A police oversight board says it has dismissed a complaint that a southern Alberta police chief allegedly broke public health restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. It comes after a former deputy chief with the Lethbridge Police Service had claimed Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh violated a public health order by taking a chaplain out for lunch in March 2021. A disciplinary hearing by the Lethbridge Police Commission concluded Monday and dismissed the allegations. An agreed statement of facts says Mehdizadeh and the chaplain were masked and properly socially distanced throughout the lun

The Mayor of Squamish says two properties are on evacuation order due to slope instability from a wildfire. Armand Hurford says the Dryden Creek wildfire remained at nearly 60 hectares in size yesterday, but burned tree roots and wildfire crews have reported large trees falling and disturbing debris. Squamish Fire Rescue Chief Aaron Foote says the wildfire service is now the lead agency on the blaze, and cooler temperatures and rain are expected this week. Foote says Squamish has a busy fire department even without a wildfire, and about 57 wildfire fighters remain on the Dryden Cree

Alberta has surpassed 900 cases of measles since the beginning of March. Data from the provincial government's dashboard shows 53 more cases were confirmed over the weekend, bringing Alberta's total to 932. The case count is the highest the province has seen in more than 40 years. Alberta Medical Association president Dr. Shelley Duggan has said Canada is at risk of losing its measles-elimination status come October and that she doubts cases will be brought under control before then. Health Canada says measles was eliminated in 1998 after being ruled no longer endemic. Alberta's governm

A union representing 30,000 health-care workers in Alberta is calling on Premier Danielle Smith's government to reverse course and provide free COVID-19 vaccines to all front-line workers and any other Albertan who wants the shot. The Health Sciences Association of Alberta says that is the best way to protect patients, reduce hospitalizations, and keep the health-care system strong. Smith says the aim of the new policy, announced last week, is to prevent wastage, recover costs, and protect those who need it the most by giving them the COVID shot for free. However, most Albertans

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her government's new policy forcing many Albertans to pay out of pocket for a COVID-19 vaccination is about focusing on those who need it the most. Smith says $135 million got ``flushed down the drain'' last year from doses wasted in part because of low vaccine uptake. Her government will still pay for some, including for those who have compromised immune systems or are on social programs, to get shots. Smith says she thinks low vaccination rates for COVID-19 in Alberta last year are because the vaccine ``doesn't work particularly well.''

A former health agency C-E-O is asking a judge to deliver a quick decision on her wrongful dismissal lawsuit against the Alberta government. But the province says it will push back. Athana Mentzelopoulos (MENT-suh-LOW-po-luss), the former head of Alberta Health Services, has applied for a summary judgment on the legality of her firing, which would keep the case from going to trial. Her lawsuit alleges she was improperly fired after investigating questionable, multimillion-dollar health contracts. She says her version of events will be confirmed by former A-H-S board members, if t

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and three of her ministers got an earful from southern Alberta locals at a rowdy, hours-long town hall to discuss the province's coal policy. About 500 people, dressed in cowboy hats, belt buckles, and jeans, packed a community hall in Fort Macleod, Alta., for an event marked by heckling, competing applause, and placards. The premier and her ministers of energy, environment and agriculture took questions and were shouted down on several occasions by attendees as they defended changes to the province's coal policy. The town hall came weeks after the

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her government is working to entice a private-sector player to build a crude pipeline to coastal waters. She urged attendees at the Global Energy Show to keep up the pressure on Ottawa to help speed along such a nation-building project. Smith has been enthusiastic about reviving a plan to ship oilsands crude to Prince Rupert on the northern B.C. coast for export to Asia. But she says that's never going to happen as long as there's a tanker ban in place on the West Coast. Smith is also keen on accessing global markets via a pipeline to the Port of Churchill i

Alberta is buying American alcohol and gambling machines again, three months after restrictions were announced to combat U-S tariffs. Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally says the province's decision signals ``sets the stage for more constructive negotiations'' ahead of the renewal of the Canada-United States-Mexico trade agreement. After U-S President Donald Trump placed heavy tariffs on Canadian goods and energy, the Alberta government responded in March by saying it would no longer buy American alcohol, gambling machines, or sign contracts with U-S companies. Other premiers at