Oko-Talks | 5 Questions, 5 Minutes

What does healthy community conversation actually look like  and why has Okotoks been missing it? 

This episode of the Okotoks Podcast marks both a milestone and a new beginning: the podcast's one-year anniversary and the debut of "Oko-Talks," a brand new panel segment that Carlin Lutzer has been wanting to create for a long time. 

Joining Carlin are two familiar voices in the Okotoks community: Joelle Reimer, dedicated Okotokian, billet mom for the Okotoks Oilers, and former voice on The Eagle, and Curtis Armstrong, publisher of the Western Wheel. 

Together, the three tackle five hot-button local topics in five-minute rounds: deer in town, rapid infrastructure growth, vehicle noise, public spaces for civic petitions, and what makes summer life in Okotoks so worth celebrating. 

This is community conversation at its most authentic — real, warm, and proudly local.

Listen for:

07:38 What should Okotoks actually do about the deer living in our community?

13:00 Is Okotoks keeping up with infrastructure as the town grows so rapidly?

18:28 How is vehicle noise affecting quality of life in Okotoks neighbourhoods?

24:34 Should public spaces in Okotoks be used for recall votes and separation petitions?

32:47 What are Joelle and Curtis most excited about for summer in Okotoks?

Connect with Guests: 

Joelle Reimer | Okotoks Community Member | Billet for the Okotoks Oilers | Former On-Air Personality at The Eagle

Email | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok 

Curtis Armstrong | Publisher | Western Wheel
Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Email

Connect with Carlin

Email | Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

Sheep River Dog Rescue formally know as Moe Dog Rescue.  Passionate about giving Dogs another chance.

Special thanks to Okotoks Nissan for arranging this podcast with Kelly Hrudey.

Transcript

Announcer (00:01):

Welcome to the Okotoks podcast where the stories are real. The laughs are accidental and Carlin Lutzer Real Estate makes it all possible.

Carlin Lutzer (00:22):

Today's episode is a little bit of a different one and honestly something I've been wanting to do for a very long time. You're going to hear from two familiar voices in our community. Joelle Reimer, a dedicated community member of Okotoks, a billet mom for the Okotoks Oilers, and someone many of you will recognize from her time on The Eagle. Curtis Armstrong, publisher of the Western Wheel, right in the middle of the story shaping this town every single week. Together we're diving into five different topics. We're taking five minutes each to discuss each topic. Real conversations about what's happening in Okotoks right now. The goal here isn't to agree on everything, it's to bring back something we've lost a little bit of, healthy, respectful conversation. And this is just the beginning. This will become a regular segment on the Okotoks podcast. We'd love to hear from you as well.

(01:16):

Please submit your topics on the Okotoks Facebook page or reach out to me directly by email or even give me a call. Let's get into it. Well, Joelle and Curtis, thank you for joining me today.

Joelle Reimer (01:30):

Well, thanks for inviting us. It's going to be fun. It's fun to get spicy conversations going.

Curtis Armstrong (01:35):

It is fun.

Carlin Lutzer (01:36):

Yes, it is. And the reason why I invited both of you is because you both are very easy to visit with. I think we've had probably similar amount of encounters with both of you and yeah, it feels like you could end up ... I could end up visiting with you guys for hours, but sometimes you just got to cut it short. So it's awesome. So it's great to have you guys here today. And this is the anniversary episode. This is the episode that we're going to air and we've reached one year of podcasting, which is pretty exciting.

Joelle Reimer (02:12):

Congratulations. That's a huge accomplishment. There's a lot of work, so good for you. And I think it's really important that Okotoks has something like this, so good on you.

Carlin Lutzer (02:19):

Thank you. It's been a blast. And also, I've been thinking of doing some kind of panels such as this for quite some time, because I do think that it's nice to hear other voices, other opinions. And as we were talking before we hit record, just the importance of healthy discourse. We've lost the ability to have conversations with people that we don't agree with. And also, we've lost the ability of trying to learn something from somebody that we don't agree with as well. I, a few years back, really had to come to that realization that people that don't agree with me on everything actually have some pretty valid opinions. And we've allowed society to separate us way too much. And it's something that I would like to see us bridge the gap, especially even here in Okotoks with some of the issues that are dividing us when really they don't need to be dividing us.

(03:22):

Right?

Curtis Armstrong (03:24):

Agreed. Absolutely.

Carlin Lutzer (03:25):

Yeah. So here's the rules, guys. We're going to pick a topic, a hot topic in town, and we're going to take five minutes to discuss that topic. And then once we're done, once the timer goes, you'll hear the timer go off. Whoever's talking can finish their points, and then we'll just move on to the next topic, just to flesh out some things because I really do want the listeners to be reaching out as well, whether that's on our Facebook page or reaching out other ways for topics that they'd want to see us discuss as well. Just so that there's ... So you, the listener, we would love for your feedback for the next time that we do ... We're calling this Okatox, which is kind of cheesy. That's what I wanted to call my podcast, Okatox, but my producer said it was really cheesy, but I loved cheesies.

