The former CFO of UCP leadership candidate Jeff Callaway’s campaign violated elections financing law and could face up to two years in jail, alleges a letter from the province’s election commissioner.

The March 21 letter to Lenore Eaton states that funding provided to Callaway’s 2017 campaign was in breach of the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosures Act (EFCDA) by improperly having Energize Alberta Corp. pay two campaign staffers.

An investigation into the funding of Callaway’s so-called kamikaze campaign — which was allegedly meant to help Jason Kenney win the UCP leadership — led to the letter being sent by Election Commissioner Lorne Gibson to Eaton.

“I have concluded that as it relates to these alleged contributions, you have conducted yourself in a manner that is in contravention of the EFCDA,” states Gibson.

He said his investigation found Eaton, who was also CFO of Energize Alberta, co-signed a $2,010 cheque to Callaway’s then-communications director Cameron Davies and another worth $3,000 to staffer Jeffrey Park in September 2017. Energize Alberta, however, was prohibited under the act from making contributions.

It also alleges Eaton failed to disclose those contributions and “initially withheld the truth.”

“By doing so, you knowingly made a false statement in a return, financial statement, report or other document filed with the Chief Electoral Officer,” wrote Gibson, adding the violations amounted to a “corrupt practise.”

The letter was attached to an affidavit backing Callaway’s bid for a court injunction to halt or postpone the Office of the Election Commissioner’s investigation of his campaign.

Gibson said in lieu of a jail sentence, Eaton could face a $50,000 fine and said that his investigation is ongoing.

But he also added he’d hold off on imposing any penalty until he hears from Eaton, who can respond by April 19.

Davies has already been fined $15,000 by the office of the Election Commissioner for obstruction, while several others involved in the Callaway campaign have been fined for illegally donating money that wasn’t theirs.

Leaked documents show Kenney’s leadership campaign team worked closely with Callaway’s, furnishing the latter with videos, strategic direction, talking points and speeches.

Just prior to the 2017 leadership vote, Callaway dropped out of the race and endorsed Kenney.

Party insiders have alleged the two campaigns collaborated in an effort to undermine Kenney’s main rival, former Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean.

Both Callaway and Kenney have denied there was collusion in the campaign, with Kenney also adding he had nothing to do with financing the other man’s efforts.

Gibson handed an investigation into the matter over to the RCMP, but it’s unclear what the force is reviewing.

Eaton’s lawyer said “there’s nothing solidified yet” in Eaton’s case and noted that his client denies the accusations.

“They’re still investigating her, they’re still talking to her so I really can’t say much more,” said Cory Wilson, adding Eaton has yet to respond to Gibson.

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

on Twitter: @BillKaufmannjrn

Has UCP Leader Jason Kenney come to his lake of fire crisis?

That was the dramatic point in the 2012 election campaign when Wildrose started slipping after a candidate said gays would forever suffer in a literal lake of fire.

Today, Kenney’s aspiring and current candidates have made more comments that are homophobic, racist, Islamophobic, misogynist and even white supremacist than Danielle Smith ever faced from her erratic Wildrose crew.

And her party was flattened after being far ahead at the start.

Much of the current talk — including education critic Mark Smith’s homophobic screed, not to mention his casual line about beating children — sinks to the level of truly disgusting.

Such views may always be with us, but they have no place anywhere near the corridors of an Alberta government.

Mark Smith (no relation to Ms. Smith) equated homosexuality with pedophilia. Relations between same-sex couples can’t really be love, he suggested.

That was sanctimonious and sickening enough. He went on to suggest that a good spanking can be a loving thing, and then added, “I think we can all agree that we shouldn’t be beating our kids (long pause) … maybe sometimes.”

Is that supposed to be a joke? Who would find it funny?

Not an Alberta education minister, I sincerely hope.

Smith, from Drayton Valley-Devon, could actually wind up in that job after serving as UCP education critic.

Kenney does not disown Smith as a party candidate. Under the rules, it’s too late to replace him, and taking him off the ticket could cost the UCP a sure rural seat.

Kenney says Smith has apologized, which is sort of roughly true, and has made no such comments while an MLA for both Wildrose and the UCP, a claim much harder to verify.

Many conservatives are not impressed.

Popular national radio host Charles Adler, always a humane conservative, listened to the entire Mark Smith recording.

He said on his show: “I found it utterly depressing. I naively made the assumption that the Jason Kenney, who I thought I knew, would cut the cord immediately. Instead, he stood with him.”

Adler said Kenney had promised him a year ago that such candidates would be dumped.

Kenney appeared on the show again Wednesday evening. He condemned the remarks and went on to paint Smith as respectful and tolerant, in his experience.

“I don’t believe people should be condemned for life for something they said in the past,” Kenney said.

Adler gave him another chance to decommission the candidate. He didn’t.

At one point Adler said to Kenney, a personal friend for years, “Knock knock. What did you do with my friend?”

NDP Leader Rachel Notley played to the disaffection Wednesday, inviting conservatives to come on over. She appeared with Alberta rodeo champion Denny Hay, who said he’s supporting Notley after many years as a conservative.

Parallels with the 2012 provincial election are vivid to anyone who went through that crazy adventure.

Wildrose was well ahead in polls at the start of the campaign against Premier Alison Redford’s ruling PCs.

More than halfway through, it came out that Allan Hunsperger, an Edmonton candidate for Wildrose, once said gays would all be plunged into the eternal lake of fire.

Another candidate, Ron Leech from Calgary, made a comment about a white guy like him being the ideal MLA to mediate between squabbling ethnic groups. He came to symbolize the White Man’s Burden.

During the uproar that followed, Smith had an option — to keep or renounce them as candidates. Against some party advice, she decided they’d stay.

Wildrose support collapsed toward the end of the campaign. It happened so abruptly that party strategists were recording election-night victory interviews as the results started rolling in.

Smith ended up with only 17 seats; the PCs won 61.

The lake of fire wasn’t the only issue that defeated Wildrose, but it tipped the momentum. The imagery and words were so appalling that they linger in the national mind to this day.

With less than two weeks left until the April 16 vote, will it happen again?

Pollster Marc Henry, president of ThinkHQ, doesn’t think so. For one thing, he says, Mark Smith’s comments about gays weren’t as arresting or memorable as the lake of fire talk.

Henry also says the economy is such an overpowering theme today that social issues won’t knock most conservatives off their support for the UCP.

However, I do remember how Wildrose people consoled themselves after the lake of fire started bubbling.

They said social issues weren’t really that important. They said it right up until election night.

Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Calgary Herald.

dbraid@postmedia.com

Twitter: @DonBraid

Facebook: Don Braid Politics

Since the Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services launched its #IBelieveYou campaign in 2015, CEO Debra Tomlinson has witnessed a “tremendous change in responder and public attitudes towards sexual assault.”

But along with that change, which also follows other campaigns that have shone a spotlight on sexual violence, such as the #MeToo movement, there has also been criticism.

“For many of us, this tremendous cultural shift was very celebrated,” Tomlinson said. “For others, it was questioned. And around some of the new conversations about sexual harassment and sexual assault, there was a lot of jubilation, and there was also a lot of confusion and fear.”

