News from the Legislature
Alana DeLong, MLA

I’ve had the privilege of representing the residents of Calgary Bow for the past four years. Your ongoing support for the work I do on your behalf is greatly appreciated and encouraging to me.

Alberta Students Show Strong Results on International Tests
Alberta students continue to achieve excellent results on international tests, sharing the highest scores in reading, improving from third to second in mathematics and ranking fourth in science. The results are from the 2003 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), administered by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). These test results confirm that Alberta students are among the brightest in the world. All Albertans should be very proud of their achievements which demonstrate that students are benefiting from our province's excellent teachers, high-quality centralized curriculum, outstanding learning and teaching resources, and standardized assessment program. PISA is administered every three years and assesses the international achievement of 15-year-old students in reading, mathematics and science. In Alberta, over 2,400 students from 120 schools participated in the test. Alberta is the only province whose average scores are significantly higher than the Canadian average in every area tested. Participating in international testing is an important component of our learning system. It gives Albertans the chance to see how well our students are doing in relation to other students around the world. In 2000, Alberta students scored the highest of all participants on the reading component of the PISA tests. Alberta students had the third highest rankings in science (behind Korea and Japan) and mathematics (behind Japan and Quebec). In 2000, the tests focused on reading and literacy. PISA 2003 focused on mathematics and a new content area called problem-solving skills. Problem-solving questions test a student's ability to solve real-life situations requiring more than one subject area, such as using a map to calculate the shortest distance between two routes.
A copy of the Canadian results, published in Measuring up: Canadian Results of the OECD
PISA 2003 Study, is available from the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada at www.cmec.ca. For more information on PISA, visit www.pisa.oecd.org.

Investment Income From the Heritage Fund Continues to Benefit Albertans
The Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund contributed almost half a billion dollars to Alberta's General Revenue Fund (GRF) in the first six months of the fiscal year as reported in the 2004-05 Second Quarter Update. The Fund's net income for the six months ending September 30, 2004 amounted to $498 million. The Fund's forecast investment income for the fiscal year 2004-05 is $954 million, an increase of $307 million from the original budget forecast of $647 million. Since March 31, 2004, the fair value of the Fund's investments has increased by $33 million, however, this increase was offset by transfers to the GRF resulting in a net decrease in the Fund's overall fair value. As of September 30, the fair value of the Heritage Fund stood at $11.9 billion down from $12.4 billion at the end of the last fiscal year. The second quarter saw record oil prices and the energy sector led all other sectors in the TSX Index, increasing by 11.2 per cent this quarter. The Canadian dollar rose to an 11 year high affecting the value of the Heritage Fund's U.S. equity investments when translated into Canadian dollars, resulting in lower investment returns. The government's key policy to achieve long-term sustainable performance for the Heritage Fund is to maintain a diversified portfolio, a long-term focus and an exceptional investment management team. Albertans can be assured that the Heritage Fund is strong and it has played a major role in the province becoming debt free. In its 28-year history, more than $26 billion has been allocated to Albertans' fiscal priorities such as debt repayment, health care, education and infrastructure

See Alana's past Newsletters

As the MLA for Calgary Bow, I am always available to assist constituents. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Consituency Office (Calgary):   Edmonton: Toll-Free:

(403) 216-5400 (780) 415-9459 310-0000