Check your footing. Keep your balance. Slip off the metre-wide goat track and it’s a 3,000-foot drop on one side and a 2,500-foot drop on the other.

Toes. Wiggle your toes. Fingers. Hold on.

But move. Keep moving. 

Sunburn. Windburn. Frostbite. Eat. Drink.

Oxygen. Check your oxygen level. Good? Good.

Move. You are summiting Mt. Everest.

And when you are summiting the world’s tallest mountain, “you are really busy.”

Stuart Erskine on top of the world on the summit of Mt. Everest.

“There is a huge focus on self-care and self-preservation,” says Camrose adventurer Stuart Erskine, who last month joined an elite group of mountaineers to complete the Seven Summits challenge — climbing the highest mountains on seven continents.

“The minute you miss something you’ve got a problem, and a problem up there is a massive problem.

“In that environment, the slightest distraction will knock you off your game and things start to unravel.”

For instance, on the final push to the top on May 19, a previously undetected design flaw was discovered in the New Zealand-born father of three’s oxygen mask creating a “major problem that could have been life threatening.”

Instead of an outlet being on the side of the oxygen mask, it was on the bottom, meaning condensation dripped down the front of his jacket freezing the main zip on his summit suit that contained his remaining food and, more importantly, his precious water. 

For the last three hours of the ascent he had nothing to eat or drink.

Love of the mountains came while growing up on a sheep farm outside the south island port city of Timaru, “in the shadow of Sir Edmund Hillary”, the tiny island nation’s greatest explorer and Everest’s first conqueror.

On a clear day, New Zealand’s tallest peak, Mt. Cook, was a mere dot on the horizon. 

“When you are brought up in the southern alps of New Zealand you can’t not love the mountains,” Erskine says.

Yet his desire to climb mountains didn’t reveal itself until he was forced into retirement from an ultra-marathon career that saw him thrice conquer the gruelling 250km Marathon des Sables through the Sahara desert.

That running career, too, came as a surprise.

“I was an overweight, 42-year-old scotch drinker,” he says. “My aim was to get off the couch.”

While camping with his then-wife and three daughters at Crimson Lake eight years ago, he decided to enter a 3km kids’ race. 

“I show up to the start line on the Sunday morning with my running shoes on, and there are 23 kids — plus me — and about 200 adults watching,” he recalls.

“I knew these kids wanted to beat me, so I ran like hell. I had no lung capacity, so I ran about 400 yards and I honestly thought my heart was going to jump right out of my throat.”

Out of 23 kids, he came in 15^th.

Fuelled by embarrassment, he committed to running a half marathon in Las Vegas three months later. Since then, those feet have seen plenty of miles.

Among others, he’s raced across Death Valley, completed a 166 kilometre loop around Mont Blanc in the Alps and finished 29th in Canada’s own 125km Death Race through the Rocky Mountains. 

Stuart Erskine running the Marathon des Sables in 2011. The race covers 250 km of the Sahara desert in Morocco.

Then came a badly torn meniscus, an honest appraisal from his doctor (“You’re done, your running days are over”) and inspiration from one of the modern great adventure racers and mountaineers, Marshall Ulrich.

Ulrich handed Erskine a USB drive containing a PowerPoint presentation of his own Seven Summit success and urged his friend to attempt the challenge.

It rattled around a laptop bag for over a year. It wasn’t until Erskine was soaring among the clouds on a business flight between Edmonton and Toronto that he plugged it into his laptop and found inspiration.

“It was captivating to watch the entire journey,” he says.

By the time the plane landed, he had decided he wanted to undertake the challenge.

“They say climbing Mount Everest is going where the jumbos fly,” he says.

After an eight-day mountaineering course ascent of Mount Rainier in June 2014, the entrepreneur franchisor and founder of Declare Brands, set off on his remarkable adventure that has also included skiing to the South Pole (which, along with skiing to the North Pole makes up another challenge called the Explorer’s Grand Slam).

“On most of the other summits I was emotionally overwhelmed but that didn’t happen on Everest and I’m not entirely sure why. Summit day was so long and we were so exhausted I think I just ran out of emotion,” he says.

“You are also aware that most accidents happen on the way down. On any climb, the summit is only half way.”

He is currently on his way to Pakistan to climb one more apex: K2, “the mountain in the world…. If you’ve summited K2 you’ve arrived somewhere.”

“I think I’m successfully off the couch,” he laughs.

Follow the journey

Once the K2 climb begins, Stuart Erskine’s website — at www.stuarterskine.com — will feature photos, videos and a live, interactive map of the ascent.

jgraney@postmedia.com

twitter.com/jurisgraney

Two Edmontonians watched celebrations from Muhammad Ali’s funeral Friday and fondly remembered meeting the man known as The Greatest and hailed by Sports Illustrated as The Sportsman of the 20th Century.

“I grew up in the Lebanon and there was no bigger name than that of Ali,” says clothier and entrepreneur Sam Abouhassan.

“On a trip to one of his fundraising Fight Nights in Scottsdale, I was so excited about possibly meeting him I couldn’t eat my dinner.”

Former Journal cartoonist Yardley Jones was drawing caricatures at a convention in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s when he spotted Ali standing alone.

“I went over and told him I was a former amateur boxer and suddenly the man who said he could float like a butterfly and sting like a bee had his fists up and was going through his shadow-boxing moves.”

Abouhassan said it was some five years ago when he went to Ali’s Fight Night, which for 22 years has benefitted the boxer’s Parkinson Centre and other charities.

He travelled to Scottsdale with a party of Edmontonians and when an Edmonton friend  heard they’d taken a table at a Fight Night organized by David Foster, he said he’d try and arrange for Bruce Saville and Abouhassan to meet Ali.

Some 1,000 people were enjoying dinner when one of Ali’s men tapped Abouhassan on the shoulder and said he and Saville should follow him.

“We went backstage and found Ali looking in pretty bad shape because of Parkinson’s,” said Abouhassan. “He was barely able to speak.

