MLA report July 18

Hello Chestermere! One thing I learned very quickly when I was first elected is this: the world needs more Canada!  This is even truer today in so many ways. Our energy, our agriculture, and our technology could make a real difference in the world and all of Canada would benefit. It was truly amazing over the Stampede to hear the talk at the events around our oil and gas sector, our agriculture sector and the general feeling that Alberta is under siege by the Federal government.  The Premier has been working hard to form relationships with all the other Premiers around one general problem – the Carbon Tax.  Even Quebec is against the carbon tax, or so it seems, so there might be an opportunity to really build some strong ties with our nation.  The federal government spent $4.5  billion of your dollars to buy a pipeline that would have been funded by the private sector, the Transmountain pipeline, then stalled it and just passed the “no more pipelines bill”, Bill C-69 and then the Prime Minister made an announcement in Alberta that amounted to a big nothing.  I suspect this was done so he could bill the taxpayers for his campaign stops in Edmonton and Calgary. Many people these days feel powerless to fight back against this assault on our prosperity but you are stronger than you think. If you have friends out east, or in BC, please make sure that you have a chat with them about Canadian prosperity and our way of life.  Every single Canadian is being impacted every day by the loss of dollars for our country, dollars that build schools, roads, and hospitals.  Ask them why would any responsible federal government prefer to export billions of dollars to countries like Saudi Arabia rather than buy Alberta energy and keep the money in Canada? The Prime Minister just welcomed a fierce anti-pipeline advocate in Quebec to be a star candidate. This is appalling! We must stand up for our resources and speak to as many people as possible.  As I say this, there is the problem of Quebec seeking intervenor status to support B.C in appealing the decision that the Federal Government has the constitutional right to build and expand pipelines (CTV Montreal, Kevin Gould, July 13, 2019, https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/trans-mountain-pipeline-quebec-government-seeks-intervenor-status-for-supreme-court-argument-1.4506739 ).  The Federal Government cynically killed the Energy East Pipeline by constantly moving the regulatory goalposts, and I wonder what would have happened if Energy East had been approved, if we would be fighting this battle on both sides of the country.  I have to give some serious kudos to our Premier, as he is relentless in his pursuit of getting pipelines built.  We all have a part to play in promoting our province, and our resources. Let’s get out there and fight for our resources and stand up for Alberta and for Canada. 
Well, my cowboy boots and hats sure got a work out this past 10 days, but there’s more coming up! I am super excited to attend the Strathmore Stampede in August.  Make sure you bring your family down on from Friday August 2 until Monday August 5.  Tickets start at $15-$35 and you will see the Stampede greats up close and personal.  The Parade goes Saturday August 3 and I hope to see you there. The food and the people are fabulous, so don’t put your boots away just yet.  For more information visit https://www.strathmoreag.com/ .
In Chestermere, the Water Festival is on July 27th and is free to all.  This is a family friendly event that brings out some incredible athletes. Chestermere is also hosting heritage days on August 5th.  This is a great opportunity to meet new members of our community and to learn about different cultures, food, the beautiful and colorful clothing and to come together as a community. 
Coming up next of course is Langdon Days! Langdon Days is July 19-21 and has many fun family events.  Come on down to the Good Luck Town! This great annual event raises money for the Langdon Community Association. The parade goes on Saturday July 20 at 10AM and I am excited and honoured to be the Parade Marshall (I get to go first!). We have horses, candy, freezies, Elvis the Wonder Dog, smiles and hugs! As always, they need volunteers. Check out http://www.goodlucktown.ca/langdon-days.html for more information or to volunteer.
I would like to finish this article with a big Thank You to all of our beautiful communities that put on such great Stampede functions.  It was wonderful to see all of you.  I would especially like to give a shout out to my wonderful staff at the constituency office, and to Vicki Welsh, who was such a great asset this stampede.  Thank you for your incredible work.  Finally, to the Calgary Stampede, our First Nations, Stampede Queen Carly Heath, and Princesses Kelly Stewart and Courtney Dingreville, and our First Nations Princess Astokomii Smith.  It was amazing to spend so much time with these dedicated and wonderful people. We are so blessed that this event brings so many to our province and to our communities.  This is truly an amazing time of year, and I still have to pinch myself everyday as I feel like I must be the most fortunate person on earth to represent all of you and to be able to meet so many incredible people.  As always we love to hear from you.