st. albert leader - may 3, 2012

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Illustration: glenn cook, St. Albert leader

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Thursday, May 3, 2012 3

Leadthe

COVER

INDEXNews . . . . . . . . . 3Opinion . . . . . . . . 8Entertainment . . . . . 14Health . . . . . . . 19Business . . . . . . 20stalbertjobs.com . . . 22

FUN WITH NUMBERS

15%That’s

about how many people across the world believe the world will end during their lifetime, and 10 per cent think the Mayan calendar could signify that it will happen in 2012, according to a new poll. About one in 10 also said they experience anxiety about the end of the world in 2012.

Organizers of St. Albert’s ArtWalk are hoping to get off on the right foot this year, as the first event of 2012 takes place tonight (Thursday) with several new venues for art lovers to visit. See story, P. 15.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

MAY 3, 1915Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872-1918), a medical doctor from Guelph, Ont., composes the iconic poem “In Flanders Fields” over the course of 20 minutes while visiting the grave of a fellow officer in Ypres, Belgium.

Council shaves tax hike down

GLENN COOKSt. Albert Leader

Homeowners in St. Albert will get a small break on their property tax bills this year as city council shaved a couple of percentage points off the projected tax increase for 2012 on Monday night.

Increased revenues of $319,000 from new growth in 2011 — partially offset by $145,980 in new expenses reflecting cost savings from administrative restructuring and resourcing for the city manager, a new agreement with the local firefighters’ union and two new staff positions — mean that the projected residential property tax increase will drop from 2.8 to 2.6 per cent.

The new agreement with the St. Albert Firefighters Union requires the City of St. Albert to come up with an extra $1.5 million — $800,950 to cover retroactive salary, benefits and overtime costs in 2011 along with the conversion of four full-time equivalents to second lieutenant positions, plus another $713,415 in the 2012 base budget.

The 2012 costs will be covered by the City’s corporate contingency budget. The City also had $607,000 set aside in the stabilization reserve to cover retroactive costs, but those came in higher than expected, so another $193,950 had to be added to the 2012 operating budget.

The transfer from the stabilization reserve worried Mayor Nolan Crouse, though, who wondered aloud if that particular reserve was running short on funds.

“For me, personally, it’s about making sure it’s reviewed at budget time to make sure it’s topped off properly as per policy,” the mayor said, noting that City policy

dictates the fund should have about $2.5 million in it, but currently is at about $2.2 million.

City manager Patrick Draper said he would examine the reserve fund and report back to council at a later date.

The City is currently in talks with a private enterprise just outside city limits to provide fire service on a contract basis; however, neither the increase in lieutenant positions nor anything else in the union settlement was predicated on that contract being signed, general manager of community and protective services Chris Jardine said.

The two new staff positions include a capital projects manager and a development engineer.

General manager of planning and engineering Guy Boston told council that the development engineer position was necessary as the City moves toward assessing permanent area charges rather than offsite levies to land developers.

“Any community that has permanent area charges has, as we call them, ‘accountineers’ — halfway between an accountant and an engineer — that is required to manage the many agreements with developers in the application of the permanent area charge,” Boston said.

With these amendments passed, councillors will lock in the final tax rate when they pass a bylaw at their regular meeting on Monday, May 7.

Meanwhile, councillors are already getting set to tackle the 2013 budget. Coun. Cam MacKay had given notice that he would bring forward a motion Monday to limit the 2013 residential tax increase to 1.5 per cent, but instead decided to postpone the motion to a later meeting.

Photo: glenn cook, St. Albert leaderA boater pilots his canoe, complete with outboard motor, down the Sturgeon River near downtown St. Albert Saturday afternoon. The weather was perfect for boating, with a high of 15 C. But it won’t be ideal this weekend, as forecasts call for rain both Saturday and Sunday with highs hovering around 10 C.

Great day for a cruise

NEXT CITY COUNCIL MEETINGMonday, May 7, 3:00 p.m.Council ChambersSt. Albert Place, 5 St. Anne StreetAgenda HighlightsThe complete agenda package is postedto www.stalbert.ca• Property Tax Bylaw• Community Capital Program Grants (CSABRecommendation)

• Legion Funding Request• RV Parking on Publicly Accessible PrivateProperty

• Bylaw 11/2012, Amendment 10 toMDP Bylaw 15/2007

• Handibus Report• Council Motion – Arts and HeritageFoundation and City Agreement

• Public Hearing - Commercial & IndustrialService Land Use Bylaw Text Amendment(Bylaw 12/2012)

You can address Council on these or anyother issues. Public appointments are heardat the beginning and end of each Councilmeeting. Call 780-459-1500 to register.Council meetings are televised on SHAWTV Channel 10 from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m.,webcast live and archived: stalbert.caST. ALBERT ECONOMICDEVELOPMENT ADVISORYCOMMITTEETuesday, May 8, 7:00 p.m.East Boardroom, Third FloorSt. Albert Place, 5 St. Anne Street

COUNCIL TOwN HALL MEETINGWednesday, May 30, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.Servus Credit Union Place, Morinville Room400 Campbell Road

Topics for discussion may include:• Welcome / Introductions• Open microphone session• Social Master Plan• Economic Development• 2012 – 2013 Priorities• Animal Bylaw• Light Rail Transit (LRT)• Physician AttractionFor information, contact City Hall,780-459-1500.

YOURCOUNCIL

READYSET GO/StA_Recreation/StARecreation

FOUNTAIN PARKRECREATION CENTREw: stalbert.ca/fountain-park-recreation-centrep: 780-459-1553

Standard First Aid CourseThis 16-hour Lifesaving Standard First Aidcourse runs Saturday, June 2 and Sunday,June 3 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and providescomprehensive training covering all aspectsof first aid and CPR-C, including using anautomated external defibrillator. Learn theskills that you can use to save someone’slife. This course is approved by AlbertaWorkplace Health and Safety. Sign up todayat www.stalbert.ca/online-services.

ORGANICSCOLLECTION

SUMMER SCHEDULE – ORGANICSThe City of St. Albert has started their weeklycollection of organic carts for the summerseason. To view the collection schedule,please visit online:www.stalbert.ca/refuse-collection-schedule or call PublicWorks at 780-459-1557.

VOTE FOR YOURFAVOURITE DESIGN!

Seven schools are competing for top designin the Spruce Up St. Albert Garbage CanPainting Contest. Vote for your favouritefrom April 30 to May 6 atwww.stalbert.ca/garbagecancontest. Or vote at City Halland see the designed garbage cans in person.

AT YOUR DOORSTARTING MAY 7

Be counted in!Households that did not complete the municipal census online

will be visited by an enumerator starting May 7 between:

9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Mondays to Saturdaysnoon to 9 p.m. on Sundays

Completing the census will take only a few minutes. Enumerators havereceived RCMP security clearance and will be wearing photo ID.

For more information on the 2012 Census, visit www.stalbert.ca/censusor contact the Census Office at [email protected] or 780-459-1500.

Census data is valuable for planning community programs and services,and ensures that St. Albert receives maximum government funding.

EVENTS

Do you have an opinion on: Bullying? Neighbourhood Safety? Raceand Discrimination? Housing? Share your opinions on our community.

Have your Say on the Social Master Plan:www.stalbert.ca/social-master-plan

> Deadline: May 31, 2012 <

Have Your Say!

BECOME A VOLUNTEER!

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Register online by May 18780-459-1522 • www.childfest.com

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The City of St. Albert is conducting asurvey of residents to ask their opinionsand satisfaction with various aspects ofliving in the community, including aboutservices provided by the City.

Banister Research & Consulting willbe conducting telephone interviewsstarting April 30 to seek feedback from800 randomly selected adult residents,with about 200 residents selected fromeach quadrant of the city.

Residents will be called at homebetween 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. onweekdays and 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.on weekends. The survey takes about

20 minutes. When contacted, residentscan arrange for an appointment fora more suitable date and time toparticipate. Participation is confidentialand anonymous.

The survey results will be presentedto Council in July. The results are usedto track City performance and areimportant for consideration to makeprogram or service changes. The lastsurvey was done in 2010.

For questions or concerns, pleasecontact 780-459-1500 or [email protected].

2012 COMMUNITY SATISFACTION SURVEY

COMPOST GIVEAWAY SPRING 2012Each year the City of St. Albert collects about 4,000 tonnes of compostable materialfrom our depot. In the spring and fall, the City is pleased to make available to ourresidents the finished compost material for free. The finished product is of thehighest grade and suitable for all uses.Date: Saturday May 12, 2012Time: 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. or while quantities lastLocation: 7 Chevigny St – Public Works Jack Kraft FacilityLimit two bags per household (if you return bags from previous giveaways in goodcondition, you will get a third bag). You will be asked to provide proof of St. Albertresidence.

www.stalbert.ca/compost-giveaway

CONFIDENTIAL DRUG TIP LINE780-460-DRUG (3784)Keep St. Albert safe – provide tips about drug dealersoperating in our community.

April 30 – May 9

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Many highlights, much to do in environment reportGLENN COOKSt. Albert Leader

The City of St. Albert has made great strides when it comes to environmental issues, but there is still lots of work to do, according to a report released this week.

