The family of a missing Breton man who disappeared seven years ago are still hoping for help from the public.
Andrew George Nicoll was last heard from on April 21, 2014. His daughter, Bronwyn Taylor, had just been to visit him for Easter the day before.
Taylor says she and her father were very close and had been texting throughout the day. The last text she received from him was at 3:15 p.m. At that time Nicoll was outside working on his deck. At 4 p.m. Taylor sent him another text, but this one was never read.
When the text message went unanswered, Taylor wasn’t initially concerned. Her father lived on a large piece of land near Breton. The area was isolated and the cell service wasn’t always great, so she assumed it just hadn’t gone through.
It was when she received the call that he hadn’t shown up for work the next morning that she knew something was wrong.
As a former member of the Royal Navy, police officer and volunteer firefighter, Taylor knew that her father would not be irresponsible about his work shift. His employer, who also recognized that this was abnormal behaviour, had gone out to his home to check on him, but he wasn’t there.
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Taylor called the RCMP immediately and travelled out to his house. She says she can remember some people suggesting he just took off or perhaps killed himself – his wife had died of cancer two years prior – but what Taylor saw told her this wasn’t the case.
Taylor had just been to visit him the day before he disappeared. “He was in really good spirits. No indication of [him] being suicidal. He was not, whatsoever,” she said.
Nicoll had been working on his deck, getting his place ready to be sold. All of his tools were left out and he’d been in the middle of adding oil to his chainsaw.
He’d also put both dogs inside the house, something he only did when there were visitors coming up the driveway. Inside they could see that he’d gone grocery shopping that day, there was chicken thawing for supper in the microwave, and the dog dishes were filled with food and sitting on the countertop.
“The only reason the dogs would ever be locked inside the house would be if someone was coming down the driveway or he was using his chainsaw,” she said.
After a quick search, they also found his keys, wallet and jacket. His vehicle was still in the driveway.
There was no indication that Nicoll had plans to go anywhere at that time. “We were texting for most of the day,” said Taylor.
Seven years later, Taylor says she’s still hoping for answers. “To this date, we still have no idea what happened to my dad,” she said.
Taylor said her first thought when she arrived was that there had been a medical situation. She said there were several areas on his property that he liked to visit and they immediately checked all of those areas.
RCMP searched the property for more than a day. When they didn’t find him, Taylor used her connections as a volunteer firefighter and a peace officer for nine years, to ask for volunteers to complete a detailed search of the property.
“We did an extensive five-month search,” she said.
Unfortunately, nothing was found.
At one point they brought dogs out to the property, and the dogs indicated that there was something at one point in a creek that runs through his property. Because of the level of silt in that area, rescue workers were unable to use ground-penetrating radar technology to check for anything under the creek bed. And despite numerous efforts, they were never able to find what it was the dogs had located.
In partnership with the University of Alberta’s Community University Partnership (CUP) town council will be looking at different ways that Drayton Valley residents can work to generate local wealth for the community.
Geraldine Cahill, the director of UpSocial Canada who works with CUP, along with Dr. Maria Mayan from the U of A, spoke to council about initiatives that other municipalities have taken on to help stimulate local economies.
CUP has been working in Drayton Valley since 2020, when they helped the Town develop the Zero Fee Tuition Program, now called the Tuition Assistance Bursary. The partnership was developed for a research project to explore whether the ZFT program could be a mechanism for an inclusive economy.
“The results so far have been very positive, both on employment and also for quality of life for participants,” said Cahill.
Cahill told council they had engaged with stakeholders during the research and found a strategy that they would like to explore with the Town. They believe that Rural Wealth Creation could be an effective initiative to help Drayton Valley navigate increased costs in a way that can benefit the entire community.
“Across the country there has been a pattern of downloading costs and responsibilities to municipalities… without much change in capital transfers,” said Cahill. “That puts a great deal of strain on municipal governments and single-resource towns have been hard hit by this.”
With RWC, the Town would work together with residents to develop ways that residents can invest in community projects as part of their retirement, thus ensuring a larger chunk of local money stays in the municipality.
Over the past few years communities across the country have achieved economic stability by using programs such as co-operatives, local procurement, employee ownership and other succession models, community bonds, community land trusts and more. Cahill also provided examples from some of the municipalities that have gone in this direction.
In 2002, the municipality of Westlock learned that their grain terminals were going to be sold. As agriculture was one of the important sectors for the community, there was concern about how the sale could affect the local economy. So, instead of letting the grain terminals go, the community worked together to raise $1.2 million to purchase the grain terminal.
Those who invested in the terminal now get yearly dividends for their investment. They also have the most profitable terminal for its size in Canada and are planning on diversifying into a transport company.
Cahill says that the size of the municipality may play a role in which type of community program would work best.
Mayor Nancy Dodds asked Cahill how the Town could move forward with the plan as they would have to play a role in whatever path residents choose to move forward with.
“As the Town, as leaders, we want to be involved, but we don’t want to be getting in the way,” said Dodds. “How do you make sure that everyone has their say when you’re picking that.”
CUP has a workshop planned for May 5 at Clean Energy Technology Centre to help brainstorm some ideas that may work in the community. Cahill says everyone is welcome to attend and they will be looking at community assets as well as asking attendees what their priorities are.
Cahill says once they get some feedback from the meeting, she can use those priorities and ideas to generate profiles of which programs could best address them and how it would affect the community.
“Then we can shop them around for several months,” says Cahill. “I don’t want to rush the process so that people have a chance to weigh in.”
60 years strong: St. Anthony School plans celebration and future growth
In January 1965, the St. Anthony School opened its doors. Now, 60 years later, the school is planning a celebration of the milestone.
Principal Janelle Molzan says they are planning to have a celebration on May 24 at the school gym. They will be using the event to also fundraise for the school.
Molzan says they will have a band performing that evening, catering from a local restaurant, a full cash bar, as well as some door prizes.
Part of the celebration will also be the fact that St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic School Division has put St. Anthony at the top of their priority list for a new school. Molzan says the division has to wait until next year to submit their request to the Province, and there is no guarantee that they will be selected for funding.
“It could be anywhere from two to ten years,” she says. “Or more.”
However, she feels that St. Anthony has a strong case for asking for a new school.
The most recent remodel of the school was in 1992, says Molzan. At that point they expanded the school, removing the gym from the centre of the school and installing classrooms instead. The new gym was then built as an addition to the school.
“We had the addition of the gym as well as a few classrooms in 1992,” says Molzan.
Since then, there have been no major remodels or renovations. Instead, the staff have been doing what they can to keep the building in shape.
“It’s a really well built school,” says Molzan.
She says over the years, the natural heaves and settling that occur with temperature fluctuations has led to some cosmetic damages to the building. “It’s just showing its age,” she says.
While the school is starting to show wear, Molzan says there are no capacity issues. About 15 years ago, the school went from being a K-12 school to a K-8 school when the Holy Trinity Academy was built.
Molzan says if they don’t get a new school they will have to pursue getting more renovations or remodeling for the current building.
New trespassing program helps businesses
Businesses will now have another option for dealing with trespassers thanks to a new program that Enforcement Services have put into place.
