Former Alberta MP pleads guilty to careless driving

Former Alberta MP Rahim Jaffer plead guilty on Tuesday to a careless driving charge and was fined $500.

Blog: Hutterites refuse photos for driver’s licences

A story by Jamie Komarnicki of the Calgary Herald raises a whole raft of points and, no doubt, an even wider range of opinions. As Komarnicki writes, a group of Alberta Hutterites says it plans to drive without proper driver’s licences rather than violate long-held religious beliefs by posing for the photo required by official government documents.

Calgary Mayor: Full Speed Ahead on Ring Road Plan B

When the Tsuu T’ina nation surprised Calgarians (and Premier Ed Stelmach) by voting against the proposal that would have saw the SW portion of the ring road cut through their reserve, the Municipal and Provincial Governments immediately began working on alternative plans. Action on the alternative plans was so swift that even the Tsuu T’ina nation seemed to be caught off-guard as Chief Sandford Big Plume held onto his hope that talks would resume. Unfortunately for Big Plume, the Province of Alberta and the City of Calgary were done talking. 40 Years of talking is too much, even for politicians.

The City took the first step to alleviate traffic pressures in the SW by constructing a roundabout on 37th street. Instead of allowing eastbound Glenmore Trail traffic to turn left across westbound Glenmore Trail traffic the new configuration has drivers making a right turn at 37th street. They then enter the roundabout to make a u-turn to continue travelling on north on 37th street. The location of the roundabout irked the Tsuu T’ina tribe–it is located right at the entrance of the Grey Eagle Casino. The City received a letter from the tribe on October 16th, dated October 2nd which warns that the Tsuu T’ina nation:

“does not consent to any road construction on or near Tsuu T’ina Nation lands not accounting for the Tsuu T’ina Nation’s rights to enter and leave lands at any point along our borders.” It goes on to say that “any interference by the city of Calgary of Tsuu T’ina Nation’s rights to enter and leave its lands at any point along Tsuu T’ina Nation boundaries constitutes a breach of our rights under Treaty No. 7.

The next part is the kicker:

“Any construction of roads by the city of Calgary or the permitting of any other buildings or development along the road is a breach of Tsuu T’ina Nation’s rights under Treaty No. 7.”

Mayor Dave Bronconnier was not deterred by the threat of legal action. “We’re not going to stop because the First Nation writes a letter asking us to stop.” He went on to reiterate that the City of Calgary will continue to provide the tribe legal access to the reserve through the Anderson Road and 37th street intersection. The mayor said the city would consult with the Tsuu T’ina nation as a courtesy. “We would seek their input, not their approval.”

Brilliant. I say if you’re going to play hardball, you better be ready to deal with the outcome. The Tsuu T’ina gambled for a better deal from the Province and City but their bluff was called. They now face the prospects of getting nothing and may even lose a key entrance to their Grey Eagle Casino. Perhaps the gambling should best be kept inside the casino.

Auto Insurance In Alberta To Drop by 5%

After raising the basic auto insurance rate by 5% last year, the auto insurance industry will be rolling back that increase after the Auto Insurance Rate Board announced its decision today after holding public hearings last month. As with the increase last year, the new rates will take effect on November 1st. The AIRB only regulates the cost the basic insurance and not additional coverage such as collision.

“Today’s announcement shows how auto insurance reforms are working for Albertans,” Alf Savage, chairman of the Auto Insurance Rate Board, said in a statement.

“Since the introduction of the reforms in 2004, rates for compulsory auto insurance coverage have decreased by 18 per cent.”

While compulsory auto insurance rates have gone down, insurance companies have offset the difference with increased premiums for collision coverage. The court ruling that allows the Alberta Government to set a compensation cap on soft-tissue injuries benefits only the insurance companies at the expense of Albertans.

Think about this for a moment. The 5% decrease in insurance premiums works out on average to be about $30/year back into your pocket. For the short-term thinkers this may seem like a great thing; thats an extra case of beer, Right on! However, as anyone that has been involved in an injury accident can attest to, the $4,500 cap on soft-tissue injury compensation is hardly enough to cover all the medical and other miscellaneous expenses that come with these injuries. The cap on payouts keeps the money in the insurance companies pocket, and drivers in alberta get a slap-in-your-face $30 back.

Enjoy your beer.

