Dear Editor,
Recently, several mayors (Innisfail, Wetaskiwin and Calgary) in Alberta have gotten recall petitions.
According to the Recall Act, Bill 52, citizens can “recall” MLAs, town councillors and school trustees.
Why can’t we recall our premier? Is she “special”? In my opinion, this is another attempt by our premier to polarize municipal government and most local governments and citizens are opposed to this idea.
The “wheel has already been invented”. Most municipalities and citizens are opposed to have “party” politicians elected to municipal governments. They have seen the problems with that idea in the U.S.
Why should we adopt that kind of problem since it is not working well in the States?
But —-it will help the UCP. Tremendous amounts of money will be spent in electing local officials. Just look to the States to understand what I am saying. (“Money” talks in U.S. politics. Lots of money supporting candidates by Political Action Committees (PACs ).
Or is this a tactic to divert attention away from many of the problems our province is facing? Pretending to ‘care’ about our health care, our public schools, support for victim services and shelters for women and children; pollution of our environment, etc.
Remember: ‘perception’ is everything in politics.
Is it okay to condemn the federal carbon tax while ignoring the lack of safe guards for our environment (Alberta Energy Regulator not going after energy companies for polluting our environment)? We can have all kinds of rules, regulations and laws, but if we don’t enforce them, then why have them?
If we allow politicians to cut ‘red tape’, who benefits and who loses from these cuts?
Look at Boeing in America where “cutting red tape” by the Trump administration benefited Boeing at the expense of 340 lives lost in two major plane crashes (and subsequent accidents by airline companies using Boeing aircrafts), or cutting red tape to the railroad industry saw a huge increase in railway accidents
If our politicians want to introduce ‘direct democracy’ into Alberta politics, they should also allow for referendums on the Alberta Pension Plan, the introduction of a provincial police force, subsidizing private schools and charter schools, the introduction of private health care, introduction of political parties into municipal elections, mining operations in the Canadian Rockies (eastern slopes), and on abandoned ‘orphan wells’.
Maybe we should have a “royal commission” investigate the Heritage Trust Fund to see how it has been managed (or mismanaged) since its conception. In particular, how has it been managed over the past 10 years.
Furthermore, how much has gone to non-public identities (energy companies; private schools; charter schools; tournaments, and loans and grants to private agencies, etc)?
If our politicians talk about transparency and accountability, maybe they should practice what they preach.
George Thatcher
Olds. Alta.
