Re. Dec. 12 letter about “real Albertans” from Pat Holliday of Tees:
It think it’s a shame that the forward thinking that is printed daily in the Advocate doesn’t rub off on more people. In Murray Fuhrer’s Extreme Esteem column, the heading was, “Acceptance first step on road to change,” followed by a quote from Gloria Naylor, African-American novelist and educator, “Life is accepting what is and working from that.”
Other articles show us that weather and monetary changes contribute to problems worldwide. Even here in Alberta the hail that damaged farmers’ crops, homes in Sunnybrook and windshields raised our insurance premiums.
Many Canadians, including Albertans, live from pay cheque to pay cheque, through no fault of their own but life’s circumstances; they are only one pay cheque away from being homeless from illness or job loss.
People from Eastern Canada and other countries come here because they hear about our “rich province,” and some because they are promised jobs, which in many cases are seasonal, temporary or just fall through for numerous reasons.
As for being a “true Albertan,” as far as I know, only the aboriginal people are “true Albertans.”
We can’t even be sure of that because many people were nomadic. They could have travelled here from the United States or over an ice bridge from Asia or the Arctic.
Life today is global and I’d like to see more Albertans, real or not, work together for a better world for all of us and our descendents.
Alice Ferguson
Innisfail