The City released its 2011 Environmental Report on Wednesday, highlighting some of the accomplishments from the past year and outlining priorities for the future.

City environmental manager Leah Jackson said that, for her, the biggest highlight of 2011 was seeing solid waste rates in St. Albert plummet.

“Based just even on having the [new solid waste] program in place for less than a full year, we made some significant improvements,” Jackson said. “So that was pretty cool.”

The environmental report indicates that the amount of solid waste produced per person in St. Albert was 137 kilograms in 2011, down from 169 kilograms per person in 2010. That’s well below the provincial average of 267 kilograms, and the City hopes to bring that number down to 125 kilograms per person by 2020.

The amount of waste diverted from landfills jumped from 46 per cent in 2010 to 58 per cent in 2011 — meaning the City is well on its way to meeting its 2020 goal of 65 per cent.

Both of these figures can be chalked up to the City’s new automated solid waste collection program, which was started last summer. Jackson said that, after some initial resistance, most residents have caught on to the new system and are taking full advantage of it.

“It was a big change, so we did anticipate a lot of phone calls and information requests for

the first six months,” she said. “But really, after the first couple of months, it really tapered off. Now, most of the calls we get from people are information questions or clarification questions — ‘Can I put this in my green cart?’ ‘Can I put this in my blue bag?’”

The report also highlights the fact that St. Albert has been named a priority location for a regional air quality monitoring station by the Alberta Capital Airshed Alliance, which Jackson is excited about.

“People often say our air quality is really good — yep, absolutely. But this is the time when we need to start measuring our baseline and get information on what the air quality is like now,” she said. “St. Albert is always going to be getting bigger, and if other communities our size are an example, eventually air quality becomes an issue.”

But, as much as the City has accomplished,

there are plenty of steps left to take, and Jackson said that most of those being taken in 2012 centre around the Sturgeon River.

“I’m calling 2012 the Year of the River,” Jackson said with a laugh.

“We’re putting together a state of the Sturgeon watershed report — not just in St. Albert, but the whole watershed, because a lot of the issues we have don’t just start at Riel Park as it comes into the city, and they don’t stop as soon as it leaves.”

There is also money in this year’s budget to retrofit two stormwater outfalls with grit interceptors, and to cap and grade the St. Albert Rugby Football Club and St. Albert Soccer Association grounds to reduce the amount of leachate flowing out of the old landfill site they are built on and into the river.

The entire report is available online at www.stalbert.ca/report-on-the-environment.

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Annexation floated as industrial land chosenGLENN COOKSt. Albert Leader

If the City of St. Albert’s plans to open up light industrial lands for development within its current boundaries don’t work out, now they have a backup plan.

At their regular meeting Monday afternoon, councillors voted to designate 700 acres of land along the city’s western boundaries for future industrial usage, and to have staff prepare the necessary amendments to the Municipal Development Plan.

However, at the same meeting, they also voted 5-2 to initiate annexation proceedings with Sturgeon County for the third time in 11 years.

“I don’t think it necessarily means hiring lawyers,” said Mayor Nolan Crouse. “... Perhaps there’s something here that’s a win-win.”

It was expected that, with the motion to designate the 700 acres of land for industrial use passed, the motion to begin annexation proceedings — initially brought forward by Coun. Len Bracko — would be withdrawn.

But Bracko decided to let it stand, and only councillors Malcolm Parker and Cam MacKay voted against it.

“We can always touch base with Sturgeon County and see where they’re at, and look at planning for the future,” Bracko said.

St. Albert annexed land from Sturgeon County in 2001 for the current Wal-Mart site, a process that was handled quickly. However, a subsequent annexation of 1,337 hectares north and west of the city limits at the time was much more acrimonious, taking six years and a Municipal Government Board hearing to settle disagreements over a tax-sharing agreement on land in the Highway 2 commercial corridor.

As for the designation of the future

industrial lands, several business leaders spoke in favour of the proposal.

But Jim Pennell of Genstar Developments had plenty of concerns that he iterated to council, not the least of which was the rolling topography of the area under consideration.

“Industrial users don’t need, they demand flat sites,” he said, noting that the earth-moving costs Genstar is encountering building the Sobeys in northwest St. Albert are about double what they would normally incur for a residential development.

Pennell also estimated that it could cost about $10 million to bring services like water and sewer lines to the area.

Councillors Wes Brodhead and Roger Lemieux voted against the designation, both admitting that it was an emotional issue.

“This is not the very, very best for St. Albert,” Lemieux said. “We are a leader, and we’re recognized in this country and beyond for safety, recreation education, parks, historical value — what has light industry contributed to that?”

But the rest of council felt the land was necessary to ensure the city’s economic prosperity and so that large operations wouldn’t have to be turned away.

“A grocer needs bread on the shelf to make a sale,” Parker said. “Developers need to see that St. Albert has designated a sizeable zone for industrial so large parcels are available for development.”

“We’ve talked about economic development for all the years I’ve been on council, and this could take us to where we make a big difference and move forward,” Bracko added.

The amendments to the MDP will have to come back before council for a statutory public hearing at a later date.

Staff will bring forward a business case for the 2013 budget outlining what resources may be needed to get the annexation underway.

Map courtesy City of St. AlbertThe lands in purple along St. Albert’s western boundary totalling 700 acres were designated by council Monday for future light industrial use.


Strolling into a retail store, you happen to notice to a large setup,

some type of event across the street. You’re not too sure what it might be, but your interest is piqued.

“I’m not from here and I was wondering if you knew what was going across the street?” you might inquire to the store’s staff member.

“I have no idea,” is the short reply. Case closed, opportunity hugely missed.

Has this ever happened to you?

St. Albert is about to get busy with lots of major events, festivals and more. Today is the start of the ArtWalk in the Perron District downtown. The RunWild marathon is this Saturday. Soon the Rainmaker Rodeo, Children’s Festival, Farmers’

Market and Rock’n August will be upon us.

It is that time for business owners to fully engage their staff and arm them with the knowledge of what is going on in their community.

Who knows? If that customer is interested enough, they might plan a return visit and your chance of seeing them again just increased.

After telling them what events and opportunities to visit are coming up, throw in an extra, “You should pop by to see us again when you come!”

Even if you don’t run a business in St. Albert you can play an important role. But you do need to know what is happening and upcoming. Tell your friends, family members, co-workers and more. What a great way to convince them to come for a visit to St. Albert.

There are some very unique draws in our city. Though we hope there are more, these may be the only reason they would hop in the car for a visit, so do what you can to get them here. The great part is that most people will only spend a couple of hours with that primary lure. So, before we let them just drive away, let’s do all that we can to pry open those wallets eating at our restaurants and shopping in our stores.

When you’re staring at

your tax bill and grumbling about how much it is, maybe you should ask yourself the question: “What have I done lately to increase business in St. Albert?” If we want businesses to start carrying more of the tax load, we can all start doing more to create commerce in our city.

There are over 60,000 of us. Think of the power of those numbers if they were aligned with promoting all our city has to offer. Convincing one friend, maybe two or more, to head to St. Albert? That really starts to add up.

We can also take a moment to think about that last purchase we made that was not in our city. Multiply that purchase by 60,000 and you may fall off your chair when you see the potential local economic impact missed.

‘I have no idea’ won’t fly as events pick up

Setting the right courseAs St. Albert city council was discussing

the designation of 700 acres of land along the city’s western boundary

for future light industrial use on Monday afternoon, Coun. Cathy Heron urged council to move ahead with the plan by quoting 19th century American poet and humorist Oliver Wendell Holmes:

“To reach a port we must sail, sometimes with the wind, sometimes against it. But we must not drift or lie anchor.”

When it comes to light industrial development, this is a fine sentiment. After all, that is a port the good ship St. Albert has been trying to reach for years, so it is heartening to see council finally hoist the sails as they did Monday when they approved the land designation.

Unfortunately, though, with the course they’ve set, they may be steering the city straight into a hurricane.

Like choppy seas, the biggest problem the City of St. Albert may be headed for is the rolling topography of the land they have chosen to set aside for industrial use. As councillors heard from representatives of the development community on Monday, industrial users are looking for flat sites to build on, and they’ll definitely balk at having to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to move dirt.

General manager of planning and engineering Guy Boston remarked during Monday’s meeting that other communities in Canada have managed to foster industrial development despite hilly terrain. But in those places, there may not be other options. Here in the Capital Region, if developers don’t want to deal with levelling earth, they can look down the road to Edmonton or Acheson where sites are flat — and probably cheaper.

But one saving grace may be the notion of annexation. It seemed unnecessary at the start of Monday’s meeting, but the more you think about it, the more it makes sense. If there are no suitable parcels of flat land within the current city limits, maybe it’s a good idea to start looking beyond those limits again.

And perhaps that will lead the city back to smooth sailing when it comes to industrial development.

EDITORIALby Glenn Cook

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Thinking of Mother Nature this Mother’s DayGLENN COOKSt. Albert Leader

The City of St. Albert is hoping residents think of Mother Nature on Mother’s Day.

