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Alberta

First Nations Trapper calling for a team to support farmers, loggers, miners, and “fossil fuel people”

Published

4 years ago

6 minute read

Wun Feather calls himself a “culturally traditional” First Nations trapper.  He’s also a pretty good writer, photographer, and communicator.  Wun’s been observing and sharing his thoughts and images about industry, the environment, and the people who care about them in extremely popular social media posts.  The post here has been shared almost 10,000 times so far.

In this post the culturally traditional First Nations trapper called Wun Feather shares his thoughts about the rush to replace fossil fuels.  He doesn’t approach this as a right vs left issue.  He may be onto something.  In this time of crisis more and more people are prepared to act and think across the spectrum.  Enjoy Wun’s unique perspective.

By Wun Feather

Hey team.
I am calling you a team, because I honestly feel that we are all working together towards a common goal.
Someone asked me if I stand in Solidarity, and Before they added the last word, I said “I sure do”
I am speaking out for what I call #TeamCanada
I recognize that without the farmers doing what they do, I would never have flour for my bannock.
I would never have vegetables for a salad, or potatoes to smother in butter or gravy.
Without the ranchers, I would never have eggs, or chickens or beef for my burgers.
Or the medium rare steak that is going to taste so good over a camp fire.
Without the loggers I would have no lumber to build my tree stands, and without pulp and paper people, well.. let’s just say I do not like the feel of leaves on my derriere.
Without the miners we would have no minerals to make things out of, and without the power and cellular service providers I would be in the dark.
I would have to send you this post via smoke signals.
Without restaurants and fast food places and grocery stores, I would be living back on the land like my ancestors did.
I could go on and on and on, but I have to speak up for the fossil fuel people.
Without thermal or metallurgical Coal, Alberta and many countries around the world would have no power, and they would have no Coke for making Steel.
And without diesel in the tractors, without diesel in the ships or trains or transport trucks, the whole world would grind to a stop.
We all know that Climate change is real.
The climate has been changing for millions of years.
Actually, climate change is the reason that plants have become coal, and dinosaur fossils have become oil.
I bet that we also agree that we have all become dependent on fossil fuels.
But just like we humans have discovered new technologies to replace the old, someday we will find an alternative for fossil fuels.
But we are not there yet.
Remember the big fight between Sony Beta and VHS??
Haha.
I sure do.
Google it kids.
But my point is that neither one of those media’s is used any more.
That supports my theory that someday we will no longer use fossil fuels.
But right now the hard reality is that we need fossil fuels for our hospitals, our schools, and our deep fryers at MacDonalds..
Cheese Whiz..
Haha. I mean Gee whiz.
Even most homes nowadays have pipelines that go through the ground to their houses that bring water or natural gas or propane.
And some houses have pipelines that take the poop away.
So I also stand with the people who know how to put the pipes in the ground.
No one wants anything to happen with their sewer pipes, right?
Isn’t it funny that people do not protest the people who put the poop lines in their yards?
There are no activists stopping them from doing their jobs.
I hope I have made myself clear.
I also stand by the people who make my pants and socks and those nice wicking underwear!
Without oil and gas we would not have nylon or polyester, or fake fur coats.. oops.
I prefer the real fur.
So when someone asks you:
“Who does Wunfeather stand in solidarity for?”
I guess my answer is that I stand for the collective.
I stand for the hard working people who bust their butts each day to make a living so their families can have a better life.
Oh..
Just one more thing.
I love our military.
Seriously.
The Airforce and the Navy, and most of all, if I could solute every PPCLI and Airborne member, you bet your life I would!
But I am just an old Indian Trapper, thanking the people like us who matter the most.

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After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

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Alberta

Province to stop municipalities overcharging on utility bills

Published on April 22, 2024

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Making utility bills more affordable

Alberta’s government is taking action to protect Alberta’s ratepayers by introducing legislation to lower and stabilize local access fees.