(04:16):

So I'm the king of cheese. So first off, before we get going on officially, here's a curve ball for you guys. Who's going to win the Stanley Cup this year?

Joelle Reimer (04:28):

Get out of here. Edmonton Oilers. Don't even. Oh

Carlin Lutzer (04:32):

My gosh. Kay, you're ... Oilers.

Joelle Reimer (04:38):

Is this our first little Discord? But Curtis is getting angry and angrier. You can see it. No, I'm joking.

Curtis Armstrong (04:44):

No. I mean, I'd love to see them win it, but I don't think they're going to. So not with Colorado in the West. That would be the pick for my head, my heart wants the Buffalo Sabers.

Carlin Lutzer (04:57):

Sabers, yes. Yes. Okay. So who's your number one team, Curtis? Who do you cheer for?

Curtis Armstrong (05:04):

Well, I'm a long suffering Cheronto Maple East fan.

Carlin Lutzer (05:07):

Yeah, I kind of figured. Kind of figured.

Joelle Reimer (05:10):

You've had a rough year buddy. Rough

Carlin Lutzer (05:12):

Year. That's been a long time. A long

Curtis Armstrong (05:15):

Time. Rough decades. When your expectations are always so low, you really can't be disappointed. No,

Carlin Lutzer (05:22):

No, absolutely. Well, yeah. Does

Joelle Reimer (05:24):

Yearly break your heart?

Carlin Lutzer (05:28):

Well, I do not like the Oilers.

Joelle Reimer (05:31):

That's okay. You don't have to. Who is your team then?

Carlin Lutzer (05:33):

No. Well, my team right now is anybody that's playing the Oilers. So whoever they go through, right? Yeah, I'm cheering for them, unfortunately. Great. Yeah. And that's part of the problem that we have in this town of Okotoks. We have way too many Oiler fans.

Joelle Reimer (05:51):

And you can stop them because they're really proud to be Oilers guys. They are not even solo. They have something

Carlin Lutzer (05:58):

To be proud of. But I've never seen a team that has made it to the playoffs, but there's been so ... Well, it always feels like the wheels are always falling off with the team and they're always fighting and there's always something going on. They're never happy, but they usually seem to turn it around to the playoffs. So just never know them.

Curtis Armstrong (06:16):

And I don't know if you saw the goal that McDavid scored a couple of nights ago where he cut in more or less from the red line, went right through the entire team and then came in from the boards and scored.

Carlin Lutzer (06:27):

Cut the crease.

Curtis Armstrong (06:27):

It's just like video game stuff.

Carlin Lutzer (06:29):

I know. I had the game on in the background last night. And yeah, did he get five points or something last night?

Joelle Reimer (06:36):

Anahetric.

Carlin Lutzer (06:36):

Ridiculous. Anahetric, yeah. Yeah. Oh, wow. Yeah, he's ridiculous. So he's motivated and he's certainly wanting to

(06:48):

Win that cup in Edmonton, but I don't know. If he doesn't, it'll be interesting to see what happens in the next off season, I guess, and the news stories that come out as to what his future is, if they don't. So anyways, all right, let's move on. I got this timer. Timer will start once I finish the question and I will pass the question off to ... We'll alternate between Joelle and Curtis to take the lead on answering the question at the start. But the first topic that we have today is something that has been ... It seems like it's a growing concern, but it also goes in waves where it's not as big of a concern. Right now, it doesn't seem like it's as big of a concern in Okotoks right now, but I think once people start putting their flowers out and planting their gardens and they start getting really angry at the deer.

(07:38):

But Joelle, what are your thoughts on the deer? Do you believe that we should do anything about the deer in town?

Joelle Reimer (07:45):

This is such a hot topic. When I was campaigning for the election, this was probably the one or two hottest thing that people wanted to talk about. They were so upset about it. My opinion is I moved here by the mountains geographically in an area where there is a river and it's a water source for animals. So when they're here, it wasn't a surprise for me. I don't understand why people get so upset about it, but I do think it has to be education based. One, we moved into their area, so we'll just do with that subject matter.

Carlin Lutzer (08:18):

Right. Yes.

Joelle Reimer (08:19):

You see fit. And then to ask them to leave, again, reminiscent of some other things that I know, but I saw on Facebook the other day, this woman got on there and she introed it and said on the Ogetoks Rant Rave or whatever, the community discussion page, that she had just moved here and she was so upset that there was elk everywhere. And so I feel like we need to start with some education, first of all. And second, I have lived here almost a decade and have had never had an issue. So they eat a couple things in the front of my yard, so I stopped planting those things. And the one thing that actually really bothers me about it is how hostile people are getting about this because it's not hard to avoid them. It truly isn't. I cannot hit children on the road when they accidentally run into the route.

