Premier Ed Stelmach announced today that he is resigning and will not seek re-election. The text of his statement has been posted on his blog.
I am still digesting this and will provide more thoughts soon.
What do you think?
UPDATE: Here is my blog post looking at Premier Stelmach’s resignation the morning after.
Calgary-Currie MLA Dave Taylor will announce that he is joining the new Alberta Party this morning, becoming that party’s first ever MLA.
From the Calgary Herald:
Ex-Liberal MLA Dave Taylor will throw his support to the Alberta Party today, adding a third opposition party to the increasingly crowded legislature floor.
“I am joining the Alberta Party and that obviously means I will sit as an Alberta Party MLA,” Taylor told the Herald on the weekend.
“I’ve taken a long time to make this decision but I believe it is the right one. The Alberta Party is a good fit with my values and my principles. I can be very comfortable with these people.”
The Calgary-Currie MLA will make the announcement this morning at a downtown news conference with interim party Leader Suff Huff, other party advocates, and members of his Currie riding association.
His decision is a “tremendous boost to this new party and another nail in the coffin of the Liberals,” says Mount Royal University professor David Taras.
“So far the Alberta Party is below the radar with most Albertans. Not many could pick the leader out of a lineup.
“And now here’s Dave Taylor all of a sudden. He’s known, he’s articulate and he’s effective. People could start to get really interested in this new party.
A former radio host on Calgary’s AM770, Mr. Taylor was first elected as a Liberal MLA in 2004 and left that party to sit as an Independent MLA in April 2010. As the new Alberta Party’s first MLA, he will certainly give the new party a boost in public attention as the Legislature resumes sitting on February 22, 2011. Today’s announcement also challenges the growing narrative that only the Wildrose Alliance has momentum going into an expected 2012 provincial general election.
In December 2010, the Alberta Party Board of Directors surprised some political watchers when they approved a set of guidelines for future Alberta Party MLAs and MLAs wishing to join that Party. The Alberta Party also kicked off its leadership contest in January 2011 with voting for a new leader to take place in May 2011.
Mr. Taylor’s move creates an even more oddly split Assembly with 67 Progressive Conservative MLAs, 8 Liberal MLAs, 4 Wildrose Alliance MLAs, 2 New Democrat MLAs, 1 Alberta Party MLA, and 1 Independent MLA.
(Note: I am a member of the Alberta Party. Read my closing remarks to the Party’s 2010 Policy Convention to get a good idea of why I joined)
The Alberta Liberals shuffled their shadow cabinet yesterday in preparation for the Spring Sitting of the Legislature, an expected PC cabinet shuffle, and a provincial election expected early in 2012. After a rough 2010 filled with internal party divisions, incoherent messaging, and growing communications challenges, the Liberals need to be a lot more strategic in 2011 if they want to be a significant player in the political narrative building towards a 2012 provincial election.
With only eight Liberal MLAs in the Assembly, there are not many combinations that would make for a dramatic shuffle of critic portfolios, but yesterday’s changes includes some interesting moves.
There were a few interesting moves, including shuffling Hugh MacDonald out of the Labour critic portfolios and Kent Hehr from Justice critic to Energy, but most interesting move has Health & Wellness critic Kevin Taft shuffled aside to let Liberal leader David Swann take an additional critic responsibility. This gives us a pretty good clue about what the Liberals want to focus on in 2011, and how they might try to write themselves back into the political narrative.
Becoming the Health Care Party.
Health care was the dominant issue of the Fall 2010 sitting of the Legislature and is expected to be front and centre when the Spring sitting begins on February 22, 2011. The past six months of high-profile health care news stories, the firing of Dr. Raj Sherman, and the political battles that ensued make it a no-brainer why the Liberals would want their leader to be front and centre on this issue.
The soft-spoken Dr. Swann brings years of practical experience as a medical doctor that gives him a unique and personal perspective from inside the health care system, but that does not make his challenge any easier. As Health & Wellness critic, Dr. Taft has easily been the most well spoken and focused Liberal MLA in the Assembly. Carrying a wealth of knowledge collected after years working in the health care policy field, Dr. Taft was a formidable critic in that role.
