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Alberta

Dr. Deena Hinshaw says Alberta is flattening the curve

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It’s official.  The province’s chief medial health officer believes Albertans are flattening the curve.   In her daily COVID-19 update, Dr. Deena Hinshaw was asked if Albertans are flattening the curve and she confirmed that appears to be the case as the numbers of new cases are noticeably lower than they have been and they’ve been that way for days now.  Since May 2, there have been less than 100 new cases a day.  You can hear this exchange in the Q and A session right after Dr. Hinshaw’s statement.

Update from the province

Recovered cases make up more than half of Alberta’s cases of COVID-19 at 3,552.

Seventy new cases have been reported, bringing the total number to 5,963.

Six more Albertans have died.

Latest updates

  • Cases have been identified in all zones across the province:
    • 4,003 cases in the Calgary zone
    • 1,111 cases in the South zone
    • 503 cases in the Edmonton zone
    • 229 cases in the North zone
    • 91 cases in the Central zone
    • 26 cases in zones yet to be confirmed
  • Of these cases, there are currently 82 people in hospital, 19 of whom have been admitted to intensive care units (ICU).
  • 730 cases are suspected of being community acquired.
  • The total deaths are 112: 79 in the Calgary zone; 15 in the North zone; 12 in the Edmonton zone; five in the South zone; and one in the Central zone.
  • To date, 632 cases have been confirmed at continuing care facilities, and 82 residents at these facilities have died.
  • There have been 946 cases in workers from the Cargill meat processing plant in High River, with 798 recovered.
  • There have been 566 cases in workers from JBS Foods Canada in Brooks, with 434 recovered.
  • Thirty-eight cases have been confirmed at Harmony Beef since March and 12 have recovered.
  • There have been 160,185 people tested for COVID-19 and a total of 170,509 tests performed by the lab. In the last 24 hours, 3,494 tests have been completed.

Here’s a graph from Alberta Health showing the growing gap between the active cases of COVID-19 and the recoveries.  Within just a couple of days that gap between the number of recovered and the number of active cases has stretched to 1300.

 

That’s good news for hospitals.  As you can see in this graph the number of hospitalizations is down significantly in every region of the province.

The number of cases in Red Deer is down to 4 now after another recovery.   2 more cases were diagnosed in the last 24 hours in Central Alberta.  There are now 91 total cases in Central Zone.  The new cases are in Vermillion County near Lloydminster and Mountain View County which includes Olds, Sundre, Didsbury, and Carstairs.  There are 11 active cases in Central Alberta.  Here is the breakdown

  • Red Deer City – 36 cases – 4 active
  • Red Deer County – 13 cases – 2 active
  • Mountain View County – 7 cases – 2 active
  • Vermilion River County – 4 cases – 2 active
  • Clearwater County – 3 cases – 1 active
  • Stettler County – 3 cases – 0 active
  • Lacombe County – 3 cases – 0 active
  • Ponoka County – 2 cases – 0 active
  • Kneehill County – 2 cases – 0 active
  • Camrose City – 2 cases – 1 death – 0 active
  • Wetaskiwin City – 8 cases – 0 active
  • Lacombe City – 2 cases – 0 active
  • Beaver County – 2 cases – 0 active
  • City of Lloydminster – 1 case – 0 active
  • Camrose County – 1 case – 0 active
  • Minburn County – 1 case – 0 active
  • MD of Wainwright – 1 case – 0 active

 

And here are the total number of cases in Alberta.

Bruce Cockburn gives thumbs up to cover of perfect song for Mental Health Week

 

After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

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Alberta

Median workers in Alberta could receive 72% more under Alberta Pension Plan compared to Canada Pension Plan

Published on

From the Fraser Institute

By Tegan Hill and Joel Emes

Moving from the CPP to a provincial pension plan would generate savings for Albertans in the form of lower contribution rates (which could be used to increase private retirement savings while receiving the same pension benefits as the CPP under the new provincial pension), finds a new study published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

“Due to Alberta’s comparatively high rates of employment, higher average incomes, and younger population, Albertans would pay a lower contribution rate through a separate provincial pension plan while receiving the same benefits as under the CPP,” said Tegan Hill, director of Alberta policy at the Fraser Institute and co-author of Illustrating the Potential of an Alberta Pension Plan.

Assuming Albertans invested the savings from moving to a provincial pension plan into a private retirement account, and assuming a contribution rate of 5.85 per cent, workers earning the median income in Alberta ($53,061 in 2025) could accrue a stream of retirement payments totalling $454,741 (pre-tax)—a 71.6 per cent increase from their stream of CPP payments ($264,968).