Tomlinson said the organization decided to invite members of the news media to discuss the question, “I believe you. Now what?” The association is releasing a video of that panel discussion Thursday, which Tomlinson hopes will be useful for journalists, social media users, political leaders, decision-makers, corporate leaders and anyone who has “weighed in on this conversation.”

The panel discussion included Calgary Herald deputy editor Monica Zurowski, Alberta Primetime CTV Two host Chelan Skulski and Rick Castiglione, a filmmaker, journalist and educator.

“I think the important takeaway for me was that all three journalists really, really strive to tell the truth, to tell all sides of the story, and I was so glad to hear that, because what that says to me is that the survivor’s perspective will be included in the story, which I think is really, really important,” Tomlinson said. “That they want to tell the truth, that they want it to be fair and balanced. And, as much as possible, to do no harm.”

When it comes to reporting on sexual assault, Tomlinson believes it’s important for media to make the survivor’s perspective clear, given that “survivors are very often blamed for the crime that’s been committed against them.”

“Some aspect of their character, their behaviour, their deportment is found and that is given as some form of culpability for the crime,” she said. “This is something that survivors have dealt with for years and are still dealing with and it’s why they don’t come forward.”

Tomlinson said it’s also important for reporters to refer to the experience of the accused and acknowledge where there was due process.

“You often hear in the media, so-and-so was accused of sexual assault, and now they are fired, and you don’t hear what happened in between,” Tomlinson said.

“That there was an investigation, that there were policies and protocols that needed to be followed. There was due process. And I think when people hear that, it takes a little bit of the scare out of it for them. This wasn’t just one thing and then the next immediately with no rational thought to it.”

Tomlinson said the organization’s next steps in the #IBelieveYou campaign will involve a new provincewide service that will be launched in May.

“When we talk about a positive response, we say, you could say things like, ‘I’m sorry this happened to you,’ ‘It’s not your fault,’ ‘I believe you,’ and ‘How can I help.’ And I think the new service that we will be launching in the spring will help those responders to direct survivors and their loved ones … to a service where they can get that help in an easy, accessible way.”

The #IBelieveYou campaign was launched with the aim of educating Albertans about how to respond to a disclosure of sexual assault.

Tomlinson said she has seen a “huge culture shift,” with more people coming forward to get help and more people reporting sexual assault.

With rowdy fans and revellers set to descend onto the Red Mile for the Flames’ much-anticipated playoff run, restaurateurs and police hope celebrations along 17th Avenue S.W. are respectful and safe.

City police announced plans Thursday to ramp up their presence starting next week, deploying in a “meet and greet” crowd management style with officers walking along the busy downtown stretch and talking to fans.

But they’re also placing a heavy onus on the public to keep the festivities cordial.

“We can not do this on our own and we need everybody’s assistance,” said Insp. Clare Smart, who added that many times the police rely on the public to alert officers if an incident occurs or is brewing.

It will also be the first year police officers will wear body cameras, which Smart said is for the protection of the public and officers.

Their focus will be on risk management and de-escalation during the playoff celebrations and officers will centre their efforts primarily on the area around 17th Avenue and 5th Street S.W. or 6th Street S.W., where crowds usually develop.

Related

• 17th Avenue bars hope Flames playoff run will 're-ignite' the Red Mile
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The Red Mile, in many instances, has brought together the city’s proudest hockey fans but it has also been a place of controversy, with sexually charged and alcohol-fuelled incidents of cat-calling, alleged groping and aggression towards women.

The celebratory stretch gained notoriety during the 2004 Stanley Cup playoff run, when the Flames missed winning a Stanley Cup by one game. As many as 50,000 fans celebrated on busy nights along the strip at the time. It was also the year chants were heard among the masses of ‘Shirts off for Kiprusoff’ and some women were made to feel unsafe with taunting and pressure to bare their chest.

While the playoff run was much shorter in 2015, many women still felt unsafe being asked to take their shirt off as fans chanted and carried posters that said ‘Show your cans for Monahan.’

Reports of sexual harassment, violent language and intimidation of women during the playoff stint became so prevalent, Flames executives asked hockey fans to stop behaving in an illegal, offensive manner.

The same year, vulgarities were shouted at female journalists, including at least one female Global Calgary TV reporter and a female CBC reporter, the offender of which was later charged.

Insp. Clare Smart says Calgary Police are ready for another playoff run along the Red Mile. Thursday, April 4, 2019. Brendan Miller/Postmedia

When asked if the police had any plans to address some of the misogynistic behaviours seen previously, Smart said education is a major part of curbing those instances moving forward, however she did not identify any planned enforcement measures by officers to stifle such behaviours.

She said it is an individual’s responsibility to protect themselves if they are joining the celebrations on the Red Mile.

“If there is people that are not comfortable being down there, then I say you do not have to stay down there. There are other ways of enjoying the playoffs,” said Smart.

Restaurateurs, like Ernie Tsu who owns Trolley 5, said they will be increasing their security efforts too and agree the public have a role to play.

“If you’re with a bad group of people making a bad decision, then you’re ruining it for everybody,” said Tsu.

“It’s never going to be perfect by any means. There is always going to be a group of idiots that make the wrong decision, but with the ramped up police presence I think it will be much, much better,” he said, thinking back to the 2004 run.

The restaurant will have a zero tolerance policy for any inappropriate or destructive behaviour.

Restaurant owner Steve Marakis of Jamesons Irish Pub has a different plan.

They aren’t ramping up security, not yet anyway. It all depends on how far the Flames go, said Marakis.

“I think you just have to judge it as you go along, you’ll know from one game to the next, one round to the next how people are reacting and can make your plan accordingly,” he said.

He, too, believes there should be a team effort by the police and public to create a fun and safe atmosphere, but said the onus should fall on the police if inappropriate behaviour tumbles into the street.

Charles Smith enjoys a beer on the patio at Jamesons Irish Pub along the Red Mile in Calgary on Thursday, April 4, 2019. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia

In previous years, officers have also dealt with a range of rowdy behaviour, including public intoxication, noise complaints, concerns regarding safety of people in crowds and people setting fires.

“When I went down to the Red Mile in 2004, I saw someone hanging out of the back window of a car with a barbecue-sized propane tank and a tiger torch,” said Carol Henke, spokesperson for the Calgary Fire Department.

She said the majority of people do the right thing and celebrate safely, but “some people maybe get a little too exuberant.” Henke wants to remind citizens that private fireworks are prohibited and open flames are not allowed without a permit.

Stuart Brideaux, spokesperson for EMS, said the biggest concern they face at the Red Mile is drug- and alcohol-related emergencies, many of which they try to treat on site.

He said public consumption of any alcohol or illicit substance is illegal and people should be aware that mixing drugs — notably newly legalized marijuana — and alcohol could have negative effects.

In 2015, police spent $850,000 to keep the peace on the popular downtown street.

alsmith@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @alanna_smithh

The owner of a junk removal company became an accidental dinosaur hunter when he discovered thousands of fossils while cleaning out a southwest Calgary home.

Originally from the southeast of England, Mike Darbyshire is part-owner of Just Junk Calgary and has spent the last eight years packing up and carting off Calgarians’ unwanted items.

