Alberta
Red Deer Polytechnic homecoming featuring athletic, social, and academic events
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: 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.
Philosopher’s Café
Library Information Common
Thursday, October 20 | 7 pm
Hosts: Dr. Stephen Brown & Dr. Carrie Dennett
No philosophical training or expertise required.
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
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
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.
Kings Hockey vs SAIT Trojans
Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre Arena
Friday, October 21 | 7 pm
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!
Alberta
Game changer: Trans Mountain pipeline expansion complete and starting to flow Canada’s oil to the world
Workers complete the “golden weld” of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion on April 11, 2024 in the Fraser Valley between Hope and Chilliwack, B.C. The project saw mechanical completion on April 30, 2024. Photo courtesy Trans Mountain Corporation
From the Canadian Energy Centre
By Will Gibson
‘We’re going to be moving into a market where buyers are going to be competing to buy Canadian oil’
It is a game changer for Canada that will have ripple effects around the world.
The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is now complete. And for the first time, global customers can access large volumes of Canadian oil, with the benefits flowing to Canada’s economy and Indigenous communities.
“We’re going to be moving into a market where buyers are going to be competing to buy Canadian oil,” BMO Capital Markets director Randy Ollenberger said recently, adding this is expected to result in a better price for Canadian oil relative to other global benchmarks.
The long-awaited expansion nearly triples capacity on the Trans Mountain system from Edmonton to the West Coast to approximately 890,000 barrels per day. Customers for the first shipments include refiners in China, California and India, according to media reports.
Shippers include all six members of the Pathways Alliance, a group of companies representing 95 per cent of oil sands production that together plan to reduce emissions from operations by 22 megatonnes by 2030 on the way to net zero by 2050.
The first tanker shipment from Trans Mountain’s expanded Westridge Marine Terminal is expected later in May.
Photo courtesy Trans Mountain Corporation
The new capacity on the Trans Mountain system comes as demand for Canadian oil from markets outside the United States is on the rise.
According to the Canada Energy Regulator, exports to destinations beyond the U.S. have averaged a record 267,000 barrels per day so far this year, up from about 130,000 barrels per day in 2020 and 33,000 barrels per day in 2017.
“Oil demand globally continues to go up,” said Phil Skolnick, New York-based oil market analyst with Eight Capital.
“Both India and China are looking to add millions of barrels a day of refining capacity through 2030.”
In India, refining demand will increase mainly for so-called medium and heavy oil like what is produced in Canada, he said.
“That’s where TMX is the opportunity for Canada, because that’s the route to get to India.”
Led by India and China, oil demand in the Asia-Pacific region is projected to increase from 36 million barrels per day in 2022 to 52 million barrels per day in 2050, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
More oil coming from Canada will shake up markets for similar world oil streams including from Russia, Ecuador, and Iraq, according to analysts with Rystad Energy and Argus Media.
Expanded exports are expected to improve pricing for Canadian heavy oil, which “have been depressed for many years” in part due to pipeline shortages, according to TD Economics.
Photo courtesy Trans Mountain Corporation
In recent years, the price for oil benchmark Western Canadian Select (WCS) has hovered between $18-$20 lower than West Texas Intermediate (WTI) “to reflect these hurdles,” analyst Marc Ercolao wrote in March.
“That spread should narrow as a result of the Trans Mountain completion,” he wrote.
“Looking forward, WCS prices could conservatively close the spread by $3–4/barrel later this year, which will incentivize production and support industry profitability.”
Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Office has said that an increase of US$5 per barrel for Canadian heavy oil would add $6 billion to Canada’s economy over the course of one year.
The Trans Mountain Expansion will leave a lasting economic legacy, according to an impact assessment conducted by Ernst & Young in March 2023.
In addition to $4.9 billion in contracts with Indigenous businesses during construction, the project leaves behind more than $650 million in benefit agreements and $1.2 billion in skills training with Indigenous communities.
