This one should piss a few people here off as they spout off their hatred and misguided belief's ...

Months ago I told my sweety I wanted to go to Guns N' Roses on the 30th of August and she said she would go on one condition, I had to go with her to Garth Brooks, which we did and I actually enjoyed it more than I expected to. She is no longer with us so obviously didn't need to keep her end of the bargain which she would have done regardless.

Long story longer, I won't be in any shape to go so I instructed a friend to give my tickets to a couple that loves them but could never afford to go see them in the past. They came to visit me to thank me and we had a really nice long chat about life in general and I made 2 new friends through a shitty situation so there is always some sort of silver lining in most tragic events ...

I am just glad I could make someone else's day for them.

 

Oleksiak, Ruck help Canada score 3rd relay gold at swimming world juniors
Young Olympians team up with Pratt, Gaziev to defend 4x100 freestyle title
Canada captured its third-straight relay gold at the FINA world junior championships with a win in the 4x100-metre freestyle on Friday.

Ruslan Gaziev, Alexander Pratt, Taylor Ruck and Olympic star Penny Oleksiak finished in three minutes and 26.65 seconds to defend Canada's title in the event.

"The mixed 4x100 free relay was our toughest challenge to win. We knew we had to have our male swimmers swim their best times or we wouldn't have had a chance to win," Swimming Canada coach Ken McKinnon said.


"We're really pleased with the best times from both boys, who showed up and did what they needed to do. That allowed Ruck and Oleksiak to come in and finish the job."

Canada won its first gold on Wednesday in the women's 4x200-metre freestyle before another win on Thursday in the 4x100-metre mixed medley.

Ruck earned her 10th-career world junior medal, which is tops all-time amongst Canadians. Oleksiak won her ninth.

Kayla Sanchez took bronze in the 100 metre freestyle earlier Friday in 54.44 seconds, finishing behind Britain's Freya Anderson and Japan's Rikako Ikee.

 

2 Canadians among the dead in Australia car crash
Along with the 21-year-olds, a German man also died and British man has life-threatening injuries
Two Canadians died Sunday in a car crash in Australia, police in the state of Victoria have confirmed. The men were 21.

A 21-year-old German man was also killed, and a British man, 19, was in Royal Melbourne Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

No names have been released.

The German man was the driver, while the two Canadian were among the passengers, said Tim Hansen, acting assistant commissioner of the Victoria police.

"The passenger who sustained serious, critical life-threatening injuries is a 19-year-old British male, and another passenger who has received injuries that are non-life-threatening is a 29-year-old German male."


Two Canadians died in a car crash in the Australian state of Victoria on Sunday. The car they were riding in crashed into trees in a rural area, police said. (Google Maps)

The car the five men were riding in crashed into trees in a rural area.

Police said all the men were in Australia on work visas and employed by a local winery.

"It is also believed that prior to the collision, all five had been drinking at a nearby hotel," said Hansen.

He said police believe the vehicle rounded a "sweeping bend" in the narrow country road, where its tires hit the gravel shoulder. Hansen said the driver likely lost control, causing the vehicle to flip and hit a cluster of trees.

The three were killed immediately, Hansen said.

With files from The Associated Press

 

Canadian expats hunker down as remnants of hurricane Harvey ravage Texas

Waters rush from a large sinkhole on Highway FM 762 in Rosenberg, Texas, near Houston, Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017. Police say the sinkhole has opened on the Texas highway as Tropical Storm Harvey dumps more rain on the region. (AP Photo/John Mone)

The Canadian Press
HOUSTON -- Canadian expats living in Texas said they've gone days without sleep as the remnants of hurricane Harvey continue to deluge the southeast coast Sunday.

Megan Giffin-Scheffers, who moved from Halifax to Houston four years ago, said "everything is overflowing" in the Texas city, which is the fourth-largest in the U.S., as rising waters force thousands of people out of their homes.

Giffin-Scheffers, a mother of three, said she hasn't slept properly in two days as she and her husband take shifts on the lookout for signs of danger.

Every time her phone lights up with a tornado alert, her family has to hunker down in their pantry as wind gusts howl through the city like "freight trains," she said.

