Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

Elder abuse is any action or inaction by self or others that jeopardizes the health or well –being of an older adult. Elder abuse can take several forms including financial, emotional, physical, sexual, medication and neglect, with more than one type of abuse often occurring at the same time. Elder abuse can include the infliction of physical injury, restraint, financial exploitation, threats, ridicule, insult or humiliation, withholding medication, unwanted touching or sexual contact, forced isolation (physical or social), or forced change in living arrangements. It may also include neglect, which is defined as the refusal or failure to care for an older person. The Lethbridge Elder Abuse Response Network (LEARN) is a collaboration of human services organizations that responds to and provides education, awareness and advocacy for everyone that may be affected by abuse. The network consists of a full-time Case Manager, a part time Coordinator, a Steering Committee made up of representatives from Alberta Health Services, Lethbridge Police Service, Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization, City of Lethbridge and representatives from 29 human support service agencies. The speakers will review what elder abuse may include. They will also detail several measures to deal with such abuse as well as preventative action that can be taken to protect potential victims and their families, friends and caregivers. Speakers: Rob Miyashiro, one of the founders of LEARN, Joanne Blinco, LEARN Case Manager, Lavonn Mutch, LEARN coordidator and Erin Vogt who is the Coordinator of Support Programs for LSCO and part of LEARN Moderator: Chelsea Sherbut Date: Thursday, September 6, 2018 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with desert & coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required

Alcohol abuse and addiction are two of the most complex and costly challenges facing Canadian society. According to the Washington Post, alcohol kills more people than HIV, AIDS, TB and violence combined. Heavy or even regular alcohol consumption increases the risk of developing cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, breast, colon and rectum. In 2013, alcohol-related health care, law enforcement and lost productivity cost Canadians $14.6 billion. Globally, more than 3 million people die yearly from causes related to alcohol consumption. And it’s not just men boozing it up!! All over the western world, including Canada, women are consuming more alcohol than ever before. Compared to a decade ago, the latest Statscan figures show a startling 30 per cent rise in the number of Canadian women engaged in risky drinking. The adverse effects are not limited to women per se. Their children and subsequent generations are being seriously harmed. In Alberta alone, thousands of children are born each year with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD) and many of them begin to drink alcohol at a very young age. All the while, corporations are reaping huge profits and spending billions to promote more drinking. Look at the television advertising. Everybody is having a good time. Where are those suffering from drunkenness or, worse still, in hospitals or morgues? Our speaker will give you a first-hand account of having to claim the bodies of young students and then consoling a grieving mother. And he will outline other events that led him to write Irrepressible Maggie --- rebounding from alcohol impaired decisions. Speaker: Al Barnhill, Ph.D. President, Able Administration Ltd. Al Barnhill is a former Professor of Management at the University of Lethbridge. His career encompasses teaching, management consulting and international development in 16 countries. He has written five management books, an internet text and one about old guys’ hockey. His newest book, Irrepressible Maggie – rebounding from alcohol-impaired decisions was published in December, 2017. It will be available for sale following the meeting. All proceeds will be donated to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.) and Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) Moderator: Knud Petersen Date: Thursday, June 21, 2018 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with desert & coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required

Alcohol abuse and addiction are two of the most complex and costly challenges facing Canadian society. According to the Washington Post, alcohol kills more people than HIV, AIDS, TB and violence combined. Heavy or even regular alcohol consumption increases the risk of developing cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, breast, colon and rectum. In 2013, alcohol-related health care, law enforcement and lost productivity cost Canadians $14.6 billion. Globally, more than 3 million people die yearly from causes related to alcohol consumption. And it’s not just men boozing it up!! All over the western world, including Canada, women are consuming more alcohol than ever before. Compared to a decade ago, the latest Statscan figures show a startling 30 per cent rise in the number of Canadian women engaged in risky drinking. The adverse effects are not limited to women per se. Their children and subsequent generations are being seriously harmed. In Alberta alone, thousands of children are born each year with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD) and many of them begin to drink alcohol at a very young age. All the while, corporations are reaping huge profits and spending billions to promote more drinking. Look at the television advertising. Everybody is having a good time. Where are those suffering from drunkenness or, worse still, in hospitals or morgues? Our speaker will give you a first-hand account of having to claim the bodies of young students and then consoling a grieving mother. And he will outline other events that led him to write Irrepressible Maggie --- rebounding from alcohol impaired decisions. Speaker: Al Barnhill, Ph.D. President, Able Administration Ltd. Al Barnhill is a former Professor of Management at the University of Lethbridge. His career encompasses teaching, management consulting and international development in 16 countries. He has written five management books, an internet text and one about old guys’ hockey. His newest book, Irrepressible Maggie – rebounding from alcohol-impaired decisions was published in December, 2017. It will be available for sale following the meeting. All proceeds will be donated to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.) and Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) Moderator: Knud Petersen Date: Thursday, June 21, 2018 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with desert & coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required

