Category: Hugh MacDonald

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Brian Mason Hugh MacDonald

closing inner city schools in edmonton.

The threat of proposed school closures in inner city Edmonton has once again riled opposition MLAs into a frenzy on the floor of the Legislative Assembly. Declining student enrollment has led to Edmonton Public School Board to propose the closure of 11 inner city schools in January 2010 (Delton, Eastwood, John A. McDougall, McCauley, Norwood, Parkdale, Spruce Avenue, Capilano, Fulton Place, Gold Bar and Hardisty). It is difficult not to sympathize with the pleas of these MLAs’ constituents, but each time that an opposition MLA rises to demand an answer from the Minister of Education about these closures the issue gets more muddied.

For the purpose of this blog post, I am going to ignore the politically charged and conspiracy driven accusations of opposition MLAs and focus on specific comments from two Edmonton MLAs:

Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood MLA Brian Mason:

“many schools in the inner city are in danger of being forced to close as the number of schools in Edmonton’s suburbs expand.”

The proposed school closures have very little to do with the provincial government or the Department of Education and more to do with how our cities have grown over the past forty years. Edmonton’s Public School Trustees are ultimately responsible for the fate of these schools and the reality is that young families are not moving into the inner city in the numbers needed to keep these schools operating. They are moving to the suburbs and to the outlying municipalities in the Capital region, which have experienced unbridled urban sprawl in recent decades. The reality is that there is a market demand for single-dwelling residential properties (contributed to by both cost and the desire to have a detached home with a yard).

Having grown up in one of Edmonton’s outlying communities, I can testify that it was a great environment to be raised. As someone who has lived in the urban core since moving to Edmonton, I know that there are some areas that I would not want to raise my children. This said, continued urban sprawl is not a solution to Edmonton’s growth challenges. The further our city sprawls, the more expensive it will be to provide the kind of services that are idealized. Urban sprawl is unsustainable.

Edmonton-Gold Bar MLA Hugh MacDonald:

“If the city of Edmonton increases population density in the central neighbourhoods as planned, we will need the student spaces now being considered for closure.”

Inner city communities, like Alberta Avenue, have taken exceptional steps to challenge stereotypes and create more family friendly environment in their neighbourhoods. New residential and commercial development in downtown Edmonton as well as the development of the City Centre Airport lands over the next 20 to 30 years could create an inner city renaissance that could breath new life into Edmonton’s inner city schools.

If Edmonton’s urban core does witness a population density increase that attracts more young families, it is very likely that these school buildings, could be available to be reopened. As far as I am aware, it is undetermined what would be done with these proposed closed schools. Kevin Kuchinski has written a blog post on the potential usages for these schools if closed.

Well-funded special interests like the Katz Group have been focusing their energies on convincing Edmontonians that the urban core would be revitalized through the public funding of a new arena. A new arena could have some economic benefits to the downtown core, but it does not address the larges societal issues facing the core or how our cities are growing. If urban sprawl is unsustainable, what are our municipal leaders doing to create an inner city that is friendly and welcoming to young families? Urban sprawl is the root cause of the school closures decision facing our elected School Board Trustees.

When School Trustee and City Council candidates start knocking on doors before the October 18, 2010 elections, Edmontonians who care about the future of our inner city neighbourhoods should remember that the school closures are not the result of a nefarious political agenda, but a result of how we have let our city to grow.

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Brian Mason Dave Taylor David Swann Don Iveson Ed Stelmach Gary Mar Gene Zwozdesky Hugh MacDonald Kent Hehr Luke Ouellette Naheed Nenshi Ric McIver Stephen Duckett

