Captain Kirk calls out Alberta for not adopting federal app

Ontario’s Health Minister and William Shatner both took shots at Alberta’s COVID-19 response – what’s driving the finger pointing?

EDMONTON (660 NEWS) – It appears Captain Kirk is a fan of the federal COVID-19 exposure notification app and a critic of Alberta’s decision not to adopt it.

Canadian icon William Shatner, who played the famous Star Trek character, voiced his opinion on Twitter Wednesday, promoting the COVIDAlert app.

“Now you just need to get Alberta on board,” said Shatner. “I’ve heard that certain people have an issue with the app because they have their own app.”

One user responded to Shatner’s tweet, pointing out that Alberta is not using the app and he responded with a long post questioning why the government in this province has issues with the federal option, calling it “bizarre and dangerous.”

The Public Health Agency of Canada responded to the tweet, thanking Shatner for promoting contact tracing.

He ended his post by saying, “what do I know, I’m just an actor.”

WATCH: ABTraceTogether used in just 19 cases

Alberta and B.C. are the only provinces that haven’t adopted the federal exposure notification app.

Despite data showing that the provincial app was only used in less than 20 cases since launching in the spring, Health Minister Tyler Shandro defended the app saying Alberta won’t sign on to the federal app because it’s not tied into the provincial contact tracing system.

Critics, however, believe the United Conservative government will not sign on to the federal app because of partisan animosity towards Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

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