“There were only 20 people in the lineup to meet Ali, all celebrities except us. Reba McEntire was immediately in front of us. I was excited. I knew we’d never see the likes of Ali again.”

Abouhassan and Saville were told they had three minutes to shake hands with Ali and chat.

“I told The Greatest my middle name was also Ali, taken from my father’s name,” said Abouhassan. “Ali said to the photographer, ‘Let’s get a good shot of me with my cousin.’ ”

Champs meet

Yardley Jones was at Jake’s Framing for the Friday opening of the art show he is staging with son Spyder when he told me it wasn’t long after Muhammad Ali had won his first world boxing title in 1964 that he met him.

“The Journal wasn’t publishing on weekends back then and I often flew to L.A. to make good bucks by caricaturing people at a convention,” says The Jones Boy.

“One day I spotted Ali and told him I had once boxed as an amateur in the U.K. and had only lost six of some 200 bouts.”

Former Edmonton Journal cartoonist Yardley Jones and his son Spyder at the opening of their art show Friday night at Jake’s Framing. In the mid-sixties, Jones met Muhammad Ali at an L.A. business convention.

In his youth, Jones was based near Bangor, North Wales, after being evacuated from Liverpool as a kid during the Second World War.

“Promoters had spotted me working out and encouraged me to box,” says Jones. “I did well and later helped train Britain’s Randolph Turpin for a world championship match with Sugar Ray Robinson.

“I was blacklisted by the amateur boxing board for sparring with professionals. So I went on to call myself the Uncrowned Light-Heavyweight Boxing Champion of Wales.”

Ali enjoyed Jones’ stories and was using him as a shadow-boxing partner until a crowd gathered seeking Ali’s autograph.

“I waved and returned to my easel,” says Jones.

Holy cow, Batman!

Pinot on the Patio Wednesday night will progress well as soon as I find four muscular volunteers to lift our barbecued bison from the Royal Glenora Club’s front lawn to the deck overlooking the River Valley.

Lionel Rault’s band will dress western for the fundraiser; Brendan Connolly’s Ruth’s Chris restaurant is offering a dinner for four; William Bincoletto from Vines will lead a tasting of the buyer’s favourite wine and Ike Janacek at the Chateau Lacombe is offering a La Ronde meal for three couples followed by an overnight stay.

The Pinot party is a send-off to our cyclists riding 900 km from Montana up the Cowboy Trail and Icefields Parkway to Jasper in support of CASA, providers of mental health services to children, adolescents and their families.

CASA board director Brian Moody is putting up for auction a stay in his three-bedroomed house near Manzanilla, Mexico. It has its own pool and is 700 metres from the beach.

Tickets: www.pinotonthepatio.org.

Ukrainians to the rescue

Two kids, Mykola, 12, and his younger brother Danyo, were playing in an Eastern Ukraine field last August and discovered an undetonated grenade.

“A blast followed and killed Danyo and left Mykola without legs, a right hand and other injuries,” says former Alberta MLA Gene Zwozkesky. “Today, he is in the Montreal Shriners Hospital.”

Zwozdesky, former Alberta premier Ed Stelmach and MacEwan University President David Atkinson are involved with the Ukrainian Foundation for College Education (UFCE) and it is stepping in to help.

“The UFCE has a charity golf classic and funds from our June 17 Mundare game will go to help Mykola and his mother with their many expenses, including travel, accommodation and future care,” says UFCE’s chairman Ernie Skakun.

To register: 780-434-0543.

It’s been 30 years since the last Pacific West Airlines Lockheed L-100, also known as the PWA Hercules, took flight. But those involved in the 18-years of Herc freight hauling say Alberta’s economic landscape owes a lot to the skies above it.

“Everybody in here has an interesting story,” said Stuart Russell, 12-year veteran of the operation and one of the organizers of a reunion of pilots, engineers, loadmasters and crew lovingly dubbed “Herc Rats” that took place in Edmonton Saturday.

Various Hercules models, which are still used by the Canadian Forces, are known for their size – a massive drop-down door at the back end allows for large goods to be driven straight into the body of the aircraft – as well as their utility and ability to land in undeveloped areas.

When asked about those stories, most of the 100 or so gathered for the event insisted the details aren’t fit for print. Though some did share a few anecdotes of their experiences hauling everything from food and supplies to heavy equipment, even weapons and military aircraft, to points around the globe between 1966-84.

One of those gathered was Erik Strand, nickname Penguin (for reasons likely too sordid to share).

“We just took off and we were hit by lightning, right in the nose; and what a noise,” said Strand, a pilot who flew Hercs for PWA for 10 years. “I just lit up my cigar and I almost swallowed it. Scared the piss right out of me.”

Others shared similar tales of extreme situations and not always airborne ones.

“If you’re going into an arctic strip, especially 40 years ago, and the dark season it’s blowing 40-knots, and you’re trying to put on a 48,000-pound piece, you have to be inventive,” said Patrick Wheeler, loadmaster who worked around the world, including the Arctic, Africa and throughout Asia, for 18 years with PWA.

Wheeler was talking about a time found himself digging a massive pit in the sand on a ramp in Tamanrasset, Algeria, so that a truck could drop its cargo – a nine-foot-high piece of oil drilling equipment – low enough to get into the back of the plane.

Flights brought fuel to camps in the winter, drilling pipe to well sites, even entire ATCO trailers complete with cook-stoves and cutlery.

“It’s much more like bush-flying in that you’re supplying the essentials. It’s more of an adventure,” said Garth Vickerey, who flew with the airline for 37 years, two of them with the Hercs. “Every operation was different.”

Without the air support, he said much of what was built in the province’s north, along with mining and drilling operations around the world, wouldn’t have been able to develop at all.

But for the people involved, it seems far a more personal experience.

“The Herc operations, it’s like family,” explained Strand, whose flying days ended when he was gored and trampled by a herd of Brahma bulls he was transporting from Australia to Kota Kinabalu, Borneo.

