Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Wins Achievement AwardWe are thrilled to announce that the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame has been awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award by the Government of Alberta in recognition of its exemplary leadership and long-term contribution to preserving and presenting Alberta’s rich sports history.
This prestigious accolade honors individuals or organizations with over 10 years of dedication to heritage in the province, highlighting contributions that extend well beyond the scope of any heritage-related employment. The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, with its commitment to celebrating the achievements of Alberta’s athletes and preserving their legacies, exemplifies this standard.
At the award presentation, we were honored to be joined by Chelsae Petrovic (MLA for Livingston-Macleod) and Ron Wiebe (MLA for Grande Prairie-Wapiti), who shared in the celebration of this remarkable milestone.
For decades, the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame has played a pivotal role in safeguarding the stories of Alberta’s sports heroes, while inspiring future generations through engaging exhibits, interactive programs, and outreach efforts. This award stands as a testament to the Hall of Fame’s dedication to Alberta’s history, and we are incredibly proud to celebrate this achievement!
Olympian and Paralympian Meet and Greet: A Day of Inspiration and Celebration
This past week, the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame hosted an unforgettable Olympian and Paralympian Meet and Greet, bringing together sports fans and some of Canada’s most inspiring athletes. The event featured both past and present Olympians and Paralympians, offering a unique opportunity for attendees to meet their sporting heroes in person.
The lineup of athletes was nothing short of extraordinary, including honoured members Diane Jones Konihowski, Olympic pentathlete; and Lyndon Rush, Olympic bobsleigh medalist.The event also included Olympians Marco Arop, Olympic silver medalist and world champion middle-distance runner; Molly Simpson, a rising star in BMX racing; Rebecca Smith, Olympic swimmer and relay medalist. The event also honored the incredible contributions of Paralympians, with appearances by Reid Maxwell, Nicholas Bennett and Tammy Cunnington, three accomplished Paralympic athletes who have made their marks in swimming and para-athletics.
Fans of all ages gathered to hear personal stories of triumph and perseverance, ask questions, take photos, and get autographs from these exceptional athletes. The day was filled with inspiring conversations, as the Olympians and Paralympians shared insights into their training, challenges, and what it takes to compete on the world stage. Their stories sparked excitement and admiration, reminding us all of the power of dedication, resilience, and the pursuit of excellence.
The event was a resounding success, leaving attendees energized and motivated by the athletes’ remarkable journeys. It was a true celebration of sport, community, and the lasting impact these athletes have on inspiring the next generation.
Thank you to everyone who came out to make this day so special! Stay tuned for more exciting events and opportunities to connect with Alberta’s sporting legends!
Save the Date: 2025 Honoured Member Class Induction Ceremony
Mark your calendars! The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is excited to announce that our 2025 Honoured Member Class Induction Ceremony will be held on June 7, 2025, at the Red Deer Resort and Casino.
Join us for an unforgettable evening as we celebrate the newest inductees into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame. This prestigious event will honor individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to sports in Alberta, recognizing their outstanding achievements and lasting impact on our province’s sporting legacy.
Stay tuned for more details, including ticket prices and the announcement of our 2025 Honoured Member Class. This is a night you won’t want to miss—save the date and prepare to be part of this incredible celebration of Alberta’s sporting heroes!
Keep an eye on our website and social media for updates. We look forward to seeing you there!
Alberta Sport Award Nominations Now Open!
We’re excited to announce that nominations for the 2024 Alberta Sport Recognition Awards are now open! This program honors exceptional athletes, teams, coaches, officials, and sport volunteers who have made significant contributions to our province’s sports community. There are five annual awards and two biennial awards available for nomination.
Nominations will be accepted from October 1, 2024, to January 15, 2025. Don’t miss the chance to recognize someone who has had a positive impact on Alberta sports! For more details, click the box below. Let’s celebrate our sporting heroes!
We are pleased to share a heartfelt thank you letter from Charlaine Rausch, Corporate Events Specialist with The City of Red Deer, expressing appreciation for our participation in the AB Muni Convention Host Night, titled The Eras Tour: Red Deer.
Good Afternoon Tracey,
On behalf of The City of Red Deer, please accept my thanks for participating in our AB Muni Convention Host Night, The Eras Tour: Red Deer.
