I’ve got a lot on my plate at the moment.
A month ago, I started working on a project that was of great importance to me as a citizen of both the City of Calgary, and the Province of Alberta.
For more than four years, our economy has suffered as a result of the crash in oil prices and the subsequent policies of the federal and provincial governments. Yet, for a variety of reasons, many who live outside of Alberta don’t seem to be aware of the situation on the ground here. I couldn’t stay silent any longer, so, I set about to find whatever statistical data I could find, across a number of areas, that would provide a clear picture of the dire situation we are facing right now.
For the better part of two weeks, I would do countless Google searches, and pore over numerous government websites, gathering the data, and then putting it all together with the aid of charts and graphs. In the beginning, I had very little to no experience with any of the applications that I would have to use to make it look the way I wanted. Finally, after many hours of reading and re-reading, trial and error, swearing a blue streak, drinking coffee by the urn, and smoking cigarettes by the pack, it was done.
The result was part essay, part statistical analysis, and since the whole point of it was to be read, and by as many Canadians as possible, the next thing I would have to do would be to figure out how I could best do that. The most obvious answer was to write a blog, utilizing whatever tools were available on the blogging site I chose to use.
More time was spent reviewing the options available to me, and, once I had selected the platform and plan I would be going with, I would have to set up the new website and an email address to go with it.
I would spend all my time working on this blog if I could. A great deal is at stake for the people of Alberta, and I want to do whatever I possibly can to give those people a voice, and to stand up to what I believe is wrong. My schedule simply won’t allow for it though, as the winter semester begins, and I return to being a full-time student.
That being said, I am currently working on some new posts which I hope to have out in the very near future, and will also be featuring content written by a number of guest contributors. So please be patient. This is a work in progress, and you’ll be happy with the results.
In the meantime, please share “The Last Good Day” with as many people as you can, particularly in Central and Eastern Canada. Feel free to share it with Liberal politician of your choice, so that none of them will be able to say that they didn’t know things were as bad as they are.
The Advocate-Equalizer 