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‘It could have been deadly’: Truckers end blockade at Alberta border crossing

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COUTTS, Alta. — A blockade that paralyzed a United States border crossing for more than two weeks ended Tuesday as trucks and other vehicles with horns blaring rolled away from a southern Alberta community.

Protesters had been restricting access to the busy crossing near Coutts since Jan. 29 to rally against COVID-19 vaccine mandates for truckers and broader pandemic health restrictions.

Canada Border Services Agency said operations had resumed at the crossing and RCMP confirmed later Tuesday that traffic was moving smoothly.

The exodus of vehicles came one day after RCMP arrested 13 people and seized a cache of firearms and ammunition.

Charges laid include possession of weapons and mischief to property.

Four people also face a charge of conspiracy to murder RCMP members, said Chief Supt. Trevor Daroux. He said police worked closely with the Crown to ensure they had the necessary evidence to lay those charges.

Some of the accused were granted release in a Lethbridge, Alta., courtroom on Tuesday. A judge also ordered that they can’t contact one another or be within a 200-metre radius of any protest.

Mounties said an early-morning raid Monday uncovered 13 long guns, handguns, a machete, a large quantity of ammunition and body armour. Two additional weapons were seized later in the day.

RCMP also said a semi-truck and farm tractor had attempted to ram a police cruiser on Sunday.

“The dangerous criminal activity occurring away from the TV cameras and social media posts was real and organized,” said Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki on Tuesday evening.

“It could have been deadly for citizens, protesters and officers.”

Daroux said the RCMP became aware of the heavily armed group a few days after the protest began. He said investigations are ongoing into this group and other events that took place during the blockade.

“Alberta RCMP will remain in the area until we are confident that the situation is safe and stabilized for all who travel through here,” he said.

Protesters are dissociating themselves from the group of people facing serious charges. Organizer Marco Van Huigenbos said that is why the convoy decided to leave peacefully.

He said he has no regrets about participating in the blockade.

“I think we’ve started a movement where people are going to get more involved … at the municipal level, provincial possibly, but also more involvement in politics in general.”

Two tactical vests seized by the RCMP had badges on them, which the Canadian Anti-Hate Network said have links to troubling movements.

One vest had a “Diagolon” patch on it, a white diagonal line across a black rectangle, that is linked to an often conspiratorial and antisemitic group, said Peter Smith from the network. He said the group often talks about a soon-approaching civil war.

“(Their) rhetoric is very violent,” said Smith. “One of the, kind of, common phrases used within the community is ‘A gun or rope?'”

The other patch said “Infidel” in both English and Arabic in yellow. Smith said the patch doesn’t indicate membership to a specific network but is known among Islamophobic militias and biker-style hate groups.

He said the biggest worry is having niche extremist networks that could work to inflame supporters linked to what was supposed to be a peaceful protest.

There was celebrating when the protest started winding down late Monday. A video posted to social media showed RCMP members shaking hands with and hugging protesters. People holding hats or hands to their chests or with arms draped across each other’s shoulders sang O Canada.

Cpl. Gina Slaney confirmed the scene was from Monday night in Coutts.Zablocki said RCMP is aware of the video.

“I will say, we do encourage our members to engage with the public and develop respectful, professional relationships with all Albertans,” said Zablocki. “We will be looking further into this matter.”

Jim Willett, mayor of the village of 250 people, said it had been a while since he had seen anything but semi-trailers on Highway 4.

“I can see all the way to Regina,” he said with a laugh.

Willett said he doesn’t blame the blockade leaders for the cache of weapons.

“They were a well-behaved bunch of people,” he said. “I think the organizers were taken aback as much as we were by what the RCMP discovered.”

The number of protesters at a police checkpoint, north of Coutts, had also dwindled and work was underway to start clearing away a first-aid trailer, a sauna and electric generators.

“Last night, emotions were high … I think a lot of people felt that we were giving up, but we’re not giving up,” said John Vanreeuwyk, a feedlot operator from Coaldale, Alta., also a protest organizer.

