Flames and Oilers Battle of Alberta brings in a Million dollars for the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre

News Release from the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre

Records Broken for the CACAC Battle of Alberta

The Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre held their signature event: The Battle of Alberta for the second time this past Tuesday and Wednesday after being postponed for a year, grossing over $1M!

The CACAC Battle of Alberta Charity Golf Tournament is a two-day event presented by the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames. The two notorious rivals come together with one goal in mind – helping our children by bringing together both alumni and current players to battle it out on the green!

“The past 18 months have been extremely challenging and have certainly brought Mental Health even more to the forefront than it had already become before COVID. The fact that the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre is in the Mental Health sector it is fitting that we are having one of the first events post COVID.” – Terry Loewen, Board Chair, CACAC

The first night of the BOA includes a celebrity auction hosted at the Cambridge Hotel & Conference Centre, and this year records broke with highest bid for the top two players: Kelly Buchberger and Theoren Fleury. Twenty-eight other Oilers & Flames joined in to cap-off the 30 team roster, including: Lanny MacDonald, Louie Debrusk, Kris Russell, Glenn Anderson, and Mike Vernon. The Luau-themed event also included exclusive hot-stoves with Brian Burke, and was co-hosted by Danny Hooper and Ron Maclean.

“The Calgary Flames and the Calgary Flames Alumni are always so grateful for the support we receive from our fans in Central Alberta. We consider Red Deer our home that we happily share with our rivals in Edmonton during this important fundraising event in support of the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre. Congratulations to Terry Loewen and his hard-working committee on another extremely successful Battle of Alberta Golf Tournament. And a special thank you to Flames alumnus Sheldon Kennedy for his leadership in changing the way Alberta responds to child abuse. This new facility in Red Deer will ensure every child’s needs are met, and they are supported in the most child-friendly way.”

– Rollie Cyr, Executive Vice-President, Calgary Flames

The golf tournament was hosted at the beautiful Red Deer Golf and Country Club, where the 30 teams teed off with their celebrity players and caddies. Every hole was sponsored by local community organizations and included activities, draws, food and beverages, along with stories of the old days by alumnus and talks about the upcoming season with the current players.

“It was truly incredible to see the community come together for the Battle of Alberta Golf Tournament in support of the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Center (CACAC) in Red Deer. What the CACAC is doing to help children and families in central Alberta is remarkable, and they’re making a difference for so many children in need of support. The entire Oilers Entertainment Group and Oilers Alumni are proud to support central Alberta and the CACAC, and you can bet we’re already looking forward to the tournament in 2023.” –Bob Nicholson, Chairman, Edmonton Oilers

The event concluded with the After Party back at the Cambridge where another two hot-stoves took place, along with a record-shattering live auction and newly added virtual silent auction.

“To say we’re blown away by the generosity and support at the child advocacy centre is an understatement. As an organization, we could not have had three better events over the two days to celebrate the work we do for children. At the end of the day, we’re trying to make a difference for children and families in Central Alberta. What we witnessed at this event is what happens when a whole group of difference makers come together for the good of a community. A heartfelt thanks to the many people who helped make the Battle of Alberta tournament a success.”

– Mark Jones, CEO, CACAC

Another new stand out addition to the Battle of Alberta was the donation of two custom trucks to the Live Auction! A fully custom, one-of-a-kind Calgary Flames truck and Edmonton Oilers truck, both valued over $90,000 were given to the CACAC to auction off.

Dan Wiebe of Integrity Group of Companies heard about the work that the CACAC was doing and wanted to be involved. Dan enlisted the help of friend Brad Rempel of Alberta Boys Custom to customize an Edmonton Oilers truck specially for the BOA Live Auction!

After the donation of the Oilers truck, a few of our supporters wanted to ensure the “C of Red” was represented! Together, Rob McWilliams of McWilliam Auto Appraisals, Garrett Scott of Kipp Scott GMC, TNT Customs, and Dave Appleby of Vibe Audio came together to create their very own exclusive Calgary Flames Truck for the 2021 Battle of Alberta Live Auction. Both trucks were auctioned off Wednesday night with 100% of the proceeds going to the CACAC.

