St. Albert Leader - Feb. 16, 2012

Photo: glenn cook, St. Albert leader

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

Little snow has Lead games on edge INDEX the

News . . . . . . . . . 3 Opinion . . . . . . . . 8 Entertainment . . . . . 16 Homes . . . . . . . 20 Health . . . . . . . 21 Business . . . . . . 24 Technology . . . . . 26 stalbertjobs.com . . . .27

COVER

Mike Edwards, games manager for the 2012 Special Olympics National Winter Games, looks skyward for signs of snow. Despite officials’ plans, a lack of the snow could throw a wrench into the event. Story, page 3.

FUN WITH NUMBERS

200 That’s how many truckloads of fake snow have had to be brought in for Winnipeg’s Festival du Voyageur snow sculpting competition. Like the Capital Region, Winnipeg has experienced an unusually mild winter so far this year. The festival begins Friday.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY FEB. 16, 1971

While under heavy questioning from the Opposition in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau sparks further controversy by allegedly uttering a rather unsavoury expression. He later insists he said, “Fuddle duddle.”

10 provinces and two territories over the course of the five-day event.

While the mild temperatures With the games set to kick off and lack of snow so far this winter on Feb. 28, CTV meteorologist have been good news for most, the Josh Classen — a St. Albert weather has organizers of the 2012 resident — said there’s not much Special Olympics National Winter hope for more snow in the longGames in St. Albert worried. range forecast.

With less than two weeks before “There’s a slight chance Sunday the opening ceremonies, and what morning that we might get some little snow the region has received snow, but that doesn’t look like it’s slowly disappearing, organizers going to be really all that heavy,” are worried there will be little left Classen said. to conduct the snowshoeing and “There’s a chance Tuesday and cross-country Wednesday of skiing events. next week we “Our top might see a priority is to little bit of snow deliver a quality move through,” competition he added, experience, “but it doesn’t Mike Edwards so we’re really look like Games manager considering all that’s really options open heavy snow to us to ensure that we deliver either. I would say we’ll probably on this promise,” said games get through to the end of next manager Mike Edwards. week without seeing significant Those options include changing amounts of snow on the ground.” the times or venues of events, or Meanwhile, though, in Jasper, possibly trucking in snow. where the alpine skiing event will Snowshoeing is set to take take place, organizers have no place at the St. Albert Rugby worries at all.

Football Club grounds, while “They’ve just got snow recently, cross-country skiing is slated for and they’ve got a fantastic base up Kingswood Park. there,” Edwards said. “The crew at The location of each of those Marmot Basin does an incredible venues, Edwards added, makes it job at preparing and making sure difficult to bring in snow-making their runs are always top-notch.” equipment to make up the Prior to joining the Special difference.

Olympics effort in St. Albert, “You need to have access to a Edwards worked at the 2010 water supply and a power supply, Winter Olympic Games in and where we need it to go, that Vancouver, where there were doesn’t exist,” he said. some of the same concerns. But, Other sports in the national he said, the two experiences are games that would not be affected quite different. by a lack of snow include floor “We don’t have the budget and hockey, figure skating, speed the resources a games the size of skating and curling. the Vancouver Olympics did,” he Over 650 athletes will represent said.

GLENN COOK St. Albert Leader

“Our top priority is to deliver a quality ... experience.”

Ring of fire

Photo: glenn cook, St. Albert leader

Danielle Verkerk of the U10 St. Albert LunaChix makes her way past a trio of St. Albert Hurricanes defenders during a round-robin game in the Stadnyk Frozen Ring outdoor ringette tournament Saturday at the Woodlands outdoor skating rink.

City may see surplus

GLENN COOK St. Albert Leader

It looks like the City of St. Albert is going to be back in the black once again this year.

Councillors got a first glimpse at the City’s year-end financial position at the Standing Committee on Finance meeting Monday evening at St. Albert Place, which shows an expected surplus of $645,000 in the 2011 fiscal year on a budget of $122 million, a variance of 0.5 per cent.

“We should be pleased that, on a $122-million budget, that we are within $645,000 — and on the right side of it,” Mayor Nolan Crouse said. “Congratulations to council for setting a tight budget,

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and to our staff for managing the costs and revenue within that.”

The surplus comes from two main sources, according to City staff: a favourable variance in insurance claims, and a favourable variance in interest income.

City policy requires any yearend operating surplus be applied toward maintaining reserve levels, one-time expenditures or the repayment of outstanding debt.

The final surplus should be known by the March 12 meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance, after City staff prepare a final reserve transfers report.

The City’s final audited financial statements for 2011 should be ready for council review in April.

GENSTAR.COM

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

YOUR COUNCIL NEXT COUNCIL MEETING

Tuesday, February 21, 3:00 p.m.

Council Chambers, St. Albert Place 5 St. Anne Street Agenda Highlights The complete agenda and agenda package are posted to www.stalbert.ca •

Recreation Master Plan Approval

•

Supplementary Property Assessment Bylaw

•

Downtown Parking Strategy

•

RV Parking on Publicly Accessible Private Property

•

Council Motion – St. Albert Trail Noise Barrier Wall

You can address Council on these or any other issues. Public appointments are heard at the beginning and end of each Council meeting. Call 780-459-1500 to register.

Council meetings are televised on SHAW TV Channel 10 from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m., webcast live and archived: stalbert.ca

SUBDIVISION & DEVELOPMENT APPEAL BOARD Wednesday, February 22, 6:00 p.m.

Council Chambers, St. Albert Place 5 St. Anne Street

ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Thursday, February 23, 6:00 p.m.

East Boardroom, Third Floor St. Albert Place, 5 St. Anne Street

CONFIDENTIAL DRUG TIP LINE

780-460-DRUG (3784) Keep St. Albert safe – provide tips about drug dealers operating in our community.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR DISCONNECT TO CONNECT ON FAMILY DAY

Be part of Family Day Unplugged! On February 20, unplug from technology and connect with yourself, your family and your community.

Log the hours you and your family spent unplugged at www.fcssaa.ab.ca. Download the form at www.stalbert.ca/familyday-unplugged and send it to Family and Community Support Services by February 22.

Presenter Brian Scott from Communitas will discuss how rainwater harvesting, biological water treatment, solar power, heat recovery and district energy are being considered for Station Pointe Greens, a new transit-oriented, infill development in Edmonton’s Fort Road area and its applicability to St. Albert.

To register, call 780-459-1642 or email planninged@st-albert.net

ST. ALBERT RCMP REGIMENTAL BALL

March 3, 2012 The Enjoy Centre, 101 Riel Drive Cocktails: 5:30; Buffet: 6:30 Tickets $100 and includes a $25 donation to St. Albert Victim Services Uniform Dress: Walking Out Order Mess Kit Formal Attire Required

For more information and a list of Family Day activities, visit www.stalbert.ca/family- For tickets: 780-458-4341 Deadline: February 18 day or call Family and Community Support Services, 780-459-1756.

Starts at 10 a.m. on February 21 and runs day and night until noon February 24.

Firefighters will be on hand collecting donations. Come support a worthwhile cause!

StAT

NO SERVICE FAMILY DAY w: p:

You are invited to meet Council Members to discuss any topic you like and hear updates on economic development, master plans, 2012–2013 priorities, animal bylaw and LRT.

FREE SPEAKER SERIES Planning Our Community Ecological Innovations February 29, 2012 | 7 p.m.

St. Albert Senior Citizens’ Club, 7 Tache Street, St. Albert

FOUNTAIN PARK RECREATION CENTRE w:

stalbert.ca/fountain-parkrecreation-centre p: 780-459-1553 Standard First Aid Recertification Sign up for the recertification exam that re-tests all skill items and provides updated information. Register today for the February 25 exam. /StA_ServusPlace /StAServusPlace

SERVUS PLACE w:

servusplace.ca 780-418-6088

Family Day Activities Enjoy a day of family fun at Servus Place.

Go for a swim, shoot some hoops or take in a workout while your kids are playing.

Open February 20 | 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

ridestat.ca 780-418-6060

There will be no transit service on Monday, February 20, 2012 due to the Family Day holiday.

ST. ALBERT - PROUD HOST CITY

COUNCIL TOWN HALL MEETING

Saturday, February 25 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Lacombe Park Clubhouse, 145 Larose Drive

/StA_Recreation /StARecreation

p:

ST. ALBERT FIRE SERVICES ROOFTOP CAMP OUT 2nd Annual Muscular Dystrophy Rooftop Campaign February 21 – 24, 2012 Station Two rooftop, 100 Boudreau Road

READY SET GO

STAY CONNECTED! • Find your favourite Family Day activity!

• Nominate your favourite Environmental Idol for the Emerald Awards.

• Find out where to slow down. A photo radar location will be posted each day at 6 a.m.

LIKE | FOLLOW | CONNECT

facebook.com/cityofstalbert | twitter.com/cityofstalbert

2012 SPECIAL OLYMPICS CANADA WINTER GAMES www.stalbert2012.ca facebook.com/stalbert2012

February 28 - March 3, 2012

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

RCMP ecstatic over new LiveScan technology

GLENN COOK St. Albert Leader

St. Albert RCMP are hoping a new tool at their disposal will help make volunteering quicker and easier.

The local detachment recently installed a LiveScan real-time identification device at their Bellerose Drive headquarters, which can electronically submit fingerprints to the RCMP’s national Fingerprinting Screening Service, dramatically cutting down on times for Criminal and Vulnerable Sector checks, which are required for people who wish to volunteer with children, the elderly or the disabled.

Before the technology was installed, these

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background checks might take anywhere from 90 to 120 days to complete, but police now hope most will get done within two weeks; in the future, the wait time could be as little as three days. “This is huge. We’ve been waiting a long time for something like this come through,� said Cpl. Laurel Kading, media liaison with the St. Albert RCMP. “Sometimes you watch on CSI and you see this kind of stuff happening and you say, ‘We need this,’� she added with a laugh. “But it takes time, and we don’t want to get a system until the bugs are worked out of it.�

Fingerprints are required for Vulnerable Sector checks when results are inconclusive.

For example, a potential volunteer may have

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the same name or date of birth as a pardoned sex offender, so fingerprints would be required to ensure the criminal record is not the volunteerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s.

Kading said the LiveScan system has been used by a few larger city police departments across Canada in the past, but St. Albert is one of about 20 different smaller pilot sites for the system in Alberta, along with Morinville. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re lucky. We really promoted trying to get St. Albert to be one [of the pilot sites] chosen,â&#x20AC;? she said.

And, with St. Albert being known as a community with a strong sense of volunteerism in schools and organizations like Scouts and Guides, Kading said she knows it will be put to good use.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you even look simply at the Special Olympics at the end of this month,â&#x20AC;? she said, referring to the 2012 Special Olympics National Winter Games that kick off Feb. 28, â&#x20AC;&#x153;there are hundreds of volunteers for that event, and those volunteers all had to be screened. With St. Albert being a community that looks to host different events, they look to have all kind of things happening throughout the year. Those things, where there are tons of volunteers, all need to be screened.â&#x20AC;?

