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As it faces the prospect of more natural disasters during spring seasons, the Alberta government is planning to move its fixed election date from May to October. Last year, huge forest fires forced the evacuation of nearly 30,000 people during the election campaign.
The province wants to make the change following a number of natural disasters during the spring over the years, including the Slave Lake fire in 2011, the Calgary flood of 2013, the Fort McMurray fire of 2016 and the drought that parts of the province are currently facing.
The date change – which will be outlined in Bill 21, expected to be introduced on Thursday – is meant to decrease the likelihood that any cabinet minister, in any government, would face the conflict of having to address a natural disaster during a campaign, said Mike Ellis, Alberta’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services.
Pedestrians walk inside in the plus 15 walkway while Calgary is covered under a blanket of smoke from the forest fires in northern Alberta, May 16, 2023.Todd Korol/The Globe and Mail
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Thirteen Saskatchewan ministries refuse to comply with information watchdog’s call
Thirteen provincial ministries are disregarding a decision by Saskatchewan’s Information Commissioner to release records in the format requested by The Globe and Mail, a move experts say points to a lack of accountability mechanisms in the province’s freedom of information system.
In March, Information Commissioner Ron Kruzeniski decided against the 13 ministries, including finance, justice, energy, agriculture and the Executive Council. In his decision, he wrote that they had failed to comply with the province’s freedom of information law.
But, in virtually identical response letters, every ministry declined to do so, stating that they had fulfilled their requirements under the law.
Federal unions vow fight over Ottawa’s push for three office days a week
Unions representing tens of thousands of federal workers say they are planning a “summer of discontent” to force the federal government to drop plans to have workers come into the office at least three days a week.
The four unions say they are angry with the new hybrid work rules, and are asking the government to keep the status quo, with workers coming to the office for a minimum of two days a week.
Hybrid work rules have been a contentious issue in both the public and private sectors, as workers seek to maintain the flexibility and comfort of working from home that they gained during the pandemic.
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Also on our radar
Gaza’s maternity care is in shambles: The United Nations Population Fund says 180 children are born daily across Gaza, but the besieged territory’s shattered health care system is struggling to handle the delivery of newborns, especially while it’s still dealing with hundreds of dead and wounded every day from the relentless Israeli assault.
- Israeli forces mass on Rafah’s outskirts as U.S. raises pressure to pull back
- Israeli-Canadian businessman killed in Egypt in potential antisemitic attack
Man charged in Nijjar assassination was an international student: One of three men accused of plotting to kill Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar came to Canada as an international student. Calgary’s Bow Valley College confirmed Karan Brar enrolled in 2020 to take an eight-month course to become a health care clerk, but could not confirm whether he attended classes or completed the program.
Graphic details emerge in trial for man who admitted killing women: The trial of a Winnipeg man who admitted to killing four First Nations women unveiled graphic details yesterday about how the remains of one of the women were found. Jeremy Skibicki’s defence lawyers are arguing he was not criminally responsible for the murders because of mental illness.
Banks need to improve anti-money laundering practices, OSFI says: The head of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, Canada’s banking regulator, said he is comfortable with the ability of the country’s largest banks to curb money-laundering crimes, but says there is room for improvement. The comments come after reports that a U.S. probe into TD Bank’s weaknesses in its anti-money-laundering practices is tied to a US$653-million money-laundering and drug-trafficking operation.
New B.C. wildfire recruits hone their skills: With snow coming down in sheets, the firefighters dropped their jerry cans, shrugged off their coiled hoses, handed over heavy pumps to waiting instructors, took a few deep breaths and headed back down the muddy hill to do the “gear carry” over and over again. This is the annual rite of passage for new recruits in the BC Wildfire Service. With the possibility of another brutal wildfire season, firefighters need to make sure they’re ready to take on the challenge.
New BC Wildfire Service recruits dig a hand guard around a burn pile while practising responding to a fire as an initial attack crew member on the recruits’ final day of boot camp in the mountains outside Merritt, B.C. on April 29, 2024.Jesse Winter /The Globe and Mail
Morning markets
World stocks were taking a breather after a strong few weeks and ahead of a Bank of England rate decision, while Japanese authorities ratcheted up intervention talk again as the yen continued to backslide. U.S. futures eased.
After two straight record closing highs, the pan-European STOXX 600 slipped 0.1 per cent. In early trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 was flat, Germany’s DAX advanced 0.2 per cent and France’s CAC 40 slid 0.2 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei reversed earlier gains to be off 0.34 per cent, closing at 38,073.98, whiel Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index increasied1.2 per cent to 18,537.81.
The dollar traded at 72.82 U.S. cents.
What everyone’s talking about
Campbell Clark: “You might think that a program to set aside 5 per cent of government contracts for Indigenous companies would be designed with checks to ensure the work is actually being done by Indigenous people. But perhaps that’s based on a misguided notion about which business government is in ... The government is not in the business of results. It is in the business of announcements.”
Konrad Yakabuski: “It will fall to [CBC president Catherine] Tait’s successor to try to rebuild the shattered trust, face the loaded questions from grandstanding MPs on the heritage committee and, if the polls hold true, deal with a hostile Conservative government. Who in their right mind would want the job?”
Today’s editorial cartoon
Illustration by DAVID PARKINS
Living better
Allergy season has arrived. Here’s how you can cope this year
Canada’s springtime allergy season is getting under way, but if you suffer from pollen allergies, you likely already know this. Here’s everything you need to know about allergies and how to cope.
Moment in time: May 9, 2020
Musician Little Richard performs onstage with his band in 1956.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Little Richard dies
Many wopped and bopped, but none lop-bam-boomed like Richard Wayne Penniman. He was Little Richard, of Macon, Ga., who died of cancer this day in 2020, at the age of 87. A Rolling Stone magazine obituary memorialized one of the founding fathers of rock ‘n’ roll, “whose fervent shrieks, flamboyant garb and joyful, gender-bending persona embodied the spirit and sound of that new art form.” His pompadour was lofty; his energy, fearlessness and outlandishness were even higher. His debut album in 1957 was titled Here’s Little Richard, an understated announcement for such a pop-culture tsunami. The LP collected such seminal R&B hits – “race records,” in the industry parlance – as Tutti Frutti and Long Tall Sally, which both crossed over onto the pop charts. After abandoning secular music for born-again Christianity, he returned to rock music in 1962 for a tour of Europe. Acolyte Paul McCartney and the Beatles opened some of the concerts. In 1969, Little Richard stole the show at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival. In 1986, he was among the first inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Brad Wheeler
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