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Red Deer Advocate FRIDAY, JAN. 30, 2015
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Rat found at Stettler landfill
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
BY SUSAN ZIELINSKI ADVOCATE STAFF Stettler County is on the lookout for rats after an adolescent Norway rat was trapped at Stettler Regional Landfill on the weekend. Quinton Beaumont, director of agricultural services with Stettler County, said it was the county’s first ever rat. The rat, about two months old, was 14 cm (5.5 inches) from nose to butt. Rats can grow to 17 to 25 cm (seven to 10 inches) long, not including their long tail. For the past four decades, Alberta has had a program in place to keep rats out of the province. Norway rats are extremely destructive. They contaminate food, undermine building foundations, floors, walls, wiring, sewer and water lines, and spread disease. Beaumont said a landfill employee spotted a rodent that looked larger than an average mouse on Saturday morning. The rat was caught overnight in a trap. He said the rat likely hitched a ride on a truck bringing a load to the landfill, hopefully a truck from outside the province.
Please see RAT on Page A2
Contributed photo
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
The Norway rat found at the Stettler County landfill beside a common mouse.
Nate Rehman as Mr. Darcy and Kassidee Campbell as Elizabeth Bennet on the Pride and Prejudice set at Red Deer College. See related story on page D1.
Business confidence at lowest level since 2009 BY ADVOCATE STAFF
CFIB SURVEY
Hopes that Alberta business operators might shrug off the effects of low oil prices were dashed on Thursday, when Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses released the results of its latest member survey. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business reported that business confidence in the province has tumbled to its lowest level since the 2009 recession. The optimism level of small and medium-sized businesses questioned dropped to 54.8 on a 100-point scale in January — down 11.4 points from December.
“We have gone from having the most optimistic entrepreneurs in the country to the least in just two months,” said Richard Truscott, CFIB’s Alberta director. “Clearly, big storm clouds are brewing in the minds of our province’s entrepreneurs, much of it obviously related to the recent drop in oil prices.” The January business confidence index for all of Canada was 63.5, up about a point and a half. Survey respondents from British Columbia produced the highest provincial score, at 71.7, followed by Prince Edward Island (69.8), Ontario (67.8), Nova Scotia (64.9), New Brunswick (64.1), Newfoundland
(60.3), Manitoba (57.1), Quebec (56.3), Saskatchewan (55.1) and Alberta. CFIB said the decline in Alberta was one of the largest ever recorded for the province in a month. When it comes to hiring plans over the next three months, 26 per cent of business respondents in Alberta said they expected to add full-time staff, while 17 per cent anticipated a reduction. That compares with the survey results for December, when 31 per cent of those questioned thought they’d be staffing up and 10 per cent were predicting smaller payrolls. “One silver lining in an otherwise dismal outlook among Alberta’s entrepreneurs is the relatively positive view they continue to hold in the health of their own businesses,” said Truscott.
Forty-eight per cent of respondents described the general health of their business as “good” in January — down six points from December but well above the national average. Only eight per cent considered their operations to be in a “bad” state, a one-point change from December. Truscott warned the province against boosting taxes as a way to counter its diminished energy revenues. “The absolute worst thing the Alberta government could do in these circumstances is siphon a bunch of money out of the economy through tax hikes in the next provincial budget.” CFIB says a business confidence index between 65 and 75 means the economy is growing at its potential.
School board moving ahead to develop LGBTQ policy The Red Deer Public School District board is moving ahead with developing a comprehensive policy that will offer a safe environment for sexual minorities at their schools. But one board member says he would rather see a policy that is “inclusive rather than exclusive.” On Wednesday, the school board voted six to one in favour of developing the sexual orientation and gender identity policy, which would cover lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and
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RED DEER PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT queer (LGBTQ) students and staff. School superintendant Piet Langstraat’s report to the board said research indicates that sexual gender and minority youth often encounter multiple risk factors, have fewer protective factors and experience more bullying, harassment, alienation, suicide ideation and substance abuse than do their heterosexual peers. He said in his report that the district’s policies do not adequately address the health, safety and educational needs of LGBTQ students and staff.
INDEX Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . C3,C4 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5,A6 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . D5-D7 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C7 Entertainment . . . . . . . . D1-D4 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1-B8
The district already has harassment and bullying policies. Trustee Bill Christie is in favour of a policy but believes it should include all minority groups. “Rather than a policy geared toward a certain group, I would rather have the policy speaking to ethnicity, racial, religious, physical, socio-economic, so that we say we are not going to tolerate any disrespect. “Some people can be discriminated against because of their physical appearance, some because the colour of their skin, some because of the way
they talk or the way they dress. Sexual orientation is one, yes,” Christie said. Ultimately, he said he will support the board’s decision. Christie prefers a policy like that of the Ottawa-Carleton school district, which was in the package of information the board received from Langstraat. The Ontario policy, in part, says discrimination includes “race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, culture, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed (religion), sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status, or disability.”
Please see POLICY on Page A2
Not so lucky High court won’t hear case of man who missed out on winning the lottery jackpot, by just seven seconds. Story on PAGE A5
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BY MARY-ANN BARR ADVOCATE STAFF