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Alberta Politics

redford orders mla’s to return pay, cancels transition allowance, and sherman crashes her party.

Premier Alison Redford has announced that Tory MLA’s will repay all the money they received from the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections (aka the “no-work” committee) and that MLA’s who retire or are defeated in future elections may not received a generous severance package.

Ordering Tory MLAs to pay back all the money and admitting that she made a mistake by not doing so sooner was a wise move, and also demonstrates how worried the Tories have become after recent polls have put them in a dead heat with the Wildrose Party.

Premier Alison Redford campaign election Edmonton 2012
Premier Alison Redford arrives at her campaign stop on 124th Street in Edmonton.

Following the announcement, Premier Redford joined Edmonton-Glenora PC MLA Heather Klimchuk for some “main-streeting” down Edmonton’s 124th Street area in the Westmount neighbourhood. The area has gone through an incredible revival over the past few years, transitioning from a seedy pawn-shop infested street to a vibrant cafe and specialty shop destination in the city.

This was Premier Redford’s second campaign stop in Edmonton-Glenora in the first week of the election. Ms. Klimchuk is in a hotly contested race with former public school trustee and Alberta Party candidate Sue Huff, former Liberal MLA Bruce Miller, former NDP MLA Ray Martin, and past mayoral candidate and Wildrose candidate Don Koziak.

Alison Redford campaign election Edmonton 2012
Liberal candidate Bruce Miller drops in on Edmonton-Glenora PC MLA Heather Klimchuk and Premier Redford at a campaign stop at Cafe Tiramisu.

In what I can only describe as a strange attempt to garner media attention, Liberal Party leader Raj Sherman, local candidate Mr. Miller, and an entourage of Liberal candidates and handlers made two “coincidental” appearances on the Premier’s campaign stop, crashing her visits at two cafes on the same block. Here are some photos of the stop and of Dr. Sherman’s visit:

Premier Alison Redford Alberta Election 2012
Premier Redford with Edmonton-Glenora PC MLA Heather Klimchuk and business owner Dawit Isaac.
Premier Alison Redford Election 2012 Greenpeace
A Greenpeace activist at Premier Redford's campaign stop.
Premier Alison Redford Election 2012
Premier Redford at the Duchess Bake Shop on 124th Street.
Local candidate Bruce Miller makes a second appearance along with Liberal leader Raj Sherman at Premier Redford's campaign stop at the Duchess Bake Shop.
Local candidate Bruce Miller makes a second appearance along with Liberal leader Raj Sherman at Premier Redford's campaign stop at the Duchess Bake Shop.

I have posted more photos from the lunch-hour campaign stop on Flickr.

25 replies on “redford orders mla’s to return pay, cancels transition allowance, and sherman crashes her party.”

Well, if you can’t get anyone to show up at your Liberal events, I guess you have to go where the people are. Maybe Alison should seek a restraining order on her idiot stalkers. Hey Raj, Alison will be at the YEG sewage treatment facility tomorrow…

Why are her MLA’s not with her? They are running for their lives in order to win. What an incentive not to lose ! Lose- out the door without severance”. Only those who quit before the election get severance! Not so fast-she actually cannot do this! The severance is in legislation and no matter how important she thinks she is, she cannot do this one. So hot air.

Now her release as reported says that , in regards to the do nothing committee, that the Party would pay for any MLA who did not! So why would they if the are out the door ( for example Ray Prins – as chair $1500 per month for 4 years $72000.). So how will party donors like to swallow this one! Thank goodness I did not donate this year

Wow! One single Greenpeace protester. I’m disappointed. They just don’t put in the effort they used to.

So why are you presuming it was Raj Sherman who “crashed the party”. I heard a couple of days ago that he would be mainstreeting down 124 Street today.
Since the P.C.’s used the area to announce their big switch on paying back the ‘no meet” committee pay, maybe they wanted to do that while Raj Sherman was around.
After all, when he announced that he was paying back all his pay, with interest, the Premier and Dave Handcock accused him of ” a stunt” and “grandstanding”.
Fortunately, when P.C.’s did it, it was merely “doing the right thing”. 🙂

The repayment of the committee to nowhere is very bad news for the Wildrose. Nothing more to campaign on. Bye bye Danielle.

If they are tossed out of the caucus, will the party endorsement to run under a PC banner be withdrawn. Will they be forced to run as independents??