"As Canadians ... I don't think we really understood the impact of a hurricane," Giffin-Scheffers said in a phone interview. "I'm homesick every single day, and when something like this happens, that's just when I want to pack up and move back."

Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk, who is training in Houston, posted photos to social media of neighbourhoods flooded with murky waters that almost fully submerged a car.

"Feeling like an ant in an anthill today, here by the grace of Mother Nature," he tweeted. "Sometimes we get stepped on."

Isabelle Dion, who is from Saint-Cesaire, Que., says her home in Houston has been spared from damage, but it's scary not to know what will happen when night falls.

"Imagine a shower that's full capacity and it never stops," said Dion. "Tornado warnings, and tornado warnings. Every five minutes of the night your cell phone goes on, and it's very difficult."

Canadian engineer Raihan Khondker said his family safely left their home in southeastern Texas, but he was forced to return to the Bay City area as part of a support team at a nuclear power plant.

For three days, Khondker, who is from Toronto, has been working tirelessly to manage "one thing after another," driving through water-choked streets to bring supplies to engineers at the plant who are running out of food.

Khondker said houses in his neighbourhood have been turned "upside down," and rising waters in a nearby river threaten to send a potentially catastrophic flood into the area.

"Every single creek in the neighbourhood is full," he said. "There is an imminent flood coming to Bay City, we just don't know how much water we are going to see."

Harvey slammed into Texas as a Category-4 hurricane Friday and has since been downgraded to a tropical storm, which is causing torrential rains.

 

What do you think of the woman on the right, beautiful right ??? Does she look like a killer to you, well she allegedly she is along with the man on the left ... what a tragic waste of 3 lives now.



Two people accused of setting fire that killed 5-month-old in Edmonton

EDMONTON - Charges have been laid against two people in connection with a fire that killed a five-month-old baby in Edmonton.

Police allege patio furniture on the porch near the front door of the home was purposely set on fire early Tuesday.

Cordell Brown, the father of the boy, said he was sleeping on the main floor and that his wife Angie Tang was asleep on the second floor with their son, Hunter.

Firefighters rescued Tang and Hunter, but the boy died of smoke inhalation and Tang is in hospital.

Brown and six others who lived in the house were able to escape the fire on their own.

Bronson Woycenko, 19, faces charges that include second-degree murder, arson and disregard for human life while Jessica Tammerand, 18, is charged with arson and disregard for human life.

 

Mourning a marmot: Wiarton Willie dies at age 13

South Bruce Peninsula Mayor Janice Jackson looks at Wiarton Willie as the the albino groundhog makes his annual midwinter weather prediction in Wiarton, Ontario, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2017. (Willy Waterton/The Canadian Press)



A town in southwestern Ontario is grieving the death of a famous rodent resident.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our iconic prognosticating groundhog Wiarton Willie,” South Bruce Peninsula Mayor Janice Jackson said on Wednesday. “Willie was 13 years young and served our Town, Province and Country with immense pride each and every Groundhog Day.”

While groundhogs tend to only live to the age of four in the wild, and albinos like Willie generally live even shorter lives, Wiarton Willie owed his longevity to his “daily care regiment” and “living in a safe and protected environment,” Jackson said.

Willie is believed to have died from natural causes.

The amalgamated town of South Bruce Peninsula, which encompasses Wiarton, Ont., will be mourning their marmot mascot with a funeral procession on the morning of Sept. 30, which will pass a statue bearing Willie’s likeness.

“We invite our community and communities beyond to join us in appreciation and respect for the albino groundhog who put Wiarton on the map!” Jackson, who will be officiating the ceremony, said.

Wiarton Willie’s death closely follows that of Mac McKenzie, the human who founded the Wiarton Willie Festival in 1956. McKenzie died on Aug. 10 at the age of 90.

Willie’s death, and his longstanding connection to McKenzie, was also commemorated with a poem:

“You lived a long and healthy life,” a verse reads, “And though today we cry / We know you are with Mac again / A celebration in the sky.”

