The Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency (ALMA) is providing up to $8 million for a landmark initiative to deal with a basic issue affecting every livestock producer on a daily basis – the cost and effectiveness of feed for their animals.
Feed costs can account for more than half of livestock production. So investing in better feed and better use of feed will give Alberta’s livestock industry a competitive advantage. The feeding initiative will benefit all commodities, including cattle, hogs, chicken, turkey, dairy, lamb and diversified livestock.
But it’s not only the livestock industry that will benefit from a better bottom line. The feed grain industry will also see growth with higher values through higher-quality grains. This initiative will help both livestock and crop producers.
The feeding initiative will be guided in part by a Feed Grain Strategy that was partially funded by ALMA, but developed by industry partners. These partners include the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association, Alberta Barley Commission, Alberta Pork, Alberta Beef Producers, Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund as well as Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD). Moving forward, the list of stakeholders involved with the initiative will grow.
The feeding iniative, which addresses a decades-old problem, is a major step forward for the Alberta Livestock and Meat Strategy. It was announced by ARD Minister George Groeneveld in 2008 as a roadmap to help the livestock and meat industry become more profitable, competitive and internationally respected.
For more information on the Livestock Feeding Initiative, visit www.alma.alberta.ca
I would like to take this opportunity to extend Christmas greetings to rural and urban Strathcona constituents. Take time to reflect on our many blessings as you enjoy the season with families and loved ones.
Dave Quest is the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Strathcona Constituency. If you have any comments or questions concerning this column or other provincial government issues, please contact Dave at his constituency office located at #168 – 2301 Premier Way, Sherwood Park, T8H 2K8. Telephone: 780.416.2492 or email: Strathcona@assembly.ab.ca
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Arts programs to be reviewed by Alberta Education
Many Albertans are passionate about and inspired by the arts through music, dance, drama, or visual art. Some of the most active members of this province’s arts community are youth, and their involvement in the arts often starts in school.
Alberta Education is reviewing arts programs to ensure they are current and relevant for students. This is important because art evolves across cultures and changes over time, bringing in new forms of expression, new artistic tools, and new technologies. The current arts curriculum is more than 20 years old, and, while it is an adept program of studies, it needs to be updated. For example, under the current provincial curriculum, dance is not recognized as a form of artistic expression, although it is taught in some schools using supplementary resources.
After preliminary research and consultation with various stakeholders, Education developed the Draft K-12 Arts Education Curriculum Framework (June 2009). It proposes enhanced arts programs and places a greater emphasis on student creativity, critical thinking, and the ability to communicate through various ways. The framework presents a possible structure that would enable elementary school students to experience a broader range of arts disciplines – music, dance, drama and visual art – and would empower junior and senior high school students with increased course choice and flexibility. This structure would retain the traditions and rigour of each discipline, while also infusing the arts across other subject areas.
The draft framework proposes maintaining current courses that provide focused instruction in a specific arts discipline. In any future arts program of study, students will still have the option of enrolling in courses like full-year or half-year courses such as band or drama at the 7-9 and 10-30 levels. The draft framework also calls for maintaining the 7-9 and 10-30 course streams for students seeking mastery in a particular field of the arts, and expanding the curriculum to enable students interested in receiving instruction in greater breadth (and perhaps less depth) in a variety of arts courses to do so as well. Under the proposed new framework, high schools will also have the option of offering one-credit courses in dance, drama, music and visual art.
One-credit arts courses would enable students who were previously unfamiliar with the fine arts to explore new areas of interest and perhaps awaken their passions in these areas. Students who develop an interest in a particular discipline through the one-credit courses would then have the option of pursuing their interests in greater depth through three and five-credit courses at the 10-30 levels. Schools would have the option of determining their own Arts Education course combinations by joining single-credit courses together to create three and five-credit courses, to respond to their program needs and instructional expertise, as well as student interests and career aspirations.
Albertans can review and are encouraged to provide feedback on the draft framework until January 31, 2010. To view the document, along with online discussion questions and regular updates on Arts Education, visit www.education.alberta.ca and click on the ‘Fine Arts Curriculum Review’ feature. All suggestions and comments will be carefully considered during future revisions to the proposed framework and the subsequent development of programs of study.
The arts curriculum review started three years ago, and it is anticipated that implementation of the new curriculum could start sometime in 2014.
