Connect with us

Alberta

Province Bighorn Country public info sessions are on again

Published

8 minute read

From the Province of Alberta

Bighorn Country public info sessions restart

The Provincial Government has rescheduled four public information sessions on the Bighorn Country proposal for Feb. 1 – 4.

In order to ensure Albertans have information on the proposed mix of parks and public lands in the Bighorn region, public information sessions are now scheduled for Drayton Valley, Edmonton, Red Deer and Sundre. Participants will have the opportunity to talk to program staff, view maps of the region, and submit feedback directly at more than 30 information stations.

“Many Albertans are deeply passionate about the Bighorn – that’s why we are consulting with all Albertans on a proposal for Bighorn Country. Already, we’ve engaged more than 50,000 Albertans and restarting these information sessions will allow us to reach even more. These sessions will make sure Albertans can ask questions, learn more about the proposal and share their views.”

Shannon Phillips, Minister of Environment and Parks

Public information sessions will be held:

Drayton Valley

Friday, Feb. 1
Clean Energy Technology Centre Map
5400 22 Avenue
Drayton Valley
4 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Edmonton

Saturday, Feb. 2
Polish Hall Map
10960 104 Street
Edmonton
1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Red Deer

Sunday, Feb. 3
Westerner Centre Map
4847A 19 Street
Red Deer
1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Sundre

Monday, Feb. 4
Royal Canadian Legion Map
135 6 Street SE
Sundre
4 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Each of the sites have undergone a safety and security review. People can also review the proposal and provide feedback online by visiting talkaep.alberta.ca. The deadline for submitting feedback is Feb. 1

Quick facts

  • Bighorn Country includes public lands from the boundary of Banff National Park eastward towards Drayton Valley. It includes Clearwater County, most of Brazeau County and the current Bighorn Backcountry management area.
  • The Bighorn region is recognized for its scenic beauty and natural diversity. It includes scenic mountains and foothills, rare plants and key habitat for numerous species at risk such as grizzly bear, wolverine, harlequin duck, Athabasca rainbow trout and bull trout.
  • The headwaters of the North Saskatchewan River and Red Deer River are located within Bighorn Country, providing clean drinking water to more than one million Albertans.
  • Sharing this busy landscape is a wide variety of recreation and tourism activities. Hunting and fishing are popular, as well as camping, hiking, off-highway vehicle use, horseback riding, ice climbing and cross-country skiing.
  • The Bighorn Country proposal includes new, expanded or amended parks, protected areas and public land use zones. This system of public lands is intended to provide a range of opportunities that suits the settings and demands of the region.
  • The proposal means no significant change to recreation activities, but offers $40 million in new investment to improve services and infrastructure such as campsites, parking lots, trails and staging areas.
  • The proposal supports continued practice of traditional uses and the exercise of treaty rights by Indigenous Peoples.

Tourism Development

Tourism is an important contributor to the region’s economy and Bighorn Country possesses unrealised tourism potential.

Modifying existing land designations could provide for different types of tourism development. Combined, these could support new opportunities, directly bene tting businesses and the local economy. Appropriate commercial recreation and tourism development could be identi ed through the parks planning process, including public consultation and engagement.

Bighorn Wildland Provincial Park

• Would conserve nature and allow low-impact backcountry recreation activities and services provided by both the public and private sectors.

• Focus on high-quality hunting, shing and other nature-based recreation experiences.

• Equestrian and off-highway vehicle use would continue, where appropriate, on designated trails.

Snow Creek Provincial Recreation Area

  • Minor expansion would allow development of winter tourism activities, potentially including a Nordic ski trail system.
  • Could provide a staging area for snowmobiles to access adjacent trails.

Kiska-Willson Public Land Use Zone

  • Would continue to provide a large network of trails for motorized and non-motorized use.
  • Would continue to support exploration for, and development of, coal, limestone and other resources.
  • The northern portion would provide commercial recreation and tourism opportunities, while the southern portion would focus on low-impact backcountry recreation and tourism.

    West Country Public Land Use Zone

  • Trails and camping areas would remain open. Future recreation management planning is needed to thoughtfully manage impacts of recreation activities on other land uses and the environment.
  • Would continue to permit industrial uses, such as forestry and energy, and existing public land recreation areas would remain.
  • Recreation planning may include new trails, staging areas and other infrastructure, including support for commercial recreation and tourism development.

