ECA Review 2023-03-09

More documents

Recommendations

Info

6 March 9'23 HANNA/CORONATION/STETTLER, AB. ECA REVIEW OPINION The opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinions of this newspaper. MAIL BAG Resident of Bashaw says town is not racist Dear Editor, How distressing the one-sided media coverage of the issues surrounding the “Bear Hills Wellness Centre” proposal in Bashaw have become. I have lived in or around Bashaw for 43 years and have found this community welcoming, caring and tolerant. The current media coverage emphasizes this situation as a racial issue but I do not believe that is at all true. The initial proposal described the facility and program as an “addiction treatment facility” serving Indigenous families with substance abuse issues. Mysteriously it became a “wellness centre.” The location is adjacent to residential housing and only one block from a K-12 school. How unfortunate that Bashaw has been painted as prejudicial and discriminatory when actually we are not. Margaret Baier Bashaw, Alta. Editor’s note: There has been some controversy on social media and elsewhere whether the Bear Hills Wellness Centre was ever referred to as “rehab” or whether addictions programs were ever mentioned as possibly being part of Bear Hills Wellness Centre. Readers may benefit from this excerpt from a June 20, 2021 story by LJI reporter Stu Salkeld about the Bear Hills Wellness Centre’s first denial at Bashaw town council. In this excerpt one of the property owners, Dr. Tony Muccarione, himself refers to the proposed centre as a rehabilitation program. Later in the story the other property owner, James Carpenter, himself mentioned Young Spirit Winds (YSW) program which on the website www.drugrehab.ca describes YSW as “Maskwacis Young Spirit Winds Society provides addiction treatment to adolescents of the First Nation; they aim to help them become healthier and sober.” June 20, 2021 ECA Story: What began as a delegation to Bashaw town council requesting permission to accommodate a First Nations family rehab program ended with one of the applicants accusing town councillors of racism. The incident occurred at the June 17 regular meeting of council. Dr. Tony Mucciaroni and James Carpenter spoke to council via Zoom on behalf of the Bashaw Retreat Centre located at 5340 51a Street, asking that councillors approve a plan to host First Nations family rehab programs at the centre. In a letter dated June 17 Mucciaroni stated, “Presently there is a proposal to work with Indigenous people from Maskwacis for a rehabilitation program. This program would involve temporary housing while in the rehabilitation program and sometimes family members will be involved with this.” Carpenter stated he and Mucciaroni are working with a group from Maskwacis called Young Spirit Winds Society which offers a day program for First Nations youth aged 12 to 17 which helps them work through addictions and other issues and Young Spirit Winds is developing a familybased program to compliment the youth one. No Canadian culture without free speech Dear Editor: The Trudeau government will stop at nothing to control what Canadians see online. Through Bill C-11, the government is seeking to expand the mandate of the CRTC so that unelected bureaucrats will have the power to define and regulate what counts as “Canadian content” on the Internet. Bill C-11 would effectively leave it in the hands of these content gatekeepers to promote certain types of content while throttling content the government doesn’t like. Clearly, this legislation undermines Canadians’ fundamental rights and freedoms and puts their civil liberties at risk. The passage of Bill C-11 would enable government censorship. Trudeau and his ministers have tried to brush away Canadians’ concerns by claiming that the bill would support Canadian culture and “level the playing field” for Canadian content creators. MAIL BAG However, these claims fall completely flat in the face of evidence that it would do the exact opposite. By forcing platforms like Youtube and Spotify to favour nationality over engagement, online creators in Canada risk limiting their reach to global audiences, have viewership drastically reduced and their content demoted. Canadians can decide for themselves what they want to watch or listen to. This is not a problem that needs fixing, regardless of what Liberals and busybody bureaucrats may tell us. One thing is clear, there is no Canadian culture without free speech. Bill C-11’s supposed attempt to protect the former by limiting the latter is not only misguided but dangerous. With the bill currently back for consideration in the House of Commons, Conservatives will continue to fight to ensure its defeat and protect free speech for Canadians. Damien C. Kurek, M.P. Battle River—Crowfoot VIEWPOINT Canada has the potential to be a natural-gas powerhouse by Lisa Baiton Canada’s natural gas producers and supporters have long touted that a strong liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector could provide two critical benefits: Canada would benefit economically by diversifying our buyers, and second, lower emissions Canadian LNG could potentially displace emissions intense coal consumption in Asia and help lower world emissions. With the advent of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there is a third reason to support exporting Canadian gas to international markets: increased energy security for Canada’s allies. Those skeptical of these claims can look no further than the trade mission to Canada by Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Kushida’s visit – not unlike German Chancellor Olaf Schulz before him – to Canada was accompanied by what should be an uncontroversial ask: Kushida wants to replace their Russian natural gas imports with LNG imports from Canada. Turn to Unlock, Pg 7 R R R R R Published by Coronation Review Limited Subscriptions: $52.50 in Canada; $98.70 in US; $183.75 Overseas. 72 pt East Central Alberta EVIEW 60 pt 48 pt 36 pt Website ECAreview.com Office Hours Mon. - Fri. 9 am - 5 pm R 30 pt 4921 - Victoria Avenue Tel. (403) 578-4111 R 24 pt Mail: Box 70, Coronation, AB Canada, T0C 1C0 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: Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. JOYCE WEBSTER Publisher/Editor publisher@ECAreview.com YVONNE THULIEN Marketing/Digital 403-575-9474 advertise@ECAreview.com STU SALKELD LJI Reporter 403-741-2615 reporter@ECAreview.com JUDY WALGENBACH Marketing 403-740-2492 marketing@ECAreview.com VERONICA MILLER Multi-media Marketing 403-857-8046 contact@ECAreview.com LISA MYERS-SORTLAND Graphic Artist R 18 pt
VIEWPOINTS ECA REVIEW HANNA/CORONATION/STETTLER, AB MARCH 9'23 7 FRIENDS OF MEDICARE Government will accelerate health care privatization in Alberta The Governments of Canada and Alberta announced an agreement in principle for increased federal health funding on Feb. 27. The agreement states some good shared goals, but it is concerning that there are no strings or accountability measures attached to this new federal money. “There is no doubt that our provincial public health care “ system is in need of more support right now, but new federal dollars must come with accountability measures and strings attached to ensure that it goes where patients need it,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare. “Our Premier should not be handed a blank cheque to be used to accelerate their plans for further privatization. Unfortunately, that’s what we saw with today’s agreement in principle.” Premier Smith, Health Minister Copping and AHS Administrator Dr. Cowell also provided a 90-day update on their Health Care Action Plan this afternoon. The plan continues to prioritize expanding the use of private, for-profit surgical centres, rather than supporting and strengthening our public health care system. “The government’s slogan right now is ‘Help is on the Way,’ but what was made clear by this afternoon’s press conference is that an election is on the way,” said Gallaway. “The government knows that health care is a top issue for Albertans. What we saw in today’s update was a list of cherry-picked stats in an attempt to “Over 30 hospitals and health care facilities across the province are currently facing repeated temporary closures due to ongoing staffing shortages, and any expansion of private, forprofit facilities is only going to make our staffing challenges worse. Reach your customers in our March 16 Salute to our Agriculture Industry - CHRIS GALLAWAY FARM SAFETY &HEALTH issue contact: Judy cell 403-740-2492 marketing@ECAreview.com Yvonne 403-575-9474 advertise@ECAreview.com Veronica 403-857-8046 contact@ECAreview.com change the channel on the government’s disastrous health care record, and a doubling down of their plans to plow ahead with privatization in surgeries, in Emergency Medical Services, and more.” Friends of Medicare and others have repeatedly spoken out at length about the problems with the government’s Alberta Surgical Initiative and their unfounded claims that privatization will improve surgical wait times. Albertans have already witnessed how handing public health care funding over to for-profit surgical facilities will ultimately leave our public system to pick up the pieces. “I don’t know who Premier Smith has been talking to to suggest that Alberta’s health care system is no longer in crisis, but that is not what we’ve been hearing from Albertans, and certainly not from front line health care workers,” continued Gallaway. “Over 30 hospitals and health care facilities across the province are currently facing repeated temporary closures due to ongoing staffing shortages, and any expansion of private, for-profit facilities is only going to make our staffing challenges worse. “Opening for-private surgical centres doesn’t create more surgeons, nurses or anesthesiologists, it simply pulls them out of the public health care system.” “ Business Directory Big Country Construction & Building Supplies 2018 Ltd. • Custom New Homes • All