He was relegated to an office job, having suffered through seven knee surgeries and the shock of being put at a desk instead of the fast-paced life of a pilot. But the family he found in the company remains today.

“Our families were at home and we’re in the middle of Timbuktu nowhere in Africa, so we had ourselves. The adversities we go through,” he said with a hint of nostalgia, “you have to see some of the flying we did.”

The event was the seventh reunion the group has had since the company discontinued Herc operations. The company was based in B.C. until 1974 when it moved its head office to Calgary. Edmonton was  PWA’s northern hub until its entities were taken over by Air Canada in 2001.

dlazzarino@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/SUNDaveLazz 

This photo was taken 100 years ago on June 13, 1916. That day Edmonton’s Equal Franchise League organized a reception for English suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst at Nellie McClung’s home, which still stands at 11229-100th Ave.

McClung is at the centre in the striped dress and to her left is Pankhurst. To Pankhurst’s left is writer and activist Emily Murphy who was appointed a magistrate the day before — the first woman magistrate in the British Empire.

Looking deeply into the photo and learning about those gathered that day at the home known today as Jelinek House, there is much to admire. But that is admiration is complicated by recognition that people in the photograph held troubling beliefs on topics such as eugenics. The tensions and anxieties of the war years also are evident. 

In the moment, it was a time for celebration. Alberta’s Equal Suffrage Statutory Law Amendment Act had passed two months before. The photo documents people who worked to achieve this legislation, including W.H. Alexander (front row, far left), a University of Alberta professor of classics, a founder of the League and first president.

Beside him is Jennie (Mrs. Avery) Smith, the second president of the League. Next to her is Jennie Boyaner who was on the League’s executive and was active in Edmonton’s Jewish community.

Pankhurst suspended her suffrage activities at the start of the war. To her the defeat of Germany trumped all other causes. In Edmonton, Pankhurst lectured on “How to Win the War” to huge crowds at McDougall Church. She pleaded for recruits and for mothers and wives to send their sons and husbands.

Murphy and Pankhurst became good friends starting that June day. Murphy was an ardent imperialist, a firm believer in the superiority of the “northern races,” and was concerned about Canadianizing the “foreigner.”

Pankhurst came to share many of Murphy’s views. In the 1920s Pankhurst moved to Canada, intending to stay, and she and Murphy often lectured together on the need to keep Canada and the British Empire racially pure. Both were drawn to the “science” of eugenics, and Murphy supported sterilization of the “unfit,” views that were shared by McClung.

They saw no contradiction in those beliefs as they continued to advocate for women’s rights through the 1920s. McClung and three other Alberta women took the Persons Case all the way to England’s Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and won (in 1929).

This photograph from 1916 also conveys the anxiety of the war years as sad news came daily of Alberta men killed, wounded or missing. There was enormous pressure on women to send their sons and husbands overseas; Pankhurst had just turned up the pressure through her lectures.

McClung’s oldest child Jack enlisted in 1915 and she was anxious for three years until he returned. She wrote in her diary after saying goodbye to Jack: “What have I done to you, in letting your go into this inferno of war? And how could I hold you back without breaking your heart.”

Jennie Smith lost both her husband and a son in the war. The son of Mrs. Benjamin Heath (at the back with glasses) was killed in action in 1918.

There was humour, however, that day. The little boy in front is Mark McClung. His mother had been condemned by opponents as a neglectful parent. In anticipation of wise cracks about abandoning her children, McClung taught Mark to solemnly say when asked his name, “I am a suffragette’s child — and never knew a mother’s love.”    

This photo sheds light on our complex and fraught past. I hope when Edmontonians pass by this house, they will think of this image. While I am troubled by many of the causes supported by people in this photo, I am also grateful for their work toward equal suffrage that they pursued while coping with the stresses and dreads of their time.        

Sarah Carter is a professor and H.M. Tory Chair in the University of Alberta’s department of history and classics and Faculty of Native Studies. Thanks to Tim O’Grady, the City of Edmonton Archives and the residents of Jelinek House.      

Re. “Symbolism in Ottawa sinkhole,” Letters, June 10

While I agree with Earl Legate on the irony of the latest sinkhole in Ottawa, Justin Trudeau’s black hole is only a small fraction of the giant sinkhole in the last eight years of the Harper government’s cumulative fiscal deficit in excess of $150 billion. It appears that fiscal responsibility is not the paradigm of any party.

Senators and MPs have recently increased their respective House budgets and given the failure to meet the Supreme Court deadline to pass Bill C-14, Elbowgate notwithstanding, there doesn’t seem to be an incremental improvement in collective output resulting from their increased budgets.

Would a taxpayer revolt, a.k.a. withholding of taxes, be in order?

M.L. Clark, Camrose

Testing steers seniors wrong

Re. “Driver fined $2,000 after pedestrians injured in crosswalk,” June 10

In this instance both pedestrians were seriously harmed, one with numerous fractures and a severe brain injury leaving her with no memory of having been hit while crossing on a marked cross walk.

Conversely, Alberta seniors who have never had a car accident or who may even continue to be fully employed are denied their licence when they score low on a cognitive test known as the Simard-MD test which some doctors administer to seniors when they have to renew their licence to drive.

Don’t get old. Ageism is rampant in this province.

Ruth Adria, Edmonton

Bagless movement begs some questions

I noticed more and more Edmontonians “going bagless,” i.e. not bagging their grass clippings. Seems like an OK idea. Less waste to the dump.  

Then again, I have also noticed everyone who goes bagless is just leaving their clippings on the sidewalks of our neighbourhoods to presumably blow away. Suppose all those clippings don’t blow away, and instead end up in the city’s drainage system?  

Would that be a problem? That’s a lot of grass going down the drains.

Bruce Dunbar, Edmonton

Transition zones are speeding trouble spots

Re. “Speed limits are pretty clear,” Letters, June 9

Although Linda Scott is superficially correct that the speed limit is 50 kilometres per hour unless otherwise posted, what about “transition zones” between 60 km/hr. and 50 km/hr. zones? Surely the motorist has a right to be informed about the reduction in speed or does she condone the issuing of speeding tickets without fair warning?

