Dear Editor:
There are important but low profile happenings in Alberta’s Human Services department these days. Clearly though, what has received much more media attention recently are the views of Premier Alison Redford and British Columbia’s Premier Christy Clark about the proposed Enbridge pipeline. No question, government revenues as it relates to resources are important. It is after all, the grease (excuse the metaphor) that makes the Alberta Government capable of functioning and is the envy of the rest of Canada, if not the world. But also important is how government functions uses that revenue.
An initiative taken by Premier Redford, which she has delegated to Dave Hancock as the minister of human services, is to creatively deal with the human potential of Alberta. For a long time we have been aware — perhaps even obsessed by the province’s oil and gas potential. For decades that has been a big mover and continues to be. Yet governments more and more recognize, in an increasingly competitive global economy, the need for a trained, skilled and knowledgeable citizenry. To maintain vibrant and efficient communities, wasted human potential is costly and a massive drag on the province’s revenues. One would hope a sophisticated society like ours has the know-how and commitment to pursue something idealistic but worth attempting. Alberta Human Services has established a website for input http://socialpolicy.alberta.ca/Blog
The language is friendly. It’s about a vision, building what we can with ideas and ideals we have for Alberta, how we’d like to live, how safe and engaged we believe our communities can be, how best to use the pool of talent and human resources we have, perhaps how to break down barriers.
It’s OK to dream. Dreams would be refined, vittled down, framed in practical and realizable terms, tested and further refined.
Join the conversation.
George Jason