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Edmonton Downtown Arena Electoral Reform Ray Danyluk

what’s a blogger to do?

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend of either:

a) Celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ;

or

b) Celebrating the arrival of the magical chocolate egg bearing “Easter Bunny.”

Coming back to Edmonton after a weekend spent up north, I had a difficult time deciding just what I wanted to write about upon my triumphant return to Alberta’s capital city…

I could write about the proposed development of a new arena in downtown Edmonton. The arena is being proposed as a way to revitalize Edmonton’s downtown-core, but I’m still not sure if I understand how building a giant cavernous hockey arena will equal revitalizion. Anyone care to explain? I’m hoping for some good coverage by Battle of Alberta and Covered in Oil…

I also could write about Tory Minister Ray Danyluk’s political posturing for rural Alberta in preparation for the next Electoral Boundary Redistribution. It is too early to tell whether Danyluk and his gang (who shall know be known as the “rural clique“) are blowing smoke to appease the “rural clique” or are turning an issue of fair democratic representation in the Alberta Legislature into a purely political game. As I’ve written in the past, rural Alberta is incredibly overrepresented in the Legislative Assembly compared to urban Alberta. I’m really hoping that Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel, Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier, and their Councils don’t hesitate in standing up for fair provincial representation for Alberta’s two largest cities.

And finally, I could also give a shout out to the Grande Prairie Daily-Herald Tribune for their shout out in yesterday’s paper (thanks to Bill for sending me the link). The Daily-Herald Tribune is one of the better newspapers from Alberta’s smaller cities and usually makes my list of daily scans (along with the St. Albert Gazette and Fort McMurray Today).

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Boycott Beijing Summer Olympics 2008

why i’m boycotting the 2008 beijing olympics.

As fun as the Olympics Games are to watch and as great an opportunity they are for amateur athletes across the globe, I can’t help but be completely disturbed by the actions of the government of the People’s Republic of China in their recent military crackdown against the people of Tibet over the past couple weeks.

With a strong-arm crackdown on freedom of assembly and expression underway in the People’s Republic, there is no way that I can feel good about watching and therefore supporting the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

The list of injustices stemming from that country’s regime is long, but We Move to Canada has put together a list of reasons why not to support the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games:

Tibet: China’s continuing occupation of this sovereign, peaceful nation.

Darfur: China is Sudan’s largest trading partner and the main foreign investor in its oil industry. Most Western oil companies, under pressure from human rights organizations, have withdrawn from Sudan. And although we know that economic isolation and divestment can have a very powerful, positive effect (think South Africa), China continues to do business with Sudan, enabling slavery and genocide.
China: The list of China’s abuses of its own people is a long and shameful one.

— China executes more of its citizens than the rest of the capital-punishment countries combined and doubled. While China has a much larger population than those other countries, its rate of execution is still disproportionate. China has more capital crimes, and is believed to have more hidden executions and political executions, than any other country in the world.

— China jails (and also executes) thousands of activists, political dissidents, journalists, and ordinary citizens who attempt free expression. Reporters Without Borders is a good source for civil liberty and human rights abuses in China, as is Human Rights Watch.

— China’s labour laws are a sad joke. Factory conditions sound like something out of Dickens or Upton Sinclair.

— China pollutes water, air and soil with impunity, poisoning and sickening its citizens for generations to come.

So, when August 2008 comes around, instead of watching the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, I will be outside enjoying my freedoms of peaceful assembly, expression, and movement that the people of Tibet and the People’s Republic of China aren’t able to freely practice.

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Dare to Deceive Dare to Deliver University of Alberta

dare to deceive.

Hundereds of University of Alberta students gathered in front of the University Administration building this afternoon to protest the lack of consultation that occured before the U of A administration announced it will no longer accept credit cards as a method of payment for tuition fees.

With an average of 18,000 University of Alberta students using credit cards to pay their tuition and fees, a group of students have begun the “Dare to Deceive” campaign protesting the lack of consultation (“Dare to Deceive” is a play on the University’s “Dare to Deliver” document which, if you believe the U of A administration, is the best thing since sliced bread).

Not surprisingly, you can still use your credit card to donate to the University in honour of its centenary year.

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Citizen's Assembly Ed Stelmach University of Lethbridge

writing for democracy.

A group of political science students at the University of Lethbridge will be holding a write-a-thon on April 3 at 7:00 in Galileo’s (at the University of Lethbridge) to send a message to Tory Premier Ed Stelmach that the Government of Alberta should appoint a Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform.

