Life update and public-policy musings

Well, It has been quite some time since I have made a detailed post on LinkedIn but I thought I would pen a note giving friend and foe alike an update on my life and how I see the world these days. Having turned 54 in December, I am? regrettably? becoming aware that I have fewer good days in front of me than I do behind. Yet, I am grateful that there are a few innings left to play and I'm looking forward to playing them in the best way I can.

Deanna and I are celebrating our 11th year together. There was a time in my life when I didn’t know if a long-term relationship was in the cards for me but alas, and thankfully, Deanna? came into my life.? We’ve had many good times together, survived the challenging ones and love each other a great deal.? Last October, Deanna and I celebrated her birthday by taking a cruise to the Bahamas. We had an accessible room that gave us a great view of the ocean. There's something very special about being on the open waters.? It reminds you that long after you go, this world is going to keep on spinning? and that our time here on this planet is relatively short.

I am still very close with my parents Richard and Judy. They live five floors above me in Downtown West Calgary. We have taken a couple of baseball trips in the last 18 months. In 2023, we? went to watch the Cardinals of St. Louis in the playoffs. For the life of me, I can’t remember who they were playing, but we got to see Albert Pujols, the famed Cardinal slugger, play his final game and register his last hit. My sister Kristie, brother-in-law Bob and two of my three nephews Parker and Marshall also came along. It was great fun. A highlight of the trip was after the Cardinals lost, we had a day to ourselves to explore St. Louis. We ended up taking a riverboat voyage up the "mighty Mississippi". When going onto the boat, I asked the captain if he could play "Proud Mary" , as one does, by Ike and Tina. He obliged as I assume most riverboat captains in Missouri do. I did some spins in my chair when the song played, my sister joined me in the revelry and my nephews rolled their eyes. It was magical.

Last summer, Deanna, dad and I went on a road trip to Seattle to watch the Blue Jays of Toronto play the Mariners.? We stopped in Cranbrook to see my son Travis. Travis is 33 years old and is a carpenter in that fair city. I know this may be news to many of you that I have a son? and I won’t go into details as to how this came about (well, I know you know how it came about but I hope you catch my drift) but I have been to see him number of times and he is coming up to watch the Washington Capitals play the Flames in March. I am looking forward to our relationship broadening and deepening over the coming years.?

After spending the night in Cranbrook, we left the next day, continuing on our pilgrimage. However, that's when things got complicated. Our vehicle broke down. Now, this is a difficult situation for anyone but I submit it is even more so for people like myself who have disabilities. Thankfully, Deanna navigated the situation impeccably. First, she talked me out of leaving the van to travel into Ellensburg Washington by roadside. It was a dumb idea by yours truly, but then again, not my first. She called for a tow truck and explained that I would be unable to travel in the tow truck and that our accessible vehicle had some quirks to it. Luckily, a fine gentleman arrived and transported us into town.? In the interim, she managed to speak to the garage owner who stated that he would get to fixing our van in about 30 days as he was extremely backed up with business. She made a decision that we had come too far, that we had "crossed the Rubicon" and there was no turning back. She called a cab company in Seattle and asked them to pick us up. We arrived in Seattle that evening, not sure as to whether we would ever see the vehicle again.

Checking into the Seattle hotel, once again, the gods were not on our side. Although she had booked a wheelchair accessible room and had explained the situation to the proprietor of the hotel months ago why we needed the accessible room, the room was not accessible. However, being the trooper that she is, we made it work.

My nephews Parker & Marshall (I have another nephew Jackson but more about him later) and my mom, flew into Seattle the next day. We watched a three-game set and had a glorious time. Taylor Swift was also in Seattle (not with us, but as part of her Eras Tour) and it was awfully neat to see the "Swifty's" going to the concert after our baseball game. Deanna passed the torch to my mom on trying to figure out how I was going to get home from Seattle. Mom called my uncle Andy who lived in Victoria, asked him if I could get into his truck if we used a portable lift system and some muscle power. He thought it was possible. Well, when you're stuck in Seattle, possible is a great answer. He drove to Seattle and watched the third game of the set with us and after the match, they all huffed and they puffed and they got me into the truck. We put my wheelchair in the back of the truck and made our way to Victoria. Spent a couple of days visiting my aunt's and then hopped on a plane home. Ultimately, we did not say goodbye to the van as Deanna went back out to Ellensburg a month later, paid the $10,000 to have it fixed and got it back home.?

I’m truly thankful to both Deanna, Mom and my uncle Andy because without their help I’m certain my dad and I would still be in Ellensburg.?

