Category: Ed Stelmach

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Alberta Tories Cabinet Shuffle Ed Stelmach

alberta’s new cabinet.

Alberta’s new cabinet has been announced…

Ed Stelmach (Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville) – Premier, President of Executive Council, Chair of Agenda and Priorities, Vice-Chair of Treasury Board

Lloyd Snelgrove (Vermilion-Lloydminster) – President of the Treasury Board, Minister of Service Alberta, (Minister Responsible for Personnel Administration Office)

Doug Horner (Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert) – Minister of Advanced Education and Technology

Iris Evans (Sherwood Park) – Minister of Employment, Immigration and Industry

Mel Knight (Grande Prairie-Smoky) – Minister of Energy

Dave Hancock (Edmonton-Whitemud) – Minister of Health and Wellness, Government House Leader

Ray Danyluk (Lac La Biche-St. Paul) – Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing

Ron Liepert (Calgary-West) – Minister of Education

Janis Tarchuk (Banff-Cochrane) – Minister of Children’s Services

Rob Renner (Medicine Hat) – Minister of Environment, Deputy Government House Leader

George Groeneveld (Highwood) – Minister of Agriculture and Food

Lyle Oberg (Strathmore-Brooks) – Minister of Finance

Luke Ouellette (Innisfail-Sylvan Lake) – Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation

Ron Stevens (Calgary-Glenmore ) – Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Deputy Government House Leader

Greg Melchin (Calgary-North West) – Minister of Seniors and Community Supports

Guy Boutilier (Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo) – Minister of International, Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Relations

Ted Morton (Foothills-Rocky View) – Minister of Sustainable Resource Development

Fred Lindsay (Stony Plain) – Solicitor General and Minister of Public Security

Hector Goudreau (Dunvegan-Central Peace) – Minister of Tourism, Parks, Recreation and Culture

Definitely some interesting picks that caught me off guard… thoughts?

Props to the anonymous commentor with the press release link…

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Alberta Tories Ed Stelmach Ralph Klein

i swear.

I went to Premier Ed Stelmach‘s swearing-in ceremony today on the steps of the Alberta Legislature.

It was an interesting event. Watching now FORMER PREMIER RALPH KLEIN official hand his resignation letter to Lueitenant Governor Norman Kwong and Premier Ed Stelmach being sworn in after that was a little exciting.

Premier Stelmach’s acceptance speech (is that what you call it?) was folksy. I can see that he has one-on-one appeal but it remains to be seen how his communication skills will emerge when attempting to communicate with a couple million Albertans through electronic mediums.

I also had a nice chat with Dave Hancock and Ken Chapman at the swearing-in-ceremony.

On another note, I’m sure Stelmach supporters are still spinning in joy following his come-from-behind win in the Alberta PC leadership race against Jim Dinning and Ted Morton.

Not too much to report other than that. Still waiting to see what Premier Stelmach’s first cabinet will look like…

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Alberta Tories Cabinet Shuffle Ed Stelmach

alberta’s new ministries announced…

Here are the new Ministries announced in Premier-designate Ed Stelmach’s first cabinet. Looks interesting – Housing in at the table with Municipal Affairs. Science & Innovation is back with Advanced Education. Aboriginal Affaris merges with Intergovernmental Affairs. Community Development becomes Tourism, Parks, Recreation, & Culture. It should be interesting to see how the Treasury Board concept works.

Also, four new “Cabinet Policy Committees” were created in place of the Tory caucus-only Standing Policy Committees… will there be a difference?

More analysis later (as usual…)

Premier
President of the Treasury Board
Advanced Education and Technology
Municipal Affairs and Housing
Energy
Health and Wellness
Employment, Immigration and Industry
Education
Children’s Services
Environment
Agriculture and Food
Finance
Infrastructure and Transportation
Justice and Attorney General
Seniors and Community Supports
International, Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Relations
Sustainable Resource Development
Solicitor General and Public Security
Tourism, Parks, Recreation and Culture

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Alberta Tories Cabinet Shuffle Ed Stelmach predictions

daveberta lays it down…

So, here are my cabinet predictions. Keep in mind that we are not sure which Ministries will survive a predicted crunch. We now know that we will know the cabinet by this Thursday.

