Connect with us
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=12]

Alberta

Alberta Sports Hall of Fame announces 2023 Inductees

Published

10 minute read

Introducing the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023!

The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is excited to announce our Class of 2023. The inductees are:

Andrew Buckley- Football Athlete
Andrew is a Calgary born football legend. Moving from a star high school quarterback to a University of Calgary Dinos champion to decorated Calgary Stampeder. Buckley won 3 Canada West Championships with the Dinos and set numerous club records. Drafted 62nd overall to the Calgary Stampeders in 2015, Andrew played in both the 2016 and 2017 Grey Cups with the team before announcing his retirement from professional football in 2018.

Mike Johnson- Baseball Athlete
Born and raised in the Edmonton region, Mike has been involved with baseball for the majority of his life.  He played his amateur baseball in Sherwood Park, and provincially with Team Alberta before he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993.  His professional career spanned 17 years and included 5 seasons in the MLB with the Baltimore Orioles and the Montreal Expos, and stops overseas in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.  He was a prominent member of Team Canada in the Olympics in 2004 and 2008, and won a Pan Am gold medal in 2011.  Upon retirement, he has given back coaching locally in the Edmonton area, Team Alberta and with the Canadian Junior National Team.

Helen Upperton- Bobsleigh Athlete
Helen is a dedicated and influential force in the sport of bobsleigh in Canada helping elevate the women’s program to the status of international powerhouse. Over the course of her 11-year career as a bobsleigh pilot, her team shattered numerous international start and track records en route to winning over 25 World Cup medals including Canada’s first ever World Cup gold in Women’s Bobsleigh in St. Moritz, Switzerland. After a close 4th place finish at the 2006 Olympics, Helen piloted her team to an Olympic silver medal in Vancouver 2010.  She retired from competition following the 2012 season but continues to be involved as a coach, a mentor, and an award-winning broadcaster.

Cara Currie Hall- Multisport Builder
Cara is one of Canada’s premiere indigenous sports advocates, leaders, and builders who has dedicated her life to the recognition and advancement of indigenous sports provincially, nationally, and internationally.  She was a founding board member of the Indigenous Sport Council of Alberta, World Indigenous National Sports international, Aboriginal Sport Circle and the Alberta Sports Recreation Park & Wildlife Board. She has sat on the board for the Canadian Association of the Advancement of Women in Sport.  Cara was instrumental in the founding of the North American Ingenious Games and was the founder the National Aboriginal Coaching School. Her years of advocacy work on behalf of indigenous athletes has positively impacted the future of sports.

Allan Ferchuk- Multisport Builder
Allan Ferchuk has devoted over 50 years of his life to sport in Alberta, with a focus on its positive outcomes on community and post-secondary education development. Ferchuk has coached hockey, both men and women and multiple levels winning national men’s gold in 1977,79 and 80. He has served multiple voluntary leadership roles including President of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference and the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association and chair Hockey Development Canada. Allan was key to the introduction of women’s hockey and soccer into the Alberta Colleges. He has volunteered his time to many community efforts including director on the Board of 2019 Canada Winter Games and Chairperson of the prime Games legacy, Central Sport.

Greg Peterson- Football Builder
Greg Peterson truly embodies the sport of football. He was born and raised in Calgary and spent his entire minor football career playing in the Calgary minor football system.  After his college football career at Brigham Young University, he was drafted by the Calgary Stampeders and spent his entire nine years as a player with the Stampeders. In 1990 he was a CFL All Canadian All Star and in 1992 he was a Grey Cup Championship. Upon his retirement he spent more than 30 years coaching and managing amateur football in Calgary.   He was one of the initiators and a driving force in the multimillion-dollar construction of the three artificial turf fields, the stands, locker rooms, and amenities at Shouldice Athletic Park. He and Tony Spoletini were also the initiators and forces behind the construction of the indoor dome at Shouldice Athletic Park.  Rounding out his sports career he has served as the color commentator and analyst on the Calgary Stampeder radio broadcast for the past 26 years.

Lauralyn Radford- Multisport Builder
Red Deer native, Lyn Radford, has made a name for herself in the sporting community. She has dedicated her life to bringing world class sporting events to her community and rallying those around her into action to make these events a success. Some of the events she is responsible for include the 2004 & 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, 2006 Alberta Summer Games, 2013 inaugural Tour of Alberta Cycling race, and the 2019 Canada Winter Games. She is past board member of Speed Skating Canada and currently sitting as a board member of the Canada Game’s Council.

