Alberta EMS Senior Vice President Sue Conroy spoke with Fast Forward for this week’s article about EMS concerns. Though she was not able to speak before the story went to print, a transcript of the interview is available here:

Reporter: I’m looking for some response from the government and AHS the survey and what is going to happen now.

Sue Conroy: Alberta Health Services actually has responsibility for operations for EMS in the province. I just want to be sure you’re aware of that, I’m not speaking on behalf of government. Very good. So you’re aware of the survey, and again just to reiterate, so, the survey was done by HSAA and in, of the staff in the Edmonton Metro area.

So I guess I want to begin by saying that I certainly do take the feedback … Read More

The Calgary Food Committee commenced its Food System Assessment and Action Plan today. The assessment will research Calgary’s food system, studying how and where Calgary’s food is produced, processed, shipped, eaten and ultimately thrown away.

City of Calgary sustainability consultant Rebecca Newlove says the report will contribute to the city’s Food Action Plan; an initiative intended to help Calgarians "access and afford more local, healthy, nutritious food."

"What we don’t have currently is information on how many Calgarians have access to healthy food," Newlove said at a Jan. 12 press conference.

The Food Committee consists of farmers, local businesses and chefs, city staff and representatives from Alberta … Read More

Darren Sandbeck

Executive Director of Calgary and Central Zone EMS, Alberta Health Services

January 3, 2012

 
First of all, do you know about this survey report?

 I have knowledge of it. It is Edmonton-focused, so I don’t really have a lot to contribute from, you know, my perspective here in Calgary.

Do you know why they would have done it in Edmonton and not more province-wide?

I don’t, no, I don’t know.

I wish they would tell me. Now, is the HSAA independent of the Alberta Health Services?

That’s correct. HSAA is the union.

So they’re completely independent of each other?

Correct.

 Alright. Now I’m not sure if you would know that, if you know this, but I would like to know if staff turnover is fairly high in this field as a rule, because it’s a fairly stressful … Read More

Alberta has passed its contentious impaired driving bill, imposing stricter penalties on drivers who are impaired or refuse to submit to an on-the-spot Breathalyzer test.

Calgary lawyer Bob Sawer contends the new law violates basic judicial principles. "Seeing as you’re being punished and losing your license for up to a year or two pending the outcome of your trial, I would say that’s a breach of the presumption of innocence," Sawer says. "How would you like it if you run into some police officer who says you refused to provide a breath sample because you wanted to speak to your lawyer, you get charged, you’re completely innocent of anything and you’re found to be innocent, but meanwhile you lose your license and your means to … Read More

A Calgary woman contends someone sprayed bear or pepper spray on Occupy Calgary’s library and information tent. Though Occupy members were cleaning the area and warning people off when Mary March arrived with her three children yesterday, some of the noxious  substance affected her 11-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter.

"One of my children walked into the tent and we all yelled at him, ‘get out! get out!’ but he still had got residual spray on his mouth. And my daughter who just walked by the tent got it on her face as well," says March.

March and her family were at Olympic Plaza for a day of skating when they dropped by the Occupy camp for its "meet and greet."

While most Occupy Calgary protestors are at court today to fight a city … Read More

Hundreds gathered in front of Bankers Hall on Oct. 15 to vent their frustration with global, national and local economic policies that they feel have gone off the rails.

There will be some hearty souls camping in Olympic Plaza tonight to carry on the protest. Here's a taste of what happened today.

Jay Ritchie, a Calgrian who moved to Montreal last year, went down to New York City on October 8 in order to better understand what was happening at Occupy Wall Street and sent us this video. It's of the march on Liberty Square.

Occupy Calgary starts today at 1 p.m. at Bankers Hall.

 … Read More

So, what's the worst-kept secret of the day? Calgary is going to be named the cultural capital of Canada for 2012. What does that mean? Money! Lots of it and all earmarked for cultural events and organizations.

Of course, this isn't official yet. There is the slim possibility that James Moore, the minister of heritage and official languages, is just popping into town with an entourage of Conservative MPs to laugh in our faces while he tells us we don't get a damn thing. If it was any other government, that wouldn't even be possibility, but with these guys? Who knows.

Assuming we do get a bunch of money from the feds this afternoon (the announcement is at 12:30 and we'll let you know how it goes), there are some questions that need to answered: Where … Read More

Insight and public accountability into issues such as military helicopter cost overruns, a severance package for the ousted integrity commissioner and renovations on parliament hill have been dealt a death blow thanks to the Conservative government's actions at the public accounts committee.

The decision to shelve the auditor general's reports into these issue is a sad day for public oversight of how our government operates. It's another move by the Conservatives to keep the public in the dark.

For those who don't follow CBC reporter Kady O'Malley, do it. She's a tireless watcher of Parliament Hill. Here's a link to her summary of what happened when the body that is responsible for overseeing the actions of a majority … Read More