What is this telling us? Or more importantly what is it telling Stelmach?
ELECTION RESULTS
- Paul Hinman, Wildrose Alliance: 4,052, 37%
- Avalon Roberts, Liberal: 3,776, 34%
- Diane Colley-Urquhart, Progressive Conservative: 2,863, 26%
- Eric Carpendale, NDP: 148, 1%
- Len Skowronski, Social Credit: 118, 1%
- Antoni Grochowski, Independent: 71, 1%
Total votes: 11,028
Voter turnout: 40.5%
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Surprise, Surprise a Match made in Heaven!
Conservatives/NDP
Harper/Layton
Only in my wildest dreams could I have pictured the "Grand Coalition" being the NDP and the Conservatives. The old time socialists must be loving this. I know, I know Jack did it because Harper gave in to "our" demands on EI reform. I can see the self justification happening from coast to coast of this wonderful country of ours.
Good thing Elizabeth May does not have a seat she would not know which coalition to join.
I tip my hat to Steven Harper he is a survivor.
Harper/Layton
Only in my wildest dreams could I have pictured the "Grand Coalition" being the NDP and the Conservatives. The old time socialists must be loving this. I know, I know Jack did it because Harper gave in to "our" demands on EI reform. I can see the self justification happening from coast to coast of this wonderful country of ours.
Good thing Elizabeth May does not have a seat she would not know which coalition to join.
I tip my hat to Steven Harper he is a survivor.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Atlas Road Utilization
Back in August the majority of council voted against granting Spray Lakes Sawmills a road use agreement. Why?
On Dec 2 2008 Spray Lakes and SRD approached council regarding their logging plan for the Atlas Road area.
We as council were concerned, for several reasons. Firstly we do not have a sawmill here any longer which used to be a significant employer in the area. So that leaves our three largest employers in the area; the BC Mines, Government (Municipal, Provincial, Hospital etc) and Tourism.
Obviously the Mines and Government will not be negatively effected by logging but Tourism could be if the logging is not done in the proper areas and in a reasonable fashion. Would we has a council have good reason to be concerned about the logging on Atlas Road?
Yes when we were initially approached there was concern about logging going up the side of the Crowsnest Mountain, and being visible from the highway, there was concern about buffer areas along the river. There was concerns on the impact of the logging on the tourism operators in that area. The greatest concern for myself was the way that the Kananaskis Road had been logged the previous logging season, to which both Spray Lakes and SRD agreed mistakes had been made. That things were being done to clean up that area and ensure that it does not happen again, I certainly felt that between SRD and Spray Lakes there was not enough communication back to make council comfortable that future logging practices would be acceptable to all parties involved.
That is why I choice not to support a road use agreement.
We were informed this week that SRD and Spray Lakes are trying to schedule a date to sit down with council and get a better flow of communications going between the three groups.
On the rumour of the closure of the Atlas Road itself, we has a council have been led to believe that after Spray Lakes finishes utilizing that Road to truck its timber that they have no interest in maintaining the road. If that ends up being the case, then it becomes any issue of anybody else stepping up to maintain the road.
On Dec 2 2008 Spray Lakes and SRD approached council regarding their logging plan for the Atlas Road area.
We as council were concerned, for several reasons. Firstly we do not have a sawmill here any longer which used to be a significant employer in the area. So that leaves our three largest employers in the area; the BC Mines, Government (Municipal, Provincial, Hospital etc) and Tourism.
Obviously the Mines and Government will not be negatively effected by logging but Tourism could be if the logging is not done in the proper areas and in a reasonable fashion. Would we has a council have good reason to be concerned about the logging on Atlas Road?
Yes when we were initially approached there was concern about logging going up the side of the Crowsnest Mountain, and being visible from the highway, there was concern about buffer areas along the river. There was concerns on the impact of the logging on the tourism operators in that area. The greatest concern for myself was the way that the Kananaskis Road had been logged the previous logging season, to which both Spray Lakes and SRD agreed mistakes had been made. That things were being done to clean up that area and ensure that it does not happen again, I certainly felt that between SRD and Spray Lakes there was not enough communication back to make council comfortable that future logging practices would be acceptable to all parties involved.
That is why I choice not to support a road use agreement.
We were informed this week that SRD and Spray Lakes are trying to schedule a date to sit down with council and get a better flow of communications going between the three groups.
On the rumour of the closure of the Atlas Road itself, we has a council have been led to believe that after Spray Lakes finishes utilizing that Road to truck its timber that they have no interest in maintaining the road. If that ends up being the case, then it becomes any issue of anybody else stepping up to maintain the road.
Poll Results for the Crowsnest Pass
Two poll results that surprised me in the strength of the numbers, the questions were;
Would you support the municipality conducting a feasibility study on building a multi use recreation facility?
26 of 31 votes (83%) were in favour
Did Council made the right decision not to proceed with the enhanced policing position?
22 of 23 (95%) agreed
Please be sure to vote on the latest poll as we look at federal politics.
Would you support the municipality conducting a feasibility study on building a multi use recreation facility?
26 of 31 votes (83%) were in favour
Did Council made the right decision not to proceed with the enhanced policing position?
22 of 23 (95%) agreed
Please be sure to vote on the latest poll as we look at federal politics.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Fall a wonderful time for an election!
Will the government collapse?
Will we have a fall election?
Is it all political posturing? (Think the grand alliance).
