Latest news with #Calgary
CBC
44 minutes ago
- Business
- CBC
CTrain riders will need to scan tickets before boarding, starting Wednesday
CTrain customers using electronic tickets will need to scan them at the stations before boarding as part of a new measure to tackle fare evasion. The new policy goes into effect on Wednesday, with the installation of 112 ticket validators across Calgary Transit's network of stations around the city. Previously, customers who bought a mobile ticket would only need to activate it on their phones for it to count as proof of fare, but now they'll also need to validate it at CTrain stations or face a $250 fine. Tess Abanto, manager of transit service design, said the measure is being introduced to recoup potential lost revenue. Up until now, she said customers have been able to purchase a ticket, which can be used anytime in the ensuing seven days, and only activate it if they see a transit peace officer approaching on the train "We found that not all our customers are using the ticket correctly," Abanto said. "We found in our analysis that about 46 per cent of adult tickets are not valid or not activated properly, and 50 per cent of our youth tickets are also not activated properly. So we wanted to correct that." For now, ticket validators are being installed at CTrain stations, not on the trains themselves. Abanto said Calgary Transit will monitor whether more validators are needed, and consider increasing the number at specific stations if needed. Marcia Gonder, chief of public vehicle standards, said the city wants to ensure customers are paying transit fares, and that they understand how to do so. To do this, the city and Calgary Transit will run an educational campaign to familiarize riders with the new system. But Gonder and Abanto noted the new system aligns with how mobile ticketing already works on Calgary buses. Calgary Transit introduced its mobile ticketing system five years ago with the My Fare app. The system followed two failed attempts at electronic fare payments in Calgary more than a decade ago. Abanto said Calgary Transit plans to implement a system in the future where customers can use debit and credit cards on the system.
CTV News
an hour ago
- Business
- CTV News
Little Scholars daycare programs to reopen in Calgary as parents wait on refunds and answers
Two of three Calgary daycare programs that were shut down last summer by the government due to safety concerns are planning to reopen after a successful appeal of the closures. Two of three Calgary daycare programs that were shut down last summer by the government due to safety concerns are planning to reopen after a successful appeal of the closures. The licences of Little Scholars Daycare ECS Ltd., Little Scholars Daycare Inc., and Little Scholars Greenview in northeast and northwest Calgary were revoked by the province on Aug. 12, 2024. At the time, concerns were cited describing an 'imminent danger' to children in the programs. The closures impacted nearly 300 children and 70 staff. Little Scholars appealed the cancellations for two programs on Sept. 11, 2024, and a five-day hearing was held by a Citizens Appeal Panel in March 2025. According to a letter from JSS Barristers on behalf of Little Scholars, the panel rescinded the licence cancellation on two of the programs on June 12, allowing Little Scholars Daycare ECS Ltd. and Little Scholars Daycare Inc. to reopen. According to the letter, the panel found 'there was no imminent danger to the health, safety or well-being of a child, and therefore no legal basis for the licence revocation or closure of these two facilities.' In the statement, Raj Saini, executive director of Little Scholars, said the decision is a vindication of the quality of child-care programming provided at the centres. 'We have always had a great deal of confidence in the care that our employees provide to children and families in our community, and there was simply no evidence presented otherwise,' he said. 'Our staff are passionate and care deeply about the children in our care and provide excellent service to our families and community.' At the time, the owners told CTV News they believed the closures were racially motivated. In the letter, Saini states the appeal process reflects government overreach and 'exposed the errors of the licensing officers.' 'We feel our businesses were unjustly targeted, our staff unjustly suffered job loss and many children and their families had their lives disrupted for no valid reason.' The third program, Little Scholars Greenview, was not part of the hearing, and its licence remains cancelled. The owners said they've attempted to sell its business assets to a third party due to the 'mounting financial strain from the prolonged period of the cancellations.' Susan Cake, with Child Care Now and an associate professor in Child Care Policy at Athabasca University, said the outcome of the appeal leaves more questions than answers. 