I've been watching the ceremony opening a portion of the Ring Road in Calgary, and an Indigenous man just wrapped up a speech about how this is a bad day, and the road was built on his family's stolen land. He finished by cutting off his braids and tossing them on the road. #yyc
Indigenous drummers sang as he walked away. A clearly shaken MLA Whitney Issick is now reading a prepared statement from federal Minister McKenna.
This was a stunning and extremely emotional speech. He talked about how he played in the trees that were torn down for the road. His mother woke up and cried when she saw this event was happening today.
We're now moving on to questions. @CBCScott asks about the federal infrastructure investment first. Premier Kenney says they need to look at more details in order to determine how this will be used.
If you want to watch, the Premier's livestream went down only eight minutes into the event. But if you head to the premier's facebook page you can find a stream there and go back and listen to Seth Cardinal Dodginghorse's speech.
A journalist is now finally asking about the speech. (Did not get her name). Asks Chief Roy Whitney to respond to his concerns and his claims about a lack of discussion. He says this is not the time or place for such an expression.
He says most of the nation voted in favour of this and says people were not forced.
Journalist is following up and asking if Whitney will discuss the concerns. He says he will only sit with a Nation member.
Despite saying there would be questions from the phone (I am on the phone) the press conference has now abruptly ended. I am quite amazed at this. Will be drafting a story about this today.
BREAKING: Alberta government restricts all new coal development on the eastern slopes after a months-long review. However, three projects in advanced development will still move forward and existing projects can continue. #ableg
Grassy Mountain, Tent Mountain and Vista (Phase 2) Expansion will continue, as the province says they are in the "advanced" stage.
Energy Minister Sonya Savage is speaking right now about the coal policy report. She says this is about protecting the eastern slopes.
Calgary police arrest a man downtown after a weapons call at the Core Shopping Centre. Appears to have white supremacist markings on his face. Working to get some more details from police. Footage courtesy @CameraGuyNick #yyc
Here’s a freeze frame showing a closer look
Police K-9 unit was brought in to take him down as well.
The @albertateachers Association is out with its review of the province's draft K-6 curriculum, and to say the least they are not a fan. Over 6,500 teachers excoriate the draft, and say it should not be implemented. Here's a list of key findings. #ableg#yyc#yeg
Some key quotes from around the review:
"The draft curriculum is not logically sequenced."
"does not represent a rich variety of ideas and viewpoints."
"promotes racism, sexism and bigotry."
"The draft curriculum is written from a biased, white male perspective."
A vast majority of teachers say the draft is inconsistent with the Ministerial Order on Student Learning, and it does not respectfully include Indigenous histories, contributions and perspectives. In fact, they said it perpetuates stereotypes about Indigenous people.
Dozens of ICU doctors have penned a letter addressed to Albertans about the strain on intensive care right now.
"The pandemic triage scenario is one that we believe no one in Alberta ever wants to see
happen. We are closer to this reality than we have ever been before." #ableg
Normally I wouldn't post this sort of inside baseball piece of the job, but even the response to my request for an interview hits me in the gut.
Here are the latest ICU numbers from Alberta Health. Without the surge beds, we are actually at 180 per cent capacity.
Protest getting underway outside the McDougall Centre in Calgary, with people protesting against the province's decision to remove many remaining COVID-19 protocols in Alberta. @jvipondmd speaking to media now. #yyc#ableg
Vipond says Premier Kenney, Health Minister Shandro, and Dr. Hinshaw should resign because of this. Says this will go down as the "oh my god moment of Alberta politics." #yyc#ableg
Several NDP MLAs are on hand, but Vipond doesn't want them to take to the mics right now because he doesn't want this to be a political event.
NDP Leader Rachel Notley is responding to yesterday's announcement about COVID-19 protocol changes in Alberta. She says many people have questions about the decision that remain unanswered. #ableg
Notley is calling for a reversal of the changes announced yesterday. Says we will not know we are in a crisis situation until too late, by relying solely on hospitalization numbers.
"This isn't fair for Albertans. It isn't fair for them to be exposed and not know," she says. Adds that it doesn't make sense to just rely on people to self-isolate when not required.