Pic of the Past
BRINGING IN THE SHEAVES — Alfred Suitor, George Beattie and Joe Suitor of the Gladys Ridge area bring in the harvest in the 1920s. photo courtesy of Murray Suitor |
Column -
Always a news surprise
By John Barlow
Editor
I have been in the newspaper business for almost 15 years and I like to think I have seen it all.
On Monday night it became apparent I still have a lot to learn.
I was surprised to see such an incredible turnout at Okotoks town council for a public hearing on proposed changes to the Town’s Animal Control Bylaw.
It is wonderful to see the community being so active in town politics, but why are so many residents so passionate about Pound Rescue? Do not get me wrong, Gabrielle Barrie has done an incredible job with her charity and I cannot imagine the personal sacrifices she has made to ensure Pound Rescue keeps operating.
However, where was this passion from residents when town council voted to give themselves a hefty raise?
Where were the outcries from Okotokians when a certain publisher proposed putting a dam on the Sheep River?
Where were the impassioned pleas for the local veterans who are embattled with the federal government for compensation as their health deteriorates as a result of participating in atomic bomb testing?
Each week I look forward to the response from readers in regards to the stories that are impacting the community and each week I am surprised with what garners the most response.
I gauge that response mainly by the letters to the editor I receive each week.
Letters supporting council’s much deserved raises? None.
Letters decrying a dam on the Sheep River? Zip.
Letters in support of our veterans? Nada.
Letters rallying support for Pound Rescue? Plenty. I guess I should not have been surprised at all.
Editorial-
No clear winner in reservoir hearing
Did anyone really come out a winner in the dispute over the new Turner Valley raw water reservoir? Both sides will say they were not surprised with the results of the Alberta Environmental Appeal Board, but neither can be too pleased.
Appellant Roxanne Walsh will declare herself the winner after the appeal board, in its decision released last week, ordered the Town of Turner Valley to expand its testing parameters. However, Walsh admits she would have liked to see the board request a synthetic liner be added to the reservoir and she had to withstand a barrage of questions and insinuations from the Town, its representatives and the community. Sound like a winner?
For the Town, on the other hand, they will not have to install a synthetic liner, but Mayor Dona Fluter described the appeal process as “agonizing” for the municipality both in terms of manpower and financially. The town claimed the appeal process could cost the municipality between $200,000 and $500,000 — a number the appeal board disputed.
Does not sound like a winner either.
If anything was learned from Walsh’s appeal on the construction of the water reservoir it is that this process needs to be streamlined and simplified not only for the municipality, but also for the appellant.
Whatever the appeal cost the Town of Turner Valley, be it $50,000 or $500,000, it was an onerous undertaking for a municipality the size of Turner Valley. Defending itself in front the of Environmental Appeal Board may be much easier to swallow for the City of Calgary, but for Turner Valley it was a drain on resources — monetary and otherwise.
For Walsh, it is unlikely many members of the community would have shown her fortitude to collect the data, read the engineering documents and stand up to a barrage of cross-examination from experts in various fields. Most residents would have been too intimidated to take on such an onerous and potentially expensive process.
There is an enormous chasm in the environmental appeals process between John Q. Public and the political bureaucracy, one that needs to be bridged if the provincial government really wants the public to participate in the process.
Walsh said she feels vindicated after the board’s decision, but had she outright lost the appeal would she still feel the process was worthwhile?
After seeing what Walsh had to endure, would any other member of the public be willing to take on a municipality in an appeal process?
Or, perhaps, seeing one person’s appeal was able to inflict so much bureaucratic red tape on Turner Valley, could there be a flood of appeals filed in municipalities just for spite? Hopefully not.
The appeal process showed one person can make a difference, which is positive, but changes need to be made so an appeal does not put the fear of God in a municipality or an appellant.
Letters to the Editor -
Okotoks drivers have
not yet “gone mad”
Dear Editor,
Before anyone breaks out the bucket of grease for Mike Darbyshire, I wish to respond. His letter to the editor of March 12 was a poor attempt to cast the Okotoks traveling public as “drivers gone mad.”
As long as I have been a resident of this town I find the drivers no worse and, in fact, better than other communities I travel through. His description of this town bears a likeness to a Mad Max movie and has no basis in reality.
