EDMONTON — After going public about receiving harassing phone calls and pranks, Edmonton’s Sikh community at a local place of worship is once again being affected by hate-fuelled incidents.

Over the last sixth months, Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Mill Woods received harassing phone calls and meat lovers pizzas delivered to the religious group that doesn’t eat meat.

When the community initially shared the story in July, Gurpreet Kaur said the phone calls stopped.

“Going public took a lot of courage,” Kaur told CTV News Edmonton. “We thought we were out of the woods. We thought everything was okay.”

The calls have since returned over the past two weeks, but this time they are taunting.

“(They’re) saying you haven’t even caught me yet,” Kaur recalled. “It just gives you a feeling of despair. It makes us think, what can we do next?

“Now that it’s started again it’s been really difficult to deal with.”

Recordings of the calls have been forwarded to the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) which Kaur hopes will help resolve some of the anxiety the community has been facing.

“Having these phone calls, especially when you are a volunteer,” Kaur said, “is really, really difficult.

“How long will this go on for,” she added. “It’s just exhausting.”

NOT SIMPLY A ‘SMALL’ INCIDENT

EPS would not confirm to CTV News if they were investigating the calls as a hate crime, however, a local organization that documents events like this says it has seen the numbers of hate-motivated incidents rise in the past year.

“Over the last year we’ve seen an increase in reports,” said Irfan Chaudhry, vice president of the Alberta Hate Crimes Committee (AHCC). “When you look back at the last year, no community has been left unturned, unfortunately when it comes to hate crimes and discrimination.

“Not only is it affecting one individual but also the entire community who look like that individual or share that faith,” Chaudhry said. “It has a ripple effect that affects the entire community more than typical crimes do.

“It’s really easy from a broader perspective to just discount that saying, ‘It’s just a phone call,’” he added. “This is still really impacting people.”

Chaudry said anyone who is a victim or witnesses of a hate crime, an event that meets the definition law enforcement can charge someone under the Criminal Code, report the incident to police. Anything that does not should be reported as a hate incident to an organization like the AHCC.

“Share your story, and encourage reporting (of incidents),” he said. “It’s important to document those ‘smaller’ calls, that some might frame as a nuisance so that they are being taken seriously before it escalates.

“It’s really important to just document it so we start to develop a broader understanding and awareness of where it is happening and communities being impacted.” 

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Ryan Harding

Alberta nurses are likely to go on strike in the next two months if the Alberta Health Services (AHS) position in labour negotiations doesn’t shift.

On Thursday the United Nurses of Alberta union (UNA) agreed on all of AHS’s conditions for essential services, which are the conditions in the health-care system that must be upheld during a strike, bringing the province’s 30,000 nurses one step closer to a strike.

Unlike most employees who can walk off their jobs, nurses were once banned from striking altogether because if they leave their jobs, lives are put at risk.

After a Supreme Court of Canada ruling in 2015 nurses are now able to strike, but they must do it under conditions that both AHS and the nurses agree to. The plan, which the nurses agreed to this week, is detailed and specific for each unit across the province, but broadly works out to an around 66-per-cent decrease of staff during the striking period. Some units, such as Intensive Care Units, will likely not cut staff, while other units facing less dire consequences could see larger cuts to staff during a strike.

Agreeing to these conditions from AHS brings the nurses one step closer to a strike, UNA director of labour relations David Harrigan said on Thursday.

“Unless the government and the employer starts taking things seriously, I think it’s absolutely inevitable that there’s going to be a strike,” Harrigan said.

The legal process for the nurses to strike requires them to agree on the essential services to be provided during that time before they can move into the formal mediation process with AHS and the provincial government.

Now a mediator will be appointed, and if an agreement is not reached between the groups, then either the union can strike, or the employer can lock out.

Harrigan said once a mediator is appointed, they have 14 days to try and bring the parties to an agreement. If that can’t be achieved, recommendations may given by the mediator. The groups will go into a 14-day cooling-off period before they can take any action.

“So we are probably looking at a month or two (before a strike),” Harrigan said.

The nurses are asking for a two-per-cent pay increase per year, along with a request that AHS and the provincial government reveal publicly how much overtime is being used on each unit per year.

The employer is asking for a three-per-cent cut to salaries, with a two-per-cent cut to the lump-sum payment nurses receive, which equals a five-per-cent reduction in their income.

On top of cutting salaries, working conditions would be made worse, Harrigan said, by removing the requirement to have a registered nurse or registered psychiatric nurse in charge of nursing units, which will deeply impact patient care.

“It’s going to affect working conditions if you have a nursing unit and there’s no nurse in charge, things can really go awry,” Harrigan said.

The union leader said it is unbelievable the province is saying it is in an emergency situation, as AHS has invoked emergency work rules for nurses as COVID-19 hospitalizations rise again, while trying to cut pay for the nurses.

Under the emergency provisions the nurses put their normal rules of employment on hold and instead they can be sent to other hospitals and required to work overtime.