1991-1994 Olds Grizzlys- Hockey Team
The Taber Golden Suns moved to Olds and became the Grizzlys for the 1981-82 season and in their 10th season in Olds they won their first AJHL Championship. The first of 3 AJHL Championships in a row! The Olds Grizzlys remain as one of only 2 teams to win the AJHL Championship 3 years in a row, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94. Coached and managed by Bob Clark, Chris Stewart, and Cliff Murphy for all 3 championships.

Wilf Brooks- Achievement Award
One of Wilf’s strongest assets in community has been to use sport as a means for helping others achieve their goals.  Wilf has a passion for identifying community strengths and resources and leveraging these to benefit others.  Often navigating from his position in the local business community, Wilf has invested his energy, knowledge, and enthusiasm into countless initiatives over the past 60 years.  From one time pilot projects to enduring organizations, he is proud to have served in the following: collaborating in the founding of Sport Central, partnering in the creation of the Calling Lake Hockey program and development, and supporting countless initiatives with Hockey Alberta, sharing leadership of the ‘Rink of Dreams’ project.  A great deal of his learning came from time spent, focused in Calling Lake and other remote communities.

Mark Stephen- Bell Memorial Award
Mark Stephen’s voice is known to many as one of the voices of the Calgary Stampeders. Since 1996 Stephen has done play by play of Calgary Stampeder games with former Stampeder Greg Peterson to form the longest serving broadcast tandem in CFL history. Mark has also been the national broadcaster for four Grey Cup games. He also broadcast Calgary Roughnecks for Shaw TV, did play-by-play for the Triple-A baseball Calgary Cannons and the Western Hockey League Calgary Wranglers as well as various Calgary City High School Athletic Association games.

Dr. Marcus Dunsworth- Pioneer Award
Marcus Dunsworth was an amazing multisport athlete. He was a 14-time city of Edmonton Champion in Tennis and Handball. 14-time Provincial champion in Tennis, Football, Basketball, and track. Dunsworth was a 2-time Western Canada Tennis Champion, a two-time Western Canada Basketball Champion, and two-time Grey Cup finalist. To have accomplished all of this between 1918 and 1938 when travel and financial assistance to sports was difficult only goes to highlight his athletic abilities.

The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame provides a family-friendly, interactive experience. You will be surprised by what you discover inside! Have fun, laugh, play and discover Alberta sports heroes together. The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is an interactive, hands-on celebration of Alberta's sporting history. Our over 7,000 square feet of exhibit space includes a multisport area with virtual baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and soccer; an adaptive sports area, including a 200 meter wheelchair challenge; a Treadwall climbing wall; the Orest Korbutt Theatre; the Hall of Fame Gallery; an art gallery displaying works by provincial artists, and much more. Our venue boasts a collection of over 17,000 artefacts of Alberta sports history and showcases many of these items in a number of displays. The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame also offers an education program, group activities, and a unique environment to rent for your birthday party, special event, corporate reception or meetings.

Follow Author

Alberta

Oil and gas in the global economy through 2050

Published on

From the Canadian Energy Centre

By Ven Venkatachalam

The world will continue to rely on oil and gas for decades to come, according to the International Energy Agency

Recent global conflicts, which have been partly responsible for a global spike in energy prices, have cast their shadow on energy markets around the world. Added to this uncertainty is the ongoing debate among policymakers and public institutions in various jurisdictions about the role of traditional forms of energy in the global economy.

One widely quoted study influencing the debate is the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) World Energy Outlook, the most recent edition of which, World Energy Outlook 2023 (or WEO 2023), was released recently (IEA 2023).

In this CEC Fact Sheet, we examine projections for oil and natural gas production, demand, and investment drawn from the World Energy Outlook 2023 Extended Dataset, using the IEA’s modelled scenario STEPS, or the Stated Policies Scenario. The Extended Dataset provides more detailed data at the global, regional, and country level than that found in the main report.

The IEA’s World Energy Outlook and the various scenarios

Every year the IEA releases its annual energy outlook. The report looks at recent energy supply and demand, and projects the investment outlook for oil and gas over the next three decades. The World Energy Outlook makes use of a scenario approach to examine future energy trends. WEO 2023 models three scenarios: the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario (NZE), the Announced Pledges Scenario (APS), and the Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS).

