EDMONTON — RCMP say a fire that significantly damaged the Fox Lake Community Church in northern Alberta was “deliberately set.”

According to RCMP, emergency crews responded after 10 p.m. Saturday to a complaint of a fire at the church.

In a statement, Mounties said smoke was observed coming from the interior of the structure as they arrived on scene.

The Fox Lake Volunteer Fire Department was able to extinguish the fire.

“The building is still standing but sustained significant damage to the interior,” RCMP said. “A fire investigator attended the scene and was able to determine that the fire was deliberately set.”

Investigation into the incident continues, RCMP add.

Several churches in Alberta and British Columbia have been vandalized and damaged or destroyed by fire in the wake of discoveries of unmarked graves near former residential school sites in Saskatchewan and in Kamloops, B.C.

Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact Fox Lake RCMP at 780-659-2080 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

EDMONTON — A large crowd gathered in central Edmonton Saturday afternoon as a new statue was officially unveiled.

A statue of Anne Frank was installed in Light Horse Park as a gift from the Dutch Canadian Club Edmonton to memorialize the Holocaust and the Canadian military’s contribution to liberating Holland during the Second World War.

The statue is a replica of a work created by Dutch sculptor Pieter d’Hont in 1960.

Storyboards around the statue help explain the importance of Anne Frank and the connection between Canada and Holland.

John Stobbe, Dutch Canadian Club Edmonton member and co-chair of the project, said Anne Frank is a symbol of hope and optimism.

“The message is hugely relevant today,” Stobbe said. “We always need to stand up to evil and still believe there is good in people.”

As more time passes since the Second World War, Stobbe said the new statue will help ensure no generation ever forgets the struggle against tyranny and sacrifices made.

“My parents were in the war. I don’t forget, but I need to make sure that my kids remember to not forget.”

Edmonton’s statue is one of only four in the world. 

EDMONTON — Premier Jason Kenney said an Alberta provincial police force would be welcome in rural Alberta and that it would not cost more to municipalities than RCMP service.

Kenney made the comments in response to a question from media at a press conference on Friday.

According to the premier, there is a “rural crime crisis” plaguing Alberta, citing the recent deadly confrontation in Red Deer County over the August long weekend during a break and enter as one example of rising property and violent crimes committed in rural areas.

“We’ve seen too many things like this, especially in rural (areas),” he said. “One of the issues is unacceptably long police response times.

“I think we can do better with a community police model. That’s what the city people have. With the municipal police forces in Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, and four other communities.”

Kenney added that he “respects” the work the RCMP do, but said they lack a focused mandate that a provincial police force would offer.

“The RCMP is a huge national complex organization with an unfocused mandate,” he said. “They do everything from highway patrol in rural Alberta to complex national security and cyber crime stuff in Ottawa.”

For Kenney, a provincial police force would provide stability and allow community members from their local regions to serve in those areas.

“I think it would be awesome in principle to have a provincial police force where girls and boys can dream of become a police officer and serving in their community for the rest of their lives, a community that they understand,” he said.

The premier said community consultations and Indigenous groups about a potential provincial police force will be launched “shortly.”

According to the premier, other premiers have expressed interest in Alberta’s research into creating a provincial police force and that if Alberta were to create one it would be part of a “trend” in Canada. He gave the example of the city of Surrey, B.C. moving to create its own police force as opposed to relying on RCMP service.

Alberta commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers to complete an independent study to help decide if the RCMP should be replaced with a provincial police force. That study was to be completed by April 30, 2021. The report has not been made public.

NO ADDITIONAL COST TO MUNICIPALITIES: KENNEY

Kenney said that many municipalities have said they would be concerned how much a provincial police force would cost.

“We’re going to guarantee them that this model would not cost them one cent more.”

The premier offered no specifics as to how the province would achieve that goal.

“The work is ongoing,” he added. “We haven’t made final decisions.”

Alberta currently shares the cost for its RCMP service in a 70-30 split with the federal government. The province pays $262.4 million annually, with Ottawa paying $112.4 million.

In December 2019, the United Conservative Party government changed the funding relationship the province had with municipalities when it comes to policing. Previously, municipalities did not pay anything for policing costs.

There has been no decision as to if the proposal of creating a provincial police force would go to referendum, Kenney said.

Irfan Sabir, NDP justice critic, said in a statement that the government needs to provide Albertans with evidence to support the costs of creating a provincial police.

“The UCP has yet to show Albertans any proof that this half-baked idea will lead to better policing and stronger community safety for Albertans,” Sabir said. “In fact, it’s this UCP government that has already cut tens of millions of dollars from police budgets across the province.

“Albertans want safer communities not a further downloading of costs onto them,” Sabir added.

EDMONTON — Kelsey Mitchell, who is from Sherwood Park, won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics Saturday.

Mitchell was competing in the track cycling sprint. Tokyo is her first Olympic games and the gold is her first medal win.

Mitchell is also a world record holder, Pan American Games champion and a World Cup medalist, according to Team Canada.

Mitchell was scouted at an RBC training event in 2017 and recruited by Cycling Canada.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Mitchell also placed fifth in the women’s track cycling keirin.

EDMONTON — A plane crashed Saturday evening near Wetaskiwin, Alta.

RCMP confirmed to CTV News Edmonton that a plane had crashed and that one person, the pilot, sustained serious but non-life threatening injuries.

The investigation into the incident continues.

No further details were available from emergency crews.

Wetaskiwin is located approximately 70 kilometres south of Edmonton.

More to come…