The penultimate sitting of this session saw multiple, consecutive, afternoon and evening sittings as Legislature sought to conclude many significant matters before the summer break. Marred by controversy over separation, the Assembly rushed debate through a significant number of bills that will likely set the political table for the foreseeable future. Additionally, Speaker Nathan Cooper announced his resignation; he begins his new position as the Senior Representative to the United States of America for the GOA next week.
Visitors to the Legislature this week included multiple groups of Indigenous leaders, including former national Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Dr. Mattew Coon Come, and Chief Allan Adam of Athabasca First Nation. The Assembly also hosted the ambassador of Türkiye – His Excellency Can Didzar – and several disability advocates including the executive directors of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Craig Peterson and Taylor Bauer. The Assembly also took the time to recognize the 80th Anniversary of the Canadian military’s liberation of the Netherlands on May 6.
Members’ Issues and Related Bills or Activities
Bill 41 – Wildlife Amendment Act, 2025
Honourable Todd Lowen, Minister of Forestry and Parks
Bill 41 makes several significant changes to the Wildlife Act including allowing children as young as 12 to hunt without parental supervision, permitting wildlife officers to remedy potential conflicts between protected animals and humans without a court order, and allowing Albertans to kill bears and cougars for meat. The Bill also introduces digital permits, which should ease the process for obtaining the requisite tags.
While proponents of the Bill emphasize the importance of modernizing the legislation to meet stewardship and administrative needs, detractors have raised alarm over the relaxation of hunting limits in areas of vulnerable species. The new rules raise some significant concerns about sustainable harvest limits and ethical hunting, something not addressed in the language of Bill 41. There are fears that the expanded ability to hunt efficiently may endanger animal populations unnecessarily, a trend that has been accelerating in recent years.
The Bill passed its third reading on May 7, and has been submitted to the Lieutenant Governor to receive Royal Assent and become law.
Bill 44 – Agricultural Operation Practices Amendment Act, 2025
Honourable RJ Sigurdson, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation
Bill 44 seeks to encourage the emerging biogas industry in Alberta through clarifying waste management practices by amending the use and disposal of natural waste throughout the biogas creation process in the Agricultural Operation Practices Act. Biodigesters – facilities that take raw organic material and turn them into biogas – are already operating in Alberta, but there are significant gaps in the regulation on management of organic materials which led to uncertainty in the industry.
Bill 44 was initiated from an expressed desire from Alberta’s agriculture and food processing sectors to develop economical and efficient solutions to reducing waste sent to landfills in a conscientious manner. The Bill affirms an expanded list of organic materials that may be used in the biogas creation process and asserts present zoning and development rules on potential smell pollution will govern licencing. While changes expected to reduce the amount of farm waste entering landfills have been applauded by critics, farmers, and rancher alike, concerns remain over what may be limited areas of development.
Bill 44 passed its third reading on May 5, and has been submitted to the Lieutenant Governor to receive Royal Assent and become law.
Bill 45 – Critical Infrastructure Defence Amendment Act, 2025
Honourable Mickey Amery, Minister of Justice
Bill 45 updates the definition of “essential infrastructure” – infrastructure and land protected from protest and unlawful entering under the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act (CIDA) – to include a two-kilometre-deep area on the US-Canada border and oil and gas production facilities. The Bill would also apply the CIDA prohibition on entering essential infrastructure to the Government of Canada.
Citing “continuous constitutional overreaches”, Premier Smith defended the Bill as a method of eliminating discrepancies on emissions numbers between the Federal and Provincial government. Critics of Bill 45 liken it as part of a GOA trend to create “big-government oversight” and heavy-handed intervention that would inevitably result in detracting investment to the Alberta oil and gas sector.
Bill 45 was approved by the Committee of the Whole on May 5, and now moves towards the third reading.
Bill 46 – Information and Privacy Statutes Amendment Act, 2025
Honourable Nate Horner, Minister of Technology and Innovation
Bill 46 updates administrative changes provided in both the Protection of Privacy Act (POPA) and the Access to Information Act (ATIA) as Alberta seeks to replace the outdated Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
The amendments seek to clarify how privacy protections apply to data derived from personal information while aligning language across the POPA and ATIA. Bill 46 clarifies that non-personal data and data derived from personal information must still comply with privacy rules under POPA and are not subject to access requests under ATIA.
However, Bill 46 also gives considerable power to the Minister to modify or change any existing regulations that may interact with these privacy Acts. Often referred to as a “Henry VIII clause”, the proposed amendment under Bill 46 could give the relevant minister considerable power to change any regulation without public scrutiny, debate, or opposition. Several amendments were tabled to strike out or limit the powers granted by this section, but were ultimately defeated.
Debate was adjourned on May 7.
Bill 49 – Public Safety and Emergency Services Statutes Amendment Act, 2025
Honourable Mike Ellis, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services
Amending several acts, Bill 49 takes significant steps towards establishing a provincial police force in Alberta and modifies the management of emergencies within the Province.
Bill 49 amends the Police Act to allow for the creation of independent police forces that Alberta municipalities may opt to use and replacing current RCMP detachments. RMA maintains that these independent police services should not be implemented until there has been substantial consultation and quantifiable, significant, majority support from municipalities and Albertans for independent police forces in Alberta.
The Emergency Management Act outlines and delineates the powers and processes available to municipalities and the GOA in the event of a declared emergency. Bill 49 introduces amendments that recognize and emphasize individual and property rights during an emergency; narrows the definition of emergency to one that is “sudden and temporary”; requires the Minister to consult with the Premier, Cabinet, or a committee before exercising Provincial authority; and requires the GOA to publish all relevant orders.