As a strategy, it would be smart for the Liberals to want to become the health care party and the main alternative to the “lurch planning” of the Progressive Conservatives and the privatization agenda of the Wildrose Alliance. Putting their leader front and centre is one small step towards this and gaining more media attention, as NDP leader Brian Mason has discovered in his dual role as Health critic for his party.
The big challenge for any party is whether to emphasize the strength of their current team or improve the visibility of their current leader? With Dr. Taft having announced that he will not be standing for re-election there is a good argument to be made that the caucus should shift that high profile role to an MLA who is planning to stand for re-election. The challenge for the eight Liberal MLAs is whether they can afford to put their leader front and centre at the cost of putting one of their strongest players on the bench? It is a bit of gamble, but it could work for the Liberals.
New Liberal Critic Portfolios
David Swann (Calgary-Mountain View)- Health & Wellness, Executive Council
Laurie Blakeman (Edmonton-Centre) – Environment, Sustainable Resource Development, Culture and Community Spirit
Harry Chase (Calgary-Varsity) – Children and Youth Services, Tourism, Parks, and Recreation, Employment and Immigration
Kent Hehr (Calgary-Buffalo) – Energy, Education
Darshan Kang (Calgary-McCall) – Service Alberta, Housing and Urban Affairs, Infrastructure, Transportation
Hugh MacDonald (Edmonton-Gold Bar) – Treasury Board, Finance and Enterprise, Justice and Attorney General, Solicitor General and Public Security
Bridget Pastoor (Lethbridge-East) – Seniors and Community Supports, Municipal Affairs, International and Intergovernmental Affairs, Agriculture and Rural Development
Kevin Taft (Edmonton-Riverview) – Aboriginal Relations, Advanced Education and Technology
Edmonton City Council voted yesterday to enter formal negotiations with the Katz Group to develop a downtown arena though framework documents developed by the City Administration. These documents are problematic for many reasons, but mostly significantly because they present a $100 million gap in the funding framework.
Mayor Stephen Mandel remains a steadfast supporter of this mega-project and a few Councillors expressed their discomfort at entering this stage of the process with a surprising lack of important information available to them. Councillors passed a 12-part motion requesting reports on the community benefits, the potential to raise money from licensing or selling seats, the impact on businesses near the area, and the status of negotiations with Northlands. The lack of important information still unavailable makes yesterday’s motion very much a tentative move towards negotiations between City Council and the Katz Group.
After a heated day of questions and debate, Councillors Don Iveson and Linda Sloan were the only two Council members to vote against the motion to enter negotiations, which was voted upon separately from the rest of the 12-point motion. Councillor Iveson wrote a blog post last night expanding on why he did not support the motion and raised the important point that perhaps: “we should just call this a subsidy and be transparent about it.” This point raises another important question that I asked in a previous post: should municipal governments be responsible for subsidizing professional sports in Canada?
Public hearing on the Katz Group’s zoning proposal are scheduled for today and more public hearings are expected to be held in mid-March.
As City Council awaits a response to its motions, it is important that all Edmontonians understand the wider issues surrounding this development, so that they can fully participate in the debate and ensure that our elected officials are making the most responsible decisions for the future of our City. Here are three of those wider issues:
Understanding the Community Revitalization Levy
An important thing to remember when trying to understand the Community Revitalization Levy (CRL) is that despite its name, it is essentially a tax (in other jurisdictions it is known as Tax Increment Financing).
There is a good explanation of CRL on the WhyDowntown? blog. Mack Male has also written a helpful three part series explaining some of the basics about CRLs, how they are already being used in Calgary’s Rivers District, in Edmonton’s Fort Road, and is in the process of being implemented in Edmonton’s The Quarters District, and how a CRL could work in a Katz Arena District.
Understanding Opportunity Costs
The Charette’s Scott Lilwall has taken a look at some of the opportunity costs facing the City of Edmonton if public funds are used to subsidize the Katz Group Arena. Are the opportunity costs of subsidizing a new downtown arena good for Edmontonians?
