Alberta education minister, CBE in war of words over UCP budget

CALGARY — Alberta’s education minister is defending the UCP budget, saying she’s surprised the Calgary Board of Education can’t balance its books with an operating budget of $1.2 billion to service 130,000 students. In an opinion piece published in a Calgary newspaper this week, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said she didn’t expect the CBE would claim it had to eliminate staffing positions to balance its budget. “I am very distressed by that,” said