Alberta
“Butt out, Creeps”: ALERT issues sextortion warning

From ALERT (Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team)
While the number of sextortion cases remains high for ALERT’s Internet Child Exploitation team, the province-wide unit is launching a multi-media awareness campaign that says “butt out, creeps”.
“Butt out, creeps” is campaign to raise awareness and help youth get smart about sextortion. ALERT worked with DDB Canada to research and develop the campaign, which officially launched on social media channels earlier this month and has already generated over one million impressions.
The ads, featuring dancing eggplant and peach emoji characters, are running on Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, online gaming platforms and can also be found on the web at buttoutcreeps.ca. The singing eggplant tells kids, “don’t be a wang, don’t be a boob, sending nude pics to strangers makes you look like a newb”. Meanwhile the peach character sings, “if someone you know asks you for a nude, tell someone you trust, then ghost that weird dude”.
“Sextortion cases are completely debilitating for youth and have become all too frequent – and it is happening inside our homes. We are hoping this campaign allows us to connect with youth online, and provide education and supporting resources in a manner that is accessible and noteworthy,” said Supt. Marc Cochlin, ALERT CEO.
The ads are aimed towards connecting with youth between 10 and 17 years of age, who ICE has found to be the primary target of sextortion cases.
Sextortion is where children, specifically boys, are being coerced into sending explicit images online and are then extorted for money, e-transfers, or gift cards. Predators often pose as girls of a similar age and use fake accounts to target youth. Investigating sextortion is challenging as the suspects are believed to be operating overseas, much the same manner as more traditional phone scammers.
The campaign’s primary message is to dissuade youth from sharing nudes online, but to “get smart about sextortion” by following a link to our website with resources and tips.
Last year, ICE received nearly 3,000 case referrals. Record numbers for Alberta as online child sexual exploitation offences have increased by more than 185% in the past five years.
While the ads are designed to connect more with youth, parents also play an important role in prevention. Studies show that 1 in 3 victims of sextortion never told anyone, largely due to embarrassment or shame. Resources for parents are also posted online at buttoutcreeps.ca.
About DDB Canada
DDB Canada is part of DDB Worldwide, one of the world’s largest and most influential advertising and marketing networks. Known for advertising that generates significant results for clients, DDB Canada’s fundamental belief is that creativity is the most powerful force in business. Founded in 1949, DDB is part of the Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC).
About ALERT
ALERT was established and is funded by the Alberta Government and is a compilation of the province’s most sophisticated law enforcement resources committed to tackling serious and organized crime. Integrated ICE teams investigate offences related to the exploitation of children over the Internet.
Alberta
Low oil prices could have big consequences for Alberta’s finances

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.
Alberta
Governments in Alberta should spur homebuilding amid population explosion

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 Calgary, Edmonton 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.
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