The City is holding its annual Clean Up the Sturgeon event on Sunday, May 13, this year, and community recreation co-ordinator Erin Gluck said that it has continued to grow in popularity.

“The last two years, we’ve seen increasing numbers. Two years ago, we had about 350 people, and last year, we had about 500 participating,” Gluck said. “Our hope is, if we get a good day and lots of people want to come out on Mother’s Day — a great activity to do with your mother — we could meet or exceed last year’s numbers.”

Last year, volunteers collected nearly one ton of garbage from along the banks of the Sturgeon River, which was well above the average haul of 0.7 tons.

“[There was the] huge increase in the number of participants, and we also had an extremely windy day, so

every time they picked up one area, we ended up with more garbage flowing in,” Gluck explained. “The combination of those two, and it was such a wet spring last year, so some of the garbage was heavier.”

Many of those volunteers were young kids who were out with their parents or with their minor sports teams. Seeing kids get

involved in environmental issues and organized cleanups is a very encouraging sign for Gluck.

“It’s good to see how engaged the community gets, and we’ve found that engaging with schools, community groups, sports organizations, churches, a lot of those different groups, it’s a great community event,” she said.

Plus, she added, it’s a vital part of the river’s health.

“Everything we do in the community, even if you’re not right close to the river valley, does have an impact on the river,” Gluck said. “Whether its small things or large things that we’re doing, those things all contribute to making the river healthier.”

The Clean Up the Sturgeon event is part of the larger Spruce Up St. Albert campaign, which runs until September, and includes other events like the River’s Edge Enhancement Project and other neighbourhood and schoolyard clean-ups.

“People want to have things they can do to help make their city a better place,” Gluck said. “With the new branding of the city, the ‘Cultivate Life’ [slogan] and the whole green kind of idea, that makes people start to think about what things they can do in their community.”

A new event this year is the City-Wide Clean-Up, which is slated for Sept. 22 and 23.

“We decided to try it for the fall this year, mainly because we’re gaining momentum with the Clean Up the Sturgeon event in the spring, so we wanted to give people a chance to feel like they can contribute in the fall before winter comes,” Gluck said.

For more information on Clean Up the Sturgeon, visit www.stalbert.ca/cleanup.

Photo: GLENN COOK, St. Albert LeaderMayor Nolan Crouse checks out garbage cans painted by local schools to help promote the Spruce Up St. Albert campaign. You can vote for your favourite garbage can at St. Albert Place or online at stalbert.ca until Sunday.

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Fowler students honour school’s namesakeGLENN COOKSt. Albert Leader

Most of the time, honours like having a school named after you are done posthumously, so the honouree doesn’t have a chance to express how much it means.

But Richard Fowler got that chance this past week.

The former two-time St. Albert mayor, MLA and provincial court judge was the guest of honour at Richard S. Fowler Catholic Junior High School on Thursday, April 26, as teachers, students and members of the Fowler family sat down to honour the school’s namesake and share a pasta lunch.

“I have been honoured with many awards over the years, but none have meant more to me than having a school named after me,” Fowler, 80, told the assembled students before the meal was served. “Awards and plaques fade away and are forgotten. But this school is a constant reminder to me, and I am humbled each time I drive by or hear of things going on in this school.”

Sharing the head table in the school’s gymnasium with Fowler, his wife Dawne and several of his brothers and sisters was Ernie Klita, a math, science and religion teacher at the school. Klita, who has been teaching in the Greater St. Albert Catholic Regional District for 35 years, was the principal organizer of the event, and said there was one question in his mind that drove him to bring it all together.

“I’ve always thought, what would it be like to have a school named after you?” he said.

“When the school was named [after] Fowler and I was working here, I wondered about that. His son was in my class. ... Sometimes our staff wasn’t even aware of who Mr. Fowler is, and some of our students don’t. But I think this is an important thing to have.”

And to see it all come to fruition was a dream come true.

“I’ve accomplished one more thing on my bucket list,” Klita said. “I’m so proud of the behaviour of 300-plus kids, of the Knights of Columbus and the parents, how everyone comes together. It was an idea in my head, and here it is today.”

Also present were representatives from Holy Family Parish, GSACRD, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and deputy mayor Cam MacKay.

The school was originally called Vincent J. Maloney Catholic School, until it moved to its current location adjacent

to St. Albert Catholic High School. The building was then renamed after Fowler.

Fowler recalled his early days, born in Edson to a father who was a station agent for the CN Railway. After leaving school in Grade 11 to “follow a girl to Calgary — she got away,” Fowler had a number of jobs, then applied to the Royal Canadian Air Force, but couldn’t make the cut as a pilot.

“I had no desire to be a navigator,” he said. “They were going 600 mph up there, and I wasn’t going to be in the backseat.”

Fowler was working in sales in St. Albert when he decided to run for mayor and succeeded in 1965. During his first term in office, a lawsuit was settled between the City

of St. Albert and a major land developer. That, and attending a performance of the Arthur Miller play Death of a Salesman, spurred him on to go back to university at age 39 and pursue a career in law.

“I said to my wife Vera, ‘Do you realize, if I go to university now, I’ll be 45 years old when I finish?’” he said. “In her infinite wisdom, she replied, ‘Do you realize, Dick, that in six years, you will be 45 regardless of what you do?’”

Fowler got his law degree and opened up an office in St. Albert. He then served as mayor again from 1980 to 1989 before being elected as the Progressive Conservative

MLA for St. Albert. In his four years in the Alberta Legislature, he served as solicitor general, minister of municipal affairs and native affairs, and minister of justice.

As proud as Fowler is to have the school named after him, the students are just as proud to go there.

“Although this building has been known by different names in years past, the future Falcons and everyone in this school will always know it as R.S. Fowler Catholic Junior High School,” said Grade 9 student Megan Stefner, president of the school’s student council. “And we’re all very proud of that.”

Photo: GLENN COOK, St. Albert LeaderWith the help of his wife Dawne, former St. Albert mayor and MLA Richard Fowler addresses the students at the junior high school bearing his name during a luncheon on Thursday, April 26.

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Cap rec fees challengedGLENN COOKSt. Albert Leader

It looks like the City of St. Albert will have to change how it collects money from land developers for recreational facilities.

At their regular meeting Monday afternoon, St. Albert city councillors approved a recommendation from City administration that the Capital Recreation Contribution (CRC) fee charged to developers be set to $0.

Administration’s recommendation stems from a 2011 decision in the Alberta Court of Appeal regarding a legal battle between Prairie Communities Development Corporation and the Town of Okotoks. In that case, the court found that, although developers may volunteer to contribute money, capital contribution charges like the CRC are not expressly authorized by the Municipal Government Act.

In St. Albert, this has led to several developers appealing the CRC to the Subdivision Development and Appeal Board.

“Appeals will continue so long as the contribution is mandatory and development may be delayed on this issue alone,” said city solicitor Gene Klenke.

The CRC was introduced in 1981 as a means of funding public recreational or cultural facilities or the purchase of land for such facilities to be built upon. Since then, the CRC fee has increased according to the

Southam Construction Price Index from $750 per residential lot in 1981 to nearly $1,700 per lot in 2011, and has funded facilities such as tennis courts, swimming pools, ice rinks, clubhouses, baseball diamonds and soccer fields.

As a potential fix, councillors also passed Monday resolutions to adjust new development agreements to make specific reference to the required installation of walkway system amenities, and also to make adjustments to the City’s engineering and landscaping standards.

This, staff said in their agenda report, would include some of the amenities the CRC covers in the base guidelines for neighbourhood development that the City and developers must work together to meet.

Councillors agreed that this would be the best option to move forward for now.

“Moving forward on this will certainly keep us in line with other municipalities from a competitive perspective,” Coun. Malcolm Parker said. “The recommended option seems to cover everything.”

City staff indicated in their agenda report that Alberta government officials are looking at the Okotoks decision, but have offered no assurances what action they may take or when that action may be taken. Setting the fee to $0 would allow the City to reinstate CRC rates if the province amends the MGA.

Photo: glenn cook, St. Albert leaderSaturday was World Tai Chi Day, and the Water Garden Spa at the Enjoy Centre celebrated by having tai chi instructor William Tucker and student Mary Tong perform free demonstrations in one of the facility’s open spaces.

Ancient exercise on display


Local Pokémon champ gets back in the game

Foundation restructuring means layoffs at region seniors’ homes


Most people dream of retiring early, but Jonathan Lambergts actually did it — at age 10.

But the Pokémon Trading Card Game player couldn’t resist the call of competition and, now 13, came back to the game and recently placed fourth in the senior division of the Pokémon Spring Regional Championships in Surrey, B.C. on April 14 and 15.

“There was always something in me that I didn’t want to quit,” said the Grade 7 student at Richard S. Fowler Catholic Junior High School. “I was in a slump for a long time, but I stayed with it. ... I’ll always be drawn to it somehow.”

Jonathan first got started playing Pokémon a few years when his brother got involved.

“One of my brother’s teachers actually introduced him [to the game], so I actually kind of tagged along,” he said. “It was one of those things that I was quite interested about.”

