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Alberta Midday Roundup: Valleyview Girl Found Safe & Farkas Fires Back (Oct 5, 2026)

Oct 5
7 min read
Alberta Midday Roundup: Valleyview Girl Found Safe & Farkas Fires Back (Oct 5, 2026) - Alberta Radio by Jason LaFace

A seven-year-old from Valleyview is safe, her alleged abductor is in custody, and Calgary's mayor told separatists to go move to the United States. Here's what changed in Alberta since the morning book.

By Jason LaFace | Alberta Radio

Monday, October 5, 2026

Good afternoon. Fourteen days to the ballot. Start with the best news of the day, then the politics, the regions, sports and your weather.

Crime Across Alberta

Valleyview — Amber Alert cancelled; girl safe, suspect arrested. Valleyview RCMP cancelled the province-wide Amber Alert at 11:45 a.m., about 90 minutes after it went out at 10:15. Police say the seven-year-old girl "has been safely located by police" and the suspect "has been arrested and in police custody." The original alert said Aspen Wilson had been abducted from her Valleyview home by her stepfather, Alexander Stone, 28, believed to be driving a grey 2004 Chevrolet Venture toward Slave Lake or Red Deer. RCMP thanked the media and community partners for spreading the alert. Police haven't said where she was found or announced any charges. Anyone with more information can call local police or 310-RCMP.

Edmonton — arson charges in south-side building fire. Edmonton police announced Monday that Narayan Bergstrom, 29, has been charged with two counts of arson. Investigators say two fires were set June 25 at a building near 82 Avenue and Gateway Boulevard between 7:40 and 9:45 p.m., and the second one caused extensive damage. No one was hurt. He was identified after police released video of a man seen around the time of both fires, and was charged Sept. 23. Police aren't looking for anyone else. The charges have not been proven in court.

Fort McMurray — RCMP fraud unit tops 80 charges. Six months into a one-year pilot, the Wood Buffalo RCMP Financial Crime Unit has laid more than 80 criminal charges, identified millions of dollars in lost capital and tied several national and international criminal networks to local activity. The unit targets embezzlement, fraud and money laundering. "Our Financial Crime Unit investigators are executing an average of 2.5 judicial authorizations every week to follow the money, wherever that trail leads," said Insp. Mike Robinson. Fraud victims can call 780-788-4000 or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.

Province — lawyers want the Martin review released. More than 22 months after Justice Minister Mickey Amery ordered an independent review of how the Crown handles police misconduct files, members of the legal community want retired judge Peter Martin's report made public. Amery's press secretary, Heather Jenkins, told CBC officials are reviewing the report, but she wouldn't say when they received it or whether it will be released. "Transparency demands that the report be revealed to the public," said Tom Engel of the Criminal Trial Lawyers' Association.

Alberta Politics

Farkas: "That's selling Alberta out." Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas posted a video Monday morning going after separatist leaders over The Globe and Mail's reporting that fresh water and oil royalties were floated at a State Department meeting. "You sure as hell don't defend Alberta by discussing what parts of us you'll carve up for the Americans," he said. "If you want to live in the United States, go move to the United States." He said he understands separatists' frustration with Ottawa. Jeffrey Rath, who arranged the Washington meetings, fired back on X, calling the Globe story "yet another fake news piece" and saying, "We were simply sharing the aspirations of hundreds of thousands of Albertans for a lawful process leading to an independent country."

Lloyd and Ottawa weigh in. Conservative MP Dane Lloyd, who leads his party's effort to keep Alberta in Canada, called the reports "concerning" outside a Commons committee Monday. "Absolutely nobody has a right to promise away Alberta's birthright, which is our natural resources," he said, but he wouldn't speculate on whether it amounts to foreign interference. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree referred questions to CSIS, saying only that democratic events should take place without "foreign interference or actors influencing local electoral events."

CBC poll: UCP and NDP neck-and-neck. A CBC News poll of 1,200 Albertans by Janet Brown Opinion Research (Sept. 8–21, margin of error ±2.8 points, 19 times out of 20) has the UCP essentially tied with the NDP province-wide, with the NDP up eight points in Calgary. Brown says the referendum has handed the NDP a chance "to get their ground game together one full year ahead of a general election." The story notes Premier Danielle Smith could face a leadership review in the coming months.

Ballot clock. Elections Alberta says advance voting runs Oct. 13–17, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Online voter registration closes Oct. 9, which is also Canada Post's recommended date to mail back special ballots. They must arrive by 5 p.m. Oct. 16. The Calgary Herald's ten-question explainer cites an Angus Reid finding that one in five Albertans find the questions confusing, rising to one in three among 18-to-34-year-olds.

