AlbertaInstitute
- Alberta will ban solar panels from provincial landfills and charge a $14 recycling fee on every new panel supplied in the province beginning October 1st. Environment and Protected Areas Minister Grant Hunter says the program, which the provincial government calls the first of its kind in Canada, will recover valuable materials and build a recycling industry before dead panels start piling up. The fee applies only to panels supplied on or after October 1st, with no charge on panels already installed, and the government estimates it adds $280 to a typical 20-panel residential installation, or less than 1.5% of the cost. By 2045, more than 95% of the solar panels currently installed in Alberta are expected to reach the end of their lives, generating as much as 72,700 tonnes of material. The Business Renewables Centre-Canada, whose members develop and buy renewable power, says it supports a recycling program but describes the fee itself as a "punitive tax", with director Jorden Dye arguing it is more than double the charge in any other jurisdiction the group examined and ignores the salvage value of recovered materials. Dye says the next-highest fee anywhere is Germany's at $5 per panel, and the group estimates the Alberta charge will add about $1 million in upfront costs to an average 38-megawatt solar project.
- The Alberta branch of the Canadian Bar Association has published an analysis warning that many of the proposals Albertans will vote on in the October 19th referendum would face steep constitutional obstacles if a government tried to act on them. The lawyers' group, which takes no position on how people should vote, examined all 10 questions after its members began fielding queries about them. On the separation question, it notes that a province cannot unilaterally leave Canada, though a clear majority on a clear question would oblige the federal government to enter discussions about secession and its possible terms. The four constitutional questions - a provincial role in appointing superior court judges, abolishing the Senate, opting out of certain federal programs, and giving provincial law priority over federal law - would each require constitutional amendments, with Senate abolition needing resolutions from the Senate, the House of Commons, and every province and territory. On the five immigration questions, the analysis says a unilateral provincial cap could run into federal paramountcy problems, charging non-permanent residents for provincially funded supports could conflict with the Canada Health Act, and a new proof-of-citizenship requirement to vote could draw a Charter challenge on equality grounds. The office of Justice Minister Mickey Amery did not address the specific points but said the government has a duty to uphold its citizen-initiated referendum laws and give citizens a voice.
- Saddle Lake Cree Nation says Alberta's restrictions on gender-affirming care violate its Treaty rights, and it plans to write its own health law regulating health care on its lands. Chief Dale Steinhauer says the Nation's responsibility as a rights holder under Treaty No. 6 is to protect the health, dignity, and life of everyone who comes to its territory, and the Nation grounds the new law in the treaty's commitment to keep a medicine chest for the use and benefit of its people. Under the plan, the First Nation would bring in Canadian-trained clinicians to provide gender-affirming care, primary care, and specialist care to members and visitors, and would exempt those clinicians from any sanctions by professional bodies for providing care the Province has banned. Two-Spirit family doctor James Makokis argues that anti-trans laws fail to uphold the spirit and intent of the medicine chest clause. The provincial government maintains that its policies, which include banning puberty blockers for those under 16, are meant to protect children from making life-changing decisions, and it used the Charter's notwithstanding clause in November to shield the legislation after a Court of King's Bench judge granted a temporary injunction on the grounds that the ban was likely to cause irreparable harm. The federal Ministry of Crown-Indigenous Relations said it is committed to the treaty relationship, while Indigenous Relations Minister Rajan Sawhney did not respond to a request for comment.
- Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally says registries will now accept passports that have been expired for less than a year as proof of citizenship for a driver's licence renewal, along with any citizenship certificate recognized by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada rather than the short list accepted before. The change follows weeks of complaints about the province's new integrated licences and identification cards, which carry a citizenship marker and a health-care number and have drawn criticism from the Opposition NDP. Nally, however, says demand has been far higher than expected, with renewals up 33% and only about 1% of applicants needing a 60-day interim licence because they could not produce the right documents.
- Alberta has launched an online portal for businesses to tell the provincial government how US tariffs and Canadian counter-tariffs are affecting their operations, jobs, and growth. The province says the information will be used to identify sector-specific effects, including changes to costs, investment decisions, market access, competitiveness, employment, and supply chains, and to shape its response across affected industries. A cabinet committee has been set up to coordinate that response across several ministries, and Premier Danielle Smith and Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration Minister Joseph Schow recently hosted a meeting of the Alberta Trade Advisory Council to hear directly from industry and business leaders. The announcement quotes business groups saying retaliatory measures fall hardest on small and medium-sized enterprises, with 60% of them importing goods against 20% exporting. The province says it will keep pressing for free and fair trade with the United States and wants the dispute settled through negotiation.
- 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.
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is urging Ottawa and Washington to return to the negotiating table after trade talks collapsed and the US imposed new 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian exports. Smith said the terms proposed by American negotiators were too costly for Canada to accept, but warned that an escalating tariff war would also hurt businesses and consumers on both sides of the border. She expressed concern about Canada’s planned retaliatory tariffs, particularly their potential impact on farmers, manufacturers and small businesses that rely on American imports. While Alberta’s oil and natural gas exports are expected to be less affected, industries such as furniture manufacturing and honey production could face significant challenges. Smith said Alberta’s cabinet will meet Tuesday to review the new trade measures, federal relief plans and the province’s next steps.
