Evan Berger, the MLA for Livingstone-Macleod in southern Alberta, is on the speaking circuit to explain government changes to the Alberta Land Stewardship Act, also known as ALSA. He doesn’t always get a friendly reception. Courteous, yes. Friendly, no.
But he has told the same story at least twice, and it seems to resonate with his audience.
Berger says that when the Alberta government asked the public what wording should be on provincial licence plates, 30,000 people responded with an opinion. But when the government was developing ALSA, which is legislation that affects property rights and future development of the province, only 3,000 people responded.
ALSA and three other acts have generated major controversy and backlash in the province, to the point where the government last week introduced Bill 10, the ALSA amendment act. But many residents are still up in arms about what they perceive to be either government underhandedness or political ineptitude.
Some members of the Southern Applied Research Association asked Berger and fellow MLA Leonard Mitzel some pointed questions on March 3.
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Mitzel responded that Bill 36, the ALSA legislation, was passed two years ago, with no opposition at the time.
Berger’s story about licence plates and Mitzel’s observation about lack of opposition should make us think.
How much attention do we pay to pending legislation?
In other provinces, opposition parties and the media tend to bring potential pitfalls to public attention, the better for them to be analyzed and debated.
But in Alberta, where the Progressive Conservatives have a long history and the tiny opposition has limited resources, there seems to be less attention paid to such things. The media plays its role, but as the licence plate example illustrates, public appetite for stories on government policy is less than voracious. And few citizens among us occupy themselves by reading often complex government documents to see how legislation might affect them.
I don’t know what the answer is, but I do know people have a responsibility to be informed if they want to participate in their own democracy.
The controversy over ALSA is explained and explored in the March 3 issue of the Producer, in a special report written by Calgary-based reporter Barbara Duckworth.
