EDMONTON — Flags at city hall will be lowered and a period of silence will be observed by city council to commemorate the deaths of 215 First Nations children whose remains were found buried near a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

In a statement released Sunday before noon, Mayor Don Iveson said that all flags at city hall will be lowered from Monday to June 8 – a total of 215 hours.

At the next city council meeting, a 215-second long period of silence will be observed as well to further honour the lives of the lost children and all victims of residential schools.

Iveson said that news of the discovery of the remains “hits hard” in Edmonton as the city is home to one of the largest urban Indigenous communities in Canada.

He added that Edmonton is home to the largest number of residential school survivors in the country.

“As an honourary witness of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, I swore an oath to bear witness, and carry the stories from Canada’s residential school system, and to be an agent of reconciliation,” Iveson said.

“We have long known that thousands of children were unaccounted for, but this mass unmarked grave amounts to stark, heartbreaking and unavoidable evidence of cultural genocide.

“For those who still deny that this, and other injurious colonial practices, were anything less than cultural genocide, please take a moment to stand before the memorials of children’s shoes that are springing up across this country and reflect carefully on that position,” the mayor added.

A memorial organized by the Indigenous Law Students Association is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sunday outside the legislature to honour the children who died at the residential school and support the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc community.

Flags across the country have also been lowered to help commemorate the 215 children whose remains were discovered, including the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill.

The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line is 1-866-925-4419.

EDMONTON — Families are trying to salvage what they can after fire tore through three homes in the north end Friday.

“It’s very tough to look at, especially for the kids when they came back from school,” said Ereddad Kharraz. “They were shocked, everything is gone.”

Kharraz and his family lived in one of the three houses that burned down, several others were damaged by the flames.

“We cry a little bit so we can release some pressure,” said Kharraz. “It’s tough.

“It’s not only money gone, it’s memories.”

Firefighters were called to a garage fire just after 2 p.m. Friday. The windy conditions caused the fire to spread quickly.

“It was so fast,” said Ashley McCaw, who lives a block away.

She said despite the distance, the speed with which the fire spread made her nervous.

“(We made) sure all of us have an outfit and our birth certificates in a bag, just in case,” said McCaw.

According to fire officials, everyone made it out of the homes, but two people suffered burns. They were treated at the scene before being taken to hospital, there was no word on the extent of their injuries.

Kharraz said he and his wife were at work when the fire broke out and were glad their kids were back at school this week.

“Imagine if my kids were here and were online and were using headphones or something and can’t hear anything,” said Kharraz.

The family hopes to be able to eventually rebuild their home, instead of moving.

“I want to rebuild here,” said Kharraz. “I want to stay in this neighbourhood.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson

EDMONTON — Hundreds of Edmonton Oilers fans rallied together outside Rogers Place on Saturday to show support for Ethan Bear after he experienced racism online.

The Indigenous defenceman was singled out after the team’s crushing defeat on Monday where an untimely giveaway helped the Winnipeg Jets tie the game for an overtime win.

Bear, who has been with the team since 2018, grew up in the Ochapowace First Nation in Saskatchewan.

The 23-year-old player said on Wednesday in a video statement that he was subject to racist comments online following the Oilers loss.

READ MORE: Oilers’ Ethan Bear: ‘I’ve been subject to racist behaviour on social media’ 

“The people who made those remarks on social media are keyboard cowards,” said Allan Beaver, the rally’s master of ceremonies.

Some of Bear’s community members travelled nine hours to be present at the rally.

“We were all saddened back home, however, it encouraged us to rise,” said Margaret Bear.

Fourteen-year-old Dane Thomas told CTV News Edmonton that a sense of belonging in hockey is important.

“He’s from my reserve,” Thomas said. “He’s my role model. Also, he makes me want to work harder to make the NHL.” 

Bear also drove by the rally and thanked fans for their support.

READ MORE: Racism directed at Ethan Bear sparks jump in donations to Beckie Scott’s Spirit North

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Touria Izri

EDMONTON — Another 406 cases of COVID-19 in Alberta have been reported Saturday as hospitalizations and ICU admissions continue to decrease.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, chief medical officer of health for Alberta, reported the numbers in a limited update on Twitter. Approximately 6,882 tests have been completed leading to a positivity rate of 7.57 per cent.

The last time less than 500 cases were reported in one day was March 28, 2021.

Total active cases of COVID-19 in the province is 8,474 – down by 286 cases from Friday’s 8,760.

Friday marked the first time active cases were below 9,000 since April 1 this year.

The Calgary zone leads the province in active cases with 3,459 while the Edmonton zone has 2,239. The North zone and Central zone have 1,254 and 1,002, respectively. The South zone has 518. Two active cases have an unknown zone of origin.

There are 478 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, including 140 in ICU – a decrease of 39 patients and seven ICU patients since Friday.

The Edmonton zone leads ICU admissions for the province with 57 people. The Calgary zone has 50 while the Central zone has 14. The North zone and South zone have 12 and 7 people in ICU, respectively.

Eight more deaths from COVID-19 were reported Saturday raising the total to 2,214.

Of the eight new reported deaths, three were in the North zone, including a man in his 60s, a woman in her 70s, and a man in his 70s. All cases included comorbidities.

Three were in the Edmonton zone, with one being a man in his 30s without comorbidities. The other two included comorbidities and were a woman in her 50s and a woman in her 80s.

In the Calgary zone, a man in his 50s and a man in his 70s died. Both deaths included comorbidities. 

