"[54][55] on June 28, 2019, the Job Creation Tax Cut (Alberta Corporate Tax Amendment) Act (Bill 3), introduced by Minister Toews, came into law.[5] Bill 3 included further reductions in Alberta's corporate tax rate in four stages to lower the "corporate tax rate for all businesses, from 12 to eight per cent by 2022-23".[56] The first cut from 12 to 11 per cent" came into effect on July 1. The second cut of 10 per cent will come into effect in January 2020; a third decrease of nine per cent on January 1, 2021, and a fourth cut of eight per cent cut that come into effect on January 1, 2022.[56] Toews repeated the campaign pledge when he announced Bill 13, saying that the "cuts should create at least 55,000 jobs in Alberta". As well the Alberta's revised tax rates —will increase the province's "international competitiveness" as they will be lower than those of 44 out of 50 American states, according to Toews.[56] According to an October 26, 2019 CBC News article, when Bill 3 "came into effect on July 1, it gave Alberta the lowest corporate tax rate in Canada."[55] Bill 3 "formalizes" one of the UCP's election promises.[55] Several economists were cited by the UCP in their April 2019 Alberta Strong and Free Platform, including Jack Mintz, Bev Dahlby, and Aaron Stokes of Stokes Economics.[54]:108[57] Mintx said that the tax cuts would "lead to the creation of at least 55,000 full-time private sector jobs". Dahlby estimated that the cuts would "generate a $12.7 billion increase in nominal GDP", a "6.5% increase in per capita real GDP", and a "$1.2 billion in additional government revenues by 2023-24."[54]:20 The Stokes analysis predicted the "cut will result in $1 billion less net revenue for the province by 2022-23."[56][54] On March 4, 2019, the UCP had announced their intention to cut corporate taxes by one third with a prediction of adding $13 billion to Alberta's economy.[58]

On January 1, 2021 the UCP's corporation tax will drop to nine per cent on New Year's Day 2021 and eight per cent in 2022, which would represent the "lowest rate in Canada by a 30 per cent margin".[59]

The UCP's Job Creation Tax Cut was intended to lead to the "creation of at least 55,000 new jobs, according to economist Jack Mintz.[58] Since 2009, the unemployment rate in Alberta hit its lowest point—4.3 per cent—in September 2013 and its highest—9.1 per cent—in November 2016.[60] Alberta had experienced boom years in the energy sector starting in 2010,[61] but this boom was followed by a "long and deep" recession that lasted from 2014 to 2017—driven by both low commodity pricing globally and controversial political policies from both the Provincial and Federal Government.[61] When the UCP government were elected in the spring of 2019, Alberta's economy was still in recovery.[61] Overall, by July 2019, about 35,000 jobs had been lost in mining, oil and gas alone.[61] Since 2014, sectors that offered high-wage employment of $30 and above, saw about 100,000 jobs disappear—"construction (down more than 45,000 jobs), mining, oil and gas (down nearly 35,000), and professional services (down 18,000)," according to the economist, Trevor Tombe.[61]In 2013, oil tax revenues brought in 9.58 billion, or 21% of the total Provincial budget,[62] whereas in 2018 it had fallen to just 5.43 billion, or 11% of the Provincial budget.[63] In 2013, the energy industry had provided 7.7% of all jobs in Alberta.[64] In 2017, 140,300 jobs representing 6.1% of total employment of 2,286,900 in Alberta in 2017 was due to the energy industry.[65] The unemployment rate in Alberta peaked in November 2016 at 9.1%.[60] The unemployment rate in the spring of 2019 in Alberta was 6.7% with 21,000 jobs added in April.[66] By July 2019, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate had increased to 7.0% and remained at about that level since then.[60] By August 2019, the employment number in Alberta was 2,344,000, following the loss of 14,000 full-time jobs in July, which represented the "largest decline" in Canada according to Statistics Canada.[67] According to Statistics Canada, in November, Alberta lost 18,000 jobs and the unemployment rate was 7.2%,[68] "with declines occurring in a number of industries, led by wholesale and retail trade. On a year-over-year basis, total employment in the province was little changed."[69] As UCP popularity declined considerably by December 2019, the polling agency, ThinkHQ Public Affairs Inc., said that "governments tend to get more blame for the economy when times are tough than they do credit when times are good."[68]

