By Shawn Logan
The Eagle
Both sides locked in a dispute over a $27 million casino on the Stoney Nakoda First Nation are distancing themselves from a proposed agreement drafted by a man claiming to represent the Mohawk Warriors Society from Oka, Québec.
The nation and three elderly sisters — Eliza Holloway, 75, Alice Twoyoungmen, 67, and Winnie Francis, 77 — have locked horns over the corner of Highway 40 and the Trans-Canada Highway, the site for the proposed casino. The sisters claim they have hereditary rights to the land and that they weren’t properly consulted.
On Oct. 24, the sisters and their supporters successfully blocked construction on an access road while Jim Shanks, claiming to represent the Mohawks, appeared as a self-appointed mediator.
But a “proposed agreement between the three sisters and the chiefs” drafted by Shanks is being disavowed by both sides.
Trez McCaskill, chief operating officer for the Stoneys, said the nation has no intention of having the issue solved by outsiders.
“The chiefs are not prepared to have an outside person to negotiate or discuss nation business,” McCaskill said Nov. 28. “The chiefs haven’t given that any regard at all.”
Christine Goodwin, who represents the sisters, said she has informed the Stoneys that Shanks doesn’t speak for them.
“He’s not authorized to do any proposed agreements,” the incredulous lawyer said when told of the draft settlement Nov. 28. “He’s just trying to make some money.”
Among the items included in the settlement is that a video be made of the disputed land and its connections to the families. A plaque would also be erected recognizing the Amos family (to which the sisters belong) and the video would play in the casino. The sisters would also be hired by the casino as “consultants” and earn a monthly salary of $500 each for their work on the “theme of the casino until they so choose to quit.”
Also included is “an all expense(s) paid vacation for the three sisters to Las Vegas for three days . . . and $500 in casino chips.”
Marty Wildman, Holloway’s son-in-law and the primary spokesperson for the sisters, said the plan holds little appeal and Shanks wasn’t given any direction to interfere in the dispute.
“There is no agreement on the table,” Wildman said Nov. 28. “He has no right to negotiate anything on behalf of the sisters.”
Wildman said he subsequently learned Shanks does not represent the Mohawks.
“We were told that he is not a member of the society and he only does business with them,” he said. “Nobody asked him to mediate or negotiate anything.”
Reached for comment just outside Toronto Nov. 28, Shanks said he plans to seek payment for his “work” via the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission (AGLC).
Shanks, who admitted he was a member of the Chippewa First Nation but claims to represent the Mohawks on the casino issue, said he was asked to intervene by McCaskill, which the Stoney administrator denies.
Shanks accused the family of the three sisters of “looking for money,” while nation officials are guilty of “looking to raise funds,” by building the casino.
“They didn’t do it the right way,” Shanks said, taking aim at both sides in the dispute.
He is seeking $14,000 for his efforts and $5,500 for having to postpone his wedding to handle the matter.
By taking the province to court, Shanks said it would likely be the death knell for the casino plans on that site.
“I don’t think the (AGLC) is going to want to deal with the casino after that,” he said.
Marilyn Carlyle-Helms, a spokesperson for AGLC, dismissed the suggestion that it would be on the hook for the bill.
“It comes down to who did he have a contract with,” Carlyle-Helms said Nov. 28. “I don’t see anything that would involve us.”
She noted the AGLC’s involvement ended once it granted the casino licence to the nation.

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By Shawn Logan
The Eagle
Grant shortfalls and fewer students than anticipated saw the Rocky View School Division post a more than $1 million deficit for the 2004-2005 school year, trustees heard Nov. 24.
Trustees reviewed the provincially audited financial statement from the last school year and heard the division recorded a $1,063,285 deficit on its budget of approximately $122 million, a departure from a long string of surpluses for the school board.
Secretary-Treasurer Darrell Couture highlighted a number of areas that led to the deficit budget, including: approximately 100 fewer students in Grades 1 to 9 than anticipated; a shortfall in grants for special needs students; grant funding for some locally developed courses disallowed by the province; debenture payments for the new Airdrie Education Support Centre; employee pensions costs higher than budgeted; and a higher than anticipated cost for diesel fuel for buses.
The budget shortfall will be covered by Rocky View’s reserves, Couture said. Covering the deficit will still leave approximately $8.3 million in the bank.
“The division, in our opinion, continues to be in excellent financial health,” Couture told trustees, adding it has been “six or seven” years since Rocky View last ran a deficit.
The deficit may have been higher, Couture said, without an unexpected boost from the province in grants for operations and maintenance.
“We had higher grants than we anticipated and lower utility costs than anticipated,” Couture said, noting the division actually had a $415,000 surplus in that sector, but faced deficits in its instruction and transportation budgets.
Airdrie-area trustee Don Thomas asked if last year’s budget suggests any trends that may lead to future deficits.
Couture said while the debenture payment will be ongoing for a number of years and diesel fuel will continue to increase, “the rest of the items shouldn’t be re-occurring.”
Bob Willson, the division’s supervisor of finance, told trustees the deficit represents a “minor blip.”
Trustees unanimously accepted the audited budget and agreed to post it on the Rocky View Web site.