STEPS appears to be the most plausible scenario because it is based on the world’s current trajectory, rather than the other scenarios set out in the WEO 2023, including the APS and the NZE. According to the IEA:

The Stated Policies Scenario is based on current policy settings and also considers the implications of industrial policies that support clean energy supply chains as well as measures related to energy and climate. (2023, p. 79; emphasis by author)

and

STEPS looks in detail at what [governments] are actually doing to reach their targets and objectives across the energy economy. Outcomes in the STEPS reflect a detailed sector-by-sector review of the policies and measures that are actually in place or that have been announced; aspirational energy or climate targets are not automatically assumed to be met. (2023, p. 92)

Key results

The key results of STEPS, drawn from the IEA’s Extended Dataset, indicate that the oil and gas industry is not going into decline over the next decade—neither worldwide generally, nor in Canada specifically. In fact, the demand for oil and gas in emerging and developing economies under STEPS will remain robust through 2050.

Oil and natural gas production projections under STEPS

World oil production is projected to increase from 94.8 million barrels per day (mb/d) in 2022 to 97.2 mb/d in 2035, before falling slightly to 94.5 mb/d in 2050 (see Figure 1).

Source: IEA (2023b)

Canadian overall crude oil production is projected to increase from 5.8 mb/d in 2022 to 6.5 mb/d in 2035, before falling to 5.6 mb/d in 2050 (see Figure 2).

Source: IEA (2023b)

Canadian oil sands production is expected to increase from 3.6 mb/d in 2022 to 3.8 mb/d in 2035, and maintain the same production level till 2050 (see Figure 3).

Source: IEA (2023b)

World natural gas production is anticipated to increase from 4,138 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2022 to 4,173 bcm in 2050 (see Figure 4).

Source: IEA (2023b)

Canadian natural gas production is projected to decrease from 204 bcm in 2022 to 194 bcm in 2050 (see Figure 5).

Source: IEA (2023b)

Oil demand under STEPS

World demand for oil is projected to increase from 96.5 mb/d in 2022 to 97.4 mb/d by 2050 (see Tables 1A and 1B). Demand in Africa for oil is expected to increase from 4.0 mb/d in 2022 to 7.7 mb/d in 2050. Demand for oil in the Asia-Pacific is projected to increase from 32.9 mb/d in 2022 to 35.1 mb/d in 2050. Demand for oil from emerging and developing economies is anticipated to increase from 47.9 mb/d in 2022 to 59.3 mb/d in 2050.

Source: IEA (2023b)

 

Source: IEA (2023b)

Natural gas demand under STEPS

World demand for natural gas is expected to increase from 4,159 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2022 to 4,179 bcm in 2050 (see Figures 6 and 7). Demand in Africa for natural gas is projected to increase from 170 bcm in 2020 to 277 bcm in 2050. Demand in the Asia-Pacific for natural gas is anticipated to increase from 900 bcm in 2020 to 1,119 bcm in 2050.

Source: IEA (2023b)

 

Source: IEA (2023b)

Cumulative oil and gas investment expected to be over $21 trillion

Taking into account projected global demand, between 2023 and 2050 the cumulative global oil and gas investment (upstream, midstream, and downstream) under STEPS is expected to reach nearly U.S.$21.1 trillion (in $2022). Global oil investment alone is expected to be over U.S.$13.1 trillion and natural gas investment is predicted to be over $8.0 trillion (see Figure 8).

Between 2023 and 2050, total oil and gas investment in North America (Canada, the U.S., and Mexico) is expected to be nearly U.S.$5.6 trillion, split between oil at over $3.8 trillion and gas at nearly $1.8 trillion (see Figure 8). Oil and gas investment in the Asia Pacific, over the same period, is estimated at nearly $3.3 trillion, split between oil at over $1.4 trillion and gas at over $1.9 trillion.

Source: IEA (2023b)

Conclusion

The sector-by-sector measures that governments worldwide have put in place and the specific policy initiatives that support clean energy policy, i.e., the Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS), both show oil and gas continuing to play a major role in the global economy through 2050. Key data points on production and demand drawn from the IEA’s WEO 2023 Extended Dataset confirm this trend.

Positioning Canada as a secure and reliable oil and gas supplier can and must be part of the medium- to long-term solution to meeting the oil and gas demands of the U.S., Europe, Asia and other regions as part of a concerted move supporting energy security.

