Category: Alberta Politics

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Alberta Politics

national securities regulator shows split among conservatives.

The creation of a national securities regulator has created an interesting split in Alberta’s conservative movements. The national regulator, championed by the Ottawa Conservatives is strongly opposed on the provincial-level in Alberta by the Wildrose Alliance and governing Progressive Conservative parties.

Wildrose leader Danielle Smith in a May 26, 2010 media release:

“As I have travelled the province and met with business leaders, many have talked about the importance of choice in terms of where they raise money and have their affairs regulated.”
“If the federal government plans to take away this choice from Alberta’s entrepreneurs, we hope that the Government of Alberta will aggressively pursue its intervention against this intrusive law.”

Finance Minister Ted Morton in a May 26, 2010 media release:

“Alberta is not opposed to improving on the system we have, but we are opposed to the federal government acting unilaterally in an area that is provincial jurisdiction.”
“A federal regulator headquartered in Toronto could make it harder for these and other Alberta businesses to raise funds for growth and development.”
“If we open the door to federal intrusion in this area, we will be potentially inviting intrusion into other areas of provincial jurisdiction governing finance, such as insurance, pensions and financial institutions. Most Albertans don’t want this, and this is why we have joined forces with Québec to challenge the legality of this unprecedented federal power grab.”

Airdrie-Chestermere Wildrose MLA Rob Anderson in a May 26, 2010 media release:

“If businesses want to participate in a nationally-regulated system, they should be free to opt-in to that kind of arrangement. If businesses want to participate in a provincially-regulated system, then they should be free to continue.”

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in the Globe & Mail:

“Today we have 13 regulators, 13 sets of rules and 13 sets of fees. We need to lower barriers, not multiply them.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the Toronto Star:

“As an Albertan, I have no interest in seeing this sector centralized in Toronto.”

What happens if Alberta decides to opt out of the national securities regulator? Heather Zordel, a securities lawyer with Cassels Brock, told the Hamilton Spectator:

“If Alberta is not participating, where does that leave you? Well, that leaves you with an unfortunate situation where the co-ordination effort is going to have to be dealt with through the offices of the people that do participate.”

History shows that Albertans should be cautious of ceding autonomy to central Canadian institutions – especially in relation to our natural resources – but this appears to be more complex than a typical Ottawa versus Alberta struggle. Alberta’s New West Partnership allies, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, suspicious silence on the issue begs the question of how much this really has to do with the state of the conservative movement in Alberta? Perhaps Minister Morton’s beating the war drums against Ottawa has more to do with the Wildrose Alliance than a national regulator.

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Alberta Politics

alberta politics notes 5/29/2010

– Naheed Nenshi is in the race for Mayor of Calgary. Mr. Nenshi joins MLA Kent Hehr, Alderman Ric McIver, Alderman Joe Connelly, and former MLA Jon Lord. Read CalgaryPolitics.com for up to the minute updates on the Calgary Municipal election.
– Ward F candidate for Public School Board Michael Janz is kicking off his campaign with a free BBQ on May 30 (tomorrow) at the McKernan Community Hall.
– Minister Dave Hancock is expected to soon release the “Inspiring Education” report. Edmonton Trustee Sue Huff shared her thoughts on the process conference last October.
– One day he is filing a $2.8 million lawsuit against his former employer, the Edmonton Sun, and the next day columnist Kerry Diotte is seeking election to City Council. Mr. Diotte’s campaign team is said to include Gordon Stamp (Campaign Manager to Edmonton-East MP Peter Goldring) and former Councillor and perennial Mayoral candidate Mike Nickel (who was defeated by Don Iveson in 2007).
– Alberta’s Resource Royalty structure has once again been changed as the Provincial Government gives up $1.5 billion in revenue. The changes made in 2007 were the chief criticisms made by the Wildrose Alliance of the governing Progressive Conservatives. They reacted with luke warm support of the changes.
– Todd Hirsh, a senior analyst with ATB Financial, raises the question: could Greece become Alberta’s nightmare?.
– “Maybe we need a good recession or a depression.” Former Premier Ralph Klein said he did not know how small business owners could address the province’s extremely high wage expectations.
– Former Edmonton-Mill Woods Liberal MLA Weslyn Mather wrote a letter about her party in yesterday’s Edmonton Journal.
– Some people are starting to notice the “election-like campaigns” that politicians are engaging in this summer (Energy Minister Ron Liepert described the recent Cabinet Tour as an “election tour“) Is it a sign of an early 2011 election?
– While her party may have shunned cooperation in the next provincial election, NDP Research Director and Public School Board candidate Sarah Hoffman engaged a friendly crowd at a fundraiser for Edmonton-Gold Bar Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald this week.