Blue Ribbon Panel on Alberta's Finances

In August 2019, Janice MacKinnon's task force submitted the report commissioned by Premier Kenney, "Report and Recommendations: Blue Ribbon Panel on Alberta's Finances".[70] According to Maclean's, Premier Kenney had "mandated" that the panel "figure out how to balance the provincial books without raising taxes."[10] McKinnon, who was Saskatchewan's finance minister, found that "Alberta spends more per person on its public sector, and compensates its teachers, doctors and other workers more generously, than other major provinces."[10] The panel recommended that the post-secondary tuition freeze be lifted, and suggested "various measures to slash health-care costs and government-wide program reviews."[10]

2019 Budget
Main article: Alberta provincial budget, 2019

On October 24, 2019 Minister Toews announced the UCP's first provincial budget. The National Post said that it fulfilled their "promise of slight austerity" with "cuts to spending programs and the elimination of hundreds of bureaucracy jobs".[71] The Post said that these and the corporate tax cuts "were the key planks of a four-year plan to bring the budget into balance."[71] The goal is to reduce government spending by $4-billion over four years.[71] The 2019-20 budget will "run a deficit of $8.7 billion" which is approximately "$2-billion higher than in 2018-19."[71] The Post said that the changes in post-secondary education were "significant" with a 12-per-cent funding cut.[71] and a reduction in "government grants to post-secondary institutions".[71] Together that represents a $1.9 billion in cuts in post-secondary education.[71] Post-secondary institutions will be allowed to increase tuition.[71] The Alberta government has set a goal of balancing the budget by 2022-2023.[52][53]

The budget decision to de-index disability benefits met with outrage, according to The Star. Many people were "vocal about their disdain surrounding the UCP's decision to reverse the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH)’s tie to inflation", including Arlene Dickinson, formerly with the Dragon Den’s.[72]

On October 28, the Minister Toews introduced Bill 20, an omnibus bill which included a clause through which the government of Alberta could withdraw the $1.53-billion grant it had promised for Calgary's Green Line "with just 90 days' notice and without cause."[73]

Minister Toews introduced a second omnibus bill, Bill 21, on October 28, as part of his budget that allows the provincial government to "cancel its master agreement with doctors if the two sides can't negotiate a new deal."[11] In an October 30 open letter to all members of the Alberta Medical Association, Dr. Christine Molnar, AMA director, said that the "bill effectively gives government the power of pre-approval to cancel any physician services agreement without recourse. This is a violation of the sanctity of contracts."[11] The bill would also give the government control over where new doctors can work starting in March 2022, in order to provide better service to rural areas.[11]

According to an October 31, 2019 CBC News article, the UCP is "working off" August 2019, Janice MacKinnon's August 2019 "Report and Recommendations: Blue Ribbon Panel on Alberta's Finances".[11]

On December 3, 2019, Moody's downgraded Alberta's credit rating from Aa2 stable from Aa1 negative.[74] According to Mount Royal University's political science professor, Duane Bratt, factors influencing the downgrade include the UCP's budget plan that led to an increase in the deficit and concerns about labour unrest with thousands of public sector jobs set to be eliminated.[74] Moody's report said that Alberta's economy's "structural weakness" lies in its concentration and dependency on non-renewable resources (NNRs) combined with a "lack of sufficient pipeline capacity to transport oil efficiently," "no near-term expectation of a significant rebound in oil-related investments,"[74] and "revenue pressures related to UCP cuts to corporate tax rates."[75] Minister Toews blamed the downgrade on the NDP's tenure, during which the province had also experienced a credit rating downgrade, from its very high credit rating of AAA to Aa1.[75] Premier Kenney said in an interview that " financial institutions — and this apparently includes Moody's — are buying into the political agenda emanating from Europe, which is trying to stigmatize development of hydrocarbon energy."[76]

