Connect with us

Alberta

The Queens are crowned ACAC Champions for the first time in program history

Published

8 minute read

Raymond, October 30 – After the final whistle was blown, history was made at the ACAC Women’s Soccer Championships. The Queens stormed the field off the bench to go celebrate with their teammates as they take home the gold and go off to nationals for the first time in program history.

As the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens soccer program entered the gold medal match of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Soccer Championships, they were looking for their first championship in program history. In order to so, they had to get through the Concordia University Thunder in Sunday’s matchup in Raymond.

The Thunder are fourth in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) rankings and were ranked number one in the ACAC North Division at the end of the regular season with an 11-1-0 record. For the Queens, they finished off the season in first in the South Division with the same win-loss record and placed 12th in the nation in the final rankings before the championship.

Going into this match, the Queens have yet to concede the first goal all season and have not trailed since the 56th minute in their season opener against the SAIT Trojans way back on September 10.

The polytechnic does not have history on their side. In the last 15 seasons, a North Division team has won the ACAC Championship 13 times. SAIT (2021-2022) and Mount Royal College (2007-2008) in Calgary, now known as Mount Royal University, are the only teams who have won from the South Division in that time frame.

It was a usual southern Alberta October day with the wind blowing hard from the west. This made it difficult for the Queens and Thunder to play, especially on a pitch they are not so familiar with. The ball was rolling all over the place and each team had troubles with distributing the ball to their teammates.

Through the first 15 minutes, not much was going for either team as they were stuck playing in the middle third of the field with hardly any offensive zone time or any goal opportunities. It was the typical championship match the teams and spectators would expect which is a very physical and defensive game.

Queens Captain Alisha Coules (Bachelor of Science Nursing) was sent on a breakaway near the 20th minute, but she was just a step offside and forced to give it back to the Thunder for a free kick.

The biggest chance for the Thunder to open the scoring came at the 33rd minute mark. The ball was sent in from half and made it through the Queens back line. Third-year midfielder Brooke Lesoway struck the ball with one touch, but a sliding Queens keeper Abby Kotyk (Bachelor of Kinesiology) kept the ball out of her net as she stacked the pads.

At the half, it was all tied up at zero with each team minimalizing the goal opportunities for the opposing side and making it difficult for one another.

Queens Captain #9, Alisha Coules

During the half-time break, Head Coach Mazhiar Peyrow substituted Jenica Swartz for the ACAC South Player of the Year Sein Furuyama. 24 hours ago, Swartz ran in the 6 km race at the ACAC Cross-Country Championship in Edmonton where she would take home the bronze medal in the women’s division. With this, Swartz was not available for the Queens semi-final match yesterday against the Lethbridge College Kodiaks.

Furuyama was later substituted back into the match in the 75th minute for first-year midfielder Paige Kalbfleisch (Bachelor of Science Nursing).

The dead lock tie finally was broken in the 64th minute with the Queens striking first. It was some great pressure by Coules challenging the ball that was sent back to the Thunder keeper Monica Dickson that led to the goal. The captain from the Queens did not give up on the ball. She was able to sneak it through the keeper and it would slowly roll to the back of the net.

Coules was pressuring the opposing team and not giving them any time on the ball all game which finally paid off for her with a goal.

Moments later, the Queens would send in a ball into the Thunders box where Coules and Dickson collided hard with each other, leaving the Concordia keeper on the ground in pain for a few minutes.

A huge concern for the Queens as Furuyama went down hard and awkwardly bending her left leg back. It looked like a knee injury, and she was in a lot of pain, but she was able to walk off with the help of the trainers.

In stoppage time, a Thunder player went in for a tackle against Queens striker Corbynn Fujimoto and would hit her head on the turf with an incredible amount of force, leaving her still on the ground. The trainers would help her as much as they could and kept her head still. She needed immediate medical attention and an ambulance was called to stretcher the player off the field.

With these couple of injuries and having to wait for an ambulance, the game was delayed quite awhile before it would resume.

