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Alberta

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

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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

Red Deer’s first new courthouse in 40 years expected to open early in 2025

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Front entrance of the new Red Deer Justice Centre.

New courthouse in downtown Red Deer will improve justice services for the region’s growing population and address space constraints.

Red Deer residents are one step closer to enhanced justice services in a state-of-the-art facility. The newly built Red Deer Justice Centre will replace the city’s existing outdated court facilities that have been operating at capacity. The new centre has space for 16 courtrooms, with 12 courtrooms fully built and the ability to add up to four additional courtrooms for future use.

With construction complete, Alberta Infrastructure is turning the building over to Alberta Justice, who will outfit the facility with furniture and modern equipment to prepare the building for the public. The centre is expected to officially open and begin operating in early 2025.

“This new, state-of-the-art courthouse will increase access to justice services for residents of Red Deer and central Alberta. The new facility will meet the space and service needs of residents for generations to come.”

Pete Guthrie, Minister of Infrastructure

Construction on the new Red Deer Justice Centre began in August 2020. The new centre includes spaces for alternative approaches to the traditional courtroom trial process, with three new suites for judicial dispute resolution services, a specific suite for other dispute resolution services, such as family mediation and civil mediation, and a new Indigenous courtroom able to accommodate smudging. Additionally, it will include modern technology to replace legacy systems at the current courthouse.

“Along with building a new justice centre for Red Deer, Alberta’s government is preparing to expand pre-court services, such as mediation, in Red Deer early in 2025. This new facility has the space to offer these services while also allowing more court cases to be heard, increasing Albertans’ access to justice.”

Mickey Amery, Minister of Justice

“As MLA for Red Deer-North, I am thrilled this new justice centre will open its doors to serve our growing community soon. When it opens, it will provide essential space and resources to support timely legal services, reflecting our commitment to improve legal access for the people of Red Deer and central Alberta.”

Adriana LaGrange, MLA for Red Deer-North

“Central Alberta is a wonderful, attractive place for individuals to work, live and raise families, and many are choosing our region for these reasons. The Red Deer Justice Centre will improve justice services for a growing population of individuals, families and businesses. This centre is a testament to Red Deer and central Alberta’s growth and our government’s commitment to it.”

Jason Stephan, MLA for Red Deer-South

Building the vital public infrastructure that Albertans need, creating jobs and attracting investment is integral to Alberta’s economic development. The project supported about 1,100 construction-related jobs from start to finish.

Quick facts

  • Red Deer’s current court facilities include seven courtrooms that were built in the 1980s.
    • Since then, Red Deer’s population has almost doubled.
  • The approved project funding is about $203.1 million.
  • The new 312,000 sq ft (29,000 m2) Red Deer Justice Centre is built to LEED Silver standards to ensure reduced energy consumption and operational costs and increased durability of the building.
  • The new facility was designed by Group2 Architecture and Interior Design, in conjunction with justice facility specialists DLR Group.
  • There are currently five courthouse capital projects in planning or design throughout the province.
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Alberta

Ottawa’s oil and gas emissions cap will hit Alberta with a wallop

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From the Fraser Institute

By Kenneth P. Green

Even if Canada eliminated all its GHG emissions expected in 2030 due to the federal cap, the emission reduction would equal only four-tenths of one per cent of global emissions—a reduction unlikely to have any impact on the trajectory of the climate in any detectable manner or produce any related environmental, health or safety benefits.

After considerable waiting, the Trudeau government released on Monday draft regulations to cap greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Canada’s oil and gas producers.

The proposed regulations would set a cap on GHG emissions equivalent to 35 per cent of the emissions produced in 2019 and create a GHG emissions “cap and trade” system to enable oil and gas producers (who cannot reduce emissions enough to avoid the cap) to buy credits from other producers able to meet the cap. Producers unable to meet the cap will also be able to obtain emission credits (of up to 20 per cent of their needed emission reductions) by investing in decarbonization programs or by buying emission “offsets” in Canada’s carbon markets.

According to the government, the cap will “cap pollution, drive innovation, and create jobs in the oil and gas industry.” But in reality, while the cap may well cap pollution and drive some innovation, according to several recent analyses it won’t create jobs in the oil and gas industry and will in fact kill many jobs.

For example, the Conference Board of Canada think-tank estimates that the cap would reduce Canada’s GDP by up to $1 trillion between 2030 and 2040, kill up to 151,300 jobs across Canada by 2030, and national economic growth from 2023 to 2030 would slow from 15.3 per cent to 14.3 per cent.

Not surprisingly, Alberta would be hardest hit. According to the Board, from 2023 to 2030, the province’s economic growth would fall from an estimated 17.8 per cent to 13.3 per cent and employment growth would fall from 15.8 per cent to 13.6 per cent over the same period. Alberta government revenues from the sector would decline by 4.5 per cent in 2030 compared to a scenario without the cap. As a result, Alberta government revenues would be $4.5 billion lower in nominal terms in fiscal year 2030/31. And between 54,000 to 91,500 of Canada’s job losses would occur in Alberta.

Another study by Deloitte estimates that, due to the federal cap, Alberta will see 3.6 per cent less investment, almost 70,000 fewer jobs, and a 4.5 per cent decrease in the province’s economic output (i.e. GDP) by 2040. Ontario would lose more than 15,000 jobs and $2.3 billion from its economy by 2040. And Quebec would lose more than 3,000 jobs and $0.4 billion from its economy during the same period.

Overall, according to Deloitte, Canada would experience an economic loss equivalent to 1.0 per cent of GDP, translating into lower wages, the loss of nearly 113,000 jobs and a 1.3 per cent reduction in government tax revenues. (For context, Canada’s economic growth in 2023 was only 1.1 per cent.)

And what will Canadians get for all that economic pain?

In my study published last year by the Fraser Institute, I found that, even if Canada eliminated all its GHG emissions expected in 2030 due to the federal cap, the emission reduction would equal only four-tenths of one per cent of global emissions—a reduction unlikely to have any impact on the trajectory of the climate in any detectable manner or produce any related environmental, health or safety benefits.

Clearly, the Trudeau government’s new proposed emissions cap on the oil and gas sector will impose significant harms on Canada’s economy, Canadian workers and our quality of life—and hit Alberta with a wallop. And yet, as a measure intended to avert harmful climate change, it’s purely performative (like many of the government’s other GHG regulations) and will generate too little emission reductions to have any meaningful impact on the climate.

In a world of rational policy development, where the benefits of government regulations are supposed to exceed their costs, policymakers would never consider this proposed cap. The Trudeau government will submit the plan to Parliament, and if the cap becomes law, it will await some other future government to undo the damage inflicted on Canadians and their families.

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