Ron Bereznicki, Edmonton

Letters welcome

We invite you to write letters to the editor. A maximum of 150 words is preferred. Letters must carry a first and last name, or two initials and a last name, and include an address and daytime telephone number. All letters are subject to editing. We don’t publish letters addressed to others or sent to other publications. Email: letters@edmontonjournal.com .

Travelling across the continent from Edmonton to Orlando, Fla., the home to some of North America’s most celebrated family playgrounds, can feel like an agonizing distance with all that time in the air and the hassle of connecting flights.

But in three horrific hours early Sunday morning, an American gunman motived by hatred erased that distance when he murdered 49 people and injured more than 50 others enjoying a night out at Pulse, a popular Central Florida gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer and transgendered nightclub. 

It is the most deadly shooting attack in the United States, a country with a devastatingly long list of multiple murders carried out by guns.

And it was a direct attack on the LGBTQ community, a community not defined by geography, or even international borders. In that respect, it was an attack on us all; the LGBTQ community is an inextricable part of Edmonton, Alberta and Canada that should be celebrated, included and protected. A moment like this, coming on the closing day of Pride Week, prompts hard reflection about how much further that celebration, inclusion and protection needs to come so that all feel safe and not constantly on the look out for hate. 

Yet, while this sense of community extends around the globe, the political rhetoric in the 48 hours since this act of homegrown terrorism exposes the fault lines that divide the United States and Canada. 

It is almost numbing to read the latest wave of “thoughts and prayers” for the victims and their families as the U.S. replays the same debate about gun control versus rights and adds in rhetoric about banning immigrants with a Muslim faith. It is far more encouraging to hear Alberta’s leaders from all the parties gathered Sunday morning at the Edmonton Mayor’s Pride Brunch say that any kind of hatred is unacceptable and stand in solidarity against bigotry.  

This shooter is the latest to strike at the very places the rest of us hold up as havens. 

Think of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Conn., in 2012, where a gunman murdered 20 children and six adults; remember Charleston, S.C.’s Emanuel AME church, where a white man who police say hated African-Americans is charged with gunning down nine black parishioners studying their Bibles in 2015; and now Orlando’s Pulse, an LGBTQ hot spot where an American-born citizen whose parents immigrated from Afghanistan decided to make his sick mark. 

Canada’s not immune to monsters like Omar Mateen. We’d be foolish to think we are. But what defines us is how we react and how we try to solve the problem of hatred at its very root rather than after the fact. 

Local editorials are the consensus of the Journal’s editorial board, comprising Lorne Motley, Kathy Kerr, Sarah O’Donnell and David Evans.

As a passionate, committed, straight, Canadian GBLTQ rights advocate, I am deeply shocked and heartbroken over the horrific Orlando, Fla., GBLTQ massacre. I am rip roaring outraged, appalled and deeply disgusted about it too.

I deeply detest this evil and vile act of mass murder with the fiercest of passions but I won’t allow myself to become in any way like the attacker by dwelling on that hate. There simply has to be something that I, and others in society, can do to prevent such an awful crime against humanity from happening again. 

We cannot just simply mourn for the dead. Tears and mourning aren’t enough. We’ve got to do more, folks. Much, more. We all, regardless our sexual orientation and other human demographics, have to build loving, caring bridges and fully connect with all GBLTQ communities worldwide. Their fight is ours and ours theirs.

Judy Hageman, Edmonton

Nothing wrong with dress codes 

Re. “Students say dress codes shame girls,” Paula Simons, June 11

I believe there must be a dress code, for girls and boys. Women had a dress code, even when I worked, then all went haywire. I was the first to wear a pantsuit on the job (pants and jacket), as stipulated. Then, shortly after, it became “Casual Friday,” and after that all hell broke loose, i.e. jeans worn to work, etc. 

Why should girls or boys in school, not have a dress code? We had a dress code when I went to school. So what? We never thought anything of it. There is way too much freedom nowadays. School-age students are very impressionable. Who is supposed to know more, students or teachers?

Liz Milanovich, Edmonton

Wait for facts on teacher complaint

Re. “Catholic teacher investigated by students complain of anti-gay comments,” David Staples, June 11

I have known Albert Felicitas for many years and can vouch that he has no intention to hurt anyone.

Being a messenger of a curriculum that has the potential to be controversial is not a reason to condemn this man. If damage was done, then many things must be considered that could have contributed. This includes, the curriculum, the school complaint process, politics within the school board and the vigour of digital media.  

Before a career is ruined, it is important that an independent person or body investigate the facts in this matter to determine how this situation came about. 

Daniel Mercer, Doha, Qatar

Catholic doctrine in Catholic school no surprise

Re. “Catholic teacher investigated by students complain of anti-gay comments,” David Staples, June 11

If you are in a Catholic religion class, taught by a Catholic teacher in a Catholic school, you don’t have the right to be shocked and outraged when you are confronted with Catholic doctrine that you don’t like. You do have the right to disagree with it. As a student, you have the opportunity and obligation to critically and thoughtfully challenge and debate.  If you don’t agree with it, that’s fine. But take that difference of opinion and use it to learn and explore the spectrum of opinion on very important, emotional and relevant societal topics.

If you don’t want to hear it, transfer to a public school.

Are there lessons to be learned here? Sure. Everyone can learn to communicate a little better. We can learn to share information in a more sensitive manner. We can learn to listen more honestly and openly. What is lost here is that this issue is only a piece of a much larger and compelling message of love, forgiveness, acceptance and grace.

Terry Bachynski, Edmonton

Time for tougher distracted driving penalties

Re. “More officers, more tickets issued,” June 13

It is a given that distracted driving is very dangerous. The provincial government should do the following: double the existing first fine, keep the demerits. For a second offence, double both the initial fine and the demerits. For a third offence double again both the fines and demerits and confiscate the vehicle, regardless of ownership.   

