Category: Alberta Politics

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alberta party annual general meeting & road to policy 2010.


I have travelled across a lot of Canada and while I have experienced some amazing scenery, in my mind little compares with a Fall drive down the Queen Elizabeth II Highway through central Alberta. The colours of the leaves are changing, the farmers are harvesting their crops, and a new season is just around the corner. This was the drive I took this weekend on my way to Red Deer to observe the Annual General Meeting of the Alberta Party.

Around fifty members of the Alberta Party crowded a meeting room at the Holiday Inn to participate in their party’s Annual General Meeting. It was a typical hotel conference room, but the crowd was different. Where most traditional partisans could easily be characterized by their greying hair or balding heads, this crowd was much more generationally diverse than I have seen at other political meetings.

I arrived at noon and was told that I had missed a series of small fireworks set off by some of the old guard of the Alberta Party. The Alberta Party was formed in the 1980s and existed as a Reform Party-esq fringe party until earlier this year when a new group of mainly rural Party members joined forces with the largely urban Renew Alberta group. I was told that some of these older party members felt that the influx of new members and new constitutional changes were changing the party too quickly. After a thorough debate, all the constitutional changes and motions were approved.

Not being able to piggyback on the resources of federal political cousins or traditional party establishments, members of the new Alberta Party have focused on building their party and policy infrastructure through hundreds of “Big Listen” meetings held across the province. The ideas and feedback generated through these living-room and coffee meetings were used in Saturday afternoon’s Road to Policy session to determine the general areas of discussion that will be proposed at the Alberta Party’s Policy Convention in November.

It was my observation that ideas generated from the Big Listens that were discussed this weekend were not extreme or ideological driven. The ideas were moderate and likely reflective of the views of most Albertans. It felt that one of the biggest differences between this party and the traditional establishment parties is not necessarily policy, but the tone of discussions that are shaping that party.

While some political leaders talk about doing politics differently, the Alberta Party is actually doing politics differently. What I witnessed this weekend did not feel like a political party event, it felt like a real collaborative process.

Some criticism levelled at the Alberta Party since they launched their Big Listen campaign has been that they do nothing but listen. A few months ago, I might have been more sympathetic to these criticisms, but I now understand the process that the party is following. Laying a strong foundation of organization and ideas is not something that can be created overnight and it is critical for the survival of a new political party.

One of the big news items of the day was the announcement by Leader Edwin Erickson that he will resign from his position at the November Policy Convention. At that convention an interim leader will be appointed and an open leadership contest will begin.

The thing that impresses me the most about the new Alberta Party is the group of credible and politically savvy people who have joined its ranks over the past ten months.

New Party President Chris Labossiere was previously involved with the Edmonton-Whitemud Progressive Conservatives and played a key role in Dave Hancock‘s re-election campaign in 2008. Vice-President Chima Nkemderim is the campaign director for Naheed Nenshi‘s Calgary Mayoral campaign and managed MLA Kent Hehr‘s 2008 campaign in Calgary-Buffalo. Their Board of Directors includes former Education Minister David King and Edmonton Public School Board Trustee Sue Huff. At the end of the day, the newly elected Alberta Party Board of Directors consisted of 11 women and 14 men from across the province.

Some people have asked me “why I bother writing about the Alberta Party” and why I do not focus on helping get the established opposition parties elected. The truth is I have a difficult time not getting frustrated when writing about the sorry state of Alberta’s traditional establishment opposition parties.

To me, the characteristics that differentiate what I experienced this weekend from what I have experienced at other political meetings is the optimism of the people in the room. The people I spoke with at the AGM are not driven with a singular desire to destroy the PCs or gain power, but are driven with an optimism to change the culture of politics in this province.

The Alberta Party has proven to me that they can attract competent people and actually understand the meaning of practicing politics differently. Their big challenge will be to translate this into support outside their already politically active communities and into the next provincial election.

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Alberta Politics

na’vi stelmach.

Too much ink has already been spent on James Cameron‘s visit to Alberta, but I could not let the day end without mentioning the front cover of today’s Edmonton Sun. “Hilariously nonsensical” is how a good friend of mine described it. A very apt description.

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genia leskiw posts anti-wildrose rant on her mla website.

