Alberta This Week (Your Voice For Choice)
July 5 - July 11, 2025
This is YOUR resource - Share any links here on social media to educate others! - “Your Voice For Choice.” Welcome to your Non-Partisan Information Source of Alberta News
Upcoming Events: See our short three-page ABR Resistor for Updates about upcoming events.
We will repost information on Athana’s case when there is an update.
Measles Tracker - We have more cases per capita than anywhere else in North America. https://www.alberta.ca/measles
At the end of the newsletter, we have posted some information about Edmonton’s PACE Party’s candidates.
ABR Spotlight
Warning: This is who is coming for the Alberta Municipal Elections
You may ask yourself who are the Alberta Christians; here are links to their pages. They want to elect school trustees so they can ensure Christian values are part of municipal School Boards’ policy. They also want to elect “Conservative” Mayors and Councillors so they can further the UCP mandates.
Christians that Care: Candidate Training and Support | Liberty Coalition Canada
Western Standard: Christian All-Star Team to launch Political Series in Westlock.
The Calgary Stampede is almost over. The UCP is on the road again.
UCP Travels
July 10 - 15 Chestermere-Strathmore MLA Chantelle de Jonge, Parliamentary Secretary for Affordability and Utilities, will join state legislators from across the U.S. in training from July 10 to 15 to gather the latest insights on North America’s energy ecosystem, and emerging challenges and opportunities driving current U.S. energy policy and decision making.
Putting Alberta at the centre of U.S. energy talks
With this trip, the UCP will have taken 38 trips and will have been out of Alberta for 175 days since January 1, 2025. Alberta taxpayers have paid for it.
The legislature will be sitting again on October 27, 2025 - That’s 107 days/70 working days from July 11, 2025
The UCP Caucus is down 2 members and is now at 46. There are 38 NDP MLAs and 2 Independents.
Independent MLAs say work has already begun to rebuild Progressive Conservative Party | CBC News
Peter Guthrie and Scott Sinclair are resurrecting the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party. They will need 8,819 signatures by November.
Peter Guthrie has been kicked out of the caucus.
Scott Sinclair has been sitting as an independent since the budget came out.
VIDEOS (there are a few this week)
Lisa on the UCP and clawing back the Canada Disability Benefit.
The UCP and the Canada Disability Benefit #daniellesmith #cdb #alberta
Separation
Thomas Lukazuk vs Jeffery Rath - two opposing views.
WizeUp Episode 59 - Should Alberta Stay, or Should Alberta Separate?
Her Name is Misinformation. Worth a listen.
Her Name Is Misinformation – A Satirical Country-Rock Anthem for the Age of Alberta Separatism
Federal Connections: Conservatives to Donald Trump and the GOP
Paul Alexander, an advisor to Donald Trump and an associate to Pierre Poilievre, urged Trump to allow Americans to get infected with COVID, the herd immunity strategy.
‘We want them infected’: Trump appointee demanded ‘herd immunity’ strategy, emails reveal - POLITICO
Throw Back
Bills 26 and 55 are set up to hurt the most vulnerable in Alberta. Keep calling your MLAs to protest these bills.
A Message from ABR (Alberta Resistance)
Recalls: we are moving closer to a Recall for Change in Calgary Bow and Calgary North West. We would love to hear from you if you are interested in standing up a Recall in your riding. Contact us at abresistance2027@gmail.com
Build Community: Albertans need to work together to educate and build community.
Town halls will be starting up; watch for one in your area. The Separatists and the Far right, like TBA (Take Back Alberta), are well-organized and have lots of money. We need to counter that with information and community. Be a part of the change. See our ABR Resistor Update
There are several opportunities to attend rallies and protests this week.
Join our Facebook page or a group in your area that is sharing events, information, and ideas on how to spread the word.
Knowledge: A couple of interesting links we found this week:
Talk to your friends and share what you know. Watching the Socials, we see more outrage and anger about what is happening to Health Care, Education, Social Services, and the Environment in this province. These areas affect everyone! It’s time to speak up.
Do you want to know why your property taxes have gone up so high? Check this out: Alberta Municipalities - Answers to why Provincial Taxes are going up.
The Province has launched another - you guessed it - PANEL Alberta Next Panel. They have scheduled a series of town halls, and you can sign up for them 2 weeks before the event. There is also a survey attached that has you watch a video and then answer 2 - 4 questions. None of the answers allow for any negative feedback, but if you answer the questions, there is an opportunity for you to put in your opinions.
(They only win if we give up!)
Wins this week -
We are working with other groups to show up at peaceful demonstrations around the province. For details, see our ABR Resistor Update.
