Where do my Tax Dollars go in the Crowsnest Pass?? Politicians Wages

Have received several calls wanting to know what a municipal politician is paid in the Crowsnest Pass. These are the numbers for 2004-2007.

You can find this and other financial information at the following address http://www.town.crowsnestpass.ab.ca/finance_&_systems.htm



I have included the Mayor and all Councilors from the last term, because any new councilors elected in October would have less than three months of payments.



Mayor Irwin $77735



Councilor Chorney $46335

Councilor Ham $29002

Councilor Stolarik $38697

Councilor Sygutek $31582

Councilor Taje $51772

Councilor Ward $40272



Both Councilor Chorney and Mayor Irwin also received full payment for 2004 where the other five individuals only received three months payments for that year.

Crowsnest Pass, What are our neighbours up to?

To keep my readers informed here are some different issues other southern Alberta communities are dealing with.

Town Considers Car Smoking Ban OKOTOKS -- Drivers may soon be forced to butt out when ferrying children, thanks to a ban set to be debated by town council this week.

Town Eyes Sorting Recyclables BANFF -- Town administration will be applying to access funds through the Waste Management Assistance Program for a container sort line after town council unanimously approved the idea. (Banff Crag and Canyon)

Cat Licensing Considered PINCHER CREEK -- The town may consider a bylaw to license pet cats. (Pincher Creek Echo)

Water Reductions Considered LETHBRIDGE -- A community group will ask city council to implement a water conservation bylaw. (Lethbridge Herald)


Any comments on any of these or any other issues you would like to talk about you can place you thoughts on this page or email me at deanward4@msn.com

Alberta the "democratic" one party state!

Will Alberta ever become a true democracy? Politics and the whole democratic process only works if you have honest debate amongst people with different views. When one party owns 72 of 83 seats what chance does dissent or differing opinions have? Kevin Taft hasn't determined his future yet! will the Liberal party ever have a chance in Alberta? The NDP could hold their caucus meeting in a phone booth. Both of these parties combined to garnish a whooping 11 seats between them. Is it a matter of leadership in these parties, will Albertans ever accept what they represent? Paul Hinman and his Wildrose Alliance are they done? are they a real alternative? I believe we need a new party that takes the place of all three of these, it needs to happen soon pulling together a new party a few months before an election makes no sense. More than anything a new party needs some dynamic leadership. The last leaders debate was like watching paint dry. At heart I am a conserative, but the democractic process always works better when the political decisions are made in the legislature, not in one parties leaders office.

Crowsnest Centre Petition Requests to Remove Names

Regarding the Petition on the Crowsnest Centre, I have now received a number of calls, and several emails from people wishing to remove their name from the petition. According to the MGA (Municipal Government Act of Alberta) Section 225(2) "No name may be added to or removed from a petition after it has been filed with the chief administrative officer". So unfortunatly if you signed your name for whatever reason and didn't want it on the petition, there is nothing you can do except learn a lesson and don't sign something you disagree with in the future.
I was also asked what this would cost the only thing I have to compare it to is the last election which cost the taxpayers roughly $23,000.

Where do my Tax Dollars go in the Crowsnest Pass?? Recycling

Important issue for every community in this day and age. Recycling Last year the Crowsnest Pass shipped 7000 tonnes of material into our Landfill which is high in itself (1.3 tonnes per citizen, provincial average is aroung 0.8 tonnes per person). During that time frame our recycling centre gathered just over 200 tonnes that means we, the citizens of the Crowsnest Pass recycled 3% of our total garbage. Not a number in my mind to be proud of. Lets look at the cost side of this issue, it costs $41 per tonne in tipping fees at the landfill. We pay a contractor $7500 per month to provide the recycling service that's $90,000 per year, or $450 per tonne. I do not believe for a moment that we should quit recycling, what we need to do is a better job, if we increased our volume of recycled material to 10% of total volume that cost would decrease to $130 per tonne, 20% it would be down to $65 per tonne. What is the answer? how do we get more people to recycle? other communities have banned cardboard, plastic bags, we have a residential bag limit of 5 bags is that to high? Looking for input on this issue.

Politics, anybody disagree?

"Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first." - Ronald Reagan (R)

What we've been doing isn't working maybe its time to look at new idea's

Check this out I may not agree with all of Randall's idea's but at least he is taking the time and effort to be creative and look at other possibilities for the Crowsnest Pass.
http://randallwhiteside.blogspot.com/2008/05/valcartier.html
And yes some of his idea's are really good