CITY

T H U R S D A Y, M A R C H 1 0 , 2 0 1 6

EDMONTON JOURNAL

A3

Sex-trade
worker
sentenced
for mischief
Daughter, 4, left
with john, then
reported missing
TONY BLAIS

Catching some rays

Adam, who didnt give his last name, doffed his shirt and shoes Wednesday to bask in the late-day sun on the Faculte Saint Jean campus. More sunny
days are expected into the weekend, although temperatures will remain cool.S H AU G H N BU T TS

Councillors concerned
over taxi enforcement
Henderson, Caterina want answers
on gaps in vehicle-for-hire policing
E L I S E S T O LT E

City councillors want answers on

whats happening with enforcement for Edmontons taxi industry.
Leaked emails say the city withdrew its veteran team of vehiclefor-hire municipal enforcement
officers before a dedicated team
of peace officers was in place. It
also terminated the contract for
the only undercover officer without setting up a plan to have him
testify in court.
That has left dozens of Uber

charges in limbo.
On Wednesday, the city still
wasnt saying how its planning
to prosecute without the key witness. One case has already been
withdrawn.
Edmontons new vehicle-for-hire
bylaw came into effect March 1.
When it approved the bylaw, council was told increasing enforcement
would take time, but administration would proceed and report back
to council with a cost assessment.
Its puzzling. It just doesnt
make sense to me, said Coun.

Ben Henderson, wondering why

the city would disband its team of
municipal enforcement officers.
Im extremely concerned about
the enforcement part. Enforcement has to be a huge part of this,
Coun. Tony Caterina said.
Weve been told the peace officers will be taking over. Well ask
the questions about exactly how is
this going to work. We need those
answers as soon as possible.
An internal email seeking two
peace officers for vehicle-for-hire
enforcement was sent out Feb. 27.
Grant Blaine, co-ordinator for the
commercial truck unit, wrote that
interviews would be set up the following week and training was being arranged. Shifts will include

days and primary evening until

midnight.
A switch to uniformed peace
officers means the undercover
element is gone, although city staff
said that part will be re-examined
in the future.
The previous enforcement team
went undercover to enforce bylaws
against bandit cabs advertising on
Kijiji or cruising bar districts with
no taxi licence. According to information from a previous Journal
freedom of information request,
the team gave 282 tickets to bandit
cabs in 2014.
Its still unclear why the existing
team was pulled.
On Wednesday, branch manager
David Hales said the municipal enforcement officers are still authorized to enforce the bylaw, but not
assigned to do it now.
As we committed to council,
and given it has only been nine
days since the bylaw was enacted,
we are continuing to monitor the
impact and will adjust as needed.
estolte@postmedia.com
twitter.com/estolte

Warm winter makes easy pickings for predators

DAV E L A Z Z A R I N O

Milder Alberta winters make for a

more comfortable commute and
less money spent on road clearing. Just be thankful youre not a
caribou.
Matt Besko, director of wildlife
management policy for Alberta
Environment and Parks, said the
long-term increase in temperatures has been a boon for some
species.
We have moose and elk populations south of Medicine Hat where
its been well over 150 years since
we had them, said Besko.
Less snow coverage has meant
animals can find food more easily,
boosting their numbers.
More large mammals mean
better hunting conditions for

predators such as wolves, cougars

and bears, all of which have been
sighted closer to cities such as Edmonton and Calgary.
But as more development happens in rural areas, stands of older
trees, which offer more concealment which caribou depend on
for protection from predators
are disappearing.
Predators, because they can
move more efficiently and they can
see more efficiently, what they end
up doing is they go into these areas
that traditionally had quite closed
forests, Besko said. They go after deer, moose and elk that they
can find in these areas and they
encounter caribou.
Caribou arent the only ones to
suffer from the change.
Snowshoe hares change colour in

winter from grey to white. But that

change is triggered by the amount
of sunshine, not temperature or
snow cover.
So when theres less snow at the
end of the winter, but the days
arent long enough to trigger the
summer coat, they stand out, making them easy targets for large
birds of prey or coyotes.
Even skunks arent safe. Though
their natural pungent protection
keeps away foxes and other terrestrial hunters, they are still susceptible to great horned owls.
Of course, where there are losers, there are winners as well, such
as the cities coyotes, said Ramsey
Cox, park ranger with the City of
Edmonton.
The lack of snow and warmer
temperatures mean coyotes can

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without compromising choice or flexibility.

turn their increased food source

of hares and small rodents, such as
mice and voles, into fuel for breeding, Cox said.
Whether that turns into a problem for homeowners is up to people, though.
If people are following the bylaws that we set out theyre keeping their dogs on a leash and maintaining control of them theyre
not going to have that kind of conflict with coyotes, he said.
Keeping garbage out of reach
and potential den areas closed off
will keep coyotes from getting too
close to homes. Acting aggressive
toward them will reduce the chances of them becoming habituated to
people, he said.
dlazzarino@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/SUNDaveLazz

A sex trade worker who left her

four-year-old daughter with a john,
but told police the girl was missing
resulting in an extensive search
was sentenced Wednesday to jail
on weekends.
The 45-year-old Edmonton
woman, who cannot be named to
protect the identity of the child,
was handed a 90-day intermittent
sentence, to be followed by 24
months of probation, after pleading guilty in provincial court to
public mischief and causing a child
to be in need of protection.
Crown prosecutor Laurie Trahan
told court the womans conduct
could have been disastrous for
the girl.
She left her four-year-old
daughter with a stranger, who was
essentially a john, said Trahan,
noting the womans first words to
the girl after being reunited with
her were: Did he touch you?
Court heard the woman a
longtime drug addict had met a
man while with her daughter in the
area of 97 Street and 107 Avenue
on July 19, 2014. They all went to
his residence at a nearby rooming
house.
After performing a sex act on the
man while the girl was sleeping, the
woman left to make some money
and told the man she would return
in half an hour to get her.
However, she then couldnt remember the location and was calling out her daughters name on the
street. A man offered to help and
she told him the girl had disappeared.
The man called 911. She stuck to
the bogus story, which led to extensive police resources being used,
including bringing in officers on
their days off.
The woman did not want to go
to the police station to be interviewed, so she was arrested on
outstanding warrants.
She then told police she would
not co-operate unless they provided her with her prescribed
methadone.
Court heard police were about to
issue an Amber Alert and inform
the media about the supposedly
missing girl when the man at the
rooming house called and said the
woman had left her daughter with
him.
Police responded and found the
girl unharmed.
She is now living with her grandmother.
Trahan told court it was an aggravating factor that the womans
information to police misled them
for approximately six hours.
Defence lawyer John Sinclair
told court the woman has had a
lifetime of substance abuse issues and relationship problems
since being molested as a child by
a relative.
He said she has been doing legitimate work lately, as well as taking
drug treatment and parenting
courses.
Court heard the woman spent 30
days in pre-trial custody and she
was ordered to serve an additional
90 days on weekends.
She will then be on probation for
two years with conditions that she
have no contact with her daughter without a court order and she
continue her drug treatment, parenting courses and psychological
counselling.

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ABC 83420 2016/01

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