Good morning, Chair, and thank you very much for having me this morning. It's a great pleasure and honour this morning to be with you, as well as the rest of the committee and of course the other panellists.
I hope to briefly describe this morning some of the steps we took in Alberta to ensure that the Alberta assembly could meet safely, yet continue its parliamentary business during the pandemic.
Throughout the pandemic, the assembly did not adopt a hybrid or virtual Parliament. Instead, the assembly increased its sitting days during the pandemic as compared to previous years. As well, the assembly moved for a brief period of time to an opportunity for members to vote remotely, but that was only for recorded divisions.
The assembly had just begun its second sitting on February 25, 2020. The budget was introduced two days later, on the 27th, and the legislative committees had undertaken the initial steps, or the first week of the main estimates process, when the first presumptive case of coronavirus was reported in Alberta.
Following a constituency week, the session resumed on March 16, and the night before—a Sunday night, I might add—the government announced the immediate closure of schools, and, within two days, a public health emergency. Immediately the assembly took steps to ensure that the necessary protocols were put into place for the sitting to continue and do so in a safe manner.
The immediate priorities of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta involved adapting rules through the passage of a temporary standing order amendment by the way of government motion to allow for the following: a revised budget process; new chamber protocols to accommodate new public health requirements, which included social distancing, which in turn were facilitated by a motion that was adopted to allow members to sit, speak or vote from any location inside the chamber; and flexibility in terms of extending the period of adjournment and also potentially allowing the sitting to proceed past the prescribed hours, including sitting on Fridays or through the weekend, as well as the introduction of a revised sessional calendar. Consideration of the main estimates was transferred to a committee of supply that went on to consider the remaining nine ministries that had yet to be reviewed.
The pandemic certainly challenged the legislature to solve the puzzle of how best to conduct its business during a public health crisis. We all know that different jurisdictions took different approaches during this time. I think that many Alberta legislators, especially those on the government side, believed that they had a duty to be in the chamber to show the public they were on the job during the emergency and were also governing.
I'm of the opinion that it increased the ability of private members, in particular the ability of members of the opposition, to hold the government to account, and as such to provide the individuals they represent with the best possible oversight, which only in-person sittings can provide.
Throughout the pandemic, social distancing and other public safety health measures were considered and were observed in the chamber. Temporary changes to the standing orders and the rules were brought in to allow greater flexibility in the schedule of the assembly's business.
It was interesting to see what happened in Alberta. Unlike other Canadian jurisdictions, where the number of sitting days was reduced, in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, we sat more following the declaration of the pandemic than in other jurisdictions. The assembly, in fact, sat more days than it would have otherwise sat if it had stuck to its original calendar.
The Legislative Assembly of Alberta was one of the few jurisdictions across Canada that sat regularly during the first wave of the pandemic. The assembly sat for a total of 41 days in the first six months of the fiscal year; historically, the average for spring sitting was closer to 30 days.
While it's important—
