News
Mayor Veer outlines the 6 themes of her election platform
From Tara Veer…
Platform 2017
Our community has made significant progress in many areas over the past four years, but we still but we still have serious challenges to address and emerging new opportunities to pursue together. If you choose to renew my mandate to serve you on October 16th, I will continue to work with our community, Council and City staff to effectively strengthen our city in the following themes throughout the term:
Theme #1: Citizen & Community Safety
Red Deerians have identified crime and public safety as their priority concern, so it is imperative that additional strategies are undertaken to ensure crime prevention and enforcement efforts are effective to respond to the safety challenges Red Deer is faced with. If re-elected as Mayor, Tara will continue to actively work to:
Ensure that local community policing priorities are established and enforced through the RCMP’s annual policing plan.
Strengthen the integration between municipal enforcement units and the RCMP to ensure common objectives, efficiency, and quality of service in all delegation of duties.
Prioritize reduction of organized crime, persons crime and property crime in the policing plan.
Identify consistent service standards for non-emergency calls to police.
Reduce the case load per officer and improve officers to population ratio by supporting the addition of new officers.
Reinforce enforcement allocations to foot patrols downtown and in the parks system.
Support the safety continuum from crime prevention through to emergency enforcement.
Increase citizen reporting to help inform crime analysis, intelligence-led policing and patrols.
Establish a strong local and regional regulatory response to the Federal Government’s legalization of marijuana.
Advocate for additional Crown Prosecutors to prevent criminal charges from being “stayed” because of capacity issues at the Red Deer Courthouse.
Hold the Provincial Government accountable for drug needle debris causing general community safety risks.
Theme #2: Fiscal Responsibility & Stronger Economy
Alberta’s recession has affected everyone in our community, and sound financial decision-making of City Council is essential to protect the stability of our local economy. If re-elected as Mayor, Tara will continue to actively work to:
Protect the affordability of living and/or doing business in Red Deer through responsible capital and operating budgets.
Preserve recently established financial strategies such as: the reduced debt ceiling, the capital savings plan, and competitive industrial and commercial tax ratios.
Ensure budget transparency through citizen input and by adopting operating budgets aligned to service standards.
Resolve the current price elasticity challenge to improve citizen access to City services such as recreation and transit.
Ensure City policy is business friendly and enhances our regional & provincial economic competitiveness.
Pending provincial legislative amendments, use new municipal tools to incentivize business attraction in areas of the City needing revitalization.
Position Red Deer for economic development & diversification by actively pursuing grants from other orders of Government, supporting the revitalization of existing community assets, and leveraging upcoming major events to maximize economic spin-off.
Solidify work underway with community partners to establish a strategic means of securing tourism and economic development opportunities for Red Deer.
Theme #3: Citizen-Focused Government & Service Improvements
The City’s daily purpose is to build quality of life for all Red Deerians. Citizen-focused local government & continuous improvement of City services for Red Deerians are strong priorities for Tara. If re-elected as Mayor, Tara will continue to actively work to:
Pursue the next phases of core public service improvements in areas such as (but not limited to): snow and ice control, transit route efficiency, and transportation integration and efficiency.
Proactively communicate to increase accessibility and transparency of local government.
Purposefully engage with citizens to ensure public feedback informs Council decision-making.
Modernize government services to make interactions with City government easier for citizens.
Support strong maintenance of existing City assets as an ongoing priority.
Build upon Council and City staff commitment to find operational efficiencies, innovations and savings that improve service to Red Deerians.
Theme #4: Protect Our Natural & Built Environment
Red Deerians are proud of the fact that we are a city in a park and that we accept responsibility for environmental stewardship. If re-elected as Mayor, Tara will continue to actively work to:
Support environmental modernizations and efficiencies throughout City operations.
Elevate Red Deer’s capacity to respond to extreme weather events by resolving the storm water infrastructure deficit.
Identify key areas for environmental protection before development conflicts occur.
Support the extension of the park system through trail development and winter clearing.
Emphasize food and water security in general and for citizen emergency preparedness for extreme weather events.
Theme #5: Build Community Life
The City’s primary mandate is to provide foundational services to our fellow Red Deerians, but the Mayor is also expected to build partnerships with and for our community in general. If re-elected as Mayor, Tara will continue to actively work to:
Build on our City’s prime geographic position by actively promoting Red Deer to fulfill our potential for business start ups, retention & expansion as well as trade & meeting, culture & heritage, and nature, sports & adventure tourism.
Work with indigenous community to implement municipal aspects of Truth and Reconciliation.
Work with community partners and the Provincial Government to mitigate the emerging risk to Red Deer’s net affordable housing stock and integrate related support services.