“When you do that and at the same time, say, `We think you’re worth less,’ it’s the perfect storm for chaos,” Harrigan said.

In a poll of members, Harrigan said 97 per cent of provincial nurses do not want to accept a pay cut and a “large majority” of members would be prepared to take strike action.

Provincial nurses have already been holding information pickets this summer, fighting back against the proposed wage rollbacks, staffing issues, and closures of beds across the province.

Alberta Minister of Treasury Board and Finance Travis Toews said in a press release on Thursday he is pleased that the United Nurses of Alberta and Alberta Health Services have reached an agreement on essential services that will be submitted to the Alberta Labour Relations Board (ALRB) for review.

“AHS and UNA will be filing a joint application to the ALRB for formal mediation,” Toews said.

“Previously, AHS had filed for informal mediation. We are pleased to see UNA is now a joint applicant, and has acknowledged the importance of mediation.”

The minister said mediation is a normal part of the negotiation process and is a step toward a settlement and long-term labour stability.

“It is clear the two parties want to reach an agreement and it is important that this happens quickly,” Toews said.

“I am confident that formal mediation will be productive as the two parties work collaboratively toward a deal that respects both the expertise of Alberta’s nurses and the province’s financial situation.”

The nurses contract expired in March 2020, although that contact currently extends until a new one can be reached. Negotiations were put off due to the pandemic but picked up again in July 2020.

EDMONTON — The regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations Alberta Association is angered the province will not legislate the recently created federal National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a statutory holiday.

Ottawa has set aside Sept. 30 as the first national day to reflect on truth and reconciliation and the legacy of residential schools. The federal government passed legislation allowing federal employees and people working in federally regulated workplaces, like banks, the day off.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) put forward creating a statutory holiday to help public commemoration and awareness of the damaging and intergenerational effects the residential school system had and continues to have as one of its 94 calls to action.

Adrienne South, minister of Indigenous relations press secretary, said in a statement that the province is encouraging all Albertans to reflect on the legacy of residential schools and not just on one day, but it will not legislate the day as a holiday for all.

“The question on a work holiday is a decision for individual employers, unless an employee’s employment contract or collective bargaining agreement specifically grants federally-regulated holidays,” South said.

“We must not limit our acknowledgement to the legacy of residential schools to just one day,” she added.

All provincial government building flags will be lowered to mark the federally designated day.

South said that the province is working with First Nations and Metis communities in the province to establish a permanent memorial on the legislature grounds, adding it would create a lasting reminder of the tragic legacies of residential schools.

PROVINCE NEEDS TO ‘STEP UP’: REGIONAL CHIEF

Regional Chief Marlene Poitras said in a statement that “enough is enough.”

“There have been too many stories in recent days of this provincial government ignoring First Nations peoples and communities in the province,” she said. “Why won’t the government step up and acknowledge this day, which directly responds to the TRC calls to action?

“This refusal to formally acknowledge the Sept. 30th federal holiday within Alberta flies in the face of reconciliation with First Nations and shows a disdain and lack of care or respect for Alberta’s Indigenous population,” Poitras added.

Alberta had the most residential schools in the country.

Lyndsay Breadner, an Indigenous sacred firekeeper involved in the local harm-reduction community, told CTV News Edmonton she is not surprised the province will not be giving everyone the opportunity to observe the holiday.

“I’m not surprised at all,” she said. “Given the fact the UCP has always been a little bit insensitive.”

Breadner has been part of an effort to raise awareness and honour the children who never came home after attending residential schools, by a former school site along what is now Winterburn Road.

A large tipi has been set up and several ceremonies have and continue to take place.

“We are here to bring them home,” Breadner said. “To say their names.”

For Breadner, having a holiday is an important first step on the path to reconciliation as it gives people time away from work to reflect or attend ceremonies, like the one she has been part of for months.

Unlike Alberta, B.C. has set aside Sept. 30 as a stat holiday. Others are still deciding.

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees is filing grievances for workers who have been denied the statutory holiday.

“You feel like that your collective agreement isn’t being honoured,” said Bobby-Joe Borodey, a vice president with the union. “And you have to think about the day they’re not honouring. We consider it to be shameful.”

GOVERNMENT ‘SENDING THE WRONG MESSAGE’: INDIGENOUS HISTORY PROF

Crystal Fraser, an assistant history professor at the University of Alberta specializing in residential schools in Canada, echoed Breadner’s disappointment.

“If we can’t take one day out of 365, how is it we’re going to come together as Albertans, as Canadians, on an everyday basis,” Fraser said.

Fraser is Gwichyà Gwich’in and originally from Inuvik and Dachan Choo Gę̀hnjik in the Northwest Territories. Her grandmother and mother are residential school survivors.

The history professor said adding a holiday to a calendar says a lot about a nation’s priorities, like how Remembrance Day is recognized as a stat.

