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A cowboy in a black hat and sponsor vest smiles and raises one arm while standing beside a metal rodeo chute in a crowded indoor arena.

Flundra and Thomson cash in on CFR opening night

Written on . Posted in Sports.

There are two local cowboys to cheer for at the Canadian Finals Rodeo in Edmonton this week, and both gave folks back home plenty to smile about on opening night.

Ridge Flundra of Twin Butte, riding at his first CFR, placed second in junior steer riding Wednesday. He earned 74.25 points aboard C-Bar’s 46 Maneater, earning $600.

The 15-year-old finished the regular season third in the Canadian standings, where only the top six earn a trip to the finals.

He holds third heading into the second round with $7,045.38, just $544 behind Gunner Armstrong of Shellbrook, Sask.

K’s Thomson of Lundbreck placed fourth in saddle bronc riding. He scored 83.75 points on Big Stone’s 734 Key Lix Second Thought, a ride worth $2,653.96.

He finished the season 10th in the Canadian standings to claim one of 12 spots at the finals, and his opening-night cheque lifts him to eighth with $37,218.63.

At 27, K’s is riding at his third CFR in saddle bronc and his fourth overall, having first qualified as a junior steer rider in 2012.

Round 2 is tonight at 6:30. Ridge has steer 969 and K’s draw is Y-38 Yesterdays Delivery. Results from every round are posted online at rodeocanada.com/cfr-2026-live-results.

The Canadian Professional Rodeo Association’s report on opening night follows.

Event poster for a Secondhand Dreamcar concert at the Empress Theatre on November 20, 2026, at 7:30 PM, featuring a photo of the band members.

Grady Young leads big movers at CFR Night 1

By Barb Poulsen
Media Relations, Canadian Professional Rodeo Association

It was opening night of the Canadian Finals Rodeo at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Twelve men went up against what many long-time observers called the rankest pen of bulls ever assembled for a CFR.

One man rode. That man, 20-year-old Leader, Sask., talent Grady Young, entered CFR 52’s opening round less than $200 behind season leader Lonnie West.

The three-time CFR qualifier bested Legend Rodeo’s 470 Huckleberry for 87.5 points, a round win that netted the Young bank account $29,488 with $11,550.50, the amount allotted for a round win, counting in the standings. That gives the 20-year-old an $11,000 lead heading into night number two.

“I’ve seen that bull a bunch,” Young said. “He’s been to the NFR, I think a few times. I’ve seen him there, seen him at rodeos, and Legend Rodeo is actually sponsoring me, so I kind of try to keep track of their bulls a little bit. Any bull of theirs that I’ve ended up getting this year, I’ve rode and I’ve got paid. They’ve helped me get to the pay window quite a few times.”

This pay window might have yielded one of the largest payouts of the second-generation cowboy’s already highly productive career. And tonight and throughout the week, Grady Young will be trying to build on the opening night win to nail down a first Canadian bull riding title.

Ace of spades card on ad for Chase the Ace at the Pincher Creek Legion

Meanwhile, at the other end of the arena, tie-down roper Austin Hines turned in an outstanding 7.7-second run in the tie-down roping event to edge 2022 Canadian champion Ty Harris by a tenth of a second for the big cheque. Hines, despite his immense talent, is one of the under-celebrated, unsung ropers who quietly goes about the business of fashioning an outstanding rodeo career.

“It’s always good to get here and get started for the week,” the 25-year-old Marwayne cowboy said. “We tied calves this morning and I liked that calf when we saw the draw come out. I got a good start, got my rope on her in a hurry, and it just worked out in my favour.

“I ride a horse called Gator; he’s 15 now and I’ve had him for three years. I feel like he’s upped my game a lot. I started roping a lot better once I started riding him. He fits this set-up great. I made some good runs on him last year and got things kicked off better in 2026.”

And things could get better. Wednesday’s go-round win moves him from fourth place to second in the tie-down roping standings, less than $700 behind season leader Logan Bird.

Other highlights

Bareback riding

The sweet pen of horses wasn’t so sweet to everyone, but season leader Orin Larsen added to his lead with the go-round win aboard Calgary Stampede’s six-year-old gelding H-52 Harry Money.

Steer wrestling

In a tough round of steer wrestling, Landon Beardsworth took the victory lap with a 3.5-second run. He leaps from eighth to second, although season leader Scott Guenthner placed right behind him in the round and sits $38,000 ahead of the field.

