|
Time to review power issue |
|
|
|
Written by Lethbridge Herald
|
|
Wednesday, October 07 2009, 8:52 PM |
Obviously, they’re essential. We need well-built highways to get us around, we expect the province to build them and we pay a provincial fuel tax to keep them in good repair.
A functional network of highways, linking communities across our province, is one of the cornerstones of Alberta’s economy. No one questions the role of the provincial government in setting construction priorities, nor the importance of working with local residents and local government in designing new routes.
Across Canada, that’s been the pattern for other essential services as well. National parks, commuter rail services — and of course, power lines — have all been provided by senior levels of government for many generations.
Except in Alberta, that is. While successive governments in British Columbia built major power dams — and while Saskatchewan and provinces further east tapped into their northern rivers — Alberta’s governments have left power development to the whims of the private sector.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Enriching our lives |
|
|
|
Written by Lethbridge Herald
|
|
Tuesday, October 06 2009, 8:34 PM |
Many of the benefits are obvious. As a city boasting both a college and a university, Lethbridge enjoys a remarkable economic stimulus from the students, the faculty members and the support staff members at both campuses.
The city also receives recognition for the innovations, the research and the unique programs each of them offers. But there’s so much more, including a remarkable list of knowledgeable speakers who come here to address students and many other interested citizens.
Though classes have been in session just a few weeks, the city has already welcomed two high-profile speakers, both of them highly regarded across Canada and beyond.
Stephen Lewis, the Canadian envoy who represented the United Nations in the battle against HIV/AIDS across Africa, returned to Lethbridge with an update on the list of key concerns facing the UN and many of its member nations. He stressed the vital links between public education and better health — while reminding southern Albertans that 77 million children around the world can’t afford to go to school.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
It’s time for action |
|
|
|
Written by Lethbridge Herald
|
|
Monday, October 05 2009, 9:46 PM |
If it were your sister, you’d demand action. If a member of your family was beaten, sexually assaulted — let alone killed — you’d do all within your power to get justice. But what if it’s someone else’s sister? In a community far away?
How do people there respond to that violence? How do you respond?
Those were some of the issues raised by the Sisters in Spirit Vigil, held last night at Galt Gardens. Its organizers want to alert southern Albertans to the tragic fates met by hundreds of Canada’s aboriginal women over recent years.
At least 520 of those women have been killed — or they simply “vanished” — since 1970. Nearly 350 of them are officially recognized as murder victims, though no charges have been laid in at least 150 of those cases.
Most of that violence happened here in Western Canada, not somewhere on the other side of the country or across the ocean. Eighty-five of those killings or disappearances were here in Alberta, another 59 were reported in Saskatchewan, and a shocking 137 of them were in British Columbia.
But this violence knows no boundaries. Right across Canada, police point out, young aboriginal women are 3.5 times as likely to be victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Car repair deal has no teeth |
|
|
|
Written by Lethbridge Herald
|
|
Thursday, October 01 2009, 8:11 PM |
The voluntary agreement announced this week between auto manufacturers and the auto repair industry has something in common with the anteater.
Namely, it has no teeth.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Governments set double standard |
|
|
|
Written by Lethbridge Herald
|
|
Wednesday, September 30 2009, 7:51 PM |
Ontario is jumping on the bandwagon to take a swing at the tobacco industry.
The province is launching a $50-billion lawsuit aimed at recovering smoking-related health-care costs from a dozen Canadian tobacco companies.
“That is our view of the costs of health-care related illnesses directly tied to tobacco from 1955 until now,” said Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley.
In going after “Big Tobacco” for health-care costs, Ontario is following in the footsteps of other jurisdictions including British Columbia, New Brunswick and the United States, as well as countries abroad.
The tobacco industry is calling the action hypocritical, pointing out tobacco companies pay billions of dollars in taxes to government and also operate under the guidelines and restrictions established by government.
They do have a point. After all, the government also regulates the alcohol industry but doesn’t sue the industry for costs and damages associated with alcohol consumption.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Next > End >>
|
| Results 226 - 234 of 430 |
