The End of Summer...almost

It's August 22nd today... and I sold what I believe is our last pail of berries today.... The greenhouse is closed and there will be no more pickers coming for berries. For the first time since the first week of May, we won't be expecting customers. I know a good businessman should never look forward to having no customers, but there is a big part of me that has begun to smile. Since I started planting tomatoes in the greenhouse at the end of February, every day has been an open-for-business day.

I'm worn out. We still have to harvest the garden. and put away the vegetables. Mika has to can and make jams and pie fillings... and then her orders of salsa, but for the most part, life begins to slow down just a bit. I can do a bit of work around the place without having to stop every few minutes to talk with customers or explain flowers or berries or whatever.

When I was a kid, summer was a time to lay on the grass and look up at the clouds. As a greenhouse owner and berry farmer, summer means endless work and worry. I don't know if it's worth it. I love the berries and I love growing things, but I would also like to take my kids canoeing or fishing or other things that people who do not work 16 hours a day do.

I told Mika tonight that next year, we shouldn't work so hard. We shouldn't plant so many flowers. We shouldn't worry so much whether people come to pick or not. We shouldn't spend so much on advertising. We shouldn't try to grow the business. We should... rather... enjoy life a little bit more. Being able to grow our own food and flowers is a grea...t and wonderful way to live life. But maybe, just maybe... we don't have to work 16 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Still, I don't think I'd want to head into September without my own tomatoes ripening on the vines I planted last February or the saskatoon schnapps I make... or the potatoes in the basement that will last until spring.

Still, I don't know anyone who looks forward to summer as much as I do... and then is so incredibly happy when it's over.

Performance Bonuses

Last week it was revealed the Alberta Health Services CEO and President Stephen Duckett was awarded performance bonuses of nearly $150,000 above his base salary of $595,000 for improvements seen under his tenure.

Huh? Excuse one of the plebes for wondering WTF. I can't say from anything other than simple perception, but since Steve came to town, I haven't noticed any improvements to the system. Quite to the contrary, I have seen chaos and obfuscation to a greater extent than I saw before our Australian super-hero came to the Great White North. So forgive me for wondering why it is he is being so richly rewarded... especially when most of the "street-level" improvements within the system seem to have come from the recommendations of the people working the front lines of the health care system: doctors, nurses and techs.

Am I the only one that senses a disconnect between provincial politicians who seem to think there's nothing odd about giving a fellow $595,000 a year to do a job and then when he does it, he gets a reward for doing the job he was paid to do in the first place.

A friend of mine (in the business sector--oddly enough) tried to explain to me that this sort of incentive bonus scheme is common in top executive packages... as if that would explain it. Well, it did throw me off the trail for a few hours. After all, who am I to question the machinations of big business? I'm just a berry farmer, and that sort of high-finance isn't really within my grasp.

Then I slept on it... and it occurred to me that maybe just because this sort of practice is common practice in big business, it isn't actually right, especially since Alberta Health is not big business, but rather a wing of government... and government is (or ought to be) acting in the public interest and not the interest of share-holders. Really, in this case, the share-holders are plebes like me anyway, eking out lives on far less than $595,000 a year... without incentive bonuses.

Well, that's not exactly true. My company does offer me a pretty-hard-to-ignore incentive bonus... of sorts; it's generally put in these terms: "do what we pay you for or get fired."

Works for me... and tens of thousands of others. That's why it's so tough to understand that performance incentives ought to be given out almost as a matter of course to executives... even when the proof of their performance is not always tangible (and I don't believe it is in this case).

Common place or not... I wonder what Stephen Duckett did to earn his huge bonus? Aside from listening to the suggestions of a few health care professionals at the pointy edge of the whole operation, I can't see that he did very much.

