Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Pete Guthrie is looking ahead to a summer of constituency and committee work, as the government takes the balance of the summer off from the legislature, to return in October.
The summer session of the Alberta legislature ended on the evening of July 6, when the governing UCP broke the NDP filibuster (prolonged debate) in time for the kick off of the Calgary Stampede.
The NDP staunchly opposed two of the Jason Kenney government bills – Bill 2 Open For Business Act (including the roll back on contested labour legislation and student minimum wage) and Bill 8 the Education Amendment Act (including the much talked about GSA alliances in schools) and were ultimately defeated by the UCP – who have passed 13 pieces of legislation and a private member's bills to date.
As he looks back on the divisiveness that has been taking place in the legislature, Guthrie said he is concerned that considerable misinformation continues to be floated around – particularly as it relates to Bill 2 and Bill 8.
Bill 2: Open For Business Act
The Open For Business Act looks to rollback labour legislation that came into effect last year under the NDP. While the opposition stood firm that the labour legislation changes are a "full frontal attack" on employees, dubbing it the "pick your pockets bill," the UCP were successful in the changes – which means that it is not mandatory for employers to pay overtime for work weeks that exceed 40 hours per week.
Rather, if the employer and staff member agree that the staffer would prefer to work longer days to bank hours for days off – equating to extra holiday time – then they can now legally do so. The stipulation is that the time in lieu must be used within a three month period or else the employer has to retroactively payout those hours in overtime; prior to NDP changes, this three month period was six months.
"The employee isn't going to lose because they can either get paid time-and-a-half or use that banked overtime, but it must be mutually agreed upon," explained Guthrie.
The UCP also rolled back the stat holiday pay that came into effect in 2018 under the NDP. The Kenney government was adamant throughout the election campaign that implementing mandatory stat holiday pay even when staff do not work on that day is particularly onerous to small businesses.
Moving forward, staff will only receive stat holiday pay if they are regularly scheduled to work that day and must work 30 days in the previous 12 months to qualify for it. For example, a restaurant/bar that is normally closed on a holiday Monday will no longer have to pay their staff for that day.
"All of these effectively added about a month of extra payroll to small businesses and corporations, which is huge in the face of increasing taxes, rising costs and a 47 per cent minimum wage increase," said Guthrie, with reference to the annual minimum wage hike between 2015 and 2018.
The UCP has also implemented a student wage for those 17 years of age and younger, working less than 28 hours each week. This came into effect June 26 – in time for summer student employment. This, too, was strongly opposed as the NDP for being discriminatory.
"What ended up happening is a lot of students were not getting hired and the unemployment rate for students skyrocketed," said Guthrie, flagging this change as a positive for providing students more opportunities to gain work experience and to incentivize businesses to hire them.
Bill 8: The Education Amendment Act
Regarding Bill 8 – which includes the highly contentious Gay-Straight Alliance (GSAs) guidelines in Alberta schools – Guthrie said there is a "tremendous amount of misinformation." The NDP have decreed the UCP have supported attacks on the LGBTQ2S+ community, highlighted by school walk outs earlier this spring and trending hashtag "#QueerKidsAB."
"This bill has some of the most comprehensive laws for peer support and GSAs and QSAs," said Guthrie. "GSAs will still exist in all schools upon request," he said, adding that there is a procedure for schools to implement them, as exists for other social clubs.
He stressed that there will not be automatic notification to parents of their child's involvement in a GSA, that children still retain anonymity and that the privacy commissioner has issued a statement that individual rights prevail.
Where the UCP have effected change as it relates to GSAs is reverting away from leaving the sole decision in the hands of the government, in the event of a case where the safety or well-being of a child is in question. Rather, the school will look to community resources – perhaps local social services, teachers and a school psychologist to determine the best course of action for a child and whether or not to inform a parent of sensitive information regarding the child.
"It's about bringing decision-making to the local level, instead of the state," said Guthrie. "All we are saying is we think it can be done better within the community, where the child is loved ... rather than an arbitrary person."
For the remainder of summer, Guthrie said he will continue to spend time liaising with local groups and constituents – on issues such as pushing for the funding of the interchange project at highways 1A/22; achieving a solution for Cochrane's water licence (which reaches capacity in another 10,000 residents); and filling in the gaps for senior housing.
The UCP is also looking to reach a more "sustainable" funding model for seniors housing – which Guthrie said has ballooned to between $750,00 and $1 million per bed from $75,000 per bed. Guthrie said the government will look to public-private models to bring the cost back down.
He said that much of the pressures in Cochrane also exist in Airdrie – with continued advocacy for improvements to the 40th Avenue overpass and boosts for seniors housing, as the entire region continues to face growth pressures and the challenges that follow.
Guthrie sits on two Standing Committees – Public Accounts and Families and Communities. He is also on three Ministerial Committees – environment and parks, forestry and energy.
The UCP is currently working on up to 40 pieces of legislation to bring back to the legislature this fall.