Sub-campaigns are also being organized at the Universities of Calgary and Alberta.
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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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Democracy

three for democracy.

Three articles today on democracy in Alberta from Larry Booi, David Evans, and Marco Adria.

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Smart Growth

walking is fun.

Check out the Walkable Edmonton Initiative.

Kudos to the City of Edmonton Community Services Department for this initiative. Walkability is a key element of creating the smart and healthy city that Edmonton should be.

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St. Patrick's Day

liturgical clarification.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

Jim Lackey at the Catholic News Service has responded to my post from yesterday on what the decision of Irish bishops moving the liturgical celebration of St. Patrick’s Day to last Saturday means for green beer enthusiasts here in Canada.

So, you are still safe to enjoy your green beer today with a clear conscience (though if you’re like me they’ll be plenty of guilt to go around tomorrow morning…). Jim also points out that the next time St. Patrick’s Day will find itself in the same week as Easter will be in 2160.

(ES also offers some St. Patty’s Day reflections)

Also, I wish I had one of these…

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St. Patrick's Day

send back the green beer…

… because we apparently already missed St. Patrick’s Day.

Irish Catholics to celebrate St. Patrick two days earlier in 2008

By Michael Kelly
Catholic News Service

DUBLIN, Ireland (CNS) — Catholics in Ireland will celebrate the feast of St. Patrick two days earlier next year after the Vatican gave permission to move the feast day to avoid a conflict with Holy Week.

Traditionally St. Patrick and all things Irish are celebrated March 17. However, in 2008, March 17 falls on the Monday of Holy Week and, according to church law, the days of Holy Week and Easter rank above all others, so the solemnity of St. Patrick must be moved to another date.

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University of Alberta

no more credit at the university of alberta.

An average of 18,000 University of Alberta students use credit cards to pay their tuition and fees.

therefore

The University of Alberta administration has decided to no longer accept payments by credit card.

(See the 2,400 member facebook group for more info)

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Boycott Beijing Summer Olympics 2008

one world one dream.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the hosts of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

BBC News has been covering the Tibet story better than any other news source I could find.

UPDATE: You can find video footage of the Tibet protests here.

(h/t boing boing)

ANOTHER UPDATE: According to The Telegraph, the United States has dropped China from its worst human rights list. Say what?

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Canadian Politics Federal Liberals

i’m not doing anything for the liberal party of canada.

James Bowie has challenged six bloggers (yours truly included) to declare what they are doing to help the Liberal Party of Canada. The challenge originated from a post by Jason Cherniak that caused a bit of a stir over the past week or so in the Canadian liberalish blogosphere (you can check out how Jim Curran, Quito Maggi, and A BCer in Toronto responded to Bowie’s challenge).

As you have probably gathered from the title of this post, I’m not doing anything for the Liberal Party of Canada. Indeed, I haven’t had much involvement with the Federal Liberals since I spent the 2004 federal election volunteering with Anne McLellan‘s successful re-election campaign in Edmonton-Centre.

How come, Dave?

I woke up and came to the realization that I have some pretty big beefs with how the Liberal Party of Canada had governed Canada (whether it be on the environment, post-secondary education, international affairs, trade, and of course, Adscam, among others). So, I let my membership lapse in 2006, and since then Stephane Dion’s hand sitting maneuvers haven’t done much to entice me to re-join his party (not that I’m impressed with Stephen Harper, either).

Since then, I’ve been content to spend my energies over the past couple years working with the Alberta Liberals and the Council of Alberta University Students on the provincial level, and on improving public transit in Edmonton.

In 2006, I lent Jack Layton my vote and voted for NDP candidate Linda Duncan in Edmonton-Strathcona, but in 2008 I’m not sure who I’d vote for. Even though none of the federal parties are really doing it for me, I’m happy to take the Joe Clark approach and support individual candidates on the federal scene by wishing Elizabeth May, Jim Wachowich, Irwin Cotler, Nathan Cullen, and Oliva Chow good luck in their election campaigns.

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Citizen's Assembly Electoral Reform Fair Vote Alberta

fair vote alberta event on march 19.

I picked this up from Idealistic Pragmatist…

Fair Vote Alberta, the provincial wing of Fair Vote Canada, will be hosting an event with former B.C. Citizens’ Assembly member Shoni Field. Shoni will be talking to us about her experiences on the Assembly and its applicability to Alberta. There will be plenty of time after her talk for Q&A.

