Professional & Knowledgable Law Team

Monday, October 3, 2011

Alberta's new premier vows to act on campaign promise immediately


EDMONTON — Alberta premier-designate Alison Redford said Sunday she will keep her promise to restore millions in funding cuts to Alberta schools in the next 10 days.
Nine hours after winning the Progressive Conservative leadership race, Redford also ordered the suspension of controversial land laws, pledged to review politician pay and reiterated her promise to call a public inquiry into allegations of doctor intimidation and queue-jumping in Alberta’s health-care system.
“My first two priorities will be reversing the education cuts and, second, beginning to rebuild faith in public health care,” Redford said, adding she will meet soon with treasury officials to try find the $107 million for schools.
She has previously said she will also consider withdrawing money from the province’s sustainability fund to fulfil that promise. “I believe it’s entirely feasible to do it and I haven’t changed my mind on that,” she said.
Redford became the province’s first female premier shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday morning in a nail-biting leadership vote at the Edmonton Northlands Expo Centre. She defeated front-runner Gary Mar by 1,613 votes, capturing 51 per cent of the vote in a run-off of preferential ballots.
The 46-year-old former justice minister built her campaign on a series of maverick, anti-establishment promises, which she pledged Sunday to keep.
The “absolutely” plans to call a public inquiry into allegations of political meddling in the health system, a step rejected by her predecessor and by current Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky.
Zwozdesky has previously said a judge-led public inquiry could take years and cost up to $40 million. By contrast, the Health Quality Council of Alberta’s ongoing closed-door review is expected to cost up to $1 million.
“I can’t give you details (about the inquiry.) As soon as we can, we will,” Redford said, adding later she plans to change the rules so the HQCA is fully independent. “I think that then feeds into where we go with the inquiry with respect to queue-jumping,” she said.
During the campaign Redford promised to establish a commission to review politician pay and perks within 90 days. “I don’t see any reason why we can’t do that,” she said Sunday.
She also told reporters she will keep her vow to immediately suspend the controversial Land Stewardship Act, or Bill 36, pending public consultation. “We will suspend any further action under that legislation until we’ve had a chance to fully consult and to introduce the amendments that we need to introduce.”
Redford again promised to make the Child and Youth Advocate accountable to the legislature, a move opposition parties have been advocating for years. Redford didn’t address, and wasn’t asked about, her promises to increase funding for Albertans receiving Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped or to reinstate coverage for chiropractic services.
Redford has not yet named her cabinet or her chief of staff. She said Calgary lawyer Robert Hawkes will lead the transition team. Hawkes and Redford were married for five years in their 20s.
Tory caucus members will play a crucial role in defining government policy in the coming months, she said, adding there is room in her cabinet for failed leadership candidates. She said Gary Mar will play a meaningful role in her government if he runs for office in the next election.
Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt said Mar won’t return to the legislature.
“Mar has to be devastated. His career is over. He’ll do a Jim Dinning and we won’t see him again,” Bratt said, referring to the former finance minister who suffered a stunning defeat to underdog candidate Ed Stelmach in the 2006 Tory leadership contest.
Mar was not available for comment Sunday.
Hours after her win, Redford received congratulations from Prime Minister Stephen Harper as well as calls from B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall.
“What happened yesterday was that our politics caught up with who we are,” Redford said. Asked who was responsible for the doubling, tripling and even quadrupling of votes in some ridings, she said there were many teachers who would have come out, nurses who came out, there was a reference to soccer moms.
“You know what? That’s who we are. That’s who Albertans are, and that’s who I want the PC party to be,” she said.
Redford’s husband Glen Jermyn and her daughter Sarah joined her briefly at the podium Sunday morning. Sarah, 9, was sleeping when the vote was decided Sunday morning.
“So when I got up this morning I was trying to be quiet, and she said: ‘Who won?’ And I said: ‘I won,’ ” Redford told reporters. “She said: ‘I knew you’d win.’ ”
Redford’s mother, Helen, died suddenly Tuesday of an undisclosed illness. The family will mourn her passing at a private ceremony later this week. Redford was asked Sunday what her mother would say about her victory. Her eyes welled with tears.
“Someone said to me today: ‘Is there anyone you want to call this morning?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, my Mom. But I can’t.’ ”

