Alberta has introduced legislation that would require it to keep a tight rein on spending and continue to pay down its debt.Finance Minister Travis Toews says Bill 10 proposes a new fiscal framework that mandates balanced budgets, limits expense increases and set policies for surplus cash.It would also enable the United Conservative Party government to keep all investment income within the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund.Toews says if all the earnings from the fund had been kept in it over the years, it would now be worth 300-billion dollars.The legislation would also tie future municipal

The Alberta government is promising $92 million in funding for youth mental health. Premier Danielle Smith says the spending over three years would provide critical mental health support for children and youth across Alberta in partnership with CASA Mental Health. The United Conservative Party-led government says the money would fund two new in-patient CASA House sites in Fort McMurray and Calgary. Nicholas Milliken, who is minister of mental health and addiction, says the funding would help more than 700 additional youth in Alberta every year and would reduce the need for hospital

Alberta's top court has increased the sentence of a former club promoter convicted of sexually assaulting several women to 11 years. Matthew McKnight was sentenced to eight years after he was convicted in 2020 of assaulting five women in Edmonton between 2010 and 2016. The Crown asked last month that the Court of Appeal give McKnight a sentence of 15 years, arguing the assaults were premeditated. The Crown had originally asked at trial that McKnight serve 22 1/2 years. Court heard that McKnight offered alcohol to his victims, who were between the ages of 18 and 22, then assaulted them at his d

The Alberta government is pledging more than $27 million in its upcoming budget to help Ukrainians resettle in the province one year after Russia invaded the eastern European country.Rajan Sawhney, minister of trade, immigration and multiculturalism, says the United Conservative government is to continue to support Ukrainian newcomers as the crisis enters its second year.Sawhney says the Alberta government would provide $7 million over the next three years for settlement and language programs as a part of the 2023 budget.The Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services would also provide

The Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police says it believes, based on research it commissioned, that it would be "incredibly premature" to think about decriminalizing drugs.Instead, it says there must be a systemic and ordered approach in place that prioritizes community safety before such a strategy can be considered.A paper, commissioned by the association and released at a recovery conference in Calgary, says problematic use of substances is a complex social issue that needs more than one solution.The research, led by the Community Safety Knowledge Alliance, says the idea of decriminalizin

New research using advanced technology suggests heavy oil facilities in Alberta and Saskatchewan are releasing almost four times the amount of a powerful greenhouse gas than they report to government.The research, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, pioneers new methods of measuring methane emissions that question current industry practice, said author Matthew Johnson, an engineering professor at Carleton University in Ottawa."A lot of these (reports) are done on estimates," said Johnson. "Clearly, they're not very accurate."Methane is a gas emitted as a byproduct of

Premier Danielle Smith will turn to a panel of five oilpatch veterans to advise her government on the future of Alberta's energy industry.The panel will be chaired by David Yager, a longtime writer on the oilpatch.Yager was also a former political candidate for the Wildrose Party, one of the groups that came together to form the United Conservative Party that Smith now leads.The other members of the panel include Hal Kvisle, who sits on the board of Cenovus Energy and has run several other energy companies.Bob Curran is a former director of the Alberta Energy Regulator.Carey Arnett is presiden

Alberta’s health minister says there will be $158 million in the upcoming budget to attract more physicians and other health-care professionals to fill gaps in care.Jason Copping says the workforce is stretched and that demands will only increase as the population ages.The budget is to be delivered on February 28, and Copping says that half of the $158 million will be used for programs to recruit physicians to rural areas, which are feeling the brunt of the doctor shortage.There will also be funds to help underserviced and remote communities, and money to bring in internationally trained nur

The Alberta government is moving ahead with a plan that would give oil and gas companies a tax break for meeting their legal obligations to clean up old well sites, inviting a select group of landowner organizations to a meeting to discuss a pilot project.On Thursday, Alberta Energy Minister Peter Guthrie is scheduled to host those groups to discuss "a concept for a royalty credit program to incent accelerated oil and gas site closure," indicates a government document that outlines the proposed pilot program, obtained by The Canadian Press.That pilot program, previously known as RStar and now