April 6, 2021

Well, you got me again.
Every year, when I read your April Fool’s column, I wonder at the level of foolish government waste. Within a day or two, when I realize that it’s near April Fool’s Day, I shake my head and have a good laugh at how gullible I am. Laughter truly is the best medicine.
It takes a special turn of mind to think of all the great stories. Keep up the good work and thanks for the fun.
Pat Westergard,
Camrose

March 30, 2021

Several recent Camrose Booster issues included memories from Camrose residents of the 100th anniversary of the signing of Treaty 6.
Of course, a treaty is not a single moment in time, but rather an ongoing relationship negotiated in good faith. This year will mark the 145th year of Treaty 6, and we (as a Canadian settler society) have not followed through on our commitments. While we can’t change history, we can learn from it and use those lessons to shape our common future.
Unfortunately, an opportunity to take a small step toward the ongoing act of reconciliation by acknowledging that the City of Camrose is located on Treaty 6 land was rejected by our City council at a Committee of the Whole meeting on Feb. 16. At this meeting, a proposal was brought forward to allow City staff to include a land acknowledgement in their email signatures and, more importantly, to have members of council make a public land acknowledgment prior to council meetings and other City events. This is increasingly common in municipalities and other institutions across Canada.
This decision is extremely disappointing. After all, municipal governments are specifically identified in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action as having a role to play in recognizing Indigenous peoples and contributing toward public education about treaty rights and responsibilities. I welcome more information from our elected council members as to why this decision was made.
Greg King,
Camrose

March 30, 2021

The 20th century brought us unparalleled prosperity because of abundant inexpensive energy in the form of petroleum and rapid social and industrial change, especially after the First World War and Second World War. Change over the next decade will be faster still and we should not fear it, because it can bring us even greater prosperity.
The International Energy Agency last year declared that solar and wind now provide the least expensive energy the world has ever seen and their price is dropping quickly. Alberta is well placed to generate unlimited inexpensive energy from solar, wind and geothermal. Energy storage problems are being solved. Last summer, TransAlta installed a battery system at its wind farm at Pincher Creek that can power 3,000 homes. Britain is building an amazing liquid air battery system to store energy from its offshore wind generators that uses no toxic compounds, makes no pollution and requires only the technology of a refrigerator. Britain expects wind to power the entire country with no pollution by 2030.  Contrary to what you might have read, there is no need to burn oil or coal for wind or solar. Yes, birds do sometimes fly into wind turbines and die, but nothing compared to the number of birds that fly into buildings, and no one is saying that we should ban buildings.
We can and we will stop burning fossil fuels and that is a good thing. According to the World Health Organization, air pollution, mostly from the burning of fossil fuels, kills seven million people each year. We can expect the incidence of asthma to drop in Alberta when we stop burning coal for electricity just as it did when Ontario stopped burning coal. We will be healthier. We will think back to lines of cars idling outside of schools and wonder how we could have done that to our children’s health.
We are faced with opportunities for a better life if we would just stop listening to all the negativity. If we choose not to seize those opportunities, we’d better step aside, or we’ll be run over as the world passes us by.
Rob Hill,
Camrose

March 30, 2021

I wish to address the one criticizing Vern Peterson’s letter.
Foremost, Scripture deals with pastors and those who are responding to the call of God on their life, of whom the pastor is called to be “shepherd of their soul”. You wrote that Scripture is credible–I trust you are one of these sheep who should know that Romans 8:33 and Canada’s Constitution agree that one shall not lay any charge on pastors for proclaiming God’s Word. Your quote from Romans 13 is God’s advice to obey magistrates–and why? Because God is the One who ultimately rules over every higher authority that is set over us “to do us good…and execute wrath (capital punishment) upon him that doeth evil” vs. 4.
Be aware that in Pastor Coates’ case, the rulers or authorities were not obeying Canada’s Rule of Law. Our governments have been implementing “mandates” that are meant for “emergency measures” (e.g. 30 days) for these measures are “unconstitutional” according to our actual laws (see JCCF.ca).
Peterson claimed to be speaking from his spirit, which is associated with one’s “matters of the heart”,  and we all have a right to speak and be heard, whether we agree or not. I happen to agree with Vern’s spirit or heart; furthermore, he spoke of how he lived as a County councilor with the people, and still defends his past position.
May we all grow in grace and faith in the things of Salvation, and be people of God’s Way–people previously known as “People of the Way”.
Tina Kawalilak,
Camrose County

March 23, 2021

The new legislation of the UCP’s MLA recall is not that new. I do wonder if this piece of legislation could backfire like it did on Aberhart in the summer of 1937. The world was at war and the economy was rather in a slump. The government’s back benchers were not very happy with the leadership of Alberta.
In the premier’s riding, the members of that riding had two-thirds of those who could vote sign a petition to remove the premier from office. The government rushed back to reverse the member recall legislation to avoid having their leader removed from his position. This caused a revolt by these back benchers who threatened to defeat the government in a nonconfidence vote. Instead, the government struck a deal with the back benchers, which seemed to bring down the revolt. Kenney seems to have back benchers not very happy with his leadership. We do not have a war, but we have COVID-19. Can this be a repeat of history in the not too distant future? Can the member recall legislation backfire like it did back in 1937?
Lorne Vanderwoude,
Camrose

March 23, 2021

Why is Camrose such a great community?
I suggest that Camrose has an incredible history of community service organizations that reinforce a community spirit above and beyond what is found in many other communities. The proof of this can be seen in the number of people who have moved to Camrose for temporary job postings, like RCMP or bankers, but have stayed or come back to Camrose because of its community spirit.
I suggest that a main reason is the number of organizations Camrose has that encourage community participation. People join to do what cannot be done alone. There is strength in numbers. This increases exponentially. A group of 10 members is not just 10 times more powerful than one member, but perhaps 50 to 100 times more powerful.
I came to Camrose with my family in 1970 after living most of my life in the big city. I was invited to participate in many community organizations, and I did join various groups, such as Kinsmen and Rotary. They taught me the importance of organizations such as service clubs, in building community.
I have been a member of Rotary for more than 45 years. I can safely assert that Camrose would not be the same kind of community without clubs like Rotary. I’m sure most of you have benefited from the community work done by service clubs, although you might not be aware of it.
The Battle River Community Foundation, which now has a major impact on this and our surrounding area, received a donation from the Rotary Club of Camrose for $100,000 when it was just beginning. Camrose Rotary Club supplied a bus full of wheelchairs to Puerto Vallarta, a city of over one million people, making a major impact on the disabled of that community which continues to this day. There are literally hundreds of other examples of how Camrosians have impacted our whole world, batting way above its weight.
COVID-19 has punched a big hole in all communities.  We cannot get together like we used to. Membership in our community organizations, churches and sports and arts groups has been severely impacted. If you want the community you once had, you and I must rebuild community organizations by joining them and re-establishing new ways of doing things. The first thing required is to join. We must now meet online, which we do weekly.
We have two Rotary clubs in Camrose. Our community is Camrose first and the world first as well. If you are interested in joining us to build community, call me or any other Rotarian.
Harry Gaede,
Camrose