Atilla the Marxist

During my 15 years in China and Japan, many of my friends were other ex-pat Canadians. We had a lot in common. We played on local hockey teams and drank beer together in local establishments and got together to celebrate the sorts of things Canadians celebrate. I was always happy to be among them and we will be friends forever. Yet being the only Albertan out of the core group of long-time ex-pats, it never failed that when talk turned to Canadian politics, I would be singled out as the right-winged red-necked Albertan and made to feel somehow guilty for my home province.

It was always Alberta’s fault that Canada wasn’t doing enough to combat global warming and that our petroleum-based economy was somehow evil and a drag on the good name of the country. When it came to stereotyping, my Canadian pals would target me as the least tolerant… someone who didn’t appreciate the arts, homo-phobic… and a male chauvinist pig. As the beers flowed their wrath increased. As an Albertan, I took a lot of heat for what my “greedy, money-grubbing” province meant to my fellow Canadians.

Not only am I not any of the things I was accused of, my province is not made up of people who fit that negative billing. Still, the drunken accusations made by those friends got stuck in my mind. When I brought my family back home, I saw a number of trends that caused me concern. I wondered if it isn't those trends that somehow grow into the anti-Albertan feeling other parts of the country often label us with.

Indeed, Alberta still depends almost solely on petroleum exploitation, and the businesses that surround it. We lack an economic-environmental balance. We don’t support for the arts with much enthusiasm. We put constant pressure on health care workers and educators. And anyone with a disability struggling to get by in this fast-paced society is very hard-pressed to cope. I also noticed a diminished accountability of elected officials and the growing dearth of democracy were all things that struck a negative cord within me and I started getting involved in political action.

The place I initially settled was within the Green Party of Alberta. While its policies were a bit thin on the ground, the general direction the party seemed to be heading in was one that interested me. The people involved were a mix of deep-green idealists and a good number of new members who seemed more pragmatic and ready to actually seek power and influence within the political system.

Sadly, the Green Party of Alberta fell apart. That left me looking again. The PCs are not what they used to be under Peter Lougheed. In fact, they’ve pretty much been in the pocket of big money since Mr. Lougheed left. The NDP and the Liberals have proven themselves unable to inspire Albertans… and the Wildrose Alliance… well, it looks farther right than I am comfortable with... and way to cozy with the petrochemical industry.

The funny thing is, that now that I live in east-central (rural) Alberta, my neighbours see me as a whacky cross between a "tree-hugging" Green and a "do-gooder" Liberal. That would cause a whole lot of confusion within my old circle of non-Albertan friends. "How could Attila the Albertan become Karl Marx," they wonder. Yet, now when I speak out about the need to protect the environment and look for new economic models for future growth, my neighbours “tut-tut” as if I were some green reincarnation of Karl Marx.

Albertans are wonderful, charitable, hard-working folks. It’s just that we’ve been conditioned into believing that the Right is right and the left is some conspiracy to destroy the west thought up by Pierre Trudeau before he died.

I’m not a righty… or a lefty. I’m someone who wants to see responsible leadership in this province... and one that makes decisions based on research and evidence rather basing policy on the personal ideology of a few. I want to see a government that looks farther into the future than the next election and builds the province with a sustainable vision in mind... and not one that is not going to make the environment subservient to short-term economic gain.

That’s what interests me about the Alberta Party. It is (for now) neither right nor left… but listening to ALL Albertans. It's taking a good deal of flak from all sides. But I understand that. It's what happens when you stand occupy the middle ground. As long as this party continues to listen, I’m interested in participating in the discussion. At least it something new that's giving a chance to the idea that being moderate is playable in Alberta.

I don't know how far this party will go... or if it will ever really get off the ground, but because I don't self-identify as a "Lefty" or "Righty" I'm interested in participating in a discussion that is not created along the lines of that old model.

Of Mice and my Kids

Lately I've been all over my kids for all sorts of things. They whine about the smallest things. They fight with one another over who uses whose brush... who did what to whom... and who didn't do what they were supposed to do.

For the past six months I have been working close to eleven hours a day, six days a week... plus getting our greenhouse in... and recently readying the berry farm for the season. Yet, when I come home, the dogs, cats and goats aren't fed. Bicycles lie everywhere... and things that anyone could have picked up in the yard are left for poor old dad.