Cody Rossing, the manager of enforcement services and emergency management for the Town, says one of the biggest challenges for businesses in the community who were issuing trespass notices is that someone has to attend court in order for the trespassing charge to stick. With the new Trespassing Agent program which comes into place on March 20, businesses who enrol will not have to attend court.
Previously, businesses who contacted the RCMP to report a trespasser had to issue the trespass notices themselves.
For many businesses the process didn’t work well. Larger franchises, like banks, found arranging the issue of a trespass notice and attending court was not logistically feasible. Small business owners, on the other hand, could issue the notice but may have to close their business in order to attend court.
Rossing says there are two different pieces of legislation that speak to trespassing, the Petty Trespass Act and the Trespass to Premises Act.
“Under both of the legislations, the property owner or their agent are required to provide trespass notices, help get people off of their land, and stuff like that,” says Rossing.
The first offence fine under the provincial legislation is normally $600, but it could be up to $10,000. A second offence could have a fine of up to $25,000
The higher fines come into place when the individual ignores the notice and returns to the property. If the trespasser returns three times, the officers can then issue a summons to court. If they fail to attend, a warrant is issued, and at that point if they are found guilty, the higher fines can be given.
Rossing says the program is helping streamline the process for businesses. If they choose to enrol in the program, it will allow peace officers or the RCMP to act as their agent and issue the notices. It also means the business owners won’t have to attend court.
“Court is scary for a lot of people, and we understand that,” says Rossing.
The purpose of the program is to improve the process because officers are continuing to get calls to the same place over and over and business owners or their employees are uncomfortable with the court process. Until now, there hasn’t been any way to address those issues.
“It’s been a lot of work on the back end because there is no follow up process in place and there is no trespass notice being issued,” says Rossing.
He says the hope is that by having this program in place, businesses can sign up and they can begin to address the issue more efficiently.
Several different municipalities in the province have a similar program in place, says Rossing. While developing the program, Rossing did research on other initiatives and reached out to other municipalities that had something similar in place. He says he wanted to be sure that he had everything in place before he announced the program in the community.
There are also checks and balances that have been worked into the program.
“If you’re trespassed from a local business, one of our officers shows up and says you’re trespassed for six months, if you don’t agree with it, you can appeal that process,” says Rossing.
He says there is also the option for the business owners to speak with the officer and reduce the amount of time the individual is trespassed for. In some cases, if the RCMP issue a notice that’s in effect for six months, a business owner may come forward and advocate for the trespasser if the individual doesn’t normally behave in that manner
“They can say, ‘This person is normally a good customer, but there is something going on with him right now. I think maybe a month would be more appropriate,’” says Rossing.
However, it is ultimately the final discretion of the officer.
Once a business is enrolled in the program, they will receive a sticker that they can place in a conspicuous area that is easily visible for officers. If they receive a call, the officer will know that they can issue the notice themselves rather than speaking to the owner and explaining the process that has to take place.
Rossing says enrolment in the program is free, and he encourages businesses to sign up if they are having consistent issues with people loitering or being a nuisance on their property. Those who are interested in enrolling can visit www.draytonvalley.ca/enforcementservices/trespassingagent and fill out the form. They can then email it in to enforcement@draytonvalley.ca or drop it off at the Town office.
Technology bring collisions into focus
There are approximately 187 accidents in town each year within Town limits. That’s according to data from Drayton Valley Enforcement Services.
Cody Rossing, the Manager of Enforcement Services and Emergency Management for the Town, says data from 2016-2023 has helped map out intersections in the community that sees the highest number of collisions. The intersection at 50 Street North and Hwy 22 has had eight collisions, the highest in the community. The second highest number was at the intersection of 50 Street and 50 Avenue.
“Anything along Highway 22, the Town doesn’t have jurisdiction over, pertaining to road designs or changes,” says Rossing.
He says getting the data from the Province regarding collisions along Highway 22 is something they haven’t been able to do before. Now that they have the data they can start mapping out the high incident intersections and starting brainstorming ways they can address some of the problem areas. Rossing says those areas will have more focus from the community peace officers.
Rossing says they are trying to develop strategies on how to reduce collisions in the community on a whole, particularly those that result in fatalities.
“There’s different things we can use like engineering and controls,” says Rossing. “But for enforcement services, how are we strategically educating and enforcing in those areas?”
He says there are a number of factors that can contribute to collisions. Over the past eight years there have been 434 caused from unsafe speeds, 245 were intersection related, 163 that are weather related, 114 from road surface conditions, 51 involving animals, and 417 were from drivers performing improper actions.
With speed being the most prominent cause, enforcement services have been taking action to find out where speeding is most common and increasing patrols. The digital speed signs that were purchased with funds from the Community Safety Committee don’t have cameras on them, but they do record the speed and report that data back to enforcement services.
On March 6, officers intercepted a vehicle driving 102 km per hour in a 50 km zone.
“That vehicle was pulled over, a court summons was issued to the driver to compel them to court. If they don’t attend court a warrant will be issued for them,” says Rossing.
If they are found guilty, they could face a fine of up to $2,000 and/or a license suspension.
Rossing says anyone who is over the speed limit by more than 51 km per hour will face an automatic court summons.
This was not the only incident of speeding. On March 5, the digital speed signs picked up on a vehicle driving 111 km per hour in a 60 km per hour zone. They also pulled over a vehicle going 50 km per hour over the limit that same day.
“That is strictly within the Town of Drayton Valley boundaries,” says Rossing.
There are a number of reports enforcement services can get from the digital signs, including the amount of traffic on a road and the times that see the most traffic. Using this data, enforcement services can ensure they deploy units during the busiest times of the day to the areas where speeding is common.
What you see is what you get
Like William Shatner, Mike Myers, Wayne Gretzky’s dad and God help us, Celine Dion, here at the Free Press, we are Canadian.
There’s been a lot of talk recently about US ownership of some of this country’s most prominent businesses and institutions. At the Free Press we are certainly not prominent, nor do we want to be institutionalized. But still, it seems like a good time to point out to anyone who’s interested, that we are exactly what we appear to be.
We are 100 percent locally owned. There are no hidden shareholders or outside interests. All of our staff live in either Drayton Valley or Brazeau County, apart from our designer, Brittany. She’s from here, but currently telecommutes from somewhere in British Columbia, which I have to confess, makes me a little jealous sometimes.
What else can I tell you? The Free Press is printed for us by some nice people in St. Albert. The printing press is owned by Great West Newspapers, which is also a Canadian company.
The paper we’re printed on comes from the Alberta Newsprint Corporation in Whitecourt. Incidentally, the paper is made from offcuts and waste from the lumber industry so we’re not cutting down trees to make the paper.
Once the paper has been printed it’s picked up and brought back to town by Drayton Valley’s own Rocket Express. At that point it’s back to us as we deliver it throughout the community.
Now you may be wondering why I’m telling you all this. Would the Americans really be interested in owning a tiny little paper in a small town in Alberta?
Well, you’d be surprised. A good chunk of Canada’s print media is currently in American hands, and that includes a number of community newspapers in this province. Postmedia is 66 percent owned by Chatham Asset Management, a hedge fund based in New Jersey. Who are Postmedia? They are the owners of the National Post, the Calgary Herald, the Edmonton Journal, the Calgary Sun, the Edmonton Sun and a host of other newspapers, both large and small, from coast to coast.