Dave Quest is the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Strathcona Constituency. If you have any comments or questions concerning this column or other provincial government issues, please contact Dave at his constituency office located at #168 – 2301 Premier Way, Sherwood Park, T8H 2K8. Telephone: 780.416.2492 or email: Strathcona@assembly.ab.ca
Alberta Education is reviewing arts programs to ensure they are current and relevant for students. This is important because art evolves across cultures and changes over time, bringing in new forms of expression, new artistic tools, and new technologies. The current arts curriculum is more than 20 years old, and, while it is an adept program of studies, it needs to be updated. For example, under the current provincial curriculum, dance is not recognized as a form of artistic expression, although it is taught in some schools using supplementary resources.
After preliminary research and consultation with various stakeholders, Education developed the Draft K-12 Arts Education Curriculum Framework (June 2009). It proposes enhanced arts programs and places a greater emphasis on student creativity, critical thinking, and the ability to communicate through various ways. The framework presents a possible structure that would enable elementary school students to experience a broader range of arts disciplines – music, dance, drama and visual art – and would empower junior and senior high school students with increased course choice and flexibility. This structure would retain the traditions and rigour of each discipline, while also infusing the arts across other subject areas.
The draft framework proposes maintaining current courses that provide focused instruction in a specific arts discipline. In any future arts program of study, students will still have the option of enrolling in courses like full-year or half-year courses such as band or drama at the 7-9 and 10-30 levels. The draft framework also calls for maintaining the 7-9 and 10-30 course streams for students seeking mastery in a particular field of the arts, and expanding the curriculum to enable students interested in receiving instruction in greater breadth (and perhaps less depth) in a variety of arts courses to do so as well. Under the proposed new framework, high schools will also have the option of offering one-credit courses in dance, drama, music and visual art.
One-credit arts courses would enable students who were previously unfamiliar with the fine arts to explore new areas of interest and perhaps awaken their passions in these areas. Students who develop an interest in a particular discipline through the one-credit courses would then have the option of pursuing their interests in greater depth through three and five-credit courses at the 10-30 levels. Schools would have the option of determining their own Arts Education course combinations by joining single-credit courses together to create three and five-credit courses, to respond to their program needs and instructional expertise, as well as student interests and career aspirations.
Albertans can review and are encouraged to provide feedback on the draft framework until January 31, 2010. To view the document, along with online discussion questions and regular updates on Arts Education, visit www.education.alberta.ca and click on the ‘Fine Arts Curriculum Review’ feature. All suggestions and comments will be carefully considered during future revisions to the proposed framework and the subsequent development of programs of study.
The arts curriculum review started three years ago, and it is anticipated that implementation of the new curriculum could start sometime in 2014.
Dave Quest is the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Strathcona Constituency. If you have any comments or questions concerning this column or other provincial government issues, please contact Dave at his constituency office located at #168 – 2301 Premier Way, Sherwood Park, T8H 2K8. Telephone: 780.416.2492 or email: Strathcona@assembly.ab.ca
Friday, December 11, 2009
Improved oil sands practices aim of $25-million provincial grant
Improved oil sands tailings management, advanced reclamation methods and greenhouse gas reduction technologies are three areas of clean energy research that will be advanced through a $25-million grant from the Government of Alberta to the University of Alberta.
In a unique international partnership, researchers from the University of Alberta are collaborating with the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres to drive innovation towards cleaner energy production, with particular focus on the province’s oil sands.
In September, the University of Alberta signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Helmholtz Association to establish the Helmholtz Alberta Initiative. The five-year research venture will address key challenges encountered when advancing the sustainable development of Alberta’s oil sands, including cleaner alternative to tailings management, more efficient methods of reclamation and developing renewable energy sources.
Alberta’s share of the ecoTrust is $155.9 million, and $52.45 million has been allocated to date by the Government of Alberta into clean energy research and waste-to-energy projects. The Canadian government established the Canada ecoTrust for Clean Air and Climate Change in 2007 by distributing $1.5 billion among all the provinces and territories to assist with clean air and climate change initiatives of their choosing.
This research supports Alberta’s Climate Change Strategy. For more information on this strategy, visit www.environment.alberta.ca.
Dave Quest is the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Strathcona Constituency. If you have any comments or questions concerning this column or other provincial government issues, please contact Dave at his constituency office located at #168 – 2301 Premier Way, Sherwood Park, T8H 2K8. Telephone: 780.416.2492 or email: Strathcona@assembly.ab.ca
In a unique international partnership, researchers from the University of Alberta are collaborating with the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres to drive innovation towards cleaner energy production, with particular focus on the province’s oil sands.
