MLA for Morinville-St. Albert and Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally has tabled legislation that, if passed, would make amendments to the Child and Youth Advocate Act and remove the requirement for investigations for deaths in care for those over 18 years old.
Bill 38, the Red Tape Reduction Statutes Amendment Act proposes changes to the Child and Youth Advocate Act, the Post-secondary Learning Act, the Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Education Act, the Energy Diversification Act, the Boundary Surveys Act, the Charitable Fundraising Act, and the Residential Tenancies Act.
Legislative changes to the Child and Youth Advocate Act, if approved, would remove certain requirements currently in the Child and Youth Advocate Act. One of the proposed changes says that the Advocate will no longer have to report to the Speaker every six months if Bill 38 were passed.
Nally said that the proposed changes would only affect those over 18 or where an investigation may not be required. Currently, the Child and Youth Advocate Act says "the Advocate must review the death of a person who was under the age of 18 at the time of their death, or was 18 or 19 years of age and had received intervention services as a child in need of intervention within the 2 years before the person’s death."
When asked if Terri Pelton, Alberta's Child and Youth Advocate, was consulted on or asked for these changes, Nally said "we engaged with the Advocate, as well as other stakeholders" but later said that he personally "didn't do the consultation" and referred questions to Children's Services Minister Searle Turton.
Nally said that amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act would make it so landlords could use other forms of electronic communication, such as email, to serve documents like eviction notices and rent increases. Nally said that the Act currently specifies fax, and that they are opening it up to include email and other forms of electronic communication, but didn't list examples.
"We deliberately kept the legislation open on this as other communication becomes available it could be included," Nally said during a news conference on Feb. 26. "What the requirement is we want something that has a date stamp or a read receipt. So social media for example wouldn't apply, but an email would."
In an emailed statement, Brandon Aboultaif, Press Secretary for Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Nally, said "the law doesn't specify exactly which electronic methods can be used, but as long as the tenant or landlord is using an electronic address that the other party provided, and the service is in a format that can be accessed later, it will be considered acceptable.
Email is the most common method, but social media or text messages could also work, as long as the recipient agreed to them and other methods have failed."
Amendments to the Boundary Surveys Act include allowing for routine changes to clarify Alberta's boundary with British Columbia, without the need for referendum. He said that the proposed changes would support provincial jurisdiction, sovereignty, and property rights.
"These changes would benefit current survey work that is ongoing along the length of the provincial boundary as other areas along the border will also likely require adjustment," he said.
He said that converting the border from sinuous boundaries — a boundary line that follows a natural curve — to conventional lines will " support future development projects or recreational activities in the area, as it would improve clarity of which provincial operators are required to apply to or necessary permits as well as approvals."
He said that it primarily benefits "any stakeholder that is looking to build a ski hill for example, and they're not sure who to get the permit from, B.C. or Alberta."
If passed, Bill 38 would allow student associations to simplify legal organization and consolidate duplicate student associations into single entities, something he said that students at NAIT asked for.
Proposed changes to the Charitable Fundraising Act would allow for the introduction of a director of charitable fundraising to oversee the day-to-day application of the Act.
"A director of charitable fundraising would have the authority to appoint inspectors, ensuring that frontline supports exist to effectively carry out oversight and enforcement action," Nally said.
The Bill would also repeal the Energy Diversification Act, which had allowed the Minister of Energy to "establish programs that have the primary purpose of supporting economic growth and energy diversification, including, without limitation, programs that support innovation and diversification in the energy sector by renewing the Petrochemicals Diversification Program and by allowing projects that consume ethane to be considered under that program."
Nally said the reason for the proposed repeal is that the Energy Diversification Act does not support any current programs, and all programs under the Act are either complete, discontinued, or have moved to the Alberta Petrochemicals Incentive Program.
The first session of the 31st Legislative Assembly of Alberta resumed on Feb. 25, 2025, and the Gazette will have more coverage when the Government release the 2025 Alberta Budget on Thursday Feb. 27.
