daveberta.ca - Alberta Politics and Elections

woo hoo! it’s officially been 1 year since we began this sometimes sorry excuse for a legitimate blog! – back in January 2005, when “we” were an “I.“

thanks for all those who have visited, commented, and made the mystical land of daveberta what it is!

(and total props to the over 33,000 visitors who’ve stopped by since last March)

If you would like someone to blame for the creation of this blog, look no further than to Ms. Nicole Martel. Nicole’s former blog, GoPolitical, was our inspiration (and the first blog we ever read).

Nicole is also the Federal Liberal candidate in Edmonton East and an awesome candidate to boot! Make sure to check out her campaign blog!

If we lived in Edmonton East, we’d vote for Nicole Martel!

If you’re in Edmonton East, you should too! 🙂

“Woah, Dave! You’re certainly wading into enemy territory” were the words that came from the mouth of an acquaintance last night when they saw us at Jack Layton’s rally at the Bonnie Doon Community Hall.

That is correct, Senator, we were indeed in attendance at the Jack Layton rally. But no, we are not now, nor have we ever been a member of the New Democratic Party of Canada.

Anyway… having been to and organized many political rallies in the past, we have some reflections about this one in particular…

1. There was definitely a lot of positive energy in the room.

2. 100% Props to the organizers, it was a packed and well managed event.

3. We attended a rally way back in 2004 for Paul Martin in the same hall (this is more of a general comment).

4. Though he was speaking to a converted crowd, Mr. Layton’s performance was impressive. He had energy, and his message was clear. He also made a convincing call for soft-Liberal voters to “put the Liberals in the penalty box.“

Suggestions for Jack Layton…

1. Don’t wade into provincial politics. Last night, in the presence of Brian Mason and the mighty Alberta NDP Caucus of 4, Layton took a tiny swipe at the Alberta Liberal Opposition, calling the Alberta NDP the “real opposition” in Alberta‘s Legislature.

Number 1#, perhaps Mr. Layton doesn’t realized that there are a lot of Alberta Liberal/Federal NDP supporters in Linda Duncan’s Edmonton Strathcona riding who will be supporting Linda on the 23rd.

Federal support for a political party does not equal support for a provincial party. We may support Linda Duncan in Edmonton Strathcona, but provincially, we support Alberta Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman in Edmonton Centre. There are many like us who support different parties at different levels. We don’t appreciate the slam (plus, Brian Mason is a flake).

This has to be one of our top “pet peeves” we have with the NDP, and one of the main reasons why we would never join them (among other reasons). When you become a member of the federal wing, you automatically become a member of the provincial wing. Not a positive in our books. Provincial and Federal politics are two different puppies.

2. Working Families. Mr. Layton majorly overused this phrase during his speech. It’s fairly obvious that “working families” is code for “union members.” Call it what it is. Working families sounds corny when it’s overused. It also assumes that someone is classified by their occupation. Perhaps it’s because we don’t believe in the overall “class-war,” but it sounded quite flakey.

Yeah, that’s our take… check out c-lo’s take on the rally here

Comments?

Look who stopped by the other day….

Domain Name: paulmartin.ca (Canada)
IP Address : 66.46.213.# (Allstream Corp. Corporation Allstream)
ISP : Allstream Corp. Corporation Allstream
Continent : North America
Country : Canada (Facts)
State/Region : Ontario
City : Britannia
Time of Visit Jan 18 2006 4:53:57 pm
Last Page View Jan 18 2006 4:54:45 pm
Referring URL http://liblogs.freethought.ca/
Visit Entry Page http://daveberta.blogspot.com/
Visit Exit Page http://daveberta.blo…es-getting-free.html
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Visitor’s Time Jan 18 2006 6:53:57 pm
Visit Number 32,546

Why doesn’t Ted Morton for for Parliament? It would probably a more effective waste of taxpayers dollars than having him pontificate as a backbench Tory MLA in the Alberta Legislature…

Here’s part of an email we recieved from the “ConnecTed” Group…

“It’s a New Year! Let’s get a new Federal Government!

Hello Fellow Friends!

In just a few days, we’re going to have a Federal election. Ted has been campaigning with a number of Conservative MPs and candidates as he supports the efforts to get a new, clean Conservative Government elected.

