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Alberta’s Environmental Changemakers Shine at the 2025 Emerald Awards

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EDMONTON — From grassroots organizers to major industry players, Albertans working to protect the environment were in the spotlight this week at the 34th Annual Emerald Awards. Held at Edmonton’s Timms Centre for the Arts on June 5, the event recognized 14 outstanding recipients from across the province whose work is helping to build a more resilient, sustainable Alberta.

The awards, presented by the Alberta Emerald Foundation (AEF), are among the most prestigious environmental honours in Canada—celebrating projects that tackle everything from emissions reduction and conservation to education and climate adaptation.

This year marked a record-breaking number of submissions, with 72 nominations—AEF’s highest total in over a decade. A panel of independent judges selected 40 finalists across 14 categories, with one recipient named in each.

“These recipients reflect the diversity, creativity, and deep commitment to environmental stewardship we’re seeing across Alberta,” said Marisa Orfei, Executive Director of the Alberta Emerald Foundation. “Whether it’s restoring wetlands, leading innovative waste diversion programs, or inspiring change through education, each project tells a story of positive action.”

More Than Just Recognition

Along with their award, each recipient receives a $1,500 grant to support their ongoing work, a handcrafted trophy made from recycled chopsticks (courtesy of ChopValue YYC and Calgary restaurants), and a feature in the Emerald Documentary Series—which showcases environmental success stories across Alberta.

What sets the Emerald Awards apart is their inclusive approach. Winners span industries, nonprofits, Indigenous communities, youth initiatives, and municipal governments—underscoring that meaningful change can come from anywhere.

The Emerald Awards are the only program of their kind in Canada, and have become a launchpad for environmental innovation and storytelling that reaches far beyond Alberta’s borders.

To see the full list of 2025 recipients, visit albertaemeraldfoundation.ca.


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Alberta

US media talk to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in Washington

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From the Facebook page of Danielle Smith

Alberta is a reliable ally. We don’t just talk trade, we deliver energy, resources, and opportunity.
Had the chance to join Bloomberg in Washington, DC to talk about what matters most: securing North American energy dominance, tackling harmful tariffs, and building smarter partnerships between Canada and the U.S.
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Alberta

Pro-life activist describes how child traffickers take advantage of Alberta’s abortion lax laws

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

A recent article recounted how a 13-year-old girl was ‘sold’ to sex traffickers, found to be pregnant by her captors, and forced to take chemical abortion pills.

Richard Dur, a political consultant who serves as the executive director of Prolife Alberta, shared grisly details of how human traffickers are taking advantage of the province’s lax abortion laws to get away with essentially whatever they want when it comes to innocent life.

In a recent opinion piece for Juno News, Dur wrote about the shocking tale of a 13-year-old girl who was “sold” to sex traffickers. She was forced to come to western Canada from the Montreal area, found to be pregnant by her captors, and was then forced to take chemical abortion pills.

Dur noted that the girl’s traffickers knew that Alberta, notably the Red Deer area, was “good business,” as the “profits were higher.”

After the girl missed her period, the trafficker’s minder found out, as his job was to “watch the girls, track the bleeding, report anything that might interrupt business.”

The men had in place a “quiet solution” for such situations, that being abortion pills, which are widely available in Alberta without a prescription or doctor visits.

“No doctor’s visit. No age check — not that it would have mattered. Just two pills, mailed discreetly to the door of a short-term rental in southeast Calgary. One to stop the pregnancy. One to flush it out. Reproductive freedom — streamlined for traffickers,” Dur wrote.

After the girl was forced to take the pills, she bled all night by herself. She was forced back to “work” the next day.

Dur noted that this girl’s story is not “fiction” or “hypothetical” but is the “hidden reality behind Project Endgame — Alberta’s largest human trafficking bust.”

Police in the province have noted that traffickers have operated this way for over a decade, with victims being “coerced, transported, and exploited.”

In Alberta, Mifegymiso, which became available to Canadians in 2017, is now legal and free, allowing many women to kill their unborn babies at home without any medical supervision, often resulting in severe injuries to the mother in addition to the trauma of seeing their murdered baby. No ID, pregnancy test or medical exam is required.

Dur noted that another woman, “an older girl, or the trafficker’s assistant,” can obtain the drugs easily for anyone.

“No proof of pregnancy required. All it takes is a phone call and a mailing address. Or the trafficker standing over her, watching, listening. He never needs to leave the room. He never needs to lose control,” he wrote.

Canada’s “free” contraceptive law was passed last year and came about as a result of Bill C-64. The law was introduced by the former government of Justin Trudeau.

Drugs for at-home chemical abortions are typically done in the form of drugs like Mifegymiso. In January, Campaign Life Coalition reported that a 19-year-old Canadian girl died after taking Mifegymiso.

Free contraception is not ‘liberation’ but allows for ‘a license for exploitation,’ says Dur

Dur recounted that the story of the young women forced into the underground sex trade shows how the current system in Alberta and Canada has resulted in girls being enslaved at shocking rates.

“When a 13-year-old girl can be trafficked, abused, and silenced with a phone call and two pills, we must ask: who, exactly, is this system protecting? But she is not the exception,” he wrote.

“She is the victim of a system functioning exactly as it’s been designed to — with no guardrails. That’s not liberation. That’s a license for exploitation.”

Dur observed that for all the Alberta government says it does to combat trafficking, “there’s a glaring loophole in its strategy — one traffickers depend on.”

“Its name? On-demand abortion access,” he noted.

While the United Conservative Government (UCP) has promised to do more to combat traffickers, with Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis saying “Human trafficking is a serious and often hidden crime that devastates lives and communities,” the reality is that it is hidden due in part to abortion pills.

“A trafficker can control a young girl’s body, her movements, and even the consequences of his crimes — because Alberta allows it. If we are serious about protecting the exploited, we must be serious about what’s enabling their continued exploitation,” Dur wrote.

Dur noted that if traffickers can cross borders “without inspection, why wouldn’t they exploit abortion access that’s just as unguarded?”

According to Ellis “We’re not just trying to make headlines — we’re trying to change lives.”

Dur said that the “change” should start today with changing the policy regarding abortion pills taken at home.

“Change the policy that lets predators cover their crimes with a phone call and a mailing address. Close the loophole that puts abortion — chemical or surgical — in the hands of men exploiting vulnerable girls, with no age restriction, no parental notification, no questions, and no oversight,” he noted.

“Because right now, Alberta rescues victims with one hand — and hands them back to their abusers with the other.”

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