Calgary company donates park to provincial government
CBC
One of Alberta's largest power generators is donating the provincial park it owns.
Heartland Generation CEO Rob Dutton said Wednesday it would be donating Big Knife Provincial Park near Camrose, Alta., to the provincial government.
Dutton said he felt the 108 hectares (268 acres) shouldn't belong to a private company.
"Our parks, definitely, and our provincial parks, certainly, belong to Albertans and shouldn't belong to, in my opinion, a company like ours," he said.
He said when he learned the company owned the land, he set out to change that.
"I was surprised to learn we did, to be quite frank," he said.
When the company acquired the Battle River Power Station in 2019, the assets included the nearby land.
"That park, the land under it, is owned by this company. It's like, well, we need to rectify that."
WATCH l Heartland Generation and government officials make announcement on central Alberta provincial park:
Big Knife Provincial Park was established in 1962 along the Battle River near Forestburg. It comprised a mix of publicly and privately owned lands.
Environment and Parks Minister Whitney Issik says the province has been leasing private land for the provincial parks system since the first Alberta Parks were established in 1932.
"The Alberta government has actually been leasing these privately owned lands, which have been graciously donated today. These lands will continue to support conservation and outdoor recreation opportunities all along the Battle River."
Heartland Generation is based in Calgary.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.