- Premier Danielle Smith has called a by-election in the southern Calgary riding of Calgary-Shaw for September 14th. The seat has been vacant since May, when former cabinet minister Rebecca Schulz resigned and later became an executive with oil and gas producer Whitecap Resources. Four candidates have so far said they intend to run: Mike Derry for the UCP, Kyle Campbell for the NDP, Alberta Liberal Party Leader John Roggeveen, and Kyle Joseph, who is seeking the nomination for the new Progressive Tory Party founded by former UCP cabinet minister Peter Guthrie. Nominations close on Thursday. The riding has historically voted conservative, with the NDP winning it only once, in 2015, but some political observers see the vote as a bellwether for next year's provincial election, coming just five weeks before October's referendum.
- The provincial government is delaying new rules restricting which flags schools can fly, a requirement to play the Canadian national anthem weekly, and a change that would give Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides the power to name or rename public schools. The changes, part of an omnibus education bill the Legislature approved in the spring, were to take effect on September 1st to coincide with the start of the school year. The incoming law permits only Canadian and Alberta flags on school grounds, though Nicolaides has said schools will also be allowed to fly the Franco-Albertan flag. Alberta Teachers' Association president Jason Schilling said teachers' biggest questions were about whether Pride, Metis, and francophone flags could still be displayed in classrooms. The ministry says it remains committed to implementing the changes and is taking a thoughtful and measured approach, while other parts of the bill, including a new student code of conduct and digital provincial exams, are still set to take effect September 1st.
- Premier Danielle Smith says a binding referendum on Alberta independence would need to be held in spring 2027 if Albertans vote in October for her government to pursue one. Speaking to UCP members at a town hall in Lethbridge last Tuesday, Smith said the question would have to be settled before the next election. October's referendum will ask Albertans whether they want to remain in Canada or have the government begin pursuing the legal path toward a binding vote. Smith said fulfilling the government's duty to consult First Nations would take at least two and a half months, after which the federal government would need to approve the referendum question and ensure it complies with the Clarity Act. In May, a court quashed Stay Free Alberta's petition for a binding referendum, ruling that the province and Elections Alberta had failed to consult First Nations and other groups, and both the group and the government are appealing. Smith's timeline would put a binding vote in March or April.
- The Alberta Utilities Commission has denied an application from Synapse Real Estate Corp. to build a natural gas power plant that would have powered a massive data centre complex in the town of Olds. The company proposed a 10-building campus with 1.4 gigawatts of power generation, plus 1.8 gigawatts of emergency and backup diesel generation. In a decision published last Monday, the commission said the project was too close to the surrounding community, noting that Synapse itself reported more than 700 residences within 800 meters of the site. The proceeding drew applications from about 1,500 parties wanting to participate in hearings, with standing granted to more than 900, compared to a few hundred in typical cases. The office of Affordability and Utilities Minister RJ Sigurdson said decisions like this prove that the province's framework is working and that its regulatory bodies are protecting the interests of Albertans and their communities.
- Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen says the provincial government will introduce bike lane legislation when MLAs return to the Legislature in late October, after more than 13,000 people used a provincial website launched last month to identify problem bike lanes. Under the plan, a city wanting to build a new bike lane would have to show evidence that it is needed and will not have negative impacts on the community, and would have to make a case to the Province to keep lanes already in place. Dreeshen says the legislation would give the provincial government authority to demand detailed data on any bike lane, including usage, effects on traffic and neighbouring roads, and impacts on local businesses, and to remove existing lanes that do not meet the threshold. He says neither Calgary nor Edmonton has handed over those numbers, and argues that either councils lacked the data when they made the decisions or the data is weaker than they have let on. Dreeshen acknowledges the plan will draw opposition, saying there will be "loud special interest groups" but that the government is not afraid of making the right decisions.
- On another file, Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen says Alberta has eliminated 20 unsafe carriers from its roads and issued 443 administrative penalties since October as part of a continuing crackdown on commercial trucking. Of those, 13 were what the Province calls chameleon carriers, companies that change names, create new entities or relocate operations across jurisdictions to evade regulatory oversight. One of them, Conquer Transportation, was shut down in June after an investigation into a fatal collision in Brandon, Manitoba, found wilful and sustained non-compliance. The carrier was fined $16,500 and had its safety fitness rating downgraded to unsatisfactory, which halted its operations immediately, and Manitoba says the same company had lost its safety certificate there in 2021 before re-registering in Alberta under a slightly different name. Dreeshen also says 5 fraudulent Class 1 trucking schools have been shut down, and that a three-day check stop in May found 20% of the 81 commercial drivers stopped were suspected of being misclassified as independent contractors. Alberta is working with other provinces and the federal government on a national database intended to close the interprovincial data-sharing gap that chameleon carriers exploit.
- Albertans will face 10 questions when they vote in the October 19th referendum. Four of them are related to constitutional issues, asking whether Alberta should work with other willing provinces to name its own Court of King's Bench judges, opt out of federal programs with no loss of funding, establish the supremacy of provincial laws over federal law, and abolish the Senate. Justice Minister Mickey Amery argues that provinces lack a meaningful voice in the appointment of superior court judges, a federal power dating to 1867, and Premier Danielle Smith has said provincial control would help ensure judges reflect Alberta's "distinct legal traditions". The Canadian Bar Association counters that the language implicitly impugns sitting judges, and a retired Court of King's Bench justice said she is at a loss to identify what a distinct Alberta legal tradition would be.
