Opinion

Last week, the province announced it would be changing the weight of provincial diploma exams from making up 50 per cent of a student’s grade to 30 per cent. Overall, the move is one that several people support.

To the Editor, Spring is sprung and the smell of election is in the air. The province’s dependence on resource revenue and fall of the price of oil has led to much discussion as to the state of Alberta’s finances.

On Sunday, 154 registered community members voted in favour of creating a Catholic school district in Lac La Biche County.

Alberta Health Services has announced it will return to a region-based system of governance this summer.

It was a blustery, thundery night on March 14. Not that we knew, because we were shut into a tiny office with windows the size of postage stamps. It had started as a reasonably normal Saturday. Rural reporters, as you may be aware, don't really get days off. I had just come back from doing a few interviews at the Music Festival. Luke had stopped by a 100th birthday party. And Alex was on his way back to the office from Rich Lake, photographing horse-and-wagon teams.

Covering the Peewee A provincials this weekend brought back some memories from my minor hockey days. I have distinct memories of each of my four trips to provincials (one in Alberta, three in Nova Scotia), and I'm sure the kids who participated in the weekend's Peewee A provincials made some of their own as well. None of my memories include winning a gold medal, but I learned a lot about the game—and life.

Dear Editor, Democracy in Alberta? A government system is not a true democracy when a government can make any law, regulation, do anything it wants to without regard to what its citizens believe, think or need. That again is the Alberta of today.

Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman struck a victory for inclusion last week, when MLAs passed Bill 10, which made it mandatory for school boards to accept a gay-straight alliance in any school where students requested one.

Last Monday afternoon, our little family grew by one. Well, actually it temporarily grew by three when my husband and my dad found three young puppies wandering on the road.