“Is it a victory? No. A victory means we’re done,” he said.

The blockade was one of several demonstrations in Canadian cities and border points that stalled trade, stranded travellers and disrupted lives of area residents, particularly in Ottawa.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has said $48 million in trade was lost each day that the Coutts border was closed.

— With files from Alanna Smith in Calgary

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2022.

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press

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Alberta

New red tape reporting website will help ramp up housing construction in Alberta

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Helping builders by putting an end to housing delays

Alberta’s new Stop Housing Delays online portal will allow developers, municipalities and other housing partners to report red tape and unnecessary home-building delays.

Alberta’s government is focused on ensuring Albertans have access to the housing they need, and that means working to streamline processes, cut red tape and reduce delays that are slowing housing construction down. As part of this work, government has launched a new online portal to help in these efforts.

The Stop Housing Delays online portal is now available for developers and municipal authorities to help identify areas that are preventing fast and efficient residential construction. This portal will help government identify and address barriers to building homes across the province.

“The Stop Housing Delays portal will allow Alberta’s government to hear directly from developers, municipalities and other partners on where delays are happening in the construction process. This will help identify and remove barriers, ultimately getting homes built faster and continuing Alberta’s record home-building pace.”

Jason Nixon, Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services

“Alberta’s government will continue to work with municipalities and find solutions to speed up the home-building process. The Stop Housing Delays portal will give us another tool to inform those discussions and identify areas where we can improve the pace of home building.”

Ric McIver, Minister of Municipal Affairs

Once developers, municipalities or industry partners have submitted their issue using the online form, government will collect and assess the information provided. Alberta’s government will be taking a collaborative, cross-ministry approach to ensure the appropriate departments are working together to find solutions where possible. Solutions may range from minor changes to policy reform.

Alberta’s government continues to support builders and encourage new residential housing construction by reducing red tape, incentivizing housing construction and supporting innovative strategies to build homes faster than ever.

“This webpage is an excellent opportunity to gather knowledge and further eliminate red tape. Government has been persistent in our approach of cutting red tape and removing roadblocks, and this will help to speed up residential construction. I look forward to hearing from developers and our other partners on how we can help get projects moving and Albertans in homes.”

Dale Nally, Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction

Alberta continues to see strong housing starts and increases while other provinces across Canada are seeing a reduction in housing starts. The first half of 2024 saw 9,903 apartment unit starts in the province. This marks the highest amount in any half year in Alberta’s history, breaking the previous record of 9,750 set in 1977. Albertans will benefit from 33,577 new housing starts from January through September 2024, up 35 per cent from the same period last year. Alberta’s government remains focused on working with industry and non-profit partners to ensure that the province’s growing population has access to the housing it needs.

“This portal is a valuable tool for industry to highlight gaps, barriers and delays that may need to be prioritized and addressed by either local or provincial governments. Real solutions can only emerge through transparency, open communication and collaboration. This is an important step toward identifying the unique challenges each region and municipality faces in delivering attainable housing.”

Scott Fash, chief executive officer, BILD Alberta Association

Quick Facts

  • Housing starts for January – September 2024 compared with January – September 2023
    • Provincewide: 33,577 compared with 24,904 (up 35 per cent)
    • Edmonton: 13,359 compared with 9,099 (up 47 per cent)
    • Calgary: 17,414 compared with 14,141 (up 23 per cent)
    • Lethbridge: 599 compared with 148 (up 305 per cent)
    • Red Deer: 314 compared with 146 (up 115 per cent)
  • Data shows Alberta had 10,699 purpose-built rentals, making up 32 per cent of all housing starts.
  • Since 2019, Alberta’s government has invested almost $850 million to build more than 5,100 units and close to 900 shelter spaces. This includes projects we have committed to, that are in progress and that are complete.
  • Together with its partners, Alberta’s government is supporting $9 billion in investments into affordable housing to support 25,000 additional low-income households by 2031.

