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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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Mon honnête expérience: j'ai mangé 100% vegan pendant une semaine
Il y a deux ans, après avoir visionné plusieurs documentaires (voir titres plus bas) relatant de la terrible vie des animaux d'élevage, j'ai complètement coupé la viande de mon assiette. J'ai commencé avec un défi d'un mois, et je ne suis jamais revenue à mes anciennes habitudes alimentaires.
Ce défi pourrait aussi t'intéresser: J'ai mangé comme cette star d'Instagram cette semaine et voici ce qui s'est passé.
Depuis que je suis pesco-végétarienne (je mange encore du poisson), je m'intéresse grandement au végétalisme. Après avoir visionné des centaines de vidéos YouTube sur le sujet et lu le livre Comment ne pas mourir, j'ai décidé de plonger et de vivre une semaine sans aucun produit animalier.
Voici ce qui s'est passé et ce que j'ai mangé:
Lundi & Mardi
Mon début de semaine s'est très bien déroulé: j'avais plus d'énergie que jamais! Mon alimentation n'était pas si différente que d'habitude puisque j'ai tendance à préférer des repas vegan pendant la semaine de toute façon.
J'ai bu un smoothie (protéines vegan, graines de chia, son d'avoine, framboises, lait d'amande, avocat, huile MCT) pour déjeuner, mangé des crudités en collation matinale, une salade de pois chiches, riz & pesto pour dîner, des noix en après-midi, puis un sauté de légumes et tofu pour souper.
Mardi soir, j'avais un pique-nique entre amies et j'ai simplement évité les salades de patates et de macaronis (contenant mayonnaise et oeufs) et les fromages. Après le souper, je suis la seule qui n'a souffert d'aucun problème digestif. Je me sentais rassasiée, mais aucunement pleine et lourde.
J'ai trouvé ça beaucoup plus simple que prévu, et contrairement à la pensée populaire, ce n'était pas difficile à gérer.
Mercredi & Jeudi
Mercredi après-midi, j'ai eu un gros coup de barre: je me suis sentie complètement épuisée. Je ne me suis pas trop inquiétée, parce que ça pouvait être lié à autre chose: j'ai recommencé à m'entraîner à peu près au même moment, j'étais dans ma semaine et hyper stressée par mes recherches d'appartement. J'ai fait attention pour manger assez (au moins 1800 calories), car les aliments végétaux sont souvent faibles en calories.
Jeudi, j'avais un 5 à 7 entre amis. C'est à ce moment que je me suis sentie en privation pour la première fois. Il y avait plusieurs bouchées, et je me suis abstenue de manger celles avec du poisson, alors que ça avait l'air délicieux. Nous sommes ensuite allés au resto et il n'y avait qu'une seule option vegan sur le menu.
Vendredi
J'ai passé la journée à penser à des sushis et à du fromage brie. Donc à l'heure du souper, j'ai non seulement mangé 8 sushis, mais beaucoup trop de fromage, et plusieurs pointes de pizza. YOLO.
Défi raté.
Expérience globale:
J'ai réalisé que le mode de vie sans viande est parfait pour moi, car je n'ai jamais été une fan de toute façon. Mais le fromage et le poisson vont toujours faire partie de mon assiette.
Je crois que les gens ont peur du véganisme, parce que ça semble restreignant. Je crois que ce qui l'est, c'est de se sentir "au régime'' et en privation. Nous devrions plutôt voir cela comme un mode de vie, et trouver un équilibre qui nous convient niveau valeurs, digestion et énergie.
Personnellement, le 80/20 fonctionne bien pour moi! Je mange du poisson et du fromage quelques fois par semaine, et le reste du temps, je remplis mon assiette de légumes et je trouve des façons originales et le fun de manger des légumineuses.
Honnêtement, je recommande de réduire la consommation de viandes et dérivés peu à peu, jusqu'à ce tu trouves un ratio qui te rend heureux et bien dans ton corps! Et bien entendu, de choisir des produits éthiques et de t'informer sur le rapport entre la santé et l'alimentation. Bien entendu, tu peux ben manger comme tu veux: aucun jugement, tout diffère d'une personne à l'autre.
Si tu manques d'inspiration et que tu penses que la bouffe vegan c'est juste du tofu et de la luzerne, je te recommande ces 2 chaînes YouTube: Tess Begg & thrivingonplants.
Documentaires intéressants sur le sujet sur Netflix Canada:
Food, inc.
That Sugar Film
Forks over Knifes
Hungry for Change
Fed Up
Vegucated
Food Matters
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