Update from the Legislature - August 18

Changes to COVID-19 rules postponed

Last week, the province announced that the second phase of the Covid-19 transition has been delayed by six weeks. As a result, the following public health measures will continue until at least September 27:

• Mandatory masking orders in publicly accessible transit, taxis and ride-share vehicles.
• Mandatory isolation for 10 days for those with COVID-19 symptoms or a positive test result.
• Testing at assessment centres for any symptomatic individual.

As of August 16, 76.7 per cent of eligible Albertans had received one dose of vaccine, and 67.5 per cent were fully immunized.

By-election

Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche MLA Laila Goodridge resigned her seat in the legislature to contest a seat in the September 20 federal election in the constituency of Fort McMurray-Cold Lake. The constituency is currently represented by David Yurdiga, who announced on August 14 that he would not be seeking re-election. The province must call a by-election to fill the newly vacant seat within six months of Ms. Goodridge’s resignation. With her resignation, the current standings in the legislature are:

• 60 United Conservative Party
• 24 New Democratic Party
• 2 Independent
• 1 Vacant

The legislature remains adjourned until October 25.