He’s found some interesting things in that time, including around $40,000 in cash stashed in cigarette tins.

But while doing an estate home cleanup in the southwest earlier this week, Darbyshire and his crew found something no one expected to see: dinosaur bones.

“There was only a couple of boxes we found, and then the more we dug the more we found and it was quite a significant find,” Darbyshire said. “They were packed away in boxes in the basement … and in a shed in the backyard.”

Darbyshire said there are “thousands” of fossils, bones and pieces of petrified wood in the collection.

Mike Darbyshire, Owner of Just Junk, found thousands of fossilized bones and imprints and pieces petrified wood. The discovery was made in several boxes and bags in the basement and shed of home while cleaning-up. He plans to donate them to the Royal Tyrrell Museum on Friday. Thursday, April 4, 2019. Brendan Miller/Postmedia

In the sake of discretion, Darbyshire is not revealing the name of the client who hired Just Junk Calgary to clean out the home. But he did say the now-deceased owner of the bones “worked in the oil fields” and “spent a lot of time in remote places” digging for bones.

After unearthing the prehistoric payload, Darbyshire contacted the managers of the estate, notifying them of the discovery.

And, with the blessing of deceased owner’s family members, Darbyshire will be making a road trip to Drumheller on Friday to deliver the bones to the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Canada’s only museum dedicated exclusively to paleontology.

“We’re not interested in making compensation for (the bones). … It’s the heritage of Alberta and it belongs where it should be, which is in a museum.”

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Darbyshire said he won’t know what type of creature — or creatures — the bones came from until staff at the museum have had a chance to examine the collection.

And while cleaning up other people’s messes might be his day job, Darbyshire isn’t ruling out a future moonlighting as an amateur paleontologist.

“I’ve never actually thought about hunting for dinosaur bones, but who knows,” he said.

RRumbolt@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @RCRumbolt

Downtown parking lot users could see rate increases this spring as price changes at some Calgary Parking Authority lots take effect.

The hikes are part of annual reviews of city parking lots. Following a freeze on parking rates in 2016 and 2017 — a policy that was removed last year — prices can either go up or down depending on rates of other lots in the same area. In fact, while some lots are getting more expensive next month, rates at another downtown parkade have gone down significantly.

“Some of the rates have gone up and they’re more specific to what the area market rate is, so typically it’s a review of one of the CPA lots in comparison to existing competitor lots within a vicinity,” said Reachel Knight, business strategy co-ordinator at the Calgary Parking Authority. “And based on what the market rate is, we would determine if a rate change is required or not.”

On May 1, rates will be going up at Centennial Parkade (608 – 9 Ave. S.W.), with half-hour rates rising from $3.50 to $4 and the day maximum rate going from $25 to $28. Three-tier monthly rates are going from $440 to $485 for scramble parking, $500 to $550 for reserving parking and $560 to $615 for VIP parking.

Rates at Lot 66 (830 – 9 Ave. S.W.) are also scheduled to rise on May 1, going from $3 to $3.50 per half-hour, an evening increase from $2 to $3, and a monthly rate from $280 to $300.

On May 1, other surface lots with scheduled changes include Lot 61 (701 – 11 St. S.W.), where half-hour rates will increase from $2 to $2.50, and Lot 64 (825 – 11 St. S.W.), which will see prices go from $2 to $3 for a half-hour, and from $2 to $3 for the evening rate.

Prices also increased at McDougall Parkade this spring, with the half-hour rate rising from $3.25 to $3.50, the day maximum rate from $24 to $25 and the monthly rate rising from $380 to $400.

Meanwhile, the parking authority has decreased rates at City Centre Parkade (221 – 9 Ave. S.W.), with monthly contracts going from $410 to $300, and the day maximum rate from $23 to $18.

“It’s based on other lots in the area and the prices,” Knight said. “We also look at providing these types of promotions for our customers as well. For example, on Fridays, we have half-off Fridays, so the day max rate is 50 per cent within our parkades.”

Knight said a parking rate freeze was implemented for 2016 and 2017, during which time parking rates could be reduced where warranted, but not increased.

“It was because of the economy,” Knight said. “We thought it was a way to better service our customers.”

The freeze was removed in 2018 and some parking prices increased last year.

“But they still fell under the same study requirement, where we would study where we fit within the market rate within an area,” Knight said. “Our increases are typically no higher than 10 per cent. . . We only increase them once a year, and it’s around the 10-per-cent range.”

The Calgary Parking Authority oversees 6,689 on-street parking spaces and 10,685 stalls in surface lots and parkades.

Calgary’s favourite giant head emerged unblinking and pale as ever into the bright Calgary sunshine Thursday after spending weeks under wraps this winter for routine maintenance.

The white metal sculpture known as “Wonderland” at the foot of The Bow building was unmasked Thursday, revealing a fresh coat of paint and the familiar face that has become a beloved work of public art in Calgary.

Heavy Industries, the Calgary firm which built “Wonderland”, was contracted to spruce up the 12-metre-tall sculpture by Barcelona-based artist Jaume Plensa last February. The team worked for weeks inside the heated head to repair chips and refresh the paint.

A few Calgarians became alarmed this week that the sculpture may have been moved after a Twitter post was circulated suggesting the head had been relocated to a Calgary industrial park.

But Wonderland never changed locations while maintenance work was completed, according to H&R REIT, property management firm for The Bow.

The photo circulated on social media was of a different Plensa-designed head, according to the firm, though it was taken in Calgary very recently.

“It’s a different head being designed for a buyer somewhere in the States,” said a spokesperson for H&R REIT, who clarified that the second head is also being fabricated by Heavy Industries.

“Same artist, but different head being used to base the sculpture on. If you look carefully, if you compare Wonderland to this one, you can see its ears and face shape are quite different.”

mpotkins@postmedia.com
Twitter: @mpotkins

Despite being home to an eye-popping collection of vintage vehicles, a stroll down Gasoline Alley never gets old.

“It’s a place you can go back time and time again,” says Ron Carey, the philanthropist whose antique car, truck and gas pump collection is featured in the purpose-built museum at Heritage Park.

“I enjoy going there myself quite often and I take a lot of people through there to see their faces,” says Carey. “Every time you’re in, you see something new.”

It’s an apt time to reflect on the exhibit. Gasoline Alley, an homage to the early years of the automobile industry and a historical tribute to how Western Canada was built, turns 10 years old this week.

In October 2006, on land that was once a City of Calgary tree nursery, Heritage Park ambitiously broke ground for the $65 million mega-expansion. The Heritage Town Square was also added to the project, featuring shops and restaurants along with the world-class vehicle museum, which was officially opened in April 2009.

“I can’t believe it has been 10 years; the older you get the faster times goes by,” says Carey.

Inside Gasoline Alley, memorabilia includes more than 50 vintage restored cars, Canada’s largest collection of restored gas pumps and unique signage from the first half of the 20th century, adorning every inch of the meticulously designed two-storey space.

