daveberta.ca - Alberta Politics and Elections

Just in case you missed it, check out this great editorial about Equalization from the Edmonton Journal.

(Props to iBrett for the linkage)

From Inside Higher Education on May 24th.

A Commencement Turns Ugly
When people cry at graduation, it’s supposed to be the happy kind of tears.

That wasn’t the case Saturday at the University of St. Thomas, when the student speaker at the Saint Paul, Minn., institution’s graduation ceremony used his address to denounce as “selfish” those women who use the birth control pill. St. Thomas has been divided this semester by a debate over whether the Roman Catholic institution was correct to ban unmarried employees traveling together with students from sharing a room, so issues of sexual morality have been front and center at the institution. The student speaker also denounced as selfish those unmarried couples covered by the policy who had wanted to share a room with a partner.

Students and family members were shocked by the speech — and some left their own graduation in tears. Others booed or shouted. Still others are angry that the university administrator who followed the student speaker appeared to many to endorse his views. Read the rest here…

The best part about it is that the entire speech was captured on video and posted on YouTube. You can check it out here…

I got a new MacBook laptop yesterday and I am very very pleased with my purchase.

One of the many fun features of the MacBook is the cool camera at the top of the screen… hence my vainess being exposed through the ten minute self-photo session in my office… the only picture not being deleted ending up in this post.

It’s also really light – so it will be great to bring around when I’m in Ottawa and Toronto next week. Oh yeah, btw, I’m going to Ottawa and Toronto next week…

I was invited to Environment Minister Rona Ambrose‘s Clean Air Day Celebration of Love in the Rain today. As you can imagine, it was pouring rain the entire time. Ambrose rode up in the train to Health Sciences Station and sped through a ribbon. I’m still not sure what the event was even for… maybe they were offering tax credits or something useless like that…

There were lots of RCMP everywhere. Ambrose jumped off the LRT, scrumed for 2 minutes, and then was swept off in a MiniVan to the Jubilee Auditorium as to not be lowered to the level of having to walk through the 100 or so environmental activists who gathered outside the station.

The most ironic part is that the Jubilee Auditorium was only a block away. Yes, Canada’s Environment Minister needed a MiniVan to travel one city block on Clear Air Day… uh huh…

UPDATE: The Edmonton Journal covered Ambrose’s minivan adventure… Fleeing Minister Takes Van over LRT.

For those of you keeping score, Ontario recently launched its Citizen’s Assembly on Electoral Reform (which I imagine is similar to the British Columbia Citizen’s Assembly on Electoral Reform).

Ontario’s Citizen’s Assembly is made up of 103 randomly-selected Ontarians. In order for the Assembly properly reflect Ontarian society, 51 of the members of the Assembly will be men, and 52 will be women, as well as at least one member will be Aboriginal.

Members of the Assembly are randomly selected by Elections Ontario and every registered Ontario voter was eligible to chosen (with the exception of elected officials).

Beginning in September 2006, members of the Assembly will meet about twice a month for eight months with public meetings to be held across Ontario. Following these public meetings, the Assembly will recommend either keeping the same out-of-date first-past-the-post electoral system, or recommend that a new one be put forward to a referendum

Together, they’ll examine our current electoral system and learn about other systems. They’ll meet with people at public meetings to be held across the province. And then, depending on what they learn and hear, they’ll recommend either keeping our current electoral system or adopting a new one following approval through a province-wide referendum. The final report of the Assembly is due by May 15, 2007.

Wouldn’t a Citizen’s Assembly be a great idea for the Province of Alberta?

It’s something the Alberta Liberals have been pushing for and it would be even better if a Tory leadership candidate got behind the idea.

Imagine that, TRUE CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT IN ALBERTA POLITICS. Wow.

It’s tough to imagine.

For those of you who find yourselves as election-nerd induced as myself – I’ve found some interesting links about Nova Scotia’s provincial election on June 13…

Here you go…

Party Leaders
Rodney MacDonald – Nova Scotia Progressive Conservatives
Darrell Dexter – Nova Scotia New Democrats
Francis Mackenzie – Nova Scotia Liberals
Nick Wright – Nova Scotia Greens

Results of the August 11, 2003 Election
PC – 25 (36.33%)
NDP – 15 (31.01%)
Liberal – 12 (31.44%)
Other – 0 (1.22%)

Legislature at disolution
PC – 25
NDP – 15
Liberal – 10
Independent – 1
Vacant – 1

Election Links
– Nova Scotia Election Blog
– CBC Nova Scotia Votes 2006
– CBC Nova Scotia Votes 2003
– NS Elections Constituency Maps
– Interactive MLA Profiles
– Halifax Chronicle Herald

Last Wednesday, I was a guest at Alberta Liberal leader Kevin Taft‘s annual Leader’s Dinner Fundraiser. It was a great event with over 300 people attending.

There was lots of energy in the room that night as supporters, former and present MLA’s, municipal politicians, and even a number of Lougheed-era Cabinet Ministers chatted and socialized while the Oilers/Sharks game 6 played on the two big screens in the room.

