NBC cancels The West Wing
By DAVID BAUDER
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Associated PressPasadena, California — The new president on The West Wing will be a real short-timer: NBC announced Sunday it was pulling the plug on the Emmy-winning political drama after seven seasons in May.
NBC, struggling to regain its footing after the worst season in its history, also outlined several midseason schedule changes – including the moves of popular dramas Law & Order and Las Vegas (Read the rest here).
Well, it’s a little under T-minus 2 days until Election Day on Monday.
Here are a couple of things…
– We went to our last regular election panel on CityTV last night. It was fun. We were particularly energetic and aggressive, so they let us talk a lot longer than the other panelists. 😛
For those of you who missed us last night, you still have a chance to catch us on CityTV’s election night panel starting around 10pm on Monday evening. The panel will be commenting on results as they come in. U of A Political Science Professor Gurston Dacks will also be there.
It should be fun, though we’re quite sure we’ll need a few stiff drinks after the results come in…
–For those of you interested, we’re featured on the BBC News website along with fellow Canadian bloggers Bart Ramson, Jason Cherniak, Colby Cosh, Kate McMillan, and Steve Janke.
– We went out partying at Halo last night. It was mod night. It was sssooooo radtacular.
– The people at Make Poverty History have released a list of candidates who support the Make Poverty History Goals.
– The radtacular Bart Ramson has endorsed Bruce Benson, Liberal candidate in Selkirk-Interlake.
– For those of you near the University of Alberta Campus on Monday, the Political Science Undergraduate Association will be hosting an Election Night party at the Powerplant.
– John Bowman from CBC‘s “blog report” has an interesting post about how Section 329 pf the Canada Elections Act may have an issues with bloggers posting election results as they come in…
– The always wonderful Janet has set up an election prediction contest – you can check it out and join the fun here! “The deadline is Monday, January 23, 2006 at 12pm EST (that’s 10am for you Edmonton folks). So enter early!“
ADDENUM – Steve Smith is also conducting an election prediction contest!
Deciding who we will cast our ballot for in this election has been a tough decision for us.
We have always voted Liberal. We consider ourself a small-L liberal type, but have felt in recent years that the Federal Liberal Party has strayed from the liberal values which we hold as our own.
Whether it be pushing large tax cuts for corporations, the increasing arrogance of some Liberal Cabinet Ministers, or the scandal surrounding ad-scam in Quebec, it is clear to us that this is not what Canadian liberalism stands for. It has become clear to us for sometime that the Federal Liberals need to spend some time in the opposition benches.
In our riding in particular, it has been a hard decision. Though Edmonton Strathcona is a diverse riding which rides the south bank of the North Saskatchewan river. It includes communities such as Bonnie Doon, Windsor Park, Garneau, Windsor Park, Strathcona, along with the University of Alberta campus. The area represented provincially largely by numerous Alberta Liberal (including Alberta Liberal leader Kevin Taft and Alberta Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald) and an NDP MLA (Raj Pannu), has consistently re-elected Reform/Alliance/Conservative candidate, Rahim Jaffer, since 1997.
We will not be supporting Mr. Jaffer for a number of reasons. First, we really couldn’t name one initiative he’s spearheaded since his election in 1997. Second, we couldn’t support his party in its current incarnation (for policy reasons). As we could not in good conscience support Mr. Jaffer, we looked to the other parties.
The Liberal candidate in Edmonton Strathcona is a good candidate. Andy Hladyshevsky holds a solid track record of community involvement and seems like a really bright guy. But as stated above, we just cannot support the Liberal Party in this election.
The Green Party candidate, Cameron Wakefield, is a really nice guy and we appreciated what he had to say at the various forums in the riding. We hope the Green Party grows and gains a larger presence on the national stage. Unfortunately, the Green Party post-secondary education policies are less than incredible.
The Progressive Canadian candidate, Mike Fedeyko, also impressed us. He spoke very well at all the forum, and presented a moderate and sensible standpoint in the Edmonton Strathcona race. We wish Mr. Fedeyko good luck on election day!
The Marxist-Leninist candidate, Kevan Hunter, was defiantly the most entertaining candidate at all the forums. Unfortunately for Comrade Hardinal Baines, we will be taking a pass on the revolution this time around…
The Marijuana Party candidate, Dave Dowling, didn’t show up to any of the forums and has a crazy website. He’s the Marijuana Party candidate, and he never showed up. He does have a pretty crazy website though…
Then there’s New Democratic Party candidate Linda Duncan. Ms. Duncan has been campaigning hard in Edmonton Strathcona since last spring. She has a surprisingly incredible amount of real world experience for any new candidate in this election.
Linda Duncan’s experience includes serving as the former Assistant Deputy Minister of the Environment for the Yukon, Vice-President of the Sierra Legal Defence Fund, Vice-President of the Lake Wabamun Enhancement and Protection Association, Board Member of Alberta’s Clean Air Strategic Alliance, Active member of the Alberta Environmental Network’s energy caucus, and a Board Member of the Environmental Careers Organization. As you can see, she has a solid record on environmental issues.
