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Alberta

COVID19 spreading events – Premier Kenney asks Calgary and Edmonton residents to stop hosting gatherings

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From the Province of Alberta

Strong public health measures are being implemented to protect the health system and limit the spread of COVID-19.

Expanded mandatory and voluntary limits on social gatherings are now in place to help reduce growing caseloads.

New COVID-19 measures

  • Effective immediately, new mandatory and voluntary public health measures will help protect the health system and limit the spread of COVID-19.
    • All Edmonton and Calgary residents should stop holding social gatherings within their homes and instead socialize in structured settings where it is easier to limit risk of exposure.
    • The mandatory 15-person limit on social gatherings is being expanded to all communities on the watch list.
    • Voluntary measures to limit cohorts to no more than three and to wear masks in the workplace unless able to safely distance are also strongly recommended for any community on the watch list, regardless of location.
  • Additional measures to bolster Alberta’s public health response:
    • AHS is prioritizing the hiring of about 380 additional contact tracing staff that will expand the contact tracing team to more than 1,100 people.
    • To support contact tracing, all Albertans should download ABTraceTogether, Alberta’s contact tracing app.
  • Alberta will also be shifting back to daily reporting of case numbers and information, including on weekends and holidays.

Latest updates

  • To date, 24,684 Albertans have recovered from COVID-19.
  • There are currently 6,822 active cases in the province.
  • Over the last 48 hours:
    • 802 new cases were identified on Nov. 4
    • 609 new cases were identified on Nov. 5
  • Alberta labs have now performed 1,869,192 tests on 1,305,540 people.
  • There were nine additional deaths since Nov. 3, bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths to 352.
  • All zones across the province have cases:
    • Calgary Zone: 2,886 active cases and 10,966 recovered
    • South Zone: 398 active cases and 2,216 recovered
    • Edmonton Zone: 2,819 active cases and 8,713 recovered
    • North Zone: 431 active cases and 1,821 recovered
    • Central Zone: 255 active cases and 914 recovered
    • 33 active cases and 54 recovered cases in zones to be confirmed
    • Additional information, including case totals, is online.
  • There are 392 active cases and 1,631 recovered cases at continuing care facilities; 221 facility residents have died.
  • School case information will be updated on Monday.

Updated contact tracing approach

  • Alberta is piloting a targeted contact testing approach. This will make contact tracing faster and focus on populations at greatest risk of illness and further spreading COVID-19.
  • Alberta Health Services will directly notify close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases in three priority groups only:
    • health-care workers
    • minors (parents will still be notified if their child has been exposed in a school setting)
    • individuals who live or work within congregate or communal facilities
  • AHS will no longer directly notify close contacts outside of these three priority groups, at this time.
  • Albertans outside the priority groups who test positive will be asked to notify their own close contacts.
  • AHS will continue to directly notify all positive cases of COVID-19 of their result, identify priority contacts that AHS will notify, and provide the case with guidance on notifying their own contacts.

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Alberta

Canada’s postal service refuses to help with Trudeau’s gun ban buyback program: report

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

According to a report, Canada’s mail service notified the Trudeau government via a letter that it would not participate in the buyback scheme, citing safety concerns for its employees.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal government crackdown on legal gun owners through a buyback scheme has hit a major roadblock after Canada Post, a federal-run institution, signaled it will refuse to participate in scooping up thousands of legally purchased firearms at the bequest of the government.

According to government sources in a recent Radio-Canada report, the Trudeau Liberals were hoping Canada Post would help collect approximately 144,000 “assault” and “military-style” firearms that were recently banned by the government. Canada Post currently delivers guns via mail that are legally purchased to those with firearms licenses.

The inside source, who chose not to be named, noted that Canada Post notified the Trudeau government via a letter that it would not participate in the buyback scheme, citing safety concerns for its employees.

According to the source, Canada Post is still talking with the federal government, with one idea being to allow it to transport guns but not oversee getting them from their legal owners.

“It’s a challenge, but we do not think this jeopardizes our timetable or the government’s desire to move forward,” said one source, adding, “We want the discussions to continue.”

As for the Trudeau federal government, it continues to say that having Canada Post be involved in the gun buyback is the “most efficient” as well as “least costly” way to get the guns back from owners.

Trudeau’s gun grab was first announced after a deadly mass shooting in Nova Scotia in May 2020 in which he banned over 1,500 “military-style assault firearms” with a plan to begin buying them back from owners.

Late last year, the Trudeau government extended the amnesty deadline for legal gun owners until October 30, 2025. It should be noted that this is around the same time a federal election will take place.

