Bill 20 Financial Impacts

You know that I have been raising the alarm about how Bill 20 will undermine our local democracy. Along with reducing your voice in the democratic process, we have a better sense of the real financial impacts of this legislation. #ableg #abpoli #yegcc In a report to be discussed on Wednesday, we now know that it will cost Edmontonians an additional $5.826 million to run the 2025 municipal election. The two largest costs are the removal of voting tabulators and the introduction of a permanent electors register.

Thanks to the @EdmontonChamber for hosting today’s Budget Luncheon with @TravisToewsAB. There were a lot of topics covered but the highlight for me was hearing about the new fiscal plan which will closely mimic how municipalities have operated for decades. #ableg #abpoli #yeg For example, having to produce a balanced budget is a great practice and something municipalities are required to do. In the rare event that cannot happen, which hasn’t been the case in Edmonton for as far as I can ever recall, they have 3 years to address that.

A caution for those dismissing large crowds for a political event: motivated people will definitely vote.

To be clear, I think the actions of @PierrePoilievre over the years, but especially the last year should disqualify him from serving Canadians as Prime Minister. #cdnpoli I think all the criticisms from people like @JeanCharest_ are completely valid but Pierre is going to easily win the @CPC_HQ nomination. And he will have a more than reasonable chance to win the next federal election as he only needs about 35% of the vote to get a majority.

Listening to the debate of Bill 81 is beyond troubling. The changes that are being made are undemocratic. People should be outraged that these changes are happening and that such an important issue is being debated after midnight when many people are sleeping. #ableg #abpoli Allowing someone to buy a party membership for someone else without their clear consent is not democratic. I cannot believe this idea would be brought forward by any political party in Canada. Maybe I’d expect this from a country that doesn’t believe in democracy. #abpoli #ableg

There’s no situation where allowing unlimited donations to leadership candidates and then subsequently allowing that to go to a party can be seen as reasonable. #ableg #abpoli #yeg #yyc

https://twitter.com/donbraid/status/1468033361759272960

Changing campaign finance and election rules should be done exclusively by an independent commission of Albertans. That’s the only way to ensure there isn’t an abuse of power like we are seeing in Bill 81.

In the race to determine which provincial party hates photo radar more, I was surprised that neither party talked about the fact that the independent study showed that automated traffic enforcement has reduced severe collisions by 5.3%. #ableg #abpoli #yeg #yyc #yegcc #yyccc That’s a significant reduction and yet it seems to be ignored when provincial parties discuss this tool. In fact, what is most surprising is that in all the talk about photo radar I rarely hear any provincial party discuss a broader traffic safety strategy.

I love chocolate. Many people do. If you are a person that loves chocolate, drop what you are doing and go immediately to Ch. Cafeteria in @GrovenorYEG. (I know they are closed now but you can get in line).

#yeg #chocolate #yegfood #ExploreEdmonton #yegbiz #yegLocal #ShopLocal Sarah, Diego, Nadia, and Victor are the owners and they are from Mexico City. They opened Ch. Cafeteria in October 2020.

Sarah, featured in the picture, told me that they wanted to create a chocolate store that had the best chocolate you have ever tasted in a casual environment.

I don’t understand why the Premier should have to issue a formal mandate for staff/MLAs. The image below is from the provincial website. The way I interpret it, is that non-essential travel outside Canada should not happen until the advisory is lifted. #COVID19AB #ableg #abpoli This travel advisory should be something everyone follows to ensure the health and well-being of everyone while supporting our frontline workers who are working tirelessly to keep us safe and healthy. These current restrictions are hard on all of us. Almost all of us did not get

At Thursday’s Emergency Advisory Committee meeting we were told that AHS did not have any information about what would trigger either a loosening or tightening of restrictions. We are 8 months into this, the public should have this information. #ableg #abpoli #COVID19AB #yeg The lack of transparency is troubling. There’s no downside with sharing information like that with the public as it allow us to fully understand the challenges before us. Once we understand the challenges, we can work together to overcome those challenges. #ableg #abpoli

Bill 29 (Local Authorities Election Amendment Act) are being debated right now. The bill is a huge step backwards and will only advantage incumbents and those that who are connected to wealthy donors. It also reduces transparency. #ableg #abpoli #yegcc #yyccc #yegvote A friendly reminder: the extremely short public survey has never been released publicly so no one actually knows what Albertans wanted to see for changes. #ableg #abpoli #yegcc #yyccc #yegvote

Today all Albertans will have an opportunity to decide who they would like to serve them for the next four years.

This decision should not be taken lightly. The people we elect to serve us will send a clear message to others what our collective priorities are. #abvote #abpoli For many, the primary issue will be the economy. I can’t fault someone for prioritizing that. There are some communities that have been hit harder than others and addressing that concern may be the most important and immediate issue for them.