Mirror, mirror on the wall.
Remember when our provincial government said it would listen to the concerns of its citizens - on health care; education; budget; environment; political parties in local governments; civil rights; rules governing professional bodies; Alberta Pension Plan; unpaid oil and gas bills to local municipalities; endangered species; provincial police force; emergency centres for victims of domestic violence; victim services, etc.?
The latest news is that Alberta has agreed to allow an Australian coal mining company to proceed with coal mining operations on the Eastern Slopes despite widespread opposition to such development. How much money was involved behind closed doors? So much for listening, eh?
I guess our premier listens to herself. “Mirror! Mirror on the Wall. Who should I listen to most of all?
The mirror replies, “Why, you of course!”
How about Alberta health care? Our premier proposes creating four separate health care bureaucracies instead of one. Each with its own CEO, advisors, secretaries, etc. Hmm? Who will be the head of each body? Friends, relatives and associates of our premier? You know. Like President Donald Trump appointing relatives and friends to key government positions. Not based on merit but on nepotism and cronyism.
Education: I’ve been waiting (June 12, 2024) for Alberta’s finance minister to provide me with information about funding for private schools and for private businesses and on the status of the Heritage Trust Fund. Why so little compared to Alaska and to Norway’s trust funds?
Why did Alberta usurp the teachers’ pension fund and the pension funds of public servants? To cover for Alberta’s mismanagement of AIMCO? Is that why our premier is pushing for an Alberta Pension Plan to inject money into the provincial budget? If Alberta’s government can’t manage the Heritage Trust Fund, started with one billion dollars way back in the 1976, and now it’s “only worth” $22 billion, why should Albertans politicians with their money?
Does Alberta provide a quarterly report on its finances, like banks and corporations do with their shareholders? How much is spent on sending MLAs on three and four day junkets to the States or elsewhere? How much is spent in creating “mini” embassies in Washington, DC, in Texas, and in other states and countries?
Have Albertans heard that hunters will be allowed to hunt endangered animals - grizzly bears, cougars, wolves, river otters, wolverines, bobcats, etc. - despite evidence that some species might cease to exist within a few years. Like with coal mining operations, a few select people/businesses get to destroy our environment and our endangered wildlife. Who cares, eh? Money talks.
Despite condemnation from municipal governments, Alberta will allow political parties to run candidates for municipal government positions. What next? Political parties running professional bodies, like for engineers, teachers, doctors, pilots, etc.? Allow politicians to determine the competence and qualifications for engineers, pilots, police officers, doctors, teachers, etc? Has Alberta become a “Nanny State”?
Ever hear of red tape reduction? Who runs it? How much does it cost to operate it? What “red tape” has been cut? Who benefits and who loses? Under Trump, regulations pertaining to airlines were cut. Results? The Boeing scandal. Environmental regulations were also cut, and Trump promises to do even more cuts to the environment when he takes office again. Money talks.
Alberta has passed legislation pertaining to gays and to transgender folks. Are we seeing legislation legalizing discrimination? If so, have we forgotten that at one time, women were considered property not humans. They were not allowed to vote, to hold office or to work outside of the home, and they were prohibited from entering into most professions.
In the U.S., laws were passed legalizing discrimination against Jews, like the Nazis did in Germany in the 1930s, Irish Catholics, Mormons, blacks, Indians/Indigenous peoples, Asians, gays, migrants, immigrants, etc. Are we becoming part of “red state” America?
How about slavery? After all, for centuries politicians and religious organizations supported slavery. The same for segregation. The same for “sundown towns”. The same for Black Codes. The same for share cropping. The same for Jim Crow Laws. Yes, Virginia, politicians have legalized discrimination in the past, and now we’re seeing in America (in several red states) laws discriminating against women (not allowing for legal abortions; birth control pills; morning after pills).
Banning or attempting to ban vaccinations - is that why we are seeing the rise of infectious diseases again in America?. Banning discussions of racism, bigotry and persecution in the public schools. Banning books in classrooms and libraries. What’s next? Banning hair styles and clothing styles? Banning movies and novels? Oops! They did those things in the 1950s and 1960s?
Is Alberta heading in the same direction?
In Missouri, Texas and Oklahoma politicians, with the help from the clergy, have passed legislation forcing public schools to use the Bible despite violating the U.S. constitution’s “separation of church and state.”
“Some” politicians and clergy in Alberta want to ban MAID. Yes, Martha, some folks want to deny people’s rights to determine their own destines. “Father knows what’s best for us”. Alberta is even considering using “the not withstanding clause”in the Canadian Constitution to implement discrimination.
Has discrimination become fashionable in Alberta? Will Albertans have a chance to vote on such matters? Has Alberta become the 51 state - a red state like Texas, Missouri, or Oklahoma? President Trump and his MAGA crowd would love to see Canada break up.
George Thatcher,
Olds