Ladies barrel racing

In the major event where everyone entered CFR 52 within a go-round win of each other, a few tipped barrels made for some interesting changes in the standings. Jennifer Neudorf leapt from 11th into second place with her lightning-fast 13.76-second run, while two-time Canadian champion Taylor Manning made enough from her fifth-place finish to take the lead for the title.

Saddle bronc

The rank pen of horses proved challenging for some, but six-time and reigning champion Zeke Thurston put some distance between himself and the field with his go-round-winning 85.50 score aboard Calgary Stampede’s nine-year-old chestnut mare C-75 Cracking the Till.

Get Stuff’d meat and seafood shop sign, located at 214 13th St. in Fort Macleod, open Thursday through Saturday from 12 noon to 6 p.m., phone 368-996-1968, follow us on Facebook at Get Stuff’d.

Team roping

Despite the round being wide open by the time they made their run, Kavis Drake and Denim Ross still made the same run they always do, coming tight in 4.3 seconds. With some opening-night issues before finishing their run, season leaders Kash Bonnett and Logan Cullen still got a time, but now only sit $330 ahead of Drake and Ross.

Ladies breakaway roping

On a night when a lot of the ropers came up empty, two-time Canadian champion Kendal Pierson took care of business with a go-round-winning 2.2-second run. The win moves her up to fourth in the standings, but the Wardlow cowgirl would need to win two more rounds to catch season leader Bradi Whiteside.

Novice bareback

Quaide Skjonsberg set the tone for his title defence, spurring Vold’s G86 Grey Matter to an 81.50-point ride.

Novice saddle bronc

Cooper McNiven matched up well with Outlaw Buckers’ W42 Comeback Red for a 74.75-point ride, and with the sudden-death format and only three rounds in the novice events, that will go a long way toward his title aspirations.

Junior steer riding

Gunner Armstrong made a great ride on C-Bar’s feisty F01 Toxic Cooper on opening night, earning a 77.00 score. He still sits just under $3,000 behind season leader and 2025 champion Ryder Topolinski, who placed third on opening night.

The action continues tonight at Rogers Place with a 6:30 p.m. start.

Complete unofficial results are posted online at rodeocanada.com/cfr-2026-live-results.

Bareback Riding, Bull Riding, Canadian Finals Rodeo | CFR, Junior Steer Riding, Ladies Barrel Racing, Ladies Breakaway Roping, Novice Bareback Riding, Novice Saddle Bronc Riding, Rodeo, Saddle Bronc Riding, Steer Wrestling, Team Roping

Heart rate graphic over orange background with text reading "EMERGENCY ROOM CLOSURE" on top and "Fort Macleod Health centre" on bottom.

Fort Macleod ER closed tonight, Pincher Creek among backups

Written on . Posted in Health & Wellness.

The emergency department at Fort Macleod Health Centre will be closed overnight, from 11 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5, until 7 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, Alberta Health Services says.

AHS says it couldn’t find staff to cover the shift on short notice. If coverage turns up, the closure will be cancelled.

Anyone with a medical emergency during those hours should call 911. Ambulances will keep running and will take patients to nearby hospitals, including Pincher Creek Health Centre, Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge, Cardston Health Centre and Claresholm Community Health Centre.

For non-emergency health questions, Health Link is available 24 hours a day at 811. Local pharmacies can also help with some needs.

Residents with concerns about the closure can call AHS Patient Relations at 1-855-550-2555.

Alberta Health Notices

Aspen Wilson located safe, Valleyview RCMP cancel Amber Alert

Written on . Posted in RCMP & Public Safety.

Update — Oct. 5 at 12:10 p.m.

Valleyview RCMP have cancelled the Amber Alert for seven-year-old Aspen Wilson. RCMP say she has been located safe, and the suspect has been arrested and is in custody. No further details have been provided.

Original post — Oct. 5 at 10:30 a.m.

Valleyview RCMP have issued an Amber Alert for seven-year-old Aspen Wilson. RCMP say she was taken from Valleyview by her stepfather, Alexander Stone, 28.

The alert, issued Monday, Oct. 5 at 10:15 a.m., is in effect across Alberta. RCMP say Stone may be driving toward Slave Lake or Red Deer in a grey 2004 Chevrolet Venture van with Alberta licence plate CWY 3459.

