Red Deer Advocate, March 05, 2013

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Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate

SOMETHING TO CHEER ABOUT

MARTIN SMARTIN’

Premier Academy cheerleading competition B1

Hometown team struggling at Brier B4

CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER

BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM

TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2013

MLA wraps up seniors tour PEOPLE WERE VERY ENGAGED, BUT THERE WERE SOME DISTURBING PRACTICES: TOWLE BY RANDY FIEDLER ADVOCATE STAFF Alberta seniors want to live in their homes longer, remain in their communities for long-term care and better food once in that care. Those recommendations top the findings after a two-week, 24-community provincial tour by Wildrose Innisfail-Sylvan Lake MLA Kerry Towle. “It was very positive. People were very engaged, but there were some disturbing practices,” said the opposition seniors critic. Staying in their homes longer pays off in happier, healthier

seniors, Towle said, but home care limitations made it difficult. “Many seniors talked about being forced into care facilities because of a lack of home care outside medical need.” Seniors also decried Alberta Health Services’ 100-km rule where seniors needing care could be placed in a facility up to 100 km from their home communities. “It creates emotional and financial hardship,” Towle said, adding such placement amounts to “divorce by nursing home” for couples. Returning to meals using fresh in-

gredients prepared in local kitchens was universal. “It doesn’t matter the care level, people want home-cooked meals, including in hospitals,” she said, explaining costs would decline once packaging and shipping of meals prepared in central kitchens was eliminated. “Do we prioritize the health and welfare of our seniors, or anyone in care, or is it about dollars?” Towle didn’t attend the final meeting in Red Deer Saturday due to a family emergency, but she said speakers also brought up parking concerns at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre.

Towle hopes MLAs of all parties support her private member’s bill in the new legislative session beginning today. Bill 208: the Seniors’ Advocate Act, which has received first reading, would create a permanent provincial officer to advocate for seniors. “He could take on a role like the auditor general and be a truly independent advocate and accountable to the public, not the government,” she said, with the position’s costs paid by eliminating waste and duplication within Alberta Health Services.

Please see CARE on Page A2

Going up in vapour E-CIGARETTES OFFER PLENTY OF NEW TASTES TO CONSUMERS, BUT NOT WITHOUT CONTROVERSY BY MYLES FISH ADVOCATE STAFF Clarissa Clark inhales deeply, and the tip lights up a fiery orange. Just another cigarette, it seems. It is on the exhale that one realizes the white and brown cylindrical stick is not what the eye assumes. For the emanating smell lacks any harshness, instead attracting with a pleasant sweetness. This one is blueberry. Clark is not smoking — there is no smoke. Rather, she is ‘vaping’ on an electronic cigarette (or e-cigarette). The term ‘vaping’ refers to the vapour produced when batteries within the e-cigarettes heat up fluid-filled cartridges. The whole process of ‘vaping’ is meant to mimic smoking while being free of tobacco leaves, ash, butts and hundreds of the chemicals found in cigarettes. Many e-cigarettes contain cartridges

Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff

Gord’s Smoke Shop employees Clarissa Clark, left, and Nicole Raffa sample the latest in electronic cigarettes in the shop which opens in a new location beside Bo’s Grill in Red Deer. with nicotine, but no such e-cigarettes have received Health Canada authorization to be sold in this country. E-cigarettes that come with health claims as to their efficacy as a cessation tool also fall under the scope of the federal Food and Drug Act, and would require an authorization none have yet received. However, e-cigarettes without nicotine or health claims do not fall under

the same act, and can thus be sold in Canada. This despite a 2009 Health Canada advisory that suggests Canadians not use any e-cigarettes due to a lack of conclusive study on their safety. Gord’s Smoke Shop is one of many places e-cigarettes can be found in Red Deer. Manager Andee Malyon says business is brisk for the devices, which run from around $10 for a disposable

version to $130 for an elaborate kit. Some customers like that they can use the e-cigarettes indoors most places; for others who have quit smoking, it allows them to retain the motions of the act. And for many, they simply taste good, coming in flavours ranging from pomegranate to coffee.

Please see PRODUCT on Page A2

Edmonton man searching for beloved ’57 Chevrolet BY MURRAY CRAWFORD ADVOCATE STAFF An Edmonton man hopes to be reunited with his beloved 1957 Chevrolet two-door car, 43 years after selling it to a Red Deer man. Gary Smith purchased the vehicle in the late 1960s and it only had a few

PLEASE RECYCLE

thousand miles on the odometer at the time. But in 1970 Smith was in need of money so he sold the car to a Red Deer man for $1,750. The sale was with the understanding that somewhere down the line Smith could buy it back. But he lost track of who bought the car. Now the retired mechanic who used the car to drag race is running a per-

WEATHER

INDEX

Sunny. High -5. Low -13.

Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3-C4 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5-A6 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D3 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D5 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C5 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4-B6

FORECAST ON A2

sonal classified ad in the Red Deer Advocate in an effort to find it. Smith sold the dark green sedan to a Red Deer man near the Londonderry Mall in Edmonton. At the time it did not have an engine in it. Smith said the person he sold the car to would have been in his mid-20s in 1970. That would make the buyer about 68 years old now.

Smith said the car “was perfect, it only had a few thousand miles on it. It had basically never been driven.” “It was one of those cars that’s like a good fitting pair of shoes,” said Smith. “It just felt right.” If he is lucky enough to find the car he plans to hang on to it.

CANADA

BUSINESS

Please see CAR on Page A2

VILLAGE PREPARES FOR BASHAW MEATS SET TO MEDIA INVASION REOPEN THIS SUMMER A media centre was being set up Monday in the home town of Canada’s presumed papal contender, as the tiny community prepares for a journalistic invasion during the upcoming vote to choose the next pontiff. A5

Bashaw Meats and Sausage should reopen for business by the July 1 long weekend. C3

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Red Deer HOME SHOW MARCH 8, 9 & 10, 2013 Show Hours: Admission: For more info call 1.888.346.5329 or visit www.RedDeerHomeShow.ca Adult $10 | Student $8 (w/valid ID) | Seniors $8 (+55) | Under 12 Free (w/adult)

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Friday: 12pm - 8pm | Saturday: 10am - 6pm | Sunday: 10am - 5pm


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