Alberta

Alberta


Alberta’s personal information protection law ruled partly unconstitutional

Parts of Alberta’s personal information protection legislation have been ruled unconstitutional. But a judge is upholding an order to stop an American facial recognition company from collecting images of Albertans. The company, Clearview AI, scrapes the internet for images of people and adds them to a database, which it markets to law enforcement agencies as […]

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Investigation finds Alberta government not complying with freedom of information laws

Alberta’s access to information watchdog has found the provincial government to be non-compliant with its own freedom of information rules. A new report from information and privacy commissioner Diane McLeod says Alberta’s government has implemented internal procedures and policies that allow government employees to wrongfully deny freedom of information requests. The report, released Friday, follows […]

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Alberta ramps up measles vaccination push as 3 children in intensive care

Alberta’s government says three children are in intensive care in hospital after contracting measles. A health ministry spokesperson declined to disclose their ages, citing privacy concerns. At a news conference Monday, Dr. Sunil Sookram, Alberta’s interim chief medical officer of health, said there have been no deaths. Sookram said the risk of getting the highly […]

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Alberta seeks court ruling on constitutionality of Ottawa’s clean electricity plan

Alberta’s government is seeking a court ruling on the constitutionality of Ottawa’s clean electricity grid regulations. The regulations, finalized late last year, lay out a plan to decarbonize electricity grids across Canada by 2050. Premier Danielle Smith, who invoked her controversial sovereignty act for the first time in 2023 against draft versions of the regulations […]

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Eastern Alberta Victim Services provides update to Cold Lake council

Representing the organization, Melody Littell provided an in-depth overview of the services they offer to victims of crime and tragedy across eastern Alberta, including the Cold Lake area, and fielded questions from council members about eligibility, coverage, and how community members can access support.  “As part of our work with Victim Services, in partnership with […]

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Alberta’s request to question fired health executive over confidential emails granted

A judge has granted Alberta’s government its request to question the former head of the provincial health authority about confidential emails she is accused of keeping and sharing without permission, including to media. The government’s request was made last month when it filed for an injunction in the high-profile lawsuit launched by Athana Mentzelopoulos, the […]

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Wheatland County establishes Artificial Intelligence policy

Artificial intelligence has continued to grow as a popular technological tool to streamline and make processes more efficient, but as use has grown so, too, have concerns about potential transparency and ethical uses.  During the regular Tuesday, March 4 Wheatland County council meeting, council approved the establishment of a new policy regarding the responsible and […]

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Alberta Health Services claims fired CEO kept confidential emails, seeking injunction

Alberta’s health authority is claiming its fired former executive breached her employment agreement by holding on to confidential emails with information pertaining to allegations in a high-profile court case. A new affidavit filed Wednesday by Alberta Health Services says the agency is looking to amend its statement of defence in light of the emails, which […]

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Alberta proposes oil-site trespass bill to keep federal workers from grabbing data

Alberta’s government is proposing a law it says would ban federal employees from going on any oil-related sites — from wellheads to corporate head offices – but the NDP says it’s an illegal and performative distraction. Premier Danielle Smith says the goal is to keep federal staffers away from any place where oil and gas […]

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Care home company got $8.8M in subsidies, paid shareholders millions

One of the largest for-profit continuing care home operators in Alberta received more than $8.85 million in wage subsidies from the provincial government while the company also paid out tens of millions to shareholders. Between 2020 and 2023, Alberta Health transferred over $8.85 million in subsidies to Extendicare as part of a $2 per hour […]

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Central Alberta school divisions dealing with North America-wide PowerSchool data hack

School divisions in central Alberta are coping with a huge headache related to cybercrime: what appears to be a massive ransomeware attack against computer company PowerSchool that’s affected students and teachers across North America. PowerSchool notified hundreds of schools and school divisions across North America Jan. 7 that it’s cloud-based storage system had been hacked; […]

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Size, number of tailings spills underreported by AER, study says

The size, number, and environmental impact of oilsands tailings spills have been significantly underreported, according to new research. A study published in the Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Assessment compares information on reported bitumen tailings spills from the Alberta Energy Regulator’s (AER) public database with documents from the AER released through freedom of information requests. […]

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