ECA Review - 2019-05-16

More documents

Recommendations

Info

4 M ay 16'19 Ha NNa /CORONa TION/STETTLER, a B. ECa REVIEW EDITORIAL Pawns to gain power, rather than citizens to serve Brenda Schimke ECA Review “The alarming and protracted bias of perceived guilt across the senior levels of governments has been quite damaging and the emotional and financial impacts of the entire ordeal have taken a toil”, said Vice-Admiral Mark Norman after the Crown stayed charges against him for breach of trust. Norman had been charged with leaking privileged cabinet discussions relating to the procurement of a Naval supply ship. He was suspended from his job on January 16, 2017 but will now be reinstated. “ Sadly for Vice-admiral Norman, the Conservative triad had this information since their time in government which was long before any charges were laid in 2017. Norman’s anger today is directed at Prime Minister Trudeau and other senior officials in the government. Hundreds of requests by his defence lawyer for government documents were denied as ‘privileged’. This case clearly shows the vulnerability of individuals being charged by the Crown and not having access to privileged information important to proving their innocence. It was a two-and-a-half year ordeal for Norman and his family. The charges were stayed when the Crown received new information from the defence team. The prosecutors still say Vice- Admiral Norman’s behaviour was “inappropriate” from what would be expected of a civil servant in a highranking position. But the takeaway for the Crown prosecutors and the RCMP is they have again under-minded their credibility through self-inflicted incompetence. Judicial credibility is absolute for democracies to stay legitimate. Crown prosecutors and the RCMP need a dose of wise discernment when deciding to criminally charge civil servants. “ OPINION Did the breach of trust threaten our national security or did it primarily cause embarrassment to a government? Vice-Admiral Norman deserved discipline, even demotion. His actions were unethical and, yes, breached the confidentiality of his position, but it did not rise to the level of a protracted, costly court battle. Norman is angry at the Crown prosecutors, the RCMP, the Liberal Government, and who would blame him? But on reflection he may turn much of that anger towards three former Conservative cabinet ministers: Peter MacKay, Erin O’Toole and Jason Kenney. The Crown prosecutors never released the source or content of the new information. But the Conservative triad named above was out flooding the air waves shortly thereafter saying they had met with and had given the defence team new information a few weeks before. Sadly for Vice-Admiral Norman, the Conservative triad had this information since their time in government which was long before any charges were laid in 2017. Looking at it objectively, the triad really didn’t care about Vice- Admiral Norman as a person otherwise they would have ensured he had this information when first charged. Today, it’s obvious the triad, which included our Premier, seemed to only care about using Vice-Admiral Norman to further their political agenda and deliver a timely blow to Prime Minister Trudeau five months before an election. The triad all plead innocence by saying, “the RCMP and the Crown Prosecutors never contacted them.” That’s equivalent to students watching, and not reporting, two kids fighting and when they, too, get suspended, parents argue, “but they weren’t fighting so why are they suspended?” It’s a lesson on personal responsibility—inaction can be as guilty as action. Not taking this information to Vice- Admiral Norman years ago further reflects on our new age politicians which see citizens as pawns used to gain power, rather than citizens to serve. Today we know Vice-Admiral Norman and his family never needed to suffer for two-and-a-half years but for Kenney, MacKay and O’Toole’s self-centered decisions to withhold information until the election year. The opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinions of this newspaper. No one left to care Dear Editor, We are fully aware of the financial impact on the County’s revenue stream of the impending changes/closure of the Westmoreland Coal Mine and the Battle River Generating Station, and of the high abandonment rate of oil and gas production facilities. We also understand the benefits of attracting WECS (Wind Energy Conversion System) to the county with regard to the financial contribution they provide. We have lived comfortably and peacefully in the County of Paintearth for 33 years, plus, with few concerns. We have always believed that administration and council were interested in protecting the interests of residents and ratepayers, and in upholding the principles outlined in the Code of Conduct, and represented in the Municipal Development Plan. We believed council when they told us that growth and development included creating an attractive home for young families. We invited our children to return here to live. We believed council when they vowed to protect the unique and beautiful natural landscapes this county is gifted with. We believed council when they invited us to participate in the decisions that would impact our quality of life in significant ways. In the past eight years, we have watched, first with excitement, then with hesitation, and now with dread as the county council and administration open our county to wind energy developments. What began as a collaborative process has become divisive and offensive. Council and administration have willingly turned the lives and futures of residents over to developers like Greengate Energy, Capital Power, and more. MAIL BAG Instead of standing up and fighting to protect the rights of residents, and the bounty of this land and environment, council and administration have sold out. Instead of insisting on compliance with bylaws and the Municipal Development Plan, council and administration have come up with new and creative ways to contravene these