Alberta
Two more historic churches in Canada set ablaze by arsonists

From LifeSiteNews
“These are absolutely despicable attacks on the Christian community”
Two historic Christian churches in Canada were intentionally set on fire late last week in what police said were suspected acts of arson.
The incident has Conservative political leaders calling for an end to “attacks” on Christianity after more than 100 churches having been targeted with arson or vandalism since 2021.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) say St. Aidan’s Church, known as Glenreagh Church, and Pioneer Church, a United Church, both located in Barrhead, a town 120 miles northwest of Alberta’s capital Edmonton, were destroyed by arson within only two hours of each other on the evening of December 7.
No one was reported to have been hurt in the fires, but both churches have been extensively damaged, likely beyond repair, despite the best efforts of the Barrhead Fire Services, which was onsite quickly.
Barrhead RCMP confirmed that an initial investigation has determined that both fires were intentionally set. However, an exact motive is not yet clear.
According to eyewitnesses on the ground, two older pickup trucks were seen fleeing the scene.
An initial investigation by fire examiners confirmed that both fires were deliberately set.
Local resident Edith Strawson, whose dad helped build St. Aidan’s Church over 100 years ago, and who got married in the church, as well as some of her kids, said, “We’re putting this back together.”
“We just can’t let that happen and just leave it,” she said as per a CTV report.
Attacks on Christianity ‘must’ stop say conservative leaders
Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) Pierre Poilievre condemned the attacks.
“These are absolutely despicable attacks on the Christian community,” Poilievre wrote Friday on X (formerly Twitter).
“Police must find and arrest the criminals responsible for setting fire to these two churches.”
These are absolutely despicable attacks on the Christian community.
Police must find and arrest the criminals responsible for setting fire to these two churches. https://t.co/ZKUHpaLrzu pic.twitter.com/c7Xxn8qMjb
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) December 8, 2023
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, the leader of the United Conservative Party, said church burnings have “no place in Alberta” and those who destroyed the churches by arson need to stand for their “crimes.”
She also confirmed that the RCMP is investigating the church fires “as suspected cases of arson.”
“Images like these have no place in Alberta,” Smith wrote Friday on X (formerly Twitter).
“To the parishioners of these churches and to the Christian community across our province, I stand in solidarity with you against all forms of hate.”
Images like these have no place in Alberta.
RCMP are investigating two churches which were destroyed by fires as suspected cases of arson.
To the parishioners of these churches and to the Christian community across our province, I stand in solidarity with you against all… pic.twitter.com/KmdQ3vc98S
— Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) December 8, 2023
Smith said that the church burnings “are condemned in the strongest possible terms and those perpetrating these crimes must be brought to justice.”
“I am closely monitoring this unfolding situation along with Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis,” she added.
Since the spring of 2021, well over 100 churches, most of them Catholic, but all Christian have either been burned or vandalized across Canada. The attacks on the churches came shortly after the unconfirmed discovery of “unmarked graves” at now-closed residential schools once run by the Church in parts of the country.
In 2021 and 2022, the mainstream media ran with inflammatory and dubious claims that hundreds of children were buried and disregarded by Catholic priests and nuns who ran some of the schools.
Despite the church burnings, the federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has done nothing substantial to bring those responsible to justice, nor to stem the root cause of the burnings.
Instead, a little over a month ago, Liberal and NDP Members of Parliament (MPs) struck down a Conservative Party of Canada motion that would have condemned incidents of church burnings and acts of vandalism.
In August of 2022, LifeSiteNews reported about the destruction by fire of one of the oldest standing Catholic churches in Alberta. Police at the time said the fire was a “suspicious” incident.
Despite the massive number of church fires in Canada, Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez in May made a brazen suggestion recently that the recent slew of anti-Christian church burnings in Canada could be remedied through further “online” internet regulation.
Those with any information on the church fires are asked to contact Barrhead RCMP at 403-780-674-4848.
Alberta
Low oil prices could have big consequences for Alberta’s finances

