HighRiver

Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to brief Canada's premiers today following his seemingly successful first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

Carney and Trump spent about two hours together at the White House, including about half an hour in front of the cameras in the Oval Office, and a private luncheon.

Both leaders were accompanied by senior members of their cabinets and their chiefs of staff.

The Conservative caucus has tapped former leader Andrew Scheer to lead the party in the House of Commons when Parliament resumes on May 26 — a role that's needed because Pierre Poilievre lost his seat in last week's election.

"I'll be taking over the parliamentary leadership duties of the caucus until Mr. Poilievre rejoins us in the House," Scheer told reporters after emerging from an all-day caucus meeting on Parliament Hill Tuesday.

An Okotoks couple from the Netherlands is inviting the community to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Dutch Liberation Day.

The occasion is celebrated every five years on May 5 to mark the liberation of the Netherlands by primarily Canadian forces in 1945, following five years of Nazi occupation.

Husband and wife Gary and Anneke Scholte marked the occasion by placing 80 tulips along Okotoks' Salute to our Veterans wall on Veterans Way.

Dry conditions are expected to continue in the Foothills region for the week.  

In April, the Okotoks area saw about 21.2 mm of precipitation, compared to the 33.2 mm that is normal for this time of year.  

“It has been a little bit drier and now we're starting to get into what are considered our wetter months as we head into our summer season,” said Christy Climenhaga, Scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.  

Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump met Tuesday in Washington for their first face-to-face discussion of U.S.-Canada relations and Trump's ongoing trade war.

Here are some highlights from the meeting, which Carney described as both "wide-ranging" and "constructive."

Carney says Canadians will 'never' put a price tag on sovereignty

After months of listening to Trump talk about annexing Canada, Carney told the president in the Oval Office that Canada will "never" be for sale.

Sunday, May 4, was International Firefighters' Day, and an Okotoks business made the most of it with a fundraiser event.

Firehouse Subs hosted a touch-the-truck event, where people were invited to meet members of Okotoks Fire & Rescue, see their equipment up close and donate to the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation

"It was great that Okotoks Fire came out. They were really generous with their time and equipment," said district manager Cam Standish. "They let the families explore the truck, touch equipment, sit in the truck, that kind of awesome stuff."

Canada's Alert Ready Emergency Alert System is being tested on Wednesday, May 6, across the country, except for Quebec.

An alert tone and message will be sent out across radio, television, and smartphones.

The system is used in a wide variety of emergencies, including AMBER alerts, tornadoes, and imminent threats to public safety.

In Alberta, the alert will go out at 1:55 p.m.

The Town of High River will also carry out a siren test at the same time.

The Foothills School Division (FSD) is looking at a potential huge budget shortfall for the next school year.

FSD Superintendent Chris Fuzessy said they're still hoping for more, but it's not looking good.

"We have not yet received our final funding profile from the government. We had an initial one, and we've looked through that, and overall, if you factor increase in costs and a decrease in funding, we're looking at between two and four million dollars less in funding year-to-year from this year to the next school year."

The Town of Okotoks is advising residents of additional parking bans this week while crews continue the spring cleanup.  

The bans are in effect between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.  

During that timeframe, vehicles and obstructions must be removed from the roadways.  

The parking bans include:  

Wednesday, May 7  

Abbey Norek of Gerald is this year's Agriculture Student Scholarship grand-prize $6,000 winner.

Norek's winning video highlighted an urban-rural disconnect when it comes to agriculture. 

She proposed education and advocacy as key solutions to this issue. 

In her video presentation, she talked about her experience building a school garden using recycled materials, leading outreach programs on her family farm, and lobbying for agriculture electives in her school division.