Given that it’s never a sure thing, we need to ask ourselves – what is the opportunity cost? If downtown revitalization is our goal, is a new arena the best thing we could spend $250 million on? It seems to be a high price to pay for bringing people to the downtown for a few hours at time. Even if the new arena was booked every night, most people are going to be in and out: come downtown for the event and then go home. Some of them will stick around for a few hours beforehand. Do some shopping. Do some eating. Spend some time downtown.
That’s good. But it can’t be all that we aim for. What we need is to get more people living around downtown, people who will be eating and shopping and walking and doing what people int he neighborhoods they live in. And they’ll be doing it at all hours of the day. That should be our goal, and the arena is only one way of getting closer to it. But are there better things that we can do with that big pile of money?
Understanding the Arena District Poll
Last week’s news stories in the Edmonton Journal and Edmonton Sun were filled with praise for a poll showing that a majority of Edmontonians not only supported the construction of a downtown arena and public funding of the project.
Luckily for Edmontonians, the Journal’s Paula Simons took a more critical look at the poll results and the questions asked in the poll. Ms. Simons’ closer look confirms the old adage that you can always formulate polls to give you the results you are looking for.
In her column today, Ms. Simons reminds Edmontonians that many questions still need to be answered before this arena deal spins out of control. Hit the books and get learning, Edmontonians. The future of your City deserves a good debate.
While announcing the dates of their upcoming leadership contest last week, the Alberta Party also released the contest rules, which include some interesting and encouraging requirements for candidates to release and make public a list of financial donors to their campaign.
A condition of candidacy is that a candidate for election as Leader shall consent to full disclosure of all donations, receipts and expenses related to the campaign, including:
(i) an interim report on the same, in the form adopted by the convention rules committee which shall be filed by the Official Agent of the candidates with the Convention Rules Committee 14 days in advance of Voting Day; and
(ii) a final report on the same, which shall be filed by the Official Agent of the candidate with the Convention Rules Committee within 30 days after voting dayThe donor information contained in both the interim and final reports referred to in (5) above will be posted by the Alberta Party to its website (Candidates are urged to post donor information, for the knowledge of the public, on a real time basis).
There are no laws governing political party leadership contest in Alberta and each party has the opportunity to be as transparent or closed-door as they decide when it comes to financial contributions and making public the names of campaign donors.
Progressive Conservative
There were no rules requiring candidates in the 2006 PC leadership contest to release the names of their financial donors, but this did not stop some from making their donor lists public.
Candidates Jim Dinning, Dave Hancock, and Mark Norris released varying versions of donors lists, some which included specific donation amounts for each donor and some listing donors in categories between donation sizes. Current Finance Minister Ted Morton refused to make public a list of donors who supported his bid to become Leader of the PC Party.
The contest winner, now-Premier Ed Stelmach released a partial list of financial contributors to his leadership campaign, keeping secret the names of 80 donors whose contributions made up 15% of the $1.1 million raised by his leadership campaign. The partially released list allowed the media and opposition parties to later point out fairly obvious conflict-of-interests, but the remaining eighty donors remain secret.
While not committing to implement any changes in the short-term, PC Party President Bill Smith has publicly committed to have a system in place to monitor and make public who donates cash to their leadership campaigns for his party’s next leadership campaign.
Liberal Party
Candidates in the December 2008 Liberal leadership contest were required to provide the Party with a list of donors who had contributed to their campaign. The donors lists were then posted on the Liberal Party website. The section of the Liberal Party website that had listed these donors was removed when that Party relaunched their website late last year.
New Democratic Party
I was not able to find any current information on whether candidates for the leadership of Alberta’s NDP would be required to release a list of financial contributions. The last time the Alberta NDP held a contested leadership race was in 1996, so it is possible that in the absence of a campaign over the past 15 year that these rules do not exist.
Wildrose Alliance
Leadership candidates in the 2009 contest were not required to release a list of their financial contributors. Leadership contest winner and current Wildrose Alliance leader Danielle Smith claims to have raised $250,000 for her leadership campaign, but has refused to release the names of her donors. Ms. Smith told the Edmonton Journal after her election in 2009 that she would not make public a list of her donors because they “are afraid of repercussions by this government.”
