Alberta briefs - February 5
Legislature members to forgo pay increase
EDMONTON — Members of the Alberta legislature are to forgo a planned pay increase in the coming fiscal year.
An all-party committee voted Wednesday not to take an estimated five-per-cent increase between April 1 and March 31, 2010.
Bev Alenius of the Speaker’s Office said the actual amount is based on the percentage increase of average weekly earnings provided by Statistics Canada.
The decision affects the premier, cabinet ministers, opposition leaders, all sitting members of the legislature and some other staff.
Last week, Premier Ed Stelmach said his government planned to show leadership in facing the economic downturn by not accepting the scheduled increase.
Last May, Stelmach and his ministers got a 30-per-cent salary boost, raising the premier’s his annual pay to $213,450 — an increase of $54,000.
Man imprisoned for brutally beating
landlord loses bid to go free
EDMONTON — An Edmonton man imprisoned for brutally beating a landlord has lost a bid to get out of jail on constitutional grounds.
Leo Teskey’s lawyer had applied for a stay in the proceedings because it took too long to deal with the case.
But provincial court Judge Eric Peterson has dismissed his application.
Teskey has been twice convicted for the November 2000 assault that left Dougald Miller with such severe brain injuries that he is paralyzed and can no longer speak.
The court is now hearing an application from the Crown to have Teskey declared a dangerous offender.
If the Crown succeeds, Teskey could be kept in jail indefinitely.
Landlords charged after fatal fire
in basement suite killed tenants
CALGARY — Two Calgary landlords are facing charges after a fire in a basement suite killed three tenants and critically injured a fourth.
Akif and Bushra Amin each face seven charges under Alberta’s Public Health Act and Minimum Housing and Health Standard.
The Jan. 26 fire killed Jonathan St. Pierre, 19, his ex-girlfriend Tiffany Cox, 19, and Colleen Mantei, 23.
The fourth person is still recovering in hospital.
The charges include failure to ensure housing premises were in safe condition and failure to ensure required smoke alarms were operational and in good repair.
There is also a charge of failing to ensure that security bars on the bedroom windows could be opened from the inside without the use of tools or special knowledge.
If convicted, the maximum penalty is a $2,000 fine for each charge.
“I was sort of expecting it,” said Akif Amin, who expressed sympathy for the victims’ families Wednesday.
The charges didn’t come as a shock to St. Pierre’s mother, Lisa St. Pierre, either, but she said she hopes the incident will prevent future tragedies.
“I’m thankful that other landlords will look at this and learn — that it will raise awareness,” she said.
Police officers deny accusations
they roughed up homeless man
CALGARY — Two police officers charged with beating up a homeless man have denied roughing him up in a police station stairwell.
Both Const. Roland Stewart and Const. Dino Izzo testified Wednesday they did nothing more than eject William John McCormack from an area he should not have been in.
Izzo, 34, and Stewart, 31, did admit making physical contact with McCormack, but not with the force necessary to cause wounds on a healthy individual.
Stewart said he gave McCormack a punch to his torso when it appeared the street person was about to lunge at him.
And Izzo said he gave McCormack a light “kick” to the top of his head to get his attention when he failed to react to their commands to leave the area.
Both officers are charged with assault causing bodily harm in the Nov. 6, 2007, incident at the police administration building.
McCormack, 46, said he had passed out in the stairwell, which leads to a gym and officers’ lockers, and awoke to an assault by the two men.
He suffered a gash over his left eye, which required six stitches, and a broken rib.
Stewart said McCormack was refusing to show his hands, which were hidden under his jacket, raising alarms in his mind.
“Oftentimes people carry weapons ... homeless people and drug addicted people,” he told defence lawyer Don MacLeod of the need to see McCormack’s hands.
“I was scared,” Stewart said.
