Dog With A Bone

05/05/2026

Thoughts on Alberta Legislative Committee to determine the outcome of Lukaszuk’s Forever Canada petition.

Letter to the Chair of Legislative Committee Determining the Outcome of the Lukaszuk Petition by Ron Voss | Apr 29, 2026 | Alberta Independence A letter was sent by email to MLA Brandon Lunty, Chair of the Legislature’s Select Special Committee tasked to determine how to proceed with respect to Th...

02/15/2026

Speaker and signing event.

01/27/2026

Cochrane signing event this Saturday, January 31st.

01/23/2026

Petition signing at 221 Railway St. E. in Cochrane, weekly on Saturdays from 1 - 4 PM, starting Saturday, January 24.

01/01/2026

The new Town Council shows disrespect for public engagement and refuses to address the town’s virtue-signalling land acknowledgment.

Does Our Town Council Support Land Acknowledgments? by Ron Voss | Dec 18, 2025 | Cochrane ABSTRACT A month ago, on November 18, 2025, the members of Cochrane’s new Town Council were contacted requesting that they take steps to have the land acknowledgement posted at the Town of Cochrane’s web si...

11/11/2025

History of Clause 2(4) in the Citizen Initiative Act

Clause 2(4) [“An initiative petition proposal must not contravene sections 1 to 35.1 of the Constitution Act, 1982”], in the Citizen Initiative Act, which is holding up the Alberta Prosperity Project’s (APP’s) question in the Court, was put in by Jason Kenney’s Minister of Justice Kaycee Madu in 2021, whereas, clause 8.11(3) placing a restriction, requiring adherence to Aboriginal rights, on referenda introduced through the Referendum Act was put in by Danielle Smith’s Minister of Justice Mickey Amery in 2025.

History of Clause 2(4) in the Citizen Initiative Act by Ron Voss | Nov 3, 2025 | Cochrane I was told and reported that the problematic clause 2(4) [“An initiative petition proposal must not contravene sections 1 to 35.1 of the Constitution Act, 1982”], in the Citizen Initiative Act, which is hol...

11/05/2025

Can a Nothing Burger Be a Something Burger

This blog post examines the possibility that what an Alberta judge had described as “A nothing burger…a waste of time” can actually be a ‘something burger’.
Also, the implications of clause 2(4) in Citizen Initiative Act, with respect to Alberta’s independence movement.

Can a Nothing Burger Be a Something Burger? by Ron Voss | Nov 2, 2025 | Education ABSTRACT Thomas Lukaszuk, seemingly reaching the signatures threshold for his “Forever Canadian” petition, which included the question “Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?”, has generated a lot o...

10/16/2025

Vote on Town’s Participation in P*P Program Buried by Local Media

The local media, the Cochrane Eagle and Cochrane Now, gave an interim report on the motion that came forward to Town Council on June 23rd to remove the town from the ICLEI/FCM's Partners for Climate Protection program. However, there was no such article to complete the story by reporting on the final outcome of the September 8th vote, with Mayor Genung and four councillors (Nagel, Flowers, Fedeyko and McFadden) voting in favour of the town remaining in the P*P program and two councillors (Wilson and Reed) voting in opposition.� �

While understandable for the Cochrane Eagle to do so, as it is the recipient of income ($70,890 in 2024) from the Town from publishing town information so it ‘doesn’t bite the hand that feeds it’, it was disappointing that Cochrane Now, as well, decided to keep Cochrane residents in the dark on this matter, as we approached the municipal election on October 20, 2025.

Vote on Town’s Participation in P*P Program Buried by Local Media by Ron Voss | Oct 16, 2025 | Cochrane ABSTRACT The local media, the Cochrane Eagle and Cochrane Now, gave an interim report on the motion that came forward to Town Council on June 23rd to remove the town from the ICLEI/FCM’s Partn...

10/02/2025

Recent post related to Cochrane’s membership in the Partners for Climate Protection program.

Information Gleaned from Access to Information Request Related to Cochrane’s Participation in the P*P Program by Ron Voss | Oct 1, 2025 | Cochrane ABSTRACT On July 2, 2025, a request was made under the Access to Information Act (ATIA) for records in the custody and control of the Town for the peri...

09/26/2025

Just One Question

Fifteen candidates who currently are not elected members of Cochrane’s Town Council, one running for mayor (Dean Hopkins) and the other 14 running as councillors, were sent an email asking just one question: “Do you support the Town of Cochrane remaining a member of the ICLEI/FCM Partners for Climate Protection Program?” The position of the current mayor and councillors on this matter was apparent from their vote at the Regular Council Meeting on September 8th.

The Partners for Climate Protection (P*P) Program, a program from ICLEI (the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives or Local Governments for Sustainability) and the FCM (the Federation of Canadian Municipalities), “consists of a five-step Milestone Framework that guides you as you take action against climate change by reducing emissions in your municipality. P*P receives funding from FCM's Green Municipal Fund and ICLEI Canada.”

The candidates were asked just this one question in the interest of knowing where they stand on this issue prior to the election on October 20, 2025, that is, whether they are committed to serving local or global priorities.

Disappointingly, apart from a reply from Dean Hopkins, running for mayor, only 7 (Scott Shannon, Carol Grant, Cole Sunderman, Todd Muir, Margaret Blair, Howard May, and Chris Konanz) of the 14 non-previously elected councillors, bothered to respond to my one question sent to most of them more than two weeks ago on September 10th. Regardless of which answer you prefer, and I have been transparent in wanting a No, one has to give credit to each of the candidates that answered for their willingness to engage. If one cannot experience transparency and engagement with them during this pre-election time, what can one expect of them once elected?

The table summarizes where the various candidates stand with respect to my one question.
Something to consider when it comes time to vote in the municipal election on October 20, 2025.