Tory Plan Will Drive Up Costs, Grow-At-Home Mother Says Tamara Cartwright-Poulits sees herself as a gardener, not a grower. So when she's not chasing the three-year-old energy bundle that is her son, the 42-year-old cares for up to 130 plants in various stages of growth, from early clippings to the 30 or 40 plants that bud each month. "We're normal, everyday people just like anybody else," said Cartwright-Poulits, one of 26,000 Canadians enrolled in Health Canada's medical marijuana program. "We just want to be able to not have to be strung out on pharmaceutical drugs." [continues 722 words]
A gap between policy and practice has made the Edmonton Remand Centre ineffective in controlling illegal drug use among its inmate population, a provincial court judge has found. Judge Janet Dixon criticized the remand centre in her fatality inquiry report into the death of inmate John Pierre Boily, 49, who died from a methadone overdose on March 19, 2009. Methadone is a synthetic drug commonly used in the treatment of heroin addicts, though it was not prescribed to Boily. Boily had been in continuous custody in Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton on various minor charges for more than a year when he died. Hours before his death, Boily told another inmate he'd taken a "couple of lines" of methadone and felt sick. Correctional officers checked on Boily in his cell four times between 6 and 9 p.m. At 10:30 p.m., he was found unresponsive. He was declared dead at the Royal Alexandra Hospital roughly an hour later. [continues 302 words]
Licensed users, police and politicians are greeting proposed changes to the federal government's problem-plagued medical marijuana program with a dose of skepticism and hope. If approved, Health Canada's Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations would create a "licensing scheme for the commercial production and distribution" of medical marijuana. Under the new system, the federal department would no longer produce or distribute medical marijuana. Production would instead be done at commercially licensed facilities, stripping patients of the ability to grow their own marijuana. It would also put the onus on physicians to prescribe the still illegal narcotic. [continues 565 words]
Re: "Legalized pot opens Pandora's box of problems," Susan Martinuk, Opinion, Dec. 7. I am not an advocate of recreational self-medication in any form. However, when a reputable paper like the Herald gives voice to the "my opinions trump your logic" crowd, I get a headache. Susan Martinuk's column is so crammed with histrionics and pseudo-intellectual rationalization, it is hard to know where to start dissecting it. The argument that because it is illegal it must be bad, is one of the more sinister aspects of the distorted reasoning that prevails with emotional issues. While law-abiding behaviour is generally a laudable trait, the context in which it is presented here seems to suggest there is no such thing as a bad law. If, as she says "... the primary reason young people gave for not using cannabis or for stopping its use was its illegal status," any consideration of the validity of the prohibition law is rendered moot! [continues 141 words]
Charges in High-Profile Killings Put Racist Gang Back in Spotlight In the wake of recent high-profile killings, experts look at criminal gang behaviour EDMONTON - A white supremacist gang may be linked to the random shooting of a 34-year-old Saskatoon mother and a decapitated head in a north Edmonton alley, but Mark Totten is hoping the killings don't inspire "moral panic." "The White Boy Posse is not taking over cities in western Canada," says the Ottawa-based sociologist and social worker. "We need to be concerned, but we have to be realistic. We don't need to fan the flames and create a moral panic." [continues 1279 words]
Re: "Doctors uneasy about medical marijuana; Survey reveals reluctance to assume gatekeeper role," the Journal, Dec. 5. I commend Sharon Kirkey for her articles on pain and would like to add a few clarifying points. More that 57 per cent of physicians in a recent survey said they lacked information on the risks and benefits of medical marijuana. This issue goes well beyond prescribing marijuana: most physicians in Canada are not trained to help patients suffering from chronic pain because it is not taught in most medical schools. [continues 164 words]
Re: "Legalized pot opens Pandora's box of problems," Susan Martinuk, Opinion, Dec. 7. Susan Martinuk seems to have a big problem with marijuana. I am curious whether she has the same problem with alcohol or cigarettes, since her issues with marijuana can be applied to them as well. She raises the issue of underage youth getting hold of pot once it's legalized. This happens even if it's not legalized, and it also happens with alcohol and cigarettes. The fact these are illegal doesn't stop most teens from partaking. [continues 208 words]
The stoners in Washington state didn't waste any time celebrating (or pushing the boundaries of) their new freedom to light up a joint. The new law went into effect Thursday, and although public consumption is banned, revellers took to the streets. At midnight Wednesday, the party began. In November, Washington voted (55 to 45 per cent) to decriminalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for those over 21. Of course, the notion that the 21-year-old age barrier will remain intact is ridiculous, as is the notion that the person holding the marijuana won't pass it on to others. Thus another great social experiment begins and there is little hope it will end well. [continues 598 words]
