This Week In Alberta:

There are afternoon sittings of the Legislature this week, today through Thursday. MLAs will give second reading to Bill 3 (the Opioid Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Amendment Act) and Bill 5 (the Public Sector Employers Amendment Act). There are also two Committee meetings – the Standing Committee on Private Bills meets today at 7:00 pm, and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts will meet on Tuesday at 10:00 am.

The province will be launching a new Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) unit in Lethbridge. The six-unit team will work with the Lethbridge Police Service to investigate crime at problem properties. Currently, there is a SCAN unit in Calgary, and that unit has responded to almost 500 calls since 2019 that would now be directed to the Lethbridge unit. The new unit will serve the southern region, reaching Vulcan to the north, Crowsnest Pass to the west, the U.S. border to the south and the provincial boundary with Saskatchewan to the east.

The Province is bringing Starlink satellite internet to three rural communities as part of a new pilot program. The Province is aiming to bring high-speed internet to all areas of Alberta by 2027. The County of Forty Mile, County of Warner No. 5, and Cardston County are eligible for the pilot, which will test the use of satellite internet technology instead of fibre or fixed wireless.