Eventually, though, his brother grew tired of the game, but Jonathan did not, practicing against his mother, Delfina, around the kitchen table and in local leagues at Mission: Fun and Games in St. Albert, Capilano Mall and Happy Harbour Comics in Edmonton.

For Jonathan, it was the strategy and the problem solving that got him hooked in the first place.

“I’ve always liked something that made me think,” he said. “I never particularly liked sports ... It was the thinking process — ‘How do I beat my opponent?’”

“Pokémon is like logical problem solving on steroids for kids,” Delfina added.

But he was also spurred on by the prospect of opening a pack and finding a rare card to add to his deck.

“Even if I got one of them, it wasn’t enough for me,” Jonathan said.

In 2009, Jonathan reached the pinnacle

of the Pokémon scene in Canada, winning the national championship in the junior division — despite not going to regionals that year.

“I didn’t know whether he was going to be good enough to go to regionals,” Delfina said, “then his major competitor came second, and I was like, ‘Oh!’ So we footed the bill that year; I said, ‘He’s got some game, so let’s go to Toronto for nationals.’”

Jonathan won every single game he played, including a sweep of the best-of-three finals. But that made him get a little “cocky,” he said, and when the transition from the junior to the senior division didn’t go smoothly, he decided to give up the game.

But he eventually came back to the game, finishing fifth in provincials this year before selling some of his old Pokémon cards to raise the funds to get to Surrey for regionals, where he finished fourth.

The comeback came with a new appreciation for the importance of practicing.

“It could be soccer, it could be basketball, it could even be card games — it’s all the same,” Jonathan said, who now aims to get two to four games in every night with his mom. “If you don’t practice, don’t expect to do as good as you want to.”

Aside from the competition, though, both Jonathan and Delfina have found other benefits to being involved in Pokémon, not the least of which is the community and friendships that have formed around the game.

“These kids literally take us around the world. ... The moms, we fundraise. We know not all the kids have the same advantages, so if a kid comes up and he’s a really good player, but he doesn’t seem to have the means, the moms get together and fundraise and get him that plane ticket, get him that hotel room, so he can represent us,” Delfina said.

“Even my competitors are my friends. ... He’s a nice guy; he’s a guy that tries hard and has the same goals, and he’s a nice fellow,” Jonathan added.


One of the largest providers of seniors’ housing in St. Albert and the surrounding region has shuffled its deck, resulting in some employees being let go.

The Sturgeon Foundation — which operates supportive and independent living facilities for seniors in St. Albert, Morinville, Legal, Gibbons, Bon Accord and Redwater — announced the restructuring on Monday, meaning several managers have been laid off and those who remain are looking after several facilities at once.

Sturgeon Foundation executive director Dennis Magnusson said that, after starting in Legal 50 years ago, the foundation took a hard look at the way it operated and decided changes needed to be made.

“Every time we added another lodge or a housing project, we’d add another manager. So it got to a point where we had, aside from our corporate office staff, six lodge managers,” he said.

So, in 2010 — before

Magnusson was brought on board — the foundation’s board of directors retained an outside management consulting firm to review the management structure and look for ways to become more efficient.

“They [the consultants] recommended that, instead of six managers, we have three people — we chose to call them ‘housing administrators’ — to run these places,” he said. “It’s called multi-site management, and that’s in large part what this is about.”

“It’s not just about being more efficient and controlling costs,” Magnusson added. “It’s designing a team and having the right talent on board and the right skills and abilities to cope with the challenges of the future.”

The restructuring, however, has not gone over well at some of the lodges. At Chateau Mission Court in St. Albert, residents began circulating a petition after a manager there was let go.

Magnusson sympathized with their situation, though.

“Change is always difficult, and I think speaks to the

fact the person who had been the manager there had been there a very long time and developed some good relationships, and in fact we acknowledge has done a very good job in so many ways,” he said. “The residents and tenants who live there come to rely on the manager who is on site all the time; they turn to her for assistance and guidance sometimes. So it’s natural that people would be concerned they know and care about is no longer there.”

He added that residents should not notice much of a difference.

“It’s the same front line staff doing the cleaning and preparing the meals and interacting with them on a day-to-day basis,” Magnusson said, noting that home care services provide the actual health care to residents in their facilities, while the foundation provides security, housekeeping, meals and recreational activities.

“What the residents will notice is, where they had a manager on each site that they got to know quite well, now there’ll be a different person going between two sites.”

Photo: glenn cook, St. Albert leaderA volunteer gets set to clean the dirt and mud off a slide at the new playground at Robert Rundle Elementary School as it is installed on Saturday morning.

It’s a dirty job

Photo: GLENN COOK, St. Albert LeaderJonathan Lambergts poses next to many of the awards he has won playing the Pokémon Trading Card Game at his Oakmont home.

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Rehab society: Leave wild bunnies alone

ALYSSA NOELSun Media News Services

Leave those adorable baby bunnies alone, local animal officials warned last week.

Concerned Edmontonians have been spotting wild baby white tail prairie hares around the city this spring without their mothers around.

Thinking they’ve been abandoned or orphaned, many have called the Edmonton Humane Society or the Wildlife Rehabilitation Society wondering what to do with the critters.

Worse, some have taken them into their homes.

“Sometimes, we have the best intentions, but it might not be the best thing for the animal,” said Cheryl Feldstein, executive director of the WRS.

The organization has been getting around 10 calls a day from people who have picked up an animal or are worried about one.

In most cases, the mother is nearby, Feldstein explained. Mother rabbits spend most of their time away from their young because the adults have a strong scent that predators are attracted to.

Unless you know for certain that the mother has been killed, you should leave the hare alone, even if it doesn’t move when you get close, officials advise.

If you have moved an animal, put it back where you found it.

It is just a myth that mothers will reject animals with human scent, Feldstein said.

The Edmonton Humane Society deals with domestic animals, but they have also been inundated with calls in recent weeks.

While they can direct concerned callers,

it’s best to contact the WRS, said Shawna Randolph, spokeswoman for the EHS.

“The (baby hare) today that we showcased (to media) is one that someone came across at the University of Alberta and called us because they didn’t know who to call,” she said. “The person knew for sure the baby’s mother was killed by a bird.”

The bunny is now in the WRS’s care.In the coming months, Edmontonians

may find a variety of animals that appear to abandoned but really aren’t, including songbirds, fawns and ducks, Feldstein said.

“The best thing people can do is leave it alone,” she stressed.

If in doubt, she added, call the wildlife hotline at 780-914-4118. You can also find information at www.wildlife-edm.ca.

Photo: Sun Media News ServicesThe Edmonton Humane Society and the Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of Edmonton are warning people to leave wild baby animals alone this spring, even if one appears to be abandoned.


ENTERTAINMENTTupelo Honey toast of local scene at EMAs


Saturday night was a pretty sweet night for Tupelo Honey.

The band, with several members hailing from St. Albert, took home two of the biggest honours at the Edmonton Music Awards Saturday at the Royal Alberta Museum, winning both Rock Album of the Year and Album of the Year for their latest CD, Caught Up In the Excess.

“It was a packed house; it was great,” lead singer Dan Davidson said. “Album of the Year and Rock Album of the Year, those are the ones that mean the most to us anyway, so it was awesome to win those.”

Hearing their name called was quite the surprise for the band, which also includes guitarists Brad Simons and Tyler Dianocky, bassist Steve Vincent, and drummer Greg Williamson.

“There was some stiff competition, so it was great to be selected,” Davidson said.

Other nominees for Rock Album of the Year included Old Wives, Killinger, Ten Second Epic and White Lightning. The latter two also joined Tupelo Honey as nominees for Album of the Year, along with Colleen Brown and Boogie Patrol.

Davidson said that, after a lull of a few

years, the Edmonton music scene is back and better than ever.

“What I like about it now is that it’s very diverse. ... There are just so many great musicians that really span the spectrum of genres,” he said.

He added that an event like the EMAs can only help that scene get bigger and better.

“The fact it’s getting press is showing there’s music in Edmonton that’s doing something,” he said. “... There’s great stuff happening, and I think it’s showing young bands that it’s not far out of their reach.”

Tupelo Honey was also nominated for Single of the Year and Music Video of the Year, both for their song “Falling.”

Caught Up In the Excess was an album that was a while in the making, though, as

Davidson took over lead singing duties from Matt Landry just

as the band got started on the CD.

“From there, it was a bit startling, because it was one of those points in time where we asked ourselves, ‘Now what? Are we going to keep going under this name? Or are we going to try and do something new?’”

But they decided to soldier on as Tupelo Honey, and Davidson took over as lead singer.

“I was like, ‘I gotta try,’” he said. “I had had so much to do with writing the vocals all along anyway, so it was kind of a natural thing for me.”

Now, more than a year later, Davidson said he has settled into the role nicely.

“First couple of months, it was a little weird not having a guitar in my hands,” he said. “But now it’s just totally natural. I don’t even think about it anymore.”

With the EMAs under their belts, Tupelo Honey is gearing up for their next gig, which will be in their old stomping grounds at the Rainmaker

Rodeo and Exhibition in St. Albert on Friday, May 25, with the Trews and State of Shock.