2020 Budget

Minister Toews tabled the UCP's second provincial budget on February 27, 2020. Toews said that the $CDN56.8 billion budget is based on an "anticipated 38 per cent increase in energy royalties."[59] The increased energy royalties depends heavily on the success of the UCP's corporate tax rate cuts to spur revenue growth through an infusion of capital from private investment and the resulting expansion in both "oil production and pipeline capacity."[59] The only other revenue streams in this budget are "a vaping tax and the extension of a tourism levy on short-term rentals."[59] David Taras, a political scientist from Mount Royal University said that this budget signaled that the UCP was "not blinking"—They are "sticking with [their game plan] the "policy of cuts and deficit reduction in the face of what appears to be a province that's bleeding jobs."[59]

The budget included a proposed 10-year strategy intended to increase tourism spending to $20 billion by 2030, which a Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism spokesperson said was "ambitious but reasonable". "Only $45 million of the overall ministry budget is [currently] dedicated to tourism" and millions were cut from the tourism budget in this and previous budgets.[77] The Tourism Industry Association of Alberta chair said that this "audacious" plan does not "reflect" the "conversations" held during the "pre-budget planning sessions" the government had with "hundreds of industry professionals" in Calgary and Edmonton to "discuss recommendations with the government on how to boost the tourism industry."[77] Province-wide, the budget cut $53 million from 2020 through 2023, from affordable housing maintenance.[78]

The budget increases homeowners' education property taxes by 3.1 per cent in 2020-2021, which the government predicts will add revenue of "$102 million to a total of $2.6 billion."[79]

Operational funding of $8.2 billion for kindergarten to Grade 12 education will remain at 2019 levels, in spite of population growth and inflation.[79]

The $20.6 billion budgeted for health received the same criticism from the Opposition party.[79]

In their February 28, 2020 report, Moody's Investors Service said that the 2020 budget was credit neutral.[80] According to Moody's, the UCP fiscal plan is subject to "significant uncertainties, driven by weak resource sector investments and pipeline projects which are subject to regulatory, political, and other types of delays, much of which is beyond the control of the government."

By April 7, 2020, a combination of interconnected unprecedented global events—including the 2002 coronavirus pandemic, the coronavirus recession, the 2020 stock market crash, and the 2020 Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war and the resulting "collapse in oil prices", represent, what Premier Kenney described as "the greatest challenge" in Alberta's "modern history, threatening its main industry and wreaking havoc on its finances."[2]

Ministry of Energy

Sonya Savage, whose background in energy and the environment includes major projects, such as the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines and with her work as an executive of Canadian Energy Pipeline Association (CEPA), was appointed Minister of Energy on April 30, 2019.[16][17] She is tasked with overhauling the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER)—one of the UCP's campaign promises with the aim of implementing "shorter timelines for project approvals."[17] On April 30, the UCP proclaimed Bill 12 which gives "Alberta the power to restrict oil and gas exports to British Columbia.[17] According to the Calgary Herald, this "could provoke a quick court challenge" the Premier of British Columbia, John Horgan.[17] On April 30, Premier Kenney "pragmatically backed away" from the campaign promise to "remove the 100-megatonne cap on oilsands emissions."[17] According to the Calgary Herald, Bill C-48 regarding an "oil tanker ban off the northern coast of British Columbia" threatened the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines project that Savage had worked on.[17] She was also involved in "CEPA's examination of Bill C-69, Ottawa's overhaul of how major energy projects — including oil and gas pipelines — are reviewed by the federal government."[17]