Alberta's pick for premier will affect oilsands future, Canada's reputation

Alberta's provincial Tories'  new premier who will play an important national role in managing what many believe is both an economic lifeline and black eye for Canada — developing the carbon-intensive oilsands.
A potential new approach to oilsands production and addressing the environmental consequences.
The federal and provincial Tory governments have faced rapid fire from around the globe over the past five years over the growing ecological footprint of developing what critics have dubbed "dirty oil."
And the contenders in the race to be leader insist Alberta's next premier must be more proactive, in both action and words, to improve the province's and country's environmental credentials.
"The fact is that this is a legitimate conversation that needs to be had. It's not going to go away. We can't dismiss it and we shouldn't," said Alison Redford, the lone woman in the field of six candidates vying to replace Premier Ed Stelmach.
"We also have a responsibility to work in partnership with other provinces and with the federal government to make it as clean as we possibly can."
In the United States, lawmakers have lobbed scathing attacks at the oilsands and adopted clean-fuel standards that would exclude bitumen-derived petroleum.
Environmental groups and concerned citizens have launched repeated appeals — including during a two-week protest outside the White House — for the Obama administration to block construction of the Keystone XL pipeline that would ship oilsands crude from northern Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast.
Hollywood director James Cameron, of Titanic and Avatar fame, visited the oilsands region in northern Alberta a year ago and warned Canada the resource could become "a curse" if governments fail to properly manage it.
Across the Atlantic Ocean, the European Parliament has taken shots at Canada for the high carbon dioxide emissions and overall environmental toll of extracting and producing the raw bitumen — a molasses-like form of crude oil.
While oilsands development poses mammoth environmental challenges for industry and governments, it's also helping drive the national economy, generating tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity across the country.
The Canadian Energy Research Institute forecasts new oilsands development will contribute approximately $2.1 trillion to the Canadian economy over the next 25 years. The group also estimates the oilsands industry will pay more than $300 billion in federal taxes over the next quarter-century.
Gary Mar, Alberta's former trade representative in Washington and the front-runner in the race for the premiership, said the economic importance of the industry to the entire country can't be forgotten. However, he is calling for an independent, world-class environmental monitoring authority to examine oilsands development.
Mar said an independent panel, producing objective scientific data, is necessary if Alberta and Canada are to maintain a "social licence" to develop the oilsands — the second-largest proven oil reserves in the world next to Saudi Arabia.
"It shouldn't just be the government of Alberta saying we're doing a good job, nor can it be industry," said Mar, who's leading in the polls heading into the first ballot. If no candidate receives a majority of votes from PC party members on Saturday, a second preferential ballot with the top three hopefuls will be held Oct. 1.
"We want to assure Canadians . . . and we want to assure the rest of the world that we're doing this in a way that is environmentally responsible," he added.
Christopher Sands, a specialist in Canada-U.S. relations at the Hudson Institute, a think-tank in Washington, D.C., said Stelmach's departure opens the door for "a new conversation and a new face."
The next premier can improve the country's reputation and market access by adopting a more stringent regulatory regime that sends a message to lawmakers and environmental groups in the U.S. and abroad, he said.
Ottawa and Alberta also must get on the same page on oilsands development and promote a Team Canada approach, he added, rather than bickering over who has jurisdictional authority on environmental issues.
"Alberta can do something to make itself less of a target," Sands said. "It would make consumption of oilsands oil guilt-free, or more toward guilt-free."
Canada currently produces approximately 2.9 million barrels of oil per day, with about 1.6 million barrels coming from the oilsands. However, total oilsands production is expected to more than double to 3.7 million barrels a day by 2025.
Environment Canada data show the oilsands industry was responsible for approximately 6.5 per cent of the country's annual greenhouse gas emissions in 2009, the latest numbers available, up from five per cent the previous year. Overall oilsands emissions have grown nearly 300 per cent since 1990.
Ed Whittingham, executive director of the Pembina Institute, an Alberta-based environmental research group, said the leadership race has "huge implications" on Canada's environmental performance and the resource's future development.
The approach adopted by the next Alberta premier, he said, will also heavily influence whether Canada is able to meet its greenhouse gas targets of reducing emissions by 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020 — the same target as the Obama administration.
Whittingham noted Alberta isn't about to run out of hydrocarbons, but the province's and country's huge reliance on the oilsands leaves Canada vulnerable as more customers look for cheaper and lower-emission alternatives.
"The average Canadian should care because this is an increasing piece of our economy and it has been increasingly tied to Canada's reputation globally," Whittingham said.

Consumer Courts

Car dealer fined Rs 25,000 for failing to hand over NOC

Chandigarh, October 2
Want to purchase a secondhand car from city’s car bazaar at Madhya Marg in Sector 7. Make sure that you get the NOC from the seller and the registration document before making the full payment for the vehicle, lest car dealers take you for a ride.
This is exactly what happened with Tejinder Singh Boparai, a resident of Sarawan village, Yamunanagar, who, after being made to run for three years for the documents of the vehicle bought from a car dealer, had to ultimately seek relief from the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-II, Chandigarh.
The district forum, comprising its president Lakshman Sharma, and members Madhu Mutneja and Jaswinder Singh Sidhu, directed the opposite parties to refund Rs 2.68 lakh besides slapping a fine of Rs 25,000 along with Rs 7,000 as costs of litigation.
Tejinder had purchased a secondhand car owned by Sukhbir Singh, a resident of Morinda, through BEE EMM Carbazar for Rs 2.78 lakh.
He paid Rs 2.68 lakh at the time of the sale. The balance amount of Rs 10,000 was to be paid on receipt of the NOC of the vehicle.
The car agent had assured him of smooth documentation process, including NOC for the transfer of the vehicle to his name.
He further said when he revisited the office of the opposite party, he learned that the car originally belonged to Mohindera Engineering Works, Industrial Area, Phase-II, Ram Darbar, and Sukhbir Singh, who had purchased the vehicle from them, had not yet got the vehicle transferred to his name.
The respondent further told him that the car could be transferred to his name once it was transferred to Sukhbir Singh’s name.
He said an affidavit signed by the seller, holding him responsible for any challan, case, accident, theft and all other liabilities against this vehicle, had also become null and void.
The proprietor of the BEE EMM Carbazar, Jagdish Chand, said he had brought the NOC and was willing to hand over the same to the complainant on the payment of Rs 10,000, which was outstanding against the complainant.
He said as the complainant had not paid any consideration reply to him, the complainant was not a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act.
He further took the preliminary objection that the car was purchased by the complainant in 2007 while the case was filed on January 25, 2010, thus the complaint was time-barred.