What a whirlwind of a month it has been for the Lakeland.
A month full of news. A month full of controversy. Of course, as much of the region is now well aware, the local PC party wrapped up its nomination process this past weekend, with current Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland besting Dixie Dahlstedt in what can only be described as a bitterly contested race.
And yet, with a PC candidate now firmly in place in the Bonnyville – Cold Lake constituency, much of the talk amongst Lakeland party members has focused on the way the local nominating process was handled, rather than discussing the merits of the man chosen to represent the PCs in the next provincial election. Quite frankly, that's a little embarrassing.
Cries of corruption, in-house scheming and a collection of other scandalous claims have ripped through the community like wildfire over the past several weeks, with many in the Lakeland operating under the assumption this particular process was at the very least unfair, and at the most….well…corrupt.
While it is difficult to sit back and believe those volunteering their time to help in this nomination process would blatantly stack the deck against one individual, as so many in the community have claimed, there is certainly a perception amongst locals that there has been some foul play along the way. And, at least in today's world, perception is everything.
After initially declaring there would be only one polling station in the entire constituency, the local nomination committee seemingly ignored pleas from the public to instill additional stations in Bonnyville and Glendon on top of the main poll in Cold Lake.
Eventually the provincial committee stepped in to announce an advanced poll for Bonnyville. Initially at least, the move seemed to appease the majority of the community.
Fast-forward to last Thursday's advanced poll, held at the French Cultural Centre on 50 Street, and you'd be hard pressed to find anybody pleased with the situation they found themselves in.
With the poll located at the smallest, least accessible community hall in town, locals were forced to line up outside for upwards of 30 minutes in depleting weather conditions simply so they could cast their vote.
Amongst those in attendance, the Nouvelle was refused entry to the facility at the beginning of the night, with volunteers even attempting to prevent any pictures being taken.
Moving forward again to Saturday's main poll in Cold Lake and the local nominating committee went one step further, not only barring the Nouvelle from the building, but demanding all media stay at least 50 metres away from the Seniors' Society hall for the duration of the poll.
Following some basic research, it appears the decision over whether or not to allow media at the polls rests solely with a returning officer. While that may be the case, there is no precedent in this community for totally banning media from having a presence at a nomination or an election. Take from that what you will.
There have been a lot of issues raised as a result of this recent process, most of them seemingly attributed to the old Bonnyville – Cold Lake divide. It is unfortunate though, that at least in the public eye, the local nominating committee has served to only intensify that divide rather than seek to bridge it.
With the nomination process now over, Copeland finds himself in an unfortunate position. Neither Mayor of Bonnyville Gene Sobolewski nor MD of Bonnyville Reeve Ed Rondeau have spoken favourably about Copeland since the results of the nomination rolled in, which could make things difficult should the Cold Lake mayor be successful in his bid to become the region's next MLA.
Much of the concern seems to stem from a belief that Copeland will not be able to fairly represent the entire constituency, having spent much of the past decade fighting for Cold Lake, sometimes opposite both the Town and MD.
Copeland though has an impressive track record when it comes to dealing with the provincial government. He has a deep knowledge on a number of key regional issues and more importantly, he claims to have several ideas on how best to tackle them.
It is impossible to judge an individual on a job they have yet to begin. Copeland at least deserves a chance to show he can represent the region just as well as he has represented the City of Cold Lake over the past 11 years.
