By Brad Herron
The Eagle
Health care and environment stewardship were the key issues at an all-candidates forum in Bragg Creek on Feb. 21.
Three of four men challenging Progressive Conservative incumbent Ted Morton were at the community centre in Bragg Creek to debate the issues in the Foothills-Rocky View riding.
As the forum neared its conclusion, health care reared its head.
“We can’t keep increasing health care funding the way we are, it’s sucking everything else dry,” Morton said.
The Minister of Sustainable Resource Development (SRD) said if the trend remains, the health care department will “cannibalize” all others. He said this will eventually leave just the premier and health minister in Edmonton.
During the 2006 Progressive Conservative leadership race, where Morton finished third, he campaigned openly for two-tiered health care. While he walked the party line and stopped short of calling for a change, Morton said “this is a debate that will happen all across the country.”
Herb Coburn, the Liberal candidate, stood by public health care and advocated for increasing funding.
He said the effects of the funding cuts in the 1990s are being felt today. While the Alberta government has the money to construct hospitals, it lacks the personnel to operate new facilities.
“I look forward to rebuilding Alberta’s health care system,” Coburn said.
The Alberta Green candidate, Larry Ashmore, said changing the system to more privatized health care will only negatively impact the average citizen.
“We just have to put more money into this,” Ashmore said.
He criticized the PC government for poor planning, which has caused some health regions in the province to be in a deficit state.
Ashmore said while it is a positive that the Tories have a plan to eliminate health care premiums, he said it shouldn’t take four years unless the party plans to “recycle it around next election.”
Joe McMaster, the Wildrose Alliance candidate, said public health care has become a financial “black hole” and there needs to be more dialogue on potential changes.
Looking across the country, Morton said other provinces are in a worse condition than Alberta. He used the example of Manitoba, where 49 per cent of the budget is used for public health care. In Alberta, roughly one-third of the budget goes towards health care, but Morton said Alberta’s spending is more per capita than any province in Canada.
As the SRD minister, Morton has faced vocal opposition to the logging program in Kananaskis since being appointed to the post in late-2006.
At the forum, he defended the action and elaborated on a new land use plan that will be rolled out following the election.
If a forest is going to remain healthy, the trees within it need to be age-balanced, Morton said. The minister said this is what the forest management plan is designed to do.
Ashmore said, “Mr. Morton is right.”
“When you make a park and let it mature, there’s a problem,” he added.
A native Californian, Ashmore said that is exactly what happened in his former home state and it created a tinder box that ignited in October.
McMaster said he didn’t know whether to support the creation of a new park in Kananaskis, while Coburn was the only candidate to advocate such an event.
If elected, Coburn said he would push forward with stopping all the clear-cut logging in Kananaskis.
NDP candidate Ricardo de Menezes, was not in attendance.
Albertans head to the polls March 3.

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With the sound of muffled sobbing permeating through a crowded Cochrane courtroom Feb. 21, two suspects made their first appearance in connection with the murder of 29-year-old Wacey Labelle whose body was found near the Stoney First Nation Feb. 17.
Killed by a gunshot wound, Labelle may have been dead for more than a day when police found his body.
Catlon Dean Powder-face, 21, and Brantner Kaquitts, 21, have each been charged with first degree murder. They appeared briefly before Judge John Reilly and will return Feb. 28 when a preliminary hearing date will be set. Reilly confirmed the pair will be tried separately.
Labelle was a major player in another Stoney murder case in 2003 after Jordena Baptiste was found stabbed to death by the side of a gravel road.
Roseanne Turningrobe and Deanna Goodstoney were subsequently found guilty of her murder and are currently serving jail time. But during the trial, Labelle admitted under oath that after the murder he had driven with Goodstoney and Turningrobe to a railway bridge at the Seebe Dam where he threw the murder weapon, a kitchen knife, into the Kananaskis River.
Under cross-examination he said, “I was scared. I was nervous . . . this is my first time with all this murder stuff.”
Labelle’s funeral took place at Cochrane’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Feb. 23. Several hundred mourners lined up to view his body and pay respects to the family.
Speaking at Labelle’s funeral were Wesley Chief Clifford Poucette and Chiniki Chief Bruce Labelle, both uncles of the slain man.
Chief Labelle reminded adults of their duty to teach children to be responsible citizens.
“We, as a community, seriously need to revisit and refocus the teachings of our elders on respect and kindness, the difference between right and wrong, good and bad, and the consequences of bad behaviour,” he said.
Chief Labelle also urged parents to “teach that inflicting revenge on others is not the answer. It will only create more serious trouble.”
Chief Poucette reflected on the life of his late nephew, remembering that “taking part in the movie ‘Shanghai Noon’ (a 2000 Jackie Chan film produced in the area) was the highlight of his life.”
Wacey Labelle was buried on the Stoney First Nation.

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Dressed as a mock prisoner, a former mayor of Airdrie protested outside of Banff-Cochrane MLA Janis Tarchuk’s Cochrane office Feb. 22.
A former peacekeeper with the Van Doos, Grant McLean retired from the Canadian Armed Forces in 1983 after 14 years of service. He left the forces to become deputy director of the Calgary Correctional Centre, known as Spy Hill.
He said his retirement was contingent on a written guarantee by a government official that his military pension would transfer to the provincial plan.
Once in his new position, McLean was told that wasn’t the case. He had lost his pension and there was nothing he could do it get it back as no transfer arrangement existed between Alberta and the Department of Defense.
In the years since, McLean has filed a lawsuit against the province and now he wants people to know how the government treats some citizens.
“Criminals get quicker trials than I do, and I served my country.”
Since launching his lawsuit in 1999, he said he has seen no action from the province.
While his case may be just another for government officials, for McLean it is his retirement. He said he has lost about $550,000.
“Who’s running this government, elected officials or bureaucratic lawyers,” he asked.
McLean is taking his protest on the road, hitting as many campaign offices as he can. For close to a year, he has been donning outfits to draw attention.
Before the provincial party leaders’ debate Feb. 21, McLean managed to catch Premier Ed Stelmach as he got off his campaign bus. As Stelmach walked by, McLean said he was “like a deer caught in the headlights.”
Until his case is heard, McLean will not stop his protests. He is even considering holding a camp-out in front of the legislature in Edmonton.
“I’m not going away,” he vowed.

