I see so many different things that can be done differently at home and abroad to make the world a better place, yet so many politicians want to reverse the clock on our accomplishments and do not even try to attempt to improve anything. They regulate less, they cut programs and in the end they shift all the power from the people to the corporations. It is about time that this changes before it is too late.

I am not advocating complete government control over everything, as many of my opponents would say I am doing, but working people deserve control over the necessities of life. This includes housing, food, water, energy and many more necessary services/goods. Some of these industries are already run by the private sector, and they will probably continue to be done so. However, that does not mean the public should have no say in these industries. This where regulations come into play; without regulations, the sky is the limit for ways corporations can profit, and they will pick the easiest, not always the best, way to profit. However, with regulations, the corporations have to follow what is determined to be best for Canada and the world. They will be forced to find ways to profile while follow a set of guidelines. And trust me, they will still profit, that is their goal after all.

While the more conservative politicians are regulating less, they are also cutting funding to so many social programs. These cuts are not seen as savings for the average working family, they are seen as a loss. The average working family is the one who needs public health care, public education and government pensions. When these are cut, the only ones who save are the corporations. All these corporate tax cuts recently have been paid for by cuts to social programming. It is about time that this stops, we need these programs to ensure that everyone can live decently and that everyone’s future is secure.

All of this can change. We, the people, have the vote. Sometimes it seems like our vote is useless, but with enough momentum the people can change things around and in the process it will make your vote more meaningful. The date of the next federal election is unknown, but you can still take action now. Write to your elected representatives and tell them your feelings. And on Election Day, send a powerful message to them with your vote.

Hippy Day!

When I first moved to Alberta from British Columbia about three years ago, I was surprised by the school fees for high school. The total for the school year was around $400. In British Columbia my father was only paying $50/year and $25 of that was deposit that he would get back at the end of the year. Being low income at the time, that was a tough pill to swallow. (And yes, I am aware there is a waiver system. But that system is very complex, and we could not even fill out the application since we were new to Alberta and they required an Alberta Health number, which we could not get till living in Alberta for some amount of time.)

I was so concerned that I wrote to the Minister of Education with my feelings. Shortly after I received a reply stating how Alberta has the most funding per student in the entire country.

So where is this money? I compare the school fees to British Columbia. I compare the class sizes and see them much larger in Alberta. Numerous schools in Calgary have leaky roofs. Where is all this money that I am being told about?

I really think it’s time for an audit on the School Boards, and also on the cities and the province. I think Albertans will be really surprised to see what a massive audit will find.

Edited to add: Also before I moved out to Alberta, I had never heard of fundraising for school essentials. I see casinos every year at most of the schools in Calgary to fundraise for these essentials.

Alberta Energy Minister’s comment that an external review of Alberta’s oil royalties is too complex for Albertan citizens to understand is highly insulting. This government is getting way too comfortable in its seats and I think they will be really surprised after the results of the next election come out.

It seems like the Tory government thinks things can not get any better for Alberta and they’ve become complacent. Every day that Alberta clings onto the old royalty structure, Albertans are losing money and the oil corporations are getting rich! I’m here to say things can get better! There are still homeless people in our prosperous province. Our health care system is crumbling and grossly under funded. Our schools are falling a part, and school fees for elementary, junior high and high school are ridiculously high! The extra money from increased royalties could be used to eliminate these problems and there would still be cash left over. We could then use that extra money and fund the growing green energy industry in Alberta and become a world leader in sustainable energy. Of course the oil corporations will spread their propaganda through out different mediums stating that this would make all the oil companies leave Alberta because it would cost too much. This is a lie; the oil corporations are making record profits off of Albertan resources, while Albertans are getting nothing more in return.

We can do it. We have the choice. We just need to act.

I’ve been hearing a lot of talk from fellow Calgarians about having more cops in the downtown core to stop the growing drug problem. Having more police downtown will not be enough to solve this problem, actually it won’t even address it if other things are not done. It will just move the problem to another neighborhood, as seen previously in Vancouver. The homeless will still have no home and dug addicts will still be addicted and using.

What we need to do is go after the root of the problem and stop only fighting the side effects. We need to go after poverty! This can be accomplished by such things as making education more affordable, housing more affordable and implementing a living wage. Not only will these implementations prevent these problems in the future, it will also help the people presently on the street get off the street and eventually we will be able to eliminate the problem of homelessness.

There is a notion going around that I’m hearing quite a lot lately. That is, “Most people on street, choose to be on the street.” Yet when someone says this to me and I ask them to give me an example of one of these people, they can not. They later confide in me that they heard this from someone else but have absolutely nothing to back it up. Let’s stop spreading these lies and get out the facts. Stating the previously mentioned notion is just a way of not addressing the problem and taking away the guilt associated with it. But there is a better way to take the guilt away. You can take away the guilt by addressing the problem!

It may be hard work, but we will be living in a much world if we do the right thing.