Apologies for my absence, but I’ve been enjoying the beautiful Rocky Mountains for the past week.
Stay tuned for a return to a regular blogging schedule.
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Author: Dave Cournoyer
Dan Backs, the Independent MLA from Edmonton Manning who was kicked out of the Alberta Liberal caucus last November is seeking the Tory nomination in that riding. Backs will be running against former PC MLA Tony Vandermeer for the nomination (Backs narrowly defeated Vandermeer in 2004).
MacEwan College Political Science Professor Chaldeans Mensah described the situation perfectly:
Chaldeans Mensah, who teaches political science at MacEwan College, said Backs is “a bit opportunistic” since his prospects of re-election are slim as an independent.
The Alberta Liberals will soon nominate Edmonton Lawyer Sandeep Dhir in Edmonton Manning. I was actually quite excited when I heard Sandeep was running as I know he will be a great candidate and MLA. His community experience includes serving as President of the Edmonton Inner City Housing Society, and involvement with the Theatre Network Society and the Law Society of Alberta.
Rumour has it that Ward 3 City Councillor Janice Melnychuk is considering carrying the New Democrat flag. But more recent rumours suggest Melnychuk is having second thoughts about jumping to the provincial scene to attempt to join the four-man New Democrat caucus. Melnychuk would be a strong candidate, but I wouldn’t blame her for wanting to stick to City Council.
The area covered by Edmonton Manning has been represented by three parties over the past 21 years. As Edmonton Belmont it elected NDP MLA Tom Sigurdson (1986-1993). Since being created in 1993, Edmonton Manning has elected one Tory MLA – Tony Vandermeer (2001-2004) – and three Liberal MLA’s – Peter Sekulic (1993-1997), Ed Gibbons (1997-2001), and the breifly Liberal Dan Backs (2004-2006). Regardless, Edmonton Manning will be a hard fought race as it will likely be hotly contested by all three parites.
On another note, it’s been rumoured that Alberta Alliance leader Paul Hinman is trying to negotiate his way into the PC caucus…
Only a week after Premier Ed Stelmach ruled out using rent control to deal with the skyrocketing cost of housing and then changed his mind, PC Party delegates forced Stelmach to change his position another 180 degrees to turn against the use of rent control (again):
In the [PC] party’s annual general meeting, delegates rejected a motion to adopt the resolutions of an all-party legislature committee that had urged Premier Ed Stelmach’s Tory government to adopt rent controls.
Meanwhile, as Stelmach continues to not act on the issue, it seems like Albertans are being left to dry in a climate of skyrocketing rent costs.
Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft has been continuing to hammer the Stelmach Tories on the issue.
Liberal Leader Kevin Taft says both Premier Ed Stelmach and Housing Minister Ray Danyluk got farm support payments last year.
Taft says its ironic that they take farm support cheques but wont help people struggling with soaring housing costs by imposing rent controls.
He says some Albertans are being forced to sleep in their cars and trucks because soaring rents and a shortage of housing.
Edmonton City Councillor Michael Phair responded
“It’s very misguided,” Phair said. “There are many people who rent across the province who will be quite disappointed that the [PC] party didn’t take a different course of action.”
Long-time Calgary Alderman Joe Ceci responded:
“I think it’s indicative of the fact that the grassroots of the Tory party doesn’t have the best interests of low-income people in mind,” he said.
It seems that the Stelmach Tories have found themselves squarely on the wrong side of an explosive issue.
As someone who presented recommendations to the Affordable Housing Task Force earlier this year, it’s disappointing to see that the Provincial government hasn’t taken a strong leadership role on the issue.
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11:19 PM.
I’ll defer to Dan for the time being (see #3)
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losing a fight.
Alberta’s Tories are holding their annual convention in Edmonton this weekend and I’m sure it will be less exiciting than last year’s convention.
As the Tory convention is going on in Edmonton, the waves of discontent continue to spill out on to the front pages of the Calgary dailies as Mayor Dave Bronconnier continues his massive assault on the rural-based Tory government of Premier Ed Stelmach. On the affordable housing issue, I think Bronconnier is clearly in the right. This is a province-wide issue that requires provincial leadership, not scattered municipal projects.
Graham Thomson has some interesting commentary on how Stelmach has shot himself in the foot over the affordable housing issue:
But then some Calgary journalists began poking at Stelmach. Why was he so upset with the story of one Edmonton woman? Didn’t he realize Calgary tenants have been hit by huge rent increases for months?
That’s when Stelmach unwittingly unholstered the gun and took aim at himself.
“I wasn’t aware of anybody getting a $1,000 increase,” he said. Bang.