Will the NDP sell their souls to work with Harper?
Is Iggy just trying to get as much political mileage as possible, knowing full well the government will not fall. All the grand standing keeps the throw out Harper crowd happy for a while, then when it does not work he blames the NDP/Bloc for not having the backbone. Allows him to stand up during the real election campaign and talk about how he did everything to get rid of the Devil "Harper". The Liberals become the champion of every anti-conservative in the country. We are the only party that stood up to the Conservatives. Great campaign lines.
Why oh why if Iggy really wanted to get rid of Harper and the Conservatives did he not do it in January. Were Harper and the Conservatives different in January than they are today?
Will the Bloc milk Harper for another stimulus package for Quebec?
Will an election make our economic situation worse?
Do the Canadian people really want an election?
So many questions when will we get the answers?
Will we have a fall election?
Is it all political posturing? (Think the grand alliance).
Will the NDP sell their souls to work with Harper?
Is Iggy just trying to get as much political mileage as possible, knowing full well the government will not fall. All the grand standing keeps the throw out Harper crowd happy for a while, then when it does not work he blames the NDP/Bloc for not having the backbone. Allows him to stand up during the real election campaign and talk about how he did everything to get rid of the Devil "Harper". The Liberals become the champion of every anti-conservative in the country. We are the only party that stood up to the Conservatives. Great campaign lines.
Why oh why if Iggy really wanted to get rid of Harper and the Conservatives did he not do it in January. Were Harper and the Conservatives different in January than they are today?
Will the Bloc milk Harper for another stimulus package for Quebec?
Will an election make our economic situation worse?
Do the Canadian people really want an election?
So many questions when will we get the answers?
Friday, August 28, 2009
Community geting creative to attract new development
It would be very interesting to know if this has been tried anywhere else and what kind of success they achieved?
EDMONTON — The town of Bruderheim hopes to spur development in an area hit by the recession by eliminating civic property taxes for three years on new home and business construction.
The town is about 40 kilometres northeast of Edmonton near the Industrial Heartland, where billions of dollars worth of proposed oil upgrader projects have been delayed or cancelled in the last two years.
Officials who once expected property assessments to grow by five to 10 per cent a year now feel values will go up by one per cent at most, chief administrative officer Tim Duhamel said Friday.
“There was a lot of optimism about growth in Bruderheim before the economy went south,” he said.
“A lot of the optimism that was around the town has gone down.”
Councillors approved the tax plan in June as a way to attract new residents and businesses, basing it on a similar scheme run by a town in Saskatchewan, Duhamel said.
“It’s wanting to separate us a little bit … to make us attractive as opposed to living in Fort Saskatchewan or Sherwood Park.”
The deal saves homeowners about $4,500 over three years in municipal taxes on the average house, although they still have to pay roughly the same amount in provincial education taxes, Duhamel said.
So far, he feels it has been a success, with three or four new houses underway, a stalled apartment building now scheduled to begin construction later this year and a company looking at setting up a plant in the town of 1,250.
“When you’re talking three, four, five, 10 new housing starts, that’s big for us.”
The program will be examined annually to decide whether it should continue, he said.
EDMONTON — The town of Bruderheim hopes to spur development in an area hit by the recession by eliminating civic property taxes for three years on new home and business construction.
The town is about 40 kilometres northeast of Edmonton near the Industrial Heartland, where billions of dollars worth of proposed oil upgrader projects have been delayed or cancelled in the last two years.
Officials who once expected property assessments to grow by five to 10 per cent a year now feel values will go up by one per cent at most, chief administrative officer Tim Duhamel said Friday.
“There was a lot of optimism about growth in Bruderheim before the economy went south,” he said.
“A lot of the optimism that was around the town has gone down.”
Councillors approved the tax plan in June as a way to attract new residents and businesses, basing it on a similar scheme run by a town in Saskatchewan, Duhamel said.
“It’s wanting to separate us a little bit … to make us attractive as opposed to living in Fort Saskatchewan or Sherwood Park.”
The deal saves homeowners about $4,500 over three years in municipal taxes on the average house, although they still have to pay roughly the same amount in provincial education taxes, Duhamel said.
So far, he feels it has been a success, with three or four new houses underway, a stalled apartment building now scheduled to begin construction later this year and a company looking at setting up a plant in the town of 1,250.
“When you’re talking three, four, five, 10 new housing starts, that’s big for us.”
The program will be examined annually to decide whether it should continue, he said.
Alberta's Heritage Fund
Interesting comparisons
Alberta's Heritage Fund founded in 1976 Balance March 31 2009 $14 Billion
Norway's Petroleum Fund Started with $285 million USD in 1995 as of June 2009 Balance $395 Billion US
Alaska's Permanent Fund started in 1977 with $734,000 US as of March 2008 Balance of $28 Billion US, from 1982-2008 the Fund as paid out $29605.41 to every man, women, and child that's an average of $1096.50 per year.
Just something to think about.
Alberta's Heritage Fund founded in 1976 Balance March 31 2009 $14 Billion
Norway's Petroleum Fund Started with $285 million USD in 1995 as of June 2009 Balance $395 Billion US
Alaska's Permanent Fund started in 1977 with $734,000 US as of March 2008 Balance of $28 Billion US, from 1982-2008 the Fund as paid out $29605.41 to every man, women, and child that's an average of $1096.50 per year.
Just something to think about.
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