Alberta's health minister says a third party has been called to help investigate reports of government interference in medical contracts. The third-party will assist in a review being conducted by Alberta Health Services, but the government says it retains overall control of the investigation. Reviews by A-H-S and the province's auditor general were launched after the former head of the health-care body claimed she was fired for raising the alarm on overpriced contracts with private surgical centres and suppliers. A-H-S has said it will suspend awarding contracts to firms at the centre of it

Demolition has begun on a downtown Calgary shopping centre that was to be the site of a future light rail transit station. An earlier version of the multibillion-dollar Green Line project was to tunnel under downtown to a station where Eau Claire Market had been. But the Alberta government said it would pull its funding under that configuration, and pushed for an elevated track through downtown that connects to the existing rail network. The market, built in 1993 beside the Bow River, never quite lived up to its promise of becoming like Vancouver's Granville Island, and is to be removed despi

Alberta's law society is to hold a hearing to sanction former provincial justice minister Kaycee Madu. Madu was found guilty of misconduct last year when, as justice minister in 2021, he phoned Edmonton's police chief after receiving a traffic ticket. Madu told a hearing last year he didn't call Chief Dale McFee about the ticket, but was looking for reassurance that he wasn't being racially profiled or illegally surveilled. A panel of law society members determined that while Madu didn't ask McFee to do anything about the ticket, he did try to use his position of power to influenc

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she's not sure which recommendations from a controversial new COVID-19 report her government will implement. Doctors have slammed the $2-million review by a government-appointed panel that calls for limits on COVID-19 vaccines and for health professionals not to be punished for promoting alternative treatments. Smith says critics of the report are trying to control the narrative and that she doesn't want to see ``contrarian voices'' shut out when reviewing pandemic response measures. She says getting those perspectives is needed in order tomake go

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith will announce a new provincial fund today. Her government says it will increase the Heritage Savings Trust Fund from $250 billion to $400 billion by 2050. Finance Minister Nate Horner will also be in Calgary with her. Smith’s government has promised to cut interest on the province’s general revenue each year and increase investment. The fund was started in 1976 by former Premier Peter Lougheed to set aside revenue, but successive governments have begun to withdraw money from it. It was valued at $23.4 billion as of September, and Horner has promised to add $

Four people have been charged in Calgary after thousands of dollars worth of clothing and merchandise were stolen from a Lululemon store. Police say four people entered the downtown business last Thursday afternoon and left with items worth over six-thousand-dollars. They say witnesses were able to describe the getaway vehicle, which led police to a residence where the suspects were found and the stolen goods recovered. Officers took five people into custody. Police released one of the men after learning that one of them was not involved in the theft. The stolen property has been returned to

The organization representing Alberta physicians is calling out a government panel's COVID-19 report as “anti-science.” Dr. Shelley Duggan, head of the Alberta Medical Association, says the report sows distrust by going against proven preventive health measures while promoting fringe methods. She says the report advances misinformation, speaks against international scientific consensus, and its recommendations have the potential to cause harm. The $2-million report calls for the government to halt COVID-19 vaccines without the full disclosure of risks and to end their use for healthy chi

Ottawa's former chief trade negotiator Steve Verheul says Alberta is undermining Canada's attempts to prevent the U.S. from levying damaging tariffs. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has rallied most of the premiers to agree that all sectors of the Canadian economy could be deployed to fight back against U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all imports from Canada. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said that Canada should not threaten the U.S. with retaliatory tariffs or cutting off energy exports, and should focus instead on finding common ground. Verheul says Alb

A former Calgary teacher has been charged with sexually assaulting two students in the 1990s. Police say they were made aware of the allegations last year when the male complainants came forward. They say one had tutoring sessions with the teacher after school, where it's believed the man inappropriately touched the 12-year-old. Police say the second student, also 12 at the time, didn't have classes with the teacher but spent a great deal of time with him and was allegedly assaulted at the man's home and in his vehicle. The accused, who is now 80, faces five charges, including two counts of