chair, as an "independent, non-partisan group of experts to conduct a deep dive into Alberta’s fiscal situation" in fulfillment of an election promise. Kenney has promised to balance the budget by 2022-2023. MacKinnon was the Finance Minister in Saskatchewan under the NDP Premier Roy Romanow in the 1990s. The MacKinnon panel, which includes Dave Mowat, who was formerly president of ATB Financial, Mike Percy who was formerly a dean at the University of Alberta, Kim Henderson, Bev Dahlby, and Jay Ramotar, is tasked with providing the report by August 15 that will provide guidelines for the fall 2019 provincial budget. In order to study the results of the report, Bill 9 was intended to delay bargaining with public sector unions until October 31 to incorporate the report's findings. On May 7, MLA Deron Bilous said "there is no way Kenney's government can balance the budget by 2022 while cutting corporate taxes and without slashing public services." Opposition According to the Edmonton Journal, "[u] nion leaders have called the bill an "egregious attack" on the collective bargaining rights of 180,000 Alberta workers, including government employees, nurses, teachers, health professionals and others." Those who opposed the bill, including the official opposition, the Alberta New Democratic Party, led by former-Premier Rachel Notley, were concerned that it would result in public sector contracts not being honoured by the province. The bill affects the contracts of teachers, nurses, "social workers, hospital support staff, prison guards, conservation officers, toxicologists, restaurant inspectors, therapists and sheriffs" and other public service employees. Unions By May 25, 2019, Phyllis Smith, Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE)'s independent arbitrator "ruled in favour of following the previously agreed upon terms of the collective agreement" and denied the UCP government's request to "delay wage-adjustment arbitration for tens of thousands of AUPE members". In 2018, AUPE members, Provincial Government Services, AHS General Support Services, and AHS Nursing Care, had "ratified collective agreements" which included "wage-adjustment arbitration to be held no later than June 30, 2019." On May 13, Toews said that halting wage arbitration "for the final year of the current three-year contract" between the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) and their employers—Alberta Health Services, Covenant Health, Lamont Health Care Centre and the Bethany Group—was "the responsible thing to do." Toews would not confirm if the UCP government would "seek wage rollbacks." According to a June 6 CBC report, the Alberta Labour Relations Board