A Letter To The Ersd Minister

[jpinkster]

I live in Calgary-Klein where Kyle Fawcett​ is seeking reelection. Kyle most recently served as Minister for Environment and Sustainable Resource Development. This evening I wrote a letter to Kyle that I am happy to share with you. I apologize that my letter includes little scientific information, but I've always felt like a reelection campaign is a terrific time to share our opinions with those that would seek to represent us. I am very interested in also hearing your opinions and perspectives on the points I raise below!

Good evening Kyle,

I have been a PC supporter for a number of years, and I have been very active on the campaign for your colleague Rick Fraser in Calgary SE. Last year I moved to Calgary-Klein and have been familiarizing myself with the riding and the candidates.

I have studied the platforms of the candidates in Calgary-Klein and voting for you is an obvious choice. That being said, I did want to share some thoughts with you about Alberta's fisheries. I appreciate that you may not be the Minister for ERSD once the dust settles on this campaign, but I still would like you to hear my perspective on the matter.

Alberta's natural resources are one of our most precious commodities. When we say that we are generally talking about oil, but it is important to note that our fresh water and the fish that live in those waters also have real economic and environmental benefit to the province of Alberta. From oil and gas to fresh water to fisheries, we have a lot of room to improve.

Having grown up in southern Alberta I have seen the mismanagement of many of our fisheries. Walleye populations in some reservoirs have been decimated, and healthy pike populations have also taken a beating. The same can be seen in many of our world class trout fisheries where over harvesting and other pressures have put some of these resources in great jeopardy. It seems as though we are responding to a crisis that could have been averted had we taken a more proactive approach to the management of our fisheries.

Alberta has the capability of producing world class trophy fisheries for a number of species. I have always questioned why many of our fishing regulations focus on size minimums for harvest instead of slot sizes, a max # over a certain size or even a size maximum. We take some of the largest fish out of our fisheries and leave behind fish that are more plentiful and often have better quality meat.

I appreciate that a healthy balance needs to exist. More large fish in a fishery can often mean fewer total fish. For too long we have taken a "once size fits all" approach to fishing regulations in this province. I appreciate that fisheries do not have the budget or the resources to respond to each and every body of water in this province, but I worry about the long term health of our fisheries. Alberta experiences some of the most dramatic population growth rates in the entire country, and with this will come increased pressure on our local fisheries.

I do not really have a call to action for you in this email, I simply hope that my opinion resonates with you as you pursue reelection. I sincerely hope the government of Alberta continues to respond to the needs of Albertans and continues to find sustainable solutions to govern our precious resources.

All the best on your re-election campaign Kyle. Calgary-Klein has certainly benefited from your strong representation over the last number of years.

Thanks as always,

Jordan Pinkster

[ÜberFly]

Kyle's an idiot!! I know 1st hand as I've lived in NW Calgary (which is now Calgary Klien) for over 40 years. He has dropped the ball numerous times with his portfolio (i.e.,pretty much sold the Castle Region and West Bragg Creek to Spray Lake Sawmills and the wood is only good for fence posts and pallets ). I've asked him specific questions at events over the years and he is as dumb as a bag of hammers (of course this is just my opinion).

 

But I commend you on reaching out and making an effort. I'd be curious if you get a response and what that response is. Please let us know.

 

Peter

[jasonvilly]

You say in your letter that you have seen mismanagement in our fisheries while you have lived and grew up in Alberta. Fisheries which have been in the care of the the PC party for the last 30 years.

 

"IF" they were to be elected, they will not all of a sudden change over night and correct all the problems that outdoorsmen constantly bemoan.

 

I know there is more to it than fishing, but I can tell by your letter and reading your blog that you are pretty passionate about fishing.

 

So if you really want to see a change, then perhaps the "obvious" choice should be putting a new group in charge.

[jpinkster]

You say in your letter that you have seen mismanagement in our fisheries while you have lived and grew up in Alberta. Fisheries which have been in the care of the the PC party for the last 30 years. "IF" they were to be elected, they will not all of a sudden change over night and correct all the problems that outdoorsmen constantly bemoan. I know there is more to it than fishing, but I can tell by your letter and reading your blog that you are pretty passionate about fishing. So if you really want to see a change, then perhaps the "obvious" choice should be putting a new group in charge.