Anyone requiring fingerprinting to complete a Vulnerable Sector check is asked to book an appointment at the St. Albert RCMP detachment by calling 780-458-4300 ext. 4555.

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

St. Albert Protestant division launches sports academies they grow up.”

Tripp added that academies like this, where academics are done in the Students in St. Albert Protestant morning and athletics in the afternoon, Schools will have a new fast-paced can be very beneficial. environment in which to learn come this “You get students who are really fall. keen and focused on, in this case, The Protestant board voted at their one sport, so I think they have a lot regular meeting last week to create a new more opportunity to have that skill Athletic Academy in two of its schools development,” she said. starting in time for the 2012-2013 “There’s lots of studies that show the academic year. more active kids are, the better they do This will include a hockey academy in academics,” Tod said. for Grades 4 to 6 at Ronald Harvey Meanwhile, Greater St. Albert Catholic Elementary School and a “recreational Schools has been running a sports academy” at W.D. Cuts Junior High academy out of several of their schools School for Grades 7 through 9. for a couple of years now, and Tripp said The principals of both it has been invaluable schools are thrilled to to watch what they are get the programs going. doing.

“We’re thrilled,” “We’ve been doing said Ronald Harvey quite a bit of research, principal Janet Tripp. looking at different “It’s come from the academies online and Mike Tod parents, come up that other academies in W.D. Cuts principal way, so we’re trying the Edmonton area as to accommodate well, and using those as their requests too. It’s been an exciting models as well,” she said. venture, and it should be really exciting A hockey academy isn’t a tough sell the next few months, getting it going.” for most boys, but Tripp hopes they’ll “This is just a real natural fit, get their fair share of girls signing up as extension or addition to what we’re well. offering already,” Cuts principal Mike “There are more girls playing hockey Tod added. “And nobody else is doing it ... We’ll take them in and treat them the way we’re doing it.” equally,” she said.

The “recreational” program at Cuts Even if the next great National Hockey will not focus on one specific sport, but League player doesn’t come out of the on a wide range, some of which they may academy, though, Tripp said it will still not get a chance to try otherwise. be a success if students are able to thrive.

“It will be a whole variety of activities “If we track the students at they kids will be exposed to, like wall improve, and move from where they are climbing, sledge hockey, scuba diving to a more skilled place, I think that’s — really unique sports,” Tod said. “It’s great,” she said. “And to maintain their not made for a one-sport kid or an elite academics. That’s number one.” athlete; it’s kids who are just interested For more information on the academy, in being exposed to a bunch of different check out www.spschools.org/athleticactivities they might want to pursue as academy.

GLENN COOK St. Albert Leader

Whoa! Right off!

Photo: glenn cook, St. Albert leader

Doug McLennan of the St. Albert Curling Club team calls his shot during the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce’s Healthy Business Challenge bonspiel on Saturday afternoon.

The rink from Johnston Builders took the A event championship.

Brent rathgeBer, MP town hall Meeting Come and discuss Bill C11, Copyright Modernization Act Featuring a distinguished panel of speakers including Dr. Jason West, Kelly Aisenstat, Greg Douglas and Doug Rutherford.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012 7:00pm - 9:00pm Forsyth Hall, St. Albert Public Library St. Albert Place 5 St. Anne Street, St. Albert Edmonton Office: #107,12222 - 137 Tel: 780.475.6906 Wednesday 9:00 – 4:30 Or by appointment Email: Brent.rathgeber.c1@parl.gc.ca

St. Albert Office: # 220, 20 Perron Street St. Albert, AB T8N 1E4 Phone: 780.459.0809 Hours: 9:00 - 4:30 M-F

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

Puck set to drop on pond hockey tourney GLENN COOK St. Albert Leader

Even if the weather gets cold, the old saying rings true: The show must go on. Or, in Keir McIntyre’s case, the game must go on.

McIntyre, a real estate agent with Sarasota Realty, is one of the main organizers behind the second annual Canadian Progress Club Pond Hockey Championship, set to take place on Saturday, March 3, at Lacombe Lake Park.

Of course, it being St. Albert on the tail end of winter, the weather could be unpredictable, but McIntyre said, like good Canadian boys and girls, the games will go on no matter how low the mercury dips.

“Last year, it was absolutely freezing; it was one of our coldest days last year,” he said. “But at least at Lacombe Park, they have an indoor shelter there as well, so all the teams hung out in there until they were out to play.”

Last year, the field consisted of only eight teams who took to the frozen lake to play three-on-three hockey with no goalies, and they raised about $2,000.

“Mayor Nolan Crouse asked us to put on a pond hockey event for the 150th anniversary of St. Albert ... and so the Progress Club decided to take that on,” he said.

This year, though, the field can expand to as many as 20 teams, and McIntyre said he expects the funds raised to rise accordingly.

“We didn’t want to start out too big [last year] ... This year, with more than doubling

O Lever as 70 ed %

the teams, we hope to raise about $5,000,” he said.

Charities supported by the local chapter of the Canadian Progress Club include Camp Warwa, Uncles and Aunts at Large and the Special Olympics. There will also be a dropoff box at Lacombe Lake Park the day of the tournament for the St. Albert Food Bank.

McIntyre added that the club also holds a Mardi Gras event and a golf tournament each year to raise money.

An active organizer, McIntyre will be out on the ice for the tournament on one of the CPC teams, although he said they haven’t started video scouting or working on line combinations.

“Some teams souped ’em up pretty good last year and brought in some ringers,” he said with a laugh. “It’s more important to manage the team, to make sure we can bring out some superstars.”

In fact, he said, the whole tournament isn’t overly competitive, with male and female participants ranging in age from 15 to 55.

“There’s timekeepers to blow the whistle to end the games, but there are no referees. ... It’s just to have some fun,” McIntyre said.

The Canadian Progress Club’s second annual Pond Hockey Championship runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 3, at Lacombe Lake Park. The cost per team is $125, which includes a minimum of four games, team jerseys, lunch and a beer gardens.

For more information or to register, email McIntyre at keir@sarasotarealty.ca.

From my family to yours, all the best during Alberta’s Family Day Main Office: #206B McLeod Avenue, Spruce Grove, AB T7X 2K5 Tel: (780) 962-6606 Fax: (780) 962-1568

Satellite Office: (by appt) #10 - 516 St. Albert Road St. Albert, AB Tel: (780) 458-1393 correspondence to the main office please

email: sprucegrovesturgeon.stalbert@assembly.ab.ca

HON. DOug HOrNer MLA

WED. WE D. GAZ OCT 12, 19, 26/ 6/11 11 – 3x 3x18 182 18 2 {p {pro roce ro cess ce ss}} ss

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

OPINION

iStAlbert

A marathon, not a sprint

Here’s what people are saying about #StAlbert on Twitter:

@Libarbarian Flower-arranging dudes raised over $14,000 for Lois Hole Hospital for Women at Beers Burgers & Bouquets @EnjoyCentre #stalbert #yeg

A

t first glance, the numbers seem pretty bad for St. Albert.

When Statistics Canada released the first of the figures from the 2011 Census last week, it looked like St. Albert was lagging behind its Capital Region neighbours. While some saw their populations grow

by Glenn Cook by 20 or 30 or 40 per cent or more compared to the last federal census in 2006, St. Albert managed to grow by only 6.4 per cent.

It seemed like a paltry number in comparison. St. Albert has always considered itself a leader in the region, and yet all we could do was look on with envy while other municipalities lapped us.

But, upon further reflection, maybe it’s not such a bad thing. After all, this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Even though St. Albert hasn’t grown at the pace that some of our neighbours have over the past five years, for long-term sustainability, we’re on the right track.

As Mayor Nolan Crouse said when asked about the figures in this week’s St. Albert Leader, there’s no industry in the city that booms and busts like other Capital Region communities have. That means we are set up for nice, steady, controlled growth, rather than alternately pushing the gas pedal to the floor and slamming on the brakes.

Some would argue that there’s no industry in the city, period. And so far, they’d be pretty much right. But with the annexed lands from 2007 reaching the end of their study phase and City of St. Albert ready to open up more lots in the very near future, that industrial development should not be far behind. Following closely behind that will be the residential development; after all, people who work in the new industries are going to need somewhere to live. And once they live here, they’ll need somewhere to shop — which will mean commercial development.

So let’s not fret and wring our hands over the latest census numbers. St. Albert may be bringing up the rear right now, but it’s better to grow in a controlled manner when we can handle it than to be caught offguard and pay dearly for it down the road.

@BlueKettleFoods Now in 7 Edmonton and Area #SaveOnFoods! #StAlbert x2, #JasperAve, #Strathcona, #Riverbend, #SherwoodPark x2!

Thanks SaveOn for the support!

EDITORIAL

@brianlabelle The Alberta Advantage = paying 3 and a half times more for power than Quebecers do. #ABLeg #PCAA #ShPk #StAlbert #YEG

Compiled by Swift Media Group swiftmedia.ca • @Swift_Media

Follow us at @stalbertleader

With you, St. Albert, there is no other

S

ince we launched the St. Albert Leader about four months ago, this space — the My City column — has seen a rotation of writers putting their thoughts on paper about a wide variety of topics.

Most of these columns, though, have had one common thread running them: the writer’s love for St. Albert. Some have mentioned its recreation facilities, while other have cited its trails or its volunteering spirit.

But just how much do they really love this city, really?

I’m ready to prove just how much. Given the time of year, I’m going to ask St. Albert to be my Valentine.

Well, yeah, I know St. Albert and I don’t spend as much time together as maybe

Glenn

COOK Leader Editor My City we should, but you know I’m busy, baby, and I spend as much time with you as I possibly can. Look, you know I’m saving up so I can get a nice little place here. Maybe we’ll get one of those nice condos over in Braeside, or a cozy little townhouse in Oakmont. It’ll be just you and me, and it’ll be great.

Am I ready to settle down?

Of course I am. And I know you are too. Neither one of us is into that nightclub scene anymore — if we ever were, really. All that loud music and those flashing neon signs? That’s just not me. And

Publisher: Rob LeLacheur rob@stalbertleader.com

Editor: Glenn Cook

glenn@stalbertleader.com

Sales Manager: Blake Bradburn blake@stalbertleader.com

I know that’s not you either, St. Albert. Frankly, I feel safe with you. I’m much happier staying in on a Saturday night, curling up and watching TV. Maybe those three and a half hours of city council that we recorded off Shaw Cable.

And you know what, sweetheart? I love your food.

I don’t tell you that enough. I know sometimes it just seems like the same old thing, burgers and fries, but that’s just because I’m tired and that’s the first thing I think of. But I know you can make Indian food and Japanese food and Greek food, and I love it all. What’s that — you’ve got Ukrainian now too? Oh wow, I can’t wait to try that.

