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News Advertiser
www.NewsAdvertiser.com
JUNE 24, 2020
from the pages of the vegreville observer
Compiled by Dan Beaudette
90 Years Ago – June 25, 1930
Fire started in a truck left outside the Alberta Hotel on Tuesday night, when the friver, a little the worse for having taken on a libation, attempted to start it. Fortunately there were enough by standers to extinguish the blaze, and by the time the fire brigade got to the scene, not even a spark was left. But the sound of the alarm turned out a large crowd of citizens and occasioned no little excitement. The brigade has a great deal of difficulty in finding out just where the fire was, but once they did get it spotted they came in a hurry. Had the crown not been there it was doubtful if the truck would have saved. All citizens of the town of Vegreville are hereby notified that the use of water to sprinkle on their gardens is jeopardizing the safety of the town in that there is very little water available for any purpose at present and in case of a bad fire there would be insufficient water to fight it properly. Therefore lay off the water for the garden of to wash the car for a while until the word goes out that it is O.K. for you to recommence using it.
75 Years Ago – June 27, 1945
Dominion authorities at Ottawa have officially proclaimed Monday, July 2nd, a public holiday to celebrate the 78th anniversary of Confederation. Following the usual custom when an official public holiday falls on Sunday, the next day, Monday, is selected for celebration purposes. All stores and places of business in Vegreville will be closed on Monday, except such as restaurants, etc., necessary for public convenience. Until supplies of Canadian vegetables are available, a WPTB order allows carrots and cabbages to be imported from the United States during the off season. They will sell at Canadian retail ceilings despite higher prices in the States. Retailers must sell imported vegetables at present levels although wholesalers are allowed to charge up to one cent per pound extra on sales of retailers. Wholesaler’s extra charge must appear separately on the invoice as a retail mark-up squeeze. Brazil has declared war on Japan. Brazil broke diplomatic relations with Germany, Italy and Japan on January 28, 1942, and declared was on Germany and Italy August 22 of the same year.
50 Years Ago – June 18, 1970
The Minister of Education, the Hon, R.C. Clark, has approved the awarding of the 1970 Province of Alberta United World College of the Atlantic Scholarship of $2,000.00 per year for a period of two years commencing September, 1970, to Miss Cathryn Kuzyk of Vegreville. Cathryn is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. N.J. Kuzyk of Vegreville. Crowning of Lorraine Dutka as Sky Queen marked the end of the successful Fly-in Breakfast and Air Show that was held here by the Vegreville Flying Club. The maid-of-honor, Ruby Dubuc and the queen’s court consisting of Linda Kozisky, Linda Pipke, Eileen Wyllie and Lynda Pochynok were beautiful in their finery. The Women’s Division of the Canadian National Exhibition has announced the winners of the 1970 school art and handicraft competition. Winners from the Queen Elizabeth School are: Ricky Godziuk, modeling; Robin Bienvenu, picture making. Beverly Miller, finger painting; Kimberly Harter, modeling; and Kevin Dziwenka, modeling. Randy Fowle, son of Mr. and Mrs. Grant Fowle of Vegreville was presented to the bar last Friday by Virgil Moshansky in a ceremony before Mr. Justice Wm. Sinclair. Mr. Gordon Lee, who is associated with the Fish and Wildlife Branch, has been transferred to Valleyview after spending several years in the Vegreville district.
25 Years Ago –June 27, 1995
The town of Vegreville has purchased the former soil research facility with hopes of turning it into a new museum site. “We bought it with the intent of using it for a museum,” said Councillor Dave Kucherawy. “We’re hoping to amalgamate the three museums into one facility. Community organizers across the County of Two Hills met in Hairy Hill June 20 to identify issues affecting organizations and to learn how cooperation with neighboring communities can help. The 20 people who attended the meeting found that some of the significant, common issues affecting organizations around the county are: lack of volunteers, too many fundraising events to close together, decrease in younger population, too many bosses, not enough workers, too many organizations fighting for the same resources (people and money), power hungry people and lack of funds. Jason Yaremchuk and Shauna Balash represented Myrnam School in zone playoffs at Saddle Lake earlier this spring. Shauna won silver in shotput and placed third in 100m. Her relay team won gold as well. Jason took silver in 400m and gold in 800m. These top athletes were strong contestants in the provincial track and field meet on June 9 and 10.
