Rushing legislation and policy is becoming the hallmark of the Alberta government.
Whether it is the Farm Safety Act or the Carbon Tax rebates, Premier Rachel Notley’s fledgling government has let its inexperience shine through when implementing new policies.
In the case of the Farm Safety Act, poor communication had people up in arms. the Carbon Tax rebates became a debacle when people began getting bills in the mail demanding the payments back after their loved ones died.
The latest flub comes after the provincial budget announced funding through Bill 1, which aims to reduce school costs for parents by eliminating busing fees for students living 2.4 km or more from school and instructional fees for materials such as textbooks.
Like the previously mentioned act and rebate program, Bill 1 suffers from a similar lack of foresight and further demonstrates this government’s penchant for rushing ahead with things before all its ducks are in a row.
While Bill 1, like other NDP policies, might have the best intentions, legislation must be well thought out and take into account the bigger picture.
Bill 1 failed that litmus test.
Immediately following the budget, Rocky View Schools announced the $3.5 million in additional funding the province allocated it through the bill will not be enough to cover the loss in revenue.
This would not come as a surprise to anyone paying attention to the realities of the region. Rocky View Schools, in no small part thanks to Cochrane, is one of the fastest growing school divisions in the province.
With that in mind, it should be obvious, especially to those who are tasked with governing the province, that basing funding on year-old and outdated enrolment numbers would be destined to fail.
Rocky View Schools is now tasked in trying to find more than $254,000 to make up the anticipated shortfall on top of dealing with nearly $500,000 in additional costs due to the carbon tax.
Where is that money going to come from?
Rocky View Schools said it anticipates minimal disruption to classrooms and hopes there is no degradation to service, but minimal and hope implies the possibility of both those eventualities.
There is also the chance that extra cost to parents will be applied elsewhere if the school board is unable to trim the necessary fat within its organization.
We are hoping that as a result of this shortfall, transportation fees to students living closer to schools do not rise, which would be unfair to those parents. It is also likely such a measure would just cancel itself out, as fewer people would take the bus.
That means the only other options available are to fire staff or raise education taxes. If it is the staff option, who would go? We would guess the start would be support services, which is often the case. If it is taxes, the government has actually saved no one anything.
MLA Cam Westhead said he will be working with the education minister to see what can be done. That is fine and well, but what would have been better was for the government to actually draft a bill that was well thought out.
What do they say about best intentions?