Presently Canada is engaged in a highly conflictual national struggle over pipelines, to build or not to build. Ricardo Acuna of the Parkland Institute argues that a proper debate on the merits and pitfalls of pipelines would be a good thing for Albertans to engage in. Such a debate should include the impact on the provincial economy and our climate change targets. The problem is that the elevated rhetoric from both sides of the debate, along with a constant barrage of inflated, unsourced and questionable stats and data from both sides makes a healthy debate next to impossible. Ricardo Acuna will try to make sense of the numbers, stats and data – so that a more sane discussion can take place. He will tackle the central question of whether pipelines are in the public interest or not. Speaker: Ricardo Acuna Ricardo Acuna has been the Executive Director of the Parkland Institute, a public policy think tank in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta, since May, 2002. In that capacity, he is also on the Steering Committee of the Corporate Mapping Project, a SSHRCC-funded six year research project exploring the corporate and political power of the fossil fuel sector in Western Canada. Ricardo has written and spoken extensively on topics of energy, fiscal issues, taxation, education and social policy in Alberta. He has a degree in political science from the U of A, and writes a regular column on provincial politics for Vue Weekly in Edmonton. He is currently chair of the Board of Oxfam Canada, and Deputy Chair of Oxfam International, as well as treasurer of the Association of Academic Staff at the U of A. Moderator: Terry Shillington Date: Thursday, June 14, 2018 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with desert & coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required.

Presently Canada is engaged in a highly conflictual national struggle over pipelines, to build or not to build. Ricardo Acuna of the Parkland Institute argues that a proper debate on the merits and pitfalls of pipelines would be a good thing for Albertans to engage in. Such a debate should include the impact on the provincial economy and our climate change targets. The problem is that the elevated rhetoric from both sides of the debate, along with a constant barrage of inflated, unsourced and questionable stats and data from both sides makes a healthy debate next to impossible. Ricardo Acuna will try to make sense of the numbers, stats and data – so that a more sane discussion can take place. He will tackle the central question of whether pipelines are in the public interest or not. Speaker: Ricardo Acuna Ricardo Acuna has been the Executive Director of the Parkland Institute, a public policy think tank in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta, since May, 2002. In that capacity, he is also on the Steering Committee of the Corporate Mapping Project, a SSHRCC-funded six year research project exploring the corporate and political power of the fossil fuel sector in Western Canada. Ricardo has written and spoken extensively on topics of energy, fiscal issues, taxation, education and social policy in Alberta. He has a degree in political science from the U of A, and writes a regular column on provincial politics for Vue Weekly in Edmonton. He is currently chair of the Board of Oxfam Canada, and Deputy Chair of Oxfam International, as well as treasurer of the Association of Academic Staff at the U of A. Moderator: Terry Shillington Date: Thursday, June 14, 2018 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with desert & coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required.

