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Latest Headlines
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Nov 26, 2009 4:34:00 PM MST
Alberta legislature adjourns after weeks of acrimony on power lines, swine flu (Alta-Legis-Adjourns)
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EDMONTON _ The fall sitting of the Alberta legislature has ended after weeks of acrimonious debate on swine flu, power lines and Premier Ed Stelmach´s leadership.
The premier concedes it was a raucous fall sitting.
"I wouldn´t say that I enjoyed it all, but when the going gets tough sometimes you´ve got to dig a little deeper," the premier told reporters Thursday.
"Obviously I never had any idea that the world would be in such a huge recession and how Alberta would be impacted."
Stelmach´s Conservative government faced daily questions about why Alberta´s H1N1 death rate is the highest in the country.
The opposition parties repeatedly called for Health Minister Ron Liepert to resign for what they saw as a botched vaccination program that began with all Albertans being invited to get shots.
But when the clinics in Edmonton and Calgary quickly ran out of vaccine, the province was forced to revise its strategy and limit the shots to Albertans at high risk of developing complications from the disease.
The Tory government´s popularity among voters also appeared to take a hit this fall, with three polls suggesting the Conservatives were losing support to the upstart Wildrose Alliance, led by former journalist Danielle Smith.
The Wildrose won its first seat in the legislature in September when the Tories lost a Calgary seat they´d held for 40 years.
It was in this back that Stelmach faced a leadership review by his own party. But despite some rumblings from a few Tory veterans, the premier got 77 per cent support from 1,300 voting delegates meeting in Red Deer.
The most contentious piece of legislation was Bill 50, which the government contends is meant to streamline the construction of billions of dollars worth of new power lines.
But critics say the legacy of this bill is higher utility bills for consumers and far less public input on multibillion-dollar power line projects.
"Despite widespread public opposition, the Stelmach administration did pass Bill 50, leading to higher power prices for everyone for many years to come," said Liberal Opposition Leader David Swann.
On the final day of the sitting, the government revised its fiscal projections and outlined the broad strokes of plans to cut $2 billion from next year´s budget.
Treasury Board President Lloyd Snelgrove raised a few eyebrows when he told a news conference that many Albertans would hardly notice the budget cuts.
But NDP Leader Brian Mason scoffed at this suggestion, adding that Albertans are already feeling the impact of hospital bed closures and fewer nurses being hired.
"You cannot take $2 billion out of this provincial budget without producing a massive change in the level of services that you´re providing and affecting perhaps millions of lives," said Mason.
"Secrecy will only get you so far and after that people will notice what you´re doing."
The spring sitting of the legislature begins in February and Snelgrove says the new provincial budget will be released the same month.
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