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Alberta

Red Deer Polytechnic homecoming featuring athletic, social, and academic events

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As a way to connect with alumni, prospective and current students, employees and community members, Red Deer Polytechnic will host its inaugural Homecoming from October 20-22, 2022, on its main campus.

“The past few years have been challenging to fully engage with our stakeholders because of COVID-19, so we are extremely excited to open our doors for Homecoming,” says Stuart Cullum, President of Red Deer Polytechnic. “The range of events appeal to a diverse audience and it’s a great opportunity for the Polytechnic to showcase what we have to offer. With growing program offerings taught by industry experts in modern facilities, we are a premier polytechnic institution that serves not only in the region, but the entire province.”

Red Deer Polytechnic is intricately interconnected with the community in numerous ways. Students, staff and faculty make an important impact on the community through applied learning and research activities, community service and volunteerism, and as professionals.

At the same time, community members and alumni also contribute to learning experiences and the institution’s growth in many ways. This includes advocacy for post-secondary education, along with volunteering and enhancing the students’ education by providing experiential learning opportunities and support. Together, members of the Red Deer Polytechnic community contribute to the continued economic, intellectual, social and cultural development of central Alberta and province.

The network of Red Deer Polytechnic alumni continues to grow in numbers and impact.

“At Red Deer Polytechnic, we are extremely proud of our 58-year history, including the 80,000 alumni who are leaders in their professions and communities,” says Richard Longtin, Vice President, External Relations. “The valuable connections with alumni and community members enrich the Polytechnic, region and Alberta. Homecoming is an ideal opportunity for alumni to reconnect with one another, to meet current students and faculty, to interact with community members and to see how the institution has evolved as Red Deer Polytechnic.”

A variety of academic, athletic, cultural and social events will be held at the Polytechnic over the three days.

One of the Homecoming events is Palate: A Taste of Local, formerly known as Fine Wine and Food Tasting Festival. This elegant tasting event provides opportunities for guests to explore local, hand-crafted food and beverages. The new name reflects the increased diversity of items offered and the event’s mission to celebrate regional businesses and ingredients.

Open House provides an opportunity for prospective students to explore Red Deer Polytechnic’s programs and services, to tour main campus, to participate in interactive activities, and to apply for one of the institution’s more than 80 programs. Community members are also invited to explore main campus and learn more about the Polytechnic’s offerings. At Open House, application fees to study in 2023 will be waived.

Here is a summary of the Homecoming events:

Thursday, October 20 

  • Palate: A Taste of Local | Cenovus Learning Commons | 7 pm
  • Philosopher’s Café | Library Information Commons | 7 pm
  • Queens and Kings Basketball Home Opener | Fas Gas – On The Run Gymnasium | 6 and 8 pm

Friday, October 21

  • Free 30 Minute Fitness Sessions | Collicutt Performance Fitness Zone | Cycle 6 pm | Fitness Step 6:45 pm
  • Library 20th Anniversary Celebration | Library Information Commons | 7 pm
  • Kings Hockey | Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre Arena | 7 pm

Saturday, October 22

  • Open House | Main Campus | 9 am – 12 pm
  • Queens and Kings Soccer | Red Deer Polytechnic Main Field | 12 and 2 pm | tickets are not required

More information about Red Deer Polytechnic’s Homecoming is available online.

Featured Events

Palate Social Tactics

Palate: A Taste of Local

Cenovus Energy Learning Common

Thursday, October 20 | 7 – 10 pm

The Red Deer Polytechnic Alumni Association is proud to introduce a new, elevated rendition of our annual signature event –  Palate: A Taste of Local.

Learn more

Get tickets

RDP Aerial

Philosopher’s Café

Library Information Common

Thursday, October 20 | 7 pm

Hosts: Dr. Stephen Brown & Dr. Carrie Dennett

No philosophical training or expertise required.

Register now

Fitness

Free 30 Minute Fitness Sessions

Collicutt Performance Fitness Zone

Friday, October 21  – Cycle at 6 pm | Fitness Step at 6:45 pm

Saturday, October 22 – Fitness Step at 2 pm | Cycle at 2:45 pm

Learn more

Athletics

Queens and Kings Basketball Home Opener

vs St. Mary’s University Lightning

Fas Gas On The Run Gymnasium

Friday, October 21

Queens at 6 pm | Kings at 8 pm

Get tickets

Library and Sculptures

Library 20th Anniversary Author Reading

Library Information Common

Friday, October 21 | 7 pm

Featuring Jenna Butler, Joan Crate, Leslie Greentree, and Rod Schumacher.