I really get where you are coming from, trust me. I've been on the inside for a number of years and I'm having a more difficult time every day supporting the Party that has dropped the ball on so many portfolios. I was a loyal PC through the Redford garbage and continued on through to this campaign. I have been forced to take a different approach this year since I can't find a party that fits my personal values. In theory we aren't voting for a party or a leader, we are voting for an MLA. I believe in strong local representation, and my vote will reflect who I think will best represent my community in the legislature.

 

As Albertans we really are cheated. The Party in power does little to inspire confidence, but we have yet to have an opposition that offers a reasonable alternative. Sadly we are in another one of those "better the Devil you know" type scenarios yet again.

 

Sadly for the PC party this is one young Albertan that will be walking away from party politics at the conclusion of this campaign. I will continue to be informed and educated on who I feel is best to reflect my views...but I'm realistic enough to know that I will likely be disappointed.

[ÜberFly]

In reality we are not voting for an MLA because they have to tow the party line as we have seen for more the 40 years!! Unfortunately, we DO NOT have the representative system that you dream of. I wish we did both provincially and federally, but we don't and never will unless someone else is voted in!! There is only one party that advocates for this and unfortunately the only have 1 seat federally and won't ever be voted in provincially (as a treehugger greeny hippy I would normally vote for them, but must be strategic this time).

[jpinkster]

And therein lies my frustration with the system. The reality of the dynamic is very disheartening.

 

While we are on the topic, I'll vent on something else:

 

I think the structuring of Cabinet is one of the big inefficiencies of our political system. Cabinet is generally picked to reflect diversity: diversity of region, diversity of sex, ethnic diversity, etc. The Premier will select his or her Cabinet based on these factors, and not based on level of expertise for a portfolio. Having a level of experience is by no means a job requirement.

 

This dynamic gives the bureaucracy a great deal of power. A Minister with no real experience in a portfolio will rely heavily on his/her Deputy Minister and Ministry for guidance. The Cabinet/Premier will ultimately set the direction, but it is still the Ministry making the policy suggestions. It is not the Minister that holds the balance of power, it is the Deputy Minister.

 

I have met Kyle a number of times. While he seems like a decent enough guy, I don't imagine he has any real experience that would be an asset over at ERSD. This kicks the influence back over to a bureaucracy that has gotten used to dealing with a single party for half a century. Maybe wholesale change is the answer. Maybe a dramatic shakeup at the political level with inspire a different way of thinking within the machinery of government.

[fishinglibin]

I love it. Fishing and politics, and all in friendly debate. Yahoo. Currently I am quite upset with the Party I have supported both fed and prov, and yet I am not excited by any of the other parties. Still doing loads of research. Always have to vote.

[Taco]

All I know for sure is that I'm gonna make for a pretty gawdamned conservative dipper but given the range of candidates in my riding and the amount of change needed I really have no other options

[bcubed]

Can always spoil your ballot...

[jasonvilly]

I really get where you are coming from, trust me. I've been on the inside for a number of years and I'm having a more difficult time every day supporting the Party that has dropped the ball on so many portfolios. I was a loyal PC through the Redford garbage and continued on through to this campaign. I have been forced to take a different approach this year since I can't find a party that fits my personal values. In theory we aren't voting for a party or a leader, we are voting for an MLA. I believe in strong local representation, and my vote will reflect who I think will best represent my community in the legislature.

 

As Albertans we really are cheated. The Party in power does little to inspire confidence, but we have yet to have an opposition that offers a reasonable alternative. Sadly we are in another one of those "better the Devil you know" type scenarios yet again.

 

Sadly for the PC party this is one young Albertan that will be walking away from party politics at the conclusion of this campaign. I will continue to be informed and educated on who I feel is best to reflect my views...but I'm realistic enough to know that I will likely be disappointed.

 

I agree with you that strong local representation is important...We always have the hope that the person we elect in our riding will be the squeaky wheel within our party, and that if they complain enough about their constituents problems that the party will listen and effect change.

 

Unfortunately, like Uber said, this is not the reality that we live in. The representative will always toe the party line.

 

So, hopefully a new party, with fresh Candidates, we will actually have someone who will listen to what the people of Alberta want.

[Taco]

Can always spoil your ballot...

nope ain't an option

[jpinkster]

I have been assisting Rick Fraser with his re-election bid in Calgary SE. Rick has been one of those MLAs you can really be proud of despite his party tag. He fought hard for more schools in the new communities, and he took on a really difficult position with the flood recovery in High River. Despite Rick's popularity and the work he has done we hear a very similar message out on the doors, "I like you Rick, I just hate your Party so much and I can't vote for you". I suspect many of these people simply won't vote, but if enough of them flocked to a single alternative....yesh there would be some incumbents in real trouble across the province.

