New opportunities for Park
Published September 9, 2011
What an opportunity. Until recently, we as residents have had little opportunity to all pick a Premier of this Province. Usually, we get to vote at election time and the Premier may not be our first choice. This will be two times in a row that in a short period of time we will be entitled to buy a Conservative Party membership and vote in a leader who will automatically become the next Premier of this great Province.
The only decision we will have is to peruse the candidates platforms who let their names stand in the Progressive Conservative leadership campaign. We must then ascertain whether any of them represent our interests and concerns and whether they will follow through with this representation. We must finally obtain a membership and vote in the candidate who will look after the residents of our community as well as the Province.
I believe it is imperative we use this opportunity to obtain commitments regarding the challenges facing our community. These challenges which may determine the future of our municipality as well as our quality of life are as follows:
- the burial if they must be built, of the proposed twenty (20) story 500 Kv power lines slated to dot the landscape on the west side of our community and entrance into Edmonton. I believe these lines if built above ground, will have a detrimental effect on the health of our residents plus a number of other negative impacts;
- the financial commitment again of an active treatment hospital for Strathcona County including obstetrics (we are young and growing) as well as a number of other health procedures; and
- the need for a continuous vibrant business sector that will ensure we can maintain our present quality of life for ourselves, our future residents and most importantly, our children and grandchildren.
There are a number of excellent candidates with great talent running in this Progressive Conservative leadership campaign any of whom would make a fine Premier for this Province but one resident really put it into perspective for me while I was discussing this issue with her. She indicated she was not a Progressive Conservative but after one of the candidates was interviewed in a recent story in the Sherwood Park/Strathcona County News about the burial of the aforementioned power line, she decided to take out a membership and phone all her relatives and friends to encourage them also to obtain a membership and vote for this individual.
Although this lady has made up her mind as to the best candidate, each and every resident has the ability to judge and decide on their own.
Vic Bidzinski
Councillor, Ward
780-464-8005
bidzinski@strathcona.ab.ca.
Last updated: Monday, September 12, 2011
Page ID: 8292