“It’s going to be great,” Davidson said. “The Trews are good friends of ours; we’ve toured with them for years. And we know State of Shock from way back. It’s going to be a pretty crazy night.”

He added that there are lots of good memories among the band members of attending the Rainmaker.

“Probably getting into some trouble when I was younger,” he said with a laugh. “It’s one of those St. Albert mainstays. Everyone goes to the Rainmaker, and it’s like a big reunion.”

After the Rainmaker, Tupelo Honey plays Hockeyfest in Brantford, Ont., alongside Creed, Theory of a Deadman, Bleker Ridge and Puddle of Mudd.

Then they’ll be back in Alberta to work on the follow-up to Caught Up In the Excess.

“I’ve done some [writing] on my own the past little while, trying to bank ideas, even if it’s just little bits of lyrics and hooks here and there,” Davidson said. “I’m always trying to write, and sometimes it comes out for other

people. I’ve done a lot of pop writing this year ...

but a lot of the writing this year hasn’t been for Tupelo, so I’ve got to get back in that mindset.”

“It was a packed house; it was great.”

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Students go off the walls at annual AGSA exhibit


The art is off the wall — literally — at the Art Gallery of St. Albert this month.

May marks the start of High Energy XVII: Off the Wall, the gallery’s annual exhibit of art by local high school students in St. Albert. And, along with many of the usual paintings and charcoal drawings, several of the 170 pieces in the show jump off the gallery walls with plaster casts and other three-dimensional elements.

“There’s a lot of talent, and a lot of interesting ideas that come out of this. Sometimes, that’s the most inspiring thing — what these kids are thinking about,” said exhibition curator Jenny Willson-McGrath. “I think it’s interesting how things have moved on from traditional art-making and

students are allowed to express themselves.”

Kristen Zentner is a Grade 12 student at St. Albert Catholic High School who has several pieces in the High Energy show, most of which came from a show she put together earlier in the year for her Internationale Baccalaureate program.

“I really focused on how women were repressed in history, and different symbols that were used,” said Zentner, who is heading to university next year to pursue a psychology degree. “That’s what the birdcages are about — a psychological cage and a physical cage.”

While some of her pieces are charcoal drawings — the medium which she said she feels most comfortable with — Zentner also breaks her mould somewhat by experimenting with relief

sculptures.“I got a lot braver this year. I

had a different art teacher this year, and it put a different spin on things. I felt like I had more opportunity to do different things,” she said. “... Just having the opportunity to try different things was really neat.”

Other participating schools include Paul Kane High School, Bellerose Composite High School, École Secondaire Sainte Marguerite d’Youville, and the St. Albert Protestant Outreach High School.

Each school was also given a challenge project to tackle, a 3D installation piece themed around the word “conversation.”

Rebecca Day and Alyssa Anselmo, both in Grade 12, contributed to Paul Kane’s project, a collection of mannequin heads accentuated by wires and

pieces of old cellphones.“It’s hard because you don’t

know if it should be positive or negative,” Anselmo said. “With communication, everyone has different opinions on it. But I think most of us went with the negative approach.”

Paul Kane art teacher Colleen Hewitt said that the theme of the challenge project was particularly relevant for teenagers today.

“With all their texting and emails, Twitter and Facebook, there are so many elements to communication now that we didn’t have before, so many ways to communicate,” she said. “It’s interesting, because there was a little bit of nostalgia for the old way of doing things, like just talking to someone face-to-face or writing someone a letter.”

Hewitt has been involved with the High Energy show for almost 12 years now, and she said it has been neat to see how the students’ artwork has evolved over that time.

“There’s a lot more mixed media stuff the kids are doing, which is really reflective of what contemporary artists are doing all over the place,” she said. “There’s more mixed media stuff, more assemblage, more three-dimensional stuff added to pieces, that kind of thing.”

Both Day and Anselmo are grateful to have the opportunity to show the fruits of their year’s labour.

“It’s fun to see all the other art from students,” Day said.

Willson-McGrath said the exhibit is one of their most popular each year and one that gallery staff look forward to, even though it’s hard work.

“It’s definitely a tradition for us,” she said. “Everyone tries to get in a little bit of a break before to prepare for it.”

High Energy XVII: Off the Wall opens tonight (Thursday) in conjunction with the first downtown Artwalk of the 2012 season, and runs until June 2.

Photo: GLENN COOK, St. Albert LeaderThe challenge project from Paul Kane High School centred around a theme of “conversation” awaits installation at the Art Gallery of St. Albert.

Photo SuppliedSt. Albert Catholic High School Grade 12 student Kristen Zentner poses next to one of her pieces that will be part of the High Energy XVII exhibit at the Art Gallery of St. Albert.

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Photog’s fundraiser

Photo: glenn cook, St. Albert leaderA member of the African Children’s Choir performs at the St. Albert Evangelical Lutheran Church on Wednesday, April 25. The choir raises money to raise awareness of the plight of millions of orphaned and abandoned children in Africa.

Song of Africa


As soon as photographer David Bowering was back on Canadian soil, he wanted to go back to Afghanistan.

Between October 2010 and February 2011, Bowering was embedded with Canadian and American military forces, documenting their daily lives and struggles in still images.

Now this summer, he’ll get the chance to go back, but he’ll trade in his still camera for a video camera as he shoots a documentary about the men and women of the United States Army Combat Aviation Brigade MEDEVAC units, with whom he spent time and formed bonds with on his first trip overseas.

“I really enjoyed my time with everybody over there. They all had amazing stories and were all great people, but I was really touched by the MEDEVAC units, what their daily lives were like, and the risk they put themselves into every single day, several times a day,” he said, “and what that job of theirs does to them in the long run. I got to spend a month with those people last trip, flying in and out of battle with them, picking up the wounded, and I just didn’t have an end to that story.”

The only problem so far is the costs Bowering is incurring — everything from equipment and memory to insurance and airfare.

“Hard drive space is incredibly expensive due to the floods in Thailand last year,” he said. “Insurance, airline tickets — extra baggage costs are in the thousands. ... I need 40 terabytes of hard drive space because I have to have an absolute backup with me at all times. When you look at hard drives, they don’t seem like much at $180 apiece, but when you need 20 of them, it adds up.”

He has received little help from Canadian funding sources, mainly because the unit he’ll be following is an American one.

“These are the same men and women that looked after our Canadian soldiers on the

ground,” Bowering said. “It’s because they’re [American], people say it’s not Canadian content.”

To raise money, Bowering is selling prints of any of the photos featured on his four websites at half the price they would normally sell for in galleries.

Bowering has donated prints to friends in the past for various fundraising activities, but he admits he’s not sure how well it will

go.“I really don’t know; it depends

how much people want to get involved and how far they want to spread the word, so to speak,” he said.

“I like to pay for things on my own,” he added, “but this trip has gotten so amazingly expensive, I can’t figure out how I’m getting back from Afghanistan. That money for a ticket, that’s three grand worth of hard drives.”

But if the response his work has received in the past is any indication, Bowering might not have too many problems raising money. When he returned from Afghanistan last year, his work was featured in an exhibit at the Art Gallery of St. Albert, which was extremely well-attended.

Bowering said it was great to see that so many people were so interested in what was going on in Afghanistan.

“I went down there numerous times and just spent time at the gallery to answer people’s questions, and that really opened my eyes, that these people aren’t getting what they need to get; they aren’t getting the full story,” he said.

Bowering isn’t quite sure what will happen once he’s back from Afghanistan and has spliced all his footage together, but he’s aiming for either a theatrical release or to have it broadcast on television.

“Time will tell who picks this up and who wants to go with it,” he said.

Details on Bowering’s fundraiser, which runs until July 1, can be found on his Facebook profile.

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ArtWalk gets off on right footGLENN COOKSt. Albert Leader

Get your shoes on, local art lovers — St. Albert’s ArtWalk is ready to kick off for another year.

With evenings stretching longer and staying warmer, the downtown core is set to come alive on the first Thursday of the month from tonight (Thursday) until September with painting, music and just about everything in between.

“It’s great; people come back year after year to do [the ArtWalk],” said Jenny Willson-McGrath, exhibition curator at the Art Gallery of St. Albert, one of the ArtWalk anchors. “I think it’s a really good thing for downtown. And it’s expanding; we’ve gone beyond the downtown core, out to the Hemingway Centre.

“It’s growing and we’re making people walk further; that’s good for everyone,” she added with a laugh.

The AGSA has a busy night planned, as the ArtWalk coincides with the opening of High Energy XVII: Off the Wall, their annual exhibition of work by students at five local high schools.

“That’s kind of a double whammy,” Willson-McGrath said. “The first ArtWalk of the season is normally very busy, and this is always a really busy opening show — not just the opening, but the show in general, we have a lot of foot traffic through the gallery during this one.”

The gallery’s satellite studio, just down Perron Street, will also celebrate youth art by featuring the work of St. Albert Catholic High School Grade 12 student Kristen Zentner.

Aside from the AGSA, though, this year’s

ArtWalk sees a couple of new venues added. At the St. Albert Public Library, the work of mixed media artist Cathy McMillan will be on display in an exhibit called Paper and Pages, featuring handmade books, altered books and mixed media artwork.

