Last week the Okotoks Town Council began the process of acquiring the Wedderburn land on the north end of town across from Holy Trinity Academy and the St. James Catholic Church.  They want this to be an educational, recreational and cultural facility for the community.

Fist pump.

Council has made it easy on the NDP in Alberta.  In particular one man, David Eggen.

Eggen is the Minister of Education as well as the Minister of Culture and Tourism.  In one decision, Council set the scene for Eggen to make his mark in our region.

10 days ago I sat in an audience listening to Eggen speak to a conference of teachers who all gave up their summer time for the teaching profession.  At that conference, Eggen told us that he had “found” funding for all 232 school infrastructure projects the former PC Government had announced.

Two things on that; first I must never forget that the PCs were in the habit of announcing and never providing all in an effort to save their own political skin.  The former Education Minister is a perfect example of that.

Second, missing from Eggen’s announcement was how much he was banking on future generations to pay for it.  He did say that the NDP were not borrowing for operations, but 232 infrastructure projects aren’t operational projects, they’re capital projects.

So I pulled him aside afterward (he was in a major rush to move on, but to be clear it was obvious he’d rather stay and have a depth of discussion).  We had 60 seconds, but in that 60 seconds we covered a swath.  The first thing he said to me was that he had to borrow through the nose to get that money.

That made the fiscal conservative in me cringe.  I asked him if he really was willing to fund 232 projects that might not fit his philosophy.  That peaked his attention.

“Mr. Eggen, there are school projects approved to be built outside of the communities, sometimes as far as 10 minutes outside of communities.  And you just funded them.”

At that he asked for an example, and I gave him the planned school near Aldersyde which is to serve Okotoks students.  I told him it is in an industrial area, it has inadequate infrastructure for traffic, which will also impact the 10-minute response time the closest firehall will have.  He balked at the idea, and asked me to contact him with more details.  That was the first 40 seconds.  The last 20 are for another blog.

So here are the details.  Okotoks has no water.  It can’t get a commitment on water.  As a result it can’t develop, and that includes schools.  Yet its 26,000 residents keep having babies.  So the Foothills School Division starts looking.  It finds space in the open arms of the M.D. of Foothills by the Legacy Fieldhouse.

This would be the third school project designed to be built outside the Okotoks community.  Davisburg has two schools, one in each school division, and while it could be argued that they serve a different community, that is prime agricultural land that has been eroded to form dots of acreages all over the countryside.  Further, is some instances busses are covering or expected to cover areas on the outskirts of Okotoks.  Much like a crosswalk, the lines separating Okotoks from M.D. do not stop cars, and those people are just as much Okotokians as on the other side of the road.

One outlier is an anomaly.  Two raises an eyebrow.  Three is a trend.  The trend to break up communities is beginning to show.  This is a trend toward shipping students out of a community, and away from the concept of schools as community hubs.  It's a trend to put so much space between neighbours that they no longer need to talk to each other.  So Minister Eggen needs to either agree with this trend the PCs set for him, or stamp it out.  But if he stamped it out, where would this new school go?

Here comes the Okotoks Town Council to save the day!

Not only did they find a site, but they seem to be appealing to both Eggen’s portfolios.  As Minister of Education, he should be thrilled there is now a site that would be basically inside town (remember, those town borders do not a blockade make).  He should further be thrilled with the idea of a cultural space adjacent to it.  It meets the philosophy of kids staying in the community they live in, and studying in a place that is a community hub.

So what’s the problem?  One minor hurdle is that the M.D. needs to agree.  That should be a minor issue, but there are some political issues at play that make it a slight challenge.  Another is our Wildrose MLA; will he be more interested in the fact that money is being borrowed to build this school, something that is completely anti-Wildrose, or will he see the necessity of having kids go to school in town and give Eggen a thumbs-up?  My feel of the current Wildrose opposition is it’s the same as the old one; opposition for opposition’s sake.

Those aren’t the deciding issues, though.  Its whether or not Eggen has the political will to stop something he’s already funded.  Its whether or not Eggen is just trying to tie up the PCs loose ends, or if he intends on righting the ship.  Its whether or not Eggen is willing to stand for something.  Its whether or not Eggen is willing to make a stand now, because the Foothills School Division cannot wait for a school for five years.  They need it now.

I’d like to think he is.  But the ball isn’t in my court, it’s in his.

