There is no doubt the cockadoodle plan to shut down Fairview College is exactly that – nuts!
Not to mention, it’s a horrible face slap to the people of Fairview and surrounding area. Most thought hooking with what is now called Northwest Polytech (NWP) in Grande Prairie was a good thing.
Last we heard, Fairview needed too much renovation and repair to keep functioning properly. We have no insight into how this came about. It all really seems a case of “bigger getting bigger” and “let chips fall where they may.” In other words, the brains at NWP don’t want spending keeping Fairview open, or even operating. Not when doing that is work and is easier to build Grande Prairie bigger and better.
No matter what happens, people right across northern Alberta should be outraged one of our storied institutions might close.
It has to be said, this is exactly what happens when people lose their political power.
Right now, the Lesser Slave Lake provincial riding might disappear. This means one less rural voice in government. One less voice to argue institutions like Fairview College should be saved.
This month it’s Fairview College. Next month it could be Peace River Correctional. The month after that McLennan Hospital. What next after that?
A commission is now reviewing Alberta’s electoral boundaries. The idea here is to balance the number of MLAs to reflect the population growth in all of Alberta. Which, to put it another way, is to accommodate the fact that Edmonton and Calgary have a lot more people than a few years ago. The argument goes, they deserve more votes in the Legislature.
Or to put it yet another way, since rural Alberta is not growing as much, they “deserve” less votes. Which means certainly, less influence.
In its most simple terms, this argument says a person in Edmonton should have as much influence as a person in Zama City. One person, one vote. Sounds fair, right?
But is it really?
When Jane Woodgirl in Zama City has to travel, sometimes for hours, to talk with her MLA, is that as fair as somebody in Calgary who can walk down the street and have coffee with his MLA? Of course not!
We have argued consistently this “representation by population” is, right from the absolute get-go, a flawed political model.
Can Albertans really count on MLAs to be fair to all of Alberta? Of course not!
As just one example, Sherwood Park MLA Kyle Kasawski said recently, Edmonton needs more power in the Legislature. To quote a recent news report, “Equitable voting is important because MLAs will make decisions on where schools, hospitals and critical infrastructure for highways are built,” Kasawski said.
MLAs are not special people. Most simply want to get elected. Pandering to their neighbours, even if it means ignoring what is best and fair to all of Alberta, is their usual way to stay in office.
Answer?
Let’s keep the electoral status quo until we figure out a better system. Otherwise, we are all just numbers.
Likely diminishing.
Jeff Burgar