Fall Alberta legislature session wraps up under tower of bills

Emma Graney

A teetering tower of 19 bills, a ruling on saying the word “mansplaining,” two poems and a free vote on daylight time all crammed their way into the fall session of Canada’s legislature.

The 22-day session wrapped up Wednesday afternoon.

It dragged on three days longer than scheduled, as the Opposition wrestled with massive pieces of legislation it maintained should go to legislature committees for thorough discussion.

Calendar kerfuffle

Speaking with reporters late Wednesday, NDP house leader Brian Mason and UCP house leader Jason Nixon were at loggerheads over who wanted the session to end when.

Mason said the Opposition initially wanted to push the session further toward Christmas, but changed course following revelations Nixon fired an employee who was sexually harassed a decade ago. Nixon rejected the notion that played a role, saying his team worked for as long as it needed to hold the government to account.

Liberal Leader David Khan stopped by the legislature twice. There was only one appearance by the leader of the official Opposition during the session, even before the byelection was called in Calgary-Lougheed.

But Jason Kenney’s name made it into Hansard repeatedly during question period as the NDP attacked the missing leader.

This session also represented the first for the new official Opposition, which came together under the banner of the United Conservative Party in the summer.

Keeping the peace

For Speaker Robert Wanner, the fall session was another exercise in keeping order in the legislature, although he didn’t think it was a particularly nasty 22 days.

In spite of the barbs sometimes thrown and disagreement on issues and tactics, he said he generally continues to see brotherhood and sisterhood on the floor.

“We’ve probably got an interesting year ahead, an interesting 18 months ahead,” Wanner said, adding he continues to be an optimist.