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2008 Alberta Provincial Election

it’s about rep-by-pop.

With an Alberta provincial general election predicted to be only weeks away, I thought it would be important to put a little more attention on the issue of representation in the Alberta Legislature. To be specific, this is the issue of representation by population. Representation by population is a pretty simple concept that is taught in elementary social studies classes (or at least was when I went to elementary school), but the people who draw Alberta’s constituency boundaries may have missed that lesson at school.

According to the list of electors from the November 2006, here are the constituencies with the lowest number of registered voters:

Dunvegan-Central Peace – 15,142 voters
Peace River – 18,007 voters
Lac La Biche-St. Paul – 18,674 voters
Lesser Slave Lake – 19,553 voters
Bonnyville-Cold Lake – 19,602 voters
Cardston-Taber-Warner – 19,615 voters

Now, take a look at the two Edmonton and Calgary constituencies with the lowest number of registered voters:

Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood – 26,170 voters
Calgary-Montrose – 24,519 voters

This means that the 15,142 voters in Dunvegan-Central Peace have the same representation in the Alberta Legislature as the 24,519 and 26,170 voters in Calgary-Montrose and Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood. It also means that the 15,142 voters in Dunvegan-Central Peace have the same representation in the Legislature as the 37,529 voters in Calgary-West and 37,613 voters in Edmonton-Whitemud (the two most populated constituencies according to Elections Alberta).

Now, I understand the argument behind the existence of these less populated rural constituencies (and why Dunvegan-Central Peace was given special consideration to have less than 75% of the provincial average) – because it’s more difficult for an MLA to represent a vast less populated vast rural constituencies – but when it comes down to it, fence posts don’t vote, people do. It’s about equal representation for Albertans (the first part of the Triple-E).

I’m not saying that the people of Dunvegan-Central peace aren’t of the utmost quality, but I wouldn’t blame voters in Calgary-West and Edmonton-Whitemud if they became a little confused as to why 1 vote in Dunvegan-Central Peace’s is worth more than double a vote in their constituency.

Now, we’re nowhere close to having rotten boroughs, but the question of equal representation in Alberta between urban and rural Albertans is a critical question that needs to be addressed. After Edmonton lost one seat in the 2003 Electoral Boundary Review, I hope that both the Mayors and Councillors of Edmonton and Calgary will be ready to fight for fair representation when the next boundary review comes along.

But with three of the six least populated constituencies being represented by Ministers in the current Tory government, I wouldn’t blame cynics for not believing that this type of constituency distribution will end anytime soon…

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Municipal Politics Public Transit

more late night transit talk in edmonton.

Following up on my previous post on the 24-hour public transit debate in Edmonton, Brian Gould had a great article in last Tuesday’s Gateway.

Click here to read Edmonton Transit system tucking in far to early.

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Alberta Politics Podcasts

edmonton journal podcast.

Just over a week ago, I sat down and chatted with Edmonton Journal’s Legislature Reporter Archie McLean as part of the first edition of the Lej Out Loud podcast. Ken Chapman and I were lucky to be the first guests of the podcast in which we discuss the political blogging scene in Alberta.

Congrats to Archie and thanks for having us on!

Also, in case you haven’t yet read it, check out Graham Thomson’s column from today’s Journal.

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Karen Leibovici Kerry Diotte Public Transit

24-7 transit for edmonton?

In case anyone missed it, Kerry Diotte had an interesting column on the idea of 24-hour transit in Edmonton.

Coun. Karen Leibovici, who asked administrators to prepare one of the two reports, is cautiously supportive of extended service.

“We’re becoming more and more of a 24-7 city,” said Leibovici. “We need to start looking at it,” she said. “But the biggest problem is cost. Perhaps we don’t have to run all night or even until 3:30 a.m.

“Maybe we can do a pilot project on Whyte Avenue or extend service for one extra hour.”

Yes, there are many options.

Maybe we could afford it if we cut little-used routes and keyed on busier ones – or stopped using tax money to fund new routes to distant suburbs.

Do we need smaller buses on some routes? Or could we have fewer stops so buses get to destinations faster, thus encouraging more people to use the system?

Those options too, would help pay for extended hours.

