Alberta
Update 3: Charges laid against 4 people – Drayton Valley RCMP on scene at firearms incident
UPDATE #3
July 30, 2020
Drayton Valley RCMP on scene at firearms incident – charges laid
Moon Lake, Alta – Following an incident on July 28 that saw a pursuit, a vehicle fire, and the deployment of the RCMP Emergency Response Team, charges have been laid against four accused subjects.
At 8:32 a.m., Drayton Valley RCMP were dispatched to a home invasion which had just occurred. The suspects fled the house prior to police arrival.
The suspect vehicle was initially spotted on Highway 759 by an Alberta Sheriff, but an attempt to stop it was not successful. The vehicle continued to flee. The vehicle was spotted by a homeowner on Range Road 72 near Highway 624. The vehicle fled that property and was located by members in a field off of Range Road 73 near Moon Lake Hall. The RCMP set up containment when the vehicle was spotted on a field. The vehicle caught fire in the field, and the attending RCMP members contained the area.
Neighbouring detachments of Evansburg, Mayerthorpe and Parkland all provided assistance with the containment. Supporting units, including Police Dog Services, Emergency Response Team and Air Services were all engaged.
Two males were located initially at a residence near Highway 22. The other two subjects were located as a result of a tip from the member of the public.
Three of the accused were treated and released at a local hospital as a result of injuries believed to have been sustained by jumping from the moving vehicle. No one else was injured during these incidents.
Shawn Victor Fleming (30), Stuart Kevin McMillan (19) and Dylan Alexander Andres (21) all of Edmonton are jointly facing numerous criminal code charges including; break and enter to a dwelling house, using a firearm while committing an indictable offence, possession of a prohibited weapon, et al.
Judicial Interim Hearings were held and all three accused remain in custody to attend court on August 4 in Drayton Valley.
A 38-year-old female from Edmonton is also facing charges which have not been sworn in court yet.
Information received led investigators to a location where two firearms were recovered.
The public assistance received by the RCMP was very appreciated throughout this incident.
Background
UPDATE #2
July 28, 2020
Drayton Valley RCMP on scene at firearms incident – All suspects in custody
Moon Lake, Alta. – Thanks to a public tip, the male and female suspects have been arrested without incident, with the assistance of the Emergency Response Team.
Residents in the area are free to leave their homes, and the public is thanked for their assistance during this unfolding incident.
The investigation remains ongoing. A further update by the RCMP is not anticipated until tomorrow morning. This allows the RCMP an opportunity to conduct their investigation which includes determining the nature of the incident and gathering facts.
UPDATE #1
July 28, 2020
Drayton Valley RCMP on scene at firearms incident – Two in custody
Moon Lake, Alta – Two males have been taken into custody by the RCMP and two suspects remain at large in the Moon Lake Hall area.
Following a home invasion resulting in a stolen vehicle, reported at 8:32 this morning, the RCMP continue to search for a male and a female suspect. They are believed to be armed and should be considered dangerous.
The RCMP Emergency Response Team has been deployed to assist in their capture.
Further updates will be provided when available
Background – Drayton Valley RCMP on scene at firearms incident
Moon Lake, Alta. – The Drayton Valley RCMP currently have a field contained in the Moon Lake Hall area, north of Drayton Valley, near Township Road 520 and Highway 22. All area residents are asked to remain in their homes and shelter in place.
An unfolding incident involving firearms is actively occurring. The police have suspects contained in an area. This is a dynamic situation and an update will be provided when available.
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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