Today marks one year since roughly 25,000 tourists and residents of Jasper, Alta., were forced to flee on a single highway, after several runaway fires were discovered in Jasper National Park. There's expected to be solemn reflection in the beloved mountain town, as events are held to remember the evacuation and the flames that incinerated neighbourhoods two days later. A third of the town's structures were destroyed despite firefighters' best efforts. It's estimated about 2,000 people were displaced by the fire. A ceremony is scheduled with Mayor Richard Ireland and federal Emergency Manageme

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she is disheartened by a report into last summer's Jasper wildfire that she says unfairly criticizes and minimizes the contributions of her government. Smith, in a statement on social media, says the report and media coverage of it are “politically motivated,” but doesn’t elaborate. The report, based on surveys of firefighters and others, says Smith’s government complicated the response to the fire, which destroyed a third of the Jasper townsite. It says the province regularly requested information and attempted to make decisions despite not being j

An Independent candidate running in a rural Alberta byelection says she has stopped door-knocking because of death threats. Sarah Spanier says she has told Mounties about the online threats, which she attributes to her advocacy for transgender people. She says she has received some messages stating she will be met with a shotgun if she knocks on doors. Spanier is one of almost 80 candidates running in Battle River-Crowfoot, with voters going to the polls Aug. 18. The riding was won handily by Conservative Damien Kurek in the April general election, but Kurek stepped down to all

A report commissioned by the town of Jasper says crews did their best to fight last year's devastating wildfire but the Alberta government complicated the response. The report was based on surveyed participants and firefighters who battled the blaze that destroyed much of the mountain town. It says the Alberta government wasn't jurisdictionally responsible to lead the crisis but made things more difficult with regular information requests and by seeking to exercise decision-making authority. The report says incident commanders had their focus disrupted and were forced to spend precio

A Calgary man convicted of manslaughter in the death of his five-year-old grandson has been granted statutory release from prison. The Parole Board of Canada says in a decision that Allan Perdomo Lopez is to have no contact with children. The now-65-year-old was sentenced in 2019 to nine years after Emilio Perdomo died of a traumatic brain injury. Five months earlier, the boy had been sent to Canada from Mexico by his mother for a better life. Court heard the boy was subjected to months of physical abuse, with bruising and scars found all over his body. The trial heard a recor

Premier Danielle Smith and her Alberta Next panel were in Edmonton Wednesday for the second in a series of summer town halls, but ran into a far less supportive crowd than the night before in Red Deer. Smith launched the panel to address public concerns over Prime Minister Mark Carney's election win and gauge interest in new ways Alberta could wrestle some power away from Ottawa. The ideas proposed by Smith's panel include creating a provincial pension plan, the Alberta Revenue Agency, and launching a new immigration permitting system. The proposals had clear support in Red Deer, but

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and her panel of appointees will hear from another town hall today on the province's game plan to push back against the federal government. The first Alberta Next town hall in Red Deer yesterday saw most attendees applaud ideas aimed at seizing control from Ottawa. That includes pulling out of the Canada Pension Plan and creating a provincial police force to replace the RCMP. Tonight, the panel will be pitching its tent in Edmonton, a city that remains a political stronghold for the Opposition NDP, led by Naheed Nenshi. Smith has said she believes in a sov

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and a hand-picked panel are set to hold the first in a series of town halls to address public concerns with the federal government.Some 650 people are expected at today's event in Red Deer as Smith and the 15 other members of the Alberta Next panel hear about grievances inspiring separatist sentiment in the province. The government is dedicating time at the event to several strategies it's pitching to wrest more control from the federal government, including pulling out of the Canada Pension Plan and withholding social services from some immigrants.There will a

Alberta has surpassed the United States in confirmed measles cases, after 30 new cases were diagnosed over the weekend. The province has now seen 1,314 cases since the beginning of March. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 1,288 cases so far this year across 39 states. The outbreak of the highly contagious disease hasn't led to any deaths so far in Alberta. Three people, including two children, have died in the United States. The U.S. has also seen more hospitalizations, with the CDC reporting 162 people have been hospitalized compared to just over 100 Albertans.