In February 2019, the previous government signed a crude-by-rail program agreement with two railway companies—and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Canadian National Railway (CNR) with a goal of reducing the Western Canadian Select price discount that has been exacerbated by the "lack of pipeline capacity". Through the four-year, $3.7-billion agreement the "province would have purchased and shipped 120,000 barrels of crude a day."[81] The NDP had estimated that the program would have generated "revenue of $6-billion", according to The Globe and Mail. The Kenney government cancelled the agreement shortly after taking office because the "financial risks were too high".[81] By the end of October 2019 Minister Savage was in ongoing negotiations with the railways related to the "number and complexity of the contracts."[81] In November, 2019 Premier Kenney visited Texas in a four-day trip to create more investment in Alberta's oil and gas industry.[82]

A The Globe and Mail article said, "A single talisman has defined Jason Kenney's time as premier of Alberta: oil. A single talisman has defined Jason Kenney's time as premier of Alberta: oil."[83] Kenney campaigned on supporting the oil and gas industries and expanding the pipeline system. By 2018, "chronic pipeline bottlenecks" and as a result "industry and governments millions of dollars a day in lost revenue." Following the December 2 announcement of mandatory oil production cut backs in Alberta, the price of WCS rose to c.US$26.65 a barrel.[84] The differential between Western Canadian Select—the benchmark price for Alberta heavy crude—and West Texas Intermediate (WTI)—which had averaged at US$17 for the decade from 2008 to 2018—widened to a record of around US$50,[85][86] and the price of WCS plummeted to US$5.90.[87] In response, the NDP government under then-Premier Rachel Notley, had set temporary mandatory production limits which resulted in the price of WCS rose to c.US$26.65 a barrel.[84]

On March 24, 2020, as the price of oil plunged more than 5 per cent, federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced a program to help the oil industry which would include a "backstop for banks that lend to the energy sector."[88]

By March 31, 2020, the "federal government had already bought Trans Mountain" and was "committed to getting it built" and Enbridge's Line 3 was making progress.[83] In what Kenney described as a "bold move to retake control of our province's economic destiny", the province agreed to help finance the construction of TC Energy's Keystone XL oil sands pipeline in southern Aberta, Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska with "agreements for the transport of 575,000 barrels of oil daily".[89] The New York Times reported that "[d]espite plunging oil prices" in March", Kenney said the "province's resource-dependent economy could not afford for Keystone XL to be delayed until after the coronavirus pandemic and a global economic downturn have passed."[89] Alberta "has agreed to invest approximately $1.1 billion US as equity in the project, which substantially covers planned construction costs through the end of 2020. The remaining $6.9 billion US is expected to be funded through a combination of a $4.2-billion project-level credit facility to be fully guaranteed by the Alberta government and a $2.7-billion investment by TC Energy."[90][89] Kenney has said that the Keystone XL will create "1,400 direct and 5,400 indirect jobs in Alberta during construction and will reap an estimated $30 billion in tax and royalty revenues for both Alberta and Canada over the next twenty years.[90]

TC Energy "expects to buy back the Alberta government's investment and refinance the $4.2 billion loan" when the 1,200-mile (1,930-kilometer) pipeline is operational starting in 2023.[89] Keystone XL will add up to 830,000 bpd from Western Canada to Steele City, Nebraska. From there it connects to "other pipelines that feed oil refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast."[89] According to the Canadian Energy Regulator, in 2018, Alberta produced 3.91 million bpd of crude oil, which represents 82 per cent of the total production in Canada.[86]

According to a March 31, 2020 article in The New York Times, because of Kenney, Russ Girling, TC Energy CEO, announced that construction of its $8-billion US Keystone XL oil sands pipeline's Canada-United States border crossing, in rural northeast Montana, will begin in April in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.[89] Concerns were raised by the office of the Montana's Governor, Steve Bullock about the added strain on "rural health resources during the coronavirus pandemic", with the arrival of a hundred or more pipeline construction workers in rural Montana. At the time of the announcement northeastern Montana had only one confirmed COVID-19 case.[89]