Alberta’s former Chief Elections Officer, Lorne Gibson, proposed in 2009 that the Elections Finances Act be amended to include a section governing political party leadership finances. Mr. Gibson’s contract was not renewed by a PC MLA dominated legislative committee soon after the recommendations were made.
According to a report released by Public Interest Alberta, there are currently three Provinces that require party leadership contestants to release names of their financial backers. In Ontario, leadership candidates are required to report from the time of the official call of the contest until two months after the vote and then within six months of the contest’s completion. In Manitoba and British Columbia, leadership contestants are required to report a list of their financial contributions and donors thirty days after the end of the contest.
Stand up for Better Healthcare Tour Promo video from fusedlogic TV on Vimeo.
Hoping to continue to put pressure on the PC government, Friends of Medicare Executive Director David Eggen and Independent Edmonton-Meadowlark MLA Dr. Raj Sherman will tour the province on the ‘Stand up for Better Healthcare Tour.’ Five dates have been announced on the province-wide tour that will encourage a non-partisan discussion about health care in Alberta.
Calgary
Date: Jan 29, 2001 – 1:00 PM
Location: Parkdale United Church 2919 8 Ave NW
Red Deer
Time: February 8, 2011 7:00 PM
Location: Golden Circle Seniors Resource Centre 4620 47A Ave Red Deer, AB
Medicine Hat
Time: February 8, 2011 7:00 PM
Location: To Be Announced
Lethbridge
Time: February 19, 2011 2:00 PM
Location: To Be Announced
Grande Prairie
Time: February 26, 2011 7:00 PM
Location: To Be Announced
Dr. Sherman will also be launching his own online television show, the Examination Room, on February 2, 2011 as part of the Well and Wise Online network. You can watch a video teaser for the show on fusedlogicTV.
The Alberta NDP Caucus ran into some unexpected problems on Facebook late last week while trying to gain some online attention to their new Facebook Group urging Independent Edmonton-Meadowlark MLA Raj Sherman to join their two-MLA caucus. When trying to invite their supporters to the new Facebook Group, the NDP did not at first realize that a feature of the new Facebook Groups would automatically add users to the group, rather than request an invitation to join.
Another unexpected feature of the new Facebook Group sent emails to each of the almost 300 group members each time someone posted on the Group’s Wall, resulting in a slew of predictably irritable and confused responses from members who had been automatically added.
NDP Director of Outreach Rob Pearson posted an apology message to members of the Facebook Group on Friday afternoon:
I apologise for the auto-adding of members who were opposed to membership of this group. We have lost administrative power and suggest you remove yourself by clicking the “Leave Group” icon on the right side of the page.
The intent of this group was definitely not to propose to decide for you. With facebooks ever changing formats, and methods of informing people we began inviting people and soon found they were automatically subscribed. Again we apologize.
Please be patient or remove yourself if you do not approve of this current setup. A more appropriate page has been set up if you would prefer to show support via fan page.
(It is not clear why or how the NDP Caucus lost administrative control of their Facebook Group)
Elniski’s Final Tweet
Most politicians are eager to showcase their ability or to learn how to use social media to connect with citizens, but Edmonton-Calder PC MLA Doug Elniski quietly exited from the Twitterverse on January 13, 2011. In a final Tweet, Mr. Elniski invoked the words of writer and dramatist Douglas Adams.
The first term MLA has become known for his honesty, which has earned him a reputation for putting his foot in his mouth on more than one occasion.
I love Edmonton. I am proud to call myself an Edmontonian. I love living in a downtown core neighbourhood. I also have no patience for the kind of blind boosterism that sometimes envelopes the business and political community in this city.
I am referring to the kind of boosterism reflected in letters this week from the ONEdmonton Downtown Revitalization Task Force and the YES! for Edmonton group that endorse the zoning of a downtown arena district. A quick read of these letters will reveal that the endorsements are not backed up by clear arguments supported by urban planning ideas or constructive arguments. I would not have an issue with these letters if they included reasonable arguments or event justifications. Like the Katz Group itself, I have heard a lot of talk about how a Katz Arena District could revitalize Edmonton’s Downtown core, but I have not seen a lot of evidence.