The Calgary journalists were gobsmacked. They have been writing stories about Calgarians being hit by $1,000 rent increases since last August. There have been so many of those stories that journalists have stopped reporting on them and have moved on to heartbreaking tales of tenants being gouged by $2,000 a month rent hikes.
And here’s Stelmach saying he’s not aware of what’s going on in Alberta’s largest city. He tried to look compassionate but ended up looking clueless.
If Calgarians thought the new premier was too much of a northerner before, they must be thinking he’s from Inuvik today.
This will only add to Stelmach’s troubles in Calgary. For weeks, he’s been hammered by Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier who feels betrayed by the new provincial budget. Bronconnier says there are so many strings attached to municipal grants the city is effectively hog- tied when it comes to spending money on necessary projects such as LRT expansions.
The Stelmach government, says Bronconnier, obviously doesn’t understand the city’s issues.
Bronconnier is wildly popular in Calgary. Stelmach is not.
Does this remind you of something?
Stelmach’s position on affordable housing was made even more confusing when he did a complete 180 on his government’s position on rent controls (See: May 3 and flip to May 5).
I don’t know about you, but all this tension will sure make the upcoming by-elections in Calgary Elbow and Drumheller-Stettler interesting and leaves the opportunity open for Kevin Taft’s Alberta Liberals to make more inroads into Calgary.
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windy calgary.
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walk for darfur.
A good friend of mine who is crazy – but passionate – asked me to post about this walk he’s doing…
Hey Everyone,
This Sunday, April 29th, Churchill Square, 5-7pm!
Help stop a Genocide!
Rally for the people of Darfur!
Walking from Calgary to Edmonton, 20 people have marched, to raise awareness and demand that action be taken to bring an end to the slaughter of innocent people in Darfur.
Speaking in schools, universities, on radio and television and arriving at Churchill Square at 5pm this Sunday to call on Governments to take swift action to halt the Genocide.Let your voice be heard!
Join us, for the people of Darfur.
For more info, go to www.walkfordarfur.caFrom the shoulder of Highway 2 northbound,
Daniel Eggert
GOOD LUCK, DAN!
Apologies for the lack of posts this week, I hope I haven’t disappointed my loyal readership (you know who you are… Anand!). It’s been a busy week as I wrap up one job and am on the brink of transitioning to another.
Here’s a roundup of stuff that caught my eye over the past week:
– I was sad to see that Michael Phair will not be seeking re-election in Ward 4 this Fall. Phair is one of Edmonton’s strongest City Councillors and I was happy to be able to vote for him in the last election.
– The court trial fallout of the Ward 10 scandal is wrapping up in Calgary. An investigation into a scandal surrounding Calgary’s municipal elections revealed there was, “an organized but unsuccessful attempt to stuff ballot boxes.” This led to Alderman Margot Aftergood admitting her campaign team requested 1266 mail-in ballots and had them sent to a mailbox rented by her husband, David Aftergood.
David Aftergood, his brother-in-law and three other members of her campaign team—including two brothers of PC MLA Hung Pham were charged for violating the Alberta Elections Act.
Yesterday, David Aftergood was found guilty of one charge.
– This scandal makes me sick to my stomach. What do we expect to acomplish over there if this is how we’re opertating.
Last week, the Alberta Legislature moved to create four new all-party committees that are to review legislation referred to it from the Assembly, review regulations, and other issues referred to them.