“It’s part of our ongoing effort to be more and more the heart of the community,” said library director Peter Bailey.

McMillan will be giving a demonstration of her artistic process from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, although Edmonton-St. Albert Conservative MP Brent Rathgeber will still be in Ottawa while the House of Commons is in session, his constituency office at #220, 20 Perron St. will host local artist Kristine McGuinty.

While the artists in the Visual Arts Studio Association of St. Albert (VASA) are no strangers to the ArtWalk, this year they’ll have brand new digs to show off. The group is getting ready to move into a new home at the Hemingway Centre — the old RCMP building on Sir Winston Churchill Avenue — and that’s where they’ll be stationed when the walkers come strolling by.

Other venues include WARES in St. Albert Place, Gemport Jewelry, Art Beat Gallery, the Bookstore on Perron, Crimson Quill Gifts and Concept Jewelry Design.

“Encouraging people to come downtown, regardless of what it’s for, is great,” Willson-McGrath said. “I think a lot of people who are new to the area or perhaps don’t come downtown will try doing the ArtWalk, get hooked and come back every month.”

For more details on this month’s ArtWalk exhibitions, visit www.artwalkstalbert.com.

Photo: glEnn cOOk, St. Albert leaderSt. Albert Painters’ Guild member Judy Schafers uses her finger to spread paint during a demonstration at the guild’s show and sale at St. Albert Place on Saturday.

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AARON TAYLORSun Media News Services

As the temperature rose in Legal, so too did the Small Town Saturday Night fever that swept over the town.

Residents and out-of-towners flocked to the tiny town — population 1,100 — just north of St. Albert in support of Big Valley Jamboree’s Small Town Saturday Night.

The day kicked off with a performance by Five-Second Rule, a local country group whose song (a parody of Toby Keith’s “Red Solo Cup”), and the video that was made to accompany it, was responsible for bringing the Big Valley Jamboree event to the Legal.

“I’ve lived here for 10 years,” the band’s frontman Keith Bennett said. “Small Town Saturday Night has been fantastic for the town, for the school and for the community.”

After giving the crowded community centre a brief break, the night’s MC welcomed Alberta-born songwriters Aaron Lines, Duane Steele, Shane Chisholm and Tim Ros to the stage. The event continued with a barbecue, beer garden, fireworks and the main event: a concert put on by

Dean Brody inside the town’s arena.It is Legal’s hope that the event

brings in enough money to fulfill a goal that it has been working on for years now: building a new playground.

The town was roughly $60,000 short of the $200,000 that would be needed before the event, but representatives hope that this will be just what they need to make their dream a reality.

The event, which was put on by both the Legal community league and Big Valley Jamboree, was a massive undertaking, one that wouldn’t have been possible without the co-operation of the community.

“Around here, it takes a lot of teamwork and a lot of organization,” said BVJ worker Chris Melnyuk. “And they have an excellent core group of that here.”

Of course, the money for such an undertaking had to come from somewhere, and that is where Alberta Tourism made its biggest contribution.

“There’s a significant cost in putting this together,” said Travel Alberta chairman Quincy Smith. “The community gets to keep all the proceeds, we pick up the cost and in turn this helps promote Big Valley Jamboree.”

Legal gets a taste of BVJPhoto: IAN KUCERAK, Sun Media News Services

Duane Steele and Samantha King perform during Small Town Saturday Night in Legal.

Ex-Esk new BachelorBILL HARRISSun Media News Services

A CFL journeyman who’s currently a free agent as The Bachelor Canada? Well, we know the girls won’t be after his money.

Then again, his dad is in the Canadian Senate, so there probably is some extra taxpayers’ cash lying around.

Citytv

announced on Tuesday that 28-year-old Brad Smith, who has been a receiver with the Edmonton Eskimos, Toronto Argonauts and Montreal Alouettes, will be the inaugural eligible bachelor in the first season of The Bachelor Canada.

The nine-episode Canadian version of the well-known format will debut this fall on Citytv.

Asked on Citytv’s Breakfast Television if he could envision asking someone he meets on The Bachelor Canada to marry him, Smith said, “I think if you didn’t have the notion in your head that that would be

a possibility, it would defeat the purpose of the show. I would have never gone through all the auditioning and the processes had I not had that intent.”

And what does Smith consider to be the perfect date?

“Coors Light and Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em 5, that’s a Canadian dream,” joked Smith, who originally is from Hudson, Que.

Smith isn’t the first Canadian football player to be involved with a version of The Bachelor. Back in 2004,

former NFL quarterback Jesse Palmer, who was raised in Nepean, Ont., was the big prize on the U.S. version of the show.

Smith’s dad is Canadian Senator Larry Smith, a former CFL player and the ex-commissioner of the league.

Avengers breaks overseas recordsSUN MEDIA NEWS SERVICES – The Avengers flexed its muscles overseas, opening at No. 1 in all 39 markets and rolling up $178 million a week ahead of its U.S. debut.

Joss Whedon’s superhero spectacular earned a whopping $24.7 million in the U.K., Disney’s best three-day weekend ever there.

It also took in $19.7 million from Australia, a record $15.9

million from Mexico and another $12.9 million from Korea. The Avengers opening was also the biggest ever in Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, New Zealand and the Philippines.

The numbers are even more impressive for the Marvel-Disney collaboration, considering the film won’t open in China and Russia

until next week, when it opens in the U.S. It will play in Japan in August.

Another movie banking on a major foreign boost, Universal’s Battleship, continues to steam along. It took $22.5 million from 50 locales over the weekend, raising its overseas gross to $170 million, according to Rentrak. It opens on May 18 in the U.S.


HEALTHGetting fit a family affair

JOANNE RICHARDSt. Albert Leader

We’re killing our kids with kindness. We chauffeur them everywhere, let them sit around with unlimited screen time, and often let them snack on junk food. We dish out yummy takeout for dinner because everyone’s in a hurry.

Well, we’re also potentially hurrying them along to an early death. Obesity is at crisis levels — kids are getting fatter, more stationary and weaker.

Childhood obesity hovers at 26 per cent — ballooning by three times in the past 25 years, says the Childhood Obesity Foundation, which also estimates 59 per cent of adults are either overweight or obese. Within two decades, the adult rate is expected to skyrocket to 70 per cent, reports say.

Kids are spending as much time in front of screens as parents spend at work, according to Active Healthy Kids Canada.

It seems the focus is on mind over matter — more time is set aside for academics over physical fitness in schools and in many homes too.

To counteract all of this sitting time, parents need to get moving and take their kids along for the ride — actually, for the run, hike and climb. Build fit bodies, brains and bonds by getting fit together, recommend experts.

With the winter encouraging

sluggish, hibernating tendencies and weight gain, we now need to put value on physical activity as warmer temperatures inch closer.

“Kids like to play games, they like to be engaged, so exercise needs to be something that is sports-oriented or game-oriented,” says exercise physiologist Dr. Michael Berry, head of the Health and Exercise Science Department at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

He says U.S. statistics indicate there has been a 300 per cent increase in child and adolescent obesity in just one generation, with a third of Americans obese.

Thusly, parents need to be good role models: “If adults do not make this a priority, it is not going to be a priority for children.” Go for something unusual to get them excited about working out, says Berry.

You’re never too old to join in, says Canadian wellness specialist Beverly Beuermann-King.

Parents set the example to their children on how to lead healthy lives. One of the ways to do this is to include the kids in fitness activities.

“Often we are better at taking our kids to their activities and watching ... But by including our children and joining them in an activity, we are more likely to persist then if we were on our own,” says Beuermann-King, of worksmartlivesmart.com.

Create a bucket list of activities

that you and your children would like to try.

“It is important to be creative and not get concerned over ‘being too old’ for the activity,” says Beuermann-King, a life coach who joined her 13-year-old son at his karate studio after taxiing him back and forth for two years.

“I wanted to try it out, and I almost talked myself out of it because I thought that I was too old, I would have been the only adult female and I might embarrass my son. Thankfully, I got over myself and went out to a few classes. I was hooked,” adds the resident of Little Britain, Ont.

Meanwhile, it’s a difficult juggling act for busy parents: “We tend to turn to convenience foods which tend to be loaded with calories, the wrong fats and sugars,” says registered nutritionist Joey Shulman.

The end result: We’re overfed and undernourished, says Shulman, of drjoey.com and author of The Metabolism Boosting Diet. “There is no blame to lay but changes do have to occur on a national level.”

According to Toronto fitness expert Josh Hewett, owner of top-form-fitness.com, protecting the health and wellness of our future generations has to start in our own homes.

“We can’t depend on the school system, medical system, or the media to help our children develop healthier lifestyle habits — it’s up to us as parents.”

Study links television ads to obesity, alcoholism in kidsSUN MEDIA NEWS SERVICES – New research presented Sunday at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Boston drew a connection between fast-food restaurant advertising on TV and obesity in young people as well as alcohol advertising and underage drinking.

While previous research has shown that watching TV is associated with obesity. the study’s lead author, Dr. Auden McClure, and her colleagues sought to determine whether recognition of fast-food ads on TV is associated with obesity in adolescents and young adults.

