Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate
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Pop star leads the field with five nominations C7
CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 20, 2013
Fiscal state in freefall PROVINCE PLANNING JOB CUTS, WAGE FREEZE TO SLOW DESCENT BY BILL GRAVELAND THE CANADIAN PRESS
PROVINCIAL BUDGET
CALGARY — The Alberta government’s bottom line continues to bleed red ink and the province is planning job cuts and a wage freeze for civil-service managers to try to stem the flow. Tory Finance Minister Doug Horner announced plans Tuesday for a three-year management salary freeze. It is to begin April 1 and is expected to save taxpayers $54 million. The government is also reducing the number of public-sector managers by 10 per cent, or about 480 positions, over that same time period, he said. While some positions are vacant and won’t be filled, there will be some people who lose their jobs.
He blamed falling oil and gas revenue. Premier Alison Redford has coined the term bitumen bubble to refer to the difference between the benchmark prices for oil in North America and the lower price Alberta receives for its land-locked oilsands bitumen. In the first nine months of the 2012-13 fiscal year, Horner said resource revenue was $2.4 billion lower than expected. “The government is taking decisive, aggressive and immediate action to help address this revenue shortfall,” Horner said as he released the province’s third-quarter fiscal update. “We can’t control world market prices but we can
make decisions that will make an impact on our bottom. “It’s costing us a lot of money. It doesn’t paint a pretty picture for the third quarter and to be honest it’s not getting all that prettier,” he added. Alberta is now forecasting a deficit of between $3.5 and $4 billion in 2012-13 — at least four times what was originally predicted in the last budget. Horner will deliver the 2013-14 budget March 7. He didn’t rule out further job cuts to the rank-andfile within Alberta’s public sector. “Nothing is off the table,” he said. “The upcoming provincial budget focuses on making the tough but thoughtful decisions necessary to allow the province to continue to deliver on its priorities.”
Please see BUDGET on Page A2
Keep on clucking URBAN CHICKEN PILOT PROJECT EXTENDED ANOTHER YEAR BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Red Deer will be home for chickens to roost in backyards for at least another year. By a vote of 7-1, Red Deer city council opened city backyards to chickens coops for a formal pilot project to run until March 31, 2014. Some councillors felt the existing pilot was not formal enough with clear guidelines. In February 2012, the city launched a year-long pilot project to assess the issues and impacts of urban chickens. City administration said there was little feedback or complaints regarding urban coops over the last year. As well there was never a clear indication of how many chickens were being raised in the city. Coun. Chris Stephan said he had a difficult time supporting the extended pilot after only a few conversations with people in the community. “We did the same things when we implemented the bike lanes,” said Stephan, who voted against the pilot. “We listened to a small biking group but we did not go to the public and get their general input. I think we really need to get that so we can make better decisions on behalf of the whole community and not just small groups and small segments.” Councillors agreed there was a need for public consultation over the next year. Council agreed to stay engaged with the urban chicken community through Canadian Liberated Urban Chicken Klub
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Theya Machney cuddles up with a hen named Freezie as her mother Charity Briere holds Morgana outside their backyard chicken coop in Parkvale. (CLUCK). Coun. Dianne Wyntjes said the city should be looking at urban farming as a whole because it will not stop with the chickens. “I am in support of expanding it this time,” said Wyntjes. “Let’s here from our community and those urban farmers that we have right now because I think it is important that we talk about sustainablity.” Under the pilot, chickens must be registered
with the city’s Inspections & Licensing within four months. No other persons will be allowed to own chickens after this four month time period. Only six chickens and no roosters will be permitted in backyards. There will be a site visit of each registered chicken coop to observe the operation. Coun. Tara Veer was absent. City administration will report back to council with a report in February 2014. crhyno@reddeeradvocate.com
City closer to hosting elite cyclists BY MURRAY CRAWFORD ADVOCATE STAFF Some of the best cyclists in the world could pedal to Red Deer as part of the Tour of Alberta. On Tuesday, city council agreed to allocate $77,000 towards the expenses related to the Tour of Alberta, subject to a letter of intent between the city and the local organizing committee. The city is being considered the third-stage finish community. The international cycling event will race through small towns and communities between Sept. 3 and 8. Communities will be announced in March and the route unveiled in April. Although the route and the communities it visits have not been officially announced, the Tour of Alberta would start in Edmonton and end in Calgary. It is proposed that Red Deer be the finish of a stage of the tour, with the race picking up the next morning in a different location. On Tuesday afternoon the group of Liz Taylor, Tourism Red Deer executive director, Val Mellesmoen, Tour of Alberta director of marketing and
PLEASE RECYCLE
CITY COUNCIL BACKS RACE A2
Val Mellesmoen
communications, and Jenny Pogue, Tour of Alberta director of festivals and events, made their pitch to city council. Council voted in favour of being a finish stage, seven to one with Coun. Tara Veer absent and Coun. Chris Stephan voting against. Competitors would stay overnight in Red Deer be-
WEATHER
INDEX
40% flurries. High -6. Low -16.
Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1-B3 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D5 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D6 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C7 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4-B6
FORECAST ON A2
Jenny Pogue
fore heading out to their next stage. One of the key people behind the tour is Alex Stieda, who lives and works in Edmonton. In 1986, he became the first North American to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. “He’s always wanted to bring a Tour de Francestyle race to Alberta,” said Mellesmoen. “With a bunch of like-minded people, including George Berry (the chair of the local organizing committee), they worked for many years to put together the kind of structure for it.” But it all came together fairly quickly when the group was able to secure funding through the Rural Alberta Development Fund in January 2012. The group was then able to go to the Union Cycliste Internationale and get the race sanctioned. The Tour of Alberta was officially sanctioned as a 2.1 race, one step below the Tour de France. “It is a very high sanctioning for a first-year event,” said Mellesmoen. “With that 2.1 level, it makes us the highest ranked race to be held in Canada. Up to half of our teams can be of the same prolevel calibre that is in the Tour de France.”
Please see TOUR on Page A2
CANADA
WORLD
FRAGMENTED POLICY COSTLY: REPORT
PISTORIUS CLAIMS SHOOTING A MISTAKE
The Conservative government has politicized its policy options at a time when harmonized federal and provincial climate policies are needed to cut emissions as cheaply as possible, says a new report. A5
Reeva Steenkamp’s coffin was draped in a white cloth just a few hours before Oscar Pistorius said in a court affidavit that he mistakenly killed his girlfriend by shooting her through a bathroom door. D7