Open Farm Days success

By Leela Sharon Aheer Chestermere-Strathmore MLA

Hello Strathmore Times readers! I hope the rainy weather has not kept you inside. Alberta Open Farm Days was a huge success this year, and our friends who make their living from the land are doing a fabulous job in teaching us about everything from seed to table, from new technology to special new beer brews.
Strathmore’s own Origin Malting and Brewing uses locally grown malting barley. Did you know brewers from around the world buy Alberta malting barley because of its unsurpassed quality? Our valued added agricultural industries are a huge contributor to Alberta’s prosperity, and I hope you had a chance to enjoy the hospitality of the hosts at one of the many events. Their passion for what they do, their concern for the environment, and their desire to get the word out about the great things happening in agriculture shines through.
There’s more to your municipal library than books. The library connects you with your community and its history. On Aug. 24 you and your family can participate in the Great Family Treasure Hunt at Strathmore Municipal Library. Get ready to work together to solve clues and maybe win a great prize!
Political campaigns are generally about promises, platforms, ideas for change and ideology, and hopefully something about the people that are running resonates with the constituents. The Prime Minister promised the country a new kind of leadership, all the while bashing The Honourable Stephen Harper. It seems by “new” he means breaking the rules with impunity, with a clear violation of the rules during the ongoing SNC-Lavalin scandal. I have been away with my family in B.C. for the last week, and I went door knocking with some of the Federal CPC candidates in the Okanagan region. These folks are as frustrated as we are. Justin Trudeau has not kept his promises, and he admitted that he was fully responsible for the ethics breach in the SNC-Lavalin case. Let’s be clear, he lied to Parliament, and he lied to Canadians. SNC-Lavalin asked him to pass a law that could allow them to escape prosecution for criminal acts and he happily buried it in a budget bill. He believes to this day that he was in his rights to do this and that it was appropriate to do so. Let us hope Canadians will not forget this, or how he tried to destroy Jody Wilson-Raybould’s reputation, even though she was right, as we go to the polls on Oct. 21, 2019. He tried to prevent the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin for bribery and big payoffs, and again, they lobbied him to do this. The Prime Minister has now decided to try and bribe and pay off hard working Canadians as well, with over $20 billion in promised government spending as the debt and deficit rise.
The most frustrating piece of all of this is that there are no consequences for these breaches of ethics, other than the votes of Canadians. I do not see Mr. Trudeau acknowledging his failings and stepping down suddenly in a whirlwind of apologies for trying to take advantage of the Canadian people. We have to call into question the ethics of a federal government that cares more for its own re-election than the wellbeing of Canadians.
There is nothing to salvage the Prime Minister’s handling of the SNC-Lavalin situation. He does not believe that he did anything wrong. He does not think he is accountable. I think you would agree the Prime Minister does not get to conspire against his own attorney general to the benefit of a company.
This was not about jobs; it was about doing favours for his friends in clear violation of the Conflict Of Interest Act. Those infrastructure jobs would have been there no matter what, it just would not have been SNC-Lavalin that got the bid to do the job. Many other companies would have loved the opportunity to take these projects and employ thousands in the province of Quebec.
As always, we love to hear from you.
(Leela Sharon Aheer is the MLA Elect for Chestermere-Strathmore, Minister of Status of Women and Minister of Culture and Multiculturalism)