Smoky Lake Signal Article No. 228 (July 18, 2012) Whispering in the Wind After a two week holiday it has not been easy to get back into the groove of writing a weekly column; largely due to the hot weather and my unexplainable passion for the game of golf. Fortunately the Smoky Lake area saw some much needed rain on the weekend and that allowed me to set down some thoughts on what has been going on (or not going on) in the news. Smoky Lake Area A few weeks ago I wrote about Smoky Lake’s potable water issues and thought that the Highway 28/63 Regional Water Commission would explain why water is not flowing from the recently built (and completed) water delivery system. My understanding is that the bottleneck is a result of Capital Region Northeast Water Services Commission over-dedicating water supplies to industrial subscribers in the region south of Redwater – which likely means more pipeline capacity will have to be added if potable water is to flow into the Thorhild-Smoky Lake region. Two questions immediately come to mind: when will additional pipeline capacity be realized south of Redwater, and who is going to be paying the bill? Another bit of information has come to light that I found quite disappointing, if not disturbing; Dean Pickering resigned his position as Smoky Lake’s Town Manager. I personally found Mr. Pickering to be a very capable administrator and hope that the town council’s selection group finds someone with equal capabilities and qualifications. National Energy Strategy Even before she became Premier, Province of Alberta, Alison Redford was a strong advocate for a national energy strategy – from my perspective it was one of the key elements in her successful bid for the leadership of the Alberta PC Party and then her subsequent success in last April’s general election. More recently Premier Redford has taken her message for a Canadian National Energy Strategy into numerous political discussions within Canada, the United States and most recently, into the Peoples Republic of China. From what I have read there is some support for the concept (even in the private sector) but a real lack of detail and that is why Prime Minister Harper is a little cautious in offering the federal government’s “gung-ho” support for Premier Redford’s ideas. There is no doubt in my mind that the Prime Minister likes and supports some of the building blocks of a Canadian National Energy Strategy but doesn’t want to be involved in some of challenges attached to the development of a common regulatory framework in the provinces, never mind the problems attached to and dealing with the many aboriginal issues related to the construction of pipelines. For Premier Redford, her priority wish list is clear – the construction of two bitumen pipelines from Alberta to satisfy United States and Asian markets. If I were to summarize: Premier Redford has a brilliant economic idea that should be pursued with vigor – in the end, there will be a Canadian National Energy Strategy – and in the end, that Canadian National Energy Strategy will have to include environmental sanity, resource upgrading, diversification and economic consolidation. For Prime Minister Harper, it is time that he get off his ideological high horse and reject the idea that it is CENTRAL PLANNING and accept that the process being discussed is a form of NATION BUILDING.