Read more in the Alberta Politics Notes archive.

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Alberta Politics Alison Redford

alison redford: talking about human rights hunting

As the first session of the 27th Alberta Legislature continues, you just need to take a look around the Assembly floor to see some pretty impressive people. One of them happens to be Calgary-Elbow Tory MLA, Minister of Justice, and Attorney General Alison Redford. Though I was disappointed to see her defeat Craig Cheffins in the March election (I was the Communications Coordinator for the Alberta Liberals during the June 2007 Calgary-Elbow by-election), a quick glance at Redford’s resume even impresses this blogging skeptic.

As Graham Thomson put it in a recent column:

Redford has a jaw-droppingly impressive resume that includes work as a human rights lawyer in South Africa, the Balkans and Vietnam. In 2005, she braved the war zone that is Afghanistan to work as a United Nation’s Election Commissioner to promote democracy and free elections, something many Albertans take for granted given the record low 41-per- cent turnout for last month’s provincial election.

Redford has the credentials of a real Progressive Conservative, so, I was a little surprised when she began her term as Justice Minister by refusing to talk about the inclusion sexual orientation under the Alberta Human Rights Act. Ten years ago, in Vriend v. Alberta, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the non-inclusion of sexual orientation, as a prohibited ground of discrimination in Alberta’s Individual’s Rights Protection Act (now the Alberta Human Rights Act), infringed and denied the rights guaranteed by Section 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Instead of being the responsibility of the Justice Minister & Attorney General, human rights issues apparently fall under the responsibility of Culture and Community Spirit Minister Lindsay Blackett. Let me get this straight, the government’s top lawyer now defers questions about Supreme Court rulings and human rights to the Minister in charge of arts and culture?

Even though Redford won’t (or isn’t being allowed) to talk about amending Alberta’s Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, it seems that she doesn’t have a problem (or is being allowed) standing up on the Assembly floor to talk about the importance of killing small animals in Bill 201 – The Hunting, Fishing and Trapping Heritage Act.

The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

Ms Redford: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had not intended to speak in support of this bill, but I would like to thank my Hon. colleague from Cypress- Medicine Hat for introducing this bill.

Listening to the speeches that have been given today with respect to the importance of hunting, fishing, and trapping in our province, I was moved to speak. I have given a lot of thought over the years to these issues and respect the fact that as a government this province and this government have been able to develop a system where we have been able to responsibly manage the environment in such a way that Albertans that respect these traditions are able to participate fully in these traditions.

As I mentioned, it’s not something that I specifically have ever been involved in; I’m more of a hiker. However, what I would say is that when I look at the people in my constituency, in Calgary- Elbow, that talk about these issues, they are engaged in these issues. I think it would be a shame for us to think of this piece of legislation as only representing people that happen to live in rural areas. There are people in my constituency that are proud members of Trout Unlimited, Ducks Unlimited. They are people that are passionate about environmental management. They are people that care about respecting the traditions of this province. I think one of the challenges that we have in the future in Alberta is to make sure that we can respect both the traditions of rural Alberta as well as the lifestyles of people who are living in the cities. I think this bill is a great example of how we can marry those two traditions and those two lifestyles.

So a very short speech. Thank you to my colleague, and thank you for the consideration today.

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Alberta Politics Alberta Royalty Review Ed Stelmach

ed stelmach’s steers his steady plans along another steady path.

After a year-long province-wide debate on royalties, which included a high-profile royalty review panel, Tory Premier Ed Stelmach stayed steady on his promise that Albertans would get their “fair share” from the royalties collected from oil and gas exploitation. With Fort McMurray and the Tar Sands booming, Ed Stelmach led his steady fight against the evil dogs of looney environmentalism and the socialist opposition on the left who claimed the royalties increase was just not enough, and hard-line free market wing-nut ideologues on the right who screamed that the increase was too much. Ed Stelmach stayed steady. The increase was just enough, Albertans deserved their fair share, and Ed Stelmach was going to stay steady to make sure they got it.