Your Alberta Party representative in Highwood wants students to go to school in their communities, and not be bussed out.  Your Alberta Party representative in Highwood wants schools to be community hubs.  Your Alberta Party representative is giving the Okotoks Town Council a big fist pump.

So I call on the Alberta NDP Government, namely Minister Eggen, to endorse this shift to a school community hub, and to help Okotoks get the land to make it happen and quickly.  After that, perhaps Minister Eggen should review all the school projects he just funded, and where construction or the tendering process hasn’t already commenced, review if they meet his philosophy of what schools should be.  I’d suspect that he might find more than one that doesn’t meet his standards.

While he does, he should tell us how much we’re paying for it.  Or rather, tell us how much the next generations will be paying for it.  I won’t necessarily be opposing, but I want to hear the NDP plan for making it easier for the next generations to cover the tab.  So far I haven’t heard it.

Oh, and I hope that while Eggen is talking about the need for this school that he also talks about why this issue came up in the first place, and help Okotoks get a commitment for the Water For Life program.

Kudos to the Okotoks Town Council for their progressive thinking.  It’s time for everyone to get back to building community.

Yesterday, the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta's leader, our unelected Premier, announced a plan to invest $2 billion in school construction projects over the next ten years.

If we ignore the fact that many of the projects announced were already announced once, in some cases twice, I mean thrice, and cancelled or postponed at least as many times, then this is good news.

If we don't ignore that fact, then it's still just wind on a brick wall.  The PC's may huff and puff, but in the end, there wasn't a school to blow down.

But let's look positively at this announcement for a second.  Finally, there is a plan to construct the space that we need for our growing population.  Hopefully each school is going where 10-years-in-the-future Alberta needs it.

But there is something missing in the announcement; the explanation that the PCs are actually using binary math to calculate the real cost.

You see, $2 billion actually equals $10 billion.

(For those who don't understand binary, check my addendum at the bottom for an explanation)

Let me explain why $10 billion in particular, though.

You see, the $2 billion simply announces the construction of 230 empty buildings/modernizations.  It costs a great deal more to actual turn those buildings into service centres of education.  It takes lots of people (teachers and support staff), resources (textbooks, computers, etc.) and services (electricity, heating, internet, etc.) to operate them.

Alberta's operating budget for Education in 2014 is approximately $6.75 billion.  If the province is building an additional 230 schools, that means they'll be adding approximately 10.5% of the current number of schools.  Logic then dictates that it would require an additional 10.5% of the current operating budget to make these schools work.  That would be an additional $710 million required in the operating budget.

Don't forget, the plan is to take place over the next ten years.  That's $7.1 billion extra not currently included in the budget.  Account for inflation, and suddenly that $2 billion promise ends up adding to over $10 billion.

Would the expected increase in population by 1 million help take care of that burden?  Perhaps.  Is the above example a little simplistic?  Perhaps.  However, it makes clear that simply building schools requires far more commitment than the PCs have undertaken.

You see, each Albertan would have to pay more taxes to cover that commitment.  In order to fund healthcare and other social services to similar levels and similar growth while covering this commitment, the PCs would have to increase taxes by about 2%.  That doesn't sound like much, until you hear that such an increase would be the difference between an average of about $10,000 being increased to $11,000.  For those on a living wage, $1,000 is a lot of money.

Keep in mind, those simplistic calculations are only representative if every Albertan pays taxes.  Don't forget, our kids don't really pay taxes, so the taxes have to be distributed over fewer Albertans.

But such an increase wasn't included in the announcement.  Nor was discussion on changing how we collect royalty income from primary resources.  Nor was there any announcement of some new magical income source for the province (mind you, we are in a by-election, and the PCs love announcements, it could come any day now).

So even if I am optimistic, and truly believe the schools would be built under a PC government, I have no clue how they plan on paying for the buildings and the stuff to go in them.

Thank goodness I'm optimistic about something else; an Alberta Government operated by someone other than the PCs.

Which leads me to the Wildrose Party, as they are the heavy favourites to form the next government.  I am reminded of an announcement they made recently about Education.  Actually, come to think of it, it was less than a week before the PC's announcement.  It's value ... $2 billion dollars.  Announced during a by-election.

Is there an echo in here?

As for the costing of this brilliant plan (I say brilliant, because it really is a good idea to inject that money into Education, regardless of who has the idea), again we are lacking in details.  The timeline is more aggressive than the PC timeline, going for four years instead of ten.  That means their $2 billion announcement becomes only a $5 billion commitment with the operating costs included.

