Over the past decade, Airdrie and Chestermere have been two of the fastest growing communities in Canada. And we’re not only attracting people; new commercial and industrial businesses are increasingly establishing themselves along the QE2 corridor between Calgary and Airdrie. In fact, Rocky View County’s CrossIron Mills was the largest commercial development in the province last year outside of the oil sands.
As your MLA, I am dedicated to ensure that our Government fully understands the explosive growth our communities are experiencing, and to secure the infrastructure necessary to properly manage it.
Airdrie South Interchange
Upon taking office in March of 2008, I made it my first priority to see that Airdrie’s ‘rat hole’ tunnel was replaced by a modern south interchange able to support the city’s increasing traffic load. Although the province should have dealt with this critical piece of infrastructure years earlier, I am pleased to report that construction on the project began in late 2008 and is proceeding smoothly and on schedule.
Chestermere Lake
Chestermere Lake is the central amenity and symbol of its namesake, the Town of Chestermere. Unfortunately, past legal squabbles and a lack of appropriate upkeep have limited the enjoyment of the lake by community residents. During the election, I committed that I would devote time and energy to facilitating a resolution to the legal issues surrounding lakefront ownership and use, and also support initiatives to upgrade the lake’s quality and infrastructure.
Thanks to a collaborative effort between Town Council, the Lakefront Homeowners Association, the Western Irrigation District and myself, we were able to implement a permanent solution to the lakefront legal issues. I was also able to secure a provincial lottery grant for the upgrading of John Peake Park, and efforts are now underway to organize a dredging of the lake to improve its ecological health and recreational value.
Access to Water
Despite Rocky View being one of the most prosperous and growing counties in the province, it has been hampered in its growth by an acute shortage of available water licenses for residential, commercial and industrial development.
The provincial government has continually dragged its feet on this issue, and as a result, tens of millions of dollars have been lost to duplicative infrastructure and lost development opportunities.
I will continue to push the government to ensure that Rocky View County and neighboring MDs are allocated an appropriate amount of water for their growing residential and development needs.
New Schools
The growth of our communities has indeed been remarkable. It is also important to note that the new arrivals are disproportionally families with young children. Airdrie, Chestermere and Langdon are all in great need of more schools to teach our burgeoning K-12 student population. In fact, Rocky View School District (RVSD) has been the fastest growing school district in the province for several years running.
The provincial government has allowed politics and favoritism to override the needs of our students and parents. Surprisingly, only one (Langdon) of 32 newly announced schools will be built in RVSD, the fastest growing school district in the province. On an objective needs basis, the numbers clearly show the newly announced schools should have been divided up differently with Airdrie and Chestermere receiving at least an additional two schools. Only politics and very poor planning can explain such a gross oversight.
I will continue to push hard for at least two new elementary schools in Airdrie and one in Chestermere. Our children, parents and teachers deserve it.
Airdrie-area residents have long sought access to 24-hour urgent health care. Airdrie is by far the largest Alberta community without such access; and although our newly opened urgent care centre is a start, we need to extend its open hours per day from 14 to 24. I will continue to work with our local doctors and Alberta Health Services (AHS) to make this a reality.
In a more recent development, Health Minister Ron Liepert specifically promised to have AHS work with Airdrie to preserve its renowned integrated fire/EMS service. Subsequently, the government reversed that promise and essentially forced the City to divest itself of its ambulance services.
The government’s broken promise has stripped our community of one of its biggest success stories and will cost an already cash-strapped health system millions of dollars unnecessarily. Despite the disappointment, we must move forward. I will continue to work with AHS to, at the very least, ensure that our resident’s safety vis-à-vis local ambulance service is maintained.
Policing Infrastructure
As communities grow, so does the need for more policing. Airdrie and Rocky View’s incredible growth has necessitated the need to build a new RCMP detachment in Airdrie as soon as possible.
In early 2009, the City of Airdrie, the RCMP and I worked together cooperatively to put together a policing partnership that would have seen an integrated RCMP detachment and southern RCMP command centre built in Airdrie. This facility would have seen dozens of RCMP officers relocated from Calgary to a community directly under RCMP jurisdiction, thereby improving their effectiveness while simultaneously saving taxpayer dollars. It was a success story waiting to happen. In testament to the dysfunctional nature of our current government, bureaucrats in Edmonton convinced the relevant Ministers to refuse to even examine the business case for it, and the idea was subsequently quashed.
Although disappointing for all involved, I will continue to work in support of an upgraded detachment for Airdrie, while encouraging the provincial government to recognize its oversight in not reviewing this innovative partnership proposal.
Commuter Rail Transit
Thousands of Airdrie-Chestermere residents regularly work and recreate in Calgary. It is my view that mass transit will play a large role in ensuring the free flow of people, goods and services between Calgary and our constituency’s communities.
In 2008, the Premier announced $2 billion for increasing mass transit infrastructure across the province. At the same time he also announced $2 billion for grants to corporations for carbon capture and storage. When the recession came, the Premier’s Office decided to keep the highly questionable carbon capture funding in place and delay their commitment to mass transit.
I will continue to make the case to our provincial government that commuter rail between Airdrie and Calgary as well as rapid bus transit between Chestermere and Calgary are two initiatives worthy of prompt infrastructure funding. Doing so will decrease the need for expensive additional lanes on the QE2, improve local air quality, save commuters money and provide utility to thousands of residents in Calgary and surrounding areas.
Calgary-Balzac-Airdrie Corridor
The Calgary-Balzac-Airdrie corridor is fast becoming one of the most important business and trade regions in the province. Large multinationals and growing businesses are setting up transportation hubs in Airdrie and Balzac to take advantage of the QE2 and Calgary’s recently completed north ring road.
I am convinced that properly managing growth along this corridor is critical to the future of our communities. I am therefore committed to ensuring that, as a minimum, the following infrastructure needs are addressed: the QE2 between Calgary and Airdrie must be properly maintained; the south Airdrie interchange and north section of the Calgary ring road completed as soon as possible; the Balzac overpass should be twinned; and the CrossIron Mills flyover and off-ramp constructed.
These road and bridge projects will improve the safety and efficiency of traffic flow in the corridor, and will continue to attract new and successful businesses and residents to our constituency. Family Facilities
As previously mentioned, more and more families are making Airdrie-Chestermere their new home. As a father of four, I know how important it is to ensure that recreational facilities are in place to give parents and their children opportunities to play sports, stay healthy and participate in wholesome family activities.
During my first years in office and in partnership with the City of Airdrie, I have been able to secure provincial grants for major improvements and additions to Airdrie’s Genesis Place Recreation Centre, Chinook Winds Park, the Plainsman Arena, as well as John Peake Park in Chestermere.
I am committed to working with all three levels of government and the private sector to ensure that our constituency remains one of the best places in Alberta to raise a family.
MLA Website
Holding elected officials accountable for their actions is essential to the proper functioning of democracy. Also important is the need to provide as many tools as possible for constructive dialogue between constituents and their representatives.
To facilitate these objectives, and as promised during the election campaign, I have developed this interactive constituent website on which I will detail how I voted on each piece of important legislation, as well as my reasons for doing so. I have also provided multiple different avenues for feedback from constituents including email, telephone and social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.
Video
Why aren't schools a priority for the Education Minister? April 14, 2010
Stop Centrally Planned Health Care - March 17, 2010