Wiarton, thankfully, will not be Willie-less this coming Groundhog Day, with the animal’s two-year-old understudy Wee Willie scheduled to take his predecessor’s place at Prediction Morning on Feb. 2, 2018.

Folklore dictates that if a groundhog sees its shadow on Groundhog Day, the region will experience six more weeks of winter. Not seeing a shadow is supposed to herald an early spring.

This year, Willie predicted the latter, but frigid temperatures and falling snow saw winter’s icy grip extend well into March in southwestern Ontario.

“We had a tumultuous relationship -- he was vocal when I missed his big day,” Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne admitted in a tweet on Wednesday. “He sometimes delivered good news. Rest in peace Wiarton Willie.”

We had a tumultuous relationship - he was vocal when I missed his big day. He sometimes delivered good news. Rest in peace Wiarton Willie.

 

The annual "Walk A Mile In Her Shoes" campaign is underway in Canada for a worthwhile cause.

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes: Mounties don high heels to battle domestic violence

About three dozen men, including six uniformed RCMP officers, slid on stilettos in Thompson on Saturday during a walk to raise awareness about domestic violence.

Here it was well attended and the goal of raising 190,000 dollars had already been surpassed at the time of the walk ... well done men and organizers alike.

And no I did not participate due to my ongoing rehab but I did donate.

 

Harry mania hits Canada! Crowds go wild as the prince arrives in Toronto for his Invictus Games - where he's set to make first public appearance with girlfriend Meghan Markle


Harry mania swept Toronto on Friday as the prince started a week of engagements for his Invictus Games - beaming with smiles but so far without his girlfriend Meghan Markle.

A huge crowd was waiting for the prince after his first appearance in the city – an early morning visit to Scotia Plaza in downtown Toronto for a symposium with participants in the games, which open on Saturday.

Dressed in a blue sports jacket, a white shirt and black jeans, the royal, 33, beamed at the small crowd that had gathered to see him and shook hands with well-wishers as he arrived.

But by the time he was leaving screaming fans were lined up for a glimpse of the royal.

Harry was at Scotia Plaza to attend the True Patriot Love Symposium; an annual meeting that brings together representatives from non-profit foundations, business and government to discuss how best to help military veterans and their families.

The agenda at this year's event, which is being livestreamed online throughout the day, is focused on soldiers' wellbeing during both peacetime and during war.

Harry spent part of the morning at the event, meeting Invictus competitors and their families who are taking part in a panel discussion.

He congratulated a pregnant athlete who's taking part in his Paralympic-style Invictus Games and was told she hopes to being their baby to the contest next year.

Harry, 33, met Randi Gavell who's set to compete in several sports in the coming week in Toronto.

The former staff sergeant, who was medically retired from the US army in 2010 after suffering a traumatic brain injury following a truck bomb blast in Iraq in 2006, is expecting a girl, she told Harry at a meeting with families at a special pre-games conference.

UNCONQUERED: HARRY'S GAMES OF COURAGE
The Invictus Games, now in its third edition, was started in 2014 by Prince Harry and was inspired by the USA's Warrior Games.

Competitors are drawn from 17 countries, including the U.K., USA, Canada and Australia and 550 veterans will take part in this year's event.

All are former or serving members of the military, many of whom suffered life-changing injuries during combat.

The event will last a week, beginning with a celebrity-studded Opening Ceremony on Saturday night. Guests will include Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US First Lady Melania Trump.

Last year's event was held in Orlando, Florida, and along with Prince Harry, then Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill attended.

The first edition, held in London, saw senior members of the Royal family descend on the Games, among them the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Next year's event will be held in Sydney, Australia.

The name of the Games is drawn from a Victorian poem by William Earnest Henley, written in 1875.

Titled Invictus, the final two lines have become the Games' motto and read: 'I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.'

Prior to the inaugural Games in London 2014, the poem was read in a promotional video by actors Daniel Craig and Tom Hardy.

Although neither are expected at this year's event, high profile guests lending their support include comedian Mike Myers, rocker Bruce Springsteen and musician turned photographer Bryan Adams.

