Opinion

Creating healthy public policy is at heart a non-partisan activity, based on evidence, a sense of fairness and a long-term view. 

To mask, or not to mask? Local elected officials should be asking whether or not making face coverings mandatory in our communities is an extra safety measure this valley needs.

The correlation between positive social connection and an individual's health and well-being is essential to productivity and engagement. Personal experience confirms that "the connected condition" is an antidote to a stubborn case of the blues. 

As an Indigenous person I deal with racism at the hands of different races in Cochrane. I am followed by security guards and secret shoppers of all races as I shop. I am not afforded the right to shop in dignity. It is something I am accustomed to as an Indigenous person. To react is to appear suspicious so you soldier on.

What is reconciliation?

We are living through history and as this year's Canada Day fast approaches, it presents an excellent oppportunity to pause and take stock of what it means to be Canadian.

In the Bow Valley we don’t have the cachet of urban centres like Toronto, Paris and New York.  But we can learn from them and we too can seize the window of opportunity in the post-pandemic recovery period to create a new vision and re-invent our communities. 

Dedicated resources, patrols, clear and appropriate restrictions on human behaviour and enforcement, with significant fines for breaching these rules, are needed.