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By CHAT News Today

Trio of bills

Bill for enforcement of public health orders on debated

Mar 31, 2020 | 4:34 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The provincial government has three pieces of legislation in mind as the Alberta Legislature returns today.

Two of those were announced by Premier Jason Kenney on March 27, and were to be debated today.

The two proposed bills meant to support and protect Albertans during COVID-19 include:

• Bill 10, Public Health (Emergency Powers) Amendment Act, 2020. If passed, this bill will provide law enforcement agencies full authority to enforce public health orders during a pandemic.
• Bill 11, Tenancies Statutes (Emergency Provisions) Amendment Act, 2020. If passed, this bill will ensure no one will be retroactively charged for residential rent increases or late fees while the state of public health emergency is in effect.

“We continue to prioritize the health, safety, security and economic interests of all Albertans during this unprecedented time. We know there is a tremendous amount of stress being felt in the province. To combat this, we are proposing two bills that include decisive actions to protect Albertans and ultimately help reduce the spread of this virus, and a third bill to support jobs in the energy sector,” said Government House Leader Jason Nixon.

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A third bill, Bill 12, Liabilities Management Statutes Amendment Act, 2020, will be proposed. If passed, it will enable government to clarify and enable expanded, delegated authority for the Orphan Well Association to maintain and manage orphan sites.

“Government has provided an additional $100 million to the Orphan Well Association. With this proposed legislation, we are aiming to help the association accelerate the cleanup of orphaned wells and associated infrastructure. Fast-tracking this work will boost employment in our oil services sector and protect jobs during these challenging economic times,” said Nixon, who is also minister of environment and parks.

The government’s dedicated COVID-19 page has full information on social distancing, enforcement of rules and support available to Albertans.