CALGARY — Crown prosecutors have stayed charges against parents who were facing a third trial in the death of their toddler in southern Alberta.

A lawyer for David and Collet Stephan, Shawn Buckley, says he received a letter from the Crown about the decision.

A copy of the letter directs the Lethbridge court to stay charges against the Stephans of failing to provide the necessaries of life.

Alberta Justice could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Stephans were accused of not seeking medical attention sooner for their 18-month-old son before he died in 2012.

They testified that they were treating the boy with natural remedies for what they thought was croup.

More coming …

EDMONTON — Alberta Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw reported 57 new cases of COVID-19 in one of her last scheduled updates.

After more than 230 press conferences, Alberta’s top doctor said next Tuesday, June 29, will be her final scheduled update.

“These availabilities are intended to provide critical information and the reality is that we’re making great progress,” Hinshaw said on Tuesday.

“Cases are falling quickly and our vaccine uptake is rising.”

Hinshaw added she would hold a press conference if it were needed.

She also said Alberta will no longer report COVID-19 data on weekends and will announce the province’s R-value every two weeks.

Alberta has 1,773 active COVID-19 cases, the lowest amount since October 2.

There are 200 Albertans in hospital with the disease, including 54 in ICU.

Alberta conducted just over 5,000 tests on Monday and reported a positivity rate of 1.4 per cent.

More than 30 per cent of eligible Albertans have now received a second vaccine dose.

Hinshaw emphasized Alberta Health Services’ message that Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are “interchangeable” after the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) said it was safe to mix the brands.

“It does not matter which brand you get for your second dose. They’re both safe and effective and it is perfectly OK to get one dose of each.” 

EDMONTON — A motion to deactivate Edmonton’s mandatory mask bylaw on Canada Day was defeated by one vote on Tuesday.

The motion would have ended the bylaw when the province moved into Stage 3 of its reopening plan on July 1.

Since the motion failed on the third reading, a vote will be held again on June 25 after council voted to hold a special session to debate and vote again on the motion. Initially the vote would have taken place at the next council meeting on July 5.

The first two readings passed by a vote of 7-6, with only Coun. Aaron Paquette voting “no” to approve the third reading.

The councillors that initially opposed said they preferred an alternate option — to deactivate the bylaw two weeks after 50 per cent of eligible Edmontonians had received a second dose of a vaccine. City administration estimated that would happen in mid-July.

City administration and Dr. Christopher Sikora, medical health officer of Alberta Health Services’ Edmonton Zone, were advising council to pass the motion.

“Votes can change; there’s still more debate to be had on Friday and I suspect that councillors will be hearing from their constituents one way or the other,” said Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson after the meeting.

“It’s not unheard of for a member of council who wishes to allow for sober second thought between second and third reading to decline to consent to having third reading happen… it’s rare but it’s not out of bounds.”

In the council meeting, Iveson referred to the situation as “messy” before council voted to hold the special meeting on June 25 to discuss the motion again.

“Having third reading run out past July 1 was going to create a lot of uncertainty for the city, a lot of difficulty communicating with our public, a lot of uncertainty for businesses.”

Iveson initially voted “no” on the motion, but he said he voted “yes” for the third reading to allow for the city to provide clarity to the public.

Had the motion passed, the bylaw would have been deactivated and no longer enforced, but could be reactivated by council. The bylaw would also have been automatically reactivated by provincial medical health order or if the province moved back to Stage 2 or Stage 1 of reopening.

Even with Alberta dropping its masking requirements, masking will still be required under provincial regulations in certain circumstances in cities with or without masking bylaws. That includes on public transit across the province, in taxis and in ride shares.

Several councillors expressed concern that dropping the mandatory mask bylaw would create fear for some in Edmonton, making them less likely to venture out to businesses that are opening up again.

“I think all of us, in the upcoming weeks months, will have to make very tricky decisions about risk and what are the actions that all of us can do as individuals and as families to be able to help reduce that risk,” said Sikora.

Councillors also expressed concern over the Delta variant spreading in the province.

