The municipal councils for Vulcan County and the Village of Arrowwood have given First Reading to the enacting bylaws for their Intermunicipal Development Plan. Vulcan County Council addressed this item in August followed by the Village Council in September.
The plan sets out a collaborative development strategy. While public consultation was sought in the development and negotiation phase of this draft plan, there is a legislated requirement for each council to undertake an advertised Public Hearing prior to considering Second and Third Reading of their enacting bylaws to finalize it.
Public Hearing at Vulcan County for Bylaw 2020-021 will occur on October 7, 2020, at 11:15 AM in the Vulcan County Council Chambers. It received First Reading on August 19, 2020.
Public Hearing at Village of Arrowwood for Bylaw 477 will occur on October 13, 2020, at 6:00 PM in the Village Office. It received First Reading on September 8, 2020.
Participation in Public Hearings at Vulcan County Council is explained HERE. Similarly, participation in Public Hearings at the Village of Arrowwood can be requested by contacting the Chief Administrative Officer.
This document covers a number of planning matters, including transportation and community growth initiatives, among others. Concerns were raised during initial public consultation regarding the Confined Feeding Operation (CFO) exclusion zone, building upon the planning framework already established by Vulcan County’s Municipal Development Plan of 2012. As a result of this consultation, section 2.5.3 (on page 10) was added, making the future potential to amend these exclusion zones clear. Ultimately, jurisdiction over CFOs rests with the Natural Resources Conservation Board (NRCB) and their standards regarding size, scale and environmental impact. While the NRCB will consider planning input from municipalities, it will give more weight to plans formally adhered to after a public hearing and bylaw process rather than less-formalized responses that are reactionary toward specific applications. The NRCB deliberates upon and decides each CFO application that comes before it, as well as standards of development that will mitigate environmental impact.
The final draft of the Intermunicipal Development Plan can be downloaded, HERE, as well as viewed below.
Vulcan Golf and Country club is hiring 1 or 2 Full Time or Part Time Grounds Maintenance Workers for the remainder of the golf season! Please drop off resume to clubhouse or Maintenance Shop Attention “Duke” Please no phone calls.
Stone Soup Meals are still available, frozen meals from local caterers for frontline staff and first responders. Nominate someone today, they can be delivered from the Vulcan Regional Food Bank
Meals in Minutes delivers meals anywhere in the County. See the attached menu. (August 2020 Menu)
Thursday afternoons – Farmer’s Market at the Vulcan Legion
Arrowwood Farmer’s Market – Check the Village Facebook page to find out date and time.
Geri Budd delivers fresh produce to Vulcan many afternoons. See the attached list of produce (Spunky Gardener)
Champion Pop-Up Market – Sat., Aug. 29th -local artists, crafters & entrepreneurs. Near the Clever Scoops Ice Cream Shop
Early Learning Program – will run a 3 and 4-year-old play based program in Vulcan. Call your local school in any village to find out registration information for preschool and kindergarten.
Seniors Helping Seniors – For those in need of a helping hand with yard work, minor carpentry, odd jobs around your home let us know. We are there to help those in need.
File your 2019 taxes before September to keep getting your benefit payments
Canadians who receive the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) and the Goods and Services Tax (GST/HST) credit need to complete their 2019 tax returns as soon as possible.Filing as soon as possible will ensure you receive the right amount and that your payments continue beyond September 2020. Unsure about your eligibility to receive the CCB or the GST/HST credit? Please verify your status via My Account or MyBenefits CRA mobile app.
Need help filing? Through the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program community organizations are hosting free tax clinics where volunteers file tax returns for those who are eligible. Vulcan and Region FCSS can help you if you have a simple tax return with the Volunteer Tax Program.
Payment deadlines The payment deadline for any tax amount owing on your 2019 income has been extended to September 30, 2020. Late-filing penalties or interests will not be charged if you file your return and make your payment by that date. For more information on the 2019 filing and payment deadline changes, please visit COVID-19: Income tax filing and payment deadlines.
More information and resources
You can find more information on filing your taxes and available benefits and credits:
Krystalowich & Co shared this on Facebook about changes to CERB and EI – See the attached documents.