alberta politics notes 3/09/2010

– Jokes about politicians ducking responsibility usually aren’t literal. Premier Ed Stelmach first denied seeing the widely covered photos of the now infamous oil-covered Syncrude ducks. His communications armada then changed the story, claiming that the Premier misunderstood the question and has seen the photos. Next question: How do you feel?
– Edmonton City Councillor Don Iveson shot back at Minister Luke Ouellette over the neutered Green Trip Fund. Premier Stelmach originally promised $2 billion for the fund in 2008, but it was later cut back to $520 million over three years. Since 2007, the City of Edmonton has made major investments into improving and expanding the capital city’s transportation infrastructure.
– The United Nurses of Alberta have opened negotiations with Alberta Health Services. UNA entered negotiations with a reasonable short list of proposals addressing key issues for nursing in Alberta. Alberta Health Services responded with a full proposal document that included an unprecedented number and scale of rollbacks (Transparency Alert! I am employed by UNA).
– AHS CEO Stephen Duckett versus Minister Gene Zwozdesky and Premier Stelmach on “pay for performance” and the Tom Baker Cancer Centre? Is Dr. Duckett trying to get fired? Who is steering the ship? It has certainly put Don Braid in a tizzy.
– With Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier on his way out of the Mayor’s Office, can Calgarians expect a Ric McIver – Naheed Nenshi showdown? Will former Calgary-Nose Creek MLA Gary Mar return from Washington DC to take a run for the job?
 – Liberal MLA Kent Hehr running for Mayor might be an inside joke, but how about his counterpart Dave Taylor? Word on the street is that the Calgary-Currie MLA and former radio star is growing tired of playing second fiddle to Liberal leader David Swann. Taylor was thrown a bone when he was tapped to launch the new Liberal energy policy in January, but rumor has it that Taylor’s organization has been constantly challenging Swann and that the situations is tense inside the Liberal caucus. Confrontation may come to a head at the May 2010 Liberal Party convention.
– A battle is shaping up for the federal Conservative Party nomination in Lethbridge. Nomination candidates include Jim Hillyer and Mark Switzer are seeking their party’s nod. Conservative MP Rick Casson has represented the riding since 1997 and was re-elected in 2008 with 67% of the vote.
 – Former Edmonton-Strathcona MP Rahim Jaffer pleaded guilty to careless driving in an Ontario court, but charges of cocaine possession magically disappeared. Mr. Jaffer was sentenced to a $500 fine.
 – I was interviewed by Edmonton Journal editor Sheila Pratt for a feature article that was published this part weekend on Reboot Alberta. The article also features comments from Ken Chapman, Shannon Sortland, David Maclean, NDP MLA Brian Mason, and Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald – who accused to the group’s participants of being “elitist.” Andrew McIntyre rebutted Archie McLean‘s suggestions that Reboot Alberta could become a debate society. I ask: would a real debate society be a bad thing?

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Alberta Hospital Edmonton Ed Stelmach Fred Horne Hugh MacDonald Paula Simons Ron Liepert Stephen Duckett

not as rogue as you would believe.

Paula Simons makes some good points in her column “Alberta Health Services going rogue” but I have a difficult time believing that AHS CEO Stephen Duckett is as “rogue” as her article suggests. While a smart and well-educated man, Mr. Duckett is on the same page as Premier Ed Stelmach and Health Minister Ron Liepert in their haphazard reorganization of Alberta’s public health care system. As a friend of mine described it earlier today, “this could be a problem with make-it-up-as-you-go planning, especially in the disorganized budget mess AHS seems to be in.”

On May 29, 2008, the AHS Superboard and Minister Liepert signed a Memorandum of Understanding that explicitly gave control to the Health Minister to give any direction to the Board, including “priorities and guidelines”, “clinical and operating standards”, and “a provincial service delivery plan”. Central to the memo is the phrase “The Board shall comply with all directions of the minister.” This memo was leaked to Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald, who then released it to the public.

The appearance of the arms-length AHS Superboard is a convenient political arrangement that has served the current government well during the dissolution of the regional health authorities and centralization that followed. Simply put, Mr. Duckett gets to make the unpopular decisions and the politicians get to make the popular ones.

Convenience aside, when political realities begin to interfere with the internal agendas, action comes from the top – as was witnessed when PC MLA Fred Horne challenged changes that would have seen psychiatric patients be charged for toiletries and snacks at Alberta Hospital Edmonton.

There is little doubt that Mr. Duckett holds powerful executive control over Albertans public health care system, but when reality hits, it is the Premier and the Health Minister who are responsible for the decisions made by AHS. And who are they responsible to?

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Doug Griffiths Ed Stelmach Fred Horne Hugh MacDonald Ken Kowalski Kevin Taft Kyle Fawcett Rachel Notley Ron Liepert Stephen Duckett

year in review 2009: alberta mla edition.

