The Legislature
Welcome, students of the U.K, to the Legislature of Alberta! This
place is full of democracy, history, and interesting objects that, at
first glance, look as if they don’t belong. You’ll find that our
government is a bit like yours, but with a lot of unique twists and
additions. Anyways, just have fun and enjoy this tour of our Alberta
Legislature.
I, Rickey, will be your guide.
The Public Areas
The rotunda is the most beautiful place in the Legislature. It’s a round room
near the middle of the Legislature with a large fountain in the centre. The
fountain is really something.
 There are two statues in the rotunda: Princess Alberta (top right) and Chief
Crowfoot. Princess Alberta was the daughter of Queen Victoria and wife of
a Canadian governor general, who in 1905, named the area of our province
Alberta (more on this later). Chief Crowfoot was a Blackfoot leader who
established many treaties with the nation of Canada. If you’re ever at the
legislature, take a look at Crowfoot’s head. Notice anything unusual about
it?
 The other area the public can go unsupervised in the Legislature is the
library. It’s loaded with books, newspapers, and legal documents. But it’s
most popular attraction is a 50-year old burger encased in a plastic block.
Be grateful I didn’t show you any pictures of it.
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The Chambers: Introduction
• Welcome to the Chambers. This is where it all happens.
This one three-story high room is the most important in
the building and symbolic right down to the colour of the
carpet. It’s the reason the rest of the building is here.
It’s where all provincial laws are proposed, debated, and
either given Royal Assent and passed in to law… or
thrown in the political trash bin.
The Chambers: History
The Legislature wasn’t always there.
In 1905,when Alberta became a
province, the second thought that
popped into the new government’s
mind was “OK, where are we
going to make the laws" (first one:
“Yay we’re a province now!”) They
started out in a curling rink. That
worked fine…until curling season
started up. Then they started to
use the top floor of a place called
McKay Avenue school (right).
Then, in 1912, the legislature was
finished, and the Assembly moved
in.
The Chambers: Symbols
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The most important symbol is the Mace.
It is carried by the Sergeant-at-Arms
(more on him later) into the Chambers
and is an immensely important symbol
of power. A session could not begin
without it.
The original Mace’s story is very
interesting. The government was too
busy to make it by conventional means,
so they made it out of oddball objects
like a toilet float and teacup handles. A
new mace was given to the Assembly
for Alberta’s 75th birthday.
The Black Rod is used by the SAA to
ask the admission of the Lieutenant
Governor.
The Chambers Today
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Alberta’s Chambers are doing fine and their
procedures have changed little since 1912.
It’s procedure is simple: An MLA (say on the
Government side) proposes a bill, and then
talk about it stops so the other MLAs can do
their research. This is called first reading.
Second reading is where the two
governmental groups, the Government (who
support the bill) and the Opposition (who
oppose it, of course) debate the bill. It’s
voted on by the MLAs, and either dumped or
passed for further debate. Then, the
Committee of the Whole takes over and a bit
more rapid-fire debate is performed.
Then, the next day, the Third Reading is
held. This is the Opposition’s last chance to
get this bill dumped. If they don’t succeed,
the SAA, premier, and pages leave the room
to bring the Lieutenant Governor into the
Chambers. The LG gives the Royal Assent
(nods and signs the bill in question) and
poof! The bill is now an official law.
The Lieutenant Governor and the
Queen
The LG’s job can’t be hard, right? I mean,
all he has to do is sit in a comfy chair,
nod his head, and sign a piece of
paper. Actually, the LG’s job is quite
hard. The LG, you see, represents the
Queen herself. Seeing as you’re from
the UK, you should have learned the
importance of Her Majesty (left) before
you could walk. Over here, she’s
almost as important. We have a big
portrait of her in the Chambers. There
are portraits, statues and icons of her
and her ancestors all over the
Legislature. So as you can see, the
LG’s job is anything but easy.
The Premier
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The premier is the leader of the Government party in the Chambers. He is also
considered the most powerful person in the Alberta govt.
Before running for premier, consider this: you will have to work almost nonstop from
before dawn till after dusk and you won’t have a second of your life unmonitored by
security.
Our current premier is The Honorable Ed Stelmach (above left).
Non-Partisan Roles
The most powerful non-partisan
person and (arguably) the most
powerful member of the Chambers is
the speaker. He sits in the “throne”
and decides whether or not a person
should be allowed to keep speaking.
The SAA (right) is basically security.
He carries around the Mace and Black
rod. However, he’s more for calming
down agitated citizens in the gallery
than combating assassins.
Note-passing may be banned in your
classroom, but not in the Chambers!
They even have people (pages) to
pass them. Pages have no role in the
debate and are mainly high school
students looking to make some cash.
Underground
If you think the Legislature is cool above
the soil, you’ll love it underground! The
public underground area includes the
gift shop, the Lego Legislature (left)
and the Member’s Way. Yet the best
part is what the public can’t see. The
Legislature has a catacomb of
basements, boiler rooms and
workshops, all directly beneath your
feet whenever you visit the place.
Down there is the place where the
infrastructure people work. They're
basically maintenance, but they have
to do stuff like fix light bulbs in places
100 FEET IN THE AIR!
Legislature Grounds
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The grounds surrounding the Legislature are almost as interesting as the building itself. The
main section of importance is the Reflecting Pools and the fountain. This fountain isn’t quite as
spectacular as the rotunda fountain, but is twice as large.
► The Reflecting Pool is a giant rectangular pool about waist-deep. It’s stationed in front of the
Legislature and got it’s name from the beautiful reflection of the Legislature it gives.
► The grounds are littered with statues and icons. An interesting one is a bronze statue of a
Ukrainian family. Underneath it is a time capsule set to be opened in 2095.
Other Fun Things
The Legislature holds two more
interesting things: the Magic Spot
and the Palm Room. The Magic
Spot is an acoustic phenomenon
caused by the rotunda fountain. If
you stand in the right spot on the
fifth floor, you’ll hear water
running as if it was right beside
you. Also on that floor is a
staircase leading up to the Palm
Room - a room full of palm trees
that were gifts from California.
Congratulations! You have finished my
power point tour of the
Legislature!