No. 6 - Commerce Building fire one of three major blazes
Town of Westlock firefighters had their hands full in 2021 with three major blazes including the early-morning fire that gutted the 76-year-old Commerce Building.
Town of Westlock fire chief Stuart Koflick said they were called to the scene of the blaze at 100 Avenue (Main Street) and 10516 Street at around 1:15 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 31. The Commerce Building was originally known as the Clinic Building and was built by Dr. Georges L. Whissell in 1945.
“When we arrived, flames were showing from the south of the building from one of the suites. We made an interior attack to try and locate the scene of the fire. We performed interior fire suppression operations until such time that the structure was deemed unsafe to be inside. For the remainder of the fire suppression activities, we used the water tower and the hand lines from the outside,” said the chief around 11:30 a.m. the morning of the blaze as crews continued to douse hotspots.
The building, which was torn down in the spring, had a mix of apartments and commercial offices — Koflick said they were able to get all the residents out safely, although two were sent to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. Koflick, who’s been town chief for 11 years, said the blaze was the most challenging he had faced in his career. The brick building’s two-storey construction circa the 1940s, the frigid sub -20 C conditions they had to face in the middle of the night and the fact that there were people inside, plus its location on Main Street, were just some of the obstacles that set it apart.
All of the town’s then 15-member volunteer staff — including the department’s two junior firefighters — spent time on scene, while around 10 Westlock County firefighters, including two engines, were called in along with an aerial truck and crew from Barrhead. The cause of the fire was not deemed suspicious.
Meanwhile on May 23, just after 5 p.m., town, county and even Barrhead fire crews responded to a fire-alarm call at The Flower Shoppe at 10623 100th Avenue. Firefighters were quickly able to suppress the fire, while Main Street, between 106th and 107th Streets, was closed to traffic as crews remained at the site past 10 p.m. — Koflick said he returned to the scene around 1 a.m. to ensure the blaze was completely out.
An investigation into that blaze was held May 26 and the final report confirmed that the fire was not suspicious. The Flower Shoppe, Essential Massage (which shared the space with The Flower Shoppe) and Fringes Hair noted at the time they’d be closed for the foreseeable future and thanked firefighters for their quick action. Building owner David Truckey, who was a town councillor at the time, also publicly thanked the department at council’s May 25 meeting.
Finally, on June 19, at around 2:30 a.m., firefighters were called to a four-plex at 9819 – 100th Street and found the front fully-engulfed in flames — the building contained two basement suites and a pair of above-ground units. Two occupants of the building were already out when crews arrived and were unharmed, while the only other person living in the building was not at home.
Five Westlock County firefighters, as well as a county fire truck, joined the town crew and were able to get the fire under control in about 45 minutes. In addition to the four-plex being gutted, the siding on the home to the west was also scorched. Although the cause of that fire remains “undetermined”, Westlock RCMP closed their investigation in the fall as the building was torn down in mid-August.
“Unless something else comes forward to indicate that the fire was criminal in nature, our file is going to be closed,” Westlock RCMP Cpl. Leigh Drinkwater stated Nov. 4.
No. 7 - Alberta Supports still closed
Despite the Town of Westlock lobbying local MLA Glenn van Dijken and bringing the issue to the floor of the Alberta Municipalities (formerly Alberta Urban Municipalities Association) fall convention, Alberta Supports and Children’s Services offices remain closed to walk-in traffic provincewide.
Coun. Murtaza Jamaly, who is the Westlock and District Family and Community Support Services advisory board chair, was instrumental in getting it added as one of three “emergent resolutions” with the 19 discussed at the Alberta Municipalities fall convention Nov. 18.
And while Jamaly, who’s also the northeast region rep on the Family and Community Support Services Association of Alberta, said in late November he was “confident that we will see positive change” and was buoyed by the response he received from community and social services minister Jason Luan and Municipal Affairs minister Ric McIver, mayor Ralph Leriger said in a year-end interview he remains “quite frustrated on the government’s position on it.”
Alberta Supports, which helps people access programs related to disabilities, employment,
homelessness, financial assistance, abuse, and family violence prevention, has been closed to
walk-in traffic throughout most of the pandemic — offices briefly reopened for four days
in September, although they didn’t accept walk-in clientele.
Clients have been forced to either phone a call centre or go online — options which limit access as Jamaly says the people who need help don’t always own a cellphone, or a computer with Internet access and are “falling through the gaps in the system.” While he’s understanding of ongoing provincial COVID-19 measures in place for all businesses, Jamaly said previously that municipalities have continued to offer “critical services to all groups” stating point blank that “the water still flows, the toilets still flush, (and) fire prevention still exists.”
Locally, the closure has also meant more folks have turned to FCSS and even the Westlock Municipal Library for help, which is creating more stress on the system.
No. 8 - Peter Beckett case is finally over
Peter Ernest Edward Beckett, the man who’s stood trial twice and was convicted once of murdering his wife, Dapp-native Laura Letts-Beckett in 2010, will not be tried a third time and is a free man.
The website Casanet Kamloops reported that on Monday, June 21, the first-degree murder charge against Beckett was stayed at the direction of Crown prosecutor Neil Wiberg during a brief hearing in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops. A Crown stay means the case has been put on hold, but the charges can be brought back before the court within one year — once 12 months have elapsed, the charges are dropped.
Ultimately, the stay all-but concludes a decade of court cases and appeals that culminated April 29 when the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear an appeal from prosecutors who were seeking to have the B.C. Court of Appeal’s Sept. 29, 2020, dismissal of Beckett’s 2017 first-degree murder conviction overturned — the case was officially closed by the Supreme Court on May 4, 2021.