As part of Government of Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, the federal government announced on May 1, 2020 that up to $1.72 billion will go to the governments of Alberta and the Alberta Orphan Well Association—as well as Saskatchewan and British Columbia—to "clean up" orphan wells and "inactive oil and gas infrastructure".[91] According to the Alberta provincial government, Alberta's Site Rehabilitation Program "will access up to $1 billion" of the federal government's COVID-19 Plan.[92][93] By May 20, Alberta had already received 24, 000 applications.[94]

In a May 20 interview on the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors (CAODC) podcast, Minister Savage told the podcast host, John Bavil, said that Green party leader, Elizabeth May's May 6 comment that "oil is dead" was not "gaining resonance with ordinary Canadians" because Canadians need oil. "Canadians are just trying to get by."[95]:17:06 Savage added that Canadians were "not going to have tolerance and patience for protests that get in the way of people working",[94] and that the "economic turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic favours pipeline construction", according to Canadian Press journalist, Bob Weber.[96] Savage told Bavil that "Now is a great time to be building a pipeline because you can't have protests of more than 15 people...Let's get it built."[94][96] The comment received wide media coverage.

Ministry of Justice

In February 2020, against the backdrop of anti-pipeline rail blockades, Teck Resources "withdrew its application to build the $20-billion Frontier oilsands mine in Alberta. In response, on February 25, Alberta Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer announced the tabling of the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act (Bill 1), which will "impose stiff new penalties for anyone who purposefully blocks critical infrastructure including railways and roadways."[97] The Bill was in its 3rd reading in May 2020. By mid-June opposition to the legislation "continued to grow". This included an "online petition to withdraw the legislation" with 350,000 signatures.[98] Some University of Calgary law professors critiqued Bill 1, saying that it violated freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association, the "right to liberty, and the right to equality".[98]

On April 29, 2020, Minister Schweitzer "rescinded the appointments of seven public members" of the Provincial Court Nominating Committee (PCNC)—a committee that vets court judges in Alberta.[99] Currently, Alberta's PCNC is composed of "eight government appointees and three ex-officio members".[99] Schweitzer appointed Leighton Grey, Harvey Cenaiko, Pat Nelson, Christa Nicholson, and David Ross to a three-year term, to replace Mona Duckett, as well as Lise Gotell, Anne Wilson, Kanchana Fernando, and Linda Many Guns, who had been appointed by Kathleen Ganley, the former NDP justice minister, to diversify the PCNC, according to the CBC.[99] Leighton Grey resigned from the PCNC in June 2020, after a CBC investigation revealed his "recent comparison of a future COVID-19 vaccine to Auschwitz tattoos and posting of a video that called Black Lives Matter a "leftist lie" controlled by a Jewish philanthropist."[100] Minister Schweitzer defended Grey, saying that PCNC members were "not required to surrender their right to personal views".[100] In a CBC interview, the chair of Alberta's Edmonton-based Criminal Trial Lawyers' Association raised concerns about the lack of "adequate background checks", and screening candidates for PCNC membership.[100]

Ministry of Education

In November 2019, the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) announced it would be cutting the positions of hundreds of teachers following the UCP 2019 cuts to the education funding in the UCP's fall budget,[71] In response, Alberta's Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said she would launch an "independent financial audit" as well as a "governance review" of the CBE. LaGrange said that the CBE had used taxpayer dollars recklessly. She said that the "audit and governance review will give government a path forward on helping the CBE prioritize the classroom and find efficiencies elsewhere in its operations."[101] In early December LaGrange "provided a "one-time exception" on the annual $15 million "maintenance renewal funding" to the Alberta Board of Education. This allows school boards to use the funds to reverse the layoffs of 317 temporary teachers.[102]