(09:07):

I'm able to pay attention to that. I do not like these 12-foot fences that my neighbors are showing up. It makes me feel like I live in a prison. What is happening? All just because you don't want them to eat your plants.

Carlin Lutzer (09:21):

Yeah. And a lot of those, I agree with you. A lot of those fences look horrible.

Joelle Reimer (09:24):

Awful. Yeah. I don't get it. I will never get it. I do not understand it. And I've never hit one because I just have my break on my car, so I just use that.

Carlin Lutzer (09:37):

Right. Curtis, what do you think?

Curtis Armstrong (09:39):

Well, I've yet to see any elk here, so I should check out that Facebook page, take a look at it. But I think it's a neat aesthetic for the town. I actually enjoy watching them. Like you said, Joelle, we moved into their area and aside from eating people's plants in their front yard and people putting up barricades for their back, it's not really a nice aesthetic, in my opinion, to see those huge, huge fences, but I feel it's kind of the part of the charm of living here, to be honest with you. I think they're great.

Carlin Lutzer (10:20):

Right. And so you guys disagree if the town was allowed, said, let's change the rules and let's put up ... I don't know what the limit of a deer, how high deer can jump. It could probably be, I imagine a six-foot fence would be almost impossible for a deer to jump six-foot chain-link fence. You disagree with putting up six-foot chain-link fences?

Joelle Reimer (10:42):

No, I don't have a problem with the chain link. Actually, I actually would prefer the aesthetic of that better than whatever the standard chain link is on my side of the street with the addition. I think there's a four-rung addition of just this wire and it's inverted into the yard. And I do know for a fact that the one that I share a fence with, a deer broke his leg last year trying to jump over.

Carlin Lutzer (11:07):

Strangled.

Joelle Reimer (11:07):

So then there's this thing obbling around with its bone out of its leg. So I would prefer the chain link, to be honest with you, other than I still think it would look bad, but I actually prefer it over the kind of prison-esque aesthetic that is now going.

Carlin Lutzer (11:25):

Right. So what do you guys think Tony Nolan and his dog Kit back in 2023, and Robert from the Western Wheel covered this very quickly. It happened November 14th, 2023, and he reported on November 15th, so the very next day that Tony and his dog kit were ... Well, his dog was being attacked by a deer in his backyard. Tony goes and tries to get the deer away, and the deer turns on Tony, breaks his nose. I think Tony wants to see something done with the deer. So what if the things were changed a little bit and that was not a man, but it was a child in the backyard. Do you think we might see a little bit of a turn in opinion?

Joelle Reimer (12:12):

Nope. I don't think it would change opinion because my first original opinion was education. And before I let my dog out, I have a mini dash hound. So it's like a pretend dog that would never sand it plants from a buck. And I have photos of that said buck actually, the one that broke its leg last year on the front of my house and in the backyard. I always open the door and take a look with my flashlight before I let him out.

Carlin Lutzer (12:41):

Yeah, absolutely.

Joelle Reimer (12:42):

And we have had a situation actually not too long ago where he was in the backyard, the buck.

Carlin Lutzer (12:47):

Okay. So that's the timer.

Joelle Reimer (12:48):

Oh, perfect.

Carlin Lutzer (12:49):

I got to figure out ... Oh, I got to figure out how to stop it. No, that's the problem. Okay. So- That's

Curtis Armstrong (12:55):

It for

Carlin Lutzer (12:56):

Deer.That's it for deer. Great conversation. Second of all, we're going to start with Curtis. Curtis infrastructure in this town. We're growing like crazy. We got potentially some infrastructure problems. We're starting to see traffic. Before, it used to just be like busy weekends in the summer or spring when there was big ball tournaments and things going on, but now we're just seeing traffic all the time in this town. Do we feel that the town is keeping up with infrastructure and if so, or if not, do some changes need to be made?

Curtis Armstrong (13:32):

Well, when you're talking about infrastructure in a community that's growing as fast as we are, it's almost like you can't really keep up in some cases. We've only got so many arterial routes throughout town that people can go to. What I do find encouraging, and I know it's going to be a bit of a headache for people, is the construction for, I believe it's water and sewer main replacement over here and they're doing one over there. And it's expensive work to do, but it's so necessary and it doesn't have the glitz and glamour, I suppose. You don't really cut a ribbon on a finished water main when you're done with it. And the things that we take for granted, I have lived in communities where they have neglected their underground infrastructure needs and the results are water mains breaking- Calgary. Calgary. Street closures.