'The first question I asked my doctor was if I could still go to Canada,' she told Harry when he congratulated her.

'I'll take it easy, I will be careful. It's a girl and we're pretty excited. She will probably have more medals before she's born!'

Gavell, who is four and a half months pregnant, is in Toronto with her husband Richard Hobson, a serving staff sergeant in the U.S Army and he told Harry that 'maybe next year you'll meet the baby.'

Gavell, who is set to take part in rowing, swimming, sitting volleyball and track events, then handed him a gift of a Team USA coin, and told the prince: 'It's so amazing for us to have this opportunity. We couldn't have done his without you.'

He spoke also with Mark Reidy and Karen May, who'd flown in from Australia with two of their four children.

Harry posed for pictures with them and asked if they were jet-lagged and said: 'Are you excited? There's going to be lots screaming and shouting.'

Friday's symposium explored themes including secondary PTSD, care-giver fatigue, the resilience of military children when faced with parental injury and how sport helps the family's recovery journey too.

Taking part was David Wiseman, a former U.K. captain at the games. He is now head of armed forces programs at the Royal Foundation that Harry heads, along with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Afterwards, the prince was travelling to the Pan Am Sports Centre where he is expected to watch some of the training sessions taking place ahead of the Games.

Friday will see the Prince hold bilateral meetings with US First Lady Melania Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and outgoing Canadian Governor General David Johnston.

He will also take part in the Jaguar LandRover Driving Challenge in Toronto's quaint distillery district before going on to the Opening Ceremony at the Air Canada Center.

Joined by Melania Trump and Justin Trudeau, the Prince will see Alessia Cara, Sarah McLachlan and The Tenors take to the stage, as well as a parade of nations and an official flag-raising ceremony.

Meghan, who is understood to be in Toronto, is also a potential attendee, although the glamorous Suits actress has not publicly disclosed whether she plans to be at the event.

Earlier this month, 36-year-old spoke to Vanity Fair about her relationship with Harry – telling the magazine the couple are 'in love'.

The very public declaration sparked another round of engagement rumors, first ignited by her appearance on the sidelines at a polo match in Gloucestershire, UK, and at Pippa Middleton's wedding in May.

Although the actress has no official role in the Games, she is expected to attend at least one of the events, although it is not known whether it will be with her royal boyfriend or as an individual.

This year's event, the third, is being held in Toronto and follows successful Games in Orlando, Florida, and London, UK.

Competing nations include hosts Canada, the USA, Great Britain, Denmark, Afghanistan and Iraq, among others and a total of 550 veterans will take part.

Harry is patron of the Invictus Games Foundation, which manages the event, and was in Sydney, Australia, earlier this year to launch the 2018 Games.

On his return to the UK, it has been announced the royal will take part in a two-day visit to Danish capital Copenhagen, where he will meet members of Team Denmark freshly returned from Canada.

The visit, which was announced by Kensington Palace this morning, will take place on October 25 and 26 and will also include an audience with long-serving Danish head of state, Queen Margrethe II.

The presence of the U.S. first lady at the games is a victory for Harry as it will bring huge awareness of the games in the U.S.

Mrs Trump is leading the U.S. delegation in her first solo foreign trip. Her meeting with the prince will be the first between a Trump and a member of the British royal family.

She is bringing Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton and retired gold pro Nancy Lopez - and poignantly, Karen Kelly, the wife of White House chief of staff John Kelly, a retired Marine general.

The Kellys' son, Robert, was a 1st lieutenant in the Marines when he was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2010.

Other countries taking part in this year's event include France, Germany, Estonia and Italy.

Servicemen and women from Ukraine, whose president Petro Poroshenko is in Toronto to see the Games, Jordan, the Netherlands and New Zealand will also compete.

The mascot at the 2017 event is a cartoon Labrador retriever dog named Vimy.

Vimy refers to Vimy Ridge - an engagement during the World War I Battle of Arras in 1917 which saw the Canadian Corps ordered to storm a German position.

Previous French attacks had failed, with the loss of 100,000 lives, but the men of the Canadian Corps prevailed, losing 10,000 in the process.