March 23, 2021

We concur with Lindberg’s conclusions re: CoalHardFacts.ca (Camrose Booster, Feb. 28). Previous claims that water in the Athabasca River downstream Ft. McMurray, and now UCP claims that  waters downstream from strip-coal mine leases are safe to drink read much like a preschooler’s sandbox argument over the safety of drinking the water in the (contaminated) stream trickling past their sandbox, which sits just a few metres from an old abandoned outhouse.
Facts reported by Aquatic Effects Monitoring Program (AEMP) for the tests downstream from Tech coal mines in BC (Lethbridge Herald, Oct. 23/20) disprove the UCP’s purported “Facts” (Get the Facts on Coal in Alberta). AEMP test results verify the disingenuity of the UCP claims. After the NDP government dissolved Alberta’s (independent) Environmental Monitoring Evaluation and Reporting  Agency, Bill Donahue, a former government official, left that position (2018) and used unpublished government (1998-2016) data to analyze selenium levels for The Canadian Press, thereby also verifying the rising selenium levels.
The selenium levels downstream from Teck’s (southwestern Alberta) Cheviot metallurgical coal mine averaged almost six times higher in the McLeod River), nearly nine times in the Gregg River and 11 times higher in the Luscar Creek. All exceeded the levels considered safe for aquatic life (four times in the Gregg River and nearly nine times in Luscar Creek).
In fish, selenium damages the liver, kidney and heart, reduces the number of “viable” eggs a fish can produce, and leads to deformed spine, head, mouth, and fins. In humans, selenium can cause nausea, vomiting, hair loss and fatigue. Yet, UCP documents would have Albertans believe that current assessments indicate there is no risk to humans who drink water or eat fish  containing excessive  amounts of selenium. However, the last time Alberta Environment reported on selenium in the three waterways mentioned above, was 2006 (Bob Webber, Canadian Press, Jan 25, “Contaminant from coal mines already high in some Alberta rivers: unreported data”). John Muir, Alberta Environment and Parks spokesman, stated the department “routinely monitors selenium at 89 waterways…” and “will make those finding publicly available” (but, he did not indicate when).
Our then MLA clarified landowners by informing a group of landowners, “The government (i.e. any minister) can do whatever it wants with your land.”
That makes the UCP’s outright denials regarding selenium risks irrelevant.
M. R. Leithead,
 Bawlf

March 16, 2021

I am happy that Lori Larsen wrote the article regarding traps and keeping pets safe. A dog was recently killed by a snare in Camrose County. My heart is filled with sadness and horror for that dog and its family. I would like to be able to say I am shocked by this event, but I am not, as it is not uncommon and happens all over Canada.
It is a horrible tragedy when a pet is caught in a trap. It is just as much of a horrible tragedy when a wild animal is caught in a trap. No animal, regardless of its species, should be subjected to the injuries traps cause, and no animal should die in a trap.
Though trapping is legal, it is far from humane, despite what one trapper told me (and what many others claim). There is no glossing over the cruelty of traps. All types cause extreme amounts of pain, fear, panic, and distress to the helpless animals caught. Some cause drowning, some strangulation, and others cause broken bones among various other injuries. When caught, animals can’t care for their babies, eat, take shelter from the elements, or fend off predators. They often die from dehydration, blood loss, hypothermia, or by being clubbed, etc. to death by the trapper (so as not to damage the pelt in the case of animals who are being killed for their fur). The Alberta regulations state that traps that are not killing devices must be checked at least once every 24 to 48 hours. That is a HUGE time frame, and therefore, animals suffer immensely for hours and hours.
I have seen the suffering caused by traps. For a decade, I worked at a wildlife hospital in Alberta, and two patients in particular come to mind, an eagle who had been caught in a snare, and a baby skunk who had one of her legs severed in a leghold trap.
Other problems include that traps catch non-target species, endangered species, and even people (documented cases in BC and Newfoundland); when animals are killed, babies are orphaned (and often die); ecosystems are negatively affected (for example, beavers are a keystone species); and warning signs do not have to be posted.
Let’s abolish trapping. People don’t need fur trim on their coat and there are more humane (including non lethal) means of protecting livestock from predators. Visit  www.projectcoyote.org/programs/ranching_with_wildlife/nonlethal-solutions-reduce-conflicts or www.projectcoyote.org/programs/ranching_with_wildlife/nonlethal-solutions-reduce-conflicts and https://thefurbearers.com for more info. 
Leah Daoust-Hoskins, Round Hill

March 16, 2021

I read with interest Vern Petersen’s open letter to Premier Kenney offering biblical and moral support to pastor James Coates and the people of the Grace Life Church. I think it is reasonable to propose supporting directives to Premier Kenney from other credible sources.
Romans 13:1-2 says, “Obey the government, for God is the One who has put it there. There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power. So those who refuse to obey the law of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow.”
Further support can be found in Titus 3:1-2, “Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.”
Hebrews 13:17 suggests, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
In Islam, obedience to the law of the land is a religious duty. The Qur’an commands Muslims to remain faithful to not only Allah and the Prophet Muhammad, but also the authority they live under: “O ye who believe! obey Allah, and obey His Messenger and those who are in authority over you” (Qur’an, Ch. 4: V.60).
Under Jewish Law, the principle of dina d’malchuta means that, for Jews, obedience to the civil law of the country in which they live is viewed as a religiously mandated obligation and disobedience is a transgression.
The Sutta Pitaka section of the Buddhist canon contains discourses of the Buddha on kingship that praise the election of leaders who then rule through compassion, morality and social justice.
Perhaps Mr. Petersen would find greater comfort in the writings of Confucius, whose teachings support the individual’s natural and inherent right and responsibility to oppose legitimate governmental authority when the governmental authority is out of harmony with the moral sense of the individual.
Premier Kenney, in accordance with your background in religious studies…stay the course and hold those who break the law equally responsible for their actions, whether they be churchgoers or partiers at a rave in a rented facility.
Lynn Clark,
Camrose

March 16, 2021

These “go-green” (money and environment), “build back better” slogan people most often do not know what they are even talking about.  The word “sustainable” from go-green actually means “unprofitable” and “unsustainable” (as in misinformation).
Energy cannot even be produced from solar panels and wind turbines without the use of coal, oil, natural gas and wood–their very existence is dependent upon these more reliable natural resources. Solar and wind are not reliable and are very costly to the environment and the taxpayer.
If they continue pushing for the wind turbines, we may lose both the trees nearby the coal mines and the birds, because the blades on the wind turbines are killing thousands of birds daily. Also, the solar panels are extremely toxic on disposal (every 10 years and not recycled), whereas coal contains selenium–a healthy antioxidant that I use daily.
All 100 per cent of Albertans need coal to survive–we don’t have the climate of Texas, but they at least didn’t all die when their wind and solar energy failed to operate in an ice storm when the temperature dropped to just below freezing.
If I could choose between “the birds” and all this misinformation coming from the go-green people, I would choose the birds.
Check out friendsofscience.org for healthy information, and working to protect our environment in every way.
Tina Kawalilak,
Camrose County

March 9, 2021

The year 2020 has indubitably been a quagmire of  health, economic, political, logistical and financial chaos for Canadian governments. Here in the forgotten hinterland of Alberta, with an economy that stands sui generis in nature and stature, we are truly abandoned within our own Dominion of Canada.
According to the CFIB (Canadian Federation of Independent Business), Alberta is facing an existential financial crisis of historical proportions. CFIB reports while Canada and Alberta ratchet up debt at blinding speed, the number of small businesses teetering on the cusp of insolvency grows at an alarming rate. CFIB asserts that 20 per cent of Alberta’s small businesses, with a combined work force over 624,000, are considering the possibility their businesses will not be here if it takes much longer to open up.
Logistically speaking, those businesses are much more likely to be located in the UCP held ridings of rural Alberta like Camrose. Where a single job loss can be seen and felt; while no amount of COVID diatribe from our political leaders is going to change the blow. My heart goes out to those business people who see the sweat and sacrifice invested in their businesses evaporated, along with their dreams, by our response to the virus. All the small business community demand is a homogeneous equitable response, one granting to them the same rules and opportunities afforded the large businesses. Unfortunately, too many Albertans are finding out how tenuous our freedoms and how undemocratic our politics.
To all those business people struggling to survive the lockdown, I salute you. Know that our province was founded by men and women like you. To all those who have lost their jobs or cannot find work, I know there is no greater a trial, and I pray our economy will change for you. In this time of COVID, may you find support, joy, and happiness in your family and friends, with true meaning not in the temporal, but in the eternal. You do not stand alone.
Robert Johnson,
Daysland