J.E. Logan, Edmonton

Letters welcome

We invite you to write letters to the editor. A maximum of 150 words is preferred. Letters must carry a first and last name, or two initials and a last name, and include an address and daytime telephone number. All letters are subject to editing. We don’t publish letters addressed to others or sent to other publications. Email: letters@edmontonjournal.com .

Three Edmonton men have charged following the seizure of 2,000 fentanyl pills at a southwest-area condominium, the largest bust of the lethal painkiller by the Edmonton members of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams. 

Fentanyl was responsible for the overdose deaths of 274 Albertans in 2015 and another 69 fatalities in the first three months of this year.

ALERT Staff Sgt. Pierre Blais called fentanyl a “dangerous, dirty and deadly drug” at a news conference Tuesday, one that’s caused tremendous pain and sorrow for “far too many Alberta families.” 

While the seizure of 2,000 pills is just a “small portion of what’s out there,” Blais said it also means police potentially saved 2,000 people from overdosing. 

“The drug dealers out there, they don’t care about the people using it. They just hope that once you use it, you come back.” 

On June 3, ALERT intercepted a vehicle returning to the Edmonton area from B.C.’s lower mainland and seized a large quantity of drugs, including several kilograms of marijuana.

Part of a drug shipment from B.C. containing 60 kilograms of marijuana and 2,000 fentanyl.

“They got comfortable in their business practice and probably didn’t think the police were on to them,” he said. 

ALERT, a specialized organized crime and gang investigation team, searched two vehicles and three home in Edmonton, including the Haddow neighbourhood condominium on Hanna Crescent, which was likely used as a stash site. Two other homes were searched in Rutherford and Lewis Estates. 

The fentanyl pills are believed to have also come from B.C., ALERT said. 

In addition to the fentanyl pills, police seized:

• 58 kilograms of marijuana
• four kilograms of packaged marijuana shatter, a crystallized and more potent form of marijuana that can be consumed through vaporization
• five grams of cocaine
• body armour
• a Taser
• 650 rounds of ammunition and a prohibited magazine
• $26,000 cash proceeds of crime 
• Two vehicles, worth an estimated $35,000 were seized as offence related property.
In total, the drugs seized have an estimated value of $866,000. 

One of the two vehicles seized was equipped with a hidden compartment used for transporting drugs. The vehicles and cash will be submitted to civil forfeiture, ALERT said. 

ALERT began its investigation in May and alleges the accused were bringing drugs in from B.C. and distributing them in the Edmonton area. The “criminal network” had likely been operating for months, if not longer, Blais said. 

The fentanyl seizure is the largest of its kind by the Edmonton ALERT team and is the agency’s third largest fentanyl seizure. ALERT’s largest was last February in Calgary, with the seizure of more than 11,500 pills. 

Christopher Jervis, 28, has been charged with 10 counts of the possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of a firearm contrary to an order, and possession of a prohibited magazine. 

James Jervis-Hilker, 35, has been charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Billy Roche, 28, has been charged with four counts of the possession for the purpose of trafficking, and had four outstanding warrants. 

oellwand@postmedia.com

twitter.com/otiena

As someone who has lived his first 35 years in the United States, I have paid special attention since becoming Canadian to violent crime there and the reaction to it. 

The U.S. has a pervasive culture of violence. Whenever these tragedies occur, President Obama expresses his revulsion and offers his sympathy. Stricter gun controls cannot be passed at the federal level because of the persistent, powerful lobbying of the N.R.A. Reforms also are very difficult because of the paralyzing partisanship in the Congress.

The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution known as “the right to bear arms,” passed so soon after the successful American Revolution, is archaic and irrelevant today. Yet the U. S. Supreme Court has upheld the amendment and applied it to modern day culture — to the people’s detriment.

As Canadians, we should learn from the American addiction to weapons and resulting horrific crimes. We can also present a model of a society in which criminal violence is understood and suppressed.

Roy Lynn Piepenburg, Edmonton

Worried about condo board credentials? Volunteer.

Re. “Formalize condo board credentials,” Letters, June 11

In Lawrence Tomko’s ideal world, a condominium board would be comprised of a lawyer, an accountant, an engineer and a fully qualified handyman, but as we do not live in an ideal world we must make do with what is available to us. 

Condo boards are made up of volunteers drawn from the owners within the complex and they generally learn as they go along. The more conscientious members take advantage of any opportunity to gain the knowledge required to fulfil their obligations, and there are many opportunities available to them.

If Tomko is concerned because he does not know the applicants who are volunteering to serve on the board it behooves him to make the effort to meet them and determine whether he considers them worthy of his support.

The best way to have input is to volunteer for the board. I speak from experience when I say that most often those who complain the loudest of the board’s performance are those who never volunteer to serve as a member. 

John C. Fielder, Edmonton

Dump daylight time

Is Alberta serious about preventing accidents? Twice a year automobile accidents escalate. The cause? The change in time.

Daylight time was instituted during Second World War. It is an archaic system with no obvious benefits but obvious defects. Isn’t it time to remain in standard time? Daylight time occurs during the summer when we Canadians enjoy long days. Do we really need one more hour of daylight?

For the safety of Albertans, please we should rescind daylight time.

Pamela J. Brink, professor emeritus, University of Alberta Faculty of Nursing

Blanket infill bylaw bad for Edmonton

We have been watching the U.S. Republican primaries with great interest and have observed similarities with the behaviour of many on Edmonton city council. 

Donald Trump has been doing very well because the U.S. population is fed up with politicians who think that they know better than the people who elected them. Here in Edmonton, some on council do not practise what they preach regarding public engagement.

Public engagement is two-way communication. For council to pass a “one size fits all” bylaw like Subdivision Infill, Bylaw 12800 is dictatorial and undemocratic because any decision regarding an application for subdivision infill is decided by the subdivision authority without the due process of appeal or considering any community input.