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Alberta

Turning resources into new jobs and products

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(Left to right: Stéphane Germain, president of GHGSat; John Adams, president and CEO, NGIF Capital and NGIF Accelerator and managing partner of Cleantech Ventures; Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas; Scott Volk, director of emissions and innovation, Tourmaline Oil; Justin Riemer, CEO of Emissions Reduction Alberta)

New funding will advance technologies that turn Alberta’s natural resources, such as bitumen, into materials of the future.

Alberta is Canada’s third-largest producer of manufactured goods and materials and first in clean technology innovation. At the same time, manufacturing companies around the world are looking for ways to make products like concrete, plastics, food, wood, chemicals and machinery more efficient, more durable, easier to recycle and better for the environment.

Alberta’s government is investing $40 million from the industry-funded Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) program to advance technologies that will turn everyday items that would otherwise be wasted or dumped in landfills into modern, low-emission products. These technologies will help create jobs, reduce emissions and help Alberta’s manufacturing industry lead the world.

“We have the resources, expertise and entrepreneurs needed to create some of the most advanced materials in the world. This funding competition will help develop new and exciting technologies that reduce emissions, create jobs, reuse waste and keep growing our economy.”

Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas

Advanced materials are increasing in global demand. They are new or significantly improved materials that provide a distinct advantage in performance when compared to conventional materials. Advanced materials have already been used to create new construction materials, improved batteries and fuel cells and lighter, stronger aircrafts, bicycles and golf clubs, among other products.

Led by Emissions Reduction Alberta, Alberta’s new funding competition will support scale-up, pilot, and demonstration and first-of-kind commercial technologies that improve the extraction, production, manufacturing, and performance of new and existing materials and products in Alberta. It is open to a wide a range of applicants including researchers, businesses, municipalities and Indigenous communities.

“Enhancing existing products and developing new materials with superior performance while embracing circular economy strategies will help deliver deeper emissions reductions, enhance supply chain resiliency and strengthen industrial competitiveness. This funding, sourced from Alberta’s TIER regulation, is critical and the possibilities are endless.”

Justin Riemer, CEO, Emissions Reduction Alberta

The focus of this funding is to help create technologies that turn resources into modern, new products. This includes emerging technologies extracting high value metals like vanadium, titanium and lithium found within natural resources such as bitumen and creating novel, carbon-absorbing materials. These can then be used to improve everything from construction material and consumer electronics to aircrafts and hockey sticks.

“Emerging technology solutions, such as creating advanced carbon products from bitumen, are critical to lowering emissions and creating jobs in the province. Alberta Innovates is pleased to support this call and work closely with Emissions Reduction Alberta to realize a new future for Albertans.”

Dr. Michael Mahon, CEO, Alberta Innovates

“By transforming our abundant natural resources into advanced, low-carbon materials, we are not only driving emissions reductions but also creating valuable opportunities for industry growth and export potential. The Government of Alberta’s investment through Emissions Reduction Alberta’s Advanced Materials Challenge demonstrates a commitment to building a resilient economy that harnesses Alberta’s strengths in new and sustainable ways.”

Md Golam Kibria, co-founder and scientific director, CarboMat Inc.

Quick facts

  • Applications for the Advanced Materials Challenge close on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, at 5 PM MST.
  • Successful applicants are eligible for up to $5 million.
  • Applications are open to innovators, technology developers, commercial and industrial building owners, municipalities, Indigenous communities, small and medium-sized businesses, research and development organizations, universities, and not-for-profit organizations.
  • Applications are open to emerging technologies. While technology solutions can originate from anywhere globally, they must be piloted, demonstrated or deployed in Alberta.
  • The TIER system uses industry dollars to help Alberta facilities find innovative ways to reduce emissions and invest in clean technology to stay competitive and save money.
  • Full details on the Advanced Materials Challenge can be found on Emissions Reduction Alberta’s website.

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