Put differently, under the CPP, a median worker receives a total of $264,968 in retirement income over their life. If an Alberta worker saved the difference between what they pay now into the CPP and what they would pay into a new provincial plan, the income they would receive in retirement increases. If the contribution rate for the new provincial plan was 5.85 per cent—the lower of the available estimates—the increase in retirement income would total $189,773 (or an increase of 71.6 per cent).

If the contribution rate for a new Alberta pension plan was 8.21 per cent—the higher of the available estimates—a median Alberta worker would still receive an additional $64,672 in retirement income over their life, a marked increase of 24.4 per cent compared to the CPP alone.

Put differently, assuming a contribution rate of 8.21 per cent, Albertan workers earning the median income could accrue a stream of retirement payments totaling $329,640 (pre-tax) under a provincial pension plan—a 24.4 per cent increase from their stream of CPP payments.

“While the full costs and benefits of a provincial pension plan must be considered, its clear that Albertans could benefit from higher retirement payments under a provincial pension plan, compared to the CPP,” Hill said.

Illustrating the Potential of an Alberta Pension Plan

  • Due to Alberta’s comparatively high rates of employment, higher average incomes, and younger population, Albertans would pay a lower contribution rate with a separate provincial pension plan, compared with the CPP, while receiving the same benefits as under the CPP.
  • Put differently, moving from the CPP to a provincial pension plan would generate savings for Albertans, which could be used to increase private retirement income. This essay assesses the potential savings for Albertans of moving to a provincial pension plan. It also estimates an Albertan’s potential increase in total retirement income, if those savings were invested in a private account.
  • Depending on the contribution rate used for an Alberta pension plan (APP), ranging from 5.85 to 8.2 percent, an individual earning the CPP’s yearly maximum pensionable earnings ($71,300 in 2025), would accrue a stream of retirement payments under the total APP (APP plus private retirement savings), yielding a total retirement income of between $429,524 and $584,235. This would be 22.9 to 67.1 percent higher, respectively, than their stream of CPP payments ($349,545).
  • An individual earning the median income in Alberta ($53,061 in 2025), would accrue a stream of retirement payments under the total APP (APP plus private retirement savings), yielding a total retirement income of between $329,640 and $454,741, which is between 24.4 percent to 71.6 percent higher, respectively, than their stream of CPP payments ($264,968).

 

Tegan Hill

Director, Alberta Policy, Fraser Institute
Joel Emes

Joel Emes

Senior Economist, Fraser Institute
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Alberta

Alberta ban on men in women’s sports doesn’t apply to athletes from other provinces

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Alberta’s Fairness and Safety in Sport Act bans transgender males from women’s sports within the province but cannot regulate out-of-province transgender athletes.

Alberta’s ban on gender-confused males competing in women’s sports will not apply to out-of-province athletes.

In an interview posted July 12 by the Canadian Press, Alberta Tourism and Sport Minister Andrew Boitchenko revealed that Alberta does not have the jurisdiction to regulate out-of-province, gender-confused males from competing against female athletes.

“We don’t have authority to regulate athletes from different jurisdictions,” he said in an interview.

Ministry spokeswoman Vanessa Gomez further explained that while Alberta passed legislation to protect women within their province, outside sporting organizations are bound by federal or international guidelines.

As a result, Albertan female athletes will be spared from competing against men during provincial competition but must face male competitors during inter-provincial events.

In December, Alberta passed the Fairness and Safety in Sport Act to prevent biological men who claim to be women from competing in women’s sports. The legislation will take effect on September 1 and will apply to all school boards, universities, as well as provincial sports organizations.

The move comes after studies have repeatedly revealed what almost everyone already knew was true, namely, that males have a considerable advantage over women in athletics.

Indeed, a recent study published in Sports Medicine found that a year of “transgender” hormone drugs results in “very modest changes” in the inherent strength advantages of men.

Additionally, male athletes competing in women’s sports are known to be violent, especially toward female athletes who oppose their dominance in women’s sports.

In February, Andres ranted about why men should be able to compete in women’s competitions, calling for “the Ontario lifter” who opposes this, apparently referring to powerlifter April Hutchinson, to “die painfully.”

Interestingly, while Andres was suspended for six months for issuing death threats, Hutchinson was suspended for two years after publicly condemning him for stealing victories from women and then mocking his female competitors on social media. Her suspension was later reduced to a year.

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