Author: Gateway Gazette Contributor

New funding will expand the Blood Tribe safe withdrawal site and give local police the tools they need to keep Indigenous Albertans safe. The Alberta government is providing up to $2.2 million per year to expand the Kottakinoona Awaahkapiiyaawa (Bringing the Spirit Home) safe withdrawal management site from six beds to 24. This means that…

This week over fifty members of Canada Task Force 2 (CAN-TF2) from all over Southern Alberta participated in a three-day exercise that simulated a swarm of tornados impacting a town, damaging and destroying residences and businesses. Tornados are considered a high risk to Alberta, as they occur frequently and can cause serious damage. “The purpose of…

Minister of Children’s Services Rebecca Schulz issued the following statement on ending accreditation of child care centres:  “Effective April 1, the Government of Alberta will no longer administer a child care accreditation system parallel to licensing. No other province in the country duplicates licensing and accreditation. “Eliminating accreditation lets child care providers spend more time…

Rising skepticism can signal competing values. By BRENT WITTMEIER, University of Alberta It took Denis Lamoureux 13 years and four graduate degrees to accept his first biology lesson. In the early 1990s, Lamoureux was a University of Alberta doctoral student studying dental development and dental evolution, secretly hoping to debunk evolutionary theory because he felt…

A government loan to the Orphan Well Association (OWA) will spur the creation of hundreds of green jobs and reduce the number of orphaned wells across Alberta. As the first step in A Blueprint for Jobs, the province is extending its loan to the OWA by up to $100 million. This loan will bolster the association’s…

Minister of Service Alberta Nate Glubish issued the following statement on daylight saving time: “With daylight saving time officially arriving at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 8, Albertans are advised to set their clocks to ‘spring forward’ by one hour before going to bed Saturday night. “As many are aware, government invited Albertans to participate…

By Shireen Gonzaga, EarthSky News One hundred million years ago, a bee got trapped in tree resin. Over time, geological forces converted the resin to amber. Now a scientist arrives on the scene, to tell us this bee’s story. About 100 million years ago, a female bee with young beetle larvae crawling all over her body flew…

Alberta’s chief medical officer of health has confirmed the province’s second presumptive case of novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19. The individual is a male in his forties who lives in the Edmonton zone. The case is travel-related and he is recovering in isolation at home with support from public health officials. “While I know…

The opening of the new Fairness for Newcomers Office will ensure newcomers can leverage their education and experience to reach their full potential and help grow the economy. The Fairness for Newcomers Office was established to remove the barriers associated with the assessment of foreign qualifications. Working with professional regulatory organizations, the office will support…

Understanding how drugs work is an important step in developing new treatments for COVID-19, says U of A virologist. By RYAN O’BYRNE A group of University of Alberta researchers who have discovered why the drug remdesivir is effective in treating the coronaviruses that cause Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)…

For centuries, the Francophonie have made Alberta home. “This month, we celebrate Mois de la Francophonie Albertaine, Alberta Francophonie Month. French-speaking Albertans have been significant members of our communities for over 200 hundred years. Today, they represent one of the fastest-growing and most culturally diverse French-speaking populations in Canada. “The French were among the first…

As a precautionary measure, people returning from outside Canada should follow these steps. Returning from Iran or Hubei Province, China If you have returned from Iran or Hubei province, China, we recommend that you isolate yourself until 14 days have passed since that visit. We recommend this even if you are feeling well. This is…

New funding will continue to improve Albertans’ access to the full continuum of mental health and addiction treatment and recovery supports. Budget 2020 includes $121 million in total mental health and addiction funding. This is an increase of almost $37 million from 2019-20. We are furthering our commitment to fund an additional $100 million for…