The impressive view at the entrance of Gasoline Alley. The museum will be celebrating it’s 10-year anniversary this week with a free event on Saturday, April 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Olivia Condon/ Calgary Herald/ Postmedia Network

When Gasoline Alley opened — along with the 1893 Canadian Pacific Railway Station, Selkirk Grille, Haskayne Mercantile Block, Big Rock Interpretive Brewery and Bissett Wetlands — the park’s size increased from 26 to 51 hectares. The expansion also, significantly, meant Heritage Park became a year-round operation,

“Previous to this, it was just the village that was open on a seasonal basis from May to October,” says president and CEO Alida Visbach.

“I think one of the best parts of this entire expansion is that we’ve been able to include a free-zone as well,” she says, referring to the plaza and shopping area outside of Gasoline Alley.

Proof of the expansion’s success is in the numbers.

“We’ve fed over one million people in Gasoline Alley for private events since we opened and we went from offering education programs for 18,000 school kids to now more than 60,000 students per year,” says Visbach.

In addition to operating year-round, the park has had the opportunity to host more private and public events throughout the year than ever before.

“The (Calgary) Flames have their Christmas parties here; we’ve worked with Blues Fest and the Maple Festival, and we get to bring (in) really neat exhibits like Cars of the Big and Small Screen and programs such as our Rally in the Alley for spring break,” says Barb Munro, communications specialist with the park. “Weddings and other private events are big for us, too.”

The exterior of Gasoline Alley, nestled amongst shops and restaurants in Heritage Town Square, Heritage Park’s most recent and largest expansion. The park will be celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the grand opening with a free event on Saturday, April 6. Olivia Condon/ Calgary Herald/ Postmedia Network

A total of 59 vehicles are currently on display in Gasoline Alley along with thousands of items related to the early 20th century automotive industry. About 75,000 square feet of space houses these treasures from around the world and nearly 80 per cent of the entire collection was purchased, restored and donated to Heritage Park by Carey.

Before the expansion, seven vehicles, a few pumps and some signage from Carey’s massive collection were kept in the Burns Barn in Heritage Park’s village.

“We kind of crammed it all into that building but (Carey) had a huge collection and he was looking for a permanent home,” says Visbach. “He really didn’t want to see his collection divided up, so we needed to build a big enough museum that could house his entire collection and that’s really what Gasoline Alley became.”

More than half of the vehicles in the collection are trucks and Carey said there’s a good reason for it.

“I worked in oil since I was 17 and we used trucks every day,” he said. “I was born and raised on a farm and trucks are all we ever used; cars didn’t build this country, trucks did.”

Though Carey no longer collects or restores vehicles, he continues to find and breathe life back into vintage gas pumps.

Gas pumps line a walkway on the first floor of Gasoline Alley. The museum holds Canada’s largest collection of restored gas pumps on display. Donor and 80-year-old Ron Carey still collects gas pumps and restores them in his free time. Olivia Condon/ Calgary Herald/ Postmedia Network

While the park is celebrating the 10th anniversary of this expansion, plans for future growth are already underway. Staff members are currently working on another restoration and expansion project that they hope to break ground on this June.

“We started in 2018 on restoration of existing exhibits, to talk about the story of early pioneering in natural resource discovery and exploration,” says Visbach, adding a replica Dingman No. 1 well, coal mine artifacts and two cabins will be connected by a nature trail for an immersive experience.

The planned expansion “starts by talking about the Indigenous community and how the flora and fauna of Alberta sustained them from a food, clothing and spirituality standpoint, and (it) goes right into the first pioneers that struck oil, found minerals and excavated it,” she says.

After that, a year-round interpretive centre powered completely by green and renewable energy is in the works.

“It’s really different for us,” she says. “We’ve never done anything that involves talking about the present. . . We’re a museum and we talk about history, so this will be an interesting disruptor for us.”

To celebrate Gasoline Alley’s 10th anniversary, Heritage Park will offer free admission to the building from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. The festivities will include guided tours, birthday cake, old-timey games like three-legged and potato sac races, live music and Big Rock beer samples.

ocondon@postmedia.com

For the first and only time, the leaders of Alberta’s four major political parties are participating in a debate against one another ahead of the April 16 provincial election.

The televised debate, organized by a media consortium that includes Postmedia, CBC, CityNews and CTV, takes place from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

It includes NDP Leader Rachel Notley, United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney, Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel and Alberta Liberal Leader David Khan.

Postmedia reporters will be live-blogging below throughout the debate, keeping track of everything they say.

An incident involving graphic protest signs at a northwest school has prompted a city councillor to propose the possibility of buffer zones outside of Calgary schools to protect children from “harmful expression.”

Coun. Druh Farrell says she received a number of calls from angry constituents after a group of protesters carrying graphic anti-choice abortion pictures were caught on video demonstrating in front of Queen Elizabeth High School and Elementary School in Hillhurst last month.

“We heard from the parents and they were shocked that this was allowed outside of school property and directed at children,” Farrell said. “I would suggest that targeting children with graphic displays like we saw in that video would be damaging. That’s why I’m asking to explore this. That’s as far as we’re willing to go at this point, but it’s worth exploring. It was very upsetting to the children and their parents.”

In a notice of motion going to council Monday, Farrell points to related provincial legislation passed last spring to create safe-access zones around Alberta’s abortion clinics. Similar safe-access laws also exist in B.C., Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Ontario.

Expanding the concept of protest buffer zones to include schools has also been raised by the Alberta Party candidate for the area, Angela Kokott, who originally shared video of the Queen Elizabeth school protests on Twitter. And prior to the election being called, former health minister Sarah Hoffman said an NDP government would amend legislation to prevent similar protests around K-12 schools.

Farrell’s motion, if adopted by council Monday, would not go so far as to enshrine safe zones around schools in city bylaw. Rather, it would result in the city’s law department reviewing the constitutionality of such a measure, in conjunction with consultations with Calgary school boards.

Protest buffer zone-type laws are viewed as infringing on the right to free speech. But they have also been upheld as constitutional in jurisdictions like B.C. where courts have determined that a woman’s right to access medical treatment safely and privately takes precedence over the free expression of protesters.

Kelly Ernst, with the Rocky Mountain Civil Liberties Association, says he understands the instinct that people have to want to protect children from harm, but urges governments and school boards to look at other methods.

“Banning offensive speech is just about always problematic. I would suggest that the city look hard and deep at the constitutionality of this and start there,” Ernst says. “How far does this go? Once you start saying, ‘oh well, I find that offensive’ — who gets to define that? That’s always very problematic.”

Bans are an easy response to difficult speech, he says, the harder thing is to come up with ways to counter free expression to make people think about an issue differently.

“There’s lots of opportunity and lots of options to deal with this issue in different ways — I’m not so certain that banning free expression is the route to go.”

In her motion, Farrell acknowledges there is a need to balance the rights of persons of all ages to peacefully protest, but she says that children also have a right to be protected from “harmful expression”.

But she says the province’s Bill 9 has also opened the door to allowing governments to intervene to ensure that children are able to feel “psychologically safe” when accessing school.

“It’s created some opening for the city to look at our own bylaw and that’s what we would be exploring.”

mpotkins@postmedia.com
Twitter: @mpotkins

Who won the great debate? Maybe the viewers, when it ended.

