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Crime

5 RCMP detachments, dog team, and Police Chopper combine forces to capture 3 in wild stolen vehicle pursuit

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From Olds RCMP

Olds RCMP arrest 3 in stolen truck following multijurisdictional pursuit

Olds, Alta – A collaboration of efforts from Chestermere, Airdrie, Innisfail, Sundre and Didsbury RCMP, RCMP Police Dog Service (PDS) and Calgary Police Service Helicopter Air Watch for Community Safety (CPS HAWCS) led to the arrest of a woman and two men in a stolen vehicle after they fled from police on June 1, 2019. 

On the morning of June 1, Chestermere RCMP tried to effect a traffic stop on Highway 9, and the suspect truck fled.  No pursuit was initiated.  At 9:37 a.m., RCMP received complaints about an erratic driver in the Airdrie area and it is believed to be the same vehicle as earlier. Police officers located the suspect truck, determined to be a stolen Ford pickup truck and initiated a traffic stop near the Carstairs exit northbound on highway 2. The pickup truck refused to stop for police. 

As the truck departed the Airdrie area, RCMP PDS became engaged in the incident, along with Olds RCMP members. The suspect vehicle travelled northbound in the southbound lanes of Highway 2.  Responding Innisfail RCMP were able to stop southbound traffic in order to keep the public safe, while HAWCS monitored the vehicle.

The truck drove to, and then through, the town Olds causing damage to various homeowners’ private property. RCMP successfully laid a tire deflation device which caused the truck to become stuck in a field approximately 12 km northwest of Olds.  One male fled the truck and after a brief foot pursuit, with the assistance of the RCMP PDS, the male was arrested. The other male and the female were arrested at the truck without incident.

Dustin Edward Watetch (30) of Regina, Sask faces the following criminal charges:

·         Flight from peace officer

·         Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle

·         Resist arrest

·         Possession of stolen property

·         Mischief x3

·         Possession of a weapon for dangerous purpose x3

Watetch was remanded into custody and made his first appearance on June 3, 2019. The matter was adjourned to June 12, 2019 in Calgary Provincial Court and Watetch remains in custody.

Richard Mulvihill (27) of Strathmore, Alta faces the following criminal charges:

·         Theft of a motor vehicle

·         Resist arrest

·         Breach of probation x3

·         Breach of recognizance x2

·         Possession of a controlled substance; Fentanyl 

Mulvihill was remanded into custody and made his first appearance on June 5, 2019. His matter was adjourned to June 12, 2019 in Calgary Provincial Court and Mulvihill remains in custody.

Hannah Grace-Marie Davidson (18) of Calgary, Alta faces the following criminal charges:

·         Theft of a motor vehicle

·         Fail to comply with Undertaking x3

Davidson was released on a Recognizance by justice and is to make her first appearance on July 9, 2019 in Didsbury Provincial Court.

This incident involved resources from several different detachment jurisdictions who all worked together to bring this situation to a safe resolution.  The RCMP thanks our partner, CPS HAWCS, for the valuable assistance provided.

Olds RCMP continue to investigate and are asking that any property owners who suffered damage as a result of this incident contact Olds RCMP at 403-556-3323. If you have information to provide, and wish to remain anonymous, you can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), online at www.P3Tips.com or by using the “P3 Tips” app available through the Apple App or Google Play Store.”

After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

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Addictions

British Columbia should allow addicts to possess even more drugs, federal report suggests

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Despite the drug crisis only getting worse in British Columbia after decriminalization, a federal report by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research advocates for further relaxing its policy so addicts can possess even more drugs.

Despite the drug crisis only worsening since decriminalization, federal researchers are now advocating for British Columbia to allow the possession of even larger quantities of cocaine, claiming that current possession limits don’t allow addicts to buy enough.

According to a federal report published April 23 by Blacklock’s Reporter, the current decriminalization program in British Columbia approved by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has set cocaine possession limits “too low.”

“People who use drugs are less concerned about being arrested and feel more comfortable carrying substances they need,” said the report by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. “The threshold of 2.5 grams is too low and is unreflective of users’ substance use and purchasing patterns.” 

