The transition of government is underway at the Alberta legislature as politicians and staffers are moving offices, setting up desks and getting used to new job titles.
The first day of the 30th legislature is May 21. UCP MLAs will be sworn in that morning — MLAs from the NDP Official Opposition will take their oaths of office on May 13 — and the house will choose a Speaker that afternoon.
The first throne speech of the new United Conservative Party government will be read on May 22. The government’s first bill to kill Alberta’s carbon tax will be introduced after that.
This week on The Ledge podcast, provincial affairs reporters Kim Trynacity and Michelle Bellefontaine discuss the changes underway in the halls of the legislature.
Cabinet ministers weren’t very chatty as they headed into Wednesday’s meeting at the legislature, leaving the press gallery to hope that was due to their unfamiliarity with new portfolios and not the government’s future direction.
Premier Jason Kenney announced a new panel to examine Alberta’s finances and recommend a path to balance without raising taxes.
And Michelle talks to Environment and Parks Minister Jason Nixon about why the government scrapping the NDP’s Bighorn parks plan.