June 1980 was notable for one very specific reason — after years of being packed in the Edmonton white pages, St. Albert finally got its own phone book … sort of. AGT announced that it would compile a phone book specifically for the St. Albert area. The book would also include numbers for the communities of Spruce Grove and Namao. But on hockey front, there was big news. St. Albert Saint Troy Murray was selected in the NHL draft by the Chicago Blackhawks in the third round. Fellow Saint Steve McKenzie was also drafted by Pittsburgh in the 10th round, while three other Saints who had played with team in previous years were also selected.
The following year saw some progress on St. Albert Trail, specifically just above it. The Gazette featured a large photo of two cranes dropping a 63,341-kilogram concrete slab into place as part of construction of the pedestrian overpass over the Trail. The walkway would help pedestrians access St. Albert Centre without risking crossing the road.
June 1982 started with a fire. The St. Albert Fire Department responded to a blaze at the Skyreach Equipment Ltd. Building on Riel Drive. The business had just opened its doors in March. The fire gutted one of the building’s two bays, causing $100,000 worth of damage. Across town there was a standing-room-only crowd one Sunday afternoon at the Senior Citizens’ Recreation Centre as author W.O. Mitchell, writer of such works as Who Has Seen the Wind, The Kite and The Vanishing Point, visited the community to give a talk about his work. And in Akinsdale, construction of an annex to Akinsdale Arena had finally begun. The $800,000 ice surface, to be known as the Kinex Arena, was fuelled largely by a fundraising commitment of $250,000 from the local Kinsmen.
Some dreams die hard and that was the case in June 1983 when St. Albert’s Operation Dismantle found out that council would not hold a plebiscite on nuclear disarmament in conjunction with municipal elections. Council voted against the petition even though Mayor Richard Fowler had wanted to defer the vote until a Court of Queen’s Bench decision on whether or not municipalities have to authority to hold such plebiscites. But the biggest news that June was the disappearance and Canada-wide warrant for the arrest of Malcolm Millen, 35, the administrative services director for the Sturgeon Health Unit, though he was only serving a one-year probationary contract. One month earlier, on a Friday afternoon, Millen’s administrative assistant allegedly asked him for financial statements needed to complete the unit’s year-end audit. Shortly afterwards, Millen apparently received a phone call from the unit director and chief medical officer to meet with him and look at some papers. According to those present, Millen left the unit, saying he had some of the paperwork at home. He never returned. His car was later found in Vancouver. A subsequent investigation revealed that as much as $75,000 was missing from the health unit. After laying charges of theft and forgery, the RCMP in June issued a nationwide warrant for his arrest.
With a relatively quiet 1984, June 1985 saw St. Albert Catholic High School students up in arms over the administration’s intervention into students’ union elections. A candidate for president, who appeared to be the contender, was called into principal Paul Chalifoux’s office and told he could not hold the position. As Chalifoux later explained, the students’ union is supposed to “encourage high standards of conduct and scholarship.” The 15-year-old student had a poor history of conduct, truancy and bad grades. The student would even go so far as to allege that Chalifoux wrote his concession speech for him, which the student later reworded and delivered to the school’s students.
The following year, the RCMP made headlines with a story of dogged police work and pure luck in apprehending a suspect accused of a heinous crime that all came to a head in his trial in June. The previous August, a woman called the RCMP to report someone had broken into her home and stolen a stereo. Shortly afterwards, the same woman called again to report two seven-year-old girls were claiming to have been sexually assaulted during a sleepover. The girls, apparently, had been assaulted in the home and spent the rest of the night hiding until an adult awoke. The RCMP were able to track down some of the owners of the vehicles that had been parked in the area that night. One vehicle was noted to have been from Saskatchewan. It wasn’t until October that the police in Saskatoon called to say they had found the wife of the man who owned the car. She had been in St. Albert partying in a nearby park. According to her, a guest of the party got up and left when a police car drove by, but returned later in the morning with a stereo, saying he had received it from someone who owed him money. Identified as Marcel Andre Buzit of St. Albert, the police also learned he had fled the city the day after the assault and was believed to be in Saskatchewan, but he had gone so far as to sell off his car, making him difficult to find. On Nov. 4, 1985, an officer in Melcourt, Sask. found Buzit walking down the street and arrested him. He was charged with two counts each of sexual assault and sexual assault causing bodily harm and subsequently sentenced to three and a half years in jail.
That wasn’t the only headline St. Albert made that year. Troy Murray, who ended the previous NHL campaign with 45 goals and 54 assists, was awarded the Frank Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the league.
Peter Boer is an editor with the St. Albert Gazette.
