In the Fall session, the legislature passed Bill 30: An Act to Protect the Health and Well-being of Working Albertans. Essentially, this bill significantly rewrites and replaces two existing acts: the Occupational Health and Safety Act; and the Workers Compensation Act. The bill came into effect on January 1st of this year.
We will follow closely how the government implements these changes, particularly with how new rules and regulations will potentially affect the cost of employer WCB premiums and add extra administrative burdens on already struggling small and medium sized businesses.
The legislature has accepted the final report from the Electoral Boundaries Commission to redistribute ridings ahead of the 2019 election. While the number of ridings across Alberta will remain at 87, due to Calgary’s high growth rate, our city will increase from 25 ridings to 26.
Our riding of Calgary-Foothills, being on the northern fringe of the city, has experienced a disproportionate amount of population growth since the last boundary change in 2010. As a result, the current communities of our riding will be redistributed into three different ridings as follows:
- Nolan Hill, Sage Hill, Kincora and Sherwood will be joined with Citadel, Arbour Lake and the west side of Evanston, and will retain the historic name of Calgary-Foothills.
- Edgemont and Hamptons will be joined with Dalhousie, Hawkwood and Ranchlands to form the newly named riding of Calgary-Edgemont.
- Hidden Valley will join with Sandstone, MacEwan, Beddington, Country Hills and Huntington Hills to form the newly named riding of Calgary-Beddington.
This unfortunately leaves me with a very tough decision as I’m forced to choose which area I will seek to represent in the upcoming election. Be rest assured that, while I’m your MLA, I will continue to equally serve all of you with energy and my full attention!
Prasad Panda, MLA Calgary-Foothills
