What to Expect
The federal Conservative Party race comes to Alberta this week, with the first official debate set to take place in Edmonton on Wednesday. Premier Jason Kenney attended an unofficial debate in Ottawa over the weekend, but, unlike the last race, he will not be endorsing a candidate.
That same day, all ballots in the UCP leadership vote must be received by 5 pm. The results will be announced on May 18. On his Saturday radio show, the Premier said he was confident that he would win the support of party membership. This week there were allegations of misdeeds in the race. Elections Alberta has announced it is investigating the purchase of bulk memberships. Recently made legal, the allegation is that the memberships were bought before the new laws kicked in on March 31.
The Week That Was
Statistics Canada’s April labour force survey shows an increase of 16,000 seasonally adjusted jobs in Alberta. There were an additional 9,800 full-time jobs while part-time jobs dropped by 6,100. Unemployment was 5.9 per cent in April, down from 6.5 per cent in March.
As announced by Minister Adiana LaGrange, the province will be dedicating $5 million over a three-year period to increase financial literacy teaching for students between grades 3 and 12. The funding will be directed toward three organizations:
Enriched Academy will receive $900,000/year;
Canadian Foundation for Economic Education will receive $500,000/year; and
Junior Achievement will receive $250,000/year.
All those in Alberta who have the ability to prescribe medication will now be able to prescribe Paxlovid, an oral treatment intended to lessen the severity of symptoms from contracting COVID-19.
