ThisWeekInAlbertaAlberta is hosting a large number of evacuees from the Northwest Territories as people flee the wildfires in the area. Evacuees have been sheltered all over Alberta, including Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray, St. Albert, Red Deer, Edmonton, and Calgary. Albertans are no stranger to wildfires, and have generously offered to assist our neighbours to the north. Members of the Penhold Volunteer Fire Department have also agreed to head up north and help battle the blaze.
The federal government is mulling livestock tax deferrals following agricultural disasters in southern Alberta. More than a dozen agricultural disasters have been declared by Alberta counties, and Premier Danielle Smith has recognized the hardships being faced by farmers. She suggested that the province's crop insurance program would have sufficient funding to cover existing claims from those who had been adversely affected this year.
Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault will head to China for a meeting of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development - an organization of which he is Vice Chairperson. Premier Danielle Smith said she’s concerned about why Guilbeault wants to force Alberta into net-zero by 2035, but is okay with China taking much longer to meet the target. Guilbeault’s visit comes at a time when the federal opposition parties are ramping up calls for an inquiry into Chinese interference in Canada’s elections.