Aspen is described as:

— 4 feet tall
— Curly, shoulder-length blond hair and blue eyes

Stone is described as:

— 6 feet 5 inches tall and 185 pounds
— Brown hair and hazel eyes

RCMP ask anyone who sees the vehicle, Aspen or Stone not to approach and to call 911 or the RCMP at 310-RCMP (310-7267).

Correction: An earlier version of this post, based on information from RCMP, said Alexander Stone has brown eyes. RCMP have since corrected his description. He has hazel eyes.

 

 

 

Amber Alerts, Missing Persons

A steel bridge span lies beside an excavator and pickup truck at the edge of a meadow surrounded by forest.

Allison Creek camp asks for pause on West Fraser harvest

Written on . Posted in Environment.

A group camped near Allison Creek in the Crowsnest Pass wants a planned logging project paused until West Fraser Timber and the province release the science behind it.

Defenders of the Eastern Slopes set up the camp Sept. 22 in the Allison and Tecumseh creek watersheds, about 15 kilometres northwest of Coleman, where West Fraser plans to harvest about 454 hectares of forest.

The same day, the group says, its members spoke with contractors and West Fraser representatives as crews tried to move a bridge toward Atlas Road and a new logging road. The bridge has not moved and remains at the edge of a meadow, the group says.

DOES describes itself as a grassroots group of Albertans concerned about protecting the Eastern Slopes. It focuses on headwaters, native forests, wildlife habitat and threatened species.

“We are not a large formal environmental organization,” says Colin Smith, the group’s media spokesman, in a written response. “The group brings together people who are prepared to advocate directly for the protection of these landscapes.”

West Fraser and the province

West Fraser says its harvest plan follows the direction of the Alberta government’s Community Hazardous Fuels Reduction Program, which it says directs forestry companies to prioritize fuel reduction near communities identified as high-risk for wildfire.

The company says Alberta’s regulatory framework “includes requirements for forestry companies while harvesting, including strict provisions regarding critically sensitive areas and to protect water sources.”

West Fraser says it also obtains authorizations under federal regulations where required.

An older couple smiles while leaning on a wooden railing outdoors, above text describing their $879 profit share from Vision Credit Union and a website link.

The company referred questions about the program to the province. It did not answer questions about the harvest timeline, species in the area or whether it plans legal action in response to the camp.

Alberta Forestry and Parks says the Allison Creek harvest was planned and approved under the current forest management plan. Under the fuels reduction program, which directs harvesting within approved plans to lower wildfire risk near communities, the department says the harvest’s design and timing were reviewed and adjusted to reduce community wildfire exposure “as soon as possible.”

The department says forest management planning weighs wildlife habitat, biodiversity, watersheds, recreation, wildfire risk and timber supply, and that harvest areas are approved through annual operating plans under Alberta’s timber harvest planning and operating ground rules.

Forestry and Parks staff monitor operations for compliance with approved plans and legislation, it says.

The department did not say what specific environmental or species assessments were done for this harvest, whether it has received concerns from DOES or other groups, or what its data shows about westslope cutthroat trout in the area.

The harvest area

DOES calls the area “one of the most diverse forests” in Alberta.

“The characterization comes from decades of field observations of the Allison Creek/Tecumseh Mountain landscape by people with extensive knowledge of the area’s natural history,” Smith says.

The group has described the proposal publicly as a 1,100-acre clearcut. Smith says that figure comes from West Fraser’s August presentation to Crowsnest Pass municipal council, which he says lists an initial proposed harvest area of 550 hectares and a current area of 454 hectares, about 1,120 acres.

Job ad for “Shootin’ the Breeze” seeks part-time and full-time staff for photography, writing, and reporting; contact publisher@shootinthebreeze.ca. Background shows printed news text and a hand holding a voice recorder.

According to DOES, the Alberta government and West Fraser have not presented “any scientific evidence” to justify the project.

Smith says that statement needs context.

“We are not saying that no scientific work whatsoever has been done,” he says.

Smith says West Fraser’s August presentation referred to an equivalent clearcut area analysis and an independent hydrologic risk assessment, which the company said found the proposed harvest to be low risk.

“But stating the conclusion of an assessment is not the same thing as making the science available for independent scrutiny,” Smith says.