- Alberta has likely accumulated a surplus of $3.8 billion so far this fiscal year, according to University of Calgary economics professor Trevor Tombe, a sharp reversal from the $9.4-billion deficit the provincial government tabled in February. Tombe estimates that every US$1 per barrel change in the price of oil is worth about $680 million to the province's bottom line, and West Texas Intermediate crude sat at US$83.09 on Tuesday afternoon against US$60.50 when the budget was tabled. He calculates that Alberta needs oil at US$66 per barrel to balance the budget, and that at current futures prices the year could instead close with a surplus of roughly $6 billion. Tombe cautions that high prices do not fix what he considers the province's underlying problem, a deepening reliance on a volatile revenue source that will eventually fall again. A press secretary to the minister of jobs, economy, trade and immigration said the Province will publish an update on the impact of oil prices on the deficit later this month, and that the long-term effects remain uncertain. Sustained high prices cut the other way for households, and Tombe earlier estimated that oil holding near US$90 a barrel would cost the average family about $1,000 more a year.
- The Alberta government is delaying some of the changes included in its new education legislation. The postponed measures include restrictions on which flags schools can display, a requirement to play the national anthem weekly, and giving the education minister authority to name or rename public schools. The government says it remains committed to the changes but wants more time to ensure schools and education partners are prepared. Critics, including teachers and the Opposition, have raised concerns about the impact of the flag rules on schools’ ability to recognize different communities and cultures. Other parts of the legislation, including changes to student conduct, provincial exams and school board responsibilities, are still expected to take effect September 1st.
- Premier Danielle Smith and Alberta's public safety minister have criticized the Edmonton Police Service over a social media post that urged residents to report hate incidents. Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis said officers should concentrate on violent crime, theft, illegal drugs, and vandalism rather than policing opinions or hurt feelings, and said the Government would press police agencies to make those crimes the priority. Smith backed him, describing free speech as a foundational Alberta value and warning against a "slippery slope" of policing controversial or religious statements. Critics, including a former member of the Edmonton police commission, called the ministers' intervention an overreach and argued the issue belonged to the police commission, not the Government. Others warned the response could discourage people from reporting hate and undermine public trust in the police. The police service declined to comment.
- A week into Alberta's new self-referral system for medical imaging, clinics and technologists are questioning whether it will work. Under the change, patients can book and pay up front for tests such as MRIs, X-rays and ultrasounds without a doctor's referral, and the Government will reimburse the cost only if a scan uncovers a previously undiagnosed cancer. Some clinics are turning away self-referrals while they work out how the policy operates. Gina McRae of the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists said the province does not have enough technologists to meet current demand, pointing to a shortage her organization estimated at about 202 full-time positions and expected to double by 2028. She warned that patients with no history of cancer could book scans and lengthen waits for higher-risk patients in the public system. Critics also argue nothing in the rules guarantees that publicly referred patients keep priority, raising questions about whether the move edges Alberta toward two-tier care, though the Government says physician-referred tests will still come first.
- The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is urging the Alberta government to scrap its provincial fuel tax as oil prices climb. At a Calgary news conference, the federation's Alberta director, Kris Sims, said drivers pay roughly 27 cents per litre in tax at the pump, including a provincial fuel tax of 13 cents per litre that she argued the Government should remove immediately. Sims said many Albertans had been counting on fuel-tax relief and noted that the province's $100 rebate must be claimed through an online form, which she said is harder for seniors to access. She also called on Ottawa not to restore its 10-cent-per-litre excise tax, which the federal government has suspended. The appeal came with oil trading around $75 a barrel.
- A new report from the Fraser Institute estimates the average Canadian family will pay between $6,464 and $21,115 for public health care in 2026, arguing that most people underestimate the true cost because the system is free at the point of use. The think tank found that a family earning about $88,572 will contribute roughly $8,644 toward health care through taxes, while the top 10% of earners, those making $454,221 or more, will pay about $66,350. Households in the lowest income bracket, earning $17,654 or less, will pay around $637. Comparing insurance costs from 1997 to 2026, the study found the price of public health care has climbed 2.3 times as fast as the cost of food and 1.5 times as fast as the cost of shelter. The authors argue that because Canadians pay for health care indirectly through taxes, they cannot easily judge what they are contributing or what they receive in return.
- Alberta's new integrated driver's licences have led to long delays at registries for some applicants. Rolled out on July 2nd, the cards now embed a person's citizenship status and health care number, and applicants must show proof they are legally in Canada along with photo identification and their health card, where previously a current licence and a piece of secondary identification were enough. Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally acknowledged the added steps are lengthening wait times and said he regrets the stress the process is causing. Some long-time residents have been turned away repeatedly, including a Grande Prairie woman who immigrated in 1975 and made four visits totalling more than four hours at the registry without obtaining a card. Alberta's privacy commissioner has separately raised concerns that putting health numbers on the cards increases the risk of fraud, and the Government is offering an interim 60-day card to those still gathering documents.
