Publisher's Note

Publisher’s Note
by CK May is the month of flowers not just in the Philippines but also here in Calgary. A lot of my neighbors have done their spring cleaning and unfortunately I cannot cope up with them. I remember that during this time of the year my husband, Hank gets busier day by day. He takes care [...]
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Report from the Legislature

Capital Region
April 6, 2011

Edmonton LRT NAIT line announced as first project approved under GreenTRIP

The Alberta government will support the City of Edmonton’s plan to extend its existing LRT system from the downtown Churchill Station to Grant MacEwan University and then on to the NAIT campus through $497 million in capital funding.

The funding is part of the provincial Green Transit Incentives Program (GreenTRIP).

The $2-billion GreenTRIP program provides one-time capital funding that will support new and expanded public transit throughout Alberta. This will help provide Albertans with a wider range of sustainable and accessible public transit alternatives for local, regional and intermunicipal travel. The program will help reduce the number of vehicles on Alberta roads as well as greenhouse gas emissions.

With the approval of the City’s submission for this LRT project, the province has provided $70 million from budget 2010-11 to the City of Edmonton to cover project costs already incurred. The remaining payments will be allocated to the City as progress on construction is made.

GreenTRIP is a multi-year program. The province’s share of this project is two-thirds of the estimated eligible project cost of $745 million. Applicants are required to contribute at least one-third of the capital cost of a project. GreenTRIP funding does not flow all at once; rather, funding is allocated on a “pay-on-progress” basis.

Over the duration of the program, $800 million in funding is available for transit projects in the Capital region; $800 million for the Calgary region; and $400 million for other Alberta municipalities.

The Alberta government is working to build a better Alberta by fostering economic growth, strengthening our health and education systems, investing in infrastructure, supporting safe and strong communities and ensuring a clean and healthy environment.

Highway construction season rolls ahead in Edmonton area

Major sections of the Edmonton ring road will open to traffic this fall along with other highway improvements in the Edmonton area during the 2011 construction season.
Those slated to open fall 2011 include the Edmonton Ring Road investment, worth more than $1.67 billion. Specifically this project will include:

· a 21-kilometre northwest section of Anthony Henday Drive;
Stony Plain Road interchange;
Lessard Road interchange;
Callingwood Road interchange;
Cameron Heights interchange; and
Rabbit Hill Road interchange.

In 2011, the Alberta government will invest $1.7 billion in the provincial highway network. Visit www.transportation.alberta.ca/614.htm to view Alberta’s three-year highway construction program.

Province reaches new deal with Alberta optometrists

Members of the Alberta Association of Optometrists (AAO), Alberta’s eye doctors, have ratified a new three-year agreement with Alberta Health and Wellness to provide publicly funded services.

The new agreement expands coverage for medically necessary optometry services to all Albertans under the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan. Optometry services covered by Alberta Health and Wellness are expected to cost $42.5 million in 2011/12; up from approximately $39 million in 2010/11.

Since October 2007, Albertans between 19 and 64 years of age who required medical treatment for eye-related diseases and illness had been covered under the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan. Starting this October, that coverage expands to include all Albertans, no matter what their age, who need an optometrist to provide certain medically required services.

Previously, Albertans 65 years of age and older or 18 years of age and younger, would have had medically necessary treatments paid for through a mix of Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan coverage or private insurance plans.

The new agreement also confirms government’s continued support for the Eye See…Eye Learn program, which is operated by the AAO and backed by several industry sponsors. This program encourages the examination of registered kindergarten children, and provides a free pair of eyeglasses to those who require a prescription. In 2010, more than 1,200 free eyeglasses were distributed to kindergarten children.

The new agreement will run from April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2014. Fees paid to optometrists for providing government-funded optometric services will remain unchanged during years one and two of the agreement and will increase by three percent in year three.

More mentors will benefit Alberta’s children and youth

Additional $1 million will help young people build relationships with positive role models
Calgary… More children and youth will benefit from the collective efforts of the Alberta Mentoring Partnership. Over the next three years, an additional $1 million in funding from the Alberta government will help youth, community mentoring organizations and government continue to increase mentoring opportunities for young people in Alberta.

The Alberta Mentoring Partnership’s vision is that every child or youth who needs a mentor has access to one. The partnership includes representation from Alberta government ministries, community mentoring organizations and youth. With this new investment, the Alberta government will provide a total of $4.2 million for the Alberta Mentoring Partnership.

The new funding will help the partnership to continue supporting community programs and build local capacity to provide mentoring. Over the past three years, the partnership provided online mentor training to more than 900 people, trained more than 1,000 students as mentors through high school teen programs, ran two mentoring recruitment campaigns, and helped raise awareness through more than 1.5 million website hits to albertamentors.ca.

The new funding is being provided by the ministries of Children and Youth Services, Education, Justice and Attorney General through the Safe Communities Initiative, Solicitor General and Public Security and Aboriginal Relations.

Visit albertamentors.ca for more information about the Alberta Mentoring Partnership, to learn more about partner community organizations, and to find out how you can become a mentor.

As the MLA for Edmonton MillWoods, I am always available to assist constituents. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the GreenTRIP program, highway improvements in the Capital Region, the province’s three-year agreement with the Alberta Association of Optometrists, the Alberta Mentoring Partnership or any other matter, I can be reached in my constituency office at #218; 4128A-97 Street, or in my Legislature office at 780-422-9299. Also, please subscribe to my e‑newsletter at http://Benito.mypcmla.ca/. Follow us on Facebook, arCarl Benito, twitter@MLACarlBenito and You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/benitomla

Report from the Legislature

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