Affordability is a top priority for Alberta’s government, with the cost of utilities being a large focus. By introducing legislation to help reduce the cost of utility bills, the government is continuing to follow through on its commitment to make life more affordable for Albertans. This is in addition to the new short-term measures to prevent spikes in electricity prices and will help ensure long-term affordability for Albertans’ basic household expenses.

“Albertans need relief from high electricity costs and we can provide that relief by bringing in fairness on local access fees. We will not allow municipalities – including the city of Calgary – to profit off of unpredictable spikes in electricity costs while families struggle to make ends meet. We will protect Alberta families from the extreme swings of electricity costs by standardizing the calculations of local access fees across the province.”

Danielle Smith, Premier

Local access fees are functioning as a regressive municipal tax that consumers pay on their utility bills. It is unacceptable for municipalities to be raking in hundreds of millions in surplus revenue off the backs of Alberta’s ratepayers and cause their utility bills to be unpredictable costs by tying their fees to a variable rate. Calgarians paid $240 in local access fees on average in 2023, compared to the $75 on average in Edmonton, thanks to Calgary’s formula relying on a variable rate. This led to $186 million more in fees being collected by the City of Calgary than expected.

“Albertans deserve to have fair and predictable utility bills. Our government is listening to Albertans and taking action to address unaffordable fees on power bills. By introducing this legislation, we are taking yet another step towards ensuring our electricity grid is affordable, reliable, and sustainable for generations to come.”

Nathan Neudorf, Minister of Affordability and Utilities

To protect Alberta’s ratepayers, the Government of Alberta is introducing the Utilities Affordability Statutes Amendment Act, 2024. If passed, this legislation would promote long-term affordability and predictability for utility bills by prohibiting the use of variable rates when calculating municipalities’ local access fees.

Variable rates are highly volatile, which results in wildly fluctuating electricity bills. When municipalities use this rate to calculate their local access fees, it results in higher bills for Albertans and less certainty in families’ budgets. These proposed changes would standardize how municipal fees are calculated across the province, and align with most municipalities’ current formulas.

“Over the last couple of years many consumers have been frustrated with volatile Regulated Rate Option (RRO) prices which dramatically impacted their utility bills. In some cases, these impacts were further amplified by local access fees that relied upon calculations that included those same volatile RRO prices. These proposed changes provide more clarity and stability for consumers, protecting them from volatility in electricity markets.”

Chris Hunt, Utilities Consumer Advocate

If passed, the Utilities Affordability Statutes Amendment Act, 2024 would prevent municipalities from attempting to take advantage of Alberta’s ratepayers in the future. It would amend sections of the Electric Utilities Act and Gas Utilities Act to ensure that the Alberta Utilities Commission has stronger regulatory oversight on how these municipal fees are calculated and applied, ensuring Alberta ratepayer’s best interests are protected.

“Addressing high, unpredictable fees on utility bills is an important step in making life more affordable for Albertans. This legislation will protect Alberta’s ratepayers from spikes in electricity prices and ensures fairness in local access fees.”

Chantelle de Jonge, Parliamentary Secretary for Affordability and Utilities

If passed, this legislation would also amend sections of the Alberta Utilities Commission Act, the Electric Utilities Act, Government Organizations Act and the Regulated Rate Option Stability Act to replace the terms “Regulated Rate Option”, “RRO”, and “Regulated Rate Provider” with “Rate of Last Resort” and “Rate of Last Resort Provider” as applicable.