He’s been door knocking in Edmonton-Centre with Laurie Hawn, the former fighter pilot who’s poised to send Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan back to a law school somewhere. And with Mike Lake, the young family man who will be replacing another Edmonton Liberal, Dave Kilgour.

Ted has also been out with Blaine Calkins, another first-time candidate, who will be the next MP from Wetaskiwin. He’s been helping a couple of incumbent MPs as well, including Jason Kenney, one of the Conservative stalwarts in Calgary, and Rahim Jaffer, one of the young stars of the Conservative team in Edmonton-Strathcona.

It’s nice to see that voters in other areas, especially Ontario, are starting to get the message that the Liberals are not worthy of getting rehired to be the Government. If you had employees who made mistake after mistake, wasted company resources, and told whopper after whopper, you wouldn’t hesitate to fire them. You wonder why it’s taking so long for some people to grasp what has been so obvious to Albertans for years. But let’s do all we can to make sure that this time, there is a change in Ottawa.

If you have friends, relatives or colleagues in Eastern Canada, make sure they understand that a vote for a Liberal is a vote for more waste, squander, scandal and mismanagement. Is that the way they run their personal and business affairs?

ConnecTed wants Ted Morton to be the next Premier. We also want Stephen Harper to be the next Prime Minister. What a one-two punch that will be in making this a great place to live, work, invest and raise a family!”

… well, not really. But maybe Dave Duceppe or Dave Layton…

“Got a party leader’s name? Hop on board, free
CBC News

If your surname is Harper, Martin, Layton, Duceppe or Harris, you could be flying high after the federal election and at no cost.

A new promotion by WestJet is offering free airfare anywhere in Canada to anyone with the last names of the federal party leaders.

The offer goes to “all Canadians who share their names with any of the contenders for Canada’s next prime minister,” said Bob Cummings, vice-president of marketing for the Calgary-based airline.

There are some catches in the WestJet Gets Political promotion.

The trips must be booked by Thursday at 7 p.m. MT, and flights must be taken the day after the federal election Jan. 23. Travellers also have to pay all taxes, fees and surcharges.“

At least Don Martin will be getting a good deal.

The Second Session of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of Alberta will convene on February 22, 2006 at 3:00 p.m.

Speaking of a culture of entitlement…

From the Edmonton Sun…

“Paula Tyler is back.

The former Alberta deputy minister who made headlines in New Zealand over her abrupt departure midway through a contract is going to work for Capital Health.

Cabinet approved a deal yesterday that would enable Tyler, the partner of Ralph Klein’s chief of staff Peter Kruselnicki, to maintain her provincial government benefits while working for the regional health authority.

Klein said last year that Tyler would not be returning to work as a deputy minister in his government after he hired Kruselnicki to replace Rod Love.

The order in council passed yesterday appoints Tyler to the position of senior official, health services, but she’ll actually be seconded by Capital Health to serve as vice-president of mental health, said Alberta Health spokesman Mark Kastner.

…

“There seems to be a lot of soft landings if you are in the top echelon of the Conservative government,” said NDP MLA Ray Martin. “It seems to me to be a very unusual approach.”

Tyler made headlines in New Zealand when she quit midway through a three-year contract as CEO of the Kiwi Child, Youth and Family Services Department to return to Alberta after Kruselnicki’s appointment.“

(For more info, see previous posts here and here)

While the national Conservative campaign rides a wave, the Liberals campaign stumbles with the dexterity of a beached whale*, and the NDP try to be heard, Edmonton’s candidates from all parties are door-knocking, canvasing, and getting ready to get out the vote on January 23rd.

But, as some Edmontonians may have noticed, many local Conservative candidates in ridings across Edmonton have been missing from local all-candidates forums and meetings.

Though Edmonton Strathcona Tory Rahim Jaffer couldn’t find the time to meet with his constituents and attend the all-candidates forum at the Knox-Metropolitan United Church (one of two candidate forums in the riding), it was funny to see that he was able to make the time to pose for some cheap photo-stunts with Alberta Progressive Conservative Leadership candidate Jim Dinning (see left and right).

Way to be a responsible candidate and representative, Rahim!

As well, Edmonton Centre Tory candidate Laurie Hawn was also a no-show at a candidates forum in that riding sponsered by Edmonton’s Pride Centre. The Tories were also a no-show at the Public Interest Alberta City-wide forum at the Royal Museum.

