JANUARY 1, 2020
News Advertiser PAGE 19
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VCHS Dishes out Festive Cheer Rosanne Fortier News Correspondent The sights, sounds, and tastes of the festive season were in abundance at the Vegreville Composite High School (VCHS) Christmas Lunch at the VCHS on December 19. During the festive lunch, Sky Hoffos, Construction and Art teacher performed a couple of tunes with student Shade Clark. Student Mate Lapierre, sang Carol of the Bells by Madame Macbre and student Grayson Luka, entertained everyone with Christmas jokes. Since this was an Open Mic, a few more teachers and students performed during that session. Assistant Principal Mrs. Warawa said they started this event last year to provide a free festive meal for all of their students. “We were able to provide this because of the donations from all of our community sponsors.” Many community members were also in attendance. Some of the special guests included: Vegreville Mayor Tim MacPhee, Vegreville town councilor Ann Waters, School Resource Officer Mrs. Hansen,
Thrill Girls Perform Christmas Carols at Heritage House Rosanne Fortier News Correspondent When Heritage House’s residents were having their dinner on Dec. 20, they were treated to holiday music delights. Students Miya Burghardt, Winnie
Lange, and Dahlia Gladys from Laura Lillies Thrills Music Studio lended their vocal talents to three unique Christmas carols in addition to several festive favourites. Nancy Duke who is a resident said the music was nice and entertaining.
Sky Hoffos, Construction and Art teacher plays a few festive tunes with Shade Clark, student. (Rosanne Fortier/photo) RCMP Cst. Jason Lappa and several of his colleagues ,Community Peace Officers Ken Podoborozny and Garret Perepeluk, and Fish and Game Officer Mike Hewitt.
Mrs. Warawa was also appreciative of the parent volunteers who helped out the school’s Chef, Sheldon Thompson.
Message from the MLA Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk MLA for Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville Hello everyone, I am the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for our riding of Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville, Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk. I am honoured to be elected to represent you in the Legislature and I have been focused on representing our riding and its needs. Our government greatly values the dedication and contributions made by all public sector employees, including Alberta’s teachers. The legislation to make the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) the exclusive investment manager of the Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund (ATRF) was put forward with the best interest of the Alberta teacher and taxpayers in mind. The broader use of AIMCo reflects our government’s commitment to make government more efficient and ensure the best use of taxpayer dollars. AIMCo has a substantially large investment pool when compared to the ATRF. With AIMCo becoming the investment manage of the ATRF, Albertans will see reduced investment management costs, which will save taxpayers roughly $41 million annually, or approximately $500 annually for each teacher that contributes to the Fund. Ultimately, this change will redirect administration funding into the overall health of the fund, protecting both teachers and tax payers. Further to cost savings, our government is confident that moving ATRF assets under AimCo will yield higher investment returns, to the benefit of Alberta’s teachers. AIMCo
manages a number of public sector pension plans, such as the Local Authorities Pension Plan, with strong results. From August 2017 to August 2018, ATRF had a return of 9.6 per cent. Over the same time period, AIMCo outperformed ATRF with a return of 9.8 per cent. AIMCo has also outperformed ATRF when looking at the four-year average. I understand there are those that are concerned about having confidence in those managing ATRF. I would like to assure you that the ATRF board will maintain the strategic control of the pension that they currently have. The ATRF board will retain control of determining how the pension fund is invested at a strategic level, and will retain ownership of the plan’s assets. The ATRF board will develop and approve the investment policy for the fund, including the mix of different types of investments such as bonds, equities and real estate among others. AIMCo will invest according to the policies set by the ATRF board. I would like to reiterate the support and gratitude our government has for the contributions made by the hardworking teachers. As such our government will continue to support the ATRF in order to ensure contributors to the fund are receiving the best return possible. Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk is the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville constituency. If you have any questions or comments about this column or any other provincial government issues, she would like to hear from you.
(Left-to-right)Miya Burghardt, Winnie Lange, and Dahlia Gladys perform festive favorites for Heritage House residents. (Rosanne Fortier/photo)