This town has the RCMP, Okotoks municipal enforcement and Foothills MD patrol in and around Okotoks and if these three departments are not handing out enough speeding tickets we now have the sheriffs finding the 2A Highway a good fishing hole. It is a rare day indeed when you do not see speeders getting tickets in Okotoks.
Maybe we can declare all of Okotoks a playground zone reducing all traffic to 30 km/h everywhere. Mr. Darbyshire would like us to install speed cameras at all intersections, creating not a small town rural Alberta community, but some George Orwell nightmare, but I am sure he would sleep better.
Whenever someone has some pathetic idea that has no basis in fact they sling the “what about the children” noodle and hope it sticks. Well thanks for the child-raising refresher course. We have children also and we keep a very close watch on them and keep them inside after dark. And I can assure the Okotoks drivers it is not for our fear of them, it is for drug dealers, perverts and other criminals that worry us.
I suggest Mr. Darbyshire save the world in some other way.
Chris Mulley
Okotoks
Appeal decision a win for Turner Valley residents
Dear Editor,
Although a synthetic liner was not recommended by the Alberta Environment Appeals Board (AEAB), a very extensive monitoring program was.
This is a huge win for the residents of Turner Valley as more tests will be performed so that leakage from old wells in the berm of the reservoir and a flare pit up gradient, will not go undetected.
It is important for taxpayers of Turner Valley to know the true value of the reservoir hearing process and that the monies spent on the hearing will ensure greater efficiency and safety for the residents. In the end this is not a cost at all, but a great benefit. The decision of the AEAB is a win for the local community, the users of the water.
The hearing results also demonstrate that the rights of a citizen are valued by the public processes that the Alberta government created years ago.
The Town publicly stated more than once that this same resident was going to cost the Town and taxpayers between $200,000 and $500,000 for raising her concerns and potentially delaying the building of the reservoir.
The board determined through cross examination that the costs were in the order of $5,000 to $10,000 for producing documents for the appellant and for the hearing — documents that benefited the director of Alberta Environment, the Town and the board. Taxpayers can now sleep at night, knowing their money was not wasted, ensuring that their drinking and bathing water is safe.
Julie Walker
Turner Valley
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Wishing you a happy Easter
Happy Easter everyone! Hard to believe, but this Friday will be Good Friday. Check out our Easter egg contest on page 23 of this week’s Wheel. Count the eggs and enter to win. Drop your entries off at the Western Wheel office. You will also find in this edition a feature section on the church services which will be held throughout the Easter long weekend. Easter is definitely a time to reflect on how fortunate we are within our families and communities.
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It was sad to find out that the Okotoks Jr. A Oilers lost out to the Drumheller team in a close 1-0 loss on Saturday. The good news was that the Centennial Arena was packed to standing room only and we can only hope these types of crowds are there to support the Oilers next season. Congratulations for a tremendous year and we all look forward to going all the way next season.
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The Okotoks Bisons Jr. B Hockey Club has surprised a lot of people by making it to a game seven final of their conference championship which was held last night (Tuesday) in Cochrane. At press time we don’t know the results of that game, but win or lose, the Bisons have certainly played to the top of their game through the playoffs. Again, congratulations to this hockey association as they move forward.
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I see Okotoks made the evening news in Calgary after a meeting on Monday night to discuss enforcement of some bylaws regarding pets. Hopefully a solution can be obtained which will be in the interest of all concerned. Check out this important issue and the report on the meeting in this week’s Wheel.
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Wow! Check out the article in this week’s Wheel regarding the RCMP expansion. It looks as though approximately 10 years ago when the present detachment was built, the engineers did a poor job in determining the future growth in the area. After the building was constructed and the land around them was sold, it suddenly became apparent that future expansion at the present location would be awfully trying. Now, to do an expansion creates parking problems and the detachment would have to move during construction. All in all, it appears that it would cost as much to do a minor expansion which would last only a few more years, as it would to build an entire new facility. Here’s the problem though. As the borders of our community have been drawn and the available space within becomes more dear, not only does it become difficult to find a site suitable for the RCMP, it becomes very expensive. The beauty of today’s site is that it is close to the center of our community and easily accessible to all. I’m glad that I can make you aware of the situation, but don’t have to come up with the resolution. Those who do will earn their money before this situation is put to bed.