Sporting events, conducted in the style of a Paralympic-type competition, include swimming, archery, wheelchair basketball and athletics.

Golf is a new addition to this year's line-up and rowing, sitting volleyball and wheelchair rugby events will also be held.

Previous Games have seen the latter sport include celebrity exhibition matches, although none is expected this year.

Known colloquially as 'murder ball', previous participants include Derek Hough, Mike Tindall, Zara Phillips and Harry himself.

 

Here is something dear to my heart and such a worthwhile cause ...


CEO Rescue in the Rockies
Rescue in the Rockies is the flagship fundraising event for STARS in Alberta and with the generous support of colleagues, businesses, friends and family, our participants have helped raise more than $4,480,000 to support the work of STARS.

The Challenge
STARS has recruited influential community leaders for CEO Rescue in the Rockies 2017, an unique event where each participant will be dropped by helicopter in a remote mountain location with nothing but their thrill of adventure and smart phone.

On September 29, 2017, a group of brave community leaders will trade in their business attire for flight suits, and climb onboard the STARS air ambulance helicopter for a unique mission. Each participant will compete to raise $100,000 to earn a flight back to civilization, using the only tool they’ll have – their cell phones.The intrepid participants will undertake a variety of challenges in the rockies to help secure their escape.

 

If you live in the Prairies you may want to check your lotto tickets ... and just an FYI to Americans, they get to keep all of that as it is not taxable in Canada BUT any interest made from it is. We don't practice "double dipping" like they do in the USA where you get taxed on after tax dollars ...

Prairies ticket claims Friday night's $60 million Lotto Max jackpot

TORONTO - A ticket purchased in the Prairies claimed Friday night's colossal $60 million Lotto Max jackpot.

There were also 15 Maxmillion prizes of $1 million each up for grabs and three of them were won by ticket holders in Quebec, Ontario and the Prairies.

 

RCMP to return items that belonged to Louis Riels to Métis people

WINNIPEG—Three items, including a crucifix, that belonged to North-West Rebellion leader Louis Riel, which have been held by the RCMP for decades, will soon return to Métis possession.

RCMP Deputy Commissioner Kevin Brosseau and Manitoba Métis Federation president David Chartrand signed a memorandum of understanding on Saturday that will see the items transferred to a Métis heritage centre in Winnipeg, once it is built.

The items, which also include knife and a book of poetry Riel wrote, are currently on display at the RCMP Heritage Centre in Regina.

Riel was convicted of treason in 1885 for his role in the rebellion and was hanged.

Brosseau, who is of Métis heritage himself, says Riel is believed to have handed the crucifix to a member of the North-West Mounted Police prior to his execution.

He says the RCMP have had it since 1959.

“It’s important to me, certainly on a number of levels, but absolutely being a person of Métis descent that those items be returned,” Brosseau said Saturday.

Chartrand said the items belong with the Métis, not the Mounties.

“They’re not trophies. They’re actually very important artifacts that have a direct connection to our great leader,” Chartrand said.

Brosseau said the agreement to return the items follows news stories about them earlier this year. Discussions were then launched between the RCMP and Métis groups over what to do with them, he said, and it was determined there was an interest by Métis groups to have them.

Chartrand said Métis groups have asked RCMP to hang on to the items until the planned Métis centre is finished.

He said construction is hoped to begin next year.

Brosseau said the poetry book was donated to RCMP in 1943. The hunting knife was given to RCMP in 1947.

While the items can be viewed by the public at the RCMP museum in Regina, Brosseau said it’s not the same.

“People have seen them and been exposed to them, but in the context of an RCMP heritage museum as opposed to, in this case, a museum which will ultimately be built by the Métis nation,” Brosseau said.

 

So; you people still have statues and memorials for your treasonous citizens?.............

 

Canada is an equal opportunity offender ... but he got his on November 16 1885 didn't he !!! Personally he should have been hanged just for forming Manitoba. I'm kidding people

Like it or not it is a part of native heritage so belongs with them and with all Canadians.

 

Should not be returned to Metis as they belong to Riel's relatives the true owners, if they want to pass them on so be it.

