Matthew Black

Alberta may follow B.C. on making daylight time permanent: premier asdf

Alberta may follow B.C. on making daylight time permanent

"Our government will take these recent developments under consideration and evaluate whether a similar change would be in the best interest of Albertans," said Danielle Smith's office

(Clocks are to go ahead 1hr this weekend)
#ableg #abpoli

Old Royal Alberta Museum building: The wrecking ball is paid for, but will it be used? The provincial government has put aside $30-million in Budget 2026 for the demolition of the old Royal Alberta Museum ... just in case.

"The provincial government has put aside $30 million in Budget 2026 for the demolition of the old Royal Alberta Museum ... just in case"

#yeg #abpoli #ableg

Who is ready for some charts.

*Debt to rise $17.9B (up to $128.7B)
*Per capita inflation adju spending $15.9K in 24/25, $16.2K in 25/26
*WTI forecast US$60.50 (down US$10 from budget)
*Expenses to rise 12% ($88.4B) in next 3 years
*Revenue to rise 8% ($81.5B) over same time

#ableg #abpoli

Alberta Budget 2026: Province delivers $9.4B deficit that breaks its own fiscal rules The Alberta government has delivered its second straight multi-billion dollar deficit, one that is poised to flout its own fiscal rules.

Alberta has unveiled a $9.4B deficit in a budget that breaks its own fiscal rules and forecasts four straight years of fiscal shortfalls.

“I recognize this is a tough pill to swallow," Finance Minister Nate Horner said
#ableg #abpoli

ANALYSIS | Danielle Smith says court 'skewed' to Liberal donors, but UCP picks have political ties just as often | CBC News CBC analysis suggests about one-fifth of federally named judges match with Liberal donor lists. About as many judges picked by the province likely gave to UCP.

When Danielle Smith claimed 80% of federally picked judges had donated to Liberals, that was way higher than any figure I'd researched.
I dug into it. Could confidently write here:
"It is not true. The single media source Smith got that fact from has since corrected it."
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Former Alberta justice minister Madu appeals law society reprimand Former Alberta justice minister Kaycee Madu is seeking to overturn the reprimand imposed by a Law Society of Alberta tribunal.

"Former AB justice minister Kaycee Madu is seeking to overturn the reprimand imposed by a Law Society of Alberta tribunal, arguing his call to the then-Edmonton police chief shortly after receiving a traffic ticket was motivated by concerns of racial profiling and police surveillance"
#ableg #abpoli

Alberta health authority destroys remaining pediatric drugs imported during 2022 shortage Pediatric medicine was due to expire soon, prompting authority to abandon donation plans

SCOOP: Alberta Health Services destroyed roughly half of the children's medication imported from Turkey, paying $718,000 to dispose of the hazardous waste.

www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alber...

Alberta traffic fines set to increase next month, some by more than 25 per cent Most speeding fines will increase by nine per cent but fines for more egregious traffic offences are set to grow by up to 50 per cent

Alberta is hiking traffic fines across the board with the most severe speeders facing the biggest increase, up to 25% (max $620) for those 50 km/h over limit.

Fines for 1-30km/h violations rising 8-9%

Careless drivers see 50% hike (from $473 to $710)
#ableg #abpoli

Alberta traffic fines set to increase next month, some by more than 25 per cent Most speeding fines will increase by nine per cent but fines for more egregious traffic offences are set to grow by up to 50 per cent

Latest from @matthewblack.ca — "Most speeding fines will increase by between eight and nine per cent but fines for more egregious traffic offences are set to grow by up to 50 per cent." #ableg #abpoli

edmontonjournal.com/news/politic...

Province broke its own access to information laws in withholding Alberta Next survey results The Alberta government wrongly withheld hundreds of pages of results from its Alberta Next surveys an adjudicator has ruled.

An adjudicator's ruling merely confirms what was already obvious. The UCP gov't broke its own laws and went to great lengths to avoid disclosing politically unfavourable public records. Taxpayers paid for these records; they do not belong to a party. #ableg

edmontonjournal.com/news/politic...

Thanks!
The order gives GOA 50 (business) days to get me the records but it's already processed them so it may be sooner than that.
I also filed a new ATI asking for the same last month (30 biz days). Hoping to get by month's end.
Will write a news story and post publicly somehow
#ableg #abpoli

Province broke its own access to information laws in withholding Alberta Next survey results The Alberta government wrongly withheld hundreds of pages of results from its Alberta Next surveys an adjudicator has ruled.

Last week, I learned an adjudicator had sided with me in 5 inquiries re: the province refusing to release results of its Alberta Next surveys

GOA published the multiple choice results in Dec but has been ordered to give me 213 pages of open-answer replies that haven't yet been shared
#ableg #abpoli

Province broke its own access to information laws in withholding Alberta Next survey results The Alberta government wrongly withheld hundreds of pages of results from its Alberta Next surveys an adjudicator has ruled.

Latest from @matthewblack.ca — Province broke its own access to information laws in withholding Alberta Next survey results #ableg #abpoli

edmontonjournal.com/news/politic...

