DON AHLQUIST
Being less familiar with the subject than most of my friends and neighbours, I usually avoid offering political commentary but in this case there is a moral component that is worth addressing.
Forty years ago, while a resident of northern Saskatchewan, I saw an opportunity to build a life in the neighbouring province to the west. The people of the province of Alberta had wisely elected a government that not only identified the strengths and resources of their province but exploited those God-given resources to the benefit of all of its families.
The sector of industry that my family and I benefited most from was oil and gas.
Under the conservative leaderships of Peter Lockheed, Don Getty, and then Ralph Klein I was able to work in that robust industry. "There was gold in the streets but (in the words of famous Canadian author and humorist Stephen Leacock), you did have to bend down and pick it up".
Whether you are a born Albertan or an out of province person who's intention is to temporarily contribute to our vitality enjoy its benefits and then head back home, or you may be an international or interprovincial adventurer who has chosen as I did to build a family and life in this province, you will be able to look back years from now and be satisfied that you have made the right decision.
Some people say Alberta is so resource rich that any provincial leader would have looked good. I don't believe this for a minute. You can see how malfeasance affects governments at every level from municipal to international and how a gluttonous administrative appetite destroys any potential for a population's financial growth.
You know how phrases and expressions can seem on the surface to be true just because they have achieved some axiomatic status?
For example "it's time for a change", "it's time for some new blood", or "change out the old guard".
There is nothing wrong with such expression as long as it is accompanied by reason. For example, "we must change out the old guard because they are derelict in responsibility". To merely make the arbitrary statement we must change out the old guard is ludicrous.
The obvious conclusion to this line of thinking is that to make such statements without rumination or reason is pure conjecture and in a practical sense simply declares political euthanasia to be viable even if inspired by a whim.
Change is inevitable but it must be driven and inspired by natural and/or justifiable cause in order to produce social benefit.
I am certain that the people of this province have the intellectual acumen and moral inclination to continue to make wise political decisions electorally, legislatively and judicially without throwing any babies out with the bathwater or practicing euthanasia (which, I now see, cleverly includes the entire scope and scale of human life).