 

My problem with Stars is that they are a non-profit and have charity status but the management command salaries benefits and lifestyles that are unheard of in the industry.

 

If they save one life is is all worth it in the end but yes I see your bone of contention that the salaries take from the day to day operations. I took part in it a few years ago after they medevac'd me out of Ft Mac in 1998 where the doctors took one look at my injury and I will quote the attending doctor; "what the hell do you want us to do about that" as they flew me to Calgary where I spent the night in CCU before invasive life saving surgery. They attended the scene of our crash as well and were the only reason that Wendy survived the few hours after the crash. Oddly enough the nurses in Alberta were on a "work to rule" campaign and no hospitals were taking new patients or they were backlogging admissions. It made all the papers about "a serious industrial accident" nearly costing a person their life due to contract disputes, I NEVER faulted the nurses though.

I donate generously to them regularly and will never say a bad thing about them but I do agree with you. I helped the city of Calgary and Edmonton to secure funding for their police helicopters after STARS couldn't justify an additional aircraft but would revisit that if they increase staff without too much burden on taxpayers.

Do you ever buy STARS lottery tickets ??? I won a tricked out truck in that a few years ago and donated it right back to them ...

Btw for anyone that doesn't know, STARS is an acronym for Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society

 

Without Riel there may well be no Metis peoples left ... the artifacts will end up in the heritage center for all Canadians.

 

Politicians call for unity as Edmonton terror attack investigation continues

A rental truck lies on its side in Edmonton, Canada, on October 1, 2017, after a high speed chase.Canadian police arrested a man early Sunday suspected of stabbing an officer and injuring four pedestrians in a series of violent incidents being investigated as an "act of terrorism." The crime spree began late September 30 outside a football stadium and ended hours later with a high speed chase in which the driver of the rented truck plowed into pedestrians, police said.


An Edmonton police officer and four pedestrians are in hospital with undisclosed injuries after a violent string of incidents which the city's police chief says is being investigated as a terrorist attack.

"The horrific events last night in downtown Edmonton have left us shocked and angry," Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said, responding to the incidents in a news conference on Sunday morning. "It's left us shocked at the indiscriminate cruelty and angry that someone might target their hatred at places where we gather with our families and friends."

Police have said a 30-year-old man is in custody, and appears to have acted alone.

The incident began around 8:15 p.m. when a white Chevy Malibu plowed through a barricade into a police officer directing traffic outside an Edmonton Eskimos-Blue Bombers game near Commonwealth Stadium on military appreciation night.

A video released by police shows the officer being tossed through the air after being hit by the car, which then plows into a police cruiser. While passersby run to the officer to help, the suspect can be seen getting out of his car and repeatedly stabbing the injured officer. The officer and attacker can be seen struggling before the attacker flees the scene on foot.

A city-wide manhunt ensued and about two hours later, a police officer stopped a U-Haul truck and saw that the driver's name appeared to match that of the suspect in the earlier incident. Edmonton Police Chief Rod Knecht said the U-Haul driver sped away with several police cruisers in pursuit, and began swerving into pedestrians in downtown Edmonton.

Austin Elgie, manager of The Pint just west of the downtown core, said he was outside when he saw a truck speeding into an alley where people were smoking, and run into a patron of the bar.

"It was crazy. It just came around the corner, ripping. I thought at first he was pulling over for the cops coming by, but he was clearly the one they were chasing," he said.

"I have a registered nurse on my bar team and I grabbed her and had her look after the guy until the ambulance came," he said. "He was breathing and we got him in the ambulance and he was still breathing."


The chase ended with the truck careening into Jasper Avenue, where it overturned.

Witnesses told local media they saw a suspect being pulled from the vehicle through the broken windshield and then placed in handcuffs. Natalie Pon, who was attending a wedding at a nearby hotel, posted pictures of the U-Haul on its side with a large hole in the windshield.

Four pedestrians were injured, but their current conditions have not been made public. Chief Knecht has said the injured officer is not in critical condition, and that the pursuit was justified by the severity of the situation.