Yeah, I’ve heard what other people have to say about you,

Delivery concerns? Email us at delivery@stalbertleader.com All claims of errors in advertisements must be received in writing by the publisher within 5 days after the first publication. Liability for errors or failure to publish is limited to the amount paid for the space occupied. The opinions expressed within publication are not necessarily those of the St. Albert Leader or RJ Lolly Media. Material published may not be copied or reproduced without the express written consent of the publisher.

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

Asia key to ag growth, future GLENN COOK St. Albert Leader

When the South Korean government re-opened its borders to Canadian beef late last month, the most relieved person in St. Albert was probably Jason Krips.

That’s because Krips, a St. Albert resident, is the assistant deputy minister of agriculture and rural development for the Alberta government, and he understands just how important the move is to the province’s agriculture industry.

“The South Korean market is a very key market for agriculture, for beef, in Alberta, and it actually has been a long time coming,” Krips said. “We’ve been shut out of that market since 2003, since BSE [bovine spongiform encephalopathy] hit. And because it’s a premium market, it’s one we really wanted to get in.”

Part of getting in, Krips added, was filing a challenge with the World Trade Organization, which he said got the Korean government to get serious negotiating.

South Korea joins Japan and China as countries that have re-opened their borders to Canadian beef following the mad cow disease scare of 2003, although there is still work to do.

“In Japan, we’re only open to under 21 months of age beef, but we’ve heard recent signaling from the Japanese government that they will now start to investigate going to under 30 months,” he said. “The 30-month age category is key for supply of beef, just the way the beef are raised.”

Still, Asia is an incredibly important and growing market for Alberta agriculture, whether it’s beef or other products.

“Within the next 20-plus years, there are only going to be six net exporters of food in the world — only six countries that produce more food than they can actually consume — and Canada is one of those six,” Krips said. “You layer that on top of the fact that we just hit, at the end of October 2011, seven billion people in the world, and by 2050 we’re going to hit nine

billion people, feeding the world is going to become increasingly important for the world economy.

“And as the world’s emerging economies of China, India and Vietnam grow, there’s going to be higher levels of dollars available, higher middle class, and in Alberta we’re really poised to take advantage of those opportunities.”

Along with that, though, comes a responsibility to ensure food safety and traceability so the mad cow scare doesn’t repeat itself.

“That’s really on the heels of China’s melamine scare they had in 2008. Since that time, we’ve really noticed the Chinese government and other Asian countries are moving for much more emphasis on food safety, on traceable products,” Krips said.

“That’s something Canada and Alberta can take pride in, that we have a really solid public assurance system on our products, from farm to plate.”

A lawyer by training, Krips at one point practised at a small firm that specialized in agricultural law before switching over to a government role about 11 years ago. He has held roles in various provincial departments, settling in agriculture for the last three and a half years.

Overall, he said the status of agriculture in Alberta is promising, even though the population continues to urbanize and not many kids grow up wanting to be farmers anymore.

“We’ve had higher commodity prices as of late, and you’ve got the growing, emerging markets that we can tap into at an increasing level,” he said. “One of the hurdles we need to [clear] on a couple of fronts are getting youth involved in agriculture, as well as making sure we have good succession planning, and that we keep people producing our foods.”

To that end, the province recently announced a new program that provides dollars to agriculture societies to get youth involved.

Plus, Krips said, advances in technology

are critical if agriculture is to evolve and stay relevant.

“I think you’re going to see increasing automation as we move forward. I mean, GPS is now a mainstay in a lot of farms, and that certainly helps efficiencies, helps the environmental footprint, helps the carbon dioxide footprint,” he said. “But you’re also going to see an increased importance in research. Something we’re hearing a lot from producer groups is the importance of investing in research, both from a public dollar perspective but also a private dollar perspective, to make sure we’re increasing our yields, increasing our efficiencies in the agriculture sector. ... That’ll really give us the ability to feed those seven to nine billion people that will be in the world.”

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

RCMP hope regimental ball worth the wait GLENN COOK St. Albert Leader

Members of the St. Albert RCMP detachment are hoping their upcoming regimental ball will be worth the wait.

The event — which will take place on Saturday, March 3, at the Enjoy Centre, and is open to the public — will be the first time local police have donned their red serge to host a ball since 2008, and will be a fundraiser for St. Albert Victim Services.

Cpl. Laurel Kading explained that regimental balls aren’t necessarily annual affairs anymore.

“A lot of detachments don’t hold regimental balls annually anymore, but it’s something that this detachment is throwing around, if it’s something we want to do,” Kading said. “But usually, in the last number of years, for the RCMP, they’ll hold regimental balls to celebrate special events or if there’s a group interested in organizing it.”

Regimental balls have always been open to the public, she added.

“Balls are community events, but one of the things we often run into is, because it’s called a ‘regimental ball,’ people assume it’s only for RCMP people,” she said.

“We’ve always found we need to make a concentrated effort to let the community know that we want you to come.”

The local RCMP also want to have people come out and recognize the work that St. Albert Victim Services does, which Kading said is invaluable to police.

“We typically as police officers have a role to play when an event occurs — we investigate the situation, gather the evidence, make arrests and present the evidence to the courts,” she said. “But often there’s not anyone who looked after the interests of the victim or their family.

So as victim services came about and came into being, over the years, I’ve seen tremendous growth in the service that is provided to the community.”

Volunteers from St. Albert Victim Services are always at the ready to console victims of violent crimes or the families of those injured or killed in accidents. They also talk with victims about the criminal justice process and coach them on what to expect if they decide to testify in court.

“For us, things can seem fairly routine as police officers, but we forget sometimes how traumatic it can be for people who live through it. It’s personal for them,” she said.

Aside from being a chance to get together with the community, Kading also noted that the regimental balls are an opportunity to share some of the Mounties’ oldest traditions and hand them down to junior officers.

“That’s part of celebrating our history. Recognizing history helps you go forward,” she said. “Some of our traditions, you can trace back into British history, because our origins do come from there. But the RCMP has become very much part of Canada’s culture, so recognizing and celebrating our traditions keeps part of our own culture alive.”

With just a couple of weeks left to go, Kading said that just under half of the 300 available tickets have been sold, and she hopes that anyone planning to come out doesn’t leave it until the last minute.

“We’re hoping it picks up,” she said.

“There are tickets available and we’re starting to get calls where people are talking about organizing a full table ... but there does come a point where we need to let the caterers know if we’ve got sufficient people to run the event.”

The St. Albert RCMP regimental ball starts with cocktails at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 3, to be followed by dinner and dancing. A formal dress code is in effect. Tickets are $100 each, with $25 from each going to St. Albert Victim Services, and can be reserved by calling Wilma at 780-458-4341 or the Victim Services office at 780-458-4353.

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

SACHS plays hockey for hope No census worries: mayor

GLENN COOK St. Albert Leader

Students at St. Albert Catholic High School are hoping to hit the ice later this month to give a local charity a big assist in their work overseas.

Preparations are underway for the school’s second annual Hockey Marathon, which will run for a total of 20 hours on Thursday, Feb. 23, and Friday, Feb. 24, at the Mission outdoor rink, just outside SACHS. All the money raised through the Hockey Marathon will go toward Roots of Change, a charity based out of St. Albert that helps provide relief to the citizens of Nicaragua.

“It’s an organization that works in Nicaragua to bring about housing, education, to eradicate poverty,” said Vanessa Peynenburg, spokesperson for the organizing committee. “Some of the people from my school, they were going to be going on a mission trip to Nicaragua over spring break, but it ended up being declined by district office because of some political instability there.

“But we still wanted to lend a hand to them and do [the Hockey Marathon] again.

Pretty much everyone involved did this last

year, so it’s a great way for us to do it again.”

Last year, a total of 80 hockey players raised $3,000 to help send a group of students on a mission to New Orleans, where they helped the ongoing cleanup efforts after hurricane Katrina hit the area in 2006.

This year, Peynenburg said they hope to double the number of players and reach a goal of $5,000. Each player must raise at least $35 in order to participate, along with their own skates, stick and helmet.

“We’ve already been getting some teams in from VJM and Fowler, I believe, and of course some from St. Albert Catholic High as well. They’re adding up,” Peynenburg said.

Playing slots are only open to students at SACHS, École Secondaire Sainte Marguerite d’Youville, Vincent J. Maloney Junior High and Richard S. Fowler Junior High.

Organizers are also planning a celebrity game for Friday at 3 p.m., and already have commitments from Mayor Nolan Crouse and Coun. Len Bracko to come out and lace up their skates.

The second annual SACHS Hockey Marathon runs from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23, and Friday, Feb. 24, at the Mission outdoor rink (35 Malmo Ave.).

GLENN COOK St. Albert Leader

While the latest federal census figures show St. Albert lagging behind some of its Capital Region counterparts in terms of growth, Mayor Nolan Crouse said he’s not too worried.

Statistics Canada released the first of the figures from the 2011 census on Wednesday, Feb. 8, showing that St. Albert had grown in population from 57,764 in 2006 to 61,466 — a jump of 6.4 per cent over that five-year period.

Other Capital Region municipalities far outpaced St. Albert’s growth rate over that same time period, including Beaumont at 48.2 per cent, Leduc at 43.1 per cent, Fort Saskatchewan at 27.4 per cent and Morinville at 26.5 per cent.

But Crouse wasn’t too worried about the figures.

“It’s not surprising because we don’t grow very aggressively, because we don’t have the residential lots available, and the annexation didn’t happen until 2007,” he said, referring to the addition of more than 1,300 hectares of land from Sturgeon County. “It’s going to take a few years before that nudges up.

“There’s no boom in our community, and there never will be,” he added. “We don’t have forest products, we’re not going to build new plants.”

Between 2006 and 2011, Spruce Grove

experienced a 33.9 per cent jump in population, going from 19,541 to 26,171 people. Mayor Stuart Houston said that much of that had to do with lower levies on developers compared to municipalities like St. Albert, which kept homes affordable for young families.

“We’ve been growing at more than six per cent each year, and the City of Spruce Grove has an attraction for young families in particular,” he said. “Our largest demographic right now is children age zero to four; that’s about 10 per cent of our entire population.

There are lots of young families moving out [there]. It’s about affordability and a safe community.”

With St. Albert refocusing its efforts on economic development and bringing in light industrial companies, Crouse said St. Albert is on a good track, where the industrial development will bring more people to live here, which in turn will drive commercial development.

Houston agreed, saying that’s the road Spruce Grove has taken, and it has worked well for them.

“We’ve had over $660 million in development over the last five years in Spruce Grove, and we’ve got some major commercial developments that are happening ... We’ve worked with the development community on how to make those things happen,” he said.

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

RCMP drug line up and running GLENN COOK St. Albert Leader

The key to snuffing out the drug trade in St. Albert may now be right at residents’ fingertips.

The St. Albert RCMP detachment’s drug unit recently introduced a new telephone hotline dedicated to collecting tips on drug dealers operating within the community. Residents noting any suspicious, possibly drugrelated activity can call and leave a voice mail message — anonymously or not — that will be picked up by drug unit members.

“We often hear from the community that they’re not sure if they should be calling things in, they’re not sure if it’s important information.

