| Tuesday, Nov. 19 Alberta's new acute care agency launch is delayed until spring... Alberta lacks strategies to manage the condition of affordable housing facilities, according to a report by the province’s auditor general... An Edmonton man has been sentenced for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and trying to recruit another into the sex trade...
In positive news: Edmonton’s Sikh community celebrated the grand opening of its fifth community centre in the city, prompting an outpouring of food donations...
The Book of Mormon is on at the Jube today until Sunday. We chatted with Sam McLellan, who plays Elder Price and believes the show “is a very liberating experience. Initially, it takes people out of their comfort zone, but when they start laughing, and they really do laugh for the whole time, they know they’re just there for a good time.”
Thoughts on today's edition? Ideas for improvement? Email ksmall@postmedia.com.
— Kaylen Small |
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Launch of Alberta's new acute care agency delayed until spring
The launch of Alberta’s new acute care agency is being delayed until the spring, Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said Monday. The new agency was announced as part of the re-organization of the province’s health care system last November and had been slated to be established by this fall. At a news conference, LaGrange said that timeline is being pushed back, with the agency now forecast to become a legal entity in early 2025 and begin operating by April 1, 2025. “There’s a lot of work that has to be done,” LaGrange said. “We’re going to take our time and make sure that we do things in a proper manner.” The province’s fiscal year begins on April 1, meaning any new costs would be accounted for in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
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Edmonton man accused of sex trafficking given 4 1/2 years for sex assault, child luring
An Edmonton man has been sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and trying to recruit another into the sex trade. Ross Pickering was led away to begin the sentence Friday after pleading guilty to counts of sexual assault and child luring. The 55-year-old former commercial painter sat motionless in the prisoner’s box as a prosecutor read a statement from Pickering’s victim, his eyes turning to the ceiling. Pickering and his wife Anita Pickering were charged in November 2020 after an investigation by ALERT, the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team. He was initially charged with five offences, including human trafficking, advertising the sexual services of another person, procuring a person under 18, and obtaining a material benefit from trafficking a person.
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'Everybody is in a giving mood': Edmonton's Sikh community partners with food bank, opens new Gurdwara
A new community landmark and a religious celebration prompted an outpouring of food for the hungry as Edmonton’s Sikh community marked the grand opening of their fifth community centre in the city. Community members from across Edmonton donated both food and funds to address hunger and provide much-needed resources to local families, and the final tally was expected to reach tons of staple foods and in the tens of thousands of dollars. With a growing community comes growing need — and growing generosity, Sikh community leader Gursharan Buttar said last week. “This is the time, everybody is in a giving mood,” he said.
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Braid: Lithuanian hips and distant trips as desperate Albertans pay for health care
Health Minister Adriana LaGrange unveiled new health-care bodies Monday morning. Meanwhile, the crowds were already stacking up at emergency wards across the province. Average wait time at the Foothills was three hours and 29 minutes. The South Health Campus reported three hours and 40 minutes. It was worse in Edmonton. Wait times were nearly six hours at both the University of Alberta Hospital and the Misericordia. These numbers fluctuate all day, usually getting worse. They’re only an average, meaning that many people wait far longer than the posted times.
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Around the province and beyond
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Alberta falls short on strategies to manage affordable housing facility conditions: report
Alberta lacks key strategies to manage the current condition of affordable housing facilities across the province, according to a report by the province’s auditor general. On Monday, the Office of the Auditor General of Alberta tabled seven reports, including an audit on the current conditions of affordable housing facilities. The report found the Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services (SCSS) lacked information on the condition of housing facilities and a maintenance strategy and needed to improve affordable housing oversight. Auditor general Doug Wylie told Postmedia the report’s purpose was to see what housing facility conditions were and if they were meeting safety requirements, and to ensure accountability so Albertans know what the condition of those housing units are.
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From bad to worse as Edmonton Oilers embarrassed by Montreal Canadiens
It’s not the Forum, but the Bell Centre in Montreal is still a cathedral of hockey. But instead of making beautiful choir music, the Edmonton Oilers came across more like drunken karaoke singers in Monday’s ill-fated visit. They didn’t have a prayer against the Canadiens. In what was supposed to be a rebound game against the 30th place team in the NHL after Saturday’s embarrassing meltdown in Toronto, the Oilers were out of tune all night long in an even more embarrassing 3-0 defeat. Once again it was the usual suspects biting Edmonton in the backside. A costly turnover to make it 1-0. A soft goal to make it 2-0 and then an empty netter to add insult to injury as the Oilers fell to 9-8-2 on the season.
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Preview: Book of Mormon co-star draws on family background for wide-eyed, eager missionary
The Broadway musical The Book of Mormon is a phenomenon among modern American musicals. Created by Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez, it opened in 2011, spawning productions around the world that have helped it amass more than $800 million in ticket sales, making it one of the most successful musicals of all time. Its original productions are still playing in New York and London, and, when it runs at the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton from Nov. 19-24 and in Calgary from Nov. 26 through Dec. 1, it will be the show’s third appearance here in fewer than 10 years.
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Crews adjust the snow-making machines at Snow Valley ski hill in Edmonton on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. The hill's website says it expects to open for the season in late November. Photo by David Bloom/Postmedia |
Frost clings to the tall grass near Lansdowne Drive and 51a Avenue in Edmonton on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. Photo by David Bloom/Postmedia |
A rider from the Glory J Ranch walks to the quad at the University of Alberta on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, to promote the upcoming Bar None 77 concert at the Butterdome in Edmonton. Hosted by the U of A Agriculture Club, proceeds from the Nov. 23 concert will go to STARS Air Ambulance. Photo by David Bloom/Postmedia |
Riders from the Glory J Ranch visit with students at the University of Alberta quad on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, as they promote the upcoming Bar None 77 concert at the Butterdome in Edmonton. Photo by David Bloom/Postmedia |
Space aliens looking for a leader are directed to Taylor Swift. Cartoon by Vance Rodewalt |
Letters To The Editor welcome
We invite you to write letters to the editor. A maximum of 150 words is preferred. Letters must carry a first and last name, or two initials and a last name, and include an address and daytime telephone number. All letters are subject to editing. We don’t publish letters addressed to others or sent to other publications. Email: letters@edmontonjournal.com |
Tuesday's letters: Here are city budget items to cut
Sarah Hamilton wanted feedback on what budget service items are important to Edmontonians. Challenge accepted.
Debt: Stop borrowing for nice-to-have capital projects. Tax-supported debt charges are projected to increase from $178.74 million in 2022 to $275.94 million in fiscal year 2026, a 64-per-cent increase. In 2024, tax-supported debt charges are $202 million or 37.10 per cent of corporate expenditures. Neighbourhood renewal: Stop the recent scope creep. Before COVID, sidewalks and roadways were replaced with new ones with no significant changes. Now, neighbourhood renewal is over-engineered with wider sidewalks, bike lanes, bollards, planters.
Staff: Lay off or reduce the City of Edmonton’s FTE count through attrition. Some departments can be trimmed, amalgamated, or eliminated, such as Vision Zero, Environment and Climate, with its related “climate-budget” bureaucracy, and Edmonton Unlimited. Sell Blatchford brownfield redevelopment and related renewable energy utility.
Spending hours of council and administrative time to cut a measly amount from the travel budget will not fix the structural problems with the city’s finances. In these inflationary times, city residents and ratepayers are cutting back. Now, the City of Edmonton, council and related bureaucracy must step up and do their part.
Bill Wilson, Edmonton |
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