Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

Voter turnout has dropped in almost every advanced industrial country but Alberta’s voter turnout has dropped even more precipitously. According to the speaker, the reduced voter turnout is a symptom of a larger problem: people have become disengaged from government, and they have to be reconnected. What is to be done about such disconnection? The speaker will argue that a provincial constitution would give people control over their government and reconnect citizens with government. It would provide Albertans with a document to inspire our future and reflect our past. Mr. Sindlinger is trying to build a coalition of individuals throughout Alberta to build a citizen’s constitution for the province. Speaker: Tom Sindlinger Tom Sindlinger is a Canadian Economist with a focus on the marketing of natural resources and transportation, and governance. He is a former elected member of the Alberta Legislative Assembly and has successfully completed 18 international projects in 12 countries for both privat

Some may think medicare issues have gone away with the election of a more liberal Tory Premier. Are things going just fine with health care in Alberta? How is this Provincial Government under Allison Redford doing as stewards of Alberta Health Services? Should we be concerned about the state of primary health care? Is creeping privatization of health care still an issue and are the recent cuts to home care the right way to go? What are the pressing decisions and choices facing Albertans and particularly our elected Government in the coming months? Where do we need to be alert, vocal and informed, as we move forward? The speaker will explore and discuss these issues and choices . Speaker: Sandra Azocar Sandra is the executive director of Friends of Medicare for Alberta and has been a social activist for more than 30 years in this province. Previously, she has worked as a child protection employee, a community organizer and a labour activist. Prior to coming to Friends of Medicare, Sandra was elec

Some may think medicare issues have gone away with the election of a more liberal Tory Premier. Are things going just fine with health care in Alberta? How is this Provincial Government under Allison Redford doing as stewards of Alberta Health Services? Should we be concerned about the state of primary health care? Is creeping privatization of health care still an issue and are the recent cuts to home care the right way to go? What are the pressing decisions and choices facing Albertans and particularly our elected Government in the coming months? Where do we need to be alert, vocal and informed, as we move forward? The speaker will explore and discuss these issues and choices . Speaker: Sandra Azocar Sandra is the executive director of Friends of Medicare for Alberta and has been a social activist for more than 30 years in this province. Previously, she has worked as a child protection employee, a community organizer and a labour activist. Prior to coming to Friends of Medicare, Sandra was elec

SACPA and the Lethbridge Public Library present a special evening session of the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs on Tuesday Feb 5, 2013 from 7-9pm MLA for Calgary-Buffalo Kent Hehr presented a Private Member’s Bill in November 2012 that called on the Alberta government to eliminate public funding for private schools. Alberta is one of only five provinces that subsidizes private students. Furthermore, Alberta provides 70% funding to private schools, the richest subsidy to private schools in the country. Hehr has said that the $130 million set aside to support private schools in the 2012-13 budget is desperately needed in the public school system to implement programs like full day kindergarten and a school lunch initiative. Defendants of private schools have argued that private schools offer educational choices not available in the public system but Hehr counters that he is not calling for an abolition of private schools but the public funding for them: "I believe our public school system is a

The Wildrose Party became the official opposition in the 87 seat Alberta Legislature on April 23, 2012. Despite capturing 34 % of the vote, only 17 Wildrose MLA’s managed to get elected including party leader Danielle Smith. During the 2012 fall session of the Legislature, the Wildrose Party was very active introducing numerous amendments to proposed legislation, but usually to no avail. The Wildrose believe they heard loud and clear from Albertans that they want solutions to balance the budget, improve health care and education and to put an end to what appears to be a PC Government culture of corruption, conflict of interest and entitlement. Following through on an election promise, Wildrose MLAs exercised their free-vote policy throughout the recent session in the Legislature, while the PCs continued to toe the party line on every vote. “We know the role of MLAs is to listen to their constituents and thoughtfully consider every piece of legislation that comes through the house,” Smith says. “Our Wildros