And sometimes they don’t want to call into our formal police line,” said Cpl. Laurel Kading, media liaison with the St. Albert RCMP. “We were looking for, is there some way they could give the information, and an officer could review it? ...

[Drug unit officers] can screen and know fairly quickly if it’s

important information they need to act on right away or not.”

Kading added that it’s not necessarily that St. Albert has been seeing more drug trafficking activity lately.

“I wouldn’t say it’s growing, but as a community, there’s less tolerance for it,” she said.

“And, as police, we want to be more proactive. We don’t want to wait until there’s an issue.

Drugs are, unfortunately, part of society nowadays. So do we want to sit back and wait until we hear or see ourselves that a problem has developed? Or do we want to work with the community to nip things if it’s starting?”

While the option to remain anonymous is there, Kading said that leaving a name and return phone number is encouraged in case officers need to get more information from callers.

RCMP also stress that the new hotline is not meant to replace the detachment’s main complaint line or emergency lines, which should still be called if immediate attention is needed.

The new drug tip line is 780-460-DRUG (3784).

Give ’em the boot

Photo: glenn cook, St. Albert leader

St. Albert Fire Services members (L-R) Hugo Leblanc, Steve Gillingham, Greg Harvey and Adam Colameco kicked off the department’s fundraising campaign for Muscular Dystrophy Canada with a boot drive Saturday at the Inglewood Town Centre Safeway. Firefighters will also be serving dinner at Eastside Mario’s tonight (Thursday) and camping out on the roof of Fire Hall No. 2 on Boudreau Road starting Tuesday to raise money.

Province expands role of pharmacists JACKIE L. LARSON Sun Media News Services

Pharmacy services are being expanded in Alberta, giving residents 1,000 more places to get their medications renewed.

“Essentially, we are opening 1,000 new locations to get prescriptions renewed, which will provide Albertans

with more access, more options and more convenience,” said Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne.

“This initiative also supports physicians by freeing up time to see more patients, especially those with complex health needs.”

Other drug changes coming July 1 include a reduction in the price the government pays for generic prescription drugs and reducing consumers’ out-ofpocket costs for generic drugs.

“Alberta’s pharmacists are uniquely placed in the system, particularly in rural areas, to

help address the many challenges associated with drug therapy,” said Dr. James Kehrer, dean of the faculty of pharmacy at the University of Alberta.

“I am confident that today’s announcement will help pharmacists provide a more supportive and accessible continuum of primary health care.”

Funding for the remote access grant and other expanded services will come from savings achieved as a result of the new lower generic drug prices, Horne said.

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

Locally Owned & Operated

Photo: PERRY MAH, Sun Media News Services

Premier Alison Redford hugs Finance Minister Ron Liepert after the budget speech at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton on Thursday, Feb. 9.

Big spending, no tax hikes: PCs JACKIE L. LARSON Sun Media News Services

Buoyed by a bitumen-fueled economy, revenues are up, and spending’s even higher — but Alberta’s tax rates will not increase.

That’s the nutshell for the provincial 2012-2013 budget, which was delivered on Thursday, Feb. 9.

Alberta Finance Minister Ron Liepert sees the province “poised to return to surpluses” with numbers that invest in people, replenish savings and maintain the lowest overall tax structure in Canada.

The budget projects a deficit of $886 million in 2012-2013, with the province out of the red by almost $1 billion the following year and a surplus of over $5 billion within two budget years.

With forecast revenues of $40.3 billion (that’s up 4.5 per cent) and expenses of $41.1 billion (up about three per cent), the numbers aren’t balanced — but they’re getting closer.

“We can afford to spend this much, and we will be disciplined enough to spend no more,” said Liepert, attributing the increase to Albertan-advised priorities of health, education and social supports.

An operation budget increase of almost seven per cent figures into a budget with about 75 per cent allocated to core programs in those areas.

Spending on Alberta Health Services rises six per cent. There will be $267 million to support new facilities, particularly at the South Calgary Health Campus and Edmonton Clinic South.

The Human Services budget is $2.5 billion.

“When you dig into these numbers, you see some very real and positive outcomes for Albertans,” said Liepert.

The average Albertan parent stands to get big help with daycare. Currently, a single mother would have to make less than $35,000 a year to receive benefits. That ceiling is raised to $50,000, and her benefits are way up from $132 to $414.

Assured Income for the Severely

Handicapped (AISH) clients get a $400 increase in maximum monthly benefits by April, taking them from over $1,000 to about $1,500. Their employment exemptions will double, allowing them to earn twice the extra income. Income support benefits will increase by about five per cent for the 34,000 households with Albertans either training or looking for work or unable to work.

“At the end of the day, these funding increases will make a real difference in the lives of some of our most vulnerable citizens,” Liepert said.

A new “front door” to the health system — Family Care Clinics — and other supports primary care and addictions and mental health programs will receive $100 million in each of the next three years. There’s $16.5 billion earmarked for public infrastructure over three years.

Funding for education and municipalities is put on a three-year commitment to help institutions plan ahead.

Alberta Treasury Board president and Deputy Premier Doug Horner put the budget in a 10-year context, the foundation to the “fiscal framework” that will be subject to zero-based budgeting should Bill 1 pass.

Research in agriculture, energy and the environment will gain some funding and tax incentives.

The good news in the picture is Alberta’s relatively solid economic footing, with almost four per cent growth predicted for 2012, almost double the expected rate for Canada and the U.S. According to provincial numbers, Alberta has the nation’s best rates for employment and wage rates, a strong demand for the province’s oil, high prices for agriculture products and business investment gains.

A projected return to a balanced budget by 2013-2014 would allow the province to restock its piggy bank, the Sustainability Fund, which would increase to $4.8 billion by the end of that fiscal year, if everything goes according to the three-year business plan.

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

FEBRUARY 19 & 20

Play Together Stay Together

Free Park and Ride

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15

Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

FEBRUARY 19 & 20

Play Together Stay Together You are invited to participate in a fun and interactive festival that cultivates families and community spirit while revitalizing your winter spirit. Take a look at some of the amazing events going on in our great city.

Along with enjoying the many activities, the community can get involved by volunteering.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19

Come in Out of the Cold: Tropical Day Presented by the St. Albert Library Activities: build your own tropical island, join other families to play an assortment of family board and card games throughout the Library, and experience the power of video games on the big screen with surround sound with Wii and Xbox 360 games.

1:30 to 4:30pm

Family Craft Workshops, St. Albert Place Lobby Build your own Story House Time: 1:30 & 2:30pm

Interactive Story House Exhibit, St. Albert Place Lobby Artist Samantha Williams Activities: Story House Building demonstrations and write a story.

Time: 1:00 to 4:00pm

Interactive Story House Exhibit, St. Albert Place Lobby Artist Samantha Williams Activities: Story House Building demonstrations and story writing Time: 1:00 to 4:00pm

Musical Entertainment, St. Albert Place Lobby Presented by Blue Harvest Promotions Come out and listen to young St. Albert talent.

Time: 1 to 4:00pm Family Fun Night at Grosvenor Outdoor Rink Presented by the Spirit of St. Albert Activities: tobogganing, ice skating, shinny hockey, snowshoeing, milk jug curling, fire pits, FREE hot dogs, hot chocolate and marshmallows and entertainer Reign of Fire!

Food Bank will be on location, please bring non-perishable food items.

Time: 6:00 to 8:00pm

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20

Lacombe Lake 1:00 to 4:00pm Activities: ice skating, shinny hockey, entertainment, horse drawn wagon rides, milk jug curling, human curling and much, much more.

Special Olympics Canada Winter Games will be onsite handing out free hot chocolate, tattoos, and providing snowshoeing.

L’Association canadienne- francaise de L’Alberta, ACFA, will be onsite providing french entertainment and the Maple Sugar Shack free to all participants.

Check out the Warming Tent 1:00 to 4:00pm Activity: Winter Nature craft. Sessions will run every 20 mins.

Family Craft Workshop, St. Albert Place Lobby Build your own Story House Time: 2:00pm Heritage Lakes Community Association Activities: Sleigh rides, smooshing boarding, hockey shoot, snowshoeing, milk jug curling, target toss, human dog sledding, Free S’mores and hot chocolate and much, much more.

Time: 1:00 to 4:00pm, Ecole La Mission, 46 Heritage Drive Park N Ride - FREE Park N Ride will be available on Monday Feb 20 as parking at Lacombe Park Lake and area is limited. Park N Ride will go and from St. Albert Exchange to Lacombe Park Lake.

Parking is also limited at Ecole La Mission for the Heritage lakes Community Association Family Day activities. Park N Ride will be available to and from Village Transit Station to Ecole La Mission.

St. Albert Exchange: 12:45 to 4:15pm Leaving every 30 mins.

Last bus leaves Lacombe Park at 4:15pm.

Village Transit Station: 12:45 to 4:00pm Leaving every 30 mins.

Last bus leaves Ecole La Mission at 4:00pm.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

There are a number of ways to join in the fun, but you can’t beat volunteering for the Family Day Winter Festival! Its a great way to be apart of cultivating our community spirit. It is a great way to meet new people, beat the winter blues, and to share your skills or build new ones. We have been busy planning a community celebration that we guarantee will be a fun, interactive, “free” event for the citizens of St. Albert. We expect upwards of 2000 people in attendance. We can’t plan an event of this magnitude, without Volunteers.

Volunteer opportunities include everything from event planning to children’s activities and site set up. You can help us by being a part of this exciting festival!

For Information: Micah Seon-King Email: mseonking@st-albert.net Phone: 780.459.1716

16

Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

ENTERTAINMENT

Local author fights back GLENN COOK St. Albert Leader

Gisele Jubinville can remember the moment the light bulb went on.

Jubinville, who still lives in St. Albert, had sold her invention to an American company for more than $1 million in 1995. She and her husband were living well — except for the fact that she had gambled about $400,000 of that fortune away on video lottery terminals (VLTs).

Her blissful ignorance ended early one morning in 1999.

“When it really, really hit me ... [was] I had gone to a bar at 9:50 a.m., in front of a bar waiting for it to open,” she said. “I don’t even drink, and I had never been to a bar by myself. But it’s 9:50 a.m. and I’m waiting for the manager to open up so that I can get the same machine I was playing the night before because I had lost so much money; this is a standard thing for regular players.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, what the hell am I doing?’ Of course, they were way worse words than that. But it takes a long time for a person to admit that to themselves, that they’re addicted.”

After that epiphany, Jubinville went on to do her own research into the business of VLTs and — shocked by what she found — turned that research into her new book, Dismissed: How One Woman’s Intuition Ended Her Addiction and Exposed a Government Cover-up. Jubinville will officially launch the book on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. at the St.

Albert United Church (20 Green Grove Dr.).

When she deposited that million-dollar cheque, Jubinville said she had “more time on my hands, and I’m not one to sit idle,” so, having played poker most of her life, she filled the time by heading to the casino.

“God had a plan, and my addiction was part of that plan.”

