On June 1st, the Alberta government's new Security Services and Investigators Act (SSIA) came into effect.  Essentially a re-design of the previous system, the new law includes mandatory criminal background checks and testing for new employees who work in the fields of security services, investigators, loss prevention, locksmiths, executive protection, automotive lock bypass services, patrol dog services, locksmith apprentices,alarm responders, and locksmith equipment sales.

In the security field, whereas before your licence was 'owned' by the company who employed you, the guard is now independently licenced.  This is a positive, as it allows the guard more independence regarding employment opportunities.  Also positive is the mandatory testing, which not only will ensure trained and qualified security personnel, but improves the credibility and reputation of the industry overall.

However, being a government-run system, there are problems.

The increased costs to the individual guard has become an issue.  The security license itself is $100, while the criminal check can cost anywhere from $30-$70.  Then there's the cost of the picture - a guard must find a photography store for a passport-sized pic to use for the license.  The picture then needs to be signed by a police officer or representative.  The guard needs to find out payment methods for the background check ahead of time, as debit cards are not widely accepted at police stations.

For new hires, the mandatory testing can be pricey.  Some courses have been known to cost upwards of $650 for the forty hour training.  This doesn't include other courses needed depending on the guard's work location, such as H2S, First Aid, CPR, etc.

Only when all of this has been completed can a guard then submit their application for a license - after obtaining a bank draft, certified cheque, or money order from the bank as payment.

A similar law has been in effect in Ontario for a while, and the early results seem to be positive.  The difference is Ontario instituted an hourly minimum wage for security professionals, which Alberta did not do.  So while the cost of working in the industry has risen for the individual guard, the wages have not.

This has begun to create a hiring problem for security companies.  If someone looking to get into the industry is told they have to pay in excess of $700 before they even work a single shift for a job that pays, say, $13.00 per hour, they won't give security a second look.

While market forces should eventually solve this problem, it will take some time.

The biggest issue that has arisen - which could be potentially dangerous - is the backlog in the application approval process.  The combination of the bottleneck in the process accompanied by the recent postal strike has resulted in scores of security professionals seeing their old licenses expire without yet obtaining licenses under the new law.  According to the province, unlicensed guards cannot work their shifts.

Herein lies the quandary.  I had the opportunity to speak with a representative of the Solicitor General's office during an appearance on the Dave Rutherford radio talk show.  I explained the situation from the front lines, and was told not to worry: '...no one will be coming for you before you receive your new license...' was the answer I got. 

Tell that to my employer.

A follow-up email to the department was met with the response: '...you can call xxx-xxx-xxxx, and if your application has been approved but you haven't received your license yet you can get your new license number to give to your employer.'  All well and good, except the security company refuses to accept just a number - they require a photocopy of the current license or else they will refuse work.

So, how big is this growing problem?  I've spoken with many guards around the province who are caught in this mess.  One guard has been waiting for his license since the first week of May, handfuls of others have told me they've been waiting for more than six weeks.

Unless there is a publicly announced, government-stated 'grace period', we could end up seeing some high security sites such as oil refineries and chemical plants manned by guards without the necessary experience or specialized training.

Taking a guard with mall experience and putting him at the main gate of a refinery is a recipe for disaster.  It would be like having no security at all.  Given the responsibilities required for such a position - where employee safety becomes a primary concern - the situation needs immediate attention.

While it would be easy to criticize the province for their obvious fumbling of the ball (why can't licenses be issued like other provincial licenses, like, say, at a license and registration company?), the focus must be on clearing up the backlog itself.

Some vital work sites in the province are in danger of being left exposed.  Too bad the warnings to the government seem to be falling on deaf ears.

** Update:  according to government officials, the backlog for obtaining a security license has now grown to a 7-10 week wait.  This has now become a major security issue for the province and action is needed immediately.

In the absence of the ability to form logical debate points or to present their position in a straight-forward manner, social activists and special interest groups have instead become attention whores, always on the look-out for prime opportunities by which they can spew their ideology.

For animal rights activists, the Calgary Stampede has long been a target for their anger.  The world famous rodeo, known as The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, has seen it's share of protests from those who claim the annual ten-day event promotes animal abuse.

Again this year, the Vancouver Humane Society is making waves by publicly releasing a letter written to William and Kate, better known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, urging the newly-wed Royal couple to avoid attending the Stampede during their July visit to Calgary.

This is typical of such radical groups.  It is highly doubtful the letter would even find it's way to Prince William - his 'people' deal with such things.  The VHS knows this, but the point wasn't really to get Will on board (do they think an English Prince actually gives a crap?).  The purpose of the letter, like every other publicity stunt from such groups, was to get their own name in the paper.

But the VHS wasn't content to stop there.  They even decided to attack one of their own, namely the Calgary Humane Society, accusing the CHS of being too quiet.  The CHS was quick to point out that they have been working closely with the Calgary Stampede for years, and have contributed to numerous changes and improvements regarding the welfare of the animals involved (all true claims).

