Red Deer Advocate, April 03, 2013

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Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate

FEELING BLUE Jays drop season opener to Cleveland B4

THE NEW FACE OF HANNIBAL Mads Mikkelsen C6

CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER

BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2013

TANGLED WRECK

KINSMEN COMMUNITY ARENAS

City to spend $1.58M to fix concrete in A Side rink BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Kinsmen Community Arenas will receive a $1.58 million infusion to replace the concrete in one of the rinks at the facility in Morrisroe. By a vote of 7-1, Red Deer city council approved COUNCIL TO SLASH the funding out of its debt CARBON FOOTPRINT A2 repayment reserve on Tuesday. The A Side will be shut down for up to 10 months while the floor is replaced. Work is expected to get underway in the coming weeks. Over the last season the cooling piping embedded in the concrete on the Kinsmen A Side has failed to the point the entire floor must be replaced. “There will be some time when it will not be available this fall,” said Greg Scott, the city’s Parks, and Culture Manager. “We’re going to work with some of the users of our ice and try to look at some strategies to provide them with that ice time. But it will have implications to our users.” Scott said city staff is currently developing the demolition plan with a potential re-opening date for Jan. 1, 2014. The twin Kinsmen Arenas were built at different times with different materials. The B Side was built in 1975 and the A Side was added in 1988. The arena’s normal ice season is August to March. It is also rented from April to July for dry space activities. The ice season was closed on March 24 and the A Side is currently closed to the public. The spring and summer dry space activities were moved to alternate facilities. Coun. Chris Stephan said he did not support the funding source because the money needs to stay put to help pay off the approaching $258 million in city debt in 2013.

Please see COUNCIL on Page A2

Photo by RANDY FIEDLER/Advocate staff

Key Towing drivers, left, and an Alberta Highway Services worker untangle a minivan from the Hwy 2 median wire barrier beneath the 67th Street overpass Tuesday. The fast southbound lane was closed while the operation took place. The van’s male driver wasn’t injured, but faces charges since RCMP believe fatigue was a factor in his striking the barrier.

Province taking new approach to boar problem BY MYLES FISH ADVOCATE STAFF Wild boars on the loose have been unwelcome in Alberta since 2008, but with some 400 of the giant swine still putting their snout where it is not welcome, a new approach is in the works. The feral beasts were declared a pest by the province five years ago and a $50 bounty is available for anyone who can turn in a set of their ears. Since 2009, over 900 pairs of ears have been turned in, though there were only 80 last year. That drop in killing has the province looking for something more. Phil Merrill, a pest specialist with Alberta Agriculture who works to keep Alberta rat-

free, said the approach will be two-fold — one part will focus on getting rid of the ones in the wild, the other making sure no more escape “We’ve got to stop the wild boars from getting out into the wild. We’ve only got 12 active producers and only five of them are very big. We’ve just got to figure out some way to work with them so they don’t have escapees,” explained Merrill. This could mean fencing guidelines and fines for producers whose boars escape. As for controlling the ones already loose, he suggested getting counties to institute control programs with dedicated staff working to trap or hunt them.

Please see BOAR on Page A2

TransCanada proposal to ship oil to East Coast takes step forward SAINT JOHN, N.B. — A proposal to transport Alberta oil as far east as New Brunswick took a step forward Tuesday as TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) announced it was seeking binding commitments from shippers before determining whether there is a business case to proceed. The Calgary-based energy company said it is trying to determine whether there is enough interest in the idea, which would involve converting an existing 3,000-kilometre natural gas pipeline so that it could carry crude into Quebec. The Energy East Pipeline project could also see a 1,400-kilometre extension that would ship oil into the port city of Saint John, N.B., home to the Irving Oil refinery, Canada’s largest. Proponents of the development say it would bring jobs and reduce Eastern Canada’s dependence on foreign oil, thereby increasing the country’s energy security. But critics say they are worried about potential environmental damage, pointing to the rupture Friday of an ExxonMobil pipeline in Arkansas. “This would be a very old pipeline built to carry natural gas, not diluted bitumen, and you could have

PLEASE RECYCLE

major spills,” said Keith Stewart, the climate and energy campaign co-ordinator for Greenpeace Canada. “This goes through some very remote areas, but it also goes through populated areas.” Federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, who has backed the project, said such concerns are unfounded and don’t take into account the need to increase Canada’s access to lucrative markets abroad. “If you follow their logic to its conclusion ... what they’re saying, I guess, is that they don’t want to see any pipelines built,” Oliver said in Ottawa. “If we do not build pipelines, the oil will be stranded and all the potential economic benefits that would flow from that would be lost.” Oliver welcomed TransCanada’s announcement, as did New Brunswick Premier David Alward, who held a news conference at the Irving Oil refinery to express his support. “A west-east pipeline will strengthen Canada’s economy and stimulate new growth in jobs in every region and every community of our province,” Alward said. “But we must not forget that this is a critically important project that will benefit all Canadians.” The idea of shipping oil eastward has also enjoyed

WEATHER

INDEX

Overcast. High 2. Low -2.

Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1-B3 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5,A6 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D3 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C6 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4-B6

FORECAST ON A2

the support of Alberta Premier Alison Redford, who met with Alward in February to discuss it. TransCanada has yet to file the necessary regulatory applications. The company said it is seeking binding commitments from April 15 until June 17 for delivery points in Montreal, Quebec City and Saint John before deciding whether to proceed. It is aiming for the Energy East Pipeline project to begin shipping as much as 850,000 barrels of oil per day in late 2017. Warren Mabee, a professor at Queen’s University, said it would be an economic boon to ship western oil to the East Coast and onward to global markets. But Mabee added that pipeline proposals that once generated little controversy are now at the forefront of public concern. “People have images in their head like the Arkansas image of oil gushing down driveways, and that means that they are worried,” said Mabee, the director of the university’s Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy. He said TransCanada will need to stress the proposal’s benefits and engage the public in its decision-making in order to gain support.

Please see PIPELINE on Page A2

CANADA

BUSINESS

BAIRD, POLICE MUM ON TERROR REPORT

BROTHERS HELPED TO BUILD RED DEER

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird tried to change the channel Tuesday on a CBC News report identifying the two Canadians involved in January’s deadly terrorist attack at an isolated Algerian gas plant. A5

Alan and Gene Watson had a hand in dozens of local development projects over the years. They recently produced a 52-page book chronicling their days in the business. B1

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BY THE CANADIAN PRESS


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