As is tradition here at daveberta.ca, I have created an annual list of Alberta MLAs who have caught my eye over the past year (see the 2008 MLA review). Due to a large grouping of MLAs who through sheer numbers appear almost indistinguishable as they sit in the backbenches of the 72  70 MLA Progressive Conservative caucus, this list focuses on the handful of MLAs who caught my attention for various reasons:


Kyle Fawcett: (PC Calgary-North Hill) I am really puzzled by this one. In February 2009, backbench MLA Fawcett was one of Premier Ed Stelmach‘s proudest cheerleaders, evangelizing the Premier on the floor of the Legislature as:

…a man of extraordinary vision, someone who fails to fall into the trap of regressive thinking during challenging times. He is a steady hand at the wheel of the ship in turbulent times. When others retreat, he has the optimism to search for the light at the end of the tunnel, the beacon of hope that all Albertans aspire to. He has the dogged determination to push forward to establish this province’s place in the new world paradigm when the negativity of others is enough to stop progress dead in its tracks.

Eight months later, Fawcett took a complete 180 degree turn and criticized Premier Stelmach for doing “very little, I believe, to instil confidence in at least people in Calgary that he has the leadership capabilities to lead this province.” He soon after apologized and was quietly punished for his outspoken behaviour. It appears that Fawcett wants to be the class rebel and the teachers pet at the same time, but has ended up wearing the dunce cap instead.

Doug Griffiths: (PC Battle River-Wainwright) A year of lateral moves from being shuffled from parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to parliamentary assistant to the Solicitor General makes me wonder if the PCs are blind to talent. Griffiths knows how to use social media effectively by actually providing value and allowing citizens outside the Legislature to get a peek at what personal beliefs and driving motivations have led him to seek office. With alternatives to the near 40 year governing PCs gaining support, independent-minded Griffiths may be in a position to decide whether he wants to stay in the backbenches or join something new.

Ken Kowalski (PC Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock) As Speaker Kowalski celebrated 30 years as an MLA, he also demonstrated his political vintage by outright banning MLAs from using social media such as Twitter and Facebook during Question Period. While I agree that MLAs should respect the institution and proud traditions of the Legislature, rather than outright banning the medium, Kowalski had the opportunity to explore how new technologies could be used to reconnect citizens to their democratic institutions. I offered to help Speaker Kowalski better understand the uses of social media, but I did not receive a response.

 #fail

Ron Liepert (PC Calgary-West) Minister Liepert is a blunt instrument. He and Premier Stelmach have continued to defer much of their public responsibility for health care restructuring to the unelected CEO of Alberta Health Services, Stephen Duckett, but it has not stopped the Minister from planting his foot firmly in his mouth. PC MLAs are growing weary of this political arrangement and the Calgary Herald called for Minister Liepert’s resignation after he blamed Albertans for the administrative mishandling of the H1N1 vaccinations. Odds are favouring Edmonton-Rutherford MLA Fred Horne to replace Minister Liepert early in the new year.



Hugh MacDonald (Liberal Edmonton-Gold Bar) Last year, I characterized MacDonald as “obsessed with discovering scandal,” and this year I say the same, but with a slightly more endearing tone. While he does come off as a little nuts, MacDonald is easily one of the hardest working MLAs in the Legislature – spending countless hours digging through files in the Legislature Library and as Chair of the Public Account Committee. AIMco, AHS, and PC MLA extra pay and bonuses have been among MacDonald’s targets in 2009, but I am still not sure if he would know what to do if he uncovered a scandal that stuck.

Len Mitzel (PC Cypress-Medicine Hat) Haven’t heard of Len Mitzel? Not surprising. The backbench MLA has found his niche as the PC caucus’ designated American conference attendee. Over the past year, Mitzel has attended conferences on behalf of the Government of Alberta in Montana (again and again), San Angelo, Laredo, Denver, and Boise, meaning that he likely understands more than most MLAs the important economic relationship that our province has with the western United States.