Ed Stelmach was steady as he not only steered steadfast with his royalty plan into 2008, but also had the courage to stand up for his new royalty plan by launching it in front of Albertans during a General Election. On March 3, 2008, Albertans got up and cast their ballots for Ed Stelmach, endorsing his new royalty plan. Much rejoicing was seen in the streets. Ed Stelmach has achieved his new majority. A mandate and an approval of his plan.

Now, with an enlarged caucus and Spring Session of the Alberta Legislature beginning next week, Ed Stelmach is staying steady by not changing his steady plan, but steering his steadfast plan on another steady path. Ed Stelmach has the courage to do what’s right and won’t let small things like year-long debates, campaign promises, and election results get in the way of his steady plans.

Billion- dollar royalty break
Five-year holiday bid to attract new energy investment

Renata D’Aliesio
Calgary Herald; Canwest News Service

Friday, April 11, 2008

CALGARY – The Alberta government is giving oil and gas producers a $1-billion break on royalties over the next five years in a bid to attract investment it fears is being chased away.

Energy Minister Mel Knight revealed in Calgary on Thursday that the province has tweaked the new royalty regime to address the “unintended consequences” of its plan announced in October.

The government was assailed over that plan, set to take effect next year. The energy sector charged it made some oil and gas plays uneconomical, while opposition critics contended it shortchanged Albertans on resource riches.

“These (new) programs will help generate hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties and countless new jobs for decades,” Knight said.

“I believe this is good news for most of the industry.”

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Alberta Politics Alberta Tories

suiting up for spring session #3: getting ready to celebrate 40 years.

For those of your looking forward to the beginning of Spring Session in the Alberta Legislature, here’s a sneak peak at what awaits…

– In members statements, expect a member from the Tory caucus to make a statement in remembrance of the passing of former Moses and NRA head, Charlton Heston.

– Health Care Premiums will be gone in four years, starting… now?

– Speaking of Health Care, newly appointed Health Minister Ron Liepert says health care reforms he plans to bring in will be modeled on the Klein cuts of the 1990s.

– A Blue Ribbon committee is expected to be appointed to plan for the 40th Anniversary Celebrations of Progressive Conservative rule in Alberta in 2011. Expect plans to include the construction of a 50-foot statue of Ralph Klein overlooking the crossing of the Bow and Elbow Rivers in Calgary and military parades across the province…

– Land-use struggles! The fight by rural landowners continues! The Round Hill-Dodds Agriculture Protection Association is fighting to stop the construction of a new coal and gasification plant south of Tofield. Major investors in the project include the City of Edmonton-owned EPCOR and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

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Alberta Politics Ken Kowalski

suiting up for spring session #1.

With the Spring Session of the Alberta Legislature set to begin on April 14, here’s a part of the pre-game show that I will be spotlighting over the next ten days…

– Back for a 9th season. It’s unlikely that anyone in the Tory caucus will take a run to unseat the Boss Hogg of Alberta politics from his throne. Yep, I’m speaking of Speaker Ken Kowalski (Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock). Kowalski was re-elected to his 9th term in the Assembly on March 3 after having been first elected MLA in 1979 (which also happens to be the same year that the Dukes of Harzzard aired…).

– Keep an eye on the guy from the north. After getting the boot in Tory Premier Ed Stelmach’s post-election cabinet, Guy Boutilier (Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo) might not be too happy-go-lucky about his new backbench real estate (in both Legislature office and assembly seating terms). Boutilier was first elected MLA in 1997 after serving as Mayor of Wood Buffalo. If anything, he’ll at least have former Klein-era Ministers Heather Forsyth (Calgary-Fish Creek) and Pearl Calahasen (Lesser Slave Lake) to keep him company in the backbenches…

– New faces in the 11-member opposition. Newly elected Alberta Liberals Kent Hehr (Calgary-Buffalo) and Darshan Kang (Calgary-McCall), and New Democrat Rachel Notley (Edmonton-Strathcona) are the new faces in Alberta’s opposition benches. It will also be interesting to see how Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft (Edmonton-Riverview) and New Democrat leader Brian Mason (Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood) carry themselves in this session following their setbacks in the March 3 election.

