The Anchor Weekly – The Chestermere Lake News

CHESTERMERE – With the election just around the corner and now being decision time for Chestermere – Rocky View voters, the YELL all candidates forum saw a packed house on Friday, April 13. By shortly after 7 p.m., there were few empty seats to be found, so three of the four candidates from the riding took to the stage. NDP candidate Nathan Salmon, Wildrose candidate Bruce McAllister and PC candidate Ted Morton were present., but Liberal candidate Sian Ramsden was unable to attend. Apart from a heckler or two in the audience on occasion and the odd ribbing between the [...]

CHESTERMERE – A small but talkative group gathered at Lakeside Greens Golf Club on Friday, Feb. 17 to sit down and have breakfast with local PC candidate, Minister of Energy Ted Morton. The informal breakfast ran from 7 to 9 a.m., where attendees could mingle with Morton for a half hour or so before having breakfast. Morton, who remained seated at the table with everyone to create a more conversational atmosphere, then spoke to his thoughts on the newly released budget. 
He started off by saying that he thinks the new 2012 budget will put the province back on track [...]

In the election prior to the collapse of the federal Progressive Conservatives in 1993, then Prime Minister Kim Campbell (who when first selected PC leader had the support of over 50% of Canadians in public opinion polls) famously stated “an election is no time to discuss important issues.” Due largely to this arrogance, the federal PCs were subsequently booted from power and were reduced to 2 seats from 169. In Alberta, the PCs lost every seat in the province; the vast majority to Preston Manning’s populist conservative Reform Party. Isn’t it amazing how history may be repeating itself. The Redford [...]

Albertans expect their government to live within its means. They also expect their government to ensure tax dollars are carefully spent on key priorities such as health, education, infrastructure, seniors, policing and other core social services. The Redford PC’s Budget 2012 does neither. It is a reckless election campaign document with astonishingly unrealistic revenue projections and irresponsible spending promises meant to take advantage of Albertan’s trusting and optimistic natures. Given the tepid & fragile world economic recovery, Budget 2012 is nothing short of a blueprint for vaporizing the province’s last remaining savings and taking on unprecedented levels of debt within [...]

Oftentimes when politicians start talking public policy people’s eyes glaze over – and for good reason. Voters are generally too busy dealing with more important things like work, recreation, volunteer activities and trying to raise a family. So in the interests of helping each of you get back to the things you actually enjoy doing (policy wonks aside), I am pleased to announce the Wildrose policy on taxes can be summarized in just 4 words: No Tax Increases Period. I thought this would be a breath of fresh air from the Redford PC’s stand on tax policy which has jumped [...]

Impaired driving is a societal scourge that cuts off lives prematurely and devastates families. I do not know anyone, no matter what their political leanings, who doesn’t want to see more done to end this entirely preventable cause of death and injury. However, as with most problems that governments face, impaired driving must be dealt with carefully and logically if we are to find a solution that actually saves lives while upholding individual rights and freedoms. Premier Alison Redford surprised many Albertans when she abruptly announced her plans to reduce drunk driving by targeting drivers who are found to have [...]

Over the last week, the Redford government has been floating a variety of trial balloons that have one common theme – tax hikes in order to curb our province’s expanding deficit (now up to $6 billion). First, Finance Minister Ron Liepert offered up the possibility of a provincial sales tax. When predictably Albertans shot that idea down, Liepert mused about bringing back the $1000 per year per family health premiums. When it was noted that the revenues from the old health premiums were never spent on health care, but were really just a head tax for the government’s general revenue [...]

There are 3 kinds of politicians. Those that keep their promises, those with hidden agendas, and promise breakers. The first and most unique kind of politician keeps all (or at least the vast majority) of the promises they make in order to get elected. Not all voters necessarily agree with the effectiveness of what such politicians do, however, they can be confident that he or she will do what they say. Ralph Klein was a good example of this. When running for Premier he said he would cut spending, balance the budget and keep government out of the business of [...]

For a number of years the world has recognized that Canada has a growing role as the world’s energy source.  We have even been labelled an “energy super power”.  Last week, Canadians were disappointed with the United States’ delay of a decision on when or if they will proceed with the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was quick to point out that the delay in the decision was due mainly to ‘internal’ American politics.  The delay measure is more understandable in the context of the “political season” in the United States – the pending Presidential election – [...]

During our unacceptably brief one-and-a-half day sitting of Legislature last week, Premier Redford called a debate on the state of the world economy and its effect on Alberta. The following are highlights of my speech concerning this issue given on behalf of my constituents: Mr. Speaker, the world is indeed experiencing troubled times, and although the blessing of abundant resources and still record high oil prices have insulated Alberta more than almost any place on earth, we are certainly not immune from the turmoil outside our borders. There are several causes of this turmoil but the main ones are these [...]