Ambulance service in Alberta is a borderless system designed to respond as needed, with urban areas using rural ambulances during shortages, and in turn helping those communities when shortages occur. However, that system is problematic as rural areas potentially can go for hours without proper emergency services. One of the primary reasons for lack of ambulance services in rural areas are inter-facility transfers or appointments that draw ambulances out of those communities and sometimes causing long waits for ambulance service during emergencies. Why for example are non-emergency routine patient transfers tying up rural ambulances for hours when such transport could safely be provided by regular transport, while such ambulances may be needed if a serious emergency occur in their area? The speaker will argue this issue puts the citizens of Alberta and especially people in rural areas at a higher level of risk during those times when there are no available resources in these communities. He will further contend that the problem can be easily improved if Alberta Health Services (AHS) would implement some common sense recommendations, among them, ambulances spending less time waiting at hospitals. Speaker: George Porter George Porter started working EMS in Calgary in 1974. He worked in urban and rural settings, in fire dep't based, hospital based, industrial, remote, air ambulance, private, indigenous, and he has owned and operated EMS services. He has managed, directed, repaired, and developed a number of EMS services and has taught and mentored students most of his career, as well as taught EMT, Paramedic and a variety of water, ice, and rope rescue programs. George has lobbied EMS management and Alberta Health Services for over 9 years now, over the lack of adequate area coverage by ambulances, especially in rural areas, and the reasons for it offering multiple solutions - all to no avail. He plans to continue to do so until this gross negligence is corrected. Moderator: Penny Elford Date: Thursday, June 7, 2018 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with desert & coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required.

Ambulance service in Alberta is a borderless system designed to respond as needed, with urban areas using rural ambulances during shortages, and in turn helping those communities when shortages occur. However, that system is problematic as rural areas potentially can go for hours without proper emergency services. One of the primary reasons for lack of ambulance services in rural areas are inter-facility transfers or appointments that draw ambulances out of those communities and sometimes causing long waits for ambulance service during emergencies. Why for example are non-emergency routine patient transfers tying up rural ambulances for hours when such transport could safely be provided by regular transport, while such ambulances may be needed if a serious emergency occur in their area? The speaker will argue this issue puts the citizens of Alberta and especially people in rural areas at a higher level of risk during those times when there are no available resources in these communities. He will further contend that the problem can be easily improved if Alberta Health Services (AHS) would implement some common sense recommendations, among them, ambulances spending less time waiting at hospitals. Speaker: George Porter George Porter started working EMS in Calgary in 1974. He worked in urban and rural settings, in fire dep't based, hospital based, industrial, remote, air ambulance, private, indigenous, and he has owned and operated EMS services. He has managed, directed, repaired, and developed a number of EMS services and has taught and mentored students most of his career, as well as taught EMT, Paramedic and a variety of water, ice, and rope rescue programs. George has lobbied EMS management and Alberta Health Services for over 9 years now, over the lack of adequate area coverage by ambulances, especially in rural areas, and the reasons for it offering multiple solutions - all to no avail. He plans to continue to do so until this gross negligence is corrected. Moderator: Penny Elford Date: Thursday, June 7, 2018 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with desert & coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required.

Hutterites are taxed under section 143 of the Income Tax Act. Colonies are taxed as if they were a trust so the collective income of the community gets allocated to colony members who are 18 years of age and older Section 143 does not allow Hutterite colonies to allocate income to community members under the age of 18 while other farmers are allowed to do so. For example, a regular farmer can pay his child who is under the age of 18 up to $ 10,000 tax free, while Hutterites cannot. This is a arguably a disadvantage for Hutterite communities where both male and female young people usually join the colony workforce at age 15. It wasn’t until 1997 that colonies were allowed to allocate income to their spouses while other farmers have had that ability for many years.  Nor do they collect premiums from the Canada Pension Plan or receive social assistance. The income allotted to individuals gets reported on personal income tax returns and colony members pay taxes at the applicable personal tax rates.   Hutterites contributes more than 2 billion dollars to the annual economy of Canada. Do they pay taxes?  Yes, and the speaker will explain in more detail why they often pay more than their fair share. Speaker: Gord Tait Gord Tait, CPA, CA, is a Partner and Business Advisor with MNP, focused on client service delivery to over 300 Hutterite colonies in Lethbridge, Red Deer, Grand Prairie, Saskatoon, Swift Current, Brandon, Portage and Winnipeg. Prior to joining MNP, Gord operated a family business working exclusively with Hutterite colonies. Gord began his career at MNP in 1999 as the Regional Managing Partner for Lethbridge. Under his leadership, the region experienced tremendous development, growing from 11 to more than 100 team members in only eight years. As former Director of Hutterite Services, Gord developed recruitment strategies, cultural awareness programs and focused on new products and services for Hutterite clients that go beyond MNP’s traditional services. Gord is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and a Chartered Accountant (CA) who received his Bachelor of Commerce degree with honours from the University of Saskatchewan. Moderator: Susan Giffen Date: Thursday, May 31, 2018 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with desert & coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required