A dozen years after a landmark Alberta court ruling paved the way for greater use of medicinal marijuana in Canada, federal legislation governing its use has produced a perverse system that's failing both patients in pain and the doctors charged with their care. The ridiculous state of legalized marijuana treatment in this country is brought into sharp focus by a new Canadian Medical Association survey that finds many doctors refuse to take part in the program, often for ethical and legal reasons. In the absence of research-based guidelines and training about dosage, potency, sourcing and efficacy, they just don't feel comfortable filling out that prescription. [continues 460 words]
Principals are allowed to search students' personal cellphones to keep schools safe, say school authorities. Critics, however, say schools might be too lax in following rules designed to protect students' privacy. Strathcona High School student Alex Lee, 16, has been suspended and faces an expulsion hearing this week after he turned his cellphone over to the assistant principal at the school on Nov. 16. The assistant principal asked for Lee's phone because Lee was among a group of students involved in a confrontation off school property at lunch time that school officials believed was drug-related, Lee said. There was a text on Lee's phone from a girl asking if Lee knew where she could get marijuana, prompting the suspension and expulsion hearing set for Thursday, Lee said. [continues 536 words]
Random program on hold pending union grievance ruling In a split decision, the Alberta Court of Appeal has upheld a temporary injunction that prevents Suncor Energy from starting random drug tests of employees. The decision Wednesday means that Suncor's new random testing program will remain stalled until an arbitrator rules on a grievance the union filed. While that arbitration is scheduled to begin Dec. 10, it is not known when a final decision will be reached. Two of the three appeal judges on the panel dismissed the appeal because they believed privacy rights were at stake. [continues 474 words]
Re: "Test cases; Canada doesn't have much experience with random on-the-job drug and alcohol testing. That may be about to change," the Journal, Nov. 24. Ed Secondiak, president of ECS Services, which has designed drug-testing programs, says that test results "are kept under lock and key with limited access, and never shared with outside agencies without the employee's permission." That is simply untrue. Having served many years on the Employment Insurance Board of Referees, I can assure you that since random drug testing became common, notably in oil-sands operations, numerous workers have been disqualified from receiving EI benefits because their employers have informed the Employment Insurance Commission, without the employees' permission, that they were dismissed because of a positive random drug test. [continues 154 words]
Study looks into addiction recovery A Calgary researcher trying to learn more about how people recover from marijuana abuse says a new study indicates users who gave up the drug for good when they quit had experienced the most severe symptoms in the past. University of Calgary PhD candidate Jonathan Stea has concluded an early analysis of data collected from 126 marijuana users who recovered from past cannabis dependency problems. About one in 10 users of the widely smoked illicit drug become hooked. But there's little solid data on cannabis abuse - and how to help those with a marijuana problem successfully recover, Stea said. [continues 257 words]
Judges to hear Suncor arguments A three-judge Alberta Court of Appeal panel will next week hear from Suncor Energy Inc. as the oilsands giant argues against an injunction blocking its proposed random employee drug testing program. Next month, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear the case of Irving Pulp and Paper, a New Brunswick company whose plan to have its employees submit to mandatory breathalyzer tests has been fought tooth and nail by the same union that represents Suncor workers. [continues 1228 words]
Now that neighbouring Washington state and Colorado have legalized marijuana, Ottawa can no longer claim that Canada must uphold marijuana prohibition to maintain good U.S. relations. In 2002, the Canadian Senate offered a common sense alternative to marijuana prohibition when the Special Committee on Illegal Drugs concluded that marijuana is relatively benign, prohibition contributes to organized crime, and law enforcement efforts have little impact on patterns of use. Marijuana prohibition is a catastrophic failure and voters across North America know it. The United States has double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available to adults. The only clear winners in the war on marijuana are drug cartels and shameless tough-on-drugs politicians who've built careers confusing the drug war's collateral damage with a relatively harmless plant. Robert Sharpe is a policy analyst with Common Sense for Drug Policy [end]