The need for stable energy, which is something that oil and natural gas provide, is critical to a global economy whose population is set to grow by another 2 billion people by 2050. Along with the increasing population comes rising incomes, and with them comes a heightened demand for oil and natural gas, particularly in many emerging and developing economies in Africa, the Asia-Pacific, and Latin America, where countries are seeing urbanization and industrialization grow rapidly.


References (as of February 11, 2024)

International Energy Agency (IEA), 2023(a), World Energy Outlook 2023 <http://tinyurl.com/4nv9xyfj>; International Energy Agency (IEA), 2023(b), World Energy Outlook 2023 Extended Dataset <http://tinyurl.com/3222553b>.

Continue Reading

Alberta

Calgary judge rules against father opposing euthanasia of autistic non-terminally ill daughter

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

On March 25, Justice Colin C.J. Feasby of the Alberta Court of King’s Bench overturned an injunction sought by the 27-year-old autistic woman’s father which previously prevented her from being killed via Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) euthanasia program.

A Calgary judge has ruled that an autistic, non-terminally ill young woman can be put to death via euthanasia despite objections from her father, claiming that inhibiting her death could cause her “irreparable harm.”  

On March 25, Justice Colin C.J. Feasby of the Alberta Court of King’s Bench overturned an injunction sought by the 27-year-old autistic woman’s father which previously prevented her from being killed via Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) euthanasia program.

“I do not know you and I do not know why you seek MAID. Your reasons remain your own because I have respected your autonomy and your privacy,” Justice Feasby wrote in his decision.  

“My decision recognizes your right to choose a medically assisted death; but it does not require you to choose death,” he added.  

Due to a publication ban, the young woman in the case is identified as MV while her father is listed as WV.  

MV, who is diagnosed with both autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), was approved for MAiD by two doctors and planned to end her life through euthanasia.  

However, according to court documents, her father argued that she is vulnerable and “is not competent to make the decision to take her own life.” Notably, MV still lives at home under the care of her parents.  

He also argued that she does not qualify for MAiD, pointing out that “she is generally healthy and believes that her physical symptoms, to the extent that she has any, result from undiagnosed psychological condition.”  

According to Feasby, his decision weighed the “harm” of preventing MV from having herself “medically” killed and her parent’s suffering while watching their daughter be killed.  

“The harm to MV if an injunction is granted goes to the core of her being,” he argued. “An injunction would deny MV the right to choose between living or dying with dignity [sic]. Further, an injunction would put MV in a position where she would be forced to choose between living a life she has decided is intolerable and ending her life without medical assistance.”

Feasby claimed that allowing MV to be euthanized is a better choice because “attempting to end her life without medical assistance would put her at increased risk of pain, suffering and lasting injury.” 

The ruling allows 30 days before MV can receive MAiD for her father to appeal the decision. So far, WV has not announced if he plans to appeal.  

Notably, MAiD does not yet apply to the mentally ill, as the Liberal government decided to delay the expansion of euthanasia to those suffering solely from such illnesses until 2027 following backlash from Canadians and prominent doctors.   

In January, provincial health ministers went a step further than seeking a delay in the provision, asking for the measure to be “indefinitely” postponed.  

The provincial health ministers’ appeal echoes that of leading Canadian psychiatrist Dr. K. Sonu Gaind, who testified that the expansion of MAiD “is not so much a slippery slope as a runaway train.”  

Similarly, in November, several Canadian psychiatrists warned that the country is “not ready” for the coming expansion of euthanasia to those who are mentally ill. They said that further liberalizing the procedure is not something that “society should be doing” as it could lead to deaths under a “false pretence.”   

The expansion of euthanasia to those with mental illness even has the far-left New Democratic Party (NDP) concerned. Dismissing these concerns, a Trudeau Foundation fellow actually said Trudeau’s current euthanasia regime is marked by “privilege,” assuring the Canadian people that most of those being put to death are “white,” “well off,” and “highly educated.”  

The most recent reports show that MAiD is the sixth highest cause of death in Canada. However, it was not listed as such in Statistics Canada’s top 10 leading causes of death from 2019 to 2022. When asked why MAiD was left off the list, the agency explained that it records the illnesses that led Canadians to choose to end their lives via euthanasia, not the actual cause of death, as the primary cause of death. 

According to Health Canada, in 2022, 13,241 Canadians died by MAiD lethal injections. This accounts for 4.1 percent of all deaths in the country for that year ,a 31.2 percent increase from 2021.     

While the numbers for 2023 have yet to be released, all indications point to a situation even more grim than 2022.  

Continue Reading

Trending

X