That situation may not be quite as bad as it sounds. I was the editor of the Drayton Valley Western Review (kids, ask your grandparents) for 10 years. During my time there the paper was owned by a succession of large, soulless corporations based in central Canada. They did absolutely nothing to impact the way we covered the news. I barely heard a peep in over a decade. I always suspected that was less to do with high journalistic standards at corporate headquarters, and more down to the fact they were only dimly aware we existed and probably couldn’t find Drayton Valley on a map, but either way the effect was the same.
So corporate ownership, whether it’s American or not, probably isn’t the best thing ever, but it isn’t necessarily fatal to Canadian news.
But I do think there’s an important distinction between a paper like the Free Press and some of the others; and it’s this. If you take out a subscription or buy an advertisement with us you can be confident that your money is staying close to home. And especially these days, that seems like a good investment.
Local auctioneer takes the championship
A local auctioneer has chanted his way into the history books after securing himself a first place position at the 2025 Canadian All Around Auctioneer Championship.
Prior to the 2025 CAAAC, Justin Mayer had already earned a trophy at the 2020 Canadian Bid Catching Competition. He is the first to hold a title for both competitions.
Mayer, at 29-years-old, says he’s been participating in the CAAAC for more than a decade. His mentors and many of the auctioneers he grew up listening to have all competed in the competition and some have won.
“It’s a pretty prestigious award,” says Mayer.
A good auctioneer is someone who can present themselves in a professional manner, with confidence in your body language and hand gestures. They have to be well spoken and comfortable with public speaking. The auctioneer chant, which requires rhythm, clarity, and speed to be considered such, is also an important technique that auctioneers must master.
“You should be able to almost dance to an auctioneer’s chant,” says Mayer
When he entered the CAAAC, Mayer participated in two rounds. The preliminary round ruled out everyone except for the top five. Those five then moved onto the final round.
In both rounds, five judges ranked their skills on a scorecard, and the person with the best overall ranking took home the award.
Mayer is not the first member of his family to take home the CAAAC title. His uncle Ron Sekura also held the title, and for Mayer, that makes the win even sweeter.
“He’s passed on, so it’s pretty cool for me to have the title with him,” says Mayer.
As a kid, Mayer was surrounded by some of his biggest mentors in the auctioneering world. His uncle, stepfather Corey Sekura, and grandfather, Wendell Sekura, all encouraged his love of auctioning.
He says he loves the sport because of the high energy atmosphere and the chance to meet people.
“When you’re up on the stand in front of the crowd selling, it’s up to me to present, in lots of cases, people’s livelihoods and their entire life, whether you’re selling a farm or a disbursement sale. It’s up to you, as the auctioneer, to generate excitement and do your homework in front of the crowd in order to bring top dollar for people,” says Mayer.
Over the years, Mayer has met many people and he says he enjoys the connections
“I know somebody from every town,” he says.
Now that he’s taken the title for the CAAAC, he is eligible for the International All Around Auctioneer Championship and from there he can head off to the World Championship.
For many, the decision to go to the international championship would be easy, but Mayer says he’s not sure what he’s going to do.
“I grew up in an auction family, and for me and my family to win this competition was a big deal,” says Mayer. “Now that I’ve won it, I kind of feel like I achieved what I wanted.”
However, Mayer has been receiving encouragement from Rob Bergevin, a Canadian International and Worlds competitor, to go to the International Championship.
“I beat him this year and he’s really trying to convince me to go to the International because he thinks I have a shot at it,” says Mayer.
Mayer’s love of auctioneering resulted in him going to Western College of Auctioneering in Billings, Montana in 2013. Since then, he’s been building up his reputation as an auctioneer across Alberta and British Columbia.
He says his uncle and stepfather were always in his ear, pointing out areas where he could do better and giving him advice to improve his skill.
“Grandpa Wendy was a big factor in that as well,” says Mayer.
For several years, Mayer spent a lot of time travelling to municipalities across the province and British Columbia to local auctions. However, once the pandemic hit, many auction houses opted for online auctions as a way to still run the business while meeting government regulations. Since that time, it’s not uncommon for auctions to be held online.
“But I still travel around,” says Mayer. “I still do lots of auctions. I’m never going to stop. It’s too exciting.”
Over the years, Mayer has worked for Team Auctions, as well as auctioning off classic cars. He also works for a lot of charity auctions.
When his children were younger, they struggled with the amount of time that Mayer was away. Now that they’re older, he says they appreciate it more. His daughter has even been asking for lessons, and has been practicing reading off a list of numbers that she has on her wall.
Mayer says he’s grateful to everyone for their support and encouragement over the years.
“I’m tremendously thankful to my mom, my dad, the Sekura family, my wife and my kids. They have all been there for me. They’ve all shaped me,” says Mayer. “Probably my biggest influence in all of it was my Uncle Ron, and my dad, Corey. They really shaped me and supported me.”
“I strongly believe that if it had been a suicide or a medical event, we would have found the body on that very first day,” said Taylor.
Since there were no leads, the case eventually went cold. But Taylor never gave up hope. Every year she would post information to social media in the hopes of jogging someone’s memory.
This year she received a call from the Alberta RCMP Missing Persons Unit. They indicated that they were taking a look at the file and hoping to find something that might have been missed. However, since that time the home and land have been purchased by different owners and the situation might be more complicated.
“He was just such an amazing dad,” said Taylor. She says Nicoll originally met her mother in Prince Rupert, B.C. when she was a nurse. The two ended up getting married and living in England for the first eight years of Taylor’s life.
“They were soulmates,” says Taylor.
During that time her father was a police officer.
When they relocated to this country, Taylor says her dad was very proud to call Canada his home. Taylor was an only child, and because there was no family nearby, the three of them were very close.
“He was really just proud to be in Canada. He was so excited to be in Canada and have the opportunity here,” she said.
The family resided in the Edmonton area and Nicoll went into security, originally starting at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. It was there that he made many friends that would soon become his extended family.
“I’m still in contact with all of his friends that he made throughout his career. They’ve become like family to me,” said Taylor. “He just made an impact on everyone he met.”
Marvin Chick was one of the close friends that Nicoll made while working at the Royal Alex. He said he also worked with Nicoll when he started working with Transit, where Nicoll was a peace officer.
In partnership with the University of Alberta’s Community University Partnership (CUP) town council will be looking at different ways that Drayton Valley residents can work to generate local wealth for the community.
Geraldine Cahill, the director of UpSocial Canada who works with CUP, along with Dr. Maria Mayan from the U of A, spoke to council about initiatives that other municipalities have taken on to help stimulate local economies.
CUP has been working in Drayton Valley since 2020, when they helped the Town develop the Zero Fee Tuition Program, now called the Tuition Assistance Bursary. The partnership was developed for a research project to explore whether the ZFT program could be a mechanism for an inclusive economy.
“The results so far have been very positive, both on employment and also for quality of life for participants,” said Cahill.
Cahill told council they had engaged with stakeholders during the research and found a strategy that they would like to explore with the Town. They believe that Rural Wealth Creation could be an effective initiative to help Drayton Valley navigate increased costs in a way that can benefit the entire community.
“Across the country there has been a pattern of downloading costs and responsibilities to municipalities… without much change in capital transfers,” said Cahill. “That puts a great deal of strain on municipal governments and single-resource towns have been hard hit by this.”