– Who art thou? With Tory MLA Sharaz Shariff’s defeat to Darshan Kang in Calgary-McCall, the Assembly will be looking for a new Deputy Chair of Committees. Following the last election, Shariff was outsted as Deputy Speaker by fellow Tory MLA Richard Marz (Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills) in a seemingly obvious Rural clique v. Calgary power struggle in the Tory caucus. Though most all Albertans could probably care less who the Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chair of Committees are, they are important indicators of the power politics of the governing caucus.

– License Plates. As far as I can tell, Heather Klimchuck (Edmonton-Glenora), a rookie Tory MLA and Minister of Service Alberta is going to be spending most of her time overseeing the important project of designing Alberta’s new licence plate.

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AEUB Alberta Politics

and the award goes to…

With the Spring Session of the Alberta Legislature set to begin in just only weeks, the provincial scene is starting to come alive again after the post-election hangover/depression is starting to wear off (depending on which side of the Legislature your team is sitting on)…

– The Alberta Liberal Caucus was sworn-in today. The 9-member Official Opposition will include new faces Kent Hehr (Calgary-Buffalo) and Darshan Kang (Calgary-McCall). The Alberta Liberals recently announced their shadow cabinet which includes Hehr taking Justice and Attorney General, Solicitor-General and Public Security, and Kang taking Transportation and Service Alberta.

– Alberta MLAs are getting a 4.7% raise this week (their salaries are tied to an annual adjustment). We’lla ll be looking forward to seeing newly elected Tory MLA Carl Benito (Edmonton-Mill Woods) come through on his election promise to donate his salary to a scholarship program.

– After six-months on the job, Alberta Energy and Utilities Board Chairman William Tillman has resigned. Tillman took over the position following last year’s AEUB spy scandal, in which it was discovered that the provincially-appointed AEUB had used public funds to hire a private investigator to spy on central Alberta landowners and their lawyers.

– And the awards goes to… Tory Premier Ed Stelmach for placing a strong second in the Fossil Fool of the Year Awards…

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has won the dubious title of Fossil Fool of the Year runner-up, beating out several of North America’s top energy and automaker chief executives.

Stelmach picked up 25 per cent of more than 6,000 votes cast worldwide and will be crowned ‘Canadian Fossil Fool of the Year’ on Tuesday, April 1 by San Francisco-based organizer, Energy Action Coalition.

The premier was nominated in the international vote for his staunch support of oilsands development in northern Alberta with “the potential to lay waste to an area the size of the state of Florida,” says the coalition.

Stelmach finished second in voting behind Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis, who has attracted the ire of environmentalists for funding various coal-power projects.

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Alberta Politics

doug horner, alberta’s minister of advanced education health & technology

And here I thought Raj Sherman (Edmonton-Meadowlark) was the Parliamentary Secretary to Health & Wellness Minister Ron Liepert (Calgary-West), but according to the mandate letter sent this week by Tory Premier Ed Stelmach to Advanced Education & Technology Minister Doug Horner (Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert)…

You will work with the Minister of Health and Wellness to:
• Increase access to quality health care and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of health care service delivery, and
• Ensure Alberta has the health care professionals we need to meet future demand, and

Lead the following initiatives:
• Increase the number of physician graduates from 227 to 295 by 2012;
• Increase the number of Registered Nurse graduates from 1,375 to 2,000 by 2012; and
• Increase the number of Licensed Practical Nurse graduates from 559 to 1000 by 2012.

Doug Horner’s mandate letter seems to have more to do with Liepert’s portfolio than his own. Maybe after his tenure in Education, Stelmach wants someone to keep a close eye on Minister Liepert…

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Alberta Greens Alberta Politics

memo for the alberta greens.

With Greens across Canada buoyed from their strong showings in the Vancouver-Quadra, Toronto-Centre, and Willowdale by-elections (but not quite so strong in Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River), Elizabeth May is probably getting her share of high fives left, right, and center. But on the provincial scene, with the March 3 provincial election only weeks in the past, the Alberta Greens still have a lot of work to do to solidify their place in Alberta’s political scene.

Though the Alberta Greens weren’t able to win any seats in the Legislative Assembly, they did succeed in almost doubling their province-wide popular vote from just over 2% in 2004 to 4.58% in 2008. They also achieved two strong second place finishes in Lacombe-Ponoka and Drayton Valley-Calmar, and strong third place showing in Banff-Cochrane. If I were to give some advice to the Alberta Greens, it would be to focus their resources on grassroots organizing in the targeted rural Alberta constituencies.