AB Resistance pays for expenses solely through donations. If you would like to donate to our cause, please etransfer to abrdonate@gmail.com. We are a third-party advertiser, which means we report to Alberta Elections. When you donate, please include your name, address, and postal code in the message.
ABResistance has a “Speaker Series” - check it out on our webpage SPEAKER SERIES - AB Resistance. We are taking the month of July off (unless something emergent comes up) and will be back in August with some new topics. We are also posting the videos on Substack, and you can access them here on YouTube: @abresistance.ca (some nice ab work out videos may show up as well)
We have a merch store! Check out our t-shirts and hoodies.
AB Resistance Merch @ odd-i-tees
It’s been a week! Let’s get started!
Saturday, July 5
Education
EPSB and ECSD are in favour of the task force on aggression in the classrooms.
Edmonton's largest school boards welcome provincial action team to tackle aggression and complexity
RCMP
Epoch Times reports that a suggestion in a report that the RCMP move away from contract policing and citing that for a reason, Danielle is building a private police force.
Epoch Times Opinion Cory Morgan - Why Alberta is creating a Provincial Police Force
Mental Health
New youth mental health centre planned for Fort McMurray
New youth mental health centre planned for Fort McMurray | CBC News
Separation
Forever Canada movement gains ground in Alberta.
Forever Canadian movement gains ground as separatist push begins to falter - SaskToday.ca
Stampede
Carney attends the Stampede, the UCP was questioning why he wasn’t in the parade, and now they question his presence at the Stampede.
Carney makes first visit as Prime Minister to the Stampede
Sunday, July 6
Albertans should demand that the province stop the claw-back of Canadian disability benefits.
Tait: Albertans should demand the province stop clawing back Canadian Disability Benefits
Health
Opinion - seven options to find the family doctors that Canada needs.
Comment: Seven options to find the family doctors Canada needs - Victoria Times Colonist
Sovereignty
Onion Lake Cree Nation demands that the Alberta Government respond to its 2022 lawsuit on sovereignty. (This is an interesting turn of events)
Monday, July 7
CNRL
CNRL delays deactivating inactive pipelines in BC with no consequences (major company in Alberta as well)
CNRL broke deal to deactivate B.C. pipelines | The Narwhal
Education
Alberta is investing in education to meet booming enrolment, but they should have been doing this 5 years ago. Funding Education appropriately and building the infrastructure.
Demetrios Nicolaides: Alberta investing in education to meet growth | Edmonton Journal
Federal government
Cuts are coming as the federal government plans for the fall budget.
Carney calls on the cabinet to find day-to-day operational savings by the end of summer.
Health care
Alberta ER doc challenges premier to come on shift, see patients wait in hallways
ER Doctor Challenges Smith to come on shift to see patients waiting in hallways.
Kananaskis
Will Alberta waive the K pass fee now that the Federal Government has waived National Parks passes?
Alberta's Kananaskis Pass sticking around after feds waive national park fees
Measles
Alberta has the highest per capita measles count in all of North America. Danielle has a new title, Queen of Measles, as Alberta tops the per capita infection rates
Danielle Smith, Queen of Measles | The Tyee.
MOU
Alberta and Ontario will sign agreements to drive oil and gas pipelines, energy corridors, and repeal federal policies blocking investment and growth.
Alberta-Ontario MOUs fuel more pipelines and trade
Alberta and Ontario sign a memorandum of understanding.
Albertans welcome memorandum of understanding between Ontario and Alberta | Watch News Videos Online.
Retaliatory Tariffs
Opinion - Canada’s retaliatory tariffs hurt Canadians
EDITORIAL: Canada's retaliatory tariffs hurt Canadians | Toronto Sun
Transgender Care
Alberta’s Bill 26 would compromise the patient-doctor relationship
There’s no place for politicians in the medical exam rooms of the nation - The Globe and Mail
Tuesday, July 8
AIMCO Severance Costs
AIMCo Severance payments jump 383% to $7.9 million after executive purge when Harper was brought on board.
AIMCo severance costs jump 383% after executive purge | Calgary Herald
ASIRT
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) continues its investigations into two separate incidents.
ASIRT investigations continue on two files
Municipalities
Dan Williams, the new Municipal Minister, warns municipalities to stay away from wokeness and DEI policies.
Keep Away from Wokeness and DEI warns the new Minister of Municipal Affairs - Dan Williams
Museums
Alberta makes culture more accessible with free and discounted summer admission for kids and youth at all provincial museums and historic sites until September 2.
