Hey Bruce

It’s been about six months since the Provincial election. Six months since Conservative Albertans split their vote, and effectively ushered in an NDP Government. For me, this has provided a lot of time to reflect. Time to think about what happened, what was, what is, what’s next, and what really matters. I’m not sure I’ve figured it all out. Who really ever does right? I can tell you with some assurance and conviction that I’m grateful for the entire experience. Not the NDP winning, but my personal journey. As I conveyed to every grad class I had the privilege of addressing as your MLA, “you will learn more from your setbacks, your failures and your miss steps, than you ever will your successes.” It doesn’t mean you set out to fail, but when you do, find the lesson in the experience, learn from it and apply it moving forward.
I get a lot of questions these days when I’m out and about. The most common seems to be, ‘What are you doing with yourself now?” Well, I intend to do what I’ve always done. I’ll be as involved in the community as I can, helping out and volunteering wherever needed. I’ve recently taken a full time job which I may write more about in the days ahead, and I’ve also decided to take a part time job writing a weekly column here in The Anchor.
You may know that my first career was a journalist. I spent twenty years reporting on and reading the news of the day. It wasn’t that long ago that my alarm went off at 3:00am so I could get up and head in to read the morning news on Global. I’ve also done a lot of reporting over the years, once heading to Saudi Arabia to cover the OPEC Summit. I remember that trip well. It was just about the time oil was hitting $100.00 a barrel for the first time. What we wouldn’t all do for that price now, but I digress.
One of the qualities you absolutely have to possess to be a good journalist you also need to be a good politician. You must have a genuine desire to advocate for people. In the newsroom that means questioning the status quo, looking past the cleverly crafted press release and asking tough but fair questions.
My intention is that through this column, we can together dig into the issues of the day to seek truths and provide context. Too often the tough issues are so emotionally charged we don’t look at them through a fair lens. I’ve never been a fan of the talking points and the rhetoric. My sense is people would rather focus on solutions to our concerns. So, whether it’s our City Council, Provincial or Federal Government, the social media or what goes on in our kid’s classrooms and school systems, we can and should inform ourselves. I look forward to writing about the issues that matter to all of us.
If you have any comments, issues or topics you would like to see addressed, drop me a note. You can email me at heybruce@chestermere.com
Have a great week, and please remember to buy a poppy, wear it with pride and support our Veterans.