Alberta's legislature will open for business next week, but it won't be open long.
On Thursday, government house leader Dave Hancock announced the government's plans for a fall session, which will open Monday for just two days before recessing until Nov. 21.
When it resumes in November there will likely only be two more weeks of sitting before the end of the year.
In the two-day session next week, Premier Alison Redford will give a speech to the legislature on the global economic crisis and give the opposition a chance to respond.
Hancock said between next Tuesday and the end of the recess Redford plans to work with her caucus to determine what the legislative agenda of the fall session will be.
Hancock listed many possible bills that could go before the legislature, but did not provide any specifics, because the caucus would make those decisions during the November recess period.
St. Albert MLA Ken Allred said he doesn't believe the legislature should be sitting, just so the government can say it did.
"It should be sitting if there is a reason to be sitting, but if there is no real reason to be sitting I don't see that there is much point in it," he said. "What are we trying to fix I think is really the question."
Allred said he has been impressed with Redford's eagerness, but legislation requires time to create and craft and can't come in at a whim.
"She has hit the ground running even at that, but there is still a lot of work to be done to bring forward any legislation she might propose."
Opposition leaders reacted to the short session with scorn.
"The fact of the matter is we have a 40-year-old government that takes the legislative assembly for granted," said NDP house leader Rachel Notley.
Redford had initially suggested there would be no fall session, but reversed herself. Notley said the premier was falling short on what she promised.
"The new premier promised us a fall session; she has delivered a shell of a fall session."
Liberal house leader Laurie Blakeman also condemned the move and said it would leave the opposition with little time to hold the government to account.
"We are going to have 10 question periods in this fall sitting and it is pretty hard to hold a government to account with just 10 question periods."
Blakeman also argued the truncated session would leave little time for private members' bills.
"These are all worthy issues and often the truly new ideas that come to the house, come through the opposition and we are not getting the chance to put them up."
Hancock admitted his party's leadership race did cut into the time for the fall session, but it was an important race and a part of the democratic process.
"I don't think there is any reason to apologize for going out and talking to Albertans for eight months about what kind of leadership they want and what kind of direction."
The legislature will sit for a total of just 44 days this year, but Hancock said the numbers aren't important.
"I don't measure democracy in terms of the number of days or the number of minutes."
Kowalski nominated
Local MLA and house speaker Ken Kowalski, who will oversee the session, received his party's nomination this week. Kowalski, who has represented the riding of Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock for more than 30 years, was unopposed in a bid to carry the party's banner and officially won the nomination this week.
