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- Hospital and Surgical Health Services Minister Adriana LaGrange announced that eligible Alberta doctors will be able to work in both the public and private systems starting this fall, with an expression of interest process opening June 22nd and formal applications later in the summer. To qualify for dual practice, physicians must also complete a minimum number of public-system hours, which the Government says will be set by specialty and region and will serve as a safeguard, and doctors who fail to keep up those hours will lose their dual-practice status. LaGrange said the model will help shorten wait times, arguing the status quo is not working, and that eligible procedures include non-hospital surgeries such as carpal tunnel release and joint surgery, while cancer and other life-threatening procedures are excluded. Family doctors are excluded unless they hold a subspecialty in anesthesia or surgical skills, and dual-practice physicians must keep separate private records and report to the Government. The provincial government compares the approach to systems in Sweden, the United Kingdom and France, but NDP critic Sharif Haji called it an American-style two-tier system that Smith did not campaign on in 2023, and urged the Government to put it on a ballot.
- On the fiscal front, Premier Danielle Smith announced that Albertans with combined household incomes of $225,000 or less who filed a 2025 tax return are eligible for a one-time, tax-free payment of $100 under the new Alberta Energy Rebate, with applications opening July 1st. The Government estimates about 3.4 million Albertans will receive the money, and Finance Minister Jason Nixon said roughly 70% of residents will qualify. The rebate replaces the fuel tax relief program that paused part of the provincial fuel tax when oil prices were high, and Smith said it directs more dollars to those who need it most, whether or not they drive. The Government's treasury has benefited from high oil prices tied to conflict in the Middle East, with West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark Alberta uses, reaching as high as $104 a barrel on May 19th. Critics called the amount too small to matter. The plan has invited comparison to former premier Ralph Klein's $400 cheques in 2006, though Alberta's finances are weaker now than they were then.
- Smith is also pushing back after a group of Indigenous chiefs accused her of potentially treasonous activity for calling a fall referendum on Alberta's place in Canada. The Assembly of Treaty Chiefs, which represents Treaty 6, Treaty 7 and Treaty 8 First Nations across the province, voted unanimously to ask the RCMP to examine whether the referendum amounts to criminal treason by Smith and her United Conservative Party. The chiefs argue the vote is an intentional violation of the treaty relationship, ignores risks to Canada's sovereignty, and has proceeded despite what they describe as significant risks of foreign interference. Smith called the accusation disgraceful, saying she has had her own differences with the federal government but has never used such language, and that it has no place in a democracy. She said her government and the assembly have a collaborative relationship she wants to continue, and asked the chiefs to respect Alberta's pursuit of a new relationship with Ottawa that respects provincial jurisdiction. Albertans are set to vote on October 19th on whether to remain in Canada or begin the process toward a second, binding referendum on leaving the country.
- Ahead of that vote, the provincial government has commissioned the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy to analyze the cost of Alberta leaving Canada and formed an expert advisory panel to review the work, at a combined cost of up to $1.5 million, according to a spokesperson for Finance Minister Jason Nixon. The panel is led by economist Jack Mintz and includes former Saskatchewan NDP finance minister Janice MacKinnon, former Alberta finance minister Ted Morton, Business Council of Alberta president Adam Legge, and Cenovus Energy board chair Alex Pourbaix. The School of Public Policy's Director, Martha Hall Findlay, said the report will assume separation is legally possible and estimate the cost of Alberta delivering services the federal government now provides, from passports and the RCMP to aviation regulation and the military, with completion expected by the end of summer. Premier Danielle Smith has estimated that quitting Confederation could cost the province $400 billion plus an annual price tag of up to $50 billion, while separatist leaders peg startup costs at no more than $5.7 billion.
- Finally, Premier Danielle Smith says it may be too late to add a question on banning new coal mining to the October 19th provincial vote, despite a petition led by musician Corb Lund that delivered more than 200,000 signatures. If Elections Alberta verifies the required 178,000 signatures, the Government would be forced either to consider a law banning new coal mining or to send the question to a province-wide referendum. Smith said Elections Alberta needed all final questions by June 1st to prepare, and with signature validation still underway, the petition could instead go to a legislature committee. She said that the committee could recommend a province-wide vote in October of 2027, and warned that a bill could get complicated because existing legislation requires compensation when private property rights are taken away. Lund has said he expects the Government to use the petition's exact wording, including project-specific development bans, and does not trust it to do so.