As we head into 2016 let’s try to remain optimistic.
It is not our former prime minister’s fault, nor is it Justin Trudeau’s fault that we find ourselves on the brink of another crisis.
If anyone is truly to blame, let it be the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) who feels your ire for over-saturating the market with their own crude product.
But finger pointing is not going to get us out of this mess.
Regardless of which side of the political fence you sit on personally, whether you’re a Conservative or a Liberal or a New Democrat or even a Green, playing the blame-game does not fix the problem, and it certainly won’t offer us any clear solutions either.
We have to have faith in the system and trust that those we elected are competent in their roles within the three layers of our government.
The NDP government in Alberta is being vilified for pushing forward on party agenda items, such as Bill 6, and it has certainly caused an uproar amongst rural Albertans, but the reality is that passing such legislation really only brings the province up-to-date with the rest of the country.
Saskatchewan’s Employment Act implemented in 2014, as well as the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Acts of Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador provide protection for all employees, not just ranch and farm workers.
Despite the fact that there was very little consultation on the subject, at this stage in the legislative game the point is moot.
It’s law now so let’s move past the issue and focus our attention on more immediate concerns like the faltering economy or paying our bills on time.
The Canadian dollar is below 72 cents on the American dollar and the oil patch is in distress.
At the very least, Alberta knows what the word drought means.
Whether we call it a physical or a financial one, this drought will pass too.
Think of the experience like a diet, or one of your own New Years resolutions – not negatively, but in a positive light instead.
Maybe it is time to remind ourselves that the frills in life are just that, frills, and they, or the absence thereof, do not mean life or death and ostracization for us.
Greed and gluttony are two of the seven deadly sins after all.
In the 80’s, during the elder Trudeau’s tenure, we faced something of a recession and while it took time to crawl out of the morass, we endured.
In 2008, under Stephen Harper’s watch, we felt the pressures of an even bigger global recession and again, we endured.
Although it is probably going to hurt the bank, we will all get through this recession too, whether we live in Barrhead or anywhere else in our country. We just have to be optimistic.
