Okotoks

Water usage in Okotoks was lower this summer than the two prior.

At their October 28 meeting, Okotoks Town Council was presented a report showing water usage from summer 2024 compared to the last two summers.

Alberta started 2024 with concerns over drought conditions, with the provincial government and many municipal governments taking measures to prepare for drought-based emergencies.

As the summer drew closer, explains the report, an increase in snowpack levels and much-needed precipitation averted the extreme conditions that were anticipated.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has given 72-hour strike notice to Canada Post.

The notice is for both the union's urban and rural bargaining units.

In a release early Tuesday morning, the union says workers will be in a legal strike position as of Friday if negotiated settlements have not been reached.

However, the union says its national executive board has yet to decide if a job action will happen at the deadline, saying that will depend on Canada Post's actions at the bargaining table in the coming days.

Canadians gathered Monday in cities and towns across the country to honour the sacrifice of men and women in uniform who gave their lives in service of the country's values and principles.

Here are some scenes from Remembrance Day ceremonies across Canada.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) held its annual lobby day in Ottawa on Oct. 22., 2024.

CFA President Keith Currie was pleased with the result.

"We obtained just over 40 meetings with elected Senate office staff, ministerial staff. It was, we felt, a very successful lobby day and then we copped it off at the end of the day with a reception. We had nearly 250 people attending, elected, and people from the Senate and industry stakeholders. All in all a very good day."

Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay also provided remarks.

An echoing peal of cannon fire signalled the start of a moment of silence in St. John's, N.L., and throngs of people along the city's two main downtown streets fell quiet and bowed their heads.

Canadians gathered Monday in cities and towns across the country to honour the sacrifice of men and women in uniform who gave their lives in service of the country's values and principles.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon paid their respects in a Remembrance Day ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa. 

Former B.C. judge Randall (Bud) Wong remembers getting out of bed early one morning when he was five to greet his uncle at the train station in Vancouver at the end of the Second World War in 1945.

His uncle Delbert Yen Chow was returning from India after years of service as an infantryman.

“I remember very vividly my uncle coming off the train, and he was wearing his army uniform and knapsack,” said Wong, 83. 

“We were so happy to see him that we took him home, and then he came to live with us.”

Canadian Army veterans are healing their psychological wounds with some help from equine friends.

Since starting equine therapy last June, Christian has regularly visited Mirabel's Equi-Sens stable, about 33 kilometres north of Montreal, to see the horse that has helped him “to be at peace.”

The Carstar Okotoks Bisons took control over the number one spot in the HJHL Southern Division this weekend with a 4-1 win over the Medicine Hat Cubs on Friday (Nov. 8) and then came up just short in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Agra Risk Wheatland Kings.

The Herd's three-game winning streak was snapped in the shootout loss, but they have earned at least a point in their last four games.

The Okotoks Oilers were edged out 2-0 by the league-leading Brooks Bandits last night (Nov. 8), and then they followed it up with a 3-2 win over the West Kelowna Warriors in their first-ever meeting for their BCHL weekend games.

Applause erupted over and over at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg Sunday as the son of Murray Sinclair, a former judge, senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into residential schools, spoke about his father.

Niigaan Sinclair said his dad "was a first" in every room he walked into.

"It was impossible to go through a mall without 17 people, two of them he'd sentenced to jail at one point, coming up to him and saying how much they appreciated him," Niigaan Sinclair said.