TRANSITION OF CERB TO EI
The government has released details on the transition for those on CERB to EI. Special thanks to Video Tax News for providing a breakdown of the changes. Highlights of the changes include:
– CERB is available up to September 26 and then the transition will commence on September 27
– EI insurable hours reduced to 120 hours in the 52 weeks prior to EI application
– EI minimum benefits increased to $400 weekly
– EI minimum eligible weeks increased to 26 weeks
– Canada Recovery Benefit of $400 for 26 weeks will be available for self-employed individuals and other individuals ineligible for EI
Also, it is noted that those individuals who received CERB through Service Canada may be automatically transitioned to EI, but it is not guaranteed.
The individuals who received CERB through CRA will be required to apply for EI through the usual EI online application process.
Donate Locally Today
The Shaw Charity Classic contributes to hundreds of thousands of children and youth across Alberta who rely on charitable organizations for support with literacy, food security, mental wellness, and much more. Organizations like Rainbow Literacy and Learning Society rely on donations and we need your support now more than ever as demand for our services continue to increase. Within the community we provide literacy programs for adult learners and children, and train facilitators to deliver programs throughout Vulcan County. These programs are extremely beneficial for learners in their everyday lives — 97%of our adult learners demonstrated increased confidence in their skills and98% reported seeing an increase in their literacy and essential skills.
Rainbow Literacy and Learning Society and Shaw invite you to #ChipinforKids by texting KIDS158 to 30333 to donate $10 and help us continue to provide barrier-free educational services and literacy resources in our community. To make your generous contribution go further, Shaw will match your donation and the matched donation amount will then be matched again by the Shaw Charity Classic, up to an additional 50 per cent. Your $10 donation can grow into a donation of $30 to Rainbow Literacy and Learning Society.
The donations and matched contributions raised through the #ChipinforKids program will help ensure that charities like ours will be able to continue to serve Vulcan County.
If you would like to make a larger contribution to our family literacy programs through the Shaw Charity Classic fundraiser Birdies for Kids click the following link to our page:
We are pleased to announce that we are a Family Resource Network: Spoke #15 for Children’s Services within the High River and Area. Rainbow Literacy and Learning Society also delivers programming through (CALP) – the Community Adult Learning Program. These programs are funded through the Government of Alberta. For more information on our programs and learning opportunities please visit our website: www.rainbowliteracy.com
Helpful Resources
Calgary’s Child Magazine is free and online and always includes great parenting articles. The September issue includes articles on:
-How to Manage School Anxiety: What Children Need from Us
-Raising a Reader
-How Mindfulness helps Kids Manage Stress
-Mask Wearing for Kids
-The importance of Play in a Digital World
Did you know there is a link between inflammation, child development and a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, asthma, and even depression and dementia? Click on this link to read a very interesting infographic:
-Low German Mennonite Community Resource Inventory: Responding to Covid-19 in Southern Alberta – There are number of videos Low German explaining Covid.
-Children’s Cottage in Calgary provides respite for parents experiencing high levels of stress or losing patience with a young one at the Crisis Nursery. It has a 24/7 crisis line 403-233-2272. They also run Brenda’s House for those looking for housing support if your child is already 18 years old. 403-242-8576. childrenscottage.ab.ca
Text4Hope
Supporting Mental Health & Wellness in a Time of Stress & Isolation
Feeling stress, anxiety and depression due to the COVID-19 crisis? We can help.
The Mental Health Foundation is supporting a new Alberta Health Services program
Text4Hope – a free service providing three months of daily Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)–based text messages written by mental health therapists.
An Alberta-based innovation, Text4Hope is an evidence-based tool that helps people identify and adjust the negative thoughts, feelings and behaviours a pandemic might be expected to provoke. Through a set of daily messages, people receive advice and encouragement helpful in developing healthy personal coping skills and resiliency. Community members simply subscribe to receive ongoing supportive content. There is no cost. The program provides one-way communication and does not replace other mental health therapies and supports. It is a helpful option for people in self-isolation who can’t access face-to-face services, as well as those in remote locations.
How to Connect
Text COVID19HOPE to 393939 to subscribe.
Text4Hope-Addiction Support and Text4Hope-Cancer Care are also available and designed to help Albertans dealing with psychological issues related to addiction and cancer issues. The expanded services are funded by the Mental Health Foundation.
Text Open2Change to 393939 to subscribe to the addiction program.
Text CancerCare to 393939 to subscribe to the cancer program.
