As a rural Alberta community plagued with crime, I thought for sure we would have made the cut for the Minister of Justice Doug Schweitzer’s provincial tour.
Meagan MacEachern The MacEachern Mindset
Guess I was wrong.
When I heard the news that he was making the rounds to rural Alberta communities to discuss crime, I was positive Bonnyville or Cold Lake would have made the list.
So you can imagine my surprise when I didn’t see any Lakeland communities.
I was most shocked by the minister’s decision not to come to Cold Lake. It was ranked 21 in Maclean’s Magazine list of “Canada’s Most Dangerous Places,” in 2017, and jumped to sixth place the following year.
We all know that crime is an issue in our area, there’s no denying that. In fact, Alberta as a whole is struggling to combat the issue.
I’m not questioning the minister’s decision to tour the province, what I’m left wondering is why, of all places, he decided not to include us?
Maybe Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland is right and he is planning a second tour later in the year, but my gut instinct is telling me no.
Maybe the minister will prove me wrong and make our region the first stop of round two?
I hope that’s the case, because as someone who writes about crime in our community, I know first-hand just how badly our residents want to share their stories, after all, they have so many to choose from.