We do not remember any councillor or the mayor having the subdivision infill issue in their platform during the last election. It will be interesting if the backlash in the U.S. I repeated here. To prevent this, council must listen to citizens’ views and repeal Bylaw 12800.

Abigail and John Lummis, Edmonton 

Letters welcome

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Screaming and tears erupted outside of Rexall Place as Canadian pop idol Justin Bieber was spied skateboarding Tuesday evening outside of his tour bus in advance of his performance at Rexall Place.

“I almost had a heart attack, I almost died,” said 17-year-old Jenasie Laliberte, who just minutes before tried to deny her adoration for Bieber before rushing the chain-link fence with a crowd of girls for her chance at a glimpse of the teen pop heartthrob.

“He was beautiful,” she said. “I almost cried, I can’t speak. I am dying right now.”

Jenasie has been to every concert Bieber has played in Edmonton. She was surprised by her parents who bought ticket for the whole family.
When asked which was her favourite Bieber song, Jenasie’s sister, eight-year-old Ciara Miller — still wide-eyed from seeing Bieber — responded with an enthusiastic, “all of them.”

Thousands of fans packed Rexall for Bieber’s Edmonton stop on his Purpose World Tour.

While Jenasie said she loves, “everything about him. His face, his body, his hair,” other fans are attracted to his music.

“I like the way he sings and how his lyrics really speak to me,” said Charlie Murray, 13, excited to see Bieber live in concert for the first time.

“It’s his looks, his music, he’s so inspirational and always brings me hope, makes me smile,” said her friend Paige Salloum, 13, about to see Bieber live for the third time.

While rumours have circled the young star after Bieber announced he would no longer be doing meet and greets with fans, Charlie and Paige said there was no need for the singer to apologize.

“I get why he did it, but I also would have loved to do it,” Charlie said

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Fort Saskatchewan RCMP are asking the public to be on the lookout for two suspects accused of a midday armed robbery.

Officers were called to the Sunshine Liquor Store at 5114 50 Avenue in Lamont around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday after a white man wearing a black ski mask entered the store and threatened the employee with what appeared to be a gun.

The man fled the store with an undisclosed amount of cash, jumping into the passenger seat of a red 2014 Ram truck with the licence plate FUR585.

The employee was unharmed.

Police later determined the truck had been stolen from Edmonton on Tuesday.

Fort Saskatchewan RCMP responded immediately but the suspects had left the scene before they arrived.

Investigators are asking anyone with information to report what they know or saw to police.

Should a member of the public see the suspect truck, officers are urging witnesses not to approach the suspects and instead call 911.

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ctheobald@postmedia.com

An Australian child psychiatrist accused of recording video of a boy using a urinal in a washroom at West Edmonton Mall in May is facing new allegations of possessing a dozen similar videos and hundreds of pictures of children.

WA Today reports a search of Perth child psychiatrist Aaron Voon’s home revealed 409 images of children — categorized as Category 1 child exploitation — and 12 videos of young boys surreptitiously recorded while they were urinating in public washrooms.

A police prosecutor told Perth Magistrates Court that Voon could be seen in some of the recordings.

Investigators do not believe any of these allegations are directly linked to Voon’s professional work. Voon has voluntarily given up his licence to practise medicine. The the Medical Board of Australia and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency will make a final determination.

Voon was first arrested May 22 in Edmonton after being confronted by a father who said he caught Voon recording his son using a urinal in the Scotia Bank Theatre at West Edmonton Mall.

A video of the father confronting Voon was posted on social media and has been viewed more than 150,000 times.

Voon was charged with possession of child pornography, making child pornography and voyeurism.

Voon appeared in court in Edmonton last week. He was released on $75,000 cash bail under strict restrictions.

After his release, Voon returned to Australia. He was arrested on arrival at Perth Airport on June 9 after police had searched his clinic and home.

Voon is expected back in an Edmonton court Thursday, but it is not known whether he will be able to fly back to Canada or if he will appear in court through a video link.

Voon was granted bail and released under a series of protective conditions while he awaits trial in Australia on an additional child pornography charges.

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For decades now, the notion of meaningful collaboration among the municipalities that make up the metro Edmonton region has been a siren’s song. The theory of regional co-operation sounds oh-so sweet and alluring, drawing local leaders in to an assortment of regional organizations until the politicians get up close and consider the ugly political consequences of tying their futures too tightly together.

A report last week from the Advisory Panel on Metro Edmonton’s Future — commissioned by the nine communities that make up the 95 per cent of the Edmonton area’s population including Edmonton, Strathcona County, St. Albert and Leduc — says there is a way forward on regional co-operation that should be nothing but beautiful music. 

The alternative — doing nothing and maintaining the status quo, they said in the report called Be Ready, or Be Left Behind — is far more damaging to the region’s future as it looks to compete globally. The key, according to the panel headed by former Epcor boss Don Lowry, is to focus in on three areas: economic development, public transit and land use planning in areas of regional significance. 

In that respect, this report’s narrow focus is a refreshing change from many previous studies on regional co-operation that came with enough recommendations to paper the highway between Fort Saskatchewan and Spruce Grove.

And it seems like such common sense.

Why don’t the region’s cities collaborate more on mass transit corridors and share transit services? Why do so many individual cities and towns have their own economic development branches when the region would be better served by a one-stop shop? The challenges of collaborating on land use is easier to understand. No community wants to be told by another what to do with its backyard, and yet the Edmonton area is interlocked like a puzzle. One piece ultimately blends into the other and there has to be a logic to that development, which is why the provincial government created the Capital Region Board in 2008 to draw up a growth plan. 

The panel is calling on the region’s leaders not to dawdle. They’ve called for a memorandum of understanding between the nine cities to collaborate on these three areas to be signed by the fall and for a master agreement that spells out the details to be approved by March 2017.

That’s a tight time frame and means action in a municipal election year, but the nine municipalities that commissioned this report ought to take its advice seriously. It would be a shame, and so short-sighted, for this report to be just another regional exercise that collects dust on a shelf.

