Sep 24 2021 — Bill Graveland — CALGARY — Two tea houses in one southern Alberta community have become an example of the uncertainty caused by the government allowing businesses to make up their own minds about what is essentially a vaccine passport. Restaurants, bars and pubs have been debating whether they will require a vaccination record before patrons are allowed to […]
Sep 7 2021 — Bill Graveland — CALGARY — Former member of Parliament Kent Hehr is throwing his hat in the ring to become Calgary's new mayor. Hehr has become the 28th candidate seeking to replace longtime Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who announced earlier this year he did not want to seek re-election. Hehr served two terms as a legislature member for the […]
Aug 26 2021 — Bill Graveland — CALGARY — Plans are underway to create a permanent memorial for victims of Canada's residential schools to replace a fire-damaged one that includes hundreds of children's shoes on the steps of Calgary City Hall. The temporary memorial, which also has stuffed animals and a child's bicycle, was blessed by Indigenous elders in a pipe ceremony […]
Jul 21 2021 — Bill Graveland — CALGARY — Canada's environment minister says extreme weather conditions across the country should be a wake-up call for people resisting taking action against climate change. Wildfires are raging out of control, forcing residents out of their homes, in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. A state of emergency goes into effect in B.C. on Wednesday to […]
Jul 20 2021 — Bill Graveland — CALGARY — The federal government has provided the final piece of the puzzle to allow a controversial reservoir that could protect Calgary from future flooding to move forward. Alberta Transportation proposed the $432-million off-stream reservoir near the rural community of Springbank, which is west and upstream of Calgary. The project, which will divert water from […]
Jul 12 2021 — Bill Graveland — CALGARY — Premier Jason Kenney says Alberta will not be following the lead of Quebec and Manitoba on vaccine passports. Quebec intends to bring in the passports, beginning in September, for anyone wanting to visit non-essential businesses in parts of the province where the COVID-19 rate is high. Manitoba has been issuing proof-of-immunization cards to […]
Jul 1 2021 — Bill Graveland — CALGARY — Protesters surrounded Alberta's health minister, his wife and two young sons Thursday at the conclusion of a Canada Day parade and a celebration of the lifting of most COVID-19 restrictions. Tyler Shandro's wife Andrea was in tears and the minister held one of his sons close, putting his hands over his ears while […]
Jul 1 2021 — Bill Graveland — CALGARY — Alberta lifted almost all its remaining COVID-19 restrictions Thursday, but many businesses said they are taking a more cautious approach as things start to return to normal. There are no more limits on indoor and outdoor social gatherings, no more capacity limits on restaurants, stores and places of worship. Weddings and other celebrations […]
Jun 26 2021 — Bill Graveland — CALGARY — The Lethbridge Police Service has delivered a revamped plan to the province's justice minister aimed at fixing problems that led to a threat that the service could be disbanded. The department in Alberta's third-largest city has, among other things, faced allegations of officers conducting illegal database searches for personal use. Police Chief Shahin […]
Jun 21 2021 — Bill Graveland — Calgary won't be following provincial recommendations on the mandatory wearing of masks when all COVID-19 health restrictions are lifted in Alberta on July 1. Alberta reached its Phase 3 goals earlier this month which required 70 per cent of the population receiving a first dose of vaccine and low hospitalization rates. After a lengthy meeting […]
Jun 16 2021 — Bill Graveland — LIVINGSTONE RANGE, ALBERTA — Two mountain goats stubbornly refused to get up from their resting spot Wednesday in the middle of a gravel road heading into the eastern slopes of Alberta's Rocky Mountains. Like the two goats, many rural landowners in the region aren't budging from their opposition to the province's plan to allow open-pit […]
May 8 2021 — Bill Graveland — Jennifer Coffman didn't expect to get hit with a double whammy at her restaurant in the tiny community of Field just west of the Alberta-British Columbia boundary this year. Coffman has been running the Truffle Pigs Bistro and Lodge for the last 12 years. Field, with a population of just under 200, sits along the […]
May 7 2021 — Bill Graveland — Ronald Smith sounds tired. Despite good news last month, when a bill to resume executions in Montana was unexpectedly defeated, the Canadian on death row in that state is in a sombre mood. Smith, originally from Red Deer, Alta., has been facing capital punishment since 1983 for killing two young Montana men in 1982. "I […]
May 1 2021 — Bill Graveland — CALGARY — Michelle Benz thought she was playing it smart when she went back to school after being laid off from the oil and gas sector six years ago. She completed her bachelor of urban planning at the University of Calgary, but she's frustrated that the job market in her chosen field has dried up […]
Apr 29 2021 — Bill Graveland — HIGH RIVER, Alta. — Jamie Welsh-Rollo was all smiles Thursday as COVID-19 vaccination clinics began at two of Canada's largest beef-packing plants in southern Alberta. Welsh-Rollo, who is a union steward and works on the line packaging meat at Cargill, said there was an "air of excitement" inside the plant, which employs 2,200 people. "It's […]