Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press

Alberta's access to information watchdog has found the provincial government to be non-compliant with its own freedom of information rules.

A new report from information and privacy commissioner Diane McLeod says Alberta's government has implemented internal procedures and policies that allow government employees to wrongfully deny freedom of information requests.

Alberta's now-former Speaker of the legislature says he's excited to display some partisanship in his last days as an elected official.

Nathan Cooper announced this week that he is to resign his seat in the assembly to become Alberta's representative to the United States in Washington.

The United Conservative Party MLA had been Alberta's legislature Speaker — the non-voting and non-partisan debate referee — since 2019.

The Speaker of the Alberta legislature is resigning his seat in the assembly to become the province's representative to the United States.

"Serving this assembly has been one of the greatest honours of my lifetime," Nathan Cooper said Wednesday in a speech to the house announcing his resignation.

"Working as the assembly's chief diplomat has equipped me in, and to be ready for, my next role serving Albertans in a new and meaningful way."

The chief of staff to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is defending a business class flight he charged to taxpayers, citing a health condition that increases his risk of blood clots.

The flight in question was a return flight he took from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Calgary earlier this year when he accompanied Smith to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The CBC reported this week that the two-day stop in Florida for Smith, Anderson and two others cost Alberta taxpayers about $10,000, with Anderson's flight home billed at nearly $3,000 alone.

Alberta's government says three children are in intensive care in hospital after contracting measles.

A health ministry spokesperson declined to disclose their ages, citing privacy concerns.

At a news conference Monday, Dr. Sunil Sookram, Alberta's interim chief medical officer of health, said there have been no deaths.

Sookram said the risk of getting the highly contagious disease in Alberta is at its greatest point in almost 30 years.

The idea of Alberta opting out of the Canada Pension Plan isn't moving ahead — at least for now.

Premier Danielle Smith says she won't be putting the creation of a provincial pension plan to a referendum any time soon.

"I'm not seeing that there's an appetite to put it to the people at the moment," Smith told reporters at an unrelated press conference Thursday.

"I have said that I would put it to the people if I saw evidence they wanted to vote on it (but) I'm not seeing that at the moment."

A judge has granted Alberta's government its request to question the former head of the provincial health authority about confidential emails she is accused of keeping and sharing without permission, including to media.

The government's request was made last month when it filed for an injunction in the high-profile lawsuit launched by Athana Mentzelopoulos, the former chief executive of Alberta Health Services.

Alberta's transportation minister is calling on the province's two major cities to remove bike lanes from key roadways, prompting critics to say the government is overstepping and making an issue out of nothing.

Devin Dreeshen says he's trying to avoid clashes with the government's goal of expanding road networks, as he blames bike lanes for traffic congestion and obstructing work to build the infrastructure needed for Alberta's growing population.

Alberta's United Conservative Party says it has expelled former infrastructure minister Peter Guthrie from caucus over his repeated criticism of the government's handling of the health-care contract scandal.

Guthrie gave up his ministerial position in February over concerns about government contracts and has been sitting as a backbencher for his Airdrie-Cochrane riding.

His pushback against Premier Danielle Smith also led the caucus to suspend him from voting in caucus matters.

Alberta is seeking a new chief medical officer of health as the government says Dr. Mark Joffe's contract has expired.

Health Minister Adriana LaGrange's office said in an email Tuesday that Joffe's contract expired a day prior. It said an interim replacement is to be announced shortly and a search for a permanent replacement has begun.

Joffe was serving in the role on an interim basis after Premier Danielle Smith's government followed through on its 2022 commitment to fire Dr. Deena Hinshaw, who held the position throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.