In September, the University of Alberta signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Helmholtz Association to establish the Helmholtz Alberta Initiative. The five-year research venture will address key challenges encountered when advancing the sustainable development of Alberta’s oil sands, including cleaner alternative to tailings management, more efficient methods of reclamation and developing renewable energy sources.
Alberta’s share of the ecoTrust is $155.9 million, and $52.45 million has been allocated to date by the Government of Alberta into clean energy research and waste-to-energy projects. The Canadian government established the Canada ecoTrust for Clean Air and Climate Change in 2007 by distributing $1.5 billion among all the provinces and territories to assist with clean air and climate change initiatives of their choosing.
This research supports Alberta’s Climate Change Strategy. For more information on this strategy, visit www.environment.alberta.ca.
Dave Quest is the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Strathcona Constituency. If you have any comments or questions concerning this column or other provincial government issues, please contact Dave at his constituency office located at #168 – 2301 Premier Way, Sherwood Park, T8H 2K8. Telephone: 780.416.2492 or email: Strathcona@assembly.ab.ca
Friday, December 4, 2009
Action plan guides Alberta's water management
Healthy aquatic ecosystems, conservation and education are priorities in the renewed Water for Life action plan. The strategy and action plan together set the direction for water management in Alberta over the next 10 years.
The plan lays out the actions Alberta intends to deliver over the next decade. It includes activities Alberta committed to deliver as part of its original Water for Life strategy and incorporates new actions to address the province’s emerging water challenges and current realities. The action plan also supports regional environmental objectives and Alberta’s cumulative effects management approach.
The Alberta Water Council’s 2006-08 implementation review acknowledged that Water for Life implementation is making good progress. The Council identified the need to: integrate and coordinate the management of land, water, air, biodiversity and the cumulative impacts of development; ensure partners have the funds and people needed to complete their work; and encourage Water for Life leaders and champions. They also made recommendations to increase focus on education and protect Alberta’s rivers, lakes and aquifers from overuse and contamination.
The Water for Life strategy is the blueprint for water management in Alberta, ensuring the province’s water quality and quantity supports our people, economy, and environment. Water for Life was originally released in 2003 and renewed in 2008 to meet the changing realities of our growing province. Implementation of Water for Life involves the efforts of many partners including non-government organizations, industry, provincial and other governments. The detailed action plan supports the successful implementation of the strategy’s goals and directions.
For a copy of the renewed strategy and action plan, visit www.waterforlife.alberta.ca
Dave Quest is the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Strathcona Constituency.
If you have any comments or questions concerning this column or other provincial government issues, please contact Dave at his constituency office located at #168 – 2301 Premier Way, Sherwood Park, T8H 2K8. Telephone: 780.416.2492 or email: Strathcona@assembly.ab.ca
The plan lays out the actions Alberta intends to deliver over the next decade. It includes activities Alberta committed to deliver as part of its original Water for Life strategy and incorporates new actions to address the province’s emerging water challenges and current realities. The action plan also supports regional environmental objectives and Alberta’s cumulative effects management approach.
The Alberta Water Council’s 2006-08 implementation review acknowledged that Water for Life implementation is making good progress. The Council identified the need to: integrate and coordinate the management of land, water, air, biodiversity and the cumulative impacts of development; ensure partners have the funds and people needed to complete their work; and encourage Water for Life leaders and champions. They also made recommendations to increase focus on education and protect Alberta’s rivers, lakes and aquifers from overuse and contamination.
The Water for Life strategy is the blueprint for water management in Alberta, ensuring the province’s water quality and quantity supports our people, economy, and environment. Water for Life was originally released in 2003 and renewed in 2008 to meet the changing realities of our growing province. Implementation of Water for Life involves the efforts of many partners including non-government organizations, industry, provincial and other governments. The detailed action plan supports the successful implementation of the strategy’s goals and directions.
For a copy of the renewed strategy and action plan, visit www.waterforlife.alberta.ca
Dave Quest is the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Strathcona Constituency.
If you have any comments or questions concerning this column or other provincial government issues, please contact Dave at his constituency office located at #168 – 2301 Premier Way, Sherwood Park, T8H 2K8. Telephone: 780.416.2492 or email: Strathcona@assembly.ab.ca
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