Lacombe

The federal government is intervening in a countrywide work stoppage at Canada's two biggest railways, but railworkers are pushing back against Ottawa's move to get them back on the job.

In the culmination of months of increasingly bitter negotiations, Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out 9,300 engineers, conductors and yard workers in the early hours of Thursday.

Here are the latest developments on the rail stoppage (all times are ET):

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At the regular Lacombe County Council Meeting held on August 22nd some of the topics discussed included Medicine Lodge Ski Club, Mirror Library, and the annual appointment of auditors.

Here are the highlights as provided by Lacombe County:

LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR MEDICINE LODGE SKI CLUB

Lacombe County will provide the Medicine Lodge Ski Club with a letter of support regarding its application for grant funding through the Alberta Active Communities Initiative to upgrade the ski lifts at Medicine Lodge Ski Hill.

Lacombe Pride Weekend celebrations kicked off today (Aug. 23) with a 2-Spirit flag raising ceremony at the Michener House Museum.  

The flag raising ceremony was in partnership between the Lacombe Pride Society and the Lacombe Museums.  

Jonathan Luscombe, Lacombe Pride Society executive director explained that it was important to begin Pride Weekend with the flag raising ceremony as an act of reconciliation.   

The ongoing rail conflict between members of the Teamster's Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), CPKC, and CN Rail has had another development as the union is planning a strike.

This morning the TCRC issued a 72-hour strike notice which detailed that they would be withdrawing work for 6500 members from CN Rail beginning on Monday.

The union previously issued strike notices for CPKC, which will have workers remain off the job pending an order from the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

The Red Deer RCMP are investigating a sexual assault that occurred in November 2022.

Officers were advised that while waiting for public transit, at a downtown transit terminal, a female youth victim was approached by a male with a knife who then forced her into his truck, where the assault took place.

After continued investigation, Red Deer RCMP have been able to obtain a composite sketch of the suspect who is described as:

Fall swimming lessons and advanced programming registration opens today (Aug. 23) at 8 a.m. 

Citizens can register online on the Town of Ponoka’s website, or in-person at the Ponoka Aquaplex (5315 46 Avenue). 

A full list of available swimming lessons can be found online, paper copies are also available at the Aquaplex.  

Programs will begin in late September.  

The Blackfalds Bulldogs are less than three weeks away from kicking off the 2024-2025 season. This will be their first full season in the BCHL after moving to that league in the middle of last year.

The team will start the season with five exhibition games. The first game will be at home on Tuesday, September 10 against Okotoks. It starts at 7 p.m. at the Eagle Builders Centre in Blackfalds. 

The pre-season wraps up on September 17th with the regular season starting on September 20th with a home game against Sherwood Park.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference says it has taken down picket lines at Canadian National Railway Co. and its workers will begin returning to work on Friday.

However, the union says the work stoppage at Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. remains ongoing pending an order from the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

Following months of increasingly fraught contract talks, Canada's two biggest railways both locked out workers after failing to reach deals with the union by a Thursday deadline.

Canada's two biggest railways say they’re preparing to get trains back on track after Ottawa intervened to end an unprecedented labour impasse that disrupted business across the country and cancelled commutes for thousands.

Canadian National Railway Co., in a statement Thursday, said it has ended the lockout of workers that began earlier in the day.

The move came shortly after Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said he has asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration to end the dispute and get the trains running.

The federal government has decided to impose binding arbitration between the Teamster's Canada Rail Conference, CN Rail, and CPKC.

The worker's union and the two companies had entered into a lockout at 12:01 a.m. this morning.

Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon announced the decision at a news conference in the afternoon.

That came after the Canada Industrial Relations Board set August 22 as the date for strike action, following a decision that labeled the rail industry as non-essential.