The team surveyed 3,342 youths aged 15 to 23 years. Participants were asked

about their height, weight, age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, exercise, consumption of soda or sweet drinks, frequency of eating at quick-service restaurants, how many hours they watched TV each day, and whether they snacked while watching TV.

They also were shown 20 still images selected from television ads for top quick-service restaurants that aired in the year before the survey. The images were digitally edited to remove the brands. Individuals were asked if they remembered seeing the ad, if they liked the ad and if they could name the restaurant brand. In addition, they were shown 20 ads for

alcohol.Results showed that about 18 per cent

of those surveyed were overweight, and 15 per cent were obese. The percentage of youths who were obese was significantly higher among those who recognized more ads than those who recognized few ads.

“Given the broad exposure of youth to advertising, the more we know about how media and marketing affect young people, the better equipped we are as pediatricians and parents to guide them in making healthy diet choices,” Dr. McClure said.

A separate study showed that kids who were familiar with alcohol advertisements on TV were more likely to have tried

alcoholic beverages and binge drink than those who could not recall seeing such ads.

“At present, the alcohol industry employs voluntary standards to direct their advertising to audiences comprised of adults of legal drinking age,” Dr. Susanne Tanski said in a statement. “Our findings of high levels of familiarity with alcohol ads demonstrate that underage youth still frequently see these ads. While this study cannot determine which came first — the exposure to advertising or the drinking behavior — it does suggest that alcohol advertising may play a role in underage drinking, and the standards for alcohol ad placement perhaps should be more strict.”

Photo: Sun Media News ServicesWellness expert Beverly Beuermann-King and son Nick King, 13, have fun working out together and building strength at weekly karate classes.

FuN AND FIT TOGETHERMake physical activity a family affair with these suggestions from fitness experts

Dr. Michael Berry and Beverly Beuermann-King:• Organize a family Frisbee challenge, basketball game or soccer game.• While your children are playing organized sports, don’t just sit and wait for them.

Participate in a fitness or yoga class that runs at the same time.• Go for a nature walk and see what tracks and birds are around.• Try an indoor or outdoor game of mini-sticks — a miniature game of hockey with small

nets and sticks and a little ball.• Try out the gaming experience — select those that provide great physical activities

specifically designed for friendly family competition.• Go rock climbing, ziplining or try some trampoline together.


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Pepsi rolls out ad campaignCoke not in

Monster dealSUN MEDIA NEWS SERVICES – Coca-Cola Co took the unusual step of shooting down a report on Monday that said it was in talks to buy energy drink maker Monster Beverage Corp, valued at more than $11 billion.

The statement from the world’s largest soft drink maker came in response to a story in the Wall Street Journal that said Coke was in discussions to buy the fast growing energy drink maker, whose brands include Monster Energy and Java Monster.

Coke and Monster had discussed a possible deal as recently as last year, according to two sources familiar with the matter. However, it is unclear whether the two have been in talks since then.

The Journal’s report that the two companies were in current talks, posted on its website Monday, sent Monster’s stock up 28 per cent to $83.96, an all-time high. Coke later issued a statement disputing the report, and Monster stock fell, closing down one per cent.

“At this time, we are not in discussions to acquire the Monster Beverage Corp,” Coke said in its statement. “We continue to review the best ways to maximize the value of our relationship.”

An acquisition would give Coke a bigger footprint in the energy drink market, which is growing faster than traditional soft drinks.

SUN MEDIA NEWS SERVICES – In the 1980s, Michael Jackson pitched it as “the choice of a new generation.” In 1990, Ray Charles told people they “had the right one, baby.” Now, Pepsi wants people to “Live for Now.”

A multiyear campaign featuring that tagline, as well as various online components, ads and partnerships will roll out globally for the cola brand this year, starting on Monday in the United States.

The first commercial in the “Live for Now” campaign will feature hip-hop artist Nicki Minaj singing her song “Moment 4 Life.” Minaj — known for her wacky outfits and dramatic performances — recently released her second album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

The campaign is the biggest evidence to date of a renewed focus on marketing at PepsiCo, which has faced pressure from Wall Street to improve North American beverage sales. The company is spending an additional $500 million to $600 million this year on marketing a dozen of its brands, starting with its flagship cola.

“PepsiCo is two letters away from Pepsi,” said Brad Jakeman, president of the company’s Global Enjoyment Brands and chief creative officer of PepsiCo Global Beverages Group. “It needed attention first ... It’s the 800-pound gorilla in the room.”

“When it’s at its best, it’s telling people what’s important in pop culture,” Jakeman said. “From a brand perspective, I want this brand to regain its rightful place as a true pop culture icon.”

Over the next several years, the campaign will feature other artists and entertainers. “Pepsi Pulse,” an interactive website will feature pop-culture information, entertainment news and original content and Pepsi has also signed a music-related partnership with Twitter.

Use of the “Live for Now” slogan and Nicki Minaj seems to be an attempt by Pepsi to regain the affections of the younger generation, said Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys Inc.

“It’s something they absolutely need to do,” Passikoff said. “It’s so hard to be able to differentiate yourself generally, and specifically in a category that has ultimately become ubiquitous.”

Passikoff does not have a lot of confidence in Pepsi’s ability to reignite the brand into something very cool again.

“I think it’s real tough in those kinds of relatively undifferentiated categories to come back,” he said.

PepsiCo posted better-than-expected first-quarter profits last week, with beverage sales volume falling one per cent in both the

Americas and Europe, excluding the impact of a recent acquisition. Volume rose two per cent in the Asia, Middle East and Africa unit, fueled by India, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines.

Emerging markets have buoyed soft drink sales as mature markets slow due to changing tastes and a growing health-consciousness.

In the United States, carbonated soft drink sales grew about three per cent a year through most of the 1990s, but began to slow in 1999. Sales have been in decline since 2005.

Amid that backdrop, PepsiCo has worked on a range of healthier products, such as juices, hummus and oatmeal.

But the company’s traditional soft drinks have suffered, with Pepsi-Cola dropping to the No. 3 spot in the United States in 2010, getting overtaken by Diet Coke.

Photo: Sun Media News ServicesHip hop artist Nicki Minaj has teamed up with Pepsi for their first-ever global advertising campaign, with ads on various platforms rolling out starting Monday.

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SUN MEDIA NEWS SERVICES – Western Canada’s farmers might be getting too much of a good thing by planting canola more often than usual to satisfy voracious demand for the oilseed, which is used to make vegetable oil and livestock meal.

Canadian farmers are expected to plant a record-large area of canola for the sixth straight year, snatching acres from cereals and legumes out of their usual rotations.

Planting canola too often allows disease-causing microorganisms to build immunity to resistant crop varieties, while also cutting production yields an average 15 per cent by some estimates for the second of consecutive plantings.

“Nobody can argue that there is no risk,” said Murray Hartman, oilseed specialist for the Alberta government. “(Farmers) seem to put more emphasis on short term and less emphasis on long term.”

Crop specialists urge farmers to plant canola only once every four years, but many are more aggressive and some are even planting the oilseed in consecutive years.

Over time, lower yields would slow steadily rising production in the No. 1 grower of canola/rapeseed, leaving world vegetable oil market demand unsatisfied. Disease can also affect trade conditions, with China already restricting Canadian canola imports over fungus concerns.

The trend is similar to the love affair farmers have with corn in the U.S. Midwest, where planting in consecutive years has become more common leading up to this spring’s biggest corn area since 1944.

In Iowa, the top corn state, 34 per cent of 2010 corn acres were planted again to corn in 2011, according to Thomson Reuters

Lanworth data, as farmers chased high prices.

After giving his land a two-year breather from canola, Saskatchewan farmer Tim Wiens is sowing the oilseed again this spring, cashing in on the highest prices in almost four years.

“Price really pulls a lot of acres,” said Wiens, who will plant one-third of his 2,000 acres (810 hectares) to canola in west-central Saskatchewan, where dry conditions mitigate disease risk. “The rotations are definitely tightening up.”

A mix of homegrown and overseas demand has driven the canola-planting frenzy, with expansions of Canadian crush plants in recent years by Cargill Inc, Richardson International Limited and Louis Dreyfus, and others planned by Archer Daniels Midland and Bunge Ltd.

Many of the same companies, along with Viterra, also export canola seed to Japan and Mexico.

Build productivity, not houses, says Bank gov

Canola: Too much of a good thing for farmers?

SUN MEDIA NEWS SERVICES – Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said on Friday that Canada will continue to attract large flows of cheap foreign capital and that those funds should be used to make companies more productive rather than to build houses.

“It is reasonable to expect that Canada will attract for the next decade or so sizeable foreign capital ... and the question is what are we going to do with that capital,” Carney told a business audience in Ottawa. “Are we going to build houses ... or are we going to invest in our businesses and retool our competitiveness?”

Carney also repeated his warnings about excess household debt as Canadians take out mortgages at extremely low borrowing rates, saying the country should heed the lessons of the U.S. housing crash.

“We’ve seen this movie. It just played in a major cinema just south of here, over and over and over again, and it would be the height of folly to repeat those mistakes,” he said.

