Arson investigation underway after teepee fire at Alberta RCMP detachment

WINNIPEG – Cole Perfetti is determined to make the bridge deal that he just signed with the Winnipeg Jets pay off with a more lucrative pact in the future.

The promising forward signed a two-year, US$6.5 million agreement on Monday, and now looks to break through after injuries and inconsistent play hampered his first three NHL seasons.

“You have two more years to prove yourself and go show what you can do on the ice,” Perfetti said after his first practice at the Hockey For All Centre on Tuesday. “I’m going to use this year to try and take a big step with my game and hopefully, play as good as I can for this team and take that next step.

“A bridge deal is all about — I wouldn’t say betting on myself — I would say I have two years to go prove what kind of player you are, what you can do for this organization. That’s my goal every day, to just go and be the best player that I can be and revisit this in two years.”

Perfetti was selected 10th overall by Winnipeg in 2020, but his first two seasons with the Jets were shortened by injuries.

Last year, the forward from Whitby, Ont., scored 19 goals and 38 points in 71 games. But, after a 23-game goalless drought, he became a healthy scratch for the last stretch of the season and the first four playoff games.

“Obviously, I wasn’t too pleased with how it went personally for me down the stretch,” said Perfetti, 22. “Last year, all things considered, was still a pretty decent year. I started off really strong and proved that I can produce in this league.

“Obviously, it didn’t go like that the whole year, but I’m just going to use that as motivation, take the good from it and take the learning curve, and try to be the best that I can be.”

Jets coach Scott Arniel was relieved to have Perfetti back in the fold after the forward, who was a restricted free agent, missed the start of training camp while his deal was being negotiated.

“Last year, he put together a real good, solid season and he’s got to back that up again and be consistent and do that on a nightly basis,” said Arniel, adding that Perfetti is a top-six forward. “I think he recognizes now how he needs to play. He knows now that he’s facing the other teams’ top defencemen and their top forwards.

“Whether it’s with the puck or without it, he has to do things in a quick level, at a high level, and he has the hockey smarts to do that. He’s excited about where he’s going to be.”

Perfetti will not suit up when Winnipeg plays host to the Edmonton Oilers in a pre-season game on Wednesday night, but will play against the Wild in Minnesota on Friday, Arniel said.

Perfetti appreciated the confidence the new Jets coach has shown in him in conversations over the summer.

“It’s great,” he said. “Confidence is huge in this league. When you’re confident in your game, your ability and yourself, you’re going to carry that confidence and swagger onto the ice and you’re going to make more plays. You’re going to feel better on the ice.

“Having that confidence from the get-go is big. It’s huge for the mental side of it and then you’re just going to go out and play your game. The biggest part for me is this year, I’ve got to do my thing.”

That thing will be to remain on the wing on the second line, despite the fact that Perfetti can also play centre.

“He showed last year playing on the wing, I thought he was real good,” Arniel said. “He can play both left and right side. He was actually good on the walls.”

Perfetti’s teammates greeted him with celebratory stick slapping when he first appeared at practice.

“He’s been skating,” said winger Nikolaj Ehlers. “He looks ready. So, it’s exciting to have him back.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Sept. 24, 2024.

VANCOUVER – Ali Ahmed always finds an extra gear in these kind of games.

Not only is the Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder preparing for the Canadian Championship final, but Wednesday’s match will also pit him against his hometown team, Toronto FC.

“There is a little bit extra, for sure,” said the 23-year-old, who grew up in Toronto and once trialled with the TFC academy.

“It’s the club that I grew up a huge, huge fan of. Now, it’s crazy to say that they’re my rivals. At the end of the day, it’s another game. But playing against your boyhood club is extra special, for sure.”

The ‘Caps are looking to hoist the Voyagers Cup for the third year in a row, a feat that only one other team has accomplished.

TFC won four times from 2009 through 2012, and three times between 2016 and 2018.

Toronto isn’t focused on spoiling Vancouver’s three-peat, though.

The team would be equally enthusiastic against any opponent as long as there’s a trophy on the line, said head coach John Herdman.

“I think the rivalry piece, it doesn’t matter who’s in front of us. It’s just a cup final,” he said. “For us, it’s just eyes on lifting some silverware for this club.”

For Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini, the hate that breeds between clubs is part of what makes soccer special, particularly in Canada.

“It’s beautiful to have a rivalry. It’s beautiful to have someone that on the sports side you don’t like,” he said. “I think that’s the beauty of soccer, this kind of rivalry. And I think the Canadian Championship is kind of an expression of that.”

Vancouver earned its way into the final with a 2-0 aggregate win over Canadian Premier League side Pacific FC in a two-legged semifinal. Toronto edged Forge FC, also of the CPL, 2-2 on away goals.

TFC comes into the final in a similar place the ‘Caps were in back in the 2022 tournament, Sartini said. Both had new coaches and were pushing for playoff spots in Major League Soccer.

