EDMONTON - Premier-designate Alison Redford announced Tuesday there will be a fall sitting of the legislature, confirming there will not be an election this year.
The decision comes after opposition parties criticized the new leader of the Progressive Conservative party for failing to live up to her promise to be a transparent and accountable premier.
She said she made the decision after meeting with her caucus for the first time Tuesday morning.
“I wanted to ensure that I had the advice of caucus and that we were ready to go with setting that new agenda,” Redford said. “I believe we are ready to do that, that caucus is fully committed to what we have decided to do as a party and as a government, and I am looking forward to setting that agenda in the fall.”
Redford will be sworn in on Friday and will not attend the Keystone XL pipeline hearings in Washington D.C. She will swear in her new cabinet on Oct. 12, but has not yet released the names of her ministers.
Redford on Tuesday also named campaign strategist Stephen Carter as her chief of staff. Leadership rival Doug Horner will be deputy premier and Edmonton-Whitemud MLA Dave Hancock will be the party’s house leader, positions both men also held in the Stelmach administration.
“I think this building rocked today,” she said. “There are lots of people new to our caucus, and there are many people who have been in our caucus for a long time. They both bring perspectives that matter and we got some really tremendous progress today on what we need to do to govern this province.”
Deputy premier Doug Horner echoed the sentiment.
“There’s 100 per cent support for this new premier,” he said. “Everyone is very, very positive about the future direction this premier brings.”
Hancock said the sitting will likely start Oct. 24 and that he will discuss the duration with house leaders. The legislative agenda has not been set, but he said the government could table supplementary supply budgets — estimates of unbudgeted expenses — and pass the Education Act.
“There’s not exactly a requirement to do supplementary supply but there has been considerable resources for Slave Lake, for example, and there will be resources for education,” he said.
“The Education Act is still on the order paper. It remains to be seen whether we deal with it this fall or whether it comes back next spring. Both options are available. ... We could be ready to bring things forward, if necessary, but we could equally use more time.”
He noted that the education minister has not yet been named but added there is common agreement that a lot of work has been done on the act and that “it’s not going away.”
Thomas Lukaszuk, who supported frontrunner Gary Mar during the leadership race, said the one-time front-runner is spending time with his family and hasn’t decided what to do yet.
“There’s nothing magical about politics. If you put in eight, nine, ten months of hard work, almost 24-7, and you give it all you’ve got and at the end of the day you don’t win, obviously there’s almost like a grieving process you go through,” Lukaszuk said.
“Gary is exhausted, and he’s dealing with a new reality right now. His kids were disappointed, his wife was disappointed. It’s a team sport. But when I spoke with him last, he is actually more disappointed for all the volunteers than he is for himself.
“He feels like he let down the entire team, which obviously is not the case.”
Mar has not spoken publicly since his concession speech at the leadership election on Saturday.
The decision comes after opposition parties criticized the new leader of the Progressive Conservative party for failing to live up to her promise to be a transparent and accountable premier.
She said she made the decision after meeting with her caucus for the first time Tuesday morning.
“I wanted to ensure that I had the advice of caucus and that we were ready to go with setting that new agenda,” Redford said. “I believe we are ready to do that, that caucus is fully committed to what we have decided to do as a party and as a government, and I am looking forward to setting that agenda in the fall.”
Redford will be sworn in on Friday and will not attend the Keystone XL pipeline hearings in Washington D.C. She will swear in her new cabinet on Oct. 12, but has not yet released the names of her ministers.
Redford on Tuesday also named campaign strategist Stephen Carter as her chief of staff. Leadership rival Doug Horner will be deputy premier and Edmonton-Whitemud MLA Dave Hancock will be the party’s house leader, positions both men also held in the Stelmach administration.
“I think this building rocked today,” she said. “There are lots of people new to our caucus, and there are many people who have been in our caucus for a long time. They both bring perspectives that matter and we got some really tremendous progress today on what we need to do to govern this province.”
Deputy premier Doug Horner echoed the sentiment.
“There’s 100 per cent support for this new premier,” he said. “Everyone is very, very positive about the future direction this premier brings.”
Hancock said the sitting will likely start Oct. 24 and that he will discuss the duration with house leaders. The legislative agenda has not been set, but he said the government could table supplementary supply budgets — estimates of unbudgeted expenses — and pass the Education Act.
“There’s not exactly a requirement to do supplementary supply but there has been considerable resources for Slave Lake, for example, and there will be resources for education,” he said.
“The Education Act is still on the order paper. It remains to be seen whether we deal with it this fall or whether it comes back next spring. Both options are available. ... We could be ready to bring things forward, if necessary, but we could equally use more time.”
He noted that the education minister has not yet been named but added there is common agreement that a lot of work has been done on the act and that “it’s not going away.”
Thomas Lukaszuk, who supported frontrunner Gary Mar during the leadership race, said the one-time front-runner is spending time with his family and hasn’t decided what to do yet.
“There’s nothing magical about politics. If you put in eight, nine, ten months of hard work, almost 24-7, and you give it all you’ve got and at the end of the day you don’t win, obviously there’s almost like a grieving process you go through,” Lukaszuk said.
“Gary is exhausted, and he’s dealing with a new reality right now. His kids were disappointed, his wife was disappointed. It’s a team sport. But when I spoke with him last, he is actually more disappointed for all the volunteers than he is for himself.
“He feels like he let down the entire team, which obviously is not the case.”
Mar has not spoken publicly since his concession speech at the leadership election on Saturday.
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