Alberta's electricity ``rate of last resort''starts today, replacing the province's previous default rate forconsumers who don't have a contract. The rate is set at about 12 cents per kilowatt hour until 2027. It's meant to shield against price spikes, as the previous option fluctuated from month to month. Retailers must confirm with customers whether they want to sign on to a competitive rate, which can be much lower. Albertans also start paying today a tax on vaping products to fall in line with existing federal taxes. The governments say the tax is meant to discourage vapin

Mounties in central Alberta have charged a man with second-degree murder. Officers responded to a call Saturday about a man on a streetcorner near downtown Red Deer suffering from injuries caused by a bladed weapon. The man died at the scene. He has been identified as 43-year-old Anthony Spiller of Red Deer. Police say a suspect was located nearby and arrested. An 18-year-old man from Red Deer was remanded into custody and is set to appear in court later this week.

Alberta's opposition NDP leader, Naheed Nenshi, is seeking a riding to contest a seat in the legislature. The former Calgary mayor has been leading the party for six months but is not yet an MLA. The United Conservative Party (UCP) is closely watching his moves. It is believed he may declare his riding for the 2025 provincial election. Rachel Notley, who led the NDP for many years, announced her resignation in January this year. In June, Nenshi was elected as leader in a landslide victory. After Notley stepped down, her seat in Edmonton-Strathcona became vacant. Nenshi has expressed intere

Alberta's opposition New Democratic Party has won the provincial byelection in Lethbridge-West, holding onto a riding it has held since 2015. According to the unofficial vote count late Wednesday night, the Elections Alberta website reports that NDP candidate Rob Miyashiro secured 7,239 votes with all 57 polls reporting. The United Conservative Party's John Middleton-Hope trailed him by 1,150 ballots. The Alberta Party's Layton Veverka finished the race a distant third with only 233 votes. Early vote results showed 18 per cent of the riding's 37,000 eligible voters had cast adv

A lawyer challenging a new Alberta law affecting transgender youth says he is dismayed by Premier Danielle Smith's intention to use the notwithstanding clause if required. The new law bans doctors from providing gender-affirming treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for those under 16, and prohibits gender-affirming ``top'' surgeries for minors. For months Smith has dismissed the notwithstanding clause question as moot given she believes the new restrictions would withstand a legal challenge. But on her Saturday radio show Smith confirmed she would invoke the notwithstanding

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says using the notwithstanding clause to shield her government's transgender health restrictions is on the table as a ``last resort.'' A provincial law will ban doctors from providing gender-affirming treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for those under 16 and halt gender-affirming ``top'' surgeries for minors. On her radio call-in show this weekend, Smith says she's willing to invoke the notwithstanding clause, a measure that allows governments to override certain Charter rights for up to five years. Smith says she doesn't want to take the ste

Former Alberta premier and NDP Leader Rachel Notley is leaving the legislature. Notley announced on social media that, as of Dec. 30, she is resigning as the legislature representative for Edmonton-Strathcona. In the statement, Notley thanks her supporters and constituents, but does not discuss what she plans to do in her post-political life. Notley served as Alberta’s 17thpremier after she and the NDP won a majority government in 2015. They served for four years before losing to Jason Kenney and the United Conservative Party in 2019 and again in 2023 to the UCP under Danielle Smith. Notley

Family of an Indigenous man whose braids were cut and thrown away while he was staying in an Edmonton hospital want answers. Eve Adams says this past spring she went to visit her husband Dexter at Edmonton's Royal Alexandra Hospital only to find the 84-year-old's braids, his eagle feather and some medicine had been put in the garbage can. Dexter's niece Kathleen Crowe says in the months that have followed the family has never received an explanation or an apology from hospital staff. Crowe says the braids held a deep cultural meaning, and to have them cut off without her uncle's

L-G-B-T-Q advocate organizations say they're working as quickly as possible to ask a court to stop the government from bringing into force an Alberta law they say will cause immediate harm. The law will ban doctors from providing gender-affirming treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for those under 16. Bennett Jensen of Egale (EE'-gal) Canada, says along with Skipping Stone and five Alberta families, they will call for an injunction to protect young people's access to health care while the courts decide whether the law is constitutional. In documents filed with the Court of