Before I jump on the Katz Arena District bandwagon, I want Edmonton City Councillors to demonstrate some serious diligence and provide arguments based in reason. Although I am not opposed to the construction of a new arena, I have not been convinced that the construction of a mega-project like a new NHL Arena will result in the kind of vitalization for the downtown core that its proponents suggest.
Is an Arena the only future for downtown?
No. I have little doubt that a new Katz Arena District would bring a lot of Edmontonians downtown a few nights a week, but I believe that we can do better than that. In my mind, the centre of a revitalized downtown is people, but not people driving in from the suburbs – people actually living there. This would require creating an urban environment that is not dependent on large events, but through everyday life. This is not something that requires expensive mega-projects like the Katz Downtown Arena District .
The debate around the development of a Katz Arena District has also avoided raising questions about the future of the dozens of social agencies already present that area of downtown. The Hope Mission, the Herb Jamison Centre, and the George Spady Centre are all within a few blocks radius of where the proposed Katz Arena. These centers provide shelter to hundreds of homeless Edmontonians each night. Successful programs like Housing First have helped provide stable housing for over 1000 Edmontonians, but there are still thousands of homeless Edmontonians who could displaced to other neighbourhoods if the Katz Arena District were built.
Let us improve the quality of life in the core and attract more people – and families – to live in the downtown neighbourhoods by building things and attract business that people will love to live beside everyday.
Financial risk is a factor that is too important to be let pushed aside by boosterism. Should municipal governments be responsible for subsidizing professional sports?
If Canadians believe that professional sports clubs are a business sector in need of public financial support then this is a role that the three main levels of government – federal, provincial, and municipal – need to discuss. Leaving the responsibility to the level of government with the smallest tax-base to assume the role of subsidizer and risk-holder for a private financial venture such as building the mega-project Katz Arena District is simply irresponsible.
Before we zone, before we decide to spend a public penny on building a new arena, let’s not miss an opportunity to debate these important questions that could shape our downtown core for generations to come. Let’s avoid the white elephants and build our downtown into something we can be proud of.
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Readers of this post may also be interested in reading My Edmonton, a two-part series on the opportunities and challenges facing Edmonton’s downtown core.
By: Jody MacPherson
A sleeper riding on the outskirts of Calgary, Highwood has more controversy per acre, than bales of hay. For instance, the first thing you might notice about Okotoks, the riding’s largest town, is how the steady convoy of polluting vehicles travelling to and from Calgary at rush hour contradicts the town’s proud sign, “Sustainable Okotoks.”
The irony continues with the feting of Okotoks as the greenest community in Canada by such pundits as Prime Minister Stephen Harper and CBC’s Peter Mansbridge at the same time the “rurban” community sits in the chosen provincial riding of Wildrose leader Danielle Smith – a right wing student of the climate-change-denying Fraser Institute and cheerful avower that global warming science is “not settled.”
Smith’s running here, of course, because the riding has become a hotbed of disgruntled former PC Party supporters. Ever since the Stelmach administration passed the Land Stewardship Act last year and alienated rural conservatives with its infringement of property ownership, wealthy rural landowners such as J.C. Anderson and others have been seething. It seems nothing puts Stetson-hatted ranchers – real McCoys or not – more at unease than threats to their property rights.
Smack in the middle of this controversy is Alberta’s smooth-talking finance minister, Ted Morton, formerly the Sustainable Resource Development Minister responsible for pushing through the Land Stewardship Act. Rumour has it that Morton personally met with disgruntled PC party members in Highwood to discuss their objections to the Act, but in the end, he was immoveable, leaving them unimpressed and in many cases, infuriated.
Given this prairie windstorm, it’s no surprise the Highwood Wildrose Riding Association was one of the first the party set up and that it has shown some of the strongest membership numbers in the province. Throw in the fact that Premier Ed Stelmach’s “dissing” of local and much loved MLA George Groeneveld prompted the local PC riding association to pen a public letter of discontent, and the Tory stronghold looks a might shaky these days.
Upping the ante are a couple of wild card issues. The first is the redrawing of Highwood’s boundaries where new electoral lines have transformed the riding from a large rural land base to a small, dense area of people that more closely resembles an urban riding. The face of the riding has changed significantly to give the two towns of Okotoks and High River more sway.
