Calgary Flooding Essay
Four people dead, 75 thousand people evacuated, one million people affected1. Calgary hasn’t experienced anything this awful for over 100 years2. The June 2013 flood has greatly influenced the citizens of Calgary, High River, and Canmore. In these troubling times, we need to work together to repair the damage. In this particular situation, I believe collective rights are superior to individual rights for the following reasons. First of all, every individual is equal3 and we should therefore be helped as a whole, even if not everybody was directly affected by the flood. Also, nobody is to blame for the damage. It might be your community that gets destroyed by a natural disaster next week and you might not get equal help because it contradicts someone else’s individual rights. This was a collective flood and we were damaged as a whole so we should work together to fix it as a whole.
According to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, “Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination3.” Therefore, we should all be getting equal help from the government. This was not the case however, for the Stoney Nakoda First Nation. Approximately 300 First Nation residents had taken refuge at the Morley High School and were awaiting the government’s help. The people in Morley say that they were disappointed with the government’s lack of communication in regards to the flood, but are exceedingly grateful for the sympathy of strangers who have donated money, food, and living essentials to the families in need4. Everybody, First Nation or not, deserves the equal amount of assistance and benefits and the government should not be favoring anyone.
Nobody is to blame for the damage the flood has caused and nobody could have seen it coming or stopped it happening. Jennifer Nelson, mother of six, has just recently lost her husband, Robert, who flipped his ATV while selflessly
According to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, “Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination3.” Therefore, we should all be getting equal help from the government. This was not the case however, for the Stoney Nakoda First Nation. Approximately 300 First Nation residents had taken refuge at the Morley High School and were awaiting the government’s help. The people in Morley say that they were disappointed with the government’s lack of communication in regards to the flood, but are exceedingly grateful for the sympathy of strangers who have donated money, food, and living essentials to the families in need4. Everybody, First Nation or not, deserves the equal amount of assistance and benefits and the government should not be favoring anyone.
Nobody is to blame for the damage the flood has caused and nobody could have seen it coming or stopped it happening. Jennifer Nelson, mother of six, has just recently lost her husband, Robert, who flipped his ATV while selflessly
References: 1 (2013) Flooding in Canada: Thousands evacuated and bodies found in Calgary, Alberta. http://www.dw.de/flooding-in-canada-thousands-evacuated-and-bodies-found-in-calgary-alberta/a-16899452. 2 Osborn, Jerry. (2013). Osborn: It’s foolish to think worst flood is behind us. Calgary Herald. http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Osborn+foolish+think+worst +flood+behind/8622798/story.html#sthash.znuH3JY4.dpuf. 3 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Constitution Act of 1982. Government of Canada. http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-15.html. 4 White, Ryan. (2013) Flooding on the Stoney Nakoda First Nation. CTV News. http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/flooding-on-the-stoney-nakoda-first-nation-1.1340173. 5 Richards, Gwendolyn. (2013). Flood death devastates Okotoks widow, six kids. Calgary Herald, p.1. 6 Wood, James. (2013). Tory-Wildrose feud over High River firearms seizure gets personal. Calgary Herald, p.1.