Alberta Minute: Family Day, Weather Records, and Ongoing Emergency Dispatch Controversy

Alberta Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Alberta politics.

This Week In Alberta:

• Today is Family Day in Alberta and while things are, of course, a little different this year, we hope you have a pleasant day nonetheless. At least the weather has warmed up somewhat!
  
  
• On Tuesday at 10:00 am, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts will be meeting, though no detailed agenda has yet been released. Meanwhile, the Legislature remains adjourned until February 25th when the government will sit for one day to release the 2021 budget.
  
  
• The controversy over the centralization of EMS dispatch is headed to court after the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) informed AHS that they would no longer be sending their 911 calls to the central dispatch centre, and the Province won an injunction to force the RMWB to comply until the case is settled.

Last Week In Alberta:

• Bitterly cold weather swept through Alberta and the whole prairie region with multiple cold-weather records set all across the province last week. Red Deer was the coldest place in Alberta at one point, dropping to -43.6C. We can't help but be grateful for fossil fuels that kept us (at least somewhat) warm!.
  
  
• Restaurants were allowed to resume dine-in service and gyms were able to provide one-on-one training sessions. Alberta actually dropped below the number of hospitalizations required to enter Step 2 before Step 1 even started, but the Province is remaining firm on their requirement of at least 3-weeks between reopening steps. With 3-weeks between steps, the earliest we could return to even November levels of restrictions would be May, and this is too slow even for some members of the government caucus, with several government MLAs publicly calling for a further lifting of restrictions.
  
  
• Finally, after increasing opposition from ranchers, local politicians, and even country music stars, the provincial government backtracked on their new coal policy. The government re-instated the 1976 policy put in place by the Lougheed government and promised that they will "hear from Albertans" before making any future changes.

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