Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Justin, Where's the Beef?
Smoky Lake Signal Article No. 240 (October 10, 2012)
Whispering in the Wind
About 30 years ago Wendy’s, a major hamburger chain in the United States and Canada put out an award winning TV ad featuring Clara Peller and a couple of elderly friends poking and searching through a rather large hamburger bun; Clara cried out; “Where’s the Beef?” Hopefully some of you will remember the hilarious ad because I’m trying to connect Clara’s question to Justin Trudeau and his bid for recognition.
“Where’s the Beef?”
Last week, 40 year old Justin Trudeau kicked off his Liberal leadership bid in Montreal and then traveled the country to acknowledge his considerable “fan” support in Calgary, Richmond and Mississauga – and let’s not forget about his visit with one of his biggest fans, boyhood buddy Dominic LeBlanc at an often used cottage hangout near Dieppe, New Brunswick. I don’t think there is any doubt; Justin Trudeau has the celebrity status of a rock star and in the very short term that is exactly what the Liberal Party of Canada wants and needs if the party is to regain some serious attention by those at the centre of the country’s political spectrum. But very quickly, Mr. Trudeau will have to demonstrate his leadership skills if he is to lead the Liberal Party’s team (as weak as it currently is). Further, Mr. Trudeau will have to articulate and defend well thought out policy positions if he is to succeed in the longer term, particularly when the real political battles start opposite the prime minister and the leader of the opposition. In my view Mr. Trudeau stumbled at the starting gate of his leadership bid, but he should be able to recover knowing that a federal election battle is still a few years off, so the question becomes: when will he start showing leadership qualities that embrace the Liberal Party’s aims and objectives and when will he start to generate public confidence by demonstrating that he can lead and manage a political party, never mind a country if called upon – he has got to show that he is more than a pretty face with a large fan club? In the first week in his campaign to be a leader of his political party, he has admitted to be “impulsive.” He has admitted to saying things that maybe he shouldn’t have said. To him his impulsiveness is a reflection of his “authenticity,” a character trait that has gotten him into trouble in the past and he thinks will get him into trouble in the future – being impulsive is a refreshing trait for most of us but for a politician it is very dangerous territory. So the Trudeau drama continues to unfold and it is only week one of a long journey, so Justin Trudeau; “Where’s the beef?”
Where’s the Water?
In early July, 2012 I wrote a piece about the confusion and the lack of political transparency surrounding the water supply issue in the region and why water was not flowing through constructed pipelines into at least two communities in the Smoky Lake area. Two months earlier Councillor Hennig from Fort Saskatchewan (and a member of their local water commission) said: “Until we get sufficient grant funding to provide the Highway 28/63 water commission with the supply they need, we won’t sign any supply contract.” Mr. Hennig went on to say: “That means Smoky Lake won’t get any water from us for at least another year.” I’m starting to think there is a cover up somewhere and nobody wants to step up to the plate and explain. To add further confusion to an already confusing situation a water conservation group has just released a report asking for a better water licensing system and urging the Alberta government to “….protect river health [because] without rivers that are healthy, everything else falls apart.” I’m getting really confused as to what’s going on and I’m starting to think that I’m mixing apples with oranges. Is the Alberta government procrastinating in its funding decisions because it lacks a well thought out water strategy for the province (and its communities) or is it simply a contract dispute between two greedy, unknowing water commissions in northeast Alberta? When all is said and done is it time for Smoky Lake to look at its current and quite adequate water supply system; a system that only needs upgrading and proper maintenance?
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Your Comments on the local water issue seem to be coming from a very comfortable chair where you read what is in the newspaper and lesson to the gossip around the coffee shop. But like water it’s self, for the real information you need to go to the source. I believe the Highway 28/63 Water Services Commission meetings are open to the public and might be a good place for facts.
ReplyDeleteSmoky Lake’s water plant is over 25 year old although currently producing adequate water, the plant will not meet the new upcoming water standards. Like with a car an upgrade can some time cost more then buying a whole new car. In the case of the water treatment plant up grades would be substantial with a large cost on engineering and designing how to implement the upgrades needed into the old building. On top of that the province has decided that they would like regions to work together. They have chosen to fund joint project above single community project.
On top of the capital cost of either building new or upgrading there would be the operating costs of supplies and manpower, in particular hiring a more highly trained university educated water technician, estimated to cost a salary of close to $100,000 a year.The idea of upgrading or building a new water treatment plant was debated and explored by the previous town council but was concluded to be unfeasible.
On the issue of water supply from the Capital Region Northeast Water Services Commission, the commission that the highway 28/63 water services commission buys water from; a report has concluded that their commission will be able to supply our region with almost all of the requested water volumes. The only time of concern is during a summer drought when water consumption increases. During these time water conservation may be need but supply will not be shut of. The rest of the year we are expected to have no water restriction or volume problems.
Second, it was reported at a special meeting of town council that during the construction of the line from Redwater to Egremont some issue have resulted in the chlorine levels unexpectedly dropping. This issue has taken the contractor some time to resolve but it has now been cleared and the commission is preparing to begin transporting water. The town council has also passed a resolution at that special meeting moving to accept water delivery from the commission as soon as the staff and commission are able.
So that is where it sits, the technical personal from both the commission and the town are working to begin the flow of water from Edmonton as soon as possible. The timing and the start of water flow are now in the hands of the staff and out of the hands of the commission or the town council.
It’s disappointing that facts and news stories have not been published in either newspaper but rather only columns from columnists like yourself. Perhaps a lack communication is the result of busy lives. What ever the case may be I doubt that any mayors, reeves, councilors or commission member, who all work through public meeting, are to blame for the lack of journalism in local newspapers.
As a final note I believe that if facts and truth are not reported by journalists, then perhaps Columnists’ should not speculate on gossip and rumors.