He says DOES has not seen the complete hydrological assessment or its underlying data.

The group wants evidence on water quantity and quality, peak and low flows, sediment, stream temperature, fish habitat, and cumulative effects from past logging and roads in the watershed. It also wants evidence tying the harvest plan to wildfire risk reduction.

Smith says the group recognizes that reducing wildfire risk to Crowsnest Pass communities is an important goal.

Poster for Pincher Creek Chamber’s 31st Annual Awards of Excellence on October 23, 2026. Ticket prices and event details are listed, with a link for tickets at PincherChamber.ca/tickets.

“But that still leaves a fundamental scientific question,” he says. “Why these 454 hectares? Why this type and intensity of harvesting? What alternatives were evaluated? And what evidence demonstrates that this particular intervention provides the necessary wildfire-safety benefit while minimizing harm to the headwaters?”

Species

Smith says the area around Allison Creek, Deadman Pass and Tecumseh Mountain has an unusual mix of tree species, including western redcedar, western larch, ponderosa pine, western white pine, limber pine and whitebark pine.

Of those, whitebark pine is listed as endangered under the federal Species at Risk Act. Western redcedar is ranked imperilled in Alberta on Canada’s Wild Species database, a ranking that carries no legal protection. Nationally, it is ranked secure.

The group also points to westslope cutthroat trout in upper Allison Creek. Alberta’s population of the fish is listed as threatened under the federal act, and DOES says it is working to obtain the provincial genetic records on the trout.

David McIntyre, who holds a master’s degree from the University of Washington’s College of the Environment, says he first documented the area’s forest more than 40 years ago and has worked to protect it ever since. He describes the watershed as a “living sponge” that sustains the drought-affected Oldman Watershed.

Clear cutting and associated roads will disrupt creek and spring hydrology, McIntyre says, raising peak flows and worsening low flows while increasing sedimentation. He is also concerned about westslope cutthroat trout in upper Allison Creek.

McIntyre says the forest contains some of Alberta’s oldest trees, which he says serve as records of climate change over the past thousand years through growth-ring analysis.

What’s next

The group plans to continue taking action if construction proceeds. Smith says those actions will remain lawful, peaceful and safe.

Event flyer for International Credit Union Day at Vision Credit Union on October 15, inviting community members to bring food bank donations in exchange for a wall calendar.

DOES has not yet formally requested an environmental assessment or independent scientific review from the province or West Fraser.

Smith says the group intends to request the release of existing scientific assessments first. He says additional studies should then be considered where information gaps remain.

“We don’t believe the first step should necessarily be commissioning another study if relevant scientific work already exists,” Smith says. “The first step is transparency.”

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Logging blockade at Pelletier Creek ends due to low turnout

Opinion: The Oldman cries for help

Community Hazardous Fuels Reduction Program, Crowsnest Pass Logging, Environmental Activism, Forest Management, Logging, Southwest Alberta Logging, Species at Risk Act, Water Security, Westslope Cutthroat Trout, Wildfire Risk

A woman raises a white cloth beside a memorial display with a red dress.

A Piikani mother puts one foot in front of the other for her daughter

Written on . Posted in Culture & Community.

Beside a campfire under a full moon, in a supporter’s yard near Surrey, B.C., Stephanie English opened the small bundle of her daughter’s belongings for the first time.

Police gave her the bundle 10 years ago. It holds items found with Joey-Tiiah English, a 25-year-old mother of three from Piikani Nation who was reported missing in Calgary in June 2016.

Some of her remains were found weeks later in a wooded area of Calgary’s Crescent Heights neighbourhood. According to facts agreed to in court, she died of an overdose, and a man she had been using drugs with dismembered her body afterward and discarded it.

The man, Joshua Weise, pleaded guilty to indignity to a human body and was sentenced to 18 months in jail. Police searched a Calgary landfill but found no more of her remains, and Stephanie has never been able to bury her daughter in full.

Stephanie opened the bundle Sept. 23, partway through a run from her Piikani Nation home to Vancouver, surrounded by people who understood her grief.

Stephanie ran through a highway tunnel, up and down hills in the Okanagan, stopping in communities that have suffered losses like her own.

She made the run ahead of her ninth annual walk to Calgary, which starts Oct. 2. Her mother, Patsy English, Joey-Tiiah’s daughter and her own daughter followed in a vehicle. It was their first visit to Vancouver.

