Columns

Last Friday’s announcement of two new parks for Alberta located in the Castle Crown area north of Waterton Park comes with mixed emotions.

I spoke recently with a friend who manages an Edmonton funeral home. From the beginning I could tell he was highly upset. The cause was soon revealed.

The sordid mess transpiring in the trial of Sen. Mike Duffy matters in the current election campaign. It shows the people Stephen Harper has elevated to prestigious posts, and to powerful roles around him.

This past July the Internet was plagued with posts in reference to Cecil the Lion – a lion living in Zimbabwe that had been the subject of a study by Oxford University.

Vincent Van Gogh once asked: “What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” On the surface it is a simple question. Life would be … boring, uninspired.

In commentaries about politics, the idea of the “mushy middle” is often used as an insult.

“In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics.’ All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.

Now that we are about to select our next prime minister, it is time to focus on what we believe to be critical in the future for our country over the next four years.

It was a busy week in North American politics, having had the first Canadian federal leaders debate, and the American Republican presidential candidate debate.

It certainly didn’t come as a surprise when Prime Minister Harper called the election last week. After all the speculation and the funding announcements over the previous few days it was a foregone conclusion.