Beckett, who’s now in his mid-to-late 60s, was granted bail Dec. 18, 2020 after his 2017 first-degree murder conviction was overturned by the B.C. Court of Appeal earlier that fall on a number of grounds including that the trial judge erred in instructing jurors and that prosecutors made improper submissions to the jury — the three-judge panel called the Crown’s case weak and suggested that prosecutors avoid a third trial, although they did say the jury’s decision to convict was not “unreasonable” and acquittal was not warranted.
Beckett, who hails from New Zealand, stood trial twice for murder in connection with the death of Letts-Beckett, who drowned Aug. 18, 2010, in Upper Arrow Lake, B.C.
He was arrested and charged with murder in August 2011 and was in jail until his December 2020 bail hearing. The first trial in Kamloops in 2016 ended with a hung jury after jurors remained deadlocked following more than a week of deliberation.
The second trial in Kelowna, which ran from August to September 2017, resulted in a first-degree murder conviction by a B.C. Supreme Court jury and he was sentenced to 25 years behind bars without a chance of parole.
Beckett, who had previously served as a Napier city councillor for three years, met Letts-Beckett, a teacher at Dapp School, on a guided tour of New Zealand in 1995. He moved to Westlock around 2002 and the couple were married the following year.
On the evening of her death, she and Beckett were riding in their Zodiac raft on Upper Arrow Lake. Letts-Beckett, who was not a strong swimmer, drowned in the lake and no one witnessed the incident.
Throughout both trials, prosecutors said Beckett killed his wife out of greed, hoping to cash in on life-insurance payouts and her pension. Witnesses in the 2016 trial also described a rocky relationship between the pair, who split in 2007 before reconciling months later.
Beckett, who was spotted in the Westlock area in the summer of 2021, has steadfastly maintained his innocence throughout, claiming Letts-Beckett fell, or jumped off the boat and drowned.
No. 9 - Ag disaster declaration
Westlock County declared a Municipal State of Agricultural Disaster with cereals, peas and canola across the municipality meeting “disaster thresholds” and a lack of pasture, feed, and straw forcing some producers to sell their herds.
Following a recommendation from agriculture and environmental services director Jacolyn Tigert, county councillors voted 6-0 at their Sept. 14 meeting to declare a state of agricultural disaster, joining neighbouring municipalities like Athabasca County, the County of Barrhead and Sturgeon County. Declaring a municipal state of disaster is a blanket declaration for crops, livestock, and forages to create awareness and doesn’t automatically qualify the municipality, or its farmers, for any additional provincial or federal funding. Tigert did note the province and feds had already allocated $340 million for help, aimed mainly at cattle producers.
Councillors said that while some farmers reported decent crops, depending on the location and what was grown, cattle producers took it on the chin.
“The people I’ve talked to, the crops aren’t that bad considering that yes, yields may be down somewhat in some places more than others. But the return, because of the higher dollar-value of the crop, means they’ll do as well, or better than usual,” said then-Division 7 Coun. Dennis Primeau. “The producers who are in trouble are the cattle guys because hay crops were small, pastures were bad and the federal and provincial programs work out to like $200 (per head) which really doesn’t go very far.”
In her RFD to council, Tigert noted that cereals, peas and canola met “definite disaster thresholds” — both peas and canola had stopped growing and pods were not filling. Hay crops were also ranked “definite disaster” with yields down by a third. Meanwhile, cereals, legumes, hay crops and pastures will recover very little, if at all, even with adequate rain, while her RFD notes that a lack of pasture, feed, and straw “will force many producers to sell livestock herds.”
Tigert said they used the 12-page Rural Municipalities of Alberta Guide For Declaring Municipal Agricultural Disasters to direct their decision-making process, as well as crop data available through the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation, discussions with farmers and visual inspections by county staff.
Ultimately, the guide states that if 25 to 50 per cent of crops are rated poor that’s a “pending disaster”, while a “definite disaster” is when more than 50 per cent of crops are poor. When Tigert first discussed the declaration with councillors back in August, 25 to 50 per cent of local crops were rated ‘poor.’
No. 10 - Third term for Viersen
Incumbent Arnold Viersen swept aside the competition in the 2021 federal election, easily securing more than 60 per cent of the votes cast in the Peace River-Westlock riding to win a third term as MP.
However, the victory was bittersweet, as it became clear by 10:30 p.m. Sept. 20 that the Conservative Party of Canada would not earn a majority government.
“It’s frustrating. We had an opportunity to get rid of Justin Trudeau as the prime minister; he called this vanity election because he wanted a majority, and it looks like Canadians have not given that to him,” said Viersen on election night. “But yeah, we were certainly hoping for a change in government.”
Trudeau won a third term as prime minister and his second minority government — the results were mostly unchanged from the 2019 election as the Liberals won the most seats at 160 but fell short of the 170 needed for a majority The Liberals also set a record for the lowest vote share of a party that would go on to form government, capturing only 32.6 per cent of the popular vote.
The Conservatives, led by Erin O'Toole, won 119 seats, two fewer than 2019 and continued as the Official Opposition. The Bloc Québécois led by Yves-François Blanchet won 32 seats, while the New Democratic Party led by Jagmeet Singh claimed 25 seats, a net increase of one, and the Green Party maintained its two seats.
Stories 1-5 ran online yesterday, Jan. 5.