- Albertans can now pay out of pocket for MRIs, CT scans, ultrasounds and X-rays without a doctor's referral, under a new self-referral system that took effect last Friday. Patients pay before receiving the test, either directly or through private insurance, and results go straight to the patient and into their electronic health record. If a test leads to a new cancer diagnosis, the patient can claim reimbursement at publicly funded rates for up to a year from the date of diagnosis. Primary and Preventative Health Services Minister Justin Wright says participating private clinics must maintain the same access to physician-referred, publicly funded services they provided before the change. The provincial government says Alberta is the first province to let patients self-refer, pay, and be reimbursed this way, while Alberta Medical Association President Dr. Brian Wirzba warns the change could add to public-system backlogs through false positives and incidental findings. The president of Canada Diagnostic Centres estimates private diagnostic testing could quadruple to 50,000 or 60,000 tests a year, still a small share of the 7 million exams the system handles annually.
- Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier Danielle Smith announced a new Canada-Alberta housing infrastructure agreement in Red Deer last Wednesday. The deal lets Alberta municipalities access more than $510 million in federal funding over eight years through the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund for water and wastewater projects that enable new housing, with the Province contributing at least one third of eligible project costs. Carney claims the agreement will support 750 skilled trades jobs every year. [Editor's Note: Why can't Albertans just pay less to Ottawa in the first place, rather than sending extra money to the federal government and then having to negotiate to get some of it back?]
- Speaking at the same Red Deer announcement, Premier Danielle Smith also pitched changes to Canada's equalization program. Smith says the provincial government's calculations show "have-not" provinces have been overcompensated by $7 billion over the last 5 years, and she wants the escalator that grows the program with the size of the economy removed, with the excess distributed back to provinces on an equal per capita basis. The current formula is largely based on recommendations from a 2006 report, and the federal and provincial governments are due to consult on renewing equalization before March 31st, 2029. Carney said Canadians across the country should have reasonably comparable services and resources, but acknowledged that how provincial resources are calculated will be looked at as the review approaches. University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe notes the formula can discourage receiving provinces from maximizing their own resource revenues, since higher revenues mean lower equalization payments, and suggests any review should also look at other federal transfers such as health funding. While reform of the formula would be an improvement over the status quo, it's a far cry from the complete abolition of the program that 62% of Albertans voted in favour of in 2021.
- Musician Corb Lund's Water Not Coal campaign has filed for judicial review of Elections Alberta's decision to reject its petition calling for a ban on new coal mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains. The petition was submitted last month with more than 196,000 signatures, above the 177,732 required for a citizen initiative, but Elections Alberta's random statistical sampling verified only 172,088. The application, filed in the Court of King's Bench last Wednesday, argues the rejection was unreasonable and procedurally unfair, with Lund saying signatures were disqualified over mismatched middle names and addresses and that verification agents did not prompt electors for missing details. Lund wants a judge to either declare the petition successful or send it back to Elections Alberta. The group is not alone in raising concerns, as organizers of the pro-separation Stay Free Alberta petition, which passed verification earlier in July, are asking for a legislative review of the same process. Elections Alberta says its sampling method is set out in the Citizens Initiative Act and uses the same formula as other North American jurisdictions with similar petition processes.
- The Alberta NDP continues its campaign against new AI data centres this week, announcing additional consultation events in St. Albert and Red Deer to gather feedback on proposed projects. The party says its primary concerns are the potential impacts on electricity demand, water use, and noise in nearby communities. The provincial government says these concerns are unfounded, as any data centre built in Alberta are required to provide their own electricity generation, use closed-loop cooling systems that minimize water consumption, and be built in existing industrial areas away from residential neighbourhoods. The NDP's campaign mirrors many of the arguments used in past anti-development campaigns against Alberta's oil and gas industry, while also reflecting the messaging of far-left environmental activist groups in the United States that have also organized against new data centres on environmental grounds. Supporters of the projects argue that Alberta's competitive electricity market, industrial land base, and abundant natural gas make the province an attractive destination for billions of dollars in private investment, jobs, and tax revenue.
- Construction is set to begin on a new $2.9-billion natural gas pipeline in central Alberta after the provincial power regulator approved the Yellowhead project proposed by Canadian Utilities Ltd. The 235-kilometer transmission line would run from the Peers area in west-central Alberta to the Fort Saskatchewan region northeast of Edmonton, and is expected to carry more than 1.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas, which the company says is equivalent to what Alberta's entire electricity system delivers on a peak day. Jason Sharpe, Chief Operating Officer at ATCO Ltd., the parent company of Canadian Utilities, said the project will help meet Alberta's growing energy needs while supporting economic growth across the province. All major pipeline and compressor contracts have been awarded, and the company expects the work to create about 2,000 direct construction jobs. ATCO has billed the Yellowhead pipeline as its largest-ever energy infrastructure project.