Rachel Notley: (NDP Edmonton-Strathcona) Notley has proven to be a consistently good parliamentarian. She is intelligent, articulate, and has worked hard to provide a clear voice for her constituents on the floor of the Legislature (on a wide range of issues). Lord only knows why NDP members have not demanded that she become the leader of her party.

Kevin Taft (Liberal Edmonton-Riverview) Freed from the burden of leading Alberta’s Liberal Party, Taft has returned to a more familiar role as Official Opposition Health Critic. Having written and researched extensively about public health care in Alberta in his pre-political life, Taft has proven to be a formidable opponent to Premier Stelmach and Minister Liepert over the past year.

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Doug Griffiths Hugh MacDonald

not so tough economic times for some.

Tough economic times are all the talk, but Alberta’s Progressive Conservative MLAs are still collecting up to $35,000 in extra pay annually for work done in closed-door caucus committee meetings.  

In May 2008, government MLAs started receiving $12,000 a year for serving on cabinet policy committees which are supposed to advise government in five areas: community services, economy, health, public safety and services and resources and the environment.

Previously, only the committee chairpersons were paid for the work, but now all government MLAs except the speaker and the premier, get paid.

Cabinet ministers get more than $35,000 a year for their committee duties. The difference in cost is a tenfold increase from $140,000 to $1.4 million.

“We have no record of their work, no record of their attendance and they’re making mega-bucks on these committees,” Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald said.

He added that in addition to being paid to meet, the Conservative-only committees also overspent their $653,000 budget by $503,000 or 77 per cent.

Battle River-Wainwright MLA Doug Griffiths deserves credit for being the first and singular PC MLA noble enough to publicly reject the private perk. Humility is a virtue that we do not often see from our elected leaders in our Legislative Assembly.

The same day that the private PC perks were made public, our provincial Health Care Authority, Alberta Health Services, announced that they had borrowed $220 million through a private line of credit from the Royal Bank of Canada.

Earlier last week, when members of AHS executive declared that they would run out of money by February 2010, Premier Ed Stelmach said that taxpayers would fund any shortfall in the Health Care budget. On Thursday, Paula Simons pointed out that this was a key justification used by the PC government when they unilaterally dissolved the regional health authorities in favour of a province-wide superboard two years ago.

Is Alberta Health Services so colossally badly managed, so inefficient and bureaucratic, that it has plunged our health-care system into crushing, massive debt in just two years?

I am not aware of any laws prohibiting a government agency like AHS from taking on debt from a private bank, but I cannot think of any other organization like AHS that has done so. Alberta taxpayers have the right to ask some fair questions about the prime + 0.5% line of credit that AHS has taken out.

How does a government agency like AHS expect to repay a line of credit this large? As Don Braid has pointed out, is this not why the $13 billion Sustainability Fund exists? Why did AHS choose a Toronto-based bank over the Edmonton-based and Albertan-owned Alberta Treasury Branches? And the question that piques my curiosity: what has AHS listed as collateral for the private line of credit? The Royal Alexandra Hospital? The Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary? If you are looking for answers to these questions, you have already missed the deadline to ask Ed.

While our elected government officials would like Albertans to believe that these contextually historic normal economic times are actually a hurricane of tough economic times for essential public services like Health Care and Education, Albertans should ask what PC MLAs have done to deserve financial shelter from the storm they want us to believe they are guiding us through?

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Ben Henderson David Swann Hugh MacDonald Jim Wachowich Laurie Blakeman Mary MacDonald Michael Ignatieff

michael ignatieff’s town hall in edmonton.

Yesterday may have felt like a normal June 30 to most Edmontonians, but unbeknownst to most citizens (but not all ) Official Opposition leader Michael Ignatieff was in the Provincial Capital City taking part in an open Town Hall meeting at the Santa Maria Goretti Community Centre .

The event was large in numbers, but the 600 person crowd felt subdued as they seemed more curious to hear what this Ignatieff fellow had to say, rather than to simply cheer the Liberal Party battle cry. The room was filled with party faithful and also attracted a good mix of interested non-partisans who were likely also just as curious to hear what Ignatieff had to say. Of course, the meeting attracted a number local political names such as former Liberal MP Anne McLellan , Liberal MLAs David Swann, Laurie Blakeman, and Hugh MacDonald, and City Councillor Ben Henderson, as well as Senators Tommy Banks, Grant Mitchell, and Claudette Tardif. Alex Abboud has a good review of the question and answer session, so I won’t duplicate his blog post.

