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ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION WEIGHING ITS OPTIONS PAGE C1
Red Deer Advocate WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2015
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Democracy in our hands BILL BANNING POLITICAL DONATIONS FROM CORPORATIONS, UNIONS PASSES BY THE CANADIAN PRESS EDMONTON — The flagship first bill of Alberta’s new NDP government that bans corporate and union donations to political parties has passed in the legislature. Opponents, however, say much work remains to be done to close the loopholes.
Bill 1, An Act to Renew Democracy in Alberta, passed unanimously in third reading late Monday night, and when signed into law will ban donations retroactively to June 15. “It puts the power back in the hands of Alberta citizens rather than those with the deepest pockets in terms of determining the political future of this province,” Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said Tuesday. Ganley acknowledged there was criticism of the
retroactive cutoff date, tied to when the bill was introduced in the house. But she said the NDP had signalled for months that it wanted to end the donations, and it was crucial to not give anyone unfair advantage through a last-minute rush of donations. “I think there was sufficient notice,” said Ganley. “I think it was the right way to put it through.”
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LET THE PLAY BEGIN
HIGHWAY OF TEARS
‘Somebody out there knows something’ PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR REFUSES TO GIVE UP SEARCH FOR CLUES BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Private investigator Ray Michalko is not convinced the infamous Highway of Tears cases of missing or murdered women will ever be solved. But the former North Vancouver Mountie is not giving up his search for clues that may one day lead to what happened to Red Deer’s Nicole Hoar and eight other women along Hwy 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert. Hoar, 25, vanished while hitchhiking on the remote highway west of Prince George in June 2002. Bound for Smithers, B.C., to visit her sister, Hoar was last seen in front of a gas station. This month Nicole Hoar marks the 13th anniversary of her disappearance. Police confirm her case remains as part of the RCMP’s Project E-Pana, a special task force charged with reviewing and investigating missing women in northern and central British Columbia. Seventeen of the 18 cases remain unsolved. Michalko says he’s been a thorn in the police’s side over the years. A few years ago, he was sent a letter from the RCMP that he may be charged with obstructing justice. “They are very territorial,” he said. “As far as they are concerned, I have no business doing this.” But he will continue to send them tips when he comes up with solid evidence or leads. Since 2005, Michalko has been investigating the nine missing and murdered women on his own dime. Michalko, who worked as an RCMP officer for nearly 10 years before quitting, decided to get involved because he felt he could do a better job than the police. The tips have slowed down in recent years and there has been little progress. However, Michalko believes there are still clues to be found. “In many cases, people have died since then,” he said. “I am a firm believer that somebody out there knows something.” In the early days, Michalko believed a serial killer was responsible for the all disappearances. But now he believes two or three cases may be the work of a serial killer and the majority of the women were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Michalko finds Hoar’s case particularly interesting because she went missing close to where teenager Leah Germaine’s body was found in 1994.
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WEATHER 30% showers. High 25. Low 12.
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Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Eastview Middle School Grade 6 student Austin Mitchell climbs to the top of the pyramid net structure in the new activity centre at the school on Tuesday. The new activity centre has been three years in the making and was finally erected last week by volunteers. Disc golf, tether ball, an outdoor gym, and several other apparatus are included in the site to help promote physical activity. The $200,000 project came about after some Eastview Middle School students told the school’s parent council there wasn’t enough to do on school grounds. Up until last week, only basketball and beach volley ball courts were available for students.
Mother denies abusing children BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF A Red Deer mother denied in court on Tuesday that she sexually assaulted one of her sons or regularly abused all four of her children. Taking the stand in her own defence, the 63-yearold said she had no idea why one of her sons would accuse her of climbing into his bed and sexually assaulting him between 10 and 15 times when he was between the ages of 12 and 15. He first accused her of the sexual abuse in 2004 and then stopped speaking to her, she testified in Red Deer provincial court. Asked by defence lawyer Dave Inglis if her son provided any details of the alleged abuse. “Not to me,” she answered. The former licensed practical nurse admitted she once punched her other son in the face when he was about nine years old giving him black eyes. But that was the only time something like that happened, she said. “I felt so ashamed of myself for hitting my own boy,” she said, choking back emotion. “I apologized to him many times about that.” The only punishments her two sons and two daughters received was to be paddled on the buttocks with a wooden or plastic spoon or spatula, she testified. It was part of a discipline plan that she and her husband had agreed on. The woman faces charges of sexual assault, sexual interference, assault causing bodily harm, aggravated assault and assault. The charges are in relation to
‘I FELT SO ASHAMED OF MYSELF FOR HITTING MY OWN BOY. I APOLOGIZED TO HIM MANY TIMES ABOUT THAT.’ — RED DEER MOTHER
what the Crown says was a long series of abuses during the 1980s and 1990s. They lived for most of that period on a Bentley-area farm. The accused’s identity and the identity of her children are protected by a court-ordered publication ban. The mother denied the litany of beatings described by her children during earlier testimony, including striking them in the head, dragging them by their hair and beating them on their backs and legs. One son testified about being cut with a knife and hit with a butcher knife, which she denied. “In my mind, it did not happen.” Another son’s claims in testimony earlier that day that she hit him almost daily? “Not true,” she said. The children’s father, the accused’s husband of 43 years, also took the stand and described a home where he dealt out spankings with a couple of swats on the youngster’s clothed buttocks with a spoon. A retired police officer and firefighter, he said that other than the one incident with the black eyes he didn’t see any other injuries on the children other than red marks from being spanked on the buttocks.
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Two dozen hurt in bus, tractor-trailer crash A bus collided with a tractor-trailer in eastern Ontario Tuesday, injuring nearly two dozen people. Story on PAGE A5
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