For years, thoughtful observers have argued that lessons painfully learned during the Al Capone prohibition era were equally applicable to the "war on drugs." Whatever social, medical or moral good might have been accomplished by criminalizing alcohol, they insisted, it was outweighed by the boost prohibition gave to violent organized crime. Mexico's losing struggle with murderous drug cartels has been a perfect example of history repeating itself. Well, thanks to decisions last week by voters in two U.S. states - Colorado and Washington - North America is a large step closer to testing the theory on the least potent of restricted psychoactive drugs, marijuana. [continues 501 words]
B.C. Should Legalize Bud EDMONTON - Like the voters in two U.S. states, I'm in favour of legalizing marijuana. As a business columnist, you may wonder why I'm even writing about this topic. Well, consider this: In British Columbia, marijuana sales are believed to exceed $6 billion a year - more than twice the size of the province's top forest products company, and eight times larger than B.C.'s largest high-tech company. Simply put, selling weed is a big industry - one that happens to be illegal. But before I delve into the economics, let me explain where I'm coming from. [continues 660 words]
"I've never had a problem with drugs. I've had a problem with the police." - - Keith Richards The provincial government last week launched a consultation with cops and communities around Alberta to see what they can do to eradicate the production of a certain green, leafy substance popular among =C2=85 well. Pretty much every demographic I know. Couldn't we just heap a big pile of $100 bills in front of the legislature and set it on fire instead? [continues 546 words]
This is the intriguing subtext - or maybe dominant theme - of Tuesday night's decisive Electoral College victory by incumbent and now, more than ever, history-making U.S. President Barack Obama: The U.S. is becoming, well, Canadian. That will seem like a wild exaggeration to some. But consider. The campaign itself was as nasty and divisive as always on the advertising side, and at street level. But at the presidential level, there was courtesy. Mitt Romney-haters will disagree, but at no time in the campaign, certainly not in public, did Romney bare his fangs in anything like a Rush Limbaugh-style display of rage. He was aggressive but respectful. More to the point, his policy positions - during the campaign at least - were centrist. But it was too little centrism, too late. [continues 662 words]
EDMONTON - The city backed away from banning raves Monday as the organizer of last April's big Elements Music Festival said drug problems are dropping at his company's events. While 29 of the 16,600 people who attended Elements were treated in hospital for drug or alcohol problems, only four of 10,200 participants in two October shows went to hospital due to drugs, said Viet Nguyen of Boodang Canada. "Things are getting better and the scene is improving," he told city council's executive committee. "We're educating people more about the dangers of drug use. We have a (nurse-run) harm-reduction booth that we set up at all our events now." [continues 431 words]
Seriously, is a rave really any more a threat to Edmonton than, say, a Metallica concert? OK, maybe that's a bad example. When I dropped our teenage son off at one of Metallica's Edmonton concerts at Rexall Place in August, there were a lot of fans whose strongest drugs these days were for high blood pressure, arthritis and cholesterol. If they have to have their stomachs pumped, it's for having taken two Viagra too close together. But you know what I mean. Are today's raves really that much more dangerous than a Metallica concert would have been at the band's heyday in the 1980s? [continues 529 words]
Province-wide consultations are expected to start in upcoming weeks to see what changes can be made on the provincial front to better fight marijuana grow operations. Spearheaded by Alberta Solicitor General Jonathan Denis, consultations will be not only with police but communities and others impacted by illegal grow operations. Staff Sgt. Tom Hanson, who worked with the Green Team in recent years, said there are a number of rules which could be introduced by the province to help better deal with the scourge. [continues 468 words]
Council to Look at Proposals on Licensing, Fines Problems with drug abuse were so bad at last spring's huge Elements Music Festival doctors ran out of Valium to deal with it, says a police report released Thursday. Of 16,566 people who attended the electronic music event April 27-28 in Northlands Expo Centre, 41 were treated by Alberta Health Services, wrote Sgt. Nicole Chapdelaine, head of the Public Safety Compliance Team. "If AHS did not plan as they did, the likelihood of someone dying at the event from a drug overdose would have been extremely high, if not imminent," her report says. [continues 631 words]
Re: "Suncor union wins round in battle over drug tests; Appeal court upholds injunction that temporarily halts random checks," the Journal, Oct. 24. I wish Suncor success in its battle to ensure a safe working environment for employees. While the union talks about employee rights, how about the rights of fellow workers whose lives are at risk when working with someone under the influence of drugs or alcohol? Sheila Pierce, Springbrook [end]