Carlin Lutzer (14:26):

Calgary.

Curtis Armstrong (14:27):

Sorry.

Carlin Lutzer (14:28):

I got a cough there.

Curtis Armstrong (14:31):

Yeah. I mean, that's a whole other mess in and of itself and coming out now that they were diverting water fee payments into other parts for spending on other usage. But that's what happens when you don't be proactive about it. Then it gets really expensive and then it gets really inconvenient. So this obviously where our office is on McCray is one of the older parts of town. So I know it's going to be dusty and messy and traffic snarls with detours, but when it's finished, you know you've got decades worth of life out of it as well too. But I guess swinging back to traffic, I mean, that comes part and parcel of a community that has grown as quickly as Oketos has. Maybe you, Carlin, if you're upset with traffic, you should learn to lower your expectations or maybe you want to move out to the country.

Carlin Lutzer (15:25):

Yes. Okay. No, Joelle, let's hear from you before. Now the blood's boiling Curtis.

Curtis Armstrong (15:32):

I can see it being in your forehead sticking out.

Carlin Lutzer (15:36):

Joelle, what are your thoughts?

Joelle Reimer (15:39):

I think it's something that gets people upset just because, like you said, it feels ... When you look at the numbers, it's growing. This community is growing. What were we named in, was it Huffington Post that it's one of the more desirable or most desirable community to live in, in Alberta? So with that comes growth. We can't compare ... I mean, I guess numbers-wise, you can compare the rapidness of the growth. I feel like we're managing our infrastructure exactly how a town that has existed already is managing it. This opinion of mine would be different if my children were still in school, for sure, because we live up 32nd and going up to HTA and to Meadow Ridge, when my daughter did go to Meadow Ridge, was a headache already. And now it's just getting more difficult. So I know if I have something to do, I don't want to do it between the hours of 8:00 and 9:00

Announcer (16:34):

And

Joelle Reimer (16:35):

3:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon because that intersection, those intersections are going to be pretty congested. But I feel like it's going well and the water main repairs, I don't know. Maybe I'm just somebody who's watching Calgary going like, "Thank you very much, Tanya, for doing this now because I don't want to be Calgary." And where I was born and raised, Strathmore, they're affected by this as well. So I have personal friends who have to restrict the showers, blah, blah. I see the slight inconvenience, and I do think it's just a slight inconvenience because I just give myself more time to get across town. I truly don't see what the issue is. I think that there's a hostility and anger kind of just universally right now. So these things just flare that up, I think. When you inconvenience someone or they take 10 more minutes or it feels like it's taking longer to get

Carlin Lutzer (17:25):

Somewhere. Yeah. I do think certainly in education in regards to certain things, in regards to traffic flow, the time, maybe different ways to get there to ... If we're talking 32nd, maybe you ride around east of town, east of Air Ranch and circle back that way, right? Obviously, things outside the town, Foothills County, we look at Highway two and Highway 338, major concern. If we're growing out that route, I personally just think, "Oh my gosh, they should just block that off until we get that because the accidents, it seems like every week there's a major accident out there." So stay away. If you don't have to go that way, don't go that way. If you have to cut across, maybe ... I know it's an extra maybe 10 minutes to route around or whatever, as opposed to quickly to get on highway two. But yes, obviously growth is a problem, right?

(18:27):

Okay. I guess that's the timer. I know how to turn it off now. That's good. Number three, we're going to start with Joelle on this one. We're coming into the summer season. Summer traffic, we just talked about traffic, but what about traffic noise? It certainly is a growing problem as well, where it doesn't really seem like people really care that they're in a community and they're coming home late at night with the loudest muffler on earth, it seems like. What are your thoughts on that?

Joelle Reimer (19:01):

Well, this one is a hairy subject because I do believe my household is responsible for a little bit of that. Well, my husband loves old cars and he loves a little bit of loud old car and I definitely can see why people don't like it. I definitely do. I don't know. Maybe just because my household likes stuff like that, I feel like why can't people just like things?

Announcer (19:31):

Yeah.

Joelle Reimer (19:32):

Why can't you just like things? It doesn't drive around at two o'clock in the morning with a loud muffler like it is during daylight hours. Is it horrendous? I don't see what the big deal is. Sure.

Carlin Lutzer (19:45):

Curtis?

Curtis Armstrong (19:49):

Well, I'm a bit of two minds of this because I love the sound of an old classic car with a big block, that kind of throaty growl, like that's music to my ears. A few instances I've seen are people who have a four cylinder car and they've modified the exhaust for it. And sometimes I hear them backfired because their pressure is off because they've made these probably ill conceived modifications. And I can hear them as they go through each gear, as they come up and down the street, often they're manuals as well too. That's not really music to my ears and that's just loud for the sake of being loud. It's like, "Buddy, you've got a two liter, four cylinder car." Nobody wants to hear that out of a Kia or a Civic or something.