Though we haven’t been incredibly impressed with her performance at the various candidates forums, we believe she is the alternative to another four years of Rahim Jaffer in Edmonton Strathcona.
On January 23rd, as a proud Canadian liberal, we will be casting our ballot for Linda Duncan. We hope you do as well.
woo hoo! it’s officially been 1 year since we began this sometimes sorry excuse for a legitimate blog! – back in January 2005, when “we” were an “I.“
thanks for all those who have visited, commented, and made the mystical land of daveberta what it is!
(and total props to the over 33,000 visitors who’ve stopped by since last March)
If you would like someone to blame for the creation of this blog, look no further than to Ms. Nicole Martel. Nicole’s former blog, GoPolitical, was our inspiration (and the first blog we ever read).
Nicole is also the Federal Liberal candidate in Edmonton East and an awesome candidate to boot! Make sure to check out her campaign blog!
If we lived in Edmonton East, we’d vote for Nicole Martel!
If you’re in Edmonton East, you should too! 🙂
“Woah, Dave! You’re certainly wading into enemy territory” were the words that came from the mouth of an acquaintance last night when they saw us at Jack Layton’s rally at the Bonnie Doon Community Hall.
That is correct, Senator, we were indeed in attendance at the Jack Layton rally. But no, we are not now, nor have we ever been a member of the New Democratic Party of Canada.
Anyway… having been to and organized many political rallies in the past, we have some reflections about this one in particular…
1. There was definitely a lot of positive energy in the room.
2. 100% Props to the organizers, it was a packed and well managed event.
3. We attended a rally way back in 2004 for Paul Martin in the same hall (this is more of a general comment).
4. Though he was speaking to a converted crowd, Mr. Layton’s performance was impressive. He had energy, and his message was clear. He also made a convincing call for soft-Liberal voters to “put the Liberals in the penalty box.“
Suggestions for Jack Layton…
1. Don’t wade into provincial politics. Last night, in the presence of Brian Mason and the mighty Alberta NDP Caucus of 4,
Number 1#, perhaps Mr. Layton doesn’t realized that there are a lot of Alberta Liberal/Federal NDP supporters in Linda Duncan’s Edmonton Strathcona riding who will be supporting Linda on the 23rd.
Federal support for a political party does not equal support for a provincial party. We may support Linda Duncan in Edmonton Strathcona, but provincially, we support Alberta Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman in Edmonton Centre. There are many like us who support different parties at different levels. We don’t appreciate the slam (plus, Brian Mason is a flake).
This has to be one of our top “pet peeves” we have with the NDP, and one of the main reasons why we would never join them (among other reasons). When you become a member of the federal wing, you automatically become a member of the provincial wing. Not a positive in our books. Provincial and Federal politics are two different puppies.
2. Working Families. Mr. Layton majorly overused this phrase during his speech. It’s fairly obvious that “working families” is code for “union members.” Call it what it is. Working families sounds corny when it’s overused. It also assumes that someone is classified by their occupation. Perhaps it’s because we don’t believe in the overall “class-war,” but it sounded quite flakey.
Yeah, that’s our take… check out c-lo’s take on the rally here
Comments?
Look who stopped by the other day….
Domain Name: paulmartin.ca (Canada)
IP Address : 66.46.213.# (Allstream Corp. Corporation Allstream)
ISP : Allstream Corp. Corporation Allstream
Continent : North America
Country : Canada (Facts)
State/Region : Ontario
City : Britannia
Time of Visit Jan 18 2006 4:53:57 pm
Last Page View Jan 18 2006 4:54:45 pm
Referring URL http://liblogs.freethought.ca/
Visit Entry Page http://daveberta.blogspot.com/
Visit Exit Page http://daveberta.blo…es-getting-free.html
Time Zone UTC-5:00
EST – Eastern Standard
Visitor’s Time Jan 18 2006 6:53:57 pm
Visit Number 32,546
Why doesn’t Ted Morton for for Parliament? It would probably a more effective waste of taxpayers dollars than having him pontificate as a backbench Tory MLA in the Alberta Legislature…
Here’s part of an email we recieved from the “ConnecTed” Group…
“It’s a New Year! Let’s get a new Federal Government!
Hello Fellow Friends!
In just a few days, we’re going to have a Federal election. Ted has been campaigning with a number of Conservative MPs and candidates as he supports the efforts to get a new, clean Conservative Government elected.
He’s been door knocking in Edmonton-Centre with Laurie Hawn, the former fighter pilot who’s poised to send Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan back to a law school somewhere. And with Mike Lake, the young family man who will be replacing another Edmonton Liberal, Dave Kilgour.
Ted has also been out with Blaine Calkins, another first-time candidate, who will be the next MP from Wetaskiwin. He’s been helping a couple of incumbent MPs as well, including Jason Kenney, one of the Conservative stalwarts in Calgary, and Rahim Jaffer, one of the young stars of the Conservative team in Edmonton-Strathcona.