After the match finally restarted, Swartz and the Queens had the opportunity to put the Thunder down 2-0 in the late stages of the second half. The tall-striker from Red Deer was sent on a breakaway but could not shot it past the Thunder keeper as she stood tall in her net and made a sliding save.

Not as much time was added on as some of the players were expecting and the Queens came away with the gold medal and will await nationals in a couple weeks.

The player of the game went to Sofia Quinteros for her outstanding effort in the midfield, shutting down the Thunders offence but also contributing to her own team’s offensive effort.

At the end of the match Alisha Coules, Sein Furuyama, Kayla Yeo, and Estel Quinteros were named to the All-Tournament team. Midfielder Sofia Quinteros was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament.

The CCAA Soccer Championships will be hosted by Champlain College Saint-Lambert in Quebec on November 9-12 at Seaway Park 3. But the teams will be arriving in the province on Monday, November 7.

Red Deer Polytechnic and the Athletics department congratulate the Queens on this gold medal and wish them luck in Quebec at nationals.

 

Alberta

ASIRT investigations concluded on fatal officer-involved shooting involving the RCMP.

Published on

Incident investigation report from the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT)

Introduction

On December 22, 2022, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) was directed pursuant to s. 46.1 of the Police Act to investigate a then non-fatal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer-involved shooting. The shooting of the affected person (AP) was reported to have happened during an interaction with him, as a result of him being a suspect in a complaint of a man with a gun.

While AP initially survived, he died of complications from the shooting the following day.

ASIRT’s Investigation

ASIRT’s investigation was comprehensive and thorough, conducted using current investigative protocols and principles relating to Major Case Management. Information from civilian witnesses, the subject and a witness officers, and importantly video recordings provided sufficient information to determine whether the force used by the subject officer during this incident was reasonable.

Circumstances Surrounding the Officer-Involved Shooting

On December 01, 2022, Maskwacis RCMP received a call reporting that a male [AP] had been drinking and left the caller’s house with a gun. AP was shooting the gun in the country (believed to be the area around the residence). Two RCMP officers responded.

Witness officer (WO) located AP walking on the road with a rifle. AP walked toward WO’s marked police vehicle with the rifle pointed at the vehicle/WO, while WO was seated in the driver’s seat. WO then exited his vehicle with his carbine rifle and moved to the rear of his vehicle while AP kept the rifle pointed at the police vehicle. The subject officer (SO) arrived on scene, but came from the opposite direction. AP turned around and walked toward SO with the barrel of the rifle pointed upwards. SO exited his police vehicle with his service pistol drawn and walked toward AP while he
repeatedly provided verbal direction to AP to drop the firearm. AP and SO were walking toward each other; at that time AP still had the barrel of the rifle pointed upward. As SO and AP got within approximately five meters of each other, AP lowered the barrel of the rifle and pointed it directly at SO. SO fired multiple rounds and struck AP with four rounds causing AP to stumble, drop the rifle and fall to the ground. AP initially survived the shooting and was transported to an Edmonton hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. The following day, AP succumbed to his injuries.

Analysis

The subject officer was lawfully placed and acting in the execution of his duties in dealing with AP as a person who was the subject of a complaint about him being in possession of a firearm and shooting it off.

The Use of Force

Under s. 25 of the Criminal Code, police officers are permitted to use as much force as is necessary for the execution of their duties. Where this force is intended or is likely to cause death or grievous bodily harm, the officer must believe on reasonable grounds that the force is necessary for the self-preservation of the officer or preservation of anyone under that officer’s protection.

A police officer’s use of force is not to be assessed on a standard of perfection nor using the benefit of hindsight.

With the benefit of hindsight, time for detached reflection and knowledge of the ultimate outcome, it is easy to speculate about how things could have been done differently. That is not the standard, however, against which an officer’s conduct is measured. The question is, applying principles of proportionality, necessity, and reasonableness, whether the force used falls into a range of possible reasonable responses.