Carlin Lutzer (20:41):

I know.

Curtis Armstrong (20:42):

Yeah. And I know kids, they want to have fun and whatever, but even how loud should a motorcycle be? When I hear a Harley Davidson fire up that's kind of been piped, I'm like, "I don't mind that really. " But that's just my opinion on it anyway. So some loud noises are good, other ones I don't care for.

Carlin Lutzer (21:03):

No, and you certainly story dwell. You certainly can drive those vehicles respectfully in residential areas, right? Then you hit the highway and then you let it rip, right? Especially during ... I know I've seen, maybe it's your husband, Joelle, because we live very close to each other. I see him sneaking out early in the morning driving his car because he wants to take it into work and he's creeping up to the stop sign and he's slowly pulling out because he doesn't want, and he's driving it respectfully. I'm sure it's your husband. But the town was going to do a traffic study for noise, but they got all the equipment and stuff, but all of a sudden, I think, I don't know if it was a personnel issue or whatever, but that was just kind of dropped. It no longer seems like it's on the books anymore.

(21:52):

But yeah, a little quick little story when there was a time that it made me really mad when it was ... We had twins and they were babies

(22:04):

And we had monitors set up in the house. They were sleeping in the afternoon. Somebody hit the stop sign in front of our house and just pinned it. Well, it set off the noise activated baby monitors and the babies both woke up. You want to start messing with somebody? You mess with somebody that just has twins and a three-year-old. So I think the thing is, is we have to remember we're living in community and when these cars are coming home late at night, you can drive them respectfully down the road, not to wake up the whole community.

Joelle Reimer (22:41):

I also would like to add, I do agree with that. If it had woken up a child, this would be a whole different conversation again, but I was just going to absent, I do think it's a generational thing. I mean, that is a certain generation and demographics. That's how they spent their time is cruising around and enjoying cars. And Okotoks, it is an affluent community and some of that affluence is going to like cars. There is an incredible car community in this area and that also is economically driven, driving some of the summer things. We have

Announcer (23:14):

Huge

Joelle Reimer (23:14):

Car shows in High River and in Okotoks. It brings in a lot of people. It brings in a lot of business. So there is some benefit to the car. And the younger generation who has those Honda Civics that are ... They're going to eventually make money and then be purchasing those things and that is going to be growing. But when you get down to a child and a parent who hasn't slept, the argument is you will nice it.

Carlin Lutzer (23:43):

Oh yeah. Snap. Snap. Snap. Absolutely. But yeah, like we said, I do think you can drive them ... Maybe there's certain times of the day that you can just obviously let it rip, but when's everybody sleeping and you know that it's sometimes two o'clock in the morning, you're hearing people doing it intentionally to wake everybody up. So yeah, there's that one. I'm really good at hitting stop on the timer now. I'm really proud of myself. Number four, public spaces for recall votes, separation petitions, forever Canadian, using public spaces for those things, basically trying to get people to sign a petition. Curtis, I believe it's your turn. Okay.

Announcer (24:34):

What

Carlin Lutzer (24:34):

Do you think on that?

Curtis Armstrong (24:36):

Well, I really don't have an issue with any group using a public space. I think what they're doing, whether or not you agree with whatever their cause is, it's part of democracy. And as long as they're set up at a public space that ... A lot of these are multi-use, so they're trying to get eyes on what they're doing, but as long as they're not soliciting people or coming up to them and just standing at their table respectfully and has their signage out or petition or whatever they want, and people approach them, I'm fine with it. I really don't take issue with it at all.

Carlin Lutzer (25:15):

Joah?

Joelle Reimer (25:17):

I agree with Curtis. We were supposed to have this back and forth. Yeah, I thought we were having ... Prepare it to a little architect. Turn

Carlin Lutzer (25:24):

It up.

Joelle Reimer (25:25):

I will say this. I actually agree too. They pay their taxes just like I do. It is a democracy, maybe not necessarily ... It doesn't matter what side of the coin that you're on. I do think you should be allowed because they had those for other petitions, radiothons, charity things, all use those spaces for that. My only hesitation with it is if the legality of it. That's my only. If something is deemed illegal, and I do believe right now we are waiting to see what the legalities of this movement is and if it is against the law and if it's not ... I don't know, because at the end of the day, we're still on treaty land. I don't know if it should be used, but I don't have a problem with it because I feel like for a democracy that is ... You should be able to do those things and have an opinion and be able to gather whatever group you want to talk about that as long

Carlin Lutzer (26:25):

As- Yeah, for sure. See, I think maybe where I wanted to discuss this was I went into one of the public places, I was taking my son to hockey and I wasn't carrying anything. I think they just thought that I was there to sign the petition. And they're like, "Oh, you want to sign the petition?" I'm like, "No, I'm not here to sign the petition." They're like, "Oh, well, why not? " And I think it was early on and I started to feel that, okay, maybe you have crossed some lines here. And it's just the education of those people that are in those public places where I don't think they should be able to approach anybody once you're inside the place. I think you should have your table set up and people come to you as opposed to you actively pursuing people in the lobby.