March 9, 2021

An elementary student in need of one-on-one tutoring to succeed in the interrupted and uncertain school year.
An unemployed father unable to complete online job applications and remote interviews.
A solitary senior citizen, isolated and missing social connection.
A post-secondary student already struggling with distance education, unable to find an approved examination supervisor.
A teen struggling with gender identity issues in need of a safe, warm place with information and connection to social services.
A parent uncertain about misinformation in media, trying to understand more about the conditions of the pandemic.
What do all these people have in common? They need a library. Today’s libraries are so much more than just a repository for works of fiction. They are a public location to allow students and tutors to meet, providing public computer workstations and free internet access.
Socialization and attentive care of patrons’ well-being are an important part of a librarian’s job. Proctoring exams is a valuable service the public libraries provide at little to no cost. Provision of social services information and resources as well as connections to those services are a necessary part of library service. And what better place to fight misinformation than a library?
I am all for following health regulations and bending the curve of the pandemic. However, I believe that libraries are an essential service and should be reopened to the public. Dine-in restaurants were able to seat customers in Step One of the reopening for the purpose of feeding people’s bodies. Is not the invaluable service that public libraries provide, in feeding people’s minds and hearts, just as important?
Libraries should be opened in Step Two of the path forward. Libraries have pre-established health measures, such as scheduled cleaning, disinfecting work stations after use, quarantining library materials, mask-wearing and social distancing protocol. Please allow us to provide the services that the citizens in our communities need.
Kait Davies,
David Knipe Memorial Library, Bawlf

March 9, 2021

Kudos to chair Rob Hill and the Camrose Green Action Committee for their work in presenting the case for a Camrose Environmental Master Plan to City council at a recent meeting. I appreciate council’s decision to have City administrators review the feasibility of this proposal with the intention, I understand, to follow up shortly with the Green Action Committee.
If council gives this initiative the green light, as other municipalities have done, we can feel confident that our community will be more prepared for the inevitable changes arising from climate mitigation efforts.  The Environmental Master Plan would enable Camrose to build on existing environmental stewardship achievements and to be proactive in determining future priorities and actions not only for City operations, but for the healthy growth of our local economy.
I agree with Hill that community engagement needs to happen. If the public are invited to participate early on, if they are given meaningful ways to contribute to the development and ongoing work of the Environmental Master Plan, they are more likely be supportive of it in the long run. 
An Environmental Master Plan is the equivalent of saying we have our climate mitigation ducks in a row, which will work in our favour come time for project funding applications. The federal government is one source of such funding. Minister of environment and climate change, Jonathan Wilkinson, speaking at a recent town hall, outlined the updated, two-pronged federal approach to climate change–one being climate action and clean growth, the second being nature–based solutions addressing biodiversity and wildlife habitat loss. He made specific reference to restoration of wetlands and grasslands, as well as strategies to create new urban parks and ecological corridors that would enable nature and humans alike to thrive in shared spaces. I would suggest that both climate mitigation initiatives and nature-based projects be included in the Camrose Environmental Master Plan from the start.                 
June A. Osborne,
Camrose

March 2, 2021

 I still believe I live in a free country that allows me to think differently than others, to come to different conclusions or favour different strategies and outcomes.
As a consequence, I read Shauna Wilton’s recent column in “Second Thought” and was troubled by a number of characterizations that are consistent with current left leaning thought. In one sentence, she suggested Trump supporters were “white, rural, non-college educated and evangelical”. I would suggest the left means white=white supremacist, rural=hicks from the sticks, non-college educated=non intelligent or unsophisticated, and evangelical=well, those people whom Barack Obama characterized as “clinging to their guns and Bibles”. This is the central problem I have with those on the left, they have no respect for anyone who holds a different opinion than their current dogma.
In addition, suggestions of election interference or fraud have been “proven to be false”. Perhaps, we should all read the Time magazine article “The Secret Shadow Campaign that saved the 2020 election”. The article describes the “collaboration between Big Tech, the charitable sector, academia and the mainstream media which justified, from their perspective, the need to change the rules of the game in order to ensure that Trump was denied a second term. Just allowing people to vote under the old rules was too much of a risk to take.” In other words, rules allowing mail-in ballots were created to allow the possibility of voter fraud were passed.  Time magazine is not a pillar of conservative thought.
Finally, she characterizes the actual rioters, as “Qanon supporters, white supremacists and Christian fundamentalists”. I must admit ignorance of Qanon, I don’t know any white supremacists, but I do know a few people who are often described as Christian fundamentalist. Wikipedia (the modern-day fount of all knowledge) suggests that “evangelical” and “fundamentalist” are often used interchangeably. Wikipedia further suggests that the two terms are defined by a literal interpretation of the Bible. I am thus reminded of a line in a song by Mercy Me, “One Trick Pony”: “If I hear just one more time that I should be more open-minded, I think I just might scream. The world says this is all there is, Yet I believe (a literal interpretation) the One who says there’s life after this, Now tell me how much more open can my mind be?”
Greg Ryan,
Camrose

March 2, 2021

I feel compelled to respond to the article by Lori Larsen entitled, “Keep pets safe from traps”. Thank you, Lori and Lorne Rinkel, for the crash course on the trapping regulations and the benefits of this barbaric activity to Camrose County residents.
What this article has missed, in my view, is that those people who set out snares and traps also have an obligation to help protect innocent pets, such as farm dogs, from their sets. Currently, there is no legal requirement in the Trapping Regulations or in County bylaws that would require this activity to be publicly posted or that neighbors in proximity to these sets be provided notice of this activity.
My neighbor drops his dead cattle carcasses off one-half mile from my doorstep. He permitted an individual to set up coyote snares. One of my dogs got caught recently, and had to have her hind foot amputated. Fortunately, she was not killed by strangulation. Had I known about this activity, I would gone out to check as soon as she was missing from my yard. This problem could have been averted. Instead, it was 24 hours later, and only as a result of my relentless diligence, that I discovered there were snares set out, and I was able to get the name of the individual who owned the snare sets.  Strangulation and frostbite injured the foot beyond saving. One more night and she would have frozen to death.
The reality of rural living and having farm dogs is that they can and sometimes do wonder off their property. I have no intention of putting my three Great Pyrenees on leashes, nor am I going to fence off 11 acres of land into a dog prison. But I do feel that there are reasonable measures that can be implemented either through amending the Trapper Regulations or by the County placing their own requirements through bylaws that might help avert these occurrences. This is a no brainer, and I don’t understand why this isn’t a mandatory (legal) requirement for anyone setting out snares and traps. I encourage those who share my views to contact their local and provincial elected representatives for changes. Furthermore, it is my view that this is unneeded and an unwanted activity in populated areas and should be outlawed.
Gene Leskiw,
Camrose County

