Ring-a-ding-dong-dandy
Tyler Coate, riding on the High River 2000
Reunion float, rings in the annual Little Britches Parade on Monday in High River.
The parade and rodeo have been a High River tradition for almost 50 years.
photo by John Barlow
RCMP understaffed
By John Barlow
Staff Reporter and Sports Editor
The old RCMP adage which states 'they always get their man' has taken on new meaning
due to concerns of low policing levels in the Turner Valley area.
The Turner Valley RCMP detachment is actively seeking support through meetings with
the Turner Valley, Black Diamond, Longview and MD of Foothills councils in which
they can appeal for more manpower.
According to Cpl. Bob Gollan, the Turner Valley RCMP detachment is essentially working
with a skeleton crew in order to maintain policing levels which some residents have
complained are unsatisfactory.
'We are definitely understaffed,' said Gollan to councillors during the Turner Valley
council meeting held on May 15. 'We have had to prioritize our calls because we can't
do everything. . . as a consequence we are getting complaints (from the public).'
Currently, the Turner Valley detachment has seven officers on staff which is comprised
of six constables and one corporal.
The staff will see an additional member on July 31 when Sgt. Don Cohn arrives.
However, Gollan explained that this is not enough manpower to enforce an acceptable
level of community policing.
'According to the 1999 census, there are 9,816 people living within the Turner Valley
detachment area,' said Gollan. 'We have a ratio of one police officer for 1,402 people
-- the provincial average is one officer for 1,100 people.'
Gollan added that in comparison to other detachments in Alberta, the Turner Valley
detachment is the 15th busiest.
'The last increase the Turner Valley detachment saw to its staff was in 1985 when
an extra position was in place to police the Eden Valley Reserve,' explained Gollan.
'If we did not have the Eden Valley Reserve, we would not have that extra position.'
In terms of policing mandate, communities listed under 2,500 people are provided
RCMP service at no local cost. Police are paid for by the provincial and federal
governments -- 70 per cent provincially funded and 30 per cent federally funded.
However, once a community has reached 5,000 people, the municipality has to enter
into a policing contract with either the provincial or federal government where 70
per cent of costs is covered municipally and 30 per cent is covered federally.
Because of this mandate whereby communities are eligible for extra policing, Gollan
hopes that the municipalities in the Turner Valley area will consider going into
a municipal contract with the provincial or federal government to get extra officers.
'The funds needed are about $80,000 per police officer,' said Gollan. 'To get policing
levels up to acceptable standards I would like to see an additional two officers.'
While Turner Valley council will weigh the pros and cons of entering into a municipal
contract, Black Diamond council agreed to arrange a meeting with the affected municipalities
to discuss the municipal contract after they met with Gollan during their May 17
council meeting.
In the meantime, Gollan will send a letter to the RCMP head office requesting more
officers, however, that may not be enough.
'The more noise that the communities make to the province, the more chance we have
in getting additional police officers,' said Gollan.
'Every officer in the Turner Valley office is a dedicated police officer. They want
to do more but with not enough manpower they can't do it --we're doing the best we
can.'
Calgary Flames ask fans for patience
By John Barlow
Staff Reporter and Sports Editor
Ten thousand
down, only a mere 4,000 to go is the battle cry of the Calgary Flames organization
as their Flames Foreve seasons ticket campaign burns on.
Flames' president and CEO Ron Bremner was in Okotoks last week speaking to the Okotoks
and District Chamber of Commerce on the plight of Calgary's National Hockey League
franchise.
'We have been accused of putting a gun to people's heads,' said Bremner of the ticket
drive. 'Frankly, if we wanted to put a gun to people's heads we would have put the
franchise up for sale.'
In April, the Flames' ownership announced it needed to reach a number of goals if
the franchise was to have any hope of remaining viable in the City of Calgary.
One of the significant goals was increasing its sagging season's ticket base from
an all-time low of 9,000 last season to 14,000 for the 2000-2001 hockey season.
On Wednesday, the Flames announced season's ticket sales have reached 10,100 bringing
them within 4,000 of their goal.
Although Bremner was encouraged by the numbers he cooled the enthusiasm somewhat
saying season's tickets are just a piece of the Flames' financial puzzle.
The Flames are also looking to improve its Saddledome deal with the City of Calgary.
Bremner compared the Flames to the Oilers in that Edmonton benefits from $10 million
in higher revenue than the Flames just in season tickets (4,000 more than Calgary)
and better arena concessions.
NHL teams in Canada would also like to tap into a piece of the Sports Select pie.
'More than $152 million is spent on Sports Select in this country and the NHL teams
do not get one penny of that money,' said Bremner. 'They use our logo, our schedule
and we don't get a nickel.'
However, can the Flames cry wolf every year and expect to survive long term?
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Although that date is four years away already most owners and even players are resigning themselves to the fact the upcoming negotiations will be bitter and likely result in a work stoppage.
The 2004 agreement will be a turning point for the NHL, especially for those teams still left in Canada, according to the Flames' president.
'We need to stay alive until 2004 when we can bring sanity back to the league,' said Bremner. 'We have to correct how the business of hockey is run.'
Bremner admitted hockey salaries are 'goofy' and owners have to get serious about operating NHL teams like businesses.
There are billionaire owners, not millionaire owners, that want to ice a winning team -- at any cost.
The cost may price Canadian franchises right out of the market unless changes are made in the 2004 agreement.
There is one guarantee Bremner was willing to make.
'If more teams leave this country they will never be back,' said the Flames CEO.
See Quebec City and Winnipeg.