“This was primarily a spiritual journey for myself,” Stephanie says. “I am really humbled by what was going on; I am still processing what I experienced. I got a lot of support from the community of sisters that know and understand.”

She means families who have lost daughters, sisters, aunts, grandmothers and Two-Spirit loved ones to violence or disappearance, and who, she says, have too often seen police and society fail to solve or stop those crimes.

Stephanie is grateful for the reception she got in Invermere and other stops along the way. She recalls stepping onto the long Fraser River bridge feeling especially heavy-hearted.

For many years, she has carried the weight of running to create awareness of not only her daughter’s case but also the cases of many others. This time, she thought about how more and more people are speaking out.

“I pray that more people will wake up and get out of their silence once they start reaching out for help,” Stephanie says.

She believes the silence many feel over such losses is slowly starting to lift and says Indigenous liaison workers in police services are pushing their colleagues to take these cases seriously. Stephanie says she no longer feels institutionalized racism when dealing with police.

People seem willing to listen, she says, even if concrete actions have not been taken in her daughter’s case. As she ran, her spirits lifted, especially when she saw a pair of eagles and their young flying overhead.

At a small gathering in Vancouver-Hastings, people shared songs and prayers. There, Stephanie met people she calls sisters and brothers in the Sisters in Spirit movement, including Dennis Saddleman, the author of From Residential School to Word Warrior.

At the same Surrey campfire where Stephanie opened Joey-Tiiah’s bundle, she, her mother, her daughter and her granddaughter were gifted blankets with thunderbird, butterfly and star designs.

Much still weighs on her.

Stephanie says governments have not honoured the treaties signed with her people, and she points to a foster care system she calls broken, human trafficking she says is getting worse, and ongoing discrimination against First Nations people.

Above all, she continues pushing to recover the rest of Joey-Tiiah’s remains, which she believes are in a Calgary landfill.

“It makes me push harder with love, the more we get denied, the more I push deeper,” she says.

Stephanie invites all who are able to join her on the annual Sisters in Spirit walk to Calgary. Walkers leave from Range Road 274 and Highway 3 at 6 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 2.

The next day, community members will welcome them at the Awo Taan Healing Lodge in Calgary. From there, the walk continues to destinations in the centre of the city.

Stephanie asks those who cannot join what she sees as a form of bridge-building to keep the participants in prayer.

If this story raises concerns for you, the national support line for families and survivors of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people is available 24 hours a day at 1-844-413-6649. Alberta’s 24-hour Addiction Helpline is 1-866-332-2322.

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Two people stand in tall grass holding a red MMIWM Spirited+ banner near a Welcome to British Columbia sign.

‘We walk for those who cannot walk beside us’

Written on . Posted in Culture & Community.

Stephanie English of Piikani Nation brought the following statement to Shootin’ the Breeze before setting out Sept. 20 on this year’s Calling My/Our Spirit Back Unity Walk. Inspired by the deaths of two of Stephanie’s daughters, it carries a message of remembrance and healing while honouring families of missing and murdered Indigenous and two-spirit people, residential school survivors and all impacted. This year’s walk, the ninth annual, is a walk, ride, run format from Brocket to Vancouver, and a finale at the Sisters in Spirit gathering in Calgary on Oct. 4. She asked it to be printed exactly as written.

Our walk is more than footsteps. It is my mother’s love for our daughters. It’s prayer and a call for Justice. My greatest dream is to one day bring my daughter Joey-Tiiah’s remains home from the landfills and to lay her to rest with dignity. Joey-Tiiah Gentle Woman deserves this.

Until that day comes, I will continue walking, not only for my daughters but for every MMIWM2S+ person and for every family still searching and morning praying and waiting.

I walk so our families do not lose hope or faith. I walk carrying the love of those who have gone into the spirit world, believing their spirits are beside us. Singing, dancing and praying, and reminding us to do good in this life.

I also walk for our younger generations. I want them to see that we can break cycles within our families and communities with truth, honesty and respect. We can follow our visions and teachings given us, stand together, protect one another, and protect the lands that held our people for thousands of years to this day.

This journey is about Unity. We must stand together as One people and One Nation.

No mother should have to fight to have a landfill searched for their Child. No human being should be treated as garbage or as disposable trash.