With RWC, the Town would work together with residents to develop ways that residents can invest in community projects as part of their retirement, thus ensuring a larger chunk of local money stays in the municipality.
Over the past few years communities across the country have achieved economic stability by using programs such as co-operatives, local procurement, employee ownership and other succession models, community bonds, community land trusts and more. Cahill also provided examples from some of the municipalities that have gone in this direction.
In 2002, the municipality of Westlock learned that their grain terminals were going to be sold. As agriculture was one of the important sectors for the community, there was concern about how the sale could affect the local economy. So, instead of letting the grain terminals go, the community worked together to raise $1.2 million to purchase the grain terminal.
Those who invested in the terminal now get yearly dividends for their investment. They also have the most profitable terminal for its size in Canada and are planning on diversifying into a transport company.
Cahill says that the size of the municipality may play a role in which type of community program would work best.
Mayor Nancy Dodds asked Cahill how the Town could move forward with the plan as they would have to play a role in whatever path residents choose to move forward with.
“As the Town, as leaders, we want to be involved, but we don’t want to be getting in the way,” said Dodds. “How do you make sure that everyone has their say when you’re picking that.”
CUP has a workshop planned for May 5 at Clean Energy Technology Centre to help brainstorm some ideas that may work in the community. Cahill says everyone is welcome to attend and they will be looking at community assets as well as asking attendees what their priorities are.
Cahill says once they get some feedback from the meeting, she can use those priorities and ideas to generate profiles of which programs could best address them and how it would affect the community.
“Then we can shop them around for several months,” says Cahill. “I don’t want to rush the process so that people have a chance to weigh in.”
In January 1965, the St. Anthony School opened its doors. Now, 60 years later, the school is planning a celebration of the milestone.
Principal Janelle Molzan says they are planning to have a celebration on May 24 at the school gym. They will be using the event to also fundraise for the school.
Molzan says they will have a band performing that evening, catering from a local restaurant, a full cash bar, as well as some door prizes.
Part of the celebration will also be the fact that St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic School Division has put St. Anthony at the top of their priority list for a new school. Molzan says the division has to wait until next year to submit their request to the Province, and there is no guarantee that they will be selected for funding.
“It could be anywhere from two to ten years,” she says. “Or more.”
However, she feels that St. Anthony has a strong case for asking for a new school.
The most recent remodel of the school was in 1992, says Molzan. At that point they expanded the school, removing the gym from the centre of the school and installing classrooms instead. The new gym was then built as an addition to the school.
“We had the addition of the gym as well as a few classrooms in 1992,” says Molzan.
Since then, there have been no major remodels or renovations. Instead, the staff have been doing what they can to keep the building in shape.
“It’s a really well built school,” says Molzan.
She says over the years, the natural heaves and settling that occur with temperature fluctuations has led to some cosmetic damages to the building. “It’s just showing its age,” she says.
While the school is starting to show wear, Molzan says there are no capacity issues. About 15 years ago, the school went from being a K-12 school to a K-8 school when the Holy Trinity Academy was built.
Molzan says if they don’t get a new school they will have to pursue getting more renovations or remodeling for the current building.
Businesses will now have another option for dealing with trespassers thanks to a new program that Enforcement Services have put into place.
Cody Rossing, the manager of enforcement services and emergency management for the Town, says one of the biggest challenges for businesses in the community who were issuing trespass notices is that someone has to attend court in order for the trespassing charge to stick. With the new Trespassing Agent program which comes into place on March 20, businesses who enrol will not have to attend court.
Previously, businesses who contacted the RCMP to report a trespasser had to issue the trespass notices themselves.
For many businesses the process didn’t work well. Larger franchises, like banks, found arranging the issue of a trespass notice and attending court was not logistically feasible. Small business owners, on the other hand, could issue the notice but may have to close their business in order to attend court.
Rossing says there are two different pieces of legislation that speak to trespassing, the Petty Trespass Act and the Trespass to Premises Act.
“Under both of the legislations, the property owner or their agent are required to provide trespass notices, help get people off of their land, and stuff like that,” says Rossing.
The first offence fine under the provincial legislation is normally $600, but it could be up to $10,000. A second offence could have a fine of up to $25,000
The higher fines come into place when the individual ignores the notice and returns to the property. If the trespasser returns three times, the officers can then issue a summons to court. If they fail to attend, a warrant is issued, and at that point if they are found guilty, the higher fines can be given.
Rossing says the program is helping streamline the process for businesses. If they choose to enrol in the program, it will allow peace officers or the RCMP to act as their agent and issue the notices. It also means the business owners won’t have to attend court.
“Court is scary for a lot of people, and we understand that,” says Rossing.
The purpose of the program is to improve the process because officers are continuing to get calls to the same place over and over and business owners or their employees are uncomfortable with the court process. Until now, there hasn’t been any way to address those issues.
“It’s been a lot of work on the back end because there is no follow up process in place and there is no trespass notice being issued,” says Rossing.
He says the hope is that by having this program in place, businesses can sign up and they can begin to address the issue more efficiently.
Several different municipalities in the province have a similar program in place, says Rossing. While developing the program, Rossing did research on other initiatives and reached out to other municipalities that had something similar in place. He says he wanted to be sure that he had everything in place before he announced the program in the community.
There are also checks and balances that have been worked into the program.
“If you’re trespassed from a local business, one of our officers shows up and says you’re trespassed for six months, if you don’t agree with it, you can appeal that process,” says Rossing.
He says there is also the option for the business owners to speak with the officer and reduce the amount of time the individual is trespassed for. In some cases, if the RCMP issue a notice that’s in effect for six months, a business owner may come forward and advocate for the trespasser if the individual doesn’t normally behave in that manner
“They can say, ‘This person is normally a good customer, but there is something going on with him right now. I think maybe a month would be more appropriate,’” says Rossing.
However, it is ultimately the final discretion of the officer.
Once a business is enrolled in the program, they will receive a sticker that they can place in a conspicuous area that is easily visible for officers. If they receive a call, the officer will know that they can issue the notice themselves rather than speaking to the owner and explaining the process that has to take place.
Rossing says enrolment in the program is free, and he encourages businesses to sign up if they are having consistent issues with people loitering or being a nuisance on their property. Those who are interested in enrolling can visit www.draytonvalley.ca/enforcementservices/trespassingagent and fill out the form. They can then email it in to enforcement@draytonvalley.ca or drop it off at the Town office.
There are approximately 187 accidents in town each year within Town limits. That’s according to data from Drayton Valley Enforcement Services.
Cody Rossing, the Manager of Enforcement Services and Emergency Management for the Town, says data from 2016-2023 has helped map out intersections in the community that sees the highest number of collisions. The intersection at 50 Street North and Hwy 22 has had eight collisions, the highest in the community. The second highest number was at the intersection of 50 Street and 50 Avenue.
“Anything along Highway 22, the Town doesn’t have jurisdiction over, pertaining to road designs or changes,” says Rossing.
He says getting the data from the Province regarding collisions along Highway 22 is something they haven’t been able to do before. Now that they have the data they can start mapping out the high incident intersections and starting brainstorming ways they can address some of the problem areas. Rossing says those areas will have more focus from the community peace officers.
