Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate
POLICE DOG SERVICES/C1
GLENN GETS THE NOD QB will face unbeaten Roughriders B4
CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
THURSDAY, AUG. 8, 2013
Railroad files for bankruptcy BY ANDY BLATCHFORD THE CANADIAN PRESS MONTREAL — The embattled railroad at the centre of the deadly Quebec train derailment has filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada and the U.S. amid a flurry of lawsuits and growing cleanup costs the company estimates will surpass $200 million. The Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway initiated proceedings Wednes-
day for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a U.S. court, while its sister firm in Canada presented a petition in Quebec Superior Court seeking relief from its creditors under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. “It has become apparent that the obligations of both companies now exceed the value of their assets, including prospective insurance recoveries, as a direct result of the tragic derailment at Lac-Megantic,” Ed Burkhardt,
LAC-MEGANTIC chairman of both companies, said in a statement. “A process under Chapter 11 and the CCAA is the best way to ensure fairness of treatment to all in these tragic circumstances.” Documents filed in U.S. court say MMA has between $50 million and $100 million in estimated assets and
between $1 million and $10 million in estimated liabilities. The bankruptcycourt filing was posted on the website of Maine’s Bangor Daily News. In Canada, court documents filed under the CCAA by Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Canada Co. state it has just under $18 million in assets. The CCAA allows companies protection while they work out ways of avoiding bankruptcy.
Please see RAILROAD on Page A2
FALLING ANGEL
ELECTRICITY
Price spikes a symptom of a broken system: MLA BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF The tripling of wholesale electricity prices between the second quarters of 2012 and 2013 shows Alberta’s system needs to be fixed, says Wildrose energy critic Joe Anglin. Anglin said while that doesn’t mean power bills will triple for most consumers, big spikes in electricity prices eventually find their way down to consumers through a variety of rates and other charges. “The government hides behind this fallacy of how costs are not passed down,” said Anglin. Even those supposedly protected by mechanisms such as the regulated rate option, which is used to smooth out pricing peaks and valleys, will be affected. The regulated rate option merely serves as a “delaying tactic” for price increases, not a cushion against higher bills. Commercial businesses that don’t qualify for rate regulating programs immediately feel the impact of wholesale price increases, he said. A recent report by the Market Surveillance Administrator (MSA) shows the average pool price soared to $123 per megawatt-hour (MWH) from $40 over the same three months a year ago. Higher demand at a time when power plants were shut down for maintenance — both planned and unplanned — and a drop in electricity available for importing led to the price increases, said the MSA. Anglin said the continuing roller coaster price ride means there’s a problem in the marketplace. “And that has caused the residential rates to start rising.” The province moved to address pricing volatility, extending the buying time on regulated rates from 45 days to 120 days. Major power players have already started incorporating those changes. Anglin said that only extends the delay time. “It doesn’t mitigate those costs. Those costs will get paid for, one way or the other.” It’s time to sit down with the industry and come up with a better solution, he said. “There’s lots of solutions out there. We can put an end to the spiking.” Energy department Mike Feenstra said wholesale prices are not the rates residents or consumers pay. “I think we need to make that very clear and I think Mr. Anglin sometimes confuses the two.” About 60 per cent of Albertans are on the regulated rate options and 40 per cent have committed to long-term contracts with power companies at set prices.
RECYCLE
Bird farm’s beaver litter leaves the lodge BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF
Photo by MYRNA PEARMAN/Freelance
Ellis Bird Farm’s baby beavers — Cutter, Flapjack, Chewy and Chippity Do Da — have finally been spotted outside their beaver lodge.
Please see RATES on Page A2
PLEASE
Photo by ASHLI BARRETT/Advocate Staff
Jenni Annicchiarico of the Red Deer Renegades tries to steal the ball from her Edmonton Angels opponent during a game at the Edgar Industrial Park North pitch on Wednesday evening. Edmonton won 4-0. Please see related story on page B4.
WEATHER
INDEX
60% showers. High 16. Low 9.
Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C5,C6 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D3 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4-B6
FORECAST ON A2
Ellis Bird Farm’s baby beavers — Cutter, Flapjack, Chewy and Chippity Do Da — have finally been spotted outside their beaver lodge. Until Sunday, the farm’s first litter from resident beavers June and Ward were only seen via the webcam inside the lodge. “They may have been out earlier under the cover of darkness. But this is the first we’ve seen of them,” said Myrna Pearman, the bird farm’s biologist and manager on Wednesday. Pearman spotted the family swimming around when she made her usual check on the pond at 6 p.m. One of the kits was swimming around with its tail sticking straight up in the air. Beavers will slap their tails on the water as a warning. This kit’s tail gently flopped instead of slapped. “It was kind of cute.” The kits, likely born mid-May, were first noticed on June 2 when mewing was heard on the webcam. They were a surprise because June and Ward have not had a family since they arrived at Ellis Bird Farm in the fall of 2010. Pearman said the kits are about twothirds the size of the adults and look healthy.
Please see BEAVERS on Page A2
CANADA
BUSINESS
CITY PREPARES VIGIL FOR SLAIN BOYS
FOREIGN WORKER RULES TIGHTENED
The two boys who police say were asphyxiated by an African rock python will be remembered at a vigil intended to provide some measure of catharsis for a grief-stricken community. A5
The Conservative government says it has further tightened the rules governing its controversial temporary foreign worker program, confirming it will charge employers $275 for each application they make. C5