While I don’t believe that anyone in the building (including Ignatieff) was under the impression that his presence alone would lead to Liberal Party gains in the next election, there did seem to be a positive energy that wasn’t evident during Stephane Dion‘s short tenure as Liberal leader. Of the Liberal activists I spoke to last night, they carried a renewed optimism, especially for the chances of winning over voters in ridings like Edmonton-Centre, Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont, and Edmonton-Strathcona.

Following Ignatieff’s time on stage, I had a good conversation with local lawyer Mary MacDonald, who is seeking the Liberal nomination in Edmonton-Centre. MacDonald, who’s previous electoral experience included placing a scant 58-votes behind NDP candidate Raj Pannu in 1997, was positive about her chances and was realistic about the hard work ahead of her. Over the course of the evening, a number of Liberals approached me to inquire if I was supporting former candidate Jim Wachowich, who according to Ken Chapman is no longer seeking the nod. Edmonton-Centre Liberals are expected to choose their candidate at a meeting in September 2009 (I have been told the date may be moved sooner).

From a practical politics perspective, the Liberals would be smart to put the Conservatives on the defensive in key urban ridings in western Canada. In Alberta, this would include focusing on ridings like Edmonton-Centre, Edmonton-East, Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont, Edmonton-Strathcona, Calgary-Centre, and Calgary-Centre North in order to force the Conservatives to focus funds and resources on ridings where they have become accustomed to taking voters for granted. After a dismal few elections in Alberta, the Liberals need to also focus on rebuilding their province-wide support, which fell from 22% in June 2004 to 11% in October 2008.

I may be labeled a crazy wing-nut traitor for not believing that the Liberal Party of Canada is secretly hatching a conspiracy to steal Alberta’s God-given oil (or building a Death Star behind the Moon), but I actually get the feeling that Ignatieff is bothered that his party has burned so many political bridges in western Canada. That said, the largely Ontario-based Liberal Caucus hasn’t done much to distill perceptions that it is biased against the politics and economics of western Canada.

My cynical views of Canadian federal politics may remain in place, and while I not yet convinced Michael Ignatieff would be a great Prime Minister for Canadians, I am convinced that he would probably be a decent and open-minded Prime Minister for Canadians. I remain open-minded and curious.

( Photo credit to Alex Abboud )

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Alison Redford Elections Alberta Hugh MacDonald Kent Hehr Kevin Taft Lorne Gibson

opposition grills alison redford on lorne gibson dismissal.

Opposition Liberal MLAs Kevin Taft, Kent Hehr, and Hugh MacDonald grill PC Justice Minister Alison Redford on the firing of Chief Returning Officer Lorne Gibson and the continuing Election 2008 fiasco in this video clip of Question Period in the Alberta Legislature.


AGRDT has a solid run down of the commentary on Gibson’s dismissal.

(h/t to MarvinMouse for the Youtube link)

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Dave Taylor David Swann Ed Stelmach Hugh MacDonald Kevin Taft

david swann meets ed stelmach, and faces challenges from inside the liberal caucus.

Liberal Opposition leader David Swann and PC Premier Ed Stelmach met yesterday to discuss niceties and the upcoming provincial budget. This is a positive step for both party leaders, and I hope that for Albertans sake, some semblance of civility can be preserved between the two men.

Swann’s challenge will be to balance the ‘spirit of cooperation’ while actually providing an effective opposition to the governing PCs in the Legislature (and this is probably as difficult as it sounds). It remains to be seen if the toxically partisan environment in the Legislative Assembly will allow any civility between the two party leaders to survive when the Legislature begins sitting in February. Up until the Fall 2008 Session of the Legislature, the tension between Stelmach and former Liberal leader Kevin Taft had gotten so heated that Stelmach would frequently accuse Taft of being a Red Menace.

