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Hope is Edmonton Prospects & WCBL biggest ally these days

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Until about a month ago, the Edmonton Prospects appeared on the way towards a home-run and their most successful season in the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL). The league itself looked a lot healthier than it has ever been.

“We were really looking forward – our 2020 roster was in good shape; we had a secure (one-year) lease on RE/MAX Field; our relationship and negotiations with the city had moved forward from what there was before.” owner-general manager Pat Cassidy

With the pending arrival of a 2021 franchise in Sylvan Lake, added to the growing optimism. Then, of course, came the coronavirus pandemic. Covid-19, halted to everything. Now, among every other endeavour in this nation, it’s like a rain delay; a really long rain delay.

Edmonton Prospects run onto the RE/MAX Field in 1019. Will it happen in 2020? Photo Courtesy/Prospects

For how long? That has yet to be determined. A partial answer may take shape next Tuesday after a scheduled meeting to update all league principals on any potential opening dates.

Pre-coronavirus plans called for the Prospects to open at home with two tilts during the May 24 weekend, with firework after the first game. Now? Cassidy pitched, “the most likely expectation is a delay until June 16 or later.” Another batting lineup could look like a calendar to include openers on or about Canada Day, July 1. Cassidy explained, “We won’t know until some serious ideas are raised at our meeting, a lot of things remain for us to go through.”

“Sure, we have rosters ready – at least, most of us have – but we can’t possibly know if the signed players will be able to come in. Who knows whether they will have to be isolated for a period of time after they do come in?”

Will Edmonton Prospects “PLAY BALL” at RE-MAX Field in 2020? TBA Photo Courtesy/Prospect

All-star outfielder Travis Hunt and infielder Brendan Luther both had committed to return from last year’s roster, which survived an incredible run of bad weather before being eliminated in playoffs by the champion Okotoks Dawgs. “We have Hunt signed but we also have an agreement that he would be free to leave if the pros took him in the draft or signed him.” spit Cassidy.

Pencilled in on the pitching staff are (or were) Trever Berg and Jesse Poniewozik, who spent much of the 2019 season in the bullpen before both became essential as starters or relievers by playoff time.

Poniewozik, the young, promising Spruce Grove right-hander whose season ended when a wicked line drive hit him on the head and forced him out, for the brief remainder of the season.

Cassidy raised another very important question, surely to be considered by not just the WCBL, but all other leagues anxious to start; if you play, will they come? Will it be a full count or, “What size of crowds can we expect?

“I’m sure we all want to get going but I don’t believe we’ll find large groups of fans want to go into a ballpark and sit next to people without the six-foot separation (self-distancing).

“Questions, that’s all we’ve got so far.” Cassidy conceded.

The owner and GM competitive instincts surfaced after president Gary Hoover of the Northwoods League, which includes the Thunder Bay Border Cats and teams from North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, confirmed that plans to open on May 26 had been scrubbed. “We don’t have (the same page),” the Prospects operator said, partly in jest, after Hoover claimed “flexibility” could be a big help in designing the Northwoods League future.

To this point, the WCBL has not been forced to adjust to the loss of the Melville Millionaires and Yorkton Cardinals, who received one-year leaves of absence to consider whether to remain in a league that has grown stronger and more competitive. “It was difficult for them,” Cassidy is not yet calling them out, “Whatever the operators decide, I wish them luck.”

As for the positive outlook from a month ago when it looked like it was going to be a homer, with the runner circling the bases? Or will it be caught for the final out at the fence? A final out, before the first pitch of the season is even thrown? Time will tell, right now we are still in the middle of a rain delay.

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Alberta

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

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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.

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Alberta

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

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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.

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