With large parts of rural Alberta involved in some seriously intense land-use struggles, the Greens would do well to focus their resources in these areas. Two of the most high profile areas include Rimbey – where controversy over AltaLink’s north-south transmission corridor, the closure of debate on Bill 46, and the AEUB Spy Scandal erupted in 2007 – and the Tofield area – where the Round Hill-Dodds Agricultural Protective Association are fighting the development of a massive coalmine, which if constructed will include a gasification plant and power station built prime farmland south of Tofield (word on the street has it that the Ontario Teachers Pension Fund and the City of Edmonton-owned EPCOR have a substantial stake in this project).

This isn’t the first time that the Round Hill-Dodds Agricultural Protective Association has stood up to oppose this type of encroachment. As documented by Todd Babiuk, during the last energy boom in 1976, landowners in the Round Hill-Dodds community rallied to oppose the development of a $2.6 billion coal-fired power station on 360 square kilometers of agricultural land which would have displaced over 130 landowners.

“It turned into a folk tale, big power and big government pitted against real people. Local, provincial and national news outlets followed the story. The local Conservative MLA supported the landowners and then-premier Peter Lougheed, with a keen understanding of his party’s rural base, eventually stepped in.”
– Todd Babiuk

With the urban-based Alberta Liberals and New Democrats or the largely anti-regulatory Wild Rose Alliance unlikely to be able to capitalize on this type of rural discontent, I would think that the Greens are in the best position to benefit from spending the next four years of their energy harnessing the frustration with the current Progressive Conservative regime in these areas. After netting 22% for the Greens and having strong name recognition in Lacombe-Ponoka, Joe Anglin could potentially be the person best positioned to lead the battle in the rural areas. This isn’t a slight against current Calgary-based Green Leader George Read, who has led his party in doubling their support, I’m just more convinced that the Greens’ immediate growth potential is in rural areas like Lacombe-Ponoka and Drayton Valley-Calmar, rather than large urban centers like Calgary.

According to a recent media release, the Alberta Greens will hold a leadership review in October 2009.

A Green Shadow Cabinet

This week, the Alberta Greens released their shadow cabinet, which includes Joe Anglin as critic for the Department of Energy and Edwin Erickson as critic for Agriculture and Rural Development.

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Alberta Politics

unite the left a fancy idea, but…

Like every election post-mortem period in Alberta, the talk of a unite-the-left move has reemerged. I was interested to read an op-ed piece in today’s Edmonton Journal in which Athabasca University Professor Alvin Finkle advocates in favour of a merger between the Alberta Liberals, New Democrats, and Greens. Now, I’m completely in favour of tearing down Alberta’s traditional party structures and attitudes, but I don’t believe it’s really as straight-forward as Finkle proposes. Here are six thoughts on a “united left” in Alberta…

1. Bad blood. There’s a ton of animosity and moral high-horsery going on between the Alberta Liberals and New Democrats. Party archetypes in both camps really need to put aside their biases and prejudices and take a serious and objective look at why their parties are not connecting with Albertans. With Kevin Taft and Brian Mason taking shots at each other during the campaign, both sides are guilty of creating the animosity, but both owe it to Albertans to look at the bigger picture and at least seriously look at the idea of a “united left.”

2. It’s aiming at the wrong target. I’m not sure that a merger between the parties is a silver bullet. With voter turnout at 41%, I’d be willing to suggest that all the parties are scrapping the bottom of their support-levels and need to look at the 59% of non-voting Albertans for growth.

3. Pass the vote. This argument assumes that support between parties will automatically carry over to a merged party. I’m not convinced that both parties cover the same spot on the political spectrum and this could leave a lot of Albertans without a party to vote for.

4. Greens on the left? I’m also not totally sure that the Alberta Greens could be considered part of “the left.” In fact, I’m not really sure where they are, but I’m sure that the 22% of Joe Anglin Green voters in Lacombe-Ponoka wouldn’t consider themselves as part of “the left.”

5. Different aims. The merger argument also assumes that both parties have the same target in mind? It’s clear that the Alberta Liberals are in it to form government, but I’m not sure that’s the same goal of the New Democrats. I’d be willing to bet that most New Democrats would feel a lot more comfortable staying in opposition than taking the reigns of power.