The Wildrose Party became the official opposition in the 87 seat Alberta Legislature on April 23, 2012. Despite capturing 34 % of the vote, only 17 Wildrose MLA’s managed to get elected including party leader Danielle Smith. During the 2012 fall session of the Legislature, the Wildrose Party was very active introducing numerous amendments to proposed legislation, but usually to no avail. The Wildrose believe they heard loud and clear from Albertans that they want solutions to balance the budget, improve health care and education and to put an end to what appears to be a PC Government culture of corruption, conflict of interest and entitlement. Following through on an election promise, Wildrose MLAs exercised their free-vote policy throughout the recent session in the Legislature, while the PCs continued to toe the party line on every vote. “We know the role of MLAs is to listen to their constituents and thoughtfully consider every piece of legislation that comes through the house,” Smith says. “Our Wildros

Energy drives life. Energy use has been a great advantage to our species. However, we are moving toward a compelling predicament as our societies thrive and our population grows. With population growth our energy needs increase. Our current sources of energy are thought by many to be leading to harmful climate change – and at the same time they are depleting at a rate we find discomforting. The consequences to our complex society and to other life forms on earth are uncertain. Do Alberta and Canada need an energy strategy to guide us in our challenge? Global society is seemingly coming to an energy supply and use crisis: how much energy, produced how, in which location and how distributed. The present system of energy supply and distribution based on uncoordinated short term ventures will not be adequate for our future needs. Energy supply and use begs for integrated planning over the long term. The size and nature of the infrastructure required does not allow for abrupt changes. The time for thoughtful

Energy drives life. Energy use has been a great advantage to our species. However, we are moving toward a compelling predicament as our societies thrive and our population grows. With population growth our energy needs increase. Our current sources of energy are thought by many to be leading to harmful climate change – and at the same time they are depleting at a rate we find discomforting. The consequences to our complex society and to other life forms on earth are uncertain. Do Alberta and Canada need an energy strategy to guide us in our challenge? Global society is seemingly coming to an energy supply and use crisis: how much energy, produced how, in which location and how distributed. The present system of energy supply and distribution based on uncoordinated short term ventures will not be adequate for our future needs. Energy supply and use begs for integrated planning over the long term. The size and nature of the infrastructure required does not allow for abrupt changes. The time for thoughtful

Ancient civilizations routinely relied on shackled human muscle. It took the energy of slaves to plant crops, clothe emperors, and build cities. In the early nineteenth century, the slave trade became one of the most profitable enterprises on the planet, and slaveholders viewed religious critics as hostilely as oil companies now regard environmentalists. Yet when the abolition movement finally triumphed in the 1850s, it had an invisible ally: coal and oil. As the world's most portable and versatile workers, fossil fuels dramatically replenished slavery's ranks with combustion engines and other labour-saving tools. Since then, oil has transformed politics, economics, science, agriculture, gender, and even our concept of happiness. But as the speaker argues in his provocative new book, we still behave like slaveholders in the way we use energy and that urgently needs to change Many North Americans and Europeans today enjoy lifestyles as extravagant as those of Caribbean plantation owners. Like slaveholders, w

Ancient civilizations routinely relied on shackled human muscle. It took the energy of slaves to plant crops, clothe emperors, and build cities. In the early nineteenth century, the slave trade became one of the most profitable enterprises on the planet, and slaveholders viewed religious critics as hostilely as oil companies now regard environmentalists. Yet when the abolition movement finally triumphed in the 1850s, it had an invisible ally: coal and oil. As the world's most portable and versatile workers, fossil fuels dramatically replenished slavery's ranks with combustion engines and other labour-saving tools. Since then, oil has transformed politics, economics, science, agriculture, gender, and even our concept of happiness. But as the speaker argues in his provocative new book, we still behave like slaveholders in the way we use energy and that urgently needs to change Many North Americans and Europeans today enjoy lifestyles as extravagant as those of Caribbean plantation owners. Like slaveholders, w