(27:16):

And I do think lines were certainly crossed at that point, right? Because then she started to ask me why I wasn't going to sign. And I'm like, "Well, I don't know enough about it and I need some time." So what about public places like we've had the book banned by the Alberta government. How about setting up in the library, like basically all the books, the public library, all the books that have been banned by the Alberta government. That turns up the heat on this conversation now a little bit, I'm sure.

Joelle Reimer (27:53):

I think that ... Actually, Kurt is gone.

Carlin Lutzer (27:56):

No.

Curtis Armstrong (27:59):

No, I want to hear your point first, Joelle. You're ready.

Joelle Reimer (28:03):

Book banning.

Curtis Armstrong (28:05):

It's

Carlin Lutzer (28:05):

A curve

Curtis Armstrong (28:05):

Ball,

Carlin Lutzer (28:05):

Isn't it?

Joelle Reimer (28:08):

I can see on the camera my face getting read. What are we doing here? What are we doing here? Why are we banning books? This is outrageous. Yeah, but it goes back to education, right? Every aspect of that, just you fear what you don't know. And I don't know. I have a really hard time with the book banning. I have a hard time with telling anybody, any member of my family what they can and cannot read. I have a real hard time with that.

Carlin Lutzer (28:40):

For sure. Curtis?

Curtis Armstrong (28:43):

Yeah. Again, we're agreeing more or less, Joelle. I'm not sure it's up to the government to be the arbiter of what is or is not acceptable. I also put a fair amount of faith in librarians who are professionals at what they do and would often defer to them. I mean, obviously, people under the age of 18 should not be exposed to certain things, but we do live in an age where everyone has one of these, and if somebody wants to find something, they can find whatever they want. So in the grand scheme of things, I think we as a society and probably as a government have just bigger, more important things that we probably should be focusing on as to which books cannot go into which institution personally.

Carlin Lutzer (29:36):

Absolutely. And there's so many ... You hear one side of it and then the other side, like the government side, they were coming out and saying, "Well, these books have pornographic images in it. " But then they grouped in all these other books that really have been a part of education for years. And it just seems like there was a lack of education. Sorry, I We're done. Curtis, you were in the middle. This conversation needs to be over, but here's one last thing. It's my show. I can do whatever I want, right? Okay.

Joelle Reimer (30:09):

Rightfully so.

Carlin Lutzer (30:11):

I was born and raised in Saskatchewan and there was a movie that came out that Rosie O'Donnell, you probably never heard of it. It was Rosie O'Donnell played in East of Eden or something like that. Yeah, it was a terrible movie. They banned it in Saskatchewan. I can't even remember why they banned it, but do you know once they opened it up to the public again in Saskatchewan, do you know where the most people went and watched that movie was? Was Saskatchewan? It flopped. It flopped in the box offices, except in Saskatchewan because everybody wanted to go see what was wrong with it. And that's a little bit of a problem highlighting some of these books. Yeah, I don't know. Certainly. Yeah. Obviously pornographic images, pornographic topics under 18 shouldn't be allowed naturally, but yeah. So I think they created a monster there, that's for sure.

Curtis Armstrong (31:15):

Yeah. And before we kind of pivot away from it, I don't really believe personally that it's the role of a provincial government to do things like banning movies. If you're 18 and you want to watch a film, that's your business. And I just don't feel that's the role of the government personally or should not be anyone.

Carlin Lutzer (31:34):

Holy, that is absolutely another topic because when I go ... I think the government does get involved in our lives way too much. What I love when I go down to the United States is you see some guy driving his motorbike without a helmet. I'm like, "I wouldn't do that if I had a motorbike. However, that's his choice." The government isn't controlling him to do that. And obviously up here in Canada, because this is so ... Sorry, we'll jump into the next topic here soon. But because we're here in Canada, I think that our system, healthcare, well, taxpayer dollars are going towards healthcare, so we have to do whatever's safest for that person as opposed to that person having to deal with his own insurance company. And it's really none of my business in the United States. Do you know what I'm saying?

Curtis Armstrong (32:26):

Yeah. But if you're over a certain age in the United States, you are on government healthcare, like on Medicaid or Medicare, I believe, once you reach senior citizen level anyway. And even if there is private insurance, there's still public dollars going into the healthcare system in the United States.

