Alberta Minute: Technology Funding, Aviation Investments, and Tour Dates Announced

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

This Week In Alberta:

• Albertans facing charges for breaking pandemic-related laws will likely see their charges dropped. A court decision ruled that the Province's health orders were invalid because politicians made the final decision on health restrictions instead of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, a breach of the Public Health Act. As a result, the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service said that "there is no longer a reasonable likelihood of conviction”.
  
  
• More than a dozen companies will receive a piece of the Province’s $5.5 million Aviation Skills Grant funding. The grant, designed to bolster Alberta’s aviation industry, accepted its first intake of applicants this past spring, and recipients will receive up to $30,000 per job trainee to help offset costs for new or vacant positions. Among the companies to receive funding are Sky Wings Aviation Academy in Red Deer, the Calgary Flying Club, and West Wind Airspray in Lethbridge.
  
  
• The Province will also fund 19 partners through Alberta Innovates Ecosystem Development Partnerships Program, enabling those partners to provide skills, resources, mentoring, and supports to innovators and entrepreneurs in the tech sector. An investment of $13.6 million will be made, and partners will have up to 36 months to implement their projects. Among the projects being funded are a hub for neuroengineering solutions at the University of Lethbridge and an Alternative Construction Technologies Hub at SAIT. The government really should just cut taxes instead. of handing out subsidies.

Last Week In Alberta:

• We announced the second round of our Can't Stop Alberta Tour. In spring, we hosted 6 events across the province, and they were so successful that we’re headed to 24 cities over the next eight weeks. Watch your inbox for more details soon, but for now, registration is open and you can save your spot for the first two weeks of events in Camrose, Fort McMurray, Bonnyville, Lloydminster, Oyen, Medicine Hat, and Brooks. The events will be casual and fun, with plenty of opportunities for networking and participation. Attendance is free, but if you’re so inclined, you can make a donation to help cover our venue hire costs and our travel expenses. We hope to see you at one or more of the events, and if you're not in the cities listed above, don't worry - we'll have more events to announce elsewhere across the province very soon!
  
  
• Premier Danielle Smith, and her Northwest Territories counterpart Premier Caroline Cochrane, met with wildfire evacuees in Calgary. More than 21,500 people from the Northwest Territories are sheltering in Alberta, with the health-care system taking in four acute-care patients, 55 continuing-care patients, 30 obstetrics patients, and 19 dialysis patients. Alberta has also taken 85 inmates temporarily. Cochrane expressed gratitude, saying she will “never forget the kindness and support of Albertans”. Smith also thanked Albertans for their aid and pledged continued assistance.
  
  
• Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland paid a visit to her home province of Alberta, and took a souvenir back to Ottawa - a big ol’ speeding ticket of $273 for driving 132 km/hour. Freeland apologized, paid the ticket, and promised it wouldn't happen again.

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