March 2, 2021

This writer is in total agreement with Mr. Hutchinson.
We knew when we came here that it was a truck route. However, the pipe trucks are not the problem.
The gravel trucks, and the three-quarter and one-ton pickup trucks are another matter.
Really, the truck route should be from 46 Street east, and going west, a residential street to 53 Street, which also includes two playgrounds and a school.
We have wondered why the City has not brought their radar truck over here.
Jas. W. Canfield,
Camrose

March 2, 2021

On Feb. 19, Premier Jason Kenney claimed that Alberta’s vaccine (Phase 2) roll-out “continues to lead the country!” Minister Shandro immediately parroted Kenney’s claim, with Alberta’s rollout “being one of the best in the country!”
The Covid-19 update map, however, indicated that Alberta’s 2.15 per cent was seven out of Canada’s 11 provinces and territories). Only four provinces scored lower than Alberta. All the others scored  at 0.15 to 30.07 per cent in their vaccine roll-outs. This cannot by any means be misconstrued as Alberta leading, nor as being one of the best.
Why has no one in the media corrected this misinformation? And, why is no one “fact-checking” all of the premier’s public announcements?
Albertans deserve to know the truth.
M.R. Leithead,
 Bawlf

February 23, 2021

Thank you so much for publishing info on the Alberta Council on Aging Living Strong program we are offering to support the well-being of older adults. I want you to know the Camrose SOS group has a box of the booklets and a free copy is available to the general public. It is great to see how various agencies are forming natural partnerships to support well-being. The Camrose Booster is also instrumental in helping to connect people to services and service agencies to each other.  Many thanks.
Donna Durand,
Camrose

February 23, 2021

Many of us, as Albertans, are very concerned about our water supply, both the quantity and quality of that resource. We also need to be concerned about the ecosystem that produces it. Several of the large rivers that supply our major cities begin as a trickle of snow melt in our eastern slopes; these become tributaries and finally, a river. Where our water supply begins, it is unfortunately where coal is found.
The east slopes ecosystem contains two species of trees that are considered endangered under Alberta’s Wildlife Act (WA) and endangered and proposed for listing as endangered under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA). These are the Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulus) and the iconic Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis). Perhaps you are old enough to remember the Burmis Tree located just off the Crowsnest highway. Both these species occupy the higher elevations, living under harsh conditions that other tree species cannot tolerate. These are also lands identified as Category 2. These trees can live over 1,000 years, and require a bird (Clark’s Nutcracker) to reproduce. Imagine them gone. It is estimated in one Category 2 mining lease, two thousand of these long-lived trees will be sacrificed if the UCP have their way.
We need also be concerned about the fish that populate the streams of the east slopes: Rainbow, Cutthroat, Dolly Varden Trout and Mountain Whitefish. These fish are the canary in the coal mine, and are adversely affected by selenium. The Fisheries Acts of both Canada and Alberta prohibit the destruction of fish habitat. Coal mining requires water to wash the coal, and coal contains selenium; so what happens to our drinking water? They say they have mitigations for that, however, it will only take one accident to pollute our drinking water that is essential for life.
The Kenney government has announced it is reinstating the Coal Policy of 1976, however, it hasn’t backed off from allowing development; consultation is aimed at opening up lands for coal mine development. We need legislation, not policy. Keep up the pressure, sign a petition to stop coal mines in Alberta. Join the 69 per cent Albertans from all walks of life, who are against coal mine development on mountaintops and open pit mines. Contact your MLA and tell this UCP government to back off, protect our water–no coal mines.
John Girvan,
Camrose County

February 23, 2021

I read with caution Don Braid’s column in the Calgary Herald of Feb. 10 with the headline “Braid: UCP machine needs a rebuild after disastrous start to 2021”.  The article is a major rebuttal to Jason Kenney and the UCP that he leads. There is much meat to chew on in the article, but the segment that captured my imagination was:
“And then, along came coal. The UCP faced an uprising on its own rural turf when people realized there could be new open-pit mines on the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies. This disaster launched last May 15 when the province cancelled a 1976 policy prohibiting new mines on Category 2 foothills lands.”
The article goes on: “Journalist Andrew Nikiforuk has written, with evidence, that coal investors were aware of the cancellation before it was actually done. And the UCP’s subsequent enthusiasm for new mines could not have been more obvious.”
I was gobsmacked when I read this very troubling statement, and I have sent the article reference to MLA Garth Rowswell, Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright Constituency  and Camrose Constituency MLA Jackie Lovely, hoping that they will make a public comment on the whole article, but especially this segment. It is an awesome statement that needs a response–my opinion.
Brian McGaffigan, Strome

February 23, 2021

There are 63 UCP members in our government. At the time of writing, not a single one of them, including our own MLA, has spoken out and condemned their party leadership and supported their words by crossing the floor of the legislature.
That would speak loudly to suggest that they have a moral compass apparently absent in their leadership. It would clearly say that elitist and deceitful behaviour evident in the holiday travel is not acceptable, while ordinary Albertans and people throughout the world are struggling with pandemic restrictions that prevent contact with family; a pandemic which has caused loss of jobs or income worldwide.
Are all 63 UCP members condoning the holiday travel by  senior party leadership? Is there not even one member who has the courage to say, “I do not support the actions of my party leadership?” Are they all as morally bankrupt as that leadership? Unfortunately, Dr. Hinshaw cannot use the phrase “We are all in this together.”
We know that our leadership is not in this with us. How do I make sense of the fact that rank and file UCP MLAs are not simply incensed?
Marvin Miniely,
Camrose

February 16, 2021

I would like to commend the Camrose Police Service for installing the “Your Speed” sign eastbound on 54 Avenue, near St. Patrick School.
For those who aren’t familiar, these signs are more commonly used in construction zones, displaying the speed of approaching vehicles and warning the drivers if they are speeding and thereby endangering others. My understanding is that in other jurisdictions, these signs have been effective in reducing speeding in areas they are used.
As a long-time resident of this area, I can attest that this is definitely a problem area for speeding vehicles.  While I just have my visual estimate of speed to go on, I would say it wouldn’t be uncommon for vehicles to be travelling in excess of 60 or 70 km/hour along this stretch before they get to the school.
While the recent paving of this road was certainly appreciated, it has also made it a more comfortable road to speed on.  Add in ‘performance’ mufflers (which this old coot no longer appreciates), belching exhaust from rapidly accelerating vehicles and more than one motorcycle popping a wheelie as it zooms by, the effort by the City to bring down the excessive speeds is greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Don Hutchinson,
Camrose

February 16, 2021

Just for fun, anyone reading this: look around you and figure out what and how everything we have is made of.
Now where are we going? How and with what do they make wind turbines, electric cars, solar panels, batteries of all sorts, from start to finish? How will you get all the electricity to run all of these cars and gadgets?
When people are stranded or in long lines to power their latest car, will you ask yourself why?
Now let’s look at BC as a perfect green province. Just a few examples: they are building a new dam in northern BC, while they dump its sewage from Victoria into the ocean. What is that doing to the whales?
Before we moved here in 2000, we lived in a little place called 100 Mile House. The lower mainland was hauling there garbage to a little place called Cache Creek, while they go green.
I think the worst thing for the world has been globalization for the last 30 years. If we made our own stuff on our own continents, we would save the oceans, air and economies.
We have sent billions overseas to countries for the last 40 years, and nothing seems to change–why?
There are a lot of old sayings that we always hear. Be careful what you wish for; this equals that; for every action there is a reaction.
Oh, by the way, who moves to Alberta when there are a lot of jobs? A lot of Canadians from other provinces. Now where are those provinces and people when Alberta is in trouble?
Sheila Faulkner,
Donalda

