Thread by @RachelNotley

❗️BREAKING❗️

The UCP is illegally withholding the annual report of the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund to make it harder for people to oppose what they're doing with Albertans' pensions.

THREAD #ableg

The info in this report would have been highly relevant to Monday’s committee meeting to discuss Bill 203, the Pension Protection Act.

Basically, the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund Act requires that the Annual Report be reviewed by a Standing Committee... 2/ #ableg

...and then be released to both the Legislature & the public no later than June 30. The report is expected to reveal the extent of AIMCo’s drastic losses over the past year including how much the volatility based investment strategy loss reported in March cost us. 3/ #ableg

The annual report has details on some of AIMCo’s recent & very troubling failures.

You're being kept in the dark about AIMCo’s latest losses, while legislation that could protect Albertans retirement from this troubled investment manager hangs in the balance. 4/ #ableg

The Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund was set to meet on Friday, June 26, to consider the annual report in question, but the meeting was abruptly cancelled by Committee Chair and UCP MLA Ronald Orr, on Thursday afternoon, June 25.

5/ #ableg

On Monday, a separate committee will consider arguments for & against @ChristinaNDP 's Bill 203, the Pension Protection Act. Bill 203 seeks to undo the damage done to pension plan laws by this UCP government, & to prevent the Premier from taking Alberta out of the CPP. 6/ #ableg

NDP Members on the Standing Committee have been provided with a copy of the annual report but we're barred from making it public until the meeting that was cancelled occurs.

As @ChristinaNDP says, the contempt that this UCP gov has for the public knows no bounds. 7/ #ableg

Candidly, they break the law like it’s going out of style.

Albertans deserve to have the facts on AIMCo’s recent performance before MLAs vote on the Pension Protect Act on Monday. 8/ #ableg

Instead MLAs will be voting blind, with no assessment of AIMCo’s performance, because of this government’s deliberate strategy to withhold vital information from the public.

9/ #ableg

In an email circulated on behalf of UCP Chair Ron Orr to Standing Committee members, it was claimed that the “financial statements in the 2019-20 Annual Report of the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund won't be finalized by Treasury Board & Finance until July 13,... 10/ #ableg

"...[and therefore] the Committee will not be able to consider a motion to approve the annual report until after this date.”

But @davideggenAB knows that's not true.

11/ #ableg

“A final copy of the report, approved by the Auditor General on June 22, was provided by the Ministry on June 23 & uploaded for confidential review prior to the now cancelled meeting. I’ve got the report. It was meant to be publicly released June 30." -@davideggenAB 12/ #ableg

But @davideggenAB can’t share specifics because doing so would be illegal, until the Committee meets.

We're calling on the Standing Committee to reconvene this weekend & vote to release this damning report before debate on the Pension Protection Act occurs Monday.

/end #ableg