Prairie Update – CP

Source: The Canadian Press – Broadcast wire
Sep 4, 2015

(Alta Byelxn)

Wildrose candidate Prasad Panda won yesterday’s Alberta provincial byelection in Calgary Foothills.

The N-D-P’s Bob Hawkesworth finished second while Conservative Blair Houston came in third.

The riding had been held by the Progressive Conservatives since 1971.

Former premier Jim Prentice resigned the seat in May after his Tories were swept from power by the New Democrats. (The Canadian Press)

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(Sask-Metis-Dispute)

A Court of Queen’s Bench judge has issued a ruling in a dispute among members of the Metis Nation-Saskatchewan and the Provincial Metis Council.

Justice Brian Scherman says M-N-S president Robert Doucette failed to prove that other members of the council, including vice-president Gerald Morin, ignored a court order to call a Metis Legislative Assembly.

The judge says it’s a case of Metis battling Metis.

Doucette says the bottom line is the group needs to call a council meeting as soon as possible while Morin says the whole thing is a debacle. (CJLR)

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(Chicken-Farm-Contract)

Saskatchewan’s privacy commissioner is nixing a contract with a chicken farm to dispose of sensitive health documents.

Ronald Kruzeniski says the Spruce Manor Special Care Home north of Saskatoon had an agreement with a farm to shred information.

In his report he says the May 2012 agreement entrusted the farm, which isn’t named, with the care and destruction of sensitive documents.

He says the agreement is unacceptable because it does not spell out how the confidentiality of the material would be protected. (The Canadian Press)

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(Mba-Poaching)

The managing director of the Manitoba Wildlife Federation says conservation officers in the province need more resources to deal with poachers.

Rob Olson says there aren’t enough officers around several poaching hot spots which will make it difficult to enforce the stiffer penalties the province now has for illegal hunting.

He says those hot spots include Spruce Woods, Fisher Branch, Riding Mountain Park and around the Duck Mountains.

He says there have been reports of hunters illegally using spotlights in those areas, but he says one or two officers can’t effectively patrol the region. (CKDM)

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(Sinclair-University-Award)

The chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been announced as the recipient of this year’s Duff Roblin Award from the University of Winnipeg.

Justice Murray Sinclair took on heading the commission in 2009 and created the first comprehensive report on the Indian Residential School system in Canada.

After years of intense hearings from survivors along with academic research, his report resulted in 94 recommendations aimed at bridging the experiences of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians.

The Duff Roblin Award ceremony will take place November 17th. (The Canadian Press)

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(Snow-Threatens-Race)

Snowfall warnings in northwestern Alberta have been cancelled — and that’s good news for a professional cyclists racing today.

Environment Canada had forecast snow for the Grande Cache, Hinton and Edson areas last night and this morning.

The forecast now calls for a snow-rain mix this morning, changing to a 60 per cent chance of rain for the rest of today.

Stage 3 of the Tour of Alberta is scheduled today from Grande Cache to Jasper this morning.

(Global Edm)

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(Prairie Update by The Canadian Press)

(The Canadian Press)