Ernst & Young found that between 2024 and 2043, the expanded Trans Mountain system will pay $3.7 billion in wages, generate $9.2 billion in GDP, and pay $2.8 billion in government taxes.
Alberta
Canada’s postal service refuses to help with Trudeau’s gun ban buyback program: report
From LifeSiteNews
According to a report, Canada’s mail service notified the Trudeau government via a letter that it would not participate in the buyback scheme, citing safety concerns for its employees.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal government crackdown on legal gun owners through a buyback scheme has hit a major roadblock after Canada Post, a federal-run institution, signaled it will refuse to participate in scooping up thousands of legally purchased firearms at the bequest of the government.
According to government sources in a recent Radio-Canada report, the Trudeau Liberals were hoping Canada Post would help collect approximately 144,000 “assault” and “military-style” firearms that were recently banned by the government. Canada Post currently delivers guns via mail that are legally purchased to those with firearms licenses.
The inside source, who chose not to be named, noted that Canada Post notified the Trudeau government via a letter that it would not participate in the buyback scheme, citing safety concerns for its employees.
According to the source, Canada Post is still talking with the federal government, with one idea being to allow it to transport guns but not oversee getting them from their legal owners.
“It’s a challenge, but we do not think this jeopardizes our timetable or the government’s desire to move forward,” said one source, adding, “We want the discussions to continue.”
As for the Trudeau federal government, it continues to say that having Canada Post be involved in the gun buyback is the “most efficient” as well as “least costly” way to get the guns back from owners.
Trudeau’s gun grab was first announced after a deadly mass shooting in Nova Scotia in May 2020 in which he banned over 1,500 “military-style assault firearms” with a plan to begin buying them back from owners.
Late last year, the Trudeau government extended the amnesty deadline for legal gun owners until October 30, 2025. It should be noted that this is around the same time a federal election will take place.
The Canadian government’s controversial gun grab Bill C-21, which bans many types of guns, including handguns, and mandates a buyback program became law on December 14, 2023, after senators voted 60-24 in favor of the bill.
In May 2023, Bill C-21 passed in the House of Commons. After initially denying the bill would impact hunters, Trudeau eventually admitted that C-21 would indeed ban certain types of hunting rifles.
Alberta and other provinces promise to fight Trudeau’s gun grab tooth and nail
On the same day news broke that Canada Post said it would not participate in Trudeau’s gun buyback, Alberta chief firearms officer Teri Bryant last Wednesday issued a statement saying, “We urge the federal government to abandon this ill-advised program and meaningfully consult the provinces as we work to address the actual causes of firearms crime.”
“Canadians are still waiting for concrete details about the federal firearms confiscation program that has been in the works since 2020, and Canada Post’s refusal to participate in the federal government’s firearms ‘buy-back’ program is just one more example of how little forethought or engagement has gone into implementation of this program,” Bryant said.
Bryant noted that the buyback will not “significantly improve public safety” because it does not target those “involved in criminal activity and gun violence, and Albertans can be assured that our government will continue to advocate for our law-abiding firearms community.”
“We believe in a principled and informed approach to firearms policy that preserves public safety and recognizes the immense responsibility that comes with firearms ownership,” she noted.
Bryant observed that the federal confiscation program is not only causing uncertainty for many firearms businesses, but it is also “pulling attention and resources away from programs and initiatives that would help address public safety.”
“It is also undermining public confidence in the fairness of our entire firearms regulatory scheme,” she added.
Indeed, LifeSiteNews reported in February that despite Trudeau’s crackdown on legal gun owners, Statistics Canada data shows that most violent gun crimes in the country last year were not committed at the hands of legal gun owners but by those who obtained the weapons illegally.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, along with premiers from no less than four additional provinces, are opposed to C- 21.
Late last year, Smith promised she would strengthen the gun rights of Albertans because of Trudeau’s gun grab.
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