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RED DEER, Alta. – Alberta’s government is getting pushback from some municipal leaders and support from others over its plan to build the sheriffs into a second provincial police service.

At the Alberta Municipalities convention in Red Deer on Friday, Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis got an earful from Coun. Ed Cole with the Village of Alix.

“To be blunt, when are we going to put this Alberta provincial police to rest? Eight in 10 Albertans want to keep the RCMP,” he said.

“We can’t afford this. Let’s put the money back into the RCMP budget where it belongs,” said Cole.

His comments were met with enthusiastic cheers and applause from about 1,000 attendees.

It comes as the province works to expand the role of the sheriffs, and after Premier Danielle Smith said it’s looking to open up new local detachments and expand training.

The government also plans to establish regional policing committees, raising questions about who will have policing authority in smaller municipalities.

Ellis said it’s unacceptable that calls to the police aren’t being answered quickly enough, especially in rural areas.

“I am trying to get officers on the street. The independent policing service that is being created is being done because there has been an enormous request, from not just municipalities, but from jurisdictions across Alberta,” he said.

He said the sheriffs are meant to augment and support other police services, but the RCMP is 400 officers short, a number the Mounties disputed Friday.

Ellis said if communities want to stick with their RCMP contract, he respects that, but communities that want other services should be respected, too.

“I’m trying to empower you,” he said to a round of applause.

RCMP say they have a total of 1,772 police officer positions in Alberta under the provincial contract and 306, or 17 per cent, of those are vacant. Of the vacancies, 124 are unfilled while the rest are officers on leave, including sick and maternity leave.

Alberta Municipalities president Tyler Gandam, who is the mayor of the city of Wetaskiwin, said he supports the expanded role of the Alberta Sheriffs.

“Any chance that we get to increase safety for our residents across the province is a good thing, without a doubt,” he said.

Speaking to reporters, Cole said the province doesn’t have the resources, including appropriate training centres, for sheriffs. He said he wants the province to be more transparent about potential costs.

Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said Thursday he’s hearing from municipal leaders that they’re confused about the province’s policing plan.

“Taking on an Alberta provincial police force and starting from scratch is the height of financial lunacy. It’ll just cost so much money and it’s not at all clear that it will solve any of the problems,” Nenshi said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.

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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Suncor Energy has been fined $90,000 after pleading guilty to two charges stemming from a worker injury in 2019 aboard its production vessel in an oilfield off the coast of Newfoundland.

In a news release Thursday, the province’s offshore oil regular said the company must also give $20,000 to the College of the North Atlantic’s health and safety management program.

The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board says Calgary-based Suncor pleaded guilty on Sept. 5 for failing to ensure the safety of its employees and failing to ensure its employees wore a safety harness attached to a lifeline while inside a confined space.

The board says a worker fell 7.6 metres from a safety ladder while testing for hydrogen sulfide in a ballast tank on the floating production and storage vessel in the Terra Nova offshore oilfield.

An agreed statement of facts says two emergency response workers then went into the tank to tend to the fallen man, and they were not wearing gas masks.

Suncor Energy is the majority owner of the Terra Nova oilfield, and it reported net earnings of $1.57 billion in the second quarter of this year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.

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HALIFAX – A 17-year-old boy who stabbed two staff members at a Halifax-area high school last year doesn’t need to serve anymore jail time and instead should be given two years of probation, a Nova Scotia youth court judge ruled Friday.

Judge Elizabeth Buckle said the accused, who was experiencing a mental health crisis at the time he assaulted the school staff, had already served 100 days in pretrial custody and has been complying with strict conditions since his release.

“This has been a very difficult decision; however, ultimately I am not satisfied that the principles of sentencing require a further period of custody in this case,” Buckle told the court. “The expert evidence suggests that … rehabilitation and reintegration can be accomplished in the community.”

The teen’s identity is protected from publication because of his age; he pleaded guilty in March to two counts of aggravated assault. The boy, who was 15 at the time of the offences, had originally pleaded not guilty to 11 charges, including attempted murder.

The two victims — employees of Charles P. Allen High School in suburban Bedford, N.S. — were taken to hospital with serious wounds on March 20, 2023, but both have recovered.

Buckle said in reaching her sentencing decision that she also considered that the teen’s Charter rights were breached by Halifax police, who had failed to disclose they were making audio recordings of him after his arrest. A former sheriff’s deputy, who had taken a photograph of the teen at the courthouse and posted the image in a chat group, also violated the accused’s rights, she said.

The judge said she also took into consideration the suffering of the two victims.

“Both primary victims described how this offence has impacted virtually every aspect of their lives,” she said. “They have both suffered continuing physical and psychological trauma and it has impacted their personal and professional lives and their financial well-being.”

At the end of her hour-long oral ruling, Buckle imposed conditions on the teen, including that he must continue treatment, wear a monitoring device, and can’t own weapons for two years or have direct or indirect contact with the victims. He must also adhere to a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and live at home with his parents.

The defence had asked for a two-year conditional discharge, while the Crown wanted an 18-month sentence that included 12 months in custody and six months served under supervision in the community, followed by six months of probation.

Following the sentencing, Crown attorney Terry Nickerson told reporters that the judge had rendered a “thoughtful and detailed decision” in regard to the principles of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Asked whether the accused could be managed safely within the community, Nickerson said, “It’s not for me to say at this point. Time will tell.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.

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