It has been fascinating to observe how Alberta’s long-governing Progressive Conservatives have reacted to the challenge created by the Wildrose Alliance‘s rise in the polls. In most circumstances, the PCs appear to have kept a level head and tacted their policies to the centre to compete with Danielle Smith’s party’s more right-wing conservative policies, but there are exceptions.

Even though she was elected with 75% of the vote in 2008, Bonnyville-Cold Lake PC MLA Genia Leskiw appears to be feeling the pressure of the Wildrose within her own constituency. Ms. Smith recently toured the area and former PC MLA and current Bonnyville Mayor Ernie Isley is now supporting the Wildrosers. On her website, Ms. Leskiw recently published a long rant on her website about the dangers of the Wildrose Alliance in which she invokes union-busting, George W. Bush, and the fear of southern Alberta domination.

Be wary of the Wild Rose Alliance!

Very often the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence.  When one looks deeper at the quality of grass that actually exists there, the extra greenness is usually an illusion.  Politics is no different, as many Conservatives look at the Wildrose Alliance.  Another old saying fits this situation is “Beware of a wolf in sheep’s clothing!”

All this attention to this new party is a result of their leader.  A former broadcaster, she is articulate, and a master of the quick soundbite that the media eats up.  As a result she has given her party much more publicity than it deserves.  Her normalcy masks some of the lunacy of the platform of her upstart party.  Her biggest challenge will be to try and hide some of the ridiculous promises in her party platform before critical Albertans see them for what they are.  The party’s strength is in its timing.  During harsh economic times, when tough decisions are being made, it is much easier to be a critic than a builder.  We are in such a time now.

The platform of the party follows a shotgun approach to political planning.  Promise everything to everybody, and hope no-one actually reads the whole platform.  Some of their promises, like ending all homelessness in Alberta during their first term in office are naively simplistic.  Some are dangerous, like striking down parts of our Human Rights and Multicultural Act that prevent discrimination.  Other policies of the party are openly contradictory.  They promise the oil companies they will slash our royalty system, other sectors they will slash taxes that affect input costs, yet promise Albertans they will keep a balanced budget.

Putting an end to public education by using ‘Alberta Opportunity Scholarships’ instead of per pupil student grants to public schools will set off alarm bells for those concerned about the future of public education.  They promise standardized annual testing of students and teacher quality.  This comes straight from George Bush’s American plans for school improvement.  We all know how well that worked.  During a time of labour peace, when all teachers are in a long term contract, this party wants to pick a fight and limit teacher’s labour rights.  The only MLA in the party speaks of limiting teacher’s right to strike to weekends and holidays.  A well thought out platform indeed.  They also intend to punish teachers if their students do not perform to Wildrose standards.  Pity the poor teacher of disadvantaged kids.  It is critical that teachers everywhere have a close look at this platform before they remove the controversial parts until after they are elected!  Most of the sane parts of their platform merely reflect what the current government is doing in education, such as enhancing online educational initiatives for students, or funding arts, music, and physical education.  I analyze education first, because that was my career for thirty six years, and I know it well.  I challenge every constituent in Bonnyville-Cold Lake to zero in on the area you are most familiar with, and read their platform carefully and critically.  The problem with an all encompassing platform is that it may seem reasonable in areas you are unfamiliar with, but alarm bells should go off when you analyze your area of specialization.  Beware of this party!

Teachers aren’t the only group they want to pick a fight with though.  The Wildrose aim is to strip unions of any influence they currently have by setting up a situation that would ‘allow individual workers the choice to determine their membership in labour organizations’.  It is difficult to imagine a union jobsite with workers who choose not to be union members!

Read the platform with a wary eye.  Remember that this is a Calgary based, southern Alberta party.  We can’t be certain if promises to ‘Develop and implement an on and off-stream fresh water storage plan.’ is code for inter-basin transfers of water from northern Alberta to southern Alberta.  Scientists have told us this would be environmentally catastrophic.  But we shouldn’t let science get in the way of sugar beet irrigation.  Maybe Cold Lake water should be shipped to southern Alberta farms before Bonnyville.