Local editorials are the consensus of the Journal’s editorial board, comprising Lorne Motley, Kathy Kerr, Sarah O’Donnell and David Evans. 

Re. “Students say dress code shames girls,” Paula Simons, June 11

It has been well over a decade since Ottewell School was in the newspaper for its “notorious” dress code. As a former assistant principal at Ottewell for 15 years, I would like to remind readers why such a code existed and still thankfully is maintained in a similar format to this day.

While I do support the freedom of expression of students to a certain extent, often when there are no dress code rules, some students will take things to an extreme. Some examples include boys low-riding their pants to expose their boxer shorts, muscle shirts, very short shorts and mini-mini skirts. They make the students and staff around them unnecessarily body conscious and create a real distraction to all. 

While it is not publicly popular for students to support the dress code, I think one would be quite surprised by the number who are glad it exists. 

I will admit that it is sometimes difficult to establish where to draw the line and there will always be somewhat disputable grey areas. However, the bottom line is that Ottewell presents itself as a school where teachers focus on teaching and students focus on learning.

Bob Zukerman, Edmonton

Asphalt fail latest in trail of problems

Re. “Park’s asphalt trail late, over-budget, cracking: audit,” June 14

Once again our city council has failed the citizens of Edmonton. The city’s audit committee has found out there are severe deficiencies in the Queen Elizabeth Park trail and the project will be late, over-budget and the trail is already falling apart. 

Council seems to think there was no mistake made by the project manager because any deficiencies would have been fixed at the end of the project. The article points out that attitudes at the city have to change and that project management must be more proactive.

I think what has to change is the council themselves. Every homeowner received their taxes recently. The city should have a line in the budget for all the waste they heap on us taxpayers. We have been promised over and over after each project fails that the city will get better at project management. Well in my books they get an “F”.

Dave Rudichuk, Edmonton

Our Muslim friends and neighbours

The other evening I was attending my son’s final soccer practice for the season. He is part of a group of five- and six-year-olds being introduced to soccer and learning basic skills. Part of the final day’s activities included a fun game against parents.

As the parents were being gathered to take part in this activity I noticed a women off to the side wearing a Jilbab, which is an over-garment or cloak worn by Muslim women when in public. She was at first reluctant to join but as the game wore on she was smiling and participating.

This is the Muslim world I see and the one that is the most common. As Donald Trump further ramps up his call to “address the Muslim problem” in the wake of the shooting in Florida, I cannot help but think that one of the victims in all of this are regular, everyday citizens who happen to belong to the Muslim faith.

The Muslims I know are our friends and neighbours.

Scott Burden, Edmonton

Going bagless a good thing

Re. “Bagless movement begs some questions,” Letters, June 13

Thanks for the good question. Grass clippings account for almost half the waste collected during the summer and leaving them on the lawn reduces waste and is good for the environment. Our drainage system can handle the small amount of clippings that might make it down the storm sewer drains.

Grass clippings are approximately 80 per cent water and they quickly decompose, naturally fertilizing the lawn with nutrients and helping the soil retain moisture. Going bagless is good for your lawn, good for the environment and good for you as you don’t have to bag and drag the clippings.

Connie Boyce, community relations director, City of Edmonton’s utility services

Letters welcome

We invite you to write letters to the editor. A maximum of 150 words is preferred. Letters must carry a first and last name, or two initials and a last name, and include an address and daytime telephone number. All letters are subject to editing. We don’t publish letters addressed to others or sent to other publications. Email: letters@edmontonjournal.com .

Police are warning the public to be on the lookout after two ATM robberies and a car theft in southeast Edmonton on Tuesday night.

A person had been using an ATM in a bank near 91 Street and 51 Avenue at around 7 p.m. Tuesday when a suspect approached, brandishing a weapon and demanding the victim hand over their wallet.

The suspect then stole the victim’s vehicle, a grey 1996 Plymouth Voyager with Alberta licence plate FAS362, and fled.

The victim was unharmed.

At around 7:40 p.m., police responded to another robbery at an ATM, this time near 53 Avenue and 75 Street.

A suspect followed a person to the ATM, then drew a weapon and demanded they withdraw cash from the machine. The suspect fled with an undisclosed sum of money.

Investigators believe the two robberies were related.

Police are now looking for a suspect, described as a black man with a slim build between 20 and 30 years old.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the police.

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The economy is playing a role for women escaping domestic abuse, annual numbers released Thursday suggest.

The statistics, released by the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters, came from 40 organizations that manage 36 emergency shelters, 13 second-stage shelters and two seniors shelters around the province.

“Demand for shelter services this year overall is pretty much holding steady,” said Jan Reimer, the council’s executive director.

She said clear evidence of how the waning economy has affected the total use numbers may be around the corner. So far, the biggest change has been seen in the demand found in cities and rural communities.

A decline in energy jobs in rural areas has opened up affordable housing for women leaving shelter.

“With the downturn, that housing stock is freeing up and women have more options than they may have had last year,” Reimer said, adding that translates to shorter stays at shelters for women and children.

It is different in the cities.

“We’re always very busy. We’re operating at capacity all the time,” said Liza Sunley, director of the Lurana Shelter in Edmonton. “One of the biggest indicators for us is the length of stay. People are staying in the shelter a long time, so that’s not freeing up the beds for additional families to come in.”

Sunley said the demand is always constant and may have more to do with availability of beds than the economy.

Last September, the province made $15 million available for shelters, meaning more programs could be offered to move women through the shelters and more quickly into more stable housing.

That reduced the number of people turned away from shelters last year to just under 16,500 from more than 18,500 a year before.

“Additional beds is the next thing if we want to reduce the number of people that we’re having to turn away,” Sunley said. “We’re doing a good job of hopefully getting people through faster and helping them get housed faster, and really supporting them while they’re with us. The next step would be the actual infrastructure itself.”

The provincial dollars are only part of the equation. In 2010, the federal government cut funding for new shelter infrastructure altogether, giving the money to provinces instead in the form of affordable housing funds.