This was not a classic of the 2015 kind, when NDP Leader Rachel Notley took down the PCs effortlessly after Premier Jim Prentice condescendingly told her “math is difficult.”

This was chippy, snippy business, with UCP Leader Jason Kenney accusing Notley of defamation when she outlined his leadership campaign troubles.

At another point, Liberal Leader David Khan said Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel essentially killed people when he was health minister and refused opioid funding.

To that over-the-top allegation, Mandel retorted, “Maybe you were smoking something you shouldn’t have been smoking.”

At one point a media panelist asked Kenney, “Why are you, at this time, the best leader for Alberta?”

Unsurprisingly, Kenney said, “That’s a very good question.”

We can put this debate in the drawer labelled Soon Forgotten.

That was a disappointment. There’s never been a campaign as dramatic and consequential as this one. It deserved a debate to match.

Usually, the premier comes in for most of the attacks. Notley got her share, but many more rockets were launched at Kenney.

That’s because the other leaders all think he deserves them, but also because the polls have him ahead.

The focus on Kenney ended up separating his “fight back” agenda very sharply from the other three.

“I know Mr. Kenney says I should be picking fights and doing nothing else,” Notley said. “They might make me feel good, but it’s not going to get a pipeline built.”

Khan said: “Hot-headed actions and misleading rhetoric are getting us nowhere.”

Mandel wants Alberta in a place the rest of Canada “must respect.”

They all lumped themselves together in the drawer labelled Conciliatory.

Kenney was left with the clear ownership of Alberta anger, one of the most powerful themes of this campaign.

He repeated his calls to dump the carbon tax, sue protest groups, help defeat Justin Trudeau, etc.

Kenney seemed distinct. That’s exactly what he wanted. As the others cordially shook hands at the end, he stood alone for a moment, looking pleased with himself.

The big battle, of course, was between Kenney and Notley. He only needed to maintain support. Notley had the much tougher job of moving voters from UCP ranks to hers.

Viewers will make their own decisions, and those are usually far different from those of a daily observer.

But I thought that on pure debating points, if not the political ones, Notley did some damage.

When the leaders were asked about social issues, the most dangerous area for Kenney, Notley said protecting LGBTQ kids is settled law, “but quite frankly Mr. Kenney’s candidates have put those issues back on the front pages by the vile things they say. He failed that test.”

She was talking about the recent controversy involving UCP education critic Mark Smith, who made homophobic remarks to a church congregation and has supported firing gay teachers.

Khan, who is gay, looked straight at Kenney when he said LGBTQ students often have troubles at home. Mandel pointed out that 40 per cent of street kids are LGBTQ.

Kenney once again said his party is inclusive, diverse and tolerant and will respect LGBTQ kids. Notley noted — also once again — that he still supports people like Smith.

He accused Notley of a “fly-by smear of my party, fear and smear.” When she accused him of supporting white supremacists, he said “this is getting ridiculous” and cited the Nigerian-Canadian who won a UCP nomination in Edmonton.

The secondary battle was between Khan and Mandel, who are fighting for a small share of the electoral pie between the two big parties.

This sideline scrap was surprisingly tough at times, especially with Khan’s attacks on Mandel. The former Edmonton mayor, meanwhile, came across as the only one with much of a sense of humour.

After the 2015 debate, it was obvious that Notley scored big and changed the campaign. This isn’t nearly so clear. The final days of the campaign will be very important.

Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Calgary Herald.

dbraid@postmedia.com

Twitter: @DonBraid

Facebook: Don Braid Politics

Malala. It’s a name that’s synonymous with courage.

There are many dates of great importance in Malala Yousafzai’s courage-packed 21 years of life.

She was born on July 12, 1997. On Oct. 9, 2012, this leading champion for girls’ education was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman.

Two years later almost to the day — on Oct. 10, 2014, when she was only 17 — Malala became the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

But the only date Malala spoke about on Thursday to a sold-out room of mostly women at the Calgary Telus Convention Centre was Jan. 15, 2009.

That was the day “these guys carrying weapons calling themselves the Taliban” banned girls from going to school. Malala was just 11 years old. The Taliban also banned women and girls from working outside of the home and even from appearing in public without a male relative.

In the Swat Valley, that idyllic “Switzerland of the East” in northwest Pakistan, where Malala was born and lived, the Taliban burned down 400 schools.

“When I woke up that morning on the 15th of January 2009, 10 years ago, I couldn’t go to school anymore and for me, I realized that school wasn’t just a place of learning and reading and writing. It was a place of empowerment for girls. That’s when I realized that education was crucial for women and girls and that’s when I started to speak out.”

At the age of 11, she started to blog anonymously in Pakistan. But then the BBC got her to write a diary of her experiences living under the hated Taliban and the need for girls to be educated. She then bravely criticized the Taliban on Pakistani TV.

This honorary Canadian citizen admitted that her life has been quite a whirlwind. After getting shot in the face and being airlifted to the U.K. for emergency medical treatment, the girl who had already been awarded Pakistan’s National Youth Prize became world famous — for her eloquence, grace and incredible bravery.

Since the attack and the ongoing vow by the Taliban and other Islamist extremists to finish the job of silencing Malala, everywhere she goes security is stringent.

On Thursday, the lineup to get into The Art of Leadership for Women conference was more than one block long in the morning. That kind of tight security hasn’t slowed her down though.

She has written a best-selling book — I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban — spoken at the United Nations on her 16th birthday, has written more books, had a documentary made about her life, received countless humanitarian awards, has travelled all over the world to tell her story and inspire others, co-founded the Malala Fund with her father to ensure everyone can receive free education up to Grade 12, helps to run her foundation, won the Nobel Prize, as already mentioned, and, oh yeah, she’s getting a degree from Oxford University in philosophy, politics and economics, as well.

Malala told the rapt crowd that her brush with near death “was an opportunity for me to realize that now nothing can stop me. You feel like there’s this power. The whole world is standing with you. God is standing with you,” she said, adding that her second chance at life made her bolder, not more timid.

“This is such a powerful mission that we have to continue,” she told interviewer Caroline Riseboro, the president and CEO of Plan International Canada.

Malala said where she is from, women are often told by men what to wear, how to act, what activities they can perform and are forced into marriage while they are still children. Here in North America, women and girls feel pressure to be thin and dress a certain way. But she rejects all of that and urges others to do so also.

“Just believe in yourself and be yourself.”

She points to the recent terrorist attack by a white supremacist at two New Zealand mosques last month that killed 50 people and injured another 48 and spoke of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s redefinition of leadership following such a traumatizing situation.

The way the prime minister of New Zealand showed her leadership — that brought citizens of that country together rather than divide them — shouldn’t just be noted by women. “Men have a lot to learn from her,” she said to laughs and applause.

When asked how she deals with social media and its toxicity, Malala wisely recommended that everyone simply do what she does. “I never go to the comment section, never, ever, ever.” Life is hard enough, she pointed out without reading negative comments created by fake accounts and trolls.

It’s obvious that Malala, the first woman to be educated in her family, credits her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, with her ability to be bold and speak out.

