Between service delivery, fundraising, and marketing the day-to-day management of a non-profit can appear to leave little room for government relations (GR). Oftentimes, GR is an afterthought, something sought out in moments of change or during a crisis.

The latest fundraising numbers are in, and they show a very strong Official Opposition in the NDP, having raised nearly $2.5 million to date in 2022 with $1.4 million coming in the second quarter. So far in 2022 the central UCP has raised $1.4 million with a little over $520,000 coming in Q2. The UCP’s numbers don’t reflect their full fundraising capacity as it doesn’t include money raised by constituency associations.

The first United Conservative Party 2022 Leadership Debate took place last night in Medicine Hat. Conventional wisdom says that debates in politics seldom matter, but this debate was revealing. It was also consequential in a race that will be decided by preferential ballot. Candidates who are unfamiliar to voters can only help themselves on a preferential ballot if they perform well in debates.

Much of the focus this week will be on the visit of Pope Francis to the province, who landed in Edmonton on Sunday. The focus of his trip is aimed at Indigenous reconciliation and apologizing for the abuse that occured at the church’s residential schools. It’s the first visit of Pope Francis and the third papal visit to the country; you can view the full itinerary here.

Live taping of Alberta Relaunch. Keynote: Hon. Lisa Raitt, Panel: The Halls of Power, Keynote: Lisa Baiton, Panel: Decarbonizing the Energy Sector, Keynote: Mark Carney, Panel: Political Realities, Panel: West of Centre Taping

New numbers from Statistics Canada show that Canadians continue to feel the impacts of rising prices. In May, consumer inflation rose 7.7 per cent year over year, the largest yearly increase since 1983. Rising inflation and cost of living, while front of mind for many Albertans, with a new survey from the Angus Reid Institute showing that 59 per cent of Albertans surveyed saying they are struggling or uncomfortable and 71 per cent stating that the provincial government is doing a poor or very poor job on the cost of living/inflation.

Premier Jason Kenney and Energy Minister Sonya Savage are once again travelling to Washington, D.C. this week to represent Alberta in meetings on Capitol Hill regarding energy security and affordability. The Premier will also hold a media roundtable in D.C. on Thursday.

On May 19th, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announced he would resign as leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) triggering a leadership race to select a new Premier and leader ahead of Alberta’s 2023 election.

The UCP Board has now announced the 2022 Leadership Election Rules and Procedures.

June 6-10 was declared energy week in Alberta by the province with the Global Energy Show held concurrently in Calgary. Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage reacted to the idea of a “windfall tax” like the 25% the UK government has introduced on oil and gas profits by saying that the province would consider a similar move from the Canadian federal government an “extreme act of aggression”.

On June 1, the Bank of Canada increased its policy interest rate by half a percentage point to 1.5%. Inflation, affordability and the cost of living are likely to be main topics of discussion during the UCP’s leadership race. In sharp contrast to those affordability discussions will be what the province should do with the windfall of money going to the province’s coffers with royalty revenue that could reach as much as $24 billion in just the next year alone.