Rossing says they are trying to develop strategies on how to reduce collisions in the community on a whole, particularly those that result in fatalities.
“There’s different things we can use like engineering and controls,” says Rossing. “But for enforcement services, how are we strategically educating and enforcing in those areas?”
He says there are a number of factors that can contribute to collisions. Over the past eight years there have been 434 caused from unsafe speeds, 245 were intersection related, 163 that are weather related, 114 from road surface conditions, 51 involving animals, and 417 were from drivers performing improper actions.
With speed being the most prominent cause, enforcement services have been taking action to find out where speeding is most common and increasing patrols. The digital speed signs that were purchased with funds from the Community Safety Committee don’t have cameras on them, but they do record the speed and report that data back to enforcement services.
On March 6, officers intercepted a vehicle driving 102 km per hour in a 50 km zone.
“That vehicle was pulled over, a court summons was issued to the driver to compel them to court. If they don’t attend court a warrant will be issued for them,” says Rossing.
If they are found guilty, they could face a fine of up to $2,000 and/or a license suspension.
Rossing says anyone who is over the speed limit by more than 51 km per hour will face an automatic court summons.
This was not the only incident of speeding. On March 5, the digital speed signs picked up on a vehicle driving 111 km per hour in a 60 km per hour zone. They also pulled over a vehicle going 50 km per hour over the limit that same day.
“That is strictly within the Town of Drayton Valley boundaries,” says Rossing.
There are a number of reports enforcement services can get from the digital signs, including the amount of traffic on a road and the times that see the most traffic. Using this data, enforcement services can ensure they deploy units during the busiest times of the day to the areas where speeding is common.
Like William Shatner, Mike Myers, Wayne Gretzky’s dad and God help us, Celine Dion, here at the Free Press, we are Canadian.
There’s been a lot of talk recently about US ownership of some of this country’s most prominent businesses and institutions. At the Free Press we are certainly not prominent, nor do we want to be institutionalized. But still, it seems like a good time to point out to anyone who’s interested, that we are exactly what we appear to be.
We are 100 percent locally owned. There are no hidden shareholders or outside interests. All of our staff live in either Drayton Valley or Brazeau County, apart from our designer, Brittany. She’s from here, but currently telecommutes from somewhere in British Columbia, which I have to confess, makes me a little jealous sometimes.
What else can I tell you? The Free Press is printed for us by some nice people in St. Albert. The printing press is owned by Great West Newspapers, which is also a Canadian company.
The paper we’re printed on comes from the Alberta Newsprint Corporation in Whitecourt. Incidentally, the paper is made from offcuts and waste from the lumber industry so we’re not cutting down trees to make the paper.
Once the paper has been printed it’s picked up and brought back to town by Drayton Valley’s own Rocket Express. At that point it’s back to us as we deliver it throughout the community.
Now you may be wondering why I’m telling you all this. Would the Americans really be interested in owning a tiny little paper in a small town in Alberta?
Well, you’d be surprised. A good chunk of Canada’s print media is currently in American hands, and that includes a number of community newspapers in this province. Postmedia is 66 percent owned by Chatham Asset Management, a hedge fund based in New Jersey. Who are Postmedia? They are the owners of the National Post, the Calgary Herald, the Edmonton Journal, the Calgary Sun, the Edmonton Sun and a host of other newspapers, both large and small, from coast to coast.
That situation may not be quite as bad as it sounds. I was the editor of the Drayton Valley Western Review (kids, ask your grandparents) for 10 years. During my time there the paper was owned by a succession of large, soulless corporations based in central Canada. They did absolutely nothing to impact the way we covered the news. I barely heard a peep in over a decade. I always suspected that was less to do with high journalistic standards at corporate headquarters, and more down to the fact they were only dimly aware we existed and probably couldn’t find Drayton Valley on a map, but either way the effect was the same.
So corporate ownership, whether it’s American or not, probably isn’t the best thing ever, but it isn’t necessarily fatal to Canadian news.
But I do think there’s an important distinction between a paper like the Free Press and some of the others; and it’s this. If you take out a subscription or buy an advertisement with us you can be confident that your money is staying close to home. And especially these days, that seems like a good investment.
A local auctioneer has chanted his way into the history books after securing himself a first place position at the 2025 Canadian All Around Auctioneer Championship.
Prior to the 2025 CAAAC, Justin Mayer had already earned a trophy at the 2020 Canadian Bid Catching Competition. He is the first to hold a title for both competitions.
Mayer, at 29-years-old, says he’s been participating in the CAAAC for more than a decade. His mentors and many of the auctioneers he grew up listening to have all competed in the competition and some have won.
“It’s a pretty prestigious award,” says Mayer.
A good auctioneer is someone who can present themselves in a professional manner, with confidence in your body language and hand gestures. They have to be well spoken and comfortable with public speaking. The auctioneer chant, which requires rhythm, clarity, and speed to be considered such, is also an important technique that auctioneers must master.
“You should be able to almost dance to an auctioneer’s chant,” says Mayer
When he entered the CAAAC, Mayer participated in two rounds. The preliminary round ruled out everyone except for the top five. Those five then moved onto the final round.
In both rounds, five judges ranked their skills on a scorecard, and the person with the best overall ranking took home the award.
Mayer is not the first member of his family to take home the CAAAC title. His uncle Ron Sekura also held the title, and for Mayer, that makes the win even sweeter.
“He’s passed on, so it’s pretty cool for me to have the title with him,” says Mayer.
As a kid, Mayer was surrounded by some of his biggest mentors in the auctioneering world. His uncle, stepfather Corey Sekura, and grandfather, Wendell Sekura, all encouraged his love of auctioning.
He says he loves the sport because of the high energy atmosphere and the chance to meet people.
“When you’re up on the stand in front of the crowd selling, it’s up to me to present, in lots of cases, people’s livelihoods and their entire life, whether you’re selling a farm or a disbursement sale. It’s up to you, as the auctioneer, to generate excitement and do your homework in front of the crowd in order to bring top dollar for people,” says Mayer.
Over the years, Mayer has met many people and he says he enjoys the connections
“I know somebody from every town,” he says.
Now that he’s taken the title for the CAAAC, he is eligible for the International All Around Auctioneer Championship and from there he can head off to the World Championship.
For many, the decision to go to the international championship would be easy, but Mayer says he’s not sure what he’s going to do.
“I grew up in an auction family, and for me and my family to win this competition was a big deal,” says Mayer. “Now that I’ve won it, I kind of feel like I achieved what I wanted.”
However, Mayer has been receiving encouragement from Rob Bergevin, a Canadian International and Worlds competitor, to go to the International Championship.
“I beat him this year and he’s really trying to convince me to go to the International because he thinks I have a shot at it,” says Mayer.
Mayer’s love of auctioneering resulted in him going to Western College of Auctioneering in Billings, Montana in 2013. Since then, he’s been building up his reputation as an auctioneer across Alberta and British Columbia.
He says his uncle and stepfather were always in his ear, pointing out areas where he could do better and giving him advice to improve his skill.
“Grandpa Wendy was a big factor in that as well,” says Mayer.
For several years, Mayer spent a lot of time travelling to municipalities across the province and British Columbia to local auctions. However, once the pandemic hit, many auction houses opted for online auctions as a way to still run the business while meeting government regulations. Since that time, it’s not uncommon for auctions to be held online.
