Executive Council of Alberta

The Executive Council of Alberta, or the Cabinet of Alberta, is the Province of Alberta's equivalent to the Cabinet of Canada, although smaller in size. The government of the province of Alberta is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy with a unicameral legislature—the Legislative Assembly, which consists of 87 members elected first past the post (FPTP) from single-member constituencies.^[1] The Executive Council of Alberta is officially headed by the Lieutenant-Governor, as representative of the Queen in Right of Alberta and is referred to as the Governor-in-Council. Although the lieutenant governor is technically the most powerful person in Alberta, he is in reality a figurehead whose actions are restricted by custom and constitutional convention. The government is therefore headed by the premier. The current premier is Rachel Notley, who was sworn in as the 17th premier on May 24, 2015. The premier is normally a member of the Legislative Assembly, and draws all the members of the Cabinet from among the members of the Legislative Assembly. The legislative powers in the province however, lie with the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Its government resembles that of the other Canadian provinces. The capital of the province is Edmonton, where the Alberta Legislative Building is located. Government is conducted after the Westminster model.

Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton

Government of Alberta

Jasper Avenue, a hub of major offices and the financial centres in Edmonton.

The executive powers in the province lie with the Premier of Alberta and the Cabinet of Alberta or the Executive Council of Alberta. The legislative powers in the province lie with the Legislature, which consists of two components: the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor, and the Legislative Assembly.

Legislative powers

The Legislative Assembly meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton.

The Legislative Assembly consists of 87 members, elected first past the post from single-member electoral districts.^[2] The current Legislature is the 29th, since the creation of the province in 1905. The last election was held on early May 2015, and returned a majority parliament controlled by the Alberta New Democratic Party commonly abbreviated to 'NDP'.

Executive powers

Executive Council of Alberta

Almost always made up of members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, the Cabinet of Alberta is similar in structure and role to the Cabinet of Canada while being smaller in size. As federal and provincial responsibilities differ there are a number of different portfolios between the federal and provincial governments.

The Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta, as representative of the Queen in Right of Alberta, heads the council, and is referred to as the Governor-in-Council. Other members of the Cabinet, who advise, or minister, the vice-regal, are selected by the Premier of Alberta and appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor. Most cabinet ministers are the head of a ministry, but this is not always the case. In the construct of constitutional monarchy and responsible government, the ministerial advice tendered is typically binding, though it is important to note that, despite appearances of the contrary, the Royal Prerogative belongs to the Crown, not to any of the ministers,^[3]

As at the federal level the most important Cabinet post after that of the leader is Minister of Finance. Today the next most powerful position is certainly the health portfolio which has a vast budget and is of central political import. Other powerful portfolios include Education and Energy.

Current Cabinet

The current ministry has been in place since May 24, 2015, following May 5, 2015 Alberta general election. Resulted in the Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP) forming government for the first time. Members are listed in order of precedence. There was a minor cabinet shuffle on October 22, 2015.^[4] A second shuffle occurred February 2, 2016.^[5]

Former Cabinets

• Klein cabinet (incomplete)
• Stelmach cabinet
• Redford cabinet
• Prentice cabinet

Ministries

In Alberta, the ministries' names have two forms, often coexisting. The usual one is "Alberta X", (e.g. Alberta Education) the older style is "Ministry of X" (e.g. Ministry of Finance). The newer style without the word "ministry" resembles the federal government's Federal Identity Program and the federal naming scheme, except in reverse order. Federal ministries and departments are usually "X Canada" (e.g. Environment Canada).

With every new cabinet ministries can be created or disbanded, renamed or gain or lose responsibilities. Some ministries such as finance or health are common to all provincial governments and are comparable to similar ministries or departments at the federal level or indeed even in other countries. However, some ministries are quite distinct to Alberta, such as the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Development which oversees the management of public lands.

These are the current ministries as of 2015, listed alphabetically, with a short description and any notes to changes to that ministry's mandate.

Finance

Alberta has had the highest annual economic growth in Canada since the early 1990s.

According to a Statistics Canada report, Alberta's economic growth in 2012 was 3.9 percent. That is less than Alberta's growth in 2011 at 5.3 per cent but still higher than the rest of Canada in both years (Canada 2012 1.8 percent; Canada 2011:2.6 per cent).^[7]

Albertans are the lowest-taxed people in Canada, mostly because of the province's considerable oil and gas income as well as the more conservative financial philosophies of successive governments. It is also the only province in Canada where there is no provincial sales tax.^[8] Unlike the other provinces, which use a progressive income tax regime, Alberta uses a flat rate income tax (currently at 10%), while equal for all, it also puts a higher burden of taxes on the lower-classes versus the upper-classes than found elsewhere. Alberta is one of few provinces that consistently has not received equalization payments from the federal government since 1962^[9] (the others being British Columbia and (until 2008) Ontario, the original benchmark provinces). Alberta is now the largest net contributor to the program, which is intended to ensure that all provinces are able to provide similar levels of public services. The province's wealth is largely due to the abundance of natural resources, as a result Alberta is the only province in Canada that has (recently) eliminated its provincial debt.^[10]