NOTE: The Library will be open exclusively for this event. No other access or services will be available during this event.

Register now

Hockey

Kings Hockey vs SAIT Trojans

Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre Arena

Friday, October 21 | 7 pm

Get tickets

Fall 2022 3 students
Open House

Main Campus

Saturday, October 22 | 9 am – Noon

Join us for program and service information, interactive activities, and tours of our main campus and the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre.

Apply in person to Winter 2023, Spring 2023 or Fall 2023 programs at Open House and we will waive the application fee!

Learn more

Register today for a chance to win some epic prizes

2022 Soccer

Queens & Kings Soccer vs Olds College Broncos

Red Deer Polytechnic Main Field

Saturday, October 22 | Queens at 12 pm | Kings at 2 pm

Admission to all Queens & Kings soccer games is free.

Alberta

Maxime Bernier says it’s ‘astounding’ Alberta is ‘pushing’ COVID boosters, tells Danielle Smith to stop it

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

The People’s Party of Canada leader tells the Alberta government: ‘It’s over! Get over it!’

People’s Party of Canada (PPC) leader Maxime Bernier said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith should tell provincial health bureaucrats to “back off” and stop “pushing” the mRNA COVID boosters on “anyone,” considering a recent announcement from health officials recommending yet more COVID shots.

“I find it astounding that Alberta public health bureaucrats are still pushing the mRNA boosters on anyone, and especially on children who have never been at risk, almost two years after almost all other pandemic measures have been ended,” Bernier told LifeSiteNews.

“Danielle Smith’s government should tell its bureaucrats to back off and stop stupidly feeding a needless sense of fear surrounding the virus that lingers among certain groups of society. It’s over! Get over it!”

Earlier this week, officials from Alberta Health Services (AHS), whose chief medical officer throughout the COVID crisis, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, was fired by Smith in 2022, updated its COVID booster recommendations to every “three months” starting at babies only six months old.

“Starting April 15, 2024, select groups of Albertans at high risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 will be eligible for an additional dose,” the AHS noted on its website.

AHS health officials still assert that all “vaccines are safe, effective and save lives,” and that one can get a COVID shot at the same time as a flu vaccine.

On April 16, Bernier commented on the AHS’s new COVID jab guideline changes on X, in which he asked, “What’s going on in Alberta with their “conservative” government?

Bernier, who was a firm opponent of both the COVID shots and mandates, told LifeSiteNews that AHS’s recommendations are puzzling, given “more and more scientific evidence is emerging of dangerous side effects when injecting from these experimental substances.”

“Even though these are only recommendations, and nothing is mandated, this ‘guidance’ by government agencies influences people’s decisions,” Bernier said.

Those under 18 still need written or verbal consent from their parents to get the shot.

AHS is recommending booster jabs for seniors, healthcare workers as well as those with underlying medical conditions. They also recommend that First Nations people and “members of racialized and other equity-denied communities,” as well as pregnant women get the shots as well.

The COVID shots were heavily promoted by the federal government as well as all provincial governments in Canada, with the Alberta government under former Premier Jason Kenney being no exception.

The mRNA shots themselves have been linked to a multitude of negative and often severe side effects in children.

Danielle Smith took over from Kenney as leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) on October 11, 2022, after winning the leadership. Kenney was ousted due to low approval ratings and for reneging on promises not to lock Alberta down as well as enacting a vaccine passport. Smith was opposed to COVID jab mandates.

Bernier: It’s ‘deplorable’ some provinces still mandate COVID shot for Heathcare workers

While Alberta does not mandate the COVID shots for healthcare workers anymore, British Columbia still does as well as some health regions in Ontario, a fact that Bernier called “deplorable.”

“I find it deplorable that nurses, doctors and other healthcare workers in B.C. and Ontario still have to be vaccinated to work in hospitals and that thousands of them have not been reintegrated,” Bernier told LifeSiteNews.

“The authoritarian covid measures adopted by all governments have been traumatic enough for millions of Canadians. All of them should be lifted.”

Last year, LifeSiteNews reported on how the details of the Canadian federal government’s COVID-19 vaccine contract with Pfizer for millions of doses of the mRNA-based experimental shots were recently disclosed after being hidden for over three years.

The contract with Pfizer shows the government agreed to accept the unknown long-term safety and efficacy of the shots. The details of the Pfizer contract do not disclose how much the government spent on the jabs.

A bill introduced by Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre that would have given Canadians back their “bodily autonomy” by banning future jab mandates was voted down last year after Trudeau’s Liberals and other parties rejected it.