Still the destination. Statistics Canada estimates Alberta had more than 5.1 million people on July 1, up nearly 76,500 (about 1.5 per cent) in a year. That's the biggest gain of any province or territory, though it's the slowest growth rate since 2021. More than 50,000 immigrants landed, about 8,000 fewer than the year before, and Alberta posted a net loss of almost 8,000 non-permanent residents, mostly international students. Finance Minister Jason Nixon's office says Alberta will keep pressing Ottawa for "a more sustainable" immigration approach.

Regional Alberta

Calgary / oil sands — Cenovus buys Athabasca Oil. Calgary-based Cenovus Energy has signed a cash-and-stock deal for Athabasca Oil valued at $5.7 billion, adding about 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. Athabasca shareholders can take $12 cash or 0.264 of a Cenovus share for each share, subject to caps of $4.3 billion in cash and 44.4 million shares. Cenovus expects to close in December, pending regulatory and shareholder approval.

Red Deer — two weekend house fires. Red Deer Emergency Services says discarded smoking materials started a suite fire in an apartment building in the 2900 block of 50 Avenue Saturday night. The sprinklers kept it contained, but two units were temporarily displaced. On Sunday morning, a West Park home was heavily damaged. No one was hurt, but a family pet died. The cause of that fire is still under investigation.

Coalhurst — byelection nominations open. Nominations are open until noon Nov. 9 for one Coalhurst town council seat, vacated by a resignation in August. Voting day is Dec. 7.

On council agendas today: County of Grande Prairie council is set to discuss removing data processing establishments as a permitted use in its industrial zones and creating a dedicated district for them, after the Sexsmith-area permit drew 107 appeals to the Land and Property Rights Tribunal. Medicine Hat council considers the land-use change at the old Ogilvie Flour Mill for an Amazon package hub with more than 50 full-time jobs. No results reported as of midday; we'll have them tonight.

Sports

Flames — Huska: "We're disconnected." Calgary is 0–3 after being outscored 16–3, a league-worst minus-13. "I feel like right now we're disconnected," coach Ryan Huska said after Sunday's 6–1 loss in Seattle. "One person goes off script right now for us and it seems to end up in the back of our net." He said new players are "trying to do a little bit too much at times." Joel Farabee: "Nobody's coming to save us, so we've got to do it together." The Flames get practice days before Colorado visits Thursday.

Source: TSN (Oct. 5)

Oilers — eyeing Eyssimont. With Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Matt Savoie, Jason Dickinson and Mattias Janmark all out, the 2–0–1 Oilers are shopping for a forward. On Monday's 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman said Edmonton is looking at "someone like a [Michael] Eyssimont," whom Boston put on waivers Monday morning ($1.45 million cap hit). The Oilers have about $761,666 in cap space, too little to claim him, so a lateral move involving Spencer Stastney or Ty Emberson is the likelier route if he clears. Edmonton opens a road trip Wednesday in Anaheim.

(CFL: The Stampeders, 8–8 after three straight wins, visit Winnipeg Saturday, Oct. 10, at 5 p.m.)

Weather Across Alberta

Environment Canada, 11:00 a.m. MDT Mon. Oct. 5: no Alberta weather alerts (none on EC's alert feed at about 12:30 p.m.). Warm in the south, windy in the Peace, and a few showers and a thunderstorm risk up north late in the day.

Edmonton sun then mix, 30% showers late afternoon, W 30 gusting 50, high 21 / low 5 / Tue 19 · Calgary mainly cloudy, clearing late afternoon, high 23 / low 6 / Tue 20 · Red Deer high 23 / low 2 / Tue 19 · Lethbridge W 40 gusting 60, high 25 / low 4 / Tue 22 · Medicine Hat high 26 / low 5 / Tue 23 · Grande Prairie–Valleyview W 50 gusting 70, high 16 / low 8 / Tue 16 · Fort McMurray 60% showers late afternoon and evening, risk of a thunderstorm, high 17 / low 6 / Tue 14.

Sources: EC north · EC south · alerts

That's the midday book. First, the good part: a little girl from Valleyview is safe because ordinary Albertans shared an alert and police moved fast. As for the politics, the mayor of Calgary says if you want to live in the United States, go move there. Most independence-minded Albertans don't want to be American. They want to stop being Ottawa's ATM. You can think the Washington trips were a dumb idea and still think that question deserves an honest debate instead of being run out of town. Read all ten questions and vote Oct. 19. Stay loud, stay informed.

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