Budget

The Alberta government's operational expense for 2013–2014 is $CDN 36.4 billion. Alberta Finance Minister Doug Horner, announced an operational shortfall of CDN $1.97 billion (2013–2014). The estimated deficit was C$3.9 billion for 2012–2013. This is the sixth consecutive annual deficit for Alberta, Canada's wealthiest province.^[11] Because of the bitumen bubble, with Alberta's Western Canadian Select (WTS) (a blend of heavy oil produced from bitumen) selling for a larger discount to sweet light West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil and sweet, light Brent Crude benchmark oil prices, there was a marked decrease in bitumen royalties and an accompanying drop in "resource revenue of $6.2 billion from the 2012 budget's forecast for 2013–14." According to Premier Redford, the oil and gas industry in Alberta funds 30 percent of the budget in 2012.^[12]

Taxation

The provincial government's revenue, although often described as predominantly coming from the province's resource base, actually is derived from a variety of sources. Non-renewable resource revenue provided the government with 24 percent of its revenue in 2010–11 with about the same coming from individual income tax, 14 per cent from grants from the federal government, and about eight percent coming from both corporations and the government's own business activities. (source: the Government of Alberta website) Alberta is the only province in Canada without a provincial sales tax (see also Sales taxes in Canada).

Government revenue comes mainly from royalties on non-renewable natural resources (30.4%), personal income taxes (22.3%), corporate and other taxes (19.6%), and grants from the federal government primarily for infrastructure projects (9.8%).^[13] Albertans are the lowest-taxed people in Canada, and Alberta is the only province in Canada without a provincial sales tax (but residents are still subject to the federal sales tax, the Goods and Services Tax of 5%). It is also the only Canadian province to have a flat tax for personal income taxes, which is 10% of taxable income.^[14]

The Alberta personal income tax system maintains a progressive character by granting residents personal tax exemptions of $16,977, in addition to a variety of tax deductions for persons with disabilities, students, and the aged.^[15] Alberta's municipalities and school jurisdictions have their own governments which (usually) work in co-operation with the provincial government.

Alberta also privatized alcohol distribution. The privatization increased outlets from 304 stores to 1,726; 1,300 jobs to 4,000 jobs; and 3,325 products to 16,495 products.^[16] Tax revenue also increased from $400 million to $700 million.

Politics of Alberta

Alberta's elections from 1948 to 2014 tended to yield results that were much more conservative than those of other Canadian provinces. Alberta has traditionally had three political parties, the Progressive Conservatives ("Conservatives" or "Tories"), the Liberals, and the social democratic New Democrats (and its predecessors, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation party and the United Farmers of Alberta). A fourth party, the Social Credit Party, which began as a radical monetary reform movement and government but after 1944 governed in a right-wing Christian fundamentalist style, was a power in Alberta for many decades, but fell into powerlessness and disfavour after Progressive Conservatives came to power in 1971. Progressive Conservatives were in government until 2015, when the NDP was elected with a large majority of the seats.

Only five parties have governed Alberta in the 110 years of its existence as a province: the Liberals, from 1905 to 1921; the United Farmers of Alberta, from 1921 to 1935; the Social Credit Party, from 1935 to 1971, the Progressive Conservative Party, from 1971 to 2015, and the NDP from 2015 on.

Alberta has had occasional surges in separatist sentiment. Even during the 1980s, when these feelings were at their strongest, there has never been enough interest in secession to initiate any major movements or referendums. There are several currently active groups wishing to promote the independence of Alberta in some form.

In the 2008 provincial election, held on March 3, 2008, the Progressive Conservative Party was re-elected as a majority government with 72 of 83 seats, the Alberta Liberal Party was elected as the Official Opposition with nine members, and two Alberta New Democratic Party members were elected.^[17]

April 23, 2012 election returned the Progressive Conservative Party to government, making leader Alison Redford Alberta's first female premier.^[18] In the 2012 provincial election, held on April 23, 2012, the Progressive Conservative Party was re-elected as a majority government and party leader Alison Redford retained as premier with 43.9% of the vote and 61 of 87 seats (The Legislative Assembly had added 4 seats, increasing the total to 87), the Wildrose Party led by Danielle Smith was elected as the Official Opposition with 34.3% of the vote and 17 members (replacing the Liberal Party), five Liberals were elected with 9.9% of the vote and four NDP members were elected with 9.8% of the vote.^[19]

May 5, 2015 election saw the Alberta New Democrats elected to government, making leader Rachel Notley Alberta's second female premier and its first leftist premier since 1935.

Federal-provincial governance: decentralization and devolution

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, the federal government became more centralist, and Canada entered a stage of "conflictual federalism" that lasted from 1970 to 1984. The National Energy Program sparked a great deal of bitterness against the federal government in Alberta; as well, the federal government involved itself in disputes over oil with Newfoundland and Saskatchewan.^[20] With the passage of the Constitution Act, 1982 through the addition of section 92A to the Constitution Act, 1867, the provinces were given more power with respect to their natural resources.

Between 1982 and 1992 the federal government favoured devolution of powers to the provinces, culminating in the failed Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords. After a merger with the heavily devolutionist Canadian Alliance, the new Conservative Party of Canada under Stephen Harper has continued the same stance.^[21]

See also

• List of premiers of Alberta
• List of Alberta general elections
• Executive Council of Alberta
• Politics of Canada
• Council of the Federation

Further reading

• Connors, Richard; John M. Law (2005). Forging Alberta's constitutional framework. University of Alberta – Centre for Constitutional Studies. ISBN 0-88864-457-4. Retrieved 2012-10-21. 

References

External links

• Government of Alberta website
• Government of Alberta Cabinet
• Lieutenant Governor of Alberta

See also

• List of premiers of Alberta
• List of Alberta general elections
• Politics of Canada
• Council of the Federation

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