'I don't think I've seen three daycares shut down and then multiple sites reopen,' she said. 'I don't think I've seen this happen, and I'm not sure if it has even happened before. 'Was the centre not in compliance? Have they shown they are currently or working towards it? It's not clear if those non-compliances did not exist.' She questions whether the former non-compliance concerns and inspections will be made available on the province's child-care lookup tool once the programs reopen. 'I think parents want to know these things,' she said. 'All three sites were under a probationary licence before then, so would we see those, and will those reviews of the non-compliances be put online for parents to see?' Families waiting on refunds and answers Little Scholars plans to welcome staff and children back in the coming months, but some parents are still waiting on refunds from last summer. After the closure, mother Danielle Delano was owed roughly $600 for her two children but said her emails and phone calls to Little Scholars went unanswered. 'Honestly, for us it's really frustrating,' she said. 'We feel like there has been a total lack of transparency and a lack of accountability.' Delano filed a formal complaint through the bank to receive some of the money back but said the experience has left a bad taste in her mouth. 'If the owners feel vindicated, then what they need to do is they need to make things right with the parents that they left out in the cold looking for child care,' she said. 'We would really be happy to support them again provided that when this all started last year, they had given us our refunds as promised, and they had given us updates as to what was going on. 'But they just left 300 families in the lurch. We never got a refund; we never got answers from them. We were left in the dark trying to find child care.' Delano also questions why her review and others from frustrated parents about the company have been removed online. 'I think it's really important for future families to understand, 'Hey, this company has had problems, and not necessarily from the caretakers' point of view because the caretakers were lovely, but from the management of this corporation,'' she said. Another parent, Ryan Duclos, believes that while Little Scholars has a responsibility to parents, the government is more to blame for leaving Calgarians without answers. 'I never had any issue with them (Little Scholars),' he said. 'The teachers were great. My son (and) all his friends were going there, and so I was disappointed when they shut down and am happy to see them reopening,' he said. Duclos believes the government should have done more to help parents find daycares in the aftermath and should be more transparent about what exactly led to the issues in the first place. The Ministry of Jobs, Economy and Trade, which oversees child care in the province, didn't release the list of non-compliance concerns. Inspections revealed issues related to the use of physical restraint, confinement or isolation, a lack of child supervision and staffing-to-child ratios. 'It was a gong show, if I'm going to be honest with you,' he said. 'They can't give us any answers because of privacy. I respect privacy, but you don't have to mention children's names, but you can tell us what 'restraints' mean and what 'isolation' means. We got none of it. 'I just think the whole thing was handled so poorly.' Parents are also confused as to why the Ministry of Education had given the green light for the Little Scholars preschool program for children with disabilities or delays to operate just four days before the licence for the child-care program at the same facility was revoked by the Ministry of Jobs, Economy and Trade. 'How are they allowed to look after five-year-olds but not four-year-olds?' said Duclos. 'How were their actions so egregious that they can't be a daycare but can be a kindergarten?' The province says Alberta Education and Childcare is working with the child-care provider to reinstate their licences. It says once they're reinstated, they will not have any special conditions placed on them. Like all other licensed child-care programs, they will need to comply with provincial legislation and regulations if they choose to reopen. The province also directed CTV News to the independent Citizen's Appeal Panel regarding the appeal decision. CTV News hasn't heard back.