Theme #6: Advocate Our Community Needs
As Alberta’s 3rd largest City and region, Red Deer has critical infrastructure imperatives our community needs the Provincial Government to address. If re-elected as Mayor, Tara will continue to actively work to secure:
Expansion for Red Deer Regional Hospital
Polytechnic University status for Red Deer College
Addictions Treatment and Emergency Shelter capacity
Re-purposing of vacated Michener lands and the former Valley Park Manor
Protection of regional ambulance dispatch service and Advanced Life Support ground ambulance service.
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Racket News
It would be a crime to abandon investigations into Russiagate, both because it’s ongoing and because of the cost to those of us who were victims of it
We Russia hoax Remnants feel differently about President Donald Trump’s recent landslide victory, and our expectations are diverse. But we all, to some degree, have similar stories and hopes — not for retribution, as delicious as that may be, but for accountability and reform.
And Kash Patel, President Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is the man we need. Like the President elect, he has seen this abuse up close. They are uniquely qualified.
Make no mistake, when we all chose politics as a profession, we knew it was bloodsport. But none of us expected the personal toll that impacted not just careers, but health and families — especially our children.
There are many families like my own, destroyed completely by the Democrats’ illegal zeal to Get Trump at any cost. During Russiagate and the subsequent hoaxes, I screamed at the top of my lungs on television several times each week as my wife and daughters lived in fear in our Buffalo-area home.
Most Remnants stayed silent. They were the smart ones.
Those subjects of the bogus Russian collusion investigations are quietly reassembling their lives today. Just six or seven years ago, some pulled their children from school, bullied by students and teachers alike. Both parents in at least one family were fired, and with no money for tuition their son was forced to drop out of the college he worked tirelessly to attend. I don’t think he ever returned.
These Remnant stories are commonplace. Many families lost their homes; most lost their life savings. I know of older targets living on meager pensions now that their bank accounts were drained by lawfare legal fees. Those still working are earning less than half the income of their peers.
One family left the country, disheartened by what America had become. Another man, once an international business success, was wrongly debased and finally diminished to serve in a bureaucracy.
Then there is the death and near deaths, the suicide attempts readers will never know, the illnesses brought on by stress. When I fell with head and neck cancer, another Remnant struck by the disease called me twice a week to share our battles. After several months, his calls stopped.
My colleague had finally succumbed to the Crossfire Hurricane plague, unfathomable stress that drives cancer. Readers don’t even know his name; his wife and two young children know he was a hero.
He did nothing wrong. He was a Remnant.
The mentally ill, weaponized by brazen Democrat lies, harassed nearly all of us. My frequent media appearances made me more recognizable than the smarter, quieter Remnants. That made my family a target of a local retired mailman who was arrested and prosecuted for harassment.
My youngest daughters, just five and seven years old at the time, were often harassed while playing in our front yard. A local elderly woman, an otherwise benign community museum volunteer, posted dozens of times on social media during her daily walks by our house, including photos showing our address. She screamed at my girls and mocked their safety.
The bitter old lady died recently and the nutty mailman is still creeping around. Our family prays for their souls because, like all the Remnants, we know the banality of evil. Unhinged activists, some neighbors, forced us to leave our beloved hometown forever. We miss it every day — especially after a big, beautiful Buffalo snowfall.
It’s worse for some, like Paul Manafort, Carter Page, and the inimitable Roger Stone. Last year Roger and I had a late lunch a few miles from his home. Out of nowhere, an Antifa activist showed up to threaten him in the empty restaurant. Clearly, these pongos are still tracking Roger closely. He did nothing wrong, yet I still fear for his safety.
I have talked to many of the Remnants since Election Day. Some have high hopes; these patriots still believe in our justice system. Others expect nothing at all after seeing enough corruption to believe justice is dead. Most are somewhere in between.
All of us agree the original Russiagate conspiracy continues even today. The Russia hoax was created by Hillary Clinton aide Jake Sullivan, who carries on with his lies today as President Joe Biden’s national security advisor. Christopher Steele, the British spy hired by Clinton to create the dodgy dossier, and his Fusion GPS co-conspirator Glenn Simpson are still doing the same work for similar clients. Andrew Weissmann, Peter Strzok, John Brennan, and more still peddle their lies. Elements of the original conspiracy were woven into Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 American election, then bogus Trump impeachments, January 6th prosecutions, anti-Trump lawfare, and Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Mar-a-lago raid.
FBI Director Patel can prove the original 2016 conspiracy continues today. Much of the evidence remains in federal and public databases. Preemptive pardons aside, that means Sullivan, Weissmann, Mary McCord, Steele, Simpson, Victoria Nuland, Alexander Vindman, Eric Ciaramella, Smith, and others may still be in the jackpot. We agree with attorney Mike Davis: these perpetrators potentially violated 18 U.S.C. § 241 and 242, federal civil rights statutes that prohibit conspiracies to violate the rights of others.
