EDMONTON – Alberta reported 1,519 new COVID-19 cases and 29 deaths on Tuesday as Tyler Shandro resigned from his position as health minister.

The province has 20,917 active cases and 996 hospitalizations, including 222 ICU admissions.

Alberta Health Services’ ICU capacity is at 87 per cent including surge beds, according to Premier Jason Kenney.

The 29 deaths increased Alberta’s pandemic death toll to 2,574.

“Some of these individuals were double vaccinated and had pre-existing health conditions that compromised their immune systems, but most were not vaccinated at all,” Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said.

THIRD DOSES

More immunocompromised Albertans will be eligible to get a booster shot starting on Friday, the premier announced.

The expansion includes people with Stage 3 or advanced HIV, transplant recipients and patients with chronic kidney disease.

“The data shows that individuals with certain immunocompromising conditions do not develop as robust an immune response from two doses and benefit from a third dose,” Hinshaw said.

Booster shots will be available at least eight weeks after the second dose.

Of eligible Albertans, 81.4 per cent have one COVID-19 vaccine dose and 72.8 per cent have two doses.

NEW HEALTH MINISTER

In a cabinet shuffle on Tuesday afternoon, former Labour and Immigration Minister Jason Copping became Alberta’s health minister.

Kenney said Shandro offered his resignation and he accepted it, and Shandro will take over Copping’s previous portfolio.

Copping told reporters his main three goals are to increase hospital capacity permanently, educate vaccine-hesitant Albertans and prepare the health system to respond to potential future waves.

Alberta health officials will give another COVID-19 update later this week.

EDMONTON – Tyler Shandro is no longer Alberta’s health minister as part of Premier Jason Kenney’s cabinet shuffle on Tuesday afternoon.

Shandro is now the minister of labour and immigration after he exchanged portfolios with Jason Copping.

In a COVID-19 update after the cabinet shuffle, Kenney said Shandro offered his resignation and the premier accepted it.

“It is time for a fresh start and a new set of eyes in the largest department in the government, especially at a time such as this,” Kenney said.

“Minister Copping has proven himself as a thoughtful and capable leader in government, who is ready to take the daunting task of overcoming this fourth wave and preparing the health-care system to deal with whatever this virus throws at us in the future.”

Copping told reporters his main three goals are to increase hospital capacity permanently, educate vaccine-hesitant Albertans and prepare the health system to respond to potential future waves.

EDMONTON – The “unpopularity” of Alberta’s UCP government hurt conservative candidates in Monday’s election, according to an experienced Edmonton-area MP.

Conservative Party candidate Michael Cooper held onto his seat in St. Albert but acknowledged he heard a lot of anger from voters about the UCP and Premier Jason Kenney while he was door knocking.

The UCP has trailed the NDP in numerous Alberta polls for much of 2021.

“It had an impact. We have seen a little bit of a drop in the capital region and I think that’s attributable to, frankly, the unpopularity of the provincial government,” Cooper said in an election night interview with CTV Edmonton.

“That was expected. I heard it at the doors. We also had a little bit of bleeding to the PPC.”

CPC vote share in the province fell by about 10 per cent, and the party lost one seat in Calgary and is at risk of losing two more in close Edmonton races.

Federal conservatives still dominated the province they usually win though – capturing at least 30 seats and about 55 per cent of votes in Alberta.

Cooper secured his third straight election victory, defeating the NDP’s Kathleen Mpulubusi by about 10,000 votes.

Kenney – a supporter of Erin O’Toole – was quiet on social media Monday, not posting anything about the election.

Cooper said Albertans will get a chance to address their provincial concerns in 2023, the next scheduled election.

As for his party leader – Cooper dodged a direct question about whether O’Toole should stay on, or resign.

“We’ve got to look at the results across the country, but I think we ran a good national campaign and had a good national result,” Cooper said.

Races involving incumbent Conservative MPs James Cummings and Kerry Diotte were still undecided Monday.

EDMONTON – Edmonton Centre was not decided on election night as the race between two familiar opponents remained too close to call, according to CTV News projections.

In their third meeting, Liberal Randy Boissonnault led Conservative incumbent James Cumming by 44 votes with 200 out of 209 polls reporting.

More than 2,700 mail-in votes are scheduled to be counted on Tuesday.

• Federal election 2021: Results for all 34 Alberta ridings, 2 races too close to call

NDP candidate Heather McKenzie was in third place, approximately 2,000 votes behind Boissonnault and Cumming, early Tuesday morning.

Thirty Alberta ridings have gone Conservative in the 2021 election, except for Edmonton Strathcona (NDP) and Calgary Skyview (Liberal).

Edmonton Griesbach was also too close to call on Monday night.

Edmonton – New Democrat candidate Blake Desjarlais has a narrow lead over incumbent Kerry Diotte in Edmonton-Griesbach late Monday night, but the race remains too close to call according to CTV News projections.

With 200 out of 232 polls reporting, Desjarlais is leading by just over 300 votes. 

The Canadian Press called the race for Desjarlais earlier Monday night.

Liberal candidate Habiba Mohamud will finish third followed by the People Party of Canada’s Thomas Matty in fourth. 

The final vote tally is still to be determined as mail-in ballots are counted over the coming days. 

Diotte won the riding when it was first contested in 2015 and then again in 2019 when he received more than 51 per cent of the vote. 

The former Edmonton city councillor and newspaper columnist had served as the Tories’ deputy critic for national revenue and public procurement.

Desjarlais was seeking to reverse a trend that saw voting support for the NDP fall over the last two elections: from 34 per cent of votes in 2015 down to 25 per cent in 2019. 

If elected, Desjarlais, 27, would become Alberta’s only Indigenous MP.

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh visited the riding twice during the campaign.