This morning I had a bit of a meltdown when I woke up to a screaming seven-year old because she didn't want to wear her pink jacket. I don't know why suddenly this jacket wasn't in fashion... and I didn't really have the patience for a seven-year old's explanation. I just stripped it off her and told her to go to school in the blizzard in her short sleeves.

More crying! More screaming! Then I lost it and started screaming back... which sort of got all their attention. I know... I know... a parent who screams isn't a great parent. I felt bad about it all day.

But tonight all three of my kids were more contrite than I have seen them in a while, and our home was calm, peaceful and cooperative (like the family I dream of having). It was so nice that I even made everyone Masala tea before bed and we sat down to read the last part of the Steinbeck novel "Of Mice and Men."

When we got to the part where George kills his friend Lennie... and he does it while soothing Lennie that everything is all right, my eleven-year-old daughter and fourteen-year-old son both got very emotional. I did too. I can never read that part without my voice quavering. The youngest daughter (seven) didn't really get it... and she'll probably wake up tomorrow morning whining about something trivial, but two out of three ain't bad.

Yet with the eleven-year old in tears and the fourteen-year old with red eyes pretending not to be affected, I saw something wonderful in my kids that this morning I could not have imagined. They are reachable by great literature and the vulnerability of human frailty.

I loved them for loving a piece of literature that lives deeply in my heart. I felt close to them because I they share something with me.

I hope I remember this tomorrow when I trip over bicycles on the way to feed the animals they ought to have fed.

Had anyone told me being a father was this confusing and difficult... I suspect I never would have chosen to have three of the little anchors. Yet, there are moments... like the one tonight... when I understand these anchors tie me to something solid, real and wonderful and aren't just anchors holding me down.

Good to the Last Drop... if you can afford it.

This coming fall, the Government of Alberta will be amending Alberta's Water Act and expand the system of selling water to the highest bidder.

The idea of selling water rights to the highest bidder is repugnant to most Albertans. It seems this government is again trying to facilitate business at the risk of the environment and the well-being of average citizens. However, that doesn't seem to bother Mr. Stelmach, et. al. As long as what they do caters to industry (and particularly the petro-chemical industry) they ignore the long-term outlook of the province.

Alberta is the driest province in Canada with only 900 lakes (as opposed to 100,000) in Manitoba. Perhaps more than any other Canadian, Albertans understand the importance of water to the sustainability of our province... and our tradition of family farms. Access to fresh water is the birthright of every citizen. Water is precious and Albertans know it. For the sake of monetary gain, our current government is now contemplating limiting our access to water.

Unfortunately, we are governed by a party that cannot see the forest for the trees. Selling water to the highest bidder makes sense to this bunch government MLAs who believes everything in this province is up for sale. Short-term thinking for immediate profit. Nothing new for Alberta's PCs.

Selling water to the highest bidder... along with the loosened environmental oversight this province is behind bodes poorly for the future of this province. It will put the final nails into the coffin of many family farms and drive rural folks off their land. Unable to water livestock or crops, there will be an exodus from Alberta farms. The land will be left to those who can afford the highest bids for water... and who are they? You don't have to be a member of MENSA to figure it out.

As obvious and trite as it is to write... water is life. Selling water is equivalent to selling life. Water cannot be controlled by those with the most money. A government whose principles were to ensure the well-being of its citizens would never consider privatising water. The concept is simply absurd. Whoever controls water, controls life.

Water is a basic human right. Human rights cannot be paid for by those with access to the greatest financial power. Water is a resource that must be protected by responsible governments FOR the well-being of everyone... and not only those who can afford to exploit it.

Excuse the pun, but amendments to Alberta's Water Act ought to be a "watershed" event for this government. Choosing to give up Alberta's fresh water to the highest bidder ought to be the "straw" that breaks the back of this tired government.

