Pigs Don't Deserve Poor Treatment

I was horrified to see the video broadcast on a TV news show of pigs being mistreated at the Western Hog Exchange facility in Red Deer.  The video was taken by an undercover animal rights activist, who watched the animals being kicked, hit, prodded, and beaten while being moved into or through the facility. 

It is my opinion that a few folks who work in these kind of facilities forget these are living, breathing, feeling critters they're dealing with.  They start treating them as a logger might treat a tree, or a miner a coal seam. I don't think this is prevalent throughout the agricultural scene, but those few bad circumstances appear to create a media frenzy.  

In my volunteer work with many agriculturalists at the Calgary Stampede, I have seen nothing but respect shown to the animals in their care.  These animals are not pets but they are treated with dignity. 

In my opinion these workers need to be given specific training, skills and knowledge to be assured they do treat the animals they're handling in the proper way.

It shocked me even more when I found out that the video in question was taken months ago!  This information was kept from the owners and operators of that facility for more than two months.  Why wasn't something done two months ago?

From here, it looks like the delay was caused by the group and the media wanting to make a big splash.  The welfare of the animals appeared to take a back seat to the media expose! I think it's TV journalism at its worst!  The animal rights group and that network should be ashamed of themselves.

Bassano Station now on Foundation

After a delay lasting more than two years, the Bassano Station has been set on its foundation at its new home in Beiseker! 

The building was slowly and carefully moved over, then gradually eased down onto the foundation over the past week.  The two huge beams which supported it on the old CPR trackway all this time will now be removed.  Adjustments will be made to the foundation so the building will safely sit level.

I give a huge "Thank You" to the two contractors who have worked so hard this past few weeks, to make this move finally a reality!  

Aero Space School at the Museum

I was very pleased to once again volunteer at the Aero Space Museum of Calgary located at the south-east side of the Calgary International Airport.  They operate a program called Aero Space School there in conjunction with Campus Calgary. 

Calgary students (mostly Grade Six kids) spend a whole school week at the museum, learning about aeronautics, space exploration, aviation in general, and Alberta's fascinating role in aviation over the past hundred years.

I hope to volunteer once each week when my schedule permits!  Folks who know me call me "Plane Crazy," so talking to the kids about my favorite topic is most enjoyable for me and I think they have fun too.

If you would like to visit the Museum, it is located across McKnight Boulevard from the Port-O-Call Inn.  There are over twenty full size aircraft on display there, some of which have been fully restored!  There are many stories told and heroes to meet there.  I hope you'll visit some time.

Pedestrian Bridge Vandalism

As part of our drainage channel upgrades, we are rebuilding the three bridges connecting the East and West sides of Beiseker.  We are starting with the two at the north end of the drainage channel. 

With the high volume of water moving down that drainage channel, it became necessary to raise those pedestrian bridges and strengthen their foundation footings.   Preparations were started on Monday, with the installation of concrete footings for the two bridges.

Unfortunately, after the work was completed yesterday morning, some unidentified people damaged some of the footings before the concrete was completely cured.  They will have to be excavated out of there, and redone before work can continue!  This extra work will cause a delay in the construction of the bridges and take more funds from our already meagre project budget. 

Those responsible for the vandalism need to understand that their actions jeopardized the completion of the project this fall.   I would like to know who they are!

 If you know anything about the damage done to the pedestrian bridge footings behind the Dynagra complex, please phone the Village Office (403-947-3774), the Beiseker RCMP (403-947-3496), or the Calgary-area Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. 

Hong Kong's Fight for Democracy

I'm very worried for the young people carrying on peaceful demonstrations in the streets of Hong Kong over the last while.  I had the privilege of visiting Hong Kong many years ago.  It was a beautiful oriental city, with a dash of Britain everywhere.  I loved the city.

I always wondered what would happen when the city would be turned over to the Communist Chinese.  I understand this current round of problems started when the Beijing government told the folks in Hong Kong that were allowed to have elections, but Beijing would select the candidates!

That was totally unacceptable to the young people.  They wanted more democratic freedoms, not less!

In my opinion, the Beijing government has three choices;

• Move in and destroy the students' protests (and kill a large number of them).  Then set up "re-education camps" to show the survivors the errors of their ways. Remember Tienanmen Square.
• Move in and substantially limit the power of Hong Kong by destroying much of its infrastructure, then recreating the city in their own image.  Remember Saigon.
• Give Hong Kong what they want and set them on a path to becoming their own nation, like Singapore.

I'm hoping for some form of Choice Number 3.

There was talk of creating a lapel pin in the shape of an umbrella, the symbol of the fight for democracy in Hong Kong.  Where can I buy one?

2014 AUMA Convention News

Last week, members of Beiseker village council attended the annual convention of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association in Edmonton.  The convention venue alternates between Edmonton and Calgary, and this year was Edmonton's turn.

There's a trade show, workshops, meetings with the Ministries, and get-togethers throughout the three day convention. 

Beiseker's meetings with the ministries were all on Wednesday.  First, we met with Environment and Sustainable Resource Development to discuss our flooding issues.  Our biggest difficulty with flood water is dealing with the huge volume of water we receive into the village from Rocky View County!  We asked Alberta Environment to help us deal with this huge volume of water, simply because we can't afford to do it alone.  We will be developing a plan to help alleviate the problem, working with the province and the County.

Next we were off to see Municipal Affairs.  To our surprise, the newly appointed Minister of Municipal Affairs, Diana McQueen was there to greet us.  We once again talked about our flooding issues and asked for their help, too.  We also discussed the difficulty small municipalities have with the new policy of depreciating Tangible Capital Assets (TCAs).

About three years ago, the provincial government decided that all municipalities should record ALL their assets.  That included all village owned buildings, vehicles, property, fire hydrants, water pipes and sewer pipes!  Then we have to depreciate all those things and include that amount in our yearly financial statements!  When we have an expensive year like 2013 (huge snow removal bills, water main leaks, etc.), and we include the TCA depreciation, it shows us operating very close to the wire!  This policy is not fair to small municipalities.  I think we made that quite clear.

Our last visit was to Alberta Transportation to talk about slowing down the traffic on North Road (aka Highway 72).  Vehicles are still exceeding the 50 km/h and the 30 km/h speed limits, some by a considerable amount.  A number of strategies were discussed. Stay tuned.

Councillor Karen, Assistant CAO Gail, MLA Bruce Rowe and I at the AUMA convention reception,
at Edmonton City Hall!
Councillor Dave is behind the camera!
(photo via Facebook)

Overall, I believe that our attendance at the AUMA Convention was a great success.  In the months following we'll see if our suggestions and requests took root in the provincial  ministries.

Next year's AUMA Convention will happen in Calgary in the fall of 2015.

Silly, stupid or sly?

An acquaintance of mine needed two new tires for her little car.  It's a front wheel drive car and the front tires were badly worn.  The rear tires still had plenty of tread on them. 

She went to a large box store in Calgary to buy two tires.  She found two tires at a good price.  While purchasing them, she indicated that she wanted them to replace the two worn front tires on her car. 

She was told that was impossible - company policy.  The new tires would be put on the back and those two rear tires would be recycled! 

She explained to the young man that hers was a front wheel drive car and the new tires with better traction should go on the front. The rear tires were still good. The fellow insisted that these two new tires would be put on the rear - company policy.

She left the store without any new tires.  I suggested she go to a tire dealer or a small garage operation.  They could provide her with two tires and put them on any wheels she wanted.

Either the box store tire folks didn't understand the physics of tires and the difference between front and rear wheel drive, or they just wanted to sell her four tires instead of just two. 

I don't know.  It's a very strange story, but true!