Quick facts

  • Local access fees are essentially taxes that are charged to electricity distributors by municipalities. These fees are then passed on to all of the distributor’s customers in the municipality, and appear as a line item on their utility bills.
    • The Municipal Government Act grants municipalities the authority to charge, amend, or cap franchise and local access fees.
  • Linear taxes and franchise fees are usually combined together on consumers’ power bills in one line item as the local access fee.
    • The linear tax is charged to the utility for the right to use the municipality’s property for the construction, operation, and extension of the utility.
    • The franchise fee is the charge paid by the utility to the municipality for the exclusive right to provide service in the municipality.
  • Local access fees are usually calculated in one of two ways:
    • (1) A percentage of transmission and distribution (delivery) costs, typically 10-15 per cent.
    • (2) A fixed, cents per kilowatt-hour of consumed power charge (City of Edmonton).
  • Calgary is the only municipality that employs a two-part fee calculation formula:
    • 11.11 per cent of transmission and distribution charges plus 11.11 per cent of the Regulated Rate Option multiplied by the consumed megawatt hours.

Related information
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Alberta

Alberta moves to protect Edmonton park from Trudeau government’s ‘diversity’ plan

Published on April 22, 2024

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

If Trudeau’s National Urban Park Initiative is implemented, Alberta could see its parks, including Edmonton’s River Valley, hijacked by the federal government in the name of ‘sustainability, conservation, equity, diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation.’

Edmonton is working to protect its River Valley from the Trudeau government’s “diversity” park plan. 

On April 15, Alberta Legislature passed MLA Brandon Lunty’s private members’ Bill 204 to protect the Edmonton River Valley from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s National Urban Park Initiative which would give the federal government power over provincial parks to enforce a variety of quotas related to the “climate” and “diversity.”  

“Albertans elected our United Conservative government with a majority mandate to, among other things, protect families and communities from federal overreach and intrusion. That’s exactly what this bill accomplishes,” Lunty said in a press release.   

Bill 204, titled the Municipal Government (National Urban Parks) Amendment Act, is a response to the National Urban Park Initiative which would give the Trudeau government jurisdiction over Alberta’s provincial parks.  

The Trudeau government’s plan promises to “provide long-lasting benefits to the urban area” by using “sustainability, conservation, equity, diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation.” 

If the program is approved, the Edmonton River Valley could be “fully owned by the Federal Government,” which will use the space to advance their values, including addressing the impacts of “climate change” and creating spaces where “diversity is welcomed.”  

The plan also promises that equity will be “intentionally advanced” while “respecting indigenous rights” through “reconciliation.”   

However, many Edmonton citizens were concerned with the Urban Park Initiative and met with their MLAs to discuss the issue.  

Edmonton citizen Sheila Phimester worked with MLA Jackie Lovely to create a petition to prevent the River Valley from becoming federally owned. The petition has received over 5,000 signatures.  

“Oh, and because it’s the federal government, their ‘priorities’ for these parks are ‘healthier communities’, ‘climate resilience’, ‘reconciliation’, ‘equity’, ‘diversity’, and ‘inclusion,’” it continued.   

Already, Trudeau has attempted to assert power over Alberta’s industry by placing “climate” restrictions on their oil and gas production in an attempt to force net-zero regulations on all Canadian provinces, including on electricity generation, by as early as 2035.   

However, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has repeatedly vowed to protect the province from Trudeau’s radical “net zero” push. 

In December, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith blasted Trudeau’s Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s plan to slash oil and gas emissions by 35 percent to 38 percent below 2019 levels as “unrealistic” and “unconstitutional.”  

Trudeau’s current environmental goals are in lockstep with the United Nations’ “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” and include phasing out coal-fired power plants, reducing fertilizer usage, and curbing natural gas use over the coming decades.  

The reduction and eventual elimination of the use of so-called “fossil fuels” and a transition to unreliable “green” energy has also been pushed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) – the globalist group behind the socialist “Great Reset” agenda – an organization in which Trudeau and some of his cabinet are involved. 

In November, after announcing she had “enough” of Trudeau’s extreme environmental rules, Smith said her province had no choice but to assert control over its electricity grid to combat federal overreach by enacting its Sovereignty Act. The Sovereignty Act serves to shield Albertans from future power blackouts due to federal government overreach.  

Unlike most provinces in Canada, Alberta’s electricity industry is nearly fully deregulated. However, the government still has the ability to take control of it at a moment’s notice. 

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