Monday, March 2: The province’s respiratory virus dashboard reports that 250 Albertans have died from influenza so far this flu season. This represents the most deaths since 2009, when the data first became publicly available.
Read more: Should Vaccinations be Mandatory?
March 2: Elections Alberta announces that the recall petition for MLA Jason Stephan (Red Deer-South) has an insufficient number of signatures. Two other recall petitions, for Nathan Neudorf (Lethbridge-East) and Glenn van Dijken (Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock), weren’t submitted to Elections Alberta by the deadline and are therefore invalid.
Read more: Forever Canadian
Tuesday, March 3: Following premier Danielle Smith’s remarks blaming the Alberta Medical Association for delays in hiring emergency department triage liaison physicians, AMA president Dr. Brian Wirzba releases a statement saying “the delay has not been on the AMA’s end.” Alberta Hospitals minister Matt Jones clarifies that “there’s two sides to this, and I take accountability for our side of it.”
Read more: Why Can’t You Get a Family Doctor?
Wednesday, March 4: The Law Society of Alberta eliminates its equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) committee to comply with the province’s “Peterson Law,” passed last December, which bars professional regulators from mandating EDI training.
Read more: The Dark Gospel
Thursday, March 5: The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) releases a statement after an injunction hearing into whether or not Bill 2, the Back to School Act, which ended the 2025 teachers’ strike by invoking the notwithstanding clause, should be suspended. The ATA says that, if the injunction is granted, they won’t resume labour action for at least three weeks.
Read more: Stripping Away Rights
Read more: Youseepee No-Vax VS. the Green Genie
March 6: The Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) rejects a proposal for a $10-billion data centre, the largest in Canada, to be built in Olds. The application was denied based on missing information, internal inconsistencies and a lack of public consultation. The proponent, Synapse, can reapply if they address the AUC’s concerns.
Read more: Deepfakes and the elections of 2024
The Week in Alberta is updated weekdays by 4:30pm MT.
