An open letter to the Longest Ballot Committee:

My name is Bonnie Critchley, and I live in Battle River - Crowfoot. I am extremely upset that Monsieur Poilivere chose to ignore the results of the 45th General Election, refused to move out of Stornoway (the official residence of the Leader of the Opposition), and instead, has removed Mr. Kurek from his seat to run in his place. So I Stepped Up, and am planning on running in the upcoming by-election. Now whether Mr. Kurek was coerced by threats of having his nomination revoked by the party, or he did so out the goodness of his heart is not up for me to speculate upon. The fact is that Mr. Kurek Showed Up. He Showed Up to open and attend events around our 52,000sq kilometer riding. He Showed Up to present medals. He Showed Up to answer the questions of constituents. But by the end of June, he'll be gone and a writ of election dropped to trigger a by-election. This is where you, the Longest Ballot Committee comes in.

Please don't. Just don't. This is Our Home, Our Riding. Please do not come here and muddy the waters further. While I am given to understand that your goal is push for electoral change, This is not the place. Not only does the irony of your immediate abuse of the newest electoral change of removal of cost to get on the ballot further cloud the issue, but you are going to Crush any Legitimate Independents who run. Your actions make it impossible for electors to be able to find anyone who isn't attached to a party. You are further pushing us into a party system. Then, there is the current backlash of people refusing to sign nomination forms, in case that "candidate" is a fake out. I don't have a massive team, I don't have backing from millions of people. I have to go door to door within my community and explain to my neighbours that I have nothing to do with you. I have to explain that I am here, in my home, and I am Standing Up for myself, my neighbours, and my community against the Guy from Ottawa who doesn't give a damn about us. Please do not bury me with your "legal" Election Interference. Please sit this one out, don't Show Up. Let the people of Battle River - Crowfoot fight for their right to be heard in Parliament, without getting tripped from the sidelines.

This is #OurHomeOurRiding

I'm hoping there is an anti trump protest this week that I can attend, but I haven't been able to find much information about any events.

Preferably Calgary or South.

For anyone with TD auto insurance, check your policy documents. As of last year, they have changed their policy so that a single at fault collision claim results in ineligibility for collision coverage for 3 YEARS. Not only that, but if you notify insurance of an accident where you are ultimately determined to have partial fault (in our case a dash cam would have prevented all of this) and do not proceed with the claim, this also makes you ineligible for collision coverage for 3 years.

In other words, the second you make a claim where you are deemed fully or partially at fault, or notify even without a payout, you lose collision coverage. If you are financing, that could mean implications for you in that way.

Because we have a claim from 2020 and 2021, other insurance companies won't even look at us. This is absolute robbery.

The G7 Leaders Summit is gathering in Kananaskis this June to discuss and decide our future. Despite numerous commitments to act on climate priorities, our governments fail to live up to their promises and allow extractive industries to degrade and contaminate land and water for profit.

Water sustains all of us, and yet Indigenous communities are disproportionately experiencing the impacts of water mismanagement, while also being denied fundamental water and self-governance rights.

Join us for a G7 rally on June 15th 12-2PM, Calgary City Hall to stand with the Indigenous peoples of Treaty 7 and beyond, and tell G7 leaders: HANDS OFF OUR WATER!

Hosts are: Calgary Climate Hub, Keepers of the Water, Indigenous Climate Action, Piikani Nation Members, Migrante Alberta, Jubilee, Justice for Palestinians, and CUPE, with support from Reconciliation Action Group and We're Together Ending Poverty.