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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

Parents group blasts Alberta government for weakening sexually explicit school book ban

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

The revised rules no longer place restrictions on written descriptions of sexual content.

Some parental rights advocates have taken issue with the Conservative government of Alberta’s recent updates to a ban on sexually explicit as well as pornographic material from all school libraries, saying the new rules water down the old ones as they now allow for descriptions of extreme and graphic sexual acts in written form.

As reported by LifeSiteNews last week, Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides of the ruling United Conservative Party (UCP) released revised rules outlining the province’s ban on sexually explicit content in school libraries.

The original ban included all forms of sexually explicit as well as pornographic material. However, after a large public school board alleged the ban applied to classic books, the government changed the rules, removing a clause for written sexual content that has some parental rights groups up in arms.

Tanya Gaw, founder of the conservative-leaning Action4Canada, noted to media that while she is happy with Premier Danielle Smith for the original book ban, she has deep concerns with the revised rules.

“We are very concerned about the decision that no longer places restrictions on written descriptions of those acts, which is problematic,” she said in an interview with The Epoch Times.

Gaw noted how kids from kindergarten to grade 12 should “never” be “exposed to graphic written details of sex acts: incest, molestation, masturbation, sexual assaults, and profane vulgar language.”

According to John Hilton-O’Brien, who serves as the executive director of Parents for Choice in Education, the new rule changes regarding written depictions “still shifts the burden onto parents to clean up what should never have been purchased in the first place.”

He did say, however, that the new “Ministerial Order finally makes catalogs public, and what we see there is troubling.”

Alberta’s revised rules state that all school library books must not contain “explicit visual depictions of a sexual act.” To make it clear, the standards in detail go over the types of images that are banned due to their explicit pornographic nature.

As reported by LifeSiteNews in May, Smith’s UCP government went ahead with plans to ban books with sexually explicit as well as pornographic material, many of which contain LGBT and even pedophilic content, from all school libraries.

The ban was to take effect on October 1.

The UCP’s crackdown on sexual content in school libraries comes after several severely sexually explicit graphic novels were found in school libraries in Calgary and Edmonton.

The pro-LGBT books in question at multiple school locations are Gender Queer, a graphic novel by Maia Kobabe; Flamer, a graphic novel by Mike Curato; Blankets, a graphic novel by Craig Thompson; and Fun Home, a graphic novel by Alison Bechdel.

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Alberta

Alberta updates TIER system: Businesses can direct compliance payments to on-site technologies

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Modernizing TIER to secure tomorrow

Alberta is seeking to update the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) system to drive investment at large industrial facilities, helping companies stay competitive and protecting jobs.

This fall, Alberta’s government will introduce updates to the TIER system that would empower Alberta industries to invest in on-site emissions reduction technology that works for their specific businesses. Making Alberta’s highly successful TIER system even more effective and flexible will make industries more globally competitive while maintaining Alberta’s leadership in emissions reductions.

“TIER has always been about Alberta leading the way – proving to the world that it’s possible to increase energy production, grow the economy and lower emissions at the same time. These amendments build on that success by giving industry the certainty and flexibility they need to invest right here at home. We know this work is not finished. We will continue to press the federal government to match Alberta’s leadership with realistic policies and timelines so that together we can keep building an economy that is strong and ready for the future.”

Danielle Smith, Premier

“We are committed to ensuring our industry remains competitive and can once again bring in the capital investment needed to deliver safe, affordable and reliable energy to Canadians and the rest of the world. Enabling them to reinvest their dollars into their own facilities will be good for the environment while growing our economy and creating jobs.”

Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas

“TIER has played a critical role in helping Alberta energy be the most responsibly produced energy in the world. These changes will further allow our major energy companies to increase production and finance new world-leading emission reduction efforts consistent with Alberta’s Emissions Reduction and Energy Development Plan.”

Brian Jean, Minister of Energy and Minerals

Proposed updates to the TIER system include:

  • Recognizing on-site emissions reduction investments as a new way for industry to comply with the TIER system in addition to the current options available, which include paying into the TIER fund or buying credits. This would reward companies for investing directly in emissions reduction technology that encourages innovation, supports local jobs and reduces emissions.
  • Allowing smaller facilities that currently participate in the TIER system to leave or opt out for 2025 to reduce costs and red tape. Smaller facilities below the regulatory emissions threshold can face disproportionate compliance costs under the TIER system, which is mainly designed for large facilities. This change would help smaller industries save money and redirect resources into emissions reduction investments or other operational improvements for more cost savings. It offers flexibility, especially for small manufacturers and rural operations, which protects jobs across Alberta.

These changes will position Alberta, once again, as a world leader ready to meet the challenges and realities of shifting global markets, increased competition and trade uncertainty.

“We are pleased to see the Government of Alberta is taking steps to improve competitiveness of climate policy. Today’s announcement recognizes industry concerns around competitiveness and signals that the province is moving forward to support emissions reduction in a way that helps companies reduce emissions, compete for investment, and create jobs for Albertans. EPAC believes provinces are best positioned to lead on climate policy, and we look forward to continued work with Alberta.”

Tristan Goodman, president and CEO, The Explorers and Producers Association of Canada

“Pathways Alliance appreciates the Government of Alberta’s efforts to support the oil sands industry and protect jobs. Direct investment through the TIER system is expected to encourage continued investment in emission reduction technologies, and advance innovative infrastructure. The oil sands industry looks forward to ongoing work with governments to strengthen global competitiveness and attract investment.”

Kendall Dilling, president, Pathways Alliance

Alberta’s economy is growing and emissions are declining thanks to the province’s common-sense approach. Alberta’s government will continue to work with industry to protect jobs, strengthen competitiveness and maintain Alberta’s position as the destination of choice for global investment.

Quick facts

  • Alberta’s TIER system was established in 2007 and was the first of its kind in North America.
  • Currently the TIER system includes about 60 per cent of the province’s total emissions, helping Alberta’s industrial facilities find innovative ways to reduce emissions and invest in technology to stay competitive, save money and create jobs.
  • The TIER Regulation requires any facility that emits 100,000 tonnes or more of emissions in a year to meet annual emissions reductions using either a facility-specific or a sector benchmark approach.
  • Under the current system, regulated facilities can comply using credits (carbon offsets, emission performance credits or sequestration tonnes) or pay into the TIER fund at $95 per tonne of emissions.
  • Sectors regulated under the TIER system include oil and gas, oil sands mining, electricity, forestry, chemicals, fertilizers, minerals, food processing and waste.
  • Since 2019, Alberta has invested $1.6 billion from the TIER fund into geothermal, hydrogen, energy storage, methane reduction, carbon capture and other technology projects, reducing approximately 70 million tonnes of emissions by 2030 and supporting about 21,000 jobs across the province.

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