“But I still travel around,” says Mayer. “I still do lots of auctions. I’m never going to stop. It’s too exciting.”
Over the years, Mayer has worked for Team Auctions, as well as auctioning off classic cars. He also works for a lot of charity auctions.
When his children were younger, they struggled with the amount of time that Mayer was away. Now that they’re older, he says they appreciate it more. His daughter has even been asking for lessons, and has been practicing reading off a list of numbers that she has on her wall.
Mayer says he’s grateful to everyone for their support and encouragement over the years.
“I’m tremendously thankful to my mom, my dad, the Sekura family, my wife and my kids. They have all been there for me. They’ve all shaped me,” says Mayer. “Probably my biggest influence in all of it was my Uncle Ron, and my dad, Corey. They really shaped me and supported me.”
“He loved his family and he loved Canada,” he said. Chick said that when the couple moved to the acreage, Nicoll took on his wife’s love of animals and they had quite the menagerie. He said any animal that needed a home found one with the Nicolls.
“He was a friendly guy. He would do anything for anybody,” said Chick. He said that if Nicoll came across someone who was down and out, which he did often in his job, he would go out of his way to buy them lunch or help them out when he could.
Chick said when he first learned that Nicoll was missing he was confused and worried. “He wasn’t a person who would harm himself on purpose,” said Chick. He said that Nicoll loved his daughter too much.
Chick said he helped out with the search. And now he’s just left with questions. He says he has suspicions about what happened, but he doesn’t have any confirmation. “It is a big mystery for me,” he said.
He said that Nicoll had a big heart. He remembers one afternoon when they were going for a walk on Nicoll’s property they came across a porcupine that was drowning in the creek. Nicoll waded out there and rescued the animal, laying it out in the sun so it could warm up. “He went back and checked and it had recovered and gone on its way,” he said.
Tana Vea was another of Nicoll’s close friends, having met him at the Royal Alex. Vea had moved to Edmonton from Hawaii, and since there was little family in the area, they became each other’s family.
Vea said that Nicoll was a stickler for grammar on all of their reports. He said he would bring out his red pen and mark everything up. Vea says there is a man who now works for the Edmonton Police Service who credits Nicoll for his skill in filling out reports. “He said Andy’s teachings with report writing helped him to get the position he has today.”
Vea said he also worked with Nicoll at Transit, where he was Peace Officer. He said Nicoll had eventually gotten promoted through the ranks until he became an investigator, mostly working on internal complaints.
Vea says one thing that makes him sad is that Taylor’s daughter is the same age as his grandson, and he knows that Nicoll and his wife would have loved being grandparents. He said he thinks it’s also hard on Taylor to not have her parents around now that she has children. “[Nicoll and his wife] loved their kid. She was their dream and they treated her as the princess in the house,” he said.
In partnership with the University of Alberta’s Community University Partnership (CUP) town council will be looking at different ways that Drayton Valley residents can work to generate local wealth for the community.
Geraldine Cahill, the director of UpSocial Canada who works with CUP, along with Dr. Maria Mayan from the U of A, spoke to council about initiatives that other municipalities have taken on to help stimulate local economies.
CUP has been working in Drayton Valley since 2020, when they helped the Town develop the Zero Fee Tuition Program, now called the Tuition Assistance Bursary. The partnership was developed for a research project to explore whether the ZFT program could be a mechanism for an inclusive economy.
“The results so far have been very positive, both on employment and also for quality of life for participants,” said Cahill.
Cahill told council they had engaged with stakeholders during the research and found a strategy that they would like to explore with the Town. They believe that Rural Wealth Creation could be an effective initiative to help Drayton Valley navigate increased costs in a way that can benefit the entire community.
“Across the country there has been a pattern of downloading costs and responsibilities to municipalities… without much change in capital transfers,” said Cahill. “That puts a great deal of strain on municipal governments and single-resource towns have been hard hit by this.”
With RWC, the Town would work together with residents to develop ways that residents can invest in community projects as part of their retirement, thus ensuring a larger chunk of local money stays in the municipality.
Over the past few years communities across the country have achieved economic stability by using programs such as co-operatives, local procurement, employee ownership and other succession models, community bonds, community land trusts and more. Cahill also provided examples from some of the municipalities that have gone in this direction.
In 2002, the municipality of Westlock learned that their grain terminals were going to be sold. As agriculture was one of the important sectors for the community, there was concern about how the sale could affect the local economy. So, instead of letting the grain terminals go, the community worked together to raise $1.2 million to purchase the grain terminal.
Those who invested in the terminal now get yearly dividends for their investment. They also have the most profitable terminal for its size in Canada and are planning on diversifying into a transport company.
Cahill says that the size of the municipality may play a role in which type of community program would work best.
Mayor Nancy Dodds asked Cahill how the Town could move forward with the plan as they would have to play a role in whatever path residents choose to move forward with.
“As the Town, as leaders, we want to be involved, but we don’t want to be getting in the way,” said Dodds. “How do you make sure that everyone has their say when you’re picking that.”
CUP has a workshop planned for May 5 at Clean Energy Technology Centre to help brainstorm some ideas that may work in the community. Cahill says everyone is welcome to attend and they will be looking at community assets as well as asking attendees what their priorities are.
Cahill says once they get some feedback from the meeting, she can use those priorities and ideas to generate profiles of which programs could best address them and how it would affect the community.
“Then we can shop them around for several months,” says Cahill. “I don’t want to rush the process so that people have a chance to weigh in.”
In January 1965, the St. Anthony School opened its doors. Now, 60 years later, the school is planning a celebration of the milestone.
Principal Janelle Molzan says they are planning to have a celebration on May 24 at the school gym. They will be using the event to also fundraise for the school.
Molzan says they will have a band performing that evening, catering from a local restaurant, a full cash bar, as well as some door prizes.
Part of the celebration will also be the fact that St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic School Division has put St. Anthony at the top of their priority list for a new school. Molzan says the division has to wait until next year to submit their request to the Province, and there is no guarantee that they will be selected for funding.
“It could be anywhere from two to ten years,” she says. “Or more.”
However, she feels that St. Anthony has a strong case for asking for a new school.
The most recent remodel of the school was in 1992, says Molzan. At that point they expanded the school, removing the gym from the centre of the school and installing classrooms instead. The new gym was then built as an addition to the school.
“We had the addition of the gym as well as a few classrooms in 1992,” says Molzan.
Since then, there have been no major remodels or renovations. Instead, the staff have been doing what they can to keep the building in shape.
“It’s a really well built school,” says Molzan.
She says over the years, the natural heaves and settling that occur with temperature fluctuations has led to some cosmetic damages to the building. “It’s just showing its age,” she says.
While the school is starting to show wear, Molzan says there are no capacity issues. About 15 years ago, the school went from being a K-12 school to a K-8 school when the Holy Trinity Academy was built.
Molzan says if they don’t get a new school they will have to pursue getting more renovations or remodeling for the current building.
Businesses will now have another option for dealing with trespassers thanks to a new program that Enforcement Services have put into place.
Cody Rossing, the manager of enforcement services and emergency management for the Town, says one of the biggest challenges for businesses in the community who were issuing trespass notices is that someone has to attend court in order for the trespassing charge to stick. With the new Trespassing Agent program which comes into place on March 20, businesses who enrol will not have to attend court.
