Premier Danielle Smith says 2025 marked a turning point for Alberta’s sweeping health-care overhaul, with the legal framework for the province’s new system now firmly in place. She says the coming year will be focused on showing Albertans whether the changes deliver measurable improvements. Smith said her government believes the restructuring will lead to better patient outcomes after years of strain on the health system. Alberta is in the process of replacing Alberta Health Services as a single province-wide provider with four separate organizations responsible for acute care, primary car

RCMP in northern Alberta have charged a 42-year-old man with two counts of second-degree murder following a fatal shooting that claimed the lives of a married couple on a rural road near Grande Prairie. Police say officers were called early Saturday to reports of an active shooting near the intersection of Range Road 35 and Township Road 730, north of Grande Prairie. When officers arrived, they found David Lagace, 54, and his wife Michelle Lagace, 44, dead beside their vehicle. Investigators identified Curtis Phillip Halladay as the suspect later that day. RCMP say Halladay was known to the co

Elections Alberta has approved three additional recall petitions against sitting members of the provincial legislature, bringing the total number of active recall efforts across the province to 26. The latest petitions target two United Conservative Party backbenchers, Ron Wiebe and Justin Wright, along with Opposition New Democrat MLA Peggy Wright, who serves as the party’s labour critic. With the new approvals, 24 of the 26 active petitions are aimed at UCP politicians, representing more than half of Premier Danielle Smith’s 47-member caucus. Petitioners seeking the removal of Wiebe and

Alberta’s election authority has approved a proposed referendum question that would ask voters whether the province should separate from Canada and become an independent country. Elections Alberta confirmed the question meets the technical requirements under provincial legislation. The wording asks voters whether they agree that Alberta should cease to be part of Canada in order to become an independent state. The application was submitted by the Alberta Prosperity Project, an organization that advocates for increased provincial autonomy and independence. The group now has until early Januar

The Alberta government says it will move ahead in 2026 with a pilot project that would increase speed limits to 120 kilometres per hour on certain rural divided highways across the province. Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen said the decision follows public feedback gathered through an online survey earlier this fall, when the province asked Albertans whether speed limits should be raised on divided highways. According to the government, about 59,000 people responded, with 68 per cent expressing support for higher limits. Currently, many rural divided highways in Alberta are capped at 110

Elections Alberta has authorized a citizen-initiated recall petition targeting Justice Minister Mickey Amery in the Calgary-Cross riding. The move allows constituents to formally petition for his removal from office. The petition claims Amery has been unresponsive to local concerns and supports policies viewed by some constituents as harmful. Amery, a member of Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party (UCP) caucus, said he remains focused on serving the people of his riding. Amery emphasized that recall legislation is intended for cases of serious ethical violations rather than dis

The board of directors of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation has confirmed Ray Gilmour as the organization’s new chief executive officer, formalizing a role he has held on an interim basis for the past year. AIMCo oversees more than $179 billion in assets, managing pension and investment funds on behalf of public sector workers and government entities across Alberta. Its portfolio includes retirement savings for teachers, health care workers and other public employees, making its leadership decisions significant for thousands of Albertans. Gilmour stepped into the interim CEO role

A man remains in serious but stable condition after being shot by a Calgary police officer during an incident at a northwest CTrain station on Tuesday, according to police. Calgary Police Service says officers were called to the Dalhousie LRT Station parking lot following reports of a man armed with a knife who was behaving aggressively toward a peace officer. When police arrived and located the individual, an altercation took place. During the confrontation, one officer discharged their firearm, striking the man. Emergency medical services transported him to hospital, where police say his con

A man already serving a life sentence for the murder of a Calgary caseworker has been convicted in the killing of a fellow inmate at a maximum-security federal prison in Edmonton. Brandon Newman was found guilty last week of manslaughter in the 2022 stabbing death of 33-year-old Bretton Fisher at the Edmonton Institution. Newman is currently incarcerated for the second-degree murder of Deborah Onwu, a caseworker who was stabbed 19 times at an assisted-living facility in Calgary in 2019. Court heard that tensions escalated inside the prison after Fisher confronted Newman over the earlier killin