The AB Sports Hall of Fame is a gem in our community, and as our delegates came from across the Province, it was great to have your booth and items there for our guests to enjoy.
Thanks again. Char
Charlaine Rausch | Corporate Events Specialist Community & Public Relations The City of Red Deer
We appreciate the recognition and are proud to represent the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in our community!
Honoured Members Visit Our Booth at the PointsBet Invitational!
We were excited to set up our booth at the PointsBet Invitational in Calgary, where we showcased a collection of artifacts celebrating the rich history of curling in Alberta. Our display provided attendees with a unique glimpse into the sport’s legacy, highlighting significant milestones and achievements that have shaped curling in our province.
We were especially honored to have Diane Jones Konihowski and Cheryl Bernard, both esteemed honoured members of the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, stop by our booth.
We are always open to participating in more events throughout Alberta, and we welcome opportunities to bring our artifacts and stories to new audiences. If you know of an event that could benefit from our presence, please reach out!
Thank you to everyone who visited us at the PointsBet Invitational! We look forward to continuing to celebrate the incredible history and achievements of Alberta’s athletes.
This newsletter is sponsored by Tourism Red Deer.
Honoured Member Profile- Donald Moore
Multisport Builder, Inducted in 2010Don Moore was a vital force in shaping Red Deer’s sports community from 1956 to 1987. As an athlete, coach, referee, and administrator, he contributed to hockey, football, swimming, and skiing. Don served on the Alberta Sport Council and played a key role in developing Red Deer’s sports facilities and the Waskasoo Park system, enhancing recreational opportunities.
A mentor to many and an advocate for accessible sports, Don’s leadership left a lasting impact on the community. His notable achievements include receiving the Alberta Centennial Salute for Sport and Recreation Award in 2005 and the G.H. Dawe Memorial Award of Excellence in 2008. Don’s commitment to sport and volunteerism continues to inspire future generations.
Provincial Sport Organization – Football AlbertaFootball Alberta is the governing body for amateur football in the province of Alberta. It oversees and supports the development of the sport at all levels, from youth and high school programs to junior and senior leagues. Football Alberta provides resources, coaching certification, competitions, and player development opportunities, ensuring the growth and success of football in the province. The organization is dedicated to promoting safe, inclusive, and competitive environments for athletes, coaches, and officials to thrive in the sport of football.
Donald Moore’s leather football cleats with metal pages in the sole.
Let’s Champion Our Local Sports Heroes and Inspire the Champions of Tomorrow
Your donation will ensure your Hall can continue to champion our Alberta sports heroes. Donate through our website, attend our events, and be a part of our Sports Hall of Fame’s legacy. Thank you for your support!
The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame provides a family-friendly, interactive experience. You will be surprised by what you discover inside! Have fun, laugh, play and discover Alberta sports heroes together. The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is an interactive, hands-on celebration of Alberta's sporting history.
Our over 7,000 square feet of exhibit space includes a multisport area with virtual baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and soccer; an adaptive sports area, including a 200 meter wheelchair challenge; a Treadwall climbing wall; the Orest Korbutt Theatre; the Hall of Fame Gallery; an art gallery displaying works by provincial artists, and much more.
Our venue boasts a collection of over 17,000 artefacts of Alberta sports history and showcases many of these items in a number of displays.
The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame also offers an education program, group activities, and a unique environment to rent for your birthday party, special event, corporate reception or meetings.
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Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Museum
/ 2 months ago
This is a report that is well-worth reading from beginning to end. The government identified numerous major problems with the handling of the pandemic response by Alberta Health Services. It is important to note that the current government in Alberta is not responsible for how the province responded to COVID-19. That responsibility falls upon the shoulders of the previous government. Thankfully, the current government is interested in knowing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. They also believe in being transparent with the public that they serve.
One of my biggest concerns from the report is identified in the opening letter where it states, “Our quest for answers was impeded by barriers, including reluctance from key stakeholders to engage with the Task Force’s mandate“. Shame on those involved with developing and implementing COVID-19 policies that failed to cooperate with officials from a sitting government that launched this investigation for the wellbeing of the public. The lack of transparency from whomever these key stakeholders are is unacceptable.