But in four years, we aren't expected to have 1 million new Albertans.  We're expected to have more around 400,000 new Albertans.  That means more of a burden would be downloaded to Albertan taxpayers.  Except that the Wildrose are adamant that taxes not be changed, so they have to find the money elsewhere.  I'm not the first to realize this, Luke Fevin pointed it out clearly after the Wildrose release.

I think putting $2 billion into building schools is brilliant, regardless of who actually enacts it, and especially if they are placed in such a way as to encourage the development of communities.  I think the commitment to operating these empty buildings should be expressed, and so far it hasn't.

So now I must express my optimistic frustration.  I know a party who not only has a plan to fix the infrastructure crisis in Education, but has that plan costed, as well.  However, that party hasn't had the opportunity to have that plan brought forth to their membership, and so hasn't been able to publicize it the way they want, which is hard for me as someone who has worked on it.  So I have to rely on "just trust me, they have a plan, and it includes how to pay for it."  Knowing that plan exists has me very optimistic, but knowing how hard it is for people to trust politicians, especially those who just say "just trust me", has me very frustrated.

So let me put it this way.  You know what you'll get from the PCs.  The Wildrose have explained their position as well, yet it still lacks the detail necessary to trust it.

You might not know Greg Clark or the Alberta Party yet.  But at the very least, I hope you're optimistic.

BINARY EXPLANATION: By referencing binary, I probably just geeked myself out a bit.  Computers, who work in binary, only work with OFFs or ONs, Trues or Falses, represented as zeros and ones.  In order to represent something else, you have to combine zeros and ones, so binary systems use 10 to represent the number two)

This weekend will be bittersweet for me, and for many in High River.

Tomorrow we begin the celebration of Graduation for many students here.  I am very proud of our students who have braved this past 12 months to get this far.  However, to see our youth go away reminds me how lovely it would be to see them come back, and even more, to stay.

Notre Dame Collegiate Grads in particular have my respect.  They put up with far more than most other graduating classes in Alberta.  They started their year late.  When they did finally start, there were only two classrooms available to them in a borrowed building.  Unfortunately for them, they were not joined by their friends in the younger grades for another week, and in some cases, more.  Students didn't have lockers, and so for Grads they would carry their 35 pounds of textbooks throughout the day on their backs. No cafeteria.  No gathering space to hang out with friends.  After school programs like sports and music were either cancelled or put on hold in hopes of a quick return to the original Notre Dame Collegiate.  Some programs didn't come back.  Yet the students still hit the books and made the best of it, because after all, they were alive.  A Me To We celebration at the end of September reminded the students of just how strong we are together.

When the rest of the grades finally joined them, classroom space was at a premium for both our host school and our own, so Notre Dame Collegiate had to run eight classes at a time in the gymnasium, while other classes crowded into every nook and cranny possible in that structure.  The band program hoofed it two blocks away to the nearby Masonic Lodge, which was also experiencing a space crunch accommodating as many as 12 groups at one time with only three useable spaces.  With the only gymnasium taken up, a school bus sat on standby at all times to take kids to the community RecPlex, but then again every other community group was fighting for space, and having three schools vying along with those community groups for time, that made things all the more challenging.  So when the RecPlex wasn't available, students would be bussed to Blackie, 25 minutes away.

All the while, each and every High River family was having their own battles at home, if they had a home.  Some were trying to finish the cleanup.  Some were trying to start the cleanup.  Some were trying to get insurance, Disaster Recovery Program, or anybody they could to help them recover.  Some were just happy to have a roof over their heads, even if it was an ATCO trailer in Saddlebrook.  Some were losing their jobs or clients because they were flooded away.  Some were fighting to keep their businesses open.  Some were simply battling on their neighbours behalf, hoping to keep the community together.

Glimmers of light shone on the students from time to time.  If families couldn't afford school materials, they could get a backpack from the Parent Link Centre in town.  Various donations trickled in from various locations.  Opportunities like bringing a huge group of kids to the set of Heartland were welcomed.  The most brilliant light in the fog was the host we had, for Ecole Senator Riley School very quickly became not only a neighbour and host, but friends who were there when they were needed.  Friends we will never forget.

After a few weeks, camera crews, people in suits and ties, and photo opportunities started to grate on students' nerves.  Politicians, many of whom had never set foot in the original Notre Dame Collegiate, came out in droves.  Occasionally a student got their 15 minutes of fame, but even then some students would turn down the opportunity because they were just tired of it all, and wanted to get back to normal.  Normal would never come.

