In a week or maybe a fortnight, Albertans will wake up as a solid part of Canada, maybe grumpy, but alive and free from referendum and rocket attacks.
I mailed all ten of my Referendum ballots last week. That was quite the government process of creating 800,000+ packets. Someone put a lot of thought into the tear off, sticky note pad pages. And in the end, it wasn’t too hard to complete. Was it worth the estimated $134 million (4x the cost of the 2023 Alberta provincial election) from Alberta taxpayers who complain about paying taxes?
I wondered about Albertans who may not have paid attention to the issues before they opened their packet, or understood the obtuse wording of the ten questions or carefully followed the written and illustrated directions. Already 3,000 submissions were rejected because people didn’t get it right.
And as of October 8th, there were still half a million mail-in ballots out there somewhere.
But Safe
But Albertans are relatively safe. No drones. No rockets. Nobody fixated on killing you and your children today. We can thank God for that, in spite of our southern giant-of-a-neighbour rolling over on us.
Since the last weeks of the summer season, jet-powered Russian attack drones have begun appearing in large quantities, slamming into Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. These jet drones have succeeded in transforming the air war, handing Moscow the initiative and sending Ukrainian defence tech developers scrambling for solutions.
The aerial drone contest is now entering a new phase with Russia holding the strategic edge.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged in late September that while Ukraine was able to intercept around 90 percent of propeller-driven Russian drones, the country was only managing to stop just over half of the new jet-powered models. Death comes en masse and at a faster speed now.
Death From The Sky
In August there were 2,850 Russian drone attacks nationwide. In September, 3,177 drone attacks. October is on pace to be even higher. There was a massive escalation October 5-8. Three years after Hamas invaded Israel, October 7th, the world awoke to multiple Ukrainian adults and children killed in mini-buses, an elementary school, apartments, and homes.
And now the US administration has struck a deal to purchase Russian diesel fuel which will shore up the war coffers of Putin. All the while, Russia supplies Iran with intelligence to help them attack US positions.
On Saturday morning, a bomb hit an apartment building in Zaporizhzhia. 20 people were confirmed killed, three of them children. “As a Christian, you cannot wish death on someone,” said one resident. “But I wish that he (Putin) could feel even the tiniest fraction of what our people and our children are feeling.”
And from another Ukrainian,
“It breaks my heart to realize that America, the country Ukraine looked to for support, could betray the Ukrainian people so cruelly and side with absolute evil. Words cannot express the depth of our disappointment in the U.S. leadership. This is not just a political decision. It is a knife in Ukraine’s back, a slap in the face to a nation that pays for its freedom with blood every single day.
Heartbreaking. Bitter. Devastating beyond words.”
Make It Make Sense
I am anguished by the death of innocents in Ukraine. And angry.
I feel weary of the divisive environment in Alberta.
And of Russian interference in the Referendum. Similar agents that interfered in US presidential elections in 2016 and 2025 are at work in Alberta. In her Substack posts, Letters From An American, Heather Cox Richardson lays out the way the Republican administration, the same one that Alberta’s premier is aligned with, has aligned with Russia.
Tired, weary, anguished but resolute that God wins and God is good, so good will win.
What can you do? Keep showing up to do good. Every. Day. Be kind. Be informed. Read widely.
As I wrote in an earlier post, I am not an optimist or pessimist; I am hopeful because hope means the story is not finished and we can work for good. We can pray. We can give. Some of us can go and be with.
All Albertans will soon take down the referendum signs and hopefully work to narrow the breadth of polarization.
And I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist the temptation to remind us that our government says they want to hear from Albertans. Jut like they heard from a majority of Albertans who didn’t want Daylight Savings time year round. Or overrule the policy decisions of Edmonton and Calgary, democratically-elected city councils
Hearing is not listening.
Good Wins
As Jesus said, “Love your neighbour.” And “love your enemy.”
Maybe in a week, we’ll begin to hear the early indications of the referendum outcomes. We’re going to be OK, Alberta.
Hopefully, we’ll hear about a turnaround in Ukraine.
Good wins.
What do you think? Please join the conversation and post a comment below.
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Good Morning Pastor Bob. I enjoyed the blog immensely. It’s true what you say. So, many folks whining & complaining about taxes…yet, this referendum is costing taxpayers 134 million dollars. I continue to shake my head. That folks are not researching for the facts…blindly listening to politicians.. who may not have the best intentions for their citizens. Gladly giving themselves raises….while they sabotage the hard-working citizens, in their own province. It is deeply concerning. The rich, continue to get richer…while the working class, continue to line the pockets of these greedy, selfish politicians. It is never enough, is it? Ego, power, & greed seems to become the most important issue for certain politicians…once they get into office. “Actions speak louder than words.” It’s not the “lip service” that is given…it’s what they do.
Have a great day! Enjoy your Thanksgiving Monday. Thank you for sharing this blog with us. ❤️
I expect a large majority of Albertans will vote No to the first nine questions and choose Option 1.
It’s what happens after the referendum.
There appears to be a deepening divide among Albertans created by the referendum that is not typical of elections.
I just voted today Tuesday.. We usually vote in the early voting and love that there is maybe 10 people ahead of us. But not today we waited from 9:30 tp 10:30 am.. it was worth it. I’m hoping thats a good sign that the turnout will be very very high. There is a lot at stake.. maybe even democracy itself. Trying to keep my focus,,, Gods in control. …they will know by our love for each other.. keep praying for our leaders.
Good going, Rod! The wait times yesterday in our community were 2+ hours. The process is absorbing a lot of time and emotional energy. I heard a leader from QC explain that post-Referendums are different than post-Elections. Much harder and longer lasting differences.Interesting.