Janet French

Janet French

Alberta bill would stop provincial entities from considering diversity, equity and inclusion in hiring

New Alberta legislation seeks to stop the provincial government and other public entities from considering diversity, equity and inclusion in hiring decisions. Justice Minister Mickey Amery tabled legislation Tuesday that would prevent the provincial public service, provincial Crown corporations, publicly funded post-secondary institutions, schools board and municipalities from hiring employees based on “personal characteristics,” according to a government news release.

Janet French

Alberta referendum could be target for foreign interference, CSIS says in new letter to NDP - Premier's press secretary says NDP are 'fearmongering'

Alberta’s fall referendum could be a target for foreign interference, and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service is monitoring the risks, the agency says in a new letter to the leader of the Alberta NDP. Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi posted the letter online in a social media post on Sunday. He said he wrote to CSIS in June to ask...

Janet French

Alberta separation petition signature sheets remain locked up after court ruling - Alberta government to appeal decision to defend its citizen initiative law

Alberta’s chief electoral officer Gordon McClure says he accepts a court’s ruling overturning his decision to authorize an Albertan to gather signatures for a proposed independence referendum. Boxes containing sheets with potentially hundreds of thousands of signatures supporting a separation referendum remain locked in a secure Elections Alberta facility, and employees will not count or verify those signatures for now...

Janet French

Elections Alberta estimating 33 million ballots required for October referendum. Alberta’s chief electoral officer says the province’s list of electors shouldn’t be shared with any political parties until the legislature makes changes to better protect Albertans’ personal information. Speaking to reporters for the first time since his announcement last month that the personal information of nearly three million voters may...

Janet French

Alberta government projects $9.4B deficit with no plan to return to balanced budgets

The once debt-free Alberta government projects three consecutive years of red ink and increased borrowing to fund critical public services.

Janet French, Nicholas Frew

Danielle Smith vows to fight federal firearm 'seizure' program next week

Ottawa offers voluntary program on banned assault-style guns. The Alberta government will introduce a motion this week under provincial sovereignty legislation to defy the federal gun buy-back program, Premier Danielle Smith announced Saturday during a speech at the United Conservative Party’s annual general meeting. Smith said the motion, if passed by the legislature, will instruct “provincial entities,” including municipalities and...

Janet French

Alberta premier's husband invited to passenger rail meetings as province mulls expansion plan

Danielle Smith says husband is an adviser, invited to deepen understanding of industry. As Alberta's transportation minister prepares to unveil a passenger rail strategy this summer, freedom of information documents obtained by CBC News show that Premier Danielle Smith's husband, David Moretta, was invited to three meetings in 2023 about passenger rail and its potential expansion in the province.

Janet French

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wants to strategize on provincial sovereignty with Quebec's premier

Alberta premier supports some ideas proposed in recent Quebec panel report on autonomy. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith would like to have a tête-à-tête with Quebec Premier François Legault about asserting their provincial sovereignty, according to a letter Smith wrote last month. "I see an opportunity before us, as the democratically elected leaders of Alberta and Quebec, to chart a path...

Janet French

Q&A: Why Alberta Premier Danielle Smith sided with Trump about border issues in trade spat

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's 2024 was a year of following through on her promises — from health-care reforms to support for the oil and gas industry — even as her opponents fought her ideas. In a year-end interview at the legislature in early December, Smith reflected on a few pressing issues.

Janet French

Rachel Notley: Alberta's progressive politics giant prepares to step aside

Toward the end of the 2015 Alberta election campaign, NDP Leader Rachel Notley summoned her four-member caucus to an Edmonton hotel room with little explanation. "I thought, 'Oh my God, what's happening?'" said David Eggen, who was campaigning to keep a north Edmonton seat. "And she said, 'I think we're going to win.' And that was just the jaw-dropping moment."...

Janet French

Province did everything it could to prepare for winter surge in power demand, minister says

Alberta's affordability and utilities minister says the provincial government did everything it could to prepare for a surge in demand for power that utilities might not be able to meet. "It was a learning experience," Minister Nathan Neudorf told reporters in Edmonton on Monday. "Hopefully, we won't have that experience again." Record-breaking cold temperatures, little sun or wind during times...

Janet French

Considering her future: A Q&A with Opposition leader Rachel Notley

Weeks after being relegated to the Opposition benches in the 2019 provincial election, NDP leader Rachel Notley was already spelling out her ambition for 2023 — to defeat the newly United Conservative Party and once again become premier. Notley says her party got "two-thirds of the way" to that goal in the May election when Danielle Smith's UCP won 49 seats to the NDP's 38.