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Alberta

Frustrated Red Deer Business Owner asks Provincial Justice Minister to enforce strict minimum jail sentences for repeat offenders

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jail cells

You may have already seen this letter.   It was shared on a community facebook page last weekend and has since been shared dozens of times, collecting hundreds of reactions.    Certainly some disagree with the math presented by the business owner.  Others argue the numbers do not go far enough to consider costs of providing health care, and other services.  

Regardless,  this has the community talking and it underlines the frustration of struggling home owners, and business owners who feel politicians are not moving quick enough to deal with issues related to crime and public safety. The letter has been sent to Alberta Justice Minister and Solicitor General Doug Schweitzer.  We’ve asked the author of the letter to keep us informed on any reaction.  

Printed with the permission of the author.

Like many people in Alberta and Canada I have been a victim of crime, in 2018 I had over $140,000.00 stolen and 2 vehicles damaged (1 destroyed) in 4 separate thefts (of these events insurance would only cover $40,000.00) this had created an extreme hardship on my mental and physical well being as well as the well being of my family. Forcing us to make less than $18,000.00 last year. But not qualifying for supplemented income as I am self employed, however the criminals that are caught in a stolen vehicle with drugs and firearms are free to collect government aid and continue stealing from us!

Since the last major theft on Remembrance Day 2018, I had security cameras installed and I actively monitor these cameras every night, this has led to me contacting the police and personally intervening in the attempted theft of my neighbour’s and my property over 200 times. This is absolutely unacceptable, I have been told by the R.C.M.P to move, buy a different vehicle, and there’s nothing they can do even while handing over hard evidence of parole papers and a criminal’s photograph of him in my vehicle!

These criminals are armed with knives (from lock back to kitchen), machetes, pipe wrenches, firearms, baseball bat’s, needles, and anything else they can find to make a weapon.

Our Laws need to change now!

We could cut major crimes down within 3 months implementing a strict minimum sentence for all repeat offenders, 5 yrs minimum for any drug conviction with intent to sell or crime over $5k, 10 yrs for any assault during the commission of a crime or evading police, and 20 yrs for any major crime committed while in possession of a firearm or weapon.

The first thing our government needs to understand is it only costs $150/day for an inmate, these criminals on average are stealing $1000 a day.
Also the majority of these criminals are on supplemented income and free benefits costing tax payers another $30,000.00/yr (in other words the government is paying these criminals to steal from us).

So if we say 100 criminals are stealing $356,000/yr each for a total of $35,600,000/yr and are drawing an additional $3,000,000.00 in tax funded services.

The cost of these 100 criminals to citizens is $38,600,000.00/yr

If we were to incarcerate these same criminals our cost would be $5,340,000.00/yr this would leave us ample room to implement rehabilitation services in prison, as well create many more jobs in the prison, construction, and health sectors, also freeing up our health services in each municipality to aid those in need instead of hundreds of junkies and criminals!

Sincerely,

(author does not wish to be identified)

(Stats for incarceration figures from: https://edmontonjournal.com/…/70-per-cent-of-prisoners-in-a…)

(Average theft costs based on Red Deer crime watch stats compiled over 1 year.)

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Alberta

Alberta Next: Taxation

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A new video from the Alberta Next panel looks at whether Alberta should stop relying on Ottawa to collect our provincial income taxes. Quebec already does it, and Alberta already collects corporate taxes directly. Doing the same for personal income taxes could mean better tax policy, thousands of new jobs, and less federal interference. But it would take time, cost money, and require building new systems from the ground up.

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Alberta

Cross-Canada NGL corridor will stretch from B.C. to Ontario

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Keyera Corp.’s natural gas liquids facilities in Fort Saskatchewan. Photo courtesy Keyera Corp.

From the Canadian Energy Centre

By Will Gibson

Keyera ‘Canadianizes’ natural gas liquids with $5.15 billion acquisition

Sarnia, Ont., which sits on the southern tip of Lake Huron and peers across the St. Clair River to Michigan, is a crucial energy hub for much of the eastern half of Canada and parts of the United States.

With more than 60 industrial facilities including refineries and chemical plants that produce everything from petroleum, resins, synthetic rubber, plastics, lubricants, paint, cosmetics and food additives in the southwestern Ontario city, Mayor Mike Bradley admits the ongoing dialogue about tariffs with Canada’s southern neighbour hits close to home.

So Bradley welcomed the announcement that Calgary-based Keyera Corp. will acquire the majority of Plains American Pipelines LLP’s Canadian natural gas liquids (NGL) business, creating a cross-Canada NGL corridor that includes a storage hub in Sarnia.

“As a border city, we’ve been on the frontline of the tariff wars, so we support anything that helps enhance Canadian sovereignty and jobs,” says the long-time mayor, who was first elected in 1988.

The assets in Sarnia are a key piece of the $5.15 billion transaction, which will connect natural gas liquids from the growing Montney and Duvernay plays in B.C. and Alberta to markets in central Canada and the eastern U.S. seaboard.

Map courtesy Keyera Corp.

NGLs are hydrocarbons found within natural gas streams including ethane, propane and pentanes. They are important energy sources and used to produce a wide range of everyday items, from plastics and clothing to fuels.

Keyera CEO Dean Setoguchi cast the proposed acquisition as an act of repatriation.

“This transaction brings key NGL infrastructure under Canadian ownership, enhancing domestic energy capabilities and reinforcing Canada’s economic resilience by keeping value and decision-making closer to home,” Setoguchi told analysts in a June 17 call.

“Plains’ portfolio forms a fully integrated cross Canada NGL system connecting Western Canada supply to key demand centres across the Prairie provinces, Ontario and eastern U.S.,” he said.

“The system includes strategic hubs like Empress, Fort Saskatchewan and Sarnia – which provide a reliable source of Canadian NGL supply to extensive fractionation, storage, pipeline and logistics infrastructure.”

Martin King, RBN Energy’s managing director of North America Energy Market Analysis, sees Keyera’s ability to “Canadianize” its NGL infrastructure as improving the company’s growth prospects.

“It allows them to tap into the Duvernay and Montney, which are the fastest growing NGL plays in North America and gives them some key assets throughout the country,” said the Calgary-based analyst.

“The crown assets are probably the straddle plants in Empress, which help strip out the butane, ethane and other liquids for condensate. It also positions them well to serve the eastern half of the country.”

And that’s something welcomed in Sarnia.

“Having a Canadian source for natural gas would be our preference so we see Keyera’s acquisition as strengthening our region as an energy hub,” Bradley said.

“We are optimistic this will be good for our region in the long run.”

The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approvals.

Meanwhile, the governments of Ontario and Alberta are joining forces to strengthen the economies of both regions, and the country, by advancing major infrastructure projects including pipelines, ports and rail.

A joint feasibility study is expected this year on how to move major private sector-led investments forward.

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