“When people would ask my dad, ‘What did you do for your daughter that she is able to speak up and is confident in herself?’ My dad says, ‘Don’t ask me what I did but ask me what I did not do. I did not clip her wings.'”

Now we know where she gets her humility. Her father, the former principal of a girls’ school in the Swat Valley, did more than not clip her wings, he encouraged her to speak up at home, around adult guests and to the world.

In short, he listened to his daughter and encouraged her. “My father was a feminist before he knew the word feminist,” she said.

Malala poked fun at herself too. She stands just five feet tall and finds it frustrating that she is almost always the shortest adult in the room. “I am so grateful that heels exist,” she said drawing attention to her red stiletto shoes, which were a quirky juxtaposition to her conservative head covering and clothing.

She may stand just five-foot-nothing, but she is a mountain of courage.

She is Malala.

Licia Corbella is a Postmedia opinion columnist. lcorbella@postmedia.com

As Canada slogs through another miserable season of pipeline paralysis, one bright light flickers on the energy horizon: the future of LNG.

Chevron Canada and its partner Woodside Energy applied this week to the National Energy Board to significantly expand the size of its proposed Kitimat LNG project as it seeks a new export licence.

It’s encouraging that a second world-scale liquefied natural gas development could be built off Canada’s west coast in the coming years if the conditions are right.

Several other proposals are also on the drawing board, and a producers group has also been trying to pull together its own plan to propel a project forward.

The news from Chevron comes six months after the LNG Canada mega-project, led by Royal Dutch Shell, received approval from its partners to begin construction on the $40-billion development.

These are all constructive steps for a segment of the energy sector that’s often overlooked amid the incessant pipeline problems facing oil producers.

“It’s a positive thing that we see Chevron moving,” said Andy Mah, CEO of Advantage Oil & Gas, one of several Canadian producers that’s part of a consortium pushing to develop an LNG project.

“What it says is that people recognize that Canada is a major natural gas supply source on the world stage.”

Chevron’s application spelled out the project would expand to deliver up to 18 million tonnes of LNG annually, up from an initial 10 million tonnes. Gas would come from Chevron and Woodside’s properties in Western Canada, as well as potentially from third parties.

The project’s existing export licence expires at the end of this year and the filing is a “key regulatory undertaking,” Chevron said in a statement.

No cost or detailed timetables were released, although the filing said Chevron anticipates commissioning of the facility would occur no later than 2029.

“It’s still very early days, but what it shows is a public renewal of interest in Canadian LNG,” said Ian Archer, associate director of North American natural gas for consultancy IHS Markit in Calgary.

The experience of LNG Canada indicates there’s a long and bumpy road ahead to get such expensive projects off the ground. Nothing is guaranteed.

Yet, Shell’s development also proves there is a path for success.

The pursuit of another major LNG project comes at a vital time for the Canadian natural gas sector. Production has increased in recent years, but the industry has lost market share in the United States.

A report by IHS Markit forecasts global demand for LNG will grow by almost four per cent annually until 2040, providing an opportunity for Canada to expand into international markets.

Projects on the Pacific Coast have several advantages, such as access to cheap gas supply and relatively short shipping times to customers in Asia.

Natural gas at the AECO hub in southern Alberta sold for just 49 cents on Wednesday, more than $2 below benchmark U.S. prices.

Depressed gas prices in recent years have been caused by rising output in both Alberta and B.C., full pipelines, a lack of spare capacity and inadequate seasonal access to storage, according to a report by the province’s Natural Gas Advisory Panel.

The pressing question for Canadian producers and policymakers is what can governments do to help accelerate the LNG train?

In a report issued last December, the advisory panel called for the government to work with other provinces to secure a second world-scale west coast LNG project that would make a final investment decision by December 2020.

It recommended the province consider “taking out capacity on major new pipeline or liquefaction initiatives.”

Former TransCanada Corp. CEO Hal Kvisle, one of the committee members, doesn’t think a direct government investment is a good idea.

But working with B.C. and producer groups to market Canadian LNG in Asia would build relationships with potential customers. Providing some form of credit backstop for producers is also worth examining, he said.

“We need to get LNG projects going because we have this enormous resource base in the Montney and Deep Basin that will be as significant economically for Western Canada as the oilsands have been,” Kvisle said.

With an election campaign underway, both the NDP and United Conservative Party are interested in finding ways to promote LNG.

UCP Leader Jason Kenney said Monday his party would consult industry to encourage at least one more major export facility to be constructed.

“If we see that there’s some way we can facilitate supplying Alberta natural gas, getting the natural gas pipelines built, we’ll do that,” he told reporters.

The Notley government created an LNG investment team last December to look at ways to reduce barriers and secure project investments. A report was sent to the province in March with eight recommendations, although it hasn’t been released.

If re-elected, the NDP promises to work with Ottawa, the B.C. government and Indigenous leaders to create a national LNG task force that would report back by Nov. 1, NDP campaign official Matt Williamson said in a statement.

The prospect of more LNG facilities being built would dramatically change the fortunes for Canada’s lagging natural gas sector.

While a lot of attention has been focused on finding customers outside of the U.S. for Canadian crude, natural gas has just as much — if not more — potential to grow quickly, if the country can access new markets.

The news on Chevron’s Kitimat LNG project is another indicator there could — and should – be better days ahead for natural gas producers, but that only happens if another big project gets the green light.

Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist.

cvarcoe@postmedia.com

The province’s seniors would receive 3,500 new long-term care beds and a separate government ministry under an Alberta Party government, leader Stephen Mandel said Friday.

The new beds would initially cost $230 million and another $260 million to operate annually, said Mandel, adding the province’s seniors deserve nothing less.

“We should make sure they don’t grovel when they need help. . . The people who built this province need to be treated like they’re my parents or grandparents,” he said.

“We’re going to need thousands more than this in the coming years.”

Earlier in the election campaign, the NDP promised to deliver 2,000 new long-term care beds at a cost of $270 million.

The UCP said it would also create new long-term care spaces, but their online platform doesn’t provide numbers.

Mandel said his government would also create a separate seniors’ ministry that would assume the authority and budget of the current seniors’ and housing ministry.

Housing would be under a separate mandate, said the party.

“There’s a real need for a seniors’ ministry to develop a long-term plan on housing needs,” said Mandel.

Related

• Special Section: Alberta Election 2019
• Braid: A fierce debate but not a great one, and no clear winner
• Alberta Election 2019: Party leaders break out their greatest hits in 90-minute debate

Politicians and health care experts say more long-term care beds are needed to free up space in acute care hospitals currently being occupied by seniors.

The Alberta Party also said it would streamline the application process for seniors’ services and focus more on culturally-specific support for Indigenous elderly.

A project to help senior with things like snow shovelling, cooking and grocery delivery to keep them in their homes would be piloted in mid-sized cities like Medicine Hat and Grande Prairie at annual cost of about $1.75 million.

Mandel also commented on the previous night’s leaders’ debate, saying his performance was “okay, I didn’t fall on my face.”

But he said Albertans don’t appreciate the nastiness shown by the other leaders in the 90-minute exchange, calling it a display of “nastiness.”

“Albertans would like to see a kind of gentler approach,” said Mandel, adding too much focus is placed on party leaders and not enough on their “bench strength.”

