Bell: Say what?! Alberta Pension Plan now backed by most Albertans

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A second look. There it is.
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As part of a poll commissioned by the Alberta government, the question is posed.
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If a provincial referendum vote was held today, would you vote for or against the following?
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Replacing the Canada Pension Plan, the CPP, with an Alberta Pension Plan, an APP, that guaranteed all Alberta seniors the same or better benefits.
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A drum roll, please. This needs a drum roll.
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Yes to replacing the CPP with an Alberta Pension Plan. 55 per cent. No and keep the CPP. 45 per cent.
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For the record, this hot-off-the-press poll was commissioned by the Alberta government.
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The poll was conducted by Trend Research under the direction of the well-respected Janet Brown.
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55 per cent in favour. Let that sink in.
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In February of this year the Leger firm had a poll where 23 per cent were in favour of an Alberta Pension Plan, 55 per cent were opposed and 22 per cent didn't know where they stood.
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Only 23 per cent backing an APP is the exact same number of support as a Leger poll found last summer.
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Then look at Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
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Last fall, she was on a podcast musing about what would happen if the amount of money Ottawa was prepared to hand over to Alberta if the province pulled out of the CPP ended up being a much smaller amount than anticipated.
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'Is it worth it? Is the juice worth the squeeze?' said Smith.
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Then there was Smith at the beginning of this month, right after Mark Carney and the Liberals won the election and many Albertans were just beginning to digest that hard-to-stomach news.
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As Smith spoke, it looked very much like she felt the Alberta Pension Plan was spinning its wheels. It just wasn't getting the traction.
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Smith said the lack of appetite for a vote could partly be because of the lack of detail on exactly how much money Alberta would receive from Ottawa for exiting the CPP.

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Vancouver Sun

34 minutes ago

• Vancouver Sun

Canada's justice minister says he is 'open' to adding 'femicide' to the Criminal Code

OTTAWA — Federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser says he is 'open' to including the term 'femicide' in the Criminal Code, which has long been called for by researchers and advocates looking to shine a spotlight on the issue of the killing of women and girls. The term broadly refers to when a woman is killed by a man based on the fact that she is a woman, with varying definitions that speak to previous patterns of abuse by a male perpetrator or ideologies. Police services that use the term often do so when a killing occurs in the context of an intimate partner relationship. Kingston, Ont. police did so for the first time last month when announcing it had laid first-degree murder charges against a 26-year-old man charged in the death of his 25-year-old partner. Police said it considered her death a 'femicide.' Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. During the federal election campaign, the Liberals inked the term into their platform, promising to better protect victims of sexual and intimate partner violence by 'making murder motivated by hate a constructive first-degree offence, including femicide.' In a recent wide-ranging interview, Fraser said the government would look at the 'precise language' of the reforms it plans to make to the Criminal Code, which are expected to be tabled in a bill this fall. Asked specifically whether he was open to including 'femicide' in the Criminal Code, Fraser said, 'I'm open to it, certainly.' 'I'm not going to close the door on any of the solutions that may be presented to me over the next couple of months as we seek to finalize the draft. But we've not made a decision one way or another as to the language that will be included in either the name of the offence, or the specific language included in the new provisions we'll be looking to add.' Megan Walker, a longtime advocate for victims and preventing violence against women, says Fraser's statement makes her 'cautiously optimistic.' 'It's the first time that there's been any acknowledgement that femicide could potentially be incorporated into the Criminal Code of Canada, so I'm encouraged.' The London, Ont.-based advocate, a member of the city's police board — which has called for it to be defined in law—says that d oing so would allow for more accurate data collection. Police across Canada operate in a patchwork of how they report these killings, referring to them as an 'intimate partner death' or, in other cases, a 'domestic homicide.' Other times, police do not disclose any such details. That includes the cases of a murder-suicide when no charge is laid, but a woman is killed by her partner or ex-partner. National Post contacted police services across Canada to confirm whether they use 'femicide.' Police in Halifax, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Edmonton said they do not, but rather stick to definitions outlined in the Criminal Code. 'The motivation for a crime is carefully investigated and ultimately proven in court,' Toronto police spokeswoman Stephanie Sayer wrote in an email. She added that Toronto police became the first in Canada to lay a terrorism charge in connection to a homicide linked to a hatred of women, when it did so against a 17-year-old, who pled guilty in the stabbing death of 24-year-old Ashley Noelle Arzaga, whose 2020 death police said was inspired by the incel movement. 'The classification of a homicide as 'femicide' highlights the gender-based motivation behind the crime, but it does not change the legal charge or outcome of the case, as it's not in the Criminal Code,' Sayer said. A spokesperson for Montreal police said, besides not being defined in the Criminal Code, 'there's no uniformity' in how 'femicide' is used. Peel police said it uses 'femicide', as does the Ottawa Police Service, which said it began doing so last August when it announced murder charges against the husband of Jennifer Zabarylo, who was found dead in the couple's home. Ottawa police said it established its definition based on 14 different factors. Robin Percival, a spokeswoman for the RCMP, the main police service for the country's rural and remote areas, said in a statement that it was looking at examples such as Ottawa police, with the goal of establishing its own definition. The Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability, which was established in 2017, has been tracking the killings of women and girls, including through media reports, and has produced several reports detailing the circumstances of their deaths, from locations to how they were killed, to the nature of their relationship to the accused. It is among the most prominent groups that say defining femicide in Canadian criminal law would improve data on the issue nationwide. Kat Owens, the interim legal director of the LEAF, which stands for Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, says there is 'value' to defining it in the Criminal Code, but adds looking at the criminal legal system alone to deal with gender-based violence is insufficient. 'We know that we can't address what we don't measure.' She said she views the push to change the Criminal Code to include 'femicide' as largely being a step towards better data collection, as well as raising awareness, and that a parliamentary committee should carefully study the issue. 'Anytime we're adding something into the Criminal Code that has additional elements that need to be proven, then we have a question of OK, well what kind of evidence do you need?', which she said is the case when it comes to questions of intent. Owens pointed to the Liberals' promise of making femicide a first-degree murder offence, which is reserved for killings police believe to be pre-planned. She said caution should be exercised with the proposed change, saying it essentially 'removes any sort of incentive for a guilty plea,' as compared to when a charge of second-degree murder is laid, where pre-planning was not a factor. 'You might see a victim's family put through a trial where the person might have pleaded guilty if there were other options on the table, but realistically, people are much less likely to plead guilty to first-degree murder, given the sentence of life without eligibility for parole for 25 years.' In his recent interview, Fraser confirmed he was discussing the possibility of creating a 'presumptive charge of first-degree murder,' based on a killing motivated by hatred of women. 'But the precise nature, whether it's a unique offence, an aggravating factor or some other mechanism that we use in the (Criminal Code) is something that I owe conversations to important stakeholders before we finalize,' he said. Walker said she wants to see the issue of adding femicide to the Criminal Code studied as a separate issue, apart from other justice reforms the government plans to make, with families of victims invited to share their experiences. 'I have worked with many, many families whose children were killed, and they use the term femicide because they say that it best represents what's happened to their child,' she said. 'If we cannot respect the views of families who have lost their children, then I think we are failing all women across the nation.' Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .

National Post

an hour ago

• National Post

Canada's justice minister says he is 'open' to adding 'femicide' to the Criminal Code

OTTAWA — Federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser says he is 'open' to including the term 'femicide' in the Criminal Code, which has long been called for by researchers and advocates looking to shine a spotlight on the issue of the killing of women and girls. Article content The term broadly refers to when a woman is killed by a man based on the fact that she is a woman, with varying definitions that speak to previous patterns of abuse by a male perpetrator or ideologies. Police services that use the term often do so when a killing occurs in the context of an intimate partner relationship. Article content Article content Kingston, Ont. police did so for the first time last month when announcing it had laid first-degree murder charges against a 26-year-old man charged in the death of his 25-year-old partner. Police said it considered her death a 'femicide.' Article content Article content During the federal election campaign, the Liberals inked the term into their platform, promising to better protect victims of sexual and intimate partner violence by 'making murder motivated by hate a constructive first-degree offence, including femicide.' Article content In a recent wide-ranging interview, Fraser said the government would look at the 'precise language' of the reforms it plans to make to the Criminal Code, which are expected to be tabled in a bill this fall. Asked specifically whether he was open to including 'femicide' in the Criminal Code, Fraser said, 'I'm open to it, certainly.' Article content 'I'm not going to close the door on any of the solutions that may be presented to me over the next couple of months as we seek to finalize the draft. But we've not made a decision one way or another as to the language that will be included in either the name of the offence, or the specific language included in the new provisions we'll be looking to add.' Article content Article content Megan Walker, a longtime advocate for victims and preventing violence against women, says Fraser's statement makes her 'cautiously optimistic.' Article content 'It's the first time that there's been any acknowledgement that femicide could potentially be incorporated into the Criminal Code of Canada, so I'm encouraged.' Article content The London, Ont.-based advocate, a member of the city's police board —which has called for it to be defined in law—says that doing so would allow for more accurate data collection. Article content Police across Canada operate in a patchwork of how they report these killings, referring to them as an 'intimate partner death' or, in other cases, a 'domestic homicide.' Article content Other times, police do not disclose any such details. That includes the cases of a murder-suicide when no charge is laid, but a woman is killed by her partner or ex-partner. Article content National Post contacted police services across Canada to confirm whether they use 'femicide.' Police in Halifax, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Edmonton said they do not, but rather stick to definitions outlined in the Criminal Code.

Calgary Herald

12 hours ago

• Calgary Herald

Danielle Smith touts Alberta supremacy at Rotary International Convention in Calgary

Premier Danielle Smith welcomed thousands of Rotary International delegates to Calgary on Sunday, using the stage to tout Alberta's economic strength, energy ambitions and approach to addiction recovery. Article content More than 15,000 Rotary members from more than 120 countries are expected to gather in Calgary this week for the Rotary International Convention, a five-day event that runs through Wednesday at Stampede Park. Article content Article content Article content Speaking at the official opening ceremony at the Scotiabank Saddledome, Smith — a former Rotarian herself — described Alberta as 'Canada's economic engine,' pointing to the province's population growth, economic climate and natural resource wealth. Article content Article content 'I want to take this opportunity to do just a little bit of bragging about this beautiful province,' she said. 'That is one of the perks of my job. I get to be the lead cheerleader for my favorite place in the world.' Article content Smith cited recent Statistics Canada data showing that Alberta led the country in population growth during the first quarter of 2025, gaining more new residents than the rest of Canada combined. Between Jan. 1 and April 1, Alberta's population grew by 20,562, while four provinces and one territory saw population declines, including record quarterly losses in Ontario and British Columbia. Article content Article content Alberta also had the highest net gain from interprovincial migration during that time. Article content Article content Smith attributed the growth to economic opportunity and a 'welcoming and free society,' drawing people to the province. Article content 'Alberta has drawn in people from near and far for a few very good reasons,' she said. 'Investors see our low corporate taxes, our skilled workforce, and our business-friendly climate as an increasingly attractive package and our tech sector is growing as a result.' Article content Article content 'Since 2019, our government has added around 10,000 addiction treatment spaces, including detox treatment and long-term recovery spaces,' she said. 'We recognize that we have a lot more work to do, but the Alberta recovery model is showing early signs of success, and we're very proud of what we have accomplished so far.'