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Take time to enjoy the view |
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Written by Lethbridge Herald
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Friday, 03 July 2009 |
The word has become a bit overused in tourism circles, but there’s nothing wrong with the concept of a “staycation,” especially here in southern Alberta.
Belt-tightening southern Albertans looking to trim their travel budgets this summer will discover a world of possibility close to home. These local attractions might be overlooked in summers when we’re fixated on some far-off, exotic location.
But distance doesn’t make the outing more special, and sticking close to home is bound to make our hearts more fond of the beauty and diversity of our corner of the globe.
The newest attraction, less than a half-hour drive from Lethbridge, is the Raymond Aquatic Centre, which opened on Canada Day when the town is always bursting with homecoming parties and reunions and is at its festive best.
The nearly $3-million facility was a major undertaking in this community of nearly 3,700. Roughly a third of the money came from a provincial facilities grant. The rest had to be raised locally out of the town’s finances or the generous spirit of citizens.
By all accounts, the facility is nothing short of stunning, bearing the look of a palm-treed oasis with pool depths to accommodate all ages, water slides and spray park.
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Province has just two gears |
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Written by Lethbridge Herald
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Thursday, 02 July 2009 |
About two weeks ago, former Alberta premier Ralph Klein offered this advice to his successor, Ed Stelmach: Instead of running deficits, the provincial government should cut its spending by five to 10 per cent across the board.
From most other leaders not directly in the hot seat of power, such talk would be dismissed as rhetoric, but Klein speaks from experience. He carried the big axe in the mid-1990s, rolling back public workers’ salaries by five per cent and chopping program spending, whether for good or not.
Today, five years after Alberta celebrated its “debt-free” status, Klein’s great claim to fame, we see the debt wasn’t erased; it was shuffled off paper and into buildings and other infrastructure that wasn’t maintained or built when it was needed. Klein got the debt-free glory; Stelmach got to clean up the consequences.
Yet the post-Klein government seems destined for the many of the same mistakes, seemingly priming the public for cuts and wage rollbacks and deferred capital projects. And as a substitute for a plan, there are plans for plans.
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White-collar crime taken to a darker level |
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Written by Lethbridge Herald
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Wednesday, 01 July 2009 |
Take a look at the list of deadly sins and you'll recognize several in the life of Bernard Madoff, sentenced this week to 150 years in prison. One hundred and fifty years — the symbolic sentence makes a fruitless attempt to dispense justice beyond the grave.
The 71-year-old Wall Street financier who defrauded investors of $65 billion must have enjoyed the sins of extravagance, obviously greed and perhaps a heavy dose of envy and pride. And those sins have finally caught up with him after more than a decade of deceit and corruption.
U.S. Federal Court Judge Denny Chin described Madoff’s crimes as representing "extraordinary evil." The terms may seem harsh compared to evil crimes society has witnessed of the bloody variety, but the term fits the bill.
The size of his scam and the scope of the human toll rises beyond the lowly description of "white-collar crime" and into the realm of something far darker.
Madoff, apparently, singlehandedly pulled off the biggest investor fraud in U.S. history, no small feat given the number of investors who've been bilked over time. Given the chance, Madoff has refused to name anyone else responsible for the scheme that left individuals and charitable organizations in financial ruin.
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Go ahead, define Canada |
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Written by Lethbridge Herald
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Monday, 29 June 2009 |
What does it mean to be Canadian? How would you describe Canada in 100 words or less? What image is unmistakably Canadian?
Good questions with no single answer.
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Renewal takes an odd form |
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Written by editor
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Sunday, 28 June 2009 |
A new grassroots organization is trying to support democratic renewal by turning the three voices of the Alberta Liberals, New Democrats and Greens into a singular united front.
While it seems counterintuitive that democratic renewal can occur by reducing diversity on the political landscape, the Democratic Renewal Project says such an electoral alliance would give Albertans “serious contenders” for challenging Conservatives who’ve enjoyed power for four decades. At the very least, the group says, Alberta’s legislature would enjoy “fairer political representation.”
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