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!

Thanks and Congratulations

First; Congrats to Jason Kenney for winning the leadership of the United Conservative Party.  Now his work really begins!  First he has to win a seat in the Legislature.  We're all hoping that Premier Notley will announce a by-election very soon so that process can begin!  Next he'll have to rally his troops to come up with a plan other that just "Dump Notley's NDP"!  They'll have to outline a plan to get Alberta rolling again!

Second; And Congrats to Al Henuset who is Beiseker's new Mayor!  Having worked with Al for many years, I believe he will make a very good mayor for our little village.  I was pleased to hear that Warren Wise was chosen as Deputy Mayor, too.  Also a good choice!

Third;  I was most honoured to be presented with my Senators Contribution Award at a celebration at the Community Center a few weeks ago.  It was humbling to be included among such worthy recipients during the ceremony.  Member of Parliament Martin Shields made the presentations. A big thanks to Jeanette Richter and her volunteers for organizing the celebration!

Fourth;  Where's her spelling textbook?  I noted that one of my Junior High teachers passed away recently.  She was almost a hundred years old!  I remember her and her very strict rules on manners and politeness.  For example, at junior high dances she used to march around the Gym with a spelling textbook.  If she thought a young couple were getting too close during a slow dance, she would place the book, flat side between them.  That was the distance they had to be apart!  Oh have times changed!

Admiral Notley of the Albertan Navy

You might recall the old joke about a gentleman claiming to be an admiral in the Swiss Navy.  Switzerland is of course a landlocked country.  Save for a few lakes, it doesn't have access to enough water to float a navy!

The Province of Alberta is landlocked, too!  Our natural resources must be shipped to customers overseas, yet we have no deep-water, ocean ports.  We must rely on our neighbors to provide those facilities.  It is absolutely necessary that Alberta's petroleum products, grain, coal, forest products and other products be able to be sold on the international market.  Without that ability to sell its products, Alberta will stay on the list of "have-not" provinces forever!

Premier Notley (or should I say Admiral Notley) is desperately trying to make sure that Alberta has and continues to have access to seaports for its natural resources.  That's not an easy task! 

The way I see it, we have three directions to go;  West through B.C., South through the U.S.A. and East through Saskatchewan.  Each direction presents challenges.  There are environmental concerns, indigenous peoples' concerns, and economic concerns in each direction!  B.C.'s Green Party leader says there is a simple solution; no movement of Alberta's resources through British Columbia.  Quebec's city mayors have the same solution!  And the on-again-off-again-on-again Keystone project shows me that the U.S. has a similar attitude.  How does Premier Notley convince these folks that that is NOT an option?

These access corridors must be created!  We need some kind of a commission or board to deal with each and every issue in each direction.  Our environment must be preserved and the rights and concerns of everyone must be addressed.  All options must be explored!   Everyone must be treated fairly!  Saying "no" just because you can is not an option!

Volcanoes and the Carbon Levy

Boy, did I ever kick up some dust with that comment about carbon dioxide and volcanoes in my last blog!  

I stand by what I said!  There are scientists who agree with me and probably an equal or greater number of scientists who say I'm full of it!  And they don't mean CO2!  The argument is something akin to arguing who left the barn door open after the horse escaped.  

In my opinion, the truth of it is that the carbon levy will do nothing for the environment.  It will however, make friends for our Premier in some circles, so she can push for the pipelines!  Maybe that's a good thing!  And even if the new tax did work, the affect on overall carbon dioxide levels in the earth's atmosphere would be negligible at best!

Ah well, I guess the Premier can say that she tried!

Happy New Year!

Here we are on the second day of 2017!  How's it going for you so far? 

As of yesterday morning we've all started paying the NDP carbon levy.  According to my unscientific calculations, it could cost us living in rural Alberta over $100 a month extra!  I'm looking forward to applying for the rebate.  I expect that most rural Albertans will be eligible for a full rebate, after all we do not have the luxury of public transit and services "around the corner"!  We have to use our vehicles to get around!