This is where many Remnants stand: please do not forget the families in the ash tray and simply move on. Investigate the perpetrators now, reach back to the beginning of their Russiagate criminal conspiracy and follow it to today. Prosecute them fully and legally; expose how they illegally crushed us.
But do this only in pursuit of true justice — not for retribution, but for accountability and reform.
Michael Caputo worked at the highest levels of global politics for 40 years. He served as HHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs during the COVID pandemic and as a senior advisor to the 2016 and 2024 Donald Trump for President campaigns. He is the Jeffrey Bell senior fellow at the American Principles Project.
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From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Adam Pack
A federal judge dismissed a January 6th defendant’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News and its former primetime TV anchor, Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson on Wednesday.
Delaware Federal District Court Judge, Jennifer Hall, ruled that Carlson’s reporting on Epps was protected under the First Amendment because Epps’ lawyers did not prove Carlson had acted with “actual malice.”
“For the reasons announced from the bench today, it is hereby ordered that Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim is granted,” Hall, a Biden appointee, wrote.
Members of the corporate media claimed that Epps would win his lawsuit against Fox News and prove Carlson had acted with “actual malice” in his reporting on the Jan. 6 defendant, according to an MSNBC discussion on the defamation case led by former Republican National Committee chairman and MSNBC political analyst Michael Steele on July 16, 2023, following news of Epps’ lawsuit.
“I think what Dominion ushered in this question of actual malice and we saw the $800 million settlement has really ripped open if you will, the opportunity for others to go at Fox News,” former Florida Republican Rep. David Jolly said during the clip.
“They better get out a really big check book because they’re gonna pay heavily,” former Democratic Maryland Rep. Donna Edwards also said.
Judge Hall, however, sided with Fox News’ lawyers and dismissed the lawsuit before it could proceed to trial.
“It is especially clear that any conclusions were only opinions, because the statements were replete with ‘cautionary language’ that signal opinion and interpretation,” Fox News’ lawyers wrote in a memorandum in support of the network’s motion to dismiss Epps’ lawsuit. “In one segment, after showing a video of Plaintiff, Mr. Carlson squarely stated: ‘Once again, you can draw whatever conclusions you like from that video. We have ours and we shared them with you’. Fox opinion hosts were clearly providing their interpretations that listeners could accept or reject based on their own assessment of the fully disclosed facts.”
“First amendment protection for such commentary is essential for our democracy,” the memorandum also stated.
“Epps and his wife have clearly been through a nightmare of threats and innuendo,” Jonathan Turley, Fox News legal commentator wrote on his personal website following the judge’s ruling. “However, this public controversy was discussed by various networks and the Jan. 6th Committee. It was also a matter of legitimate public debate and commentary, with people on both sides expressing their views on the evidence and underlying allegations.”
Epps sued Fox News in July 2023 following Carlson’s comments that suggested Epps may have been a government agent after video footage surfaced showing him the night before Jan. 6, 2021, encouraging Trump supporters to go inside the Capitol the next day, leading to speculation that he may have been an FBI informant.
“We’re far beyond that. In fact, tomorrow—I don’t even like to say it because I’ll be arrested—we need to go into the Capitol. We’re here to defend the Constitution,” Epps could be heard saying in the video.
“I’m going to put this out there. I’m probably going to jail for it. Tomorrow, we need to go into the Capitol. Into the Capitol. Peacefully,” Epps added. Someone in the crowd responded by calling Epps a “fed,” the video showed.
Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia James Boasberg sentenced Epps to just 12 months probation on Jan. 9, three years after Epps encouraged Trump supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol.
Other Jan. 6 defendants received much longer sentences than Epps. Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors offered Epps a misdemeanor plea deal for cooperating with federal authorities and expressing remorse for his actions, and recommended he serve six months in jail for his conduct on and preceding the Jan. 6 riot. Epps was sentenced to twelve months probation in January.
“It’s amazing Ray Epps gets mere probation after there is video evidence he helped incite the January 6th riot, while Trump supporters get sent to prison for months — even years — for trespassing and taking selfies on the Senate floor,” Mike Davis, founder and president of the Article III Project previously told the DCNF. “The FBI protects its own.”
Carlson also accused Epps of lying in his testimony to the January 6th Committee.
“Following the dismissals of the Jankowicz, Bobulinski, and now Epps cases, Fox News is pleased with these back-to-back decisions from federal courts preserving the press freedoms of the First Amendment,” Fox News told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a written statement.
Epps’ lawyer did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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