Government House Leader Brian Mason was tight lipped on what the NDP’s first bill of the new legislative session Thursday will be, but he has highlighted a few priorities they hope to tackle. One of the larger ones is to put a cap on the price of electricity.
“It’s part of our whole approach of trying to make life better for Albertans and Alberta families, and a key part of that is to make sure that people can afford the necessities that they need in their lives, and that’s a major focus of this session for our government.”
Mason expects this go around to be a busy one, saying the NDP already have about fifteen bills they’re working on.
When it comes to implementing the party’s promise to eliminate school fees, Mason is noncomittal. However, he highlights that government will be catching up with plans to build new schools from last year, delayed either because a site wasn’t picked yet or for other factors beyond their control.
“Some projects that were delayed because of weather; we had a very wet construction, particularly in the southern part. Some were delayed as a result of the forest fire in Fort McMurray, so what wasn’t built this past year is going to be built in the coming year.”
With the government now halfway through its mandate and rumblings of the PC’s and Wildrose merging together, Mason says the tone in the house will depend on the other parties.
“It doesn’t matter whether there’s one party or three parties. Our government is going to continue to have a positive agenda and will fight the next election aggressively.”
Mason adds he suspects there will be a shift in the NDP’s outlook as the Albertan economy begins to recover.
Written by Chris Hunter