What I appreciate most about the report is that it is constructively critical, providing a path forward, that includes refocusing the mandate of public health services back onto the public as the primary clientele, as opposed to acting in the service of pharmaceutical companies. It serves as a blueprint to guide future responses. The path forward is based largely on traditional best practices that were established by truly following the science and forged in the successful management of historical outbreaks. It is highly reminiscent of the national pandemic response plans that existed in 2020; the ones that were supposed to be implemented for COVID-19 but that were thrown out within days of the pandemic being declared.
I can’t help but wonder how many lives could have been saved, how many hospitalizations could have been prevented, and how much healthier our population and current economies would be if this far more appropriate, science-based plan would have been implemented back in 2020.
This report from the Government of Alberta provides a precedent for the world as overwhelming numbers of people wake up and realize the need for massive reforms within public health.
Further, the report validates many of the concerns that a lot of people had about the response to COVID-19. The totality of evidence highlights how egregious it was to have vilified critical thinkers who simply wanted to engage in robust discussions out of genuine concerns for others and not fall victim to propaganda. Firing people who didn’t want to be coerced into having experimental medical interventions and debatable policies thrust upon them, de-licensing and disciplining independent-thinking health care professionals, and censoring experts under the nefarious disguise of ‘combating misinformation’ and ‘fact checking’; THEY WERE ALL EGREGIOUS WRONGS.
There should be fallout from a damning report like this. The gross mismanagement of COVID-19 has created a huge hot mess. The path forward starts with acknowledging this. Then we need to plot a course to navigate through this mess and thoroughly clean it up. These are essential if there is ever to be healing for all those that were victimized by power brokers that blindly followed propaganda and bought into the hatred and divisive tactics that were passionately modelled by the prime minister on down.
My talk will dovetail with this report from the Government of Alberta. The event is going to focus on the four pillars of healing. My presentation will start with ripping off the scab and exposing lies from public health agencies that contributed to a myriad of problems within the pandemic response. It will transition into providing some practical recommendations with respect to where we go from here.
Please consider posting your thoughts about this report in the comments section. Do you agree with aspects? Disagree with others? Were criticisms too light or too harsh? Were key issues missed? What do you think about the ideas for moving forward? This is opportunity to provide feedback. You have a sitting government that is showing a willingness to listen to all parties and perspectives. I will share feedback with the Members of the Legislative Assembly that I will be meeting in Alberta on March 3rd.
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Nearly six months after Dr. Gary Davidson’s report was submitted to Premier Danielle Smith, it was publicly released quietly by the Government of Alberta on their website.
The only public statement about the report was on Eric Bouchard’s X account: “Dr. Gary Davidson’s report brings Alberta one step closer to the truth. https://open.alberta.ca/publications/albertas-covid-19-pandemic-response”. Eric followed up by saying “Alberta now has a tremendous opportunity to right many of the wrongs that took place over the last few years. We must work together to heal humanity and to earn back the trust of all Albertans.” and “I am committed to working with Albertans to ensure that the historical pain caused by the response to COVID-19 does not repeat. Thank you, Dr. Davidson, for your incredible work to get this report out. I look forward to hearing Dr. Davidson live on March 3, 2025.”
Purpose:
On November 14, 2022, the Premier of Alberta established a Task Force under the Health Quality Council of Alberta to examine the quality, use, interpretation, and flow of information and data that informed Alberta’s pandemic response to COVID-19 and provide recommendations on how to better manage a future pandemic.
This report critiques the Government of Alberta’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022. The report addresses 9 areas: governance and flow of information, regulatory bodies (e.g. the role of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta), modelling, non-pharmaceutical interventions, masking, testing, infection-acquired immunity, vaccines, and therapeutics. The task force attempted to remain neutral and examine information on both sides of the narrative. However, there was a “fundamental lack of transparency and willingness to reveal information and discuss decisions and actions taken by AHS during the pandemic.” and the task force found that there was “a lack of willingness on the part of AHS officials to cooperate with the Task Force in our requests for data and information.” [Pg 40-41]
Chapter 6: Testing
As a molecular virologist with expertise in the detection and surveillance of infectious diseases, the task force asked me to provide information and guidance on PCR, rapid antigen testing (RAT), and serological testing for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 during the pandemic. The report provides excellent background and the methods used to test people for SARS-CoV-2.