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By Wes Gilbertson
The Eagle
The Cochrane High Cobras are kings, again.
With a 51-3 shellacking of the visiting Beaumont Bandits Nov. 26, the Cobras gridiron program solidified its standing as one of Alberta’s best ever, claiming a fourth consecutive provincial championship banner in convincing fashion.
“We wanted to go out with a bang and we did that,” beamed Cobras slotback Adam Marit. “We’re really proud of ourselves. It was a great team effort.”
The Cobras wasted little time pulling away from the Bandits, scoring a touchdown on their first offensive play of the game and adding another major five minutes later. They finished the first quarter with a 15-0 lead and held a 23-3 edge at the half.
“That’s kind of our forté, we like to get a jump on teams,” said co-coach Rob McNab. “In high school football, that clock ticks fast. That early lead is huge.”
From there, the Cobras never looked back. When the coaching staff pulled the starters from the game to begin the fourth quarter, Marit had made four trips to the end zone while Luke Luciano and Ryan McDermit had both added touchdowns of their own.
On the other side of the ball, the Cobras defence was typically stingy, making a number of key stops and getting the ball back in the hands of quarterback Brett Binder and his offence in great field position.
“Our kids just played better,” McNab said. “We took advantage of the wind and our defence shut them down when they had the wind.”
With their victory over the Bandits, the Cobras joined the Cardston Cougars — who dominated the Tier 2 loop from 1990-93 — as the only Alberta squad to win four consecutive provincial banners. A handful of the Cobras’ Grade 12 players had already been on board for two titles and were thrilled to end their high school football careers with another triumph.
“It’s a really sweet feeling,” grinned Marit.
“It’s great, I love it,” echoed linebacker Ryan Hellard.
The coaching staff, too, basked in the victory, the school’s eighth provincial football championship in the past two decades.
It’s always nice to go out on top,” McNab said. “We’ve been fortunate to finish the season with a win the last four years. That’s huge, you get to go out with a smile on your face, not a frown.”
In addition to the strong play of his psyched up squad, Cobras co-coach Bruce O’Neil also heaped praise on the numerous others who volunteered their time to ensure the Cobras season was a success.
“It’s not just the players, it’s the whole football community at Cochrane High that wins championships,” he said.

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By Jack Tennant
Read this first.
Well, I hope you do, otherwise you may experience some confusion.
Things are not where they’re supposed to be. For example, Warren and Sarah have not flown the coop, they’ve just moved.
We’re undergoing changes at the mighty Cochrane Eagle which have been caused by growth. A nice kind of challenge to be sure.
The bottom line is we needed more colour capacity and now we have it. Before this week, our maximum was 16 pages of process color and now we have two sections with colour on every page of the 24-page first section and on eight pages of the second section.
That’s from 16 to 32 pages of colour in one fell swoop so that’s why things are a tad confusing.
Brighter but confusing.
And we have no idea what particular pages will end up as home for various departments, including columnists, but I’m sure you’ll find them.
While we’re proud of our success, it’s not as if you have to thumb through a 400-page New York Times to find Warren.
Maybe 44 but not 480. Yet.
So it’ll be a bit of a dog’s breakfast for a short while but I know you can handle it.
ß ß ß
Speaking of a dog’s breakfast. How about a dog’s fire pot?
What a clever way to get into the downtown Christmas celebration Dec. 4, he says to himself, since no one else will.
It’s the annual firepot deal where there’s free hot chocolate and hot dogs, choirs singing carols all over the place, and a great opportunity to wish friends and neighbours season’s greetings.
The Eagle firepot once again is in front of MacKay’s Cochrane Ice Cream and this year we have the added attraction of volunteers from the humane society joining us to tell you about their new facility that looms large on the horizon.
And with any luck we’ll be joined by Gus the Wonder Dog and his lovely and talented owner. Maybe the pair will karaoke a couple of carols for us.
See you Sunday.
ß ß ß
It’s about this election stuff.
I don’t think a winter election is a bad thing at all. Particularly if politicians advertise in January.
Some politicians are complaining that bad weather might force them into less campaigning and I’m not convinced that’s a bad thing either.
Actually, I think it’s a positive.
If it’s cold the politicians won’t be spending a lot of time on your front step telling you all the wonderful things they could do spending your money, so maybe a winter election is a blessing.
Keep in mind that politicians are like stray cats — no matter how sad they look out there in the cold, if you bring them in and feed them you’ll never get rid of them.
And how about the Ralph factor?
Eastern experts got their shirts in a knot when Premier Ralph Klein was honest enough to say that to him it looked like another Liberal minority if the Grits carry Ontario. Tory brass whined that Ralph was a loose cannon. He’s not a loose cannon, but he’s an honest cannon.
I hope Ralph keeps telling it the way he sees it, not the way backroom handlers would like us to see it.
Blaming Ralph is just the Tory way of looking for an excuse why they lost and if they’re looking for that excuse already who could vote for them?
And another thing . . .
Isn’t it interesting that the Liberals have already threatened the Tories with legal action?
It didn’t take long for a lawyer’s letter did it?
Consider that a legal letter has yet to be issued by the Liberal party threatening anybody with anything over the Adscam affair.
Only in Canada you say? Pity.
ß ß ß
Some fortunate Cochers venture to warmer climes this time of year and many want the Cochrane Eagle sent to them so here’s the deal: Of course you can use our Web site, but if you’d rather have a copy of the paper just tell us your winter address and we’ll mail one to you every week. We’ll charge only what the post office charges and we’ll keep track of it so when you return to beautiful downtown Cochrane just pop into the office and we’ll have your statement. If you don’t come back I guess you’ll owe us some money.
Have a nice winter and think of us often.

