OTTAWA HAD TO PLAY NICE WITH EVERYONE ON JOBS GRANT
THE 50-50 WAY Cook half a meal and round it out with prepared foods
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Spring Cool sitting operator begins PAST MONTH WAS THE COLDEST FEBRUARY IN 20 YEARS
THRONE SPEECH PROMISES NEW DEAL, RENEWED FUNDING FOR CITIES BY DEAN BENNETT THE CANADIAN PRESS EDMONTON — Premier Alison Redford is promising to deliver on a pledge to strike a new deal with Alberta’s two big cities. “Your government focuses the unique challenges faced by our two largest cities and will finalize the Calgary and Edmonton city charters,” Lt.-Gov. Don Ethell read from the speech to the throne Monday. The intent is to find a better way for the two cities to manage issues unique to each metropolis rather than falling under the one-size-fits-all parameters of the Municipal Government Act. The project, first outlined in June 2012, was delayed last year when the province had to deal with widespread flooding in Calgary and other parts of southern Alberta. The throne speech said there will be help for other municipalities as well. The government plans to renew a multibillion-dollar long-term municipal sustainability initiative. The program delivers lump sums to municipalities to spend on roads, community buildings and sports facilities. And funding for a program that grants money for public transit projects is also to be renewed. The current budget allocation for GreenTrip is $200 million. Ethell said the province will also finish overhauling the Municipal Government Act and figure out ways to solve overlapping growth in a rapidly developing province. “We know that Alberta’s success depends on all regions of the province — no matter how small — being able to meet that growth head on.”
Please see SPEECH on Page A2
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Rod Claveria of Rico’s Landscaping uses a ice scraper and an gas powered blower to remove packed snow and ice off the sidewalk outside the Belvedere Estates buildings on 32 Street in Red Deer Monday morning. “I am predicting five more days of winter,” said Claveria. “I am done with winter,” he said. BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF Good riddance February. The past month was the coldest February in 20 years, with an average mean temperature of -17.3 C. That’s a whopping 7.3C degrees colder on average than the 30-year mean of -10C, based on the average between 1971 and 2001. “That is a huge departure from normal,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Bill McMurtry. “When you see three or four degrees departure from normal, that’s significant. But when you see over seven — that’s a big number.” The last time Red Deerians had to bundle up for a colder February was in 1994, when the mean temperature was -18C. But that’s nothing compared to the coldest February on record books that go back to 1904. In 1936, the mean for the month was a “brutally cold” -27.5C, said McMurtry. According to Environment Canada’s public website, a new record low was set on Feb. 24 when the temperature sank to -33.6C. The online records date only to 1938, and it’s likely a colder day could be found going back to 1904, but McMurtry didn’t have access to that data on Monday. The reason for the extended cold snap can largely
be attributed to an upper cold low that has been sitting over Hudson’s Bay for some time. “That’s what everyone has been calling the polar vortex. It’s just a fancy word for upper low,” he said. “Any time we had a bit of a northerly or northeast wind, it would push that cold air right across the Prairies and we’d see well below normal temperatures. “That’s pretty much been the pattern for a significant portion of February.” The further east you go in the Prairies, the colder it’s been, he said. In the United States, the expression ‘polar vortex’ caught on as a description for the spells of intense cold experienced through many upper and midwest states, and even down into the south. While it’s a routine weather phenomena, it got more attention this year in the U.S. because the region got more blasts of colder air than usual, he said. The vortex specifically refers to the core where the coldest temperatures are. “They jumped on it this year, thinking it’s something new. But it’s one of the oldest known meteorological phenomena that’s out there. “It’s just been getting a lot of play because it has been colder than normal across a significant portion of central and northeastern United States.”
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Canada mulls Crimea observer mission to debunk Russia BY MIKE BLANCHFIELD THE CANADIAN PRESS
RUSSIA DRIVING AGENDA A6 CRISIS ADDS ECONOMIC RISKS A8
OTTAWA — Canada is considering taking part in a special observer mission to Ukraine’s troubled Crimea region to debunk Russian claims that people there are at risk, The Canadian Press has learned. Ukrainian ambassador Vadym Prystaiko said many governments are looking at how to get into Crimea to see the situation on the ground and to “take this pretext from the Russians,” which they are using to support their invasion of the Crimean peninsula. “We are open for anyone who wants to come to Ukraine and see for themselves,” he said in an interview Monday at the Ukrainian embassy in Ottawa. Prystaiko was speaking just as Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, told the Security Council that Russian interests faced threats
WEATHER 40% snow. High -11. Low -22.
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in the region. He read from what he said was a letter from the fleeing President Viktor Yanukovych that asked for the Russian military “to establish legitimacy, peace, law and order, stability and defending the people of Ukraine.” Prystaiko said he would like to see Canadians take part in future election observer missions as it has done so in the past, but added: “The mission to observe the tensions and Crimea (is) ... even more important than bringing people to observe the presidential election in May.” The envoy said he planned to meet Tuesday with Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird “to discuss the details.” “We are consulting with Foreign Affairs,” Prystaiko said, but stressed there’s been no decision by
Canada to participate and the matter is simply under discussion. Baird’s office had no immediate comment. Prystaiko also questioned the buildup of Russian troops across Ukraine’s northern border. “We have to confirm it, but the local governments on the Russian side are preparing the refugee camps,” he said. Prystaiko said he was grateful for the political support from Canadians “of all political parties, the government side, the opposition.” Asked about last week’s decision by the Conservative government to exclude opposition MPs from a trip to Ukraine, Prystaiko replied: “Every Canadian politician is welcome nowadays. a If anybody wants to go to Ukraine and had a plan now to help it, we will be more than happy to accommodate the ideas.”
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Flames unable to answer call of the Wild Jared Spurgeon’s power-play goal helped Minnesota beat Calgary and notch its season-high fifth straight win.
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