EDMONTON – The provincial government is facing questions over Alberta not yet making a $10/day child care agreement with Ottawa.

The Official Opposition says it has received over 1,800 emails from parents asking about Alberta’s plan.

Eight other jurisdictions have signed a child care deal that would see federal dollars reduce costs down to $10/day or less by 2026.

Rebecca Schulz, Alberta’s minister of children’s services, says she stressed urgency in reaching a deal.

“I had a great conversation and a first meeting with my federal counterpart and I am optimistic in where those negotiations are headed,” Schulz told CTV News Edmonton.

She would not provide a timeline for when she expects to see a deal in place, but blamed the delay in part on the federal election and the need for a unique Alberta arrangement.

“We want to make sure that we as a government are not picking and choosing which centres or which daycares are included in this program,” said Schulz.

“We know every province has their own circumstance. We are not the only province with a mixed market with for-profit and non-profit providers,” Rakhi Pancholi, NDP critic for children’s services, responded.

“The question is, why hasn’t this government signed this agreement now?”

The province has been working on a deal with Ottawa since April. 

With a report from CTV News Edmonton’s Chelan Skulski 

EDMONTON – Former Wildrose leader Brian Jean is pursuing a UCP nomination in the riding of Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche.

Jean announced Wednesday night on social media that he was returning to provincial politics and running locally for a UCP nomination.

“Something must be done or Rachel Notley will win the next election with an overwhelming majority. That will be bad for Alberta,” he wrote. 

Jean was the Wildrose Party leader from March 2015 until it merged with the Progressive Conservative Party in 2018 to form the United Conservative Party.

Jean stepped away from provincial politics in March 2018 after losing the UCP leadership race to Jason Kenney.

Prior to running for provincial politics, Jean also served as an MP for Fort McMurray-Athabasca.

Jean says he filed papers with Elections Alberta.

EDMONTON – A person walking on a northern Alberta highway was killed on Monday when they were struck by a pickup truck.

RCMP say the 33-year-old man from Chateh, Alta., was walking in the eastbound driving lane of Highway 58 when he was hit by the truck headed in the same direction.

The crash happened shortly before 8 p.m. about four kilometres east of High Level.

The victim’s name was not released.

The 65-year-old truck driver from Mackenzie County was not hurt. 

High Level is 740 kilometres northeast of Edmonton. 

EDMONTON – The province with Canada’s largest oil and gas industry has sent one of the country’s smallest delegations to the international climate conference, where emissions from that industry are under scrutiny.

A preliminary list of the Canadian delegation to COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, shows Alberta has sent two bureaucrats.

Newfoundland has nine people at the meetings, Manitoba has six and Ontario has four, as does the Northwest Territories.

Quebec has 36 representatives.

Several Indigenous and environmental groups also have stronger numbers at the meetings, which are setting the world’s path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels.

Premier Jason Kenney has said he didn’t see the value of one more politician at what he called a “gab fest.”

But Mount Royal University political scientist Keith Brownsey says the United Conservative government has missed an important chance to gather information, make contacts and tell Alberta’s story to the rest of the world.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2021.

EDMONTON – Edmonton police have released images of two men they say robbed a pharmacy in the city’s southeast in August.

On Aug. 23, at around 5:45 p.m., police say the two men went into the pharmacy near 23 Street and 23 Avenue and “demanded narcotics” from staff.

The men then fled the scene on foot with the stolen drugs, according to police.

Nobody was hurt during the robbery.

One of the men is described as white and in his 20s, between 5’8″ and 5’10”.

He was reportedly wearing a black Air Jordan hoodie, dark jeans, white sneakers, a blue face mask and carrying a black Adidas backpack.

Police say he’s described as having “a distinctive nose.”

The other man is described as Black and in his 20s.

He was reportedly wearing a black Roots hoodie with white drawstrings, a black face mask, black jogging pants and black sneakers.

Anyone with information about the two men or the robbery is asked to contact Edmonton police at 780-423-4567.