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alberta politics notes 9/27/2010

James Cameron & the Avatarsands.
 Premier Ed Stelmach is facing criticism for acting like a “starstruck teenager” after receiving an invitation to take film director James Cameron on a tour of Alberta’s oil sands. While I doubt that the Ed “Hollywood” Stelmach label will stick, the Premier’s response does show how eager the PCs have become in taking any opportunity to challenge the international criticism of Alberta’s energy beach. (Will fish be on the lunch menu?)

Brian Mason’s “Just trust me” tour.
 NDP MLA Brian Mason made two announcements this week in his and MLA Rachel Notley‘s “Earning your trust” tour across Alberta. In Calgary Edmonton last week, the NDP leader announced a fiscal plan, pledging that an NDP government would balance Alberta’s budget in one year. The NDP leader also announced support for the construction of a post-secondary institution in the Town of Hinton. The NDP are not going to form government or gain wide-spread support in Alberta anytime soon but I have to give that party’s two MLAs credit for being the only party on their side of the political spectrum to be making policy announcements.

Envision Bonnyville/Edson/etc.
Ethical questions have been raised since it was made public that the lobby group opposing the redevelopment of Edmonton’s City Centre Airport lands were asking for financial contributions from northern Alberta municipalities to help fund its campaign. According to news reports, Envision Edmonton asked a number of municipalities for funds, including the Town of Edson, which turned down their request for $10,000 in public funds. The Town of Bonnyville initially said yes, but needs to ratify the decision once again since the lobby group’s plebiscite petition was ruled invalid. (Kudos to Paula Simons who wrote an excellent column on this subject).

Envision Wildrose
There is an important political question about how much the Wildrose Alliance, which has endorsed the Envision Edmonton lobby group, is using this issue to promote their own political agenda. Bonnyville Mayor Ernie Isley told the Bonnyville Nouvelle in a recent interview that ‘his goal in life is to do everything possible in the next two years to elect a Wildrose government next election.’ ‘everything possible.’

Legislature Staffers standing in the municipal election.
Two political staffers at the Alberta Legislature are trying to make the jump to municipal politics this fall. NDP Caucus Research Director Sarah Hoffman is challenging Edmonton Public School Board Trustee George Rice in Ward G. Wildrose Caucus staffer James Johnson is running against City Councillor Jane Batty in Edmonton’s downtown Ward 6. Calgary-Buffalo Liberal MLA Kent Hehr dropped out of the Calgary Mayoral contest last week.

Next Provincial Election.
I have started a list of candidate nominated to stand in the next provincial election (I have also created a link to the list in the bar above). By my count, the Wildrosers have nominated 9 candidates, the NDP 2, and the Liberals will nominate their first candidate on October 2. I will try to keep the list up to date, so please email daveberta.ca@gmail.com if there are additions to the list.

Read more in the Alberta Politics Notes archive.

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alberta politics notes 9/19/2010

Edmonton Mill Woods Liberals
 The Liberal Party will nominate its first candidate for the next election on October 2 in Edmonton-Mill Woods. According to an email from constituency President Paula Stein last week, former MLA Weslyn Mather is the only candidate to have declared their intention to seek the nomination. The Liberals held Mill Woods under MLA Don Massey from 1993 to 2004 and under Mrs. Mather from 2004 until 2008, when she was defeated by PC candidate Carl Benito. Since becoming MLA, Mr. Benito has become the centre of controversy after he reneged on his election promise to donate his entire salary to a scholarship fund. The Liberals have placed Mill Woods in their key target constituencies in the next election and recently flooded the constituency with volunteers to remind voters of Mr. Benito’s promise.

Tory staffers migrate to more conservative pastures
 The Wildrose Alliance will claim that they are a lot different than the Progressive Conservatives, but a quick glance at their caucus staff list reveals that a number of former PC caucus staffers are now employed by the tiny insurgent conservative caucus. Brock Harrison worked in the research and communications branch of the PC caucus until he recently joined the Wildrose caucus as their Communications Co-ordinator. Wildrose Legislative Assistant Jeffrey Trynchy was previously employed as a Legislative Assistant in the PC caucus. Shannon Stubbs, Staff Coordinator for the Wildrose Alliance Caucus is the former VP Organization of the PC Party and was a candidate in 2004.