Carlin Lutzer (32:43):

Right. For sure.

Curtis Armstrong (32:45):

Yeah.

Carlin Lutzer (32:45):

Yeah.

Curtis Armstrong (32:47):

Yeah.

Carlin Lutzer (32:47):

Okay. Last topic of the day, and it's going to be fun. We're heading into the summer season. We are getting excited about the dog season. With the dogs and all that stuff, I know they're planning some great things. What are you guys most excited about the summer months in Okotoks?

Joelle Reimer (33:08):

Well, the dogs go hand in hand with what we do all summer. I mean, we live in such a great little community that supports these sports programs. We have the road to Okotoks coming. That is going to be sensational. Oh my goodness. And I don't know. Last year was a little bit of a quamp womp year, but I believe the Bear's coming back, our coach, is he not? Is he our coach this year? I think

Carlin Lutzer (33:34):

So. I haven't heard any different.

Joelle Reimer (33:37):

Yeah. And we-

Carlin Lutzer (33:38):

Yeah.

Joelle Reimer (33:39):

Do you know what else I really like? The dogs completely off base of that. Is the baseball season? I love seeing the MLB players that then have, "Oh, and they used to play for the Oktokes dogs. Oh, they used to play for the Okotoks dogs or you had a dog's hat. I love it. We go into the city and I'll see someone else with a dog's hat."

Carlin Lutzer (33:58):

Well, even this season already, they've made reference to the dogs in two, for sure, baseball games like Chicago White Sox and then there was another one. So yeah, Curtis, you got your season tickets ready to go too, don't you?

Curtis Armstrong (34:12):

I absolutely do. And probably within about four days of moving to Okotoks last fall, Tyler and Val from the team invited me to come meet them. We've been a partner with them since the franchise relocated here 20 years ago. And so I sat down with them, had a great chat. I'm a huge, huge baseball fan. So when I had no idea that the dogs was even a thing- Oh, it's a thing. ... until I got to town and then I got a full behind the scenes tour of the entire facility. And I am just chomping at the bit for first pitch. So we are actually in the midst of producing a magazine to celebrate their 20th anniversary here in Okotok. So actually we're meeting with them tomorrow with Remy, our sports editor and assistant editor here and Aaron from The Dogs to kind of map out the look and feel and the features we're going to do.

(35:04):

And it will be in the stadium for opening day. So I am

(35:10):

Super pumped to make that. So aside from that, I will be going to as many games as I possibly can. I do have to share some of the season tickets with my value colleagues here. So we will open up the spreadsheet and let people make their reservations. And I love the idea of Arota Oketos. And it was kind of presented to me when I met with Tyler and Val as kind of the Memorial Cup of baseball in Canada. So you're going to have play-ins from more or less coast to coast and all these teams coming here. I will be probably burning through a few vacation days in order to ... I might have my phone with me, but I will not be working-

Carlin Lutzer (35:50):

And a few beers.

(35:51):

A few beers as well, Curtis. It is probable. Yeah. One thing that ... Okay, staying on topic, but it did go to the town council because this is not only happening this year, it's also happening next year, the road to Okotoks. Town council is going to be donating $50,000 a year for this year and the next year to the road to Oketoks. And it didn't go ... It was split. It was four to three, four to three in town council, which I love seeing the disagreement in town council. I love seeing that it's not like seven people. There's healthy conversation like we're having here, but I do think it's very valuable. What would make it probably more valuable to our community is if we had enough hotels to house more people, because now they're going and spending their money in High River, Calgary, just because we can't house those amount of people.

Joelle Reimer (36:54):

I know that it's not considered infrastructure, but actually that is one of the things I think our town needs the most of. The amount of tournaments and things that happen here. Heck, even this year with me in being involved with the Okotoks Oilers and building for them, these other teams come in and if there's another tournament happening in the vicinity in this area, those players are staying in Calgary. Spending

Carlin Lutzer (37:17):

Their money there. Yeah, which is too bad.

Curtis Armstrong (37:20):

Yeah. That's one thing that I've noticed is for a town of this size and its population proportionately doesn't have as many hotel rooms available in other markets.

Carlin Lutzer (37:30):

See, I think the hotel owners of the community have been asked and they feel that there's more than enough that are not at capacity, but I'm sure during the week that's the case. But coming up in June, Fury, Fury, slow fast pitch ball. They have the biggest tournament in North America, girls tournament in North America here. And yes, a lot of them are camping, but a lot of them are spending their money in Calgary. And let's get that money here. Let's build some hotels. Right? So guys, did you hear the timer go? I did.

Announcer (38:07):

Yes.

Carlin Lutzer (38:08):

You did. This was awesome. You guys are great.