Another Step Closer To 37th Street Ring Road

The title is a bit misleading, but we are one step closer to seeing some expansion of the roadways in the southwest portion of Calgary with Premier Ed Stelmach saying today that the province is not going to resume talks with the Tsuu T’ina Nation after the band voted against the Ring Road proposal. Instead the Municipal and Provincial Governments will work together to fund the expansion of existing roads to alleviate the traffic pressures caused by the numerous delays to the SW portion of the ring road project.

The vote was taken. The agreement was turned down. There’s no coming back,” the premier said in Calgary today.

Tsuu T’ina Chief Sandford Big Plume as recently as last week hoped talks would resume. From an outsider’s perspective it looks like Tsuu T’ina people gambled for a bigger and better deal from the Province and lost big time. Instead of a counter-offer, the Province and City have officially closed the doors to any talks and plan to build around the reserve. The band has scheduled a meeting to discuss the ring road for later this week.

However, the Tsuu T’ina First Nations are not the only group that is not ready to move on. Environment Minister Jim Prentice said today that he hopes talks will resume between the Province and the band. I think 40 years is enough talking and every year we sit around and do nothing, the traffic continues to grow. The costs to build the roadway will continue to soar.

“It’s an essential project,” Prentice said. “I hope that the province and Tsuu T’ina pick up that ball and get on with it.”

We don’t necessarily need the SW portion of the ring road. Aside from the fact there wouldn’t be a “ring” around the city, there is no harm in leaving out the portion that would have run through the Tsuu T’ina land. Instead, expanding Glenmore Trail to 6 lanes and building an interchange at 37th street and Highway 8 would keep traffic moving there for years. A 37th street tunnel (or bridge like the one over Bowness Park) would further alleviate any traffic pressures. The 37th street tunnel would be subsidized by the Tsuu T’ina First Nations because they need easy access to the Grey Eagle Casino at the corner of Glenmore and 37th street.

I wish city planning was as easy as Sim City :)

AMA: Too Many Albertans Driving While Distracted

A car is not a living room.

More and more Albertans are distracted while driving, says Kent Dixon, of the Alberta Motor Association.

“I see more and more people driving their vehicles as though they’re sitting on their couch at home,” he said.”They’re doing anything but paying attention. Driving is not about multi-tasking.”

Add impaired driving and speed to various driver distractions, like text-messaging, and the chances of a collision increase dramatically.

“It really just takes a split-second for an error in judgment or a moment of distraction to cause a collision. There is no such thing as an accident, there are only collisions which can be avoided.”

With the improved weather and road conditions, unfortunately comes increased speeds and risk-taking on Alberta roads as people deal with cabin fever, he said.

Alberta Transportation statistics show that 46 per cent of fatalities on Alberta roads happen between the May and Labour Day long weekends. Between 1998 and 2007, there were more than 10,000 injuries and 225 deaths on roads in Alberta.

Dixon is asking drivers to take reponsibility for their own actions and look out for the safety of, not just themselves, but others as well. He added there’s no excuse to drink and drive.

“We’re not telling people not to drink,” he said. “We’re telling people to drink responsibility.”

Kimberley Collins-Lauber, Edmonton Journal
kcollins-lauber@thejournal.canwest.com

New Alberta License Plates Delayed

The Alberta Government was set to unveil new license plates this year as we are due to run out of possible combinations using the existing plates. The new plates will incorporate a new visual theme of either mountains or wild roses and a new slogan. However, we will have to wait a little longer to see the new plates because the new plates will not be unveiled this year.

“It simply doesn’t make sense to me to commit millions of dollars to replace all plates in the province this year,” said Service Alberta Minister Heather Klimchuk. “However, it was very clear during our consultation that Albertans are very interested in their licence plate and would like to see the design updated. We plan to meet that commitment, when the time is right.”

The Government will wait until economic conditions improve to unveil the new license plates as it simply does not make sense to spend millions of dollars at this time. Instead, when all the plate combinations runs out this summer, a fourth digit will be added creating a new 7 digit (ABC-1234) plate configuration.

So I guess we’ll have to wait for $75-80 oil before we start seeing these new plates. Damn recession, I was looking forward to seeing these new plates. ;)

Forum Weekly Review December 20

In this weekly segment, we cover the top discussions going on in the automotive forums. These threads may be the most recent hot topics, or epic threads that we just wanted to dig up and feature.

If you have a suggestion for a thread to be included on the forum weekly review, e-mail it to info@beyond.ca. If you have not joined our forums, register today its free!