The Federal Government and Alberta’s Provincial Government are advocating that a new pipeline to the Pacific Ocean is essential to growth of the petroleum industry in Alberta. Enbridge has proposed to build a 1200 km pipeline to ship bitumen from Alberta’s oil sands across the rugged terrain of British Columbia to a marine terminal in Kitimat, BC. Is the Northern Gateway Pipeline needed? What are the economic benefits of the pipeline? What are the environmental risks of the pipeline and the shipping of bitumen in tankers through the hazardous waters of the Douglas Channel? Are there alternatives to building this pipeline, which has been heavily criticized by many native groups and NGO’s? The speaker will explore the many environmental issues surrounding the Northern Gateway Pipeline project which currently is undergoing public hearings before a joint review panel. Speaker: Barry Robinson Barry Robinson is a staff lawyer in the Calgary office of Ecojustice. Prior to obtaining his law degree, Barry

The Federal Government and Alberta’s Provincial Government are advocating that a new pipeline to the Pacific Ocean is essential to growth of the petroleum industry in Alberta. Enbridge has proposed to build a 1200 km pipeline to ship bitumen from Alberta’s oil sands across the rugged terrain of British Columbia to a marine terminal in Kitimat, BC. Is the Northern Gateway Pipeline needed? What are the economic benefits of the pipeline? What are the environmental risks of the pipeline and the shipping of bitumen in tankers through the hazardous waters of the Douglas Channel? Are there alternatives to building this pipeline, which has been heavily criticized by many native groups and NGO’s? The speaker will explore the many environmental issues surrounding the Northern Gateway Pipeline project which currently is undergoing public hearings before a joint review panel. Speaker: Barry Robinson Barry Robinson is a staff lawyer in the Calgary office of Ecojustice. Prior to obtaining his law degree, Barry

This is a regular session but with a Christmas twist. Please come early and listen to Christmas music & song Special Music 11:45 am - 12:05 pm - Gilbert Paterson Handbells 12:30 - 1:00 pm (during lunch) - Gilbert Paterson Select Choir As we approach Christmas and the spirit that goes with it, environmental challenges -- to air, water and land – are not going away. In Alberta we are polarized between development and environmental safeguards, between job and habitat protection, between corporate interests and citizen lobby/protest groups, between the dividends offered by hydraulic fracturing and those who fear its threat to water and health. The speaker will offer some guiding principles and insights that the human community might use to journey through this bewildering forest of choices and options. He will propose some spirited guidelines that might lead the way in our care of the earth, our care of one another and ourselves

This is a regular session but with a Christmas twist. Please come early and listen to Christmas music & song Special Music 11:45 am - 12:05 pm - Gilbert Paterson Handbells 12:30 - 1:00 pm (during lunch) - Gilbert Paterson Select Choir As we approach Christmas and the spirit that goes with it, environmental challenges -- to air, water and land – are not going away. In Alberta we are polarized between development and environmental safeguards, between job and habitat protection, between corporate interests and citizen lobby/protest groups, between the dividends offered by hydraulic fracturing and those who fear its threat to water and health. The speaker will offer some guiding principles and insights that the human community might use to journey through this bewildering forest of choices and options. He will propose some spirited guidelines that might lead the way in our care of the earth, our care of one another and ourselves

The debates around the recent Occupy movement have prompted questions about what constitutes effective action and whether the current young generation is engaged in social issues. Can these budding activist energies be sustained enough to create change? How can the interests of students who are focused on career training, or who approach learning with passivity, be expanded and nurtured so that they can act with greater alertness and attention to issues they face as global citizens? The Occupy movement, no matter how disorganized they may appear to be, suggests that what may be lacking is the theory, knowledge, and skills necessary to sustain active engagement against discursive, political, and economic pressures which encourage passive acceptance. Speakers: Josephine Mills and Bruce MacKay Bruce MacKay, a near-native Lethbridgian, did his undergraduate at the U. of L. in Anthropology, completed his Masters in Theological Studies at Harvard, and did his PhD at the University of Toronto in Religious S

