Parks Canada has confirmed that last year’s devastating wildfire in Jasper was sparked by lightning and intensified by strong winds and exceptionally dry conditions. Two new reports released by the agency outline how the July 2024 blaze destroyed roughly one-third of the community and forced about 25,000 residents and visitors to evacuate. The studies, commissioned following the disaster, found that existing fuel reduction work — including prescribed burns — helped limit the wildfire’s spread. However, they also concluded that larger and more frequent burns could have further reduced d

Vote counting in Alberta's municipal and school board elections has resumed. Few results were available after polls closed Monday night, as rule changes made by Premier Danielle Smith's government require votes be counted by hand rather than with machines. As of this morning, fewer than 25 per cent of polls for Edmonton's mayoral race have reported, with longtime councillor Andrew Knack leading over fellow councillor Tim Cartmell. In Calgary, unofficial results have former councillor Jeremy Farkas unseating incumbent mayor Jyoti Gondek, who has conceded. Jasper Mayor Richard Ire

The Edmonton Chamber of Commerce says the provincewide teachers strike is starting to take a toll on businesses as it enters its ninth school day. Chamber president Doug Griffiths said while the organization remains neutral in the dispute, many employers are struggling with staff absences and reduced customer traffic. “It’s impacting everyone,” Griffiths told reporters Thursday, adding that many parents are staying home to care for children affected by school closures. About 51,000 teachers represented by their union walked off the job on October 6, leaving roughly 740,000 students out o

Alberta's finance minister says there's a major divide between what the union representing striking teachers is asking for and what the government is willing to spend. Nate Horner says in an interview with CHED radio host Shaye Ganam that the union's latest contract proposal would require almost $2 billion more in spending than government has set aside for a deal. Horner says he was hoping for a more reasonable ask from the Alberta Teachers' Association, whose 51,000 members went on strike Oct. 6. The union's proposal was the subject of a bargaining meeting Tuesday, the first time the two side

Alberta's government says it expects to receive a final report today from the investigation into allegations of corruption over health contracts. Former Manitoba judge Raymond Wyant was hired in March to review multimillion-dollar contracts for children's medication and for surgeries by for-profit providers. He was to determine whether any staff with the Health Ministry, Alberta Health Services or companies involved in the contracts properly disclosed and dealt with any potential conflicts of interest. The allegations stemmed from a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed earlier this year by the fo

Negotiations between the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) and the provincial government are scheduled to resume today, marking the first formal talks since thousands of teachers walked off the job on October 6. The provincewide strike has now entered its sixth day, leaving more than 740,000 students across 2,500 schools out of classrooms. The dispute centres on wages and class sizes. The government’s last proposal, which teachers decisively rejected late last month, offered a 12 per cent salary increase over four years and a plan to hire 3,000 additional teachers. Finance Minister Nate

Alberta's education minister says cutting government funding to private schools would only escalate the pressure faced by the province's strained public school system. Demetrios Nicolaides says thousands of children would need to find new schools to attend, likely public schools, which he says are already under immense pressure. The funding cut is a move one Calgary teacher is hoping to put to a vote. This week Alberta's chief electoral officer approved the teacher's proposed referendum question, which asks: ``Should the Government of Alberta end its current practice of allocating

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is in Ottawa this week, following up on her now week-old pledge to help fund the development of a proposal for a new oil pipeline to Canada's West Coast. Smith is hopeful the project _ which as of yet has no private sector proponent or a suggested route option _ can be submitted for consideration by Prime Minister Mark Carney's new Major Projects Office by next spring. Smith met with Carney on Monday at the Ottawa airport, just before he boarded a plane to Washington, where he is to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump. Speaking to reporters in a br

As a provincewide strike by Alberta's teachers enters its second day, a labour expert says in terms of sheer size, it is already making history. Jason Foster, a labour relations professor at Athabasca University, says the strike by 51,000 members of the Alberta Teachers' Association makes it the largest labour walkout in provincial history. Foster says the last teachers' strike was in 2002 and involved less than half that number, at 21,000. The current action affects more than 740,000 students across 2,500 public, separate and francophone schools. The two sides are at odds over