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2021 tragedy spurs MLA’s support of bills to increase public safety Murder of young mother and son preventable says Jackie Lovely Jana Semeniuk Staff Reporter
In the early fall of 2021, Mchale Busch, 24, her fiance Cody McConnell and their 16-month-old son Noah moved into a Hinton apartment complex from Camrose. The family were settling into their new residence, with McConnell working in oil and gas while Busch stayed home with little Noah. After living in their new apartment for less than three weeks, Busch was on the phone Sept. 16 with her best friend, Mary Urzada when Urzada heard a knock at Busch’s door. She then reportedly heard a conversation between Busch and her next-door neighbour; a ‘little old man’, as described later by McConnell, who introduced himself to Busch and offered to remove a mess of mud that McConnell’s boots made in the building’s hallway. The ’little old man’, 55-year-old Robert Keith Major, would go on to murder Busch and her son that day, leaving Noah’s small body inside a dumpster while Busch was found mutilated and face down in Major’s apartment bath tub. The family had no idea they were living next door to a registered sex offender. Major, according to reports, had a criminal history dating back to the early 2000s and prior to the murders, sexually assaulted a toddler and was sentenced to prison for nearly four years in 2012. In July 2017 police issued a warning about Major, who was expected to be released and residing in the Edmonton area at the time. The notice stated that Major ‘poses a risk to commit a sexual offence against
women or girls while in the community’ along with an extensive list of conditions Major was required to comply with. RCMP said, according to reports, that Major had not been subject to any recognizance conditions since July 2020. Major pleaded guilty in May 2022 to two counts of first-degree murder and received an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. Camrose MLA Jackie Lovely said the crime should never have happened. “Whatever made Robert Major commit this act I don’t know, but what I do know is that he never should’ve had the chance,” Lovely said in her speech at the legislature Apr. 10 in support of Bill 11. “Noah and Mchale’s deaths were not only senseless but preventable.” Lovely has thrown her support behind Bill 11, introduced by Alberta’s minister of public safety and emergency services Mike Ellis on Mar. 13. The bill aims to create a provincial ankle bracelet monitoring program for violent and sexual offenders while also creating an independent police service to carry out police-like functions currently performed by peace officers. Ellis said in a press conference that the province simply can’t wait for more RCMP officers. “The RCMP just do not have enough human beings to police Canada, regardless of the amount of money that we give them. They're having trouble from a hiring perspective. That's a challenge, I get that, but I can't wait for them to just continue to try to figure stuff out,” he said. “(In terms of an ankle bracelet monitoring program) a request would come in via the Crown
Camrose MLA Jackie Lovely met with (L-R) RCMP Corporal Houle, Town Daysland Mayor Wayne Button and Deputy Mayor James (Butch) Robertson last week to discuss rural crime in the area in addition to Lovely sharing details around Bill 11 - legislation which will enforce an ankle bracelet monitoring program to help law enforcement monitor those released and likely to re-offend. prosecutor or maybe the defense or a combination of both. But we're setting up the system so that there can be a tool in the toolbox for them.” Lovely has also given support to the federal bill proposal ‘Noah’s Law’. Soon after his fiancé and son were murdered, McConnell joined his family, friends and conservative MPs Gerald Soroka and Blaine Calkins to create and put forward the private member’s bill called Noah’s Law; a bill to make the National Sex Offender Registry Database publicly accessible in addition to mandatory minimum sentences for those deemed high risk to reoffend with multiple convictions. Lovely said that she will be meeting with MP Soroka in the coming weeks
to discuss where the federal government is on Noah’s Law, but in the meantime said, in an op-ed, that she is happy Bill 11 has been introduced in the Alberta legislature. “While I sincerely hope that the federal government passes Noah’s Law, I am glad to say that through Bill 11, our UCP government is taking action to protect Albertans from violent and sexual offenders through an ankle bracelet electronic monitoring program,” she said. Bill 11 passed second reading on Apr. 16. According to the legislature website, the bill must endure committee of the whole, and a third reading before receiving royal assent and becoming law.