“The preparation aspects are absolutely critical, making sure we have the surveillance, the monitoring, the health system capability to respond appropriately and accordingly but also our personal health practices to be able to keep ourselves healthy,” said Sikora.

Even once the mandatory mask bylaw is deactivated businesses could still require customers and employees to wear masks inside.

Wearing masks in public is also still being “strongly” recommended by the city, even when the bylaw has been deactivated.

OTHER MUNICIPALITIES DIVIDED ON LIFTING MASK RESTRICTIONS

On Monday, St. Albert council voted unanimously to lift local rules on Canada Day with the province. The city brought in its own face coverings bylaw in the late summer of 2020, and suspended it in December when Alberta implemented a province-wide masking mandate.

Calgary’s council decided on Monday to delay the decision on their mask bylaw by two weeks.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi called the city’s second dose vaccination rates “really good,” but said he wanted “to make sure enough people have their second dose so that when the Delta variant wave comes, most people will be protected.”

Calgary councillors will consider hospitalization and ICU numbers, case rates, and immunization progress when the conversation is revived on July 5.

According to Nenshi, Calgary Stampede organizers are planning to make masks in indoor settings mandatory.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Alex Antoneshyn and CTV News Calgary 

EDMONTON — The police watchdog in Alberta is investigating an incident that left a man and police dog both dead after RCMP attempted a traffic stop last week.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) said in a release on Monday that they are investigating the incident that took place near High Prairie, Alta. last Thursday.

RCMP conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle that was associated with 29-year-old Lionel Ernest Grey, from High Prairie, who had outstanding criminal warrants on Thursday at around 10:57 p.m.

Grey, driving a red Cadillac, fled from police but got stuck in the mud, ASIRT said.

According to the police watchdog, two RCMP officers located the vehicle unoccupied and found a bag containing three different types of ammunition and identification belonging to Grey.

RCMP brought in a police dog to help establish a track to locate the man who was heading east into a wooded area in Winagami Provincial Park, ASIRT said.

The police watchdog said officers tracked the suspect for about two hours when they eventually encountered Grey.

“The man and police exchanged gunfire,” ASIRT said. “During this incident, the police service dog was struck by gunfire and killed.”

RCMP directed the police members to stand down until the Emergency Response Team (ERT) could arrive to assist.

ASIRT said ERT members arrived and encountered the man again.

“During this encounter, several police officers discharged their firearms,” ASIRT added. “At the time, the officers believed the man had been struck.”

The 29-year-old managed to evade police who continued to conduct searches of the area.

According to ASIRT, two RCMP officers who were assigned to maintain a perimeter around the area Grey had last been seen within spotted him in a ditch.

“The officers exited their marked police vehicle and a confrontation occurred between the man and the police officers, during which both officers discharged their service firearms,” ASIRT said.

ASIRT says Grey died after this incident despite medical officers attempting to treat him.

A .22-calibre rifle with a range finder were recovered by police from the scene.

The investigation into the incident continues.

EDMONTON — A group of Alberta firefighters left the province Monday to help battle wildfires in northern Ontario.

Alberta Wildfire said 84 wildland firefighters and support staff departed to Ontario to help combat existing and new wildfire starts in the Sudbury area.

Eighty-one firefighters from Alberta have already been sent since June 12 to help contain the number of fires near Sudbury and throughout northern Ontario.

“Alberta is always willing to help other provinces in their time of need,” said Devin Dreeshen, minister of agriculture and forestry.

“We’ve assisted municipalities battling fires 21 times this spring and answered the call from numerous out of province requests,” he added. “We’re proud to do our part.”

An extended heat wave and dry spell have helped fuel several fires throughout northern Ontario.

Ontario’s ministry of natural resources and forestry lists 10 active fires near or north of Greater Sudbury.

In Alberta, there are currently nine wildfire burning throughout the province including two out of control.

According to Dreeshen, Alberta Wildfire personnel have helped extinguish more than 500 fires so far this year with over 99.5 per cent less land burnt than average.