Alberta Health Act
 Is it simply legislative housekeeping or an agenda to increase the role of privatized medicare in Alberta? Edmonton-Rutherford PC MLA Fred Horne‘s travelling committee released a report last week that declared the need to ‘putting people first.’ Instead of including the mixed reviews that were voiced at the public consultation meetings, Mr. Horne’s report focuses on motherhood and apple pie. There are some good points in the report, but it is clear that this report is an exercise in the Tories reporting what they wanted to hear.

Trust me. Really.
NDP leader Brian Mason is setting off on a mission to Earn Your Trust in a fall province-wide tour where he will make a series of policy announcements on fiscal responsibility, the economy, and health care.

Read more in the Alberta Politics Notes archive.

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Alberta Politics

city centre airport petition invalid.

According to Edmonton’s City Clerk, the petition opposing the redevelopment of the City Centre Airport lands is invalid under provincial legislation.

Read the report from the City Clerk

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alberta politics notes 9/11/2010

– Residents of Sherwood Park are rightfully angry to discover that their long-promised hospital is not actually a hospital. Councillor Jason Gariepy had his computer access and blackberry service cut off after he sent an email criticizing a Strathcona County media release. The release quoted Strathcona County Mayor Cathy Olesen praising the County’s two PC MLAs Minister Iris Evans and Dave Quest. Councillor Linda Osinchuk, who is challenging Mayor Olesen, is less pleased.
– In a 2004 interview with the Edmonton Journal, Minister Evans listed bringing “a 24-hour emergency medical care facility to Sherwood Park” as the first of her top three priorities. Since that time, she has served as Minister of Health and Minister of Finance.
– Alberta Health Services has re-announced the opening of 132 beds in Calgary this week. The beds were originally announced on June 25, 2010.
– Premier Ed Stelmach joined Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, Quebec Premier Jean Charest, and federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice for dinner with US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week. The Pembina Institute‘s Marlo Reynolds met with Speaker Pelosi the next day.
– It is official. The Fall Sitting of the Alberta Legislature will begin on October 25.
– Canadian Rockies Public School Trustee Esmé Comfort has written an excellent letter in the Rocky Mountain Outlook about why school trustee work is important for community. The Public School Boards Association of Alberta has also published an excellent letter about the importance of trusteeship and the democratic process.
– NDP MLA Rachel Notley believes that public school fees would be less if the government stopped funding private schools.
– The Wildrose Alliance has released their Education policy.
– An MLA committee conference call caught some comments by Calgary-Buffalo Liberal MLA and Mayoral candidate Kent Hehr about fellow Mayoral candidate Barb Higgins.
– Earlier this week, Mr. Higgins’ campaign manager Donn Lovett shoved Naheed Nenshi supporter Stephen Carter at a campaign event. Mr. Lovett apologized after word of the altercation spread on Twitter.
– Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel launched his website, Twitter, and Facebook campaign.
– Rod Love is now lobbying on License Plate Branding.
– Elections Alberta is currently recruiting Returning Officers and Elections Clerks in seven constituencies for the next provincial election.

Read more in the Alberta Politics Notes archive.

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wildrose nominates eight candidates.

This email landed in my email inbox today. The Wildrose Alliance has nominated eight candidates for the next election (only 79 candidates away from a full-slate). As far as I am aware, the only other party to have nominated a candidate for the next election is the NDP, who have nominated Deron Bilous in Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview.

The Wildrose Alliance Party is pleased to announce the following candidates:
• MLA Rob Anderson in Airdrie
• MLA Heather Forsyth in Calgary – Fish Creek
• MLA Paul Hinman in Calgary – Glenmore

• John Carpay in Calgary – Lougheed.
John practices law in Calgary. He is the former Executive Director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation and the former Alberta Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

• Harpreet Nijjar in Calgary – Northern Hills.
Harpreet, a graduate of the University of Calgary, is an award winning young entrepreneur who runs an insurance brokerage.

• Shayne Saskiw in Lac La Biche – St. Paul – Two Hills.
Shayne, a graduate of the U of A, practices law in north eastern Alberta and was a former VP Policy for the Alberta PCs.

