2025 Year in Review

Posted on January 8, 2026 by Taber Times

January

A federal emissions and production cap are on the table and Alberta is pushing back. Bow River MP Martin Shields rose to speak in the House of Commons on Dec. 3 and quoted a news report that listed the 10 top U.S. imports from Canada in 2023. Imports that totalled $340 billion.

 “Oil, gas, and petroleum products made up $160 billion of that, which is 48 per cent,” he said. “Agricultural products made up $30 billion, which is 10 per cent. Agricultural products depend a lot on oil, gas, and petroleum products when we are talking about fertilizer and machinery. Transportation equipment made up $74 billion, which is 25 per cent. Transportation equipment is steel, metal, and all sorts of things made from the resource sector,” he stated.

After enough Albertans created a stir about photo radar and its apparent focus on revenue rather than safety, the Province relented. It paused the introduction of new photo radar equipment and locations late in 2019. 

The communications department at the Town of Taber continues to excel at making pertinent information clear. As it did during the town vs. city decision, the Town has proactively announced an initiative and answered most of the who, what, when, where, and why questions that residents might have. Just before Christmas, the Town issued a release on its website informing residents that the darkest streets in town will be illuminated in a one-by-one, year-by-year streetlight improvement project.

New Years reflections and resolutions rarely play out so quickly and dramatically. On Jan. 6, Justin Trudeau announced his resignation as Canada’s prime minister. Once the Liberal Party selects its new leader, Trudeau’s tumultuous ten-year run will come to a close. He made the announcement on a cold, grey Monday morning in front of Rideau Cottage, humbly admitting that his time had come.

 After his announcement, he held a Q&A session with the press in which he conceded, “Anyone who has been watching politics closely over the last nine months will know that Parliament has been entirely seized by obstruction and filibustering and a total lack of productivity. It’s time for a reset. It’s time for the temperature to come down, for the people to have a fresh start in Parliament, to be able to navigate through these complex times both domestically and internationally.”

Taber’s Court of Justice ebbs and flows with activity, but it’s rarely so quiet as to invoke a sense that law enforcement is no longer needed in town. Much of what happens in a larger urban centre happens in Taber, but on a smaller scale. Most of those who appear in court arrive there courtesy of the Taber Police Service, even if the courtesy is only appreciated by law-abiding citizens.

The Horizon School Division and Taber Police Service moved quickly after the TPS became aware of “concerning comments” made by a Taber man late in the evening on Jan. 8. Two youths reported a suspicious male in the downtown area making the unspecified comments. The man was described as 30-40 years old with stubble, wearing a white hoodie and a backwards black hat. 

More than four months ago at a Sept. 9, 2024 meeting of town council, Mayor Prokop moved that council direct the administration to investigate the Town’s ability to take on the installation of asphalt and/or replacement of concrete in town. The mayor asked the administration to report back with approximate costs, requirements, and feasibility. The Town’s public works department has multiple asphalt and concrete replacement programs that occur on an annual basis.

M.D. of Taber Administration says that the new online Let’s Camp Reservation Service allows users of the Taber Municipal Park to ‘book campsites with ease from the comfort of their homes.’

As part of the State of the Region address on Saturday, Taber-Warner MLA Grant Hunter talked about many of the positive economic indicators that were showing promise in southern Alberta throughout 2024.

Hunter would initiate the four-part address at the Taber Community Centre Auditorium, which also featured presentations by MD of Taber Reeve Tamara Miyanaga, Town of Taber Mayor Andrew Prokop, and Town of Coaldale Mayor Jack Van Rijn.

One of the chief concerns in 2024 was affordability, and Hunter says his government took active steps to address this challenge.

New businesses will continue to pop up on Taber’s south side along Highway 3. Though the Town doesn’t typically share specifics about incoming businesses, it was granted permission from a number of the incoming commercial occupants.

February

A Taber woman spent decades hiding in plain sight as a fugitive from American justice and her true identity has now been revealed. Sharon Kinne was accused of killing her first husband and her married lover’s wife in the U.S. in the early 1960s before she fled the states and was convicted of killing another man in a hotel room in Mexico.

 Kinne was convicted of murder in Mexico and served almost five years in prison before she escaped in 1969 and vanished without a trace. In the early 1970s, Kinne showed up in Taber as Diedra (Dee) Glabus and blended seamlessly into the community, never raising any suspicions that might have tied her to a murderous past.

In an attempt to stave off the American president’s threat of tariffs, Premier Danielle Smith and her ministers closed out 2024 by quickly assembling a new Interdiction Patrol Team (IPT) that would ostensibly restore law and order at the province’s southern border. Unfortunately, that move among others didn’t seem to register on the president’s approval meter, and the tariff threat became a promise that was set to hit home starting this week. Trump signed an executive order to impose tariffs over the weekend. Then came a Feb. 3 phone call with Prime Minister Trudeau and an eleventh hour temporary revocation a 30-day pause on drastic measures.

Bow River MP Martin Shields will not be seeking re-election in 2025. 

On Feb. 7, he released a letter informing the public of his decision. Since 2015, he has represented the riding which he won handily both that year and in 2019. He has been a popular and respected leader who vouched for southern Alberta’s best interests while at home and in Ottawa.

A Green Municipal Fund recreation facility feasibility study was on the table at the Jan. 27 town council meeting. The administration asked for council’s go-ahead to pursue the feasibility study grant. The proposed study would be funded from the 2025 capital reserves in the amount of $65,000.

 CAO Derrin Thibault told council that a Green Municipal Fund grant opportunity was available to cover 50 per cent of a feasibility study. He said contractor MPE Engineering provided an estimate of $130,000 for the study. Thibault said the grant fund could carry forward toward capital construction costs and cover 80 per cent of the costs up to $10M if the project were to move ahead.

• See next week’s Times for more Year in Review