Place: Strathcona Public Library (8331-104 Street), Edmonton
Date: Wednesday, March 19th
Time: 7:00 PM

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Neil Waugh

and the public affairs bureau award goes to…

… good old Neil Waugh, for his gushing endorsatorial of Ed Stelmach’s cabinet. As I wrote yesterday, it’s not an awful cabinet, but it’s certainly nowhere near as orgasmically charged as Waugh’s column would have Edmonton Sun readers believe.

Is the one-sentence-a-paragraph bandit gunning for a job at the top? Say, maybe as Tom Olsen’s assistant? It would be a shame though, because Waugh is the best fish and game columnist in town.

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Alberta Liberals Alberta NDP

what’s next for alberta’s opposition parties?

After receiving a substantial beating in last week’s election, I thought it is important to take a look at Alberta’s two opposition parties in the Legislature and make some suggestions on what their next moves should be.

Though there has been talk of leadership change in the opposition parties, I don’t see any need for the Alberta Liberals or New Democrats to rush this decision. The goal of both parties should be stability, and I’m not sure how a leadership change in the short-term will help this (I’m not sure you’d see a mad rush of leadership contenders, either). As both parties will have their opposition budgets slashed, they should look to increase their cooperation in the Legislature and in legislative committees for the sake of a stronger and more united opposition.

Alberta Liberals

The Alberta Liberals lost eight seats in the Edmonton region last week. With three seats in Edmonton, one in Lethbridge, and five in Calgary (where they actually increased their seats from four to five), the Alberta Liberals can take solace in that they are probably in a better position to grow than when they were decimated down to 7 seats in 2001. Though I’m sure the financial situation situation of the party isn’t pretty, a leaner opposition will force the Alberta Liberals to do some soul searching in the meantime.

Having the majority of their seats in Calgary is a changing dynamic that the Alberta Liberals haven’t seen in recent memory, which suggests that the Calgary Alberta Liberal caucus will have more influence on opposition politics than they had before the election.

In terms of Kevin Taft’s leadership, my advice to the party is to not rush any decisions. Internal stability is something that will be very important in the process of preparing for the next election and leadership is something the Alberta Liberals need to be smart about. Holding a leadership race now would be fool hearted and would most likely not draw the types of contenders that the Alberta Liberals would need to lead them into the next election. There’s no rush, so wait a year and let Ed Stelmach’s Tories stumble, then if a leadership race needs to be held, you’ll see more people stepping up to the plate.

Over the next four years, the Alberta Liberals need to take a critical look ‘outside the box’ and decide what kind of party they want to be, including abandoning the traditional party structure and mentality. Everything should be on the table, including more than just a name-change.

Official Opposition MLAs
Kevin Taft, Edmonton-Riverview
Laurie Blakeman, Edmonton-Centre
Harry Chase, Calgary-Varsity
Kent Hehr, Calgary-Buffalo
Darshan Kang, Calgary-McCall
Hugh MacDonald, Edmonton-Gold Bar
Bridget Pastoor, Lethbridge-East
David Swann, Calgary-Mountain View
Dave Taylor, Calgary-Currie

Alberta New Democrats

The loss of David Eggen in Edmonton-Calder and Ray Martin in Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview means that the New Democrats have lost their official party status in the Alberta Legislature. Also, much like the Alberta Liberals, I’m sure their financial situation isn’t pretty.

With leader Brian Mason’s only caucus mate being rookie Edmonton-Strathcona MLA Rachel Notley, it’s pretty clear who the favorite to replace Mason will be. This said, even though I’ve never warmed up to Mason, I think that him handing over the reigns to Notley too early after the election could be a bad move for his party.

As a rookie MLA, Notley should be given some time to learn the ropes and decide whether or not she actually likes being an MLA. As much as some New Democrats I’ve spoken with want Mason to hit the road as soon as possible, putting Notley into the leader’s chair this early could be a risky move (but with only two seats in the Legislature, what do the New Democrats really have to lose?).

It is also probably overdue for the New Democrats take a critical look at the advantages and disadvantages of its joint-at-the-hip relationship with some of Alberta’s big labour unions. Does its close ties to the Alberta Federation of Labour do more harm than good? What does this relationship mean for the New Democrats claim to being a voice for progressives in Alberta?

(Also, for a New Democrat point of view, Shannon Phillips has some interesting post-Eday thoughts on the election in Edmonton and Edmonton-Calder.)

New Democrat MLAs
Brian Mason, Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood
Rachel Notley, Edmonton-Strathcona

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