Mounting pressure on Alberta premier as doctors and experts call for his resignation
Increasing criticism is being directed at Premier Jason Kenney for Alberta's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The calls from doctors and political experts for the premier to step down are growing louder following Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw's admission that lifting pandemic restrictions for the summer was a mistake. The mounting pressure for change also comes as the number of COVID-19 patients in Alberta's intensive care units reaches record highs.
The premier has yet to respond to the criticism. Kenney has not addressed the province or answered questions from media since Sept. 3, when he announced the $100 vaccine incentive.
The premier was scheduled to make remarks at an oil and gas conference in Fort McMurray Wednesday, but that appearance has been cancelled. Instead, Kenney called an emergency meeting with his COVID-19 cabinet committee.
Duane Bratt, a political scientist at MRU, is questioning the premier's pandemic leadership, asking how many Albertan's lives need to be put at risk to keep the UCP together.
"I don’t know how they can survive this," said Bratt. "You often hear wealthy people in hospitals say 'money can’t buy your health'. Well, neither can party unity."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is also taking aim at Kenney’s leadership, and says he feels bad for the millions of Albertans that are fully vaccinated.
Dr. James Talbot, Alberta's former chief medical officer of health, says he hopes the UCP will learn from past mistakes. Following Dr. Deena Hinshaw's comments about how the pandemic has been handled, Talbot says he's interested to see how the government will now act in a time of crisis.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.