February 16, 2021

I witnessed an event at the intersection in front of MLA Lovely’s office  on Friday, Jan. 29, and I wanted to report my observations. I am not one of the protesters. I happened to be nearby in my parked car, talking on the phone.
At one point, I glanced up and noticed MLA Lovely, and I assume her assistant Wendy Pasiuk, coming out to greet the sign holders. I also observed a local photojournalist taking pictures of the MLA talking to the demonstrators, and handing them some papers.
I was curious as to what was going on. I decided to ask a couple of protesters what MLA Lovely said to them. Initially, the concerned citizens were pleased that MLA Lovely came out to “engage” with them. But it was not the kind of engagement that they had hoped for. Their initial delight quickly turned into bitter disappointment. It seems MLA Lovely came out to give the demonstrators UCP propaganda about the government’s plan to open leases in the Rockies for open pit coal mining. She was not there to listen to their concerns.
The photos that were taken will appear in the paper to display MLA Lovely communicating to concerned constituents, but the reality is she had her own agenda. If MLA Lovely wanted a sincere exchange, then why come bearing those leaflets? She didn’t ask these people how she could help them have a voice in the legislature.
These Camrosians have legitimate concerns, but would not choose to parade with signs in the cold if they felt they were being heard and being represented. This instance on the corner was nothing more than a public relations photo op.
MLA Lovely’s role is not solely to represent the UCP in Camrose and area. Her role as our MLA is primarily, and most importantly, to act as a representative of all citizens of the Camrose riding, no matter who they voted for in the Alberta Legislature.
Donna Hackborn,
Camrose

February 9, 2021

I am a former resident of Camrose whose Calgary family was strong supporters of the true Conservative governments under Lougheed and Getty. Lougheed’s energy minister Bill Dickie was a brother-in-law of one of my uncles. Dad donated around $30,000 to their party over the years, and Klein almost killed him with his health care cuts.
Watching these phony conservatives destroy our children’s future has been hard to take.                                                       
Reformers Stephen Harper, Preston Manning, Danielle Smith, Brian Jean, Jim Prentice and Andrew Scheer have all been soundly defeated in elections and Jason Kenney will be next. His own supporters are saying he is the worse liar they have ever seen, and they wished they hadn’t supported him.
Yet these Reformers are still preaching their lies that, “We don’t have a revenue problem, only a spending problem and they have to cut 11,000 health care workers jobs to fix it, after they cut taxes to benefit their rich friends. How stupid do they think we are?”                                                   
They claim that it’s all Ottawa’s fault, or our doctors, nurses, teachers or AISH recipients. They even created the lie that our oil industry is being attacked by foreign corporations, yet oil executives tell us it’s not.
As Trevor Tombe, an economist from the U of C has pointed out, if our previous governments had continued to collect our oil royalties at the Lougheed levels, Albertans would have had an additional $575 billion to enjoy. Add that to the $150 billion in lost taxes that Ralph Klein’s daughter Angie was so upset with her father about, and the $260 billion we are being warned it could cost Albertans to clean up the orphan well mess that I was involved with prior to Klein changing the regulations to benefit his rich friends and we know who is to blame. It certainly isn’t the NDP or Liberals, as Kenney wants us to believe.
What is really upsetting is the fact that not one of these Reformers has been smart enough to suggest the obvious, that we should be following Lougheed’s lead of collecting proper royalties, taxes, and health care premiums and running this province properly like Lougheed did, and Norway and Alaska are doing.
Alan K. Spiller,
Calgary,
formerly of Camrose

February 9, 2021

I would like to express my appreciation to Arnold Malone on his contributions  to your paper. I always enjoy his writings.
I particularly like his last letter to the editor headlined “Richard Husfloen”. I, too, wondered about this very thing, as I was on the alumni board when the vote was taken to allow the transition to the University of Alberta. The alumni board discussed this at length and didn’t see any other alternative to either do what was proposed by the board of regents or lose the school. As Arnold pointed out, Husfloen did the ground work to make this happen. He definitely was a great visionary and a great guy to work with.
The other thing that puzzled me in the Augustana timeline in the latest Circle was seeing that in 1952, North Hall was added as the girls’ dormitory. Now, I spent two school years living in this dormitory. Professor George Moi was the dean, and I roomed with another friend from the Armena district, Lorne Broen.
You would have thought that Professor Moi would have noticed that we were not girls, but apparently not. In North Hall, I even swept the floors and scrubbed the halls to help with my tuition. As far as I knew, the girls’ dormitory was in the upper floors of the main building.
What I concluded was that when North Hall was first occupied, it really was a boys’ dormitory and not as listed in the timeline on page 5.
I, too, like Malone’s puzzle on the omission of Husfloen and the mistake on North Hall. Perhaps that was an honest mistake regarding North Hall, but then this begs the question on how diligently this timeline was put together.
David Moore,
Camrose

February 9, 2021

The news crawler on TV stated that the highest rate of Covid infection in Alberta is in rural areas. With new, more contagious and more potentially deadly variants emerging all the time, the virus will soon outrun any attempt to vaccinate the public. Exponential growth is as much our enemy as is ignorance and misinformation. And those who feign injury of their rights by a masking requirement might consider this tidbit, courtesy of British mathematician via reporting from noted journalist, an author on pandemics, Andrew Nikiforuk.
Compare a virus that is 50 per cent more deadly to a virus that is 50 per cent more infectious. Current reproduction rates are at about 1.1 with a death rate of 0.8 per cent. In other words, current strains deliver 129 deaths per 10,000 infections. Now, consider a virus that is 50 per cent more deadly. It will deliver 193 deaths per month.  But a virus that is 50 per cent more transmissible will deliver 978 deaths per month. The new variants are 30 to 70 per cent more transmissible.
You can’t fight math and exponential growth. As well, more virus means more replication which means more chance of mutation and more chance of a more lethal variant that will kill a wider spectrum of demographic. We need to get off the government’s roller coaster solution of opening and closing. It’s bad for morale, it’s bad for business, and it won’t contain the virus. By contrast, New Zealand, Iceland, Taiwan, Australia and Vietnam got it right, even the Atlantic Provinces mostly got it right. They went for zero transmission. Today, New Zealand has had zero infections for eight of the last 10 months. People visit their families, go to concerts, and sporting events. People continue to wear masks on public transit and there are real restrictions on travel with real quarantines.
I vaguely remember the feel of a hug from my daughter, a frontline worker. When I read of people selfishly whining about rights over a simple mask, I have to remind myself that we must all move past the anger and move to eliminate the virus. This will take a global effort of which we are a part. We need to get to zero before the barely managed gets to totally unmanageable.
Tim Belec,
Camrose

February 2, 2021

 I write in support of the views expressed in all of the letters in the Jan. 19 issue of The Booster and of the news article, “Local Picketers Respond to Camrose MLA”. It would be encouraging to think that our Member of the Legislative Assembly would read any of them and bring the concerns of some of the electors to the attention of our government, but I am not hopeful.
In the same issue, thank you for the piece “Keeping the Body in Motion.” And as always, I appreciated Bonnie Hutchinson’s Reflections.                                                                                                                         
David Edwards, Camrose

