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'Catastrophic' brake failure led to icefield rollover in Alberta that killed 3 people
Brake failure lead to icefield rollover: report
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
A fatality inquiry report into a deadly tour bus rollover in Jasper National Park says it was the result of a "catastrophic" brake failure and neglected repairs.
The Ice Explorer bus lost control on a road leading to the Athabasca Glacier at the Columbia Icefield in July 2020, tumbling about 50 metres down an embankment before coming to rest on its roof.
Three people died and 14 others were seriously injured.
"In short the brakes suffered a catastrophic failure because they were worn, improperly inspected and concerns with respect to the brakes functioning were not attended to," Justice Vaughn Myers wrote in his 13-page report.
The inquiry held a year ago, heard the driver of the bus complained the vehicle, which had air brakes, was not stopping quickly enough.
The report from the Alberta Court of Justice judge said the bus was in neutral when it stopped at the top of the hill and then reached speeds of nearly 50 kilometres an hour when it raced down. The top speed for the Ice Explorer in 4th gear is limited to 14 kilometres an hour.
"There are two primary contributing factors. The first is the driver, for reasons unknown, negotiating the lateral moraine in neutral and without the six-wheel drive engaged," he wrote.
"Unable to use engine power to slow the bus, the driver would have to rely on conventional braking. We know that the driver attempted to brake as a result of the sounds of the airbrakes. We can safely assume she applied the brakes because she said she did and it would be the natural human reaction to do so."
Myers also noted that there is no requirement on the bus to have seatbelts and those who died were thrown out of the vehicles as it rolled down the embankment.
A fatality inquiry cannot assign blame but makes recommendations to prevent similar deaths.
Dionne Durocher, 24, of North Battleford, Sask., as well as Kamleshbai Patel, 58, and Griva Patel, 28, of Edmonton, died in the crash.
Myers made a number of recommendations, including that future inspection reports should be dated, as well as identify and detail what work was done during the inspections.
His report listed other contributing factors in the deaths due to the lack of seatbelts and the slope of the hill, which at 40 per cent is above the maximum grade specifications of 36 per cent set out by the manufacturer.
Brewster, also known as Pursuit, conducted its own internal investigation of the crash. The company added seatbelts to its buses and made changes to training for its drivers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2026.
By Bill Graveland | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Alberta courts Mexico’s wealthy travellers as northbound tourism surges
Mexican visitors spent about $51 million in Alberta in 2025, up from 6,000 travellers.
Canadians love their getaways to Mexico, but here’s an obvious truth to ponder over a margarita or a shot of Alberta whisky: flights breeze over the U.S. in both directions.
Increasingly, direct flights north carry well-off Mexicans destined to drop their dollars on uniquely Alberta experiences, the province’s tourism minister said.
Speaking to The Macleod Gazette last week in a phone interview from Mexico City, Andrew Boitchenko said: “People in Alberta think Mexico is only for one thing — for us to go and enjoy beaches and oceans. But we never think of traffic and travellers coming from Mexico to Alberta.”
It’s time to change that mindset and build on existing northbound momentum, Boitchenko emphasized.
Mexican visitors spent about $51 million in Alberta in 2025, as the passenger volume from the country increased to about 8,000 from 6,000 the year before, the province calculated.
Numbers are set to keep growing in Canada overall, with Mexican visitation projected to be 40 per cent higher than 2025 levels by 2030 and spending to increase 60 per cent.
The province aims to reach $25 billion in tourism value by 2035, after a record visitor spend of $15.2 billion last year. And Boitchenko thinks Mexico will blaze a significant stretch of that trail.
His mission to Mexico Oct. 5-9 focused on strengthening relationships with tourism and government representatives there, while also promoting direct air access and Alberta’s unique tourism experience.
The junket was also designed to encourage future investment in tourism development.
Joined by representatives from Travel Alberta, Boitchenko met with airline, travel, media and government representatives to promote Alberta as a top-tier, year-round destination.
His meetings were set to include Canada’s ambassador to Mexico, the Mexican secretary of tourism, and the Alberta’s government office there for trade and investment.
Also on the agenda were dinner with a major tourism-focused marketing agency, along with two Alberta-focused promotional events.
Mexico is a worthy place for promoting Alberta tourism, Boitchenko said. When his department targets tourism-building opportunities, it looks for sources of high-earning and high-spending travellers.
More than 300,000 people in Mexico have a net worth greater than $1 million. “That’s a lot of wealthy people.”