Next year at this time it will be interesting to hear our Premier's  report as to the success of the new sales tax on fuel in the province.  I wonder if she'll mention the following;

• Most of the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere comes from volcanoes which are exempt from the NDP tax.
• Alberta is responsible for less than 2% of the man-made carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.
• There is no suitable replacement available for fossil fuels, and likely won't be for many years to come.
• The simplest and easiest carbon dioxide recovery system are plants, especially trees!
• More and more states in the world are giving up on carbon taxes in favor of other more sensible ways of curbing carbon dioxide emissions or recovering carbon dioxide..

This year will  be an interesting year in Alberta.  Happy New Year!

Facing Reality on Health Care

There was a piece on last night's TV news about a woman who was appalled that her elderly father, who had recently suffered a heart attack was placed in the hall of the Rockyview Hospital because there were no rooms available at that moment.  The officials she talked to were very sympathetic, but told her that was the norm in Alberta's health care system. 

This problem has existed for a considerable length of time.  While hospitals like Calgary's Rockyview General Hospital haven't been at full capacity for a while now, certain areas do back up.  Those back-ups in some wards require patients to be placed in the hallways until space in a room opens up.

My recent stint (albeit short) in that same Rockyview hospital showed me that the hospital staff are working as hard as they can with the resources they have to give excellent care to all patients.  Unfortunately, their facility frequently lets them down!

I can hear it now:  "Let's all blame Rachel Notley and her NDP government for this major screw-up!"  

Hey, not so fast!

It wasn't the NDP government who closed numerous hospitals around the province.
It wasn't the NDP government who blew up one of the biggest hospital complexes in Alberta!
It wasn't the NDP government who played membership roulette with the Alberta Health Services board,  (Remember the famous "cookie monster," Stephen Duckett?)

The NDP inherited this screw-up from the previous government that was in power for more than 40 years.  What disturbs me is that the present government appears oblivious to the problem!  They talk platitudes and promises, but nothing else happens.

If you've read my blog for any length of time you'll know that I have been vocal about the creation of a full hospital in the city of Airdrie.  Yes, it will be expensive, and,
Yes, the province is in a financial crunch right now; but the health system in Airdrie is only going to get worse!

Let's not blame Premier Notley and her NDP government for this current health mess.  Let's make her government start focussing on solutions to these problems before it's too late!

A Greener Alberta?

We are being inundated by adds from the provincial government telling us that we can look forward to a greener, more diversified Alberta economy with the Climate Leadership Plan.  They show us pictures of wind powered generators, solar panels, and hydroelectric facilities. 

They seem to have forgotten one of Alberta's biggest sources of energy; oil and natural gas.  What is our government doing to help the petroleum industry find ways to make their products greener?  I know for a fact that such research and development exists, where is our government on this? 

With these huge oil, coal, and gas reserves in Alberta, it would seem logical that the Alberta government be encouraging and financing research to find ways to make those products environmentally friendly.

Their biggest contribution appears to be their new Carbon Levy which, in my opinion, discourages any research into making petroleum greener.  It instead encourages us to buy less petroleum products to avoid the tax.  I'm having a problem seeing the logic here.

Does our new NDP government expect the big oil companies to shut down oil production and start building windmills?

CF-18 Replacement and the Alberta Carbon Levy

I have an opinion on almost everything going on in the world around me.  Here are a couple:

YES; I think the Canadian government should buy the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet (or Rhino as their pilots call them) to update it's fleet of CF-18 Hornets. 

The country has sunk a lot of dollars into the development of a new airplane, the F-35 Lightning, but that aircraft is so far behind in its development and testing phase it is unlikely it could become totally operational when the Hornets have to be retired.  When talking to Canadian F-35 test pilots, I have heard that the F-35 is a magnificent airplane.  It is beautiful to fly and to maneuver, but I think it is just more airplane than we need as a small nation. 

I have always supported the F-35 program but more and more problems (and higher costs) with it keep surfacing.  Its single engine configuration might be an issue while patrolling Canada's vast empty northlands and so far it has proven to be a very high maintenance bird!

The F-18 Rhino is already flying, and its operational around the world.  It has appeared at the Abbotsford Air Show many times and puts on quite a display! It is about 30% bigger and much more powerful than our CF-18 Hornets but the transition over to it should be relatively easy for our CF-18 pilots. 

