by Don MacIntyre
MLA Innisfail-Sylvan Lake
I appreciate the kind words and congratulations many of you have been sending me. Thank you.
Over the past weeks I have met with Innisfail’s mayor and council, the mayor of Sylvan Lake, the Urgent Care Committee, the Wolf Creek Primary Care Network director and the Sylvan Lake Water and Wastewater Commission to understand the issues and take them up with the various departments in Edmonton.
I was also privileged to address a number of graduation ceremonies at Bowden Grandview School, Penhold Crossing (their first grad!) and the DARE grads at Innisfail’s Middle School, and make a special presentation to Miss Emma Gabert, who represented Innisfail as the Minister of Environment for a day.
I joined in the fun at the Innisfail Mayor’s Garden Party and rode in the parades in Sylvan Lake and Innisfail, and am looking forward to further celebrations, more parades, and meetings with other town councils throughout the constituency this summer.
In the legislature, we have already been working on constituent issues such as cutbacks to the Primary Care Network and Sylvan Lake’s Urgent Care Centre. We also elected a new legislature Speaker and installed Alberta’s new Lieutenant Governor, Mrs. Lois Mitchell.
In addition, Wildrose Leader Brian Jean has appointed me to be the Shadow Minister of Electricity and Renewables, and I have been appointed to the legislature’s Standing Committee on Resource Stewardship. Needless to say, the Wildrose caucus has been busy.
If you’ve been watching the news, you are probably aware that our new government wasted no time at all in providing us with issues to challenge. NDP Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd owes Albertans an explanation why her new chief of staff, Graham Mitchell, is registered as an active lobbyist against Energy East and other key pipeline projects for Alberta’s energy industry.
My colleague, Shadow Energy Minister Leela Aheer, says this new hire “sends a troubling message to our energy industry. Albertans need to have the confidence that their government is working to advance our province’s energy interests, not working against them.”
According to the federal lobbyist registry, Mitchell has been lobbying against the proposed Enbridge pipeline to the west coast and Energy East since last January in his role as interim executive director for LeadNow.
In our constituency, we know all too well the trickle-down effect of a government that has little or no interest in promoting one of the two major drivers of our economy. The Wildrose caucus will be working hard throughout the summer to stand up for Albertans and fight for projects that ensure long-term stability for our energy sector, consistent growth for our province and jobs for Albertans.