Under the policy, which launched in early 2023, the federal government began allowing people within the province to possess up to 2.5 grams of hard drugs – including cocaine, opioids, ecstasy and methamphetamine – without criminal penalty, but selling drugs remained a crime.   

The policy has been widely criticized, especially after it was found that the province broke three different drug-related overdose records in the first month the new law was in effect.   

However, now researchers are claiming that the new policy is insufficient for drug users.   

“People who use drugs indicated the 2.5 gram threshold is too low and unreflective of their substance use patterns,” the report stated. “Although some people indicated the policy wouldn’t impact their purchasing patterns because they are unable to purchase large amounts at a time, others suggested it may force them to seek out substances more frequently which could increase their risk of harms.”  

“Buying in bulk may be more economical particularly for people who use drugs,” it continued, adding that it was “common practice to purchase in bulk and split or share among peers.”  

The recommendation comes as deaths from drug overdoses in Canada have gone through the roof in recent years, particularly in British Columbia.  

Gunn says he documents the “general societal chaos and explosion of drug use in every major Canadian city.”   

“Overdose deaths are up 1,000 percent in the last 10 years,” he said in his film, adding that “[e]very day in Vancouver four people are randomly attacked.”   

Similarly, even Liberals have begun to condemn Trudeau’s “safe supply” program, linking them to “chaos” in cities.  

Safe supply“ is the term used to refer to government-prescribed drugs that are given to addicts under the assumption that a more controlled batch of narcotics reduces the risk of overdose – critics of the policy argue that giving addicts drugs only enables their behavior, puts the public at risk, disincentivizes recovery from addiction and has not reduced, and sometimes even increased, overdose deaths where implemented.    

Last week, Liberal MP Dr. Marcus Powlowski revealed that violence from drug users has become a problem in Ottawa, especially in areas near so-called “safe supply” drug sites which operate within blocks of Parliament Hill.    

“A few months ago I was downtown in a bar here in Ottawa, not that I do that very often, but a couple of colleagues I met up with, one was assaulted as he was going to the bar, another one was threatened,” said Powlowski.   

“Within a month of that I was returning down Wellington Street from downtown, the Rideau Centre, and my son who is 15 was coming after me,” he continued. “It was nighttime and there was someone out in the middle of the street, yelling and screaming, accosting cars.”  

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Crime

Canadian receives one-year jail sentence, lifetime firearms ban for setting church on fire

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Jordan Willet was convicted of starting a blaze in February at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Regina, Saskatchewan.

A man who was charged with arson after trying to burn down a historic Catholic church earlier this year was handed only a one-year jail sentence for his crime but has also been banned from being able to possess firearms for life.

On April 9, a court sentenced Jordan Willet, 31, to 278 days in jail for intentionally or recklessly causing damage by fire or explosion to property and for not complying with a probation order. In February, LifeSiteNews reported that Willet had been arrested and charged with starting a fire at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Regina, Saskatchewan, on February 9.

He pleaded guilty to both charges and also received an 18-month probation sentence along with a lifetime firearm prohibition.

Over the weekend, Fr. James Hentges, the parish pastor, said he was “relieved he is in custody and is not a threat.”

The parish had posted footage of the February 9 attack on social media and put out a plea for anyone who had information on the event to report it to police.

The video footage of the attack, taken from a doorbell camera, shows Willet, in a mask, pouring fuel on the church before setting it on fire.

Fire investigators determined that the blaze was caused by a direct act of arson.

Since the spring of 2021, more than 100 churches, most of them Catholic, have been burned or vandalized across Canada. The attacks on the churches came shortly after the unconfirmed discovery of “unmarked graves” at now-closed residential schools once run by the Church in parts of the country.

In 2021 and 2022, the mainstream media ran with inflammatory and dubious claims that hundreds of children were buried and disregarded by Catholic priests and nuns who ran some of the schools.

The claims, which were promoted by Trudeau among others, lack any physical evidence and were based solely on soil disturbances found via ground-penetrating radar.

In fact, in August 2023, one such site underwent a four-week excavation and yielded no remains.

Despite the lack of evidence, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and others have continued to push the narrative, even running a report recently that appeared to justify the dozens of attacks against Catholic churches.

In January, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre not only condemned the rash of church burnings in Canada but called out Trudeau for being silent on the matter.

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