Articles by Dean Bennett

Jun 21 2022 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has announced multiple cabinet changes following resignations tied to his party’s leadership race, with Environment Minister Jason Nixon now taking over permanently as finance minister. “As Alberta continues to experience strong economic growth and job creation, our focus is on providing stable and steady government that will allow this […]

Jun 16 2022 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — An Alberta legislature member investigated by the RCMP after he admitted he hacked into a government health website says he has been cleared of criminal charges. Thomas Dang says in a statement he will instead have to pay a yet-to-be determined fine for contravening the Health Information Act. Dang was removed from the […]

May 31 2022 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews has resigned from cabinet as he starts his campaign to replace Jason Kenney as United Conservative Party leader and premier. Toews, in a statement issued Tuesday, said he wants to focus on healing rifts in UCP, on listening to Albertans and on returning to the party’s core values. […]

May 26 2022 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Alberta's justice minister says people in Edmonton are not being kept safe from violent crime, particularly on public transit, and he's ordering Mayor Amarjeet Sohi to provide answers. Tyler Shandro has told Sohi he's invoking his ministerial powers under the province's Police Act to demand a report within two weeks on what the […]

May 13 2022 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says his government has made strides in adding capacity to hospitals still straining to cope during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kenney announced Friday that 19 of 50 new intensive care beds promised in the spring budget are now available. He said once all 50 are open, Alberta will no longer […]

May 5 2022 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Jason Kenney’s arch-foe in caucus took his fight with the Alberta premier to the floor of the legislature Thursday and received in return a backhanded verbal slap from a cabinet minister. Brian Jean, recently elected as a United Conservative Party member of the legislature, used his first questions in the house to suggest […]

May 2 2022 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Alberta’s health minister says a handful of surgery patients had to be temporarily transferred out of a hospital on the weekend due to staffing issues. “I’m going to put this into perspective: roughly 250 surgeries per week are performed in Red Deer; we had to move seven (patients),” Health Minister Jason Copping told […]

Apr 22 2022 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — An internal feud battering Alberta’s governing party took a new twist after one of Premier Jason Kenney’s senior political staffers went on Twitter and compared United Conservative backbench critics to clowns. The tweet was sent Friday morning by Bryan Rogers, chief of staff to Infrastructure Minister Prasad Panda, less than two days after […]

Apr 21 2022 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Premier Jason Kenney says Albertans are unimpressed with the intraparty melodrama of his United Conservative government and adds that, if anything, he has been too soft on dissenters. “What Albertans expect from their government isn’t a constant soap opera, and they certainly don’t want to see a family feud,” Kenney said, responding to […]

Apr 13 2022 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — A former Alberta justice minister has been found in contempt of court for threatening to sue a plaintiff in the middle of her testimony in a civil trial. Justice Doreen Sulyma ruled Wednesday that a letter sent last week on behalf of Jonathan Denis was an attempt to intimidate Dr. Anny Sauvageau while […]

Mar 28 2022 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says he has been interviewed by RCMP as part of an investigation into potential criminal identity fraud in the 2017 United Conservative Party leadership contest. “I did an interview at (their) request, once,” Kenney said Monday after being asked by reporters. “As I’ve said from the very beginning ... […]

Feb 9 2022 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — Alberta schools, municipalities and businesses are expressing dismay, relief and confusion as they scramble to adapt to the province lifting COVID-19 public health rules with what they say was no consultation and little advance notice. "In the same way we saw restrictions lifted in the past without any meaningful consultation or a demonstrable data-based plan, […]

Feb 8 2022 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Premier Jason Kenney says Alberta's vaccine passport will end almost immediately, with most other big COVID-19 health rules gone three weeks later. Kenney told a news conference Tuesday that the vaccine passport, known in Alberta as the restriction exemption program, would end within hours — at midnight. He said strong vaccination rates, declining […]

Jan 31 2022 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Alberta cabinet minister Doug Schweitzer says he wants answers from a fellow caucus member who attended a truckers protest that has been snarling traffic at the United States border. “I’m disappointed that Grant Hunter made the decision to go there and participate in that illegal blockade,” Schweitzer said. “This is going to be […]

Jan 25 2022 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Alberta Health Services says a patient has died in hospital in Red Deer while awaiting care in the emergency ward. "The patient had been triaged — and later reassessed by emergency department staff — and was waiting for further care in an emergency department space," AHS spokesman Kerry Williamson said Tuesday in a […]