He must also be weary of not taking a route too close to the one taken by former Liberal leader Ken Nicol. When replacing defeated leader Nancy MacBeth in 2001, then-Lethbridge-East MLA Nicol’s quiet and polite tone made it easy for the Klein PCs to railroad over the Legislative opposition and the Raj Pannu-led NDP to garner much of the media attention, leaving the newly reduced Liberal caucus (7 MLAs elected in 2001, down from 18 in 1997) in their weakest position in over a decade.

While striking a conciliatory tone with Premier Stelmach may be a productive start, Swann is likely aware of the challenges he faces within his caucus.

Managing Edmonton-Gold Bar MLA Hugh MacDonald and Calgary-Currie MLA Dave Taylor are likely going to be key challenges in keeping the rag-tag caucus together. MacDonald, who appears to have become almost obsessed with unearthing PC scandals, has fine-tuned the exercise of crying wolf, diluting the opposition Liberals’ position on many issues. As Swann’s former leadership challenger, Taylor holds some forceful opinions on the direction of the opposition and the Liberal Party which clash with some of Swann’s ideas (not that I believe a different name will solve the Liberal Party’s organizational and psychological problems, but more on that later).

If Swann is to lead an effective opposition in the Legislature, his caucus will need to reign in wild card Hugh MacDonald, while managing Dave Taylor’s recently bruised ego.

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Doug Griffiths Hugh MacDonald Ken Kowalski Kent Hehr Ron Liepert Ted Morton

year in review 2008: alberta mla edition.

As is tradition here at daveberta, I have created an annual list of Alberta MLAs who have caught my eye over the past year. Due to a large grouping of MLAs who through sheer numbers, appear almost indistinguishable as they sit in the backbenches of the 72-MLA PC caucus, I am only focusing on a handful of MLAs who caught my attention for various reasons:

Doug Griffiths: (PC Battle River-Wainwright) Griffiths is an up and comer in the PC caucus. First elected in a 2002 by-election, much of his attention has focused on rural development strategies. As parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Griffiths brings a younger voice to the traditionally stogy agriculture file, and is in a good position to carve himself a solid position in the future of his party. Griffiths is also a bit of an exception to the rule when it comes to tech-know how, as he actually seems to comprehend the importance of web 2.0 in the politics of 2008 (like twitter).

Kent Hehr (Liberal Calgary-Buffalo) One of two new Liberals elected in 2008, Hehr is one of the strongest additions to the opposition benches in years. His brash hockey player attitude hasn’t stopped him from earning the respect of MLAs from all sides of the Assembly, and his well-spoken manner and compelling personal story have no doubt given him the credibility he has needed to focus public attention on Justice issues as Official Opposition critic.

Ken Kowalski (PC Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock) Since first taking his seat in the Speaker’s chair 12 years ago, Kowalski has done very little to halt the deterioration of decorum and respect in the Legislature as he frequently chooses to ignore offensive remarks and heckles thrown by MLAs on the Assembly floor. I have heard of a number of school teachers who now refuse to bring their elementary-level classes to visit Question Period because they don’t want their students to think the kind of behavior they’ll see in the Legislature is acceptable. From an outside perspective, it seems that the only part of his job he takes seriously includes greeting foreign dignitaries and publishing overpriced anthologies. Fail.

Ron Liepert (PC Calgary-West) I’m sure Liepert has been called many things since assuming the role of Health Minister, and judging from his behaviour on the floor of the Legislature, ‘arrogant jerk‘ is likely one of the more flattering. In charge of Alberta’s surprise Health Care restructuring following the 2008 election, Liepert has gone on a restructuring rampage, not only raising the ire of those in the system while convincing some of the province’s top public health professionals to resign, but has also created a new super-centralized provincial health board, dissolving the power of local health authorities.

Hugh MacDonald (Liberal Edmonton-Gold Bar) Somewhat obsessed with discovering scandal in Alberta’s 37-year PC government (and lord knows there are many), MacDonald has fine-tuned the exercise of calling wolf, diluting the real irresponsibility’s in environmental and economic management and stewardship by the PCs. As the PEI native continues to chase cars, I wonder if he’d know what to do if he caught one.

