An affront to democracy

Yesterday during the throne speech a page stood up during the middle of the speech holding up a small poster shaped like a stop sign that said 'Stop Harper'. Now, this young lady got her 5 minutes of fame, which is far more than she of got. But before this is put to rest, I want to add my comments about this event.

For those few people who follow my blog know that I do not like a Harper government. He has no hidden agenda, with his majority government he's going to implement as much of his neo-conservative values as he can get away with. He's going to get rid of the Canada Wheat Board - a market insturment which gives us a distinct advantage over the Americans when selling our grains. He's going to make life difficult for our national broadcaster, the CBC. He's going to cut social services in favor of tax cuts. He's going to do very little about the environment. I went to  the UofC when Harper was teaching there, there were a group of Neo-conservatives that were preaching exactly all that. Now Harper has tried to minimize these issues and make his platform about Canadian families and fiscal stewardship. Sure, he has some ideas to help families, but I would prefer that he would not gut the institutions that I as a Canadian value.

But Harper still won a majority in the last election. For now, Canadians want to give Mr Harper a try. It is up to the opposition parties and Canadians who oppose Mr Harper engage in the democratic discourse. If there is a neo-conservative plank he is trying to implement, then we need to make our voices heard. We need to ensure that the opposition puts itself in a position so that in 4 years Mr. Harper is running against someone else who is a viable alternative to become Prime Minister.

But what the page did was out of pure arrogance. She rejected the fact that Canadians actually want Mr Harper to govern and she pissed on the floor of the Senate. She sullied the honorable position and trust that are bestowed onto the young pages. She showed that she is a spoiled brat who who thinks she knows better than anyone else in Canada what is right for this country. Some people called her courageous. She afterall gave up a job serving the most powerful people in this country. But I see her as a spotlight stealer, using a position of trust to represent a point of view that did not win the last election. She is a sore loser.

Now, I have to admit, while I talk the talk of wanting to replace Harper, I haven't done much to make that a reality. I live in a very solid Conservative riding. I have to admit, I don't know right now what I can do in Red Deer to bring attention to any alternative to the Tories. I have this blog, but I am certainly not in any position to set myself up as a candidate in the next election. I don't even have a political party that speaks to my own values. Right now though, I want to focus on local issues. With a young family, this is what is near and dear to my heart. And over these 4 years hopefully my voice can be added to the opposition discourse.

The College and The City - futures intertwined?

Now, I'm not an alumni of Red Deer College (RDC), but there is no denying that the college is an important part of this city. I've been to day camps there as a kid, saw many a performance in the Arts Centre, used its library when I was in University and visiting home, know countless family and friends who have attended (and some even graduated!) and have been to community events hosted there since I have returned to the city. The recent additions are excellent (although sometimes a bit confusing to navigate) and enhance the College as an important part of our community.

The community as a whole is excited about the Donald School of Business being located in a downtown campus. Indeed, I think this is a good idea for the downtown. But I have a bigger question I can't figure out: Why do we specifically need a business school in Red Deer?

Taking a look at the classified ads in the Red Deer Advocate and it is obvious that the jobs in Red Deer centre around 3 areas - Service sector, oil & gas and trades. The Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada is predicting huge shortages of skilled workers in the oilfield. The oilfield is a very important part of Red Deer's economy. These companies in Red Deer seem to fall within two categories though - small local businesses or field offices of major international companies.

Now, marketing and accounting are good skills to have, I'm just not sure how relevant they are in a city which outsources those things to Calgary or Edmonton or beyond. There is a demand for Human Resource professionals in this city, but most companies in Red Deer only need one or two (if any) of these trained professionals. Again, a lot of the HR staff appear to come out of... Calgary or Edmonton. Maybe the College has the idea that if they train the people in Red Deer, the companies will keep them in the city. But I'm not sure that 'if you build it, they will come' will work in this situation.

Red Deer has a demand for skilled workers. But I think the demand is for the trades (something that RDC does very well already) or for technical diplomas. In Alberta, NAIT and SAIT seem to have almost a monopoly on these diplomas. But Red Deer needs these workers now and we're having to send people away to other cities for 2 years in the hope that once they complete, they'll return to Red Deer.

