First Notice: Federal economic update, Manitoba expands alternative isolation program and Alberta protects roadside workers

Federal government to give fall economic statement

Minister of finance and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland will give the federal government’s fall economic statement at 1 p.m. PT/4 p.m. ET today. The update is expected to cover both COVID-19 spending and an infrastructure push for projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The documents will be published at budget.gc.ca.

Alberta moves to protect roadside workers

The Alberta government is allowing snowplow operators to use white strobe lights to increase visibility and install new signage along Alberta highways to remind the public to be cautious near roadside workers. A social media campaign is planned to educate Albertans on winter road safety and will also be consulting with the public to gauge their awareness of worker safety and identify further steps that should be taken to protect roadside workers including the expanded use of lights.

Manitoba expands Alternative Isolation program

Manitoba’s Alternative Isolation Accommodation (AIA) program is expanding to protect Manitobans who need space to safely isolate due to COVID-19 with addition of a 138-room site to serve Winnipeg’s shelter population, provincial families minister Heather Stefanson has announced. The new location brings the number of AIA sites in Winnipeg to five including one managed by the First Nations Inuit Health Branch and operated by the Canadian Red Cross. 

B.C. government kicks in bridge funding for abandoned sawmill project

The province of British Columbia has put $650,000 to bridge funding to restore an abandoned sawmill site at the edge of the Comox estuary to its natural state. The new funding follows a $1-million 2019 commitment from government to the Comox Valley Project Watershed Society that supports the purchase of the former industrial site, so it can be returned to saltmarsh, side-channel and riparian habitats. The project site is named Kus-kus-sum in recognition of the historic First Nation ancestral burial site once located in the area.