Red Deer Advocate, May 17, 2013

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Rangers vs. Bruins Sharks vs. Kings

Nasty fungus deforming local trees. Page C1

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SPORTS PAGE B1

PAIN AT THE

PUMPS Fuel prices jump just in time for the long weekend. STORY ON PAGE A2

CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER

BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM

FRIDAY, MAY 17, 2013

Police squad targets organized crime BY LAURA TESTER ADVOCATE STAFF A specialized team tackling organized crime was officially introduced in Red Deer on Thursday. Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) has set up the Red Deer Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU), a team of undercover officers who have been working in the city since November to tackle drug trafficking networks, thefts, gang activity, and marijuana grow operations. The team will target street-level criminals, as well as probe larger crime groups inside and outside Alberta’s borders. Sgt. Gerald Ouellet, officer in charge of the Red Deer unit, said the officers have been working out of the Red Deer city RCMP detachment, primarily assisting detachments in the region. Up to 10 individuals are in the unit now but it

Sgt. Gerald Ouellet

‘Our investigations tend to be lengthy because organized crime groups are very sophisticated.’ — Sgt. Gerald Ouellet Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team will be beefed up to 15. “Organized crime knows no boundaries,” said Ouellet. ALERT has established regional teams across Alberta since setting up in 2006. Others are located in Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray, Medicine Hat and

ARMOURED AND DANGEROUS

Lethbridge. These teams include municipal police, RCMP and sheriffs who work together across all jurisdictions. They lead investigations and also help other police partners like Calgary Police Service. The Red Deer RCMP also has a general investigation section, which delves more into serious crimes within Red Deer. The new unit will have more of a regional approach and focus on organized crime. “Our investigations tend to be lengthy because organized crime groups are very sophisticated,” said Ouellet. RCMP Supt. Warren Dosko said this unit will help bring about a safer community for Red Deer. “We’ve certainly used them to date in our serious crimes (investigations) and they’ve been a significant value over the last three to four months,” said Dosko.

Please see CRIME on Page A2

EXTENDICARE

Workers decry lack of progress, call it ‘stalling’ BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF

supporters on Thursday. The legislature wrapped up its session about three weeks sooner than expected Wednesday, ending with a flurry of bills being passed, including a legislated four-year deal for the province’s teachers.

Extendicare Michener Hill staff say their employer is bargaining in bad faith. They took their complaint to the street on Thursday at an information rally in front of the Red Deer seniors’ facility. About 350 front-line Alberta Union of Provincial Employees have been without a contract since Dec. 31. The union says Extendicare is calling for rollbacks but refuses to provide the AUPE with documents to back up such proposals. “They’re stalling. They’re delaying. We’re just trying to push negotiations along. One way of doing that is by letting the members come out and walk around and show how upset they are about contract negotiations,” said AUPE president Guy Smith who was at the Red Deer rally. When talks broke down for their first contract in 2011, Red Deer members voted to go on strike but agreed to take part in mediated talks rather than walk off the job. On Thursday, about 100 AUPE members were joined by a some residents and family members who said residents’ care is suffering at the facility because there is not enough staff. “The fact is the company is here to make a profit. The way they do that is by cutting back on staff and charging residents more, cutting back on pay for staff. It’s the same old story we’re hearing over and over again. Unfortunately it seems to be the future for seniors care in this province,” Smith said. Kerin Carr, of Red Deer, said her 86-year-old mother an Extendicare resident has been forced to stay in bed for long periods of time because there’s not enough staff to operate equipment to lift residents in and out of bed. “Last week for three days she was not out of bed from noon on because there was only one person to take care of 12 people,” Carr said. “The first of April I came in at 6:30 p.m. and my mother hadn’t eaten.

Please see SMITH on Page A2

Please see STAFF on Page A2

Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff

Wearing 14th and 15th century knights armor Matthew Barnett, left, and Dan Smith of the Living Backwards Historical Society in Edmonton demonstrate a battle scene using pole axes to a group of boys at the G.H. Dawe Community Centre. More than 600 grade five boys from Red Deer took part in the second annual Grow Boys conference Thursday. Through a variety of events the boys from several Elementary schools in the city explored the deeper meanings of respect, understanding, relationships and responsibility. The knights in shining armor attended to show what it meant to be and become a knight of old.

Session a failure, Smith tells supporters The spring session of the Alberta legislature ended late Wednesday, a session Wildrose leader Danielle Smith labels a huge failure for the government.

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“It was a disaster for the government — again, as it always is. The election promises from last year have become completely unravelled. We’re now seeing that the government had no intention of keeping any of its commitments,” said Smith, in Red Deer for a fundraising dinner with 160

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SENATOR DUFFY LEAVES TORY CAUCUS

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Senator Mike Duffy resigned from the Conservative caucus to sit as an independent Thursday night amid a controversy over his housing claims, leaving a trail of unanswered questions about expenses. A6

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