The Weekly Roundup - November 7, 2022
The by-election for Premier Danielle Smith, where she hopes to be elected as an MLA in Brooks - Medicine Hat will be held on Tuesday. Should the Premier be successful in the by-election, which certainly would be expected, she will then need to turn her full attention to keeping her caucus united heading into the fall session and improving her image and focusing on the issues most important to Albertans.
New polling from Janet Brown that was commissioned by CBC and released last week painted a not-so-rosy picture for the new Premier and her UCP government. The top level numbers show 38 per cent support for the UCP and 47 per cent for the NDP. The poll also showed that a majority of those surveyed felt the government was on the overwhelmingly wrong track managing health care, K-12 education and being an honest government. You can view further analysis of the numbers and what they mean for capturing votes in Edmonton, Calgary and the rest of Alberta by CBC’s Jason Markusoff here.
With health care top of mind for Albertans, Health Minister Jason Copping will join his provincial and federal counterparts in Vancouver this week, where the Canada Health Transfer and increased federal funding will be major topics of conversation.
Last week also saw Elections Alberta release Q3 fundraising numbers, with the NDP raising $1.4 million and the UCP raising $974,640 in the quarter. The UCP number does not include constituency association donations (reported annually), or money from the recently held leadership contest. The NDP reports all fundraising activity through the central party.
Below, you’ll find a recap of other government announcements made since our last edition.
Government of Alberta Announcements
Minister of Jobs, Economy and Northern Development Brian Jean issued a statement about the October 2022 Labour Force Survey that saw unemployment drop to 5.2 per cent with 14,000 new full-time jobs.
Justice Minister Tyler Shadro issued a very inside baseball statement about the federal government’s failure to issue a communiqué from the Justice and Public Safety federal-provincial-territorial meeting held in October.
Justice Minister Tyler Shandro issued a statement about a recent Supreme Court ruling that repeat sex offenders will no longer be added automatically to a national registry.
Upcoming Events Calendar
November 8, 2022: Brooks - Medicine Hat byelection
November 29, 2022: Alberta Legislature Session scheduled to resume at 3 p.m. with a Throne Speech