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CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 6, 2013
Con guilty Smoke-free zone of bilking hundreds in scam CANVASSED FOR CANCER SOCIETY BY BRENDA KOSSOWAN ADVOCATE STAFF A year in jail, another year on probation and a stern lecture from a judge are the rewards for a Red Deer man who used charitable donations to line his own pockets. Philip Wiggins, 37, was arrested on Dec. 22 by Red Deer RCMP investigating complaints that someone was canvassing donations for the Canadian Cancer Society but was not handing in the money. Appearing by closed-circuit TV from the Calgary Remand Centre, Wiggins pleaded guilty in Red Deer provincial court on Tuesday to 130 charges of fraud and one of theft under $5,000. The fraud occurred in both Red Deer and Lacombe. Dozens more charges of both theft and fraud were withdrawn. Judge Jim Hunter issued a harsh reprimand after passing sentence, calling Wiggins’s actions morally reprehensible and repugnant. “The fact that people are willing to donate is based on trust,” said Hunter. “There are very few people in our society whose families have not been touched by cancer. It is an insidious disease as people who donate to the cancer society understand. “You breached that trust in large measure.” In an investigation that continued after Wiggins’s arrest, Red Deer RCMP and Lacombe Police ultimately determined that 2,585 people in their respective areas had handed over cheques and cash totalling nearly $40,000, believing the money was going to the cancer society, said Crown prosecutor Murray McPherson. The initial complaint was made by a donor who called the Red Deer office of the Canadian Cancer Society, wondering why a cheque had not cleared. Police learned that Wiggins had been told to stop canvassing prior to his arrest, including one occasion in which donors had complained to the Red Deer office that he was asking for cash instead of cheques. The cancer society had ordered Wiggins on a separate occasion to quit canvassing because of a national directive for the society to cease door to door campaigning, said McPherson. Wiggins continued to collect money at people’s doorways even after being told to stop, he said. Wiggins had canvassed successfully in two previous years and had received a letter of support from the cancer society for a fundraising project he had proposed, he said. In their initial investigation, Red Deer RCMP seized cash, cheques and pledge sheets from Wiggins’s home, adding to a total of $10,708.75 in donations, including about $2,021 in cheques and missing $8,627.75 in cash. Lacombe police determined that Wiggins stole $1,569.79 from donors in their jurisdiction, laying a single charge of theft under for the total, along with 89 additional charges of theft and fraud tied to the individual donations. Weighing an early guilty plea against Wiggins’s past criminal record, which includes fraud, drug possession and assault, McPherson and defence counsel Walter Kubanek joined in seeking a sentence of one year in prison followed by an additional year of probation with strict conditions, including that Wiggins be prohibited from canvassing for charity. Hunter also ordered that Wiggins not be allowed to volunteer in any capacity for any charity or community group. He said it “boggles the mind” how someone could put so much effort into such an act. Hunter directed that all property seized from Wiggins during the investigation be turned over to the Canadian Cancer Society. bkossowan@reddeeradvocate.com
PLEASE RECYCLE
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
The City of Red Deer has passed a smoke-free bylaw that bans smoking within 10 metres of playgrounds, sports fields, spray parks, skating rinks, toboggan hills and skate parks. BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Smoking may next be outlawed at children’s festivals, along parade routes and at public markets in Red Deer. On Monday, city council rubber-stamped its revised smoke-free bylaw by banning smoking within 10 metres in playgrounds, skate parks, toboggan hills, sports fields and skating rinks. Smoke-free advocates applaud council’s first step in clearing the Red Deer outdoor air of second-hand smoke.
2012 homicide stats in line with past history: RCMP BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Red Deer’s homicide tally dropped sharply to two in 2012, after six homicides in 2011 sent shock waves throughout the city. In February 2012, the body of Talia Nellie Meguinis, 27, from Tsuu T’ina Nation near Calgary, was found dumped in the Riverside Industrial area. Nathan Desharnais, 29, of Red Deer is accused of second-degree murder and of committing an indignity to human remains in the death of Meguinis. Desharnais will be in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench for a bail hearing on Friday. In June, Jake Thue, 27, of Lumsden, Sask., was rushed to hospital in Edmonton with serious head injuries after a fight outside a Red Deer hotel. Thue never regained consciousness and died a few days later. Charges were dropped against William JohnstoneVince, after the Crown determined he had been defending himself in the fight that led to the death of Thue. Even though the charges were dropped, the death is still considered a homicide. Red Deer RCMP Supt. Warren Dosko said the 2012 statistics are more in line with past history or a re-
Please see BYLAW on Page A2
‘EVERY WEEKEND WE HAVE GOT INCIDENTS THAT HAPPEN WHERE IT’S JUST THROUGH THE GRACE OF GOD THAT SOMEBODY DOESN’T DIE.’ — RED DEER RCMP SUPT. WARREN DOSKO
turn to a typical homicide rate in Red Deer. In the last seven years, the city has recorded 15 homicides. Before 2011, the big years in recent memory were in 2008 and 2009, when three homicides were recorded each year. In 2006, there was one homicide. No homicides were recorded in 2007 and 2010. But 2013 has started with two suspicious deaths already. On Jan. 1, the city had its first homicide, in Eastview. And only two weeks later, the RCMP dealt with another suspicious death, again in Eastview. The results of the autopsy in the second death have not been released. “Every weekend we have got incidents that happen where it’s just through the grace of God that somebody doesn’t die,” said Dosko. “There’s lots of assaults with weapons, aggravated assaults where people are critically injured but don’t die.”
Please see MURDER on Page A2
Land slated for biodiesel plant rezoned BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF More than 400 acres of Red Deer County land near Innisfail earmarked for a stalled ethanol and biodiesel complex has been rezoned. The move suggests there is little expectation in the county that the project will go ahead soon. “It’s certainly beyond all of its permitting dead-
WEATHER
INDEX
Clearing. High -3. Low -15.
Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1-B3 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D5 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C6 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4-B6
FORECAST ON A2
But many are looking to the day when all outdoor events, especially those frequented by children, are declared smoke-free zones. “We were hoping for a little more but in the grand scheme of things this is pretty much best practice in Alberta right now,” said Sarah Hawkins, a Red Deer public policy analyst for the Canadian Cancer Society, Alberta/Northwest Territories. “It looks like council really wants to take an even larger leadership role but they are following due diligence and getting more information. I think it is all positive.”
lines,” said Coun. Dave Hoar, whose division the project fell in. “So, from our perspective if they were to come back they would have to come back and start all over again because we have given them all of the extensions we can possibly give them. “It hasn’t come to be and quite frankly, we haven’t heard much about it.”
Please see BIODIESEL on Page A2
ALBERTA
BUSINESS
ROYALTY RATES TO STAND PAT
AMBASSADORS PROGRAM REVIVED
Alberta Premier Alison Redford says raising royalty rates for energy companies won’t be on the table as experts gather in Calgary this weekend to hash out the province’s financial woes. A3
The International Ambassadors Program is back in the business of attracting business. B1