• Milvia Bauman in Medicine Hat.
Milvia is an entrepreneur and community leader in Medicine Hat. She is currently the Chair of the Medicine Hat Chamber of Commerce and Medicine Hat Safe Community Association.

• Danny Hozack in Vermillion – Lloydminster.
Danny farms in Streamstown Alberta. He is a long time conservative activist and has served on the boards of the Alberta Beef Producers, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, and Marwayne Minor Hockey.

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the facebook campaign.

Earlier this week I joined Calgary blogger DJ Kelly on CBC Radio’s alberta@noon province-wide call-in show to talk about social media and the upcoming municipal elections. Over the course of the show we had a good discussion about how the Internet is changing how voters seek information about candidates and how social media tools are increasing the ability of candidates to communicate and engage with voters. As I have previously written, while social media tools are too important for a serious candidate to ignore, they do not replace the kind of human contact that is achieved through traditional campaigning, such as door-knocking.

DJ’s most recent blog post used Facebook followings to gauge the support for candidates in Calgary’s competitive Mayoral election. It might not be scientific but the analysis is curiously similar to a recently released poll. The race for Mayor of Edmonton has so far been a lot less exciting than the crowded field of 17 candidates in Calgary. On the Facebook front, Mayor Stephen Mandel is absent. Challengers Daryl Bonar‘s Facebook Page has 483 followers and Dan Dromarsky‘s page has attracted 349 (with a lofty goal of 75,000).

Looking at City Council races, Councillor Amarjeet Sohi appears to be leading the pack with 503 members in his Facebook group. Following Councillor Sohi’s lead are Ward 11 candidate Vishal Luthra‘s group with 503 members, Ward 7 candidate Brendan Van Alstine‘s group with 291 members, and Ward 11’s Kerry Diotte with 229 members.

Online and on the streets, the Public School Trustee elections are looking like they might be some of October’s most competitive races. The two leaders on the Facebook campaign appear to be Ward F candidate Michael Janz with 717 fans and Ward G candidate Sarah Hoffman‘s group with 769 members. If previous elections are an indicator, these numbers could signal an incredible jump in interest in the School Board elections. Links to more School Board candidates websites and Facebook Pages can be found on the ARTES website.

As the October 18 election day approaches, I will be following and writing more about how candidates are using social media in their campaigns.

This post was cross-posted at EdmontonPolitics.com.

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alberta party planning for fall 2010.

I met the new Alberta Party provincial organizer Michael Walters for lunch last week for an update on what his party is planning in the lead up to their Annual General Meeting on October 2 and their policy conference on November 13 and 14 in Red Deer. Since they joined with the Renew Alberta group in February 2010, the new Alberta Party has focused on organizing and holding Big Listen discussion events to lay a foundation for their party’s policies. They are still a small party, but a growing board of directors and a significant financial contribution have help boost their credibility.

Over the course of our lunch, we talked about many things and the bulk of our conversation focused on what the generic party Constituency Association has become and how it could be changed to affect positive change in their community.

It is probably fair to say that in most political parties, Constituency Associations (or Electoral District Associations on the federal level) operate largely as mechanisms for party fundraising and the election of candidates, which are almost exclusively partisan-institutionally focused exercises. Constituency Associations do play a role in the development of policy, but this is an area that in most parties is largely controlled and cherry-picked by the party central leadership.

What if Constituency Associations were more like community organizations that did not simply act as whole-owned subsidiaries of a central party organization, but as advocates for local community issues? Advocating for the macro-level policy discussion about health care, education, the environment, and the economy are important, but in the rush to develop party policy some of the most important community focused details can get lost.

If we accept that a main reasons for our dropping voter participation rate is caused by a citizenship that feels disconnected with the democratic process and elected officials, could a positive solution be that parties need to be more meaningfully connected to ground-level community issues?

Imagine that there is a derelict gas station or slum-landlord owned rental property sitting in the middle of your town. Neither the town council or MLA have shown any interest in advocating to have it torn down or condemned. Constituency Association members who are trained to act as a community organizers could advocate to change this – collect petition signatures, organize the community, and hold the slum-landlord responsible.

This is one idea that Mr. Walters talked about during our lunch. It may seem insignificant to the macro-level political watcher, but if we seriously want to re-connect politics on the provincial level (and federal level) to the issues that matter most to people in their homes this could be a positive place to start.

