Doug Griffiths, MLA for Battle River/Wainwright and a contender to be the next premier of Alberta, showed his support for rural development last week during the Central Alberta Rural Electrification Association (CAREA) annual general meeting.
CAREA is a member-owned co-operative, supplying electricity to rural residents in 11 counties in the province, stretching from the MD of Rocky View in the south, up to Barrhead County in the north. The association’s main office is located in Innisfail.
This past Wednesday, March 30, CAREA members enjoyed dinner at the Innisfail Legion and then looked over the association’s financial records, voted on new board directors and listened to achievements the association has made over the last year.
For his role in the annual general meeting, Griffiths brought greetings from the province and also gave a presentation on his book, 13 Ways to Kill Your Community.
According to Griffiths, residents can kill their community if they don’t have quality water, don’t attract businesses, ignore their youth, deceive themselves about their real needs or values, shop elsewhere, don’t paint, don’t co-operate, live in the past, ignore their seniors, reject everything new, ignore outsiders, become complacent and don’t take responsibility.
“You are the only people that can change your community,” he told the audience.
After his presentation, Griffiths congratulated the association on its hard work over the last year and its contributions to helping the rural areas in Alberta grow and prosper.
Griffith’s speech on 13 Ways to Kill Your Community can be found at www.douggriffiths.ca/speeches.php?id=26.
During the AGM the operational plan from 2010 was reviewed and the plan going forward for 2011 was presented. The association auditor also reviewed the financial statements from 2010.
The association elected their new board, there were four vacant positions with six candidates nominated. Five and 10 year long service awards were handed out to long serving staff members. There were around 180 members and guest in attendance for the evening.
For more information about CAREA, you can visit www.carea.ca.