I think there are some pretty valid points in exploring the idea of 24-hour routes for Edmonton Transit (or potentially an hourly or half-hourly LRT run after 1am). Though I believe there tends to be too much focus on the Whyte Avenue bar scene when talking about 24-hour transit service, I do think that it could be an interesting place to conduct a pilot project.

I’ve even heard of an idea that would have buses running down Whyte Avenue after closing time delivering bar patrons to destinations east and west of Whyte Avenue to designated taxi pick up areas (perhaps the Bonnie Doon Mall parking lot to the east and the Jubilee Auditorium or Lister Hall Parking lots to the west). Though there would be a number of issues to work out (bus driver safety and “bus cleanliness” being two), it would successfully cut down the conjestion on Whyte Avenue before and after closing time.

As Edmonton grows, these types of public transit questions are only going to become more critical to making Edmonton a smarter and more efficient city.

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Ed Stelmach edstelmach.ca governing myself accordingly Malcolm Mayes

edstelmach.ca: governing myself accordingly. day 4.

A bit of a media update…

Full credit to Edmonton Journal editorial cartoonist Malcolm Mayes for this one.

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Ed Stelmach edstelmach.ca governing myself accordingly

edstelmach.ca: governing myself accordingly. day 3.

Well, I’ve spent the last three days governing myself accordingly on this issue and edstelmach.ca. Here’s a bit of an update of what’s going on…

As was reported in the newspapers today:

Stelmach‘s chief of staff, Ron Glen, called Dave Cournoyer on Wednesday in search of a resolution to the fight over the domain name edstelmach.ca. Glen had heard Cournoyer might be amenable to settling the issue if he got a call from the premier.

Now, I’m still a little confused about who exactly I’m dealing with. Let me try to work this out:

1) Right before Christmas, I receive a letter from a lawyer representing Premier Ed Stelmach threatening me with litigation for misappropriating Premier Stelmach’s personality by owning edstelmach.ca.

2) January 8 – The Premier’s Office refuses to comment or become publicly involved with the issue. Alberta Progressive Conservative Executive Director Jim Campbell comments on it, saying the domain issue is theirs.

3) Afternoon, January 9 – I receive an email from the Premier’s lawyer saying that he is still waiting to hear from me or my legal representation.

4) Evening, January 9 – I receive a friendly phone call from Ron Glen, the Chief of Staff of the Office of the Premier (which didn’t want to comment or be involved with the issue the previous day), asking if there might be a way to amenably resolve this issue.

Understandably, I was a little surprised to get a phone call from the Premier’s Chief of Staff. I know that Mr. Glen is a good friend and long time adviser to Premier Stelmach, but I can’t help but be a little confused about who is handling the issue on their side of things.

Like I’ve said before, this has always been something that probably could have been resolved a lot quieter by a friendly email or phone call and not through a threatening legal letter (it’s kind of like shooting first and asking questions later). This said, I’ve never been interested in personally or financially profiting from this, so I will be taking a couple of days to weigh my options.

Here is some recent stories from bloggers and in the news about this story…

– Stelmach the bully in this web prank (Graham Thomson at the Edmonton Journal)
– Province threatens Cournoyer (The Gateway)
– Premier of Alberta threatens to sue blogging uni student for registering a domain with his name in it (BoingBoing)
– Premier Stelmach seeks truce over domain name spat (Edmonton Journal)
– Political Analysts tell Stelmach to ‘back off’ on domain name dispute (Calgary Herald)
– Expert expects preem to lose domain lawsuit (Edmonton Sun)
– Premier defends efforts to control internet address (Canadian Press on CBC Edmonton)
– Edmonton Sun Letter to the Editor
– Davberta punk’s Premier Ed. I love it! (Ken Chapman)
– edstelmach.com (Everybody has to live somewhere)
– Hard not to feel some sympathy for the Premier (David Climenhaga)
– Ed Stelmach threatens lawsuit over domain name (Ben Co.)
– Not an HRC issue, but blogger may be sued (timeimmortal)
– Alberta Premier vs Alberta Blogger (p2pnet.net)
– Alberta Premier threatens to sue blogger over cybersquatting ( The Agenda)
– On making Ed Stelmach look stupid (Cowboys for Social Responsibility)
– Unless you live under a rock (Alberta Tory)
– Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach vs. blogger (Alice the Camel)
– Craig Chandler bids for Stelmach’s domain name (La Revue Gauche)
– Hey Ed your domain is available (La Revue Gauche)

The Premier was also questioned about edstelmach.ca during his press conference this morning before he left for the First Ministers’ Conference in Ottawa.

