Less than two weeks until Valentine’s Day, fellows!
Where does all the money go collected in fines from a municipalities’ peace officers? In case you wanted to know, here is how it works!
Using the Town of High Prairie as an example, regarding provincial fines, 60 per cent of fine money goes to the Town of High Prairie and 40 per cent to the Government of Alberta. The latter collects the money, then forwards a cheque to the Town. Same as in Peace River, Falher, etc.
On the other hand, municipal fines are kept 100 per cent by the Town of High Prairie.
In a very informative report to council at the Jan. 26 meeting, senior peace officer Brady Snow wrote 277 provincial tickets were issued in 2025 worth $70,404 in fines. High Prairie gets to keep $42,242.40.
Municipal fines were $11,455 so the grand total in fines to fatten local government coffers was $53,697.40.
If you were one of the lucky ones who escaped the watchful eye of town peace officers last year, better brush up on your laws. Council decided to hire a third peace officer, who is expected to join staff in the spring. More eyes will be watching you!
Interesting to note one peace officer’s salary is about $67,000 so the fine money collected last year did not cover the cost of one salary. To be fair, law enforcement is never meant to make money, it is a service.
On page 26 of this week’s newspaper is a story dealing with snow removal in Peace River.
It seems contractors want to make use of the council’s snow dumping facility so they came up with a deal to help.
This is a win-win situation for more than one party. Peace River sits at the bottom of a beautiful valley. When a big dump of snow comes, where do you put it? Space is fairly precious at Peace River so making use of one large facility and sharing makes sense. It would cost contractors and businesses a lot more money to remove snow if it had to hauled to the top of the hill.
“We collect a lot of this information for winter contracts from a lot of contractors that would like to use the snow dump or who get contracted to remove snow for other people,” said director of Infrastructure and Development Pat Fisher at council’s meeting Jan. 25.
Good to see the Town helping out!
For all the excellent work public works crews do removing snow, the best program is still called spring!
Can’t wait to see that big, warm yellow ball in the sky!
Try to understand this one!
Northland School Division Supt. Cal Johnson is retiring Aug. 31. The announcement was made at Northland’s meeting Jan. 17. At the same meeting, the board of trustees decided to increase the superintendent’s wage effective Jan. 17.
What that means is not only is Johnson retiring but he gets a raise just before walking out the door!
Nice to see our education money is going to educate students!
In no particular order. . . High Prairie town council gave themselves a raise recently.
Council has agreed to hire another peace officer.
We hear education requisition is rising. It means a higher tax bill.
And we hear the bill for RCMP officers is rising $36,000 in 2026.
Not to mention inflation.
Good luck to town council in efforts to keep taxes from rising! Keeping in mind, however, the increase is not all their fault! It does prove, however, that government’s insatiable need for more and more money never ends!
Which is deeper? A bottomless pit or a citizen’s wallet when it comes to paying taxes?
No surprise to hear that the old High Prairie Youth Assessment Centre is closed permanently.
The news came not from the Government of Alberta but from the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.
It is strange when something good happens every politician and his dog is making a speech and posing for the camera, telling us who great they are, but when something bad happens, it’s a big secret.
AUPE president Sandra Azocar calls the decision “an act of cruelty” toward the town. Not only do youth have to leave the region for treatment, but dozens of good-paying jobs are gone. Families have been forced to move and find new jobs. It is bad for people and bad for business.
Azocar charges the Alberta government knew all along they “wanted to get rid” of the former YAC. The option? Build three other facilities in Calgary and Fort McMurray.
Boy, the provincial government sure cares a lot about small towns in Alberta and their survival!
Exercise works best if it is the first thing you do in the morning!
Why? Before your brain figures out what you are doing!
A boss was complaining at a staff meeting he wasn’t getting any respect. Later that morning, he went to a sign shop and bought a sign that read, “I’m the Boss!” and taped it to his office door.
After lunch, the boss returned to the office and found someone had taped a note to the door that read “You wife called, she wants her sign back!”
Two women meet 50 years at a resort after they graduated from high school.
“You were always so well-organized in school,’ said the first woman. “Did you manage to live a well-planned life?”
“Oh, yes,” replied the second. “My first marriage was to a millionaire, my second to an actor. Then I married a preacher and now I’ married to an undertaker!”
“How could your life be so well-planned with all those marriages?” asked the first.
“Easy,” said the second. “One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four to go!”