United Conservative government house leader Jason Nixon has no plans to limit debate on the remaining bills before the legislature, meaning an NDP filibuster that started Wednesday could continue into Friday morning.
“Caucus and our cabinet are excited to continue to sit, and we’re excited to do what we were sent here to do to, which is to pass these bills,” Nixon told reporters at the Alberta legislature Thursday afternoon. “And at this point, we’re prepared to do that as long as it takes.”
Debate started Wednesday afternoon and continued without a break through the night.
NDP MLAs started filibustering changes to the Education Act they say will hurt LGBTQ students, teachers and staff early Thursday morning. The debate has continued into Thursday afternoon.
NDP Leader Rachel Notley wouldn’t confirm how long her caucus plans to keep going.
“We don’t know yet,” she said. “We’re being driven by the issues and by the substance of what we’re putting forward and the degree to which our members want to have an opportunity to stand up and put themselves on the record.
“We’re not thinking about time. We’re thinking about substance.”
Nixon acknowledged the government has a choice to make: keep going or adjourn and resume the sitting on July 15 after a one week break.
The overnight debate wasn’t exclusively focused on Bill 8. MLAs also discussed a bill to resume elections of Alberta Senators. The NDP believes parts of the legislation create loopholes on limits to election spending.
Stampede looming
The legislature normally wraps up work on Thursday afternoons. This week the start of the Calgary Stampede on Friday hangs over the proceedings.
Calgary MLAs normally appear in the parade and attendance at the numerous parties and pancake breakfasts are an annual Alberta political tradition. Premier Jason Kenney was in Calgary on Thursday to attend pre-Stampede events.
Notley won’t attend but said her three Calgary NDP MLAs would be in the parade. She dismissed a reporter’s suggestion her caucus was trying to prevent Calgary UCP MLAs from attending.
“The parade is a great thing,” she said. “But making sure that vulnerable students are not institutionally discriminated against across this province, I would say, is a more important thing.”
The NDP plans to propose at least two more amendments to Bill 8.
An amendment to prevent private schools from firing LGBTQ teachers and staff over their sexual orientation and gender identity was defeated Thursday morning.
One amendment would strike down the policies of 28 private schools the NDP say are homophobic and transphobic. The other would give principals a two-week deadline to allow the establishment of a GSA when students ask for one.
Last week, the UCP defeated an amendment compelling principals to “immediately” approve requests for GSAs.
The immediacy requirement was added to the School Act by the previous NDP government but was removed in Bill 8. The proposed legislation amends the Education Act, which was passed by a past Progressive Conservative government but never enacted into law.
The sessional calendar has the House sitting until Aug. 1, with MLAs taking a constituency break during Stampede, which runs July 5-14. MLAs would come back to the house on July 15 if there is unfinished business.
That possibility looks almost certain as three bills remain on the order paper. Bill 13, the Senate Election Act, and Bill 8, remain in the committee stage. Bill 2, which rolls back some of the changes to labour legislation made by the previous NDP government, remains in third reading.