- Alberta's budget picture has improved sharply since the government tabled Budget 2026 in February, with higher oil prices putting the province on track to erase a projected $9.4-billion deficit and possibly finish the year with a surplus. The budget assumed West Texas Intermediate crude would average $60.50 US a barrel, but prices have spent much of the spring and summer above $70 US and at times topped $100 US amid tensions between the United States and Iran. University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe estimates the province is now on track for a modest surplus of about $5 billion if a $70 price holds, a swing of roughly $14 billion in just a few months. Provincial revenues move by about $680 million for every $1 change in the price of oil. Finance Minister Jason Nixon's office said the Government anticipates improvement on the deficit but cautioned that a full-year projection cannot rest on recently elevated prices, with an update due in the next quarterly report at the end of August. Tombe warned that if oil averages below about $68 US for the rest of the year, Alberta would end back in deficit.
- The provincial government has given Alberta's public libraries until January 1st to adopt policies restricting young people's access to materials containing sexually explicit images. Under changes to the Libraries Act passed in May, libraries must ensure that anyone 15 years old or younger cannot use or borrow materials showing a visual depiction of a sexual act without a parent or guardian's authorization, a restriction that covers books, periodicals, comics and graphic novels, films, television programs and video games. Library boards face the same deadline to decide which materials to restrict, how to verify a patron's age, how to handle library cards and computer access for younger users, and how to apply the rules to e-books. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs said that no content will be removed and the aim is to keep libraries family-friendly without affecting adults' access, adding that the changes also expand the power of provincially appointed inspectors to examine any aspect of a library's operations. Rob Miyashiro, the NDP's Shadow Minister for Municipal Affairs, claimed the rules were unnecessary because most libraries already had similar policies, and warned they will raise costs and strain staff, especially at small libraries. Miyashiro said local decision-making would be minimized in favour of a centralized approach.
- Premier Danielle Smith says she trusts Prime Minister Mark Carney to reach a deal with the US that avoids President Donald Trump's threatened new tariffs on Canada, calling the Prime Minister "wise" to hold off on retaliation for now. Smith made the comments in an interview with Global News after meeting Carney and the other premiers in Charlottetown, following the US administration's announcement that some Canadian products will face 50% tariffs, set to take effect on August 19th. Carney says he spoke with Trump and the two agreed to intensify trade negotiations, and while everything remains on the table for potential retaliation, he argues it would be counterproductive to respond in advance. Smith believes pressure from Americans themselves could also play a role, saying the tariffs are raising the cost of homes, food, and everyday products for US consumers. She also welcomed other premiers' support for energy projects Alberta has been championing, including oil pipelines to British Columbia and Ontario, along with new agreements to lift interprovincial barriers on alcohol sales. Smith suggested those deals, and the premiers' vocal support for Alberta remaining in Canada, could influence the upcoming referendum on whether the province should pursue a path to separation.
- Speaking of trade, Premiers from nine provinces have signed an agreement to allow direct-to-consumer alcohol sales, letting Canadians order alcohol for personal consumption directly from producers in participating provinces. The agreement, signed last Tuesday, applies only to sales from producers, not retailers or resale, and follows a July 2025 memorandum of understanding that committed provinces to opening cross-border shipping by May 2026. Until now, interprovincial alcohol sales have largely been funnelled through provincial liquor boards, with listing processes that many small producers have struggled to navigate. David Farran, President and founder of Eau Claire Distillery, said accessing other provinces has been very difficult because government liquor stores decide which products to carry, describing the red tape involved in securing listings as "almost impossible to overcome". The Alberta Chambers of Commerce called the deal a step in the right direction but argued governments should keep the rules simple and minimize compliance costs, while the Alberta Small Brewers Association cautioned that higher shipping costs and beer's shorter shelf life mean the change may not immediately transform business for small breweries. Alberta remains one of only two provinces, alongside Saskatchewan, that allow the sale and import of American liquor.
- The provincial government, Ottawa and five oilsands producers have reached an agreement to advance the Pathways Project, a carbon capture and storage network that would move carbon dioxide from oilsands sites in northern Alberta to an underground storage hub near Cold Lake. Announced last Monday but signed on July 2nd, the deal ties the project to a proposed new West Coast oil pipeline, with both governments committing to fiscal and regulatory policies meant to spur oilsands production growth. Ottawa will extend investment tax credits of 50% on eligible carbon capture equipment and 37.5% on related transport and storage, now valid until 2035, and introduce new credits for enhanced oil recovery. Premier Danielle Smith called it a nation-building partnership, while federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said the producers would ultimately pay for Pathways through taxation incentives and carbon pricing. The project, initially estimated at $16.5 billion, could now cost between $20 billion and $30 billion, with infrastructure targeted to be in service by January 1st, 2032.
- The provincial government has opened a new online form for Albertans to submit concerns about bike lanes in their communities, such as whether a lane is underused or has taken away parking spaces. The Province says the feedback it gathers will inform future policy decisions. Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen says he wants to hear from residents if bike lanes are creating traffic congestion, hurting businesses or prolonging emergency response times. Dreeshen has said legislation is coming in the fall but has provided few details on what it may include. He has argued that transportation networks need to put people first.
- Premier Danielle Smith says close to 800,000 people have applied for the provincial government's new $100 energy rebate, with the first payments expected to reach bank accounts within days. Applications opened on July 2nd for Albertans in households earning under $225,000, and the government estimates 3.4 million people are eligible before the portal closes at the end of September. Smith said the Province is looking at ways to streamline the process after residents reported trouble with an identity-verification requirement that, for some without online banking, meant submitting a photo of their driver's licence and of themselves. She said the validation steps were added as fraud protection, and that about 35,000 applications were flagged in the first week as potentially fraudulent. Smith suggested a simpler fix could involve cross-referencing a line from an applicant's income tax return with Canada Revenue Agency data, with any changes rolled out in the coming weeks. She also said it is too soon to say whether the affordability payments will continue or whether the government will revert to cutting gas taxes at the pump.
