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Alberta

Stanley Cup winnners Huddy and Hunter headline 2023 Hockey Alberta Hall of Fame Inductees

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From Alberta Hockey

ALBERTA HOCKEY HALL OF FAME CALLS THE CLASS OF 2023

Six individuals and 10 teams will enter the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame in 2023.

Six individuals and the teams comprising a “decade of excellence” in women’s hockey are being called to the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame (AHHF) as the Class of 2023.

This year’s class includes:

  • CHARLIE HUDDY – one of seven Edmonton Oilers who was a member of all five of the franchise’s Stanley Cup winning teams (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990), and the NHL’s first recipient of the Plus/Minor Award in 1983. He played for 11 seasons and then served as an assistant coach for 23 years in the NHL.
  • TIM HUNTER – with more than four decades spent in the NHL and WHL as a player and coach, he helped bring a new focus to smart technology to the sport. In 1989, he lifted the Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames in 1989 and continues his engagement in the community as an active alumnus.
  • EARL INGARFIELD SR. – played in the NHL for 13 seasons, he was the first player selected in the Pittsburgh Penguins expansion draft. In retirement, Earl scouted and coached with the New York Islanders.
  • KAREN KOST – spent 34 years as an official and leader in training and mentoring officials across Alberta and Canada. Karen worked almost every level of hockey nationally and internationally.
  • BOBBY OLYNYK – a dedicated volunteer in the game for nearly 60 years. He is well known for his role as a builder and leader of what is now known as the Alberta Elite Hockey League U18 AAA division.
  • JOHN UTENDALE – the first Black hockey player to sign an NHL contract. While he never played in the NHL, John is considered a trailblazer in the game in Canada and United States. He was the first Black member of the U.S. men’s coaching staff as a member of the “Miracle on Ice” Olympic champions in 1980.
  • EDMONTON CHIMOS: “A DECADE OF EXCELLENCE” – the longest running Senior Women’s AAA hockey program in Alberta, the organization’s 1983-1993 era captured every Hockey Alberta Provincial Championship (Senior A, Female AA, Female AAA) and  three Abby Hoffman Cup National Women’s championships (1984, 1985, 1992).

The Class of 2023 was selected based on their outstanding achievements, dedication and commitment to building hockey in Alberta in all aspects of the game.

“Once again, we have the opportunity to celebrate the rich hockey history in this great province,” said Al Coates, Chairmen of the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame Committee. “It’s another outstanding class of inductees with an extensive list of achievements that reflect in the game today.”

The honoured inductees will be welcomed into the hall on Sunday, July 16 at the AHHF Induction Gala at the Coast Hotel in Canmore. Tickets for the AHHF Induction Gala are available to purchase on ahhf.ca.

Full biographies for the Class of 2023 can be found on the AHHF website.

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Alberta

Low oil prices could have big consequences for Alberta’s finances

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From the Fraser Institute

By Tegan Hill

Amid the tariff war, the price of West Texas Intermediate oil—a common benchmark—recently dropped below US$60 per barrel. Given every $1 drop in oil prices is an estimated $750 million hit to provincial revenues, if oil prices remain low for long, there could be big implications for Alberta’s budget.

The Smith government already projects a $5.2 billion budget deficit in 2025/26 with continued deficits over the following two years. This year’s deficit is based on oil prices averaging US$68.00 per barrel. While the budget does include a $4 billion “contingency” for unforeseen events, given the economic and fiscal impact of Trump’s tariffs, it could quickly be eaten up.

Budget deficits come with costs for Albertans, who will already pay a projected $600 each in provincial government debt interest in 2025/26. That’s money that could have gone towards health care and education, or even tax relief.

Unfortunately, this is all part of the resource revenue rollercoaster that’s are all too familiar to Albertans.

Resource revenue (including oil and gas royalties) is inherently volatile. In the last 10 years alone, it has been as high as $25.2 billion in 2022/23 and as low as $2.8 billion in 2015/16. The provincial government typically enjoys budget surpluses—and increases government spending—when oil prices and resource revenue is relatively high, but is thrown into deficits when resource revenues inevitably fall.

