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Red Deer MP’s drill the federal government on vaccine mandates and the plan to eliminate Western Canada’s oil and gas industries

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Red Deer’s MPs have been flexing their opposition muscles this week.  Earl Dreeshen and Blaine Calkins found themselves in the middle of some tense exchanges during question period and in committee meetings.  Emotions in Ottawa have been high for months as a number of issues seem to be reaching the boiling point.

Regarding vaccine mandates and covid restrictions, Canada finds itself among only a few countries on the planet which has not dropped travel restrictions against its own citizens.  MP Blaine Calkins offered a stinging rebuke and a pointed question which Liberal MP Adam Van Kouverden replied to by quoting a recent study by some Canadian scientists who set out to defend vaccine mandates with mathematical modelling which showed vaccinated people are at more of a risk when they interact with unvaccinated people.  It’s obvious from the exchange that it will take a lot more heat from the opposition to start to change the Liberal / NDP government’s covid response.

Calkins has posted the exchange on his facebook page and introduced it with this statement, “The NDP-Liberal vaccine mandates are nothing more than a punitive policy meant to punish those that they view as holding unacceptable views. It’s way past time to follow the science, to follow the lead of the provinces and our international peers and get rid of these harmful mandates.”

Calkins also posted a short video to explain an incredible situation developing which ‘could’ result in fraud charges against the Prime Minister for accepting an illegal vacation to an Island owned by The Aga Khan.

Meanwhile, in a committee meeting regarding fossil fuel subsidies Earl Dreeshen called for an end to attacks on Alberta’s oil can gas industry.  Dreeshen posted this comment with his video. “The Government’s plan to eliminate oil and gas is dangerous. There is no actual solution for Canadians who don’t have the luxury of excess wealth and no real plan underneath their ideological promises.”

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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Alberta

Red Deer Company fined $360,000.00 after 2022 workplace fatality

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Company sentenced for workplace fatality

An oilfield equipment supplier will pay $360,000 related to a workplace fatality.

On Feb. 21, 2024 in the Red Deer Court of Justice, Isolation Equipment Services Inc. pleaded guilty to one charge under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Code for failing to take measures to eliminate the potential danger of equipment or material that was dislodged or moved. The Crown withdrew 28 other charges under OHS legislation. The company was sentenced on April 24.

The charges stem from an incident on a Red Deer construction site on Jan. 13, 2022. A worker operating an overhead crane was positioning a valve bonnet when the equipment released from the rigging, striking and pinning the worker. The worker sustained fatal injuries.

The company will pay $360,000 in total penalties, including a $1,000 fine. Under a creative sentence, $359,000 will be paid to Energy Safety Canada to develop supervisor and competency programs targeting those who work with new, young and inexperienced workers.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act provides a creative sentence option in which funds that would otherwise be paid as fines are directed to an organization or project to improve or promote workplace health and safety.

Both the company and the Crown have up to 30 days to appeal the conviction or penalties.

Alberta’s OHS laws set basic health and safety rules for workplaces across the province. They provide guidance for employers to help them ensure their workplaces are as healthy and safe as possible while providing rights and protections for workers. Charges under OHS laws may be laid when failing to follow the rules results in a workplace fatality or serious injury.

Quick facts

  • Jobs, Economy and Trade does not provide sentence documents. These are available through the Red Deer Court of Justice.
  • Victim fine surcharges apply to fines payable to the Crown. The $1,000 fine in this case includes the 20 per cent surcharge. Surcharges are not applied to payments to other entities, in this case Energy Safety Canada, under creative sentences.
  • Fatality investigation summaries are posted to alberta.ca/fatality-investigation-reports 60 to 90 days after court proceedings conclude.

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Alberta

Principal at Calgary Elementary School charged with possession of child pornography

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News release from the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT)

Calgary school principal charged

A Calgary school principal has been charged with offences relating to child sexual abuse materials following an investigation by ALERT’s Internet Child Exploitation unit.

ICE charged Bruce Campbell on April 16, 2024 with possessing and accessing child pornography. The 61-year-old man was employed as a principal at Sacred Heart Elementary School in Calgary.

“Currently we believe these offences are solely related to online activities, but can appreciate how parents and students would be shocked and concerned about these charges,” said Staff Sergeant Mark Auger, ALERT ICE.

Campbell allegedly uploaded child sexual abuse materials via Skype and ALERT was notified via the RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Crime Centre in January 2024.

Campbell’s Calgary home was searched and a number of phone and computers were seized. A preliminary forensic analysis of the seized devices found child sexual abuse materials on his work-issued cellphone.

While the investigation and charges are related to online offences, the nature of Campbell’s employment placed him in a position of trust and authority. ICE is encouraging anyone with information about this case to come forward and contact police. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact local police or Crime Stoppers (1-800-222-TIPS).

Campbell was released from custody on a number of court-imposed conditions, and is awaiting his next scheduled court appearance on May 10, 2024 in Calgary.

ALERT was established and is funded by the Alberta Government and is a compilation of the province’s most sophisticated law enforcement resources committed to tackling serious and organized crime.

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