For those of you who have not kept up to date, the city of Flint, Mich., is in a state of crisis. Some time ago, city officials, to save money, decided to no longer source their drinking water from Lake Huron, but to extract the water from the Flint River. Officials were cautioned, however, that the river water was “corrosive” and required chemical treatment. When city managers were informed the treatment would cost about $100 a day, they decided to skip the chemicals and save money. As a result, for the last year, the residents of Flint have been drinking water that contains lead. Since lead leaves the body at a very slow rate, if ever, the health effects will be long term, and potentially catastrophic. What baffles me most about the government’s decision is simply the fact that every possible outcome was bound to end in disaster. There were no possible scenarios that could even remotely be considered positive.
I mention the above issue because far too many people place undue reliance on “the government will look after the problem,” or assume the politicians are “acting in the best interests of the public,” despite countless examples of governments that can’t organize a two-car funeral. Let me give you a small, but local, example. Along some of Edmonton’s freeways, you will encounter a roadway sign reading “Root For Trees.”
When I first saw this sign, I was puzzled. Was the city asking me to pull over to the side of the road, get out of my car, and starting jumping up and down while I cheered, “Go, Trees, Go?” And if I did, how could this be of any possible benefit to said trees? Here’s what I think happened: some goof was lazing around a city office one day when “Root for Trees” came to mind. Delighted with this play on words, he (or she) convinced some department manager to produce and install the signs. Since the funds they were spending were not their own, it was easy to go ahead and waste the taxpayer’s money. My point is simply this: if you are sitting around waiting for the government to solve your problems, or manage situations honestly and intelligently, you are in for a very long wait. The next paragraph provides some further examples.
The “Root For Trees” issue is annoying, but small in the grand scheme of things. What is not small are the antics of our new provincial government, through their political party, elected members, and civil servants on the provincial payroll. For example, the party apparently hijacked two websites being operated by people opposed to this government, and redirected the sites to NDP ‘friendly” locations. Or take the recent royalty review meeting in Calgary, where two media members-both of whom were properly accredited and registered – were nonetheless ordered to leave by local NDP henchmen, simply because the NDP didn’t like the views of this particular media outlet. The government’s promise of more “transparency” is little more than a bad joke when they are actively trying to stifle any dissent. Further, consider the fact that civil servants, being paid by government revenues, are being directed to spend their work hours on various social media sites, condemning the opposition, and praising the party and the government. Surprised? I know I was when I first uncovered this information. While the party may be entitled to act as dishonestly as they want, elected governments are held to a much higher standard, and should be above such unethical and illegal political stunts, stunts that fly in the face of honest, transparent, and principled leadership. Alberta deserves better.
Brian McLeod is a long time resident of St. Albert.