The Royal Canadian Air Force has, in my opinion, the best trained and skilled military aviators in the world!  They need the best equipment for their very difficult job!  I say lets buy the Rhinos and wait to see what happens with the F-35.  Maybe in the future we'll see Canadian Rhinos and Lightnings flying in RCAF colors, each with a different job.

NO;  I do not believe that Premier Notley's Carbon Levy is a good idea.  It's a sales tax on energy.  It's going to cost us more to drive our cars and heat and light our homes, and for what?  The money will go into a fund to promote the development of renewable energy sources.  I should think the province should be helping the energy sector develop these sources instead of taxing them.

 The energy industry has billions of dollars invested here in Alberta in energy production.  They know that the oil and gas won't last forever and they know that there are environmental issues at hand, too.  They need help in finding realistic and economical ways to replace them while reducing the environmental impact of using them.

 I heard one estimate that said it would take over six thousand wind turbines to replace the power from our coal fired generators. That's just not realistic!  Let's help them find more realistic solutions to this problem!

A Dark Day

Last Monday, March 21, 2016 will go down in history as a dark day. The terrible carnage in Brussels will top the list.

I send my sincere condolences to that city and to Belgium. The world is going to have to find ways to stop these useless but deadly terrorist attacks.

I also think that the world's entire Islamic community must become more proactive in eliminating these small terrorist groups who appear to enjoy inflicting casualties on innocent citizens with no clear reason or objective as to their actions.

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Former Toronto mayor Rob Ford passed away on Monday after a courageous battle with cancer. Love him or hate him, you've got to admit that he was a defining entity in Toronto politics over the last dozen years. He died far too young and leaves a young family behind.

Rob still has a huge following of Torontonians, even after some of his questionable indiscretions. The man was a huge player in municipal politics for that city and he did many great things for the people, there. Hopefully he will be remembered for that. Rest in Peace, Rob.

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But some good things happened on Monday, too!

American President Barack Obama visited Cuba. This was the first time an American president has visited that Caribbean island in almost a century! President Obama's plan to normalize relationships between his country and Cuba are progressing well.

While in Cuba, President Obama managed to get some good digs in over Cuba's dismal record of freedom of speech and democracy. I hope that President Obama's legacy will include this new relationship with Cuba.

Nixon went to China, but Obama went to Cuba!

And Premier Notley got some bad news on Monday. The Progressive Conservatives won a provincial by-election in Calgary-Greenway. The message was faint, but it was still there!

The vote was very, very close, but indeed the NDP candidate came in fourth in the race. I just hope that the Premier and her fledgling government were listening to hear that faint message!

Ears Bitten on Airdrie Health Care

An old cowboy will tell you that if you've got a green horse or one that's a bit wild and you want to get up into its saddle you get a helper to bite the horse's ear.  The theory being, that the bite on the ear will distract the horse's attention from what's really happening.  After the rider is safely in the saddle the helper will let go of the horse's ear and make a run for the fence;  the rider is on his own!

I fear that the good people of Airdrie are having their ears bitten.  All this rhetoric about creating only a "24 hour health care" facility is distracting the good people of Airdrie from what should be the goal; getting a full fledged hospital in that great little city! 

Getting a 24-hour health care facility is obvious and should start to happen within the next few months.  Getting the hospital will take much longer.

We need a regional association, created to keep pushing for that hospital!  As mentioned on this blog, before, it took Vaughan, Ontario more than thirty years to finally get the province to listen and get a real hospital built.  We can't wait that long!

What's With Alberta's Bill 6?

I have yet to meet a farmer or rancher that is not concerned about the safety of their family, employees, visitors, and animals on their properties.  Therefore, I've been very surprised at the Notley Government's heavy handed reaction in creating a Bill, Bill 6, to legislate safety and labour  protocols on the farm.  The Bill will become law in the New Year.

Agriculturalists are concerned over the ramifications of the law which MAY legislate working hours, family jobs, children on the farm and liabilities when neighbours help neighbours.  Nobody is really sure what will be affected or how!  The Alberta Government says "Don't worry, if there's some glitches, we'll fix them, no problem!"  I think the farmers and ranchers are having trouble believing that. 