Nuclear Power
Alberta is exploring bringing nuclear power to Alberta.
Nuclear power consultations coming to Alberta
OHS
A land development and management company has been fined $350,000 related to a workplace death.
Company fined for workplace fatality
Wednesday, July 9
Agriculture
4R Nutrient Stewardship helps farmers increase plant growth and yields by using the right source, at the right rate, and right time, in the right place.
Working together to promote 4R practices to farmers
AISH
First, Jason Nixon, Minister of Social Services, is clawing back the $200/month from the federal government, and now they are charging AISH recipients in community housing more money for monthly rent $220/month.
AISH recipients in community housing will see rent hike under new Alberta regulations | CBC News
Buy Canadian
For the first time in their history, Purdy’s Chocolate is going to be selling their products in grocery stores.
Purdys to sell outside its stores for 1st time due to ‘Buy Canadian’ demand | Globalnews.ca
By Election
Opinion column - states Pierre Poilievre is not going anywhere.
Bell: A no-nonsense Poilievre pulls no punches and stands his ground | Calgary Herald
Federal Conservatives
The Conservatives had record fundraising and spent it all on the last federal election. They have their hands out again to support Pierre in his August by-election.
Conservatives raised a record $48.5M last year — and spent even more | CBC News
Forever Canada
Citizens' initiative petition approved for referendum on staying in Canada.
Citizens' initiative petition approved for referendum on Alberta remaining in Canada
Measles
Again, Alberta gets the award for the highest measles cases per capita in NA as summer travel begins.
Alberta Measles and North America Travel
Orders in Council
Orders Approved – July 9, 2025
UCP Travels
MLA de Jonge (Parliamentary Secretary for Affordability and Utilities) to underscore Alberta as the answer to U.S. energy security, while attending training at the Legislative Energy Horizon Institute (LEHI) in Richland, WA.
Putting Alberta at the centre of U.S. energy talks
Thursday, July 10
Alberta Book Banning
The Alberta government bans sexually explicit books in school libraries. Will allow books that depict hand-holding.What the government calls “non-sexual content,” including descriptions of puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, kissing, or handholding, will still be accessible.
Alberta's government has introduced new standards to ensure school library materials are age-appropriate.
New standards for school libraries | De nouvelles normes pour les bibliothèques scolaires
Calgary Bike Lanes
The Smith government wants Calgary to remove bike lanes.
Bell: 'Everything on the table' — The Smith government could remove some Calgary bike lanes
Compassionate Commissioner
Alberta’s government has appointed Jonathan Carlzon as the first commissioner and founding member of the Compassionate Intervention Commission. We are closer to committing people for drug abuse.
The head of the Compassionate Intervention Commission appointed
Health Care
Fourteen new regional advisory councils will let Albertans shape how health care is planned and delivered in their communities. 14 regional advisory councils, 7 corridors, 4 health areas - what could go wrong? (PS, we still have 5 regions in place, the corridors still haven’t been instituted.)
Regional health councils give Albertans a voice
The Alberta Health system is in chaos.
Alberta's health system in 'chaos' as restructuring continues, says doctor | CBC News
Indigenous Business
Alexander Chemical, majority-owned by Alexander First Nation, is celebrating the expansion of its eco-friendly chemical production facility in Calgary.
Major milestone for Indigenous-led innovation
Measles
Patients are being asked to wait in their vehicles to be triaged. Hospitals are setting up ambulance bays to facilitate triage.
Alberta Measles Patients are being asked to wait in vehicles to be triaged
MLA Travels
While in Richland, Chestermere-Strathmore MLA Chantelle de Jonge, Parliamentary Secretary for Affordability and Utilities for will join state legislators from across the U.S. in training from July 10 to 15 to gather the latest insights on North America’s energy ecosystem, and emerging challenges and opportunities driving current U.S. energy policy and decision making. (Alberta is the answer to US Energy Security?)
Putting Alberta at the centre of U.S. energy talks
Oil and Gas
Oil and gas industry group backing a proposal to combine Alberta’s two largest river basin systems: the Peace-Athabasca river basins in Wood Buffalo National Park.
Oil and gas industry group backs proposed merger of Alberta's largest river basins | CBC News
Policing
The Alberta Sheriffs have closed a problem property in Edmonton that has been a source of complaints about drug and criminal activity since 2015.
Sheriffs shut down a drug house in Edmonton
Work from home
Workers are pushing back on the return to the office push, and want to stay working from home.
Why the Return-to-Office Push Reveals a Bigger Management Crisis | by Ivan Ocampo | Medium (Free Article)
Friday, 11
Banned Books
Where the Minister of Education found the list of books to ban from school libraries, in the USA.