[jimbow]

2 things we need in in this province and country - 1) representation by population, which we do not have in AB and 2) proportional representation (however, depending on how the representation worked, if we had this in AB it may eliminate the need for #1).

[Pipes]

Mismanagement is right and extends beyond the fisheries. The wildlife portion is even worse. SRD was terrible and now that it has been wedged into ESRD I am feeling no hope at all. I have poured a lot of time and much of my own personal money to help. After years of fighting it feels like SRD/ESRD wants to show their power and purposely go against better judgment. Probably not always the case, but its always hostile and negeative. It's fed by a government not willing to change. We almost had some light with Ted Morton, but that had issues as well. At least he acknowledged issues.

We are in a dog fight on the bighorn hunter harvesting changes. Government withholding rightful public information, making changes for the worse despite facts.

If people think we are exaggerating, one only has to drive into Montana to see the differences. Night and day.

[McLeod]

Wheither you like it or not this province is run by big oil ! ESRD does whatever they are told to do by the PC'S who are owned by the Oil companies.

The enviroment is not a priority and certainly comes second over Oil , gas and Timber. That's just the way it is... Somethings will never change..

[jpinkster]

Wheither you like it or not this province is run by big oil ! ESRD does whatever they are told to do by the PC'S who are owned by the Oil companies.

The enviroment is not a priority and certainly comes second over Oil , gas and Timber. That's just the way it is... Somethings will never change..

I want to disagree with this point because of the tone, but I really can't. Alberta needs to visit removing corporate political donations. The PCs are bankrolled by large corporate donations instead of money from regular Albertans. The Feds got rid of corporate donations and those parties still find a way to raise funds.

[alanpaul]

Bob Scammell – Alberta Outdoors In his “Message From the Minister” in the 2015 Albert Guide to Sportfishing Regulations, Environment-Sustainable Development Minister, Hon. Kyle Fawcett wrote “the recent closure of the commercial fishery in Alberta is also expected to open up better opportunities for recreational fishing.”

Many thoughtful Alberta anglers are putting their glee on hold, realizing it could just as easily have gone the other way. The commercial closure resulted from the report of one expert that Alberta’s commercial fishery was unsustainable, i.e. that there simply are not enough fish. The way things are going in Alberta, you have to wonder how long before Alberta’s recreational fishing is found to be unsustainable and summarily ended, outlawed.

The high point of angling in Alberta is generally considered to have been 1985 when there were 343,310 licensed anglers in Alberta. Then a steady decline set in to where, in 2010, there were 252,030 licensed Alberta anglers despite a more than a million population increase; a decline of anglers as a percentage of population from 14.3 to 6.4 per cent. When “Sport Fishing in Alberta, 2015” is published, expect a further steep decline in angler numbers, reflecting the sad fact that the Alberta fishing experience is sad and getting sadder fast.

Ralph Klein made much of being a fisherman, but his premiership from 1992 to 2006 choked off money and manpower from Alberta’s Fish and Wildlife Division and from fisheries management and habitat protection initiatives. Famously fishy Premier Redford finished off the century-old F &W Division completely in 2012.

We were shocked in 1994 when a zero limit on Bull trout was imposed in all of Alberta, and, in a classic, almost comic, example of too much, or too little, too late, a year later, in 1995, the seriously endangered Bull trout was officially designated Alberta’s fish emblem, the provincial fish.

In the two decades since, not one bull trout has been stocked in the province, nor any other practical measure taken to prevent the on-going extinction of our provincial fish. But the zero limit has become a symptom of a fishery in deep trouble and a cheap nostrum, a placebo, even, to appear to be concerned, while doing nothing effective and practical to cure the disease.

With this year’s zero limit imposed on Arctic Grayling, virtually all Alberta native fish, including pike in too many places, are subject to zero limits, or tag limits, like walleye. Exceptions are Alberta’s gazillions of native stunted perch and non-native, stunted, brook trout and, so far, reasonable populations of rocky mountain whitefish. At the same time, the few fisheries biologists we have left exhibit a prejudice against non-native species, such as the brown trout that have evolved and surmounted some of the real threats to our native fish.