The CACAC is overwhelmed with the success of the event – and the support of the community. Final numbers are still coming in with net proceeds to be calculated in the coming weeks, but the CACAC is proud to say that over $1,000,000 gross was raised in two nights with a small but mighty group of people. Not only was money raised for the CACAC, going towards specific projects like the upcoming building project, but awareness was raised; conversations were had, and everyone stood up to be a voice for the children in our community who need it most.

The CACAC would like to thank every single donor, participant and volunteer who had a part in the 2021 Battle of Alberta.

“I want to thank all of you for your participation and sponsorships. I’m not sure if people fully realize the magnitude of their impact; the lives they change or lives they have saved by supporting this organization! You are all champions of the CACAC – thank you! – Terry Loewen, Board Chair, CACAC

The CACAC would like to recognize the following donors with special thanks to the committee and volunteers (Listed in randomized order):

Presenting, Major & Event Sponsors:

Sponsors:

HPC High Performance Coatings, Flo-Pro Performance Exhaust, Waschuk Pipeline, MNP, GSC Energy Services, Electric Horsepower, Scotia Wealth Management: Keylock Group, Gallagher Insurance, White Swan Environmental Ltd., ATB, Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation, Scotia Wealth Management: Calgary, Marshall Construction Company, Cody Snyder Bullbustin’, Earth Smart, Precede Occupational Health Services, Q2 ALS, Blackfalds Bulldogs, Red Deer Motors, Phone Experts, Jedco, Glover Trucks, The Liquor Hutch, Fourlane Ford, Ing + McKee Insurance, Bill Hull, Canadian Western Bank, Rogers Insurance, Cilantro & Chive, Tiffany’s Steakhouse, Shek Crane, Mal’s Diner, Chiefs, Molson Beer, Earls, Bo’s Bar and Grill, Culligan Water, Red Deer Golf & Country Club, Cooperators, Deerfoot Inn & Casino, TRC Auctions, Riverview Insurance, Abbey Platinum Master Built, Four Star Drywall, Pivotal LLP, Care Industries, Servus Credit Union, ViTreo, Melcor, Tar-ific Construction, Red Deer Discount Golf, The Coverall Shop, P.J.M. Home Advantage, Alberta Parking Lot Services, Adrenaline Exotics, General Appliances, Parkland Funeral Homes ,BJ Bobcat Trucking Ltd., Aesthetic Solutions, Apollo Landscaping Compass Geomatics, Big 105 & Rewind Radio, Gasoline Alley Harley-Davidson, Al Sim Remax, League Projects, The Zukiwsky Group, True Spirits Mobile Bar, Ten02, Willson Audio Visual, Ash Maclean Photography, Danny Hooper Productions, Prospector Visual, Haywork Secure Driving Services/Douglas Workman, Central Alberta Tile One, Duane Sokalski, Theoren Fleury, Grant Fuhr, Reid & Wright Advertising, Andrew Hutchins, Calgary Flames Foundation, Toast of the Town, Todayville, Trevor Roszell, Nucleus Energy Services, John Macphail, Kelly Hallgren, Laebon Homes, Johnston Ming Manning, Printing Place, Red Deer Rebels, Safari Spa & Salon, Flames TV, Oilers TV, SN960, OilersNOW, Rivertown, Chainsaw Spirit plus our incredible Silent Auction sponsors (check them out here!)

Please visit centralalbertacac.ca to learn more about the community support services the CACAC offers. Collectively, we can end child abuse.

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Alberta takes big step towards shorter wait times and higher quality health care

Published on April 9, 2025

Todayville Content Team

From the Fraser Institute

By Nadeem Esmail

On Monday, the Smith government announced that beginning next year it will change the way it funds surgeries in Alberta. This is a big step towards unlocking the ability of Alberta’s health-care system to provide more, better and faster services for the same or possibly fewer dollars.

To understand the significance of this change, you must understand the consequences of the current (and outdated) approach.

