Wednesday 28 December 2011

A New Calgary, a New Alberta, and a New PC Party

Premier Redford has said "We are now going through a generational change in politics and business.We have to embrace the world in a way that we've never done."

A recent Bloomberg article noted that Calgary has the fastest growing immigrant population of any Canadian city, and will be quickly adding more as companies struggle to fill 100,000 oil industry jobs over the next eight years.

This news is not likely to surprise anyone in Calgary Currie. At St. Michael School, we have significant populations of students from Columbia, Venezuela, Sudan and the Phillipines, as well as smaller numbers of children from many, many other countries. Everyday I see families making the decision to call this city, and specifically Calgary Currie, home, in no small part because of the economic opportunities that Calgary offers in oil and gas, finance, and agriculture.

But there is another opportunity I see reflected in their faces - an opportunity to become involved in the political process of our city and province. The elections of Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi and Premier Alison Redford as leader of the PC Party points not only to the increasing multicultural nature of Calgary and Alberta, but more to the point, the gains the Progressive Conservatives have made in welcoming all Albertans.

To me, this is the moment that makes this year's election so exciting; the opportunity to be a part of a new generation reflective of our multicultural reality.


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