Editorial

Pearl VI

Congratulations to Pearl Calahasen. Her re-election to the legislative assembly as the member for Lesser Slave Lake was her sixth, and was not even close.
Calahasen worked hard on her campaign, no question. She had all the advantages going in – name recognition, money, a campaign team and of course advance knowledge of the election call. She had more time to campaign, more signs, more people on the phones and just plain more of everything.
Calahasen now returns to Edmonton as a member of Premier Ed Stelmach’s governing party. Once a cabinet minister under Ralph Klein, she’s spent the last two years as a backbencher. The demotion didn’t seem to discourage her, judging by her tireless campaign for yet another term under the dome.
Tireless is a good term to describe the Calahasen style generally. She has a reputation for good-natured and persistent pestering of her ministerial colleagues on behalf of her constituents. Prying money loose for infrastructure projects has been and will continue to be one of the most important jobs for the Lesser Slave Lake MLA.
Here’s just one example: M.D. #124 is facing big development pressure on the south shore. It needs to get its waste water collection system finished and soon, but the grant it was hoping for did not come through.
In Slave Lake, burgeoning growth south of Hwy. 2 has created a whole new set of infrastructure challenges for the town. Hwy. 2 will eventually have to be twinned through town, and all the intersections upgraded to handle the traffic. How will the province help?
Back to the M.D., and the staggering expense of maintaining roads and bridges. Resource traffic is bruising the roads, such as the old Smith highway, and local tax revenue can’t begin to meet the expense. What will the province do about that? Then there are recreational facilities. Let’s not even get started on those.
How about health care? Surely the province has a role in establishing and maintaining services in communities such as Slave Lake. Many people in this area find it absurd that despite Slave Lake’s obvious importance as a regional commercial and population centre they are forced to go to Westlock, or even further for certain medical services. What is the province going to do about that?
How about housing? Calahasen spoke after the election about her government’s goal of making sure the energy sector continues to prosper. That’s fine, but she’d better be aware of the unhealthy number of her constituents who can’t afford (if they can even find!) an apartment. Let alone buy a home in an economy skewed by oilpatch ‘prosperity.’
Calahasen must answer all these questions, and a lot more.
So, congratulations once again to the woman who must surely be the most successful politician ever to come out of the Lesser Slave Lake riding. Now show us what you’ve got, Pearl.