Over 216,100 Albertans have recovered from COVID-19.

Over 2.72 million vaccine doses have been administered in Alberta.

As of Friday, more than half of the province’s total population had received at least one dose of their COVID-19 immunization – translating to about 2.2 million Albertans. More than 363,000 are fully immunized.

READ MORE: 60 per cent of eligible Albertans have now had a first shot; province adds 512 new cases on Friday 

Alberta Health Services have administered over 1.5 million vaccines while pharmacies have given over 1.1 million. The remaining 69,153 vaccines have been administered by other providers like physician clinics.

RELAUNCH PLAN ON TRACK FOR NOW

The level of first doses administered so far and hospitalization dropping below 500 means the province could move to Stage 2 of its reopening plan as soon as June 10, provided the threshold of hospitalizations dose not increase back above 500 patients.

The province is set to reopen in three phases based on hospital admissions and COVID-19 vaccination numbers.

The first stage is set to being June 1.

Stage 2 criteria includes 60 per cent of Albertans 12 and older receiving at least one dose and hospitalizations remaining below 500. The third stage is set to trigger after 70 per cent of the eligible population has had at least one dose.

The second stage permits gathering limits to decrease and indoor capacity expanded again in a number of public environments, including gyms, libraries and movie theatres. The work-from-home order will be lifted but remain a recommendation. Outdoor gatherings – including events like concerts and festivals – will be capped at 150 people, except grandstands will be limited to one third of seating capacity.

All restrictions – except isolation requirements for positive cases and some protections in continuing care and hospital settings – will be lifted in Stage 3, when 70 per cent of the eligible province has received at least one dose. 

In a statement, Premier Jason Kenney said the province has reached another milestone Saturday.

“This decline in the number of people in hospital due to COVID-19 shows that Albertans’ efforts to stick to guidelines and to get vaccinated are paying off,” Kenney said. “As long as hospitalizations stay below 500, we will move into Stage 2 on June 10 and be one step closer to having an amazing and fully open Alberta summer.”

“Fewer people in hospital shows Albertans are responding to our call for vaccinations, and is yet another welcome sign that we are on the right track,” said Health Minister Tyler Shandro in a statement.

“Health officials will continue to monitor this trend closely in the weeks ahead as we move towards reopening the province.”

CALGARY — Jose Gutierrez has been a long-haul truck driver for the past three decades, but never in his life has he experienced a more devastating feeling at his day job.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said.

“Not even when I was living in Mexico did we see these kinds of robberies.”

Gutierrez parked two trailers full of lumber at the Flying J truck stop near Barlow Trail on Thursday May 13.

He locked them up and safely stored his load like he had been doing for years, only to find out on Sunday that his entire shipment and both trailers had been stolen.

“The cost is around $80,000 for the lumber and $100,000 for the two trailers,” he said. “I’ve been leaving my trailers at this spot for years, I thought it was secure and I’ve never had a problem.”

Gutierrez reported the trailers and lumber as stolen to police, who are conducting a full investigation. Police say they have already noticed a drastic uptick in lumber thefts this year.

Several incidents have been reported to officers at construction sites and truck stops.

In a statement from Sgt. Nick Wilsher with the CPS Crime Prevention Unit, he stated that the police are aware of an increase in lumber theft activity most notably in the north-central and deep south and southeast areas of the city where new construction activity is high.

“The cost of lumber is increasing as is the price of other construction materials due to supply issues related to the impacts of COVID-19,” Wilsher said.

“We are working with the construction industry to address these thefts and determine when investigative steps can be taken.”

Meanwhile, other truckers like Amrit Grewal who arrived in Calgary from Surrey, B.C. on Saturday morning suggest thefts are ongoing issues across Western Canada.

“It’s happening a lot and my fellow friends are also experiencing this when we go from B.C. to Alberta.,” Grewal said. “Some people just open our trailers doors, break the seals and then steal our stuff.

“People are facing lots of problems because of the pandemic, people are losing jobs, that’s why they need more money right?”

Grewal adds that there is not much truckers can do aside parking in safe truck stop areas with surveillance, but when that’s not an option, it can be challenging.

“We can either sleep and get the rest we need or keep an eye on our load, there’s nothing much else we can do to prevent people from stealing.”

LUMBER RETAILERS RAISING AWARENESS AFTER SURGE IN THEFTS

Benchmark prices according to the Chicago lumber futures at the start of the pandemic were just over $400 USD per thousand board feet, but the price soared and went as high as $1,700 USD per thousand board feet earlier this month.

Liz Kovach with the Western Retail Lumber Association says the industry is experiencing unprecedented times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She says many retailers and contractors are concerned about safely storing material on their yard and several practices are in place to help mitigate that risk.

“Some of it includes, increasing physical barriers, increasing surveillance cameras, ensuring there is additional security that’s coming by and of course trying to block things as much as possible,” Kovach said.

“Retailers have been working with their contractors to make sure that smaller loads are being delivered more frequently just to make sure that material that can be used throughout the day actually can be used, and that there’s no material sitting idle in the evening.”

Kovach adds that neighbours should also keep an eye out for thieves and report suspicious activity to police if projects are being completed in residential areas.

The biggest issue however lies in the price, which will likely remain high according to Kovach, at least until supply catches up with demand.

“These thefts are an unfortunate reality that we’re dealing with right now, but hopefully it’s something people will reconsider because it’s impacting other projects and the ability for employers to finish completing some of their jobs.”