Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate
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CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013
Wallowing in red ink PROVINCE BORROWS BILLIONS TO BUILD ROADS, SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS BY DEAN BENNETT THE CANADIAN PRESS EDMONTON — The Alberta government — squeezed by falling oil revenues and a growing population — has delivered a budget that holds the line on day-to-day spending but borrows billions to build roads, hospitals and schools. There are no new or HEALTH CARE, EDUCATION increased taxes. The result is $6.3 TO FEEL IMPACT A5 billion in red ink. “We are having a tough time here,� Finance Minister Doug Horner said Thursday before tabling the 2013-14 document in the legislature. “We’re going to have five million people in this province within 17 years. Where are their kids going to go to school? Where are they going to have hospitals to go to? How are they going to get to work if the road isn’t there? “We have to be able to build for the future — and that’s what this (budget) is about.� But critics said the budget is a colossal financial failure that needlessly returns the province to crushing multibillion-dollar debtloads less than a decade after it climbed into the black. “It’s a historically sad day,� said Opposition Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith. “After Alberta had been proud of the legacy of becoming debt free under (former premier Ralph) Klein in 2004, this premier is plunging this province back into debt. Significant debt. “It took a generation to pay off the (previous $23-billion) debt. It’s going to take a generation to pay off the Redford debt as well.� Brian Mason said the budget breaks Premier Alison Redford’s election promises to look after those in need by cutting aid to seniors. “What we’re seeing is a shrinking budget for a growing province, and that’s going to create all sorts of problems,� said Mason. Even though the government is not increasing its overall spending on operations, it anticipates a $2-billion deficit on revenues of $38.6 billion. The gap will be covered by the government’s Sustainability Fund, now renamed the Contingency Account.
Please see BUDGET on Page A5
Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS
MLA Dave Hancock, left, applauds Minister of Finance Doug Horner after presented the 2013 budget at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton, Alberta on Thursday.
Budget ‘good news’ for municipalities BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Central Alberta cities hope there’s no devil in the details when they take a fine-tooth comb to the 2013 provincial budget in the coming days. At first blush on Thursday, there seemed to be no change in the municipal sustainability initiative, the main source of provincial revenue for municipalities. Should the numbers remain the same without any new conditions or re-jigged allocations between municipalities, Red Deer will receive $17 million on the
capital side and $1 million on the operating end. “Sometimes we’re surprised with the detail and find out something else two days down the road,� said Red Deer city manager Craig Curtis. “From the global numbers it is general good news.� Curtis noted last year the city had a shock with the education tax, which amounted to an eight per cent increase. The provincial budget calls for a four per cent education tax including growth so it will not likely impact property tax bills in Red Deer.
Please see REACTION on Page A2
Dispatch change could lead to longer response times: fire chief BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF Stripping Red Deer’s dispatch centre of its ambulance call duties could lead to longer response times, says the city’s fire chief. “I would say there’s the potential for it,� said Jack MacDonald, who oversees the fire department and its dispatch centre staffed by 21 full- and part-time employees. If ambulance dispatch for this area is shifted to Calgary, as the province plans, staff there may not be as familiar with local roads and addresses. “I think dispatchers who are familiar with the area can be more helpful than ones who aren’t.� The province released the long-awaited Health Quality Council of Alberta report on ambulances this week. One recommendation, accepted by the province, was to restart a 2009 plan — which was frozen in 2010 — to centralize ambulance dispatch from 35 centres to three. When halted, 12 centres, including Red Deer’s, were still dispatching ambulances. Dr. John Cowell, Health Quality Council CEO, said concerns ambulance service and response times will suffer under centralization are unfounded. The new dispatch centres will be equipped with the latest mapping technology with the capability
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Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
City of Red Deer EMS crew drives through downtown Red deer Thursday. Proposed changes to the dispatch locations for ambulances would see ambulance dispatch taken out of the city. of tracking ambulances across the province in real time, not unlike systems used by air traffic controllers. “We have been assured that the technology is
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RECYCLE
available and that the province is well down the road to making sure that is in place in the dispatch centres,� he said. The new system will eliminate the current scenario where an ambulance travelling from Edmonton to Calgary will pass through five dispatch zones, none able to see the ambulance outside their zone. On top of that, ambulances can’t communicate with each other, he added. This system of “isolated zones� gets in the way of sending the closest ambulance. “You need to have the ability to dispatch your ambulance and crew that’s most appropriately located relative to the accident scene itself,� he said. “We believe strongly that by consolidating into a minimum of two centres, regardless of where they are physically located, they are going to have an adequate knowledge of local as well as provincial addresses.� Cowell said at the start there may be better local road knowledge, but that won’t last long once the system and dispatchers get up to speed. “In the end, we believe that it’s going to be far faster, far more efficient and far safer for our citizens province-wide to have an integrated dispatch system.�
Please see DISPATCH on Page A2
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WORLD
FUEL-EFFICIENT BUSES ADDED TO CITY FLEET
FINAL CARDINAL ARRIVES IN ROME
As part of the initiative to green its fleet of about 50 buses, Red Deer Transit unveiled two new Nova buses Thursday to replace a couple of older units. C1
The last cardinal who will participate in the conclave to elect the next pope arrived in Rome on Thursday, meaning a date can be set for the election. But it’s not clear when the decision will come. E5
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