Alberta
Province spends $1.2 million to provide 20 electric vehicle charging stations in Southern Alberta
Minister Phillips and MLA Fitzpatrick join partners of the Peaks to Prairies network to announce the installations of EV charging stations in Lethbridge.
From the Province of Alberta
Charging up in southern Alberta
Lethbridge is the first of at least 20 communities that will benefit from a new network of electric vehicle charging stations across southern Alberta.
The Government of Alberta is providing $1.2 million in Climate Leadership Plan funding to the Community Energy Association to support the Peaks to Prairies Southern Alberta Electric Vehicle Network.
When completed, the Peaks to Prairies network will cover more than 1,700 kilometres of southern Alberta highways and transition the region to full electric vehicle connectivity. The charging stations will be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy from southern Alberta.
“Supporting new electric vehicle charging stations will help Alberta transition to a lower-carbon future. This grassroots initiative is proof that Albertans are leading the way in projects that diversify our economy, create jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.”
The Peaks to Prairies network addresses a gap in charging infrastructure across southern Alberta by developing a base network for electric vehicle charging stations. The network will give electric vehicle users access to more cultural and recreational opportunities throughout southern Alberta. Placing charging stations in recreational and retail areas of small communities will help boost tourism and economic development, inspire further investment in the region and reduce emissions.
“Community Energy Association has a long history of supporting local governments to achieve climate and energy goals. The Peaks to Prairies EV network exemplifies regional collaboration to build and diversify local economies while contributing to climate action goals. This community-led approach is a template for other Alberta regions, as to how we can get further by working together. It is a privilege for us to work with this innovative group of communities, and to have the support from provincial and federal levels of government to bring the EV network to fruition.”
The Peaks to Prairies project was created by a group of southern Alberta municipalities and economic development groups, including SouthGrow Regional Initiative, Alberta SouthWest Regional Alliance, City of Lethbridge, City of Calgary and Medicine Hat College. The partners came together in 2016 with an interest in developing a regional electric vehicle charging network to facilitate emissions reductions, economic development and tourism.
“Peaks to Prairies reflects the commitment we have in southern Alberta to work collaboratively across the region to support development that is sustainable and forward-thinking. Through this project, we are not only shining a light on the advancement of renewable energy generated in our region, but we are ensuring that our communities can benefit from this emerging form of transportation.”
The Peaks to Prairies charging network will use charging stations that are made in Canada by AddEnergie. Alberta-based ATCO Electric was chosen by the project partners to install, own and operate the network.
“Low-carbon transportation and affordable electric vehicles are becoming a reality. When ATCO made its first investment in the public fast-charging corridor along Highway 2 last year, it was a tremendous step forward. At ATCOenergy, we see it as part of our ongoing commitment to creating a clean energy future for the communities we serve. It’s just one of the energy-efficient, innovative and valuable solutions we’re exploring for homes and businesses across Alberta. We are very proud to be working with our partners in southern Alberta to establish a robust charging network in the province.”
Quick facts
- The Peaks to Prairies network will connect at least 20 communities in southern Alberta.
- Charging stations are expected to be installed in:
- Lethbridge
- Canmore
- Morley
- Calgary – Olympic Park
- Calgary – Stoney Trail
- Calgary – East
- Calgary – Signal Hill
- Nanton
- Claresholm
- Crowsnest Pass
- Pincher Creek
- Fort Macleod
- Taber
- Medicine Hat
- Chain Lakes Reservoir
- Carmangay
- Waterton Lakes
- Cardston
- Warner
- Longview
- The network is expected to be completed by December 2019.
From the Fraser Institute
By Matthew Lau
To understand Ottawa’s negative impact on Alberta’s economy and living standards, juxtapose two recent pieces of data.
First, in July the Trudeau government made three separate “economic development” spending announcements in Alberta, totalling more than $80 million and affecting 37 different projects related to the “green economy,” clean technology and agriculture. And second, as noted in a new essay by Fraser Institute senior fellow Kenneth Green, inflation-adjusted business investment (excluding residential structures) in Canada’s extraction sector (mining, quarrying, oil and gas) fell 51.2 per cent from 2014 to 2022.
The productivity gains that raise living standards and improve economic conditions rely on business investment. But business investment in Canada has declined over the past decade and total economic growth per person (inflation-adjusted) from Q3-2015 through to Q1-2024 has been less than 1 per cent versus robust growth of nearly 16 per cent in the United States over the same period.
For Canada’s extraction sector, as Green documents, federal policies—new fuel regulations, extended review processes on major infrastructure projects, an effective ban on oil shipments on British Columbia’s northern coast, a hard greenhouse gas emissions cap targeting oil and gas, and other regulatory initiatives—are largely to blame for the massive decline in investment.
Meanwhile, as Ottawa impedes private investment, its latest bundle of economic development announcements underscores its strategy to have government take the lead in allocating economic resources, whether for infrastructure and public institutions or for corporate welfare to private companies.
Consider these federally-subsidized projects.
