News briefs
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Hundreds of Alberta’s finest police and peace officers participated in the 2004 memorial day recognizing the 84 men and women who died in the line of duty since 1876. |
Two recent Queen’s Bench Appointments
Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed the Hon. Neil C. Wittmann as the new Associate Chief Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta on January 19, 2005. Prior to his appointment, he served as a justice with the Court of Appeal of Alberta in Calgary since 1999, following over 30 years of practicing law. Mr. Justice Wittmann replaces Associate Chief Justice A.B. Sulatycky, who elected supernumerary status effective December 12, 2004. The Hon. Mr. Justice John J. Gill, was appointed by the Federal Minister of Justice, Irwin Cotler, to the Court of Queen’s Bench in Edmonton on January 19, 2005. He replaces Mr. Justice J.L. Lewis, who elected to become a supernumerary judge.
New Assistant Chief Judge named
Judge Allan Lefever has been named as the new Assistant Chief Judge of the Provincial Court of Alberta for Edmonton Criminal. He took over from Judge Peter M. Caffaro. Judge Caffaro was appointed to the bench in 1989 and has served as Assistant Chief Judge for Edmonton Criminal since 1992. He will continue to serve on the bench.
300 attend meth workshop
Red Deer was host to 300 of the province’s front line first-responders, addictions counsellors, Crown prosecutors, law enforcement officials, social service workers, policy makers, parents of meth users and youth, for the Alberta Workshop on Methamphetamine: An Environmental Scan. The workshop was co-hosted by Alberta Solicitor General and AADAC in September to gather information, develop partnerships and identify promising practices. For more on the workshop and the final report see: www.solgen.gov.ab.ca.
Lethbridge picks up Crime Stoppers award
Lethbridge Community College students proved they can compete with the professionals after winning a Crime Stoppers International Award. Crime Stoppers videos are usually produced by local television stations but the college produced this video because local stations stopped doing them. The team of four students produced a video enactment of the theft of video projectors from the college and the University of Lethbridge in 2003.
$325,000 for youth justice committees
The Alberta government is providing $325,000 in assistance to 109 youth justice committees across the province. It was recommended in the Government MLA Corrections Review that Alberta’s Solicitor General continue its support for youth justice committees and to expand the program.Youth justice committees give young offenders a chance to learn from their mistakes through an alternative to the formal court process.
Crime prevention grant program renewed
A revitalized grant program to support safer communities and prevent crime is being offered by the Alberta government to Alberta community organizations and First Nations groups. The maximum grant amount available is $20,000 and may be applied to any part of a crime prevention initiative by non-profit organizations, societies, associations, community based coalitions and networks, and Aboriginal communities including bands and tribal councils.
Thousands search A-link
Since its launch, Alberta’s Law-related Information Service (A-Link) has logged almost 11,000 hits in less than five months. The most popular page was the search page with close to 5,000 hits. A-Link is Canada’s first online justice directory and can be reached through www.justice.gov.ab.ca