Unfortunately, I continue to see misinformation spread about the reliability of the PCR test, including the number of cycles and “97% false-positives”. Therefore, I will be providing a deep dive into the PCR test over the coming weeks, including presenting insight on one legal case where I served as an expert witness that asked whether or not a PCR test for COVID is a “genetic test” according to the Ontario labour code. I would be happy to answer any questions that people may have.
From The Davidson Report, I would like to highlight two key issues. The first is the classification of a COVID case being determined by a PCR-positive test result driving a “casedemic” rather than a “pandemic” and the second is regarding the millions of dollars wasted on unused PCR reagents and RATs.
It is important to note the following recommendations made regarding testing (P174):
RT-PCR represents an excellent high-sensitivity test to aid in accurate diagnoses of symptomatic people – if they are used for the intended purpose and at optimal Ct values (vs. Ct values at “high positive” cut-offs).
Rapid tests with reasonable accuracy should not be used for screening the general population but could be used as an additional diagnostic tool, where clinically indicated.
We recommend that future pandemic responses prioritize minimizing severe disease and mortality over extensive case detection. Specifically, Alberta should focus on developing a screening tool to help estimate individual risk. This approach will optimize resource use by directing testing capacity, which can be appropriately directed by evidence-based practices, such as testing symptomatic individuals, those whose management may be influenced by test results, and for specific surveillance scenarios.
We recommend that levels of immunity be gauged using a multi-antibody serological and/or mucosal assay that accounts for both pre-existing immunity as well as the presence of immune cells with the potential for cross-protection.
All tests should also be professionally administered and sufficiently sensitive to detect low antibody levels while sufficiently specific to distinguish between target and non-target antibodies. This also applies to laboratory tests used to identify specific respiratory viruses. Individual risk estimates can then be used to inform individual needs for protection either through the use of personal protective measures and/or vaccination.
Without being linked to a set of standardized clinical criteria, we recommend against the use of PCR tests as the sole criteria for a case definition. A confirmed case should include a pre-determined profile of signs and/or symptoms AND a positive test for the infection of concern PLUS any relevant patient history and confirmed epidemiological information.
Ensure that local surveillance data are used and interpreted when determining strategy and policy.
Final Thoughts
Regarding the report, I think that it is a very well-written critique of the Government of Alberta’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is not a final conclusive report. This is a good start to opening the door for some important deep governmental discussions that need to happen, including diving deeper into the harms caused by the COVID-19 modRNA vaccines, like the DNA contamination and the presence of the SV40 promoter-enhancer nuclear localization sequences, the vast number of vaccine-injured people, and the increased risk of turbo cancer. While I am disappointed that the Government of Alberta, namely Premier Smith, tried to bury this report by sitting on it for six months and quietly releasing the report without a proper press conference on the week of the USA inauguration I am relieved to see that the report was finally made public. The government’s attempt to bury the report shows that this is indeed a damning report and the government’s response could have been much better. However, I hope that this report will bring about government transparency and begin that well-needed conversation so that our society can indeed heal.
Healing Humanity is the theme of the next An Injection of Truth happening on March 3, 2025 in Calgary, Alberta. During the event I will be sharing on the numerous ways the COVID-19 vaccines can potentially cause harm and what can be done to heal from those harms. I will share the stage with several other prominent scientists.
Dr. Byram Bridle who has also shared his insights on The Davidson Report and will be “exposing lies from public health agencies that contributed to a myriad of problems within the pandemic response.”
Dr. Gary Davidson will be presenting on the contents the report by the Alberta COVID-19 Pandemic Data Review Task Force.
Dr. Denis Rancourt will provide a deep dive into the all-cause mortality.
Dr. David Martin will definitely be a presenter that no one will want to miss.
In closing, I encourage everyone to read through The Davidson Report and post your thoughts on the report in the comments section. What did you like or disagree with? What would you like to see different next time? I would be happy to take your comments to Calgary in March 2025. I also hope that this will be one of many governmental task forces that take a deep dive into the governmental response to the pandemic. We desperately need one for each province and at the federal level.
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