Opinion

We had to laugh, here in the RMO office… But not in a good way. Not in a “that’s hilarious” way, with a deep belly laugh and loud guffaws. More in the sense of a laugh because it’s just too ridiculous.

For visitors embracing everything we have here in the Bow Valley this long weekend, and our own citizens as well, let’s get the busy summer season started off on the right foot, wildlife-wise. By wildlife-wise, we actually mean wise.

What’s wrong with this picture? On the one hand, our provincial government feels it necessary to shell out $350,000 of our tax dollars to mail out a glossy, full-colour brochure to 1.2 million Albertans to explain austerity budget measures.

Hopefully, we at the Outlook aren’t the only ones out there disturbed by our story on wolf bounties (page 4).

Along with brighter weather appearing in the Valley comes news of a pair of bright happenings in Banff.

Too bad the Western world is so set on getting places by vehicular conveyance. Cars, trucks, vans, SUVs and RVs seem to be so much a necessity of life, and are for most people, yet they do cause us all problems.

Another cougar sighting in Canmore again raises the issue of wildlife corridors and whether fencing an area to reduce human wildlife interaction makes any sense. Clearly, in Canmore’s Eagle Terrace area, a cougar has found conditions to its liking.

Just so we have this straight in our minds… When it comes to tourism in Canmore, only accommodation providers see the benefit of tens of thousands of visitors arriving in town? We doubt it.

Banff council is to be commended this week for finally, definitively, making a decision as to future encroachment of chain stores into the mountain town’s economy and social fabric.

Today is provincial budget day, the day we see where the Province’s reliance on the vagaries of oil pricing has placed us.