Gisele Jubinville Author “When I went there, you had to wait to get on [a table], and sitting and doing nothing doesn’t work for me, so that’s how I started playing the machines,” she said.

“At the beginning, I was going maybe once every couple of weeks or something. And then it quickly mushroomed to a couple times a week, then more than that.

Looking back, within a year, I was certainly no longer playing poker when I’d go; I was strictly playing machines.”

For the next three years after that fateful morning, Jubinville struggled to keep her addiction in check, but also used her inquisitive nature and began to arm herself with knowledge about VLTs and addictions — and perhaps a little bit of information she wasn’t supposed to have courtesy of the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission.

“I had printed one of their annual reports ... so I was kind of

studying it, and there were some big figures there. I thought, ‘Man, it’s hard to believe Albertans would have spent that much money on machines.’ It was unbelievable to me,” Jubinville said. “I phoned and said, ‘Would you happen to have the actual amount of money that was put into the machines in one year?’

And she said, ‘Oh, I happen to have that here.’ She took a minute, then gave them to me. And as I’m talking to her, she’s giving me the figures, and they don’t match.

They’re way different.

“I hung up, looked at it again, then phoned her back and asked, ‘How come those are so different than what you guys have on your annual reports?’ And she said, ‘I actually don’t know that, unless’ — I could tell she was getting nervous — ‘unless I gave you figures that were meant for internal use only.’”

Jubinville also read research papers and found Internet videos that talked about the methodology of VLTs and the psychology of reinforcement, which finally quashed her addiction.

Now that she had this information, the next logical step was to write it down. It was a daunting task — not just because she was taking on a provincial government, but mostly because of the personal wounds the process re-opened.

“When you’ve been to the pit of hell that I’ve been to, through the utmost despair that I’ve been through, when you’ve lost so much — I had lost my dignity, my money, my marriage just about —

Photo: GLENN COOK, St. Albert Leader

Local author Gisele Jubinville signs a copy of her book Dismissed at the St. Albert Chapters location on Saturday afternoon.

I don’t know what else I can lose,” she said.

But it was worth it, as two MLAs — St. Albert Progressive Conservative Ken Allred and Edmonton-Gold Bar Liberal Hugh MacDonald — read her manuscript and immediately took up her cause, pressuring the AGLC to release financial information and trying to ensure any coverups in the organization are exposed.

As she looks back on her ordeal, Jubinville often smiles and jokes.

She said that having a good sense of humour about what happened is essential to keeping her head together.

“I truly, 100 per cent believe in the power of thought ... Sometimes

I have to remind myself to bring a sense of humour, because this is very serious stuff,” she said.

Even though her book is now on bookstore shelves, it is not the end of the journey for Jubinville. She knows there is still a lot of work to do.

“I call on the government to be open and transparent,” she said.

“God had a plan,” she added, “and my addiction was part of that plan.”

Dismissed is available at the Bookstore on Perron and the Chapters location in St. Albert.

You can also download the first three chapters for free off her publisher’s website at www. adigibooks.com.

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

Musée opens book on city’s Slavic history

GLENN COOK St. Albert Leader

Mention “St. Albert” and “history” in the same breath and most people’s thoughts turn to the Oblate Missionaries, the Grey Nuns, French-Canadian settlers and the Métis people.

But the Musée Heritage Museum is hoping to add Polish, Russian and Ukrainian immigrants to the conversation with their latest exhibit.

Entitled Slavic St. Albert, the exhibit aims to shine a light on the contributions and influence members of those three ethnic groups had on St. Albert starting in the early 20th century and continuing through to today.

“Many of these early Polish and Ukrainian immigrants came in the early 20th century, and that’s a story we haven’t told,” curator Joanne White said. “We talk about the francophones and the Métis, but this is a different view of the time.”

Much of the research for this exhibit was done by Michal Mlynarz, a researcher who was temporarily with the museum’s staff about a year ago.

Pretty much by himself, Mlynarz put together about 250

Photo: GLENN COOK, St. Albert Leader

Musée Heritage Museum curator Joanne White hangs a poster written in Ukrainian advertising Canadian Pacific Railway boat voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, which is part of a new exhibit that opened Tuesday. pages of research on Slavic families in St. Albert. But White said the amount of history associated with these cultures wasn’t surprising; it was just a matter of compiling it and distilling it down into one exhibit, where she often takes one family or one person to represent a larger group and the struggles they faced.

“Regardless of who it is,

everyone’s got history,” she said.

“There are some amazing stories, particularly regarding life in Poland and military strife and some of the challenges people faced just to get here.”

Some of the first immigrants from this part of the country were Catholic priests, including Brother Anthony Kowalczyk. That influence is still felt today, as the

priests at both the St. Albert Parish and the Holy Family Parish are of Polish descent.

The first recorded Slavic immigrants to the area, White said, were Marie Wolniewicz and her mother. Marie would go on to become a schoolteacher in St. Albert.

Then there is the story of Marie and Alexander Romanko, who

White said met in Europe before the Second World War, then met up again in Canada after the war and settled in St. Albert, becoming prominent figures in the business community, even running the Bruin Inn for several years.

The exhibit uses not only words but many interesting artifacts to tell the stories of these immigrants, and many of those were borrowed from families — something for which White is very grateful.

“Without them and their information and their cooperation in the research project, we really wouldn’t have anything,” she said. “It was through them that all of this came about.”

Some of the artifacts include a poster in Ukrainian advertising Canadian Pacific Railway ship travel to Canada, handmade carvings and clothing, and even some mementos from the Polish Solidarity movement of the 1980s.

Slavic St. Albert opened on Tuesday and runs until May 19 at the Musée Heritage Museum, located in St. Albert Place (5 St. Anne St.). There is an opening reception on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 7 p.m. Call 780-459-1528 or email museum@artsheritage.ca for more information.

Tributes pour in for Houston at Grammys DARRYL STERDAN Sun Media News Services

The night could have been about Adele. Or Foo Fighters. Or even Kanye West. But in the end, it was about Whitney Houston.

The day after her untimely death at 48 in a Beverly Hills hotel room, the troubled diva featured in the 54th Grammy Awards in a way she hadn’t done in life for years.

“Whitney, we will always love you,” host LL Cool J told the Staples Center audience moments after showing a clip of Houston belting out her crowning achievement “I Will Always Love You.” “And later tonight, we will remember you the best way we know how: With a song.”

That song — Jennifer Hudson’s captivating piano-ballad version of “I Will Always Love You” — was tasteful and magnificent. And just one of many tributes paid to Houston.

“Whitney Houston is the first voice and memory I think I have of music,” said Canadian R&B singer Melanie

Fiona, who won her first two Grammys during the pre-telecast awards. “My mom used to play her for me to fall asleep in the crib. And she was the first song I ever sang ... ‘The Greatest Love of All.’ It’s very emotional for me.”

Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt also praised Houston during the event, and backstage.

But as LL also pointed out, the Grammys are also a celebration. And between the performances and the awards, there was plenty of that to go around too. Foo Fighters, West and Adele were the big winners, dominating the major awards during one of the more memorable Grammy shows in recent years. Some highlights: Foo Fighters, former Nirvana member Dave Grohl and his bandmates were the big winner in the early going, taking five Grammys. Their CD Wasting Light was named best rock album.

“We made this one in my garage with some microphones and a tape machine,” Grohl said of Wasting Light. “This means a lot because it shows the human element of making music is what’s

important ... It’s not about what goes on in a computer.”

The song “White Limo” earned the hard rock/metal performance prize.

“Walk” took the rock song and rock performance trophies. And their documentary Back and Forth grabbed the long-form video honours.

Everybody’s favourite jilted songbird showed that living well truly is the best revenge. The 23-year-old phenom was rolling in Grammys, capturing four trophies with her sophomore breakup album 21, 2011’s best-selling disc.

“Rolling in the Deep” earned song of the year and short-form video honours, while 21 took pop vocal album and “Someone Like You” grabbed pop solo performance.

“I’m getting emotional already,” the glamorous-looking vocalist said as she accepted her first award.

Adele also turned in her first public performance since career-threatening throat surgery in November, thrilling the audience and winning a standing ovation with her stunning, full-throttle version of “Rolling in the Deep.”

Photo: Sun Media News Services

Jennifer Hudson performs “I Will Always Love You” in tribute to Whitney Houston at Sunday’s Grammy Awards.

18

Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

Music in Marianas Trench singer’s blood JANE STEVENSON Sun Media News Services

It would have been a miracle if Marianas Trench lead singer Josh Ramsay hadn’t gone into music.

His father, Miles Ramsay, was a jingle writer-producer and one

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of the founders of Vancouver’s legendary Little Mountain Sound Studios — home to such talented producers as Bob Rock and Bruce Fairbairn, who worked on albums by the likes of Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Metallica, Bryan Adams, and Mötley Crüe.

Eventually it was sold in the mid-’90s and divided into a rehearsal space and The Factory studio. The latter has been closed since last year, but Ramsay has a master plan.

“I would like to buy it back and restore it and get it back to what it was,” said Ramsay, 26, down the line from Vancouver before his pop-punk outfit begin a crossCanada arena tour Thursday night opening for Montreal band Simple Plan.

“The cool thing is that all that magic is still there. You just need to remove a couple of things to get back to it.”

Ramsay says Marianas Trench’s latest and third album, 2011’s Ever After, was inspired by the common modern fairytale theme of “a character from the real

Photo: Sun Media News Services

Vancouver pop-punk band Marianas Trench — (L-R) Mike Ayley, Josh Ramsay and Matt Webb — are heading across Canada with Montreal’s Simple Plan. world ending up in a fantastical place and then loving it and then trying how to figure out how to get home.”

“I guess that kind of spoke to me as someone who’s been like really ambitious my whole life and looking for things,” said Ramsay.

“It sort of appealed to my ‘grass is always greener’ mentality, I guess, and then I was also thinking, too, that it would be cool to have an album that had a story from start to finish.”

Ever After, which is one continuous piece of music with

no breaks between songs and has an accompanying storybook in the liner notes, received a Juno Award nomination this week for Pop Album of the Year. It also gave the Vancouver band their highest album chart debut late last year at No. 8 in Canada, and went gold its first week.

The latest tour, which Ramsay hopes will be followed by an actual Ever After trek featuring the album from start to finish, is ambitious for a number of reasons.

“It’s the first time we’ve played some of these songs and our new material from the new album is very ambitious in and of itself so it’s a lot of work that way,” he said. “Like the singing is very difficult for me and the other band members and just the songs are much more difficult. Plus this is the first tour where we’re doing a little bit more complex staging with props and technical things.”

Still, Ramsay promises he won’t be in any goofy suits.

“There’s no suits of armour on me. (But) there’s a lot of fairytale ambiance for sure.”

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

HOMES

Keeping condos safe & sound

FRANK FOURCHALK Sun Media News Services

Security issues can be complex.

Take a situation I ran into a few months ago when a condominium requested help to deal with an escalating problem: The owner of one of the units was suspected of carrying on an illegal business from his apartment.

Although not a common problem, it does creep up from time to time.

