Opinion

Over the past number of weeks, the issue of youth crime has come to the forefront of controversy here in Rimbey. It began in the weekly crime report earlier this month when Cst. Daniel Kenny, to paraphrase, made the assertion that the RCMP had much more important things to do than be babysitters or surrogate mothers to a number of these young offenders, as opposed to their parents.

In reaction to last Tuesday’s federal election that saw the Conservatives strengthen their minority government, the Liberals recorded their worst performance since 1984, the New Democratic Party gained eight seats including one in Alberta and the Greens left on the outside looking in, the following are a number of samples from editorials and columns gleaned from daily newspapers across Canada that put into perspective the results of the election:

Musings by Premier Stelmach coupled with a report by Alberta’s chief electoral officer have added up to a rare consensus among two of Alberta’s chief political rivals. When political enemies line-up in agreement it can often spell trouble.

As Planet Earth hurtles faster and faster towards environmental oblivion, it’s interesting to hear and read about some of the ridiculous and even borderline-bizarre plans that have surfaced recently seeking a ‘quick-fix’ to the numerous environmental catastrophes that are already plaguing the world.

All you federal Conservative supporters/detractors will be happy/upset to know that the editor has decided to take the high road for the next several weeks. While he says he feels like a starving pitbull chomping at the bit to tear one particular federal party and its leader a new corn chute over the upcoming election, professional ethics dictate that since we’re in the midst of a campaign, he has decided to wave the white flag of neutrality–

It is no secret that the Alberta government has a spending problem. Just how serious this addiction is was highlighted earlier this week when the province issued its first quarter budget update.

If you go back through history a bit, you’ll find that most dictators have one thing in common - that being that they seem to develop a knack for playing the ‘tough guy’ on their own people, yet when confronted with an exterior force more powerful than themselves (which is pretty much everyone else), or when they’re forced to look in the mirror and fess up to their own shortcomings, they generally turn into something akin to 10-year old, ‘candy cane’-type little girls who immediately try to blam

Good, bad or otherwise, there can be no denying that in Alberta at least, there’s plenty of other things to do rather than attacking politicians – especially if you’re into the heavy metal bangin’!