May 2011 What’s On Your Mind

What’s On Your Mind (May 2011)

Hello, everyone! It was a busy spring session, and I am pleased to share with you some of the legislation.

I have been working on some exciting things in Edmonton. As always, I care deeply for the people of Calgary-Fish Creek and for everyone across Alberta. Having served as Solicitor General, your safety is a natural priority of mine. That is why I have proudly presented my private member bill 204, The Justice Monitoring Act. This act was born from the Safe Communities Task Force that I was honoured to chair. Unfortunately, this current government has not made improving the justice system a priority. We owe it to everybody involved, especially the victims of crime, to restore accountability and efficiency to the system. The goal of Bill 204 is to track the criminal justice process so we can identify bottle necks and delays in the justice system. The Justice System Monitoring Act will track:

  • Length of time from laying a charge until a concluding verdict
  • Total time of court hearings in a case
  • Length of time between reporting an offence and laying a charge
  • Number of delays exceeding 3 months
  • Number of prosecutors involved in each file
  • Number of adjournments granted
  • Number of trials that begin on their designated day
  • Approximation of delay-related costs for peace officers, prosecutors, witnesses, victims and jurors.

My bill will achieve a more transparent and efficient justice system.

Two other bills I supported were; Bill 8, The Missing Persons Act. Each year in Alberta, our police forces receive over 10,000 missing persons reports. When these situations arise, and action is not taken fast enough, the results can be disastrous. The Missing Persons Act grants reasonable resources to police officers to speed up the process of finding missing citizens.

Bill 15, The Victims of Crime Amendment Act. This is another stride forward toward a more efficient justice system for Albertans.Bill 15 streamlines compensation from the Victims of Crime Fund to insure that crime victims who deserve compensation no longer have to wait for justice to be done.

Part of holding the current government accountable is defending your property rights. This is why I have aggressively opposed Bill 10, The Alberta Land Stewardship Amendment Act. We Albertans are blessed to have a resource-rich land, which drives our economy and overall prosperity. As you may know, Bill 10 gives the current government arbitrary authority to change land use on a whim with a shocking neglect for landowners and their right to compensation.

For more information on the bills that were passed go to http://www.assembly.ab.ca/

Lastly, I would like to remind dog owners the importance of picking up after their dogs, I cannot stress this enough.  Also please remember dogs must be on leash, especially in Fish Creek Park, playgrounds and community league areas.  If you are not sure, call 311 and they will be able to tell you which areas are on leash or off leash.

I will be out door knocking again this summer and look forward to hearing what you have to say.