The residents of the building were up in arms because there was a steady flow of undesirable traffic coming and going from the apartment at all times of the day and night.

Seedy individuals wandering through the hallways of this luxury condominium were making the residents of the building feel unsafe in their own homes. They feared retaliation, both physical assaults and verbal abuse.

As a result, the residents were turning a blind eye to events that could have potentially been hazardous to themselves or somebody else.

The police couldn’t intervene because there wasn’t any proof of illegal activity taking place. The council couldn’t prove otherwise, either. The condominium strata or board couldn’t do anything because the owner had paid all his strata fees and certainly wasn’t breaking any building bylaws.

But was this, in fact, a clear case of drug addicts or dealers walking through the building at all hours of the day or night? Were these gang members or a ring of thieves conducting their business in the problem owner’s apartment? Maybe the owner of the apartment was legit and just happened to have a lot of seedy looking friends who preferred to visit at strange hours of the day and night.

Whatever the case, it was my job to help restore safety and security to the residents of the building. After all, it’s everybody’s right to feel safe and secure in the comfort of home.

This situation was clearly a case of “unguarded buildings invite unwanted activities.”

So the only recommendation I thought would be effective was to hire an around-theclock security guard. A human presence is what this condominium needed.

Having somebody watching and documenting all activity taking place inside and outside the building would help move the problem elsewhere.

In order for this recommendation to be successful, the security guard would need to document dates and times as well as descriptions of who was entering and exiting the building. When hiring a watchman, make sure the candidate has a welcoming presence and mature

judgment. The success of this strategy hinges on this selection process.

Cameras can also provide a great layer of security, but in this particular case they can’t offer the human presence factor. I know there are many people who feel hiring a 24-hour security guard doesn’t warrant the expense.

Keep in mind, it depends on the seriousness of the situation and the effects it’s having on the building residents. When building owners feel vulnerable, paranoia can set in.

Owners become somewhat housebound because they are frightened to leave their apartment.

Taking out the garbage or visiting their storage room can be a stressful experience.

Nobody’s quality of life should be affected by another resident, whether an owner or not. One way to offset the expense of a security guard is to raise the maintenance fees, even if only on a temporary

Photo: Sun Media News Services

Keeping a condominium complex safe and secure can be a little trickier than doing so for a single family home. basis, until the security issue is resolved.

If your condominium board can prove this particular owner is conducting illegal business from the building, you may be able to charge back the cost of the security guard to the irresponsible owner.

One thing’s for sure: nobody wants to live in a

building where there’s blatant criminal activity taking place. And unfortunately word travels fast. Once a building has been branded as housing criminal activity, it can have a negative effect on property values.

So don’t let your home become a stop for criminal activity. Take action and move those undesirables out.

Fixed or variable mortgage a big decision for homeowners

DARREN SHARKO Sun Media News Services

One of the biggest decisions many Canadian homeowners face

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is whether to choose a fixed or variable mortgage rate. In recent years, interest rates have been historically low, but the possibility of rate fluctuations causes many homeowners to question whether it’s best to “lock in” a fixed rate or to choose a variable rate. Here is some information about each option to help you make the right choice.

The case for fixed rates: A fixed mortgage offers you the security of locking in your interest rate for the term of your mortgage. This means that you will know exactly how much principal and interest you’ll be paying on each regular mortgage

payment throughout the term you select.

Because your regular mortgage payments won’t change, you enjoy a level of certainty that could help you sleep at night. If interest rates rise, you may pat yourself on the back for your foresight. However, the down side of a fixed mortgage rate is the lack of flexibility to take advantage of any rate decreases that could reduce your interest costs. A second consideration is that you typically pay a slight interest rate premium for this added security.

The case for variable rate mortgages: Many Canadian

economic experts believe that a variable rate that “floats” with the prime rate will offer the greatest advantage, when it comes it longterm savings on interest costs.

Typically, variable rates include some of the lowest rates available and have discounts below the prime rate. But the downside of a variable rate mortgage is the element of uncertainty, due to possible increases in mortgage rates.

With a variable rate mortgage, your regular mortgage payment can also be fixed. However, the amount of your mortgage payment that goes toward principal and interest will

vary with changes in the prime rate.

When rates go down, an increased amount of your payment goes to pay the principal. When rates go up, you’ll see an increase in the portion that goes to paying the interest.

Although variable rate mortgage payments are generally set for a certain term, your monthly payments could increase if the prime rate went up enough that your regular payment no longer covered the interest portion of your regular payment. If your mortgage payments jumped significantly, would you have the cash flow to manage it?

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

HEALTH

Court hears AIDS case Baby boy tips scale at 15.5 lbs

KIRSTY KIRKUP St. Albert Leader

Not disclosing AIDS to a sexual partner is still a death sentence, argued lawyers defending the current criminalization at Canada’s top court Wednesday.

Two HIV-positive people who did not disclose their medical condition to their sexual partners have taken their case to the Supreme Court to argue the law does not account for cases in which transmission is unlikely or the medical advances since the original law was set.

However, Crown attorneys argue that, regardless of the risk of transmission, the medical information must be disclosed to allow partners to decide whether they want to run the risk of contracting the virus.

“The fact remains, HIV is fatal,” Quebec crown attorney Caroline Fontaine. “Life with HIV has improved but it is still fatal.”

Supporters of those living with HIV argue the current law doesn’t address the

advances in science for both treatment and transmission risk since the original law was put in place.

In 1998, the Supreme Court ruled that failure to disclose HIV-positive status to a partner is akin to sexual assault.

Most people who fail to disclose their HIV-positive status are charged with the more serious offence of “aggravated sexual assault” because they have put someone’s life at risk.

The top court is hearing the case of Clato Mabior of Winnipeg, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison after being convicted of six counts of aggravated assault for not disclosing his condition. Four of those were later overturned because court heard he was using condoms and was undergoing antiretroviral therapy. It is also hearing the case of a Quebec woman who did not tell her partner that she had HIV the first time they had sex, but went on to have a four-year relationship. After they broke up, the man went to police with the complaint.

SUN MEDIA NEWS SERVICES – Oh, baby.

A mother in China gave birth to a nearly 16-pound boy, possibly setting the all-time record for the country’s biggest baby.

Chun Chun, weighing in at 15.5 pounds, was born Saturday in the city of Xinxiang, in Henan province, reports the U.S.-based Chinese news service NTDTV. “This baby is twice as heavy as a normal baby,” said Shang Lili, a maternity centre worker, in the report.

“My wife was no different from other pregnant women. She ate and drank normally as she should, but she’s given birth to such a big, fat son,” proud papa Han Jingang told the news channel, and said he’s happy Chun Chun is a “dragon baby,” born just as the Year of the Dragon begins.

Mother Wang Yujuan, 29, said she’d

felt “more clumsy” than when she was pregnant with her daughter.

“I guessed the baby would be between 10 and 11 pounds. I never expected to hear that he weighs 15.5,” she said.

Three babies weighing 15 pounds were reportedly born in China between 2008 and 2010. Those were the record at the time.

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

Quick Look

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Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

Clear the air with plants in home, office DENISE HODGINS Sun Media News Services

Have you ever been sitting in an office or a restaurant and been looking a plant sitting in the corner? We have all seen this plant.

It’s a little more than a metre tall with only three or four leaves on top. Or my personal pet peeve is the plants in the restaurant that are drooping because they are so dry that I’ve been know to ask for a pitcher of water from the wait staff to give it a drink so I can enjoy my meal.

In a perfect world, all plants would receive all the water and light they would need to survive in an indoor environment without counting on the human race for survival. But we know this is not possible. What can be done to create these beautiful oases in offices, homes and restaurants?

First, why do we bring plants into our indoor space? Indoor tropical plants will warm your interior space and invite your guest inside.

Plus, you can now enjoy all of the benefits of a beautiful indoor landscape as well as other green plant benefits, such as indoor air purification and reducing employee stress levels.

What are the green benefits?

An indoor plant does its bit for cleaner air. Those plants in your office or home are not only decorative but scientists are finding them to be surprisingly useful in absorbing potentially harmful gases and cleaning the air inside modern buildings.

Tightly sealed offices with their beautiful furnishings are proving to be hostile environments. All sorts of dangers lurk inside — formaldehyde and benzene fumes released from building materials, furniture and carpeting; ozone from copying machines; fumes from cleaning solvents; radon and secondhand smoke.

We all may be breathing a lot easier thanks to promising National Aeronautics and Space

Photo: Sun Media News Services

Adding a few plants to your home or office can help you breathe easier by absorbing pollution and removing toxic chemicals from the air — so long as they are properly cared for.

Administration (NASA) research on a most sophisticated pollution-absorbing device: the common indoor office plant.

NASA has been involved in a two-year program to study the effectiveness of popular office plants in cleaning indoor air. NASA’s research on indoor plants has found that living plants are so efficient at absorbing contaminants in the air that some will be launched into space as part of the biological life support system aboard future orbiting space stations.

In the initial NASA studies, more than a dozen varieties of common interior plants were placed in sealed Plexiglas chambers.

Formaldehyde, a toxic chemical with the greatest exposure on humans, was introduced.

Within 24 hours, the plants — philodendron, spider plant and golden pothos — removed 80 per cent of the formaldehyde molecules from the chamber.

Recent findings reveal that flowering plants such as the gerbera daisy and chrysanthemum

Driving stoned doubles risk of crashing, say researchers

SUN MEDIA NEWS SERVICES – Driving while high on pot nearly doubles the chance of getting into a crash, say researchers from Halifax’s Dalhousie University.

The authors of the paper, which is published in the online edition of the British Medical Journal, reviewed nine previous studies involving 49,411 people.

They say previous research didn’t take into account the consumption of alcohol or

other drugs, and so didn’t provide a clear picture of the effect of smoking marijuana alone.

One such study published in October, the Cross Canada Report on Student Alcohol and Drug Use, reported that more Canadian teens than ever before are drinking and smoking pot and then getting behind the wheel, often within an hour of indulging.

The Dalhousie researchers,

isolating marijuana consumption, found that drivers who smoke within three hours of driving are nearly twice as likely to cause a crash. The risk is even higher for those aged 35 and under.

More than 10 per cent of adults in Canada and about a third of young people 16-25 report using pot in the past year, according to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.

are extremely potent in purifying interior air. Other good performers are dracaena massangeana (corn cane), spathiphyllum (peace lily), and golden pothos.

Live plants can clean the air in your environment.

NASA research has consistently shown that living green and flowering plants can

remove several toxic chemicals from the air in building interiors. You can use plants in your office to improve the quality of air to make it a more pleasant place to work where people feel and perform better.

Indoor plants are most commonly tropical or semi-tropical, as they are acclimatized to adapt to expanded growing conditions. Major plant maintenance factors are considered when caring for indoor tropical plants including light levels, temperature, humidity, fertilizers, soil mixture, moisture levels and pest control.

What I would like to see in offices are large planters very much the same idea as to what we do outdoors in the summer. How do we do this you might ask? Bigger is better when we think of containers indoors.

