Alberta surplus

[Horse]

Wilagro it all depends on who is buttering your bread ,none of these oil men sem to care if our wealth is stolen and sent south of the border.
The solution is to shut down all other business and we all go into the oil business isnt that the retort that always comes when someone brings up the fact that a few are doing very well thank you.
And before you agree cowman what about those of us that are to old to start over I guess the kind thing would be to just shoot us because there is on golden lining in all this oil revenue for a hell of a lot of us have you looked at your utilitie bills and machinery and repairs and wages when you need something done not many people unless you have an indexed pension put enough away to sustain a high quality of life ,I think in my working career my top wage was mabey $2.50 and raised kids and farmed so mabey I was a poor manager but I dont see any place to make a lot of savings to live in a $30.or more wage enviroment,oops my fault I should have been born rich or had a family that mabey homesteaded close to Red Deer or Calgary them there wouldnt be any shortage or money.

[Horse]

cowman, I don't know if you have ever had the opportunity to have a dialogue with Martha or not. I know her personally and have dealt with her on a municipal issue years ago. She did more for the people of Alberta than you will ever realize with her work on the Lodgepole Blowout. She does know what she is talking about, she researches everything and is backed by groups that are not nearly as radical as some out there.

One thing for sure, anyone that has tried to do an end run around Martha regarding the environment has paid the piper one way or the other. The current government has finally realized its better to work with her and the people she represents than to ignore her concerns.

She is currently part of an ideas group looking at the proposed land use issues in the Oil Sands region, at the request of the provincial government.

All too often it is 'cool' to downplay the credibility of people who don't agree with resource industries. I, for one, don't necessarily always agree with Martha and the stand she takes but I have ultimate respect for her knowledge of environmental issues.

[cowman]

Horse: A lot of what you say is true! I won't argue that I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth...well maybe decent plate! LOL
However, I was raised very clearly with the idea that the world didn't owe me a living and anything I might get as a gift from my family wasn't mine to squauder at will! As my Dad said when he started giving me land "You aren't getting this to piss away. You get to use it and then you pass it on. Its not yours and it wasn't mine."
And I have followed those instructions and I gave the same lecture to my son when I gave it to him.
I never pursued a carreer in the oil patch. I just sort of fell into it? An oil company wanted a pipeline worked up and seeded on my Dads place. I did it and they must of figured I was okay because soon I was doing all their reclamation work! From there it took off and then I pursued it diligently! I got to know a lot of people and I worked the crowd! I became the "go to guy"! Along the way I made a lot of freinds and I always gave prompt service and a top notch job, while trying to be reasonable in what I charged. Fair value for fair labor is always a good way to operate?
And in spite of your rather dim view of the oil and gas industry, you must realize that you and everyone living in Alberta(or Canada for that matter) benifits from the industry? When you pay your low Alberta taxes...you should thank the oil patch. When you get farm subsidies quite a bit higher than Sask. and Manitoba...you should thank the oil industry. When you drive the good roads...you should thank the oil industry. When you visit our modern cities, when you need to go to our modern hospitals, when your children go to the schools and universities....you should thank the oil industry! And also you should thank the politicians and statesmen of the past who had the foresight to create an environment where this industry could flourish? And I'll give you a little hint...it wasn't the NDP or Liberals!
And finally just to set the record straight: My family did not homestead any land around Red Deer...they bought if from the CPR and when they came there were no roads and Red Deer was just a wide spot by the river.

[cowman]

cowman, the advice your father gave you about the land would be well served on resource companies as well.
The land isn't ours to **** and pillage its ours to utilize to sustain ourselves and hopefully generations to follow.
As a province we need to be more vigilant about how the land is being used, because they aren't making any more of it.
Most of the best soil in Alberta is under concrete, so the rest needs to be cared for.

[cakadu]

Don't forget the flip side cowman. As emrald says we are only custodians of all the land. Our post-secondary students pay some of the highest tuition in the country - all this money floating around and you would think they could be paying a whole lot less.

1 in 3 jobs in Alberta is generated through either primary production or some form of agri-business. Farming was the backbone of the country long before oil ever came along.

Not all roads are really good, many are being sacrificed so all this oil exploration can go on. We are leaving an as yet unknown footprint on the landscape, we have seriously depleted our water resources and the oil industry IS reponsbile for millions of gallons being taken out of the hydrological cycle forever.

There is no doubt that things are good in the province and we have an awful lot to be grateful for. We also have a long way to go to sustain what we have into the future.

[cakadu]

Oh and let's not ever loose sight of the fact that even if I wanted to preserve what I have and try and make it better for future generations, I have absolutely no say in whether or not that can happen. If someone decides they want to try and get at whatever I have under my land, or use my land to get to other resources i.e. a power line, I cannot stop them. I have to take what is decided is best for me and the compensation can in no way make up for what I know and believe is being lost.

But it's all good, right?!?!?!

[cakadu]

Linda are you aware of the groups that is amalgamating to oppose the power line ? I have had some discussion with the chairman of the local group and apparently they are having a meeting soon to get things rolling.

[cakadu]

I am aware of one group in my area but not of too many others, but I'm sure there are many forming.

I also haven't heard if the Terms of Reference for the EIA are in fact completed. Anyone who submitted comments on the proposed Terms were to get a copy of the final document and be advised as to when the EIA was going to be released for tender. Has anyone heard?

[cowman]

Well excuse me if I am wrong here...but isn't this a "done deal"?
I wonder if it is a "done deal" then why bother opposing it? Has the government ever changed its way of thinking once a project gets the green light?
I'm old enough to remember when the government decided to build the Dixon dam? There was some pretty strong opposition from a lot of the people in the area? They had a big story about "That Damned DAM" in all the papers, protests, petitions etc.? But the government had made up their mind and just bulled it through!
Now I would suggest the same thing is happening here? I think the government has made up its mind, and no matter what... that line is going to be built? Or is that wrong?

[cakadu]

There isn't a shred of doubt in my mind that this power line is going ahead - the question is where will it be going.

In my opinion, there is no point in starting to say "we don't want it" because that is essentially what the power company is waiting for people to do. They have bigger guns, more legal power and more money than all of us put together, so to fight it on a purely we don't want it standpoint is a non-starter.

Of course we don't want it running through our quarter because that would put us smack in the middle of two power lines and we have absolutely no desire to be there. We have many other concerns as well and I did write and put in our comments on the Terms for the EIA. The best case scenario for us is if it runs parallel to the existing lines that are about 1/2 mile away from us.

The best way to approach this - and again this is my own personal viewpoint - is to point out that if they are going to do this, then let's make sure it is the "model" powerline and takes into consideration a number of things.

You can still hold their feet to the fire and make it reasonably challenging for them to do anything. One still needs to "fight the good fight" and make their voices heard. Stranger things have happened and remember - David did slew Goliath.

[cakadu]

Linda, I would suggest that you contact the Warburg group, it is my understanding that they are amalagmating with groups in central AB., to request another hearing over the issue.