Farm Buildings • Renovations • Windows and Doors • Overhead Doors & Service • Retail Sales Quality Customer Care 403-854-3585 Bill’s Waterwell Services Ltd. Well Drilling Pumps & Repairs 403-747-2120 drillerbill@xplornet.com Unlock full potential Cont’d from Pg 6 Canada, for its part, seems to agree that the proposal makes sense, with Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson highlighting the progress on LNG Canada and advocating for a further strengthening of the energy relationship between Canada and Japan. For a country like Japan with minimal domestic gas production, a reliable natural gas supply is critical to its energy security. Japan imports more than 100 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas per year, and, according to the IEA, these imports make up 90 per cent of their domestic consumption. With the need to secure natural gas access being so central to energy security in Japan, it is little wonder why Japanese companies are financial stakeholders in LNG export facilities all around the world. These partnerships include Japan’s involvement in Russia’s Sakhalin 2 LNG project north of Japan in the Sea of Okhotsk, which is likely seen as necessary to secure future supply. Canada, which currently produces over 150 bcm of natural gas annually, presents an obvious solution to Japan’s gas needs. And Kishida’s proposal reflects this. His hope is to replace the approximately nine per cent (nine bcm) of Russian gas currently imported from Russia with gas from Canada. The Japan-Canada LNG connection is, in many ways, the ideal match even beyond the obvious gas market synergies. Both countries have strong existing bonds, highlighted by integrated economies and similar value systems. But Canada has other significant advantages to serving the Japanese LNG market that other exporters do not share. First, Canada’s west coast is closer to Japan than American export facilities. This reduced distance means reduced transport costs and lower associated emissions. It would also allow the American LNG industry to continue to serve European markets and reduce Japanese dependency on LNG exports from Qatar and Oman, LNG that could be rerouted to satisfy growing European and more easterly Asian demand. There also exists a direct business UNLIMITED HIGH‐SPEED INTERNET Now Serving: Coronation, Veteran, Talbot, Brownfield, Alliance, Fleet, Castor, Halkirk, Botha, & Stettler areas. More to come! Plans starting at $50/mo. Packages from 7 to 50Mbps 403-578-4214 Toll Free 866.57.VITAL connection between Japan and Canada: the Mitsubishi Corporation is a partner in LNG Canada – Canada’s largest LNG facility currently under construction – owning 15 per cent of the project. That means it has a strong commitment to Canada’s emerging LNG industry – and is committed to the long-term success of LNG Canada, which is expected to operate well into the mid-21st century. LNG projects and their associated offtake agreements are, by nature, long-term. Late last year Germany – which also asked Canada for natural gas – recently entered a 15-year agreement with Qatar to supply LNG, and Japan entered a 20-year commitment to purchase LNG from a facility in Louisiana. If Japan and Canada can finalize a similar deal, we could be the reliable long-term provider of natural gas they need. In a world where energy and natural gas demand is only expected to grow, such a deal would lend strong support for the continued development of LNG export facilities along Canada’s west coast. It could transform Canada’s LNG industry and grow our standing and influence in our capacity to provide the world with the natural gas it requires. A notable example is the approval and expansion of the LNG Canada facility; building the second phase of the project would allow the facility to double its exports to 28 million tons and, in turn, mean that Canada could satisfy even more world natural gas demand. Canada has an economic opportunity to provide gas to the world and a meaningful opportunity to lessen Russia’s energy influence abroad. We can simultaneously meet our friend’s energy needs and grow Canada’s geopolitical influence. Prime Minister Kushida’s ask should be taken seriously by Canadians. We have the potential to be a natural gas super-power, the world knows this, and they simply just want us to unlock our full potential. Lisa Baiton is President and CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. © Troy Media space available for under $30 CAN'T SEE OUT? Option #1 Replace the Foggy Unit Option #2 Replace the window Financing Available Anchor Glass 403-854-4414 • 1-800-463-3148 www.anchorglass.ab.ca tim@anchorglass.ab.ca
Page 1 and 2: Rivercrest EASTER SERVICES times &
Page 3 and 4: ECA REVIEW HANNA/CORONATION/STETTLE
Page 5: ECA REVIEW HANNA/CORONATION/STETTLE
Page 13 and 14: AGRICULTURE STETTLER COUNTY ECA REV
Page 15 and 16: CAREERS ECA REVIEW HANNA/CORONATION

ECA Review 2023-03-09

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

Delete template?

Save as template?