1. 😬 Alberta’s Auditor General is asking the UCP to account for over $657,000,000 in Covid funding!
The UCP’s “Small & Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant program ONLY put 1,055 of 101,762 (1%)
approved applicants through a post-payment verification process!
4. 😔. A #YYC hospice that providing palliative care for kids with life-limiting illnesses was suspended as staff were diverted to Alberta’s Children’s Hospital
Health Minister Copping’s spokesperson blamed “an early flu season” but offered no solutions.
7. In ANOTHER call for help, the Alberta Medical Association’s paediatric section is begging the CMOH to take action by increasing vaccines access, and HEPA filters + masks in schools
Alberta’s new CMOH has appeared in public since smith banned masks last month
8. Nurses have come to call it "Black Sunday." last Sunday when the Alberta Children's Hospital was so overwhelmed, staff worried a child could die in the waiting room.
One nurse said a mask mandates in all schools with a 10 % absenteeism was critical
11. Despite Smith claiming she could secure 5M bottles of kids meds ASAP, Health Canada said it still needed to endure the meds are manufactured to Canadian standards and meet Canada's quality, safety and efficacy requirements
13. A solicitor for #YYC suggested Smith’s sovereignty act could create huge “problems for the municipality, including forcing council to defy some laws against its will”.
The “best case scenario” for #YYC was said to be if the UCP didn’t use the act at all.
15. Smith refused to admit she made a mistake when she snuck a provision that gave her cabinet sweeping power to rewrite laws outside the legislature process.
Smith backtracked after first rejecting accusations her bill gave her those powers, but reversed course
16. After Notley called Smtih’s Act “groundwork for eventual separation” Smith rejected accusations the bill is a separatist Trojan Horse, saying its intent is in the title. “The name of the bill is Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act”
17. Barry Cooper. Danielle Smith’s chief architect for her Sovereignty Act said “Canada's Constitution is not a legitimate document”, and “has not safeguarded Alberta's interests within federation”
“I want the Constitution to be changed, or we'll have another referendum”
18. #YYC Mayor Gondek said she is frustrated with the Sovereignty Act, saying it will strip autonomy from the municipal government, even AFTER a call with UCP MLA Rebecca Shultz.
Gondek said she is willing to work with the federal government to find solutions
“The Guardian” discussed how Smith’s sovereignty act allows Alberta to ignore federal laws, how Smith faced criticism from within her own party, and conservatives worry will scare off investors and businesses!
20. The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations called for Smith’s Sovereignty Act to be withdrawn
Chiefs connected with the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, Treaty 6 & 7 say the act “infringes on treaty rights” & “amendments aren’t enough”
21. Women's shelters turned away 11,546 women & seniors and 6,241 children, because they were full.
After Shelters asked for 20% more funds to build spaces; UCP MLA Nixon said he’d instead look at a small salary increase for staff. The UCP froze salaries in 2019
22. According to a new report, Smiths re-indexing benefits and a small 6% increase to social assistance DOES NOT cover the 3-years the UCP went without indexation
A single parent with 1 child has 25% less purchasing power after paying for rent and food since 2020
24. Alberta School staff are working triple duty AFTER the UCP created a new regulation forcing school boards to ensure all students have access to in-person learning, no matter how high absences get!
LaGrange claimed her decision was based on parental feedback.
25. Alberta teachers are seeing an increase in class sizes with greater levels of complexity and diversity of student needs, according to a new survey.
64% of teachers saw an increase in classroom size, while 36% have 30 to 40 students, or more, in their classes
🚨 NEW Poll 🚨
26. Smith’s 1st “popularity” poll as Premier is a total flop
53% of Albertans DO NOT approve of Smith as the majority of Albertans are opposed to her Act
Smith said she hopes “to never use it” but feels it’s an important message to send to Ottawa 🚨 NEW Poll 🚨
27. The NDP and UCP are polling at equal strength. The neck-and-neck results follow similar data from a Leger poll last week, which showed 47 per cent voter intention for the NDP compared to 44 per cent for the UCP.
A former AHS board member called out Danielle Smith in a SCATHING letter!
He called out her messaging as “dangerous rhetoric that endangers lives” and that she’s a “pretend-leader of Albertans” representing “the bleakest of role models for women.”
2. Health policy experts say the UCP plan to reform health care under a “temporary administrator” has HUGE red flags, is without direction, and impossible “to track how well the new plan works”
Experts say the uncertainty is expected to hurt AHS staffing & morale
1. Since Smith said “no” to masks in schools; over 75% of #YEG 213 schools hit an illness absenteeism rate triggering AHS to investigate infectious disease outbreaks.
Over 160 schools had 10% of students out of class; over 20,000 Edmonton students were absent!
2. When asked for how she would help with the shocking outbreaks. education minister Adriana LaGrange said she will “not intervene”; and instead offered an opinion that “these situations happen” 😳
1. After calling the unvaccinated the MOST victimized group in generations, Danielle Smith was criticized for saying Ukraine needs to be neutral in Russia’s takeover, and linked Ukraine to “secret US biolabs
Critics say her words are “unforgivable and dangerous”
2. Since UCP MLA Doug Schweitzer announced Alberta will be “A Canadian Cryptoland” and part of the UCP “diversification strategy”, crypto market prices collapsed by ~60%.
Kenney tweeted his support for crypto on Sunday, suggesting he still remains Bullish 🤦🏻♂️
1. SHOCKING new court documents show the @ucpcacus dismissed critical data advising temporary mask mandates be left in Alberta schools to make students & staff safer from COVID-19 infections
They chose to lift them and “pander to anti-mask protesters”
2. A new report from stakeholders & public survey feedback on the UCP’s draft K-6 curriculum shows a STUNNINGLY low level of support and high degree of dismay
In a survey of 34,000 Albertans, just 21% thought it was “positive” compared to 62% deemed “negative”