MLA report August 22

Hello Chestermere! I wanted to chat with you about a couple of upcoming events in our beautiful little city.  First, I will be participating in the Synergy Duck Race on the morning of August 25th.  Please purchase your ducks for $10 to support Synergy Youth Programs.  This is an amazing opportunity to give back to your community and to have fun at the same time.  Your duck this year becomes a part of an obstacle course, and I along with other community volunteers will be racing through this obstacle course!  Yikes—I hear that there is mud involved, so it should be a good time had by all.  The fun takes place at Camp Chestermere, so get out there, buy some ducks and let’s see whose rubber duckie wins out!  Last year they had me swimming in the canal collecting left over ducks, so this year should be fun!  Get your Ducks for Bucks and join us for a BBQ after.  Check out https://www.yoursynergy.ca/ducks-for-bucks .
Second, registration is now open for the Rotary Amazing Race on September 14 to benefit Rotary’s projects in Chestermere, Canada, and around the world. Early bird discounted registration is open until August 21. This race has grown so much since its inception 6 years ago and is great fun.
Visit https://rotarychestermere.org/Stories/6th-annual-amazing-race to register a team.
I am away but my assistant Pete stopped in on his bicycle at two great events this past weekend. The second annual “Pack The Patrol Car” saw Chestermere residents show up in force to support the Chestermere Food Bank. This initiative was conceived by Peace Officer Shawn Press and his fellow Peace Officers and Chestermere First Responders joined him in support. Joanne and Don Lemna and Amy Williams manned the Food Bank table and were overwhelmed by the generosity. Maybe they should change the name to “Pack The Patrol Fleet”! Thanks to Chestermere Safeway for stepping up again to help our neighbours in need.
Pete also stopped in as Chestermere’s Township 24 Brewery and Tap House celebrated Open Farm Days this past weekend. Owner Mike Gron and Brewmaster Curtis Metzger, a graduate of Olds College’s acclaimed program, explained how hops, malt, yeast, water, art, skill, and science combine to make their smooth drinking beers. Did you know that brewers from around the world choose Alberta malting barley because of its unsurpassed quality? From field to table our agricultural sector is a huge contributor to Alberta’s prosperity.  
Political campaigns are generally about promises, platforms, ideas for change and ideology, and hopefully something about the people that are running resonates with the constituents.  The Prime Minister promised the country a new kind of leadership, all the while bashing The Honourable Stephen Harper.  It seems by “new” he means breaking the rules with impunity, with a clear violation of the rules during the ongoing SNC Lavalin scandal.  I have been away with my family in BC for the last week, and I went door knocking with some of the Federal CPC candidates in the Okanagan region. These folks are as frustrated as we are.  Justin Trudeau has not kept his promises, and he admitted that he was fully responsible for the ethics breach in the SNC Lavalin case.  Let’s be clear, he lied to Parliament, and he lied to Canadians.  SNC Lavalin asked him to pass a law that could allow them to escape prosecution for criminal acts and he happily buried it in a budget bill.  He believes to this day that he was in his rights to do this and that it was appropriate to do so!  Let us hope that Canadians will not forget this, or how he tried to destroy Jody Wilson-Raybould’s reputation, even though she was right, as we go to the polls on October 21, 2019.  He tried to prevent the prosecution of SNC Lavalin for bribery and big payoffs, and again, they lobbied him to do this.  The Prime Minister has now decided to try and bribe and pay off hard working Canadians as well, with over 20 billion in promised Government spending as the debt and deficit rise.  The most frustrating piece of all of this is that there are no consequences for these breaches of ethics, other than the votes of Canadians.  I do not see Mr. Trudeau acknowledging his failings and stepping down suddenly in a whirlwind of apologies for trying to take advantage of the Canadian people.  We have to call into question the ethics of a federal government that cares more for its own re-election than the wellbeing of Canadians.  There is nothing to salvage the Prime Ministers handling of the SNC Lavalin situation.  He does not believe that he did anything wrong.  He does not think he is accountable. 
I think you would agree the Prime Minister does not get to conspire against his own attorney general to the benefit of a company.  This was not about jobs, it was about doing favours for his friends in clear violation of the Conflict Of Interest Act.  Those infrastructure jobs would have been there no matter what, it just would not have been SNC Lavalin that got the bid to do the job.  Many other companies would have loved the opportunity to take these projects and employ thousands in the province of Quebec.  As always we love to hear from you.