Some users may be charged per text message depending on their cell phone plan with their current provider. We encourage users to check with their provider. If they are unable to sign-up due to potential costs, we encourage them to visit Help in Tough Times where free resources are available, including variety of mental health related podcasts and videos for download.
Free Audio Meditation – to help you calm your nervous system and refocus your mind on what you can control
Information from Alberta Health Services about COVID-19 on Prevention, Wearing Masks, Symptoms and the Difference between Covid-19 and Influenza. Click on Prevention on the right hand menu.
The Art of Motivation- A Guide to helping students avoid drug problems and reach their full potential
Art of motivation is an online resource for administrators, counsellors, teachers and others who want to help students avoid drug problems and other obstacles to reaching their full potential.
Check out these resources for parents & children provided by Lori Gair of Vulcan County Early Childhood Development Coalition
Services available at FCSS
403-485-2192
-FCSS has been phoning to see how people in our County are doing. If you have missed the call or are not in the phone book call FCSS at 403-485-2192 to have conversation with someone and receive help directing you to resources.
-Family/Couple kits are available for pick-up.
-The Grandma Share Your Stories With Me – This is a program to connect youth and grandparents through a question book- it may be done online, on the phone, or with distancing. Youth ask some interesting questions about their grandparent’s life. You can request copies from FCSS via email or set a time for an appointment.
-The Resource Directory is on the Vulcan and Region FCSS website along with many links to official sites, such as the federal government grants, free counselling, links to resources etc. Resources are posted on the Facebook page as well as on our Food Bank webpage.
-If you are in need of the AA phone number you can call FCSS to get it. There are some guidelines around its use.
-The Food Bank is doing hampers and accepting donations preferably cheque or pay pal – there are details on the Food Bank website on how to do this. Any clients wishing to have help must call for an appointment. Everything is sanitized before and after a visit.
Survey
Building Brains Together along with researchers from the University of Lethbridge have created a survey to learn how isolation is impacting parents. All responses are anonymous and confidential and will be used to help professionals understand the impacts that Covid-19 and the subsequent Public Health Measures are having on parents and families. Data from this survey will be used to inform social supports and services both for the remainder of the Covid-19 pandemic and in future emergency responses. Participants are invited to send us an email once you’ve completed the survey and we’ll enter you into our draw for a $50 Superstore gift card. Draws will take place at the end of each month. www.buildingbrains.ca/parent-survey
Parenting Program
The Greater Foothills Family Centre is offering the Triple P Positive Program virtually!! If you would like more information on the Triple P Positive Parenting Program please give us a call at 403 652 8633 or email us at [email protected]
Triple P is also offered online! Check out this video about the online Triple P Positive Parenting Program.
If you are interested in enrolling in the online Triple P Program please click this link to be directed to the Alberta Triple P Website: https://www.triplep-parenting.ca/alb-en/triple-p/
Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body
New Working Paper
Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body: Early Childhood Development and Lifelong Health Are Deeply Intertwined This Working Paper, the fifteenth in the series from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, informs policymakers, leaders of human services systems, intervention developers, and practitioners in reducing disparities in preventable diseases and premature deaths and lowering the high costs of health care for chronic illnesses that have their origins in early childhood adversity. The paper examines how developing biological systems in the body interact with each other and adapt to the contexts in which a child is developing—for better or for worse—with lifelong consequences for physical and mental health.
Domestic Violence
Agencies in the domestic violence services in Calgary have seen up to 40% increase in services during the first two months of this pandemic crisis. Now more than ever our friends and family members who are experiencing violence and abuse need our positive support. Please consider sharing information about our webinar with your friends and social connections. The focus of the presentation is to give participants the skills and confidence to recognize and support victims of family violence and abuse during this crisis and beyond. This FREE webinar is offered several times per week, with new dates added weekly. For more information, please see our TAKE A STAND info & registration page,
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/take-a-stand-against-family-violence-and-abuse-tickets-101823970236 On this page there are social media share buttons, or please consider emailing this info to your friends. Please maintain physical distancing, and increase social connections.
The Role of Play during a Pandemic
Play Can Help Children:
cope with changes
experience feelings of control.
foster empathy and relieve tension.
promote well-being and resilience
https://www.centre4activeliving.ca/news/2020/05/play-during-global-pandemic/
Nutrition Classes
The PPH Dietitians are offering interactive online classes in June using Zoom. Registration is through https://www.birthandbabies.com/, and classes will be limited to 20 participants. Please share this with your clients.