But why Canada and why Alberta? For one, getting a visa is simple, especially if Mexicans already have a valid U.S. non-immigrant visa. For another, quick non-stop flights are commonplace.
Then there’s the beauty and variety of the province itself.
More Albertans, in fact, should take a cold hard look in the mirror — or at a map — and appreciate what they have.
“We underappreciate our cold lakes, our fall and spring seasons, and winter is beautiful. (Mexicans) don't have a winter season like we do,” Boitchenko said.
“We have beautiful mountains. We have a lot of snow, and they love coming to Alberta for that. But we also have lakes and many year-round opportunities we’ve developed through our tourism zones, Travel Alberta and our government departments,” he explained.
Alberta has year-round tourism and recreation opportunities in its famous mountain resorts. It has the badlands of Drumheller, further dinosaur opportunities near Grande Prairie and in Devil’s Coulee in southern Alberta, and dark, remote sites for viewing the Northern Lights, said Boitchenko.
“We have a lot of areas in the province where people can go and firsthand have life experiences that they don't have in their own countries, especially Mexico,” he said.
The minister, who represents Drayton Valley-Devon, called the reception received by Alberta’s delegation “overwhelming,” perhaps influenced by unease these days with the U.S. as a tourist destination.
“When people from Mexico come to Alberta, they feel that it's different than anywhere in the world,” he said, “and that it's safe, it's welcoming.”
Copyright 2026, The Macleod Gazette. All rights reserved.
George Lee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Macleod Gazette.
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Saskatchewan politician says paid nearly $30K for private jets; NDP wants answers
Saskatchewan politician gives cost on private jets
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu
A Saskatchewan Party backbencher says he paid close to $30,000 out of his own pocket for two trips on a private jet and that one of those flights was for government business.
Kevin Weedmark released a letter Tuesday from Maurice Herauf, the province's conflict of interest commissioner, who provided his opinion on the airfare expenses.
Herauf wrote in the Sept. 18 letter that Weedmark's invoices indicate he paid for the flights with his own money and therefore did not violate a section of Conflict of Interest Act.
"Since you paid for the flights from your personal funds there is absolutely no financial benefit that can be attributed to your decision to fly to functions on either date," Herauf wrote.
The letter says Weedmark had asked Herauf to provide an opinion on his flights after the Opposition NDP had flagged it as a concern.
The trips took place over the course of a year.
On Aug. 21, 2025, Weedmark spent $8,271 on a private jet to fly the owners of the Moosomin Dairy Queen and two of their family members to the Jim Pattison Children's Hospital in Saskatoon for a tour. The Dairy Queen had raised $42,000 for the hospital and Weedmark was one of their volunteers. Herauf wrote the trip was private in nature.
On Aug. 27 of this year, Weedmark spent $20,106 on another jet for two government functions in the province before making a stop in Regina and then flying back to Moosomin. One of the functions was an official opening of an addictions treatment facility in Lloydminster on the Alberta boundary, and the other was to celebrate the anniversary of a seniors complex in Saskatoon.
The letter says the health minister's office had requested Weedmark attend both events, as Weedmark is also the minister's legislative secretary. Weedmark has also said it would have been difficult for him to drive to Lloydminster in time, so he chose to fly.
However, the Opposition NDP says Weedmark still needs to show the receipts to prove he didn't improperly benefit from his role as a legislature member.
Earlier Tuesday, the NDP sent a letter to Herauf asking for an opinion on whether Weedmark breached conflict of interest rules.
Meara Conway, the NDP's health critic, said she wants to know if Weedmark had paid commercial value for the flights. She said the NDP got a private jet quote for a similar aircraft. That quote came in above $20,000.
"If the flight was below commercial value, it was a prohibited gift or personal benefit under (the act)," she said. "The rules exist to make sure that decisions are being made in the public interest."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2026.
By Jeremy Simes | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Loi de l'attraction: c'est quoi et comment l'utiliser pour avoir une vie de rêve
Le Secret. Le fameux secret. C'est quoi c*liss.
Popularisée en 2006 à la sortie du livre de Rhonda Byrne, l'expression «le secret» désigne tout simplement un mode de vie à adopter pour la rendre meilleure.
À lire aussi:
Plusieurs personnes pensent à tort qu'il s'agit d'un mouvement ésotérique et que les gens qui mentionnent la loi de l'attraction sont dans des sectes. Humm, non.
