Latest news with #PeaceRiver
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
Man arrested after vehicle shooting in Peace River
An RCMP police vehicle is shown in Surrey, B.C., on Friday, April 28, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Police say they have arrested a 41-year-old man after responding to reports of shots fired at a vehicle in Peace River on July 13. In a release issued Monday, RCMP said officers learned from the victims of the shooting that the suspect pointed a firearm at them and that they were known to each other. Police said the suspect drove off in a pickup truck with a quad in the bed. Peace River RCMP received several reports from the public of sightings of the truck. With the help of several other units, police located and arrested a man from the nearby town of Little Buffalo. The man faces several charges including: dangerous operation of a motor vehicle (x2); operation of vehicle while prohibited (x2); flight from police (x2); resisting peace officer (x2); uttering threats (x2); pointing firearm; other firearm-related offences (x8); and mischief under $5000; He was remanded into custody and is to appear in court on July 28.
CBC
14-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
Peace River brings in 'secret shopper' to help boost tourism
To boost tourism, Peace River, Alberta, hired a secret shopper—not for a store, but the whole town. Tourism expert Roger Brooks spent a week undercover, exploring local attractions and identifying ways to make the community more visitor-friendly. He shared his recommendations at a community presentation this week.
CBC
12-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
Peace River, Alta., uses secret shopper to get ideas to boost local tourism
Social Sharing A secret shopper, hired by the Town of Peace River, highlighted better wayfinding and making the downtown more of a hangout as some ways to boost tourism in the community. Disguised as an everyday tourist, tourism consultant Roger Brooks spent a week exploring everything the northwestern Alberta town has to offer, and pinpointing ways it could become more inviting for visitors. Brooks shared his impressions and suggestions during a community presentation earlier this week, with the mayor, town staff and roughly two dozen business owners in attendance. "After working in 60 different cities and towns across Alberta, I thought that Peace River was going to be another Prairie town," said Brooks, who works with the Destination Development Association, an organization based in Washington state. "You have everything here." He said the town, located about 390 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, has all the necessities, like retail spaces and quality schools and medical services. He was particularly struck by the amount of recreation. "A five-minute drive in any direction, you will find something else that you can do. That was impressive," Brooks said. But the activities and attractions could be better advertised, and signage needs to be improved, he said. "Help us find out what you have," Brooks said. He noted that Peace River is chopped up into different portions — the north, south, west and lower west sides — plus the downtown. "Without directional signage, it's really hard to figure out where things are," he said. According to the town, some changes are already in the works, including improving wayfinding and signage. It is considering other suggestions, like ways to advertise attractions. One of the takeaways for Mayor Elaine Manzer was that the town has to expand where it's trying to attract people. She noted that Brooks suggested a 45-kilometre range of daily trips. "We've basically been concentrating on the town and what the town has," Manzer said. "Sure, we want visitors to town, [but] to get those visitors to come here, we perhaps need more than just 'town things.'" 'The community living room' Second on Brooks' list was giving the downtown area a little boost that would entice people to spend more time there. Brooks suggested using empty lots as community spaces where people can gather, improving window displays for individual businesses and adding more benches. "We want people to hang out downtown. We want it to be the community living room," he said. The municipality has done what it can to beautify the area, he said, listing pole banners and hanging baskets of flowers as examples. But local businesses "haven't done very much to pull people in their doors. That's probably the weak link." Local business owners say they are still recovering from the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and experiencing more break-ins, thefts and vandalism. Combined, those factors have made for tough sledding, they say, but they're eager to take Brooks' advice. "He's spot on with a lot of things. I know a lot of people in Peace River who own other businesses; I think they would agree with me that what he said is true," said Pheonix Nilsson, who owns and operates the local Reddi Mart and Great Canadian Dollar Store. Nilsson agreed particularly with the community spaces, recalling a trip he took to Seattle two years ago. "They had that, and I thought that was freaking fantastic," he said. "I spent more time there than I did out shopping because it was a lot of fun. You got to meet people." Nilsson said he's considering expanding the seating area outside of his store, adding some more flower pots, and investing in some life-size board games for the community to use. "Maybe let go of the old ways and start implementing new things," he said.
