FortSask

Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has launched consultations focused on developing a Sustainable Agriculture Strategy that will support the livelihood fo farmers while growing a sustainable sector.

She says the Strategy will focus on five key areas - soil health, climate adaptation and resilience, water, climate change mitigation, and biodiversity. 

Police are looking for a man who was allegedly stealing poppy boxes in Fort Saskatchewan.

Through an investigation in November, police determined that 59-year-old Perry Chernish was the culprit.

Chernish has been charged with five counts of theft under $5,000 dollars.

Mounties say they're still trying to locate Chernish and have issued an arrest warrant.

Police are asking anyone with information on Chernish's whereabouts to contact the Fort Saskatchewan RCMP detachment.

Two Fort Saskatchewan hockey players will suit up for Team Canada at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship. 

Colton Dach and Olen Zellweger both made the squad. 

Zellweger, who currently plays for the Everett Silvertips of the WHL, is a veteran of the world junior tournament, having won gold with Canada last summer. 

"There are expectations, and the team has a lot of goals in mind for the tournament," Zellweger told MIX 107.

The 19-year-old is an Anaheim Ducks prospect. 

The UN Biodiversity Conference "COP-15" continues in Montreal this week. 

The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) focus centers around protecting nature and halting biodiversity loss around the world.

Tom Lynch-Staunton, Alberta VP of Nature Conservancy of Canada says conserving grassland ecosystems in Alberta has global impact.

2021 is a year many in the ag sector would like to forget, the widespread drought resulted in a loss in production that left many farmers having to pay significant penalties on unfulfilled grain contracts.

Marlene Boersch of Mercantile Consulting Venture has released a report looking at the issue around grain contracts.

Boersch was one of the presenters last week during the APAS AGM.

She says the current contracts are heavily tilted in favor of the buyer.

A Private Members Bill C-294 - An Act to amend the Copyright Act - focusing on interoperability has passed second reading in the House of Commons.

The Bill put forward by the Conservative MP for Cypress Hills-Grasslands, Jeremy Patzer was supported by all parties.

Patzer says some of the major agricultural manufacturers (like John Deere) are using technological protection measures (TPM) to lock out shortline equipment manufacturers like Honey Bee, Macdon, and Degelman.

Local Member of Parliament (MP) Garnett Genuis has gone viral in the most unexpected of places... TikTok.

At the House of Commons on Dec. 6, Genuis delivered a politics-laden rendition of A Visit from St. Nicholas, a poem by Clement Clarke Moore.

Genuis' version shares the poem's opening line, 'T'was the night before Christmas', before referencing Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum, the ArriveCAN app, and journalist Dale Smith.

Communities in the region are not happy with how Alberta Health Services (AHS) is handling the lack of X-ray services in Morinville. 

The Morinville Clinic has been without a functional X-ray machine since February 2020 and is still awaiting a replacement from AHS. 

Last January, it was announced that the services would be closed permanently due to low patient numbers, difficulty in recruiting staff, and no functioning equipment. 

Yet, that hasn't stopped local leaders from pushing back. 

Police have provided an update on a collision that killed two people on Highway 21. 

The Strathcona County RCMP say they were called to the incident at 10:28 a.m. on Friday (Dec. 9) near the Belvedere Golf Course.

"Upon arrival, emergency personnel discovered that two individuals, a 21-year-old female resident of Strathcona County and a 40-year-old female resident of Fort McMurray were deceased," the RCMP reported in a release. 

Two other people in their 40s were taken to the hospital with injuries. 

Two people died Friday (Dec. 9) in a collision on Highway 21. 

Emergency services were called to a four-vehicle crash involving a semi near the Belevedere Golf Course. 

Two other people in their 40s were taken to hospital. Two children were also assessed in the incident but not taken for emergency care. 

Police had Highway 21 blocked off near Township Road 514, it has since reopened. 

Read the most recent update from the RCMP, here.