daveberta.ca - Alberta Politics and Elections

Alberta’s Opposition should look for critics outside its ranks.

Though the Official Opposition has just released a new lineup of MLA critic roles for the upcoming Legislative session, newly elected leader David Swann should look outside the ranks of the nine-member Liberal Caucus to fill some roles.

Just as Stephen Harper appointed Josée Verner to represent Quebec in the Federal Conservative caucus in 2004, and Stéphane Dion appointed Bob Rae and Gerard Kennedy to the Federal Liberal shadow cabinet in 2007, similar moves in Alberta could be a game changer for the Opposition. As both the Liberals and New Democrats only succeeded in electing MLAs from Calgary, Edmonton, and Lethbridge, appointing critics from outside the Legislature could: 1) strengthen voices from regions of Alberta that aren’t represented by the Opposition in the Legislature; 2) make critic responsibilities more manageable for sitting MLAs; and 3) strengthen the quality of opposition critiques and responses to Government decisions.

Though these critics would not have a seat in the Legislature, the Opposition in Alberta is hardly in a position to be picky. After 37 years of one-party government, it’s long past due for the Opposition to start acting outside the traditional political structure. With traditional politics failing to connect with Albertans on a meaningful level (as demonstrated by the 60% of Albertans who did not vote in the March 2008 election), this is one example of how the political establishment in the Legislature could approach politics differently.

A change like this may seem minuscule or insignificant in the short-term, but it has the potential to change the long-term culture of politics in Alberta. By bringing a larger diversity of ideas and voices into the political debate, there is a chance it could make democracy in Alberta a little more competitive, and in turn, a little healthier.

Can Alberta clean up its energy production?

The Pembina Institute released a major report today outlining a strategy for Alberta to switch its main source of electricity from coal to cleaner renewable energy within 20 years. Pembina’s Jeff Bell and Tim Weis will be presenting and discussing the report tonight at an event hosted by the University of Alberta Energy Club.

Where & When
Humanities Centre Lecture 1, University of Alberta
January 14, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.

1) Oil is sitting at $38 a barrel.

2) Calgary-Buffalo MLA Kent Hehr has launched a website to support Bill 201, a piece of legislation that would give Police more powers in fighting gang violence. Hehr will be introducing this bill in next session of the Alberta Legislature, set to begin on Tuesday, February 10, 2009.

3) The RCMP are investigating alleged misuse of Wheat Board voters lists by five Conservative MPs. Alleged to have been involved are Crowfoot MP Kevin Sorenson, and Saskatchewan MPs David Anderson, Randy Hoback, Andrew Scheer and Ed Komarnicki.

4) Molotov cocktails are reported to be the source of an arson against the Edmonton home of former Syncrude President James Carter.

5) The University of Alberta Students’ Union has launched their Restricted Access campaign, and in today’s edition the Gateway has an interview with Advanced Education Minister Doug Horner.

As an Albertan, I am naturally skeptical of any Federal program that has the potential to become too Toronto-centric, but I can’t imagine that having 13 separate securities regulators across Canada is very efficient. Yesterday, Tom Hockin‘s Expert Panel on Securities Regulation recommended the creation of a single Securities Regulator for all of Canada.

My amateur knowledge of our Constitution leads me to understand that investment regulations fall under Section 92(13) of the Constitution Act, which acts as balance to the Provinces, while the Federal Government holds powers under Section 91(2), which gives the Feds the power to legislate on matters of internal trade and commerce.

With decentralization of power to the provinces having become a common trend over the past 25 years, it seems to me that economic agreements like the BC-Alberta TILMA have made the situation less clear-cut. The last major internal trade agreement successfully pursued in Canada was the 1994 Agreement on Internal Trade. Since then, the Federal Government seems to have taken a somewhat passive role in actually negotiating inter-provincial trade agreements.

Would a single regulator be more beneficial to Canada? I don’t know, but with continued talks of impending economic doom, it is unrealistic to believe that Alberta can remain an island unto itself in Confederation.

The Canadian Newspaper Association has released its 4th Annual Freedom of Information Audit (h/t Archie McLean). Here’s how the provincial and territorial governments placed in the audit:

Saskatchewan: A-
Manitoba: B+
Alberta: B+
PEI: B
Nova Scotia: B-
Yukon: C+
New Brunswick: C+
Newfoundland: C+
Quebec: C
British Columbia: C-
Ontario: C-

Though I have a hard time believing that the Government of Alberta excels at freedom of information, it’s probably true that this says more about how poorly Ontario and British Columbia are doing than anything else. Here’s how the Alberta-portion ranked:

C’s may get degrees, but they don’t mean much when it comes to freedom of information. As someone who is interested in urban issues and municipal politics, I am continually frustrated with how difficult it is to keep track of what initiatives my municipal government and City Councillors are actually working on.

No excuse, Edmonton, it’s time to pick up your game.

The second day of the Canadian University Press conference in Saskatoon is going well.

Still riding high from meeting Jonathan Goldstein last night, I joined Joey Coleman and the author of grrrl meets world for this morning’s bloggers’ panel. There was some pretty interesting discussion generated around the current and future role of blogs and bloggers in politics and local reporting (I have also had a lot of good feedback from my session yesterday, which is always reassuring). I’ve had a great time presenting and meeting with delegates at this conference, and thank CUP for inviting me to speak (Saskatoon is also a nice city, so it was even more of a pleasure to be here).

