FRIENDS ON ICE 64 teams compete in annual ringette tourney
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Red Deer Advocate MONDAY, JAN.11, 2016
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FIRE NEAR RIMBEY
BRIAN MALLEY
Appeal adjourned until May BY MURRAY CRAWFORD ADVOCATE STAFF The appeal for a financial advisor convicted of the bombing death of a former client continues to work its way through the Appeals Court of Alberta. Brian Andrew Malley, 58, of Innisfail was convicted on Feb. 24, 2014 of the first degree murder of Victoria Shachtay, 23, also of Innisfail. Malley’s appeal was scheduled to be heard on Jan. 6 in the Calgary Court of Appeal, however it was adjourned to May 4. At this stage in the process, Malley is applying to have Brian Malley the appeal heard by a panel of three appeal court judges. The appeal was first filed in March 2015. He was sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole for 25 years, by Justice Kirk Sisson after being convicted by a jury. Malley remains in prison throughout his appeal process, as he was denied bail by the appeal court in June. Shachtay was killed opening a Christmas gift disguising a bomb.
Photo by SCOTTY AITKEN/freelance
Firefighters battle a blaze North of Rimbey on Saturday. The mobile home was completely destroyed in the fire and at least one person was taken from the scene by ambulance. No further details were available.
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Defence minister reaches out to Syrian “They don’t refugees in wake of pepper-spray attack see a lot of “IN THE LAST 24 HOURS I WAS ABLE TO VISIT A MOSQUE, A CHURCH AND A SIKH GURDWARA, ALL COMMUNITIES WHO ARE SUPPORTING AND WELCOMING REFUGEES. THAT’S THE REAL CANADIAN WAY.”
BY THE CANADIAN PRESS VANCOUVER — A prominent member of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet is reaching out to Syrian refugees after a group of newly arrived migrants were pepper sprayed at a welcome event in Vancouver. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan described Friday night’s attack as an “isolated incident” and said the Syrian refugees he met with the following day were resilient and happy to be in Canada. “In the last 24 hours I was able to visit a mosque, a church and a Sikh gurdwara, all communities who are supporting and welcoming refugees. That’s the real Canadian way,” he said on Sunday. “It’s so good to see communities rallying around after an event like that to be able to say that, ‘No, this is who we really are.”’ A crowd was gathered outside a Muslim Association of Canada centre during an event for government-sponsored Syrian refugees on Friday around 10:30 p.m. when a man on a bicycle rode by and pepper sprayed about 15 people, said Vancouver police spokesman St. Randy Fincham. Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime. Sajjan spoke with some of the Syrian refugees present for the attack during a welcome gathering in his Vancouver-area riding Saturday evening that was planned before Friday’s pepper spray incident. “They’re so happy to be able to be here in Canada,” he said, describing the event’s atmosphere as celebratory. “Because of the positive reaction that they’re getting from everywhere they go, a horrible but isolated inci-
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DOWNTURN HASN’T RESULTED IN INFLUX FOR EMPLOYMENT SERVICE COMPANIES BY MURRAY CRAWFORD ADVOCATE STAFF
The world recognizes that Canada is very welcoming to refugees, and that message will continue to resonate, said McCallum. Canada has been praised on the world stage for its pledge to take in 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of next month, and a photo of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcoming migrants at the airport was published around the world. McCallum said his government utterly condemns the pepper spraying and says Syrian refugees have no reason to feel unsafe in Canada. “I think that the experience that the vast majority of them have, of being welcomed at the airport, and given what they need, clothing and hats and boots, and large numbers of welcoming Canadians … I think that sent a very clear message,” he said in an interview Saturday. “I think that experience shared by so many of the refugees is going to easily trump this one isolated incident.”
Layoffs, downsizing and a hurting economy have dominated headlines since the price of oil dropped significantly. Local employment service companies had anticipated some increased activity in the fallout. But the expected increase of people seeking their services this fall didn’t happen, said Aaron Sheppard, managing director of Career Assistance Network in Red Deer. “Last year around January to April we started to see the layoffs and got the sense things were going to be bad,” said Sheppard. “It’s usually six months to a year when we see the huge influx. We thought we’d have a November influx, but there wasn’t a huge amount of people coming in. “It’s not that I think people aren’t unemployed, it’s that I think they’re holding on for dear life on their Employment Insurance and only accessing services at the very last moment.” Unemployment at this time last year in Red Deer was 4.5 per cent, a recent release from Statistics Canada said the current unemployment is 6.2 per cent.
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— DEFENCE MINISTER HARJIT SAJJAN dent like this can be quickly forgotten and they can get on with their life.” Tima Kurdi, a prominent member of Canada’s Syrian community, dismissed the attack as a one-off event that doesn’t reflect how the majority of Canadians view the newly arrived migrants. She said the support Canadians have shown to refugees is “unbelievable” and they shouldn’t be blamed for Friday night’s incident. “To be honest, Canadian people would not do this, the majority of them,” she said. “They are big supporters to the refugees.” Kurdi became an overnight spokeswoman for the plight of Syrian refugees after a photo of her three-year-old nephew lying dead on a Turkish beach drew global outrage and attention to the migrant crisis in the Middle East. Canada’s Immigration Minister John McCallum described Friday’s pepper spraying as an “isolated incident” that won’t tarnish the country’s migrant-friendly reputation.
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Trans-Canada highway severed in Northern Ontario Bridge failure stops traffic in both directions on Trans-Canada highway. Only alternate route is through the U.S. Story on PAGE A5
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