Sinclair to remain as independent MLA, not joining Progressive Tory Party Lesser Slave Lake MLA Scott Sinclair says he will continue to sit in the Alberta legislative assembly as an independent member.

“This decision was not made lightly, it comes from a firm belief that my responsibilities first and foremost are to the people of Northern Alberta"

Sinclair has also spoken out about the proposed elimination of his Lesser Slave Lake riding in the new electoral map

#ableg #abpoli

The leader of the separatist citizen initiative campaign is a UCP constituency president and a large number UCP members support Alberta separatism. This is a big part of Smith’s political base.

Smith declines to 'demonize' separatists despite Eby's 'treason' remarks Premier Danielle Smith declined to denounce her province's separatist movement just hours after B.C. Premier David Eby accused of treason.

Premier Danielle Smith declined to denounce her province’s separatist movement just hours after B.C. Premier David Eby accused of treason those Albertans who claim to have travelled to Washington to seek political and financial backing for an independent Alberta.

#ableg #abpoli

Alberta chief justices issue rare public statement on the court's role within our democracy Alberta's top judges issued a rare public statement Tuesday on the role of the courts in our democracy.

"A properly functioning democracy requires three separate branches of government that exercises their power and authority independently"

Alberta chief justices issue rare public statement on the court's role within our democracy
#abpoli #ableg

Braid: Trump lies about Canada's role in Afghanistan; our troops were in the thick of battle Afghanistan combat killed 158 Canadians. Many hundreds more were wounded

"The remarks hit many of us at the Herald like a physical punch. Our dear friend Michelle Lang, a wonderful person and one of the best reporters ever to walk into that newsroom, was killed in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb"

by @donbraid.bsky.social

#ableg #abpoli

"Emergency doctors have said for years that people are dying because of long waits, but this is the first time they have released details."

Second First Nation files suit against Alberta independence referendum Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation contends a separatism vote contravenes the Constitution Act

Another First Nation is taking legal action against the Alberta government for its role in an anticipated separation referendum, the second to file this week edmontonjournal.com/news/local-n...

Alberta's Smith calls on Carney to speed up major project approvals EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is calling on Ottawa to further speed up its approval process for major projects, saying she wants to see applications green-lit within six months.

Alberta's Smith calls on Carney to speed up major project approvals

Smith wants 6 months, Poilievre says it should be 2 months — all before a route is determined for Alberta’s pipeline (which also awaits a builder).

www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/prairies_bc/...

Alberta school divisions remove handful of titles from shelves as new school library rules take effect | CBC News A newly enacted provincial order on school literary materials prompted some divisions to remove a couple of dozen books from school shelves, but the names of those titles are secret.

No legal basis for the list of banned books to be withheld under ATIA - a proposed list may be advice, but the list implemented cannot be withheld - (and note 'internal document' is not a type of information exempted from ATIA.)
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Congrats Vince. Always appreciated your work up there. Best of luck at the new gig

Beautiful, beautiful piece - what a love letter to local journalism and gorgeous meditation on the passage of time

'Endless war': Take Back Alberta's David Parker vows prolonged fight with Elections Alberta Take Back Alberta and its founder David Parker were fined over $110K by Elections Alberta for breaches of election advertising rules

In an interview, Parker told Postmedia he has no intention of paying those fines and believes the charges against him will ultimately be dropped. #ableg

edmontonjournal.com/news/politic...

Why some Alberta AISH recipients fear incoming medical review panels Many disabled Albertans are waiting for details of the Alberta UCP government's plan to reform its flagship AISH income assistance program.

News: among the Alberta gov's changes to AISH is a requirement recipients be assessed by a medical review panel, which will decide whether to move them to a program that pays less.

We don't know how the panel works or who's on it, but we know it won't be appealable.

U of A president's expenses higher than previous president and other institutions - The Gateway President and Vice-chancellor Bill Flanagan spent $506,901.01 on travel and hospitality in his first term, higher than other presidents.

New documents show while the University of Alberta was under mass budget cuts that resulted in layoffs and a 100% cut to child care funding, the president was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on travel

Expenses have doubled since he took office

Podcaster accused of harassing former AHS board member says he was hired by Edmonton lawyer, court records show Legal documents identify Bryan Ward, who has acted for Sam Mraiche on multiple occasions, as the lawyer

NEW: A podcaster accused of harassing a former AHS director said he was hired by an Edmonton lawyer, court docs show. That lawyer has ties to Sam Mraiche, who owns companies at the centre of Alberta's procurement controversy.

www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... By @tuthanhha.bsky.social

Alberta school boards remove dozens of books as new provincial rules in effect EDMONTON - Alberta's two biggest school divisions say dozens of library books have been taken off the shelves as the province's ban on sexually explicit material officially took effect this

Alberta school boards remove dozens of library books as provincial ban takes effect

Edmonton and Calgary’s public boards didn’t disclose titles to me (or other media I’m assuming), and neither did Edmonton Catholic.

From me today:

www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/prairies_bc/...