Hello Chestermere! I would like to start out by thanking everyone who helped organize, volunteer and worked on the Chestermere Country Fair this past weekend. It was their 30th anniversary! For me the day began with the parade. Verne and Connie from Indus supplied the wagon and beautiful horses (who are the real stars along with Elvis the Wonder Dog). Along with my husband Malkeet and son Akesh I would like to give a special shout out to our volunteers who came out in the cold early morning to blow up balloons, hook up trailers and horses, and to hand out candy. Our candy wranglers Connie’s amazing parents Marion and Lionel Marra, and Vicki kept Dhruv, Pete, Emily and Hope supplied as they made sure that no kid was left without candy! Chestermere Community Playschool won best float in the face of some stiff competition. It was truly a pleasure to see so many of you on the parade route and then to see you at the fair enjoying what turned out to be a beautiful day. I hope you had a chance to enjoy some pie, ice cream, and baking at the Whitecappers. I sure did. Thanks to Carol Gardner for organizing this and the rest of the Whitecappers volunteers. Congratulations to the Kearns family from Langdon who won this year’s Grand Aggregate Award at the Red Ribbon contest.
I have to say that one of my favourite things is the Mutton Bustin’. It was absolutely fantastic watching these brave little munchkins wrangle a soft, fluffy lamb, being held by two grown men, in a dusty arena with a huge crowd of proud parents, grandparents, friends and others cheering them on. The lambs seemed content to receive ear scratches from the kids and the kids seemed happy to participate and get the crowd all riled up. This is a truly a win-win for both riders and animals. See you all next year on Saturday, September 5, 2020!
I would like to chat about the Auditor General’s report that was released this week for our province. We found out after the privilege of being elected that many government boards were not fostering the desired outcomes to best serve Alberta. Many boards were operating with tremendous inefficiencies, and were left with vacancies as a result of there being no mechanism for the previous government to hold effective elections for the board members let alone attract folks that were willing to run for and work on important boards that inform government. As a result of this we have decided that in order to reduce red tape we would centralize recruitment of board members by ensuring that a skilled, diverse and vibrant group of people are appointed to these boards. This reduces the time to fill the board vacancies and in the spirit of the report from the auditor general, we are delivering on making sure that you are served better by your government. We have removed the need for expensive search firms and the Public Service Commission will use the Public Agency Secretariat to coordinate recruitment of board members of public agencies, boards and commissions. We hope to eliminate as many inefficiencies as possible.
Finally, are you concerned about rural crime? Please join me and the Honourable Doug Schweitzer, Minister of Justice, in Cheadle at the Community Hall Monday, September 16th. Doors open at 6:30 PM. Minister Schweitzer is touring the province to get your input on how to make our justice system more responsive to your needs. See the ad in this week’s Anchor or call 403-207-9889 for more information.
As always we love to hear from you at 403-207-9889 or Chestermere.Strathmore@assembly.ab.ca
