daveberta.ca - Alberta Politics and Elections

This would be an interesting conference to go to…

SEMINAR ON STRATEGIC CHANGE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
“Governing Universities in the Knowledge Society”

27-28th, April, 2006

Organized by the Generalitat Valenciana and the Institutional Management
Higher Education (IMHE) Programme, OECD.

Venue: Conference room, Botanical Garden, University of Valencia,
Valencia

Language: English and Spanish (with simultaneous translation)

AIM: Knowledge and the global society are generating profound change in the context of universities which are faced the world over with the need to change their internal structures and, in the case of public institutions, their relationships with public authorities.

On one hand, universities are calling for a fundamentally new type of arrangement
with society, whereby they are responsible and accountable for their programmes, staff and resources, while public authorities focus on the strategic direction of the system as a whole. In an open, competitive and ever-changing environment, autonomy is a pre-condition for universities to be able to respond to society’s changing needs and to take full responsibility for their responses. The majority of universities feel that national regulations do not currently allow them to implement the changes required for the future.

On the other hand, empowering universities effectively to make and implement
decisions requires leadership teams with sufficient authority and management capacity, considerable time spent in the office and wide-ranging experience. New ways of university governance are needed to develop effective autonomy and to run universities efficiently in the current changing environment. Success in implementing new ways of university governance will probably be linked to the success of institutional outputs in the new knowledge society.

For those of you looking for some distracting reprieve from the onslaught of final exams, here are some notorious distractions that will provide your mind with some of the entertainment it desires…

– The Shining – a great parody trailer.

– Are you feeling GREAT?

– Yakko Warner and the countries of the world (I’m going to memorize this song by the end of the summer).

– The new trailer for X-Men 3: the Last Stand has been running for sometime now. It looks like a pretty sweet production.

– Anyone remember the mid-1990’s kids cartoon “Dino-Riders?” If so, you can nerd it up on their website…

– And finally, a BIG SHOUT OUT to my good friend Amika Schodie, who sent me an email last night from the beautiful Greek island of Naxos. After a year stint of living in the UK, she’s now on a cross-continental journey across Europe for the next couple months.

Here is a great quote in her email about Athens:

“it is really cool to be surrounded by so much history but the city itself is kinda dirty and creepy. and there’s a garbage strike on so it’s stinky too! but the area around the markets and restaurants and ruins is really cool, it’s very greek!!“

(You can thank/blame chris-face for the links to most of these links)

This found its way into my email box this week…

I guess when all else fails, use a penis joke…

Those of you in Edmonton will know what I’m writing about when I say that the weather has been beautiful this week! Spring/Summer is finally here!

A couple things for this week…

– A new edition of Policy Options, a publication from the Institute for Research on Public Policy is out.

– The Alberta NDP Caucus has revamped their website – check out the superhero poses of the 4 New Democrat MLA’s. The new format is quite an improvement from their former caucus website, which was a little difficult to navigate.

– Bizarro world… the Edmonton Sun’s editorial board has positive things to say about Kevin Taft and the Alberta Liberals…

While we certainly would not agree with the direction of everything up for discussion in Taft’s Alberta Horizons pamphlets, we are happy that the Grits are trying to get political debate in this province off life support and inject some vitality into provincial affairs.

The Alberta Liberals may not have all the answers, but at least the party is asking the right questions. Good for them.

– She’s a DeLongshot – Calgary Bow Tory MLA Alana DeLong is pondering a run for the Alberta PC Leadership… Alana who?

Some people may think THIS is slightly dated.

But I’m at least two years behind on these sorts of things.

I spent part of my afternoon yesterday hanging out at the Alberta Legislature including a trip to Question Period. Props to my MLA, Dr. Raj Pannu, for the kind introduction to the Assembly.

I was really disappointed that Lyle Oberg, the newly Indepenent MLA for Strathmore-Brooks, didn’t show up to sit in his brand new seat behind Alberta Alliance MLA Paul Hinman.

Aside from my Oberg disappointment, I did get to watch the following interaction between Calgary Currie Liberal MLA Dave Taylor and Deputy Premier Shirley McClellan highlights one of the main differences between the Alberta’s Conservative Government and their Tory cousins in Ottawa.

