Business
Red Deer Emergency Services lays charges for safety code violations

Red Deer Emergency Services (RDES) are reminding property owners to be vigilant with fire safety after six charges resulted in $19,500 in fines on June 30.
“We have been working closely with the property owner for some time, but unfortunately reached a point where charges were necessary to outline the gravity of the situation,” said Fire Marshal Tim Kivell. “Our priority is ensuring the safety of residents living in these facilities.”
The first inspection took place on September 10, 2020 at Stan Schalk Apartments, located at 4935 51 Street, and resulted in four charges:
- two charges of failing to inspect, test and maintain smoke alarms in the dwelling units,
- one charge for a partially blocked exit, and
- one charge for failing to maintain fire separations.
The second inspection took place on November 3, 2020 at the Buffalo Apartments, located at 5031 50 Street. This inspection resulted in two additional charges:
- one charge for failure to maintain door release hardware on an exit door, and
- one charge for improper storage of combustible materials.
The owner pled guilty to the charges in Red Deer Provincial Court on June 30, 2021, which resulted in $19,500 in fines being laid. The maximum fine under the Safety Codes Act is $100,000 for each offence and/or imprisonment for term not exceeding six months.
“Working smoke alarms and fire exits are absolutely essential as they can make the difference between life and death in an emergency. These are required in all residences,” said Kivell. “We will continue working with Potter’s Hands to ensure their facilities meet code requirements for the safety of their tenants.”
Property owners are responsible to ensure their buildings meet the minimum requirements under the Safety Codes Act and the National Fire Code of Canada 2019 (Alberta Edition), including ensuring smoke alarms within the dwelling unit are tested and cleaned prior to occupancy, and providing tenants with information about smoke alarm testing and maintenance. Rental property owners are also required to keep records of smoke alarm inspection, testing and maintenance for examination by authorities.
Landlords and renters can request information regarding Smoke Alarm Installation, Inspection, testing and Maintenance by emailing [email protected].
Internet
US government gave $22 million to nonprofit teaching teens about sex toys: report

From LifeSiteNews
The Center for Innovative Public Health Research’s website suggests teenage girls make their ‘own decisions’ about sex and not let their parents know if they don’t want to.
For almost a decade, the U.S. government funded a group that actively works to teach kids how to use sex toys and then keep them hidden from their parents to the tune of $22 million.
According to investigative reporter Hannah Grossman at the Manhattan Institute, The Center for Innovative Public Health Research (CIPHR) has been educating minors about sex toys with public funds.
Records show that the millions given to the group since 2016, according to its website, go toward “health education programs” that “promote positive human development.”
However, the actual contents of the programs, as can be seen from comments from CIPHR CEO Michele Ybarra, seem to suggest that its idea of “human” development is skewed toward radical sex education doctrine.
In 2017, CIPHR launched Girl2Girl, which is funded by federal money to promote “sex-ed program just for teen girls who are into girls.” Its website lets users, who are girls between ages 14 and 16, sign up for “daily text messages … about things like sex with girls and boys.”
The actual content of some of the messages is very concerning. Its website notes that some of the texts talk about “lube and sex toys” as well as “the different types of sex and ways to increase pleasure.”
The website actively calls upon teenage girls to make their “own decisions” and not let their parents know if they don’t want to.
Grossman shared a video clip on X of Ybarra explaining how they educate minors about the use of “sex toys” and dealing with their parents if they are found out.
The clip, from a 2022 Brown University webinar, shows Ybarra telling researchers how to prepare “young person(s)” for her research.
She said if they are doing “focus groups,” she will ask them, “Okay, so what happens if somebody comes into the room and sees words like penis and sex toys on your screen — on your computer screen or on your phone? What if it’s your mom?’”
In 2023, CIPHR launched Transcendent Health, which is a sex-education program for minors who are gender confused. This initiative received $1.3 million of federal grant money that expired last month.
Grossman observed that the federal government “should not fund programs that send sexually explicit messages to minors and encourage them to conceal these communications from parents.”
She noted that in order to protect children and “prevent further harm,” U.S. President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services “should immediately cancel CIPHR’s active contract and deny its future grant applications.”
“By doing so, the Trump administration can send a clear message: Taxpayers will no longer foot the bill for perverted ‘research’ projects,” she noted.
The Trump administration has thus far, through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), exposed billions in government waste and fraud. Many such uses of taxpayer dollars are currently under review by the administration, including pro-abortion and pro-censorship activity through USAID, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and neo-Marxist class warfare propaganda” through the National Science Foundation, and billions to left-wing “green energy” nonprofits through the Environmental Protection Agency.
Business
Canadian Police Raid Sophisticated Vancouver Fentanyl Labs, But Insist Millions of Pills Not Destined for U.S.