CTV News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Keep away from wokeness and DEI, new minister warns municipalities
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and former Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Dan Williams stand together during the swearing in of her cabinet, in Edmonton, Friday, June 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson. Major municipalities should steer clear of creating drug injection sites, licensing body rub parlours and banning plastic straws, says the first municipal affairs minister from rural Alberta since January 2021. Using terms like woke and DEI, Dan Williams said municipalities of every size and type should concentrate on services taxpayers deserve and expect. 'I want to make sure that Edmonton and Calgary are doing their jobs. There's not a left-wing and a right-wing way to plow a road or deliver water or treat wastewater. These are just the obligations of municipalities,' he told The Macleod Gazette. 'But if they start veering into plastic straw bans and DEI policies and legalizing business licenses for brothels, then they're way off base from the responsibility of a municipality,' said Williams, the member for Peace River and the former minister of mental health and addiction. Urban centres receive heavy investment from the province because it makes economic sense to centralize services like specialized health care. 'We know we can't have tertiary care and all sorts of high-level care in every rural town. But we need to make sure that these big-city centres are working for rural residents as well as urban residents,' said Williams. The elimination of programs deemed DEI, which stands for diversity, equity and inclusion, has become a major policy thrust under the Trump presidency. Those against DEI say it discriminates against people whose identities don't fall into certain categories, resulting in under-qualified members of minorities getting seats in universities or employment positions. But those in favour of DEI say it helps calibrate institutions to community demographics, empower under-represented voices and perspectives, and correct an opportunity imbalance. Edmonton and Calgary both licence body rub parlours and practitioners, escorts and exotic dancers. Plastics bans or restrictions, meanwhile, are in place in at least eight Alberta municipalities. If big municipalities 'stay in their lanes, do their jobs and do them well, I have no interest in getting involved,' said Williams, who was first elected under the UCP banner in the 2019 general election. 'But if they're way off in left field, making up all sorts of problems that don't exist instead of paying attention to the urgent needs of their residents and of all Albertans as hubs, community centres and commercial centres for the entire province, then the province is going to step in.' Calling himself the first 'truly rural' MLA in the UCP's young history to lead municipal affairs, Williams hails from the tiny hamlet of La Crête about seven hours north of Edmonton by car. Tracy Allard of Grande Prairie was the UCP minister from August 2020 to January 2021. After her came two ministers from Calgary ridings, including Ric McIver, who recently moved to the speaker's chair. Williams said big cities should continue to get proper attention, but not at the expense of strategic growth in rural Alberta. 'We need to make sure our rural communities continue to compete with big centres for direct investment so they can continue to be wonderful places to raise a family, to grow a business, to play and to enjoy.' Rural communities drive much of the economy, from resource development to agri-food to farming to forestry. 'We need to make sure they are viable and sustainable, that we have the ability to attract growth in our rural communities,' Williams said. 'That landscape is what brings so much of our advantage in Alberta, what brings us the prosperity we need. So we need to make sure that we're planning for another century of economic boom in Alberta and creating the environment that allows for that.' Sharing wealth is 'part of the grand bargain of Alberta,' he said, with rural areas depending on city services and cities depending on the wealth from natural resources in rural areas. 'We have to be able to develop those resources responsibly and thoughtfully, and you're also going to need to invest in those communities. This is how Canada was built.' He continued: 'The idea is that we have an obligation as a society to be reasonable about how we deliver services to all corners of the country, and that includes within our province.' Williams juxtaposed spending on a maternity and community care centre in 'my hometown, way up north' with mental health supports in Medicine Hat and major urban health services like the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton. 'We know we need to have those (major health facilities) centred in our big centres, because there's a high level of technical ability that we need to have there. But what we can reasonably have in our rural communities, we need to continue to plan for, and this government gets that.' Premier Danielle Smith tweaked her cabinet in mid-May after the legislature elected Ric McIver to the speaker's position. McIver, the member for Calgary-Hays, served as municipal affairs minister from January 2021 to October 2022, and again from June 2023 to May 2025. His last stint in the ministry was marked with several controversial moves, including the removal of municipally created codes of conduct, the elimination of electronic tabulating in municipal elections, and the establishment of provisions allowing the province to revoke or revise bylaws that contravene the Constitution or provincial statues. Critics said the government didn't thoroughly consult municipalities before introducing many of the changes. In the case of electronic tabulation, the government was appeasing a contingent of voters aligned with Donald Trump and his unproven stolen election claims, they said. Williams didn't offer specifics about legislation to expect during his tenure at the helm of Municipal Affairs. Amendments and updates to the Municipal Government Act will continue, though. 'I can't speak to anything in particular, but a big focus of mine is going to be making sure we have attractive investment climate for rural Alberta,' he reiterated. 'A big push for me is going to make sure that our big urban centres are doing their job representing their ratepayers and all Albertans by staying in their lane and doing the very important and hard work that takes to run a big international city like Edmonton or Calgary.' George Lee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Macleod Gazette
CTV News
07-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Alberta to hold nuclear power consultations as reactor companies weigh opportunities
Premier of Alberta Danielle Smith speaks to media prior to the First Minister's Meeting in Saskatoon on Monday, June 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her government plans to hold public consultations this fall about adding nuclear power to the province's energy mix. There have long been discussions about building reactors in Alberta — including ones that could power oilsands operations — but the province is currently reliant on natural gas for electricity. Smith says industrial operations in remote areas like the oilsands could benefit from small modular reactors, which are built elsewhere and shipped to site. There is a larger-scale plant planned for northwestern Alberta that would have two to four CANDU reactors and a capacity of up to 4,800 megawatts. Smith says she initially thought the project planned for near Peace River would swamp the province's power grid, but now sees it making sense as an electricity-hungry artificial intelligence data centre industry begins to take root. The CEO of X Energy Reactor Co., a U.S. developer of advanced small modular nuclear reactors, says his company has its eye on Alberta as a growth market. Clay Sell said in an interview last month that X Energy is pursuing opportunities to add power to the grid in general, as well as to link to steam-assisted gravity drainage oilsands projects that pull bitumen from deep underground through wells rather than mine it. 'Our plant is perfectly suited to perform that same mission on a small footprint,' Sell said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2025. Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press
