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6 M a r c h 9 ' 1 7 C o r o n a t i o n / S t e t t l e r , A b . E C A r e v i e w<br />
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Published by<br />
Coronation<br />
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ON THE OTHER HAND<br />
Wow! Property<br />
Rights restored?<br />
by Brenda Schimke<br />
When and how did we, the ordinary<br />
working-class citizen, adopt the belief<br />
system that government regulations<br />
are bad for us? We didn’t believe it in<br />
the 1970s when middle class prosperity<br />
was growing. Yet by the dawn of the<br />
21st century most people identifying<br />
themselves as conservatives have<br />
become believers of this corporatesponsored<br />
myth.<br />
“<br />
Fair and appropriate<br />
regulations ensure a<br />
functioning market<br />
economy which supports<br />
free enterprise as it<br />
protects people, living<br />
things, property rights and<br />
the environment from<br />
corporate abuses.<br />
We’ve been sold a false bill of goods.<br />
Corporations and the powerful lobby<br />
groups representing the richest of the<br />
rich had the money and resources to<br />
bombard us with this myth until we<br />
embraced it as our value.<br />
I have attended Alberta Surface<br />
Rights Association meetings where<br />
much time is spent discussing abandoned<br />
toxic well sites, pushy land<br />
agents, polluted drinking and surface<br />
water, corporation’s expropriation<br />
rights, the industry-bias Alberta<br />
Surface Rights Board, inadequate compensation,<br />
private property rights, and<br />
water wells being damaged by<br />
fracking.<br />
Yet those attending these meetings<br />
are often the same ones who support<br />
<br />
“<br />
MAIL BAG<br />
72 pt<br />
East Central Alberta<br />
EVIEW<br />
60 pt<br />
48 pt<br />
36 pt<br />
v i e w p o i n t s<br />
right-wing political parties that<br />
demonize government regulations.<br />
Karen Johnson, Acting Property<br />
Rights Advocate, said in her annual<br />
report that the current land use legislation<br />
is geared towards facilitating oil<br />
and gas development.<br />
She would be the first Advocate not<br />
to lose her appointment by making<br />
such a public statement. She goes on to<br />
suggest that Alberta property rights<br />
framework (i.e. regulations) needs to<br />
be modernized.<br />
“Often a landowner has no choice<br />
but to tolerate the activities of an<br />
operator even when rent has not<br />
been paid for years”, wrote Johnson<br />
in her annual report. “A landowner<br />
should be able to impose meaningful<br />
penalties such as eviction for noncompliant<br />
operators.” Wow,<br />
property rights restored!<br />
Lax regulations on any corporatedominated<br />
industry are simply<br />
another tax-funded corporate<br />
handout. When all is said and done,<br />
private citizens always turn to the<br />
government to bail them out when<br />
corporations stop paying the bills<br />
and leave environmental messes on<br />
private property.<br />
Freedom and democracy requires<br />
the government to play the vital role of<br />
providing a level playing field. Fair<br />
and appropriate regulations ensure a<br />
functioning market economy which<br />
supports free enterprise as it protects<br />
people, living things, property rights<br />
and the environment from corporate<br />
abuses.<br />
Next time a politician carte blanche<br />
says regulations are bad, ask which<br />
ones he/she is specifically referring to<br />
and why?<br />
Surely most landowners would<br />
wholeheartedly agree with Advocate<br />
Karen Johnson and applaud any<br />
changes made to strengthen regulations<br />
protecting our property rights.<br />
Totally disgusted<br />
Dear Editor<br />
I am responding to a letter in your<br />
paper from last week. I am totally disgusted<br />
with the Clearview School<br />
Boards reaction to a child with<br />
Autism.<br />
Why are they not willing to work<br />
with this student and his parents,<br />
instead of banning him from getting<br />
an education.<br />
They have known since he started<br />
school that he has had this disability.<br />
Now all of a sudden, because he was<br />
banned from taking an exit from a situation<br />
to which he was not able to<br />
handle, he is banned from going to<br />
school. Thus causing him more frustration<br />
and feeling discouraged.<br />
I am a grandparent of a child of<br />
Aspergers. During his school year, at<br />
times, it was very confusing for him<br />
but AT LEAST he had teachers and<br />
school staff that supported him .<br />
He has now graduated, finished<br />
cadets and is a working member of<br />
society.<br />
Maybe the board should take a<br />
lesson from him. Reinstate this child<br />