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2008 Alberta Provincial Election Alberta Politics

not-edstelmach.ca

Here’s a bit of a rundown of some of the political movement on the Alberta scene…

– The list of Alberta Provincial election candidates has been updated as Alberta Liberals have nominated Dick Mastel in Cypress-Medicine Hat and Dale D’Silva in Calgary-North West. For the New Democrats, former City Council candidate and two-time Edmonton-Manning candidate Hana Razga will be running in Edmonton-Whitemud against Tory Health Minister Dave Hancock and Alberta Liberal Nancy Cavanaugh. The NDs will also be running Mel Kraley in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo.

– The Battle for the Calgary-Egmont PC nomination is raging on. Don Middleton vs. Vicki Engel vs. Jonathan Denis. The victor will take on Alberta Liberal Cathie Williams, Independent-turfed-Tory Craig Chandler, Green Party Leader George Read, and New Dem Jason Nishiyama.

– Kudos to Elections Alberta for their swanky new website, it’s a great improvement compared the previous design.

– Jimmy Ford will be running as an Independent candidate in the next Federal election in the riding of Edmonton-Sherwood Park.

– The campaign south of the border gets more interesting as New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has ended his bid as a candidate in the Democratic race. I’m still betting on Mike Huckabee for the Republican nod…

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edstelmach.ca Neil Waugh Vast Left Wing Conspiracies

edstelmach.ca: the daveberta conspiracy.

I don’t think you really become a ‘someone‘ in Alberta politics until an Edmonton Sun columnist accuses you of being part of an organized conspiracy.

Similar to the vast left-wing conspiracy behind the youthful non-partisan well-organized campaign machine of now-Ward 5 Edmonton City Councillor Don Iveson, I’ve been accused of being part of a conspiracy by Sun columnist Neil Waugh.

Well, Neil, you called a spade a spade and caught me red handed. I am part of a vast conspiracy. In fact, I’ve been a full participant in many vast conspiracies in my years. Here’s a list to get you started on your next column…

– The Global Warming Conspiracy
– The Watergate Conspiracy
– The Apollo Moon landing hoax
– The Black Helicopter Conspiracy
– The assassination of Arch-Duke Franz Ferdiniand
– The Reptilian Humanoid Conspiracy
– The Roswell UFO Conspiracy

I’m also a member of the Bohemian Club and Skull & Bones, and am the sinister mastermind behind New Coke.

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Alberta Alliance Craig Chandler Paul Hinman Randy Thorsteinson Wildrose Party

uniting the right in alberta?

I’ve always had a bit of a fascination with the non-Progressive Conservative political right in Alberta and the future merger of the Wild Rose Party and the Alberta Alliance into the superparty Wild Rose Alliance is no exception.

I think it will be quite interesting to see the impact that a merger between these two parties will have in the next election. One of the quirks of Alberta politics seems to be the far-right’s inability to keep organized between elections only to coalesce in time for the election period.

In the 2004 election, the Alberta Alliance, led by Randy Thorsteinson, ran a full slate of 83 candidates. Though the majority of Alberta Alliance candidates didn’t come even close to victory, a few finished with strong second- or third- place finishes. Only Cardston-Taber-Warner candidate Paul Hinman (and now leader) was elected while Thorsteinson was unable to topple Tory MLA Luke Ouellette in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake. With former Tory Broyce Jacobs once again challenging Hinman in Cardston-Taber-Warner, the Alliance leader Paul Hinman’s chances of re-election are questionable.

Of course, a couple of questions still remain about the Alliance-Wild Rose Unite the Right initiative such as… will they have time to register with Elections Alberta as a formal party or will they run under an unofficial slate? Will they really have time to organize candidates and campaigns before the next election? Will they hold a leadership race or will Alliance Leader Paul Hinman take the reins as has been suggested? What role will Craig Chandler and his merry band of supporters play in this new party/alliance?

