Museum Week gets a plug and the UCP pans justice budget

Museum nerds get ready — next week is your time.

Monday marks the beginning of Museum Week, which recognizes and celebrates museums and cultural institutions around the world.

Culture and Tourism Minister Ricardo Miranda is excited, too, and on Thursday challenged Albertans to “dig out their adventure caps” and explore the province’s history.

For extra fun, he’s encouraging people to post their experiences to social media using the hashtags #ABhistory and #MuseumWeek.

“From ancient buffalo jumps and Canada’s deadliest rock slide site to active research and dinosaur bones, our museums and historic sites all have exciting stories to share,” Miranda said in a news release.

Facilities that are open yearround include the ReynoldsAlberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, Fort McMurray’s Oil Sands Discovery Centre, the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre in Crowsnest Pass, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump near Fort Macleod and the Remington Carriage Museum in Cardston.

UCP SAYS NO

In what is probably a surprise to nobody, the Official Opposition voted against the justice budget Thursday afternoon, which included cash to fight rural crime.

That prompted the NDP caucus to put out a news release slamming UCP Leader Jason Kenney and his party.

It demanded to know why the UCP didn’t support the extra funding for rural crime measures, four new provincial court judges, clerks to help clear the administrative backlog and a $7.9-million increase to the Legal Aid budget.

Independent MLA Derek Fildebrandt wasn’t on board with the budget, either, but Alberta Party MLAs Rick Fraser and Greg Clark both voted “Yes.”

The vote came after days of question period discussion about court backlogs.