I get the feeling that there are a lot of aspiring journalists at this conference who are seriously concerned about future job prospects in the industry. As coverage of local community and political issues will undoubtably suffer as the larger mainstream media companies continue to hemmorage staff and resources, I believe that new online media, like blogs, are well positioned to fill the gap in reporting. Though this may force the bigger newspapers to once again put resources into local reporting (which would be good), it also has the potential to critically change where Canadians turn to find their local community and political news.

…and to be clear (in case you don’t get the reference), I mean it in a geological sense. On the bus ride from Edmonton to Saskatoon yesterday, I could literally see for kilometers. As a kid who grew up in a small-town on the edge of a farmer’s field, I never thought the openness of vast fields would actually startle me, but it did, and I feel like I’ve grown as a person because of it.

I am happy to report a successful first day at the 71st Annual Canadian University Press Conference!

After arriving by Greyhound in Saskatoon last night, I grabbed $6.80 taxi ride from the bus depot to the Sheraton Cavalier. Within my first minute of the 4 minute cab ride, the driver (who promptly informed me that he had recently moved to the Prairies from Montreal) warned me not to venture across the river to the west side of Saskatoon (which according to him, was ‘sketchy’). Interesting.

I arrived at the hotel. Checked in. Found myself in a extremely comfortable hotel suite which included a bar, giant screened television, and massive king sized bed. Luxury.

This morning, I threw away the cab driver’s advice and dared to venture to the ‘sketchy‘ west side of Saskatoon (which actually seemed fairly nice) to the University of Saskatchewan and met Ward 4 City Council candidate Sean Shaw for coffee at the local Tim Horton’s. We had a great chat and I would recommend you check out his website, as he seems to have some pretty good ideas for positive change in Saskatoon.

I returned to the conference in the afternoon and delivered my session on politics, blogging, and web 2.0 to conference delegates. The session went well, and though I didn’t get the chance to record it, I may try to re-do it in podcast form for folks who are interested (thanks for the emails, facebook messages, comments, and tweets).

The conference is going well, and I was happy to join the crew from the Gateway at the conference dinner tonight, which featured Wiretap host and former This American Life contributor Jonathan Goldstein. As a huge Wiretap and long-time TAL fan, it was pretty amazing to see Goldstein speak in person. Win.

Tomorrow: Bloggers Panel with Joey Coleman and Rebekah Bennetch.

I was a little shocked to read an email forwarded to me by a reader this afternoon. As a resident of the Garneau neighbourhood, I am disappointed to learn that the owner of the building has decided to change the face of this historic Edmonton landmark. In July 2007, Edmonton lawyer John Day purchased the building, and at the time was quoted saying “I will consult with the community” before planning any major renovations to the historic block. According to a 2008 article, the lease for the movie theatre was set to expire in 2009.

In November 2007, the popular Garneau restaurants the Sugar Bowl and High Level Dinner, avoided demolition when owner Patrick Turner sold the building to its current tenants. Turner had been offered truckloads of cash a developer who wanted to demolish the historic block and build condominium building, but decided to save the historic building instead.

Perhaps there are structural reasons for the demolition, or perhaps it will just be a well-intentioned face lift for the historic building, but it will be a loss for Edmonton if the demolition results in irreparable damage to a unique building that has helped shape the quirky character of the Garneau area for decades.

From the Edmonton Journal:

Ecojustice launched the private prosecution, on behalf of Custer, in provincial court this morning against Syncrude under the Federal Migratory Birds Convention Act, which prohibits the deposit of a harmful substance in an area frequented by migratory birds. The prosecution is also supported by Sierra Club Canada and Forest Ethics.

More on the Tailings Ponds of northern Alberta

(h/t @taudette, Ken Chapman)

PC Finance Minister Iris Evans may be traveling to Norway to learn how to save money, but the real attention should be paid to the activities of Treasury Secretary Lloyd Snelgrove, who is rumoured to be preparing the second phase of Alberta’s new innovative long-term savings strategy to be executed upon Evans’ return at the end of January.

The key principle of the strategy revolves around the development of a flux-capacitor, which once installed into a proper vehicle and reaches a speed of 88 miles per hour (142 km/h), will transport Evans back to November 5, 1955.

Upon arriving in 1955, Evans will intercept young Ralph Klein at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance and attempt to convince him that properly saving for Alberta’s future would be vitally important during his time as Premier. If Evans is successful, this will begin to cause what Doc Brown describes as a paradox that would cause Alberta’s financial and infrastructure problems to disappear from existence (but if she’s not careful, and does not bring any extra plutonium, Evans will have to find the 1955 version of Lloyd Snelgrove to help her return to 2009).

Calgary-Centre Green candidate Natalie Odd is getting a head start on the next Federal election by re-launching her campaign this weekend.

Odd, the Executive Director of the Clean Calgary Association, placed a close-third when she faced off against Conservative MP Jim Prentice Lee Richardson in October 2008. Placing less than 600 votes behind second-place Liberal Heesung Kim and earning 16.7% of the vote, Odd’s 2008 performance was the strongest of any Calgary federal Green candidate to date.

After having made 18 Senate appointments in December 2008, is there any reason to believe (barring an election defeat) that Prime Minister Stephen Harper won’t make appointments to fill the 12 scheduled Senate vacancies in 2009?