Now to Jackson! My nephew was unable to come on all of these trips because he is somewhat of a hockey star. A couple of years back he was the number two pick overall in the Western Hockey League draft. With hockey now being a year-round sport for competitive players, it just isn't in the cards for him to take time away from his workouts and ice times. He is currently playing for the Tri-City Americans. In fact, most of Deanna and my Friday and Saturday nights are spent watching him play hockey. With this invention called the Internet, I'm able to watch most of his games. I give him a 25% chance to at least have a cup of coffee in the NHL. He is 6 foot 3, 195 pounds and he's only 16. He skates like the wind, sees the ice really well and is an excellent rushing defensemen. Then again, I might be a bit biased.

Over the course of the last number of years, I took on the role of VP of Growth & Strategic Partnerships for an organization called Fueling Brains. I joined them because I felt their system of learning focusing on brain development in children 0-6 was revolutionary. In fact I think they have "cracked the code" when it comes to spurring on brain development and maximizing human potential in this age group. I stepped away from the organization last year and am focusing my efforts on practicing law at Goodfellow & Schuettlaw. Goodfellow & Schuettlaw is a full-service law firm with a focus on construction and real estate. We can assist clients in a variety of fashions including employment law, wills and estates, contracts and general litigation. If you need assistance, please reach out.

For the last four years, I've also been on the Board of Directors of the Cerebral Palsy Alberta. Not only do we support children and families affected by cerebral palsy but we see ourselves as an organization working on bettering the lives of all persons with disabilities. I have also become involved with the "Disability Action Hall," and as of late, the "Alliance for the Common Good."

I still have a keen interest in politics as I truly want to see the city, province and country find success. In order for these three entities to have success, our political class needs to implement public policy that sets us up for the long term. This is awfully difficult as election cycles are short and many times the long-term is thrown out the window in pursuit of winning elections. I will give some brief commentary about federal, provincial and civic politics. I will preface these with the proviso that I am often wrong but never without an opinion!

The federal Liberals are in their ninth year of governing. For any government, it becomes harder to win elections the longer you have been in power. Roughly speaking, over the last 45 years, governments tend to? last about 10 years.? In my view, the national government has been a consequential one (depending on your viewpoint, this can be either positive or negative). They have had many accomplishments but, as always the electorate asks, “What have you done for me lately?”

With respect to the accomplishments, I point to the Canada Child Benefit, carbon pricing, dental care for individuals and families that need support and the National Agreement on Childcare ($10 a day daycare) to name a few.?

With respect to the National Agreement on Childcare, I believe that this is the best public policy initiative moved forward by a government in the last 50 years. What research has shown is getting kids into high quality daycare allows them to grow and develop in a variety of different ways. Simply put, kids learn better from other kids, and with high quality educators guiding and directing their learning/play, human potential will be expanded.

Furthermore, having readily accessible and affordable daycare allows for more women and men to work: knowing that their kids are being looked after in a safe and caring environment. In fact, having more women and men being able to participate in the workforce allows governments to pay for this program entirely from additional tax receipts received from this higher workforce participation.

Admittedly, there are some challenges facing the federal Liberal government with respect to public policy. The first is housing. This is a very difficult file as it contains aspects of all three levels of government needing to work together to get things done. The government is behind the curve on this file but it appears that their focus has been sharpened as of late with many public policy announcements on how to make more housing stock available.?

Canadians will have to see things improve on this front prior to the next election.

As well, working against the government at this time is the fact that interest rates are at a higher level than they were a short time ago. Coupled with the inflation that has taken place over the last four years means that many Canadians have less money in their pocket. With approximately 20% of Canadians with mortgages refinancing this year, they will invariably be refinancing at higher rates. That means even less money in their pocket. The knee-jerk reaction is to "blame the government.”

One thing that has been concerning me is the increasing level of government debt. Now, this is not only a Canadian phenomenon but one that is shared by governments around the world. Debts and deficits don't matter until they do. We are now approaching the point where some prudence may be in order and a focus put on fiscal anchors. Although we are nowhere near the difficult position that the United States finds itself in with having to borrow money to simply pay the interest rates on their debt, we need to be cognizant of how a higher interest rate environment affects our debt levels.

If polling is to be believed, it appears that the federal Conservatives are on the march. Make no mistake about it, Pierre Pollievre, if successful in the next election, would be Canada's most right leaning Prime Minister ever. Although he is very good at pointing out the flaws in the current government's approach to things, I find his policy prescriptions for putting Canada on better footing relatively benign. In fact, I really don't see a lot on the policy front that is currently being offered that truly points us in a more sound direction for the long run.?