What gives? At this point, it is fairly obvious that the Tories are going to sweep all but one Edmonton-seat, so what are they afraid of? Why is the media not “going after” the no-show Tory candidates who will be Edmonton’s elected representatives? If your Tory candidate can’t even give up 2 hours of their time to attend an all-candidates forum, can we expect them to responsibly represent us in Ottawa?

*Merci a Graham Thomson and for this fun phrase from his weekend article in the Edmonton Jounal.

Scott Proudfoot, Principal from Hill Watch Inc., has released a neat little document which outlines the “key implications” of a Conservative victory on January 23rd in the face of 13 years of Liberal governments.

Parts of the implications have to do with the Conservatives agenda and policies, and the others have to do “with how Ottawa is likely to work under the Conservatives…“

The key implications Mr. Proudfoot lists are:

– Shift of decision-making power back to Cabinet and away from Public Service;

– Some initial confusion about how decisions are being taken;

– Corporate Canada lacks history with the party and will need to establish channels with the new players;

– Expenditure review will be key initial driver of government agenda;

– Retrenchment into federal areas of jurisdiction;

– Repair mode on Canada-US relations; and

– Substantive agenda but business impact is limited with defence being the main area of new spending.

Though many of the symptoms listed in his analysis are probably felt by any incoming government, it is interesting. Check it out.

(100% props to our good friend Howard for passing this along to us)

Well, we can stop blogging now…

We’ve officially reached the pinacle of our blogging career.

From today’s New York Times…

A Conservative Evolves, and Leads a Canadian Race

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS
Published: January 16, 2006

HUNTSVILLE, Ontario, Jan. 14 – “God bless all of you, God bless Canada!” is the way Stephen Harper finishes every campaign stump speech as he appears to be heading toward a landslide victory to become prime minister.

Although not known for kissing babies, Stephen Harper, campaigning in Huntsville, Ontario, on Saturday, has worked to soften his image.

It is an unusual line in a country where politicians do not customarily talk about God or their religious beliefs, where church attendance is plummeting and same-sex marriage has become legal and widely accepted despite the opposition of many religious leaders.

“It sounds very American,” said Jackie Mitchell, a 45-year-old music teacher who attended a Harper rally on Saturday in this woodsy, rural community. “But what he’s saying is, let’s get the country moving.”

The reference to God may be a signal that Mr. Harper and his Conservative Party are preparing to take the country in a very different direction after 13 years of Liberal rule characterized by a softening of drug laws, an expansion of the rights of gays and a distancing from United States positions in foreign affairs. (read le rest ici)

(95% props to the wonderful Anonymotronic for letting us know about the article – minus 5% for not providing a link to our site, even though he said he would… months ago…)

Since Grant MacEwan’s Students’ Association has been doing a less than stellar job at publicizing this…

Dr. David Suzuki will be speaking at Grant MacEwan College tomorrow evening:

Doors for the general seating event open at 6 p.m. with the presentation beginning at 7 p.m. and a question and answer session to follow.

For tickets, contact the MacEwan Students’ Association at 420-1757 or visit Tix on the Square.

We’ll be there!

The Western Block Party! This bunch of crazies, led by holocaust denying lawyer Douglas Christie, may only be running 4 candidates in this campaign, but they’re sure to win Mrs. Jenkins Grade 2 Art competition…

As well, the NDP have a new game up on their website… Creibility Hunt. We think the NDP may have spent too much of their energy thinking up of these website games, rather than on how to run an effective national election campaign… 😛

And in the weirder than the Western Block Party category… Edmonton’s Northern Star College of Mystical Studies is now accepting applications for the fall semester. Courses at the college include:

• Body Feng Shui
• Meditation
• Massage For Couples
• Reiki – Levels I, II, III
• Certification Programs:
• Aromatherapy
• Flower Essences
• Herbology
• Journey Through The Chakras –
A Pathway To Freedom.

And tuition is only $4650 per year!

We found out this weekend from “top men*” that we are indeed related to Canadian Astronaut and Vaudreuil-Soulanges Liberal candidate, Marc Garneau.

Our great-great-Grandmother, and his great-Grandmother just happened to be the same person (our great-Grandmother, and his Grandmother were cousins).

Not that this means much, it just means that we’re related to someone who’s been in space… ooooooooh!

Top men, indeed.

*Said in a voice similar to that of the CIA agent from the end of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.