Little Things

It's the little things in life that make me smile...or frown.  Here are a few.

I smiled when I read stories about Syrian refugees learning to be Canadians.  They're going to the Stampede, they're learning about Canadian football, they're learning to skate.  They're taking English classes.  They're working hard to become Canadians, like the rest of us had to do when we (or our ancestors) came to this, the greatest country on Earth!

I smiled when I see folks dressed in green and wearing watermelons on their heads or with red painted faces with a galloping horse on it heading for a Canadian football game.  That's what I call Fan Loyalty.  Fantastic!

I smiled when I see young kids experimenting and playing with scientific apparatus at the annual Beakerhead Festival in Calgary.  The only way you can engage our highly talented group of youngsters with science is to show them it can be a lot of fun!

I smiled when I heard that Airdrie's Urgent Care facility will operate 24 hours a day hopefully after the end of September.  In my opinion, having that clinic close each night at 10:00 p.m. was pretty ludicrous, considering Airdrie now has a population of more than 60,000!  I'm hoping this will be the first step in Airdrie getting its much needed hospital!

I frowned when I read that two students enrolled in an openly non-denominational school demanded to have a place and be able to pray during school hours.  The school advertises that it is openly non-denominational and discourages any outward display of any religion because it wants its students to concentrate on their studies during school hours.  The students won the right to pray in that school.

I frowned when I heard that the old Rafter Six Lodge was demolished a few days ago.  Parts of the lodge were probably less than 50 years old but it was a beautiful structure reminiscent of the old log structures built here over a hundred years ago.  I assume the new owners had no idea of its historical and cultural value.

I frowned when I heard that the province was no longer sending out vehicle and drivers' licence renewal notices.  Instead they have allowed the authorities to levy hefty fines for those who didn't renew on time and they have employed an American company to send out telephone robo-calls to remind us!

I frown every time I look out my back window on the huge mess that used to be the Bassano Station.  I frown even deeper when I realize again that there is nothing the village can do to  force the mystic railway museum or Alberta TrailNet to clean up that mess!

Mayor's Christmas Message

While I was attending the International Council of Air Shows convention in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, the Rocky View Weekly emailed me asking for a copy of my Mayor's Christmas Message.

Somehow, I didn't get the memo!  I had prepared a message before I left.  Here it is;

"As this 2015 holiday season draws near, our thoughts usually turn to family and friends.  This year those thoughts are being distracted by the events in the Middle East, where all semblance of human compassion and peace appears to have vanished.  I'm afraid the Syrian refugee crisis and the recent events in Paris will overshadow much of the celebration this Christmas.

I think we need to remember the message preached by the man whose birthday we celebrate every December 25, now more than ever!

On behalf of myself and my fellow Councilors I wish all of you a very safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!"

The Paris Attacks (and - I'm Back!)

I'm back!  I've been unable to access my Blog and my Facebook this last while because of a major computer booboo.  Our main computer was toast.  We now have a new computer and we're gradually getting everything up and running again.

I am most distressed about the weekend terrorist attacks in Paris!  Cowards attempted to kill thousands of innocent Parisians along with many tourists out for a pleasant Friday evening in the "City of Lights".  We now find out they were only partially successful!

Security personnel stopped one terrorist as he tried to enter a soccer stadium with over 50,000 spectators present!  When discovered, the coward blew himself up at the entrance.

Others escaped through the back door of a theatre under siege, saving their lives.  Over 100 others in the theatre were not so fortunate! 

This kind of terrorism is abhorrent!  The world must unite to stop it!  Here's what I think we as Canadians need to do;

• Convince Prime Minister Trudeau to slow down his plan to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees into Canada over the next six weeks.  Reports are saying that one of the terrorists in Paris arrived in France disguised as a Syrian refugee. Canada should send temporary relief to the refugee camps now, then bring in the refugees only after they have been thoroughly checked out by our security systems here. 
• Convince Prime Minister Trudeau to leave our small RCAF contingent in Iraq to continue their fight with ISIS who have now claimed responsibility for the terrorism in Paris.  I think pulling them out now would be seen as a sign of cowardice.
• Support groups trying to help refugees settle here in Canada.  After all, most of us are descendants of others looking for a better and peaceful life here in Canada.  Now it's time to pass it on!
• Show our support for the people of France through this horrible time in their history in any way we can.
• We must realise that these cowards who declared war on France Friday represent only a very, very small percentage of Muslims and/or Syrians.  We must always keep that in mind!

Global Shame

I've been a long time writing this one.  It's been bothering me for a number of days now. 

I'm referring to the refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe.  That news photo of the lifeless body of the little three year old Syrian boy really hit me.  The little guy, his Mom and older brother drowned while desperately trying to escape their homeland for a better life in Europe.

Had they survived, their troubles would have just begun.  Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of refugees are stuck in a political limbo while the world spins around in little circles like everyone has one shoe nailed to the floor!

Here's how I see it.

• The governing Syrian regime is desperately trying to hold onto power during what has become a bloody three year struggle, tearing Syria apart.
• A number of terrorist groups, including ISIS (or ISIL), the Taliban, and others are each trying to carve out their own territory within Turkey, Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
• The Kurds also want some kind of recognition in that same area.
• A bunch of Western nations, including Canada are bombing targets in an attempt to stop ISIS from expanding.
• Millions of innocent people are stuck in the middle of all this mess and want out!
• Most appear to want to go to Germany where they hope to find jobs and a safe place to live.
• Hungary, which had its own refugee crisis in 1956, looks like they're treating these refugees like the plague and are just now dealing with this human tsunami.
• The oil-rich Arab nations have not helped out in any way.
• ISIS (or ISIL) stole millions of dollars from banks in the cities they've overrun, but they have not helped out at all either.
• The Canadian Government is pretty much hamstrung by this Marathon election campaign and will have difficulty changing its immigration policies at this point.
• The Canadian election candidates are trying to make the plight of these refugees into an election issue.

Something needs to be done here in Canada.  Let's put the election campaign on hold for a day and call representatives from all parties together to put together an emergency plan to help these refugees!  I understand many western countries have already done so (but they're probably not in the throws of a gong-show election campaign).

And something needs to be done in those countries I mentioned above.  There needs to be an emergency meeting of the United Nations to develop a plan to bring peace and stability back to that part of the world.  Then a portion of these refugees might actually want to return home!

Are We Doing Something Wrong?

I was shocked to learn that about 200 young Canadians have run off to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (often called 'ISIS' or 'ISIL'), the radical terrorist group in Syria and Iraq.  It also bothered me that about the same number of young Americans ran off to join, even though the population of the United States is ten times that of Canada!  

Is Canada becoming a terrorist recruitment center?  If so, we're doing something wrong here.

Is it our "Cultural Mosaic" idea that is fostering this?   Canada prides itself on being a mosaic of cultures instead of the American "Melting Pot."  We encourage folks to enrich our Canadian culture with their own, brought from the four corners of the Earth.  We're also encouraging our native groups to resurrect and build back their cultures, so many of which have been almost lost.

I personally think this approach makes Canada stronger and more tolerant, in a world here practically everywhere and every culture is accessible in hours rather than months!

But we are, first and foremost, Canadians!  But do these young people heading over to Syria understand that?  Maybe they're heading over there looking for risk and adventure, much like the Canadians who ran off to fight against Franco in the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s. 

I don't know.  But I do think we have to examine what we are doing (or not doing) that encourages these young people to join a terrorist group overseas.