I like to use containers at least 40 centimetres in diameter or bigger. It keeps the soil from drying out quickly and provides more of a design statement in a room. I have also seen where a designer has incorporated up-lighting into these containers or spotlights to allow for the missing lighting and also creates a dramatic statement.

Remember that regular watering will help to prolong the life of your plants. Don’t forget to visit your favorite local independent garden centre for great plants for containers for your home or office.

In Celebration of International Women’s Day

N I N E M WO S S E N I S U B

T N E V E & E R U T A E F L A I C SPE 2 1 0 2 , 8 H C R MA R

Join us as we celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8. As a Leader within the St. Albert business community, this special feature in the St. Albert Leader will allow you to promote your business in over 20,000 copies delivered Thursday, March 8, and enjoy a great event at the Enjoy Centre that same day.

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24

Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

BUSINESS

BlackBerry out, iPhone in SUN MEDIA NEWS SERVICES – Research In Motion’s BlackBerry smartphone has struggled to win over U.S. consumers but the Canadian company has long been able to rely on the loyalty of corporate and government clients who depend on its secure email. No more.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a U.S. federal agency that studies climate and the environment, plans to replace some of its employees’ BlackBerrys with Apple iPhones and get rid of the servers that power RIM’s smartphones by June.

“It all comes down to economics,” Joe Klimavicz, NOAA’s chief information officer, said in a phone interview on Friday.

“I’ve got a lot of pressure to cut our operating costs.”

RIM charges a fee for use of its servers and data centers, which compress and encrypt email and other sensitive data. The company’s

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early success was due to a reliance on BlackBerry smartphones by lawyers, bankers, politicians and bureaucrats.

But with budgets under pressure and competitors improving their security bona fides, BlackBerry is no longer the only game in town.

Earlier this week, oilfield services company Halliburton said it plans to switch 4,500 BlackBerrytoting employees to iPhones, saying that the Apple device is better suited to its needs. Several banks have already welcomed rival devices.

Klimavicz said NOAA’s move was made possible after it switched its desktop-based software to Google Apps for Government last December. Another U.S. agency, the General Services Administration, has also moved to Google Apps, Klimavicz said.

Google’s enterprise business offers Web-based versions of word processing, spreadsheet and other common software applications in a direct challenge to Microsoft. For a set price Google includes mobiledevice management capabilities similar to what RIM offers for its BlackBerrys.

When Google’s mobile management is coupled with

Apple’s tightly controlled software, NOAA can enforce password policies and it can control who can gain access to what data, which is a major concern for a range of government bodies and corporations.

Klimavicz said that in the future his agency will be able to use devices using Google’s Android mobile software, but that it would have to approve each on an individual basis.

For now, the agency will buy iPhones to replace at least some of the 3,000 BlackBerrys used by its workers and is also using a small number of iPads, he said.

Klimavicz’s office oversees annual spending of around $600 million on information technology.

He declined to specify how much money the move away from RIM would save.

In response to queries, RIM said its security remains unmatched and pointed out that its latest operating system for smartphones and the PlayBook tablet computer have received certification from U.S. and Canadian authorities.

“RIM continues to work closely with its more than one million government customers in North America who rely on the unmatched security of the BlackBerry platform,” spokeswoman Tenille Kennedy said in an email.

DOLLAR

Husky profits up, still off targets SUN MEDIA NEWS SERVICES – Husky Energy Inc’s fourth-quarter profit nearly tripled as production and oil prices rose, the company said on Thursday, Feb. 9, but the results lagged estimates due to higher-thanexpected exploration expenses and taxes.

Husky, one of Canada’s largest producers of heavy crude oil, also warned that weakness in pricing for heavy crude grades as well as volatile refining margins have become a factor in 2012.

Still, the company’s integrated structure, which in recent years was bolstered by the addition of two refineries in Ohio, has meant that weak pricing for heavy oil production can be counteracted in the processing of the crude, chief executive Asim Ghosh said.

Husky is a dominant producer of heavy crude in Western Canada and also runs an 82,000-barrel-a-day plant that upgrades it into refinery-ready light oil.

This month, discounts for Canadian heavy and light synthetic oil have widened to the largest in several years as industrywide production has surged against a backdrop of limited pipeline capacity for export. Heavy crude has sold for as much as $35.50 a barrel under benchmark West Texas Intermediate this week, about double the discount of a month ago.

“We firmly believe in the merits of a balanced portfolio and internal hedges,” Ghosh said. “I think that diversification of the portfolio has proven to be a moderating factor in our results over the past year, and as we get more and more focused on creating those balances, we just want to (protect) the company from such volatilities.”

Husky, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, said net income jumped to C$408 million ($410 million), or 42 Canadian cents a share, from C$139 million, or 16 Canadian cents, a year earlier.

Excluding unusual items, the company earned C$481 million, or 50 Canadian cents a share.

Down 0.33¢

100.10¢ US S&P/TSX

Down 157.95

12,354.47 NASDAQ

Up 27.75

2,931.83 DOW

Up 0.08

12,878.28 GOLD

Down 28.90

$1,722.30 US OIL

Up $2.22

$100.94 US Figures as of closing Tuesday, compared to one week prior.

For information purposes only.

Call us today for all your St. Albert Real Estate Needs �Office Spaces �Administrative Services �Business Education �Coaching & Mentoring

www.nabi.ca 780.460.1000

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25

Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

Valentine’s Day is big business KRISTIN GORUK Sun Media News Service

Feb. 14 is the one day a year when being in love usually comes with a price tag and as always, businesses were prepped and ready for the onslaught of Valentine’s Day shoppers.

At Marcy’s Flowers Boutique in Grande Prairie, preparations for the big day begin at least two months in advance.

“All my flowers are in; we’ve been cutting flowers for three days. As for ordering, I had to order them a few weeks after Christmas,” said owner Vickie Zatko.

“It’s weeks and weeks of prep. People think that Valentine’s Day is one day and it is, but the prepping for it takes weeks.”

Zatko triples her staff to deal with the demand on Feb. 14. The store stacks hundreds of flowers on top of each other in the cooler spaces and many of them are kept dry packed.

Most men come looking for the traditional dozen roses, but Zatko has also started to see some changes in preference over the years.

“The exotics don’t fly very much. It’s still your roses, but I’m finding that people are getting a little more away from straight roses,” she said.

“They’re adding other flowers like lilies and Gerber daisies. It’s nice because it changes it up and adds a lot more colour.”

Prices for all flowers shoot up significantly for Valentine’s Day and Zatko estimates a bouquet will set a person back at least $100, probably more. Still, those prices are a reflection of supply and demand more than anything else.

“I make less on a rose on Valentine’s Day than I do any other time of the year.

I feel sorry for the guys who come in here feeling ripped off,” Zatko said.

“It’s not us; it’s not any flower shops.

It’s just the demand.”

Housing starts up, but bubble fears build SUN MEDIA NEWS SERVICES – Canadian housing starts declined in January from December, but construction was still stronger than expected and shows little sign of slowing in the multiple-unit segment, according to a report

by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp (CMHC) on Wednesday.

The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts was 197,900 units, compared with 199,900 units a month earlier. The December figure was revised down slightly from 200,200 units reported previously.

The number of starts was above the consensus expectation of analysts, who had called for 194,000 starts.

“The latest building permits and housing starts data indicate that new housing construction is not slowing down much,” said David Madani, economist at Capital Economics.

“Although this is good for economic activity this quarter, we are still concerned about the associated over-building and rising likelihood of a housing

slump down the road,” he wrote in a note to clients.

Canada’s hot housing market helped fuel its quick recovery from a 2008 recession.

But more recently it has put policymakers on the alert as rising prices and heavy borrowing by buyers at recordlow rates raised fears of a housing bubble.

The Bank of Canada has suggested some markets may be overvalued, and says it is closely monitoring the situation along with the finance ministry and regulators.

Data released by Statistics Canada on Tuesday showed the value of building permits taken out by contractors in December soared to a 54-month high thanks to a hot condo market in Ontario.

The CMHC report showed the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts fell by 2.8 per cent to 176,600 units.

Multiple-unit urban starts, which include condominiums, eked out a 0.4 per cent gain to 111,700 units following a huge 14.5 per cent jump in December. Urban single starts decreased by 7.8 per cent to

IMPROVEMENTS BUILDINGS TO BE SALVAGED AND REMOVED FROM PROPERTY ALBERTA TRANSPORTATION

Sealed Tenders will be received at the office of the Regional Director, 4513 - 62 Avenue, (Box 4596) Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1A5 up to 10:00 a.m. on February 29, 2012 for the sale and removal of improvements located on: LOCATION 25307 TWP Rd 554 Lot 3 Plan 012 1395 – NE 21-55-25-4 Sturgeon County DESCRIPTION 1. Fully Finished Bungalow (1800 sq. ft.) on a full basement with attached covered porch and attached double garage 2. Detached Shop – 48’ x 36’ CONDITIONS 1. Improvements and fixtures to be sold “as is” and must be removed from the property by May 15, 2012.

2. All indicated measurements are approximate areas.

3. Successful bidder will be responsible for contacting Alberta 1st Call prior to moving the buildings and ensure that all services have been disconnected.

4. Site must be left in a safe condition. Any remaining basement foundations, dugouts or excavated areas must be fenced with a snow fence or some other similar safety fencing and work areas are to be left in a neat and tidy condition.

5. A certified cheque payable to the Minister of Finance in the amount of 10% of the full tender amount must be submitted with the tender.

6. Highest bid or any bid not necessarily accepted. In case of tie bids, first one received in the Regional Director’s office will get first consideration.

7.

All tender deposits will be held until a tender has been accepted.

Tender deposits for unsuccessful bids will be returned promptly.

8. Successful bidder will be required to remit balance of the tender amount within ten (10) days of being notified of acceptance of tender.

9. Successful bidder will be required to sign a contract with a member in good standing of the Alberta Building Movers Association prior to moving the buildings from the current site.

10. The attention of tenderers is drawn to the “Public Service Act, Chapter P31 R.S.A., 1980, Section 24” prohibiting Public Service employees from dealing on Crown Lands.

11. Tenders will be opened in public in the office of the Regional Director, at 4513 – 62 Avenue, Barrhead, Alberta on February 29, 2012 at 10:00 a.m.

Photo: JUSTINA CONTENTI, Sun Media News Services

Construction workers work on a house in the south end of Lloydminster on Wednesday, Feb. 8.

64,900 units.

Most analysts are betting on a soft landing rather than a U.S.-style crash in housing this year.

“We anticipate that residential construction activity will continue to ease at a fairly gradual rate during the forecast horizon, reaching an annual pace of 183,000

in 2013,” said David OnyettJeffries, economist at RBC Economics.

Tiff Macklem, the No. 2 at the central bank, noted on Tuesday that there has been some slowing in household credit growth, although he repeated concerns that some borrowers were spending more than they can earn.