On June 13, 2020 Demetrios Nicolaides, Alberta's Advanced Education Minister, announced that McKinsey & Company—an American consulting firm headquartered in New York with an office in Calgary—has been commissioned to undertake a $3.7-million comprehensive review of the province's education system, including Alberta's "network of 26 institutions". Based on their findings, there could be "substantial changes starting in 2021".[103]

Ministry of Environment and Parks
Main article: Ministry of Environment and Parks

On March 3, 2020, the Minister of Environment and Parks, Jason Nixon said that the province could not "continue to spend $86 million of Albertans' tax dollars" on the "province's parks, recreation areas and other protected areas"—areas that bring in only $36 million.[104] An Alberta Parks March 5 statement entitled, "Optimizing Alberta Parks", listed changes that would come into effect in 2020 as part of a cost-saving initiative.[105] [106] The UCP government would "fully or partially close" "20 provincial parks" and was "planning to hand over 164 others to third-party managers".[105][104] The Canadian Press said that this represents "more than one-third of all the province's parks, recreation areas and other protected areas."[104] The statement included the possibly of selling Crown land.[107]

In response to concerns, Nixon said in a March 5 Calgary Herald interview, "We are not selling any Crown or public land — period."[106] According to a March 17 Global News article, the province listed a 65-hectare plot of land east of Taber in a March 31 auction with a starting bid of $440,000.[107]

Ministry for Economic Development, Trade and Tourism

By April 7, 2020, the Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism Tanya Fir, said that the technology sector would be "a key part of diversifying Alberta's economy." Fir is reviewing recommendations in a report by a Innovation Capital Working Group, a working group of "tech sector, academic and business leaders" created by the province in December 2019, to "develop ways" to support and grow Alberta's tech sector.[108][109] The UCP eliminated The Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit, the Capital Investment Tax Credit, and the Alberta Investor Tax Credit, which had provided a "30 per cent tax credit to investors who put money into specific industries such as clean technology and digital animation."[108] Trent Johnsen, a veteran member of Alberta's tech sector, who has been involved with Innovate Calgary among others, said that Alberta was "betting exclusively on oil and gas. What is Alberta doing to become a successful player in the 21st century of the new economy?"[108]

Ministry of Finance

The Boards and Commissions and Government Enterprises Act, which was part of the November 2019 UCP budget Bill 22, presented by Finance Minister, Travis Toews, Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) became the "investment manager of all public sector pensions".[110][111][110] Bill 22 added the Alberta Teachers' Retirement Fund (ATRF) assets to other pension plans already managed by AIMCo.[110][111][110] Minister Toews said that AIMCo had "provided an annual return of 9.9 per cent on Albertans' investments" in the decade ending in 2019.[110]

By April 2020, AIMCo was managing about "$119-billion on behalf of 375,000 members of provincial public retirement programs as well as public accounts such as the province's $18-billion Heritage Savings Trust Fund."[112] According to an April 21, 2020 Globe and Mail article, AIMCo lost over $4-billion during the coronavirus pandemic, by investing in stocks that were dependent on a stable market.[112] This represents over a "third of AIMCo's 2019 net investment income of $11.5-billion."[112]

Ministry of Health

Termination of master agreement with AMA (February 20, 2020)

On February 20, Tyler Shandro, Alberta's Minister of Health announced that he was ending the province's long-standing master agreement with Alberta's physicians. The new rules, which include "new fee rules on extended patient visits that doctors", came into effect on March 30.[113] On April 9,Alberta Medical Association (AMA) filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Health citing the unilateral termination of the long-standing master agreement with the Alberta government, the "government's conduct during negotiations}, and Bill 21 as "some of the reasons for filing the claim".[114]