The Canadian government’s controversial gun grab Bill C-21, which bans many types of guns, including handguns, and mandates a buyback program became law on December 14, 2023, after senators voted 60-24 in favor of the bill.

Alberta and other provinces promise to fight Trudeau’s gun grab tooth and nail

On the same day news broke that Canada Post said it would not participate in Trudeau’s gun buyback, Alberta chief firearms officer Teri Bryant last Wednesday issued a statement saying, “We urge the federal government to abandon this ill-advised program and meaningfully consult the provinces as we work to address the actual causes of firearms crime.”

“Canadians are still waiting for concrete details about the federal firearms confiscation program that has been in the works since 2020, and Canada Post’s refusal to participate in the federal government’s firearms ‘buy-back’ program is just one more example of how little forethought or engagement has gone into implementation of this program,” Bryant said.

Bryant noted that the buyback will not “significantly improve public safety” because it does not target those “involved in criminal activity and gun violence, and Albertans can be assured that our government will continue to advocate for our law-abiding firearms community.”

“We believe in a principled and informed approach to firearms policy that preserves public safety and recognizes the immense responsibility that comes with firearms ownership,” she noted.

Bryant observed that the federal confiscation program is not only causing uncertainty for many firearms businesses, but it is also “pulling attention and resources away from programs and initiatives that would help address public safety.”

“It is also undermining public confidence in the fairness of our entire firearms regulatory scheme,” she added.

Indeed, LifeSiteNews reported in February that despite Trudeau’s crackdown on legal gun owners, Statistics Canada data shows that most violent gun crimes in the country last year were not committed at the hands of legal gun owners but by those who obtained the weapons illegally.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, along with premiers from no less than four additional provinces, are opposed to C- 21.

Late last year, Smith promised she would strengthen the gun rights of Albertans because of Trudeau’s gun grab.

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Alberta

Alberta threatens to fight Trudeau government restrictions on Canada’s plastics industry

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

“If the federal government refuses to abide by the constitution, we will take them to court again to defend our jurisdiction and the thousands of Albertans who work in the petrochemical sector”

Alberta has rejected the Liberal government’s “unconstitutional” federal plastics registry and production limit.

In an April 25 press release, Alberta’s Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz promised to take Liberal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault to court over his proposal to create a plastics registry, mandating companies to report their plastic production and implementation.

“If the federal government refuses to abide by the constitution, we will take them to court again to defend our jurisdiction and the thousands of Albertans who work in the petrochemical sector,” Schulz declared.

“This unilateral announcement is a slap in the face to Alberta and our province’s petrochemical industry, and the thousands of Albertans who work in it,” she continued.

Guilbeault’s plan, set to be implemented in September 2025, would mandate that businesses record how much plastic they place on the market in addition to the amount of plastic waste generated on their commercial, industrial, and institutional premises.

Companies would then report that amount to the federal government. The plan exempts small businesses which produce less than one tonne of plastic each year.

However, Schulz explained that the registry would negatively affect Alberta, as “plastics production is a growing part of Alberta’s economy, and we are positioned to lead the world for decades to come in the production of carbon neutral plastics.”

“Minister Guilbeault’s proposal would throw all of that into jeopardy and risk billions of dollars in investments. This includes projects like Dow Chemical’s net-zero petrochemical plant in Fort Saskatchewan, a $9-billion project that will create thousands of jobs,” she warned.

“If the federal government limits plastic production in Canada, other countries like China will just produce more. The only outcome that this federal government will achieve will be fewer jobs in Canada,” she explained.

Schulz’s statement comes after the November decision by the Federal Court to rule in favor of Alberta and Saskatchewan, declaring that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government overstepped its authority by classifying plastic as “toxic” and banning all single-use plastic items, like straws.

Essentially, the ruling overturned Trudeau’s 2022 law which outlawed manufacturing or importing plastic straws, cutlery, and checkout bags on the grounds of government claims that plastic was having a negative effect on the oceans. In reality, most plastic pollution in the oceans comes from a few countries, like India and China, which dump waste directly on beaches or in rivers.

The November ruling was only one of two recent court rulings that have dealt a blow to Trudeau’s environmental laws.

The second ruling came after Canada’s Supreme Court recently sided in favor of provincial autonomy when it comes to natural resources. The Supreme Court recently ruled that Trudeau’s law C-69, dubbed the “no-more pipelines” bill, is “mostly unconstitutional.” This was a huge win for Alberta and Saskatchewan, which challenged the law in court. The decision returned authority over the pipelines to provincial governments, meaning oil and gas projects headed up by the provinces should be allowed to proceed without federal intrusion.

The Trudeau government, however, seems insistent on defying the recent rulings by pushing forward with its various regulations.

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