Charges Laid
$1 million in courthouse and RCMP vehicle damage in Vermillion leads to charges.
$1M damage to courthouse, vehicles leads to charges
Cyclist Killed in Calgary
It appears Calgary and Edmonton need more bike lanes and rules around them, not fewer. Yesterday, Smith was threatening to cut back on bike lanes in Calgary.
Cyclist dies after collision with dump truck in southwest Calgary
Family Fishing Weekend
You don’t have to pay for a fishing license this weekend
No Frills
Chestermere No Frills accused of union busting.
Alberta Worker - Chestermere No Frills Accused of Union Busting
Health Care
Health care workers rallied outside Red Deer Hospital to support AUPE. This is because Health Care in Alberta is in turmoil.
Alberta health-care workers rally outside hospital | CTV News Red Deer: July 11
Alberta Health Care in Staffing Turmoil Following Premier Smith’s Reforms, Says New Report
Alberta falls behind the rest of Canada in key health-care fields: report
Homes
Canada and Alberta are investing a record of more than $203 million to build thousands of new affordable housing units across the province.
Building affordable homes for Albertans
Human Trafficking
Alberta RCMP shuts down Alberta-wide human trafficking operation.
RCMP Serious Crimes Branch shuts down Alberta-wide human trafficking operation | EverythingGP
Renewables
Trump, like Smith, is attacking Clean Energy Progress, boosting Canada as a preferred energy destination. It’s too bad Smith has put so many roadblocks in the pathway for Alberta to take advantage of the situation.
Trump’s attack on US clean energy progress could boost Canada as a ‘preferred investment destination’
Sports and Tourism
The best track and field athletes from around the world will hit the ground running at the Edmonton Athletics Invitational.
Unemployment
Alberta's unemployment rate has dropped to 6.8%, lower than the rest of Canada.
Alberta unemployment slides below national rate to sit at 6.8%
Water
Alberta’s government is investing $7 million to improve water quality and help protect communities from floods and droughts.
Increasing natural flood and drought protections
Wild fires
Alberta #12 wildfire update.
**************************************
Alberta News - Keeping Albertans Informed
Alberta Views puts out a weekly synopsis of happenings in Alberta: This week’s version. (The Week in Alberta archives)
The Tyee puts out a weekly round-up of happenings in Alberta - Check it out.
A round-up of this week’s Tyee Alberta stories. They are a non-profit; if you can afford to donate to this amazing news source,
Alberta Municipalities News
News from the Municipalities - has an update on bills being passed.
Alberta Conservative News
Municipal and School Board Elections - October
Election News - If you are wondering who is running, and what party they represent, as we move into a new political space in Municipal Politics
Calgary - Sprawl - Calgary Candidate Tracker for Municipal Elections
Edmonton - Troy Pavlek - Who’s running in Edmonton’s Municipal Election?
List of all candidates running in the Edmonton Municipal and School Board elections. Running as a Candidate in the 2025 Edmonton Election
We will be breaking this down in future issues as the nomination processes get completed.
Alberta Government Links
Here is a link to the assembly website, with a calendar of upcoming events at the Legislature and a list of all the bills this government has passed, as well as bills in progress. Please note that all the UCP members have voted to support these bills.
Legislative Assembly of Alberta Assembly Dashboard - Has links to each day’s events at the Legislature. The legislative sitting is done from May 15 until October 27, 2025, so 165 days off from the Legislature, and they complain about Educators and other public employees.
The Government is making its news announcements user-friendly. Here is the non-government branded version.
Here is the government version.
If you have events coming up in your area or have a group you would like to promote, email us at abresistance2027@gmail.com
PACE - Edmonton Party for Municipal Elections
https://www.pacenow.ca/
You will find the party information here. We wanted to dig a little deeper to find information that is not available on the site.
Sheila Phimester is PACE’s President. She is a retired headhunter, literally. She worked for Headhunters International as a recruiter. She is also the former President of the UCP Edmonton Whitemud caucus. This is from their web page; there is at least one PACE candidate in this picture. https://edmontonwhitemud.ca/2023/12/19/december-2023-newsletter
028: The Future of Local Politics: A Conversation with Doug Main | Dialogue Over Division
Doug Main is PACE’s Vice-President.