At the time of the announcement, doctors were concerned that these rules would make it unsustainable for some clinic in rural Alberta to remain in practice.[113] Shandro said that ending the master agreement was "difficult but necessary" because the to cut costs in the "$20.6-billion health system".[113] According to a survey of 300 doctors in Alberta, by July, 44 rural communities would be "directly affected by recent government changes to the way physicians can bill for services".[115] By April 21, Sundre, Stettler and Lac La Biche had "already been informed some of their doctors will be withdrawing emergency and obstetric services in hospitals."[115]

Although Minister Shandro first responded to concerns that doctors would leave rural Alberta, by promising to quickly replace them, by April 20, Shandro's press secretary acknowledged that rural communities "face long-standing challenges in recruiting and retaining physicians" and announced that they were "preparing to announce changes to support rural physicians very soon."[115]

Babylon

In early March Minister Shandro announced an amendment to the billing code for doctors in the province, capping their fees at "$20 a call to provide COVID-19 telephone advice to patients."[116] With physical distancing COVID-19 protocols in place, Alberta's physicians had been asking Minister Shandro to make it easier for them to provide care for their own patients virtually.[117]

On March 16, Minister Shandro announced that the provincial government had "signed an agreement" with Telus Health, "a new virtual health care support, called the TELUS Health Babylon app—a private initiative.[116][118] At that time, Alberta doctors expressed shock and dismay that the UCP government had brought in Babylon, a private initiative by Telus Health.[119][120] In a March 21 interview with Postmedia, Alberta Medical Association President, Christine Molnar, said "Physicians are under extreme strain. Not only have doctors had their master agreement terminated by the province and face changes to the way they are supported financially and can provide services but they also don't have a billing code implemented that allows them to provide virtual care in their offices...On top of all that, they are facing possible — actually, certain exposure directly to a deadly virus...Physicians are feeling devalued, disenfranchised and unsupported."[116]

On April 21, Alberta's Information and Privacy Commissioner, Jill Clayton, announced that her office was "launching two investigations" into the controversial Babylon app by Telus Health." Concerns about "privacy compliance" had emerged following the Commissioner's review of a May 2019 privacy impact assessments (PIA) submitted by Babylon Health Canada Limited and the second PIA submitted by a Calgary-area physician.[119] Minister Shandro welcomed the review.[119]

Minister of Labour and Immigration

In May 2019, the UCP government created a two-tier minimum wage which allowed businesses to pay teen students $13 an hour starting on June 26, 2019, which Kenney had promised in March as part of his election campaign.[121] In response to a UCP campaign pledge that questioned the hike in the minimum wage from "$10.20 in 2015 to $15 in 2018" under the NDP government, the Minister of Labour and Immigration, Jason Copping created a 9-person panel led by Joseph Marchand, a University of Alberta economist, to review minimum wage in August 2019.[122] Critics questioned the number of panelists from industries that would benefit from having a lower minimum wage, and the presence of server on the panel who was related to one of the restaurant owner panelists.[122]

Infrastructure

On June 1, 2020 Prime Minister Trudeau announced that the federal government will advance the 2020-21 federal Gas Tax Fund in a single payment of $2.2 billion in June to "3,600 communities across Canada", instead of spreading the payment over the year, to help cities "cover COVID-19-prompted budget shortfalls."[123] Alberta municipalities responded that this is not enough, and they wrote to Premier Kenney "asking the province to work with Ottawa to find emergency funding."[123] On June 19, Premier Kenney and Transportation Minister Ric McIver announced that the province will "spend another $200 million on municipal infrastructure projects", earmarked for "local transportation infrastructure and waterworks projects."[124] It is anticipated that this will create "thousands of jobs".[124]

Response to coronavirus pandemic

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta, Premier Kenny declared a state of emergency on March 17, which gives the province or the provincial health authority the right to "acquire or use property, require a qualified person to help out, authorize the conscription of people needed or authorize the entry into buildings or onto land without a warrant" under the Public Health Act. Although the order may lapse after 30 days, it can be renewed.[125] Ontario and British Columbia also declared a state of emergency as the number of cases increased.[125] By March 17, there were 23 new cases representing the "largest day-over-day increase yet in the province" resulting in total of 97 people in Alberta with the virus.[126] Confirmed cases across the province include 20 in the Calgary zone, 20 in the Edmonton zone, 3 in the Central zone, 1 in the South zone, and 3 in the North zone.[12]

Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act

On November 27, 2019, the Alberta government published the "political staff salaries and contracts" as required by the Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act, also known as the "Sunshine List".