The debates around the recent Occupy movement have prompted questions about what constitutes effective action and whether the current young generation is engaged in social issues. Can these budding activist energies be sustained enough to create change? How can the interests of students who are focused on career training, or who approach learning with passivity, be expanded and nurtured so that they can act with greater alertness and attention to issues they face as global citizens? The Occupy movement, no matter how disorganized they may appear to be, suggests that what may be lacking is the theory, knowledge, and skills necessary to sustain active engagement against discursive, political, and economic pressures which encourage passive acceptance. Speakers: Josephine Mills and Bruce MacKay Bruce MacKay, a near-native Lethbridgian, did his undergraduate at the U. of L. in Anthropology, completed his Masters in Theological Studies at Harvard, and did his PhD at the University of Toronto in Religious S

Most nations throughout the world have practiced discrimination against racial, religious, ethnic and ideological groups. Justification for these forms of exclusion has increasingly been discredited by the human rights revolution in the post colonization era and equal rights and non-discriminatory policies are now in focus. However, even as these older practices of exclusion are no longer in effect, they continue to have lasting consequences. Political reconciliation requires the rebuilding of damaged relationships. An absolutely central issue here is that of social trust. Challenges of reconciliation will be described by the speaker, using examples from various countries, including South Africa, Canada, Northern Ireland, and Sierra Leone. Speaker: Dr. Trudy Govier Trudy Govier is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Lethbridge. Her interests are in the areas of critical thinking and social philosophy. She is the author of a widely used textbook A Practical Study of Argument (7th Edition 2010)

Most nations throughout the world have practiced discrimination against racial, religious, ethnic and ideological groups. Justification for these forms of exclusion has increasingly been discredited by the human rights revolution in the post colonization era and equal rights and non-discriminatory policies are now in focus. However, even as these older practices of exclusion are no longer in effect, they continue to have lasting consequences. Political reconciliation requires the rebuilding of damaged relationships. An absolutely central issue here is that of social trust. Challenges of reconciliation will be described by the speaker, using examples from various countries, including South Africa, Canada, Northern Ireland, and Sierra Leone. Speaker: Dr. Trudy Govier Trudy Govier is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Lethbridge. Her interests are in the areas of critical thinking and social philosophy. She is the author of a widely used textbook A Practical Study of Argument (7th Edition 2010)

China's economy will soon become the largest in the world. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), China's economy will be larger than the combined economies of the Eurozone countries by the end of this year, and will overtake the United States by the end of 2016. To fuel an expanding economy, China has been on a global quest for raw materials for decades. In the energy sector, that includes oil, natural gas and uranium from Canada. Currently, two matters concerning our trade with China are the focus of public attention: the sale of the Calgary-based oil and gas producer Nexen to the Chinese state-owned-enterprise CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation), and FIPA, the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, yet to be ratified by the federal government. What are the issues surrounding the determination of a "net benefit" to Canada? Speaker: Gordon Houlden Gordon Houlden is the Director of the China Institute and a Professor of Political Sc

China's economy will soon become the largest in the world. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), China's economy will be larger than the combined economies of the Eurozone countries by the end of this year, and will overtake the United States by the end of 2016. To fuel an expanding economy, China has been on a global quest for raw materials for decades. In the energy sector, that includes oil, natural gas and uranium from Canada. Currently, two matters concerning our trade with China are the focus of public attention: the sale of the Calgary-based oil and gas producer Nexen to the Chinese state-owned-enterprise CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation), and FIPA, the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, yet to be ratified by the federal government. What are the issues surrounding the determination of a "net benefit" to Canada? Speaker: Gordon Houlden Gordon Houlden is the Director of the China Institute and a Professor of Political Sc