Letters Welcomed
One role of the Vegreville News Advertiser is to promote dialogue on various issues of concern to area residents. We accomplish this by welcoming Letters to the Editor and allowing various issues to be debated through our pages. All letters must contain the writer’s name, address and phone number. Anonymous letters will not be printed, however the writer’s name may be withheld from publication in special circumstances deemed appropriate by the Publisher. The Vegreville News Advertiser reserves the right to edit letters for length, clarity, spelling and grammar, taste or for reasons of potential libel. The Vegreville News Advertiser reserves the right to withhold letters from publication.
Defunding Police a Movement Whose Time Has Come Noah Castelo Contributor The last two weeks have seen an explosion of interest in defunding the police in Canada and around the world. This is not a new idea – governments have long recognized that “the current model … was obsolete, expensive and too often produced dire consequences,” and have sought “alternative, more community-responsive approaches to public safety.” Despite these recognitions, however, police budgets have continued to increase every year in cities across the country. The difference now is unprecedented public interest in police budgets in the wake of continued police brutality against racial minorities. This violence is of course not limited to the United States. This month alone, police have been filmed violently assaulting Indigenous Canadians in Alberta and Nunavut and killed an unarmed Indigenous woman in New Brunswick during a “wellness check.” One key argument behind defunding police is that much of their work could be done better and more affordably by other professionals – for example, sending trained mental health workers to conduct “wellness checks” instead of armed officers. In Edmonton, Coun. Michael Walters says that 30 percent of the police’s work is “social work,” citing two former police chiefs. Police officers don’t sign up to be social workers and we shouldn’t be asking them to do this kind of work that they aren’t trained to do. If 30 percent of the police’s work could be done more effectively by trained social workers, then fewer public funds should go to the police and more towards social workers – who, of course, are much less likely to somehow end up killing the people they’re supposed to be helping. Edmonton’s police chief complained recently that the growing movement to defund the police is due to “an event” that happened “thousands of miles away,” in Minneapolis. This is misleading. George Floyd’s murder was clearly a catalyst, but deep and systemic racism has existed in Canada since Europeans f irst arrived here, and both Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau and the head of the RCMP acknowledge that racism continues to exist in all of the country’s police forces. Black and Indigenous people of colour (BIPOC) are far more likely to suffer the brunt of police brutality, in part because of racist police officers. Reducing police budgets means fewer opportunities for racism to manifest in violence. (There are racist social workers, too, but they don’t carry guns.) It also means more money available to invest in preventive measures that strengthen BIPOC communities and reduce the likelihood that future crimes will occur. In addition to reducing overall police budgets and redirecting the savings to more appropriate and preventive measures, the remaining police budget should include funding for body cameras. Calgary is the only Canadian city to use them; Edmonton decided not to after a pilot project, citing costs and “no evidence that it reduced use of force.” Costs are an interesting excuse considering the vast increase in the militarization of police across the country in recent decades, including SWAT teams used largely for “routine activities such as executing warrants … and domestic disturbances.” Edmonton police managed to find $44 million to build a new shooting range but decided that $837,000 was too much for body cameras. The purpose of these cameras is not necessarily to reduce the use of force but to increase the accountability of officers who do use force. It’s obviously much easier to prosecute police officers who use unnecessary force when their actions are recorded on video. And prosecuting and jailing officers who engage in unjustifiable violence is the most direct and effective way of reducing the number of officers who engage in unjustifiable violence. Defunding the police is a movement whose time has clearly come. It means asking the police to do less and social workers and other trained professionals to do more. And it means fewer opportunities for police brutality, which disproportionately impacts BIPOC and other vulnerable communities. Coupled with the mandatory use of body cameras, this movement is a good place to start meaningfully responding to the global demand for a more humane and peaceful society. This article was submitted by the University of Alberta’s online publication Folio, a Troy Media content provider partner