A professional community organizer Mr. Walters speaks from experience. As an organizer with the Greater Edmonton Alliance for nine years, he helped organize a community of faith-based organizations and labour groups that have on a number of occasions drawn more than 700 residents to public hearings held by Edmonton’s City Council.

In advance of their AGM and policy conference, they will be hosting five Big Listen training sessions open to anyone interested in participating in shaping the direction of the new Alberta Party. The training sessions will be held in Edmonton (September 7) , Calgary (September 8), Red Deer (September 9), Grande Prairie (September 13), and Lethbridge (September 14).

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alberta politics notes 9/03/2010

– Dr. David Schindler‘s oilsands toxins report stirred the pot this week and United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is coming to Canada to talk oilsands.
– Remember the Gap boycott of the oilsands? It turns out it was all made up.
– The Calgary Herald has called for Speaker Ken Kowalski‘s resignation over politically-motivated attempts to censor the Wildrose Alliance.
– The Legislative Assembly is set to reconvene this fall. The official calendar has the sitting scheduled for October 25, but I have heard talk of the Assembly reconvening as early as the second or third week of September.
– The ongoing saga of the financially insolvent Health Resource Centre continues. David Climenhaga has written some excellent blog posts on this topic. The Calgary Chapter of the Friends of Medicare are organizing a rally at HRC on September 10 at 10am.
– Edmonton-Centre Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman has released a new video encouraging Albertans to get involved in the discussion about land use and conservation in the Athabasca region.
– Ernie Isley is seeking a third-term as Mayor of Bonnyville. Mr. Isley was first elected Mayor in 2004 and previously served as a provincial Cabinet Minister and PC MLA for Bonnyville from 1979 until 1993 when he was unseated by Liberal Leo Vasseur.
– Vulcan County Councillor Ian Donovan is seeking the Wildrose nomination in Little Bow to run against long-time PC MLA Barry McFarland. Mr. McFarland was first elected in a 1992 by-election.
– Melissa Blake is standing for re-election as Mayor of Wood Buffalo.
– The Social Credit Party has lost their website.
– Former Premier’s Office staffer and current Assistant to the Energy Minister David Heyman is working on Calgary-Buffalo Liberal MLA Kent Hehr‘s bid for Mayor of Calgary. Former Liberal strategist Donn Lovett is in candidate Barb Higgins‘ camp. Mr. Hehr’s 2008 campaign manager Chima Nkemdirim is the campaign director for Naheed Nenshi‘s Mayoral campaign (Mr. Nkemdirim is also the President of the new Alberta Party).
– The Alberta Party recently hired former Greater Edmonton Alliance lead organizer Michael Walters as their Provincial Organizer and released a video as part of their announcement:

Read more in the Alberta Politics Notes archive.

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oil sands toxin-levels report stirs the pot.

A recent peer-reviewed study from researchers including University of Alberta Professor David Schindler has raised some serious questions about the level of oil sands caused toxins in the Athabasca River and the regime that is supposed to monitor these toxin levels. Speaking to the media, Dr. Schindler offered some strong words against claims by the government and industry that the toxin levels are natural.

Environment Minister Rob Renner responded by telling reporters that his scientists have told him that the amount of compounds detected in the Athabasca River are “not a concern and are of insignificant levels.” Liberal leader David Swann and NDP MLA Rachel Notley jumped on the opportunity and offered their support for Dr. Schindler’s report. Wildrose Alliance MLAs have remained suspiciously silent on this important environmental debate.

The Stand with Fort Chipewyan group reminded Albertans that this is not the first time the toxins issue has been raised:

“When Fort Chipewyan residents demanded the government look into whether oilsands activity was contributing to the community’s high cancer rates, they were denied. They were denied because the government’s monitoring system — R.A.M.P. — indicated that there was no impact.”

And 48 hours after the report became public, Premier Ed Stelmach called for a probe:

“We’ll have the scientists sit down and compare the data. Some of the measurements, I couldn’t explain to you, but let it be discussed scientist to scientist.”