Sam Cooper
Mounties say labs outfitted with high-grade chemistry equipment and a trained chemist reveal transnational crime groups are advancing in technical sophistication and drug production capacity
Amid a growing trade war between Washington and Beijing, Canada—targeted alongside Mexico and China for special tariffs related to Chinese fentanyl supply chains—has dismantled a sophisticated network of fentanyl labs across British Columbia and arrested an academic lab chemist, the RCMP said Thursday.
At a press conference in Vancouver, senior investigators stood behind seized lab equipment and fentanyl supplies, telling reporters the operation had prevented millions of potentially lethal pills from reaching the streets.
“This interdiction has prevented several million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl from being produced and distributed across Canada,” said Cpl. Arash Seyed. But the presence of commercial-grade laboratory equipment at each of the sites—paired with the arrest of a suspect believed to have formal training in chemistry—signals an evolution in the capabilities of organized crime networks, with “progressively enhanced scientific and technical expertise among transnational organized crime groups involved in the production and distribution of illicit drugs,” Seyed added.
This investigation is ongoing, while the seized drugs, precursor chemicals, and other evidence continue to be processed, police said.
Recent Canadian data confirms the country has become an exporter of fentanyl, and experts identify British Columbia as the epicenter of clandestine labs supplied by Chinese precursors and linked to Mexican cartel distributors upstream.
In a statement that appears politically responsive to the evolving Trump trade threats, Assistant Commissioner David Teboul said, “There continues to be no evidence, in this case and others, that these labs are producing fentanyl for exportation into the United States.”
In late March, during coordinated raids across the suburban municipalities of Pitt Meadows, Mission, Aldergrove, Langley, and Richmond, investigators took down three clandestine fentanyl production sites.
The labs were described by the RCMP as “equipped with specialized chemical processing equipment often found in academic and professional research facilities.” Photos released by authorities show stainless steel reaction vessels, industrial filters, and what appear to be commercial-scale tablet presses and drying trays—pointing to mass production capabilities.
The takedown comes as Canada finds itself in the crosshairs of intensifying geopolitical tension.
Fentanyl remains the leading cause of drug-related deaths in Canada, with toxic supply chains increasingly linked to hybrid transnational networks involving Chinese chemical brokers and domestic Canadian producers.
RCMP said the sprawling B.C. lab probe was launched in the summer of 2023, with teams initiating an investigation into the importation of unregulated chemicals and commercial laboratory equipment that could be used for synthesizing illicit drugs including fentanyl, MDMA, and GHB.
The Bureau is a reader-supported publication.
To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Invite your friends and earn rewards
-
Also Interesting2 days ago
Mortgage Mayhem: How Rising Interest Rates Are Squeezing Alberta Homeowners
-
2025 Federal Election2 days ago
Conservative Party urges investigation into Carney plan to spend $1 billion on heat pumps
-
Also Interesting2 days ago
Exploring Wildrobin Technological Advancements in Live Dealer Games
-
2025 Federal Election2 days ago
Communist China helped boost Mark Carney’s image on social media, election watchdog reports
-
2025 Federal Election2 days ago
Fifty Shades of Mark Carney
-
2025 Federal Election2 days ago
Corporate Media Isn’t Reporting on Foreign Interference—It’s Covering for It
-
Justice2 days ago
Canadian government sued for forcing women to share spaces with ‘transgender’ male prisoners
-
Business1 day ago
Stocks soar after Trump suspends tariffs