Joelle Reimer (38:11):

Well, thanks for having us. This was a lot of fun.

Carlin Lutzer (38:13):

Yeah. I want to do again. I don't know how often we're going to do again. Sometimes there might be ... If there's also a big topic that we need to debate, we need to get on here, but for sure minimum quarterly, if that's okay with you guys, your check's going to be in the mail.

Joelle Reimer (38:29):

Perfect. Thank you. So

Carlin Lutzer (38:31):

You could even be in there now the way Canada Post moves, right? But I do appreciate you guys. And yeah, let's find things to disagree on and let's talk about it. And because what hopefully it's going to do is spawn other conversations in the coffee shops, in the rec centers and the senior citizens when they get together in town, just to talk about the issues and hammer them out. So I appreciate you guys. Do you guys have any last words before we go?

Curtis Armstrong (39:03):

No, not really.

Carlin Lutzer (39:04):

That was shocking. I like it. Yeah. So we'll let you guys go. Appreciate you guys doing this. And again, to the listener, if you guys are listening and you have topics you want us to debate on, we didn't have a lot of disagreements here. There was a few times when I felt the ... Well, when I surprised you guys with that one question about the books, I think that surprised you, Bob. Sorry about that. I wasn't on the sheet, was it?

Joelle Reimer (39:30):

No, it was good. I like the little surprises. Always have a surprise because I'm actually ...

Curtis Armstrong (39:35):

Yeah. Let's not have a sheet anymore so we cannot-

Carlin Lutzer (39:39):

No more sheet. ...

Curtis Armstrong (39:39):

Just have a complete blank slate. Yeah. No sheet.

Carlin Lutzer (39:41):

Okay. Very interesting.

Joelle Reimer (39:43):

I agree. I agree. Let's just go for it. Just pick some topics and make it ...

Carlin Lutzer (39:47):

Yep. Okay. Before I go, I just helped a lady purchase a house. She's in her 80s and she is so unfiltered and I love it. I love it. Like the stuff

Announcer (40:02):

She's

Carlin Lutzer (40:02):

Saying, sometimes we couldn't ... Yeah. But I love it because she doesn't care. She doesn't care anymore. And in that, she's not necessarily looking for my opinion. She's just telling me her opinion. And I appreciate her opinion very much, even though I don't necessarily agree with everything she says. I just love it that she felt comfortable that she could share that with me. And we're not living in the day and age where we can do that anymore just to talk. And okay, I completely disagreed with the way your guys' take on that, but we're still going to be neighbors, we're still going to shake hands. We're still going to treat each other with respect, right? Absolutely. The way that's being modeled these days to us inside of government and politics, it's disgusting.

Joelle Reimer (40:46):

Well, it's not being not happy.

Curtis Armstrong (40:48):

Well, even online too, people will write things behind the veil of their laptop or their phone that they would probably, and hopefully never save someone's face. And it just brings the whole ... The bar is so low, it's unfortunate. But if you do want the unfiltered truth, like from the lady whom you helped purchase a home, I've always found that people under five and over the age of 75 will give you pretty much the unfiltered truth because one is too young to know better and one's too old to care.

Carlin Lutzer (41:20):

Yeah. That's awesome.

Joelle Reimer (41:21):

I think that's the beauty of it though, is with experience, you see what actually matters and what doesn't.

Carlin Lutzer (41:27):

Absolutely. I feel that this episode is so far the greatest of the second season of the Okotoks podcast.

Curtis Armstrong (41:37):

Oh,

Carlin Lutzer (41:39):

Yeah.

Curtis Armstrong (41:39):

I praise one season.

Carlin Lutzer (41:40):

I know. I know, right? So guys, again, thank you very much. You two figure out something you don't agree upon and let's chat about it. Thanks you guys. I appreciate you very much. Thanks,

Curtis Armstrong (41:55):

Carlyn. Thank you.

Carlin Lutzer (41:56):

Take care. Well, that was the first edition of our new panel segment here on the Okotoks Podcast. Huge thank you to Joellele Reimer and Curtis Armstrong for jumping in, shaping their perspectives and being willing to have real conversations about what's happening in our town. And now we want to hear from you. What topics should we tackle next? What's happening in Okotoks that you think needs to be talked about? Please submit your ideas on the Okotoks Facebook page or reach out to me directly by email or feel free to give me a call. We're building this segment with the community, not just for it. If you got value from this episode, make sure you like, follow, and leave a five-star review on your podcast platform. It helps more than you know. And if you think someone else should hear this, share it with one person.

(42:56):

We'll see you next time right here on the Okotoks Podcast.

Announcer (43:00):

You've been hanging out with us on the Okotoks podcast. Thanks to Carlin Lutzer Real Estate. We'll see you again real soon.