A gas cloud imaging company received $4.1 million from taxpayers to expand marketing, operations and product development. The Battery Metals Association of Canada received $850,000 to “support growth of the battery metals sector in Western Canada by enhancing collaboration and education stakeholders.” A food manufacturer in Lethbridge received $5.2 million to increase production of plant-based protein products. Ermineskin Cree Nation received nearly $400,000 for a feasibility study for a new solar farm. The Town of Coronation received almost $900,000 to renovate and retrofit two buildings into a business incubator. The Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada received $400,000 for marketing and other support to help boost clean technology product exports. And so on.
When the Trudeau government announced all this corporate welfare and spending, it naturally claimed it create economic growth and good jobs. But corporate welfare doesn’t create growth and good jobs, it only directs resources (including labour) to subsidized sectors and businesses and away from sectors and businesses that must be more heavily taxed to support the subsidies. The effect of government initiatives that reduce private investment and replace it with government spending is a net economic loss.
As 20th-century business and economics journalist Henry Hazlitt put it, the case for government directing investment (instead of the private sector) relies on politicians and bureaucrats—who did not earn the money and to whom the money does not belong—investing that money wisely and with almost perfect foresight. Of course, that’s preposterous.
Alas, this replacement of private-sector investment with public spending is happening not only in Alberta but across Canada today due to the Trudeau government’s fiscal policies. Lower productivity and lower living standards, the data show, are the unhappy results.
Author:
From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy
By Ray McGinnis
Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert are on trial for conspiracy to commit murder and firearms charges in relation to the Coutts Blockade into mid-February 2022. In opening her case before a Lethbridge, AB, jury on July 11, Olienick’s lawyer, Marilyn Burns stated “This is a political, criminal trial that is un Canadian.” She told the jury, “You will be shocked, and at the very least, disappointed with how Canada’s own RCMP conducted themselves during and after the Coutts protest,” as she summarized officers’ testimony during presentation of the Crown’s case. Burns also contended that “the conduct of Alberta’s provincial government and Canada’s federal government are entwined with the RCMP.” The arrests of the Coutts Four on the night of February 13 and noon hour of February 14, were key events in a decision by the Clerk of the Privy Council, Janice Charette, and the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, Jody Thomas, to advise Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to invoke the Emergencies Act. Chief Justice Paul Rouleau, in submitting his Public Order Emergency Commission Report to Parliament on February 17, 2023, also cited events at the Coutts Blockade as key to his conclusion that the government was justified in invoking the Emergencies Act.
Justice David Labrenz cautioned attorney Burns regarding her language, after Crown prosecutor Stephen Johnson objected to some of the language in the opening statement of Olienick’s counsel. Futher discussion about the appropriateness of attorney Burns’ statement to the jury is behind a publication ban, as discussions occurred without the jury present.
Justice Labrenz told the jury on July 12, “I would remind you that the presumption of innocence means that both the accused are cloaked with that presumption, unless the Crown proves beyond a reasonable doubt the essential elements of the charge(s).” He further clarified what should result if the jurors were uncertain about which narrative to believe: the account by the Crown, or the account from the accused lawyers. Labrenz stated that such ambivalence must lead to an acquittal; As such a degree of uncertainty regarding which case to trust in does not meet the “beyond a reasonable doubt” threshold for a conviction.”
On July 15, 2024, a Lethbridge jury heard evidence from a former employer of Olienicks’ named Brian Lambert. He stated that he had tasked Olienick run his sandstone quarry and mining business. He was a business partner with Olienick. In that capacity, Olienick made use of what Lambert referred to as “little firecrackers,” to quarry the sandstone and reduce it in size. Reducing the size of the stone renders it manageable to get refined and repurposed so it could be sold to buyers of stone for other uses (building construction, patio stones, etc.) Lambert explained that the “firecrackers” were “explosive devices” packaged within tubing and pipes that could also be used for plumbing. He detailed how “You make them out of ordinary plumbing pipe and use some kind of propellant like shotgun powder…” Lambert explained that the length of the pipe “…depended on how big a hole or how large a piece of stone you were going to crack. The one I saw was about six inches long … maybe an inch in diameter.”
One of Olienick’s charges is “unlawful possession of an explosive device for a dangerous purpose.” The principal evidence offered up by RCMP to the Crown is what the officers depicted as “pipe bombs” which they obtained at the residence of Anthony Olienick in Claresholm, Alberta, about a two-hour drive from Coutts. Officers entered his home after he was arrested the night of February 13, 2022. Lambert’s testimony offers a plausible common use for the “firecrackers” the RCMP referred to as “pipe bombs.” Lambert added, these “firecrackers” have a firecracker fuse, and in the world of “explosive” they are “no big deal.”
Fellow accused, Chris Carbert, is does not face the additional charge of unlawful possession of explosives for a dangerous purpose. This is the first full week of the case for the defence. The trial began on June 6 when the Crown began presenting its case.
Ray McGinnis is a Senior Fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy who recently attended several days of testimony at the Coutts Two trial.
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