The exit of Oxycontin has left a chasm in Canada's underground drug economy and left addicts scrambling to fill the void, according to one of the nation's leading addictions experts. Here on the prairies, a number of them are turning to heroin. "A lot of my patients are reporting that," said Dr. Raju Hajela, the former president of the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine, who practises in southeast Calgary. Abuse of opioids - opium-like drugs - exploded in Canada when Oxycontin hit and Hajela said governments and even many in the medical community "missed the boat" thinking addicts would seek treatment when Purdue Pharma stopped manufacturing the drug earlier this year. [continues 574 words]
Suncor Energy has lost another legal round in its plan to randomly test thousands of unionized oilsands workers in Alberta for drugs and alcohol. But the court battle pitting work-site safety against individual privacy rights isn't over. Earlier this month, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union Local 707 won an injunction against a testing policy that was implemented during the summer. A judge ordered the matter be settled through arbitration. An Alberta Court of Appeal judge ruled Tuesday against a Suncor application for a stay of the injunction. Suncor said it will continue the fight to keep its work sites safe. [continues 323 words]
Appeal Court Upholds Injunction That Temporarily Halts Random Checks The Court of Appeal of Alberta has upheld a lower court injunction that temporarily prevents random drug and alcohol testing of Suncor Energy employees while the union continues its legal fight against the program. The ruling, released Tuesday morning, means 3,400 oilsands workers represented by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada Local 707 will not be subject to random drug tests as their union and Suncor prepare for a full appeal of the injunction on Nov. 28. [continues 415 words]
Injunction Puts Lives at Risk, Company Says Each day that a court order prevents random drug and alcohol testing at Suncor Energy's oilsands operations increases the risk of injuries and accidents, a lawyer for the company told the Alberta Court of Appeal Wednesday. The energy company went to court to request a stay in a previous order that temporarily stopped their new drug-testing program before it began. The Court of Queen's Bench issued an injunction Friday that stopped random drug and alcohol testing among 3,400 workers represented by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada Local 707. [continues 443 words]
Walk past a residence tower on a Friday or Saturday night and you might think you're walking by a Snoop Dogg concert. Marijuana gets smoked on campus, there's no doubt about it. For the vast majority of users, they're probably just warming up for some Mario Kart on N64 but for others, marijuana is more than just a recreational drug. Adam, who preferred to not use his last name, is a former SAIT student and medical marijuana user. He smokes marijuana to treat an extremely painful medical condition that can leave him completely immobile. It took years of pills, injections and alternative therapy before he came upon marijuana as a viable treatment option. Since then he said he's never passed on a puff. The improved mobility and diminished pain was enough to make him a believer in the power of medical marijuana. [continues 445 words]
Workers at Suncor's Fort McMurray operation got a court injunction to keep the company from starting a random drug testing operation Monday. Court of Queens Bench Justice Eric Macklin granted the temporary injunction, saying random drug testing can be an invasion of privacy that could cause irreparable harm to innocent employees. The judge heard union affidavits from two female workers who had experienced drug testing. A previous arbitration report said the company's drug testing policy was "overbroad," Macklin said. [continues 396 words]
A pilot program that would allow random drug and alcohol testing for oilsands workers has angered the union representing more than 3,000 Suncor employees, claiming the tests violate the rights and dignity of workers. However, supporters of the program argue that random testing is an effective tool to prevent substance abuse in the workplace. Today staff couldn't agree on a single stance, so we present them both for readers to decide. Safety and trust trump undue entitlement Imagine an airline pilot, ready to take the captain's chair of a Boeing 747, refusing to submit to a simple sobriety test. Or an on-duty RCMP officer responding to the same request with the statement, "That would be an invasion of my privacy." Or perhaps a medical surgeon, before heading to the operating room, saying he will not provide a clean sample of his own. [continues 1007 words]
Taxpayers must be wondering how long the list of proponents will have to grow before Ottawa moves to decriminalize pot use. Last week, the Union of B.C. Municipalities became the latest group to recognize the futility of Canada's existing marijuana laws, with mayors voting at their convention to lobby Ottawa on the subject. Specifically, their resolution called on governments to "decriminalize marijuana, and research the regulation and taxation of marijuana." The voters were mayors and councillors: politicians at the level of government closest to the community, folks who understand how much time and money is being wasted on a useless pursuit. [continues 486 words]