Also, Taft gave one of the best speeches I’ve ever heard him give.

Klein’s exit hands Libs rare opportunity
Their ‘Alberta Horizons‘ campaign steals the march on Tory leadership hopefuls
Graham Thomson, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Tuesday, May 23, 2006

The sun is hot, the beer is cold, the Oilers are very much in the playoffs. Can springtime in Edmonton get any better than this?
Considering how far we are into the post-season, our boys of winter are becoming our boys of summer.

Consequently, my usual skepticism has disappeared faster than the Calgary Flames. I am finding it difficult to muster the usual grumpiness necessary to write a political column. My high horse is riderless. I am out of a snit.

There is a sense of optimism in the barbecue-scented air. Come to think of it, that sense of anticipation is everywhere, and it doesn’t just have to do with the Oilers.

It even permeates Alberta politics. Read the rest here…

I really wasn’t sure how I felt about this a couple of weeks ago, but as nic said, this takes guts…

“Gerard Kennedy, one of eight Toronto-based candidates for the Liberal leadership, says he’s willing to consider seeking a federal seat in western Canada. “I’m not closed-minded to that at all,” the former Ontario education minister said in an interview.“

While running in the West would be risky, Kennedy cast himself as a risk taker. He is the only one of the 11 candidates who actually had to give up his current job to run for the leadership, a sacrifice he called “a pretty modest thing to do.”

“This is what I’m advocating as a sort of attitude for the party and the country. We need to be enterprising . . . and you don’t get anything good to happen unless you take some risks.” Read the rest here…

Coming soon, my thoughts on the Federal Liberal leadership race…

Last night, Robert Redford was on Larry King Live speaking about America’s oil addiction. One of the groups involved in exposing America’s oil addiction, the Centre for American Progress (which is also connected to the CampusProgress group), has launched a new website called kicktheoilhabit.org, which includes a video from their campaigns.

Last night I watched one of my favorite movies – The Candidate – which stars Redford as Bill McKay, a young legal aid lawyer and activist running as the Democratic candidate for the US Senate in California versus the old guard Republican and 16-year incumbent Crocker Jarmon.

Wikipedia explains the theme the best…

The film highlights many criticisms of modern day American politics, such as the importance of money and the emphasis on the image of political candidates. In particular, the degeneration of McKay from an idealistic public-interest lawyer working for unpopular and then-little-known causes (the young environmentalist movement, civil rights for Latinos, integration through busing) and strong opinions on all issues into a construct of his campaign, dominated by idiotic little slogans (most notably “Bill McKay: the better way”) and a road-weary nervous wreck, to boot.

It’s a great political film. I would recommend that all political hacks take a look at it.

Dose is dead. Praise the Lord.

(Props 4 Bad bad men)

From CTV:

Harper may snub annual press gallery dinner

Updated Thu. May. 18 2006 11:33 PM ET
David Akin, CTV News

Ottawa — The prime minister may snub the annual Parliamentary Press Gallery dinner this fall, a move he’s considering in order to register his displeasure with an ongoing disagreement his office has with Parliament Hill journalists over the way his press conferences ought to be conducted.

CTV News has learned that Stephen Harper plans to tell his caucus at a future meeting that he will not attend the dinner, to be held Nov. 25 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Que.

He will not insist that other caucus members boycott the Press Gallery dinner but many Conservative MPs and nearly all cabinet ministers are expected not to attend the dinner to show solidarity with their boss. Read le rest ici…

They must have removed his emotion chip when he moved into 24 Sussex…

(Props to nic for the newslink)

**UPDATE (October 11, 2006) – Check out the entire list of MLA endorsements for the Alberta PC leadership race.**

As a follow up from my post “would-be wanna-be” from last June, here is an updated list of Alberta’s PC leadership candidates with the usual remarks and side comments. I perfectly admit that it’s a little early to predict much of what I do, but that’s what blogs are for…

THE LIST.

Alana DeLong, MLA Calgary Bow (AKA Alana DeLongshot) – First elected in 2001, DeLong’s political career hasn’t progressed much further than nameless backbencher status.

Chances: None.
Backers: ???

Jim Dinning – (AKA Paul Martin). Alberta’s Treasurer and author of the dark day budgets from 1992 to 1997, Dinning has been bidding his time in the dark depths of corporate Calgary since leaving politics in 1997. He wants the job bad, but since launching his website a year ago, he hasn’t come up with any sort of substantive policy proposal or position, keeping himself on the extremely underwhelming side of the ideas spectrum. He’s the front-runner in this race, but only because he’s been running for PC leader for the past ten years. Interestingly, Dinning was the only Tory MLA to endorse Nancy Betkowski in the first round of the 1992 PC leadership race.