Fortunately, the Smith government can mitigate this volatility.

The key is limiting the level of resource revenue included in the budget to a set stable amount. Any resource revenue above that stable amount is automatically saved in a rainy-day fund to be withdrawn to maintain that stable amount in the budget during years of relatively low resource revenue. The logic is simple: save during the good times so you can weather the storm during bad times.

Indeed, if the Smith government had created a rainy-day account in 2023, for example, it could have already built up a sizeable fund to help stabilize the budget when resource revenue declines. While the Smith government has deposited some money in the Heritage Fund in recent years, it has not created a dedicated rainy-day account or introduced a similar mechanism to help stabilize provincial finances.

Limiting the amount of resource revenue in the budget, particularly during times of relatively high resource revenue, also tempers demand for higher spending, which is only fiscally sustainable with permanently high resource revenues. In other words, if the government creates a rainy-day account, spending would become more closely align with stable ongoing levels of revenue.

And it’s not too late. To end the boom-bust cycle and finally help stabilize provincial finances, the Smith government should create a rainy-day account.

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Alberta

Governments in Alberta should spur homebuilding amid population explosion

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From the Fraser Institute

By Tegan Hill and Austin Thompson

In 2024, construction started on 47,827 housing units—the most since 48,336 units in 2007 when population growth was less than half of what it was in 2024.

Alberta has long been viewed as an oasis in Canada’s overheated housing market—a refuge for Canadians priced out of high-cost centres such as Vancouver and Toronto. But the oasis is starting to dry up. House prices and rents in the province have spiked by about one-third since the start of the pandemic. According to a recent Maru poll, more than 70 per cent of Calgarians and Edmontonians doubt they will ever be able to afford a home in their city. Which raises the question: how much longer can this go on?

Alberta’s housing affordability problem reflects a simple reality—not enough homes have been built to accommodate the province’s growing population. The result? More Albertans competing for the same homes and rental units, pushing prices higher.

Population growth has always been volatile in Alberta, but the recent surge, fuelled by record levels of immigration, is unprecedented. Alberta has set new population growth records every year since 2022, culminating in the largest-ever increase of 186,704 new residents in 2024—nearly 70 per cent more than the largest pre-pandemic increase in 2013.

Homebuilding has increased, but not enough to keep pace with the rise in population. In 2024, construction started on 47,827 housing units—the most since 48,336 units in 2007 when population growth was less than half of what it was in 2024.

Moreover, from 1972 to 2019, Alberta added 2.1 new residents (on average) for every housing unit started compared to 3.9 new residents for every housing unit started in 2024. Put differently, today nearly twice as many new residents are potentially competing for each new home compared to historical norms.

While Alberta attracts more Canadians from other provinces than any other province, federal immigration and residency policies drive Alberta’s population growth. So while the provincial government has little control over its population growth, provincial and municipal governments can affect the pace of homebuilding.

For example, recent provincial amendments to the city charters in Calgary and Edmonton have helped standardize building codes, which should minimize cost and complexity for builders who operate across different jurisdictions. Municipal zoning reforms in CalgaryEdmonton and Red Deer have made it easier to build higher-density housing, and Lethbridge and Medicine Hat may soon follow suit. These changes should make it easier and faster to build homes, helping Alberta maintain some of the least restrictive building rules and quickest approval timelines in Canada.

There is, however, room for improvement. Policymakers at both the provincial and municipal level should streamline rules for building, reduce regulatory uncertainty and development costs, and shorten timelines for permit approvals. Calgary, for instance, imposes fees on developers to fund a wide array of public infrastructure—including roads, sewers, libraries, even buses—while Edmonton currently only imposes fees to fund the construction of new firehalls.

It’s difficult to say how long Alberta’s housing affordability woes will endure, but the situation is unlikely to improve unless homebuilding increases, spurred by government policies that facilitate more development.

Tegan Hill

Director, Alberta Policy, Fraser Institute

Austin Thompson

Senior Policy Analyst, Fraser Institute
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