The case of a Lethbridge man whose daisies were mistaken for dope calls into question the way the federal government doles out the drug to Albertans, according to a medical marijuana advocate. Tamara Cartwright-Poulits holds a medical marijuana licence and is president of Southern Alberta Cannabis Club and the newly formed Central Alberta Cannabis Club, which together represent about 120 marijuana users in the province. If Alberta doctors were more willing to approve medical marijuana licences for qualifying patients, she believes, cases like Ryan Rockman's wouldn't tie up police's time. [continues 565 words]
Please don't smoke the daisies. It turns out that more than 1,600 suspected marijuana plants that a special police squad ripped out of a yard in Lethbridge, Alta. this summer are a species of daisy. The bust, which was announced with fanfare in July, has homeowner Ryan Thomas Rockman scratching his head over the confusion. Just the same he's happy the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) has dropped the charge of producing a controlled substance. "It made me look like a villain and it made them look silly," Rockman told the Lethbridge Herald, insisting all 1,624 plants seized were Montauk daisies - a fall-blooming perennial he's been growing for a decade. [continues 391 words]
Local experts have tried and failed to identify the plants police mistakenly seized from an accused drug trafficker's backyard. Back in July, police took 1,624 plants from Ryan Thomas Rockman's garden in the 900 block of 13 Street North, declared the bust the largest-ever take down of an outdoor grow operation in Lethbridge's history, and laid five criminal charges against the 41-year-old grandfather. Police withdrew one count of producing a controlled substance earlier this week after lab results proved the plants weren't marijuana. But the tests didn't reveal exactly what the plants are. [continues 552 words]
It's blooming embarrassing, is what it is. The best part: police still won't admit the plants they seized in what was supposedly the biggest outdoor marijuana bust in Lethbridge history are plain old flowers - daisies, to be precise. All police will concede at this point is the 1,624 plants torn from a suburban Lethbridge garden on July 30 isn't marijuana, as first claimed after a phalanx of police marched in and starting plucking. "This is a significant bust, given the size of this operation," is how a senior officer put it at the time, while proudly displaying garbage bags full of the dastardly daises. [continues 654 words]
In July, police boasted they'd taken down the largest ever outdoor marijuana grow operation Lethbridge had ever seen. But now that lab results have come back on the plants they seized, it turns out the only weed they found in Ryan Rockman's garden were the ones that plague your everyday gardener. The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team confirms it has dropped a charge of marijuana production against Rockman after its officers pulled out 1,624 plants from his garden. [continues 280 words]
Samples of the plants police had sent to a lab in B.C. tested negative for marijuana, so police have dropped the most serious charge against him: producing a controlled substance, although 41-year-old Rockman still faces charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of a controlled substance, and possessing proceeds of crime in relation to the 697 grams of dried marijuana, 6.3 grams of cannabis resin and some cash that police also allegedly seized during the investigation. [continues 211 words]
The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT's) Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU-Lethbridge), an integrated team of Lethbridge Regional Police Service and RCMP members, was called in to assist with the investigation. Police seized what they believed to be 1,624 marijuana plants, along with 697.86 grams of dried cannabis marihuana, 6.3 grams of cannabis resin, and a small amount of cash. Police sent samples of the seized materials for testing. Results indicated the seized plants were not marijuana but confirmed the other items seized were dried cannabis marihuana and cannabis resin. [continues 139 words]
Test confirms plants seized from northside home were not marijuana He doesn't blame police for thinking his daisies were pot, but he doesn't understand how they made that mistake. Ryan Thomas Rockman said he's relieved but not surprised that Lethbridge police dropped one criminal charge against him after they found out that the plants they seized from his backyard garden three months ago weren't actually marijuana. Back in July, Lethbridge police accused Rockman of harbouring the biggest outdoor marijuana grow operation in the city's history, even though Rockman has repeatedly insisted all 1,624 plants seized were only Montauk daisies - a fall-blooming shrubby perennial that he's been growing for 10 years in his yard in the 900 block of 13 Street North. [continues 568 words]
When a criminal is sent off to a federal penitentiary -- locked up behind bars, monitored by cameras and roving guards, and with all visitors purportedly patted down for contraband -- coming out the other end as a drug addict is a far cry from rehabilitation. But it happens far too often. Our prisons, in fact, are rife with drug addicts, those who arrived with an dependence on opiates, and those who join the fraternity from the inside. Blame poor body searches, blame rogue guards, blame complicit lawyers. Blame whatever. [continues 312 words]