- The provincial government is creating seven regional primary care corporations as part of its continuing health-care restructuring, saying the new bodies will cut administrative work for front-line providers and improve access to family doctors, particularly in rural areas. Justin Wright, the Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services, announced last Thursday that the new corporations will operate under Primary Care Alberta and handle regional planning, funding coordination, reporting and oversight. The government says the model responds to recommendations from its earlier review of primary care, during which providers called for a stronger regional approach. Each corporation will align with one of Alberta's seven existing health corridors, covering Calgary, Edmonton, and the central, northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest regions. The regulation creating the corporations takes effect on September 1st, with the organizations expected to begin operating in the spring of 2027.
- Alberta's regulated online gambling market went live last Monday, opening the province to private sports betting companies and online casinos and making Alberta the second province after Ontario to license private operators. Nearly 50 companies paid $200,000 in registration and permit fees ahead of the launch, though Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally said he expects closer to 20 to be ready for customers. The system stems from legislation passed last year, and the Province will collect 20% of each operator's revenue, which the government forecasts will add $76 million to provincial coffers in the first year. Nally says the aim is to protect bettors who previously used the government-owned platform or unregulated offshore sites, with 1% of gross revenue set aside for problem gambling programs and 2% earmarked for First Nations. Critics note the risks, pointing to a University of Toronto study that found calls to Ontario's gambling helpline from men under 24 rose more than 300% since that province opened its market in 2022.
- Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled a proposed 3,300-kilometer pipeline on Monday that would carry western Canadian oil from Hardisty, Alberta, past Regina and Winnipeg to refineries in Sarnia, Ontario. The line, part of what the Premiers call the Northern Shield Energy Corridor, would move an estimated 500,000 barrels a day with possible expansion to 800,000, and would let Ontario stop routing its western oil through pipelines that cross the United States. The project is still in its early stages with no price tag or timeline, and it builds on an earlier energy-corridor agreement among Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan, with an Ontario feasibility study that has cost $11 million so far and is expected to finish by the end of the year. Ford said the Ontario government could own the pipeline and cover construction costs if needed, and Smith said the line could eventually open Alberta oil to European markets. Manitoba has declined to join, with Premier Wab Kinew saying nation-building projects must begin with Indigenous partnership rather than after-the-fact consultation. The proposal comes days after Alberta formally advanced a separate oil pipeline to the British Columbia coast in partnership with Trans Mountain Corp. and Pembina Pipeline Corp.
- Meta announced that the company will spend $13 billion to build a data centre in Sturgeon County, just north of Edmonton, in what the Premier called one of the largest private-sector investments in Canadian history. Meta claims the project will employ 3,000 people at the peak of construction and about 300 full-time staff once operational, and the provincial government says it will generate roughly $250 million a year in royalties, taxes, levies and fees. Meta is also putting about $60 million into local roads and water infrastructure, and the Government says the electricity to power the site will come from a separate $4.6-billion natural gas generation facility that it says will cut the transmission portion of Alberta ratepayers' bills by about 6%. Meta also confirmed that the facility will use a closed-loop water cooling system that draws no water from the surrounding area. Critics remain wary, with environmental activists calling for a moratorium on large data centres until there are legislated environmental protections. Smith said the site was chosen because Alberta's Industrial Heartland has been zoned for heavy industry for four decades.
- The provincial government announced that it is accelerating 41 school projects through its Schools Now program, which it says will deliver more than 39,000 new and upgraded student spaces across the province. Of the 41 projects, 19 are approved for construction funding, and 22 are moving from planning into design, with the Government saying the accelerations cut more than nine months off project timelines. Calgary accounts for 16 of the projects and Edmonton for 11, with the rest spread across communities including Airdrie, Brooks, Chestermere, Red Deer, Sherwood Park, St. Albert, Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie County. Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said a school in the community lets students learn and grow close to home, while Infrastructure Minister Martin Long said getting schools built faster matters to Alberta families. The $8.6-billion Schools Now program launched in September 2024, and the Government says it will deliver roughly 200,000 new or modernized student spaces by the 2031-32 school year.
- Alberta's new Auditor General, Phil Peters, says he expects his investigation into a health-care contracting scandal to be complete by the end of the year, calling it a top priority for his office. Peters took over in late April after Premier Danielle Smith's government opted not to extend the contract of the previous auditor general, Doug Wylie, who had offered to stay two more years to finish the probe he had worked on for more than a year. The review, announced in February 2025, focuses on deals for private surgical facilities, pain medication from Turkey, and COVID-19 personal protective equipment, and is one of several investigations, including by the RCMP, that followed corruption allegations from the former head of Alberta Health Services. Those allegations have not been proven in court, and a government-commissioned report by retired judge Raymond Wyant found no evidence of wrongful interference by Smith, her ministers or staff. Peters said his mandate lets him dig deeper than that review, with the authority to compel records and subpoena witnesses under oath. The former health executive, Athana Mentzelopoulos, alleges she was fired for investigating questionable contracts, while the Government says she was dismissed for incompetence, and the Opposition NDP has called the matter the biggest government scandal in the province's history.