Then again, as John Maynard Keynes once said, “In the long run, we’re all dead.”

On a personal note, when I was Minister of Veterans’ Affairs I did travel with Pierre to the 100th anniversary of Vimy Ridge. I had breakfast with him every day on that trip and I found him to be an extremely intelligent and engaging person. We just differed on policy prescriptions that would make our nation better. That said, he was able to separate "people from their politics'' which is a skill far too many people do not possess. It is my greatest hope that we don't see those who think differently from ourselves as enemies.

While many are counting the federal Liberals as being DOA in the next election, I think the outcome of this is far from clear. Campaigns matter and things can happen that can swing the electorate in one way or another. I suspect that the federal Liberals will put forward a plan to try and capture the imagination of Canadians once again. Canadians will also take a closer look at what the federal Conservatives are offering. They will need to present policy options rather than simply being critical of the current government if they want to be successful. All things being equal, I think the next election will be a coin toss.

I followed with great interest the provincial election and was hopeful for Rachel Notley to be elected premier. This was not in the cards. Although the election was close, as the saying goes, close only counts in "horseshoes and hand grenades.” The election basically boiled down to a question on leadership with many being concerned about Danielle Smith's ability to lead. With Rachel stepping down as leader of the NDP, I will watch with great interest as to how that leadership contest unfolds with the hope that there are some serious conversations about what the NDP will stand for moving forward. In my view, the new leader should take up their traditional but forgotten commitment to public schools (cutting funding to private schools, bringing charter schools into the public system, etc.), make childcare part of the education system (think of schooling taking place from 6 months of age through grade 12), look at things like public auto insurance and ways for us as a province to stop spending all of the oil wealth in one generation and still get elected. On that note, I see the province may be in a difficult position balancing this year’s budget even with oil prices at around $75 a barrel.

As for the UCP government, I disagree with much, if not most of their public policy prescriptions.? Taking Alberta from the Canada Pension Plan is silly on a number of fronts. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that being part of the CPP is a net benefit to Albertans. It allows for a pooling of larger sums of money and this allows you to take a more diversified risk profile with investments. It is also less expensive as setting up your own pension plan would entail hiring a body of civil servants who are already doing the job for the CPP.

The UCP fiscal plan appears to be the tried-and-true Alberta way of spending all of the oil wealth as soon as it comes out of the ground. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, Alberta is the lowest taxed province by a country mile. We paper over this with revenues from oil and gas. This is a ponzi scheme that will eventually force Alberta to make some hard choices. If not now, when? My sense is that it won’t be anytime soon.

More recently, Wednesday’s announcement that Alberta is to restrict access to transgender medical care for youth, require parents consent for name change and giving parents more power to pull their children from school when teachers are discussing topics around sex are, in my view, backward thinking. With respect to the restriction on access to this basic medical care, this appears to be an outright attack on trans individuals and their very right to exist in our society. This public policy appears to be based on ideology, not on science nor with a respect for human rights.

Finally, with respect to City Hall, I have mixed reviews. I think they did good work on the housing file, initiating changes that could lead to allowing for more diversity of housing in communities. The proof in the pudding will be in the eating, when it comes to council finalizing these new arrangements in the spring. It is my hope that they don't become "nervous nellies" and follow through on allowing more diversity in housing in neighborhoods and limiting urban sprawl. To that end, I think their recent changes to developer levies on building on the outskirts of town and taking an approach of "growth paying for growth" instead of relying on citizens in existing neighborhoods to subsidize this development has been a step in the right direction.

With respect to the new arena, I think council got hosed. Somehow, they signed a deal that will see Calgarian's pay $537 million towards its construction. Simply put, this was a bad deal for the city. It has resulted in roughly a 2.5% property tax increase for an arena that very few citizens will ever step foot in. Study after study has shown that the economic benefits of taxpayers paying for arenas are specious at best. The deal they ended up with was far worse than the ones previously discussed by earlier councils. When the dust settled on this file, I was shocked that the vast majority of council voted for this deal despite many of them campaigning against it during the election in 2021.

In any event, those are my musings to date. I will finish where I started, all things being equal I am a very lucky man. I live in a fabulous city, dynamic province and forward thinking country. I have a great partner in Deanna, parents who I am very close with and grateful that my sister had three kids who all pick up my phone calls when I ring. I hope that everyone is doing well and that they too are excited by the future.

Great things can happen if you get involved in your community and treat people with kindness. That is what I will try to do moving forward.

Take care,

Kent