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12. Tenders to be marked on the outside of sealed envelope as: TENDER SALE OF IMPROVEMENTS 25307 TWP Rd 554 Sturgeon County OPEN FOR INSPECTION This property will be open for inspection on February 22, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Forms on which to submit a bid will be available at the Open House or can be faxed to you upon your request.

Please direct all inquiries Jason Svenningsen at Progress Land Services Ltd. (780) 454-4717.

Michael Botros REGIONAL DIRECTOR

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26

Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

TECHNOLOGY Game features Canuck warship

Photo: Sun Media News Services

A model holds up the new PlayStation Vita, which features two thumbsticks for better control.

SHEENA GOODYEAR Sun Media News Services

Thumbsticks go portable STEVE TILLEY St. Albert Leader

Two isn’t always better than one.

Given a choice, I’d rather have just one gunshot wound, or one proctological exam, or one drunken in-law visiting at a time. (Disclaimer: I currently have no in-laws, drunken or otherwise.

However I’m not eager to acquire one, never mind two.)

But when it comes to thumbsticks — those nubby little joysticks that adorn video game controllers — two is almost always better than one.

For the last decade, nearly all major game console controllers, with the exception of the Wii’s waggly wand, have sported a pair of thumbsticks.

They’ve become the standard control method for most modern video games, especially 3D action titles in which one stick moves the on-screen character while the other controls the virtual camera’s viewpoint, or aims the character’s weapon of choice.

In handheld gaming, though, two sticks have been something of a Holy Grail. Heck, analog thumbsticks on handheld gaming devices are rare, period — Sony’s PlayStation Portable was the first to introduce one in 2004 (although the PSP’s thumbstick was more like a weird little nub than a joystick), followed by the Nintendo 3DS last year. The 3DS’ “Circle Pad,” as it’s called, is also not so much a stick as, well, a circular pad. It does the same job reasonably well, though.

Yet there’s never been a handheld gaming system with two analog sticks, nubs, or circle-type pads. Until this month. And, appropriately, we now

have two of them.

One is the PlayStation Vita, Sony’s successor to the PlayStation Portable.

Hitting stores Feb. 22 at $249.99, Vita has a ton of computing horsepower and a bevy of bells and whistles, including a large touchscreen, robust online gaming capabilities, cameras, an odd but interesting touch-sensitive rear panel and — something a lot of gamers on the go have been waiting for — two thumbsticks.

In the meantime, we have Nintendo’s Circle Pad Pro. A good idea, if a little late and very oddly executed.

The Circle Pad Pro is a $20 add-on available now for the Nintendo 3DS, grafting a second thumbstick — sorry, Circle Pad — to the 3D-capable dualscreened handheld by means of a rather chunky cradle-like contraption.

The fact this thing even needs to exist makes me a little sad. If Nintendo had just had the foresight — or the guts — to add a second analog stick to the 3DS in the first place, it would have opened up greater gameplay opportunities for the device from the get-go.

Instead, we have this odd slab of plastic that’s currently supported by just one game (Capcom’s excellent Resident Evil: Revelations) with a handful more on the way, including Kid Icarus: Uprising and Metal Gear Solid 3D: Snake Eater, both of which admittedly look pretty good.

While the Circle Pad Pro holds the 3DS unit snugly, there’s no physical input connection between the two devices. Signals are transmitted between a tiny infrared port inside the

Pro to the infrared transceiver on the back of the 3DS, with no discernible latency.

The Circle Pad Pro — presumably that makes the existing thumbstick the Circle Pad Amateur — also adds a pair of satisfyingly clicky triggerlike shoulder buttons that supplement and improve upon the 3DS’ existing buttons. The entire thing is powered by an included AAA battery, which Nintendo says provides up to 500 hours of use.

Testing the Circle Pad Pro with Resident Evil: Revelations made the game significantly easier to play, using the right stick to pan the camera at will and more easily move around while shooting at the game’s various shambling monstrosities. It’s still a bit cumbersome, although that’s more due to the limitations of the classic Resident Evil-style control mechanics than the Circle Pad Pro itself.

The cradle also makes the Nintendo 3DS more comfortable to hold, giving it the feel of a standard console game controller. But it adds a lot of weight and girth, too. With the Circle Pad Pro attached, the 3DS is as wide and long as the PlayStation Vita, as well as significantly fatter and heavier. This might be more understandable if the unit added extra battery power or had built-in speakers, but no such luck.

Paying $20 for significantly better controls on even just a handful of games is not a terrible deal, and if you’re into Resident Evil: Revelations and plan to grab Kid Icarus or Metal Gear Solid when they come out, the Circle Pad Pro is probably worth your while.

A new video game about an Arctic war features an internationally renowned Canadian warship.

“Canadian forces, and its waters, will be an important part of the game,” said Jan Haugland, the Norway-based developer of Naval War: Arctic Circle.

A strategy game for PC, Naval War takes place in the year 2030, when NATO and Russian forces are engaging in marine warfare for Arctic sovereignty.

Aside from combat, it features fictional newspaper headlines about the increasing tensions surrounding the international dispute over Arctic resources.

“We wanted to create a strategy game based on modern naval combat. While there are of course many regions in the world which pops into the news headlines more often than the Arctic, we wanted to put the game more or less on our own doorstep in the North Atlantic region,” Haugland said.

Canada’s navy, unsurprisingly, plays a prominent role in the fictional conflict.

“Canada has an important strategic position in the world, as the Northwest Passage is its internal waters — depending of who you ask, obviously,” Haugland said.

“We are including the Canadian HMCS Halifax class frigate ... which despite being a late ‘80s design has been upgraded with some of the newest and most powerful sensors and weapons. This ship is well rounded, but specifically tailored for anti-submarine warfare, a role we expect it to take in many missions in the game.”

The 4,770-tonne frigate is the first of 12 in its class and has served on missions around the globe. The Royal Canadian Navy calls it “one of the most capable frigates in the world.”

Naval War: Arctic Circle will launch in the spring.

Photo: Sun Media News Services

The HMCS Fredericton is a Halifax-class frigate, like those that will be featured in the video game Naval War: Arctic Circle.

27

Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012

STALBERTJOBS.COM

Get the most out of salary negotiations TAG GOULET Sun Media News Services

If you want to get ahead on the job, it’s smart to stay on top of what’s happening in careers.

That’s especially true if you want to ensure you are being paid what you’re worth.

Fortunately, job seekers who want potential employers to “show them the money” may be in luck, a Robert Half survey suggests.

Chief financial officers were asked, “Compared to 12 months ago, are you more willing or less willing to negotiate salary with top job candidates?” More than one-third (38 per cent) of executives said they are more willing to negotiate salary with top candidates than they were one year ago. Just five per cent said they are less willing to negotiate.

“Job seekers, especially those with skills in

high demand, are gaining leverage in salary discussions today,” said Max Messmer, CEO of Robert Half International and author of Job Hunting For Dummies.

“Still, there are many things that can go wrong when negotiating pay, and candidates should approach these discussions with a clear understanding of how far they should take the conversation.”

Robert Half offers seven tips for successful salary negotiations: 1. Do a reality check. Is the firm in a position to bargain? Find out before attempting any salary negotiation. If you’ve been offered a job at a new startup, or a company that recently announced layoffs or weak financials, your leverage may be limited.

2. Get your figures right. Don’t enter negotiations without doing your homework.

Research the latest salary trends for your city, industry and job title by reviewing compensation surveys and publications and talking to colleagues and recruiters.

3. Don’t jump the gun. Wait for the hiring manager to bring up salary in the discussion and make sure you fully understand the requirements of the position before answering questions about your desired pay. Ask prospective employers what they think would be an appropriate range for the position so you can avoid giving a range that is too high or low.

4. Go for your goal. If offered a salary figure that doesn’t meet your expectations, it’s OK to request more. Employers may start at the lower end, leaving room to negotiate.

5. Don’t bluff. It’s not a good move to mislead a prospective employer about your current compensation or other higher-paying

job offers in an effort to get more money.

Instead, reiterate the value you can bring to the firm and be honest about your desired salary.

6. Think beyond paycheque. Be sure to look at the full picture when evaluating a job offer.

A generous benefits package or opportunities to learn and grow may compensate for a lower starting salary, for example.

7. End on a high note. If negotiations aren’t successful and you decide to walk away from an offer, remember to do so gracefully. You never know when you might cross paths with the hiring manager again.

Tag Goulet is co-founder of Fabjob.com, a publisher of books on how to get started in a dream career or business. Contact Tag on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tag.goulet or visit the Fabjob website at www.fabjob.com.

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Term of Employment: Full time, salaried Skills • Simply accounting knowledge and experience is required • Strong written and oral communication skills • Proficient personal computer skills in MS Outlook, and Excel • Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail Remuneration: A competitive remuneration and benefit package is offered dependent on skills and experience

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Requirements and Qualifications • Working knowledge of Modular Home construction industry an asset • Considered candidates must agree to pre-employment medical and drug testing Igloo offers competitive wages, and a comprehensive benefits package and pension plan to full time employees. Interested applicants are invited to submit their resume in word format via email. Please make reference to the job title in the subject line. Igloo thanks all applicants, but only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Interested applicants are invited to submit their resume in word format via email to wendy.reynolds@igloo.ca.

www.seniorhomecarebyangels.ca

Our employees take pride in providing more than 60,000 residents with high-quality programs and services. A wide array of opportunities are available to suit your passion and experience. You can cultivate your career in a place where staff not only care about the work they do but also the people they work alongside.

We have the following employment opportunities available:

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For information on these and other current opportunities available at the City of St. Albert please visit our website at www.stalbert.ca/employment or drop by our Human Resources department.

Human Resources The City of St. Albert 216, 7 St. Anne Street St. Albert, Alberta T8N 2X4 Fax: (780) 459-1729 Online applications: www.stalbert.ca/employment We wish to express our appreciation to all applicants for their interest and effort in applying for this position but only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted.

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2012 RAM 1500 QUAD

2007 DODGE CHARGER SXT

4 door, Fully Loaded, A/C tilt steering, pdl, pw, pm

Auto trans., A/C, pdl, pw, pm,

Fully Loaded, auto trans., A/C, tilt steering, cruise, pdl, pw, pm

Fully Loaded, auto trans., A/C, tilt steering, cruise, pdl, pw, pm

2009 JEEP LIBERTY SPORT

Z9653

Fully Loaded, auto trans., A/C, tilt steering, cruise, pdl, pw, pm

MSRP $40,870

NOW $

MSRP $52,900

FOR MORE INTERNET SPECIALS AND A HUGE SELECTION OF CARS, TRUCKS & SUVS! NEW & USED!!

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Serving Alberta for over 30 Years!

Local & Long Distance

1•877•570•8784

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St. Albert Dodge Disclaimer: Prices do not include taxes and fees if applicable. Vehicle images may not be exactly as shown. Please see dealer for details.

Open Mon - Thurs 8:30-9:00, Fri & Sat 8:30-6:00, Sun 11:00-4:00

184 St.Albert Trail

15 minutes north of West Edmonton Mall on 170st.