Airdrie

The Alberta government and its auditor general are at odds over the province’s decision to bring lawyers directly into the investigation surrounding multimillion-dollar health contracts.

The issue arose after the Opposition NDP revealed a leaked email this week from Alberta Health that directs public servants to contact a lawyer to co-ordinate if auditor general Doug Wylie requests an interview as part of his investigation.

According to a recent report/survey done by the Angus Reid Institute, western separatism (Saskatchewan and Alberta) sentiment may increase if the Liberals win the upcoming federal election.

"If the Liberals were to form the next government, approximately three-in-10 in Alberta (30 per cent) and Saskatchewan (33 per cent) say they would vote to leave federation, whether to form their own country or to join the United States. While this is significant, the vast majority still say they would vote no in each province, read the report.

Several schools north of Airdrie within Chinook's Edge School Division will see an increase in school fees.

At its latest board meeting on April 8, the Board approved increases to school fees for families due to increasing costs.

The changes according to the division go as follows:

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is promising to tighten financial transparency rules for elected officials — and is using that promise to take aim at Liberal Leader Mark Carney.

Poilievre told a press conference in Ottawa on Sunday that if his party forms government, he'll ban what he calls "shadow lobbying."

The female that Airdrie RCMP reported missing yesterday has been located safe.

Thank you to everybody who helped the RCMP locate her.

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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promised to cut red tape and step up support for veterans Saturday, while Liberal Leader Mark Carney pledged to make visiting national parks and museums more affordable for Canadian families.

Poilievre unveiled his party's plan for veterans during a press conference in Nepean, the suburban Ottawa community that contains the neighbouring ridings where he and Carney are running. 

Carney did not have any public events scheduled. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh's itinerary shows he will hold an evening event in Timmins, Ont.

FortisAlberta is now reporting that the previous power outage in Airdrie's northeast has been dealt with and fixed.

According to Fortis, the power outage started around 8 a.m. and affected 335 customers.

See below for the affected areas when there was a power outage:

Alberta's chief medical officer of health says measles cases in the province have reached 58, with public health teams monitoring clusters in the south and central zones.

"Measles outbreaks are occurring in Canada, including Alberta," Dr. Mark Joffe said in a statement Friday. "As of April 11, we have seen 58 confirmed cases in the province, and we are paying close attention to rising cases within the south and central zones."

Joffe said health officials are tracking cases and contacts and working with local leaders to support affected communities.

Snowfall warnings for parts of Alberta’s Rockies and Foothills were no longer in effect as of Saturday afternoon, according to Environment Canada.

The alerts were issued Friday as a fast-moving weather system approached the region. Environment Canada warned that rapidly accumulating snow could reduce visibility and make travel hazardous, particularly at higher elevations.

Areas previously under warning included:

• Banff National Park near Banff

• Banff National Park near Lake Louise

Two of the Alberta Law Foundation's provincially appointed board members have resigned in protest over proposed legislation that they say amounts to political interference in how vulnerable people access the justice system.

The bill would give Justice Minister Mickey Amery final say on grants over $250,000 that the foundation provides to community legal clinics and researchers.

The foundation says it funds about 65 non-profit service providers every year through interest earned on lawyers' trust accounts, not government coffers.