Update from the Legislature - Sep 2
Fiscal update and democratic reform
Last week, President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance Travis Toews tabled the first-quarter report for 2020-21. The report forecasts a significant increase to Alberta’s projected deficit to $24.2 billion due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and oil price crash.
In his remarks, Minister Toews warned of difficult choices to be made as the government tries to rebuild the economy, make necessary investment, and take measures to get back to a “reasonable fiscal trajectory”.
The next quarterly update will be delivered in November 2020, and the 2021-22 budget and fiscal plan are scheduled to be delivered in February 2021.
As mentioned in the June 26 Digest, the Legislative Assembly has struck a Select Special Democratic Accountability Committee tasked with reviewing the Election Act, Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act, and specific questions surrounding recall and citizens' initiatives.
The Committee is now seeking submissions on four separate areas of inquiry, including citizens’ initiatives and recall legislation, which addresses the potential recall of municipal politicians.
Members who are interested in these topics may make a written submission online or via email to DACommittee.Admin [at] assembly.ab.ca (DACommittee[dot]Admin[at]assembly[dot]ab[dot]ca.) The deadline for submissions is September 25, 2020.
