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- The provincial government has committed $320 million to expand cardiac care at Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge. The funding, announced Wednesday, will redevelop the hospital's cardiac catheterization lab and expand its intensive care and cardiac care units, raising the facility's total number of beds to 54. Infrastructure Minister Martin Long said design work will begin this month and construction next month, with the project expected to be finished by the end of 2031. Long said the hospital plays a vital role in delivering health care across southern Alberta, while Hospital and Surgical Health Services Minister Adriana LaGrange said Albertans deserve timely access to care close to home.
- Also on the health-care file, Alberta's new dual-practice health system took effect on September 1st, allowing doctors to offer privately paid services while continuing to work in the public system, beginning with elective procedures such as hip and knee replacements. The provincial government says close to 400 specialist physicians have expressed interest in taking part, though a formal application process must still be completed before any privately funded surgeries occur, which the province expects later this fall. Premier Danielle Smith says the change does not violate the Canada Health Act and that she expects Ottawa to respect the province's jurisdiction over health care, arguing that Albertans who choose to pay for eligible elective surgery should be able to do so at home rather than travelling out of province. The provincial and national doctors associations and the Opposition NDP have criticized the model as two-tier care that benefits those who can afford to pay while draining the public system. Opponents rallied at seven locations across the province, with the group Friends of Medicare urging Ottawa to enforce the Act by withholding health transfers, and federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel's office said she is in advanced discussions with her Alberta counterpart.
- On another file, Alberta's Opposition NDP is calling on Premier Danielle Smith to fire Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally over problems with the province's new integrated identification cards, which since July 2nd have combined a resident's driver's licence with their health number and a citizenship marker. Gurinder Brar, the NDP's critic for the department, said constituency offices have been swamped with complaints from residents confused and frustrated by the changes, and cited a Grande Prairie woman who was turned away four times while trying to renew her identification despite presenting several documents. Brar said the party would make a single combined card optional, offer a standalone health card, and remove the citizenship markers, which he called discriminatory, noting that the privacy commissioner has warned that requiring a health number and citizenship on a licence puts privacy at risk. Nally defended the cards, saying driver's licence and identification transactions rose 33% in July compared with a year earlier and that a citizenship marker makes it easier for Albertans to prove eligibility for provincial benefits. He said the change brings Alberta in line with every province except Manitoba in requiring health coverage to be renewed, and that residents needing more time can receive a 60-day grace period.
- The provincial government will remove Water Act approval and wetland replacement requirements this fall for routine farming on private cropland, allowing producers to drain, ditch, and fill certain temporary and seasonal wetlands without first obtaining provincial permission. The exemptions will cover activities such as cultivating, direct seeding, spraying, surface-water drainage, and infilling. Under the current system, a farmer whose work affects a temporary wetland can be required to hire a qualified wetland professional, complete an assessment, wait for a government review, and pay wetland replacement costs. Environment and Protected Areas Minister Grant Hunter said the change restores private property rights and gets government out of the way where it is not needed, saving farmers time and money. Water managed under the exemptions must remain on the farmer's property and cannot adversely affect neighbouring land. The Government also plans to replace the approval process for tile drainage with a code of practice, which it expects to complete in early 2027.
- Alberta drivers paid an average of $1,903 for auto insurance last year as premiums rose 8.7%, according to a new report from the Automobile Insurance Rate Board, the independent agency that approves auto insurance rates in the province. The report found that third-party liability costs, largely legal and litigation expenses, made up 58.2% of the premiums drivers paid, and that insurers still lost about nine cents for every dollar of coverage sold in 2025. The Insurance Bureau of Canada said the figures show the current system is broken and strengthen the case for the province's planned Care-First model, which would shift the emphasis from lawsuits to medical treatment and recovery benefits for people injured in collisions. Aaron Sutherland, the bureau's vice-president for Western and Pacific Canada, said legal costs remain the largest pressure on premiums and that the planned changes cannot arrive soon enough. The report also found the cost of repairing vehicles has risen roughly 27% in recent years.