It's fun to watch a snake eat it's own, don't you think?

The irony of course is that Calgarians are being told to treat animals more like people by an organization located in Vancouver -- the city where people act like animals.

Also ironic is the 'concern' the Vancouver Humane Society is showing for those poor animals put through their paces at the Stampede, yet they seem oblivious, or at least not quite as 'concerned', about the slaughter of 100 sled dogs just north of Vancouver in Whistler, by an owner who went to the British Columbia SPCA for help - twice - and was refused both times.

If ever there was a 'take care of your own problems' moment, this is it.

My life-long buddy Rob had his take on the Vancouver riots published in the Calgary Herald today.  Pretty much mirrors my thoughts on the embarrassment.

Re: "Poor sports," Editorial, June 17.

The behaviour in the Vancouver riots is the result of hundreds of young men having no purpose, no accountability, no morality and no meaning outside of themselves.

It is very likely that none of those men have meaningful relationships, careers, religious convictions or volunteer service opportunities in their lives, or they would not have been doing what they were doing.

One hundred years ago, men their age would have been married, working hard to put food on the table or fighting a war to keep Canadian soil free. But now, if young men are permitted to just sit around playing video games and drinking beer while mommy and daddy pay for their life and the government takes care of the rest, there is no incentive for them to rise above this juvenile behaviour. When people are allowed to be the centre of the universe, this is what happens.

It took tremendous energy to push over all those vehicles. Just imagine if those same young men were pushing up walls for Habitat for Humanity instead. There was a lot of anger directed at innocent victims, but imagine if all that anger were directed to protecting young girls from being trafficked and prostituted. More than $10 million was spent on security, damage and cleanup; imagine if that money had been spent on feeding the poor, healing the sick and sheltering the homeless.

God gave all of us energy to love others and make the world a better place. When we do not direct the energy of young people to do this, the energy ends up going in a more negative and inward direction.

Robert Low, Calgary

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/Letters+Chickens+have+come+home+roost+entitled+generation/4971107/story.html#ixzz1PlU0JRsY

One of my most popular posts of all time is the story of Commonwealth Publications and it's leader Donald Phelan.  My experiences with the doomed Edmonton-based mass market publisher caused a bit of a buzz a few years back, and I still receive more feedback from that series than any other topic.

Read here:
Part I: A Scam Is Born
Part II: Black Clouds
Part III: Implosion                  

After writing the three-part series, I attempted to do a follow-up on the aftermath - a kind of 'what happened,where are they now?' thing.  For a while rumours swirled as to Phelan's whereabouts, but nothing was confirmed.

An email from a former CP author re-lit my curiosity, so I did a little digging.  While information is difficult to uncover, I did find this on the Government of Alberta Justice and Attorney General's delinquent child support website:

All the money he made at CP and yet he can't pay his child support. 

Note his last known employers.  How does this guy continue to find work in the publishing industry?

What a disgrace.

Before the final whistle had even blown and the silverware passed around, it had started.  Alleged 'fans' of the Vancouver Canucks, afflicted with a combination of disappointment and alcohol, poured out of the bars and into the streets of the West Coast city en masse.

Windows were smashed, cars were turned over and set ablaze.  Police responded with amazing restraint, slowly moving the crowd apart using strength in numbers and a few well-placed canisters of tear gas. Fires broke out everywhere as the nation, and the world, witnessed the idiocy.  Imagine how bad it could have been had the Canucks been victorious.

Unfortunately, the post-game Vancouver riot does not come as a shock.  A similar incident happened the last time their team made it to the final in 1994.  It's clear that the city's citizens weren't embarrassed enough not to repeat the spectacle.

The only thing I saw that caused any sort of surprise on my part was when I viewed some video footage of the melee.  The usual gang of idiots were there, mostly males in their teens and twenties.  But watching (alleged) grown men in their 30's and even their 40's stuffing shirts into the gas tanks of cars and lighting them up before flipping them over, or smashing store front windows, or smashing each other, is something I just cannot understand.

I'm sure their wives and children are proud this morning.

Vancouver has now become known for these incidents of idiocy. The Edmonton Oilers made it to the final in 2006, the Calgary Flames in 2004.  Like the Canucks, both teams lost in game 7.  Unlike Vancouver, however, there were no riots or hooliganism in either of the Canadian cities. 

Calgary's 'Red Mile' became known as the go-to spot for Flames fans during the playoffs that year, and the most controversial issue to arise was the fad of women flashing the crowd.  Not exactly vandalism.

The immensely positive image the world had of the city after hosting the remarkable Winter Olympics last year has been erased.  The actions of a few have disrespected the majority of their fellow citizens of the city, the province of British Columbia, and Canadian hockey fans everywhere.  They disrespected the members of their own team.