daveberta’s Predictions on Stelmach PC Cabinet 2007

Aboriginal Affairs & Northern Development: Pearl Calahasen (Lesser Slave Lake)
Advanced Education (Incl. Innovation & Science): Lloyd Snelgrove (Vermilion-Lloydminster)
Agriculture & Rural Development: Luke Oullette (Innisfail-Sylvan Lake)
Children’s Services: Mary Anne Jablonski (Red Deer North)
Community Development: Gary Mar (Calgary Nose Hill)
Economic Development: Mel Knight (Grande Prairie-Smoky)
Energy: Greg Melchin (Calgary North West)
Environment (Incl. Sustainable Resource Dev.): Ted Morton (Foothills-Rockyview)
Finance: Dave Hancock (Edmonton Whitemud)
Government Services (Incl. RAGE): Harvey Cenaiko (Calgary Buffalo)*
Health and Wellness: Iris Evans (Sherwood Park)
Housing: Yvonne Fritz (Calgary Cross)
Human Resources & Employment: Rob Renner (Medicine Hat)
Infrastructure & Transportation: Ray Danyluk (Lac La Biche-St. Paul)
Intergovernmental & International Affairs: Doug Horner (Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert)
Justice & Attorney General (Incl. Solicitor General): Ron Stevens (Calgary Glenmore)
Municipal Affairs: Lyle Oberg (Strathmore-Brooks)
Seniors: Clint Dunford (Lethbridge West)

As you can see from above, I don’t think there will be a massive purge of senior Ministers as I would predict that Iris Evans, Ron Stevens, Pearl Calahasen, and Greg Melchin will all keep their jobs as “Steddy Eddie” wants to keep some semblance of stability and experience in his first cabinet while bringing in new faces like Ray Danyluk, Mel Knight, and Lloyd Snelgrove to prominant cabinet posts.

For the apparently valuable “Deputy Premier” position that the media seems to be fixated on as uber important, I would gander a prediction that Premier Stelmach will take the route of Prime Minister Harper and simply disolving the position of “Deputy” (which is only a symbolic title in reality).

(*I changed my prediction about Harvey Cenaiko…)

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Alberta Tories Cabinet Shuffle Ed Stelmach

ed stelmach’s musical chairs.

By Friday December 15, 2006 Albertans should know for sure what the face of the first Ministry of Premier Ed Stelmach‘s Tory government will look like.

As Ed Stelmach is such an unknown political quantity for many Albertans (even many political folks) the MLA’s in his cabinet will define what many Albertans will see as a first impression, it will be very important to see who gets which cabinet portfolio. Here is my predictions on who is in and who is out in the first cabinet of PC Premier Ed Stelmach:

New to Cabinet:
Ray Danyluk (Lac La Biche-St. Paul)
Mary Anne Jablonski (Red Deer North)
Mel Knight (Grande Prairie-Smoky)
Ted Morton (Foothills-Rockyview)
Lloyd Snelgrove (Vermilion-Lloydminster)

Staying In Cabinet:
Pearl Calahasen (Lesser Slave Lake)
Clint Dunford (Lethbridge West)
Iris Evans (Sherwood Park)
Yvonne Fritz (Calgary Cross)
Doug Horner (Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert)
Gary Mar (Calgary Nose Hill)
Greg Melchin (Calgary North West)
Luke Oullette (Innisfail-Sylvan Lake)
Rob Renner (Medicine Hat)
Ron Stevens (Calgary Glenmore)

Back in Cabinet:
Ed Stelmach – duh (Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville)
Dave Hancock (Edmonton Whitemud)
Lyle Oberg (Strathmore-Brooks)

Out of Cabinet:
Guy Boutilier (Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo)
Mike Cardinal (Athabasca-Redwater)
Harvey Cenaiko (Calgary Buffalo)
David Coutts (Livingstone-Macleod)
Denis Ducharme (Bonnyville-Cold Lake)
Heather Forsyth (Calgary Fish Creek)
Gordon Graydon (Grande Prairie-Wapiti)
Denis Herard (Calgary Egmont)
Ty Lund (Rocky Mountain House)
Shirley McClellan (Drumheller-Stettler)
Barry McFarland (Little Bow)
George VanderBurg (Whitecourt-Ste. Anne)
Gene Zwozdesky (Edmonton Mill Creek)

Tune in Tomorrow to see my very own predictions on who will get which chair at the cabinet table…

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Alberta Tories Cabinet Shuffle Ed Stelmach

poka.

I’m gone to Lethbridge tomorrow, so no blogging until the weekend (most likey).

Until then, let’s play a little game called – NAME THAT CABINET!

In this game, you’re Ed Stelmach… who will you put in your cabinet?

Finance Minister Lyle Oberg?
Justice Minister Gay Mar?
Children’s Services Minister Ted Morton?
Infratructure Minister Ray Danyluk?
Health Minister Doug Horner?

Post your predictions…

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Affordable Housing Alberta Liberals Alberta NDP Dave Taylor Ed Stelmach Kevin Taft

a house in alberta.

For many newly minted Albertans it’s fairly obvious that the affordability shortage/ridiculously high priced housing market here in Alberta is causing quite the challenge for many residents of Canada’s wealthiest nation. But what are folks to do?