February 2, 2021

We need to kill daylight savings time.
1. The change in time upsets young school children and their parents.
2. Time change upsets school bus drivers, having to wait for children to catch the bus.
3. Teachers have to cope with more tired and stressed children.
4. Statistics indicate that car accidents increase up to 17 per cent in the first week after spring time change.
5. Daylight Savings Time gives us no more daylight hours.
6. Saskatchewan people do not have to suffer time change.
7. Write a letter or email your MLA. Ask to kill Daylight Savings Time for no stressful time change.
Robert Snider,
New Norway

February 2, 2021

Recently I received a copy of Circle, an Augustana alumni magazine. My first impression was positive, but that impression soon turned to a sense of repugnance.
In outlining the history of Augustana, the writers mentioned each president from the formation until the present dean of the campus excepting one.
They did salute the new buildings, including the Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre, and the security of the campus under the umbrella of the University of Alberta.
They also gave credit to the Augustana board for the transformation of Augustana to a campus of the University of Alberta.
They failed miserably by omitting the single person who was the driver in bringing about that transformative status of the campus, Richard Husfloen. Without the tireless work of Husfloen, it is doubtful that Augustana would even exist today.
Upon his arrival, president Husfloen inherited an institution that had a history of accumulated deficits and a debt of $5,000,000. Through difficult budgeting, he reduced the deficit by half across five years. Nevertheless, he was convinced that the church, the government and the community were unable to sustain the capital required to maintain and enhance the university.
It was he who started the negotiations with the University of Alberta to take on the Augustana campus as a satellite of the University of Alberta. It was a thoughtful board that accepted reality, and the board approved his perspective.
Having mentioned every leader of the Augustana Campus except the most impacting leader in Augustana’s history gives rise to the suspicion that it was not an oversight, but an attempt to erase an extraordinary leader from the history of the campus.
In many ways, Husfloen was similar to Lee Iacocca, president of Chrysler Corporation. Both, unhappily, had to destroy a management culture and then rebuild a new vision. Both leaders were maligned by the old guard, but both avoided bankruptcy and both have a record of ongoing success. Husfloen ought to be saluted and recognized, but never forgot. The current Augustana Campus is a monument to his management experience, his vision, and his extraordinary efforts on behalf of students, staff and community. Circle magazine owes both an explanation and a correction.
Arnold Malone,
formerly of Camrose

 

February 2, 2021

There has been a lot of talk about the executive order signed by Joe Biden to cancel the KXL pipeline, but what many missed is that the same executive order committed the US to converting the entire US federal fleet of 645,000 vehicles and 500,000 school buses to electric within five years. It also commits the US to installing 500,000 EV charging points by 2030. This is a clear statement that the US plans to switch from oil to electric. That means that our future Alberta prosperity will be less based on selling oil to the US.
This is not a negative letter. This change doesn’t mean that our prosperity will not come from selling energy–just that energy will not be oil. As Tim Belec’s excellent letter of Jan. 26 points out, Alberta has tremendous potential for geothermal energy. The temperature at the bottom of many of our oil wells is over 120 degrees, and the oil wells give us access to that heat. The heat can be used to generate inexpensive abundant electricity and many jobs come with it. Alberta is also an excellent place for wind generated electricity.
Wind power is now by far the least expensive source of electricity in Alberta. Many wind generators are being installed, and with them come more jobs. Modern wind generators are made from carbon fibre, which is lighter and stronger than steel and made from petroleum.  The US will need a huge amount of electricity and we could supply it. The economic prospects here for Alberta are wonderful.
Alberta is also a fine place to generate solar electricity.  The company Canadian Solar based in Guelph, is now a world leader in producing high efficiency solar panels. Community-based and home-based solar systems will soon be common. As we move to electric vehicles, having solar panels at home to charge your EV will be like having a gas station in your garage where the gas is free.
The world is on the verge of rapid change.  The only negative is the people who continue to say that our prosperity is dependent on selling oil to the US. Our future is bright if we are willing to take the emerging opportunities right in front of us. But if we don’t want to take these opportunities, we had better get out of the way so we don’t get run over as the world passes us by.
Rob Hill,
Camrose

January 26, 2021

Being the Third Best Independent Newspaper in North America is an outstanding accomplishment!
Kudos to The Camrose Booster staff/crew who so diligently creates this paper every week. You do Camrose proud! Congratulations on being recognized for this accomplishment.
Your readers are so grateful to you for keeping us informed and up to date regarding all that transpires in our community and Alberta in general.
You have focused on community interests (e.g. antique/old automobiles), and raised awareness regarding community needs (e.g. County/City fire, recreation and recycling costs), providing details your readers need to use when making decisions.
You have also covered political nuances, zeroing in on what needs to be said with tactful confidence and verbal poise.
The detailed article on fitness served as a reminder to get me moving again. I first met Connie in the Bethany warm pool exercise classes. The article, with its clear 15-point “Tips to get there” (and the clincher, “never give up!”) made me dig out my exercise sheets, my mat, the big ball and my walking poles, again, and renewed my resolve to try to get moving.
We don’t know who to thank for the Booster Banter, but we thank them for infusing a little levity into a rather grim COVID-19 existence. Know that we have shared some of those chuckles with Edmontonians and a shut-in octogenarian UK friend.
The Booster is so relevant to many aspects of our lives.
For this, and much more, we thank you!
Marion and Bill
Leithead, Bawlf

January 26, 2021

The cancellation of the TC XL pipeline was not inevitable, but a fair bet for anyone paying attention. Jason Kenny risked dumping $1.5 billion into XL and providing another $6 billion in loan guarantees on what many anticipated would become a white elephant. Add into the mix the $1.3 billion in losses when he nixed the oil-by-rail program with his incompetent and myopic push to bring back Alberta oil’s glory days, he has cost Albertans dearly. Now he is falling back on an easy and familiar target, the federal government. Somehow, they didn’t do enough to compel the new president to ignore America’s own Paris commitments.
What could Alberta have done with the $8.8 billion? According to the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association, the technical potential of generating electricity from deep well geothermal in Alberta is 555,800 MW. The theoretical potential, that is drilling deeper and working to mature the technology, is almost 8.2 TW. Deep well geothermal uses exactly the same technology we use to drill oil wells. It uses the same personnel, engineering, drillers, suppliers and down hole tooling. One pilot in southern Saskatchewan has cost $10 million to produce the needed heat. These geothermal installations have a generating capacity of five to 20 MW. Camrose uses close to 20 MW of electricity. The estimated employment requirement is about four FTE per MW to operate each plant.
Once upon a time in Alberta, a man named Lougheed had a vision for something called the Alberta Tar Sands. He was told that it was not economically viable, but he committed Alberta to research and develop the technology needed to make what was to become the economic lifeblood of Alberta a reality.
In Alberta, we have thousands of orphan wells. Potentially, we could be providing cities and towns with renewable, carbon-free electricity. We could easily become a net exporter of power. The big question is, with low oil prices, increasing GHG emissions, rising unemployment and an expert, ready-made work force, why are we not fully embracing the ultimate potential of deep well geothermal?
We could be a world leader in geothermal generation, an exporter of green electricity, we could meet our Paris commitments and beyond, and Kenny could leave a legacy that would give our children a livable planet. But I guess it’s easier and more in character to pick fights with the feds.
Tim Belec,
Camrose

