Opinion

10 days before voting day in Election 2017. Will insanity be the word of the day?

Published

7 years ago

8 minute read

“ The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.” Is a great saying that has been credited to Albert Einstein, but there is no guarantee, but it is a great saying.
It is also something we should keep in mind during elections.
Prior to the last election we rated 15th on the national crime severity index, and now we are rated 2nd and we now have the most fentanyl and opioid deaths in Alberta. Should we not have doubled down on the issue last election.
CBC did a story about Red Deer’s air quality being the worst, years ago. The monitors have been reading, “Demands Immediate Action” since 2009. Drawing national attention since 2010. We are not even addressing the issue.
While the province grew, Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge and our surrounding communities grew in 2016, Red Deer lost 975 permanent residents. Hardly spoken. The neighbourhoods comprising 31% of the population lost 777 of the 975 permanent residents. No corrective actions planned.
The only Recreation Centre north of the river was built almost 40 years ago. The last school built north of the river was in 1985. The neighbourhoods north of the river have never had a high school but there are plans for 6 south of the river, 4 already opened.
We have 10 days to go before election day, and how do we communicate with the candidates. The general forum saw each question asked, being answered by only 2 candidates. Introductions were only 90 seconds and closing remarks were only 30 seconds. You could not get to know much in that format.
Some candidates do not return calls or answer e-mails, so confusion reigns and this benefit’s the incumbents. This almost guarantees all the default votes go to the incumbents, and since almost all the incumbents are running, we will end up with almost the same group as last time.
I am not insane, and in that case, I would not expect different results.

There are more forums. I have included some below and I have also included names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. These came from the city’s contact list on reddeer.ca.

Have concerns? Contact as many as possible to find out as much as possible.

Diversity & Inclusion
Date & Time: Thursday, October 5, 2017 from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Location: Memorial Festival Hall (4214 58 Street)
Host: Welcoming and Inclusive Community Network

Red Deer College Student Forum
(Mayoral candidates)
Date & Time: Tuesday, October 10, 2017 from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Location: Margaret Parsons Theatre (1400), Red Deer College
Host: Students’ Association of Red Deer College

Construction, Land Development and Real Estate Industry Forum
Wednesday, October 11, 2017 from 6:30-9:00p.m.
Location: Radisson Hotel Red Deer

Reddeer.ca has on their website an official list of candidates with phone numbers and e-mail addresses for the public. I am listing them;

CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICE OF MAYOR
Number of Positions to be filled: 1
Name…….. Phone……. E-mail Address
Sean Burke…… 403-392-2893…… [email protected]
Tara Veer ….. 403-358-3568 ….. [email protected]

CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICE OF COUNCILLOR
Number of Positions to be filled: 8
Name …..Phone …..E-mail Address
Sandra (Sam) Bergeron …..403-304-9884 ….. [email protected]
S.H. (Buck) Buchanan …..403-348-3240 ….. [email protected]
Valdene Callin …..403-348-9958 ….. [email protected]
Matt Chapin ….. 403-347-1934 ….. [email protected]
Michael Dawe …..403-346-9325 ….. [email protected]
Rob Friss …..403-597-1355 ….. [email protected]
Calvin Goulet-Jones …..403-872-4253 …[email protected]
Jason Habuza ….. 403-597-8712 ….. [email protected]
Tanya Handley …..403-596-5848….. [email protected]
Vesna Higham ….. 403-505-1172 ….. [email protected]
Ted Johnson ….. 403-396-5962 ….. [email protected]
Ken Johnston ….. 403-358-8049 ….. [email protected]
Cory Kingsfield ….. 403-352-6450….. [email protected]
Jim Kristinson ….. 403-318-0330 ….. [email protected]
Lawrence Lee …..403-346-7388….. [email protected]
Kris Maciborsky …..587-679-5747….. [email protected]
Doug Manderville …..403-318-0545 …… [email protected]
Bobbi McCoy …..403-346-0171 …… [email protected]
Ian Miller …..403-392-4527 ….. [email protected]
Jeremy Moore …..403-357-4187….. [email protected]
Rick More …..403-340-9330 ….. [email protected]
Lynne P Mulder …..403-392-1177 …[email protected]
Bayo Nshombo Bayongwa …..403-307-1074 …… [email protected]
Matt Slubik …..403-848-3762 ….. [email protected]
Jordy Smith …..587-377-4384 ….. [email protected]
Brice Unland …..403-597-4321 ….. [email protected]
Jonathan Wieler …..403-358-8270 …[email protected]
Frank Wong ….. 403-872-3238 …… [email protected]
Dianne Wyntjes …..403-505-4256 …… [email protected]

CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC SCHOOL TRUSTEE
Number of Positions to be filled: 7
Name …..Phone….. E-mail Address
Nicole Buchanan ….. 403-596-4611 …… [email protected]
Matt Chapin ….. 403-347-1934/ 403-346-6821 ….. [email protected]
Jason Chilibeck ……………………………………[email protected]
Bill Christie …..403-597-8354…… [email protected]
Dick Lemke …..403-347-1963 …… [email protected]
Dianne Macaulay ….. 403-588-8806 ….. [email protected]
Bev Manning …..403-358-2035 ….. [email protected]
Patrick O’Connor …… 403-598-0870 ……[email protected]
Ben Ordman …..403-346-5885
Cathy Peacocke …..403-342-6043….. [email protected]
Angela Sommers …..403-309-4546 ….. [email protected]
Bill Stuebing …..403-347-5319….. [email protected]
Jaelene Tweedle …..403-754-2501 …[email protected]
Jim Watters …..403-340-9392….. [email protected]
Chris Woods …..403-318-0503….. [email protected]
Laurette Woodward …..403-346-9447 …[email protected]

CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICE OF CATHOLIC SCHOOL TRUSTEE
Red Deer & Area
Number of Positions to be filled: 5
Name …..Phone…… E-mail Address
Murray Hollman …..403-391-0336….. [email protected]
Adriana LaGrange …..403-347-0225….. [email protected]
Cynthia Leyson …..403-848-1232 …[email protected]
Kim Pasula …..403-350-1808….. [email protected]
Carlene Smith …..403-392-6042 …[email protected]
Anne Marie Watson …..403-348-1064 …[email protected]

CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICE OF CATHOLIC SCHOOL TRUSTEE
Highway 11 Ward: Rocky Mountain House, Caroline, Eckville, Sylvan Lake
Number of Positions to be filled: 1
Name ……Phone….. E-mail Address
Dorraine Lonsdale …..403-845-4117 …[email protected]
Liam McNiff …..403-887-5308 ….. [email protected]

CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICE OF THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL TRUSTEE
QE II Ward: Innisfail, Bowden, Olds, Didsbury
Number of Positions to be filled: 1
Name….. Phone….. E-mail Address
Sharla Heistad …..403-994-3871 ….. [email protected] ACCLAIMED

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Canada Pivots From ‘Diversity Is Our Strength,’ Locks Down Border Fearing Migrant Influx

Business / 2 hours ago

Canada’s department of government efficiency: A blueprint

Business / 2 hours ago

Federal government’s latest media bailout another bad idea

Daily Caller

Canada Pivots From ‘Diversity Is Our Strength,’ Locks Down Border Fearing Migrant Influx

Published on November 22, 2024

Todayville

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Jason Hopkins

Canadian officials are bracing for a possible migrant influx into their country because of President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory in the U.S., marking a major pivot in policy compared to Trump’s first White House term.

Canada’s Liberal Party-led government appears to be taking a much more hawkish approach to illegal immigration and the possibility of a surge in asylum seekers, according to the New York Times. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) — the country’s law enforcement arm that patrols the border — is preparing to beef up its immigration enforcement capabilities by hiring more staff, adding more vehicles and creating more processing facilities.

RCMP would use the extra vehicles to help patrol the U.S.-Canada border and utilize newly-established facilities to detain and process arriving migrants, according to the New York Times.

The preparations up north come as Trump — who just won election to a second, non-consecutive term to the White House — has vowed to conduct the largest deportation operation in the country’s history. He is set to re-occupy the Oval Office in January, where he will get to work on his hardline immigration enforcement agenda.

Canadian officials have spoken about the possibility of a migrant surge into their country early on since Trump’s victory.

“We started planning because we knew that there were a lot of people in the United States who will fear to be deported, and if that happens, they won’t wait for the Trump administration to seize power, it’s more likely that they will attempt to cross into Canada from now in the next few weeks until he takes on power,” RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Charles Poirier said on CTV News earlier in November.

Trudeau’s government did not have the same response to Trump’s first-term crackdown on illegal migrants.

