The Community
Press
se o o G w o Sn stival tion di Fe
ir E n e v Sou
INS
IDE
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115 Years of Telling YOUR Story
Volume 115 Issue 40
www.thecommunitypress.com
Wednesday, April 12, 2023 s
GRUMPY GRUMPY GEESE GRUMPY
GEESE
GEESE
Late lingering snow finally easing up thanks Late lingering snow toLate warmer weather snow lingering
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JOSEF HARTUNG PHOTOS
You know how it starts... first someoneʼs ʻbeaking off,ʼ then they are showing off, then it inevitably leads to a confrontation, which in this case, likely isnʼt going to end well for the goose whoʼs trying to drop in on this pair. Returning geese are used to ice-covered ponds, but this year, a combination of snow and ice welcomed the territorial animals.
Planned Victim Services redesign by province not popular with existing rural VSUs Leslie Cholowsky Editor
Flagstaff Victim Services Unit (VSU) has served the community for a long time; helping people who are victims or crime. The unit has a board of directors, and a paid coordinator, a part-time administrative position, and then volunteer advocates who are the ones who interact with victims of crime. Based out of the Killam RCMP Detachment, Flagstaff VSU work closely with local police. But if the Province has its way, that local, individualized service will go away. The Ministry of Justice stated last fall that it had a mandate to “undertake a victims of crime engagement and changes to the financial benefits
program and service delivery model.” Back in 2020 and 2021, a review with 40 engagement sessions, with a total of 150 stakeholder groups was held. MLA’s heard there were gaps in service and supports in some areas. From these sessions, recommendations for change were made, and the province announced earlier this year how it had taken the report to create a new delivery model. The report recommends that a new, sustainable service delivery model “that reflects nuances for rural, urban, and metro communities but ensures equitable service for victims” be created. However that same recommendation recommended a zone approach for Alberta municipalities with populations fewer than 15,000; which is most of rural Alberta, and a large majority of all
municipalities in the province. Finally, the recommendation noted that these ‘delivery zones’ should align with police service delivery regions instead of municipal boundaries as much as possible. At present, there are 42 community based organizations and 73 police-based victim services units delivering services to Alberta, according to that report. Another potential troubling recommendation was to not “rely overly on volunteer advocates in place of an adequate number of paid staff.” Other recommendations had less to do with delivery models as with standards
See VICTIM SERVICES P10