Though this is a normal sight for most parliamentary democracies, this is something new in Alberta and will hopefully shift more power from the closed-doors of Cabinet to the elected Legislative Assembly. This said, it’s still too soon to tell how much of an impact these committees will have on Legislative Alberta. Hopefully they will prove to be more effective than their broad committee names…
Here’s a list of the committee membership:
Standing Committee on Community Services (11 Members)
Chair – Cindy Ady (PC-Calgary Shaw)
Deputy Chair – Weslyn Mather (Lib-Edmonton Mill Woods)
Tony Abbott (PC-Drayton Valley-Calmar)
Dan Backs (Ind-Edmonton Manning)
Jack Flaherty (Lib-St. Albert)
LeRoy Johnson (PC-Wetaskiwin-Camrose)
Art Johnston (PC-Calgary Hays)
Rob Lougheed (PC-Strathcona)
Thomas Lukaszuk (PC-Edmonton Castle Downs)
Raj Pannu (NDP-Edmonton Strathcona)
Shiraz Shariff (PC-Calgary McCall)
Standing Committee on Government Services (11 Members)
Chair – Harvey Cenaiko (PC-Calgary Buffalo)
Deputy Chair – Mo Elsalhy (Deputy Chair)
Moe Amery (PC-Calgary East)
Neil Brown (PC-Calgary Nose Hill)
David Coutts (PC-Livingstone-Macleod)
Alana DeLong (PC-Calgary Bow)
Heather Forsyth (PC-Calgary Fish Creek)
Richard Marz (PC-Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills)
Brian Mason (NDP-Edmonton Highlands Norwood)
Bridget Pastoor (Lib-Lethbridge East)
George VanderBurg (PC-Whitecourt-Ste. Anne)
Standing Committee on Managing Growth Pressures (11 Members)
Chair – Clint Dunford (PC-Lethbridge West)
Deputy Chair – Dave Taylor (Calgary Currie)
Victor Doerksen (PC-Red Deer South)
Denis Herard (PC-Calgary Egmont)
Ray Martin (NDP-Edmonton Beverly Clareview)
Bruce Miller (Lib-Edmonton Glenora)
Ray Prins (PC-Lacombe-Ponoka)
Dave Rodney (PC-Calgary Lougheed)
George Rogers (PC-Leduc-Beaumont-Devon)
Len Webber (PC-Calgary Foothills)
Gene Zwozdesky (PC-Calgary Mill Creek)
Standing Committee on Resources and Environment (11 Members)
Chair – Denis Ducharme (PC-Bonnyville-Cold Lake)
Deputy Chair – David Swann (Lib-Calgary Mountain View)
Pearl Calahasen (PC-Lesser Slave Lake)
David Eggen (NDP-Edmonton Calder)
Gordon Graydon (PC-Grande Prairie-Wapiti)
Doug Griffiths (PC-Battle River-Wainwright)
Paul Hinman (AA-Cardston-Taber-Warner)
Ty Lund (PC-Rocky Mountain House)
Rick Miller (Lib-Edmonton Rutherford)
Len Mitzel (PC-Cypress-Medicine Hat)
Frank Oberle (PC-Peace River)
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elect ben henderson!
Ben Henderson, Edmonton City Council candidate for Ward 4, is having a BBQ fundraiser next weekend.
Ben came very close to being elected in 2004 (coming within striking distance of defeating incumbent-Councillor Jane Batty. Making Ward 4 one of the closest races in the 2004 Edmonton City Council election).
The Elect Ben campaign will be launched with the Second Annual First BBQ of the Season to be held Sunday April 29th from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Rossdale Community Hall, 10135 – 96 Avenue. Food and drinks will be provided. There will be door prizes, a silent auction, and a 50-50 draw.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by phoning 428-1913, sending an e-mail to electben@benhenderson.net, or at the door.
Today is the day that the Alberta Tories will chose their candidate to replace former Finance Minister Shirley McClellan in Drumheller-Stettler. There are three candidates running to carry the Tory banner:
– Jack Hayden, farmer and former President of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (1998-2005).
– Norman Storch, Hanna-area farmer.
– Leona Thorogood, an accountant from Stetter.
The Alberta Liberals have nominated local farmer and former County Councillor Tom Dooley.
Other nominated candidates in Drumheller-Stettler include Socred Larry Davidson, Alberta Aliance candidate Dave France, and Alberta Green Jennifer Wigmore.
UPDATE: Jack Hayden has been nominated.
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band-aid budget 2007?
Tory Premier Ed Stelmach and Finance Minister Lyle Oberg unveiled the 2007 Alberta budget Thursday afternoon. Yours truly was there to take in the show.
Having received a nice invitation from Advanced Education & Technology Minister Doug Horner, I was privileged to sit in the Government Members Gallery to watch the budget announcement. In a random occurrence, I sat beside and had a really good conversation with Edmonton Police Chief Mike Boyd.
I have mixed feelings about this budget. It was nothing awe inspiring or amazing but seems to be an attempt to deal with some of the backlog and problems accumulated over 13 years of Tory mismanagement under the now defunct-Ralph Klein regime.
In total, the announced 2007 budget totals over $33 billion. The largest budget ever seen by Albertans.
Here are some of my reflections…
INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING
The nearly 40% increase in infrastructure funding for the infrastructure deficit was summed up well by Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft: “This is the price of bad management”.
After years of only focusing on debt repayment while allowing Alberta’s infrastructure to languish for 13 years, the $18 billion in announced capital spending seems to be an attempt to heal this scar. This problem is going to need a lot more than band-aids, it will need suchers. The $18 billion will point Alberta in this direction.
TAX CREDITS FOR STUDENTS
An increase in the Education Tax Credit from $450 a month to $600 a month for post-secondary students. Considering that most students don’t earn enough money to claim the tax, this won’t have much of an effect on enrollment. If the Stelmach Government’s objective is to increase enrollment, especially among under-represented groups, continuing the failed policies of yesterday that encourage student indebtedness while doing nothing to reduce the upfront costs represents a lack of vision.