Chances: He’s the only candidate I can see winning on the first ballot. If it moves to a second ballot, look for strong “anybody-but-Dinning” opposition.
Backers: Brent Shervey, Rod Love, Walter Paszkowski, Tom Snell, Gord Rosko, Tim Boston, etc.
Dave Hancock, MLA Edmonton Whitemud – Now a Tory backbencher, Hancock was Alberta’s Advanced Education Minister until he resigned earlier this year to focus his energy of the Alberta PC leadership race. His Red Tory Edmonton roots place him in a vulnerable position within the race. Look for Hancock to drop off the first ballot and throw his support behind another candidate – potentially crowning him the “kingmaker.”

Chances: Slim. Probably close to the best Tory Premier Alberta will never have.
Backers: Ron Dunseith, Ken Chapman, Karen Lynch, Allie Wojtaszek, etc.

Ted Morton, MLA Foothills-Rockyview – Morton is the darkhorse of this leadership race. Not terribly charismatic, he benefits the most from Preston Manning’s decision to stay out the race. Expect him to draw out the “hard-line right-wing, old white guy from Gophercrotch, Alberta with an unregistered semi-automatic rifle who usually: a) votes Social Credit Party, b) votes Christian Heritage Party, c) votes Alberta Alliance, d) votes Alberta Separation Party, e) doesn’t believe in voting because of the NEP.

Chances: Not as slim as people think.
Backers: The hard-line right-wing, old white guy from Gophercrotch, Alberta with an unregistered semi-automatic rifle who usually: a) votes Social Credit Party, b) votes Christian Heritage Party, c) votes Alberta Alliance, d) votes Alberta Separation Party, e) doesn’t believe in voting because of the NEP.

Mark Norris – The only Minister to be defeated in the 2001 election, Mark Norris has surprised many with his impressive list of committed campaign contributors. Having set up his Grassroots Leadership Group consulting firm as a front for his leadership campaign, Norris surprised everyone when he came out in favour of Alberta’s separation from Canada. Norris is close with Klein and was his Edmonton Campaign Chairman in the 1992 PC leadership race.

Chances: Seeing as how he has no seat and was the only Minister to be defeated in the last election, I don’t see how Norris can claim to pose any threat to the Tory throne. Slim to none.
Backers: Tim Shipton, Doug Horner, Mike Nickel, etc…

Lyle Oberg, MLA Strathmore-Brooks – Now an Independent MLA, Oberg was unceremoniously sacked from the Tory Caucus in April after threatening to expose the skeletons in Ralph Klein’s closet. Since then, this overly arrogant MLA has found a new office in the former Legislature smoking room and now walks alone to question period (even Paul Hinman doesn’t walks alone to question period…).

Chances: Slim. He’s running to lead a caucus that kicked him out of their ranks.
Supporters: In flux. Previous to him being ejected from the Tory caucus, his supporters included former Tory MLA’s Jon Havelock, Lorne Taylor, Brent Rathegeber, and former Liberal MLA Peter Sekulic.

Ed Stelmach, MLA Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville – Former Intergovernmental Affairs Minister, Stelmach resigned from cabinet earlier this year in order to dedicate more time to running for PC leader. Quiet, Stelmach style blends easily into the background of the Alberta political scene, but may surprise people when the leadership selection is held. Stelmach is setting himself up as a alternative candidate for the “anybody-but-Dinning” front. He has rural roots and isn’t as offensive on the ideological front as Morton. Look for him to place strong.

Chances: He will be easy to underestimate, but look him to place a strong second place finish on the first ballot.
Backers: Ken Kowalski, John Baldry, etc.

Thoughts?

Is he in? We may just find out today… “Manning to announce today if he plans to seek PC leadership“

Next:

From Legislation and Public Debate to Regulations and Closed-Door Cabinet meetings: Democracy, Alberta Style.

UPDATE: Not surprisingly, Mr. Preston Manning is sitting this one out…

My yesterday:

9:00am: Meeting with Dr. Raj Pannu.
11:15am: Took part in a press conference at the Alberta Legislature opposing Bill 40 and the de-legislation of Alberta’s Post-Secondary tuition policy with Dr. Pannu, Dave Taylor, Bill Moore-Kilgannon from Public Interest Alberta, and ACTISEC.
1:00pm: Media Scrum at the Alberta Legislature.
1:30pm: Nearly escorted out of the Legislature by Legislature Security for doing a media scrum in front of the Premier’s Office.
4:00pm: Met with Advanced Education Minister Denis Herard.

I wish everyday could be this busy!

From Duncan‘s Blog:

“I’m not going to defend the indefensible. The Bush administration has an obligation to level with the American people… I don’t think the way they’ve handled this can be defended by reasonable people.”

Newt Gingrich on the Bush Adminstration’s phone call database.

Way to call a spade a spade, Newt!

Busy weekend. I was at a partnerships dinner last night at Ric’s Grill Downtown.

Some interesting people at the dinner. Tory leadership candidate Ed Stelmach, Edmonton-Rutherford MLA Rick Miller, Edmonton-Ellerslie MLA Bharat Agnihotri, Edmonton-Strathcona MLA Raj Pannu, and Insight into Government editor Mark Lisac were among some.

Also, the steak was great.