Our View

It was a devastating experience and it is not over, but if we have learned anything from the flood ordeal it is incredible successes can be achieved when facing adversity.

Clearing gravel and debris along the Highwood River inside High River may help reduce the potential impact on the town the next time the river overflows its banks, but it’s not the ultimate solution residents have long been calling for.

The floods that covered the foothills on June 20 have left a trail of devastation across the region, forcing thousands from their homes, destroying roads and bridges and devastating the Town of High River.

There was a time at some schools where a gun wouldn’t raise an eyebrow. One Okotoks area parent, Heather Nimeck, said at her rural high school all the trucks had gun racks, and some had guns in those racks. Nobody thought a thing of it.

Last week representatives from local First Nations, RCMP and the provincial government looked over the damage at Okotoks’ iconic Big Rock and one could see the disappointment in their faces.

Word the Okotoks chapter of KidSport may be dissolved will have a profound impact on the charity locally. Last week Okotoks KidSport founder Nick Ruigrok announced he was stepping down as president and no one has stepped forward to take the reins.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper missed an opportunity to show Canadians not all politicians are cut from the same cloth, but instead he handled the Senate scandal as expected: deny, deny, deny.

Less than three years spent full-time in jail, eight months with day parole and weekends at home — it hardly seems like justice has been served considering the person in question is guilty of five counts of manslaughter.

Alberta’s sheriffs are on strike and it is grabbing a lot of headlines in Edmonton and Calgary, but its impact on Okotoks should not be overlooked.

The Calgary Regional Partnership is unravelling and the provincial government must fish or cut bait. Cutting bait may be the best step as it does not appear there is any hope of salvaging the initiative.