Generally speaking, I’ve found you can count on Okotokians for their support for the principles of sustainability. In town surveys, residents consistently vote for (and in large numbers) living within the carrying capacity of the Sheep River watershed (aka “the population cap”). Despite Chamber of Commerce-type efforts to discredit the “slow growth” approach as “elitist” and “anti-business,” and despite shamefully blatant local newspaper support for the pro-growth candidate in the recent municipal election, the pro-cap mayor won.
It will be interesting, then, to see how Okotokians, especially those thousands who ostensibly flocked to town specifically because of its environmental reputation, mark their ballot in the next provincial election if forced to choose between a not-so-green Smith and a pro-growth PC candidate such as Morton. I’ve failed to mention any so-called “progressive” candidates as, thus far, neither the Liberal, NDP, Alberta Party, or former Greens (now Vision 2012) have come up with a single viable name. Yet, with Smith’s presence virtually guaranteeing media limelight, it would be a choice opportunity for a progressive to toss their hat into the ring. In fact, a group of local citizens have been working behind the scenes to try and forge an agreement for electoral cooperation to run a single progressive candidate.
The ultimate wild card in a riding desperate for water, of course, is the spectre of an Alberta water market. With the Stelmach government sending signals that water licenses may soon be up for purchase, the Wildrose could stake out a stance opposed to the water market. Catch is, this would require a change from the free market approach expected from a right-wing Wildroser, and that’s not a given.
They must be aware though, with housing developments at a virtual standstill due to water license shortages and the town running out of options, Okotoks is “ground zero” for the coming water wars. Whichever candidate takes the high road by campaigning to protect its citizens from a water market, an expensive pipeline, higher taxes, and encroaching suburban (Calgary) growth is likely guaranteed the Highwood seat. After all, grizzled landowners who’ve ranched in the area for generations AND the newly minted, solar-powered, recycling Okotoks’ crowd share one common concern—a secure, local water supply for themselves and their children.
That said, if Morton decides to run in Highwood, a high noon showdown is certain to be in the offing. The Tories will likely do anything to avoid water as an election issue, thus an attack on the “water front” would either secure an almost certain victory in the riding by those opposing it, or at the very least, boost Wildrose’s reputation elsewhere.
Despite the pull to the right from within her own party, Smith and her new advisors are said to be considering a more “moderate” approach in the upcoming election. It follows then, that this could justify a policy platform opposed to an Alberta water market. If that were the case, the only candidate left standing after Election Day would likely be Smith. And the progressives would be left in the dust, again. (Cue cowboy music.)
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Jody MacPherson has lived in the Highwood Riding for 15 years. She raised her two children in Okotoks and has been active in water and other environmental issues in the community. She’s been working in communications for more than 20 years and served for two years as the VP, Communications for the Alberta Liberal Party before stepping down in November. She’s currently working as a freelance communications and political consultant. You can read her blog at www.jodymacpherson.com and follow her tweets at @jody_macpherson.
At least a dozen times a year, I am invited to present workshops on social media and media training to various organizations and associations across Alberta. Some of these have included communications representatives from the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton, Public Interest Alberta, and Covenant Health among others.
This past weekend, I co-presented a similar presentation, along with my friend Samantha Power, to participants of the Next Up network in Edmonton. This Next Up network is dedicated to providing practical training and education for young social activists in our province. This was my second time presenting a workshop to this group and this time I included a video to remind participants how traditional command and control communications does not mix well with social media.
As Alexis Ohanian explains in his Ted Talk, it was clear that the organizers of this Greenpeace campaign could probably never had predicted their well-intentioned online activism could result in this kind of an outburst of internet activity.
Albertans appointed to the Federal Cabinet
Two Alberta Conservative MPs were included in a recent cabinet shuffle in Ottawa. Macleod MP Ted Menzies was appointed as the Minister of State (Finance) and Calgary-Nose Hill MP Diane Ablonczy was appointed as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Americas). These two minor appointments were meant to offset the loss of Environment Minister Jim Prentice from the federal cabinet in Ottawa.
