By modifying the St. Albert Public Library Board’s budget request before presenting it to St. Albert City Council as part of its proposed city budget, the city’s administration contravened the Alberta Libraries Act, the library board’s co-chairs advised city councillors in an Oct. 22 letter to the city’s mayor and
Continue readingTag: City of St. Albert
Alberta Politics: St. Albert city administration wants to cut $500,000 from public library – and add $480,000 for 2 new senior administrators
The City of St. Albert’s administration posted a proposed 2023 budget Monday that includes a brutal $500,000 single-year funding cut to the St. Albert Public Library. A typical scene before the library’s main branch in St. Albert City Hall opens (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). The budget proposal was added to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It’s late for snowflakes, but UCP gas minister melts down over criticism at St. Albert Pride flag raising
St. ALBERT, Alberta — My goodness, it’s rough being a government minister in this province! Sometimes people will even criticize you! Dale Nally, associate minister of natural gas and electricity and MLA for Morinville-St. Albert (Photo: Government of Alberta). I mean, seriously, the nerve! This never used to happen to
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Too many senior managers are leaving the City of St. Albert: It’s time for City Council to explain what’s going on
ST. ALBERT, Alberta What the heck is going on at the City of St. Albert? According to the headline on a small news story inside Saturday’s edition of the St. Albert Gazette, our community’s twice-weekly newspaper, “City restructures upper management.” That’s one way of putting it. From here, though, the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Elke Blodgett was a passionate environmentalist, artist and committed friend of St. Albert
PHOTO: Elke Blodgett in 2016. (Photo: Screenshot from City of St. Albert video.) ST. ALBERT, Alberta I once described Elke Blodgett as not just a passionate advocate for our natural environment, but a force of nature herself. So it was particularly shocking to learn yesterday that Elke, environmentalist, artist, and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jim Hole, high-profile Alberta horticulturalist, does his bit to make cannabis cultivation respectable in Canada
PHOTOS: Hole’s Greenhouses co-owner Jim Hole at yesterday’s news conference at his store in St. Albert. Below: Atlas Growers President and CEO Sheldon Croome. Below him: Mr. Hole tests the light in his pot-growing enclosure for a group of mildly bemused reporters. As readers can see, the unit can also
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Far out! Welcome to St. Albert, Alberta, where ‘The Botanic Arts City’ is about to take on a whole new meaning
PHOTOS: Picture yourself in a boat on a river … in this case, the Sturgeon. Below: The statue of Lois Hole in front of St. Albert’s spacy city hall and Holes’ Greenhouses. ST. ALBERT, Alberta Picture yourself in a boat on a river With tangerine trees and marmalade skies …
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Cathy Heron is the candidate for mayor of St. Albert with a compelling and positive vision for the future
PHOTOS: St. Albert mayoral candidate Cathy Heron at her official campaign launch. Below: Candidates Cam MacKay and Malcolm Parker, and outgoing Mayor Nolan Crouse; St. Albert Place architect Douglas Cardinal, and first artistic director Maralyn Ryan. ST. ALBERT, Alberta In the first few moments of Wednesday’s mayoral candidates’ forum in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Municipal politics: If you choose to run with a slate, don’t complain when you’re asked about other members’ views
PHOTOS: St. Albert’s iconic city hall, site of the growing community’s only public library. Image grabbed from Councillor Wes Brodhead’s website. Below: Mayoral candidates Cathy Heron and Cam MacKay (photos grabbed from their campaign materials), and one side of the anti-branch-library leaflet published by a group of six candidates for
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Thinking about St. Albert’s aspirants for the mayor’s office: You can elect a candidate, but you can’t make him work
PHOTOS: City Councillor Cathy Heron, who is running for mayor of St. Albert, on the campaign trail. Below: Councillor Cam MacKay, who is also seeking the mayor’s job, fishing in Winnipeg in 2016, a screenshot of a social media post he published, and former councillor Malcolm Parker, the third mayoral
Continue readingAlberta Politics: FOI filings show Councillor Sheena Hughes’ controversial comments didn’t end with her ‘sack of hammers’ remark