Government Accountability

Mr. Taylor: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today the federal Conservatives in Ottawa are introducing a bill to improve government accountability and openness, but the Conservative government of Alberta refuses to do the same for the people of this province. Alberta has a system of grants, contracts, and land sales that’s out of control, no mechanism to bring it under control, and a taxpayerfunded propaganda bureau to continuously remind citizens to just keep moving, that there’s nothing to see here. My questions are to the Deputy Premier. Will she support an all-party legislative committee to make recommendations to strengthen the statutory authority of the Auditor General so that he can follow the money to the end recipients?

Mrs. McClellan: Mr. Speaker, there’s absolutely no need to do that because the Auditor General today has that authority. The Auditor General in this province is an officer of this Legislature, and he has the authority to follow the money right to the end and, in fact, has done so on a number of occasions. So I think the question is quite redundant.

Mr. Taylor: Mr. Speaker, he doesn’t have the same authority as the federal Auditor General.

Again to the Deputy Premier: given the clear failure of this government to protect whistle-blowers at the Alberta Securities Commission from retribution, when will this government introduce legislated whistle-blower protection for public-sector employees?

Mrs. McClellan: Mr. Speaker, in reference to the Alberta Securities Commission and whistle-blower rulings, that has already been done and has been in place for some time now. As far as an overall government policy we’ve made it very clear over and over and over again that no one who brings forward a valid concern will have any adverse repercussions at all.

The Speaker: The hon. member.

Mr. Taylor: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again to the Deputy Premier: when the feds are cracking down on the lobbying industry, why is this government allowing it to flourish behind closed doors? Why won’t she acknowledge a problem exists?

Mrs. McClellan: Well, Mr. Speaker, a rather obtuse question at best. However, whatever he might be referring to, contributions that are made to political parties here are a matter of public record if that’s the part he’s talking about.

Mr. Taylor: I’m talking about lobbyists.

Mrs. McClellan: People that come to meet ministers in ministers’ offices: that’s an occurrence. I suppose you could suggest that everyone who passes these doors, whether they come to see the opposition or the government or the third party or the fourth, et cetera, would be a lobbyist. I’m not sure exactly what he’s framing the word “ lobbyist” around.

Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that there is no behind closed doors as far as we’re concerned. People who come into our offices are met. They usually discuss matters of mutual interest but certainly matters of interest to them, and I would be against anything that would preclude the public from coming and meeting with government to express their interests or their concerns.

So, I guess the answer is: It’s none of Albertan’s business which lobbyists are taking Ministers out for lobster and martini’s.

April 10th is the birthday of both Steven Seagal AND Haley Joel Osment.

Is Haley Joel Osment a younger Steven Seagal who was brought to the future by timetraveling ninja space monks? Or is Steven Seagal really Haley Joel Osment who came back from the future to prevent the rise of the machines??

Or are they both from the future, just different times? Osment brought to the present by the timetraveling ninja space monks and Seagal coming back years later?

Or, is Osment really a younger clone of the future timetraveling Seagal – cloned by the timetravelling ninja space monks in the present in order to eventually bring Osment back to the future to continue the battle against the machines while the real Seagal remains in the past trying to stop the rise of the machines?

If one found out about the other, would the space time continum collapse?

Will the machines come for them?

Or… are THEY machines?

Driving down the Queen Elizabeth II Highway on the way to Canmore on Friday, we passed a Semi that had the following painted on its side:

Born a farmer
Raised a trucker
Always a redneck

Bring Back Capital Punishment
and
“Hang the Bastards!”

Eloquent.

I just got back from what I can only describe as a wonderful reinvigorating weekend. More specifically, I spent last weekend at a Public Interest Alberta conference in Canmore discussion social policy with people from across Alberta.

It was wonderful to spend the weekend deep in discussion with other like-minded Albertans interested in keeping progressive public interest issues at the forefront of the minds of Albertans. I, not surprisingly, sat on the Post-Secondary Education taskforce working group with participants from CAFA, ACIFA, ABTC, NASA, and the AGC. (All fun people!)

