Rising living costs, deteriorating healthcare systems and growing political tensions with foreign powers -- St. Albert politicians had much to contend with in 2023.
The Gazette spoke with MP Michael Cooper and MLAs Dale Nally and Marie Renaud to discuss the highlights and hurdles of 2023 — and see what they’re looking forward to in 2024.
Michael Cooper MP St. Albert — Edmonton
“It was a busy year from start to finish,” said Michael Cooper, Member of Parliament for St. Albert — Edmonton.
Cooper is a vice-chair of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee, which this year held hearings on foreign interference from China.
During those hearings, Liberal and NDP MPs criticized Cooper for being sexist when he told Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, “You've talked tough with your Beijing counterpart, so you say. You even stared into his eyes -- I'm sure he was very intimidated."
“Those hearings gained national prominence and culminated with the appearance of the Prime Minister’s special rapporteur David Johnston,” Cooper said.
Johnston resigned in the summer. But when evidence surfaced of a Chinese disinformation campaign targeted at Conservative Member of Parliament Michael Chong, conservatives, Cooper prominent amongst them, called for the investigation to resume. Under the guidance of Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, the government launched a public inquiry in September.
Cooper also worked closely with Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu on legislation to reduce the frequency of parole hearings for prisoners convicted of first-degree murder, and he worked on a committee to research granting people who suffer solely from mental illness access to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD).
Cooper said his biggest challenge in 2023 was “hearing loud and clear from constituents that many people in our community are struggling.”
“Canada is facing a cost-of-living crisis,” he said. “And we have a government that has presided over policies that have caused the cost of living crisis … I’m hoping that 2024 will bring about an election in which we will elect a new Conservative government led by Pierre Pollievre.”
Dale Nally MLA Morinville — St. Albert
Dale Nally, MLA for Morinville – St. Albert and Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, is happy with all the investment he helped bring into the province this year, he said.
“I’m most proud of, on the jobs front, the Air Products [hydrogen energy complex] breaking ground,” he said. “That was something I was very involved in. And also the Dow Chemical project that got to [Final Investment Decision] … I just couldn’t be happier that those two projects are moving forward because it’s going to be great for Alberta, and incredible for Morinville – St. Albert.”
Another major accomplishment this year was eliminating the province’s land titles backlog, Nally said.
“Land titles was four and a half months behind,” he said “They process $50 billion a year in real estate transactions. There was a significant amount of economic activity that was sitting on the shelf.”
But Nally said he also faced some big challenges. One of those challenges, which St. Albert felt acutely, was the issue of the long waits for repayments for life lease loans taken out by a seniors to pay for condos.
“We’re working with the developer in question,” he said. “We’re also working on life lease legislation to make sure there will be more protections in place so that this kind of thing doesn’t happen again in the future.”
Nally said that he will bring life lease protection legislation forward in the spring.
In 2024, he said he will be looking to continue the roll out of private fuelling stations for hydrogen vehicles.
Marie Renaud MLA St. Albert
Marie Renaud, MLA for St. Albert, said that for her a defining event of 2023 was the May election.
“We worked really hard to talk to as many voters and identify as many supporters as we possibly could,” she said. “We had a lot of interesting ideas that would have formed legislation had we won … I’m quite proud we did so well in St. Albert.”
But it was hard to see NDP ideas — such as bringing back class size reporting and introducing legislation that would demand the UCP abide by the results of a pension referendum -- lose in the legislature.
“We were all anticipating what kind of legislation we would see once we got back to the house,” she said. And what she has seen has troubled her, especially moves to increase the value of gifts for politicians without disclosure, dismantle AHS and raise the spectre of an Alberta pension plan.
“I cannot tell you the number of calls and emails I’ve received about the Alberta pension plan,” she said. “People are genuinely fearful and upset about this – you can feel it, you can hear it, they’re very, very angry.”
Renaud said that in her role as critic for community and social services she helped raise awareness of the long waitlists for some disability supports.
“We continue to spotlight that and press them to make an investment in the backlog,” she said. “The other thing we started up that I’m proud of is that we started a conversation that Alberta is one of the only jurisdictions without accessibility legislation. That’s not just for the built environment, like ramps; it’s everything: employment, transportation and programs … so I’m [pressing] this.”