Liam, I am confident that Premier will appoint a task force,panel,committee, board and judge to study that very issue and report in – oh – August to Kelley Charlebois.

Dave,

Raj certainly didn’t bump into the premier at two events. And you can hardly be surprised that he was on 124th street – on the six blocks between the ALP office and candidate Bruce Miller’s campaign office.

It would have been stranger for him to walk on and not stop in.

So Redford was against paying the money back before she was for it? She is like our very own John Kerry/Mitt Romney. Albertans just do not know what Redford and the PC Party stand for.

If Sherman spent more time in his own riding he’d be worried about all the Tory blue and Wildrose green lawn signs. I’ll be surprised if he gets re-elected.

The leader of a third place party can’t get media attention on his own so he crashes the premier’s media event. You wouldn’t have seen Kevin Taft try to pull a tasteless stunt like this.

desperation and delusions, surprisingly the conservatives second third string victor is struggling when faced with a full out election but seems determined to hold onto her queen complex by ordering MLA’s to return money they did not work for but was previously OK because she wasn’t in the cross-hairs. She also does not seemed to be bothered by little things like understanding the law. Really was she a lawyer?

Thanks for the comment, Corey.

It could have been a coincidence, but I doubt it.

Judging by the number of Liberal Party candidates and hangers on who were staked out waiting for Premier Redford’s bus to arrive (including one who told me that they were waiting for Premier Redford’s bus to arrive), I can’t believe that it wasn’t planned.

Dr. Sherman can campaign however he wants, and if that means attending other party leader’s campaign events, then that is his choice.

As someone who was there, I can tell you that it looked planned and it looked strange.

Dave

Dave, u r losing credibility faster than a brick falling out of the building. You are normally objective and informative. You seem to have a real disklike of Alberta’s folk hero. Do you need Raj to give you a hug?

So Raj gets raked over the coals, for something that irks you. Did you know that they were in a riding where a Liberal Candidate is running and where the ALP office is?

The real focus of this story is the constant retraction, back and forth on MLA pay. There is a serious loss of personal objectivity here. It may be a coincidence, but I doubt it, but it seems every progressive blogger is working with the Tories to attack Raj. Sounds stupid? just as stupid as your personal opinion.

Used to like your blog Dave. C. you just lost me. I was really convinced you were one of the good ones. Democracy is suffering and you progressives can’t get your shxt together. THis is the reason why the vote splitting keeps allowing the tories a free ride. Short sighted progressive who keep attacking each other. This is exactly what tories want.

“You wouldn’t have seen Kevin Taft try to pull a tasteless stunt like this.”

Oh!! The horror..the hell. How dare he. Some of you Liberal haters are sniffing way too much paint. These guys just plundered Alberta wealth for the last 25yrs! Get over yourself and get your screws checked!

More important than who arrived at which door first to connect with voters is the scenario that lies ahead of us … either a PC or Wildrose government with the other as the official opposition.

That makes me nervous! All those who care about public investment in public goods have a stake in who will represent the interests of those who do not identify with the conservative or even more conservative party.

Albertans open to strategic choices to send a strong progressive opposition to the legislature should check out early constituency recommendations on http://www.changealberta.ca.

@Shakeup

No thanks. If a progessive win elects a turd I don’t consider it a progressive gain.

“Democracy is suffering and you progressives can’t get your shxt together. THis is the reason why the vote splitting keeps allowing the tories a free ride. Short sighted progressive who keep attacking each other. This is exactly what tories want.”

Of course it is! Thank you for speaking the unvarnished truth!
Read Rod Love’s excellent letter to (stupid or corrupt) progressives who insist, election after election, on going it alone. I wonder if they ever think for one lousy second about how they’re holding other progressives hostage to right wing rule in Alberta, ad nauseem. There are days when I’m more upset with them than I am with the PCs/WR, and I can hardly wait (although I’ve been waiting a long long time) until centre-left voters finally understand what they’re doing.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/article718710.ece

“No thanks. If a progessive win elects a turd I don’t consider it a progressive gain.”

Sounds like you’re used to tolerating 70+ turds.

Personally, I would like to see MORE head to head encounters on the campaign trail. Heck, why not have ALL the candidates in a constituency go to ALL the events; that way more people get to do a direct comparison.

ONE leaders’ debate is democracy? I don’t think so. The whole electoral process has become theatre (and not very good theatre, at that) scripted by handlers. And people wonder why nobody is all that wound up by their choices!

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