Ridiculous!

I have heard that Dr. David Suzuki told a large gathering of Calgary teachers at their convention last week that "Alberta's oil must stay in the ground!"

What is the matter with this guy? 

What was even more alarming was that very, very few teachers walked out on him and many gave him a standing ovation!

What's the matter with those Albertans?

NDP vs. NDP!

Alberta's NDP Premier Rachel Notley is going head-to-head with British Columbia's new NDP Premier John Horgan over the building of a new pipeline from here to the coast! 

After very extensive research and study, the pipeline has been approved by the federal government and was accepted by the outgoing B.C. premier!

This ridiculous impasse has brought up some very thought provoking questions!

• Can one Canadian province hold another for ransom over access to markets?
• Can a province (in this case B.C,) simply thumb their nose at our federal constitution?
• Can a newly elected provincial government simply cancel agreements made in good faith by its predecessor?
• Can a very small group of radical environmental types derail a plan which has been accepted by both federal and provincial governments?
• Can two provinces in this kind of dispute simply be allowed to slug it out with each other without federal intervention?

If the answers to these questions are "Yes", we're in big trouble!

Coffee With Council a Huge Success

Photo from Arcadia Cafe, via Facebook

Last Saturday morning, our Village Council instituted "Coffee with the Councillors"!  We were able to get together in the Arcadia Cafe and discuss issues affecting the village over a cup of coffee. 

I thought it was a huge success!  There were some barbs and some kudos thrown about but overall it was an excellent informal gathering!

Something I said might have been taken as a criticism of council but I did not intend it in that way.  I mention that the Village of Beiseker is owed almost a quarter of a million dollars in unpaid back property taxes!  That's a lot of money to a small village like ours! 

I certainly did not mean that information as a criticism of our council.  It's not their fault!

Think of how your life might be affected if your employer told you one day that he was going to withhold up to 20% of your wages and pay you sometime in the future; maybe three years in the future!  How would that affect your planning and your budgeting?  That's exactly what this village faces every year when dozens of folks here don't pay their taxes on time!

Think about it!