According to their website, most of the salaries fall below the disclosure threshold, which was $111,395 in 2019.[127] Medicine Hat News reported that 14 of Kenney's political staff salaries were above the threshold—2 were over $224,000, four were about $200,000, and the rest were more than $114,000. The total is over $2.9 million. [128] Kenney had cut his own annual salary in 2019 to about $186,000.[128] The Alberta director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Franco Terrazzano, called these salaries "eye-popping."[129]

Public response to Kenney's premiership

A March 3 CBC article listed the reasons for Kenney's drop in the polls to 47 per cent in March 2020 approving his overall performance from 60 per cent in September 2019.[1] In the March polls, forty-six per cent of Albertan's approved of Notley's performance.[130] This included the blockades as well as the UCP's "aggressive approach to bolster the province's oil and gas sector and balance the budget through cuts". Other controversial actions taken by the UCP include, "cutting funding for post-secondary institutions while lifting the tuition cap"; "reducing funding to municipalities; "imposing unilateral changes to the way doctors bill the province; making clear it wants freezes or cuts to government employees' pay when collective agreements come up for negotiation this spring; spending $30 million per year on a war room now called the Canadian Energy Centre; making its first bill of the new sitting one that targets those who disrupt critical infrastructure with severe penalties; and "fully or partially closing 20 provincial parks and seeking "partnerships" for 164 more."[1]

Polling results

In the February 24 to February 28 Angus Reid Institute poll, Kenney's approval rate among Albertans had dropped to 47 per cent from 54 per cent in December 2019[1] and 60 per cent in September 2019.[131] In September he was one of the top-three most-popular premiers in Canada with only Permier Moe of Saskatchewan and Quebec's François Legault winning higher approval ratings by a small margin.[131]

According to a ThinkHQ Public Affairs Inc. poll released on December 16, 2019, Albertans who disapprove of the performance of the UCP government were in the majority at 53 per cent,[132] which reflects a "considerable slide in public approval" since October.[68] Of the respondents who voted for the UCP in spring, 21 per cent disapproved of Kenney by December 16.[132] In ThinkHQ's poll the opposition to the UCP was "considerably more intense than support"—38 per cent said they strongly disapproved with only 16 per cent strong approving. Reasons for the slide in popularity by December 2019, included growing concerns about both employment and the economy with "many voters" concerned with the "unexpected consequences related to budget-tightening by the new Kenney government."[68]

A late May 2020 Research Co. poll of Canadian provinces, found that 56 per cent of those polled did not want Kenney as Premier.[133] Kenney's s disapproval rating with the highest of all the regions polled.[133] In spite of a "drop in his approval numbers", forty-six per cent of Albertans, polled in May 2020 by CBC News-Road Ahead, say they would "vote for Jason Kenney's UCP.".[134] According to Mount Royal University political science professor, Duane Bratt, Kenney's poll numbers reflect the UCP's "clash with doctors over pay" during the pandemic.[134] A CBC News-Road Ahead survey led by Pollster Janet Brown completed by June 1, 2020, found that most Albertans approved the federal, provincial and municipal governments' responses to the pandemic. Seventy per cent of Albertans approved the provincial government's response and 62 per cent approved of the federal government's response.[135] While Kenney did not receive the COVID bump in premiers ratings experienced by other premiers and the prime minister, Kenney still has the support needed to win the next election.[136]

List of premiers
Main article: List of premiers of Alberta

See also

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