January 26, 2021

Thank you to our friends and family and all residents who showed a conscience and did the right thing by staying home this Christmas. We were supposed to have 12 at our place, but scaled it back to just the two of us. Our parents, brother and family, and daughter all cancelled flights from BC.  They stayed home to flatten the curve. Same with our kids who live in Edmonton. We missed being together this year, but we did this because it was the right thing to do.
For all of us, it meant we couldn’t be close to many of our loved ones during a special time of the year.  You showed a conscience and did your part to flatten the curve. You also showed more leadership than many of our Elected Officials, who chose to ignore the advice to avoid nonessential travel, advice from Dr. Hinshaw and the provincial government.
Albertans deserve and expect better from those in leadership roles. Thank you for doing your part during this pandemic.
Kevin Smook,
Beaver County

January 26, 2021

I believe it was it was Benjamin Franklin who said, “Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
I’m not sure I totally agree with the last part of his quote, but I do agree that it is extremely unwise to trade our freedom for security.
In “Just Sayin’”, in the Dec. 29th issue of The Camrose Booster, I appreciated what Bryan Hookenson had to say in his letter, “Stole Christmas”, and I encourage everyone to read it.
I agree 100 per cent with him. I applaud him for speaking the truth. And I hear countless people, including myself, voicing the same opinions as this man.
So now I ask everyone, what are we going to do about this? Are we going to stand together and say “enough”, or are we going to silently let these restrictions and lockdowns continue?
It causes me to constantly read our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That is what we stand on, and no one can take that away from us, no matter how intimidating they try to be.
To back us up and reinforce our knowledge of our rights and freedoms, Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (jccf.ca) out of Calgary, work tirelessly and pro bono for our rights and freedoms. Thank God for those amazing men and women.
One thing they encourage us to do is to email our government officials constantly, overwhelming them with our emails, telling them we want these restrictions and lockdowns to stop.
We now have an obligation to fight for our freedoms within our own country, for those who fought for our freedoms in another country.
Let us all stand together as Albertans to help make Canada the True North, Strong and Free we are supposed to be.
We are Alberta. We are the West. We are Free.
Amie N. Kozmeniuk,
Camrose

January 19, 2021

Congratulations to The Camrose Booster for being named Third Best Independent Newspaper in North America! That is no small feat.
I loved the cover of the May 19 edition, and the Bailey Theatre so appreciates the support we have received from The Camrose Booster. You really helped capture a very special moment in 2020 for the Bailey.
I also want to pass on my compliments on the cover photos for these last two weeks. They were clever and beautiful. Hats off to Murray and Lori.
In closing, I want to let you know how much I have appreciated reading The Camrose Booster, especially this past year. It has kept us connected, been a source of news and also lifted my spirits. Thank you so much and keep up the good work.
Colleen Nelson,
Camrose County

January 19, 2021

I cannot believe the selfishness displayed in recent letters to The Booster, advocating that control measures such as social distancing and mask-wearing to control COVID-19 virus is just something dreamed up by the government to take away our freedoms.
How selfish, considering how doctors and nurses have risked their lives, working long shifts to care for sick people.
We think also of other frontline workers, such as cashiers, who deal with the public every day.
Who are these supposed “doctors around the world” who have said these measures don’t work?
Do you not know the definition of “pandemic” – a disease prevalent universally with huge numbers of people dying, and those who do recover, recounting terrible painful experiences and possible lasting side effects.
It is surprising how one missed Christmas can throw those with no fortitude or backbone into such a “tizzy”, probably because they have forgotten the real meaning of Christmas in the first place.
Yvonne Wagar,
Camrose

January 19, 2021

MLA Jackie Lovely, I just read your interview in The Booster and was sorry to hear that some of the public have used foul language in your office.
I have read recently in the Edmonton Journal and on the internet that your government has quietly changed the 1976 coal policy. Peter Lougheed’s government put a lot of research into this and the result was that under this law, no one could get a permit for open pit mining in the foothills. Your government changed this law in 2020 without public consultation and now permits are going ahead.
I believe this is wrong for several reasons. We don’t need more coal mines, this is not where the future is. (I am not against oil production and hope we get those pipelines built.)
This will hurt Alberta’s image and will hurt our efforts in being good stewards of the environment. Open pit mines in the pristine foothills, really?
The source of water for the Oldman, the Red Deer, and Saskatchewan rivers all flow through this area. We can’t do anything to risk the water that most Albertans drink, is used for irrigation in southern Alberta, and is important for wildlife, etc.
In BC, coal mining by Elk Valley, on the other side of the mountains, has led to selenium pollution, poisoning fish, and resulting in undrinkable water. Did the Alberta government look into this–is money more important than clean water?
And Alberta won’t make much money from this, Australian companies are largely behind this. They were just turned down by their own country for a mine due to environmental reasons.
I believe your government should put a stop to this and should be more open to the public about important issues like this.
Alvin Eyolfson,
Camrose

January 19, 2021

It seems that the heat is beginning to get to Camrose MLA Jackie Lovely. And not because she took a vacation to Hawaii. The Camrose Booster’s recent article about people picketing in front of her office has drawn a questionable response from Lovely.
She states that picketers were “socialists”. This dog-whistle Trumpist language seeks to belittle anyone who holds views opposing UCP ideology. Protestors are concerned for the well-being of average Albertans and resist cuts to health care and other social programs. She then states that the UCP is focused on legislation that will allow industry to thrive. The $4.7 billion in tax breaks were given so that private industry could thrive and promptly tens of thousands of private industry jobs disappeared.
During a pandemic, when thousands are seeing their jobs reduced or terminated, people need help from their government and it is not reasonable to rely on private industry to bail out the average Albertan. Government helping its citizens doesn’t need to be labeled “socialist”, but merely an expectation of citizens that the government will have their backs when times are tough.
MLA Lovely is offended by “foul language” used by visitors to her office. While I don’t condone abusive language, I can certainly understand that some people may resort to such language when they are struggling for survival. People tend to get emotional when their means of securing the necessities of life are at stake. Surely she knew that MLAs face criticism for their party’s policies and that she has a duty to represent all of her constituents, even if they offend delicate sensibilities.
Cuts to health care and insufficient funding for schools during a pandemic seem rather disruptive to every Albertan. She also complains that she wants to have “civil and constructive conversations”. This presents a difficulty when it seems to be UCP policy to resist engagement with anyone critical of their ideologically-driven agenda. One of the most common complaints about UCP MLAs is their unwillingness to respond to their constituents’ concerns.
If MLA Jackie Lovely is finding there’s too much heat, perhaps she and the UCP should consider getting out of the kitchen.
Dave McDougall,
Camrose