I think a downtown campus is a good idea, but instead of business classes, why not other social sciences? There will always be some demand for Bachelor of Arts. Ok, I'm a little biased, as a BA graduate in Sociology. But I see the Donald of School of Business training people so that they can move to other cities. And then we're shipping away students who could be employed in Red Deer to Calgary or Edmonton to be trained. It doesn't really make sense to me.

Degree granting status has been a dream of RDC and this community for years. Many people dream that RDC will someday be RDU. The current administration at the College still hopes for this, but is realistic.We're right smack in the middle of two major Universities and two smaller ones. But the diploma classes at NAIT and SAIT are always full. It would be great if the College could look at offering diplomas like Civil, Mechanical or Welding Engineering Technology. We need these jobs here and not everyone can move to attend NAIT or SAIT. And not all programs can be offered by distance.

I welcome a discussion on this. Is the Donald School of Business going to fill an important gap in this City? Or should the college be looking at other options?

Just random

You know, sometimes you just don't feel 'inspired' but discipline kicks in and you feel like you just have to write something. That's tonight. So here are some random thoughts.

Tomorrow is my son's 4th birthday. I won't post any pics of him on a public blog, but those who are friends of me on Facebook know how cute he is!

The other day the police report a possible attempted kidnapping in Blackfalds. Turns out to be a misunderstanding. Not sure how an elementary school child would misunderstand such a thing, but thankfuly, everything worked out. Probably a bit embarrassing for the accussed though.

Going to Rotary Park for Ben's birthday tomorrow. Good deal, $28 bucks to rent the picnic shelter in Rotary Park. Close to a great playground. Free firewood. Mmmm, hotdog roast.

Cloudy most of the week. The week before that we had gale force winds. Can we PLEASE see some sun?!?

The Alberta Party is electing their leader this weekend. And somehow life goes on. In related news, the Alberta Liberal Party is also having a leadership contest and again, nobody cares. Progressives need to stop just talking and actually work together to find a good leader.

We had the ultra-sound for our newest child this week. So cool to see its feet! And we got a good profile picture too.

Ben was born in Vietnam by emergency c-section. I still remember very well the first time I saw him. I shared that story to Ben tonight and he thought it was funny. Especially when I told him that the first thing he did when he saw me was stick out his tongue. There is actually quite a story about Ben's birth. I'll try and share some other post.

My wife and I are into 'How I met your Mother' DVD series. The protoganists are the same age as me, so I can relate. Except all the gratuitous sex.

Work has been busy. But at least by the end of the week, I felt I had crossed more off my list than what I started with. Now comes next week!

Ok, I think that's good for my random thoughts tonight. Going to go watch How I met your Mother. And then tomorrow, its a 4 year old birthday party!

City Hall Open House - A chance to participate

Democracy is much more than elections. It is about participation, about getting involved in your community. One of the easiest ways to get involved is at the municipal level. The politicians and decision makers are much accessible. Red Deer is doing a good job at ensuring that our local decision makers are accessible and the City Hall Open House (On May 18, 2011) is a great example of this.

It was obvious that they planned for a small event and they got a small crowd. But this did ensure that City Hall staff, councilors, managers and the Mayor were easily accessible. I wish more people would participate in these events. Its a great opportunity to learn more about how our city operates. And some staff were genuinely there to listen to feedback. Its a place to ensure your voice is heard.

Red Deer has so much going for it. Its easy to get around, it has amazing recreation facilities and the infrastructure is kept in pretty good shape. I was able to share this tonight with city staff and counselors. I found out why we are still stuck with a city hall that was built for a city of 40,000 people. My wife was amazed that 36% of the city's budget is spent on policing and emergency services. And city staff, like myself are very proud of our park system.

I had an interesting discussion with another citizen who wants to enhance our facilities for competitive sport. Now, I am purely a recreatational user. I have no idea if my children will be interested in competitive sport. He said that recreational users will use competitive facilities but competitive users can't use recreational facilities. I see his point, but I am unsure if we have the density to fully use competitive facilities. But I think we should try and prioritize a full use aquatics centre. We just need to make sure we can afford it.

