Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press

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.

Health Minister Adriana LaGrange says Alberta's measles outbreak isn't dire enough for the province's top public health doctor to address the public, despite mounting calls for the government to do more to stop the spread.

Alberta Health Services announced seven new cases of the highly infectious disease Tuesday, bringing the province's confirmed case total to 43 since early March. Cases have been reported in all five provincial health zones.

Alberta's nurses union has signed a four-year contract with the province after months of bargaining and mediation.

The United Nurses of Alberta says the new deal will see over 30,000 nurses across the province receive pay increases of about 20 per cent by 2028.

The union says the agreement also includes job security protection, as Alberta overhauls its health-care system, as well as assurances for staffing levels.

It says the agreement signifies the value of nurses and brings a "difficult" round of bargaining to an end.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she expects some major industries, including those in her province, won't face new tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Smith told reporters Tuesday that things could change, but she thinks food production and oil and gas won't be targeted under Trump's new tariff plan, which is set to be announced Wednesday.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is defending a nearly 23 per cent increase to her office's budget, saying it's coming at the expense of the Energy Ministry as her office assumes some formal and financial responsibility for promoting the province's oil and gas industry.

Critics say the Alberta government's proposed health-care and education spending in its new budget won't address long-standing problems in either sector.

"Public education, once again, with this budget ... is not a priority with this government," said Alberta Teachers' Association president Jason Schilling.

"This government should be ashamed of themselves for, once again, short-changing the students of this province."

An Alberta oil and gas company has been fined $15,000 for failing to report a potentially lethal amount of hydrogen sulphide, or sour gas, had been released into the atmosphere.

In its decision, the Alberta Energy Regulator says a tank at a Mcland Resources work site near the hamlet of Tees, northeast of Red Deer, ruptured in March of 2023.

The toxic gas was released for more than three hours at a potentially lethal concentration, but nobody was harmed, says the report.

Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange is facing a renewed call to step down over allegations of high-level corruption in health contracts -- but this time the call is coming from one of her own cabinet colleagues.

Infrastructure Minister Peter Guthrie, in a memo obtained and reported on Friday by the CBC, says LaGrange and the top civil servant in health, Andre Tremblay, should be moved to other jobs while the scandal is investigated.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Health Minister Adriana LaGrange has her full support as they navigate allegations of high-level government corruption in medical contracts.

“I still have confidence in my health minister,” Smith told reporters Wednesday while in Washington, D.C. to lobby with other premiers against U.S. tariffs.

“We have to see if there's any wrongdoing first. And if there is, then we have to clean it up.”