National

Alberta to announce timeline to end COVID-19 rules

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 08 Feb, 2022 10:49 AM

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says he will announce later today a plan to reduce COVID-19 health restrictions.

Kenney says it will be a prudent timeline to lift the rules provided pressure on hospitals continues to decline.

Today at 5 pm I will announce Alberta’s path back to normal - a careful and prudent plan to lift damaging restrictions if pressure on our hospitals continues to decline.

Please tune in.
— Jason Kenney (@jkenney) February 8, 2022

The premier announced last week that such a plan was coming and that the first step would be ending Alberta's vaccine passports to access non-essential businesses such as restaurants and bars.

The passport, known as a restriction exemption in the province, has become the symbol of the clash in Alberta on where the line should be between public health orders and individual rights and freedoms.

Opposition Leader Rachel Notley says Kenney needs to show the scientific data to support ending the decision and says without it, he appears to be prematurely ending health restrictions to pander to hardliners in his party and caucus.

Truckers and their supporters have been blockading the main U.S. border checkpoint at Coutts in southern Alberta on and off for a week in protest of vaccine rules.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Freeland hints budget focus on economic growth

Freeland laid out the broad strokes of the spending plan as she launched the government's pre-budget consultations that will run until late February.

Freeland hints budget focus on economic growth

B.C. deputy clerk told trust payment advice: trial

The $258,000 retirement allowance that her then-boss, former clerk Craig James, received in 2012 is the largest among several payments that are subject to criminal allegations of misspending that James denies.

B.C. deputy clerk told trust payment advice: trial

No cause yet for Vancouver fire that killed three

Assistant Chief Brian Bertuzzi confirmed a child under 10 years old, their mother and grandfather were killed, while the grandmother and father suffered smoke inhalation.

No cause yet for Vancouver fire that killed three

Moderna announces full US approval for its COVID-19 vaccine

The decision was bolstered by real-world evidence from the more than 200 million doses administered in the U.S. since the FDA cleared the shot in December 2020. The FDA granted full approval of Pfizer’s vaccine last August.

Moderna announces full US approval for its COVID-19 vaccine

Ottawa protests aren't 'peaceful': critics

For two days, the downtown core of the nation's capital has been a no-go zone as trucks and crowds have snarled traffic, with some members defacing monuments and wielding signs with violent and hateful imagery. Police are also investigating what they describe as threatening behaviour toward officers, city workers and other individuals, as well as damage to a city vehicle.

Ottawa protests aren't 'peaceful': critics

PM Justin Trudeau tests positive for COVID-19

Trudeau is fully vaccinated and received his booster shot at a local Ottawa pharmacy in early January. Last Thursday, Trudeau said he was going into isolation for five days after finding out the previous evening he had been in contact with someone who tested positive.