PHOTOS: A screenshot taken from the City of St. Albert video of the Feb. 17, 2015, City Council meeting, showing Councillor Sheena Hughes speaking about changes to the School Site Allocation Agreement, which she found unsatisfactory. Below: Councillor Cam MacKay, Councillor Bob Russell, George Cuff, author of the provincial municipal
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘What would Lois do?’ asks leader of St. Albert’s Vote Yes for the Library campaign at Saturday evening launch event
PHOTOS: In the foreground, former St. Albert Public Library Board chair Charmaine Brooks, who now leads the Vote Yes for the Library campaign, and mayoral candidate Cathy Heron, a city councillor, at last night’s campaign launch. Below: A band perked things up and Library Director Peter Bailey addressed the crowd
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘What would Lois do?’ asks St. Albert Public Library Board chair at launch of Vote Yes campaign for a branch library
PHOTOS: In the foreground, St. Albert Public Library Board Chair Charmaine Brooks and mayoral candidate Cathy Heron, a city councillor, at last night’s Vote Yes for the Library campaign launch. Below: A band perked things up and Library Director Peter Bailey addressed the crowd of about 200 people at the
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Has St. Albert mayoral candidate Cam MacKay moved from opposition to a branch library to opposition to libraries?
PHOTOS: A children’s reading event at the St. Albert Public Library, illustrating the level of partication in some of the library’s programs. (Photo: YesForTheLibrary.ca.) Below: Councillor Cam MacKay, who is running for mayor of St. Albert on a platform that prominently features opposition to a new branch library, and St.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: MacKay, Hughes and Russell ID’d as St. Albert city council members who made statements criticized by Cuff Report
PHOTOS: St. Albert City Council, all smiles, back in the day a bit. From left to right, Bob Russell, Sheena Hughes, Tim Osborne, Nolan Crouse, Wes Brodhead, Cam MacKay and Cathy Heron. Below: Consultant George Cuff, author of the municipal inspection report, and informal shots of Councillors Russell, MacKay and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Tales from the Council Crypt: Unnamed councillors ID’d in four statements criticized in St. Albert inspection report
PHOTOS: Councillor Bob Russell, at a recent picnic held to support the candidacy of Councillor Cam MacKay, who is running for mayor of St. Albert. Below: Councillor MacKay and Councillor Sheena Hughes, at the same event, and George Cuff, author of the “inspection report” on the work of St. Albert’s
Continue readingAlberta Politics: St. Albert inspection report points fingers at outrageous behaviour by some councillors, but fails to name names
PHOTOS: Consultant George Cuff, author of the City of St. Albert “inspection report,” at St. Albert City Hall after yesterday afternoon’s special council meeting. In the background, portraits of earlier, perhaps less fractious, St. Albert city councils. Below: Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Shaye Anderson and St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Judge dismisses bid to have St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse removed from office
PHOTOS: St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse. Below: Mayoral candidates Cam MacKay and Cathy Heron. ST. ALBERT, Alberta An Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench Justice yesterday dismissed an application by a St. Albert resident to have Mayor Nolan Crouse removed from office based on allegations the mayor had violated provisions of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Having raised the issue, St. Albert mayoral candidate needs to explain what he planned to do if judge ruled in court case
PHOTOS: St. Albert City Councillor Cam MacKay, who is running for mayor of the municipality northwest of Edmonton. Below: St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse and mayoral candidate Cathy Heron, also a city councillor. ST. ALBERT, Alberta Surely more than a few St. Alberta residents wondered what City Councillor Cam MacKay
Continue readingAlberta Politics: With 588 invalid signatures, petition to St. Albert City Council opposing borrowing bylaw for library ruled invalid
PHOTOS: Supporters of the St. Albert Public Library gathered for a reception in the crowded downtown facility in 2015. Below: St. Albert City Councillors Bob Russell (Photo: City of St. Albert), Cathy Heron (Photo: Twitter) and Cam MacKay. ST. ALBERT, Alberta Surely St. Albert City Council should get the city’s
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