“To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada,” the Canadian prime minister posted on social media on Jan. 28, 2017, just days after Trump was sworn into office.

However, in the years since Trudeau made these public overtures, the Canadian government has recognized the need to change course. The change in policy is largely reflective of less tolerance in the country for mass migration, public opinion surveys have shown.

“To be clear: all newcomers are valued in Canada,” Marc Miller, Canada’s immigration minister, said during a September speech in Ottawa before announcing the rollout of immigration enforcement measures. “But we also need to recognize that this can impact communities, such as the increases in unemployment amongst youth and newcomers.”

“We are introducing changes to further recalibrate international student, foreign worker and permanent resident volumes. That work has already started,” Miller continued.

In addition to beefing up its border infrastructure, Canadian officials also plan to make use out of an international agreement that will allow them to send asylum seekers back into the U.S., according to the New York Times. The “safe third country” agreement — which the Trump administration heavily enforced onto Mexico at that time — designates both the U.S. and Canada as safe countries for asylum requestors, meaning a migrant that arrived in the U.S. must first seek asylum there before attempting to do so in Canada.

“We expect that agreement to continue to be fully enforced,” Miller told reporters earlier.

The RCMP did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Business

Federal government’s latest media bailout another bad idea

Published on November 22, 2024

Todayville

From the Fraser Institute

By Matthew Lau

If the value of local radio stations, as measured by how much revenue they generate, is higher than the costs of running those stations, no subsidies are needed to keep them going. Conversely, if the costs are higher than the benefits, it doesn’t make sense to keep those radio stations on the air.

The governmentalization of the news media in Canada continues apace. According to a recent announcement by the Trudeau government, the “CRTC determined that a new temporary fund for commercial radio stations in smaller markets should be created.” Now, radio stations outside of Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa-Gatineau will be eligible for taxpayer subsidies.

Clearly a bad idea. Firstly, there’s no obvious market failure the government will solve. If the value of local radio stations, as measured by how much revenue they generate, is higher than the costs of running those stations, no subsidies are needed to keep them going. Conversely, if the costs are higher than the benefits, it doesn’t make sense to keep those radio stations on the air.

The government said the new funding is “temporary” but as economists Milton and Rose Friedman famously observed, “Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.” Taxpayers may can reasonably expect that subsidies to local radio news stations will become an ongoing expense instead of a onetime hit to their wallets.

Indeed, the Trudeau government has a history of making temporary or “short-term” costs permanent. Before coming to power in 2015, the Liberals proposed “a modest short-term deficit” of less than $10 billion annually for three years; instead this fiscal year the Trudeau government is running its 10th consecutive budget deficit with the cumulative total of more than $600 billion.

Secondly, the governmentalization of media will likely corrupt it. Here again an observation from Milton Friedman: “Any institution will tend to express its own values and its own ideas… A socialist institution will teach socialist values, not the principles of private enterprise.” Friedman was talking about the public education system, but the observation applies equally to other sectors that the government increasingly exercises control over.

A media outlet that receives significant government funding is less likely to apply healthy skepticism to politicians’ claims of the supposed widespread benefits of their large spending initiatives and disbursements of taxpayer money. The media outlet’s internal culture will naturally lean more heavily towards government control than free enterprise.

Moreover, conflict of interest becomes a serious issue. To the extent that a media outlet gets its revenue from government instead of advertisers and listeners, its customer is the government—and the natural inclination is always to produce content that will appeal to the customer. Radio stations receiving significant government funding will have a harder time covering government in an unbiased way.

Finally, as a general rule, government support for an industry tends to discourage innovation, and radio and other media are no exception. When new companies and new business models enter a sector, the government should not through subsidies try to keep the incumbents afloat.

“The media, like any other business, continually evolves,” noted Lydia Miljan, professor of political science at the University of Windsor and a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute, in a recent essay. “As each innovation enters the market, it displaces audiences for the legacy players. But does that innovation mean we should prop up services that fewer people consume? No. We allow other industries to adapt to new market conditions. Sometimes that means certain industries and companies close. But they are replaced with something else.”

To summarize—there are three major problems with the Trudeau government’s new fund for radio stations. First, it will impose costs on taxpayers that, despite the government’s label, may not be “temporary” and the compensating benefits will be lower than the costs. Second, increased government funding will damage the ability of those radio stations to cover the government with neutrality and healthy skepticism. And third, the new fund will discourage innovation and improvement in the media sector as a whole.