Currently, the Alberta government pays a lump sum of money to hospitals each year. Consequently, hospitals perceive patients as a drain on their budgets. From the hospital’s perspective, there’s little financial incentive to serve more patients, operate more efficiently and provide superior quality services.

Consider what would happen if your local grocery store received a giant bag of money each year to feed people. The number of items would quickly decline to whatever was most convenient for the store to provide. (Have a favourite cereal? Too bad.) Store hours would become less convenient for customers, alongside a general decline in overall service. This type of grocery store, like an Alberta hospital, is actually financially better off (that is, it saves money) if you go elsewhere.

The Smith government plans to flip this entire system on its head, to the benefit of patients and taxpayers. Instead of handing out bags of money each year to providers, the new system—known as “activity-based funding”—will pay health-care providers for each patient they treat, based on the patient’s particular condition and important factors that may add complexity or cost to their care.

This turns patients from a drain on budgets into a source of additional revenue. The result, as has been demonstrated in other universal health-care systems worldwide, is more services delivered using existing health-care infrastructure, lower wait times, improved quality of care, improved access to medical technologies, and less waste.

In other words, Albertans will receive far better value from their health-care system, which is currently among the most expensive in the world. And relief can’t come soon enough—for example, last year in Alberta the median wait time for orthopedic surgeries including hip and knee replacements was 66.8 weeks.

The naysayers argue this approach will undermine the province’s universal system and hurt patients. But by allowing a spectrum of providers to compete for the delivery of quality care, Alberta will follow the lead of other more successful universal health-care systems in countries such as Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland and create greater accountability for hospitals and other health-care providers. Taxpayers will get a much better picture of what they’re paying for and how much they pay.

Again, Alberta is not exploring an untested policy. Almost every other developed country with universal health care uses some form of “activity-based funding” for hospital and surgical care. And remember, we already spend more on health care than our counterparts in nearly all of these countries yet endure longer wait times and poorer access to services generally, in part because of how we pay for surgical care.

While the devil is always in the details, and while it’s still possible for the Alberta government to get this wrong, Monday’s announcement is a big step in the right direction. A funding model that puts patients first will get Albertans more of the high-quality health care they already pay for in a timelier fashion. And provide to other provinces an example of bold health-care reform.

Nadeem Esmail

Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute

Alberta

Alberta’s embrace of activity-based funding is great news for patients

Published on April 9, 2025

Todayville

From the Montreal Economic Institute

Alberta’s move to fund acute care services through activity-based funding follows best practices internationally, points out an MEI researcher following an announcement made by Premier Danielle Smith earlier today.

“For too long, the way hospitals were funded in Alberta incentivized treating fewer patients, contributing to our long wait times,” explains Krystle Wittevrongel, director of research at the MEI. “International experience has shown that, with the proper funding models in place, health systems become more efficient to the benefit of patients.”

Currently, Alberta’s hospitals are financed under a system called “global budgeting.” This involves allocating a pre-set amount of funding to pay for a specific number of services based on previous years’ budgets.

Under the government’s newly proposed funding system, hospitals receive a fixed payment for each treatment delivered.

An Economic Note published by the MEI last year showed that Quebec’s gradual adoption of activity-based funding led to higher productivity and lower costs in the province’s health system.

Notably, the province observed that the per-procedure cost of MRIs fell by four per cent as the number of procedures performed increased by 22 per cent.

In the radiology and oncology sector, it observed productivity increases of 26 per cent while procedure costs decreased by seven per cent.

“Being able to perform more surgeries, at lower costs, and within shorter timelines is exactly what Alberta’s patients need, and Premier Smith understands that,” continued Mrs. Wittevrongel. “Today’s announcement is a good first step, and we look forward to seeing a successful roll-out once appropriate funding levels per procedure are set.”

The governments expects to roll-out this new funding model for select procedures starting in 2026.

* * *

The MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, and Calgary. Through its publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policymakers, the MEI stimulates public policy debate and reforms based on sound economics and entrepreneurship.