Hello Chestermere!
Congratulations to all who participated in the Chestermere Fine Arts Guild show this weekend. A hearty congratulations to my dear friend Maxine McKellar who was the featured artist. The talent was just incredible, and I was honoured to attend. I would like to take this opportunity to wish Ramadan Mubarak to all our Muslim brothers and sisters. May you have a blessed Ramadan as you begin your month of fasting. Ramadan Kareem!
I was honoured to attend and speak at the Holocaust memorial ceremony, Yom Hashoah, at Beth Shalom Synagogue. It is our duty to remember the atrocities of WWII and remember the horrific events of the Holocaust. 6 million Jews were murdered, 1.5 million of them children. We must teach our children this history so that it never happens again!
This week our Premier began his promised defense of Alberta’s and Canada’s economic interests. Premier Kenney went before a Senate committee to speak on Bill C-48, the tanker ban legislation that targets Alberta’s oil industry and Canadian tankers off the B.C. coast while leaving foreign tankers free to ship foreign oil along our shores.
Also, we proclaimed Bill 12 into law, giving Alberta a vital tool to counter threats from the B.C. government to our natural resources and our access to tidewater. The Premier also appeared before a Senate committee to stand up for Alberta regarding Bill C-69, the “No More Pipelines” bill. This bill ultimately kills any chance of future pipelines and if passed will make our energy sector even more uncompetitive.
We are losing $70 million a week (over $3 billion a year) as I write this due to our lack of pipeline capacity. It is time to stand up Alberta! Investors see Alberta as “not worth the risk”, and we are losing billions in economic potential through the lack of effort by the Federal government to approve their Trans Mountain pipeline, and furthermore destroying Energy East!
The Trudeau government has created economic and regulatory uncertainly impacting every business, family and the foundations of our prosperity! They have eroded confidence in our regulatory framework and without that confidence capital will flee Alberta. We have lost approximately $100 billion in lost investment just in the last 2 years. This is incredibly frustrating especially when we see how well the energy sector is doing south of the border.
The question we need to ask is why has the Trudeau Government politicized pipelines? Why is our Prime Minister and his Environment Minster playing games on assessments? Why are federal ministers allowed to interfere in the assessments? Why is Trudeau so bound and determined to destroy the industry that brings prosperity and jobs to our country, including First Nations. Did you know Alberta’s energy sector dwarfs every other industry in Canada in the wealth it brings in to the country for all Canadians? Why has Trudeau allowed environmental activists and opponents to stop the process for pipeline approvals? This is an intrusion on our provincial jurisdiction, and Bill C-69 will allow this to continue.
Premier Kenney said “It gives a new federal agency the power to regulate provincial projects, such as in situ oil sands developments and petrochemical refineries, which are entirely within a province’s borders and already subject to provincial regulation. It disregards a landmark Supreme Court ruling on jurisdiction and the balance between federal and provincial powers spelled out in the Constitution — including Section 92A in which provinces have exclusive authority over non-renewable resource projects. This is particularly galling as it was secured by Premier Lougheed as a condition of Alberta’s agreement to the Constitution in 1982.”
“Those who actually know Alberta know how committed we are to protecting the environment and the level of industry and regulatory expertise here. Under my government’s stewardship, Albertans and Canadians will benefit from economic growth driven by environmentally sustainable energy development and clean technologies that will fight climate change in Canada and globally. We will reduce greenhouse gas emissions using provincial regulations.”
The hypocrisy of our opponents is overwhelming (see BC Premier Horgan for example, imploring the Federal Government to intervene and force more gasoline down the pipeline he opposes), and Albertans will not stand down. We will not apologize for our industry. We will work tirelessly to bring back investor confidence, and yes, we will scrap the carbon tax as Bill 1.
This month is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The commitment from previous governments and ours is that every Albertan has the right to live free from violence. Perpetrators of sexual violence violate that right. We stand firmly with survivors, advocates and community agencies to stop sexual violence in all its forms. We commit to supporting survivors, improving our response, and shifting to a culture of consent.
For all you “footie” fans, Cavalry FC played their inaugural soccer home opener this past weekend against York9 FC. It was freezing but that didn’t stop Cavalry FC attacker Jordan Brown, #9, and defender Dominick Zator, #4, from getting a goal each to win the game 2-1. Thank you to Spruce Meadows for providing a beautiful pitch to play on. The next game is a home game Wednesday May 8th against Valour FC from Winnipeg, Manitoba. I hope it stops snowing for a millisecond and that spring actually gets to make her debut as well. As always, we love to hear from you!