“This is sending the wrong message,” she said. “If Alberta were to recognize Sept. 30 as a statutory holiday where it could be a day of learning, practice, and reflection that might give the final people the push they need to sit down and educate themselves about what it is like to be Canadian in a country that is still so very colonial.

“To not say that Orange Shirt Day, now a federally recognized day on Sept. 30, is not important enough for Albertans to stop work, to have some quiet time, do some reflection is a big mistake,” Fraser added.  

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Touria Izri

EDMONTON — Some local pharmacists are alarmed after at least six Edmonton pharmacies have been robbed of certain cough medications in the last two weeks.

Edmonton police say in every instance the target medications were Percocet, codeine, and cotridin – all also known as cough syrup.

CTV News Edmonton spoke with two of the pharmacies that were hit. Both declined interviews for fear of being robbed again.

Shamas Arshad recounted how he was working alone one evening in his south Edmonton pharmacy when three people barged in, one with a knife.

“One of the big guys, he grabbed me by the front of the neck and he asked me, ‘the Percocet, the cotridin, and the codeine,’” Arshad said.

Everything they wanted was in the pharmacy’s safe, he added. During the incident, Arshad said he was punched in the left ear and his hands were tied.

He recalled how one of the robbers who was holding the knife threatened him.

“He said, ‘We will slash your throat if you make a noise,’” Arshad added.

The thieves grabbed the narcotics and left. While Arshad was okay physically, he was forever scarred emotionally.

“It was quite traumatizing,” Arshad said, as he paused. “I can still feel those things.”

While Edmonton police declined to comment about why thieves are increasingly going after cough medication, some pharmacists who spoke with CTV News said they believe it could be connected to the ongoing opioid crisis.

Another theory pharmacists shared is that robbers are going after cotridin, or prescription cough syrup, because it is difficult to obtain.

Since July 1, 2020, to receive oral liquids containing codeine from a pharmacy, a triplicate prescription is needed. Those types of prescriptions are almost impossible to forge, pharmacists say.

Local pharmacists said they would see hundreds of prescriptions for cotridin. Since the change took effect last year, they’ve barely seen any.

“When we get a prescription for it, we make sure it’s the right prescription, it’s legitimate,” said Mohamed Elfishawi from Terwillegar Pharmacy. “Then we order it the next day.”

The Alberta Pharmacy Association says it is aware of “the increase in robberies” and is working with the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) on implementing prevention measures.

EPS encourages pharmacies to implement security measures like panic alarms, raised counters, and surveillance cameras.

Shamas, who was robbed back in February, says the cameras were not working. He’s convinced extra security and societal supports for those using the stolen cough syrups are the answers.

“Every problem has a solution,” he Shamas said. “It’s not like anyone’s fault, but it’s a whole society that should contribute.”

EDMONTON — A local doctor is fed up with people asking for a veterinary drug used to de-worm horses, cattle, and sheep because they believe it can treat COVID-19.

Dr. Michael Chatenay, a general surgeon, told CTV News Edmonton in an interview that several patients have asked him about whether his hospital stocks Ivermectin.

While there are some extremely limited uses in humans and a handful of very preliminary studies about whether it can be used to treat COVID-19, he says some conspiracy-minded individuals have tried to get their hands on it.

Chatenay said that none of those studies have proven that the drug provides a demonstrable benefit against COVID-19.

“The irony isn’t lost on us that they call the people who use the vaccine ‘sheep’ and they’re using a treatment used on sheep,” Chatenay said. “Which is absolutely astonishing to me.”

“People grasp on to this and start to look for miracle cures for COVID, rather than relying on the highly tested and proven solution to this problem: which is an approved COVID-19 vaccine,” he added. “In many ways, this vaccine is the most tested and proven medication. It has been safely used on hundreds of millions of people.”

Many American poison control services reported dramatic spikes in calls related to people taking Ivermectin.

Kerry Williamson, Alberta Health Services (AHS) spokesperson, said in a statement that there have so far been no calls to local poison and drug information service phone lines about Ivermectin.

“The AHS Scientific Advisory Group conducted a review to explore using Ivermectin in treatment and prevention of COVID-19 and currently, Ivermectin is not an approved medication for the treatment of COVID-19 in Alberta,” Williamson added.

Chatenay, who grew up on a farm, said he remembered his father using Ivermectin on his own livestock.

“I remember many days with my father pouring this foul-smelling concoction Ivermectin on cows’ backs,” he recalled. “It was used to get rid of some warbles and certain skin parasites.

“The veterinary application is not useful in humans.”

The doctor said health care workers are getting increasingly fatigued with having to deal with patients asking for Ivermectin and other unproven remedies.

“The pandemic has now selected out a population of people that tend to be conspiracy theorists that tend to try and grasp on to things that aren’t proven rather than grasping on to things that are proven, and are increasingly belligerent about it when we try and provide care for them,” Chatenay said.

“It’s becoming absolutely exhausting for us to deal with this.”