PLAYERS TO WATCH Red Deer Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter has some advice for the four skaters who were identified by Central Scouting — stay focused
SPORTS — PAGE B1
KERRY TOWLE’S LESSON IN POLITICS 101 PAGE A4
Red Deer Advocate WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 30, 2015
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Swimmers left high and dry AQUATIC CENTRE EXPECTED TO REMAIN CLOSED UNTIL THE FALL OF 2016 BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF Sylvan Lake council has taken the plunge to spend up to $3.5 million fixing its trouble-prone pool. But the bad news is the Aquatic Centre won’t be open again until the fall of 2016, only a few months ahead of the town’s new multiplex, which is expected to be ready in February 2017. The scope of the necessary repairs, and other issues such as public safety and staffing, will leave the town’s swimmers looking elsewhere for water for another year. An option to reopen the pool on a limited basis from February to April
SYLVAN LAKE
‘OUR UNDERSTANDING IS MOST PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY WANT TO GET BACK IN THE POOL. SO WE CHOSE THE OPTION THAT HAD THE FULL REPAIRS INVOLVED AND OUR STAFF WAS SAYING THE SOONEST TIME THAT CAN HAPPEN IS OCTOBER OF NEXT YEAR.’ — MAYOR SEAN MCINTYRE next year was rejected by council. The pool would have had to close again after April to allow for construction work as part of the multiplex project. Town communications officer Joanne Gaudet said lining up lifeguards
for a few months would likely have been difficult and there is no guarantee the necessary work would be done in time for an April temporary opening. Mayor Sean McIntyre said the tem-
porary option was only on a “best-case scenario” timetable and still would not have meant a full schedule. “Our understanding is most people in our community want to get back in the pool. So we chose the option that had the full repairs involved and our staff was saying the soonest time that can happen is October of next year.” McIntyre shares his community’s disappointment. “The whole situation is frustrating for me and, I’m sure, the rest of the community. There’s really no reason that a facility that was built in 2000 should be having these kinds of problems.”
Please see POOL on Page A2
LTCHS
DYEversity Relay fetes unique mix of students, staff BY MARY-ANN BARR ADVOCATE STAFF A new event at Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School will not only celebrate the school’s diversity, it could also be the beginning of a needed breakfast program for the school. The inaugural DYEversity Relay — which will include the use of powdered dye being tossed on relay participants — was expected to attract about 300 people. The idea has taken off. There will be 82 teams with 625 participants, Sandre Bevan, a vice-principal at LTCHS, said Tuesday. The relay will run on Oct. 6, all day during school hours. The action of participants being “painted” with brightly-coloured cornstarch is similar to that seen at certain sporting events. During the event, there will be music, entertainment and other activities as teams make their way around the track at the school — walking, running, in wheelchairs, whatever it takes to get around it. The dye-throwing would be in an adjacent field, not on the track. “The day is about the message not the event. The vehicle is just the DYEversity Relay,” said Bevan. She said last year she had been thinking about fun ways for the school to celebrate and promote diversity, involving as many people as possible, and the idea came to her. “It was just
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Stefan Theriault takes a hit of dye to the face courtesy of classmate Jadyn Smith Tuesday afternoon. The two Lindsay Thurber Grade 12 students were demonstrating the dye that will be used in the school’s DYEversity Relay to be held Oct. 6 at the school. More than 600 students are registered for the event. something that made sense for our school,” she said. “We have such an unbelievably unique mix of students and staff in our school, and we have so many different programs and people.” It will be one of those days when students are not a member of a particular class, rather they will be part of an event where everyone is the same, Bevan said.
The committee has sought business and community sponsorship to help cover costs, although Bevan admits this has been difficult because of the downturn in the Alberta economy. Any leftover funds will go toward starting a breakfast program at the school, she said. LTCHS has a wide range of programming, everything from the most challenged learners to its Internation-
al Baccalaureate and everything in the middle. It also has a large ESL population, a large number of international students, and French immersion, Bevan said. “We are really very fortunate to have such an incredibly diverse group of individuals in our school. … It’s the fabric of our school.”
Please see DYEVERSITY on Page A2
Human trafficking case to have preliminary hearing in April 2016 BY MURRAY CRAWFORD ADVOCATE STAFF A husband and wife who own three Gasoline Alley businesses will get a chance to hear the evidence behind the human trafficking allegations they face. Ravinder and Varinder Sidhu of Red Deer face a list of charges, including three laid under the immigration and refugee protection act. They are accused of three offences under the act including: ● Organizing the coming into Canada of one or more persons by means of
WEATHER Sunny. High 22. Low 5.
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abduction, fraud, deception or use of threat of force or coercion. ● Employing a foreign national in a capacity in which the foreign national is not authorized. ● Counsel, induce aid or abet or attempt to counsel, aid or abet any person to directly or indirectly misrepresent or withhold material facts relating to a relevant matter that induces or could induce an error. Ravinder, 46, and Varinder, 49, are the corporate directors of three Gasoline Alley businesses including Econo Lodge Inn and Suites, the Holidy Liquor Store and Winks. Defence counsel Will Willms ap-
INDEX Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business . . . . . . . B1-B3 Canada . . . . . . . . A5, C3 Classified . . . . . . D1-D3 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 Entertainment . . .C5-C6 Sports . . . . . . . . . B4-B6
peared on behalf of the Sidhus in Red Deer provincial court before Judge Gordon Deck on Tuesday. Willms elected for a trial by Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench judge and jury. He also requested a preliminary hearing before the trial. Preliminary hearings are held to test the strength of the Crown’s case to determine if it can proceed to trial. The two-day preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 18 and 19, 2016, in Red Deer provincial court. The case is being prosecuted by the special prosecutions office out of Calgary. Additionally, the Sidhus are accused of several Alberta Employment
Standards Act offences. These charges include: ● Failure to comply with a notice to provide employment records. ● Obstructing an officer in the exercise of their duty by advising employees not to co-operate and/or give false statements. ● Falsifying employment records. ● Giving false/misleading information to an investigating officer and failing to keep employment records as required. Pleas were not entered on these charges by Willms on Tuesday. mcrawford@reddeeradvocate.com
Demographic shakeup Canada’s seniors have edged out the number of children under the age of 15, according the latest population figures. Story on PAGE A5
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