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Alberta

Frustrated Red Deer Business Owner asks Provincial Justice Minister to enforce strict minimum jail sentences for repeat offenders

Published

5 years ago

4 minute read

You may have already seen this letter.   It was shared on a community facebook page last weekend and has since been shared dozens of times, collecting hundreds of reactions.    Certainly some disagree with the math presented by the business owner.  Others argue the numbers do not go far enough to consider costs of providing health care, and other services.  

Regardless,  this has the community talking and it underlines the frustration of struggling home owners, and business owners who feel politicians are not moving quick enough to deal with issues related to crime and public safety. The letter has been sent to Alberta Justice Minister and Solicitor General Doug Schweitzer.  We’ve asked the author of the letter to keep us informed on any reaction.  

Printed with the permission of the author.

Like many people in Alberta and Canada I have been a victim of crime, in 2018 I had over $140,000.00 stolen and 2 vehicles damaged (1 destroyed) in 4 separate thefts (of these events insurance would only cover $40,000.00) this had created an extreme hardship on my mental and physical well being as well as the well being of my family. Forcing us to make less than $18,000.00 last year. But not qualifying for supplemented income as I am self employed, however the criminals that are caught in a stolen vehicle with drugs and firearms are free to collect government aid and continue stealing from us!

Since the last major theft on Remembrance Day 2018, I had security cameras installed and I actively monitor these cameras every night, this has led to me contacting the police and personally intervening in the attempted theft of my neighbour’s and my property over 200 times. This is absolutely unacceptable, I have been told by the R.C.M.P to move, buy a different vehicle, and there’s nothing they can do even while handing over hard evidence of parole papers and a criminal’s photograph of him in my vehicle!

These criminals are armed with knives (from lock back to kitchen), machetes, pipe wrenches, firearms, baseball bat’s, needles, and anything else they can find to make a weapon.

Our Laws need to change now!

We could cut major crimes down within 3 months implementing a strict minimum sentence for all repeat offenders, 5 yrs minimum for any drug conviction with intent to sell or crime over $5k, 10 yrs for any assault during the commission of a crime or evading police, and 20 yrs for any major crime committed while in possession of a firearm or weapon.

The first thing our government needs to understand is it only costs $150/day for an inmate, these criminals on average are stealing $1000 a day.
Also the majority of these criminals are on supplemented income and free benefits costing tax payers another $30,000.00/yr (in other words the government is paying these criminals to steal from us).

So if we say 100 criminals are stealing $356,000/yr each for a total of $35,600,000/yr and are drawing an additional $3,000,000.00 in tax funded services.

The cost of these 100 criminals to citizens is $38,600,000.00/yr

If we were to incarcerate these same criminals our cost would be $5,340,000.00/yr this would leave us ample room to implement rehabilitation services in prison, as well create many more jobs in the prison, construction, and health sectors, also freeing up our health services in each municipality to aid those in need instead of hundreds of junkies and criminals!

Sincerely,

(author does not wish to be identified)

(Stats for incarceration figures from: https://edmontonjournal.com/…/70-per-cent-of-prisoners-in-a…)

(Average theft costs based on Red Deer crime watch stats compiled over 1 year.)

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Former Chief Judge of Manitoba Proincial Court will lead AHS third-party investigation into AHS procurement process

Published on March 3, 2025

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Deputy Minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade Christopher McPherson has issued the following statement on an independent third-party investigation into procurement and contracting processes used by the Government of Alberta and Alberta Health Services (AHS):

Deputy Minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade Christopher McPherson has issued the following statement on an independent third-party investigation into procurement and contracting processes used by the Government of Alberta and Alberta Health Services (AHS):

“While serving as Acting Deputy Minister of Executive Council, Premier Danielle Smith asked me to establish a credible, independent, third-party investigation into the procurement processes used by the Government of Alberta and AHS and their outcomes.

“I have informed Premier Smith that the Honourable Raymond E. Wyant, former Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of Manitoba, will lead this investigation. I asked Premier Smith to issue a ministerial order to facilitate his work and she has done so. Judge Wyant’s work on this matter begins immediately.

“Judge Wyant was appointed to the Manitoba bench in 1998 before becoming Chief Judge in 2002. Prior to his service on the bench, Judge Wyant worked as a criminal defence lawyer and Crown attorney and was acting deputy director of Manitoba prosecutions at the time of his appointment to the Bench. He has also taught law for many years at Robson Hall at the University of Manitoba.

“Judge Wyant will review the relevant legislation, regulations and policies related to procurement typically used by Government of Alberta departments and agencies, specifically AHS, and their application to the procurement of pharmaceuticals and to services offered by chartered surgical facilities. Questions that Judge Wyant will consider are outlined in the attached terms of reference, and include whether or not any elected official, Government of Alberta or AHS employee, or other individuals, acted improperly during the procurement processes. Judge Wyant will make recommendations to the government for improvement or further action as appropriate.

“Appointed under the Government Organization Act, Judge Wyant will operate independently of government. The Government of Alberta will provide Judge Wyant with access to all relevant documents held by its departments and AHS, as well as facilitate interviews with relevant individuals.

“Judge Wyant has been given a budget of $500,000 to undertake this important work, including to retain legal and audit assistance at his discretion. He is being paid $31,900 per month, which is the same remuneration rate as the Chief Justice of the Alberta Court of Justice.

“To ensure additional independence, Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction will hold the budget for this third-party investigation.

“Judge Wyant will deliver an interim written report by May 30, 2025. A final written report and recommendations will be delivered by June 30, 2025, and it will be posted on alberta.ca.”

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Alberta

Alberta Income Tax cut is great but balanced budgets are needed

Published on February 28, 2025

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By Kris Sims 

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is applauding the Alberta government for giving Albertans a huge income tax cut in Budget 2025, but is strongly warning against its dive into debt by running a deficit.

“Premier Danielle Smith keeping her promise to cut Alberta’s income tax is great news, because it means huge savings for most working families,” said Kris Sims, CTF Alberta Director. “Families are fighting to afford basics right now, and if they can save more than $1,500 per year thanks to this big tax cut, that would cover a month’s rent or more than a month’s worth of groceries.”

Finance Minister Nate Horner announced, effective this fiscal year, Alberta will drop its lowest income tax rate to eight per cent, down from 10 per cent, for the first $60,000 of earnings.

The government estimates this income tax cut will save the average Alberta worker about $750 per year, or more than $1,500 per year for a two-person working family.

Albertans earning less than $60,000 a year will see a 20 per cent reduction to their annual provincial income tax bill.

The budget also contained some bad news.

The province is running a $5.2 billion deficit in 2025-26 and the government is planning to keep running deficits for two more years.

Total spending has gone up from $73.1 billion from last budget to $79.3 billion this year, an increase of 8.4 per cent.

“If the government had frozen spending at last year’s budget level, the province could have a $1 billion surplus and still cut the income tax,” said Sims. “The debt is going up over the next few years, but we caught a lucky break with interest rates dropping this past year, so we aren’t paying as much in interest payments on the debt.”

The province’s debt is now estimated to be $82.8 billion for 2025-26.

Interest payments on the provincial debt are costing taxpayers about $2.9 billion, about a 12 per cent decrease from last year.

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