La loi de l'attraction, tout comme la loi de la gravité, est une réelle loi décrite par plusieurs scientifiques (comme Newton et Einstein) comme étant ce «qui explique l’influence de la matière et de l’énergie sur le mouvement des corps et des astres». Elle s'appuie sur le principe que tout émet une fréquence et une énergie.
En d'autres mots: si tu es négatif dans la vie, ton énergie est négative et tu as tendance à vivre des moments de m*rde. Si, tout au contraire, tu dégages une énergie positive, ton quotidien sera des plus agréables.
Dans le livre Le Secret, l'auteur explique qu'on peut demander ce que l'on veut à «l'Univers» et qu'on doit y faire confiance en agissant comme si nous l'avions déjà reçu.
Cette méthode est assez controversée, puisqu'elle s'appuie sur la pensée magique. En suivant ces conseils, quelqu'un qui ne travaille pas et qui n'achète jamais de billet de loterie pourrait souhaiter devenir très riche et tout à coup gagner le gros lot comme par magie. C'est assez improbable et peu proactif comme façon de faire.
C'est en écoutant plusieurs vidéos sur YouTube (voir ci-bas) que j'ai mieux compris comment utiliser la loi de l'attraction. Voici un compte rendu des étapes à suivre pour l'utiliser, et ainsi changer ta vie pour le mieux:
1) Décrire ta vie de rêve sur une feuille. Tu ferais quoi comme travail? Comment t'habillerais-tu? Avec qui serais-tu en couple? Etc. Ensuite, sur une autre page, décris en quelques points ta vie actuelle. Puis, compare les 2. S'il n'y a aucun lien entre les 2 textes, il est temps de changer quelque chose. Si au contraire, les 2 vont dans le même sens, il y a de bonnes chances que tu utilises déjà la loi de l'attraction sans le savoir.
2) Pour bien fonctionner, la loi stipule que tu dois complètement cesser de focaliser sur tout ce que tu n'aimes pas, c'est-à-dire, arrêter tout chialage inutile. Plutôt que de perdre ton temps à commenter sur tout ce qui te gosse dans ta vie, comme le fait de ne pas avoir de vacances ou que ton chum t'a déçue, tu dois te concentrer sur les belles choses et ce que tu veux dans l'avenir pour commencer à attirer davantage cela dans ta vie. Lorsque tu changes ton focus, ta vie change en même temps sans même que tu modifies quoi que ce soit dans ton quotidien, simplement parce que tes pensées influencent tes actions.
Il s'agit simplement d'un switch de perception: passer de l'angoisse en pensant simplement au problème, à l'action proactive.
Exemple: «Ça va mal avec mon chum, on n'a pas assez de points en commun» (en stressant, angoissant, pleurant) --> Planifier une soirée de date avec mon chum pour dresser une liste d'activités qu'on aime tous les 2 pour finir l'été en beauté.
99% des gens ne sont pas capables d'appliquer la loi de l'attraction dans leur vie, car c'est TRÈS difficile pour l'esprit humain de focaliser sur le positif. Évidemment, c'est tout à fait normal d'avoir des petites rechutes de négativisme parfois, mais il est important de s'en rendre compte et de «changer de fréquence» immédiatement en cherchant le positif dans la situation donnée, ou bien simplement choisir de ne pas se laisser affecter.
Pourquoi ça marche? Parce que suivre cette loi te donne confiance en toi et t'aide à combattre des insécurités. En ne vivant plus dans la peur et l'angoisse, tu prends naturellement plus de risques et des décisions qui te mènent vers une éventuelle vie de rêve. Aussi, puisque ton quotidien est rempli de joie, de gratitude et de petits bonheurs, tu te retrouves déjà avec une vie de rêve, qui est finalement ton ancienne vie version 2.0.
En arrêtant de stresser parce que tu n'as pas de cash, tu finis par rencontrer l'ami d'un ami qui t'offre une job dans un nouveau bar dans lequel tu vas faire plein d'argent. Tu aurais peut-être rencontrer cette personne de toute façon à un moment dans ta vie, mais tu aurais probablement dit non par peur de te jeter dans le vide avec une nouvelle job, dans le confort de ton sofa.
Donc si ton rêve c'est d'être payée à voyager partout le monde, prends confiance en toi immédiatement et pars-toi un blogue/ page Instagram et fait tout ce qui est possible pour arriver à tes fins.
Voici quelques références:
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