Previously, businesses who contacted the RCMP to report a trespasser had to issue the trespass notices themselves.
For many businesses the process didn’t work well. Larger franchises, like banks, found arranging the issue of a trespass notice and attending court was not logistically feasible. Small business owners, on the other hand, could issue the notice but may have to close their business in order to attend court.
Rossing says there are two different pieces of legislation that speak to trespassing, the Petty Trespass Act and the Trespass to Premises Act.
“Under both of the legislations, the property owner or their agent are required to provide trespass notices, help get people off of their land, and stuff like that,” says Rossing.
The first offence fine under the provincial legislation is normally $600, but it could be up to $10,000. A second offence could have a fine of up to $25,000
The higher fines come into place when the individual ignores the notice and returns to the property. If the trespasser returns three times, the officers can then issue a summons to court. If they fail to attend, a warrant is issued, and at that point if they are found guilty, the higher fines can be given.
Rossing says the program is helping streamline the process for businesses. If they choose to enrol in the program, it will allow peace officers or the RCMP to act as their agent and issue the notices. It also means the business owners won’t have to attend court.
“Court is scary for a lot of people, and we understand that,” says Rossing.
The purpose of the program is to improve the process because officers are continuing to get calls to the same place over and over and business owners or their employees are uncomfortable with the court process. Until now, there hasn’t been any way to address those issues.
“It’s been a lot of work on the back end because there is no follow up process in place and there is no trespass notice being issued,” says Rossing.
He says the hope is that by having this program in place, businesses can sign up and they can begin to address the issue more efficiently.
Several different municipalities in the province have a similar program in place, says Rossing. While developing the program, Rossing did research on other initiatives and reached out to other municipalities that had something similar in place. He says he wanted to be sure that he had everything in place before he announced the program in the community.
There are also checks and balances that have been worked into the program.
“If you’re trespassed from a local business, one of our officers shows up and says you’re trespassed for six months, if you don’t agree with it, you can appeal that process,” says Rossing.
He says there is also the option for the business owners to speak with the officer and reduce the amount of time the individual is trespassed for. In some cases, if the RCMP issue a notice that’s in effect for six months, a business owner may come forward and advocate for the trespasser if the individual doesn’t normally behave in that manner
“They can say, ‘This person is normally a good customer, but there is something going on with him right now. I think maybe a month would be more appropriate,’” says Rossing.
However, it is ultimately the final discretion of the officer.
Once a business is enrolled in the program, they will receive a sticker that they can place in a conspicuous area that is easily visible for officers. If they receive a call, the officer will know that they can issue the notice themselves rather than speaking to the owner and explaining the process that has to take place.
Rossing says enrolment in the program is free, and he encourages businesses to sign up if they are having consistent issues with people loitering or being a nuisance on their property. Those who are interested in enrolling can visit www.draytonvalley.ca/enforcementservices/trespassingagent and fill out the form. They can then email it in to enforcement@draytonvalley.ca or drop it off at the Town office.
There are approximately 187 accidents in town each year within Town limits. That’s according to data from Drayton Valley Enforcement Services.
Cody Rossing, the Manager of Enforcement Services and Emergency Management for the Town, says data from 2016-2023 has helped map out intersections in the community that sees the highest number of collisions. The intersection at 50 Street North and Hwy 22 has had eight collisions, the highest in the community. The second highest number was at the intersection of 50 Street and 50 Avenue.
“Anything along Highway 22, the Town doesn’t have jurisdiction over, pertaining to road designs or changes,” says Rossing.
He says getting the data from the Province regarding collisions along Highway 22 is something they haven’t been able to do before. Now that they have the data they can start mapping out the high incident intersections and starting brainstorming ways they can address some of the problem areas. Rossing says those areas will have more focus from the community peace officers.
Rossing says they are trying to develop strategies on how to reduce collisions in the community on a whole, particularly those that result in fatalities.
“There’s different things we can use like engineering and controls,” says Rossing. “But for enforcement services, how are we strategically educating and enforcing in those areas?”
He says there are a number of factors that can contribute to collisions. Over the past eight years there have been 434 caused from unsafe speeds, 245 were intersection related, 163 that are weather related, 114 from road surface conditions, 51 involving animals, and 417 were from drivers performing improper actions.
With speed being the most prominent cause, enforcement services have been taking action to find out where speeding is most common and increasing patrols. The digital speed signs that were purchased with funds from the Community Safety Committee don’t have cameras on them, but they do record the speed and report that data back to enforcement services.
On March 6, officers intercepted a vehicle driving 102 km per hour in a 50 km zone.
“That vehicle was pulled over, a court summons was issued to the driver to compel them to court. If they don’t attend court a warrant will be issued for them,” says Rossing.
If they are found guilty, they could face a fine of up to $2,000 and/or a license suspension.
Rossing says anyone who is over the speed limit by more than 51 km per hour will face an automatic court summons.
This was not the only incident of speeding. On March 5, the digital speed signs picked up on a vehicle driving 111 km per hour in a 60 km per hour zone. They also pulled over a vehicle going 50 km per hour over the limit that same day.
“That is strictly within the Town of Drayton Valley boundaries,” says Rossing.
There are a number of reports enforcement services can get from the digital signs, including the amount of traffic on a road and the times that see the most traffic. Using this data, enforcement services can ensure they deploy units during the busiest times of the day to the areas where speeding is common.
Like William Shatner, Mike Myers, Wayne Gretzky’s dad and God help us, Celine Dion, here at the Free Press, we are Canadian.
There’s been a lot of talk recently about US ownership of some of this country’s most prominent businesses and institutions. At the Free Press we are certainly not prominent, nor do we want to be institutionalized. But still, it seems like a good time to point out to anyone who’s interested, that we are exactly what we appear to be.
We are 100 percent locally owned. There are no hidden shareholders or outside interests. All of our staff live in either Drayton Valley or Brazeau County, apart from our designer, Brittany. She’s from here, but currently telecommutes from somewhere in British Columbia, which I have to confess, makes me a little jealous sometimes.
What else can I tell you? The Free Press is printed for us by some nice people in St. Albert. The printing press is owned by Great West Newspapers, which is also a Canadian company.
The paper we’re printed on comes from the Alberta Newsprint Corporation in Whitecourt. Incidentally, the paper is made from offcuts and waste from the lumber industry so we’re not cutting down trees to make the paper.
Once the paper has been printed it’s picked up and brought back to town by Drayton Valley’s own Rocket Express. At that point it’s back to us as we deliver it throughout the community.
Now you may be wondering why I’m telling you all this. Would the Americans really be interested in owning a tiny little paper in a small town in Alberta?
Well, you’d be surprised. A good chunk of Canada’s print media is currently in American hands, and that includes a number of community newspapers in this province. Postmedia is 66 percent owned by Chatham Asset Management, a hedge fund based in New Jersey. Who are Postmedia? They are the owners of the National Post, the Calgary Herald, the Edmonton Journal, the Calgary Sun, the Edmonton Sun and a host of other newspapers, both large and small, from coast to coast.
