All too often media-grabbing headlines about large-scale conferences and government inquiries don't get a lot of local reaction, but the results of three separate events over the next few days across the province and across the nation, could have trickle-down effects — for good and bad — on residents across the Lakeland.
The meetings — a crime and policing conference in Edmonton, a global oil and gas conference in Calgary, and another federal-level round of talks in Ottawa about high-priced groceries — are unconnected in scope, but form connections in the fabric that holds local communities together.
In each of the three events, the focus is on change. Each conference is looking for ways to make fundamental shifts — or at least to find a public-facing balance — between what is happening, and what should be happening.
In each case, the topics are not singular issues, they link to so many other factors seen in local neighbourhoods and around the world. The three topics also have links to each other. The exponential rise in the cost of a can of soup at the local Sobeys is linked to the inequality of migrant worker pay-scales, reduced populations in urban areas, and the rising price of fuel. The vandalism at a local car dealership is linked to addictions, mental health, homelessness and funding reductions in healthcare or policing. Debates over wind-turbines, global warming, monopolized energy control and land rights are all part of the oil and gas discussions.
And while these wide-reaching discussions will be in the spotlight for a few days, and will see participation from world-wide experts, offering board-room level advice, local residents of communities like those across the Lakeland region must not be forgotten. These are the people who live these challenges every day, some making tough choices not about food and shelter, but food or shelter long after the convention rooms are emptied and the politicians stop performing for the cameras,
Food bank usage across the Lakeland is on the rise as grocery store prices continue to inflate. Crime is out of hand and criminals seem to have more rights than victims. Oil companies help pay for local amenities and roads, but is there an environmental cost down that road?
Community members, those who work in local businesses, raise families, enjoy amenities of rural life, and sometimes struggle to find a balance to that life, are the ones closest to the issues.
As these three specific events take place over the coming days, it's not up to local residents to watch or listen to them. It's not even important to know what is being said, or who is saying it; most people living in rural communities are acutely aware of the issues already. People don't want to hear about what happened, or what is happening — they already know what's happening ... it's getting worse.
They need to know what happens next.
R.M.