No Serious Threat

The latest edition of the Sherwood Park News has on it's front page a photo of the Suncor refinery in Strathcona belching out black and yellow smoke into the skies of Strathcona. The caption says:

"Smoke pours from the Suncor refinery in Strathcona County just off Baseline Road on Monday. The smoke was from a process upset but there was no serious threat to the public."


NO SERIOUS THREAT? Well... what kind of a threat does poisonous gas present to people living nearby?

Fire Department officials said the smoke was "a release of catalyst and hydrocarbons into the atmosphere."

I don't know about others, but looking at the crap that gets pumped into our skies day after day after day makes me very nervous. I work in the "Industrial Heartlan" in Sturgeon County and every day I pass chemical and fertilizers factories and LPG and Condensate docks where smoke stacks constantly flare and spew. I know that the railway rails my trains run over are constantly oxidized by the fallout of the cooling towers and pollution stacks.

I wonder what price we are paying for the life we are leading when we accept that this black and yellow smoke is something normal... something we should expect occasionally as a price for our modern lifestyles. Is the price perhaps too high? Are we turning a blind eye to the damage we are doing to ourselves. Do we let the corporations get away too easily with telling us there is "no serious threat" from the crap they spew into the environment?

Although Suncor claimed there was no serious threat to the public, they did admit to evacuating their own personnel from the site.

Suncor also claimed that air monitoring results were well within acceptable limits. We have to believe Suncor because the province doesn't actually test anymore. We've deregulated so far that we leave it up to the polluters to tell us whether they are polluting or not. That's just weird.

This particular release lasted only an hour, but I can tell you that these releases are not rare. The guys I work with at the Agrium fertiliser plant in Redwater have told me that if I am ever downwind of a yellow smoke release coming from one particular stack I should bend over and kiss my ass goodbye. Very reassuring.

When asked what effects people could see if they were exposed to the cloud, she repeated the air quality monitoring was within acceptable limits.

Day in and day out, our skies are filled with pollutants and crap that is the product of our "civilized" lives. We accept that they are not a danger to our well-being because the polluters tell us everything is okay.

I look at that black and yellow smoke and I just think... "no matter what they say, that just can't be good."

MLA Speaks in New Sarepta

My little village isn't famous... yet. But we aim to make New Sarepta a center of public debate and open dialogue.

New Sarepta is found just 20 miles east of Leduc, and only a 30-minute drive from the southeast corner of Edmonton. It was once a thriving community with grain elevators, farm equipment dealerships, several stores and a couple of gas stations. Yet as the area around Edmonton has exploded with growth, New Sarepta has suffered because of the costs of keeping up with what larger centers have to offer.

New Sarepta has the potential to be a thriving rural community again. It's close to the city and virtually next door to the International Airport. Yet the question arises, how do communities like ours respond to the demands of modern society in a way that ensures we remain vibrant communities that attract new residents and sustainable development.

The Friends of the Library in New Sarepta has invited Battle River-Wainwright MLA Doug Griffiths to present "13 Ways to Kill Your Community" in the New Sarepta Agriplex on Tuesday, May 4th. Although titled with tongue-in-cheek, Doug Griffith's presentation addresses the issues surrounding the withering of Alberta's rural communities and is a must-attend event for anyone interested in the future of rural Alberta.

Doug Griffiths is one of the province's most gifted speakers and is concerned about the sustainability of Alberta's rural communities. Mr. Griffiths has become famous for his use of social media, often twittering and facebooking from inside caucus meetings.

Doug will be in the New Sarepta Agriplex on Tuesday, May 4th from 6:45 to give is noted presentation to area residents and local politicians. Everyone with interest in rural municipal affairs and the general direction of rural life in this province is welcome.

There will be no charge for attendance (though donations will be gratefully accepted). Beer and wine will be available as well as coffee, tea and light snacks.

Support our little local village and help build New Sarepta a place where ideas are discussed and debated openly and enthusiastically.

For more information, call me (Will) at 780-297-3811.

See you there.