It was rather underwhelming during the recent catastrophe in Fort McMurray to watch the response of certain elected officials.
The response of firefighters must be applauded, on the other hand. What a tremendous group of people Albertans have as firefighters in this province. Photographs of exhausted firefighters sleeping on roadsides and on lawns was heart wrenching. What a career that must be, to risk your life to protect the lives and property of others. Everyone in Alberta owes firefighters a vote of thanks, regardless of where they work.
It was frustrating though to watch Alberta NDP Premier Rachel Notley and her Liberal counterpart Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as they had trouble feigning interest in the horrendous wildfire that damaged or destroyed about 1,600 buildings in and around the northern Alberta city, and displaced 88,000 people.
During Notley’s initial press conference days after the disaster started, Notley gave Albertans an update on the wildfire situation, but said something to the effect “no state of emergency is being declared because it’s not an emergency.” Well, it’s not clear how 1,600 destroyed buildings and 88,000 evacuees isn’t a disaster. Within the span of about 10 minutes, Notley reversed course and declared a disaster in the Fort McMurray area. The premier’s public relations people are likely the ones to thank for that, perhaps reminding her that she represents all Albertans, not just the 4 out of 10 who voted for her. Is the premier letting dogma affect her decisions…unwilling to do her job properly because the city in danger was closely tied to the energy industry that the NDP has such a burning hatred for?
Then there’s the nation’s leader in Ottawa, Trudeau. His great gesture, while the aforementioned 88,000 people are fleeing the city, is to say, “Well, the feds aren’t going to lead the way. The feds will match whatever other Canadians do.”
So, the military wasn’t activated or any other branch of government that’s trained to deal with emergencies for that matter. “We’ll just let the people sort it out themselves. Let me know what happens.” Wow, what a response. A true leader. No wonder his party won a landslide election. Obviously too busy making sure his suburbanite wife has the proper number of nannies caring for the next generation of Trudeaus.
One last note to Premier Notley and her NDP folks who like to make it sound like the $100 million of aid from the Government of Alberta is coming from her political party: it’s tax revenue, that money comes from everyday Albertans like the ones reading this editorial right now.
Again, the help came from the people of Alberta, not from the “leaders.”
Real estate issues
Those who drop by The Pipestone Flyer office to talk to sales reps, the editor or the reporter have been asking a question after seeing the front of the building: are you moving?
The answer is no, the Pipestone Flyer family likes it right where we are in the heart of Millet.
However, it’s understandable why people are asking about The Pipestone Flyer’s status. The building which has been home to the Pipestone Flyer since it was founded is currently for sale; rest assured, the newspaper has no plans to relocate and, regardless of any building sale, isn’t going anywhere.
With the Pipestone Flyer’s recent refocus on the Counties of Wetaskiwin and Leduc, Black Press, which owns the newspaper, looks forward to many years providing what we feel is the best local media service available at this current location.