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Enjoy your week as spring is in the air and actually this Thursday is the first day of spring. Does this mean clear sailing to summer holidays or do you think there will be a flurry or two between now and then? Have a good week. |
Tibetan dream of Independence
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The monks who marched through Lhasa on March 10 to mark the anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 did not want to wreck China’s Olympic year, but they knew that Chinese troops would be less likely to shoot them this year than most. And so it proved: the monks were arrested, but the crowds of Tibetans who gathered on the following days to demand their release were not harmed.
The dilemma facing the Chinese troops was that if they didn’t shoot, the crowds would inevitably grow bigger, for most Tibetans dream of independence and fear that the mass immigration of Han Chinese to Tibet is a form of cultural genocide. By Friday, March 14 the crowds had become so bold that it was they who turned to violence, attacking Chinese civilians in Lhasa and looting and burning Chinese-owned shops, banks and hotels.
The Chinese news agency Xinhua said that 10 people were killed in Lhasa on Friday. The Tibetan government-in-exile says that 80 were killed, and accounts by foreign tourists in Lhasa support the higher figure. But so far, by most accounts, the victims have mostly been Han Chinese settlers killed by angry Tibetans.
This doesn’t fit the simple foreign narrative of peaceful protesters and wicked Chinese, but nationalism, whether Tibetan or Fijian, is not an inherently tolerant and peaceful phenomenon. Foreign troops who hold their fire are still foreign occupiers, and innocent Chinese civilians who were encouraged by their own government to come and set up businesses in Lhasa are still unwelcome foreign agents of cultural genocide.
Qiangba Puncog, the puppet chairman of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, vows that, “The plot of the separatists will fail.” They have to say that, as otherwise they would have to admit that Tibetans don’t want to be ruled by China.
The Dalai Lama insists that he is not seeking Tibetan independence from China, but only more autonomy for Tibet’s culture and its Buddhist faith. As the violence in Tibet intensified, however, he had to harden his line.
“Ultimately, the Chinese government is clinging of policy, not looking at the reality,” he told the BBC on March 15. “They simply feel they have gun — so they can control. Obviously they can control. But they cannot control human mind.”
Foreign governments urge China to “exercise restraint,” but they carefully avoid questioning Beijing’s right to rule Tibet. And with the unrest spreading to ethnically Tibetan regions of neighbouring Chinese provinces — hundreds of monks from Labrang monastery marched through the town of Xiahe in Gansu province on March 14 — the time may soon come when Beijing decides it has to crush all dissent by force regardless of the impact on the Olympics.
Force will succeed, as it has before. The 1959 uprising was crushed, the 1989 demonstrations in Tibet were crushed, and the current unrest there will be crushed as well. Tibet’s only chance to recover its independence will come if and when there is a change of regime in China.
China did not traditionally seek to expand beyond the boundaries of the Middle Kingdom, an agrarian society that lived in the north Chinese plain and the river valleys of southern China. The non-Chinese territories that now make up the western third of the country — the deserts and oases of Muslim Xinjiang and the high plateau of Tibet —were not conquered by Chinese, but rather swept into the same Mongol empire that conquered China itself in the 13th century.
Since the Mongol (Yuan) dynasty ruled from Beijing, Tibet came to be seen as a Chinese possession, but the subsequent (ethnically Chinese) Ming dynasty took little interest in it. When another foreign nation of mounted nomads, the Manchus, conquered China in 1644, they too brought Tibet under Beijing’s rule — and when the Manchu dynasty was finally overthrown in 1911, Tibet again slipped from China’s control. For the next 40 years, Tibet was effectively independent.
The Chinese Communists seized power in 1949, and invaded Tibet the following year on the argument that “what was once ours is ours forever.”
So long as they hold power in Beijing, they will also hold Tibet — but an interesting analogy comes to mind. For the history of the Baltic states — Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — is not very different.
They fell under the rule of the expanding Russian empire in the 18th century, but regained their independence after revolution overthrew the Tsarist regime in 1917. They lost it again when the Soviet Union invaded them in 1940, but got it back when the Communist regime in Moscow collapsed in 1991. And the main motive for their drive for independence was fear that their languages and cultures were being submerged by a wave of Russian immigrants.
As with the Baltic states, so too with Tibet. If there is ever a change of regime in Beijing, then a window of opportunity will open — and Tibet will have a couple of years to establish its independence before a new government emerges in Beijing that feels compelled to hold onto it in deference to Chinese nationalist sentiment. But that window is not open now.
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