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

on Twitter: @BillKaufmannjrn

Party bikes mark another summer in Calgary with a second entry into the market.

Pedal Pubs, which launched on Friday, takes Calgarians on brewery tours in the Barley Belt and the Brewery Flats on 15-person group bikes.

“To see the 65-year-old lady on 12th Street smiling as we ride by, that’s what we get up for,” says Dave Skabar, the co-founder of Pedal Pub Canada West.

Party bikes were invented in the Netherlands in 1997 and have since spread to hip American cities like Nashville and Portland, where parties of 15 people tour hotspots on the music-blasting group bikes. Party bikes came to Calgary last year with the launch of Urban Pedal Tours, a company based out of Edmonton. Canadian Craft Tours also offers similar bike tours of Calgary breweries. Pedal Pubs bikes are built in Amsterdam by the company which first invented the attention-grabbing group tours.

Operating Partner and Driver of Calgary’s Pedal Pub John Reid poses for a photo in front of the 15-person joint Dutch party bike. Saturday the Party Pub will be starting two-hour long brewing guides in Inglewood and Ramsey. Friday, April 5, 2019. Brendan Miller/Postmedia

“We’re all about showcasing the cool neighbourhoods and the cool breweries,” says Skabar. “We want to refresh the way people see their city.”

The company’s first tour Friday launched from Pedal Pub’s headquarters in Inglewood and took participants to Cold Garden, Eighty Eight Brewing Co. and Dandy Brewing Co. over two hours. The bike features 10 pedal seats and space for 15 passengers, as well as a driver, who steers, signals, and shouts encouragement at the participants. The bike’s top speed is around 10 km/h with everyone pedalling, which means other vehicles need to pull around the apparatus as it completes its tour. Despite the slow-moving vehicle, drivers smiled, honked and waved as they passed by the music-thumping group of pedallers.

“The bike embodies everything that I am,” says Skabar, “a big, attention-seeking, smile-maker.”

Pedal Pubs will open the season operating three bikes in Calgary, with the potential to add more if there is demand. Tours currently operate Wednesday to Sunday starting at 11 a.m. with the last tour departing at 7 p.m. The bikes also feature non-operating taps; the company is in discussions with the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission about serving beer on the bikes themselves. Skabar says that they are currently unclassified when it comes to serving alcohol aboard the party bikes.

“You won’t find anything about a 15-person pedal-powered patio” in the AGLC rules, he says.

In the meantime, the people-powered party on wheels offers smile-making, thigh-burning tours for Calgarians to see the city’s blooming craft brewery scene.

“Our mantra is we pedal happiness,” says Skabar.

twitter.com/thejonroe

jroe@postmedia.com

A new poll shows the NDP trailing the UCP by nine percentage points, a narrower margin than observed in a number of other recent surveys gauging party support before the April 16 provincial election.

The online Leger poll, which surveyed 879 people on April 2 and 3, shows Jason Kenney and the UCP are ahead of Rachel Notley and the NDP, by 48 per cent to 37 per cent in Calgary — a city widely considered crucial in deciding which way the vote will go.

Province-wide, the poll gives the UCP 47 per cent support to the NDP’s 38 per cent, with the Alberta Party garnering nine per cent and the Liberals four per cent.

Other polls conducted late last month listed the UCP advantage as high as 21 per cent across Alberta and in Calgary.

Edmonton remains the only region favouring the NDP, where the poll suggests it holds a lead of 48 per cent to the UCP’s 38 per cent.

Notley, whose name has been a consistent selling point for her party, was seen as being the best premier by 34 per cent of respondents, compared to 28 per cent for Kenney.

Controversies surrounding the 2017 UCP leadership race and specific candidates accused of intolerance have tightened the race, said Ian Large, Leger’s Alberta vice-president.

“The gap has been closing slowly but steadily over the last several weeks; people are paying attention to the UCP performance and listening to the NDP,” said Large. “The Conservatives are having trouble getting their messaging out.”

But he said that could well have reached its limit.

“That (NDP) messaging track is losing its impact, unless there’s a lot more stuff to come,” said Large.

Unlike 2012 when the bigotry-centred “lake of fire” controversies helped sink the Wildrose party, people’s concerns over the economy today seem likely to limit the impact of those types of stories, he said.

The economy, cost of living, energy issues and jobs were four of the top five concerns among respondents in the Leger poll.

“The jobs numbers today aren’t going to change that,” said Large, referring to Statistics Canada data released Friday showing 1,800 jobs lost in Alberta last month, and that 12,000 people stopped looking for work.

Thursday night’s leaders debate is unlikely to move the opinion needle one way or the other, said Mount Royal University communications professor David Taras.

“I didn’t see anything from the debate that’s going to change a lot of people’s minds,” he said.

Leger’s poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

on Twitter: @BillKaufmannjrn

Police across the province put out a reminder Friday to warn the public that tampering with election signs is a crime.

“We have received numerous reports of candidate signs being vandalized,” said RCMP Const. Mike Hibbs. “In some cases, these acts of vandalism also include other types of property damages and even hate speech. We are investigating reports of these incidents and will lay charges accordingly.”

The Alberta RCMP, Calgary Police Service and Edmonton Police Service joined together Friday to issue the warning and ask people “to respect the democratic process.”

A couple in Red Deer, Alta., say its sport-utility vehicle was keyed and urinated on, because of an election campaign sign they displayed on their lawn.

Dirk and Kerstin Heuer, who moved to Canada from Germany 15 years ago, had put up a sign supporting the NDP.

They discovered recently that someone had scratched vulgar language on their black-coloured SUV directed at both them and the party.

They say two tires were flattened and it appeared someone had urinated on a door handle.

The damage estimate is $2,500 and the Heuers have filed a report with the RCMP.

No one has been arrested.

The Heuers are permanent residents but are not eligible to vote on April 16. They say if they could vote, it would be for the NDP.

“I was surprised. I couldn’t really believe this happened to us,” said Dirk Heuer.

Barb Miller, the NDP candidate in Red Deer South, condemned the vandalism.

“We have been running this campaign with a focus on positivity, and it pains me to hear of this,” she said.

SHERWOOD PARK, Alta. — Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley says the United Conservatives are trying to pull a fast one on voters by slipping in changes to their policy platform.

It’s a charge Jason Kenney dismissed Friday, calling it more misdirection from a premier on a day when new Statistics Canada numbers revealed her job creation plan is falling flat.

The two leaders made the comments as they returned to the campaign trail following Thursday’s televised leaders debate.

Both have promised to erase Alberta’s chronic multibillion-dollar deficits in the next term if they win the April 16 election.

However, Notley pointed out that recent changes to the UCP’s online policy platform document show that Kenney plans to outsource that crucial task to a blue-ribbon panel of experts.

“You don’t do a big event where you release your platform and tell people: ‘Here’s our plan. Hold us to account to it. Trust us.’ And then secretly change that platform in the dark of night,” Notley told supporters at a rally east of Edmonton.

“You cannot run to be the premier of this province without convincing people that you actually have a plan to bring the budget into balance.”