Ted Morton (PC Foothills-Rockyview) After being branded as the Great Right-Wing Threat of the 2006 PC leadership race, Morton has kept a strategically low-key profile over the past year. While not hitching his horse too tight to Stelmach’s reign and gaining a reputation as a reasonably competent Sustainable Resource Minister, Morton has put himself in a good position to ease the fears of moderate PCs who believed he would lead their party even further to the Right of the political spectrum. If Stephen Harper implodes, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tom Flanagan pop up in a proximity close to Minister Morton.

Rachel Notley: (NDP Edmonton-Strathcona) While I remain unimpressed with her party’s leader, I have been pleasantly surprised by the performance of my MLA over the past year. No less ideologically driven partisan then her caucus-mate, Notley has been the thoughtful and well-spoken member of the tiny NDP caucus since taking her seat after the 2008 election.

Raj Sherman (PC Edmonton-Meadowlark) This list won’t be able to top the list of sexiest MLAs, but it would be hard to keep Sherman off my list. The former emergency room doctor is one of the brighter stars in the vast expanse of dim lights in the Alberta Legislature. Though I wish this parliamentary assistant could knock some sense into Health Minister Liepert, Sherman’s experience in front-line medicine, and his openness about past challenges with mental health, give him insight into the medical arena that many other MLAs would have a difficult time understanding.

Ed Stelmach (PC Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville) Having helped quadruple this blog’s readership over the past year, Alberta’s Premier holds a special place in my heart. From quoting Cicero to comparing his opponents to communists, it’s hard to argue that any other MLA has been as ‘all over the board’ as Stelmach during his second year as Premier. Since January 1st, 2008, he has lashed out at the United Nations and a dead Prime Minister, skipped a First Ministers’ meeting, changed conflict of interest rules the day he called an election, and snuck himself a 30% pay raise all the while having been re-elected by Albertans on March 4 by running under the slogan “Change that works for Albertans.” In a time when Alberta could be blazing a bold new trail, Stelmach’s actions embody political mediocrity at its most deliberate.

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Carl Benito Hugh MacDonald

carl benito: to the "simple people" of edmonton-mill woods.

Edmonton-Mill Woods PC MLA Carl Benito addressing Public Accounts Committee Chairman Hugh MacDonald on October 8:

Mr. Benito: Yes, sir. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. When I go back to my constituency, the people who live there are mostly simple people. When they ask a question, you know, they want me to answer either yes or no or some simple answer.

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Alberta Royalty Review Alberta Tories Ed Stelmach Hugh MacDonald Kevin Taft Lyle Oberg

alberta’s royalty review.

Now that I’ve had a chance to take a look at the much talked about Alberta Royalty Review Panel Final Report, I have some thoughts to offer.

1. The report is much more damning than I think anyone thought it would be.

The report begins with the opening statement: “Albertans do not receive their fair share from energy development.” The report proves this to be an understatement.

2. The report revealed that a lack of government accountability has led to billions of dollars in reduced royalty income over the last 15 years – the royalty holidays and adjustments have reduced Alberta’s income by nearly $8.6 billion over the past 15 years.

Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft and Shadow Energy Minister Hugh MacDonald pointed out that:

the government failed to report a four year royalty holiday period, which began in 1997, under former Minister of Energy Steve West. In 2001, the Auditor General questioned why the royalty holiday and incentive programs were not reported. The Auditor General started to report these amounts in his annual report. Since then, the Department of Energy has buried the amount of the royalty adjustments in their financial footnotes.

Here are Kevin Taft and Hugh MacDonald in their media conference following the release of the report:

3. Though some are rallying against the report, the same people don’t seem to understand the difference between a royalty and a tax.

4. There is no doubt that the release of this report is a defining moment in Alberta’s politics and the reaction or lack thereof by Ed Stelmach‘s Tories may define the main issue of the next provincial election.

5. In 2004, Federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser’s report into the Sponsorship scandal revealed that up to $100 million of the $250 million sponsorship program was awarded to advertising firms and Crown corporations for little or no work.

In 2007, Alberta’s Royalty Review Panel revealed that approximately $8.6 billion in natural resource royalties owed to Albertans were not collected. This failure occured while Ed Stelmach and Lyle Oberg were sitting at the table in Ralph Klein’s Tory Cabinet.

Albertans have been cheated in a big way and should be furious.

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