Here’s a look back at some of the past-ventures of the non-PC far-right in Alberta electoral politics…

2004
Alberta Alliance (83 candidates) – 77,466 votes (8.7%)
Social Credit (42 candidates) – 10,998 votes (1.23%)

2001
Alberta First Party (16 candidates) – 8,851 votes (.87%)
Social Credit (12 candidates) – 5,361 votes (.53%)

1997
Social Credit (70 candidates) – 64,667 votes (6.84%)

1993
Confederation of Regions Party of Alberta (12 candidates) – 3,556 votes (.36%)
Social Credit (39 candidates) – 23,885 votes (2.41%)

1989
Social Credit (6 candidates) – 3,939 votes (.47%)

1986
Confederation of Regions Party of Alberta (6 candidates) – 2,866 votes (.40%)
Heritage Party of Alberta (6 candidates) – 601 votes (.08%)
Representative Party of Alberta (46 candidates) – 36,656 votes (5.14%)
Western Canada Concept Party of Alberta (20 candidates) – 4,615 votes (.65%)

1982
Alberta Reform Movement (14 candidates) – 6,258 votes (.66%)
Social Credit (23 candidates) – 7,843 votes (.83%)
Western Canada Concept Party of Alberta (78 candidates) – 111,131 votes (11.76%)

(Also, has anyone registered wildrosealliance.ca/.com/.org/.net, or do we need to go through this again…)

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Ed Stelmach edstelmach.ca governing myself accordingly

edstelmach.ca: governing myself accordingly. day 2.

First, I’d like to thank everyone who has commented, left phone messages, or sent emails of support (or disapproval for that matter). I’ve been trying to govern myself accordingly, but this story has been keeping me pretty busy since yesterday. I have classes this afternoon and evening, so I will try to start responding to emails after that.

I’d also like to thank Rob Breakenridge, Dave Rutherford, Ron Wilson, Jim Brown, and CityTV Edmonton’s Breakfast Television for having me on their shows to talk live about the this issue.

Second, I have yet to hear from Premier Ed Stelmach or the lawyers representing him. The threat letter from Premier Stelmach‘s lawyer was the first time I was contacted and I haven’t heard anything since their imposed deadline passed.

Third, here are some interesting links to bloggers and reporters covering this story:

– “I don’t know where Ed Stelmach’s personality is but I didn’t take it” (Calgary Grit)
– Stelmach threatens to sue blogger (Edmonton Journal & National Post)
– Alberta Premier threatens to sue over domain name (CBC)
– Lawyers for Premier threaten to sue blogger who owns edstelmach.ca (Canadian Press)
– Stelmach threatens to sue over web address (Front page of Calgary Herald)
– Lawfirm says blogger stole Stelmach’s personality (Edmonton Sun)
– Alberta Premier to blogger getlost.now (Globe & Mail)
– Alberta have a lot of lawyers or something? (Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy)
– Premier of Alberta sues Alberta blogger (Grandinite)
– A cybe-bully? (Jafo’s Journal)
– The Electronic Battleground (Ken Schmidt)
– “Lame and Childish” (Thought…interrupted by typos
– https://edstelmach.ca: tort of misappropriation of personality? (Cameron Hutchison on the U of A Law Blog)

Also, I was understandably surprised to find some support in what I thought would have been an unlikely place:

Ed Stelmach vs edstelmach.ca (Ezra Levant at the Western Standard Shotgun blog)

Fourth, I plan to return to regularity scheduled blogging soon. As you can imagine, I have a lot to say about this.

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Ed Stelmach edstelmach.ca governing myself accordingly

premier ed stelmach threatens to sue alberta blogger over edstelmach.ca.

Right before Christmas, I received a letter in the mail from Tyler Shandro, a lawyer from the Calgary-based law firm Walsh Wilkins Creighton LLP, representing Alberta Premier Edward Stelmach.

This letter was sent to me regarding my ownership of the domain name edstelmach.ca, which I purchased for approximately $14.00 on April 4, 2007 (four months after Mr. Stelmach became Premier of Alberta). The letter accuses me of interfering with and misappropriating Ed Stelmach’s personality (I’m really not sure where Ed Stelmach’s personality is, but I certainly didn’t take it).

The letter also states that because there are advertisements placed on this blog, Premier Stelmach “is entitled to the amount he would reasonably have received in the market for the permission to use his name.” This makes me wonder how much the owners of a local Edmonton business paid to use Premier Stelmach’s personality last Halloween or how much Rick Mercer paid to use the domain name of another Alberta political personality.