January 12, 2021

After much push-back from angry Albertans, Premier Jason Kenney is trying to reverse his original reactions to municipal affairs minister and his chief of staff Huckabay’s nonessential holiday travels, with some token “sops”, hoping to pacify his critics. His total lack of judgment makes him unfit to govern.
Allard was the vice-chair of the Cabinet Emergency Management Committee and her portfolio included facilitating free self-isolation hotel spaces and COVID-19 care packages for communities in the province hardest-hit by the pandemic (Jan. 1; Calgary Herald). So, in the first place, Kenney should never have allowed her holiday travels during the COVID pandemic! And, as a consequence, she should have been completely turfed out. Gone. Never mind, just asking for her “resignation”. Totally inadequate, considering her abdication of her ministerial responsibilities.
Allard’s apologetic emotional travel-justification of it being a “long-standing family tradition…” and that she did it “in order to help the airline industry” is (laughably) pathetic. There is no excuse for Allard’s travels. Albertans had been told for months not to travel. And, even the house whip reminded MLAs not to travel over the holidays. Yet, as Alberta’s more stringent public health (lockdown) measures were introduced (Dec. 13) amid the punishing second wave of COVID-19 infections…with serious fines and penalties for noncompliance…minister Allard continued her travel plans.
Hence, not only should Allard have resigned (which she and Huckabay now have), they, plus Nixon, Stephan, Fir, Yao, Rhen (…and any others, who ignored the Alberta AHS COVID-19 health orders, which Kenney insisted have “binding legal force”) should have been terminated, not as Kenney so belatedly decided, merely demoted. (If  Kenney doesn’t enforce those AHS orders, who will?)
Kenney’s claims that he didn’t have a list of everybody who may have traveled abroad are (again) disingenuous. Kenney was merely afraid to do what needs doing, because there are so many miscreants. Therefore, he did nothing. Yet, Premier Kenney recently claimed the AHS COVID-19 public health orders have “binding legal force”…so why does he not enforce those orders?
Furthermore, Kenney’s (initial) defence of these miscreant government officials and his claiming to “taking the blame” for his “instructions” that he claimed lacked clarity, makes him fully complicit (an accomplice) in these numerous travel violations/crimes…he, thereby, along with his poor decision-making, should be declared “unfit to govern”.
Premier Kenney and many of his cabinet members’ credibility, especially now, after all his vacillating, contradictory rhetoric, is zero.
Keenly disappointed.
M. R. Leithead,
Bawlf

January 12, 2021

As an Albertan who has followed health regulations and recommendations related to Covid since last March, I am incensed by the cavalier dismissal of the irresponsible and arrogant travel undertaken by elected officials and public servants over the holiday season.
I have not attended public gatherings, not gone out in public without a mask, not socialized with neighbours, friends or relatives in weeks. I have not visited my grandchildren nor my mother-in-law, who lives alone, in months. I go out only when necessary.
I am sick of being home and sick of my own company. In spite of that, I will continue to follow the regulations and recommendations set out for my own safety and, more importantly, for safety of my family, my friends and my community–not just because it is the law, but because it is what is morally right.
By their own actions, minister Tracy Allard, MLA Jeremy Nixon, MLA Tanya Fir, MLA Pat Rehn, MLA Jason Stephan, Jamie Huckabay, Michael Forian and Eliza Snider have all not only endangered the health and lives of Albertans by the possibility that they have contracted Covid in the course of their travels, but they have sent two very strong messages.
The first is that our health and well-being is less important than their vacations. The second message is that rules do not apply to members of your government and validates the actions of those people who are wilfully not following the regulations.
Let’s be perfectly clear, there was no “rule” governing travel, but the guidelines were clear that travel was allowed for essential purposes only. None of these trips were essential by any stretch of the imagination. That you accepted as a defence “incredible lapse of judgement” is actually incredible. A lapse, by definition, is “a temporary failure of concentration, memory, or judgement”. Each of these vacations took time to plan, book and reserve. This was done by people who were fully aware of the intent and purpose of Covid health regulations and recommendations. There is nothing temporary about any of that. This was clearly people doing what they wanted, regardless of what was right, because they thought they could get away with it.
As Rachel Notley said, “This is... the UCP government lacking moral judgement, lacking any compassion for the four million people in Alberta who were told they couldn’t see their parents and grandparents at Christmas.” I would add that through your inaction, you are also lacking accountability to the people of this province.
Sharon MacFadyen,
Daysland

 

January 12, 2021

The holiday travel adventures of members of the UCP and senior government staff show a complete disrespect for all Albertans. A senior cabinet minister had the gall to say visiting Hawaii was a family tradition.
Of course Albertans were requested not to visit parents, grandparents, extended family and friends even in their close communities. The fact of there being no resignations or dismissals (at the time of the writing of Miniely’s letter) confirms the disrespect held for Albertans that borders on contempt. It’s like saying “we get to do what we want unlike you ordinary lesser beings.”
I find myself enraged.
Marvin Miniely,
Camrose

January 5, 2021

Carbon: a nonmetallic element (symbol C) found in all organic substances and in some inorganic substances such as diamonds, graphite, coal, charcoal, lampblack and bitumen pitch including crude oil.
Charcoal: a black porous substance obtained by the imperfect combustion of organic matter such as wood. Used as a fuel, an absorbent, a filter, a pencil or crayon.
Cardon Dioxide: a heavier than air odorless incombustible gas (symbol CO2) used in fire extinguishers and carbonated beverages. Also in solid forms, can be used as a refrigerant.
It is taken from the atmosphere in the photosynthesis of all plants or vegetation, and returned to the atmosphere as oxygen. However, when all mammals or animals breath, they expel carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, along with a small portion of unused oxygen.
Hydro-carbon: one of a large and important group of organic compounds that contain hydrogen and carbon only including, but not limited to, benzene, ethylene and methane. Also present in the exhaust during the imperfect burning of all fossil-based fuels.
The killer. Carbon Monoxide (symbol CO): a colourless, odorless gas formed by the incomplete oxidation of carbon and the imperfect burning of all fossil-based fuels.
These imperfections are caused by a lack of oxygen or hydrogen gas at the point of combustion, and real scientists have stated for hundreds of years that the most proficient way to help the atmosphere and slow the consumption of all fuels is to reach and maintain the perfect burn of combustion, eliminating the detrimental substances created by the practices of greed and ignorance revealed by governance and the extremely wealthy.
For those who did or did not know: Gasoline vapour is approximately 1,000 times more volatile than its liquid counterpart, and when this vapour is ignited, the detrimental substances are virtually eliminated, creating an extremely clean fossil-based fuel with the ability to propel heavy objects great distances with very little consumption.
Look around folks, we have been manipulated and lied to for too long and I, for one, have had enough. It is time for us to all stand together before we are all crushed together as one by the greed and ignorance of the governance and extreme wealth who wish for control of the population.
The people should not fear its government, however, the government should fear its people.
Darwin B. Willett,
Wainwright

January 5, 2021

Last time I wrote to you, Premier Jason Kenney, I used the title “honourable” in keeping with the status of your position. Not this time.
The result of the performance put on by you, your ministers and chief medical tyrant on Dec. 8, purposely does harm to the people you have sworn to represent and were elected to serve and protect. This last event disqualifies you from honourable; you’ve now graduated to criminal.  All your colleagues are just as guilty.
Thankfully, you dropped any pretense of “following the science” and are now sticking to the “narrative”, the real purpose we were informed by Mr. Shandro: to change people’s behavior and keep them isolated.
As you so eloquently expressed, Canada has a constitution and charter that protects our God-given rights and freedoms. Yet you trampled all over those rights with this latest set of restrictions. Shame on you and all who are going along with this horrid psychological warfare against the citizens of the world.
Do you really believe that the globalists have the best interest of Canadians, let alone Albertans, in mind? You say the right words, that you have their best interest in your decisions, but you act differently. There will be a day of reckoning for this evil, there always is. You’ve already stepped over the line, however, it’s not too late to rectify the situation.
Our neighbors to the south have two heroes who have actually followed the science and set their States free. Ron DeSantis gave a factual presentation when he opened up Florida. Perhaps you can view it and learn. Kristi Noem simply did what was right from the beginning and never locked up.
A virus infection with a recovery rate of 99.97 (less dangerous than the average flu) does not qualify as a pandemic. You know it,  Hinshaw knows it, Tam knows it, Trudeau knows it, as does anyone with their eyes open. This is not a medical issue…it is a political issue.
You can be Canada’s hero. You’ve already said the right things; it’s time to do the right thing. This charade has gone on long enough. Dig deep and see if you still have a conscience.
You know what is right;  question is, will you actually stand up for it?
Marc Presseau,
Forestburg