“There’s a variety of things we can do, have done and could do prospectively to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

He also repeated that the strong Canadian dollar is a challenge for the economy. The central bank is “not obsessed” with the value of the currency but it

does play a big role in determining monetary policy, he said.

Earlier in the week in the United States, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central bank “would not hesitate” to launch another round of bond purchases to drive borrowing costs lower if it looked like the economy needed it.

That contrasted sharply with Carney’s more positive Canadian economic outlook earlier this month that has signalled the Bank of Canada may start raising interest rates sooner than expected.

On Friday, Carney maintained the bank’s “hawkish bias” when he addressed a business audience in Ottawa, said Camilla Sutton, chief currency strategist at Scotiabank.

She added a stronger Canadian dollar could temper Carney’s desire to raise interest rates, for fear of boosting the currency too high and hurting Canadian

exports.“If we see a big rally in the Canadian dollar, the

expectations for interest rate [hikes] get priced out,” she said.

Sutton said now that the currency has broken out of the range it has traded in since January, 98 cents is a key target, with a close stronger than this “psychological” level likely to point to further strength.

“We’ve seen this movie ... over and

over again.”Mark Carney

Bank of Canada governor

Photo: Sun Media News ServicesBank of Canada governor Mark Carney says Canada should learn from the United States’ mistakes, not repeat them.

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is currently recruiting

Mature Caring stafffor St.Albert and Edmonton

You have your own vehicle, current,clean criminal record check and cell phone.

Casual positions 4-24 hours.You enjoy spending time

with Seniors and the disabled.

HCA’s companions, caregivers,light housekeepers are welcome

to email resumes to;[email protected]

Phone 780-487-4256 or fax 780-443-2324

www.seniorhomecarebyangels.ca

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CONSTRUCTION LABOURERMust have own transportation, steel-toed safetyboots, gloves, some experience and be prepared forphysically demanding work. Shovel work, operationof vibratory compaction equip. and ability to use acutoff saw will be required. Some out of town workwill be necessary.

Forward resume to 780.460.2390or [email protected]

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Earn up to $1000 or moreper month working parttime.The Edmonton Sunis currently looking forreliable carriers with theirown vehicles for earlymorning door to doordelivery in St.Albert.

CALL DARRELLat 780-449-4011Early AMWork, vehiclerequired. 1-3 hours per daydepending on route size.

CARRIERSCARRIERS

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STALBERTJOBS.COM

Union mourns workers killedANGELIQUE RODRIGUESSun Media News Services

It was a sombre morning for Alberta Union of Provincial Employees members who gathered in west Edmonton Friday to honour workers who have been killed on the job.

“(Saturday) is actually the International Day of Mourning to remember friends and colleagues who died or were injured on the job,” said AUPE president Guy Smith.

“We should never forget that there are workers who lose their lives and we need to remember them by working to improve health and safety in the province.”

The annual memorial is recognized around the world, and Smith says Friday’s ceremony at AUPE headquarters (10451 170 St.) is a concerted effort by the union to raise

awareness about occupational work safety.“It’s really important that we’re diligent in

fighting every single day to improve health and safety,” he stressed. “And not just for AUPE members, but all workers in this province.”

AUPE Occupational Health and Safety Union Representative Dennis Malayko played a key role in establishing the annual memorial that dates back to 1996 .

Malayko was on hand Friday to read the poem “Someone” — an ode penned by one AUPE member about a colleague who died on the job — at the ceremony.

“Someone died the other day, an accident is what they say,” read Malayko before members dipped their heads in a moment of silence.

“With his passing, our brother left something to do, the torch has been passed to

me and to you.”According to Smith, workplace safety is

a major issue both in Edmonton and the surrounding province — since 1977, over 60 AUPE members have died on the job.

The union partnered with the Government of Alberta and Alberta Health Services to develop safety procedures, guidelines and monitoring to combat those numbers and it seems to be working.

“We haven’t experienced any death amongst our 80,000 members over the last couple of years,” he said.

“That’s a good sign and we believe it’s because of increased awareness and education of our members.”

The same cannot be said for the province in general. Over 120 people died on the job in Alberta in 2011.

On Saturday, around 1:30 p.m., a monument to Alberta’s Broken Families — those who have lost someone in a workplace accident — was unveiled in Grant Notley Park.

Photo: PERRY MAH, Sun Media News ServicesPiper Andrea Campbell-Paul plays as the AUPE marks the International Day Of Mourning Friday.

Are you looking for a unique opportunity to grow yourcareer in a place where people care?

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

the people they work alongside.

We have the following employment opportunities available:

• Concession Shift Supervisors

• Fitness Instructors

• Night Shift Caretakers

• Pilates Instructors

• Senior Planner

• Starbucks Baristas & Shift Supervisors

• Transportation Assistants

• Utility Project Coordinator

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

Human ResourcesThe City of St. Albert216, 7 St. Anne StreetSt. Albert, Alberta T8N 2X4Fax: (780) 459-1729

Online applications: www.stalbert.ca/employment

We wish to express our appreciation to all applicants for theirinterest and effort in applying for this position but only candidatesselected for interviews will be contacted.

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Jasper Tank Ltd. in Acheson is looking for

HD MECHANICJourneyman/Apprentices(or equivalent experience)

Alberta Inspection Tech license is an asset.Must have reliable transportation.

Please email resumes to:[email protected]

We thank all applicants for their interest,only those being considered will be contacted

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Martin Deerline & Martin Motor Sports isNOW HIRING

MARINE MECHANICS &AGRICULTURE SERVICETECHNICIANS

IN EDMONTON& SURROUNDING AREAS!

Expand Your Future!

Competitive Benefits and WagesEarn while You LearnGreat Work Environment and a Balanced Lifestyle!

MARINE MECHANIC:• Inboard and Indmar Engine Experience.•Computer & Electrical Skills.•Ability to Troubleshoot Our Products.•Ability to Work as a Team Member, with the initiative to workunsupervised.•Marine Certification By A Recognized Institution Preferred.

AGRICULTURAL SERVICETECHNICIAN:•Strong diagnostics skills in the following areas: diesel engine,electrical, and hydraulics.•Customer orientated and the ability to develop relationships.•Experience with John Deere is preferred.•Excellent computer skills and willing to learn new software.•Journeyman Certificate is an asset.•Must carry own tools.

Please forward resumes to Maria Qureshi [email protected] or fax to 780.481.1524.You can also call 780-481-4000 for more information.

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Skills Canada aims to inspire, test studentsLINDA WHITESun Media News Services

For more than 500 young people from across the country, the Skills Canada National Competition is a welcome opportunity to be tested against both high standards and their peers. For organizers, it also shines the spotlight on career opportunities while breaking down dated stereotypes.

“The competition provides a great opportunity for competitors to get a better understanding of what’s involved in the career area that interests them,” says Skills Canada CEO Shaun Thorson.

“It also provides an opportunity for visitors to participate in Try-a-Trade activities, from building a brick wall to wiring a circuit board — something we hope will inspire them to consider a skilled trade career.”

The annual event features

competitions in more than 40 trade and technology areas. Braden Bainbridge of B.C. will compete in the provincial skills competition in mechanical CAD/CAM with the hope of securing a place at nationals.

“I took drafting and welding at high school and knew I wanted to work in a skilled trade. I like working with my hands and like technology,” says Bainbridge. He’s also studying welding and hopes to marry the two skills. “Eventually, I’ll be able to make something on the computer and also be able to fabricate it.”

Despite the lucrative opportunities available in the skilled trades, they’re still seen by many as a second or even third career choice. “We still have this stereotype that skilled trades are about getting your hands dirty and are for people who can’t succeed in other careers and couldn’t go to university,”

says Thorson.“That’s not the case. It requires a lot

of skill and intelligence to be successful in skilled trades. We need to start at a younger age providing opportunities for students to learn about this career path.”

Thorson points to opportunities in natural resources. “Right now, Canada has a very resource-based economy — the mining, oil and gas sectors — as well as lots of growth in alternate energies ... The Red Seal program provides some worker mobility across provinces and territories in a number of occupations. That helps in taking those skills where the work is.”

The bi-annual WorldSkills further underscores the opportunities available in skilled trades. “It’s not only industries in Canada competing for a workforce,” Thorson says. “We also have other countries looking for the same skill sets so it’s a competitive environment.”

Photo: Sun Media News ServicesCompetitors at regional, provincial and territorial levels will vie for a place on Team Canada at the Skills Canada national competition in Edmonton on May 14 and 15.

CUSTOMER SERVICEREPRESENTATIVE

for INSURANCE agency in St. Albert, AB.

• Entry Level Position• Second Language an Asset - Tagalog Preferred• Do you have prior retail experience?• We will train, educate and license• Hours are Monday to Friday, 9-5• Do you enjoy providing exceptional customerservice?

• Are you reliable and dependable?• Great opportunity for an enthusiastic andenergetic individual

PLEASE SEND RESUME BY EMAIL TO:[email protected]

STARTSTODAY!

ALL TRADE-INS WILL BE PAID OFF REGARDLESS OF AMOUNT OWING O.A.C.

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st. albert leader - may 3, 2012

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