Until our loved ones are brought home, we will continue to walk, pray, speak their names and demand that they are not forgotten. As a mother, this is a 365-day reminder why I speak and seek help and support of the four directions across Turtle Island.

Search All Landfills. Bring Gentle Woman (Joey-Tiiah) and our loved ones home.

Protect our daughters, sisters, mothers, grandmothers/fathers, uncles, nephews and two-spirited, and our future Generations.

We walk for those who cannot walk beside us. We speak for those whose voices were taken and not heard.

And we will not stop until they come home.

This is for all walks of life, yet it hits harder for me as a First Nation mama bear.

Love,

Natowawhkii (Walking Holy Woman)

Stephanie English

Calling My/Our Spirit Back Unity Walk, First Nations, Indigenous Healing, Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, MMIWM2S+, Remembrance, Residential Schools, Two-Spirit

Dancers in regalia covered in long, brightly coloured fringe dance down Fort Macleod's Main Street past a stone bank building, while spectators and drummers watch from the sidewalk.

Drum Grid brings drums and dance to Fort Macleod’s Main Street

Written on . Posted in Arts & Creative Pulse, Culture & Community.

 

Spectators didn’t stay put for Drum Grid: A Sonic Journey with A’sitapiiksi on Friday evening in Fort Macleod. They followed the beat.

The free street performance, part of New Music Lab’s Unfamiliar Trails: Coming Together Festival, saw the Coaldale Prairie Winds Secondary drumline playing Drum Grid, a piece by Pulitzer Prize-winning Diné composer Raven Chacon.

The drumline led the crowd along the town’s main street, from one stop to the next, where the A’sitapiiksi Powwow Club performed different dances at each location, including grass, jingle, and fancy dance styles to traditional Blackfoot drumming and singing.

The powwow club started in June, after Maria Crowshoe’s grandson said he wanted to learn to dance. Randy Plain Eagle choreographed the performance with Justin Many Fingers, working with the young dancers over about six hours of rehearsal in the weeks before the show.

Dancers were from the Piikani and Kainai nations and Fort Macleod.

Two girls in pink and blue regalia with fringed shawls and beaded crowns stand on the street, with jingle dress dancers behind them.
Members of the Coaldale Prairie Winds Secondary drumline march down Main Street playing hand drums from sheet music, led by a man with a frame drum, with snare drummers following behind.
Jingle dress dancers in red, pink and green regalia lined with rows of metal cones dance on a sidewalk, one woman holding a feather fan, as other dancers and spectators gather behind them.
Young dancers in full regalia carry white, red and blue flags down the centre of Main Street under a cloudy sky.
Three hand drummers sing and play painted hand drums outside a brick building, as a dancer in a black shawl decorated with shells and a beaded belt faces them in the foreground.
Members of a high school drumline in yellow and black shirts walk along a downtown sidewalk carrying snare drums and hand drums, led by an older man playing a frame drum.
High school drummers with snare drums and hand drums stand in a row outside a red brick building, waiting to play.
Young women and girls in fancy shawl regalia spin with their fringed shawls outstretched in a Main Street crosswalk, as a crowd behind them watches and films on their phones.
Dancers in feathered bustles and headdresses dance down Main Street at sunset, backlit by the low sun, their long shadows stretching across the pavement past historic storefronts.
A fancy dancer in bright pink, green and purple regalia with feathered bustles and white fringe spins mid-step on an empty Main Street in Fort Macleod, lined with historic brick and stone buildings under a pale evening sky.
A line of dancers in colourful regalia performs on the street outside a laundromat, while hand drummers in cowboy hats sing and drum on the sidewalk behind them.

Drum Grid, Indigenous powwows, National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, Piikani Princess

Heading for My Little Corner and editorial by Shannon Peace

Corner: Referendum fatigue is real, and so is Oct. 19

Written on . Posted in Opinions.

If you turn the pages of this week’s issue with a sigh and feel weary at the sight of yet another referendum story, I understand. I feel it too.

This week’s paper leans more toward hard news than usual. It wasn’t planned, it’s simply how the stories came together.

There’s an article on campaign signs going missing around Pincher Creek, a look at who’s behind the signs popping up everywhere, and a report from a session where Piikani and Kainai members shared their questions about treaties and ID at the polls. Cornell Van Ryk’s opinion series continues as well, based on reader feedback. He’s a local willing to put his name beside what he believes.

