Alberta News in Brief for September 29

Thursday, September 29th, 2016 11:21am

Wildrose says police should carry naloxone nasal spray units

September 29, 2016. The Wildrose Opposition contends that Alberta should adopt best practices from British Columbia to combat the fentanyl crisis, including equipping policing officers with naloxone nasal spray units. Officers of the Calgary Police Service already carry naloxone nasal spray instead of the injection kits. “The NDP government should be collaborating with all contracted RCMP services across our province to equip officers with the easier to administer nasal spray form of naloxone,” said Wildrose leader Brian Jean in a statement. Wildrose says it will continue to push the NDP government to implement a public health emergency and provide greater funding for addictions and treatment beds.


Province appoints Métis judge

September 29, 2016. Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley has appointed Ivan Modeste Laurie Ladouceur to the provincial court. Ladouceur, a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta, will serve in St. Paul. He is a long-time member of the Eagle Sundance Society, amd helps First Nations to organize and conduct the Eagle Sundance ceremony to ensure that it will be taught and passed on to future generations. Ladouceur, a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Law, was admitted to the Alberta Bar in 1992. Since then, he has had a private practice in High Prairie, specializing in criminal, and family and child welfare law, in the northern Provincial Court of Alberta circuit of Fort McMurray, Fort Chipewyan, High Prairie, Valleyview, Slave Lake, Red Earth Creek and Wabasca.

 

Minimum wage increases

September 29, 2016. On Oct. 1, Alberta’s minimum wage will rise by $1 per hour. The increase will mark the second in a series of progressive steps that will give Alberta a $15 per hour minimum wage by 2018. The lower minimum wage for liquor servers will also be eliminated. Alberta’s general minimum wage will increase from $11.20 to $12.20 per hour effective Oct.1. On June 30, the province set a timeline by which to reach the $15 per hour goal by 2018. In addition to the 2016 increase, the general minimum wage will rise by $1.40 to $13.60 per hour on Oct. 1, 2017, and a further $1.40 to $15 per hour on Oct. 1, 2018. Approximately 300,000 people in Alberta earn less than $15 per hour with nearly 62 per cent of them being women.

 

Eggen travelling north to discuss education outcomes, opportunities

September 29, 2016. Education Minister David Eggen will be wearing orange when he visits Little Buffalo School on Friday. Sept. 30 is Orange Shirt Day, which honours residential school survivors and promotes ongoing reconciliation. Staff and students will also be wearing orange. Eggen will attend a student and community assembly along with Elder Lillian Whitehead and Chief Billy Joe Laboucan. Following the school visit, Eggen will meet with Chief and council of Lubicon Lake Band to discuss opportunities for improving education outcomes and enhancing opportunities for First Nation students.