I married into a farm family.  My wife's family were grain farmers in Southern Alberta.  Every spring they would go almost 24 hours a day getting the crop in after the thaw and between rains  The goal was always to be finished by June 1.  In the fall the work hours skyrocketed again as harvest consumed everyone on the farm.  If someone got behind because of illness or a major breakdown, neighbours would come in and finish for them.  By the time the harvest was in the bins, everyone was very tired but very happy. 

Neighbours with livestock worked 365 days a year.  Dairy farmers have two milkings a day, everyday, which had to done, no choice.   I remember the kids cleaning out bins, running the loaders, driving trucks, hauling bales, doing yard chores while the dads and grandfathers were in the fields.  The kitchen was always busy getting food ready.

How will Bill 6 affect that whole way of life?  Who knows?  The government did little to get input from farmers and ranchers before hammering down this bill.   Now it appears that they are refusing to listen to the concerns of agriculturalists, saying "Trust us, we know what we're doing."

This NDP government seems to be intent on telling us what's good for us, again. 

I say put the whole thing on hold for a year, study the problem, get agriculturalists to give input!  After all, farmers and ranchers know their business and know how to keep it safe.  Premier Notley should trust them!

Building a Better Beiseker

Over the past couple of weeks, Village Council has been involved in some strategic planning in regards to the provincial grant money we will receive over the next few months.

For Beiseker, that mostly means street upgrade planning.  We have begun to initiate some of the smaller projects but the larger ones, like street paving, will have to be researched to find out if we can afford them.

The new provincial government has cut back some of the grant money promised, but we still have a fairly large amount to spend on improving life here in Beiseker.  I understand we must commit our funding before the end of 2017.  Again, stay tuned.

No Help for Calgary's Snowtember!

Although Beiseker was spared the big snow hit last September which damaged or killed over a million trees in the City of Calgary, I share Mayor Nenshi's frustration with the provincial decision to deny any help for the city.  This could be setting a dangerous precedent! 

Calgary applied for just over $28 million dollars to help with the costs of that terrible storm.  The trees were still in leaf and the weight of that heavy wet snow broke them down by the thousands.  There were major power outages and traffic snarls.  Homes, vehicles and a few people were hit by falling trees and branches.  Many parts of the city's infrastructure was damaged.  Snow-tember adversely affected more of the city than did the floods of 2013!  It was the biggest storm event of its type in over 130 years!

Yet the province has decided that it did not qualify for any kind of disaster relief. 

I worry about this decision.  In my mind this could mean that if an environmental disaster should hit another municipality, that municipality maybe left on its own to solve (and pay for) the problem!  Beiseker is just now starting to rebuild its modest contingency fund after the huge snows of December 2013 and January 2014.  What if another similar incident happens this winter?  Will we be left out in cold to fend for ourselves?  I worry.

Alberta's New Government

Were you shocked by the results of yesterday's provincial election?  I certainly was.

I was predicting a PC win with a smaller majority (around 50 MLAs) with a strong NDP Opposition.  Boy, did I get it wrong!  This is only the second time in Alberta's history that we've elected a left leaning government.

Our first was the Alberta Liberal government in Alberta's infant years as a province, back in 1905.  Ever since the Liberals were voted out in the 1920s, we've always chosen a right leaning government starting with the UFA (United Farmers of Alberta), then Social Credit and onto Peter Lougheed's Progressive Conservatives.  That four decade Progressive Conservative dynasty ended last night.

One politician I lament losing is Jim Prentice.  I realize that some of last night's results were partially of his making, but I believe the man is a true Albertan - and has always had the best interests of this province at heart.

I refuse to blow taps on this province I love.  People are citing NDP screw-ups in other provinces as a prediction of what will happen here.  I disagree.

Alberta is absolutely nothing like the other Canadian provinces which have elected NDP governments.  Our economy is strong here, despite the blip in oil prices.  They'll recover!  They always have.  Alberta's economy is still the envy of the rest of this great nation.

I say: give the Alberta NDP Government a chance.  I'm sure they will work hard to keep Alberta on top!  I believe the sun will continue to shine on this province.  And congratulations to Premier-Elect Rachel Notley!  I'm looking forward to working with you, and your new government, in the near future.