6. First-past-the-post. It seems that a bigger problem is the first-part-the-post electoral system that creates results that don’t result in a fair reflection of how Albertans voted. Change the system to STV or PR and I’m not sure we’d be having this conversation.

All of this said, a little pragmatism and give-and-take between the two parties probably wouldn’t hurt.

Is a merger a totally bad idea? No.

Is it feasible? That’s a completely different question.

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Alberta Politics International Politics

australian cabinet making.

According to wikipedia, “cabinet making involves techniques such as creating appropriate joints, shelving systems, the use of finishing tools such as routers to create decorative edgings, and so on.” This process doesn’t sound too different than the actual process of political cabinet making which Tory Premier Ed Stelmach is currently undergoing.

Instead of speculating on which Tory MLAs will and won’t make the cabinet cut (though I do think it will be a challenging balance act and I may write a post about that), I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how cabinets are or have been selected in two other countries.

Down Under, the Australian Labour Party and New Zealand Labour Party have a tradition of allowing individual caucus member to elect cabinet ministers from their among their peers. Though the Prime Minister had retained the right to decide portfolios, members of factions within the caucus exercised considerable influence over who was elected to cabinet. In 2007, newly-elected Prime Minister Kevin Rudd did away with the substance of the tradition by selecting the cabinet but allowing the caucus to ratify it (which it did unanimously).

A similar cabinet selection process was proposed by Federal Liberal MP Belinda Stronach back in 2006 and was supported by former North West Territories Premier Joe Handley.

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2008 Alberta Provincial Election Alberta Politics YouTube

alberta election 2008: post-election blues on youtube.

Over the course of the election, Fringe North has recorded some interesting/entertaining commentary on the election. Here’s his reaction to Monday night’s election results. I get the feeling he was probably just as shellshocked as I was on election night…

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2008 Alberta Provincial Election Alberta Politics Election Day

i voted. so should you, alberta.


Well, I’m back from voting for Tim Vant in Edmonton-Strathcona! Voting feels good. I wish I could vote every day. 🙂

I might try to do some liveblogging tonight, but I’m going to be busy getting out the vote for
Kevin Taft in Edmonton-Riverview and Sandeep Dhir in Edmonton-Manning so it might be later tonight until I make another appearance. Until then, check the CBC Alberta Votes 2008 website for election updates. Also, Alberta: Get Rich or Die Trying has a good run down of some of the blog coverage on today’s election.

After helping get the vote out in Edmonton-Riverview and Edmonton-Manning, I’m going to be heading down to the CBC election night gala at the Axis Cafe downtown before heading to the Alberta Liberal election night party at the Mayfield Inn in Northwest Edmonton. If you see me around, say hi.

I wanted to give a quick shout out to Leslie Penny in Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock. Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock is my family’s constituency and is where Penny is facing a incredibly uphill battle against long-time Tory Ken Kowalski‘s Tammany Hall machine as Kowalski is running for his ninth term as MLA. There wouldn’t be a better message that Albertans could send to this 37-year old Tory government than sending them and the Boss Hogg of Alberta politics packing.

If you don’t know where to vote, find out where to vote here.

If you haven’t already, take a look at your local candidates here.

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2008 Alberta Provincial Election Alberta Politics Alberta Teachers' Association Joe Anglin Lacombe-Ponoka

a green lacombe-ponoka?

I had a great time this morning being part of a media panel with Sheila Pratt, Graham Thomson, and Ken Chapman at the Alberta Teachers’ Association Political Engagement conference. We had a great conversation with the conference delegates about this provincial election and the role of education in the media.

It was very interesting to talk with a number of teachers from across Alberta about the political situation in their constituencies and regions. I was really interested to talk with a teacher from Ponoka who was excited at the thought of Alberta Green candidate Joe Anglin‘s chances at defeating Tory Ray Prins in Lacombe-Ponoka. Anglin was one of the leaders of the landowner group that opposed AltaLink’s north-south transmission line (which included a dubious incident where the Tories used public money to hire a private investigator to spy on landowners and their lawyers) and Bill 46 last year. Lacombe-Ponoka is one of those special constituencies that I’m going to be watching on the night of March 3…

(I also met another blogger while I was there…)

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2008 Alberta Provincial Election Alberta Politics Calgary-Currie

alberta election 2008: calgary-currie.

