WETASKIWIN, Alta. — A central Alberta city is closing a homeless encampment with help from Mounties because of safety risks it says will persist if it remains open.

Wetaskiwin voted last week to close “tent city” as most, if not all, people who were living there are now using the nearby warming shelter run by the Mustard Seed or the Samson Cree shelter.

Local fire services say they attended multiple fire-related calls to the camp since it opened in August, including one severe structure fire where “the possibility of death was very imminent,” and two instances where people sustained serious burns after falling into flames.

RCMP say they attended 37 calls related to assault, robbery, weapons and arson.

At one point, up to 60 people lived rough in the camp after the city forced the closure of its only shelter, but numbers dwindled with frigid temperatures and hindered social agency supports.

Provincial funding for the temporary shelter, which is a stone’s throw from the camp, is in place until March with no clear plans by the city on what happens if or when it closes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 28, 2022.

The Canadian Press

DRUMHELLER, Alta. — RCMP say a man at a medium-security federal prison in southern Alberta has been charged in the death of a fellow inmate.

Mounties say officers responded to a call Wednesday of a serious assault at Drumheller Institution. 

They allege an assault on 34-year-old Jeffrey Ryan of Parkland County, Alta., was unprovoked.

RCMP say Ryan sustained serious injuries and later died in hospital.

Ashley Baird of Nanaimo, B.C., who is 38, has been charged with second-degree murder and is to appear in Drumheller provincial court on Feb. 11. 

Police say an autopsy has been ordered by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and will be performed in the coming days.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 28, 2022.

The Canadian Press