Jan 10 2022 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Alberta's chief medical officer of health says the more than 57,000 active cases of COVID-19 in the province are a tiny fraction of the true spread of the virus. "I couldn’t give a specific number, but it’s very clear with 40 per cent positivity rate, that transmission is higher than it’s ever been […]
Jan 10 2022 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Alberta's chief medical officer of health says the more than 57,000 active cases of COVID-19 in the province are a tiny fraction of the true spread of the virus. "I couldn’t give a specific number, but it’s very clear with 40 per cent positivity rate, that transmission is higher than it’s ever been […]
Dec 29 2021 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — It was a speech that symbolized Alberta's pandemic politics in 2021: Premier Jason Kenney’s boastful, bullhorn-loud, first-out-of-the-gate victory whoop over COVID-19 preceding a crushing hospital crisis. In 2022, Kenney and his United Conservative government aim to forge ahead on the economy and catch up on the thousands of surgeries cancelled when hospitals were […]
Dec 28 2021 — Dean Bennett — EDMONTON — The Opposition in Alberta hopes to build on a buoyant 2021 during which the New Democrats outpaced Premier Jason Kenney’s United Conservatives in popularity polls and fundraising. NDP Leader Rachel Notley says the goal for 2022 is to provide ideas on how to build the economy while continuing to demand answers, data and […]
Dec 28 2021 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — The Opposition in Alberta hopes to build on a buoyant 2021 during which the New Democrats outpaced Premier Jason Kenney’s United Conservatives in popularity polls and fundraising. NDP Leader Rachel Notley says the goal for 2022 is to provide ideas on how to build the economy while continuing to demand answers, data and […]
Dec 15 2021 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Alberta is bracing for the Omicron COVID-19 wave by giving away test kits and boosting booster eligibility, but is also relaxing rules to allow both vaccinated and unvaccinated to mix at private gatherings. Kenney says high vaccination rates also allow for more households to get together. “We think this is a reasonable, very […]
Dec 9 2021 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Alberta's United Conservative Party says it will hold a one-day special meeting in April for a confidence vote on the leadership of Premier Jason Kenney. The move comes after a number of UCP constituency associations asked last month for a fast-tracked leadership review of Kenney, saying they had met the requirement of 22 […]
Dec 9 2021 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Alberta’s health minister says the province's backlog of surgeries has stabilized and the government will focus on reducing it over the coming months. Jason Copping says the wait list stood at 68,000 cases before the pandemic began and has been rising and falling as waves of COVID-19 have swept through. He says the […]
Nov 30 2021 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Alberta's budget outlook for this year is turning a rosier shade of red ink with jobs up, the deficit down and oil and gas prices humming along at unexpectedly high levels. Finance Minister Travis Toews says the deficit is expected to be $5.8 billion when the government closes the books on the 2021 […]
Nov 23 2021 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Premier Jason Kenney says Alberta will begin taking online COVID-19 vaccination bookings for youngsters starting Wednesday morning. Kenney says the province has now received doses of the modified pediatric Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children age 5 to 11 and will distribute the vaccines to 120 locations provincewide over the next two days. He says […]
Nov 17 2021 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Two legislature members are asking Alberta’s chief electoral officer to investigate allegations of potential fundraising violations tied to this weekend's annual meeting of Premier Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party. Todd Loewen, an Independent MLA and a former member of Kenney’s caucus, and Opposition NDP critic Thomas Dang have both sent letters to Glen […]
Nov 16 2021 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — A United Conservative backbencher is delivering a blunt warning to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney that his party is in trouble and needs to heed the growing concerns of its members. “We have a caucus I think that is frustrated, and constituents that are frustrated, and of course membership,” Peter Guthrie said Tuesday in […]
Nov 15 2021 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is facing a renewed push from within the ranks of his United Conservative Party to move up a vote on his leadership. Representatives of 22 UCP constituencies have sent a letter to the party's executive saying they have met the required threshold required for a vote on Kenney’s performance […]
Oct 17 2021 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Albertans will cast ballots Monday in a referendum that is technically about rejecting equalization but has morphed into more of a Prairie festivus airing of grievances. "(This) is not about partisan politics," Premier Jason Kenney has said at various times in recent days, when asked about the referendum question. "This is about whether […]
Oct 12 2021 — Dean Bennett — The Canadian Press — EDMONTON — Premier Jason Kenney says the Alberta version of a vaccine passport is helping increase vaccinations and drive down COVID-19 cases, but notes it will be in place until at least the early months of next year. "I fully expect that we will have it in place through at least the first quarter of […]