Category Archives: Prairies/BC
Patients in B.C. waiting too long for surgery, not being counted by province: doctor
VANCOUVER — The incoming leader of a group that represents surgeons across British Columbia is questioning the health minister's claims that nearly all surgeries that were cancelled in the first and later waves of the pandemic have been completed. Dr. ...
Housing minister, municipal governments at odds over B.C. housing supply report
VANCOUVER — A municipal government report that says British Columbia is building enough homes to match the province's population growth has drawn sharp criticism from the housing minister. The Union of B.C. Municipalities report released Wednesday say...
Health care and mental-health services priorities for budget: Manitoba government
WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government is promising more tax cuts in its budget even as the province faces ongoing deficits and a health-care system struggling to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Finance Minister Cameron Friesen says the 2022-23 budget is ...
Group forms to support Indigenous-led searches of residential school burial sites
WINNIPEG — Indigenous organizations in Manitoba, officials from the city of Winnipeg and the provincial and federal governments are forming a council to support searches for burial sites of children who attended residential schools. Reconciliation Min...
Gym-goers, sports fans, smokers face more taxes in Saskatchewan budget
REGINA — Working out or going to a professional football game could cost more this fall with proposed new taxes outlined in Saskatchewan's budget. Starting in October, the province plans to add the six per cent provincial sales tax to admissions
Alberta MLA says he felt obligated to hack government website, used premier’s info
EDMONTON — An Alberta opposition legislature member under RCMP investigation after admittedly hacking into a government health website using some of Premier Jason Kenney's personal information says he felt a professional responsibility to do it. Thomas...
Alberta auditor general gives qualified thumbs-up to oil well cleanup spending
EDMONTON — The Alberta government is getting mostly check marks from the province's auditor general over how it handled the billion dollars it got from Ottawa to clean up abandoned oil and gas wells and get service contractors back to
Manitoba hydro rate increases could be capped, hearings reduced under new bill
WINNIPEG — Manitoba's Progressive Conservative government is making another attempt to control hydroelectric rates but it may yet again run into resistance from the Opposition New Democrats. A bill introduced in the legislature Tuesday would allow the ...
B.C. allocates more than $8 million to boost legal-aid services
VICTORIA — The provincial government is investing another $8.19 million in legal aid in British Columbia, filling what it says are gaps in service. The Ministry of the Attorney General announced the funding follows analysis of the legal-aid system bet...
NDP bill to protect Alberta Rockies from coal mining dies in legislature committee
EDMONTON — A private member's bill before the Alberta legislature that would have blocked all coal mining in the province's Rocky Mountains died Tuesday after government members voted against it. The bill, sponsored by Opposition New Democrat Leader Ra...