Overfishing by anglers has not caused the crisis. The real cause is the cumulative effect of resource development run amok, aided and abetted by a negligent government, resulting in the destruction of fish habitats, particularly headwaters spawning streams. Alberta’s top trout stream, the North Raven River is threatened with gravel-mining its source springs. Next best, the Crowsnest River is threatened with strip mining for coal. The Muskeg River, formerly Alberta’s best Bull trout stream has been destroyed by blatant native poaching the gutless government would not prosecute. Now siltation from too many resource roads and too much water withdrawn for hydraulic fracking are finishing off the Muskeg and harming the Little Smoky, formerly Alberta’s finest grayling river.

The extent of destruction of headwaters spawning streams, particularly by clear cutters is terrifying. Alberta’s Forestry Service pushed Spray Lakes Sawmills of Cochrane to clear cut along Hidden Creek, the most important spawning stream for Oldman River drainage Bull trout.

Lorne Fitch was once of the elite crew of Alberta biologists; in the seventies he worked on the North Raven River restoration. Hidden Creek now needs restoration, judging from what Fitch has to say about it and some of his pictures of the mess: “The most telling is the aftermath of logging, with the fellow stirring up sediment from the substrate. That is in the middle of the area used by bull trout for spawning. I did redd counts on Hidden Creek last fall. The number of redds used to be about a hundred/year in Hidden Creek. I could only find 15 last fall, but the Forest Service contends they had Spray Lakes Sawmills follow all the guidelines for logging and the company did an excellent job. The pictures speak for themselves!”

Fitch writes well on how we are destroying our fisheries … and fish. Contact him at lafitch@shaw.ca and ask him, especially, for his essays “Two fish … One Fish … No Fish” and “In the Bedrooms of the Bull Trout.”

Meanwhile we have an election coming up. Can we sustain yet another premier seeking a mandate who claims to be an avid angler, yet seems to have no idea of the sorry state of Alberta’s fish and fishery?

[jpinkster]

I spoke with the Prentice when he was posturing for the leadership last year. I mentioned we had a shared addiction and that I looked forward to seeing what he could do on the fisheries file if he became Premier. I doubt he has uttered the word "fisheries" once since he became Premier.

[jpinkster]

I do have a shocking update on my email....

 

Kyle called me today..............................it was a robo call.

[jimbow]

I wouldn't be quite so specific about oil or forestry or any particular industry. It's money, regardless of its source, that dictates what happens in this city, prov, country and yes the world at large. Myriad examples bear this out. Until we adopt an electoral system that does not rely on a "first past the post" winner it won't change. proportional representation has a real possibility of changing that. everyone's vote counts....everyone's. Doubtful we'll see it anywhere in this country in my lifetime.

 

personally I'm more than disillusioned by an electoral system where only 40% of the eligible votes cast ballots and the "winner" get less than 50% of those votes.

[jpinkster]

Applies in Alberta as well:

 

[Pipes]

while some of this is PC party problem and partly funding issues, there is also the accountability of some government people who are doing half arsed or worse job. Bogus studies, lack of effort etc. Our government is riddled with people who don't do a good job. I'm not talking all of them, but there are people that could make a difference, only to let their own personal opinions or apathy get in the way of doing things right.

[jpinkster]

while some of this is PC party problem and partly funding issues, there is also the accountability of some government people who are doing half arsed or worse job. Bogus studies, lack of effort etc. Our government is riddled with people who don't do a good job. I'm not talking all of them, but there are people that could make a difference, only to let their own personal opinions or apathy get in the way of doing things right.

I can speak to this as someone inside the political machine. The line between the Party and the government has been blurred. Many high ranking folks within AB Gov are card carrying PC members and often serve on a number of Party boards. The role of the bureaucracy is to serve the government of the day...could be a big wake up call for quite a few AB gov people in the weeks to come.

[scel]

I am still a little perplexed on the rationale to call an election in the first place. I still have not received/read a good explanation. Given that both Edmonton and Calgary have voted for young, left-leaning mayors, calling an election after raising taxes, but without raising corporate taxes, seems like political seppuku.

[BigFoamy]

Wheither you like it or not this province is run by big oil ! ESRD does whatever they are told to do by the PC'S who are owned by the Oil companies.

The enviroment is not a priority and certainly comes second over Oil , gas and Timber. That's just the way it is... Somethings will never change..

Sad but true, there no one to vote for. Time for the people to take to the streets