Kevin Taft‘s Alberta Liberals have released a policy paper detailing their plans for an Affordable Housing Strategy. Calgary Currie MLA Dave Taylor, the Official Opposition Critic for Municipal Affairs, announced the Liberals policy paper this week. In brief, the Affordable Housing Strategy recommends:

– changes to provincial regulations concerning secondary (e.g. basement) suites so that they can be quickly used as affordable housing units, while meeting strict provincial health and safety standards;
– portable housing allowances and rent supplements for low-income and fixed-income Albertans;
– giving cities and towns the authority to mandate percentages of affordable housing in new developments;
– incentives to developers to build affordable rental units, and to make home ownership possible for more Albertans;
– providing land through provincial donations and land swaps to make it more financially feasible for local groups to build new affordable housing;
– enacting a Reasonable Rent Increase law to protect tenants from rent gouging.

You can also fill out an online survey.

The Alberta NDP have also released a point pamphlet on Affordable Housing and Poverty calling for the creation of a Ministry of Housing. On Affordable Housing, the NDP are advocating that this new Ministry:

* Build 6000 affordable housing units
* Pressure the federal government to increase funding
* Commit to helping municipalities meet targets

Soon-to-be-newly-minted-Premier-designate-of-Alberta Ed Stelmach released a two-paragraph statement on affordable housing for Albertans with Special Needs during the recent Alberta PC leadership campaign. It looks like Albertans will just have to wait and see where Premier-designate Stelmach stands on this issue.

UPDATE: Stelmach has four more paragraphs on homelessness.

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2006 Alberta PC Leadership Race Alberta Tories Ed Stelmach Ralph Klein

something about a new premier?

To millions of Canadians (and maybe a million Albertans), Ed Stelmach is not a familiar name. When the 13 year political veteran was selected as the Leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta last weekend, this quiet little known political entity was thown into the political spotlight.

For those of you not totally familiar with Premier-designate Ed Stelmach’s background, here’s a bit of it…

A farmer from south of the Village of Andrew, Stelmach served as Reeve of Lamont County until being elected MLA for the newly created Vegreville-Viking riding in 1993. The election saw Stelmach defeat two-term NDP MLA Derek Fox (MLA for Vegreville 1986-1993). Stelmach was re-elected in Vegreville-Viking in 1997 and 2001. In 2004, Stelmach ran in and was elected MLA for the newly created Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville riding.

After entering Ralph Klein’s Cabinet, Stelmach served as Minister of Agriculture from 1997 to 1999, Minister of Infrastructure from 1999 to 2004, and Minister of Intergovernment and International Affairs from 2004 to 2006. Years of Cabinet experience aside, I seriously cannot name anything that Stelmach did while he was a Cabinet Minister. Can someone help me on this one?

One of the challenges that Stelmach faces as Premier is articulating a vision for which direction he would like to lead Alberta. Stelmach’s campaign, which was largely vague on policy, was as far as I can tell based on “Honest Ed” or “Steady Eddie” being a moderate conservative comprimise candidate between social conservative Ted Morton and Corporate Calgary Dauphin Jim Dinning. This said, I have nearly no idea where Stelmach stands on most issues.

It should be interesting to see just how different Stelmach is from Klein as Premier and if Stelmach is able to heal the body-wounds his party delivered to itself during this race in preparation for the next General Election.

Speaking of the next General Election, since 1993 the Alberta PC’s have centered their image around a single man – Ralph Klein. Since 1993, many Albertans voted for “Ralph’s Team” or “Ralph” himself not knowing who their actual PC candidate was (it’s like an intense form of leader-based elections). Also, the PC Party generally polled lower support than Ralph Klein. With Klein out of the picture, can the Alberta PC’s survive once his card is removed from the deck? Can Stelmach sucessfully replace Ralph Klein as the central figure of the PC Party? Will Stelmach be able to appeal to the broad cross-section of Albertans that Klein was able to?

Also, it should be interesting to see what Stelmach’s new cabinet looks like. Which MLA’s are rewarded and which are put to pasture. As well as what the configuration of the Cabinet Ministries look like as there is a good chance that some Ministries may be merged to create a smaller Cabinet (which I believe currently has 23 Ministers).

Should be interesting…

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2006 Federal Liberal Leadership Race Alberta Tories Ed Stelmach Federal Liberals Jim Dinning Stephane Dion

premier-designate ed stelmach.

Saturday December 2, 2006 was a very bad day for political frontrunners.

We saw Stephane Dion ride from fourth place on the first ballot to defeat frontrunners Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae at the Federal Liberal leadership convention in Montreal.

We also saw Ed Stelmach ride from third place on the first ballot of the Alberta PC leadership race to overwhelm both frontrunners Jim Dinning and Ted Morton on the third ballot.

