Hello Chestermere! Happy belated Mother’s Day to all of our mothers, and those that we have maternal bonds with. I was out on the pathways on Sunday playing with my niece and nephew along with my beautiful sons at the dog park, and I felt so blessed to be surrounded by my family enjoying the sun after the rainstorm. I want to send my deep love to those who have lost their moms, and those who have lost their children as well. We sometimes forget that the days that are designated to honour those we love come with mixed emotions, memories, and loss as well. My heart goes out to the family of Jasmine Lovett and her little girl Aliyah who went missing on April 23rd. Their bodies were recovered 2 weeks later. It makes me squeeze my family tighter than usual.
I would like to chat about the upcoming federal election. Gwyn Morgan’s May 10 Financial Post article (https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/gwyn-morgan-a-principled-conservative-policy-would-challenge-trudeaus-climate-propaganda-with-truth )
is an article worth reading as it delves into the kinds of issues we will see as we head into the election cycle. I was shocked to read that the average middle class family is paying an extra $840 dollars per year to keep up with the overspending of the Federal Liberals. 80% of the middle class is feeling this pinch. What is most interesting about this article is the suggestion that this election ballot question may be about climate change, and the justification for the carbon tax that several Premiers including our own do not support. We have a responsibility to do better and continue to be a leader in the most responsible resource developers in the world, but we need to take an honest look at the subsidizing of “green” power and the cost to Albertans, and Canadians. Windmills and solar panels have major pollution footprints from creation to maintenance to the landfill. The wind does not always blow, and the sun does not always shine, so this energy is intermittent at best. What really strikes a chord here in our beautiful province is how our resources and our prosperity can be held hostage by this current Federal government. If this level of disrespect was extended to one of the provinces out East it would be a national crisis. We must stop apologizing for our amazing resources and our development of those resources. Speaking of resources, we have a potential canola crisis given the lack of leadership with respect to China, India is still limiting access to its markets for our pulse crops, and our exports of durum wheat to Italy have collapsed. It adds to a long list of the issues that the Prime Minister will be facing during the election including the SNC Lavalin scandal, the groping scandal (evidently she experienced it differently than he did), the attack on our Veterans, the lack of work on missing and murdered Indigenous women, and reconciliation period, the attack on our resources, the inability to build pipelines, and my personal favourite, that he is a feminist…ugh! We can get a good idea of our Prime Minister’s priorities by observing that his government has been caught obstructing justice yet again. The second highest ranked officer in Canada was legally harassed and defamed for two years for the “crime” of trying to ensure our Navy was able to fulfill its mission. Even well-known Liberal Warren Kinsella has had enough in his May 9 column in the Toronto Sun ( https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/kinsella-trudeau-government-trying-to-cover-its-tracks ). Suddenly all of the charges have been dropped.
This month is Ramadan and many of our Muslim brothers and sisters are commemorating the revealing of the Koran to prophet Muhammed through prayer and charity. It is a month of fasting, practicing self-discipline, spiritual reflection, devotion and worship. Eid al Fitr is a festival when Muslims break their fast for the last time during Ramadan, but every night during the fast, when the sun sets families gather to break their fast with the Iftar dinner. The Al-Madinah Calgary Islamic Assembly would like to invite everyone to come and join in an interfaith Iftar dinner at the Chestermere MPP room on Sunday May 19th. Please feel free to contact Abdul Hameed-403-471-3976 or Khalil Khan at 403-542-0506 to join in the celebration. This month also sees the celebration of Vaisakhi. Hindus and Sikhs celebrate this along with the spring harvest. This is a religious festival for the Sikh community that commemorates the formation of the Khalsa Panth warriors under the Guru Gobind Singh in 1699. This year thousands gathered to celebrate and marched (the Nagar Kirtan) through the streets of N.E Calgary singing songs and hymns.
I was honoured to present the award for community involvement at the Esquao awards. The Esquao Awards is the largest gathering to honour Aboriginal Women in Canada. It is unique because the community nominates the women, and the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women (IAAW) coordinates the ceremony to honour them. I was also so honoured to attend the Lions Foundation of Canada fundraiser at John Peake park this past week to raise money for guide dogs. Steve and Marilynn King along with the Lions were able to raise 20,000 dollars. Congratulations! I attended the AARC (Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre) gala that raises awareness around youth addiction. Thank you to the amazing volunteers and to Dr. and Mrs. Vause who are the founders and creators of this incredible program that saves lives and puts families back together! Dr. Vause calls addiction “The equal opportunity destroyer”. It can happen to anyone.
Finally, congratulations to the Highlands Golf Course in Edmonton. It was built on a coal mine and is celebrating its 90th anniversary. Also I hope you had a chance to catch the Raptors game! It was a nail biter down to the final shot in the 7th game. Kawhi Leonard’s incredible jump shot from the corner at the buzzer gave the Raptors a 92-90 win over the Philadelphia 76ers and they advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for just the second time in franchise history. As always we love to hear from you!