All the while, Grads counted down to the projected arrival of the portable classrooms, only to have their hopes and deadlines dashed not once, not twice, but thrice.  It's hard to concentrate on your classwork when you're not even certain of what your classroom space is going to look like from one day to the next.  In October some of the portables finally opened up.  Some classes moved in.  Some stayed in the gymnasium and Masonic Lodge.  The shuttles to the RecPlex and Blackie continued.  In late October, the gymnasium and the Masonic Lodge were no longer used, and the shuttles to the RecPlex or Blackie became less constant.

Our community seemed to suffer blow after blow.  In November our Filipino community was struck by another disaster, a typhoon that hit their families back in their home country.  With a huge cohort of Filipinos in the school, for many it brought back the tragedy we recently experienced, and our community gathered around our Tagalog- and Visayan-speaking friends, including many of our Grads.  Our elementary school remained in an untenable position running an over-capacity school in an even smaller Memorial Centre, where classrooms had to be torn down nightly for other community events.  All we wanted to do was help, but when we are in need of help ourselves, feelings of helplessness can set in.  For some, they had to leave, and in a community such as ours, any loss gets mourned.

Christmas was a much needed break.  When we returned, our elementary friends all were in their portable school, and the end was in sight.  Preparations for Grad celebrations were well underway, and the first sighs of relief came as the Grads completed their first sets of diploma exams.  They had made it through the toughest part of the year.  The school bid adieu to our hosts at Senator Riley, who said goodbye to us in a grand procession out our temporary front doors, and although they were likely happy to have the full capacity of their building back, hugs, tears and cheers for each other were still exchanged.

After the teacher professional development break, students came back to another press field day, but it would also be the last.  However, the school they came back to was still far from finished.  Grads found themselves in borrowed class spaces again, as small gathering areas became classrooms for displaced teachers.  Busses continued to travel, but mostly only to the RecPlex.  The Public Address system in the school didn't work, phones weren't connected, there was no place to eat lunch, and many classrooms didn't even have whiteboards yet.  Nonetheless, they were in a building, it smelled new, it had a few upgrades already completed and a few more on the way, and most importantly, it was home.

In the back field of our refurbished home sat our elementary school in 26 portable classrooms.  Very quickly our two schools got a chance to work together, which was a novelty as the original location (which sat underwater for 2 months after the flood) was too far away to really develop any sort of connection with.  Grads were often found working with elementary students, and the two schools became closer than they have ever been since the elementary school was built.  While challenges still continue, which should be expected when 750 students have to share a single gymnasium, the comraderie in the Catholic community coagulated, and new opportunities were born.

Though the Grads have moved through trial into opportunity within the school context, some still continue to battle issues at home.  Many are still rebuilding homes.  Some have just moved back home from the temporary housing, and thankfully only a few remain in Saddlebrook.  Some businesses have recovered, some remain in temporary structures, some are going further and further into debt hoping that critical point where they have to close their doors forever never comes.  For some, it has already come and gone.

This is why I believe there are few graduating classes that deserve a celebration as much as Notre Dame Collegiate's Grads this year.  They fought through it all.  They faced challenge at home, at school, in their minds, their bodies and in their souls.  And they stood tall and strong.  They are some of the best examples of what it means to be a High Riverite.

This is also what makes me somewhat sad.  It is likely that many of them are leaving, be it for post-secondary or simply to find work where it's available and stable.  High River's loss will be the rest of the world's gain.  But I hope that High River recovers in such a way that these beacon's of our future choose to return home, live, grow families here, build a community here, and remain.

To these amazing human beings who, as the youngest of adults, have faced some of the most incredible challenges imaginable, I hope these remain the most incredible challenges you will ever face for the rest of your life.  I hope that you are aware just how powerful you are, and that you never falter in the steps you take forward.  You have no need for a lack of confidence; if you could manage this year, you've got an amazing potential ahead of you.  I pray that as you move forward, wherever you go, you take the lessons you have learned here and share your power, strength, resolve and potential to make everything you touch better.  But most importantly, I pray you come back to High River, because you indeed are our future, and you are needed.

And even if you don't come back to High River to stay, you had better visit!

