The House elected a speaker before I could deliver the throne speech. When I receive a copy of the throne speech I will post it here.
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| The Speaker is wearing a cool hat. May 30, 2015 |
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| The debates begin. May 30, 2015. |
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On
behalf of the Town of Kindersley, its Council and Administration, and our
residents, I want to welcome the 2015 Saskatchewan Youth Parliament May Mini
Session to Kindersley.
·
It
is encouraging to see youth from around our province participating and becoming
educated about government and the fundamentals of the democratic process.
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Strong
governance is the core of strong communities, province and countries
·
The
Saskatchewan Youth Parliament’s mission of being non-partisan and not-for
profit are very much in alignment with municipal government
·
Municipal
governments, with a couple of exceptions, are non-partisan.
·
Our
Council works collaboratively supporting one another even in times of
disagreement.
·
The
mark of a good Council, and a good government, is how it works even in times of
disagreement
·
Like
the Saskatchewan Youth Parliament, municipal governments are not in the profit
sector, we are constrained by legislation to only recover costs for many goods
and services
·
The
question that Councils and legislatures discuss is simple: How do we provide a
good life for our citizens?
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That
is why governments exist: to facilitate answers to this question.
·
To
have a vision of what the answer (or the journey) is, is the responsibility of
every level of government
·
It
seems good to me to suggest that in answering the question there are four
fundamental attributes a vision of the good life must address:
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Beauty,
Justice, Fulfillment, and Relationships
·
Developing
policy to implement the vision involves the teamwork between the politicians
and the bureaucracy
·
Beauty’s
reach is significant.
·
Beauty
isn’t just about how a space, natural or built, inspires us, but also is it
clean and healthy?
·
Beauty
is about the infrastructure we need to drink water, dispose of our waste, healthcare
and more
·
Policies
surrounding beauty are needed to be inspire us and keep us healthy
·
Justice
is complicated and comprehensive with many questions: Is it fair? What do I
deserve? What power do I have? What power do others have over me? And more.
·
Justice
also includes a host of relational issues from economic distribution to murder.
·
Addressing
the question of justice is most challenging and the most notable attribute of
working together for justice is the “how” of how we work together
·
The
third issue we address is the challenge of fulfillment: how do we facilitate
fulfillment for the residents of our community and province?
·
Fulfillment
is achieved in a variety of ways; there is no one answer to this
·
Your
participation in this Parliament is an example of your own fulfillment as well
as working for others.
·
At
the municipal level it varies through arts and culture to sports and recreation
to economic to spiritual to leisure to spectating
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Finally,
the fourth issue is relationships, are we an inclusive or exclusive community
or society?
·
This
issue tends to change from generation to generation but politics is about
relationships
·
Relationships
between groups, individuals, communities, and space including environmental
relationships between habitat for nature to humanity to industry
·
And
we achieve these four attributes through the use of three tools: budget, laws,
and public policy
·
We
have to remember as well that politics is irrational
·
I
want to thank you for coming to Kindersley; we are proud to have your here
·
Be
encouraged as you fulfill your calling to sort out these questions over the
weekend
·
May
your weekend be a success as you work together to make Saskatchewan more
beautiful, more just, more fulfilling and more relational.
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