Provincial Cabinet Shuffle
The Spring Sitting of the Legislative Assembly could be delayed by the PCs. In preparation for the next election, Premier Ed Stelmach is expected to bring in some new faces and ask old faces planning to retire in the expected March 2012 election to step aside. Three Ministers prime for retirement appear to include Environment Minister Rob Renner, Children and Youth Services Minister Minister Yvonne Fritz, and Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky, who will have each served as MLAs for 18 years by the time of the next election is expected. Also rumoured for retirement include Education Minister Dave Hancock and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Iris Evans, who were first elected in 1997. Potential additions to a new cabinet could include Parliamentary Assistants Drayton Valley-Calmar MLA Diana McQueen, Athabasca-Redwater MLA Jeff Johnson, and Livingstone-Macleod MLA Evan Berger.
Raj Against the Machine Tour
Independent Edmonton-Meadowlark MLA Raj Sherman is hitting the road this spring on a province-wide town hall tour to hear Albertans’ views on health care. Dr. Sherman was kicked out of the PC caucus in November 2010 when he publicly criticized the PC government’s record on health care and singled out former Health Minister Ron Liepert as a problem. The good Doctor Sherman is also the newest MLA to join Twitter, where he can be found at @RajShermanMLA
NDP tackle the Tories on Long-term Care
NDP MLA Brian Mason raised some fair criticisms of the PC Government’s handling of Long-term Care as the new Villa Caritas facility opened near the Misericordia Hospital in Edmonton. Many of the beds in the Covenant Health-operated Villa Caritas were originally slated as Long-term Care spaces, but were later changed to include geriatric mental health patients transferred from Alberta Hospital Edmonton. According to the NDP, there are more than 600 people on the waiting list for long-term care beds in Edmonton.
Alberta Party leadership candidates emerge.
Chris Tesarski is the first person to publicly declare their candidacy for the leadership of the new Alberta Party. Mr. Tesarski is the owner of a Calgary-based energy company Sandbox Energy Corporation and has listed an extensive biography on his website.
Also expected to join the contest is three-term Town of Hinton Mayor Glenn Taylor, who is expected to launch his campaign for the new Alberta Party leadership in the next few weeks. Mayor Taylor was first elected to his current job in 2004. This would not be his first foray into provincial politics as he was the NDP candidate in West Yellowhead in the 1997 General Election when he placed a strong third with 20% of the vote.
Liberal course correction
With a change in communications staff this week, the Liberals are trying to get their house in order for 2011. I broke the story and you can read more here and here.
Around the world in 21 days
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Iris Evans is gearing up for a trip around the globe that will land her in Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom from January 10 to 31, 2011. Cypress-Medicine Hat PC MLA Len Mitzel recently travelled to Texas for a three day trip to a meeting of the Ports-to-Plains Alliance meeting. I generally support sending representatives to promote Alberta internationally, but with the total amount of travel time being logged by cabinet ministers and PC MLAs, now might be the time to have a serious discussion about the value of these trips.
The Alberta-China Connection
The Calgary Herald has published the first of a four part series of articles written by Jason Fekete investigating the Province of Alberta’s relationship with the People’s Republic of China.
Wildrose nominations heat up
The Wildrose Alliance lost a candidate when Milvia Bauman resigned last week, but that party is still attracting candidates in other constituencies. In Calgary-McCall, a contest will see Khalil Karbani and Grant Galpin face off for the nomination. Mr. Gaplin is listed as the Spokesperson for the Airport Trail Access Committee, which has been Liberal MLA Darshan Kang‘s Number 1 issue in the Assembly over the past year. On the other side of north Calgary, Kevin Dick is standing for the Wildrose nomination in Calgary-Varsity.
Read more in the Alberta Politics Notes archive.
Word from the Legislature Annex is that Liberal Caucus Communications Director Neil Mackie‘s contract was terminated this afternoon. Sources say that Mr. Mackie was informed about the termination of his contract around 1:30pm and Liberal MLAs were notified of the decision at 2:00pm.
Liberal leader David Swann hired Mr. Mackie in March 2009 to replace former journalist Larry Johnsrude who had served in that job since 2007.
