WHAT LEGACY?

MLA LeRoy Johnson has been named chairman of the Alberta Research Council
(ARC) and vice-chairman of the Alberta Science and Research Authority
(ASRA) after chairing the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC)
for almost five years. But what did he do?

Johnson said he's happy with the progress AADAC has made during his tenure,
such as program delivery and his tobacco reduction strategy. Whoopee. In
1989 the provincial government recognized Wetaskiwin was in need of an
actual treatment centre, but all City officials could do at the time was,
at best, dream of an AADAC office. But nothing came.

A decade later, with problems like crack and crystal meth entering the
community, finally someone started to take notice and say the city has a
high level of addictions. What we needed was a centre, but what we got was
an office.

Not to sound ungrateful, but one office, even with three additional staff
members can hardly deal with the caseload.

Government is well-known to reinvent the wheel in the name of job creation.
One would think that having our MLA as chair of AADAC might actually
accomplish something worthwhile for this community. It didn't.

We still have people with addictions freezing to death in tool sheds.
Instead, Johnson is moved on to another post and Wetaskiwin is further ignored.

Perhaps the best word to describe his tenure is non-existent. The audacity
to say he was "pleased" with his work with AADAC is absurd.

In case the MLA didn't notice, meth labs are on the rise even in the
carefree burg of Camrose, police are extended trying to fight this
insurgence of crime-related activities fueled by addictions. We have a
problem. A growing one.