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Will those pre-election promises be coming soon?

Here we go again. Any time in the very near future our flamboyant new Alberta Premier Mr. Jim Prentice will be calling

HAMMERTIME

Here we go again. Any time in the very near future our flamboyant new Alberta Premier Mr. Jim Prentice will be calling an election to choose who will lead us for another four years. Even though this next election will cost us close to $30,000,000 dollars, it is always a crucial but exciting event when present and wanna-be party hopefuls will invade the many constituencies for a chance to take a plush seat in the legislature as an elected member of our provincial government.

As we all know very well, since the last election, many of the ‘old school’ politicians have stepped down into the ‘pension penthouse’, the last premier suddenly left the building, and many of the Wild Rose opposition party have dashed across the floor into the comfortable Progressive Conservative fold. Then enter Jim Prentice, a former Harper favourite,  who swept into the top post, then proceeded to ‘shake-up’ the much criticized party, sold off the airplane fleet, and of course, promised to make a whole bunch of positive changes for the future. Just a few weeks ago, the new premier  openly suggested that all of us Albertans were overspending with our lavish life-styles. Is that not like the pot calling the kettle black, especially coming from the party in power that controls the purse strings, sets the budgets and whose job it is to get the best bang out of our hard-earned taxpayers’ dollars?

For the past few months, they are claiming that our great province is now in somewhat of an economic crisis because the oil prices have tumbled to below $50 a barrel, but were they, the party in power, being fiscally responsible when our ‘black gold’ was selling for $107, and why were there no plans already in place in advance to prepare for this sort of a ‘cash crunch’? Whatever the case, there will likely have to be a whole lot of hard work, planning, tough love and belt tightening to keep the good ship Alberta afloat, stabilized and steaming ahead long into what we all hope will be a bright future for each and every citizen.

The obvious priorities at the present time for our province must include a complete education and every opportunity to learn and advance for our youth from grade school to beyond graduation. As well, we must have quality and efficient health care system and the ongoing support for each and every resident of Alberta, from infants to seniors. As a senior, I am concerned that there is not sufficient support, staff, services and accommodations for an aging population, as well as vital ongoing assistance for those with special needs, and more housing and help for the growing list of homeless people.

We should really admire and encourage all those willing and enthusiastic candidates who have thrown their hats into the ring for the opportunity of representing the party of their choice in our next most vital provincial election. After receiving the Premier’s TV address to Albertans and accepting what they say will be a ‘hard-line’ budget next week, the election call will likely come shortly after, and then all the vigorous and red hot campaigning and usual lofty promises, lots of facts and probably a little fluff will come quick and fast all the way until the polls open. Once the election call comes loud and clear, and it will soon, it is up to us, the always faithful and trusted taxpayers to get involved by attending the community forums, reading the papers and asking the candidates lots of questions. Then for all of us, 18 years of age and over, it is our vitally important freedom of choice to get out on election day and mark our decision on the ballot for the leaders of our future. Thanks for doing your part.

A few quick facts

● Super Bowl XLIX between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots was really exciting this year, including the glitzy half-time show. All of the fans who took in that great Sunday football game must have also been really hungry, because they consumed 1.25 billion chicken wings and I can’t imagine how much beer it took to wash the goodies all down.

● As sports fanatics, we will always admire a great team effort, win or lose, but some of the longstanding ‘winning streaks’ that have been established will go into the record books so that they will be remembered for a lifetime. While on holidays in Hawaii, I read that the Lahainualuna girls’ basketball team of the Maui Interscholastic League has won 106 consecutive games since 2008.

Even though March just might go out like a lion, we already have a head start on more sunshine, the quack grass is coming up, and the geese have arrived early, so put the snow-shovel way back in the comer of the garage, think spring, and have a great week, all of you.