There was also a large increase in student finance funding. The devil will be in the details whether this will be an innovative change, or just creating new and exciting ways for students to get into debt. Sources say that there will be more student finance announcements early next week.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Out of the $400 million going to Alberta’s municipalities, $100 million of that is earmarked for affordable housing projects. Though this $100 is a substantial committment to creating more affordable housing in Alberta, this is a problem that requires provincial leadership under a province-wide strategy in dealing with this fast growing issue.
TABACCO NO!
Oberg announced a 16% increase in tabacco taxes declaring that “smoking kills!”
PICKING A FIGHT
The 3% budget increase for K-12 Education and the unilateral decision to tie $25 million of funding for the Alberta Teachers’ Pension liability to labour peace put forward by Education Minister Ron Liepert’s looks to me like posturing for a bigger fight. Look for an ATA-Tory showdown this year.
THE RESPONSE
Alberta Liberal leader Kevin Taft:
“This budget may sustain the PC party up until the next election, but it won’t sustain this province in the long-term,” says Taft. “It’s a fire alarm budget. This government is racing around putting out political fires but not making the province safer in the long term.”
Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier:
“”For the past four to five months, I have certainly been singing the praises of the new premier and his government,” Bronconnier said. “I took the man at his word, privately and publicly, that this is what would take place. “This budget constitutes a half-kept promise.”
NDP MLA David Eggen:
““Teachers across the province will see this as a provocation,” said Eggen. “This government has neglected the unfunded liability in the Alberta Teachers’ Pension Plan, for years. Now they’re trying to leverage that neglect to get teachers and school boards to give up their right to collective bargaining.”
Alliance MLA Paul Hinman:
“We need a true conservative budget, not a phoney conservative budget.”
And finally, thank goodness Graham Thomson is back. Thomson put it well in his Friday column:
“What many agree on is, this is a budget trying to right the wrongs inherited from the Ralph Klein years. In that sense, it is a budget that talks of the future but is a victim of the past.
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can you say ‘by-election?’
From yesterday‘s Orders-in-Council.
O.C. 197/2007
April 18, 2007The Lieutenant Governor in Council appoints the following persons as returning officers for their respective electoral divisions for the purposes of or in connection with elections, enumerations and plebiscites under the Election Act:
(a) Jean Minchin of Calgary as the returning officer for Calgary Elbow;
(b) Doreen E. Nixon of Byernoore as the returning officer for Drumheller Stettler.
Also, I’ll be posting my thoughts on today’s Alberta budget tomorrow.
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budget day!
It’s budget day in Alberta and I’ll be at the Alberta Legislature this afternoon to report what’s what in Ed Stelmach’s first budget as Alberta’s Tory Premier.
For those of you interested in this sort of thing, here’s a breakdown of the financial statements of the Alberta PC‘s, Alberta Liberals, and Alberta NDP from 2006.
The individual contribution data isn’t yet available on the Elections Alberta Electoral Finance, but hopefully it will be up soon.
Though the individual contribution breakdown will give us a better idea of where the contributions are coming from, looking at the raw numbers shines a light on some interesting trends.
First, the Tories were still dominant in the money section. This is no surprise. The Alberta PC’s form the current government and have a well established fundraising base in corporate Alberta. Being the last year of the Ralph Klein dynasty, 2006 was an exiciting year for the Alberta PC’s with the attention and funds garnered from their leadership race, this is what I’m assuming a large part of the 1374% increase in “other sources” is about (membership sales, leadership candidate deposits, and the aparatus of this activity).
Second, Kevin Taft’s Alberta Liberals raised over a million dollars last year. This is quite significant since I believe the last time the Alberta Liberals raised over a million was in 1993 (twelve years of inflation aside, it is still nearly 20% higher than their 2005 fundraising numbers, which is a significant sign of growth). The Alberta Liberals have also made a significant dent in their debt (a leftover from their disaterous 2001 election campaign) and have suceeded paying off over $350,000 in just two years.
Third, though the Alberta NDP were only able to raise half of what the Alberta Liberals raised, the NDP continue to attract more contributions from less than $375 crowd than both the Alberta Liberals and Tories. I see this as significant for a number of reasons. Most significantly, when the Federal Liberals introduced Campaign Finance reform before Prime Minister Chretien retired, the Conservatives benifited greatly from having a broadly developed base of supporters who contributed smaller amounts of donations in larger amounts. That said, I’m not convinced that Alberta will see any significant campaign finance reforms before the next election (the numbers also show the NDP running a deficit and an increasing debt).
The Alberta Alliance failed to submit their financial contribution data by the deadline. Does this mean they will be deregistered? I’ll have to find my copy of the Alberta Elections Act and read up…