That situation may not be quite as bad as it sounds. I was the editor of the Drayton Valley Western Review (kids, ask your grandparents) for 10 years. During my time there the paper was owned by a succession of large, soulless corporations based in central Canada. They did absolutely nothing to impact the way we covered the news. I barely heard a peep in over a decade. I always suspected that was less to do with high journalistic standards at corporate headquarters, and more down to the fact they were only dimly aware we existed and probably couldn’t find Drayton Valley on a map, but either way the effect was the same.
So corporate ownership, whether it’s American or not, probably isn’t the best thing ever, but it isn’t necessarily fatal to Canadian news.
But I do think there’s an important distinction between a paper like the Free Press and some of the others; and it’s this. If you take out a subscription or buy an advertisement with us you can be confident that your money is staying close to home. And especially these days, that seems like a good investment.
A local auctioneer has chanted his way into the history books after securing himself a first place position at the 2025 Canadian All Around Auctioneer Championship.
Prior to the 2025 CAAAC, Justin Mayer had already earned a trophy at the 2020 Canadian Bid Catching Competition. He is the first to hold a title for both competitions.
Mayer, at 29-years-old, says he’s been participating in the CAAAC for more than a decade. His mentors and many of the auctioneers he grew up listening to have all competed in the competition and some have won.
“It’s a pretty prestigious award,” says Mayer.
A good auctioneer is someone who can present themselves in a professional manner, with confidence in your body language and hand gestures. They have to be well spoken and comfortable with public speaking. The auctioneer chant, which requires rhythm, clarity, and speed to be considered such, is also an important technique that auctioneers must master.
“You should be able to almost dance to an auctioneer’s chant,” says Mayer
When he entered the CAAAC, Mayer participated in two rounds. The preliminary round ruled out everyone except for the top five. Those five then moved onto the final round.
In both rounds, five judges ranked their skills on a scorecard, and the person with the best overall ranking took home the award.
Mayer is not the first member of his family to take home the CAAAC title. His uncle Ron Sekura also held the title, and for Mayer, that makes the win even sweeter.
“He’s passed on, so it’s pretty cool for me to have the title with him,” says Mayer.
As a kid, Mayer was surrounded by some of his biggest mentors in the auctioneering world. His uncle, stepfather Corey Sekura, and grandfather, Wendell Sekura, all encouraged his love of auctioning.
He says he loves the sport because of the high energy atmosphere and the chance to meet people.
“When you’re up on the stand in front of the crowd selling, it’s up to me to present, in lots of cases, people’s livelihoods and their entire life, whether you’re selling a farm or a disbursement sale. It’s up to you, as the auctioneer, to generate excitement and do your homework in front of the crowd in order to bring top dollar for people,” says Mayer.
Over the years, Mayer has met many people and he says he enjoys the connections
“I know somebody from every town,” he says.
Now that he’s taken the title for the CAAAC, he is eligible for the International All Around Auctioneer Championship and from there he can head off to the World Championship.
For many, the decision to go to the international championship would be easy, but Mayer says he’s not sure what he’s going to do.
“I grew up in an auction family, and for me and my family to win this competition was a big deal,” says Mayer. “Now that I’ve won it, I kind of feel like I achieved what I wanted.”
However, Mayer has been receiving encouragement from Rob Bergevin, a Canadian International and Worlds competitor, to go to the International Championship.
“I beat him this year and he’s really trying to convince me to go to the International because he thinks I have a shot at it,” says Mayer.
Mayer’s love of auctioneering resulted in him going to Western College of Auctioneering in Billings, Montana in 2013. Since then, he’s been building up his reputation as an auctioneer across Alberta and British Columbia.
He says his uncle and stepfather were always in his ear, pointing out areas where he could do better and giving him advice to improve his skill.
“Grandpa Wendy was a big factor in that as well,” says Mayer.
For several years, Mayer spent a lot of time travelling to municipalities across the province and British Columbia to local auctions. However, once the pandemic hit, many auction houses opted for online auctions as a way to still run the business while meeting government regulations. Since that time, it’s not uncommon for auctions to be held online.
“But I still travel around,” says Mayer. “I still do lots of auctions. I’m never going to stop. It’s too exciting.”
Over the years, Mayer has worked for Team Auctions, as well as auctioning off classic cars. He also works for a lot of charity auctions.
When his children were younger, they struggled with the amount of time that Mayer was away. Now that they’re older, he says they appreciate it more. His daughter has even been asking for lessons, and has been practicing reading off a list of numbers that she has on her wall.
Mayer says he’s grateful to everyone for their support and encouragement over the years.
“I’m tremendously thankful to my mom, my dad, the Sekura family, my wife and my kids. They have all been there for me. They’ve all shaped me,” says Mayer. “Probably my biggest influence in all of it was my Uncle Ron, and my dad, Corey. They really shaped me and supported me.”
Vea said when he heard about Nicoll’s disappearance, he was shocked. “I was just dumbfounded how that could happen.” He said that the disappearance was not in character with Nicoll at all. Especially with the way he left his house.
He also doesn’t believe that Nicoll would have had issues with anyone from his position as a peace officer. “Andy was never one who dealt with the frontline stuff. He was mostly behind the scene as a supervisor.”
Taylor says her dad was an intelligent, kind-hearted man who knew how to stand up for himself. Many times he would work with people that he knew were down on their luck and needed a bit of a hand to get started with life again. “He just treated them all with so much respect, and he ended up really being quite a lot of support for them,” she said.
Eventually, they moved out to an acreage near Breton. That was when Taylor’s mom was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer, and she only lived for another six months. She passed away on his birthday, two years prior to his disappearance.
Taylor said it was a devastating time for her father. “He was a little bit lost for some time there, but he was my best friend.”
With still no word on his whereabouts, this year Taylor is working to have Nicoll declared as deceased. She said with his career in the Navy, as a police officer and a firefighter, he deserves to have the full honours given to him, rather than just be a missing person. “No one has been able to pay any respects,” she said.
“My gut is telling me that somebody approached him on the property and something transpired,” she said. “I don’t know who or why.”
Nicoll didn’t like guns, and she believes that he would have gone along with whatever the situation was until he could get to a safe location.
Chick agrees with Taylor’s thoughts. “I think he was offering someone some help and there was some foul play.”
Vea wonders if maybe there was a hunting accident, and perhaps someone tried to cover it up.
“He didn’t have any enemies that anyone knows of, but being in law enforcement for that many years, it’s hard to know,” said Taylor.
Corporal Deanna Fontaine, a media liaison for the Alberta RCMP Missing Persons Unit, said “It can be confirmed that since the initial media release, Andrew George Nicoll, has been entered into the National Missing Persons Database and DNA has been obtained and is on file.”
Fontaine said RCMP are hoping that after this amount of time that someone will provide some answers. Fontaine says that if someone was scared to say something at the time, she hopes they will feel safe in coming forward now.
“If I knew for sure he was out there, I would tell him to come home and see his daughter and what a beautiful young lady she has become. She’s followed in his footsteps in a lot of ways. I wish he could see the eyes of his grandkids, too,” said Vea.
Anyone with information regarding Nicoll’s disappearance is urged to contact the Breton RCMP at 780-696-3520 or your local police. If you wish to remain anonymous, you can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), online at www.P3Tips.com or by using the “P3 Tips” app available through the Apple App or Google Play Store.
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