RED DEER LIGHTS THE NIGHT
STAGE SET FOR GREY CUP
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Red Deer Advocate MONDAY, NOV. 23, 2015
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Alberta to implement carbon tax BY THE CANADIAN PRESS EDMONTON — Alberta took what it hopes will be the first step toward shedding its status as international environmental pariah Sunday by revealing a sweeping climate change plan. The plan, the result of months of study and public input, will introduce a broad-based carbon tax that would apply across the economy. The government will move to phase out the province’s coal-fired power generation by 2030. And it will introduce a hard cap on greenhouse gas emissions for the oilsands. “This is the day we step up, at long last, to one of the world’s biggest problems — the pollution that is causing climate change,” Premier Rachel Notley said as she announced her government’s new policy
in Edmonton on Sunday. “I’m hopeful these policies will lead to a new collaborative conversation about Canada’s energy infrastructure on its merits and to a significant de-escalation of conflict worldwide about the Alberta oilsands.” Notley made the announcement on a stage packed with representatives of groups that have in the past often been at each other’s throats over this issue. But joining her Sunday were leaders of major energy companies, environmental groups and First Nations. “The framework announced today will allow the ongoing innovation technology, investment and growth in the oil and gas industry at the same time we are looking to reduce overall carbon emissions,” said Murray Edward of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.
Said Ed Whittingham of the clean energy thinktank the Pembina Institute: “I think the world needs more of this kind of leadership.” Starting in 2017, Alberta will apply a $20-a-tonne price on carbon emissions that will cover about 90 per cent of the economy, including essentials such as gasoline and home heating fuel. That price will increase to $30 the following year. That $30 will add about seven cents to the cost of a litre of gas. The total cost of the increases will be about $500 a year for an average family, the government calculates. That money — about $3 billion in 2018 — will be used in part to rebate middle and lower income families. About 60 per cent of households will have at least some part of their carbon tax bill repaid.
Please see CARBON TAX on Page A2
CHRISTMAS SHOW
Looking to connect with at-risk youth BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Some youth at-risk or those who may have already taken a wrong turn in life tend to hang out at the Red Deer Public Library, the G.H. Dawe Community Centre and the Collicutt Centre. The three locations are where two Arcadia Mobile Outreach and Family Reunificiation workers – Maritza Noriega-Cook and Terra Leslie – hope to connect with them before they become fully entrenched in homelessness. The first of its kind in the city, the youth-targeted outreach program was launched in July. It is run through McMan Youth, Family and Community Services Association. The outreach workers spent the first few months navigating the downtown streets in the hopes of building relationships and trust with the youth under the age of 24. Noriega-Cook said it has been working and relationships have been developed. There have been a few “successful” cases where they have put the supports in place to allow the youth to re-connect with family or friends and to begin the process of finding housing or a job. She said she did not have concrete numbers but there is a definite need for support. Leslie said some youth, for example, may be couch surfing which means they are not necessarily in the downtown core.
Please see YOUTH on Page A2
Photo by ASHLI BARRETT/Advocate staff
Brandt Schellenberger, 2, gets his face painted by Terry Rowland during the Red Deer Christmas Show Saturday at Westerner Park in the Parkland Pavilion. All proceeds from admission to the show went towards the Red Deer Christmas Bureau. The Christmas bureau will also be taking items for the annual Stuff a Bus campaign beginning Nov. 26-28 at Parkland Mall.
Warming shelter essential for dozens of people BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Miles Kern’s wife kicked him out. Serge Desbiens had a job working at the carnival but it didn’t work out. Low on money and nowhere to go, the two men from different walks of life now had something in common – they are homeless. At the Safe Harbour’s temporary warming shelter, the two men bump into each other. But they likely have crossed paths at People’s Place, where they both regularly claim a spot for the night. Kern, 36, said it was a “bad situation” that lead him to the streets. Obviously, Kern says, he does not want to be in this situation. He is currently trying to find a place to live. While Kern has been homeless in the past for a few months, it has never been in the winter. “I can get out of it,” said Kern, who has been homeless for about four months. “I was out of it for two years. I don’t keep coming back to it. The situation just (forced) me. As soon as I find a place, I should be good.” Desbiens, 23, said he was working for a carnival company when he lost his job in July and had no place to go. He is from Surrey, B.C. where he was also homeless but the carnival job was helping turn his life around. One day, he hopes to get a place and save up
WEATHER Snow. High -2. Low -8
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enough money so he can visit his sister and nephew in Thunder Bay, Ont. “I am trying to but it’s hard because I have a disability, ” said Desbiens. “I am trying to get paperwork done for all that so I can get housing and I can get more income.” The temporary warming shelter opened on Nov.6 on the Safe Harbour site on 53rd Street. Stacey Carmichael, Safe Harbour’s director of programs, said between 50 and 80 people pass through the doors between the opening hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. every single day. The mornings are particularly busy with the men and women arriving after spending the night in the shelters. Carmichael said the sheer volume is not surprising and expects the number to increase as the temperatures drop. They had similar numbers last year at the warming site in the Seventh Day Adventist Church in downtown Red Deer. “I have no doubt, if it hasn’t already, it will prevent someone from freezing to death,” said Carmichael. “We are grateful for that. At Safe Harbour we are always looking to get more permanent solutions and appropriate services year around and adequate housing to provide housing to all these guys.” Sunday marked National Housing Day, a day to raise awareness about housing-related issues and homelessness in Canada. Carmichael said this homeless population (mostly individuals) need a variety of housing options such as stock housing owned by a non-profit; access to pri-
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Serge Desbiens, left, and Miles Kern in the new warming Centre in Red Deer on Friday afternoon. vate rental stock and housing subsidies. “Those things help enhance the housing options,” said Carmichael. “Off the top of my head, there is a need for a couple hundred suites or (other) options.” She said there are various challenges from the low economy to inadequate capital support from governments.
Please see SHELTER on Page A2
High cost for high security Feds won’t pitch in to pay for air marshal program, leaving Air Canada to pick up the $100M tab. Story on PAGE A7
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