    Bighorn Dam Provincial Recreation Area

  • Focus would be on providing trails, staging areas and campgrounds to suit different recreation and tourism uses.
  • OHV and snowmobile use would be permitted on designated trails, and a staging area would link campgrounds to the existing trail network in surrounding areas.

    Hummingbird Provincial Recreation Area

  • An important campground and staging area that provides access to the Bighorn Wildland Provincial Park or the Kiska-Willson Public Land Use Zone.
  • Focus would be on providing trails, staging areas and campgrounds to suit different recreation and tourism uses.

    Shunda Provincial Recreation Area

  • Would expand and consolidate Fish Lake and Goldeye Lake Provincial Recreation Areas.
  • Focus would be on maintaining, enhancing and providing new facilities and infrastructure to suit diverse recreation and tourism uses.

David Thompson Provincial Park

• Would incorporate the Thompson Creek and Kootenay Plains Provincial Recreation Areas and the Kootenay Plains Ecological Reserve.

• Would offer a number of front country experiences and connect visitors with the Bighorn Wildland Provincial Park.

• Focus would be on developing services, facilities and infrastructure to support current and future demand for recreation and tourism opportunities while prioritizing conservation.

North Saskatchewan River Provincial Park

  • Would protect important natural landscapes that are unique to Bighorn Country.
  • Would provide opportunities for water-based recreation, hiking, mountain biking and equestrian uses.
  • Parks management planning would help determine the need for speci c trails and infrastructure to support conservation, recreation, tourism and education.

    Ya Ha Tinda Provincial Park

    • Ya Ha Tinda Provincial Park contains diverse landscape types and a wide range of experiences.

    • It is an important staging area for the Bighorn Wildland Provincial Park, providing access for equestrian and other recreational uses.

Have Your Say Today

Visit talkAEP.alberta.ca today to give us your feedback on the Bighorn Country proposal.

Consultation will be open from November 23, 2018 to January 31, 2019.  Over this period, we will gain your input on the future of the Bighorn area.

If we proceed, further consultation would be held to inform recreation and management planning.

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.

Follow Author

Alberta

Canada’s postal service refuses to help with Trudeau’s gun ban buyback program: report

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

According to a report, Canada’s mail service notified the Trudeau government via a letter that it would not participate in the buyback scheme, citing safety concerns for its employees.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal government crackdown on legal gun owners through a buyback scheme has hit a major roadblock after Canada Post, a federal-run institution, signaled it will refuse to participate in scooping up thousands of legally purchased firearms at the bequest of the government.

According to government sources in a recent Radio-Canada report, the Trudeau Liberals were hoping Canada Post would help collect approximately 144,000 “assault” and “military-style” firearms that were recently banned by the government. Canada Post currently delivers guns via mail that are legally purchased to those with firearms licenses.

The inside source, who chose not to be named, noted that Canada Post notified the Trudeau government via a letter that it would not participate in the buyback scheme, citing safety concerns for its employees.

According to the source, Canada Post is still talking with the federal government, with one idea being to allow it to transport guns but not oversee getting them from their legal owners.

“It’s a challenge, but we do not think this jeopardizes our timetable or the government’s desire to move forward,” said one source, adding, “We want the discussions to continue.”

As for the Trudeau federal government, it continues to say that having Canada Post be involved in the gun buyback is the “most efficient” as well as “least costly” way to get the guns back from owners.

Trudeau’s gun grab was first announced after a deadly mass shooting in Nova Scotia in May 2020 in which he banned over 1,500 “military-style assault firearms” with a plan to begin buying them back from owners.

Late last year, the Trudeau government extended the amnesty deadline for legal gun owners until October 30, 2025. It should be noted that this is around the same time a federal election will take place.

The Canadian government’s controversial gun grab Bill C-21, which bans many types of guns, including handguns, and mandates a buyback program became law on December 14, 2023, after senators voted 60-24 in favor of the bill.

Alberta and other provinces promise to fight Trudeau’s gun grab tooth and nail

On the same day news broke that Canada Post said it would not participate in Trudeau’s gun buyback, Alberta chief firearms officer Teri Bryant last Wednesday issued a statement saying, “We urge the federal government to abandon this ill-advised program and meaningfully consult the provinces as we work to address the actual causes of firearms crime.”

