A6 TURKEY PRESSES ON WITH PURGE
A2
AVIATION COMMUNITY MOURNS DEATH OF FELLOW PILOT
B1
A9 B5
DOPING REPORT DAMNS RUSSIA
THE GROWN MEN WHO LOVE ‘MY LITTLE PONY’ AREN’T WHO YOU THINK THEY ARE
T U E S D A Y
J U L Y 1 9
STAMPEDE ATTENDANCE HITS 22-YEAR LOW
$1.00
2 0 1 6
www.reddeeradvocate.com
Worst downturn in decades AND ONE OF THE LONGEST: TD BANK BY THE CANADIAN PRESS
ALBERTA ECONOMY
CALGARY — A new report says Alberta’s current recession is expected to shrink the economy by more than double the average of the past four recessions. The TD Bank report released Monday said it estimates Alberta’s economy will contract 6.5 per cent over 2015 and 2016, which would widely exceed the 2.7 per cent average retreat of previous economic downturns going back to the early 1980s.
A WEEK-LONG CANOE TRIP TOOK A TURN FOR THE WORSE FOR A RED DEER MAN AFTER CONDITIONS CHANGED RAPIDLY BY MARY-ANN BARR ADVOCATE STAFF “It could have been a lot worse.” Mark Waters is recounting the story that unfolded over the weekend that saw his son Richard Water’s planned one-week canoe trip from Dickson Dam to Drumheller turn into a near-disaster. Rainfall and the fast rising of the Red Deer River brought the trip to a sudden and dramatic end for the Red Deer man. Richard, 32, had left Dickson Dam on Wednesday, his father Mark, also from Red Deer, said Monday. On Friday afternoon, Alberta Environment did issue a high-stream advisory for the river but that was upstream of Dickson Dam. Stream levels were rising but no major flooding was expected. That afternoon, as Richard got closer to Red Deer, he called his father at 5 p.m. and asked him to meet him with more ice at the canoe launch in Red Deer, located in Great West Adventure Park near the BMX track. Richard had recently become unemployed and just wanted to take a bit of a hiatus by taking the solo trip on the river. Mark met him at about 5:30 p.m. at the canoe launch and they visited for a bit before Richard jumped back in his canoe, loaded with gear. The canoe also had a nice new $550 trolling motor and battery that Mark had bought for his son a month ago. The next time Mark heard from Richard, at 5 a.m. Saturday, he was calling on his cellphone, scared, as his
The estimate came after TD tripled this year’s expected GDP decline to three per cent, after factoring in the Fort McMurray fires and a higher than expected drop in industry activity. “Based on our revised forecasts, the 2015-16 recession is likely to go down in history as one of the most severe using the GDP benchmark,” TD wrote. The 2008-09 downturn approached the current recession in severity with
a 5.5 per cent decline in GDP, but commodity prices quickly bounced back in early 2009, setting the stage for a renewed five-year period of prosperity, TD said. That isn’t expected to happen this time, though. The bank says it’s expecting a weaker rebound than normal when Alberta finally starts growing again next year, as oil and gas prices aren’t expected to climb high enough
to justify new projects. While the current downturn is leading to the worst hit on GDP, TD still says that overall the early- to mid1980s recessions were worse. “While offering cold comfort to the many residents that are struggling this year, several of the key measures (notably within the job market) are pointing to a relatively less-severe outcome than that suffered through the back-toback recessionary period in the 1980s,” TD wrote. Please see ECONOMY on Page A8
NARROW ESCAPE Photos by MARK WATERS
ABOVE: Richard Waters arrives at the BMX trail area on Friday where his father, Mark, delivered some fresh ice so Richard could continue his trip on to Drumheller. LEFT: Richard Waters went out Sunday to try and retrieve his tent and new boat motor and the 60-lb battery . . . but only the tent remained when he returned to the area. tent was being overrun by rising river water, and much of his gear, his life jacket and the canoe had been swept away. Neither knew that water was beginning to be released from Dickson Dam.
On Friday, the Red Deer River was flowing at a relatively quiet 20.3 cubic metres per second (cm/s) within the Red Deer city limits. Overnight, by early Saturday morning, things changed dramatically, and it was flowing at
103.3 cm/s. By Sunday it had nearly doubled at what was now a roaring river at 196.2 cm/s. Please see CANOE on Page A8
Parade will kick off 125th Westerner Days BY MARY-ANN BARR ADVOCATE STAFF The 125th Westerner Days parade on Wednesday morning will fittingly feature just over 125 entries. The parade marks the annual kickoff of the five-day fair, which runs through to Sunday.
One of the popular entries, a rare black-and-white team of draught horses known as the Express Employment Professionals Clydesdales, will be featured, as will 125 years of transportation and agriculture by Sunnybrook Farm Museum presentations. The Westerner Days 125th anniversary float, which has already won five
first place ribbons in Central Alberta parades, will also be on parade before an audience of about 30,000 people. Curtis Debogorski, who owns the local Express Employment franchise, said the world champion horses will help raise funds for Kid Sport Red Deer, which helps disadvantaged children participate in organized sports.
RED DEER WEATHER
INDEX
Local Today
Tonight
Wednesday
Thursday
COMMENT A4
60% Showers
60% Showers
Sunny
Sunny
CLASSIFIED B6-B7 COMICS B8 ADVICE B10
MONDAY EXTRA: 4857354 PICK 3: 106
SPORTS B1-B4 ENTERTAINMENT B5
Please see PARADE on Page A8
LOTTERIES
NEWS A2-A3, A5-A8 BUSINESS A9-A10
After the parade, the horses will be on site Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at Westerner Days fairgrounds. People will be able to take photos with one of them, and make a donation if they like, he said.
Numbers are unofficial.
22°
11°
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24°
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