Created in 1971, Calgary-Currie was a reliably Progressive Conservative stronghold until 2004.

From 1993 to 2001, Tory Jocelyn Burgener easily held this Currie for her party. In 2001, Burgener was replaced by PGIB-backed Calgary Alderman Jon Lord. Lord was easily elected as a Tory in that election. In 2004, Currie was home to a high profile race when the Alberta Liberals attracted high-profile candidate Dave Taylor, a popular QR77 Radio host in Calgary. With a strong campaign and a slight redistribution of Currie’s boundaries (taking in Liberal-friendly areas of Calgary-Buffalo), Taylor defeated Lord by over 500-votes. In 2008, Currie is seen as one of the hot races in Calgary as both the Alberta Liberals and Tories are fighting hard for this constituency…

Before he was first elected in 2004, Taylor was a well-known radio host on QR77, and had also been involved in the Feed the Hungry Dinner at St. Mary’s Cathedral and with the Christmas Hamper Program at McDougall United Church. Since being elected in 2004, Taylor has served Alberta Liberals Deputy Leader and Shadow Minister of Advanced Education and Housing. I worked closely with Taylor while I was Chair of the Council of Alberta University Students last year in fighting against former-Advanced Education Minister Denis Herard’s move to de-legislate Alberta’s tuition policy (which now allows the PCs to change Alberta’s tuition policy in a closed-door cabinet meeting, rather than allowing public debate in the Legislature). Though I’ve had people tell me that Taylor’s aggressive style rubs them in wrong way, the same people have also said that they think he’s a hard working MLA (apparently, Rod Love does as well…).

PC candidate Arthur Kent was a correspondent for NBC when he made a name for himself as the “Scud Stud” during the first Persian Gulf War in 1990-91. Kent graduated from Carleton University and worked as an independent journalist until joining NBC. He left NBC in 1992 and worked for a number of international media outlets since then. Though he benefited from initial excitement when he was first nominated as Currie’s Tory candidate, Kent’s shine quickly wore off following his faux-public dispute with Ed Stelmach (Kent is being a little more strategic in his “anti-Ed” strategy than one former Tory candidate). Kent wasn’t helped when the National Post’s Don Martin took aim at the “Scud Dud” early in the campaign. It doesn’t look like the bad publicity is hampering Kent, as he continues his campaign against Taylor (to his credit, Kent is also hosting a video blog on his website).

NDP candidate Marc Power is a University of Calgary Political Science graduate, social activist, and debater. As much as it pains me to give advice to an ND candidate, here’s my bit of advice for Power: you look like a good candidate and would probably do well in a constituency where the NDs stand a chance (ie: probably not in Calgary). Unfortunately, in this race, Power is easily overshadowed by the two high profile Alberta Liberal and PC candidates.

Alberta Alliance candidate Ken Mazeroll is a sheet metal worker who, according to his online biography, is blue-collared and proud of it. The Greens candidate is Graham MacKenzie.

Between 2004 and 2006, Currie’s population grew by 24.64%, bringing over 6,000 new registered voters to this constituency. Currie’s diversity makes this an interesting constituency: 24.1% of Currian families have income levels about $100,000 and 29.3% have income levels lower than $40,000. Also interesting is that 45% of Currie voters are between the age of 25 to 44.

Controversy!
Robin Darsi was appointed Calgary-Currie’s returning officer after he lost the bid for the Tory nomination against Kent.

Calgary-Currie 2008 Election candidates

Alberta Liberal – Dave Taylor
Green – Graham MacKenzie
ND – Marc Power
PC – Arthur Kent
Wildrose Alliance – Ken Mazeroll

Calgary-Currie Past-Election Results

2004
Dave Taylor, Lib – 5,046
x Jon Lord, PC – 4,412
Kim Warnke, Grn – 813
Robert Scobel, NDP – 468
Ken Mazeroll, AA – 348
Voter Turnout: 45.3%

2001
Jon Lord, PC – 6,922
Pat Murray, Lib – 2,667
Garth Mundle, NDP – 1,114
J. Bruce Miller, Ind – 434
Voter Turnout: 48.3%

1997
x Jocelyn Burgener, PC – 5,952
Mairi Matheson, Lib – 3,636
Liz Blackwood, NDP – 712
Jeff Townsend, SC – 610
Richard Shelford, NL – 109
Voter Turnout: 49.1%

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