Vancouverites had expected the rest of the nation to jump onto the Canuck bandwagon, and then they set the bandwagon on fire. 

The team itself is talented and it is conceivable they could return to the finals next year.  For the sake of the city and the image of the nation, I certainly hope not.

The Canadian portion of the NATO bombardment of Libya has cost in excess of $24 million thus far, and this week the Conservative government will debate and pass an extension of the mission to the expected tune of an additional $34 million.

The NATO intervention, initially sold to the public as limited in nature by using the 'humanitarian' excuse, has morphed into something more.  This comes as no surprise, as anyone who believed that Libyan protesters could be protected from Gadhafi's forces without taking out Gadhafi himself is naive by definition.

They sold the military action piecemeal, refusing to be up front and honest of their intentions.  What started - and to this point continues - as a strictly air-only program to establish a no-fly zone with no 'regime change' stated as a goal has grown to the point that many now believe it is a question of when, not if, boots will be on the ground.

Make no mistake: Moammar Gadhafi is a vile, repulsive person with laundry list of atrocities.  His hands are bloody from the Pan-Am 103 terrorist bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland as well as countless other violent acts against his own people.  He should have been taken out right after his role in the 1988 attack was revealed.

If the intent of the current NATO sorties is to remove Gadhafi from power, then our government has the obligation to be honest with us.  I, for one, have absolutely no problem with that.

There are some troubling issues that are being ignored, however.  The most common question is why we aren't doing the same in Syria, or Yemen, or any of the other Middle East/North African nations that are seeing protests.  If Libyan protesters are worth the effort, why aren't the Syrians?

A bigger and more pressing question is, who exactly are we supporting?  While our media is full of claims that the citizens of Libya are 'standing up for democracy', we have yet to hear any protester state that as their reason to riot.  Instead, the whispers of involvement and coordination of the protests being handled by nefarious groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood are growing louder.

There is even evidence that many who are protesting in Egypt and Libya are al-Qaeda fighters who have spent time killing American and Allied soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Have we gotten into bed with terrorists?

If the goal is to remove murderous leaders who impose their destructive will on the citizens of their respective nations, then send NATO in.

But, if after careful and thorough examination it is revealed that we would be assisting al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, or other oppressive organizations in their goal of spreading radical Islam throughout the region, then the NATO action must stop immediately.

A choice between Gadhafi or al Qaeda has no correct answer.  If that is the case, then NATO should get out of the battle immediately.

Poor Brigette DePape, you really do have to feel sorry for her. 

The 21 year old former University of Ottawa student who is in the headlines for her publicity stunt - she was working as a page in the Senate when she caused a ruckus by protesting while holding a 'stop Harper' sign - is obviously in need of some therapy and some major deprogramming.

(On a side note, doesn't the federal government do background checks on potential employees?)

It is no surprise that she is a product of the unending propaganda found in our universities.  Such a stunt is so counterproductive to her goal of having her side heard, so ludicrous and immature, that it can only be attributed to higher education.

It is the weak-minded and the gullible who the left preys on.  Those who are so simple as to not be able to think for themselves or comprehend logic at it's very basic level.  Enter Ms. DePape.

Already there have been those making excuses for her, dragging out the old 'free speech' canard.  While freedom of speech is a right that is constantly under fire in Canada, not everything falls under that umbrella.  By ignoring the democratic results of the recent election, DePape has herself attempted to limit the freedom of Canadians which was just undertaken: the freedom to express oneself through the election process.

Her side lost.  A normal person would take that for what it is worth, accept the results, and move on.  They may even become active in the political system with the goal of working towards change.  What a normal person doesn't do is make a spectacle of herself in a prestigious government chamber.

So once again the sad truth of the left is revealed.  Unable to formulate a sound argument or present their side in a respectable way, they instead resort to what they believe to be 'civil disobediance', tarnishing the term to the point that Gandhi himself would be ashamed.

Now, as if to hammer the final nail into any credibility the troubled DePape may have had, the ever-irrelevant Michael Moore has jumped into the fray with a show of public support.  Moore, whose 15 minutes of fame evaporated around the same time the Bush presidency ended, felt compelled to do a little cross-border publicity whoring of his own.  While he may claim that he cares deeply about the 'struggle' DePape is going through, it is all too obvious what the Fat Man's motives really are.

You can always trust the left to use each other in order to get in front of the cameras.  No one eats their own like socialists.

No, one has to sympathize with Brigette DePape.  An immature girl whose head is full of leftwing, environmental spin killing any chance of worthwhile future employment (except perhaps for a job in the public service or as the buffet organizer on a Michael Moore set) all because if one idiotic stunt.

She wanted to make a political statement.  Instead, she has made herself a laughing stock and the latest useful idiot for a burned out movie maker to grab some media time.

That poor, poor girl.