While February of 1987 saw the start of construction on Bellerose Composite High School, it was the same month in 1988 that really rocked the city.
First a nurses’ strike in St. Albert caused problems for the Sturgeon General as some 80 of the hospital’s 109 nurses hit the picket lines in -30 C weather, demanding a wage increase, improved patient safety, better benefits and safer working conditions. Elderly patients were discharged and cared for by family and home care and all surgeries were cancelled. In the end, the nurses won a four per cent increase and returned to work Feb. 13.
There was also no more scandal in council chambers, but the marriage of Ald. Pam Smith and former alderman George Kuschminder raised more than a few eyebrows. The two had been living together, which drew scorn from some of their election opponents and some of the community. The two married at Fantasyland Hotel but under unusual circumstances — Kuschminder had changed his name to Jeorge Pahl, resigned from council and had been fired from his job at Gibbons School after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a former female student for which he received a jail sentence.
But in 1988 there were some familiar issues making the rounds. A U.S. company offered residents the chance to use plastic carts for garbage, free of charge for six months. If successful, the whole city would get carts and the city’s garbage trucks would be fitted with mechanical arms for lifting and emptying carts. An amendment to the new School Act also raised the ire of both school boards, proposing to give the minister of education authority to change public and separate designations if the minority in a municipality has become the majority. As the Protestant district now had more students enrolled than the Catholic district, the Catholic district cried foul. In an unrelated move, the Protestant board finally abolished the strap in schools. And the entire city watched as the Olympic Torch, destined for Calgary for the Winter Olympics, passed through the city.
February 1989 saw the province chip in $11.1 million for Red Willow Park and Mayor Richard Fowler announced his run for the local Tory provincial seat. But 1990 was more about crime, both tragic and unfortunate. Darrell Koerner, who had already been sentenced to life in jail with no chance of parole for 21 years in the first-degree murder of Marie Schafers of St. Albert, was granted a new trial by the Court of Appeal. Schafers had been found murdered in her home by police. At the re-trial, the jury found Koerner guilty again, but this time of manslaughter. He was sentenced to six years in jail, eligible for parole in two. St. Albert hunter Ernie Wertypora, 37, was also jailed, but only for a day and fined $750 after accidentally shooting a woman who was out checking beaver dams near Swan Lake. Wertypora explained he mistook the 75-year-old for a bear and fired, hitting her in the stomach.
Back at home, an overwhelming 85 per cent of Protestant students surveyed said they would use condoms if they were available in school washrooms if they were sexually active. Yet only 18 per cent of teachers supported the idea. February 1991 was more about sports, hockey specifically, as the Central Scouting Bureau ranked St. Albert son and Lethbridge Hurricanes’ goalie Jamie McLennan as the top goalie in the Western Hockey League, slightly higher than Medicine Hat Tigers’ goalie Chris Osgood, who played house league hockey in St. Albert. The next February, St. Albert was selected as the host city for the 1994 Alberta Winter Games, expecting some 2,000 athletes.
The St. Albert RCMP introduced the laser gun to help nab speeders in 1993, then brought in pepper spray for self-defence in 1994. Yet provincially and locally, it was Ralph Klein in the news, specifically for his funding cuts to municipalities and education. The city learned it would lose millions in grant funding through Klein’s cuts, and consolidating payouts for different programs. By the next February, the province controlled education funding as well, collecting money in lieu of school board taxes and redistributing it, which added up to a loss of about $1 million for the Protestant district. Forced amalgamation of school districts also had casualties as, following the merger of Legal, Morinville and St. Albert Catholic school districts, long-time fixture J.J. Nearing resigned as superintendent.
Some students learned about new equipment after St. Albert’s CyberHigh, where students took classes over the Internet and email, got top marks after its first year. The city glossed over the outrage over VLTs in 1997, proposing a provincial referendum instead of one that would ban them locally. But all was well on the ice as the St. Albert Merchants of the Capital Junior B Hockey League put together a perfect 36-0 season and St. Albert’s own Scott Pfeiffer, curling with the Ryan Keane rink, won the Canadian junior men’s curling title. Not to be outdone, the St. Albert Saints made headlines in 1998 when Mike Comrie, 17, became the franchise leader in points with 121.
Saintly as Comrie was, religion was a hot topic at Robert Rundle School when, due to complaints by parents, the school suspended use of the Lord’s Prayer and some scripture readings in the school. Officials explained legal precedent meant that once one person complains, the practice must be stopped.
But the biggest shocker came in February 1999, and it wasn’t Big Lake’s designation as a Special Place by the city. On the evening of Feb. 21, the roof of the seniors’ club collapsed. No one was injured but the club was forced to cancel all classes and rentals, which hit the organization’s wallet hard.
Peter Boer is an editor at the Gazette.