- The provincial government announced Wednesday that it is committing $50 million over 5 years to the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute to expand the use of artificial intelligence across public services and the wider economy. Premier Danielle Smith said Alberta has spent two decades building a world-class AI sector and is now putting that advantage to work, with Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish saying the Province's early bet on AI research had paid off. The funding is drawn from five ministries, with Technology and Innovation and Advanced Education each contributing $15 million, Assisted Living and Social Services $10 million, and Primary and Preventative Health Services and Education and Childcare $5 million each. The Government says it has invested roughly $100 million in the institute since 2002, and notes it is one of three national AI institutes in Canada alongside Mila and the Vector Institute. Institute CEO Cam Linke described artificial intelligence as one of the defining technologies of our time. The Government says the money will fund AI applications in areas including health care and worker training.
- The provincial government submitted its application for the West Coast Oil Pipeline to the federal Major Projects Office last Thursday, seeking to have the project listed as being in the national interest. The proposed pipeline would carry more than one million barrels of oil per day from Bruderheim to a deep-water port on BC's southwest coast, largely following the existing Trans Mountain corridor, a southern route the government says is the fastest and most cost-effective option and one that avoids the federal oil tanker ban on BC's north coast. The government says the project would help meet its goal of doubling Alberta's oil production to eight million barrels per day over the next 10 years, and the province will partner with Trans Mountain Corporation and Pembina Pipeline to build it, answering questions about who would construct the project after months with no private proponent identified. Indigenous communities wishing to partner in the project will be offered equity opportunities through the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation and the federal Canadian Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program. Under the memorandum of understanding signed with Ottawa in the fall, the federal government has committed to a timely review, with the goal of a national-interest listing by October 1st and construction receiving permission (though not actually starting) as early as September 1st, 2027. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said Ottawa's support for the pipeline is linked to building the Pathways carbon capture and storage project, and the province says it is finalizing a tripartite agreement with the federal government and the Oil Sands Alliance on regulatory reforms and growth incentives to expand oilsands production, with details expected in the coming days. British Columbia Premier David Eby said the deal does not require BC to support any pipeline proposal from Alberta, but he acknowledged that pipelines are federal jurisdiction and that the province will not go to court to fight a pipeline project.
- Meanwhile, separatist group Stay Free Alberta has secured a partial win at Alberta's top court in its fight to put its own independence question to voters. Last Monday, Court of Appeal Justice Alice Woolley ruled that the chief electoral officer can resume verifying signatures on the group's referendum petition, which the group says gathered more than 300,000 signatures, and can report the results to the public. However, the judge stopped short of allowing the results to be reported to the justice minister and referred to the lieutenant governor, a step that could trigger a constitutional referendum, saying a full stay risked the petition proceeding to a referendum before the appeal is decided. In May, Court of King's Bench Justice Shaina Leonard quashed the petition, finding the provincial government neglected its duty to consult First Nations and the chief electoral officer made an error in law in approving it. Both Stay Free Alberta and the provincial government have appealed that ruling, and Premier Danielle Smith has since announced a different question for the October 19th referendum, asking Albertans whether they want to remain in Canada or hold a second, binding vote on separation in the future. A date for the appeal has not been set, and Woolley declined to order an expedited hearing.
- The provincial government is directing $100 million toward supporting complex classrooms across Alberta by hiring more teachers, educational assistants, and support staff. Much of the funding will go toward creating 221 new classroom complexity teams, including 158 for grades 7-12 and 63 for kindergarten to Grade 6, with every school district in the province receiving at least one new team. Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said $75 million will go toward hiring the complexity teams, with the remaining $25 million directed to staff support, including a portion set aside to help rural and remote school divisions bring specialized staff to their communities. The teams for grades 7-12 will include one teacher and one educational assistant, with school boards able to hire two additional specialized staff as needed. The money was earmarked for classroom complexity in Budget 2026 and builds on the Province's commitment to hire more than 1,400 teachers, along with the 476 complexity teams for the younger grades announced in February. Alberta Teachers' Association president Jason Schilling called the funding welcome but long overdue, saying classroom complexity was one of the key issues behind the teachers' strike last October.
- The Legislature committee overseeing the panel redrawing Alberta's electoral boundaries voted last Tuesday to let the panel bring on a political scientist and a pollster to offer expertise on voting behaviour. UCP committee members also approved allowing panel chair Brian O'Ferrall, a retired judge, to enlist a lawyer for legal advice. Opposition NDP committee member Kathleen Ganley argued that drawing the map based on how residents might vote would harm Albertans' right to vote, and said the advice will be kept under "the dome of secrecy" after the UCP shut down NDP efforts to make it public. UCP committee member Garth Rowswell countered that the committee is simply approving the panel's ability to hire the people it wants to consult, and accused the NDP of intruding on the panel's independent work. The dispute follows the government's decision earlier this year to set aside most of a report from a previous independent public commission and restart the boundary process, saying it wants to ensure fair representation for rural areas as the province's population shifts to urban centres. The NDP contends the UCP is using rural representation as cover to redraw ridings in its favour ahead of the next election, set for October 2027.