It’s nice to see that voters in other areas, especially Ontario, are starting to get the message that the Liberals are not worthy of getting rehired to be the Government. If you had employees who made mistake after mistake, wasted company resources, and told whopper after whopper, you wouldn’t hesitate to fire them. You wonder why it’s taking so long for some people to grasp what has been so obvious to Albertans for years. But let’s do all we can to make sure that this time, there is a change in Ottawa.
If you have friends, relatives or colleagues in Eastern Canada, make sure they understand that a vote for a Liberal is a vote for more waste, squander, scandal and mismanagement. Is that the way they run their personal and business affairs?
ConnecTed wants Ted Morton to be the next Premier. We also want Stephen Harper to be the next Prime Minister. What a one-two punch that will be in making this a great place to live, work, invest and raise a family!”
“Your one-stop mail-order do-it-yourself home-surgery mega-store!”
… well, not really. But maybe Dave Duceppe or Dave Layton…
“Got a party leader’s name? Hop on board, free
CBC News
If your surname is Harper, Martin, Layton, Duceppe or Harris, you could be flying high after the federal election and at no cost.
A new promotion by WestJet is offering free airfare anywhere in Canada to anyone with the last names of the federal party leaders.
The offer goes to “all Canadians who share their names with any of the contenders for Canada’s next prime minister,” said Bob Cummings, vice-president of marketing for the Calgary-based airline.
There are some catches in the WestJet Gets Political promotion.
The trips must be booked by Thursday at 7 p.m. MT, and flights must be taken the day after the federal election Jan. 23. Travellers also have to pay all taxes, fees and surcharges.“
At least Don Martin will be getting a good deal.
The Second Session of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of Alberta will convene on February 22, 2006 at 3:00 p.m.
Speaking of a culture of entitlement…
From the Edmonton Sun…
“Paula Tyler is back.
The former Alberta deputy minister who made headlines in New Zealand over her abrupt departure midway through a contract is going to work for Capital Health.
Cabinet approved a deal yesterday that would enable Tyler, the partner of Ralph Klein’s chief of staff Peter Kruselnicki, to maintain her provincial government benefits while working for the regional health authority.
Klein said last year that Tyler would not be returning to work as a deputy minister in his government after he hired Kruselnicki to replace Rod Love.
The order in council passed yesterday appoints Tyler to the position of senior official, health services, but she’ll actually be seconded by Capital Health to serve as vice-president of mental health, said Alberta Health spokesman Mark Kastner.
…
“There seems to be a lot of soft landings if you are in the top echelon of the Conservative government,” said NDP MLA Ray Martin. “It seems to me to be a very unusual approach.”
Tyler made headlines in New Zealand when she quit midway through a three-year contract as CEO of the Kiwi Child, Youth and Family Services Department to return to Alberta after Kruselnicki’s appointment.“
While the national Conservative campaign rides a wave, the Liberals campaign stumbles with the dexterity of a beached whale*, and the NDP try to be heard, Edmonton’s candidates from all parties are door-knocking, canvasing, and getting ready to get out the vote on January 23rd.
But, as some Edmontonians may have noticed, many local Conservative candidates in ridings across Edmonton have been missing from local all-candidates forums and meetings.
Though Edmonton Strathcona Tory Rahim Jaffer couldn’t find the time to meet with his constituents and attend the all-candidates forum at the Knox-Metropolitan United Church (one of two candidate forums in the riding), it was 
funny to see that he was able to make the time to pose for some cheap photo-stunts with Alberta Progressive Conservative Leadership candidate Jim Dinning (see left and right).
Way to be a responsible candidate and representative, Rahim!
As well, Edmonton Centre Tory candidate Laurie Hawn was also a no-show at a candidates forum in that riding sponsered by Edmonton’s Pride Centre. The Tories were also a no-show at the Public Interest Alberta City-wide forum at the Royal Museum.
What gives? At this point, it is fairly obvious that the Tories are going to sweep all but one Edmonton-seat, so what are they afraid of? Why is the media not “going after” the no-show Tory candidates who will be Edmonton’s elected representatives? If your Tory candidate can’t even give up 2 hours of their time to attend an all-candidates forum, can we expect them to responsibly represent us in Ottawa?
*Merci a Graham Thomson and for this fun phrase from his weekend article in the Edmonton Jounal.
Scott Proudfoot, Principal from Hill Watch Inc., has released a neat little document which outlines the “key implications” of a Conservative victory on January 23rd in the face of 13 years of Liberal governments.
Parts of the implications have to do with the Conservatives agenda and policies, and the others have to do “with how
The key implications Mr. Proudfoot lists are:
– Shift of decision-making power back to Cabinet and away from Public Service;
– Some initial confusion about how decisions are being taken;
– Corporate Canada lacks history with the party and will need to establish channels with the new players;
– Expenditure review will be key initial driver of government agenda;
– Retrenchment into federal areas of jurisdiction;
– Repair mode on Canada-US relations; and
– Substantive agenda but business impact is limited with defence being the main area of new spending.
Though many of the symptoms listed in his analysis are probably felt by any incoming government, it is interesting. Check it out.
(100% props to our good friend Howard for passing this along to us)