Proportionate Response

Proportionality requires balancing a use of force with the action to which it responds. Here, the subject officers were faced with an individual that was armed with a gun and pointing it in their direction. As such, the response by the subject officers in using their respective firearms to shoot AP was proportionate to the threat of death or grievous bodily harm that he reasonably posed to both of them.

Reasonably Necessary

As set out previously in this report, AP presented as a lethal threat to both SO and WO given his actions in pointing his rifle at them. While WO did not shoot during this incident that does not impact the analysis of SO’s actions. Under the circumstances as then faced by SO, no other use of force options were reasonably available for attempted use. The use by SO of his firearm to incapacitate this lethal threat was reasonably necessary. Given the above, the defence available to SO under s. 25 of the Criminal Code would apply.

Conclusion

Under s. 25 of the Criminal Code a police officer is justified in doing what he or she is authorized to do and to use as much force as is reasonably necessary where he or she has reasonable grounds to do so. Force intended to cause death or grievous bodily harm is justified if the officer believes, on reasonable grounds, that the force was necessary to prevent the death or grievous bodily harm of the officer and/or any other person. The analysis under s.34 of the Criminal Code leads to a similar finding that subject officer’s actions were lawfully permitted.

After a thorough, independent and objective investigation into the conduct of the subject officers, it is my opinion that they were lawfully placed and acting properly in the execution of their duties. There is no evidence to support any belief that any officer engaged in any unlawful or unreasonable conduct that would give rise to an offence. The force used was proportionate, necessary and reasonable in all the circumstances.

Continue Reading

Alberta

Alberta requests more control over provincial immigration system

Published on

Alberta is requesting more control over its provincial immigration to address its skilled workforce shortage, including increasing Ukrainian evacuee participation in the job market.

Premier Danielle Smith has written a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking him to re-evaluate his government’s decision limiting the number of allocations for Alberta’s provincial nominee program in 2024. Last week, the federal government informed the province it would only receive 9,750 such allotments – which is the same number of allocations Alberta received in 2023 and is less than the 10,140 for 2024 the federal government had originally allocated.

As of February 2024, Alberta accounts for just under 12 per cent of Canada’s population, but it leads the nation in net employment growth, with 42.8 per cent of the country’s employment gains between January and February 2024. By not providing the requested increase to Alberta’s provincial nominee allocations, the federal government is restricting the province’s ability to keep up with its growing labour market demands, especially as it relates to integrating Ukrainian evacuees into Alberta’s job market.

“Alberta is growing and that is good news. Since January 2023, more than 100,000 new jobs have been created in our province and our employment rate has led the country even longer. At the same time, we continue to experience labour shortages that could be resolved by welcoming skilled workers from around the world, including evacuees from Ukraine, many of whom have the exact skills that our job market most needs. Alberta has long been the economic engine of Canada and we are once again requesting Ottawa respect section 95 of the Constitution and let us welcome the skilled individuals we need into our province on our terms.”

Danielle Smith, Premier

With Alberta’s population growth at levels not seen in four decades, Alberta’s Provincial Nominee Program is best placed to address the province’s unique immigration and economic goals.

Part of Alberta’s population growth has resulted from Russia’s invasion in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since that time, Alberta has welcomed a significant number of Ukrainian evacuees to the province. While it is anticipated that many will return to Ukraine following the war, Alberta is also expecting a number of families to apply for permanent residency via the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program. An increase in the number of allocations from the federal government would assist these new Albertans to fill positions in the province’s workforce.

“Immigration is key to Alberta’s ability to address labour shortages and to grow our economy. This limitation imposed by the federal government on our provincial nominee program will be a very difficult pill to swallow, not only for businesses that need this skilled labour but also to the many Ukrainian evacuees who have the skills we need and wish to stay permanently in Alberta.”

Muhammad Yaseen, Minister of Immigration and Multiculturalism

Quick facts

  • The federal government through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada sets provincial immigration nomination limits. It also approves all permanent resident applications.
  • Alberta maximized its 9,750 nomination allocations in 2023, with a total of 10,029 nominations issued within the federal government administrative buffer.

Related information

Continue Reading

Trending

X