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CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
THURSDAY, SEPT. 6, 2012
Business confidence slides BY HARLEY RICHARDS ADVOCATE BUSINESS EDITOR The sunny economic disposition of Alberta business owners is showing signs of strain. An August survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business found that the confidence level of Alberta entrepreneurs was down for the second month in a row, with the province now ranking behind Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador. “Sliding confidence numbers suggest small business owners in our province are not immune to global trends,”
said Richard Truscott, the CFIB’s Alberta director. “Thankfully, in spite of the ongoing turmoil, Alberta’s entrepreneurs are still maintaining a relatively positive outlook about the overall business environment.” The CFIB calculated Alberta’s business confidence level at 67.9 out of 100 for August, down 2.4 points from July. Nationally, the figure was 60, with Saskatchewan posting the highest rating at 69.5 and Prince Edward Island the lowest at 46.3. The figures were based on a survey of CFIB members. They were asked how their business was doing, their hiring plans, their operational challenges and their cost pressures.
FLYING BOB AT THE HUB
CFIB SURVEY In Alberta, 42 per cent of respondents described the state of their business as good, 53 per cent said it was satisfactory and four per cent said it was bad. When it came to staffing, 27 per cent said they would be hiring in the next three to four months, 67 per cent said their employment would stay the same and six per cent said they would be reducing their workforce. The most commonly cited operating challenge was the shortage of skilled labour (42 per cent). While the Canadawide index was
down for the fifth consecutive month, CFIB vice-president and chief economist Ted Mallett said the picture is not as bad as it might appear. “Just to keep things in perspective, the index is still more than 20 points higher than the recessionary low of 39.9 in December of 2008.” Optimism increased in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Quebec and was little changed in Nova Scotia. It dropped sharply in Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Manitoba and British Columbia, with smaller declines in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Please see SURVEY on Page A2
First Nation school joins football league SUNCHILD BISON FIRST TEAM OF ITS KIND IN CANADA BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Flying Bob, known as a one-man three ring circus brought his zany antics to the Hub in Red Deer Wednesday performing his mix of physical and verbal comedy and energetic juggling routine. His performance was a thank-you to the Hub Community.
Sunchild School students are pulling on football jerseys for the first time in the school’s 16-year history — possibly a Canadian first as well. “To our knowledge, we think we’re the only First Nation school doing football,” said Sunchild School principal Susan Collicutt on Wednesday. Sunchild Bison joined the Alberta Six Man Football League this season to compete in the Hunter South Division against Edson, Jasper, Hinton and Drayton Valley. About 18 to 24 students in Grades 8 to 12 at Sunchild, about 65 km northwest of Rocky Mountain House, are expected to join the Bison football team, including one girl. “The kids are very excited about it. Ever since I started 15 years ago, the kids have always talked about wanting a football team,” said Collicutt, the school’s former physical education teacher. But running a team with the usual 12 players on the field was impossible for the small school, she said. Everything came together when a teacher who knew about the six-player league joined the school last year, and ConocoPhillips signed up as the sponsor. The Bison’s first game is at Frank Maddock High School in Drayton Valley against the Warriors on Sept. 13 at 4 p.m. The Bison’s first home game against Hinton Wolfpack is on Oct. 4 at 4 p.m. Grade 12 student Chontay Daychief, a running back for the Bison, said he never imagined he’d be on a football
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The logo of the Sunchild Bison football team. team. And now the team’s first game is just days away. “I’ll be nervous and excited at the same time. It should be good,” Daychief said. Collicutt said Sunchild School basketball and volleyball teams have competed for years. The new football program is another opportunity for students to get involved in sports and build community spirit. The Bison and the Caroline Cougars will play in a controlled scrimmage at Caroline School on Friday at 4 p.m. For more information on the Sunchild Bison, visit www.sunchildschool. com. szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
Charges about to be laid in shooting at PQ party: police BY THE CANADIAN PRESS MONTREAL — Charges are expected soon in a shooting that may have targeted Quebec’s premier-in-waiting, an act that has sent shockwaves across Canada and elicited unflattering attention abroad. Police are continuing to question the only suspect in Tuesday’s attack at a Parti Quebecois victory celebration. He was being evaluated at a Montreal hospital and a provincial police spokesman said he expects a court arraignment Thursday morning. Police sources said the suspect is 62-year-old Richard Henry Bain, the
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QUEBEC ELECTION COVERAGE A6 owner of a fishing retreat in the picturesque Laurentian mountains north of Montreal. The suspect was wearing a housecoat and balaclava when he was tackled by police after two people were shot, one of whom died. Police say they cannot rule out the possibility that premier-designate Pauline Marois was the shooter’s target. While the suspected gunman was only metres away, he never actually made it past the doorway into the room where Marois was speaking. While he was being taken away into a police vehicle, Bain shouted an ex-
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Clearing. High 18. Low 5.
Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C5,C6 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A6,A7 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D6 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6-B8
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pletive and spoke of an awakening of English-speaking Quebecers. Linguistic tensions had flared during an election campaign that featured PQ promises to extend language laws. But in her election night speech, when she spoke some English, and again at a news conference Wednesday, Marois pleaded for calm. Marois urged people not to draw any political conclusions from the event. She described it as an act of folly committed by someone who may be suffering from mental issues. And she defended her province’s reputation in the face of worldwide media coverage of the incident. “Never, never will I accept that Que-
bec is associated with violence,” Marois told the news conference. “It is an isolated event and it does not represent who we are... Quebec is not a violent society. One act of folly cannot change this.” Marois says that she had no idea she might have been in danger when bodyguards whisked her off the stage during her victory speech and she says she only learned after leaving the partisan celebration that someone had died. Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement saying he was “angered and saddened” by what he described as a horrific shooting.
ALBERTA
ENTERTAINMENT
‘HUMMER HERO’ WON’T FACE INSURANCE HIKE
LOCAL ARTISTS STEP UP FOR CAT FUNDRAISER
An Edmonton man who purposely drove his Hummer into another car to save four young pedestrians doesn’t need to worry about his insurance going up. A3
Please see SHOOTING on Page A2
Local actors, singers and musicians are stepping up on Saturday to help the cash strapped Central Alberta Theatre survive. C3