Immigration, pension: A look at survey questions put forward by Alberta Next panel
The Alberta Next panel, chaired by Premier Danielle Smith, is holding town halls this summer to get feedback on how the province should stand up to Ottawa while building a 'strong and sovereign Alberta within Canada.'
Smith has promised a referendum next year on some of the ideas put forward to the panel.
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Toronto Star
7 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Immigration, pension: A look at survey questions put forward by Alberta Next panel
The Alberta Next panel, chaired by Premier Danielle Smith, is holding town halls this summer to get feedback on how the province should stand up to Ottawa while building a 'strong and sovereign Alberta within Canada.' Smith has promised a referendum next year on some of the ideas put forward to the panel.
Winnipeg Free Press
7 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Immigration, pension: A look at survey questions put forward by Alberta Next panel
The Alberta Next panel, chaired by Premier Danielle Smith, is holding town halls this summer to get feedback on how the province should stand up to Ottawa while building a 'strong and sovereign Alberta within Canada.' Smith has promised a referendum next year on some of the ideas put forward to the panel. The panel's website launched on Tuesday with surveys on six issues. Before taking each survey, participants must watch a short video. Here are some of the questions: Immigration 'Should the provincial government refuse to provide provincial programs to non-citizens and non-permanent residents living in Alberta unless they have been granted an Alberta government-approved immigration permit?' Constitutional changes 'Should Alberta take a lead role in working with other provinces to pressure the federal government to amend the Canadian constitution to empower and better protect provincial rights?' Federal transfers and equalization 'Do you agree that the current federal transfer and equalization system is unfair to Alberta?' 'Do you think Alberta should work with other provinces to transfer a larger share of overall taxes from Ottawa to the provinces?' Provincial police force 'What aspect do you like most about an Alberta Police Service?' 'What concerns you most about shifting from the RCMP to an Alberta Police Service?' Alberta pension plan 'What potential benefit do you like most about Alberta opting to leave the CPP and create its own Pension Plan?' 'Which risk of opting out of CPP to start an Alberta Pension Plan are you most concerned about? Tax collection This survey had problems displaying questions on the website Tuesday afternoon, but a video beforehand asks Albertans if they would support creating a provincial revenue agency. It says doing so would require hiring 5,000 staff, cost Alberta at least $750 million per year, and require residents to file provincial and federal taxes separately — but it would also create jobs and give Alberta more of a say over its tax regime. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2025.
CBC
10 hours ago
- CBC
Alberta government to launch sovereignty panel tour amid talk of new pipeline
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says a new panel will hit the road this summer with an eye on devising new measures for Alberta to assert autonomy and shield its economy from what she calls federal overreach. The "Alberta Next" panel, which was announced in May, will hold a series of in-person town halls over the summer, with exact locations to be announced in the coming weeks. It will also collect feedback through online surveys. Proposals that come out of those discussions could be put to a vote in a referendum next year. "The Alberta Next panel will put Albertans in the drivers' seat," Smith told reporters at a news conference in Heritage Park in Calgary on Tuesday. "It will give them the rightful opportunity to decide how Alberta can become stronger and more sovereign within a united Canada." Smith previously said she would chair the panel. In addition to Smith, the panel will include Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz, economist Trevor Tombe, and Adam Legge of the Business Council of Alberta, among others, with some still to be announced. The government said the panel would consult Albertans on subjects like the possibility of establishing an Alberta pension plan, switching to an Alberta provincial police service from the RCMP and considering potential immigration reform, among other issues. Some of the subjects echo the UCP's former Fair Deal Panel, which produced 25 recommendations, including developing a plan to withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan and creating a provincial police force. Asked by reporters Tuesday about how this effort would be different, Smith said that sometimes conversations that emerge out of the panel discussions lead to a "national dialogue." "We identified six issues that we know have come up in the previous round of the Fair Deal Panel that we think Albertans now may want to put to a referendum so that we can take some action on them," Smith said. "But there may be others, and that's what we want to be able to explore." Talk of new pipeline On Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported that Smith told the news agency in an interview that she expected a private company would bring forward a proposal to build a new oil pipeline to the British Columbia coast within weeks. Smith has not named the company and no firm has yet publicly committed to the idea. Asked by reporters at Tuesday's news conference about that report, Smith said she had been talking with all of the pipeline companies since she was elected. "I feel like we're pretty close to having, either one or a consortium come forward," she said. "I would hope that that would happen very soon, because we need to send a signal to Albertans very soon and test the new process the prime minister is putting forward." Last week, the Liberal government's major projects legislation passed in the House of Commons. It aims to reduce interprovincial trade barriers and speed up approvals for major projects in the national interest. Specific projects haven't yet been identified, however Prime Minister Mark Carney has said decarbonized oil pipelines are "absolutely" in the national interest and would support both trade diversification and new industry development. MPs push through Carney's major projects bill before summer break 4 days ago Duration 1:52 Liberal and Conservative MPs teamed up to ram through Prime Minister Mark Carney's contentious Bill C-5 before Parliament rose for the summer. The legislation allows the fast-tracking of major economic projects but limits the consultation process. Currently, the federally-owned Trans Mountain pipeline carries crude oil from Alberta to the West Coast. But Smith has been vocal about potentially revisiting a plan to ship oilsands crude to the northern B.C. coast, telling reporters at the Global Energy Show earlier this month that the province was working to entice a private-sector pipeline builder. Smith has suggested that Prince Rupert, B.C., could work as a potential end point for the pipeline. Plans for the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline to export crude oil near Kitimat, B.C., were scrapped in 2016 following a court ruling that determined Ottawa failed to properly consult First Nations affected by the pipeline. With talk of a revival of such plans on the radar, B.C. Premier David Eby said earlier this week that he opposed public funding for an oil pipeline to the north coast, but added he wasn't against a privately-backed option. "What I don't support is tens of billions of dollars in federal subsidy going to build this new pipeline when we already own a pipeline [Trans Mountain] that empties into British Columbia and has significant additional capacity — 200,000 barrels," Eby said on Sunday.