For the majority of the time I have owned edstelmach.ca, I have had the domain name forward to this blog. A week before I received the letter from Premier Stelmach’s lawyer, I changed the forwarding to the wikipedia biography of another Alberta Premier (who also probably would have not thought to register his domain name).

The letter requests that I:

(a) make arrangements with my service provider by December 21, 2007, to ensure that the Website no longer forwards to the blog; and
(b) make arrangements to with my service provider and/or registrar to have the Website registered in their client’s name.
(c) govern myself accordingly (I added this one).

If I chose not comply by their imposed deadline, the letter states that they “have been instructed by our client to commence litigation.”

As someone who has never shied away from criticizing the 36-year old Progressive Conservative government, I have always faced harsh criticism from those who don’t appreciate the views espoused on this blog or agree with my political beliefs. I accept this reality.

Though I am still surprised that the +150 staffed Public Affairs Bureau failed to complete the simple task of registering a $14.00 domain name, I am even more surprised that Premier Ed Stelmach’s first reaction in this situation was to threaten to sue an 24-year old blogger and debt ridden University of Alberta student. As a born and bred Albertan, I do not take well to threats from politicians. Therefore I will be seeking advice from legal counsel on how to proceed with this threat.

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Alberta Politics Craig Chandler

between $1.3 billion and $2.8 billion in "uncaptured economic rent."

Good morning. Here is an update…

– A censored provincial government report shows that Albertans weren’t necessarily getting their fair share in royalty rates…

Alberta Energy told the provincial government in 2004 that the province was missing out on billions of dollars in resource revenue, newly released documents show.

In a 2006 report, the department estimated that since royalty rates were capped at certain price levels, Alberta had lost between $1.3 billion and $2.8 billion in “uncaptured economic rent” for natural gas alone in 2003 and 2004, or between $700 million and $1.4 billion a year.

The department’s cross-commodity resource valuation team called on the government to “increase conventional oil and gas royalties to restore Alberta’s fair share at high prices.”

– The newest kid on the right-wing block of Alberta politics is strolling around the corner… two of Alberta’s right-wing political parties are setting the stage to merge. The Alberta Alliance and the Wild Rose Party have announced their intentions to join forces in an attempt to storm the right-wing gates of Alberta’s political spectrum. Enter the Wild Rose Alliance.

– The Stelmach Tories are attempting to forge a new day in post-Craig Chandler nomination Calgary-Egmont. It looks like two main candidates have stepped up to the place. Vicki Engel and Don Middleton are lining up to face former Calgary Catholic School District Chair Cathie Williams who is running under the Alberta Liberal banner and now-Independent candidate Craig Chandler.

– Also, Canada had a political leader even half as charismatic as Barack Obama, it would be a gigantic improvement over our current Canadian political leaders. I’m excited to watch the New Hampshire results tomorrow night!

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Canada's Next Great Prime Minister Chris Samuel

chris samuel – canada’s next great prime minister.

Wednesday night, Chris Samuel – Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister and his supporters from across Canada held a Democracy Party at the University of Alberta. The event, which rivaled Barack Obama’s Iowa victory party, was an epic event filled with entertainment and fierce political drama and debate than any political watcher would revel in. Here are some clips of the improv event and testimonials from Chris Samuel supporters.

Chris Samuel Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister Challenge (Clip 1#)

Chris Samuel Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister Challenge (Clip 2#)

Chris Samuel Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister Testimonials

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Barack Obama Change

obama’s word of the day: change.

I haven’t really focused too much blogging on the American Presidential nominations, but with the Iowa caucuses happening today, I thought I’d post this lovely video from the Washington Post…


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A look back at 2007 Ed Stelmach Kevin Taft

alberta politics in 2007.

Using Alberta political measurements, 2007 was probably the most interesting year in nearly a decade. With a new Premier and shifting political winds, 2007 presented Albertans and political watchers with no shortage of entertainment and material to talk about. In no particular order, here is a short list of what Alberta politics brought forth in 2007:

Notable Ed Stelmach quotes of 2007 –

“Welcome to the Alberta Stampede“

“Mr. Suzuki’s comments reflect the unproductive emotional rhetoric and personal attacks that distract from efforts to find constructive solutions.“

“I wasn’t aware of anybody getting a $1,000 increase“

“There’s a lot of push by Quebec and Ontario to do something on interest rates, encourage the governor of the Bank of Canada to increase interest rates.“

Biggest missed opportunity of 2007 – Though you’ll probably hear Ed Stelmach, Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft, ND leader Brian Mason, and Alberta Alliance leader Paul Hinman claim they came out on top after this debate, no political leader or party was able to capitalize on Alberta’s royalty review debate. The brass ring was there for the taking and no one grabbed it before it drifted off.