Doug Main is the vice-president of the Principled Accountable Coalition for Edmonton (PACE), a municipal political party registered with Edmonton Elections on January 27, 2025, for the October 20, 2025, Edmonton municipal election. As vice-president, he plays a key leadership role alongside president Sheila Phimester, helping to shape PACE’s strategy, candidate selection, and platform, which emphasizes “common sense, business-friendly, community-oriented” policies such as fiscal responsibility, community safety, and accountability. Main’s involvement includes overseeing the party’s formation and its merger with TAPYeg (Transparent and Active Partnerships Edmonton) in November 2024 to consolidate conservative-leaning votes. His background as a former Progressive Conservative MLA (1982–1993) and former Alberta cabinet minister under premiers Peter Lougheed and Don Getty lends political experience and conservative credibility to PACE’s leadership.
Albert Mazzocca
Next up, we have Albert Mazzocca. He owned and operated Road Runner Pizza before getting into home building with Diamond West Builders. He ran for the UCP party in the 2023 provincial election. He is running in Ward Dene
Fidel Ammar
Fidel Ammar has a background in transportation management. He has called Edmonton home for 52 years. He is also connected to the UCP. He is running in Ward Tastawiyiniwak. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. We have three to share.
At the Druze Center - New Horizons’ Senior Event with MLA David Eggan
Remembering their friend Kamal Jounblat with Sam Jaber
The accountant who is on the Invest Alberta Board, who also gave skybox tickets to the UCP MLAs and staffers to the Stanley Cup games in 2024.
July 1, 2025, with Alberta’s Justice Minister.
Hali Kaur Kahlon (Do you recognize her?) She is in the picture with Sheila Phimester.
She is running in Ward Karhiio. Hali has worked for the UCP government since 2022. She is seen as one of the young influencers and has co-founded Gamechangers. She received the Next Generation Award from the UCP during their Annual General Meeting (AGM), indicating her recognition as a promising young member of the party. She expressed pride in being part of a group of young conservatives and attended the UCP AGM, including events like the Throne Speech and the Calgary AGM, showing her active participation in party activities.
Justin Thomas.
He works in law enforcement in Edmonton and has for the last 12 years. Previously, he was a nurse and emigrated to Canada. He ran for mayor in the last civic election. Justin Thomas, Mayoral Candidate, Edmonton. He is concerned with infill housing and crime in Edmonton. He is running in Ward Metis.
Rob Feduk
He grew up in a small community outside Edmonton. Rob is running in Ward Anirniq. Over the years, he has written letters to the editor.
https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/letters/tuesdays-letters-homeless-camps-impact-neighbours
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-fediuk-03a53790/
He is a real estate developer and the CEO of an online social group of Cannabis enthusiasts.
Ken Ropcean
We did a search on Ken’s address as we did on the other candidates, only Ken’s came up as living in St. Albert, a city immediately northwest of Edmonton, Alberta. His address is listed as 9 xxxx Terrace, St. Albert, AB TxN xx5, as per a 311 Canada directory. Additionally, Ken Ropcean is associated with Ken Ropcean Instrumentation and Controls Ltd., incorporated in Alberta on June 2, 1997, at the same St. Albert address, suggesting he has been a long-term resident of the area. (He may have moved to Edmonton, but we have found no proof of that). He is running in Ward sipiwiyiniwak. He has built a career overseeing large-scale industrial projects across Western Canada, managing multi-million-dollar budgets and hundreds of tradespeople with a proven record of fiscal responsibility and efficiency.
Steve van Diest
He is running in Ward Sspomitapi. He owns/owned Tiburon Films and has a strong social media skillset https://camta.com/videos/. He founded and owns Viva Voce Marketing Group. He is not a fan of parking bans and ticketing on snow removal routes: https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/1.7562873 . (From GROK) Political Platform: As a PACE candidate, Van Diest campaigns on local leadership, transparency, and community-driven solutions. His priorities include safer neighborhoods, participatory budgeting, multilingual services, and coalition-building among residents, businesses, and nonprofits to address issues like housing, transit, and economic development. He emphasizes ethical, non-partisan decision-making focused on community needs. We want to know how you can be non-partisan, when you are running with a party that has a strong Conservative leaning/mandate?
Mark Hillman
He is running in Ward Papastew. Mark went to Brigham Young University and received a degree in Business Management, focusing on Supply Chain management. He has worked for various companies as a Financial Business Consultant. Here is an article about who is running in Papastew - there is a comment from Mark in the article.
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/janz-confirms-his-run-for-re-election
His Facebook page is very light with some posts about infill housing.
It is on our Substack: here is the link- https://abresistance.substack.com/p/abr-resistor-update-59b?r=5wgn1t
"Upcoming Events: See our short three-page ABR Resistor for Updates about upcoming events."
Where can this be found?