Reimer said neither the former provincial nor federal governments showed any interest in building new shelters. She said she hopes the federal government may follow the province’s lead by investing in shelters.

The full stats are online through the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters.

dlazzarino@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/SUNDaveLazz

Women’s Shelters, by the numbers

• 10,567 — Total of women, children and seniors accommodated by members of the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters in 2015-16, up from 10,205 a year earlier. Of those, 5,032 were women in emergency situations and 4,682 were children in emergencies

• 4,301 — Number of women admitted to emergency and second-stage shelters who said they were seeking safety from abuse

• 45,670 — Crisis calls made to emergency shelters — average call was 15 minutes.

• 8,076 — Women and 8,283 children were turned away from shelters in 2015-16 because of lack of capacity, down from 9,073 women and 9,548 a year earlier

• 4,002 — New outreach client files started last year — 2,943 women, 1,059 children

Theatrical rocker Meat Loaf collapsed on stage in Edmonton Thursday night due to a “severe case” of of dehydration. 

According to fans, Meat Loaf collapsed during his Jubilee Auditorium show shortly after 9:30 p.m. 

“He was performing ‘I Would Do Anything For Love,’ and all of a sudden in the middle of it he collapsed right on stage. We weren’t sure at first whether it was part of the act or it was something for real,” said Lindsay Sundmark, who watched as an ambulance pulled away from the Jubilee just after 10 p.m.

Fans were told to clear the theatre after the incident.

A statement posted to Meat Loaf’s official Facebook page Friday morning confirmed “severe dehydration” was behind the singer’s collapse. He was admitted to a “nearby hospital” for routine tests and his vital signs are stable and he is responsive.

“I was scared. I didn’t know what to think,” said Sophia Shandalla, 17, a life-long fan who went to see the show with her family.

“I didn’t know if it was real. All of the band stopped playing instantly,” said her mother, Lotta Shandalla, visibly shaken.

Britt Brewer, who attended the show with her brother, mother and a co-worker said the whole incident “was a little surreal.”

“It looked at first like he was just being theatrical and lying down on the stage,” she said.

Fans became worried, she said, when he wasn’t moving and bandmates and tour staff crowded around him.

The next thing she knew, “security were telling us to clear the venue.”

Fans gathered outside said the 68-year-old performer, whose real name is Marvin Lee Aday, had put on an energetic performance, and many didn’t realize his sudden collapse wasn’t part of the show until paramedics rushed the stage.

“I just hope he’s okay. He put his heart 100 per cent into the concert, he put everything into it, I just feel so bad for him,” said Lotta.

That being said, Brewer said there were moments when Meat Loaf seemed “a little bit tired, and at times it was hard to hear him.” 

She also said his voice sounded a bit strained.

This comes just days after Meat Loaf was forced to cancel a show in Calgary due to illness.

The singer has collapsed during performances before, including in a 2011 show in Pittsburgh and a 2003 show in London.

#Meatloaf collapse in #yeg tonight. Scary stuff to witness 😟 pic.twitter.com/ihdUuQimtj

— Gen Ross (@gen_ross) June 17, 2016

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#meatloaf #concert #yeg #collapse @RealMeatLoaf #prayers pic.twitter.com/22sAtynoCD

— Calmanda (@callie_86) June 17, 2016

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The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Edmonton has condemned the massacre of 49 nightclub-goers in Orlando last week.

“Islam as a religion has nothing to do with the behaviour of individual people,” said Mohyuddin Mirza, outreach director of the local Ahmadiyya community. “There’s nothing in the holy Qur’an which promotes or even tries to create such behaviour.”

Men, women and children from the community met at the Al-Hadi Mosque at 7005 98 Ave. Friday afternoon to pass a resolution condemning the killing of innocent people in the name of Islam.

Omar Mateen stormed the Pulse nightclub in Orlando last weekend and gunned down dozens before being killed by a SWAT team Sunday. Reports later emerged that the 29-year-old called 911 to pledge loyalty to the Islamic State during the rampage.

“These acts of violence are carried by evil people and we strongly condemn such actions. This event is especially hurtful that it took place in the month of fasting, when Muslims in general focus on personal morals and achieving inner peace,” the Ahmadiyya community said in a statement.

Although the community is “always worried” about Islamophobic backlash in the wake of the attacks, Mirza said there have been no incidents.

“Our motto is, ‘Love for all, hatred for none,’ ” he said. “What is needed is that teaching our children, our young right at an early age, that religion — any religion, especially Islam — doesn’t allow this kind of behaviour.”

There are slightly fewer than 1,000 Ahmadiyya Muslims in Edmonton, Mirza said. Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious movement founded in British India in the late 19th century.

Two Edmonton men have been charged and another suspect is on the run after a shooting in Saskatchewan ended in a cross-border police chase.

Pierceland RCMP rushed to the scene at around 1:30 a.m. where a man and a woman had been shot on the Big Island Cree Territory in Saskatchewan on Tuesday.

Soon after, officers caught up with a suspect vehicle in Cold Lake, across the Alberta border, about 60 kilometres east of where the shooting occurred.

When officers attempted to stop the vehicle, the suspect vehicle fled with police in pursuit down Township Road 630 back over the Saskatchewan border.

The vehicle then lost control, crashing in a ditch.

Three suspects ran from the crash and RCMP officers were able to arrest two of them. A third suspect remained at large Friday.

Adam Mohamed Elmi, 20, of Edmonton faces nearly a dozen charges, including two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of using a firearm in the commission of an offence and for fleeing police.

Amin Ali Yussuf, 26, also from Edmonton, has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm while prohibited, unauthorized possession of a firearm and operating a motor vehicle while being pursued by police.

Both suspects were being held in custody.

Yussuf was expected to appear in Meadow Lake provincial court on June 27 while Elmi was expected to appear on July 4.

Both shooting victims were treated in hospital. The female victim has since been released, while the male victim remained in hospital Friday suffering from serious injuries.

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