Editorial

Democracy served

Thank goodness for Ed Procyshyn and Robert Chalmers. If they hadn’t both entered the race, we’d be looking at an un-elected town council.
Those acclaimed would no doubt be decent folks. They’d do the job as well as they could.
But in democratic politics, you should have to win the approval of a majority of voters. If you didn’t, something important is missing from your mandate, no matter how sincere you may be in carrying out your duties.
So the news is good. The candidates, facing the possibility of losing, will work harder to get their ideas across. They’ll show up at the Oct. 3 candidates forum in top form, homework done. This is the kind of diligence one wants from a candidate.
No one is challenging Denny Garratt for the reeve’s position on M.D. council. That’s not so good, but chances are Denny won’t let it go to his head.
For council, there are good races shaping up in both wards. It would be nice if there were one or two more candidates in the west end, but four for three positions still introduces the required sense of uncertainty.
Mike Skrynyk is the challenger. He served a couple of terms previously, so the voters know him. His entry into the race should cause incumbents Brian Rosche, Darcie Acton and Lorne Larson to look over their shoulders. It is entirely possibly that one of them could be sent packing on Oct. 15.
Anything is possible, and that’s one of the essential ingredients in a good election.

Rohit flop no surprise
Last week’s withdrawal by a city developer on a deal with the town may have come as a shock to some. But it shouldn’t be a surprise.
The Rohit Group may have been entirely sincere in its expression of interest that won the approval of council late last year. But a company with as many irons in the fire as Rohit does didn’t need the work anyway, and weren’t going to take it on unless it was a sweet deal indeed.
Such is the climate in the property development and construction game in Alberta.
Just how busy and profitable Rohit is came to light, perhaps not coincidentally, in an Edmonton Journal business feature in its Sept. 19 issue. Rohit is booming, with major condo projects on-stream in Edmonton, Kelowna and Fort McMurray. Revenues are expected to jump from $66 million last year to $90 million this year.
They’re going flat out, so why would they bother with a relatively small housing development in a remote little town like Slave Lake? The answer is they wouldn’t, unless the town were willing to give them the land for free and let them off the hook on extending a collector road.
End of story.