Most entertaining nomination scandal of 2007 – Craig Chandler’s short-lived candidacy for the Progressive Conservatives in Calgary-Egmont.

Shifting winds of 2007 – Calgary-Elbow by-election. Alberta Liberal Craig Cheffins scooped up a win in Ralph Klein’s former constituency of Calgary-Elbow in June 2007.

Most ridiculous political quote of 2007 – “I’d choke our premier.” Calgary-Elbow Tory by-election candidate Brian Heninger on his working relationship with Tory Premier Ed Stelmach.

Best campaign headquaters of 2007 – Calgary-Elbow PC candidate Brian Heninger.

Most impressive MLAs of 2007– There are a number of MLAs in the Alberta Legislature that have stuck out and impressed me in their performance over the course of 2007. If I have to break it down to three MLAs, the list would include Edmonton-Rutherford MLA Rick Miller, Edmonton-Centre MLA Laurie Blakeman, and Edmonton-Calder MLA David Eggen.

Biggest upset of 2007 – On October 15, 2007, underdog candidate Don Iveson surprised political watchers across Alberta by defeating high-profile Councillor Mike Nickel in Edmonton City Council’s Ward 5.

Best political feature articles of 2007 – I have to give credit to Darcy Henton and Jason Markusoff of the Edmonton Journal for their two-part feature article on the ridiculous amount of partisan political patronage under Alberta’s 36-year old Progressive Conservative government.

Best media website of 2007 – This one easily goes to CBC Edmonton for their comprehensive website coverage of Alberta’s royalty review issue. If you want information on Alberta’s royalty review, this is the website for you.

Most creative use of taxpayers dollars in 2007 –
1) The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board using taxpayers dollars to hire private investegators to spy on rural landowners and their lawyers.
2) Former Alberta Ambassador to Washington D.C. Murray Smith’s $105,000 bonus for quitting 6 months before his contract was to end. The contract was signed by Ed Stelmach when he was Intergovernmental Affairs Minister.

Best political names of 2007 – This is a clear tie between Calgary-Varsity Alberta Liberal MLA Harry Chase and Red Deer-South PC candidate Cal Dallas.

Least work done by a government task force in 2007 – This was a tough one because there seemed to be many provincial government task forces struck and then forgotten in 2007. Tory MLAs Cindy Ady of Calgary-Shaw and Barry McFarland of Little Bow for their $19,000 bonus for their world on the Alberta-Idaho Task Force. It was later admitted by Premier Ed Stelmach’s office that:

the task force didn’t do much in the end, but they had good intentions and tried to set up meetings with their American counterparts. “Can I show you a report, an agreement, a memorandum, anything? No, I can’t. It just isn’t there,” David Sands said.

Worst political showing of 2007 – This has to be a tie between the Alberta NDP and the Alberta Alliance in the Calgary-Elbow and Drumheller-Stettler by-elections. Brian Mason’s NDP gained a stunning 3% and 1% in these two by-elections that were completely based on protesting Ed Stelmach and the state of affordable housing and the environment. Paul Hinman’s Alberta Alliance placed a dismal fifth place in Drumheller-Stettler, which is arguably the most rural and conservative constituency in Alberta. Signs of things to come?

Most appropriate quote describing Alberta’s political environment – “Money is like manure. If you spread it around, it does a lot of good; but if you pile it up in one place, it stinks like hell.” – Clint Murchison

An issue that deserves more attention in 2008 – Democracy in Alberta. The unequal distribution of constituencies between urban and rural Alberta.

As of December 30, 2007, the two-thirds of Albertans who live in urban Alberta are represented by less than half of the seats in the Alberta Legislature. Rural Alberta, with one-third of Alberta’s population holds the majority of seats in Alberta’s Legislature. This isn’t something that will change easily with the large majority of Ed Stelmach‘s cabinet ministers coming from those very same rural constituencies, but it is a clear and simple question of democracy and fair representation.

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