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Green Impact Partners Provides Update on Its Water and Recycling Sales Process and Announces Amendment to Its Corporate Credit Facility
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - July 15, 2025) - Green Impact Partners Inc. (TSXV: GIP) ("GIP" or the "Company") announced today the purchaser of the Company's water, waste treatment, and recycling assets has requested an extension to the previously announced closing date of on or before July 16, 2025. GIP is currently considering the terms and conditions to grant a further extension and will provide a further update in due course. As a result of the extension request, GIP has executed an amendment to its corporate credit facility (the "Facility") to provide a waiver of certain events of default under the Facility until July 31, 2025, subject to meeting certain covenants and conditions. About Green Impact Partners Inc. Green Impact Partners Inc. is forging a path towards a sustainable future by turning waste into energy. With a focus on renewable natural gas (RNG) and bioenergy projects, our mission is to acquire, develop, construct, and operate facilities that not only produce energy but also play an important role in waste reduction and lowering emissions. Our comprehensive approach spans the entire project life cycle, from idea generation through construction to ongoing operations. In addition to our RNG and bioenergy projects, GIP maintains a current portfolio of water and solids treatment and recycling facilities in Canada, alongside a solids recycling business in the United States. Traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol 'GIP', the Company invites you to join us in our journey. For more information about the Company, please visit Cautionary Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements and/or forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. When used in this release, such words as "would", "will", "anticipates", believes", "estimates", "explores" "expects" and similar expressions, as they relate to GIP, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of GIP with respect to future events, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause GIP's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any expected future results, performance or achievement that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Certain information and statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements, which reflects the Company's current expectations regarding future events, including but not limited: the anticipated closing of the sale of the Company's water, waste treatment, and recycling facilities; securing regulatory and exchange approvals; anticipated cash to the Company at closing. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the high degree of uncertainties inherent to feasibility and economic studies which are based to a significant extent on various assumptions; variations in commodity prices and exchange rate fluctuations; variations in cost of supplies and labour; lack of availability of qualified personnel; receipt of necessary approvals; availability of financing for project development; uncertainties and risks with respect to developing RNG projects; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; assurance that the final terms will align with those initially agreed upon or that the transaction will proceed as anticipated; timeline of construction and ultimate completion of the Future Energy Park project; change in demand for clean energy to be offered by the Company; obtaining required approvals of regulatory authorities; general liquidity of the Company; ability to make obligations to its lenders; ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources; closing of the transaction referenced herein. For a more fulsome list of risk factors please see the Company's December 31, 2024, year-end Management Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A"), available of SEDAR+ at Management of the Company has included the above summary of assumptions and risks related to forward-looking statements provided in this release to provide shareholders with a more complete perspective on the Company's current and future operations and such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities in any jurisdiction. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
Calgary police officer charged with two counts of second-degree murder in 2023 shooting
A Calgary police officer has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder in relation to a shooting during a chase on a busy city roadway more than two years ago. Article content The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) announced Tuesday that Const. Craig Stothard is charged in relation to the May 29, 2023, incident in which police opened fire on a stolen cube van following a slow speed chase on Memorial Drive. Article content Article content Article content Levon Wildman, also known as Levon Fox, was one of two men killed, the other being the driver of the vehicle, Wesley Davidson, 46. Article content 'I've been trying to stay positive through this whole thing,' said Lena Wildman, adding she suspects race played a factor in her son's death. Article content 'There was no need to use this excessive force, no need to use a gun . . . Levon was cared for and loved, he was a human being.' Article content While she's glad charges have been laid, the mother said she still has to hope Stothard won't receive preferential treatment due to his law enforcement background. Article content 'He should be tried just like any civilian facing criminal charges, not be given favours,' she said. Article content 'Now we'll have to prepare ourselves for the trial. It's like opening a wound that was starting to scab over.' Article content ASIRT launched an investigation after the shooting and concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe criminal offences had occurred. Article content The case was forwarded to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS), which agreed the evidence met standards for prosecution. Article content Article content Stothard was formally charged July 14 and appeared in Calgary Court of King's Bench the following day, when he was released on conditions. Article content In a statement, CPS acknowledged the charges and said Stothard is on leave from CPS. Article content Police would not say if Stothard's leave is paid or unpaid. Article content 'The charges are extremely serious in nature, and we recognize that incidents like this challenge the trust that communities have in the Calgary Police Service, especially Indigenous communities,' CPS said. 'We are committed to listening, learning and taking every possible step to understand what can be learned from what happened.' Article content CPS said it recognizes the 'profound impact' of the incident for all involved, and offered condolences to family members of the victims. Article content 'We are confident in the integrity of the ASIRT investigation and know that our criminal justice system is well equipped to handle this case with the seriousness and fairness it deserves,' said the statement.
CBC
an hour ago
- Business
- CBC
Calgary CTrain riders will now need to validate e-tickets on platforms prior to boarding
Single use transit e-tickets need to be validated each ride starting Wednesday, July 16. Prior to this change, CTrain users only needed to purchase an e-ticket and activate it.