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Drama students from Cochrane High are hosting three nights of a variety-type show at the school’s Lyceum.
Grade 11 and 12 students from two of Tammy Christiansen’s drama classes will perform skits they have written in addition to musical numbers and dramatic scenes.
The shows start at 7 p.m. and run from Dec. 6 to Dec. 8.
Admission is $1 with a food item and $2 without an item.

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By Wes Gilbertson
The Eagle
For Kevin Martin, it was just another game on the Edmonton Super League schedule.
For Cochrane’s Taylor Kimmett though, it was an experience he’ll not soon forget.
Kimmett, a Cochrane High graduate now studying at the University of Alberta, had the chance last week to square off against Martin, a two-time Brier champion and 2002 Olympic silver medallist.
What he learned during the Nov. 23 contest, he said, was just how good the Martin rink really is.
“They’re pretty incredible, they didn’t miss any shots,” Kimmett said. “We were coming from behind all the time.”
While the local skip dropped a 9-3 decision to Martin, he and his teammates are hoping to pick up where they left off in University of Alberta league play, where they boast an impressive record of 7-1.
Each week, two teams from that league are given a chance to test their mettle against a foursome from the Super League, Edmonton’s top curling circuit. Through eight weeks of Super League play, the Martin rink has lost just one game.

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By Shawn Logan
The Eagle
Town departments will have to look at making some last-minute cutbacks as officials are projecting a 2005 deficit of $163,250, council heard Nov. 28.
Paige Milner, the town’s manager of financial services, told council the town is facing the deficit because of higher than anticipated legal costs and revenue shortfalls for the Cochrane RancheHouse, the town’s protective services and general revenue.
Milner added the projected deficit could have been larger if not for higher than anticipated building permit revenue and proceeds from utilities.
“The message has been sent to reduce any variable spending where possible until the end of the year to ensure a balanced budget,” Milner said.
Asked about the town’s legal costs, Chief Administrative Officer Julian deCocq said the town anticipates spending $200,000 in legal services for 2005.
“That’s an area that accrued quite significantly,” deCocq said.
The town is facing a $58 million lawsuit from Keyland Development Corp. and has sought legal advice on a number of other issues.
During 2005 budget talks, the town boosted its legal fund by $20,000 after legal fees were double what had been anticipated in 2004. With the extra funds, council budgeted $85,000 for legal expenses in 2005, covering the bulk of the deficit.
Council heard if a municipality runs a deficit, it has three years to pay it off or it can carry over into the 2006 budget as an expense.
But Lori Harris, the town’s director of corporate services, said, “We’d like to see the cost mitigated by cutting costs for the remainder of the year.”
Asked by Coun. Ken Hynes if the town is “likely to meet the target,” Harris said slaying the deficit is a priority.
“At this point we can’t say, but we’re definitely hoping to make that a balanced budget,” she said. Council begins 2006 budget deliberations in early January.

