The Community
Press Telling your story
Volume 112, Issue 21
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Stunning dawn vista in Flagstaff
$1 Including GST
RCMP deal with 25 collisions in 13 days Leslie Cholowsky Editor with files from Cst. Travis Norton - Killam RCMP
JOE HARTUNG PHOTO
Back-lit trees at dawn turn a Flagstaff horizon into an exotic vista. Photographer Joe Hartung often roams around taking photos before dawn to capture the special light that occurs as the sun is rising.
Auto insurance rates set to rise as NDP cap not renewed by UCP government Leslie Cholowsky Editor
The province announced recently that it has chosen not to renew the five per cent cap imposed on vehicle insurers by the NDP government in 2017. At the time, the province said that the caps were imposed on insurance companies operating in Alberta to prevent “massive proposed increases to drivers’ insurance rates.” Instead, those companies doing business in Alberta were forced to hold rates under profitability, with insurance companies paying out $1.30 on average for every dollar in premium charged due to higher claims costs. The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) released a re-
port: 2019 Facts of the Property and Casualty Insurance Industry in Canada. In it, the IBC identifies the government imposed 5 per cent cap as having the potential to cost the industry over $600 million. Since liability coverage is the only mandatory coverage required by the province, the rate cap was confined to liability insurance. Liability insurance covers damage drivers cause to other people and their property. In the intervening years, rates for collision and comprehensive coverages, which cover damages and theft of the policyholder’s vehicles, have risen, too, but have still not kept pace with the rising cost of claims. With the cap in place for mandatory coverages, some insurance companies have tightened their rules outside of the norms for some drivers, and have elected not to See INSURANCE P11
Published weekly in Killam & Sedgewick, Alberta www.thecommunitypress.com
Serving Flagstaff County and Surrounding areas for over 111 years
Killam RCMP Detachment members responded to 84 calls for service between Nov. 1 to 13. Members investigated one report of arson when a burned out vehicle was discovered in rural Flagstaff. The vehicle was examined by a special RCMP unit who found that the unit had not been registered nor reported stolen. Two complaints of assault led to charges being laid in one complaint, where a 34-year-old female victim charged a 42-year-old male. In a second complaint, the victim declined to lay charged. Killam members had three requests from other agencies for assistance during this period. Four complaints of break and enter, both residential and businesses, were investigated. A break in at a rural location south of Sedgewick is presently under investigation, as is a break in at a Forestburg business. A third complaint of a break in at Forestburg had a lack of sufficient evidence to investigate. In a fourth complaint, the complainant refused to cooperate with police, in Killam. A complaint of causing a disturbance at a Forestburg place of business was investigated by members. Two individuals had been causing fights at the establishment, but had left by the time members arrived. Other patrons were unable to identify the two subjects. Two complaints of failure to comply with conditions both resulted in RCMP laying charges. In the first instance, a 31-year-old male was charged with not staying where conditions demanded. A traffic stop initiated by a Sheriff resulted in a 36year-old with multiple warrants being arrested, and found to also be in breach of two release documents. RCMP responded to five false alarms during this period. Members were called to assist at the scene of a vehicle fire on Highway 13 near Killam. Two complaints were investigated under the Mental Health Act. In the first, members found no grounds to take action, but assured the wellbeing of the individual involved. The second instance was a notification of release from a designated facility. Police were called to a mischief complaint when a vehicle temporarily parked off a highway for a breakdown had its locks punched. The owner had already removed all valuables from the vehicle in preparation of it being towed to a repair facility. See RCMP P11 Funded by the Government of Canada