The Property Rights Task Force created by Premier Allison Redford is coming to the Hanna Legion Hall on January 16 at 6:30 p.m. The Task Force wants to hear from property owners.
    “We’re travelling across the province. We’ve tried to divide it up to make sure we cover the entire province, especially areas we’ve heard issues before,” said Diana McQueen, the Minister of Environment and Water. “We’re looking forward to our time in Hanna.”
    The task force was created in November, 2011 and the purported goal is to ensure that the government better understands, respects, and acknowledges the rights of landowners. McQueen is chair of the task force and Evan Berger, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, is vice chair.
    “When Premier Redford ran for the leadership, one of the things she heard was in regards to property rights and issues  people had. She made a commitment that we would come back and we would have an opportunity to listen and hear from Albertans. It’s about honouring that commitment,” said McQueen.
    To keep her commitment, Premier Redford tasked MLA’s to go out into the province and listen intently to the concerns and issues Albertans have and bring those issues to the attention of the government.
    The Property Rights Task Force is an effort to understand the concerns landowners have about their rights, especially in the face of aggressive oil and natural gas procurement.
    “The meetings are open to all Albertans and it’s about issues or concerns they may have about property rights in general and solutions they can bring forward. Some of the themes we’ve heard are about consultation, compensation, and, depending on where you are, landowners are talking about things on their property more specifically, such as wells.”
    Other concerns are about current pieces of legislation such as the Land Assembly Act, Land Stewardship Act, and the Electric Statutes Amendment Act.
    Communities that have been visited so far include Grimshaw, Grande Prairie, St. Paul, Westlock, Olds, and Rocky Mountain House. After Hanna, there are three more stops in Brooks, Medicine Hat, and Lethbridge.
    “I think one of the great opportunities we have here is to listen to the ideas people have about consultation and how we do that and engage people. They’ve been great turnouts, we’re really happy with the number of people who have come out. They’ve  been great in sharing their views,” said McQueen. “We’re hearing really good feedback from people.”
    The meetings run a little differently than the average town hall style meeting. Attendees break into small groups to discuss issues and then later everyone comes together and each person is given a chance to be heard.
    “We’re doing a little bit of a different format so everyone has an opportunity to have their voices heard. We’ve had great feedback that everyone has been liking this process,” said McQueen.
    By the end of next week, the meetings will have concluded. Afterwards all of the thoughts, concerns, and ideas from the meetings, emails, mail, and telephone calls are collected. The data will then be put into a report due on January 31. McQueen could not speculate on the long term result of the findings.
    “We’ll bring together all the information, ideas, and concerns that people raised,” said McQueen. “I know our Premier will work with government to take action on that report.”
    Landowners are encouraged to attend the meeting on January 16 at 6:30 p.m. in the Hanna Legion Hall. If unable to attend, more information and instructions to submit feedback online or by mail can be found at alberta.ca/PropertyRights/index. Your input can also be given by phoning, toll free, 310-4455.
    McQueen wants as many Albertans to come forward as possible. “We are encouraging people to be open and come forward with their concerns.”

    Golden Hills School Division has updated its 2011-2012 budget to reflect the new addition of funds from the Alberta Government.
    This fall the Alberta Government committed to put $107 million back into Alberta school boards. For Golden Hills School Division this amounted to $1,078,440 in additional funding. Prior to this, the division’s funding was cut by $1.6 million.
    At the time of the initial cuts, the school division made it a priority not to take funds away from the classrooms. Cuts came to programs such as Early Literacy, Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (ANSI), First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) supports, English Language Learners (ELL), and Action on Inclusion programs.
    “The reinjection of those funds in our district has allowed us to restore supports, maintain initiatives and programs,” states an attestation of Secretary Treasurer / Treasurer Tahra Sabir.
    The area the division is restoring supports and maintaining are ANSI programs, Early Literacy, FNMI and class sizes.
    The document provided the division’s projected staffing changes as a result of reinvested funds. It projects that 14.5 fulltime equivalent certified staff positions and five full-time support staff equivalent could result.
“…we are extremely appreciative of the reinvestment of $1,078,440 at the direction of our current government. ‘Today’s dollars for today’s kids’ sends a powerful message for us to do the best we can right now for our students in Golden Hills,” states the document.