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- Premier Danielle Smith announced on Tuesday that the Province will suspend its 13-cent-per-litre fuel tax on gasoline and diesel from October 1st until the end of the year. Under Alberta's Fuel Tax Relief Program, the tax is fully removed when West Texas Intermediate crude averages more than $90 a barrel, and it averaged $90.54 during the latest review period. The Province estimates the change will bring the average price of gas from about 175.5 cents to about 162.5 cents per litre, and it warns that businesses caught price gouging face fines of up to $300,000 or up to two years in jail. The move reverses the government's decision in June to keep the tax and instead offer a one-time $100 rebate to households earning $225,000 a year or less, which Albertans can still apply for until September 30th. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation welcomed the suspension, while NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said the government is now implementing a policy it spent months arguing against, only after losing the Calgary-Shaw by-election to his party. The next review period, running from November 17th to December 15th, will set the quarterly rate for January 1st, 2027.
- Premier Danielle Smith is floating a $1,900-per-person fee for temporary residents to access public health care, ahead of the October 19th referendum question on charging certain non-permanent residents a fee or premium for health care and education. Smith pointed to the United Kingdom, where adult visa applicants pay about $1,950 a year for health care, and argued that people who are in Alberta temporarily should pay their own way. She claims Alberta's 246,000 temporary residents cost more than $1 billion a year in health care and education while contributing $150 million in provincial tax revenue, though those estimates have faced scrutiny over how the revenue figure was calculated. Calgary Chamber of Commerce president Deborah Yedlin warned that the fee would add to business costs, with employers likely to cover it for lower-wage workers in thin-margin sectors like hospitality. NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi called Smith "out of touch" and noted that temporary workers already pay taxes. Finance Minister Jason Nixon said the government would consult before deciding whether current temporary residents would be exempt, and that any legislation would likely not take effect until after the 2027 provincial election.
- Premier Danielle Smith also says her government is considering changes to the Municipal Government Act that could let councils in larger municipalities operate more like the provincial cabinet, holding private briefings and then debating issues in public. Speaking at the Alberta Municipalities convention in Edmonton on Wednesday, Smith said constituents have raised concerns about municipal governance and that councils should conduct their business in public, as the Province has to. The issue gained attention after a Calgary Councillor leaked a confidential document from a closed-door meeting that showed a potential 20% property tax increase to cover $510 million in funding requests. Alberta Municipalities president Dylan Bressey pushed back, saying councils use in-camera time judiciously and that he does not think the province has a transparency issue. Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack also said he would prefer not to have private meetings before public discussions. Bressey instead asked the Province for 10% of its $2-billion surplus, about $200 million, for municipal infrastructure, noting that provincial infrastructure funding for municipalities has fallen by 50% over 10 years.
- Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides announced on Tuesday that two new mandatory Grade 10 courses are ready for field testing: a revised Career and Life Management course and a new physical education and wellness course. The revised course puts more emphasis on career planning and financial literacy, and it would replace the existing Career and Life Management 20 course, which was last updated in 2002. Under the proposed changes, sexual health education would move out of Career and Life Management and into the physical education and wellness course. A new junior high science curriculum is also being prepared, adding lessons on artificial intelligence, coding, and machine learning, along with more content on green energy sources, fossil fuel extraction, carbon capture, and critical minerals. Teachers can apply to field test the new drafts starting in October, with updated drafts expected in spring 2027, optional pilots in fall 2027, and the new material becoming mandatory in fall 2028. Alberta Teachers' Association president Jason Schilling warned that the changes add to the workload of teachers already piloting new junior high curricula in four other subjects, and said physical education teachers are concerned that health lessons are cutting into students' active time.
- The Province is working on a potential framework that would let municipalities allow and enforce the use of privately owned e-scooters and other micromobility devices. Privately owned e-scooters are currently not allowed on municipal property in Alberta, while companies like Lime and Bird operate in the bigger cities through a provincial exemption for approved vendors. A spokesperson for the transportation ministry said the framework could be one of several changes to modernize the Traffic Safety Act, but gave no timeline. Premier Danielle Smith said on September 12th that the Province could set limits on speed, where the devices can go, rider age, and protective gear, and invited Albertans to send feedback to the transportation ministry. Alberta Municipalities, which has advocated for a provincial framework for years, hopes to see a change this fall that would take effect by spring. Its president, Dylan Bressey, wants municipalities to decide where e-scooters can be used, though he says he could support provincewide limits on things like speed or weight.