At a Glance: June 13 - 24

UCP Leadership Rules Released

Nearly one month following the UCP’s leadership review concluding, the party has announced the rules that prospective leadership candidates will be required to adhere to. The party also revealed that they will announce the new leader on October 6th. The party will be utilizing preferential balloting, similar to what the Conservative Party of Canada uses for their leadership races.

Candidates will be required to pay a $150,000 entry fee that will go towards paying the cost of the leadership race. There is also a refundable $25,000 compliance fee. Members will vote by mail-in ballot between September 2 and October 3 or at one of five in-person ballot stations in the party’s respective provincial regions. Additionally, candidates will be required to collect 1,000 signatures (200 must come from each of the five regions). The party confirmed there will be debates organized with mandatory participation, though no dates have been confirmed at the time of writing.

Province Lifts Remaining COVID-19 Restrictions

At midnight on July 14th, the provincial government lifted the remaining COVID-19 related public health restrictions in place in Alberta. Remaining restrictions included mandatory isolation and mandatory masking on public transit.

Health Minister Jason Copping indicated that “we need to live with COVID-19 while accepting that it will continue to be present. We’ll continue to work to keep Albertans safe by ensuring access to vaccines, antivirals and rapid tests, through ongoing COVID-19 surveillance, and by enhancing health-care system capacity.”

FIFA World Cup will not come to Edmonton

Despite a funding commitment from the provincial government, FIFA has announced that the City of Edmonton will not be a host for the 2026 World Cup. Alberta’s capital had been a Canadian front-runner for a hosting opportunity after both Montreal and Vancouver had initially withdrawn their respective bids. However, Vancouver rejoined the bidding process late and was ultimately successful in tandem with Toronto.

Late in March, the provincial government announced that it would commit $110.2 million in funding to top off dollars from the city and federal government. The commitment came with conditions that FIFA grant Edmonton five games – two of which would be guaranteed to occur in the round of 32 or round of 16. Another condition was that there be one-third of available seating allocated to residents of Edmonton.

Cabinet Shuffle in Alberta Government

Premier Jason Kenney announced several changes to his provincial cabinet on Tuesday. Jason Nixon has been appointed finance minister as former minister Travis Toews campaigns to become the next UCP leader. MLA Whitney Issik, former associate minister of the status of women, will now act as the minister of environment and parks. The role of associate minister of status of women will now be filled by Jackie Armstrong Homeniuk.

Prasad Panda is being shifted from infrastructure to transportation and Nicholas Milliken will take over at infrastructure. Matt Jones is the new minister of children’s services as Rebecca Schultz also campaigns to be the next UCP leader. Brad Rutherford has been made chief government whip. This cabinet shuffle signifies the potential last change of the Kenney government as a new UCP leader and premier will be chosen on October 6.

Alberta Government Ends Regularly Scheduled COVID-19 Updates

The minister of health and Dr. Deena Hinshaw will no longer be giving weekly scheduled COVID-19 updates. COVID-19 rates have continued to drop along with hospitalizations and deaths, making the regular updates unnecessary. Hinshaw noted, “we remain committed to the transparent communication of important public health information, and we will, of course, provide updates as necessary”.

“We're entering a phase of the pandemic where our response can be de-escalated, while we remain vigilant and prepared to respond to new variants that may drive another wave of cases and hospital admissions,” Minister Copping added. By the end of the month, all COVID-19 restrictions will be eliminated in the province. Alberta Health will continue to release COVID-19 data each week.