STAY CONNECTED: Have the stories that matter most delivered every night to your email inbox. Subscribe to our daily local news wrap.
Medicine Hat-Cypress MLA Drew Barnes (CHAT News file photo)

Two UCP caucus members pushing back against COVID-19 restrictions

Feb 10, 2021 | 10:48 AM

EDMONTON – Two members of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s caucus are challenging provincial COVID-19 economic restrictions and have joined a national coalition pushing back against lockdowns.

Drew Barnes and Angela Pitt say Albertans have not been given adequate evidence to justify the rules, and the result is real hardship and harm.

Barnes says there are few COVID-19 cases in his constituency of Cypress-Medicine Hat.

He says a more regional approach with rigorous testing is the better way to go.

Pitt, the deputy speaker of the house, says she and her constituents don’t understand why some businesses are allowed to open while others must close.

She says she is frustrated with the lack of evidence and information coming from the government.

Both have signed on to the End the Lockdowns national caucus, part of a group called Liberty Coalition Canada.

The group includes past and present federal, provincial, and municipal politicians, including Paul Hinman, the interim leader of the Wildrose Independence party and a rival to Kenney’s United Conservatives.

(The Canadian Press)