Chief Knecht said an Islamic State flag was found inside the suspect's vehicle, and that the investigation is being led by the RCMP's Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, or INSET, counter-terrorism unit.

The Edmonton Police Service also has a specialized counter-terrorism unit, which was launched in August of 2016 amid what Chief Knecht described at the time as a marked increase in radicalization in the city.

The name of the suspect has not yet been released. Chief Knecht said he is known to police, but there was no warning for the attack. Chief Knecht is slated to speak to media again at 3 p.m. local time.


Ralph Goodale, the federal Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, said on Sunday that the country's threat level remained at "medium," but is constantly reassessed and evaluated.

"The threat level has been fixed at medium since the fall of 2014. There is nothing known at this moment that would cause that threat level to be changed," he said.

Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson described the officer as being "relatively unscathed," and urged residents not to be "intimidated by violence" and to go about their daily activities. He said it appears to have been "a lone-wolf attack."

"I believe this is a safe city and I urge calm," he said.

He said he reached out to leaders of the Muslim community Sunday morning, who are as "upset and appalled as we are," and urged Edmontonians to turn out for a vigil being planned for Sunday evening to support their fellow citizens regardless of cultural orientation or faith.

"This is something that touches all of us," he said.

The simmering risk of Islamic terrorism and other forms of dangerous extremism in Alberta has been in revealed in several incidents and arrests in recent years, including the murder of Edmonton police officer Const. Daniel Woodall in 2015 by a man identified as a Freeman on the Land, which espouses an extreme anti-government and anti-authority ideology. Const. Woodall, 35, was an investigator with the EPS Hate Crimes unit, and had been investigating the suspect for anti-Semitic harassment.

In 2014, members of Edmonton's Somali community spoke publicly about the need to address young Somali men being radicalized in the city, and in February of 2015, West Edmonton Mall was specifically identified as a potential terrorist target in a video released by Somalia-based Islamic terrorist group al-Shabab.

That same year, a 17-year-old from Beaumont, a rural community just outside Edmonton, was charged with attempting to leave Canada to join the Islamic State to commit murder, and three other men from the city are reported to have been killed fighting for ISIS that fall. A young woman who left Canada to fight for ISIS in 2014 had been recruited through an online course offered by a woman based in Edmonton.

Testifying before the Senate national security committee in 2015, Chief Knecht said that counter-terrorism efforts were "woefully under-resourced" in Edmonton. He told media around that time that some cases were not being investigated by the RCMP's terrorism unit, which he described as basically operating at full capacity.

"We can't say, 'Well, we'll put this one off,' " he told media then. "These are high-risk files and we, as a police service, have to respond."

In a statement on Sunday morning, Ms. Notley said officials have assured her that the public is safe, but she also encouraged people to be vigilant and listen to law-enforcement authorities.

She acknowledged and thanked first responders, as well as by-standers who helped at the scenes, saying "Your bravery in moments of fear and your compassion in moments of chaos are what's very best about us."

She said extremism in all its forms must be condemned and rooted out.

"There is no place for terrorism in Alberta," she said. "And we will do everything possible to stop it in its tracks in our home."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also condemned the violence in Edmonton as a terrorist attack, and said he was "deeply concerned and outraged by this tragedy."

"The Government of Canada and Canadians stand with the people of Edmonton after the terrorist attack on Saturday that sent an Edmonton Police Service officer to hospital and injured a number of innocent people who were out to cheer on their football team and to enjoy an evening in their city," he said in a statement Sunday morning.

"We cannot – and will not – let violent extremism take root in our communities. We know that Canada's strength comes from our diversity, and we will not be cowed by those who seek to divide us or promote fear. Edmonton is a strong and resilient city, and I am confident that its citizens will support one another to overcome this tragic event."

With a report from Tu Thanh Ha, The Canadian Press and Marty Klinkenburg.

More to come.



I offer my best wishes to all of those injured and affected by this event.

 

Happy "Turkey Day" weekend my fellow Canucks.

I'm sure most here would join me in saying to Rest In Peace to a beloved Canadian Monty Hall who died this past week at the ripe age of 96.