Last weekend, Kenney unveiled the party’s 100-plus-page foundational policy document, which calls for the creation of a panel of experts to advise on fiscal policy and paying down the debt.

A revised online version of the document this week adds a new task to the panel: “recommend a path to (budget) balance.”

Notley called that misleading given that the change wasn’t publicized, and said it suggests the UCP hasn’t got a road map on a critical piece of policy.

Kenney said the change was one of a number of minor edits and fixes to the original document. He said nothing substantive has changed and the budget balance plan is clearly spelled out in the platform.

He said the role of the panel remains an advisory one on how best to achieve that goal.

“Our fiscal target is $49 billion in spending and a $700-million surplus in year four. That is the plan,” he said in Calgary.

He said Notley will try any attack to deflect from her failure to get Albertans back to work after years of low oil prices and the loss of thousands of jobs.

Kenney noted new Statistics Canada numbers reveal Alberta lost 1,800 jobs last month, with the unemployment rate in Edmonton and Calgary over seven per cent.

Kenney says NDP tax hikes and added rules and regulations have made a bad situation worse.

“This is hard evidence of the jobs crisis that is hurting Albertans,” said Kenney. “This is not about oil prices. This is about bad government policy.

Political leaders clashed Friday over newly released job numbers from Statistics Canada, which show Alberta’s March unemployment rate was slightly down month-over-month, despite an increase in the number of jobless people across the province who have given up trying to find work.

The report, contained in the federal agency’s monthly labour force survey, comes more than halfway through the Alberta election campaign, which has seen the issue of jobs and the economy take centre stage.

Albertans will head to the polls on April 16.

The figures released Friday show Alberta’s unemployment rate fell from 7.3 per cent in February to 6.9 per cent in March, leaving 172,100 Albertans out of work but still seeking employment. The unemployment rate for March was about 0.5 per cent higher than at the same time one year ago.

In Calgary, the jobless rate was slightly higher than a month prior, increasing from 7.6 per cent in February to 7.7 per cent in March.

Statistics Canada’s monthly labour force survey showed Alberta had 18,100 more full-time jobs last month, but part-time jobs fell by 19,900, for a net decrease.

There were also fewer Albertans in the labour force in March, as a result of more jobless people in the province who have stopped looking for work. The labour force participation rate fell half a percentage point to 71.3 per cent, with 12,100 fewer people looking for new jobs.

The report proved Albertans are “living through a jobs crisis created by the NDP’s high tax ideology and their alliance with Justin Trudeau,” United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney said during a campaign stop in Calgary on Friday.

“More and more Albertans are getting frustrated, leaving the job market,” he said.

Speaking near Edmonton, NDP leader Rachel Notley said the growth in full-time jobs was a positive sign, despite the overall net loss when part-time jobs are factored in.

“That’s exactly why we are so focused on our plan to diversify and our plan to get more value for our resources,” she said, adding her party has secured more than $13 billion in private sector investment and the creation 10,000 future jobs.

“That’s why we are focused with a laser-like intention to actually use our resources to strategically invest, upgrade our resources right here in Alberta, so we stop this practice of shipping jobs south of the border,” said Notley.

But a poor economy, which has prompted “billions of dollars of investment” to flee Alberta, falls on the NDP, according to Kenney.

“The NDP says this is all about oil prices, but in U.S. states that have a large energy industry, unemployment is at half the rate of Alberta or lower,” said Kenney, citing states including North Dakota, Texas and Colorado.

“This is hard evidence of the jobs crisis that is hurting Albertans . . . I believe we see that reflected in the higher numbers of Albertans who are victims of crime, the higher numbers of people who have fallen into addiction and are reporting mental health challenges, the higher usage in food banks.”

He said the UCP would send a message to investors that Alberta “is open for business again” through the party’s proposed corporate tax cut — from 12 to 8 per cent — and by repealing the carbon tax that was introduced by the NDP.

“Independent experts” predict those two measures will lead to more than 60,000 new jobs in Alberta, according to Kenney.

But Notley said Kenney’s platform, including a plan to cancel the NDP’s crude-by-rail deal, “will extend curtailment and it will slow down the jobs that will be created.”

“We know people are worried about the economy . . . we have a plan, and it’s not a plan that is built on a great big corporate tax cut combined with a big cut in pay for people who work overtime,” she said.

—With files from Clare Clancy

shudes@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/SammyHudes

Mayor Naheed Nenshi offered a bleak assessment of the major party platforms Friday when it comes to one of the most pressing issues facing the city.

“One out of four office buildings in downtown Calgary are empty, small businesses across Calgary are struggling, 15,000 Albertans have declared personal bankruptcy,” Nenshi said. “And I was really, really disappointed to see that none of the parties, none of them, had a real plan for economic growth in Calgary.”

Prospective provincial leaders ignore Calgary’s serious financial straits at their peril, Nenshi said Friday. Calgary accounts for approximately a third of the province’s GDP, while unemployment remains higher here than in any comparable Canadian city, including Edmonton.

The city has now published responses from all four major parties to the yycmatters.ca survey. The survey was launched to give Calgary voters a better idea where parties stand on municipal priorities.

Nenshi praised the New Democratic Party and United Conservative Party at a press conference Friday for committing to the city’s long-term capital project plan.

He also praised the leaders for promising to honour commitments to the Springbank dry dam and the Green Line — with mild admonishment to the UCP for leaving “loopholes” in their platform when it comes to flood mitigation; the UCP has said it will expedite Springbank, so long as it receives the necessary approvals and consultations with First Nations are complete.

However, Nenshi criticized all four parties for failing to offer concrete, immediate solutions for bringing jobs and investment to Calgary or assistance for businesses on the brink. Both the UCP and NDP platforms rely on long term economic plays to spur jobs indirectly, he said, either through corporate tax cuts or new green economy opportunities.

Practical steps to grow the economy in the short term were ignored, Nenshi said, including things like matching funds through the city’s opportunity investment fund or providing a “tax holiday” for the provincial portion of property taxes for business.

And the UCP plan in particular shows a lack of understanding about how cities work, Nenshi said.

“When your biggest promise to municipalities is, ‘we’re going to publish a report card on you’ — that pretty much shows a real lack of respect for how local government works,” Nenshi said.

“There’s a real lack of understanding of how cities work and a real lack of understanding of Calgary in particular. I would expect anyone who wants to be premier needs to understand the city very well.”

Jason Kenney fired back Friday afternoon at a press conference where the UCP leader was reacting to the latest Alberta jobs numbers.

Kenney said a UCP government would reduce the province’s corporate tax rate to eight per cent, a move he suggested would create 55,000 jobs. Currently, the province’s corporate tax rate sits at 12 per cent.

He also defended his proposal to create a report card for municipalities, arguing it would create a healthy “competition” between cities.

“All we’re proposing is that we’re going to offer Albertans a fiscal report card on an annual basis showing how much municipalities are spending, how much they are taking in, how much their tax rates have gone up or gone down,” Kenney said. “I can’t imagine why the mayor would be opposed to transparency.”

Financial data comparing Alberta muncipalities on an annual basis is already available on the municipal affairs website.

mpotkins@postmedia.com
Twitter: @mpotkins