Adverse effects from the first round of COVID shots have resulted in a growing number of Canadians filing for financial compensation over injuries from the jabs via the federal Vaccine Injury Program (VISP).

VISP has already paid well over $11 million to those injured by COVID injections.

Earlier this year, LifeSiteNews reported on how officials from Health Canada have admitted that there is “residual plasmid DNA” in the COVID shots after a Conservative MP asked the agency through an official information request if the DNA fragments were in the shots.

As for Bernier, earlier this month he called out Poilievre for dodging a question regarding Canada’s participation in the United Nations’ pro-abortion Paris Climate Agreement.

Throughout most of the COVID crisis, Canadians from coast to coast were faced with COVID mandates, including jab dictates, put in place by both the provincial and federal governments.

After much pushback, thanks to the Freedom Convoy, most provincial mandates were eliminated by the summer of 2022.

There are currently multiple ongoing class-action lawsuits filed by Canadians adversely affected by COVID mandates.

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Alberta

Canada’s advantage as the world’s demand for plastic continues to grow

Published on

From the Canadian Energy Centre

By Will Gibson

‘The demand for plastics reflects how essential they are in our lives’

From the clothes on your back to the containers for household products to the pipes and insulation in your home, plastics are interwoven into the fabric of day-to-day life for most Canadians.

And that reliance is projected to grow both in Canada and around the world in the next three decades

The Global Plastics Outlook, published by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), forecasts the use of plastics globally will nearly triple by 2060, driven by economic and population growth.  

The use of plastics is projected to double in OECD countries like Canada, the United States and European nations, but the largest increases will take place in Asia and Africa. 

“The demand for plastics reflects how essential they are in our lives, whether it is packaging, textiles, building materials or medical equipment,” says Christa Seaman, vice-president, plastics with the Chemical Industry Association of Canada (CIAC), which represents Canada’s plastics producers.  

She says as countries look to meet climate and sustainability goals, demand for plastic will grow. 

“Plastics in the market today demonstrate their value to our society. Plastics are used to make critical components for solar panels and wind turbines. But they also can play a role in reducing weight in transportation or in ensuring goods that are transported have less weight in their packaging or in their products.” 

Canada produces about $35 billion worth of plastic resin and plastic products per year, or over five per cent of Canadian manufacturing sales, according to a 2019 report published by the federal government.  

Seaman says Canadian plastic producers have competitive advantages that position them to grow as demand rises at home and abroad. In Alberta, a key opportunity is the abundant supply of natural gas used to make plastic resin.  

“As industry and consumer expectations shift for production to reduce emissions, Canada, and particularly Alberta, are extremely well placed to meet increased demand thanks to its supply of low-carbon feedstock. Going forward, production with less emissions is going to be important for companies,” Seaman says.  

“You can see that with Dow Chemical’s decision to spend $8.8 billion on a net zero facility in Alberta.” 

While modern life would not be possible without plastics, the CIAC says there needs to be better post-use management of plastic products including advanced recycling, or a so-called “circular economy” where plastics are seen as a resource or feedstock for new products, not a waste. 

Some companies have already started making significant investments to generate recyclable plastics.  

For example, Inter Pipeline Ltd.’s $4.3 billion Heartland Petrochemical Complex near Edmonton started operating in 2023. It produces a recyclable plastic called polypropylene from propane, with 65 per cent lower emissions than the global average thanks to the facility’s integrated design. 

Achieving a circular economy – where 90 per cent of post-consumer plastic waste is diverted or recycled – would benefit Canada’s economy, according to the CIAC.  

Deloitte study, commissioned by Environment & Climate Change Canada, estimated diverting or reusing 90 per cent of post-consumer plastic waste by 2030 will save $500 million annually while creating 42,000 direct and indirect jobs. It would also cut Canada’s annual CO2 emissions by 1.8 megatonnes.  

Right now, about 85 per cent of plastics end up in Canada’s landfills. To reach the 90 per cent diversion rate, Seaman says Canada must improve its infrastructure to collect and process the plastic waste currently being landfilled. 

But she also says the industry rather than municipalities need to take responsibility for recycling plastic waste.  

“This concept is referred to as extended producer responsibility. Municipalities have the responsibility for managing recycling within a waste management system. Given the competing costs and priorities, they don’t have the incentive to invest into recycling infrastructure when landfill space was the most cost-effective solution for them,” she says.  

“Putting that responsibility on the producers who put the products on the market makes the most sense…The industry is adapting, and we hope government policy will recognize this opportunity for Canada to meet our climate goals while growing our economy.” 

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