Considering that the provincial government’s current strategy to clean up the oil sands appears to revolve largely on public relations campaigns, it may take much more than simple reassurances from the Premier’s “top men” to resolve this issue:

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ken kowalski’s institutional micro-management.

The Office of Speaker Ken Kowalski launched their latest institutional offensive in their ongoing campaign against Wildrose Alliance. A series of letters from Legislative Clerk David McNeil were sent to the tiny conservative caucus demanding that because their leader is not an MLA, that they immediately stop mentioning her name in their press releases. This kind level micro-management by the Speaker’s Office is unprecedented.

Legislative Financial Services Director Scott Ellis sent letters to Wildrose MLAs demanding that they and their staff avoid political party interests in their caucus activities, effectively asking them to be non-partisan partisans. The following letter and attachments from Mr. Ellis to Airdrie-Chestermere MLA Rob Anderson effectively demands the removal of any mention of the word “Wildrose” from his constituency website:

Memo to Rob Anderson As much as I disagree with their policy and political agenda, I am having a difficult time not having a little sympathy for the Wildrose caucus on this issue. When I worked for the Alberta Liberal Party, I remember the frustration of the communications staff at the Official Opposition caucus when the Speaker’s Office would refuse funding material that was arbitrarily deemed “too red” or that the Leader’s name was displayed “too prominently.”

While the Speaker’s Office has a duty to insure that caucuses are not using the public funds allocated to them in overtly partisan ways, it is painting this gray area black. Legislative politics is inherently partisan to a certain degree, and while I believe the Wildrose MLAs may be edging near the line of inappropriate usage, it is clear that Speaker Kowalski’s Office is continuing to target them for political and, ironically, partisan reasons.

UPDATE: Former Assembly Speakers David Carter and Stan Schumacher have spoken out, saying that they are alarmed by recent rulings from Speaker Kowalski and his office.

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why do i [tweet] so much [expletive noun]?

If only our politicians would spend as much energy investing in our creative economy as it does promoting the oil sands, our province might have different kind of international reputation.

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Title context

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alberta politics notes 8/26/2010

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– Finance Minister Ted Morton is not ruling out the idea of a Provincial Sales Tax for Alberta. Premier Ed Stelmach says it will not happen as long as he is in office. The Government of Alberta remains in a $4.7 billion deficit.
– Over 500 people packed a hall in Vegreville to voice their opposition to the construction of new electrical transmission lines. Although he is the MLA for this area and was invited to the meeting, Premier Stelmach declined to attend.
– Michael Walters is the new Executive Director of the Alberta Party. Mr. Walters previously served and excelled in his role as Lead Organizer for the Greater Edmonton Alliance from 2004 to 2010.
– Former City Councillors Michael Phair and Patricia Mackenzie have written an excellent opinion-editorial in the Edmonton Journal explaining why they believe redeveloping the City Centre Airport lands will benefit Edmonton.
– Reboot 3.0 is scheduled for November 5 and 6 in Edmonton.
– Jeffrey Coffman is seeking election to Lethbridge City Council. Mr. Coffman previously served as an Alderman from 1995 to 1998 and later as Chief of Staff to MLA Ken Nicol. Bridget Mearns, daughter of Lethbridge-East Liberal MLA Bridget Pastoor, has announced her campaign for Lethbridge City Council. Also in the running is long-time conservative activist and college professor Faron Ellis.
– What motivated Wildrose leader Danielle Smith to jump to the defence of a failing private health clinic?
– Quebec Conservative MP Maxime Bernier has recaped his summer visit to Edmonton and his encounters with Wildrose leader Ms. Smith and Edmonton-Strathcona Conservative candidate Ryan Hastman. Mr. Bernier’s former colleague Ken Epp is now the vice-president of the Strathcona Wildrose Alliance association. Mr. Epp represented the Elk Island and Edmonton-Sherwood Park constituencies from 1993 to 2006.
– Michael Butler has been acclaimed as the federal Liberal candidate in Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont. Mr. Butler has ran twice for the NDP in 2008, federally in Mill Woods-Beaumont and provincially in Edmonton-Rutherford. The riding has been represented by Conservative MP Mike Lake since 2006 after the retirement of long-time Liberal MP David Kilgour.

Read more in the Alberta Politics Notes archive.

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