Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate
COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS
MUIRFIELD AWAITS/B6
Bamford leads with seven nods C7
CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
Government disaster response a failure: Sherman
Performing as a living statue is a
WAITING GAME
BY MURRAY CRAWFORD ADVOCATE STAFF
derson. “The real show is working with people. It’s not really want I am doing, it’s what everyone else is doing.” Anderson said he usually zones out or mediates while he waits for people to come to him. Under his copper painted sunglasses, he likes to observe people as they approach. The 27-year-old has a diploma in theatre arts and an arts and culture management diploma from Grant MacEwan. He’s been performing as the Copper Cowboy and other characters for about six years. He’s performed at the Calgary Stampede, the Edmonton Fringe Festival and the Naughty But Nice shows.
Clad in cowboy boots, a tan shirt with a bolo tie and a cowboy hat, Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman took part in the Westerner Days parade, waving and marching in support of his party on Wednesday. It’s a long way from when the lead‘THE REALITY IS er of the province’s OF THE NATURAL third party was DISASTER MONEY touring the damage and devastation SPENT IN THIS in High River as a COUNTRY, 62 TO 65 result of the June flooding. He said he PER CENT HAPPENS was impressed with IN ALBERTA. THE the work of front line responders to GOVERNMENT CAN’T the devastation, but said the Redford SAY, ‘WE DIDN’T SEE government hasn’t THIS COMING’.’’ done enough. “I’m not so sure — RAJ SHERMAN ALBERTA LIBERAL LEADER the government knows what it is doing right now,” said Sherman on Wednesday in an interview with the Advocate. He pointed to the major flood report from 2005 that he said the government has been sitting on for eight years. “Winnipeg regularly gets floods and they invested $300 million in canals,” said Sherman. He said the problem can be broken down into water management issues, proper mitigation for buildings in the flood fringe area and proper budgeting. “The government budgets about $40 million for emergencies in the spring,” said Sherman. “We had the Slave Lake fire, we’ve had other floods, there was the pine beetle problem and then the government says, ‘We didn’t see this coming.’ So they come back for a supplementary supply bill in the fall asking for another $500 million. “The reality is of the natural disaster money spent in this country, 62 to 65 per cent happens in Alberta. The government can’t say, ‘we didn’t see this coming.’” He said the Redford government is failing Albertans when it comes to properly planning disaster response. “If we had properly managed the water, had the protective systems in place in low-lying areas — had a good dike or canal system in place — to divert water. We can’t prevent these disasters, but we can greatly mitigate the damage of them,” said Sherman. “The damage to people’s lives, damage to personal property and at the end of the day, the damage to the taxpayer’s wallet.”
Please see STATUE on Page A2
Please see RESPONSE on Page A2
DANIEL ANDERSON, 27, PRACTISES YOGA TO STAY PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY TOUGH TO POSE FOR HOURS AS THE COPPER COWBOY
Photo by ASHLI BARRETT/Advocate staff
The Copper Cowboy, known out-of-costume as Daniel Anderson, poses in front of the Parkland Pavilion on Wednesday afternoon at the Westerner Fair and Exhibition. Anderson poses for photo opportunities and entertains the public, high-fiving little kids in an almost fluid, robotic motion. BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Standing on a box outside the Parkland Pavilion, the Copper Cowboy draws a fascinated crowd. He’s dressed head to boot in copper western garb, waiting to startle, entertain or amuse the next Westerner Days passerby. Performing as a living statue, Daniel Anderson, 27, practises yoga to stay physically and mentally tough because there are times he is in a pose for hours on end. But, Anderson said on Wednesday, the reactions and the tips are worth it. Anderson says he has startled both young and old and put smiles on the faces of just about everyone. The performance, Anderson said, is a waiting game. “You wait for people to come to you,” said An-
THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013
PARTY GETS STARTED WITH A PARADE C1 PONY CHUCKWAGONS B6
Drunk driver jailed 10 months for running down woman BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF A 19-year-old Sylvan Lake driver found guilty of seriously injuring a pedestrian was sentenced to 10 months in prison in Red Deer provincial court on Wednesday. In May, provincial court Judge Bart Rosborough found Kyle Brian Carver guilty of driving over .08 causing bodily harm in connection with a 3 a.m. incident on March 17, 2012. Brittany Ellison, now 26, of Sylvan Lake, was severely injured after she was struck by a northbound truck on 52nd Avenue near 48th Street in Red Deer. Ellison had been partying with four friends and they were walking to a downtown restaurant where they arranged to meet a cab when the collision occurred. Carver was also at Red Deer nightclubs. He was driving home to Sylvan Lake with a friend when he
PLEASE RECYCLE
struck Ellison in the well-lit and marked crosswalk and just missed hitting one of her friends. Ellison’s friend ran after Carver’s truck, which was stopped at a nearby red light. He banged on Carver’s window, told him he hit Ellison and struck Carver several times in the face. Carver sped away, heading the wrong way down a one-way street, and continued on to Sylvan Lake. He was arrested before he got home. Crown prosecutor Maurice Collard wanted a 15-to24-month prison sentence and a five-year driving prohibition. Defence lawyer Peter Northcott, of Edmonton, asked for an 18-to-24-month sentence to be served in the community. If jail was necessary, he recommended for six months. Northcott said his client had little experience with alcohol and didn’t realize he hit someone in the crosswalk. Collard argued Carver was not eligible for a com-
WEATHER
INDEX
Sun and cloud. High 26. Low 12.
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FORECAST ON A2
munity sentence as it was a serious personal injury offence. He said Carver had a blood alcohol level almost double the legal limit. He did not slow down or brake at the scene and drove away. “This was not an accident. It’s a crime,” Collard said. Rosborough agreed that Carver should serve his time in prison. The judge said while Carver accepts full responsibility for drinking and driving in the pre-sentence report, he did not believe he was impaired. Aggravating factors in sentencing included his high blood alcohol level at .16, failing to get help for Ellison and the extent of her injuries. Rosborough said this was a serious example of drunk driving, which is a grave social problem in Alberta.
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CANADA
BUSINESS
FRUSTRATION MOUNTING AT LAC-MEGANTIC
LOONIE DIPS AS INTEREST RATE LEFT INTACT
Canada’s new transport minister rolled into Lac-Megantic on Wednesday but had little to offer in the way of specifics to a community where shock appears to be shifting to anger 11 days after a train derailment. A5
The Canadian dollar piled on the losses Wednesday after the Bank of Canada kept its key rate unchanged at one per cent and indicated it is in no rush to raise rates. C3