Classes and Dates:
Mealtime Struggles to Mealtime Success: Tuesday, June 23rd, 2020 at 6:30pm
Feeding Your Baby: Wednesday, June 17th, 2020 at 1:00pm
Detailed descriptions for each class:
Mealtime Struggles to Mealtime Success – Do you have questions about your child’s eating habits? Are meal and snack times becoming a struggle? Join a Registered Dietitian from Alberta Health Services and learn about ways to cope with picky eating, refusal of foods, strategies to help you develop a healthy feeding relationship with your child, and more!! This class is for parents and caregivers with children 1-5 years of age.
Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2020 at 6:30pm
Registration is through https://www.birthandbabies.com/, and classes will be limited to 20 participants. Classes will be held on Zoom. This is a FREE class! Feeding Your Baby is being offered in June as an interactive online class!
Are you getting ready for your baby to start solid foods? Wondering what foods you should introduce and when? If so, then this class is for you! Join a Registered Dietitian from Alberta Health Services and get answers to your questions about baby’s first foods, timing, textures, eating patterns, developmental stages, and other topics related to feeding your baby. This class is for parents, and caregivers.
Date: Wednesday, June 17, 2020 at 1:00pm
Registration is through https://www.birthandbabies.com/, and classes will be limited to 20 participants. Classes will be held on Zoom. This is a FREE class! Please distribute this info to others. Also, don’t forget that people can always call Healthlink 8-1-1 with any nutrition question and speak with one of our Registered Dietitians!
Supporting a Smooth Transition into the 2020-2021 School Year
Since the closing of schools in mid-March due to the recent pandemic, school districts have offered at-home learning opportunities for all students (e.g., online, telephone check-ins, and/or course packages). Parents (in conjunction with their child’s school team) have been supporting their child‘s learning and social-emotional development during this time. Currently, the province continues to work with school authorities and education system partners on developing a comprehensive re-entry plan. This situation leaves many families wondering how they can support their child to transition smoothly into the 2020-21 school year regardless of the re-entry plan that is developed. Knowing that it will be important for parents to share student strengths and home-based strategies that have worked well with school teams, this presentation will be designed to provide families with effective tools and ways to share information to ensure a smooth and successful transition. Tools to be explored may include; slides, videos, creating books and memory boxes. https://community.hmhc.ca/sessions/files/2020-05-14-16-40-29-June-15-Covid-and-school.pdf
A New Online Hub called CORE will coordinate community services for older Albertans and Seniors -The CORE Alberta website is geared toward service providers to enable them to share information, ideas and resources available from across the province. It is a platform to connect community based seniors serving organizations and allied agencies and individuals in Alberta. CORE is designed to provide up-to-date information, resources, and training opportunities and to make it easier to communicate, coordinate, and collaborate in order to help build capacity, strengthen the network, and develop a collective and cohesive voice among volunteers, staff, and others who support healthy aging initiatives. The perspective of rural areas will be important to this endeavour. The main intent of the CORE Alberta website is to enable services providers from anywhere in Alberta to support and learn from each other.
There are various discussion groups available where CORE Alberta participants can share information, ask questions, as well as learn and collaborate. Currently, there are a number of open discussion groups from transportation, to home supports, to food security, and many others.
In addition, you are encouraged to sign up to the corealberta.ca site, explore the collaborative opportunities and subscribe to the newsletter. If you have any questions about CORE Alberta or would prefer to register via email, please contact [email protected]
Enhanced Grief Support
Enhanced Grief Support Services being provided by the Calgary Zone Grief Support program and the program’s brochure. This enhanced service is in recognition that the pandemic may intensify and add complexity to bereavement experiences. Clients who call the program can be connected within a few weeks and all counseling is provided telephonically or via zoom.
The Grief Support Program has also created an educational psycho-social video for those who have experienced a death related loss, or for those who want to offer support to someone who has. This educational offering recognizes that grieving can be more complex during an experience like a pandemic.The intention of the video is to offer information, comfort and hope and normalize these challenging bereavement experiences by presenting resources, tools and approaches to grief and loss during a pandemic. This can be a helpful and supportive resource for people to access virtually during this time. The video is posted on the AHS You Tube channel and can be accessed through this link which is also embedded in the memo:
Grief and Loss during a Pandemic
In 2004 The Palliative and End of Life Care Grief Support Program also developed Bereavement Videos that are also on the AHS You Tube Channel: Grief Videos All videos are on the Grief Resources playlist on the AHS You Tube Channel.
