coutts email

After many attempts to contact Minister David Coutts, it is clear he has no intention of responding to my 5 emails and 2 phone calls. These attempts to contact him occurred over a 3 week period. Below is the email string from myself to his office. Start at the bottom of the page and work up.

If you feel that this minister has failed in his duties and failed miserably to extend a common courtesy - please feel free to contact his office and say so.

October 6/05 After extensive efforts by myself to contact the Cabinet Minister David Coutts, I now realize that he is not capable of replying. He lacks the professionalism that should be a prerequisite of the job. He is the "poster boy" for all that is objectionable with politics. His photo should be in the dictionary under inept.

October 5/05 still no response. Note the email from Pam Young, Constituency Assistant on Oct 3/05. I returned her email the same day and then realized that this email was not intended to go to myself. It was meant for her boss, possibly Mr. Coutts.

October 3/05 and still no response. Where is this cabinet minister, on holidays? Certainly missing in action! I guess I'm not important enough of an Alberta citizen to warrant the time of day from this politician. No wonder politicians have the reputations they do and are not trusted by the public at large.

October 1/05 and still no response from this man. Four emails were sent to Coutts and he has ignored them all. I then followed up with 2 phone calls and left messages. The first call to his Lethbridge office and it was closed, on a Friday. The second call to his Edmonton office. Is this the Alberta Gov't in action - when the questions can't be answered they run and hide?

I should mention that Travis Ripley from the Calgary office of Fish and Wildlife called me yesterday at the request of someone in Edmonton. Could it be Coutts? I don't know as Travis didn't know. How's that for the wheels of Gov't turning SLOWLY. I guess once you are someone important like a Alberta Gov't cabinet minister you can ignore a specific request to contact an Alberta citizen and delegate down the "food chain" to have the phone call returned. The plan of action, by this Coutts, is to ignore me in the hopes I will go away. I WILL NOT GO QUIETLY INTO THE NIGHT!

Another noteworthy point to be made. All correspondence has also been sent to Premier Ralph Klein. His office hasn't bothered to contact me either. And Ralph calls himself a fly fisher!

Dear Pam Young,
Yes, I left a voice mail on Friday pleading for a return phone call. You say, "demanding" while I say "desperate". While I appreciate some kind of response from the Coutts office, it would be nice if it came from Coutts himself and the reply made some sense. What do you mean by this response? I left a voice mail Friday. I know that, remember I left the voice mail. Don't you have anything else to say? This email makes no sense at all. Much like the Alberta Gov't. Still waiting for the Coutts phone call.
Sincerely,
Tom Cutmore

At 04:19 PM 10/3/2005, you wrote:

Mr. Cutmore left a demanding voice mail on Friday as well.

Pam Young
Constituency Assistant

Mr. Coutts,
This is my 5th email to you requesting that you please take the time to contact me regarding the access issues on the Bow River. It is unacceptable for you to "trickle down" and delegate someone to do so. Especially when they don't know they are doing it and cannot tell me they are contacting me on your behalf.

I'm still waiting for your call. Not your deputy, or your secretary, but a phone call from you. I hope that a return phone call from you personally is not something that is beneath you. I must say that you are not looking too good when you can't take the time to respond especially as other cabinet ministers have done so by both email and letters.

I await your phone call.
Sincerely,
Tom Cutmore

Dear Mr. Coutts,
This is my 3rd email to you in the last 2 weeks. I would very much appreciate you taking the time to call me regarding my concerns. I trust that you are not ignoring me and this is not "business as usual" for this government but rather an over sight by someone in your office. I await your phone call. My number is 403 271-9108.
Sincerely,
Tom Cutmore

September 21/05

To: livingstone.macleod@assembly.ab.ca

Subject: Why haven't I heard from you?

Cc: calgary.mackay@assembly.ab.ca, lethbridge.west@assembly.ab.ca, fortmcmurray.woodbuffalo@assembly.ab.ca, donna.ballard@gov.ab.ca, calgary.buffalo@assembly.ab.ca, strathmore.brooks@assembly.ab.ca, innisfail.sylvanlake@assembly.ab.ca, premier@gov.ab.ca, calgary.elbow@assembly.ab.ca, barb.walline@gov.ab.ca, barrheadmorinvillewestlock@assembly.ab.ca, trevor.rhodes@gov.ab.ca, mayorweb@gov.calgary.ab.ca, Jim.Stomp@gov.ab.ca

Mr. Coutts,
It has now been a week since I wrote you. Do you plan on contacting me or are you going to ignore me?
Tom Cutmore

Dear Mr. Coutts,
You are aware that I have been trying to get some response from your Gov't. concerning Bow River access points.You have been Cc'd on every piece of correspondence from myself to the Gov't and from your Gov't to me. I have letters from Guy Boutilier, 3 letters from Gary Mar and Clint Dunford showing you were informed of the situation. I'm told that this disaster falls under your ministry. Trevor Rhodes tells me that your department is in charge.

MY QUESTIONS TO YOU SIR ARE THESE, WHY HAVEN'T I HEARD FROM YOU? WHY HAVEN'T YOU EMAILED ME, OR WRITTEN ME A LETTER? WHY DIDN'T YOU STEP UP AND CONTACT ME WHEN IT WAS PAINFULLY CLEAR THAT I WAS REACHING OUT TRYING TO FIND THE RIGHT PERSON TO TALK TO? WHY DID THE OTHER MINISTERS WRITE ME AND YOU, THE PERSON IN CHARGE, DIDN'T FIND THE TIME TO RESPOND?

There are 5 main access points on the river and the 2005 flood destroyed 40% of them. The access in Fish Creek Park is the only good one on the river. The destroyed access points are Jensen's and Policeman's. Carseland is useable but is the muddy mess it has always been. It quite frankly is an embarrassment. McKinnon's is barely functioning as an access. During high water boats were actually taken out in the parking lot as the water was that high. As the water receded it left behind the silt which became a mud pit. As things dried out the mud turned to a fine powder and floated every where with each step. Next we found a mud bar just off the bank and we had to drive into the river and onto the mud bar to launch or trailer a boat. Several people, including myself became stuck on this mud bar. The river receded further and the mud bar dried out. At this point a gravel bar started to appear just off the mud bar. Things really started to deteriorate as it was difficult to get over the gravel bar and out into the river. With the recent rains the river increased from about 110 cms to well over 500 cms. This means the mud bar was now under water and this mess has started all over again.

Trevor Rhodes tells me repair and or replacement of river access points is a funding issue. Isn't that a laugh! Your gov't just declared a 2.8 billion dollar surplus and are taking about a so-called prosperity bonus cheque to be written to Albertans. This is a strong indication of a provincial election in the near future and your gov't is trying to buy votes. Clearly this is not a funding issue but rather an issue of political will. You have no will to do anything about the Bow River or fishing in general.

If this gov't were actually serious when they talk about the "Alberta Advantage", you would give the fishing industry in this province the support it deserves. They take fishing seriously in Montana and have an infrastructure to support it. The Bow River is a better fishery than any stream in Montana and we have no infrastructure. What we have is a joke.

Mr. Coutts, I would appreciate some contact from you on this issue. Do you think you could find the time in your busy schedule to phone me? A phone call would be a much more efficient way to deal with this issue than a letter or email. Kind of like the Sikorsky helicopter removing damaged bridges in Fish Creek Park. I would very much appreciate your responding to my plea.
Sincerely,
Tom Cutmore

"Must Be Nice" Drift Company
155 Deer Lane Road SE Calgary AB Canada T2J 5S9
Phone/Voice Mail 403 271-9108
Email info@thebowriver.com
Web www.thebowriver.com