so he also can get an education.<br />
Turn to Rise, Pg 7<br />
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PRAIRIEVIEW<br />
Wealth creation<br />
by Herman Schwenk<br />
Socialists just don’t get it! They seem<br />
to think if it weren’t for the billionaires<br />
of this world, we would all be enjoying<br />
a better and equal standard of living.<br />
Their theory is that every dollar that<br />
a billionaire has accumulated and<br />
squirreled away is a dollar that was<br />
taken away from some poor soul living<br />
below the poverty line.<br />
They are convinced that if billionaires<br />
had less money the rest of us<br />
would have more.<br />
I will agree that corporate executives<br />
can be greedy. There is no way<br />
that anyone needs that kind of wealth.<br />
However, I don’t think the economy<br />
would be any different if they had far<br />
less wealth. The big problem for the<br />
rest of us, and especially the socialists,<br />
is the optics of their wealth.<br />
It just doesn’t seem fair.<br />
The simple fact is what makes the<br />
economy work in a country is the<br />
wealth creation ability of that nation.<br />
Socialists think that all a government<br />
has to do for a sound economy is<br />
to create jobs. Well, it is a futile exercise<br />
if a large number of those jobs<br />
don’t create wealth one way or<br />
another.<br />
Governments are not wealth creators,<br />
rather the services provided by<br />
government are wealth consumers.<br />
The money to provide those services<br />
has to come from somewhere.<br />
Both our federal and our provincial<br />
governments are spending large sums<br />
of money on jobs that do not create<br />
wealth .<br />
A government has to have a bureaucracy<br />
and the country has to provide<br />
infrastructure, as those are necessary<br />
services, however the money must be<br />
spent wisely.<br />
So where does the money come from<br />
to pay for these services?<br />
The majority of it does not come<br />
from the pay cheques of an overpaid<br />
bureaucracy or from implementing a<br />
new tax that will make industry even<br />
more unproductive.<br />
For a period of over 70 years the<br />
Soviet Union provided a job for every “have province”.<br />
one in the Federation but in the end<br />
Alberta Press Council<br />
Do you have a concern or<br />
complaint about a<br />
newspaper article or ad?<br />
If after bringing your<br />
concerns to the attention of<br />
this newspaper, you are not<br />
satisfied, you may contact<br />
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or toll free in Alberta at<br />
1-888-580-4104 for<br />
information.<br />
every one was living in poverty except<br />
the people that were running the<br />
government.<br />
In my opinion, it takes investorowned<br />
corporations and private<br />
industry to create the environment<br />
that will produce real wealth.<br />
Industries that develop resources<br />
and industries that manufacture goods<br />
for public consumption and export are<br />
examples of industries that produce<br />
real wealth.<br />
It is the efficiency in the production<br />
from these industries that creates the<br />
wealth for governments to derive the<br />
revenue they need to pay for government<br />
services.<br />
Competition among industries creates<br />
the efficiency for wealth creation.<br />
The reason that government-run business<br />
is inefficient is because there is no<br />
competition, so the incentive to be efficient<br />
is lacking.<br />
Governments that spend money<br />
“<br />
It takes investorowned<br />
corporations and<br />
private industry to create<br />
the environment that will<br />
produce real wealth.<br />
faster than the country can generate it,<br />
end up with deficit budgets and a stagnate<br />
economy.<br />
A good example is the Government<br />
of Ontario with its “Green Energy<br />
Act”. It has invested in an industry<br />
that has consumed wealth to the point<br />
where many of its citizens can no<br />
longer afford to pay for electricity.<br />
As a result, the province now has the<br />
highest sub-sovereign debt in the<br />
developed world. Say what you want,<br />
had the Ontario Government let the<br />
billionaire executives run the economy<br />
instead of focusing on the impossible<br />
goal of reducing C02 emissions to control<br />
climate change it would still be a<br />
Turn to Worse, Pg 12<br />
Joyce Webster<br />
Publisher/Editor<br />
publisher@ECAreview.com<br />
Yvonne Thulien<br />
Manager<br />
office@ECAreview.com<br />
Gayle Jaraway<br />
MARKETING 403-578-4111<br />
advertise@ECAreview.com<br />
Lisa Myers-sortland<br />
Graphic Artist<br />
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Circulation Manager<br />
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18 pt