RMA recently analyzed Bill 49 and created a resource that details all the changes made. Bill 49 has been submitted to the Committee of the Whole but has not yet received their approval. Debate adjourned on May 5.
Bill 50 – Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, 2025
Honourable Ric McIver, Minister of Municipal Affairs
Bill 50 seeks to modify four pieces of legislation relevant to municipalities in Alberta: the Local Authorities Election Act, the Municipal Government Act, the New Home Buyer Protection Act, and the Safety Codes Act.
The Bill makes significant changes to the intermunicipal collaboration framework process, repeals all municipal codes of conduct, and introduces a funding scheme for municipal parties during an election that greatly increases the amounts available to party-affiliated candidates. The Bill also changes significant aspects of the practice, administration, and recall of chief administrative officers.
Two amendments were proposed – extending out-of-jurisdiction voting to Athabasca First Nation members and increasing reporting timelines for CAOs on natural person powers to 5 days from 3 – both were rejected. Debate continued but was ultimately adjourned on May 7.
RMA recently conducted a detailed analysis of Bill 50. Numerous questions have been raised by our members; RMA is actively seeking clarification from the Minister on several issues.
Other Notable Legislative Action
Bill 39 – Financial Statutes Amendment Act, 2025
Honourable Nate Horner, President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance
Bill 39 is an omnibus bill that proposes several funding changes to various acts including the Alberta Corporate Tax Act, the Alberta Personal Income Tax Act, the Income and Employment Supports Act, and the Legal Profession Act. While the Bill lowers the Provincial tax rate on income less than $60 000 from 10% to 8%, and closes some loopholes in corporate tax assessments, there have been significant concern raised over changes in funding allocations for Legal Aid in Alberta.
Lawyers raised concerns with the proposed funding changes to Legal Aid noting existing access to justice barriers for Albertans. The funding changes would amount to an estimated $22 million funding cut in 2026. Legal scholars have pointed out that the changes would – contrary to statements made in the legislature – reduce the ability of the legal profession to provide free clinics and services to parties that cannot afford legal counsel.
Bill 39 was approved by the Committee of the Whole on May 6, and now moves towards the third reading.
Bill 51 – Education Amendment Act, 2025
Honourable Demetrios Nicolaides, Minister of Education
Bill 51 is the education board version of the hotly debated Bill 50. Bill 51 seeks to update the Education Act by introducing a preamble that recognizes the various school boards within Alberta, removing duplicative reporting processes, and changing the removal procedure for school board trustees. School board trustees that breach the school board code of conduct would now only be able to be removed through the election process or a recall vote initiated after 40% of the voters in a trustee’s ward sign a recall petition. The Bill also changes the names of “private schools” to “independent schools.” Bill 51 was passed by the Committee of the Whole on May 7, and now moves towards the third reading.
Bill 52 – Energy and Utilities Statues Amendment Act, 2025
Honourable Nathan Neudorf, Minister of Affordability and Utilities
Bill 52 proposes major reforms to the Electric Utilities Act and Gas Utilities Act. It restructures the electricity market by replacing the AESO power pool with a day-ahead and real-time market, redefines AESOs role to limit market interference, and grants the Minister power to create regulations without committee oversight. The Bill aims to shift away from the “zero-congestion” model, promoting cost-efficient transmission development and limiting unnecessary infrastructure growth. This may introduce delivery risks for new generators but reduce long-term grid costs. These changes are anticipated by 2027.
Bill 52 also updates the Gas Utilities Act to allow hydrogen-blended natural gas for residential and commercial use. Recognizing inconsistent hydrogen supplies, Bill 52 accounts for periods of low availability by beefing-up enforcing the tracking of the supply of blended gas before it reaches consumers.
Bill 52 was approved by the Committee of the Whole on May 5, and now moves towards the third reading.
Bill 53 – Compassionate Intervention Act, 2025
Honourable Dan Williams, Minister of Mental Health and Addiction
Bill 53 would allow adult family members, guardians, healthcare professionals, and police to request a treatment order for those with addiction or substance use issues and are a danger to themselves or others. The Act would allow the internment of these individuals in a secure-treatment facility for three to six months without their consent. The GOA says that the Act aims to keep communities safe while ensuring vulnerable people have access to recovery supports. Bill 52 was approved by the Committee of the Whole on May 7, and now moves towards the third reading.
Bill 54 – Election Statutes Amendment Act, 2025
Honourable Mickey Amery, Minister of Justice
Bill 54 is an omnibus bill that seeks to reform seven election-related laws in Alberta. These changes include banning electronic and out-of-riding ballots, expanding special ballot use, eliminating voter vouching, requiring vote counts within 12 hours of polls closing, loosening election advertising restrictions, and allowing corporate and union political donations while raising donation limits. The amendments would also ease the process for citizen-initiated referendums.
The government argues these changes will enhance transparency and align democratic processes. However, critics warn that the reforms could undermine electoral fairness by increasing the influence of wealthier donors and making donation sources harder to track.
Bill 54 quickly passed its second reading, on division, on May 7.
Standing and Select Special Committee Meetings
May 13:
Standing Committee on Public Accounts
Ian Profiri
Policy & Research Analyst
825.319.2352
ian@rmalberta.com
Wyatt Skovron
General Manager of Policy & Advocacy
780.955.4096
wyatt@rmalberta.com