Heroin's popularity is surging in Lethbridge as city police try to get ahead of the trend. Lethbridge police are seeing monthly increases in street sales of the illegal narcotic and have a number of investigations ongoing in the wake of the city's first heroin trafficking conviction earlier this week, according to Staff Sgt. Wes Houston. Houston is the officer in charge of a police team that targets drug crime called the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) combined special enforcement unit in Lethbridge. He said police are concerned that the potent drug, which carries a high risk of overdose, is emerging as one of Lethbridge's main drugs of choice. [continues 307 words]
'I'm thrilled,' chief says of new rules Calgary Police Chief Rick Hanson is applauding the federal government's move to ban the key ingredient in the street drug known as bath salts, saying it allows officers to finally crack down on dealers. "I'm thrilled," Hanson said. "Too many people were selling it, they were bringing it into the country. This is going to allow us to take the steps that are necessary to endeavour to put a stop to the sale of that." [continues 376 words]
CALGARY -- Suncor Energy, Total E&P Canada and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. recently announced a pilot study of randomized drug testing as part of the Drug and Alcohol Risk Reduction Pilot Project. Workers will be randomly tested for alcohol and drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine. The aim is improving worker safety and reducing accidents on the job. The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) shares this aim but has labelled the drug-testing pilot "an affront to the privacy and dignity of an individual," calling for "broadly based programs focusing on education and prevention" instead. The pilot project points out that the programs CEP prefers are ineffective. CEP notes the same is true for random (and mandatory) drug testing. There is talk of a court challenge. [continues 713 words]
Re: "Life saver," Editorial, Sept. 8. Mandatory drug and alcohol testing has no proven impact on workplace safety and is degrading to employees. For example, more than two-thirds of oil process facility accidents are related to failure of plant equipment and breaches of health and safety regulations. In those cases where worker error is identified, design, operations and management have been cited as possible causes. Testing violates basic human rights to the point where the Canadian Human Rights Commission has deemed it unacceptable. Those who suffer from disabilities are entitled to fair treatment; this includes workers who may use drugs as a result of a disability, and alcoholism is a recognized disability. The commission has ruled that the right of employees to get treatment and the duty of employers to accommodate workers with disabilities takes priority over management rights or collective agreements. [continues 106 words]
Union is wrong to oppose random drug tests for oilsands workers It's disappointing to see a union place concerns about its members' privacy ahead of a very serious workplace health and safety issue. Unfortunately, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada remains firmly opposed to a two-year pilot project scheduled to begin next month that would institute random drug testing among workers at Suncor Energy, Total E&P Canada and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. The CEP claims random drug tests constitute "an affront to the privacy and dignity of an individual." Instead, the CEP is calling for "broadly based programs focusing on education and prevention." [continues 424 words]
The union representing more than 3,000 Suncor employees has filed a grievance against the company, opposing a pilot safety program that would introduce random drug and alcohol tests on workers. While arbitration is pending, the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union Local 707 is prepared to drag the issue before the Supreme Court of Canada. "We have told the company that our interests are to get to the arbitration process as soon as possible, before the implementation date, so we can get a ruling prior to that," said Roland Lefort, President of CEP Local 707 in Fort McMurray. "If they have no intention of going to arbitration before that date, then we will seek an injunction to prevent implementation through the provincial courts." [continues 452 words]
Drugs: Calgary Patient Nearly Died in July After Ingesting Confirmed Dose of Toxic Compound It was deja vu of the very worst kind for Dr. Mark Yarema. An emergency room physician and medical director for the Poison and Drug Information Service, Yarema watched in early July as a patient fought to live for five days. Elevated body temperature, muscle breakdown - the very same symptoms he had seen dozens of times before at the height of Calgary's crisis with a toxic ecstasy compound known as PMMA. [continues 311 words]
On a quiet Saturday afternoon at a northside Earls restaurant in May 2011, a young male opened fire on three men leaving the eatery, sending two of them them to hospital with non life-threatening injuries. The gunman, wearing grey sweatpants, black gloves, a black hoodie, and a red T-shirt, fled to a vehicle in the parking lot and sped away. Those involved in the shooting were known to police, who believe the attack was targeted with ties to gangs. [continues 811 words]
Inside Alberta
