Opinion
10 days before voting day in Election 2017. Will insanity be the word of the day?
“ The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.” Is a great saying that has been credited to Albert Einstein, but there is no guarantee, but it is a great saying.
It is also something we should keep in mind during elections.
Prior to the last election we rated 15th on the national crime severity index, and now we are rated 2nd and we now have the most fentanyl and opioid deaths in Alberta. Should we not have doubled down on the issue last election.
CBC did a story about Red Deer’s air quality being the worst, years ago. The monitors have been reading, “Demands Immediate Action” since 2009. Drawing national attention since 2010. We are not even addressing the issue.
While the province grew, Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge and our surrounding communities grew in 2016, Red Deer lost 975 permanent residents. Hardly spoken. The neighbourhoods comprising 31% of the population lost 777 of the 975 permanent residents. No corrective actions planned.
The only Recreation Centre north of the river was built almost 40 years ago. The last school built north of the river was in 1985. The neighbourhoods north of the river have never had a high school but there are plans for 6 south of the river, 4 already opened.
We have 10 days to go before election day, and how do we communicate with the candidates. The general forum saw each question asked, being answered by only 2 candidates. Introductions were only 90 seconds and closing remarks were only 30 seconds. You could not get to know much in that format.
Some candidates do not return calls or answer e-mails, so confusion reigns and this benefit’s the incumbents. This almost guarantees all the default votes go to the incumbents, and since almost all the incumbents are running, we will end up with almost the same group as last time.
I am not insane, and in that case, I would not expect different results.
There are more forums. I have included some below and I have also included names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. These came from the city’s contact list on reddeer.ca.
Have concerns? Contact as many as possible to find out as much as possible.
Diversity & Inclusion
Date & Time: Thursday, October 5, 2017 from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Location: Memorial Festival Hall (4214 58 Street)
Host: Welcoming and Inclusive Community Network
Red Deer College Student Forum
(Mayoral candidates)
Date & Time: Tuesday, October 10, 2017 from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Location: Margaret Parsons Theatre (1400), Red Deer College
Host: Students’ Association of Red Deer College
Construction, Land Development and Real Estate Industry Forum
Wednesday, October 11, 2017 from 6:30-9:00p.m.
Location: Radisson Hotel Red Deer
Reddeer.ca has on their website an official list of candidates with phone numbers and e-mail addresses for the public. I am listing them;
CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICE OF MAYOR
Number of Positions to be filled: 1
Name…….. Phone……. E-mail Address
Sean Burke…… 403-392-2893…… [email protected]
Tara Veer ….. 403-358-3568 ….. [email protected]
CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICE OF COUNCILLOR
Number of Positions to be filled: 8
Name …..Phone …..E-mail Address
Sandra (Sam) Bergeron …..403-304-9884 ….. [email protected]
S.H. (Buck) Buchanan …..403-348-3240 ….. [email protected]
Valdene Callin …..403-348-9958 ….. [email protected]
Matt Chapin ….. 403-347-1934 ….. [email protected]
Michael Dawe …..403-346-9325 ….. [email protected]
Rob Friss …..403-597-1355 ….. [email protected]
Calvin Goulet-Jones …..403-872-4253 …[email protected]
Jason Habuza ….. 403-597-8712 ….. [email protected]
Tanya Handley …..403-596-5848….. [email protected]
Vesna Higham ….. 403-505-1172 ….. [email protected]
Ted Johnson ….. 403-396-5962 ….. [email protected]
Ken Johnston ….. 403-358-8049 ….. [email protected]
Cory Kingsfield ….. 403-352-6450….. [email protected]
Jim Kristinson ….. 403-318-0330 ….. [email protected]
Lawrence Lee …..403-346-7388….. [email protected]
Kris Maciborsky …..587-679-5747….. [email protected]
Doug Manderville …..403-318-0545 …… [email protected]
Bobbi McCoy …..403-346-0171 …… [email protected]
Ian Miller …..403-392-4527 ….. [email protected]
Jeremy Moore …..403-357-4187….. [email protected]
Rick More …..403-340-9330 ….. [email protected]
Lynne P Mulder …..403-392-1177 …[email protected]
Bayo Nshombo Bayongwa …..403-307-1074 …… [email protected]
Matt Slubik …..403-848-3762 ….. [email protected]
Jordy Smith …..587-377-4384 ….. [email protected]
Brice Unland …..403-597-4321 ….. [email protected]
Jonathan Wieler …..403-358-8270 …[email protected]
Frank Wong ….. 403-872-3238 …… [email protected]
Dianne Wyntjes …..403-505-4256 …… [email protected]
CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC SCHOOL TRUSTEE
Number of Positions to be filled: 7
Name …..Phone….. E-mail Address
Nicole Buchanan ….. 403-596-4611 …… [email protected]
Matt Chapin ….. 403-347-1934/ 403-346-6821 ….. [email protected]
Jason Chilibeck ……………………………………[email protected]
Bill Christie …..403-597-8354…… [email protected]
Dick Lemke …..403-347-1963 …… [email protected]
Dianne Macaulay ….. 403-588-8806 ….. [email protected]
Bev Manning …..403-358-2035 ….. [email protected]
Patrick O’Connor …… 403-598-0870 ……[email protected]
Ben Ordman …..403-346-5885
Cathy Peacocke …..403-342-6043….. [email protected]
Angela Sommers …..403-309-4546 ….. [email protected]
Bill Stuebing …..403-347-5319….. [email protected]
Jaelene Tweedle …..403-754-2501 …[email protected]
Jim Watters …..403-340-9392….. [email protected]
Chris Woods …..403-318-0503….. [email protected]
Laurette Woodward …..403-346-9447 …[email protected]
CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICE OF CATHOLIC SCHOOL TRUSTEE
Red Deer & Area
Number of Positions to be filled: 5
Name …..Phone…… E-mail Address
Murray Hollman …..403-391-0336….. [email protected]
Adriana LaGrange …..403-347-0225….. [email protected]
Cynthia Leyson …..403-848-1232 …[email protected]
Kim Pasula …..403-350-1808….. [email protected]
Carlene Smith …..403-392-6042 …[email protected]
Anne Marie Watson …..403-348-1064 …[email protected]
CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICE OF CATHOLIC SCHOOL TRUSTEE
Highway 11 Ward: Rocky Mountain House, Caroline, Eckville, Sylvan Lake
Number of Positions to be filled: 1
Name ……Phone….. E-mail Address
Dorraine Lonsdale …..403-845-4117 …[email protected]
Liam McNiff …..403-887-5308 ….. [email protected]
CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICE OF THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL TRUSTEE
QE II Ward: Innisfail, Bowden, Olds, Didsbury
Number of Positions to be filled: 1
Name….. Phone….. E-mail Address
Sharla Heistad …..403-994-3871 ….. [email protected] ACCLAIMED
From the Fraser Institute
According to a new study published by the Fraser Institute, if Canada wants to remain competitive with emerging economies around the world, we must increase our math, science and reading scores—and not simply pursue high levels of “equity and inclusion” as the primary goal for our schools.
