- Edmonton is lifting its extreme weather response this weekend. The last night of operation for expanded overnight bus service will be Feb. 5; temporary shelter at The Mustard Seed will continue to operate at a capacity of 150 beds until the end of March.
- Dr. Deena Hinshaw said on Feb. 3 that Alberta is shifting to an endemic approach to COVID-19. Premier Jason Kenney said a date for scrapping the Restrictions Exemption Program and other public health restrictions will be announced next week.
- Mayor Amarjeet Sohi told reporters that he wants public health measures to remain in place to ensure health and safety. "I certainly hope that we don't have to implement our own measures, but we will explore options that are within our authority if we have to," Sohi said. In a Facebook Live broadcast late on Feb. 3, Kenney indicated he would look into changing the Municipal Government Act to prevent municipal governments from enacting stronger measures. "This is not their normal field of responsibility, they don't have access to the same data we do," Kenney said. "I think that would be a matter of great concern."
- Edmonton improved in C.D. Howe's Fiscal Responsibility in Cities report. In last year's report, the city received a failing grade, but this year's score went up as it quickly and clearly passed a budget.
- Prairies Economic Development Canada is providing the Flying Canoë Volant festival with $130,000 in funding to help tell "the stories of French-Canadian, First Nations, and Métis cultures," while boosting Edmonton's tourism sector. Over the past eight years, the festival has grown to attract more than 60,000 visitors from across Western Canada. The 2022 edition of the festival will run March 1-5.
- The Edmonton Chamber of Commerce has released a list of provincial budget recommendations, which include creating affordable housing solutions and ensuring flexible debt repayment schedules for businesses so they don't need to close down.
- The University of Alberta Students' Union said that the quality of online courses are causing grades to lower, and student mental health to suffer."We've seen issues like unauthorized, highly invasive and discriminatory online proctoring … and a lack of accessibility measures being taken for students who are stuck in other time zones or have weak internet access, by no fault of their own," Rowan Ley, the student union president, told CBC.
- Environmental groups Environmental Defence, West Coast Environmental Law, Stand.earth, Dogwood, and the Wilderness Committee are suing Premier Jason Kenney and the provincial government for defamation. The groups argue that Kenney should have apologized for or retracted statements he made about environmental groups, and which went against the findings of the Public Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns.
Headlines
By Mack Male and Doug Johnson