The mind frame could make Toronto more dangerous than ever, the coach said.

“I think that tomorrow they will come, I would say, even giving 120 per cent, not 100 per cent,” he said. “So that’s the reason why I think it’s going to be a very open game and I think we need to be on top of our behaviour, on top of our level if we want to win.”

Both sides are coming off league losses, with Toronto dropping a 2-0 decision to the Colorado Rapids on Saturday. The L.A. Galaxy doubled up the Whitecaps 4-2 in a result that snapped Vancouver’s five-game unbeaten streak across all competitions.

The ‘Caps are 13-9-7 in Major League Soccer play and currently sit seventh in the Western Conference, while TFC occupies eighth in the East with an 11-17-3 record.

One of Toronto’s losses was a 4-0 drubbing by the Whitecaps in April.

“I think coming into Vancouver last time, it was pretty humbling,” Herdman said. “So I think first things first, coming into a final, those little details need to be right. We’ve been together for a long period of time, I think the team know each other better now and they’ve developed a hunger because they’ve put themselves in this moment.”

TFC was a group that was still trying to find its identity as a team in that April matchup, said captain Jonathan Osorio.

“A lot of time has passed, a lot of games have been played,” he said. “And both teams, I think are at different points now, as far as it comes to rhythm and their form and what they’re fighting for in the league and things like that. It’s going to be a different game.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2024.

EDMONTON – Premier Danielle Smith says she plans to reinforce the right to decide whether to receive a vaccination or other medical treatment in changes to the Alberta Bill of Rights.

In an online video posted Tuesday, Smith said her government is to soon introduce legislation amending the document to ensure the right to make informed medical decisions without fear of undue government pressure or interference. The legislature reconvenes in late October.

“It is my firm conviction that no Albertan should ever be subjected (to) or pressured into accepting a medical treatment without their full consent,” she said.

The Alberta Bill of Rights only applies to matters under provincial authority.

Smith, speaking to right-wing online media outlet The Western Standard, said Tuesday she hopes if Alberta shows it “is not going to just go along with whatever edicts the federal government brings down,” Ottawa “would be a lot more judicious in coming through with any type of policy like (vaccine mandates) again.”

University of Calgary law professor Lorian Hardcastle said it’s hard to know the impacts without seeing the amending legislation itself.

“I would say that it’s worrisome,” she said. “And we’re less well prepared if we were to potentially go into another pandemic.”

Hardcastle said the Alberta government already stripped itself of the authority to impose mandatory vaccinations during a public health emergency when it made changes to the Public Health Act during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s unclear if employers could be prohibited from requiring employees to receive certain vaccinations, she added.

“What tools will we be potentially taking out of the hands of employers that work with vulnerable people or the like in terms of not being able to effectively respond to a public health emergency, or even just the public health status quo?”

Smith told the Western Standard that Ottawa could still impose vaccination requirements for federal workers, but her government has authority over provincially regulated workplaces.

Hardcastle added the proposal would likely clash with the United Conservative government’s plan to introduce legislation giving police and family the authority to force drug users into treatment.

“Their new (addictions treatment) legislation could actually be subject to legal challenge under these changes to the Bill of Rights.”

Other changes to the Bill of Rights outlined by Smith Tuesday would also ensure the province respects “the right of individuals to legally acquire, keep and safely use firearms.”

Smith said she believes law-abiding gun owners have been targeted by the federal government, and she hopes the changes will better protect farmers, ranchers, hunters and sports enthusiasts.

The legislation would also declare that Albertans can’t be deprived of their property without due process of law and fair compensation, Smith said.

Eric Adams, a constitutional law professor at the University of Alberta, agreed it’s too soon to tell what impacts the proposed changes may have.

A draft version of a new Alberta Bill of Rights signed off on by the board of the United Conservative Party contains 21 rights, including the three Smith mentioned in her Tuesday video.

Adams said any new right put forward that goes beyond what is already covered by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms would lead into “new legal terrain in Alberta”

“You’re articulating something fundamental about the province, about its judicial system, about the power of courts and about limits that are being imposed on governments,” he said.

Adams added such an important change to Alberta’s legal landscape should be subject to a “robust” engagement process that would determine the potential ramifications of each new right, especially during public health and safety emergencies.

“All of those questions and concerns I would think would want to be fully debated at a public level if the government is bringing forward extensive changes to the constitution of Alberta.”

Smith swept into her leadership promising to address COVID-19 grievances, fired key public health officials who served during the pandemic soon after taking office and is now working to dismantle and replace the provincial health authority.

United Conservative Party members have been pushing Smith for the recognition of rights that go well beyond the Canadian Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including around guns, parental rights and taxes.

Smith’s announcement comes as she faces a party leadership review in early November.

Alberta conservatives have been known to boot their own leaders from the top job, including former UCP premier Jason Kenney who stepped down after winning tepid support in a leadership review.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Sept. 24, 2024.