It was really interesting to see all different types of Albertans from all different backgrounds converge a brainstorm ideas on how we can make Alberta a better place to live for all Albertans, not just the special interest groups that currently control the Alberta government.

As well, the nights festivities were fun. 🙂 I’ll make sure to put up some pictures soon…

On a different note, Jason over at Gauntlet.ca has done a wonderful job at liveblogging the Liberal Party of Canada leadership convergence in Edmonton this past weekend. Federal Liberal leadership candidates Gerard Kennedy, Martha Hall Findlay, Michael Ignatieff, Scott Brison, etc were all there hobnobbing. Also, make sure to check out the Idealistic Pragmatist for a recap of Kennedy’s visit to the U of A Campus on Friday.

Though I’m sure the Edmonton Liberal lovefest was fun, I think I much preferred going to the mountains and discussing real public policy issues and advocacy strategies in a non-partisan productive environment. It was great.

Also, Metric is awesome.

PS. I’ve never seen Citizen Kane and don’t have any idea what the picture is referring to. Anyone care to explain?

Well, I’m off to the lovely town of Canmore to take in a weekend of majectic mountains and social policy discussions at a Public Interest Alberta conference. It should be fun and I’ll give you an update when I get back.

As I will be missing the hoards of Liberal Leadership candidates who will be making their way to Edmonton at the Liberal Party of Canada in Alberta AGM this weekend, please check out Gauntlet, who will be attempting a live-blogging weekend of Liberal leadership fun!

Have a great weekend!

Cheers,

daveberta

PS. Ignore the title, it doesn’t really mean anything. I was just feeling mildly creatively funny at the time. Obviously, I didn’t suceed.

This popped into my email account this morning.

Liberal leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy will be talking to students this Friday from 3:30 to 5:00 in LC101 (law centre – see link for a map) at the U of A. This is a great opportunity for youth to network and meet with a man who could very well be Prime Minister of Canada within the next few years.

Kennedy is a former U of A student and founded the Edmonton food bank in 1983. He has over a decade of elected political experience, most recently as Ontario Education Minister.

If you can attend, please RSVP to dan@albertayoungliberals.ca.

I won’t be able to make it, as I’m going to lovely Canmore for the weekend, but any daveberta readers go, make sure to comment and let me know how it went.

Thoughts on yesterday’s cabinet shuffle…

– PC leadership candidate Dave Hancock‘s replacement in the Advanced Education portfolio is Calgary Egmont MLA and Education and Employment Standing Policy Committee Chair Denis Herard. The jury is still out on Minister Herard.

– Keen watchers will have noticed that Hancock’s abdication from cabinet leaves Edmonton with one less voice in cabinet. As much as I’m not surprised that they picked Herard (I actually predicted it!), I’m still surprised that Klein decided pass of the Edmonton region for a new Minister. This means that Alberta’s capital city now only has one MLA at the cabinet table (Liberal-turned-Tory Education Minister and Edmonton Mill Creek MLA Gene Zwozdesky).

Then again, with the only other “real” Edmonton choice for cabinet being Edmonton Castle Downs MLA Thomas Lukaszuk, Denis Herard doesn’t look that bad.

– After 16 years of wilting in the backbenches, Little Bow MLA Barry McFarland has finally made it to cabinet! Albeit, as an Associate Minister (which sounds suspiciously like something that’s created for MLA’s the Premier doesn’t feel are up to the job of being a “real” Minister).

McFarland was originally elected in a March 2, 1991 by-election, in which he narrowly defeated Liberal Donna Graham by 262 votes.

– Moved from one obscure portfolio to another was banished former-Health Minister Gary Mar, who was shuffled from Community Development to Intergovernmental and International Affairs.

– Also shuffled was ancient Minister Ty Lund (more affectionately known as “Forest Stump” by former Redwater Liberal MLA Nick Taylor during Lund’s tenure as Minister of “Environmental Protection” in the early-1990’s). Lund has represented the riding of Rocky Mountain House since 1989 and has been a fixture in Klein’s cabinet since 1994.