From the Fraser Institute
By Tegan Hill
Amid the tariff war, the price of West Texas Intermediate oil—a common benchmark—recently dropped below US$60 per barrel. Given every $1 drop in oil prices is an estimated $750 million hit to provincial revenues, if oil prices remain low for long, there could be big implications for Alberta’s budget.
The Smith government already projects a $5.2 billion budget deficit in 2025/26 with continued deficits over the following two years. This year’s deficit is based on oil prices averaging US$68.00 per barrel. While the budget does include a $4 billion “contingency” for unforeseen events, given the economic and fiscal impact of Trump’s tariffs, it could quickly be eaten up.
Budget deficits come with costs for Albertans, who will already pay a projected $600 each in provincial government debt interest in 2025/26. That’s money that could have gone towards health care and education, or even tax relief.
Unfortunately, this is all part of the resource revenue rollercoaster that’s are all too familiar to Albertans.
Resource revenue (including oil and gas royalties) is inherently volatile. In the last 10 years alone, it has been as high as $25.2 billion in 2022/23 and as low as $2.8 billion in 2015/16. The provincial government typically enjoys budget surpluses—and increases government spending—when oil prices and resource revenue is relatively high, but is thrown into deficits when resource revenues inevitably fall.
Fortunately, the Smith government can mitigate this volatility.
The key is limiting the level of resource revenue included in the budget to a set stable amount. Any resource revenue above that stable amount is automatically saved in a rainy-day fund to be withdrawn to maintain that stable amount in the budget during years of relatively low resource revenue. The logic is simple: save during the good times so you can weather the storm during bad times.
Indeed, if the Smith government had created a rainy-day account in 2023, for example, it could have already built up a sizeable fund to help stabilize the budget when resource revenue declines. While the Smith government has deposited some money in the Heritage Fund in recent years, it has not created a dedicated rainy-day account or introduced a similar mechanism to help stabilize provincial finances.
Limiting the amount of resource revenue in the budget, particularly during times of relatively high resource revenue, also tempers demand for higher spending, which is only fiscally sustainable with permanently high resource revenues. In other words, if the government creates a rainy-day account, spending would become more closely align with stable ongoing levels of revenue.
And it’s not too late. To end the boom-bust cycle and finally help stabilize provincial finances, the Smith government should create a rainy-day account.
Alberta
Governments in Alberta should spur homebuilding amid population explosion

From the Fraser Institute
By Tegan Hill and Austin Thompson
In 2024, construction started on 47,827 housing units—the most since 48,336 units in 2007 when population growth was less than half of what it was in 2024.
Alberta has long been viewed as an oasis in Canada’s overheated housing market—a refuge for Canadians priced out of high-cost centres such as Vancouver and Toronto. But the oasis is starting to dry up. House prices and rents in the province have spiked by about one-third since the start of the pandemic. According to a recent Maru poll, more than 70 per cent of Calgarians and Edmontonians doubt they will ever be able to afford a home in their city. Which raises the question: how much longer can this go on?
Alberta’s housing affordability problem reflects a simple reality—not enough homes have been built to accommodate the province’s growing population. The result? More Albertans competing for the same homes and rental units, pushing prices higher.
Population growth has always been volatile in Alberta, but the recent surge, fuelled by record levels of immigration, is unprecedented. Alberta has set new population growth records every year since 2022, culminating in the largest-ever increase of 186,704 new residents in 2024—nearly 70 per cent more than the largest pre-pandemic increase in 2013.
Homebuilding has increased, but not enough to keep pace with the rise in population. In 2024, construction started on 47,827 housing units—the most since 48,336 units in 2007 when population growth was less than half of what it was in 2024.
Moreover, from 1972 to 2019, Alberta added 2.1 new residents (on average) for every housing unit started compared to 3.9 new residents for every housing unit started in 2024. Put differently, today nearly twice as many new residents are potentially competing for each new home compared to historical norms.
While Alberta attracts more Canadians from other provinces than any other province, federal immigration and residency policies drive Alberta’s population growth. So while the provincial government has little control over its population growth, provincial and municipal governments can affect the pace of homebuilding.
For example, recent provincial amendments to the city charters in Calgary and Edmonton have helped standardize building codes, which should minimize cost and complexity for builders who operate across different jurisdictions. Municipal zoning reforms in Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer have made it easier to build higher-density housing, and Lethbridge and Medicine Hat may soon follow suit. These changes should make it easier and faster to build homes, helping Alberta maintain some of the least restrictive building rules and quickest approval timelines in Canada.
There is, however, room for improvement. Policymakers at both the provincial and municipal level should streamline rules for building, reduce regulatory uncertainty and development costs, and shorten timelines for permit approvals. Calgary, for instance, imposes fees on developers to fund a wide array of public infrastructure—including roads, sewers, libraries, even buses—while Edmonton currently only imposes fees to fund the construction of new firehalls.
It’s difficult to say how long Alberta’s housing affordability woes will endure, but the situation is unlikely to improve unless homebuilding increases, spurred by government policies that facilitate more development.
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