So I hope the city hosts more of these events and that Red Deerians will seize on this opportunity to learn more about the services in our city and provide feedback to city staff and politicians.

Hope shines in tragedy

Ever since I heard about the evacuation of Slave Lake on Twitter on Sunday night, I've been keeping a close eye on this incident. I can't imagine what the residents of Slave Lake might be feeling right now. It must be horrible, especially if your house was in the 40% of the town that burned down. But not only did many residents lose their homes, much of the town's institutions and businesses were also destroyed. For Alberta, I have never seen such a large portion of such a large town destroyed. Slave Lake is the major centre for a large area in Northern Alberta, the large scale destruction in the area is going to have wide ranging economic effects for this region.

I want to give credit where credit is due. Over 7000 people were evacuated in a very short period of time with no fatalities or injuries. This fact makes me very proud to be Albertan. Our emergency response plan works. Now, I'm sure the evacuation was chaotic and better decisions could have been made in the moment, but given the sure speed of the fire and the prevailing weather conditions, the fact that so many people got in such a short period of time is a major accomplishment on the part of our emergency services personnell. When they finish fighting the fires and everything else that needs to be done in order to make the town even semi-habital - take off your hats and take a bow. You make this province proud.

Albertans have opened their hearts. This doesn't come as a surprise, Albertans (and by extension Canadians, and indeed human beings) always give what they can in disasters. Since the disaster is so close to home opens up their hearts and wallets even further. Emergency centres have asked people to hold off on their in-kind donations until they can better assess what Albertans need. Already major fundraising drives are being undertaken by radio stations and the internet.

To lose everything must be very hard. Fortunately, many people did have insurance and the province is already talking about compensation for those that don't. It won't be quite the same as before the fire, but at least there will be something. It will take time for these things to put in place of course, but you can count on the generosity of Albertans and the best efforts of politicians and bureacrats to ensure that the money is flowing as quick as it can.

I don't think Alberta has seen such devastation in its modern history, but large scale fires are fairly common in human history. Humans have a tenacity that drives them to rebuild bigger and better. As human beings, we unite in tragedy. I hope the immediate needs of Slave Lake residents are met, and then when everything is ready, we can work together to rebuild Slave Lake.

Not quite the end of the world...

My predictions on elections are always wrong. I let my bias get in the way. I usually get the local feeling right, but I have trouble predicting what people in other regions might be thinking. I don't do enough research about other localities.

But I don't think anyone really predicted the results on Monday night's election. Sure, Tories were predicting a Conservative majority and ND's were predicting they would win at least the opposition, but few people could have predicted that Liberals would lose so many seats or that the NDP would sweep Quebec so completely. This is what makes elections so much fun and why I am such a junkie. Canadian elections are truly an example of local level decision making carrying over to the macro level. For me, its better than watching a sports final because it has so much more relevant to our lives than sport.

Now, as a former Liberal and a Anything But Harper voter, one would think I might be quite disappointed with the election results. But that's the will of the people. I learnt long ago that I don't carry the same opinions as everyone else, but democracy is democracy. Sometimes democracy is about consensus making and sometimes its about bold leadership. But the common thread is the ability for anyone in the society to say what they want and to make a decision about who they want to represent them.

So I will watch this government. I will criticisize this government. Sometimes I might even agree. In the next four years I hope that another party will  start saying things that other Western Canadians will listen to. It took 20 years for the Quebecers to open their ears, hopefully it won't be that much longer for Western Canadians to open theirs. Enjoy your 4 years Harper, with luck, they will be your last.

I respected the blackout and my predictions before I tune in

Canada has a quirky little election law that was created because of our vast size and to try and to keep the vote free from the influence of others. It is against the law to report election results from one time zone where the polls have close to another where they have not closed yet. Now, this is becoming hard to police in the digital age, but most outlets respect it and so do I. I think the anticipation is fun. Its part of election day. Its a most certain deadline that when you turn on the tv or start surfing you will be updated about the results at the same time as just about everyone else.

So a quick prediction before I start surfing - Conservative minority with an NDP official opposition. But who knows, this night might be full of surprises. I hope it is.

My twitter feed is @trvthseeker78 and I will be tweeting after 8pm MST.