Okotoks

New Democrats are huddling in Montreal to strategize a new path forward ahead of the fall parliamentary session — one that doesn't include the Liberals at their hips and ideally makes them a credible alternative to the Conservatives at the next election.

The three-day caucus retreat kicking off Tuesday comes less than a week after NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced the end of the supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals. 

It's also taking place in one of the two cities where the NDP is hoping to win a byelection on Sept. 16. 

The family of a 15-year-old girl who was lit on fire at a Saskatoon high school has asked people to wear purple Tuesday when classes resume. 

“It is her favourite colour,” the girl’s grandmother said in an interview.  

“It’s going to be a very long recovery, and we’ve put it out there just to let her know that people are thinking of her and praying for her.”

Students are to return to Evan Hardy Collegiate on Tuesday, where last week a witness said the girl had liquid from a black canister poured onto her head which was then lit on fire. 

One of two men sentenced Monday to 6 1/2 years for firearms violations and mischief at the border blockade at Coutts, Alta., says the time he has already spent behind bars has changed him and his "solemn weapon” is now love.

"Stay strong, live free, spread love — not war," Anthony Olienick, reading from a prepared statement, told a Court of King’s Bench judge before sentencing.

“I've gained a stronger understanding into what divine destiny awaits me," he added.

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Foothills County started the week off with some smoke lingering in the air.

Justin Shelly, Meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada explains where the current smoke is coming from.

"There is still a number of active wildfires still ongoing in parts of B.C., and the Northwest Territories, and parts of the Pacific North West. It's kind of hard to pinpoint exactly where it all originated but, just based on the satellite picture... a lot of that smoke got caught up in this little pressure system that's moving across the High Plains," Shelly said. 

The HTA Knights and the Foothills Falcons both played host on Friday (Sept. 6) in Okotoks.

The Knights took a massive 53-10 win over the Medicine Hat Hawks, and the Falcons fell 26-7 to the Cardston Cougars.

HTA finished off with 509 yards with 318 passing and 191 rushing. Medicine Hat was held to 145 yards total, with only 20 passing yards, and finished with 125 rushing.

Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for his sexual assault convictions in Toronto.

His time behind bars will work out to 6.7 years after accounting for credit he received for time already spent in custody.

Nygard’s lawyer had argued for a six-year sentence, citing the 83-year-old’s age and poor health, while the Crown sought a sentence of 15 years.

Nygard was convicted of four counts of sexual assault last November but acquitted of a fifth count as well as one of forcible confinement.

Members and supporters from the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) held a rally in Okotoks on Sunday, September 8.

It was one of the AUPE’s “Time for Action” rallies, which have been held across the province over the course of the summer, with three held the day prior in Calgary, Edmonton, and Red Deer.

Members gathered at the Okotoks Health and Wellness Centre from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to demonstrate amid stalled bargaining talks with the province.

Many people have noticed a marked increase in wasps in Southern Alberta, including the Foothills, this summer.

According to Tony O'Neill, supervisor at Absolute Pest Control, this is one of their busiest years when it comes to wasps.

"This season is probably the busiest in the last five years," says O'Neill. "Being August now, they're naturally a nuisance, anyways, for foraging around and you just see more of that simply because there's more nests this time of year, this season."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may be bracing for an earful from his caucus when Liberal MPs gather in Nanaimo, B.C. today to plot their strategy for the coming election year.

It will be the first time he faces them as a group since MPs departed Ottawa in the spring.

Still stinging from a devastating byelection loss earlier this summer, the caucus is now also reeling from news that their national campaign director has resigned and the party can no longer count on the NDP to stave off an early election.