By Laine Mitchell (Twitter: @Laine_Mitchell)

MLA Smith gearing up for spring legislative session

Mar 8, 2018 | 5:16 AM

Drayton Valley-Devon MLA Mark Smith is readying for a busy and exciting spring session, as the Alberta legislature comes back today.

Today will mark the first time new United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney will be in the legislature, something Smith says will be the most important thing of the day.

“If there were one thing I would leave with you right now, is that the most important thing that is going to happen in session is just the introduction of Jason Kenney into the legislature as the new leader of the UCP,” said Smith. “This will be the first time that he is actually in the legislature.”

His private members bill, Bill 210 the Amendments to the Missing Persons Act, will hopefully also get proclamation this session. The bill is very similar to an Amber Alert for missing children, however it is a safeguard for seniors that go missing. 

“The bill identified the fact that seniors can, like children, sometimes disappear. What the silver alert allows us to do, it gives the police the capacity to pursue and to gain private info that will allow them to be able to then advertise to try and help find the individual province wide.”

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Looking forward Smith says the provincial budget that will be unveiled later this month is something to keep an eye out for as the UCP will be concerned with the likely deficit. 

“We are going to be very concerned with the fact that in all likely hood we are going to see again a multibillion dollar deficit projected in the budget. We will go through the budget and try to hold them accountable for it.”

As education critic something he has his eye on as well is the situation of school negotiations with regards to local issues, something that could become a very confusing and messy issue. 

“There are still a significant number of local school boards that have yet to sign off on their local bargaining yet their next round of bargaining is starting already. So there could be some real confusion there.”

Smith was elected in the 2015 provincial election.