Alberta priorities are … interesting

 Posted by on 31 May 2009  Modern Life
May 312009
 

To the best that I can Google, Alberta does not have a list of “most-wanted” criminals. I’m sure that there are murderers on the run, fugitives from justice, unsolved kidnappings galore, but cops in Alberta apparently do their jobs and do their best to track them down without any special publicity.

But to great fanfare, the province has now launched (see it here) a gallery of the top 10 “most wanted” deadbeat parents. According to a CTV story, “Alberta’s justice minister, Alison Redford, calls these parents ‘the worst of the worst.’ ”

The ‘worst of the worst’? Really? These are parents who skipped out of paying child support. They didn’t kill anybody, they didn’t rob banks, they didn’t burn down shantytowns with hundreds trapped inside. They have refused to own up to their responsibilities as parents, which isn’t great … but the “worst of the worst” is a little over the top.

The story notes that, collectively, the 10 of them owe $1.6 million — or an average of $160,000 each. Looking at some of the mugshots, it’s tough to imagine that some of those characters feel like they have any chance of paying off such a debt.

I understand the desire to get parents to contribute to the raising of their children — financially, if they’re unwilling or unable to contribute in any other way — but it might be more effective if there was some carrot, as well as a stick.

Grant Hamilton

  • Colin Corneau

    You’re also talking about a province that allows parents to remove their kids from classes where they talk about sex or religion.

    Not INSTILL sexual or religious values…TALK ABOUT them. Hint to Albertans: It’s part of learning.

    So maybe missing larger issues is just something they do over there.

    • http://www.absurdintellectual.com/ Grant Hamilton

      Texas North, in my opinion. We should trade the US — they get Alberta and we’ll take Vermont and Massachusetts, or something.

  • Colin Corneau
  • Stumpy

    Agreed, I have often argued that high school should include a class called “Critical Thinking and Open Mindedness 101″ or something like that where controversial topics were discussed, instead of sheltering children from terrible concepts such as safe sex and evolution. Trading the states for AB would only have the disadvantage of losing juicy, tasty steak that has been allowed to happily roam the plains until they turn into dinner.

  • Colin Corneau

    Watch for backwater yahoos yelling about separation to pipe down, now that their province is looking for equalization funds from the big bad federal government again.

    Way to manage that boom, Albertans!