Alberta NDP says government limited debate on controversial bills

Alberta's Opposition NDP is accusing the United Conservative government of deliberately stifling debate on bills during the fall legislature sitting that wrapped up Thursday morning. 

The government introduced and passed nine bills during the five-week sitting period, the first since Premier Danielle Smith and the UCP won a majority government in the May 29th provincial election. 

Government House Leader Joseph Schow tabled motions in the legislature Wednesday night to limit debate on three bills.

The bills include legislation on rules for a new Alberta pension plan and how a referendum would be conducted,  legislation that allows MLAs to receive more expensive gifts, and a third one that changes the limits on compensation for executives appointed to agencies, boards and commissions.

The time allocation limited debate to one hour in each of committee of the whole and third reading stages of the bill. 

NDP House Leader Christina Gray told reporters Thursday that MLAs debated the pension referendum bill for less than eight hours. Bill 8, which removed the $200 gift limit and a $400 cap on tickets for MLAs, only merited four-and-a-half hours of discussion, she said. 

Gray said the legislature could have held night sittings to allow for more ample discussion and still finish on time. MLAs only held one evening sitting on Wednesday, the last day of session. 

"I think that time allocation was used in a heavy-handed manner to shut down debate on issues that the government was uncomfortable continuing to talk about in the legislature," she said. 

In an interview with CBC News, Schow said the NDP was vowing to fight the pension bill until Christmas and he wanted to make sure the legislature finished by its scheduled date of Dec. 7.

He said the use of time allocation is part of parliamentary procedure. 

"I can appreciate the NDP has feelings about this," Schow said. 

"But as a House leader, my job is to help get this legislation passed so we can implement into law as fast as possible to benefit Albertans and complete our mandate."

Threatening language alleged

Prior to the end of the fall sitting, Gray raised a point of privilege with Speaker Nathan Cooper. 

She said Schow, earlier in the evening, made comments to her about Rakhi Pancholi, the NDP MLA for Edmonton-Whitemud, who was heckling Justice Minister Mickey Amery while he defended Bill 8.

Gray alleged Schow told her to "control" Pancholi and "deal with her or I will deal with her."

"This is a classic case of privilege, a physical threat being made to this member," Gray told the legislature. "And to be very clear, the member for Edmonton-Whitemud views the comments as a threat. It has made her feel unsafe and threatened."

Schow told CBC News on Thursday that he can't recall the exact words he used in the heat of debate but denied making a threat. 

"I did not threaten Rakhi Pancholi. I would never threaten a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 

"Each of the 87 members in that chamber were duly elected by their constituents … and they have the right to be there in a safe, healthy working environment.

"I can tell you that I never threatened, nor would ever threaten a member of that legislative assembly."

Discussion on the point of privilege will not happen until the legislature reconvenes at the end of February for the spring session. 

Cooper said he planned to consult with parliamentary counsel on what audio he can review to determine what was said. 

On Thursday, Amery, Education Minster Demetrios Nicolaides and Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis said at an unrelated news conference that they didn't hear Schow's remarks. 

Amery said Cooper was correct in holding off on a decision until he could review the evidence. 

"I think it's appropriate at this point in time for us to do the same thing and wait to see what was alleged to have said and whether anything of that nature was actually said," Amery said.