Recently, Minister of Municipal Affairs Ken Hughes announced that, despite former estimates, only 90% of DRP files would be closed at the end of March, 2014.  Then he took another step back and said "no wait, not until the end of June, now", which basically means a full year of homelessness for those affected.  Not that I'm surprised, he inherited a mess from his predecessor, Doug Griffiths.

However, in order to meet those targets, people who were already told they are going to be covered through the DRP are now being told "nevermind, no money for you."

The best example of this is the first completed DRP file in High River.  That file refers to the basement of Richard Murray.  On September 23, 2013 he was given approval to go forward with rebuilding his basement in writing.  Throughout the next two months, he rebuilt, had inspected, adjusted, continued rebuilding, inspected, and completed his basement all with great collaboration with the DRP office.  On November 23, 2013, all paperwork for his claim was considered complete, and he was given every indication that he would be given his funds.  He followed all the rules, and worked very closely and collegially with the decision-makers.

On March 11, 2014, Murray got a brief phone call saying that his DRP claim was denied in full.  When he asked why, the response was "we have no details for you."

The result is that he will no longer be an Albertan.  He will be moving to British Columbia.  What's even more telling about this is that he has dedicated decades of his volunteer service to High River, even running for the public service of Town Councillor in the last election.  In the end, the Disaster Recovery Program has run this incredibly dedicated community advocate out of town.

Why on Earth, or in Alberta, would the DRP process choose to rip this man's spleen out through his throat like that?

DRP has been changed multiple times since the first files were created.  Any file completed before the latest iteration of the DRP process will be referred to a "special review" process.  To me, this smacks of duplication; files that were already well-handled are being held back to be looked over one more, two more, seven more times.

If DRP was broken the first time, all those first files will be wrong too, right?

That's not what was broken.  The first files completed were the ones done well.  Reviewing them added a significantly unnecessary bureaucratic layer.  What was broken was the multitude of files that did not get addressed, did not have deadlines met from the government side, and did not get money in a timely fashion to the residents who desperately needed.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.  If it is broke, don't fix the pieces that work.

Hughes stepped back from his commitment to complete the DRP process to only complete 90%.  Apparently, even that target is so hard to hit, that files that were stuck in the "special review" process were simply too much to handle.

So they called Richard Murray to say "no money for you", with no further details.  The only logical conclusion is that they've done so because those details are "we just don't want to handle your file anymore."  It's the only way they'll hit that target.

And considering the political turbidity surrounding the PC Party of Alberta right now, they can't afford to miss another target.

How many other High Riverites are going to get the exact same phone call?  All the ones who did get their files started early theoretically have been living in relief.  Those who did not are the ones who are most in needed of mental health support.  Now that the ones who got their files started early are being told they are under "special review", the DRP program is now forcing even those early-starters into mental health disarray.

Just to meet a target, to save a party, to retain power.

If people can't rebuild their basements, homes and businesses, they can't move back.  Therefore, they won't shop in High River.  They won't open up shop in High River.  They won't work in High River.  They won't break bread with each other in High River.  They won't play in High River.  They certainly will have no vested interest in protecting it and rebuilding it for the future.

With this new revelation, I can confidently say High River is dying.  And right now, the easiest and most valid scapegoat is the one thing preventing residents, workers, business owners, and community builders from moving back into town.

The Disaster Recovery Program.

So my call to Ken Hughes is to completely shift his position on the completion of the DRP.  Not renewing a contract with LandLink is a good decision, but letting them keep the files they've already got is not going to solve the issue of their involvement.  The current position is forcing active files to be rammed through, and if necessary cancelled, with little to no consideration for the people and communities they directly affect.

I am asking that Hughes commit to fully fund every Disaster Recovery Program claim as property owners have been promised.  I am asking him to completely remove LandLink from the process with no exceptions.  I am asking his office take over any remaining outstanding files where no statement of coverage has been offered to the property owner.  I am also asking him to add the consideration of these two questions in the completion of those outstanding files;

• Is this going to get people home sooner? and
  
• Is this going to help High River rebuild?
  

Lastly, I’m asking that he resist every urge to shift a deadline or target date again.  Flood victims need something stable to work with, and the regular shifting of deadlines and target dates leaves them with complete instability.

Or else I fear for the future of my town.

Good news does abound, and while it took a long time, Richard Murray now has received his DRP payments.  However, he has some sage advice for all those who have dealt with DRP, and the advice does not end once you've received your cheque.  I recommend reading the article here, as it can not be said better than by the man himself.