Best TV Shows Flying Under the Radar
There is a lot of great television on these days, in fact theres too much! I can’t even keep up with a PVR so I’ve had to stop watching certain shows that don’t make the cut as there just isn’t enough time to keep up. Many people miss out on shows simply because there are so many of them trying to get our attention and inevitably, some of them slip under the radar. What are some shows you love that are not getting the attention they deserve?

Speed On Green Cameras Approved in Alberta
Red Light Cameras in Edmonton and Calgary will soon have a new feature enabled on them that will let the Police collect revenue for those that speed through intersections. While the original rationale behind the push for “speed on green” cameras was to nab drivers that sped up when the light turned yellow, the functionality allows the cameras to take photos of drivers that speed through intersections even on fresh greens. The province has allowed cameras to begin operating with the new features effective January 1, 2009 but it will take some time to turn on the new features. Calgary Police plan on having a grace period of 90 days before actual tickets are issued.

Tom’s Bottle Recycling Center Reviews Thread
This thread just had to be a part of the weekly review! :) Tom has been gracious enough to write up a review of two bottle depots in Calgary when he recently did a quick test of them. He got 100% of the money he was supposed to at both places and gives them both a thumbs up if you plan on recycling some bottles in the near future (who isn’t with all the CHRISTMAS dinners coming up?).

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! :)

RCMP No Longer Chasing Fleeing Vehicles

In what could be one of the biggest mistakes by a police force, the RCMP confirmed that they will no longer chase suspects fleeing in stolen vehicles in Alberta. The new pursuit policy has been in place for at least two months already, but it has not been made public until now. Now, I’m not saying the policy is a mistake but publically disclosing it is. Why did the RCMP reveal their hand? It would have been perfectly fine to adopt this new policy while keeping it under wraps.

With this new knowledge of the RCMP’s vehicle pursuit policy, car thieves may now feel they can take a car for a quick joyride without fear of being pursued on the rural highways or in smaller towns where the RCMP patrol.

“Our new policy now discourages pursuing a stolen vehicle, just for the sole purpose that it’s stolen,” he said, adding the new policy won’t give drivers of stolen cars a free pass.

“Obviously if somebody is in a stolen vehicle and is impaired or has been involved in other criminal activity, then there’s no strict prohibition from engaging or not engaging, there’s all kinds of factors that will come into play.

“All pursuit policies have a balance or risk assessment portion so our members can have the policies and tools in place so they can judge if something is getting way too risky, as far as public safety goes, for the benefits of criminal apprehension.”

When I first read this I did a little poking around and found that there were many cases of RCMP police chases ending badly in BC but not so many in Alberta. Perhaps it is because the RCMP patrols in the Greater Vancouver Area. I wonder why the RCMP chose Alberta as the testing grounds for this new vehicle pursuit policy?

The Calgary Police Service has a similar pursuit policy but they also have the advantage of patrolling a much smaller area. Oh, and they also have two helicopters that can be called in to assist in a pursuit if it is available. The RCMP will be evaluating the success of the new pursuit policy and if successful will be deploying it in other regions.

Playground, School Zones To Start at 7:30am

Alberta Transportation is working on changing playground and school zones so they begin one hour earlier, at 7:30am as opposed to 8:00am currently for school zones and 8:30am for playground zones. In our previous discussions on the effectiveness of playground zones, many of you expressed frustration towards motorists that went 30 km/h before the start time of the playground zones. Now with these changes working their way through the legislature, we can all slow down.

“It doesn’t make sense to have a playground zone when cars are only slowing down after the bell has rung,” says Laura Shutiak, president of the Calgary Association of Parents and School Councils.

“The big issue has always been morning times, and anything that deals with that is helpful.”

Alberta Transportation Minister Luke Ouelette said his department is looking to standardize both school and playground zones so they both start at 7:30am and end at 5:00pm, leaving the option for municipalities to alter the end times through bylaws. Calgary currently has its Playground zones end 1 hour after sunset, but according to Ald. Ray Jones, chairman of the city’s transportation committee, it may look towards having both Playground and School zones end 1 hour after sunset.

Having both school and playground zones start and end at the same time is great for motorists. If a driver spends any time deciding if a school or playground is active, then they are not focusing on the road and potentially forgetting to slow down. The province will be holding public consultation and information meetings throughout the province before the changes are made.