Red Deer Advocate, January 25, 2013

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Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate

IT’S BROKEN ALRIGHT

NHL Oilers beat Kings in OT

Atrocious script sinks crime thriller D1

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CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER

BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM

FRIDAY, JAN. 25, 2013

‘Bubble’ costing us $6B PREMIER WARNS OF MASSIVE REVENUE SHORTFALL IN TELEVISED ADDRESS BY DEAN BENNETT THE CANADIAN PRESS EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Alison Redford, in her first TV address, warned Thursday of tough fiscal times and multibillion-dollar revenue shortfalls due to the “bitumen bubble.” She said the bubble — the difference between the benchmark price for oil in North America versus Alberta’s oilsands bitumen — has grown so wide it will take a $1-billion bite out of this year’s budget and $6 billion the next.

“As we prepare this year’s budget, it means we have to make some very difficult choices,” Redford said in the eight-minute TV spot aired around the province. “In this year’s budget we’ll hold the line on spending and we’ll live within our means.” The budget is to be delivered March 7. Redford said there will be changes to programs and services, but wasn’t more specific. “Some programs and services will change — especially those that are not sustainable over the long term,” she said. Redford has said in the past she won’t balance the

budget by sacrificing core service delivery in health and education or by shortchanging municipalities. In the speech, Redford reiterated her pledge not to hike taxes or introduce new levies. “It is not good enough to take the easy way out and raise taxes,” she said in the video, which was shot last Friday at her Calgary home. She also said that despite the financial austerity, the plan is still to invest some energy revenue in the Heritage Savings Fund in the next budget.

Please see SPEECH on Page A2

OVAL TEAM

SENIORS CARE

Get business out of care: advocates BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF

Photo by RANDY FIEDLER/Advocate staff

Lucas Duffield, formerly of Red Deer, leads other national speed skating team members during outdoor training at the Golden Circle oval Thursday. The group is in town to train for an outdoor Canada Cup meet in Quebec. Please see related story on page B3.

Fiscal woes prompt province to push back schools, kindergarten Alberta Education’s postponement of future capital school projects because of a bleak fiscal outlook is raising both alarm and understanding among Central Alberta education leaders. Education Minister Jeff Johnson and Brad Vonkeman, president of the Alberta School Councils’ Association, hosted a teleconference call with parents of school councils on Tuesday. Due to projected lower revenues, Johnson said the Progressive Conservative government’s promise to build 50 new schools and renovate 70 more in the next four years is being pushed back. The Tories are

PLEASE RECYCLE

still committed to this promise, but the projects may take a year or two longer, said Johnson. Close to 70 projects are either just being completed, underway or being tendered out to the tune of close to $1 billion, so with the future project numbers, this is very ambitious, he added. More details are expected to come after the provincial budget is delivered on March 7. “We recognize there are significant pressures out there,” said Johnson. Vonkeman, of Red Deer, said a lot of schools are full beyond capacity and with plans to build or modernize now stretched over six years, instead of four, he’s not sure how this will impact them.

Please see SCHOOLS on Page A2

WEATHER

INDEX

Mainly sunny. High -4. Low -16.

Five sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3,C4 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5,A6 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E1-E5 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D3 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1-B7

FORECAST ON A2

Please see CARE on Page A2

CANADA

ADVOCATE VIEW

ANTARCTIC RESCUE FLIGHT TURNED BACK

LIFE ON ‘RIPPER STREET’

A rescue flight on its way to a group of Canadians missing in Antarctica has had to turn around because of bad weather that isn’t expected to improve until at least early today.

Jerome Flynn, Matthew Macfadyen and Adam Rothenberg star in ‘Ripper Street’ Saturdays on Space: The Imagination Station.

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January 18-27, 2013

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BY LAURA TESTER ADVOCATE STAFF

The health-care crisis at Symphony Senior Living Aspen Ridge in Red Deer is a clear example of why the province needs to stop funding private operators to supply publicly funded seniors care, say public health-care supporters. On Tuesday, Symphony announced its cancelling its contract to provide 49 care beds for Alberta Health Services over the coming year. The announcement came the same day the Alberta Union of Public Employees announced its 130 health-care workers and staff at the facility would go on strike on Friday and Symphony issued a lockout for Friday. AUPE is arguing for industry standard wages for health-care staff. But Symphony says wage parity with an AHS nursing home or hospital is unreasonable since it’s an independent living and assisted living facility. “They are doing what’s best for business. That’s why business shouldn’t be involved in long-term care,” said Brenda Corney, chairperson of Friends of Medicare, Red Deer Chapter, on Thursday. “If we’re going to have privatized long-term care, the profit has to come out of either lower wages for their workers or decreased services for people. The profits have to come from somewhere.” Meanwhile, Red Deer seniors and their families are the ones who suffer, she said. “Where are we going to find beds for 49 more people? The system is already taxed. We’re going to become more and more backed up,” Corney said. NDP leader Brian Mason said seniors care isn’t keeping up with demand because the Alison Redford Progressive Conservative government is not properly supporting seniors care and is using the wrong model to deliver it. “There is a train bearing down on us all. Most of us are going to end up in some sort of long-term care. It’s when people actually need a lot of nursing care, and the government seems oblivious,” Mason said. “(Symphony) is clear evidence that the government’s system of providing formula funding for private operators to provide long-term care just doesn’t work. Moving away from subsidizing the private model towards a fully public system for long-term care is in our view the right way to go.”


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