Alberta announces reforms to address high premiums for auto insurance

The Alberta government is promising reforms to reduce high auto insurances costs, but the Official Opposition says the changes are so soft and cosmetic they do little for drivers getting walloped by high premiums.

Finance Minister Nate Horner announced that as of Jan. 1, drivers with good records cannot have their premiums increased by more than September’s inflation rate.

That rate was 3.7 per cent.

“Our government remains fully committed to making auto insurance affordable, sustainable and reasonable for both Alberta drivers and insurers,” Horner told a news conference Wednesday.

Horner said he didn’t know how many Alberta drivers would qualify as good drivers under their established criteria.

“We don’t know that precisely, but we’re confident it’s definitely the majority of Albertans,” he said.

“If you’ve gotten two traffic tickets in the last three years, buckle up, your rates are going to soar,” Gray told reporters.

“Many Albertans will not qualify for this cap, and the insurance industry is going to come looking to get their profits from those folks.”|Read more https://globalnews.ca/news/10063537/alberta-auto-insurance-reform/| globalnews.ca/news/10063537/al…

#abpoli #CarInusrance #insurance #rates #reforms #profits #companies

Saskatchewan gas utility could face steep fines and jail for not remitting carbon tax

Fines, jail possible for not remitting carbon tax

REGINA – Saskatchewan’s natural gas utility could face hefty fines for not remitting the carbon tax to the federal government, and its executives may also face jail for failing to do so, federal legislation says.

Premier Scott Moe announced this week that SaskEnergy would not remit the carbon tax on natural gas starting Jan. 1, unless Ottawa exempts the fuel.

Legal professors say if SaskEnergy doesn’t remit the charges, it could face big consequences.

“The stakes are actually quite high for failing to remit the carbon tax,” Gerard Kennedy, a law professor at the University of Alberta, said Tuesday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last week the carbon tax would be exempt for three years on home heating oil to address affordability needs.

The move largely helps those in Atlantic provinces, where it’s a main source for home heating.

Moe and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have said the exemption is unfair and asked Trudeau to extend it to cover all other forms of heating, including natural gas.

Trudeau said Tuesday that Ottawa won’t offer further exemptions, saying heating oil is far more expensive than natural gas and those who use it don’t have other options readily available.|Read more https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/national/saskatchewan-gas-utility-could-face-steep-fines-and-jail-for-not-remitting-carbon-tax/article_f06bc0cd-310d-58ca-a6bb-6cc18f5dd3b4.html| thecanadianpressnews.ca/nation…

#skpoli #cdnpoli #CarbonTax #fines #feds #oil #atlantic

40% of Canadians don’t plan on getting updated COVID booster, flu shot: poll]

Although a majority of Canadians have already received or intend to get a COVID-19 booster shot or flu vaccine this year, 40 per cent of the population does not plan on rolling up their sleeves for the updated shot this fall, according to a new Ipsos poll done exclusively for Global News.

The poll, released Wednesday, found of that group, 45 per cent said they did not feel it was worth getting one. An additional 23 per cent of this group expressed concerns regarding the shot’s safety, while seven per cent were outright opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine.

“The narrative around COVID boosters is shifting,” explained Sean Simpson, vice-president of Ipsos Public Affairs. “When the vaccine first came out most people supported mandatory vaccinations. Most people got their vaccines. Now we’re further removed.

“I think one of the reasons support was so high originally was because it was seen as a civic duty. And we’re not really talking about that anymore and it’s more about a personal choice.”

Alberta doctors, nurses call on province for more transparency amid discrepancies in COVID-19 hospitalization data

An internal Alberta Health Services document obtained by CTV News indicates that the number of patients hospitalized provincially with COVID-19 has surpassed 900, despite available public data revealing just a third of those numbers.

As of Friday, the province’s respiratory virus dashboard(opens in a new tab) showed 320 hospitalizations for SARS-CoV-2, indicating the data was up-to-date as of Oct. 21.

However, an internal document obtained by CTV News shows there were actually 898 COVID-19 patients province-wide as of Oct. 21, with an average of 912 COVID-19 patients in hospital over the previous seven days.

The internal document https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/alberta-doctors-nurses-call-on-province-for-more-transparency-amid-discrepancies-in-covid-19-hospitalization-data-1.6620692 also shows among major medical centres in Calgary, Edmonton and Lethbridge, 273 patients ended up testing positive for COVID while in hospital for something else as of Oct. 26.

To have upwards of 900 hospitalizations for COVID-19 would mean that these types of hospitalizations have roughly doubled in about a month. |Read more https://globalnews.ca/news/10058055/covid-booster-flu-shot-canadians-ipsos-poll/| globalnews.ca/news/10058055/co…

#covid #abpoli #politics #misinformation #doubles #doctors #hospitalization

How a white hydrogen discovery could help global emissions efforts

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Scientists in northern France earlier this summer discovered what could be a massive deposit of the cheapest and greenest type of hydrogen.

With many Canadians focused on climate change after a year of floods, fires and droughts, Canadian researchers said the find could represent a big step towards global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“If we find enough hydrogen, this could solve a lot of our global warming problems,” said Queen’s University professor Philip Jessop, who holds the Canada Research Chair in green chemistry.

“The importance of this discovery is what it could mean for everybody.”

Colours denote where hydrogen comes from and what amount of greenhouse gases are released while producing it. White hydrogen is pure or nearly pure hydrogen, Jessop said.

“And that’s wonderful because fossil fuels like methane, coal, oil, when we burn them, we’re burning the carbon in them to make carbon dioxide, and that causes global warming.”

Global News asked Canada’s energy and natural resources minister Jonathan Wilkson if the federal government was searching for white hydrogen or had been in contact with France’s government since the discovery.

A Natural Resources Canada spokesperson said the government is looking into it, saying the Geological Survey of Canada began a preliminary project to map known white hydrogen deposits in 2023-24 and that the work is ongoing.

“This white hydrogen could be about a dollar per kilogram. That’s the estimates right now,” Jessop said, speaking from Kingston, Ont.

“And that means it’s actually cheaper than the horrible grey or blue hydrogen.” |Read more https://globalnews.ca/news/10061237/white-hydrogen-discovery-what-is-it/| globalnews.ca/news/10061237/wh…

#cdnpoli #Wilkinson #RenewableEnergy #WhiteHydrogen #France