EDMONTON — A pair of famous Edmontonians were married by the leader of the official opposition Saturday.

Edmonton Olympian Jen Kish and Indigenous musician Shawnee Kish were married Saturday with Rachel Notley being the officiant.

Since 2010, Jen has participated in almost every World Rugby sevens tournament. The star rugby player was the captain of Canada’s Women’s Sevens rugby team at Rio 2016 where she helped the team win a bronze medal.

Shawnee has won the CBC Searchlight Rising Star 2020 award and was one of the Allan Slaight JUNO Master Class winners. The award-winning musician also does charitable work away from the microphone including helping Indigenous youth and LGBTQ+ communities through organizations such as We Matter and Kids Help Phone.

The couple were married in an intimate outdoor ceremony at Alexander Circle in the Glenora neighbourhood of Edmonton.

Rachel Notley said in an interview with CTV News Edmonton that she had grown to know Jen over the past few years.

“We were hanging out online in the last 12 months,” Notley recalled. “We were just chatting and she was very excitedly telling me that she and Shawnee were getting married. So I awkwardly announced that I can do weddings.

“So she had to awkwardly say, ‘Oh, you want to do mine?’”

Notley laughed, adding that she was not sure if that was Jen and Shawnee’s plan exactly, but said nonetheless that the couple decided to have her as their officiant.

“I was just very excited for the two of them and really excited for them to be able to do something so positive in what are otherwise challenging times,” she added. “It was really a privilege to be asked to be part of it.

“They’re very much in love with each other and they were very happy to be getting married.” 

CALGARY — Premier Jason Kenney says he is glad to see action has been taken against Kevin J. Johnston, a man running for the mayor’s chair in the city of Calgary.

Johnston was arrested by Calgary police on Saturday after officials say he was in violation of a court injunction issued by Alberta Health Services.

The order forbade him from attending any public gathering not complying with the province’s public health guidelines with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A few hours after Johnston’s arrest, Kenney wrote on Twitter that he was happy to see steps had been taken against the controversial candidate, who he referred to as a “nutbar.”

“(Johnston) has been making threats of violence, targeting AHS staff for doing their job,” he continued.

The premier also referred recent allegations of violence against RCMP officers connected to similar protests held in Alberta.

He did not, however, make any reference to Johnston’s arrest following the gathering on Calgary’s 17th Avenue Saturday morning.

‘INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE’

While some Albertans agreed with Kenney’s condemnation of Johnston’s actions, others were critical of his delayed response and initiative with the COVID-19 pandemic in general:

However, others took offence to the language used by the provincial leader.

On Friday, AHS was granted a request for a restraining order against Johnston, barring him from “obstructing or interfering with AHS and its officers and employees, including public health officers, in their enforcement efforts of the Public Health Act, including the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) Orders.”

The order does not prevent him from seeking necessary medical care.

The order came after he directed threats towards AHS employees in a recent podcast.

EDMONTON — A man has been rushed to hospital following a Sunday morning stabbing in north central Edmonton.

Police were called to a weapons complaint in the area of 107 Street and 108 Avenue around 6:45 a.m.

The man suffered a serious stab wound in a building just north of the intersection and police say they found him in a parking lot nearby.

He was rushed to hospital in serious condition and underwent surgery.

Edmonton police said they have identified another suspect but have not said if an arrest has been made.

CTV News Edmonton observed a blood trail along a sidewalk in front of the two apartment buildings near the intersection. The trail extended up to the door of a suite where police investigators were.

Investigation into the incident continues.

EDMONTON — A massive rally was held in Edmonton to show support for Palestinians as conflict in the Middle East escalates.

“Our people are being massacred, our children are growing up with trauma from the minute they’re born,” said Fatmeh Kalouti, one of the organizers of the rally. “It’s been going on for way too long.”

Palestinians and Israelis have been at war for decades, but fighting has been intensifying over the past few weeks.

“What we’re witnessing in front of us right now is genocide, it’s apartheid, it’s state endorsed violence and colonization against the Palestine people,” said Kalouti.

The former vice president of the Canada Palestine Cultural Association was overwhelmed by the number of people who showed up.

“There’s a lot of support for this right now, it’s getting harder and harder to hide the atrocities of Israel, people are here for basic human rights for Palestinians,” said Mousa Qasqas.

“Not just Palestinians, the Indigenous community, the Black Lives Matter, all people… as long as you care about humanity, we want you here to support our cause.”

Over 1,000 people were at the rally, according to one CTV News Edmonton journalist filming the event.

“There could be real change, I think public opinion is changing… and people are on the side of the truth,” said Qasqas.

According to Qasqas and the CEO of the Edmonton Jewish Federation, both sides want peace.

“I am really hopeful for peace, I think it’s something we all want, the moderate people on all sides are praying for peace,” said Stacey Leavitt-Wright.

“It hits us all personally, many of us, in our offices and our team, have family who are there, who are going to bomb shelters night and day and we worry for them.”

Rallies were also held in other cities across Canada and the world Saturday.

“We just want to see change and equal rights for Palestinians and Israeli Jews living in Israel,” said Qasqas.

There are an estimated 10,000 people of Palestinian descent living in Edmonton, according to Qasqas.

EDMONTON — Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in Alberta declined Saturday after setting multiple records earlier this month.

In a limited update over Twitter, the province’s top doctor reported that 686 people were in hospital with COVID-19 – a decrease of 32 patients since Friday.

Hospitalizations have been declining everyday since they spiked to 741 patients on Wednesday. Saturday marked the largest decrease in the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 since that spike.

According to Dr. Deena Hinshaw, 178 people are in ICU – a new pandemic record for Alberta.

The province completed more than 12,900 tests and reported 1,195 new infections of COVID-19.

May 8 was the last time Alberta reported more than 2,000 new daily cases.

The seven-day average of new cases is now at 1,557.

Saturday marked the third day in a row that the provincial positivity rate has decreased. It is 9.58 per cent.

Three new deaths from COVID-19 were reported Saturday raising the provincial total to 2,140.

The province has 22,993 active cases of COVID-19.

The Calgary zone leads the province for active cases with 10,908 cases.

The Edmonton zone has slightly less than half of that number of active cases with 5,140 while the North zone has 3,382.

The Central and South zones have 2,398 and 1,152 cases, respectively.

There are 13 cases with unknown zones of origin.

The Edmonton zone leads the province for ICU admissions with 74 receiving intensive care. The Calgary zone has 67 while the North zone has 16.

In terms of hospitalizations, the Calgary zone leads the province with 254 people in hospital. The Edmonton zone has 243 while the North and Central zones have 89 and 64, respectively.

Approximately 192,688 people have recovered from COVID-19.

Over 2,080,000 vaccine doses have been administered as of May 13 in Alberta.

Forty per cent of Albertans have received at least one dose of vaccine while 7.3 per cent of the population is fully immunized.