standards, and to justify their efforts. The County of Paintearth would rather spend tens of thousands of dollars on high powered lawyers to defend their right to sell us out, than to spend one hour working to bring parties together and to find resolution and solutions that would meet everyone’s needs. When approached with respect, councillors and administration respond with derision and insult. When presented with facts, councillors and administration deny accountability and choose to hide behind bluster. We have asked council and administration to stand behind the principles and values that have made the County of Paintearth an enjoyable and prosperous place to live. We have asked them to honour their own written standards and policies. The current leadership of the County of Paintearth has assured one truth. We will choose to leave. Our neighbours will choose to leave. Our children and their families will choose to leave. What was once a thriving and attractive part of Alberta will become all but abandoned, and the council and administration will no longer have to stand before their peers and make up justification for their actions. No one will be here to care. Carmen Felzien, County of Paintearth resident REast Central Alberta EVIEW Published by Coronation Review Limited LETTERS POLICY • Letters to the Editor are welcomed • Must be signed and a phone number included so the writer’s identity can be verified. • ECA Review reserves the right to edit letters for legal considerations, taste and brevity. Letters and columns submitted are not necessarily the opinion of this newspaper. MEMBER OF: JOYCE WEBSTER Publisher/Editor publisher@ECAreview.com BRENDA SCHIMKE Editorial Writer YVONNE THULIEN Manager office@ECAreview.com LISA MYERS-SORTLAND Graphic Artist Office Hours Mon. - Fri. 9 am - 5 pm Subscriptions: $42.00 in Canada; $74.20 in US; $135.15 Overseas. (All prices include GST) 4921 - Victoria Avenue Tel. (403) 578-4111 Mail: Box 70, Coronation, AB Canada, T0C 1C0 Website ECAreview.com BONNY WILLIAMS Circulation Manager TERRI HUXLEY Reporter 587-321-0030 news1@ECAreview.com GAYLE JARAWAY Marketing 403-578-4111 advertise@ECAreview.com JUDY WALGENBACH Marketing 403-740-2492 marketing@ECAreview.com
ECA REVIEW HANNA/CORONATION/STETTLER, AB M A y 16'19 5 PAINTEARTH COUNTY COUNCIL Fire bylaw concerns raised by Deputy Chief Terri Huxley ECA Review County of Paintearth Council had some more consideration towards the proposed fire bylaw after Coronation Fire Department Deputy Chief Chris Brearley sent a letter expressing concerns. He felt that the county fire departments should have been consulted first to share their own suggestions before the bylaw was put forward. He was also worried that the effects of this bylaw may discourage residents from calling in a fire because of “ the financial burden that may come attached. “This has already been seen on a number of occasions and will inevitably become a bigger problem and is only a matter of time before someone in the community gets hurt or the damage to land and infrastructure is much greater by trying to fight and control a fire themselves,” said Brearley in his letter. Mutual aid agreements between municipalities was also mentioned. He said that the charges attached to sending out a County of Paintearth area department has a “bearing on whether fire departments in the County of Paintearth are being called on to assist or not.” To alleviate this, he suggested the county consider a mutual aid agreement where neither party sends a bill out. Although good points were raised, CAO Simpson did encourage the bylaw to come into play sooner rather than later due to the fire season already becoming apparent. Council was also encouraged to chat with ratepayers about the bylaw before they make a final decision. Governing questions County of Paintearth resident Carmen Felzien came to council with a few questions regarding the logistics surrounding governance and wind power projects in the area with the focus of creating dialog between herself and council. The Municipal Development Plan I’m trying to discover council’s understanding and interpretation of the legislative regime. - CARMEN FELZIEN (MDP) was a recurring theme at the meeting held on May 7 as its job is to achieve beneficial economic development and to maintain and improve the quality of the environment without infringing on individual rights. “I’m trying to discover council’s understanding and interpretation of the legislative regime,” began Felzien. She mentioned a few sections from the Municipal Government Act including the purposes, powers and capacity of municipalities section. “The purposes of a municipality are to provide good government, to foster the well being of the environment and among other things to develop and maintain safe and viable communities,” she said. Felzien also brought up a legislative resolution surrounding wind energy projects and their effect within counties. “Again that is setback distances, we “ are talking about currently existing environmental requirements for AUC approval so my question is: How does council demonstrate leadership in your commitment to this resolution?” Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Michael Simpson replied “Leadership is demonstrated through advocacy which we have done. Council has put a resolution forward to the RMA (Rural Municipality Association). They’ve taken it forward to their peers. They’ve had it vetted there. They passed it forward to the province.” He mentioned that the week prior to the council meeting, the Canadian Wind Energy Association called the county to ask if the CAO or Reeve would offer an endorsement on the benefits of wind energy. “You have the power to ask council to do those advocacy actions and primarily its been adversarial. Council is probably your biggest ally in the fight for change when it comes to higher levels of government,” said CAO Simpson. Felzien agreed, “That is my objective coming today because we are actually all asking for exactly the same thing. We are asking for council to demonstrate leadership on these very items and I’m just asking how council sees as demonstrating that.” The CAO brought up concerns of truly pursuing advocacy as there are large dollar amounts associated with it well as considering what the majority of taxpayers want. “It comes with a price,” said CAO Simpson. Felzien’s presentation was concluded after 10 minutes. Agriculture project aims to diversify and draw investment The Battle River Alliance for Economic Development (BRAED) has asked council for $6,900 towards a new initiative in the region which they have decided to give. BRAED hopes to create diversity within the area when it comes to agricultural practices by pursuing areas such as meat processing, pet and animal food, and functional foods. A study was conducted in 2017 to find these fields of opportunity. So far, five different municipalities or large organizations have contributed $10,000 each towards the project while the MD of Wainwright contributed $1,800. They recently received a $90,500 grant to continue their value-added agricultural work. For the fourth phase, two large projects are expected to get underway. This includes lead generation which involves business visitation packages, fact sheet and investor meetings. The second is listening and learning by doing an in depth plant protein opportunity analysis and targeted marketing collateral. Other 2019 goals are to do an in depth research of the pan-prairie protein supercluster to understand what the national, international and industry-backed associations are looking for in terms of product, site selection, and markets. “It’s a worthwhile cause,” said Coun. Diane Elliott. Brownfield School sit in Grades 4 to 7 students visited the County of Paintearth council chambers to sit in to watch their local government in action and ask a few questions afterward. Many great questions were asked and answered after the first delegation was conducted. They were in attendance for approximately an hour and a half. Nothing “virtuous” about an empty refrigerator Dear Editor, The Trudeau Socialist virtue signalling continues with the rolling out of a five thousand buck subsidy for the purchase of an electric car. This move ignores the reality that there could never be enough electricity available to power a nationalized fleet of these vehicles anyway. People’s homes would be forced into unheated darkness and food supplies would go the way of the last days in the old Soviet Union, long before even an appreciable fraction of Canada’s vehicles could be electric. Agricultural tractors and equipment could never derive enough electrical battery power to operate in the fields. Only diesel fuel can generate the necessary horsepower to perform agricultural work or transport food and products. It takes a lot of environmental extremist logic to scrap the modern highly efficient internal combustion engine and saddle already struggling families with the consequences. How much more of Trudeau’s virtue signalling can Canadians possibly afford? Along with his deliberate intent to vilify and eventually choke out the Alberta and Saskatchewan petroleum industry in the name of MAIL BAG environmentalism, Trudeau is setting this country on an irreversible path of great regret. He believes any possible consequences are worth it as long as Quebec’s hydroelectric industry is the chief benefactor. I do not expect a privileged trust fund millionaire like Trudeau, or a CBC glorified welfare recipient-fruit fly specialist like David Suzuki to go out and actually acquire some education in thermodynamics, but would strongly suggest that voters at least think clearly about who they choose to follow. Do you believe Trudeau is about to actually “walk the walk”? Not a chance! He will continue to “talk his talk” while the little people suffer and pay. This shallow-minded, arrogant, egomaniac believes the world is going to follow his example. Even if Canadians do choose to follow him again, I think the world has pretty much clued in about Canada’s national clown. There is nothing “virtuous” about an empty refrigerator with no power for it to function anyhow. Lee Hudson Calgary, Alta. More letters to the editor on page 6 Business Directory Eavestroughing by Allison Construction Veteran, AB 403-575-1293 Bill’s Waterwell Services Well Drilling Ltd. Pumps & Repairs Well 403-747-2120 Drilling drillerbill@xplornet.com Pumps & Repairs 403-747-2120 drillerbill@xplornet.com Wecker PLUMBING & HEATING LTD. • Plumbing • Gas Fitting • Air Conditioning • Sheet Metal • Commercial Refrigeration Serving the Big Country (403) 854-4774 Centre Street Hanna, AB Castor Sheet Metal Plumbing Heating & A/C Furnace Repair 403-882-3388 S. Barnes Trucking For Livestock Hauling Call Stan Barnes Res 403 578 3265 Cell 403 575 5264 DAVID’S TREE SERVICE - tree pruning - tree removal - height reducing - hedge shaping - I.S.A. Certified info@ davidthetreeguy.com 403.741.9635 Big Country Construction & Building Supplies Ltd. • Custom New Homes •All Farm Buildings • Renovations • Windows and Doors • Overhead Doors & Service • Retail Sales Quality Customer Care 403-854-3585 AUTO BODY REPAIR LTD. Quality Collision Repair and Professional Service… Guaranteed! Find out more about us at: www.brennanautobody.com Phone: 403-742-3555 4109 - 48 Avenue, Stettler UNLIMITED HIGH‐SPEED INTERNET Now Serving: Coronation, Fleet, Talbot, Brownfield, & Veteran. More to come! Plans starting at $50/mo. Packages from 5 to 25Mbps 403.578.4214 Service Wise - We Specialize 403-742-5237 Stettler, AB Rent this space for as Kikel little as Meat Packers $20/week. Government Inspected Abattoir RR #2 Bashaw, AB Ponoka Call County 403-578-4111 424008 780 372 2178
Page 1 and 2: BLACK BULL Dine-In Pasta Special Ev
Page 3: ECA REVIEW HANNA/CORONATION/STETTLE
Page 7 and 8: ECA REVIEW HANNA/CORONATION/STETTLE
Page 11 and 12: SPORTS ECA REVIEW HANNA/CORONATION/
Page 13 and 14: FEATURE / REAL ESTATE, HOMES ECA RE

ECA Review - 2019-05-16

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?