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By Shawn Logan
The Eagle
The Stoney Nakoda First Nation will have to wait a while longer for a court to hear its application for an injunction that would pave the way for construction of a $27 million hotel and casino project.
Three elderly sisters — Eliza Holloway, 75, Alice Twoyoungmen, 67, and Winnie Francis, 77 — have opposed the nation’s plans, claiming they hold traditional rights on the parcel at the corner of Highway 40 and the Trans-Canada Highway and they were never properly consulted.
Both sides appeared in Calgary Court of Queen’s Bench Nov. 24 as the Stoneys sought an injunction allowing them to access the site.
Stoney lawyer Tibor Osvath told Justice Jacqueline Coutu the matter had “significant urgency” as the nation will lose out on potential revenue from the casino project, which had been slated to open in the summer of 2006.
“There is irreparable harm being suffered by the Stoney First Nation every day there is a delay,” Osvath said.
On two occasions nation officials and workers were prevented from accessing the site by the sisters and supporters.
But as Stoney lawyers argued for an immediate hearing, Christine Goodwin, a lawyer representing the three sisters, asked for more time to allow them to secure legal aid for their dwindling resources.
Justice Coutu admonished the Stoney legal team for attempting to have the matter heard in justice chambers, which generally handles smaller items. She suggested a special hearing would be a more appropriate venue for the matter.
Both sides will return to Court of Queen’s Bench on Dec. 12.
Following the hearing, Goodwin said the Stoney leadership is attempting to force the sisters to give up by forcing them to go through costly legal hurdles.
“They’re trying to deplete (the sisters’) resources as much as they can,” Goodwin said Nov. 28. “And (Stoney leaders) are raping the band for their (own) legal fees.”
She noted three lawyers for the nation were on hand for the latest injunction hearing and another injunction case is pending before the federal courts.
Meanwhile, Goodwin said the Stoneys have suggested they would help the sisters with legal expenses but so far, no aid has been delivered.
“They (the nation) keep offering but they aren’t putting their money where their mouth is,” she said. “These are just three little old ladies living on a pension.”
Goodwin noted the legal bill for the Stoney’s first injunction, that allowed the nation access to a provincial road, cost the sisters approximately $20,000.
Trez McCaskill, chief operating officer for the Stoney First Nation, said despite a meeting earlier this month between the sisters and Bearspaw band Chief Darcy Dixon, the nation is still hoping to find a remedy via the courts.
He noted legal fees for the sisters “is one of the things they’re talking to their chiefs about,” but no decisions have been made.

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By Shawn Logan
The Eagle
The Calgary Health Region (CHR) will establish an extended hours medical program in Cochrane that could be in place early in the new year, according to Mayor Ken Bech.
Bech said the announcement has been a long time coming and will provide an important service that has been lacking in Cochrane.
“The one thing council has heard over and over again from the public is, ‘We require medical services after hours in the evening and on weekends,’” Bech said Nov. 29. “The Calgary Health Region is reacting to this.”
He said the CHR will put out requests for proposals in the coming weeks to find a doctor who would run the program that will be available after regular hours, weekends and holidays when local doctors’ offices are closed.
The program would likely start some time in the new year.
Cochrane has long pushed for some sort of extended care service or facility with its population surging over 13,000.
But past discussions with the CHR managed to generate little more than frustration for the town, Bech admitted.
“There were some mixed messages being sent about what was going to happen,” he said, noting a recent meeting with CHR chair Jack Davis brought some clarity, as well as a solution, to the problem.
Bech said the CHR proposal would see the after-hours clinic act as a “kind of a way station,” in which patients could be diagnosed and be given minor treatment or told to go to Foothills Hospital in Calgary. It would likely be housed in the existing Cochrane medical building, he added.
The CHR will monitor the program to determine if Cochrane requires further enhancements to its health care delivery.
“They’ll be monitoring how many people are coming in and what is the acuity (of their medical problems),” Bech said. “Then we’re going to determine after a year what the next step is.”
Despite general feelings among residents that a medical facility is required, Bech said that project may be some way off.
But the after-hours service could be extended to ensure most medical needs are met.
“The CHR made the statement to us that they do not anticipate building a facility in Cochrane,” Bech said. “Instead, they’ll be looking at the town and saying we may not need to build something with bricks and mortar but maybe there is already available space in the community to take that next step.”
A local group is looking to build a medical office facility near the Cochrane Towne Square shopping centre and has been granted zoning approval.
Bech suggested the CHR is looking to make an announcement “regarding a facility” likely in the spring but he wouldn’t discuss specifics.
In the meantime, Bech said the program that is set to be implemented should be an important service for residents who have had to make trips to Calgary hospitals after 5 p.m.
“It’s an opportunity for Cochrane residents not to have to drive to the city, which puts stress on the roads and the system,” Bech said.
“The program is designed to allow walk-ins,” the mayor added.

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