“Canadians are still waiting for concrete details about the federal firearms confiscation program that has been in the works since 2020, and Canada Post’s refusal to participate in the federal government’s firearms ‘buy-back’ program is just one more example of how little forethought or engagement has gone into implementation of this program,” Bryant said.

Bryant noted that the buyback will not “significantly improve public safety” because it does not target those “involved in criminal activity and gun violence, and Albertans can be assured that our government will continue to advocate for our law-abiding firearms community.”

“We believe in a principled and informed approach to firearms policy that preserves public safety and recognizes the immense responsibility that comes with firearms ownership,” she noted.

Bryant observed that the federal confiscation program is not only causing uncertainty for many firearms businesses, but it is also “pulling attention and resources away from programs and initiatives that would help address public safety.”

“It is also undermining public confidence in the fairness of our entire firearms regulatory scheme,” she added.

Indeed, LifeSiteNews reported in February that despite Trudeau’s crackdown on legal gun owners, Statistics Canada data shows that most violent gun crimes in the country last year were not committed at the hands of legal gun owners but by those who obtained the weapons illegally.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, along with premiers from no less than four additional provinces, are opposed to C- 21.

Late last year, Smith promised she would strengthen the gun rights of Albertans because of Trudeau’s gun grab.

Continue Reading

Alberta

Alberta threatens to fight Trudeau government restrictions on Canada’s plastics industry

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

“If the federal government refuses to abide by the constitution, we will take them to court again to defend our jurisdiction and the thousands of Albertans who work in the petrochemical sector”

Alberta has rejected the Liberal government’s “unconstitutional” federal plastics registry and production limit.

In an April 25 press release, Alberta’s Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz promised to take Liberal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault to court over his proposal to create a plastics registry, mandating companies to report their plastic production and implementation.

“If the federal government refuses to abide by the constitution, we will take them to court again to defend our jurisdiction and the thousands of Albertans who work in the petrochemical sector,” Schulz declared.

“This unilateral announcement is a slap in the face to Alberta and our province’s petrochemical industry, and the thousands of Albertans who work in it,” she continued.

Guilbeault’s plan, set to be implemented in September 2025, would mandate that businesses record how much plastic they place on the market in addition to the amount of plastic waste generated on their commercial, industrial, and institutional premises.

Companies would then report that amount to the federal government. The plan exempts small businesses which produce less than one tonne of plastic each year.

However, Schulz explained that the registry would negatively affect Alberta, as “plastics production is a growing part of Alberta’s economy, and we are positioned to lead the world for decades to come in the production of carbon neutral plastics.”

“Minister Guilbeault’s proposal would throw all of that into jeopardy and risk billions of dollars in investments. This includes projects like Dow Chemical’s net-zero petrochemical plant in Fort Saskatchewan, a $9-billion project that will create thousands of jobs,” she warned.

“If the federal government limits plastic production in Canada, other countries like China will just produce more. The only outcome that this federal government will achieve will be fewer jobs in Canada,” she explained.

Schulz’s statement comes after the November decision by the Federal Court to rule in favor of Alberta and Saskatchewan, declaring that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government overstepped its authority by classifying plastic as “toxic” and banning all single-use plastic items, like straws.

Essentially, the ruling overturned Trudeau’s 2022 law which outlawed manufacturing or importing plastic straws, cutlery, and checkout bags on the grounds of government claims that plastic was having a negative effect on the oceans. In reality, most plastic pollution in the oceans comes from a few countries, like India and China, which dump waste directly on beaches or in rivers.

The November ruling was only one of two recent court rulings that have dealt a blow to Trudeau’s environmental laws.

The second ruling came after Canada’s Supreme Court recently sided in favor of provincial autonomy when it comes to natural resources. The Supreme Court recently ruled that Trudeau’s law C-69, dubbed the “no-more pipelines” bill, is “mostly unconstitutional.” This was a huge win for Alberta and Saskatchewan, which challenged the law in court. The decision returned authority over the pipelines to provincial governments, meaning oil and gas projects headed up by the provinces should be allowed to proceed without federal intrusion.

The Trudeau government, however, seems insistent on defying the recent rulings by pushing forward with its various regulations.

Continue Reading

Trending

X