Alberta
Alberta NDP calling on Premier to denounce UCP MLA’s calling for an end to lockdowns
From the Alberta NDP
KENNEY’S SILENCE ALLOWS UCP MLAS TO UNDERMINE PUBLIC HEALTH ORDERS
Jason Kenney must explain to Albertans following COVID-19 public health orders why he has continually failed to take action against the members of his own Caucus who are undermining those orders from a position of authority and putting lives at risk in the process.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that UCP MLA’s Drew Barnes and Angela Pitt had signed up as Members of the “End the Lockdown Caucus”, a group that declares, “lockdowns cause more harm than the virus and must be brought to an end.”
It was also learned Tuesday that senior UCP Cabinet Minister Jason Nixon and UCP Caucus Chair Todd Loewen had joined Drew Barnes in the undermining of public health orders by telling local papers that they would be pushing for a regional re-opening, an action that directly contradicts the advice given by Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw.
“Jason Kenney promised to introduce a culture of discipline to the scandal ridden, arrogant and out-of-touch UCP,” said David Shepherd, NDP Health Critic. “He also promised to build a database of extremists to keep them from taking over the UCP. Instead we see that the extremists are well and truly running the UCP.”
The End the Lockdown Caucus includes, Wildrose Independence Party Leader Paul Hinman, former Separatist MLA Gordon Kessler, MP Derek Sloan, who was expelled from the Conservative Party of Canada for accepting a donation from a white nationalist, and Leader of the People’s Party of Canada, Maxime Bernier.
“Months of Jason Kenney’s failed chaotic leadership is empowering and encouraging the extreme, anti-science members of the UCP,” said Shepherd. “Kenney must discipline these MLAs for endangering Albertans through their reckless and selfish behaviour.”
MLA Pitt stated publicly: “One hundred per cent, more people in the caucus will join us. I tried to work on things internally, but it was not working on the inside”.
Jason Kenney will be speaking to the media at 1pm on Wednesday. If he is serious about protecting the lives and livelihoods of Albertans, he will denounce the dangerous stance taken by his Caucus.
“Jason Kenney must explain why he has allowed a rebellion of anti-health to take over the UCP and why won’t he do a thing to stop it?” Shepherd said. “This Premier’s leadership is either so weak that he can’t stop them, or he is so indifferent to the medical advice of Dr. Hinshaw that he is allowing his Caucus to spread medically false statements during a global pandemic. Either way, this is not the leadership Alberta needs.”
Alberta
Red Deer Company fined $360,000.00 after 2022 workplace fatality
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.
Related information
Alberta
Principal at Calgary Elementary School charged with possession of child pornography
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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