The Fair Deal Panel hears from the public at the Teresa Sargent Hall on Wednesday (photo by Liam Verster)

By Liam Verster

Fair Deal

Fair Deal Panel hears suggestions from Grande Prairie residents

Dec 19, 2019 | 5:00 AM

Close to 200 people filled up the Teresa Sargent Hall at the Montrose Cultural Centre on Wednesday, December 18, to make suggestions to the Fair Deal Panel.

The panel of nine members, who were all appointed by the provincial government, are gathering public input, in order to explore ideas that give Alberta a bigger voice within the federation.

Specific areas being explored include:

• Establishing a provincial revenue agency to collect provincial taxes directly by ending the Canada-Alberta Tax Collection Agreement, while joining Quebec in seeking an agreement to collect federal taxes within the province.
• Creating an Alberta Pension Plan by withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan.
• Establishing a provincial police force by ending the Alberta Police Service Agreement with the Government of Canada.
• Emulating Quebec’s practice of playing a larger role in international relations, in part by seeking Alberta representation in treaty negotiations that effect Alberta’s interests.
• Emulating Quebec’s legal requirement that public bodies, including municipalities and school boards, obtain the approval of the provincial government before they can enter into agreements with the federal government.
• Using the existing provincial power to appoint the Chief Firearms Office for Alberta.
• Opting out of federal cost share programs with full compensation, such as the federal government’s proposed pharmacare program.
• Seeking an exchange of tax points for federal cash transfers under the Canada Health and Social Transfers.
• Establishing a formalized provincial constitution.

While these are key issues, it is not an exhaustive list, and the Panel is also accepting viable ideas from the public. During the town hall session, the public mostly echoed points already listed, including the pension plan, a provincial police force, creating more energy pipelines, and paying less in equalization. However, Panel Member Donna Kennedy-Glans says there was one suggestion in particular that stood out as unique during the session in Grande Prairie, from a man who suggested creating an energy pipeline through the Arctic.

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“With the permafrost melting and the Chinese and the Russians buying equipment that allows them to transport across the arctic, where is Canada? Where is Alberta? Premier Lougheed, a long time ago, actually bought an airline to be able to make Edmonton the base jumping off point to the North. I think those kinds of ideas are actually quite relevant in this strategy right now.”

During the session, there was also a few people in favour of separating from Canada, and a few who vouched for remaining in confederation.

Kennedy-Glans says people are angry, and this is an opportunity for the Panel to hear from the public.

“What we really want to encourage is the silent majority to speak up, and tell us what their experiences are. What’s it look like for them and their family, and their business, and their life, and their kids, when it isn’t fair.”

She adds that while travelling across the province, hearing from Albertans, people in different regions had different concerns and different courses of action in mind, but overall Albertans are feeling they are in an unfair situation, and are frustrated with the Federal Government.

Grande Prairie City Councillor Dylan Bressey attended the meeting and had a chance to address the Panel. He says while he’s in favour of some ideas, like exploring alternate police options to the RCMP and reducing red tape for municipalities seeking federal grants.

But, he’s opposed to the proposed idea of putting referendums alongside municipal elections.

“I think that gives media and citizens less ability to talk about what’s going on locally, and I think that takes away accountability for me and the rest of my colleagues on council, and for people that want to challenge us. I don’t think that’s a good thing, and I think we should have municipal elections just be municipal elections.”

He says adding referendums could put the focus on provincial or federal issues, instead of local issues, which should be the priority during a municipal election. Bressey adds that it will also be unfair for newcomers to make a name for themselves, because voters may be too focused on the referendums to look into the new candidates, and instead just automatically vote for an incumbent whose name they recognize.

While most of those in attendance brought up suggestions, many others shared their stories of hardships. Senator Doug Black was able to attend the session, and says those stories were what really came through.

“What I hear tonight, is I hear a number of people have spoken about troubles. Lost jobs, declining businesses, friends having to leave the province, families being split up. This is not good, this is not good at all. When people share their stories, I find it’s more compelling, because we can all get lost in charts and facts and tables, but when people say ‘Hey, I’m here because the value of my company has collapsed, not because of anything I did but because of policies that were aimed at my industry.”

“You have to pay attention to that.”

This was the first session the Senator was able to sit in on, and he specifically came to Grande Prairie to hear the public’s ideas and concerns. Black does say he has been following the Panel’s progress online, and there appears to be a real trend of frustrated Albertans in the meetings.

“Some communities appear to be angrier than other communities. This meeting tonight is relatively calmer than some of the others have been, and I think in large part because there are some regions in this province that have been hurt worse than Grande Prairie has been hurt. So the community reflects that.”

Grande Prairie MLA Tracy Allard was also in attendance at the public session. Allard says she’s spoken to some of her constituents in other communities, and from what she hears, people across the province are coming out to voice their concerns and offer suggestions.

She says two ideas being explored really stand out to her as feasible: the Alberta Pension Plan, and the Alberta Police Force.

“Because of the issues with rural crime, and one of the ladies that got up tonight spoke about that, I really do think we need to do things differently. I’m not slighting anyone, but I do think that could give us a bit more autonomy on how we want crime to be investigated in the province.”

She adds that a point that really came across during Wednesday’s session came from a woman who spoke about Indigenous issues, and that in order to truly represent all Albertans, they need to make sure that they find a fair deal for all.

The Panel will break for the holidays, before taking to the road again and visiting other communities in the new year. Once they finish their sessions, they will gather the input , which is also being accepted online, and use it to create a series of recommendations for the Provincial Government to use in creating a Fair Deal with the federal government.

Their report is due by March 31, 2020.