Psychological First Aid: Supporting Yourself and Others During COVID-19
When you register, for some reason I couldn’t get any provinces but could put Canada in the state area also put Armed Forces ( other) and it worked.
Psychological First Aid: Supporting Yourself and Others During COVID-19 is an online only course designed to help individuals build resilience and support themselves and lend support to others during and following the COVID-19 outbreak. The course length is estimated at 60 minutes. The topics covered in the course include:
· Recognizing Stress in Adults, Teens and Children
· Practicing Mental Health First Aid
· Caring for Yourself
· Supporting Your Family
· Supporting Yourself and Coworkers at Work
Each student who completes the course will receive an American Red Cross Psychological First Aid: Supporting Yourself and Others During COVID-19 Online Only certificate at the completion of the course. The certificate date is the date of course completion. The certificate is valid for 2 years. If you enter Canada to register and you have trouble and cannot enter your province or territory, try logging in as Armed Forces (other).
Links to Resources
Eight ways to support brain health for rural older adults
https://www.centre4activeliving.ca/news/2020/06/rural-older-adults/
Multi-Faith Resources: Alienation & Separation During a Pandemic
Nicole Frandsen is an an Outreach Officer with the Canada Revenue Agency. Presentations are available via the WebEx system.
I am not only able to give our regular presentations (see below) but we have slides on the new economic measures for COVID-19 that the Canada Revenue Agency is administering such as the enhanced Canada Child Benefit (CCB) and enhanced Goods and Services Tax Credit payment (GSTC), the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB). I can also create a presentation to cover the topics of most interest for your group, using a combination of the information below.
Get Them to Listen the First Time by Julie Freedman-Smith of Parenting Power
Has the pandemic turned you into the teacher from ‘Charlie Brown?’
Are you the voice that can be heard in the background saying lots of something but nothing actually worth listening to? Does even the dog walk away while you are talking?
It may be because while you are with your kids so much, you are saying the same things over and over again and no one really feels that they have to listen to you.
Let’s face it, when you have something to say that is really important, you’ll make sure they hear it. You will use some way to grab their attention, or grab them. Yelling, getting in their faces, crying, punishment, all of those methods tell kids that this is the time to listen.
But why do they make you yell at them? Didn’t they hear you the other 7 times you said it calmly? They did not.
They have learned to ignore you until the one time it matters.
Get them to listen the first time.
When you are about to nag, stop. AID them to listen:
A = Attention. Go to the child and get his attention before you say anything.
I = Instruction. Give your instruction clearly.
D = Direct. If the child doesn’t do it, direct the child to do it now.
“Are you going to do this with my help or without?”
“Looks like you need my help to make this happen – let’s go.”
Catch yourself before it happens
Before you start to yell an instruction from another room, or say it for the 4th or 5th time, stop. Go to the child, be sure that you have her attention and then say what needs to happen and require it to happen.
Use pre-planned times to give clear instructions
Perhaps you will share your clear instructions and plan it out during the family meeting. Perhaps it will be at the start of the day when you are reviewing the plan for the day. Make a time for it to happen and only give instructions which are important and worth holding kids accountable to complete.
This week, ask yourself these questions:
What am I nagging about daily?
Is it actually something important?
How, when and where can I communicate it clearly once and then hold my child accountable?
Energy, electricity, astronomy: Inside the Perimeter is a Waterloo-based educational site for science lovers of all ages, but they also have a robust section for kids and educators. There are some free resources, but mostly lessons that you purchase.
This is a BBC Kids show that combines ninja moves with wacky art projects, but the host also has a YouTube channel with lots of colourful arts & crafts tutorials.
Lori Gair
Vulcan County Early Childhood Development Coalition
Phone: 403-485-0601
Email: [email protected]
Two items for sale “AS IS” given that they are older units and will require maintenance and rehabilitation at buyer’s expense. All inquiries can be directed to the Village Office. The silent auction closes at 4:00 PM on June 30th, 2020.
