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CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2013
Winds fueling wildfires FIRST WAVE OF FLAMES OF SEASON BY LAURA TESTER ADVOCATE STAFF Central Alberta volunteer firefighters were kept hopping on the weekend after strong winds helped fuel the first wave of wildfires this season. Reports of wildfires were reported across the region, including in an area in Red Deer County just outside Red Deer. County assistant manager Ric Henderson said that about 30 volunteer firefighters, as well as a technical search and rescue team, responded to a brush fire on Saturday near the rural subdivision of Northland Estates. It’s located close to the Blindman industrial area. The fire spread across the grass and then moved into the trees. The wind was blowing at about 40 km/h as firefighters worked for about four hours putting out the fire.
Please see FIRES on Page A2
Photo by MURRAY CRAWFORD/Advocate staff
Tony Woo and Ward Bozek, both correctional peace officers, walk the picket line in front of the Red Deer Remand Centre on April 29. A wildcat strike at the Edmonton Remand Centre Friday quickly grew to include prison guards and a number of other provincial employees.
Guard strike gains support ‘It’s not about money, it’s about safety.’
DRAGON’S DEN VISITOR
Taxes, banks holding back entrepreneurs: O’Leary BY HARLEY RICHARDS ADVOCATE BUSINESS EDITOR There’s nothing wrong with Canadian entrepreneurs, says a man who has had countless business ideas pitched his way. Rather, insists Kevin O’Leary, the celebrity venture capitalist from CBC’s Dragons’ Den and its American counterpart Shark Tank, the aspirations of businessmen and businesswomen in this country are being stifled by an onerous tax system and conservative banks. “I believe that every province, every federal government agency, wastes about a third of the money that they get. So why not drop taxes down and make it very competitive here; leave the money in the entrepreneurs’ and the Canadians’ pockets and let them invest it themselves? Then you’d see productivity and innovation.” O’Leary was in Red Deer on Monday to speak with investment advisers about O’Leary Funds, a mutual fund company that he co-founded in 2008.
Please see GROWTH on Page A2
PLEASE RECYCLE
BY BRENDA KOSSOWAN ADVOCATE STAFF Support began to mushroom on Monday for Red Deer jail guards who walked off the job in support of their co-workers at the Edmonton Remand Centre. Red Deer members of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, including guards from the Red Deer Remand Centre, walked out on Saturday in support of a wildcat strike at the Edmonton Remand Centre. “It’s not about money, it’s about safety — officer safety. We need to make sure they’re going home to their families,” AUPE vice-president Jason Heistad said from the Red Deer picket line on Monday morning. There are safety issues at all corrections facilities, but the issues in Edmonton are urgent and need to be resolved for the safety of both staff and inmates, said Heistad, an Innisfail resident employed at Olds College. Workers from various AUPE locals have joined the Red Deer job action. They are also getting support from federal corrections workers, he said. A number of federal corrections officers from Bowden Institution joined the Red Deer picket line on Monday. Remand centres house a full spectrum of offenders alongside people who are awaiting hearings. The inmate population includes men, women and teenagers who have been recently arrested and some may be still coming down from drugs or alcohol, as well as those who are serving sentences of less than two years. “I’ve got friends that work in the federal system, and they do believe that because there is a diversity of offenders in the remand centre, that
WEATHER
INDEX
Sunny. High 1, low -7.
Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3,C4 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A6 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D3 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D5 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4-B6
FORECAST ON A2
Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS
Clerks and Alberta sheriffs joined striking correction guards, setting up a picket line outside the Edmonton courthouse on Monday. it is more volatile than some of our federal correctional facilities,” said Heistad. As of Monday afternoon, Alberta sheriffs responsible for courthouse security had not joined the strike in Red Deer. They will when the time is right, said Heistad. Sheriffs at the Red Deer Courthouse remained on duty on Monday, backed up by other peace officers from other departments, including Fish and Wildlife. However, other public service staff, including sheriffs, court clerks, and social workers have joined the strike elsewhere. Red Deer lawyer Patty MacNaughton, acting as duty counsel in Red Deer provincial court on Monday morning, said the job action had not yet had a direct effect inside the courthouse. MacNaughton said she supports the
correctional officers’ job action, stating that their walkout appears to be the only way to get action from their employer, the Alberta Government. “It’s not like it’s about money. It’s about safety,” said MacNaughton. Defence counsel Lorne Goddard also spoke in support of the action, saying the corrections officers had no other choice in trying to get the attention of an “uncaring” government. Heistad said the AUPE had tried to negotiate safety concerns with Alberta Justice, but went out on strike because their concerns weren’t being heard. “At the end of the day, throughout the province, we want to make sure that our workers are safe, and this is how things culminated up in Edmonton and these brothers and sisters are here to support them,” said Heistad.
Please see STRIKE on Page A2
CANADA
LOCAL
TORIES REVERSE COURSE ON FOREIGN WORKERS
WARD QUESTION TO BE IN ‘PLAIN LANGUAGE’
The Conservative government delivered a pink slip Monday to a series of controversial changes it made last year to the temporary foreign workers program. A6
Red Deer city council wants a ward system plebiscite question written in plain language on the Oct. 21 civic ballot. A3