Indeed, highly equitable and inclusive schools—with declining PISA scores, as is currently the case in Canada—do a disservice to students and society at large.
Why? Because higher test scores translate into greater “knowledge capital”—that is, the full body of knowledge available to an economy—and boost economic growth (and, incidentally, the tax revenues that fund our schools).
Indeed, the goal should be equitable access to a quality education. And the most realistic and meaningful way to measure student progress is through PISA tests, which every three years assess the performance of 15-year-olds worldwide in core subjects of math, science and reading rather than the limited curriculum objectives used in provincial testing, which can only show progress or decline within individual school systems. In today’s world, where competition is truly global, we must know how our students and schools perform compared to their peers in other countries, especially the “Asian Tigers” of Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Tiawan whose rapidly growing economies have been driven by rising PISA scores.
Obviously, countries with higher test scores can teach other countries how to improve—although there are limits and some traps here. Attempting to cut and paste Singapore’s or Korea’s much more meritocratic systems of highly competitive student assessment and selection would be impractical and impolitic in Canada. Even so, policymakers should consider reinstating more meaningful meritocratic norms in Canadian schools to encourage and recognize academic achievement. Nothing succeeds like success, except recognized and rewarded success.
Closer to home, other provinces could benefit from considering why Quebec is such a stellar performer in math and why Alberta has the highest overall PISA test score average of all provinces.
But fair warning, recent attempts at school improvement in Canada show that top-down one-size-fits-all changes—including extending compulsory attendance, reducing average class size and tinkering with course content—have had little positive effect on student performance, although they may please teacher unions. If policymakers want to achieve more equitable success for more students, they should introduce more flexibility, school autonomy and choice into our top-heavy centrally regulated school systems. In this respect it may be no accident that the three highest performing, mid-spending provincial K-12 education systems (Alberta, Quebec and Ontario) offer relatively high levels of school choice, although of quite different kinds.
Equity and inclusion are noble goals, but they shouldn’t interfere with student progress. There’s too much at stake, for students and the country.
Author:
From LifeSiteNews
The organization began welcoming homosexual-identifying boys in 2013, halted its ban on gay adult scout masters in 2015, announced in 2017 that girls who identify as ‘transgender’ could enter boys-only programs, and fully opened its membership to girls in 2018.
After years of turmoil and upheaval resulting in a major identity crisis, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced today that it’s changing its name to Scouting America in order to be “more inclusive.”
The rebranding comes as the troubled organization emerges from bankruptcy after a tsunami of allegations of sexual abuse rocked the once-beloved, venerable institution geared to forming boys into men.
In all, more than 80,000 men came forward to file claims alleging that they were sexually abused while in BSA programs, resulting in a $2.4 billion bankruptcy plan that was approved by a federal judge last year.
The BSA began welcoming homosexual-identifying boys in 2013, and in 2015 halted its ban on gay adult scout masters.
In 2017, the organization announced that girls who identify as “transgender” could enter their boys-only programs. In 2018, the scouts fully opened their membership to girls.
As a result, Scouting America currently serves more than 176,000 girls and young women across all programs, including over 6,000 who have earned the rank of Eagle Scout, according to a press release.
In a video posted to X, CEO Roger Krone delivered a woke-drenched explanation for the change, saying it sends a “really strong message to everyone in America that they can come to this program, they can bring their authentic self, they can be who they are, and they will be welcomed here.”
The announcement met with a quick backlash on social media.
“This is an act of intentional demoralization against normal Americans and the former key constituency of the Boy Scouts: patriotic, hard working American boys and their families,” wrote William Wolfe, executive director of the Center for Baptist Leadership, on X.
“Everything good must be deformed in service of the revolution,” he added.
“The Boy Scouts chose the woke over the church kids that made up the backbone of their membership,” conservative author John Hawkins asserted. “Now they’re as good as dead. They deserve it. The kids didn’t. But the Boy Scouts do.”
“Once again, wokeness ruins everything,” outspoken conservative Hollywood star Matthew Marsden said.
“It started with allowing girls into the Boy Scouts. That’s when I pulled my son out of it,” Marsden noted. “This organization helped equip young boys with the skills to become real men and this move is another attack on them.”
“They will be financially bankrupt in 10 years,” he predicted.
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