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Will it never end?
I hope not.
The pennies keep rolling in at the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre and that’s great.
The original target was 1 million pennies, or $10,000, towards the expansion fund and your generosity has far surpassed that.
The key is Robin Whenham, who made many friends when she worked at the facility but had to quit when she was diagnosed with cancer.
She’s our leader and motivator.
Robin once suggested that maybe our target should be $50,000 instead of $10,000 so maybe it should be.
Robin has always insisted the penny drive is two-fold: funds and awareness and both objectives have been achieved in spades.
Our latest total shows 1,079,100 pennies and a total of $16,577.51.
And it’s not over yet. There are more pennies to count because the good folks at Dynastream showed up a couple of days ago with a pail half full of pennies.
If this keeps up we’ll soon have the Canadian penny market cornered.
Quite frankly, I don’t know when or if it will ever end. Maybe this will morph into a year-round penny collection for Robin and wouldn’t that be very deserving.
Some special mentions:
Devin Daviduk had a birthday and rather than presents, he collected pennies for the drive. He managed to gather up 31,150 of the wee brown coins. His total donation was $428.45.
Family Day brought in 6,000 pennies and the referees association donated 4,500.
So keep those pennies coming and the good folks at the facility will keep counting.
Maybe a contest?
How much do 1 million pennies weigh?

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A Cochrane man accused of causing the death of five people while behind the wheel of a cement truck has been granted bail.
Daniel Tschetter, 50, was ordered by Judge Sandra Hamilton on Feb. 22 to post $100,000 equity in his home or $50,000 cash before he is released.
Balfour Der, Tschetter’s lawyer, said his client will be home within the next few days.
While on bail, Tschetter must not drive any vehicle, possess or consume any alcohol or non-prescription drugs, or attend any establishment whose main business is selling or serving alcohol.
Tschetter faces five counts each of manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death, attempting to obstruct justice by destroying evidence and failing to provide a breath sample for a roadside screening device in connection with a Dec. 7 crash.
Melaina Hovdebo, 33, her 16-month-old son Zachary Morrison, Christopher Gautreau, 39, and his two daughters, Alexia, 9, and six-year-old Kiarra perished in the accident.
Tschetter was originally charged with five counts of dangerous driving causing death, but those charges were upgraded in January.
Der said his client is glad to be able to spend time with his family, and he hopes to find work.
Prosecutor Jonathan Hak is seeking an appeal of the bail decision.
Tschetter will be back in court March 7. Der speculated it could be as long as a year before a trial begins.

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Cochrane council heard Feb. 25 about the tools at its disposal for developing an Integrated Sustainability Plan.
John Lewis, president of Intelligent Futures, an independent consulting firm, detailed five approaches to planning: EarthCAT, Natural Step, Imagine Process, Cities Plus Networks and the AUMA Comprehensive Guide for Municipal Sustainability Planning.
The town will use a combination of the five to develop its plan.
In 2007, Cochrane was awarded a grant to begin the project, intended to shape the town’s future. A steering committee was set in November.

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A total of 27 recommendations were made in the Partners in Climate Protection (PCP) report to town council Feb. 25.
Environmental co-ordinator Gary Wagner said the town has investigated the practicality of hybrid vehicles based on their usage by the City of Calgary.
Wagner said in many instances conventional vehicles outperform hybrids in both fuel economy and workload.
Also, an anti-idling campaign called “idle threat” will be launched this spring.
Wagner said the recycling depot is now receiving three to five times the material volume it was designed for, calling the program a “victim of our own success.”
As a result, staffing has been stabilized but there are no expansion plans.

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An effort is being launched to give Cochrane residents a chance to read about the town’s water situation.
At the Feb. 25 meeting, councillors were told the document summarizing the water situation is near completion.
It contains information on current conservation initiatives, water licenses, future demand by the town, and options for future water treatment.
Jim Anderson, director of operations, said it will cost about $5,500 to produce, print and distribute the document.
About $3,000 will be spent on consulting by Urban Systems, $2,000 will go towards printing 11,500 copies, and it will cost $500 to insert it in the Cochrane Times.
The report will also be available at www.
cochrane.ca.

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From Lake Okanagan to the shores of Gitche Gumee comes an intriguing — and very timely — response to last month’s column on English place names related to the Nakoda (Stoney) language spoken at Morley.
Westbank, B.C., coffee companion Angus McNee wrote:
“Warren, that was a very good lesson in linguistics. But you didn’t mention Minnehaha. When I was young, that Sioux word from Longfellow’s Hiawatha always made me smile. It was years later that I learned its meaning.”
Angus is referring, of course, to the 19th century writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s greatest poem, The Song of Hiawatha. In celebration of Longfellow’s 201st birthday — he was born on Feb. 27, 1807 — we’ll revisit Minnehaha and her links to Morley.
The poem’s most famous lines point to the birthplace of Hiawatha, its First Nations hero: (more…)

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