We certainly didn't forget about COVID-19 and the repercussions we've all been dealing with for nearly 10 months now. It is, by far, the biggest news story of the year, and a Top 10 list giving an overview of just the COVID-related stories we've covered this year could very easily be created. We decided to pick out 10 other stories that impacted the Athabasca region in 2020 though, because life goes on, for better or worse, even during a viral pandemic.
5. Healthcare workers protest
Joining dozens of sites and hundreds of workers across the province, local Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) front-line health care workers in Athabasca, Barrhead and Westlock went on strike Monday, Oct. 26, to protest proposed cuts to health care.
In Westlock around 70 AUPE staffers began picketing along 104 Avenue in Westlock at 8 a.m., carrying placards and waving signs to protest the privatization of the equivalent of 9,700 full time health service jobs, which Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro says will save $600 million annually.
AUPE northeast region vice-president Mike Dempsey, who lives in Lac La Biche, and is from Local 5 - Forestry Management, was heading to Westlock after attending a similar picket in Athabasca. He confirmed Barrhead members had walked out, as had those in Whitecourt.
“This affects the members, it affects their families, it affects communities. A year ago, at convention, we passed a motion unanimously that if anybody felt they had to take action to protect their jobs we would support them,” said Dempsey.
“So, this has been building for months and finally, it just hit an organic tipping point. We had a whole bunch of local leaders in Calgary and Edmonton and Athabasca tell us this time we're going out and we're going out in a couple of days. And that day is today.”
A second rally in front of the Athabasca Healthcare Centre Nov. 5 had a mix of local workers, supportive citizens and unions members waving signs and wearing poster boards in support of the healthcare workers
“AUFA (Athabasca University Faculty Association) organized the rally as we felt the wildcat strike last Monday (Oct. 26) was an incredible show of bravery from AUPE workers who faced privatization,” said AUFA president David Powell. “As fellow public sector workers we also see our jobs at risk from our own issues like de-designation and outsourcing.”
https://www.townandcountrytoday.com/local-news/aufa-organizes-rally-for-healthcare-workers-2857920
4. Ag disaster
A very wet spring of 2020 across the Athabasca County region made for another disastrous season for agricultural producers.
The conditions led Athabasca County councillors to declare a state of agricultural disaster June 9. It also led to a visit from Agriculture and Forestry Minister Devin Dreeshen July 2.
“We know that our producers have had several years of difficult weather and marketing conditions to contend with and this year the pandemic has added another layer of concern,” said reeve Larry Armfelt.
“While we cannot predict the outcome for our producers in 2020, we want to support them where we can, especially, especially during the tough economic conditions we find ourselves in.”
County councillors Penny Stewart, Doris Splane and Travais Johnson met with ag minister Dreeshen and Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken near Grassland, so they could see for themselves the damage that has been done and to meet with several area farmers to hear their concerns.
“It's bad. If it's one year it's one thing, but when it's four years, it's another. We're gonna lose some of our producers this year I'm sure. I really think it was so important that the ag minister just came out to see what was actually going on,” Stewart said.
Grassland area farmer Don Grygus has been working his land for years, but the last few years have been especially brutal.
“The weather has been totally brutal,” he said. “The last four or five years, we’ve left crop in the field.”
He said many of his neighbours have been even worse off than himself and he knows others that are getting out of the industry altogether.
“We got close to 40 inches of rain last year,” he said. “There’s nobody that really finished combining last year … I had more hours on my grain dryer last year than I did on my tractors and combines.”
https://www.townandcountrytoday.com/local-news/ag-disaster-in-athabasca-county-2430048
3. Officer involved shooting
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has yet to release the results of an investigation into an officer-involved shooting that resulted in the death of a 51-year-old man in Calling Lake.
A media release from the Government of Alberta, on behalf of ASIRT, reported the man who was shot Sept. 20 was in possession of a loaded, lever-action .30-.30 rifle and walking down the road when he was shot.
Athabasca RCMP were dispatched to Calling Lake at approximately 11:15 p.m. "to reports that the caller had made a statement suggesting he intended an armed confrontation with police. Upon arrival at the location, RCMP members located the 51-year-old man outside the residence. Shortly thereafter, he re-entered the residence."
The members then called in back-up from the Emergency Response Team and were able to contact the man by phone. Before additional support could arrive, a confrontation on the street led to the shooting.
"At about 1:32 a.m. ... the man emerged from the residence while carrying a firearm and began to walk down the road. At that time, a confrontation occurred with RCMP members during which one police officer discharged his service firearm, striking the man," the release said.
Emergency medical services were called before the confrontation, but RCMP made efforts to provide first aid, however the man died on scene. No one else was injured.
RCMP later recovered the rifle and a spent shell casing from the scene.
2. Nature Duperron
On May 22, 2020, Alberta RCMP's Major Crimes Unit announced they believe 25-year-old Nature Duperron was killed somewhere between Edmonton and Hinton on April 7, 2019 and that there had been arrests made in connection with the case.
Between April 13 and May 22, 2020, four people were arrested and charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and robbery of the Athabasca woman.
Tyra Muskego, a 21-year-old from Onion Lake, Sask., was arrested April 13 and released May 20 on conditions, including house arrest, and made her first appearance in court June 5.
Twenty-four-year-old Buddy Rae Underwood of no fixed address was arrested April 14 and also appeared in court on June 5.
Grayson Eashappie, was already an inmate at the Drumheller Institution on an unrelated crime when he was arrested April 24, and had his first appearance on the charges June 15.
Kala Leigh Bajusz, a 31-year-old from Edmonton, was arrested May 22 after turning herself in and the status of her bail hearing was unknown at press time.
Duperron’s ashes were laid to rest Sept. 5 in Calling Lake and the trial is scheduled to begin in March 2022.
1. Infrastructure grants
A couple of big cash infusions from the provincial government in 2020 will help upgrade critical Athabasca infrastructure.
On Sept. 22, Alberta’s Minister of Infrastructure Prasad Panda made a stop in Athabasca along with Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken to officially announce to local officials their communities were approved for Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) grants, totalling millions of dollars.
For Athabasca, the money means the Aspen Regional Water Services Commission (ARWSC) will be able to upgrade and relocate its raw water intake and complete upgrades to the existing pump house with $1,518,300 from the province, $1,043,000 from the federal government and $168,700 from a previous grant.
Athabasca County reeve Larry Armfelt noted it was the hard work of the ARWSC, which is a consortium made up of the town and county of Athabasca and Boyle, for getting the grant.
“I give full credit to the water commission – Kevin Haines and Jamie Giberson – those guys deserve a tremendous amount of credit. If it wasn't for them, this probably would not be taking place,” Armfelt said.
Town of Athabasca mayor Colleen Powell said the intake should have been replaced 10 years ago when ARWSC was formed, but there was no money for it at the time.
“We did not replace our water intake pipe when we built the commission, because we ran out of money, frankly. It was $1 million in those days, and now it's $2.8 million,” she said.
Panda gave much credit to van Dijken: “Your local MLA has a louder voice with me, because we've been friends since Wildrose days. He worked with our department to prioritize a couple of projects in this area."
On Dec. 11, van Dijken also announced $600,000 from the Alberta government’s accelerated capital maintenance and renewal program that will be used to replace the boiler and building management control systems.
https://www.townandcountrytoday.com/local-news/funding-comes-through-for-courthouse-upgrades-3177126