Hutterites are taxed under section 143 of the Income Tax Act. Colonies are taxed as if they were a trust so the collective income of the community gets allocated to colony members who are 18 years of age and older Section 143 does not allow Hutterite colonies to allocate income to community members under the age of 18 while other farmers are allowed to do so. For example, a regular farmer can pay his child who is under the age of 18 up to $ 10,000 tax free, while Hutterites cannot. This is a arguably a disadvantage for Hutterite communities where both male and female young people usually join the colony workforce at age 15. It wasn’t until 1997 that colonies were allowed to allocate income to their spouses while other farmers have had that ability for many years.  Nor do they collect premiums from the Canada Pension Plan or receive social assistance. The income allotted to individuals gets reported on personal income tax returns and colony members pay taxes at the applicable personal tax rates.   Hutterites contributes more than 2 billion dollars to the annual economy of Canada. Do they pay taxes?  Yes, and the speaker will explain in more detail why they often pay more than their fair share. Speaker: Gord Tait Gord Tait, CPA, CA, is a Partner and Business Advisor with MNP, focused on client service delivery to over 300 Hutterite colonies in Lethbridge, Red Deer, Grand Prairie, Saskatoon, Swift Current, Brandon, Portage and Winnipeg. Prior to joining MNP, Gord operated a family business working exclusively with Hutterite colonies. Gord began his career at MNP in 1999 as the Regional Managing Partner for Lethbridge. Under his leadership, the region experienced tremendous development, growing from 11 to more than 100 team members in only eight years. As former Director of Hutterite Services, Gord developed recruitment strategies, cultural awareness programs and focused on new products and services for Hutterite clients that go beyond MNP’s traditional services. Gord is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and a Chartered Accountant (CA) who received his Bachelor of Commerce degree with honours from the University of Saskatchewan. Moderator: Susan Giffen Date: Thursday, May 31, 2018 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with desert & coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required

The Alberta Party is a political movement dedicated to transforming government through citizen engagement. Instead of representing a particular segment of the traditional political spectrum, the Alberta Party seeks out the best ideas regardless of whether they are perceived to be from the left or the right. As a result, they are attracting thousands of Albertans from all regions, urban and rural, of all ideological backgrounds including those who have never been involved in a political party. Traditional parties arguably focus on what divides Albertans. The Alberta Party focusses on the common ground that unites them so they can build a stronger economy and society for all. Many Albertan worry about public spending, deficits and a growing debt. Does balancing the books in Alberta hinge on building pipelines to tidewater or are there other ways to achieve that goal? Are the present provincial Government’s budget predictions unrealistic? The speaker will articulate his and the Alberta Party views on deficits, pipelines, economic development and Alberta politics. Speaker: Stephen Mandel Stephen Mandel has been leader of the Alberta party since February 27, 2018. He is an experienced political leader, business person and community volunteer. Before entering public service, he built and ran a successful business. As President of the Mandel Group, he led the company’s activities in residential and commercial real estate development and construction. Stephen served as Edmonton’s mayor from 2004 to 2013. During this time, he positioned Edmonton for the future by building new infrastructure, renewing older neighbourhoods, and spurring investment in the city. Stephen worked collaboratively with council, other orders of government, the social sector, and businesses to get things done. He led initiatives to fast-track LRT expansion, road improvements, and the construction of new libraries and community recreation facilities and helped to bring billions of dollars of new development into Edmonton’s downtown. Organizing efforts to address homelessness and community safety, expand seniors housing, and promote engagement with multicultural communities was also dear to Stephen and under his leadership, the Capital Region’s 25 municipalities united for the first time under a common growth management plan. He served as a Progressive Conservative MLA for Edmonton-Whitemud from 2014-2015 and was appointed Minister of Health on September 15, 2014. Moderator: Michelle Day Date: Thursday, May 24, 2018 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with desert & coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required