Residents in rural areas northeast of Edmonton have been ordered to leave their homes because of separate wildfires. Thorhild County has issued a state of local emergency and an evacuation order for an area south of the hamlet of Radway, Alta., while Athabasca County has issued an evacuation order for an area south of the village of Boyle, Alta. The village has declared a state of local emergency and is under an evacuation alert, with residents being told to prepare to leave by packing a bag for the next 72 hours. Athabasca County is directing its evacuees to a reception centre at Parkland

A law firm representing women who sued an Alberta municipality over claims of sexual assault, harassment and discrimination says over $9.5 million has been paid out to 155 women whose claims were approved in a settlement. Two female firefighters with the Leduc fire department, south of Edmonton, launched the class-action lawsuit in 2022 claiming they were subject to physical and sexual assault, harassment and bullying while on the job. In a news release late Monday, the law firm of Burnett, Duckworth & Palmer LLP claims the settlement is ``one of the highest per person payouts i

The leader of the sovereigntist Parti Québécois is throwing his support behind a possible referendum in Alberta, saying Premier Danielle Smith is standing up for her province. Paul St-Pierre Plamondon says Smith has used the possibility of a referendum to give her province leverage as she makes demands of the federal government. He says Smith has done more to defend her province's autonomy than Quebec Premier François Legault, who promised not to hold a referendum on sovereignty before he was first elected in 2018. Plamondon says provinces have the right to consult their population on the q

Alberta's premier says a growing number of Albertans are unhappy with Confederation, and she told an online address she will hold a referendum on provincial separation next year if citizens gather the required signatures on a petition. Danielle Smith says Alberta has no choice but to take steps to combat a decade of hostile federal Liberal policies. Smith says she will also chair what she's now calling an Alberta Next panel, hosting a series of town halls to hear ideas and grievances from Albertans. Alberta N-D-P Leader Naheed Nenshi says Smith is coddling people who want to tear Canada a

RCMP say four people, including two teens, have died after a head-on vehicle crash south of Edmonton. Mounties say an GMC Acadia was passing other vehicles on Highway 2A just north of Ponoka on Saturday, when it struck an oncoming Volkswagen Tiguan. They say a 41-year-old woman driving the Acadia died at the scene. A 26-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy inside the other SUV were also pronounced dead. A second 14-year-old boy in the Tiguan was taken by air ambulance to hospital but died. All four were residents of Maskwacis, about 70 kilometres south of Edmonton.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith will deliver a livestreamed address this afternoon to outline the province’s path forward with Prime Minister Mark Carney's government. Smith has said she will be looking to strike a "What's Next" panel to poll Albertans on issues they want to see addressed after last week's federal election. Carney's Liberals won their fourth consecutive term, and Smith has previously warned the prime minister against any "hostile acts" his new government might take against her province. Smith has long accused the federal Liberals of introducing laws and policies she says take

Alberta is reporting 17 new cases of measles, bringing the province's total to 210 since the beginning of March. The government says half the total cases have been recorded in the province's south zone, including 13 of the new cases. It says 26 of the total cases are considered active and could be transmitted to others. As of last week, 11 Albertans have been hospitalized with the highly contagious disease. More than 170 of the cases have been in children, with almost 60 seen in those under five. Measles symptoms include fever, coughing, a runny nose, red eyes and a blotchy,

A jury has found a Calgary man guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a woman on a downtown street three years ago. Twenty-nine-year-old Michael Adenyi is charged with first-degree murder in the 2022 death of fitness instructor Vanessa Ladouceur on a downtown street. Adenyi has said he was hallucinating and believed he was attacking a creature when he attacked the woman and his lawyers say he is not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder. He followed Ladouceur for nearly two blocks before body checking her into an alcove and stabbing her several times, in

The idea of Alberta opting out of the Canada Pension Plan isn't going anywhere -- at least for now. Premier Danielle Smith says she won't be putting the creation of a provincial pension plan to a referendum any time soon. Smith says she doesn't think Albertans have ``an appetite'' to pull out of the national pension program, and says the issue is further clouded by lack of detail on how much the province would get if it left. In December, Canada's chief actuary published a report saying Alberta's perceived stake of the Canadian Pension Plan's overall assets was substantially over