The Mailbox is open to anyone who would like to respectfully share their thoughts.

Unless something significant comes up, you won’t see this much referendum coverage in one issue again.

So why keep covering it?

We hear in conversation that many people aren’t sure what they’re being asked. If that’s you, you’re in good company. A recent Angus Reid Institute survey found one in five Albertans said they found the referendum questions difficult to understand.

There are 10 questions on the ballot. Questions 1 to 9 are answered with Yes or No, and Question 10 offers a choice between two options.

With more than two dozen registered campaigns and a separation petition before the courts, it’s a lot to take in. Our team is doing the best it can to help, from as many angles as possible. It’s not an easy job!

My primary role right now is in fact-checking and editing. It takes time and care to check against sources and to make sure claims are attributed. It’s slow work and is why some of these stories took longer to publish.

The question that seems to cause the most confusion is Question 10. It ISN’T a vote to separate from Canada.

It asks whether Alberta should remain a province, or whether the provincial government should begin the constitutional process to hold a later, binding referendum on separation.

It asks whether Albertans want a separation vote, but it isn’t that vote.

Whatever your view, I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read the questions before marking your ballot.

Elections Alberta is independent of the provincial government and of the campaigns. The questions, rules, and how and where to vote are found on its website at elections.ab.ca.

If voting by mail, request your special ballot by Friday, Sept. 25. Completed ballots must reach Edmonton by Oct. 16. I’m aiming to return mine at least a week ahead of that deadline but my package is yet to arrive.

Personal beliefs are clashing and there is division in our community. Being civil to one another isn’t the same as agreeing and doesn’t mean every argument holds up. It’s fine to disagree and to respectfully say so.

The same goes for the signs. Whether a sign speaks for you or not, the person who put it up is a neighbour who cares, just as you do.

Signs, speeches and newspaper stories can only do so much. On Oct. 19, it’s your ballot that counts, whichever boxes you choose to check.

On Oct. 20, the signs will come down and we’ll all still be Albertans. We’ll still live here, still be neighbours and still hold a variety of opinions.

The work after the vote will be finding our way back together as a community.

How we do that is up to us.

Alberta Separation | Independence | Bill 54, Referendums

Twin Butte mental health fundraiser aims for smiles, not sorrow

Written on . Posted in Community Life, Health & Wellness.

Guests at this year’s Twin Butte mental health fundraiser are invited to dig out their best 1950s and ’60s outfits for an evening organizers want to be anything but sombre.

“We want this event to be happy, and for everyone to walk away with a smile on their face, and to know that everything is OK,” says Jeny Akitt, who owns Twin Butte Country General Store and Restaurant with her husband, Phil.

The store and the Twin Butte Community Society host the annual fundraiser Saturday, Sept. 26, at Twin Butte Community Hall. This year’s theme is Cheeseburger in Paradise. Cocktails start at 5 p.m., with dinner at 6.

The evening includes dancing, live and silent auctions, and live music from Peter and the Wolves. Tickets are $50 per person, with all proceeds going to the Canadian Mental Health Association, Alberta South Region in Lethbridge.

The Akitts started the fundraiser in 2022 with Jaime and Scott Mitchell, whose 17-year-old son, Zachary, died by suicide in 2021.

Akitt estimates that the event has raised close to $80,000 for the CMHA since it began, adding that its purpose hasn’t changed as the event has grown.

“We would just love for everyone to join us for this great event and to know that everybody goes through hard times and that we’re here to support you,” she says.

Akitt says the fundraiser is also about making conversations around mental health more common in rural communities.

“I think that starting the conversation and knowing that you’re not alone out there and that everything is OK and to talk about things that are bothering you or just how you’re feeling is not a bad thing,” she says.

The evening is intended to be a celebration, despite the circumstances that inspired it.

Tickets are available from Akitt at 403-627-4035.

Individuals and businesses can donate auction items by calling Akitt or Mitchell Welding, at 403-632-9458, to arrange drop-off or pickup.

Folks who can’t attend can donate to the Canadian Mental Health Association online at cmha.ca.

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call or text 988 any time to reach the Suicide Crisis Helpline. The Alberta Mental Health Help Line is available 24 hours a day at 1-877-303-2642.

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Fundraising, mental health, Suicide Prevention