Red Deer Advocate, July 25, 2013

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Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate

NERD NO MORE

A NAME FIT FOR A KING/A7

Michael Cera has had a very good year portraying bad people

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CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER

BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM

THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013

RUSH ROCKS THE CENTRIUM

PETROCHEMICALS

Chinese firms visit region to suss out projects BY HARLEY RICHARDS ADVOCATE BUSINESS EDITOR A pair of Chinese companies are eyeing Central Alberta as a possible site for petrochemical projects. Matthew Cornall, an investment attraction officer with Central Alberta: Access Prosperity (CA:AP), said each of the privately owned companies has sent a delegation to the region: one in March and the other earlier this month. The two are unrelated. Although the projects are still at very preliminary stages, their potential impact on the local economy could be significant, said Cornall. “We’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars worth of investment.” He did not identify the companies for confidentiality reasons, but said both are interested in Alberta’s natural gas. The first would like to liquefy it for transport by rail and then ship to China. It’s looking for a 200- to 500-acre parcel of land upon which to develop the related infrastructure, said Cornall. The second company is looking at using methane from Alberta as a feedstock for its petrochemical plants in China. That would involve sourcing, processing and transporting the natural gas liquid. “There’s the potential there for it to be a sizable operation,” said Cornall. The two delegations consisted of company presidents, vice-presidents and managers, he said. The first company was referred by Calgary Economic Development, said Cornall. Its representatives spent a day in the region, with CA:AP introducing them to potential business partners and showing them existing natural gas processing operations. “They’re evaluating a bunch of their stuff back in China at the moment,” said Cornall.

Please see FIRMS on Page A2

Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff

Geddy Lee, centre, frontman for the iconic Canadian rock band Rush performs with bandmates Alex Lifeson, on guitar and Neil Peart on drums at the Centrium in Red Deer Wednesday. The concert, originally planned for the Calgary Saddledome was moved to the Centrium after flooding in Calgary. All proceeds from the show will go to the Canadian Red Cross for Flood Relief. Please see the review of the show in Friday’s Advocate.

Bashaw hosts Calgary seniors evacuated during flood BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF Forty-eight Calgary seniors who were evacuated due to flooding in their home city have found temporary accommodation in Bashaw. Thirty-seven of them are staying in a recently closed seniors lodge there. In early June, local seniors vacated Bashaw Valley Lodge, operated by The Bethany Group, and moved into the new Bashaw Meadows that includes lodge and supportive living units. Seniors from Calgary were also moved into 11 units that had not yet been filled at Bashaw Meadows. “They moved in last Wednesday and will probably be with us for another month or so. Then we’ll close the lodge again,” said Denis Beesley, president and CEO of the nonprofit Bethany Group. Alberta Municipal Affairs requested that Bethany reopen the lodge about 10 days ago. The Calgarians, who lived in the downtown independent seniors facility Trinity Place, had been staying at Am-

brose University College in Calgary. But the college had to prepare for students. “In our environment, they’re getting all their meals, linen and laundry. What we would have provided generally at the lodge,” Beesley said. “We put out a call to all staff who could help. We filled all our shifts very quickly.” Bethany has also made a 12-seat van available to the visitors. He said the lodge, owned by Camrose and Area Lodge Authority and managed by Bethany Group, was built in 1966 and required upgrading. The authority would like to sell the lodge and see it put to use. “I think there are some possibilities because it is a good building. It just doesn’t fit the needs of the seniors of today who have wheelchairs or walkers,” Beesley said. Bethany Group worked in conjunction with the lodge authority, Alberta Health Services and the Town of Bashaw to develop Bashaw Meadows to replace the lodge and provide supportive living beds. Bashaw Meadows, which is owned

by Bethany Group, received about $5.8 million from the province’s 2009/2010 Affordable Supportive Living Initiative for construction. The town donated property for the $12-million facility which has 33 lodge units, with six one-bedroom units to accommodate couples, 20 designated supportive living units and 10 units for dementia patients. A total of 25 long-term care beds were closed at Bashaw Care Centre when Bashaw Meadows opened. The care centre, built in 1963, continues to operate as a community health centre with no acute care beds. Kerry Bales, vice-president of Central Zone with AHS, said there is no definitive plan for the space. “At this point that space is just considered to be decommissioned,” Bales said. Nine staff members from the care centre went to work at Bashaw Meadows and continue to be members of Alberta Union of Provincial Employees. Other long-term care staff were redeployed within AHS.

Please see CARE on Page A2

Gay cowboys bucked off Amazing Race Canada BY MURRAY CRAWFORD ADVOCATE STAFF

Photo by ADVOCATE news services

Jamie Cumberland, left, and Pierre Cadieux were eliminated in the second episode of the Amazing Race Canada.

PLEASE RECYCLE

WEATHER

INDEX

Sun and cloud. High 20. Low 12.

Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C5,C6 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D3 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B5-B8

FORECAST ON A2

A three-hour deficit from the first episode left Central Alberta’s Amazing Race Canada contestants too far behind the pack. The two, Pierre Cadieux of Innisfail and Jamie Cumberland of Airdrie, were eliminated in the second episode of the popular reality television show. Even though the self-described gay cowboys were bounced from the competition much sooner than they had hoped, Cadieux, a general manager of creditor insurance with ATB Financial, was happy for the experience. “It was still the most rewarding, challenging and amazing thing I could have ever have done with my best friend,” said Cadieux, 38. “It was a surreal experience. I mean, how often do you get to do something really cool and put yourself in

situations and challenges that you never would be able to do otherwise.” They started the episode, a Vancouver-centric one, three hours behind. Although they never quit trying to catch up, Cadieux said it would have taken another team screwing up significantly for that to happen. “In our case we needed someone to make a crucial mistake to allow us to get back into the pack, and we fell behind,” he said. Before the show ever came to Canada, Cumberland, 47, and Cadieux were huge fans, watching all 22 seasons of the American version. Cadieux said he thinks viewers are going to fall in love with the Canadian version and the contestants, calling them amazing people. “Absolutely no regrets,” said Cadieux. “I don’t think there is any one thing you could say that failed us.”

Please see COWBOYS on Page A2

CANADA

SPORTS

PREMIERS CALL FOR PUBLIC INQUIRY

LALOR IN A LEAGUE OF HER OWN

Provincial and territorial leaders are backing calls for a national public inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls, ratcheting up the pressure on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to follow suit. A5

It should come as no surprise that Kelsey Lalor is developing into one of the top young female baseball players in the country. B5


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