I did make it out to the Alberta PC leadership party at the aviation centre and I can say it was quite an entertaining peice of political theatre. As with the Federal Liberal race, I did enjoy seeing the frontrunners go down in a blaze of glory. (and I’ll give a shout out to Duncan, Allie, and Blake who were all there).

So, what does an Ed Stelmach led-PC Party mean for Alberta’s political scene?

– Ed Stelmach is the first Alberta Premier from rural Alberta since Social Credit Premier Harry Strom from 1968-1971. Will Ed Stelmach take the Tories the root of Social Credit…
– This race very much manifested itself into a Northern Alberta/Edmonton (Stelmach) v. Calgary (Dinning) & Southern Alberta (Morton).What affect does this have on Tory support in urban Alberta? In southern Alberta? Calgary?
– Can Ed Stelmach appeal to Edmonton and Calgary voters? Does Stelmach’s victory bode well for Kevin Taft’s Alberta Liberals?
– What happens to Ted Morton? It was Ted Morton’s supporters who pushed Ed Stelmach over the top on the third ballot (to the effect of 28000 for Ed Stelmach to 4000 for Jim Dinning).
– What happens to Jim Dinning and the Calgary crew? Jim Dinning was Calgary’s candidate…
– What does Ed Stelmach stand for? This isn’t a personal attack, just a legitimate question. Ed Stelmach’s policy positions on this campaign were not exactly the most well developed. We shall wait and see…

I will have more thoughts on “What now?” later this afternoon…

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2006 Alberta PC Leadership Race Alberta Tories Dave Hancock Ed Stelmach Jim Dinning Mark Norris Ted Morton

selected alberta pc leadership selection results…

Here are the main and selected riding results from yesterday’s Alberta PC leadership selection…

First Ballot
Jim Dinning – 29,470
Ted Morton – 25,614
Ed Stelmach – 14,967
Lyle Oberg- 11,638
Dave Hancock – 7595
Mark Norris – 6789
Victor Doerksen – 873
Gary McPherson – 744

Second Ballot
Ed Stelmach – 51,764
Jim Dinning – 51,282
Ted Morton – 41, 243

Third Ballot
Ed Stelmach – 77, 577
Jim Dinning – 55,509
(Morton to Stelmach – 25,813)
(Morton to Dinning – 4,227)

Here are some interesting selected riding results…

Calgary Elbow (Ralph Klein’s riding)
First Ballot
Jim Dinning – 1,890
Ted Morton – 656
Ed Stelmach – 360

Second Ballot
Jim Dinning – 2,004
Ed Stelmach – 747

Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville (Stelmach’s riding)
First Ballot
Ed Stelmach – 4,156
Ted Morton – 316
Jim Dinning – 170

Second Ballot
Ed Stelmach – 4,382
Jim Dinning – 193

Little Bow
First Ballot
Ted Morton – 1,784
Jim Dinning – 382
Ed Stelmach – 351

Second Ballot
Ed Stelmach – 1,518
Jim Dinning – 515

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2006 Alberta PC Leadership Race Ed Stelmach Jim Dinning Ted Morton

premier ed stelmach…?

Say hello to Premier Ed Stelmach on the third ballot…

Most recent second ballot results of the Alberta PC race…

Jim Dinning – 44.000
Ed Stelmach – 36,000
Ted Morton – 32,000

Wow…

First, Stephane Dion… now maybe Ed Stelmach… it’s a good night for third place finishers…

I may or may not be heading off to the PC party at the Aviation Centre…

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2006 Alberta PC Leadership Race Alberta Tories Ed Stelmach Jim Dinning Ted Morton

debate? how about mini-put?

The three last remaining Alberta PC leadership candidates standing – Ed Stelmach, Ted Morton, and Jim Dinning – had it out tonight in a televised debate. Now, one might say,:

“Daveberta, you’re a keen observer of the albertus politicnus. What did you think of the debate?”

Well, my answer to that question is that I didn’t watch the debate.

I spent my evening having a blast at West Edmonton Mall’s Glow-in-the-Dark Mini-put! If you haven’t been, I do recommend. It’s quite fun.

From what I can tell about the debate, it wasn’t exactly exciting (I may be wrong?).

Jim Dinning went on the attack against Ted Morton. This isn’t overly surprising as Dinning has been in desperate-attack mode against Morton since only receiving 30% support on last Saturday’s PC leadership vote. All you have to do is watch and listen to Dinning to feel the sense that he’s extremely desperate to save his political future and pull off a win. Check out this video of Dinning’s rally speech to supporters earlier this week to see what I mean.

Though I’m really at a loss as to predict what the results of Saturday’s vote will be, it should be interesting to see how much support Ed Stelmach has been able to gain over the past week. He seems like the only of the three to have some sort of momentum…

As for the other candidates, I will have my final pre-second/third ballot up tomorrow.

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