The Liberals had difficulty communicating their messages as they fell in the polls behind the Wildrose Alliance and their media savvy leader Danielle Smith in 2010, leaving Mr. Mackie with what may have been one of the most challenging jobs in the Official Opposition staff. It is likely that this staff shake-up is a result of the communications challenges of the past year.
UPDATE: When contacted by this blogger, Liberal Caucus Chief of Staff Rick Miller acknowledged that the Official Opposition caucus faced communications challenges of 2010 and commented that “the change is an opportunity to put a new face on our communications efforts.” An interim Communications Director is expected to be appointed soon and a search for a permanent replacement will begin soon after that.
Finance Minister Ted Morton launched his new website this past week. A quick glance of the new website will reveal some prominently placed photos of Minister Morton with notable Canadian politicians such as Prime Minister Stephen Harper, former Premier Ralph Klein, and even some of his cabinet colleagues, but conspicuously missing the website are any photos (or even any mention) of current Premier Ed Stelmach.
With a provincial general election expected in early 2012, this could be a sign that the former leadership candidate from Calgary is beginning to quietly distance himself from the leader of his party. Will other MLAs from southern Alberta follow his direction?
Opposition parties hope to turn the death of Edmonton’s Expo 2017 bid into a major campaign issue.
Federal opposition parties are preparing for the next federal election and nominating candidates in Alberta ridings where they think breakthroughs are possible.
The federal Liberals ended 2010 with a meeting in Edmonton-East selecting Shafik Ruda as their candidate of choice against five-term Member of Parliament Peter Goldring and former NDP MLA Ray Martin. Liberals in Calgary-East are expected to nominate Josipa Petrunic on January 18 to challenge Tory MP Deepak Obhrai. In late 2010, the Conservatives acclaimed party insider Michelle Rempel as their candidate in Calgary-Centre North, recently vacated by former Environment Minister Jim Prentice.
The federal Liberals slate in Alberta is expected to be bolstered when a high-profile candidate announces their intentions to stand against Labour Minister Rona Ambrose in Edmonton-Spruce Grove. Alberta political watchers have been abuzz with rumours that Ruth Kelly, publisher of Alberta Venture magazine and former President of Edmonton’s Chamber of Commerce, will carry the Liberal Party banner against Minister Ambrose. The rumours began after Ms. Kelly’s became an outspoken critics of the Government of Canada’s denial of funding for Edmonton’s bid for the 2017 Expo (and the large pile of federal infrastructure funding that was expected to come with a successful bid).
While I have remained largely indifferent to the 2017 Expo bid, it is easy to understand the frustration of the people who committed their time and energy towards the bid only to have political powers in Ottawa deny the funds needed to make it a reality. Minister Ambrose will be difficult to defeat, but I am glad that the Conservatives might actually have to pay some attention to and focus some of their campaign resources on a riding that they would likely take for granted.
A shift in financial and volunteer resources could also make a difference in the expected competitive races in Edmonton-Strathcona between NDP MP Linda Duncan and Tory candidate Ryan Hastman, and in Edmonton-Centre where Liberal Mary MacDonald and New Democrat Lewis Cardinal are challenging Tory MP Laurie Hawn.
Does Edmonton have a champion in Ottawa?
It is really hard to tell sometimes. Our Members of Parliament can be often seen at events around our city (some more than others), but none of them have distinguished themselves as Edmonton’s strong voice in the national capital.
Edmonton has its share of competent representatives in our local batch of current MPs, like Mike Lake, James Rajotte, Tim Uppal, and Mr. Hawn, but none of them have succeeded in carrying the kind of political clout that has defined Edmonton’s previous prominent champions in Ottawa.
In the recent past, our city has sent prominent voices like Jim Edwards, Deb Grey and Anne McLellan to the House of Commons and as one local columnist has suggested, we have not had a champion since. Edmonton’s lone opposition MP, Ms. Duncan, was elected with high expectations in October 2008, but has been somewhat of a ghost in our city ever since.
Are federal party leaders paying attention of Edmonton? Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, NDP leader Jack Layton, and Green Party leader Elizabeth May have visited Edmonton a number of times in the past year. Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited Edmonton this year for the first time since 2008.
