MLA report Nov 3

Hello Chestermere! Happy Diwali, a belated Happy Halloween, and here comes round 4 of session at the Legislature.  I had the great privilege this week of attending some very special events.  In visits to AARC (Adolescent Addiction Recovery Centre) and Woods Homes I was briefed on these two great organizations’ efforts to help our troubled youth. On a fun note, I had a great time at the Whitecappers’ Halloween Pot Luck supper. I hope all of you had a chance to spend some time with friends and family over the past weekend at some of the great local events in Chestermere and the surrounding areas.  Indus Arena held its Fall Festival and Halloween dance which was great fun, and the Kittlers hosted a great Halloween party at the Landing.  The best costume went to a lovely lady who was a rainstorm and had made her costume complete with clouds and raindrops.   I also had the privilege of attending Diwali organized by Upasana Dhawan, Patricia Virk and Monica Maharaj.  The food was supplied by Dehli Express and the North Taphouse.  It was a beautiful festive evening with everything from a kids craft table to fireworks, and amazing Indian singers and Indian Classical Dances.  We hope to see many more of you next year.  
Wildrose recently released its findings from an independent panel put together to look into the fairness of equalization payments.  This has been a long time issue for Albertans, and Brian Jean the leader of the official opposition felt it was time to do some work on how we can move forward in finding a solution to this very unfair and unbalanced transfer of funds from “have” provinces like us to the “have not” provinces” such as Quebec.  Since 2007, Albertans have paid 190 billion dollars more to the Federal government than we have received back, vastly more than any other province. A huge part of this is distributed to the so-called “have not” provinces using an outdated formula that punishes productive provinces and rewards those that refuse to develop their own resource economies such as Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Nobody is saying we shouldn’t help our fellow Canadians but the current system is grossly unfair to Alberta. In many cases those who receive our tax dollars get much better services than we can afford here in Alberta. Panelists Dr. Frank Atkins, David MacKinnon, and Dr. Marco Navarro-Genie have presented a set of recommendations to present to government to help start the discussion as to how to proceed in the next round of negotiations surrounding the equalization payments in 2019. The time to start working on this is now but the NDP Minister of Finance has only responded by saying that he will worry about that as we get closer to 2019!  I guess a 60 billion dollar deficit, killing the oil and gas industry, raising minimum wage and oh yes–Bill 6 the farm safety legislation was not enough to put us in our place.  He’s happy to let the Federal government punish us also through the equalization and EI programs. We are merely wanting to get this discussion going but I guess collaboration is not in the cards with this government. If you want a copy of the report email my office and we will forward it to you. I think you will find it is a balanced and fair analysis of the problem with some common sense ways to fix it and ensure Alberta has the funds for Albertans’ needs.
Wildrose had its Annual General Meeting this past weekend in Red Deer, and it was full of discussions, breakout sessions, and conversations with many of you from around the province.  It was wonderful to see so many of you there. We may need a bigger venue next year as the place was packed! We had a fabulous time and congratulations to all of the new Executive Committee Members and to the folks that brought this AGM to life.  We are nothing without our volunteers.  We are having our Chestermere-Rocky View AGM on November 19 from 11-2 and a Paint Nite fundraiser on November 20th both at the Toad and Turtle Pub.  We hope to see you at these events.  More details are posted on our Facebook page.  
Julie Rintoul, owner of the General Store, has always stepped up to help the community. Now that she is facing some serious health issues let’s return the favour. There will be a Bake Sale on November 5, 12 – 4 PM at the General Store. Baking and buyers needed! I’ll be baking and I’ll be there! Also there will be a silent auction fundraiser Nov. 26, 7 PM at the Landing. Watch for details here and on Facebook.
Finally, I would like to pass on my condolences and heartfelt love to the Prentice, Gellaty, Reid, and Kruk families. I attended the beautiful memorial to Jim Prentice and it was inspiring to listen to all of his accomplishments. The one thing that resonated with me more than anything was how much he loved his family.  It certainly shows us that our time here is limited, and as I squeeze my grown up kids, it is another reminder of how blessed I feel to represent you and this beautiful and diverse constituency.  It is truly a privilege.  As always we love to hear from you.  Please email us any time at chestermere.rockyview@assembly.ab.ca or call our office at 403-207-9889.