– Emerging from the far depths of the Tory backbenches are Whitecourt – Ste. Anne MLA George VanderBurg as Government Services Minister and Bonnyville-Cold Lake MLA Denis Ducharme as Community Development Minister.

VanderBurg was first elected in 2001 following the resignation of Tory warhorse Peter Trynchy. Ducharme was first elected in 1997, unseating one-term Liberal MLA Leo Vasseur.

Though it is yet to be seen how much faith the people of daveberta will have in George VanderBurg, I am pleased to see that Mr. Ducharme has finally made it in to cabinet. As the head of the province’s Francophone Secretariat, I hope he will be successful in bringing Franco-Albertan issues to the cabinet table.

– Final thoughts, all three of the new Ministers are known as strong Klein loyalists. I wouldn’t predict that any of them will make very many waves in cabinet. Though, I suppose after the Oberg affair, Klein wants to get back to auto-pilot.

– So, for those of you keeping score (and I know I am),

Rural Alberta = 1 new Minister (score!)
Calgary = 1 new Minister (score!)
Edmonton = minus 1 Minister (ouch)

In the wake of three Ministerial resignations, Premier Ralph Klein has shuffled his cabinet today.

This move shifts around some current Ministers, while also bringing in a couple backbenchers into the fold.

It looks like June 1th just turned into April 5th…

Here is how the new cabinet shakes out (changes are italizied):

Ralph Klein (Calgary-Elbow) – Premier, President of Executive Council, Chair of Agenda and Priorities, Vice-Chair of Treasury Board, Minister responsible for the Public Affairs Bureau.

Shirley McClellan (Drumheller-Stettler) – Deputy Premier, Minister of Finance, Chair of Treasury Board, Vice-Chair of Agenda and Priorities Committee.

Ron Stevens (Calgary-Glenmore) – Minister of Justice and Attorney General

Iris Evans (Sherwood Park) – Minister of Health and Wellness

Ty Lund (Rocky Mountain House) – Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation (Moved from Government Services)

Gary Mar (Calgary-Mackay) – Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations (Moved from Community Development)

Clint Dunford (Lethbridge-West) – Minister of Economic Development

Gene Zwozdesky (Edmonton-Mill Creek) – Minister of Education

Greg Melchin (Calgary-North West) – Minister of Energy

Mike Cardinal (Athabasca-Redwater) – Minister of Human Resources and Employment, and Minister Responsible for Personnel Administration Office

Guy Boutilier (Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo) – Minister of Environment

Heather Forsyth (Calgary-Fish Creek) – Minister of Children’s Services

Victor Doerksen (Red Deer-South) – Minister of Innovation and Science

David Coutts (Livingstone-Macleod) – Minister of Sustainable Resource Development

Pearl Calahasen (Lesser Slave Lake) – Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development

Gordon Graydon (Grande Prairie-Wapiti) – Minister of Gaming

Rob Renner (Medicine Hat) – Minister of Municipal Affairs

Luke Ouellette (Innisfail-Sylvan Lake) – Minister of Restructuring and Government Efficiency

Harvey Cenaiko (Calgary-Buffalo) – Solicitor General & Minster of Public Security

Yvonne Fritz (Calgary-Cross) – Minister of Seniors and Community Supports

Doug Horner (Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert) – Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development

Denis Herard (Calgary-Egmont) – Minister of Advanced Education (New to cabinet)

Denis Ducharme (Bonnyville-Cold Lake) – Minister of Community Development (New to cabinet)

George VanderBurg (Whitecourt-Ste. Anne) – Minister of Government Services (New to cabinet)

Barry McFarland (Little Bow) – Associate Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation, and Minister Responsible for Capital Planning (New to cabinet & a newly created position)

Advanced Education Minister Dave Hancock has resigned from cabinet today in order to fully concentrate his time on running in the Alberta PC leadership race. No word yet on who his replacement will be.

Following the resignations of Lyle Oberg and Ed Stelmach, this is the third cabinet resignation in the past month.

Afar, Ontario Education Minister Gerard Kennedy has resigned from Dalton McGuinty’s cabinet to run in the Federal Liberal leadership race.

UPDATE: Rumour has it that Denis Herard will be the new Minister of Advanced Education.