- Elections Alberta rejected musician Corb Lund's Water Not Coal petition last Friday, saying it failed to meet the requirements for a citizen initiative petition. The petition, which called on the province to ban all new coal mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains, needed 177,732 verified signatures, representing 10% of electors in the last provincial election, and while organizers submitted more than 196,000, Elections Alberta says only 172,088 could be verified. The agency says it found duplicate signatures and others with invalid dates or incomplete information during validation, while some signatories later could not be reached or were unable or unwilling to verify their information. Lund said he had "grave concerns" about the fairness of the process, pointing to provincial changes to electoral legislation that quashed his original petition application last year and forced him to reapply. The premier's office said it respects the integrity of the verification process, and that the government is finalizing a new coal development policy that will require new mining projects in the Eastern Slopes to use underground mining techniques to keep selenium out of rivers and will ban new open-pit mine projects.
- 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.
- The provincial government has filed its appeal of the court ruling that quashed the petition seeking a vote on Alberta leaving Canada, arguing that the judge made 14 errors in her decision. Court of King's Bench Justice Shaina Leonard found that the petition should not have been issued under provincial law and that the government neglected its duty to consult First Nations, after a group of First Nations challenged the petition. The campaign's leaders have said almost 302,000 Albertans signed the petition before it was thrown out. In the appeal, filed Wednesday in Edmonton court, the Province argues that issuing the petition did not trigger the duty to consult and that the judge failed to give weight to the democratic purpose of the petition process, though it will not be applying to have the appeal expedited. Stay Free Alberta, the group behind the petition, filed its own appeal last month, making many of the same legal arguments. Premier Danielle Smith, who called the original ruling "anti-democratic", has since announced a separate referendum on October 19th asking whether Albertans want to remain in Canada or start the process toward a second, binding referendum on separation.
- Speaking of the referendum, Elections Alberta has launched the largest recruitment campaign for electoral workers in Alberta's history, saying a minimum of 60,000 workers will be needed for the October 19th vote. The agency says that with 10 questions on the ballot, that workforce is required to meet the 48-hour deadline for completing the unofficial count. It will print 45 million ballots, far more than the 1.8 million ballots cast in Alberta's 2023 provincial election and the 19.8 million cast in the 2025 federal election. By comparison, the 2023 provincial election used 13,095 workers and cost approximately $37 million, while Elections Alberta normally operates with 48 permanent staff. The agency told Postmedia there is currently no budget for the referendum and there will not be one until the fall, with several variables still affecting costs. Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure called the referendum "a colossal undertaking", and the agency noted that the 1995 Quebec referendum required 57,000 electoral workers to assist 4.8 million voters.
- Restaurants, bars, clubs and other businesses with a liquor licence can now serve alcohol starting at 6:00 am under new rules introduced Tuesday by Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis. Previously, the earliest alcohol could be served was 9:00 am, and serving outside the set hours required an application with two weeks' notice spelling out the specific days and hours requested. The government cited a reduction in bureaucracy as a reason for the change, with Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Dale Nally saying it "cuts red tape and makes life easier for Alberta businesses". Restaurants and bars have been receiving permission to serve alcohol during special events for more than 10 years, with few compliance issues. The Alberta Hospitality Association said the change will save businesses time and possibly boost sales, calling the timing helpful ahead of the World Cup and the Calgary Stampede.
- A bipartisan committee of MLAs is exploring whether politicians and caucus staff should be able to claim reimbursement for work-related e-scooter and e-bike rides, adding them to a list that already includes taxi rides, car rentals and some airfares. The Committee unanimously passed a motion Tuesday to see whether corporate agreements are an option with one or more providers, such as Lime, Bird Canada and Neuron Mobility. A report from the Legislative Assembly Office advised against the move, noting that micro-mobility companies generally require riders to assume all risks, which could leave politicians and staff without insurance coverage if injured. The office also said it appears no other province clearly permits politicians and caucus staff to expense e-scooter and e-bike rides. UCP committee member Nolan Dyck, who tabled the motion, said e-scooters and e-bikes are quick and cheap, and that they are showing up across Alberta while the rules have not always kept pace. Legislative Assembly staff have until Friday to report back on whether corporate agreements would be feasible, including whether the companies would waive or modify their standard liability rules.
- Hospitals Minister Adriana LaGrange has ordered an immediate halt to the rebranding of Emergency Health Services Alberta as ALTA Paramedic Health, directing the agency to return to its previous name and logo until further engagement is done. Acute Care Alberta announced the name change on May 15th, with the rebrand set to put new logos on ambulances across the province and new uniforms on paramedics. The government claimed at the time that the change signalled a renewed commitment to high-quality care and accountability. Critics, including the Health Sciences Association of Alberta, the union representing about 3,500 paramedics across the province, called the rebrand a waste of resources that should instead go toward addressing working conditions and staff shortages. LaGrange said she has heard from Albertans and front-line workers about the rebranding and shares their concerns. Union president Leanne Alfaro said paramedics are proud of their identity as first responders and have consistently emphasized putting resources toward strengthening emergency care and retaining the professionals who deliver it. [Editors Note: 0118 999 881 999 119 725... 3]