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Alberta

First shipment of children’s medication arrives

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Deputy Premier Nathan Neudorf, Myron Keehn, CEO of Edmonton International Airport and Minister of Health Jason Copping meet the flight carrying the first shipment of children’s pain medication at the Edmonton International Airport.

Alberta’s first shipment of children’s liquid acetaminophen has arrived and will be distributed to hospitals across the province immediately.

This shipment of 250,000 bottles will bolster supply to hospitals in the province, making sure access to medication is not delayed and children who are being treated on site can get the pain and fever relief they need.

“This is a great first step and I am so pleased that we have been able to secure additional children’s medicine for our hospitals. But we cannot and will not rest with this first shipment. We need approval of the rest of the medication so parents can use them at home. We’re in the midst of an exceptionally difficult winter, made more stressful for parents by the shortage of basic medications. Kids and families are waiting for these medications and we need Health Canada to approve them without further delay.”

Danielle Smith, Premier

“I’d like to thank our dedicated health professionals for providing the very best of care to our children during these challenging times. This much-needed supply will help Alberta’s hospitals manage pain and fevers for children across the province.”

Jason Copping, Minister of Health

In order to receive Health Canada approval, the manufacturer was required to submit a proposal outlining information on the medicine’s quality, safety and product packaging. Health Canada reviewed the proposal and requested additional information as well as a number of changes to meet Canada’s regulatory requirements. One of these changes was the need to add child-resistant caps to the bottles for the retail use supply.

In the interim, an initial shipment was approved for hospital use only, as child-resistant caps are not a regulatory requirement when medicine is administered by medical professionals in a hospital. As a result, rather than wait for the total shipment, Alberta’s government opted to receive a first shipment with medicines for hospital use.

“AHS is grateful for this supply, which provides assurance, long-term, for our stock of acetaminophen in AHS facilities. As drug shortages continue to occur globally, substantial supply of routine medicines is a proactive step that will help our ability to deliver care. We are grateful to all the teams that have helped secure this additional medication.”

Mauro Chies, interim president and CEO, Alberta Health Services

The final requirement for child-proof caps has been addressed and the manufacturer has provided all information requested by Health Canada. Alberta’s government is now awaiting Health Canada’s approval of the remaining 4.75 million bottles for retail sale across the province, as are Alberta parents and guardians.

Once received, the medications will be provided to pharmacies for sale at prices in line with the usual retail price. The government is paying a small premium over the expected retail price to secure these medications at a time when there have been global shortages. The full cost will be released when the medication is approved by Health Canada.

Alberta

Alberta introduces bill banning sex reassignment surgery on minors

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Alberta Conservative Premier Danielle Smith followed through on a promised bill banning so-called ‘top and bottom’ surgeries for minors.

Alberta Conservative Premier Danielle Smith made good on her promise to protect kids from extreme transgender ideology after introducing a bill banning so-called “top and bottom” surgeries for minors.

“It is so important that all youth can enter adulthood equipped to make adult decisions. In order to do that, we need to preserve their ability to make those decisions, and that’s what we’re doing,” Smith said in a press release.

“The changes we’re introducing are founded on compassion and science, both of which are vital for the development of youth throughout a time that can be difficult and confusing.”

Bill 26, the Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2024 “reflects the government’s commitment to build a health care system that responds to the changing needs of Albertans,” the government says.

The bill will amend the Health Act to “prohibit regulated health professionals from performing sex reassignment surgeries on minors.”

It will also ban the “use of puberty blockers and hormone therapies for the treatment of gender dysphoria or gender incongruence” to kids 15 and under “except for those who have already commenced treatment and would allow for minors aged 16 and 17 to choose to commence puberty blockers and hormone therapies for gender reassignment and affirmation purposes with parental, physician and psychologist approval.”

Alberta Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange, the bill’s sponsor, said the province’s legislative priorities include “implementing policy changes to continue our refocusing work, position our health care system to respond to pressures and public health emergencies, and to preserve choice for minors. These amendments reflect our dedication to ensuring our health care system meets the needs of every Albertan.”

Earlier this year, the United Conservative Party (UCP) provincial government under Smith announced  she would introduce the strong pro-family legislation that strengthens parental rights, protecting kids from life-altering, so-called “top and bottom” surgeries as well as other extreme forms of transgender ideology.

With Smith’s UCP holding a majority in the provincial legislature, the passage of Bill 26 is almost certain.

While Smith has done far more than predecessor Jason Kenney to satisfy social conservatives, she has been mostly soft on social issues such as abortion and has publicly expressed pro-LGBT views, telling Jordan Peterson that conservatives must embrace homosexual “couples” as “nuclear families.”

This weekend, thousands of UCP members will gather for the party’s annual general meeting, where Smith’s leadership will be voted on along with many other pro-freedom and family policy proposals from members. Smith is expected to pass her leadership review vote with a large majority.

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Alberta

Alberta court upholds conviction of Pastor Artur Pawlowski for preaching at Freedom Convoy protest

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Lawyers argued that Pastor Artur Pawlowski’s sermon was intended to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, but the statement was characterized as a call for mischief.

An Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that Calgary Pastor Artur Pawlowski is guilty of mischief for his sermon at the Freedom Convoy-related border protest blockade in February 2022 in Coutts, Alberta.

On October 29, Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Gordon Krinke sentenced the pro-freedom pastor to 60 days in jail for “counselling mischief” by encouraging protesters to continue blocking Highway 4 to protest COVID mandates.

“A reasonable person would understand the appellant’s speech to be an active inducement of the illegal activity that was ongoing and that the appellant intended for his speech to be so understood,” the decision reads.

Pawlowski addressed a group of truckers and protesters blocking entrance into the U.S. state of Montana on February 3, the fifth day of the Freedom Convoy-styled protest. He encouraged the protesters to “hold the line” after they had reportedly made a deal with Royal Canadian Mounted Police to leave the border crossing and travel to Edmonton.

“The eyes of the world are fixed right here on you guys. You are the heroes,” Pawlowski said. “Don’t you dare go breaking the line.”

After Pawlowski’s sermon, the protesters remained at the border crossing for two additional weeks. While his lawyers argued that his speech was made to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, the statement is being characterized as a call for mischief.

Days later, on February 8, Pawlowski was arrested – for the fifth time – by an undercover SWAT team just before he was slated to speak again to the Coutts protesters.

He was subsequently jailed for nearly three months for what he said was for speaking out against COVID mandates, the subject of all the Freedom Convoy-related protests.

In Krinke’s decision, he argued that Pawlowski’s sermon incited the continuation of the protest, saying, “The Charter does not provide justification to anybody who incites a third party to commit such crimes.”

“While the appellant is correct that peaceful, lawful and nonviolent communication is entitled to protection, blockading a highway is an inherently aggressive and potentially violent form of conduct, designed to intimidate and impede the movement of third parties,” he wrote.

Pawlowski was released after the verdict. He has already spent 78 days in jail before the trial.

Pawlowski is the first Albertan to be charged for violating the province’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act (CIDA), which was put in place in 2020 under then-Premier Jason Kenney.

The CIDA, however, was not put in place due to COVID mandates but rather after anti-pipeline protesters blockaded key infrastructure points such as railway lines in Alberta a few years ago.

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