Tag: Ralph Klein

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Bill Smith Curtis Gillespie Jan Reimer Laurence Decore Michael Phair Patricia Misutka Ralph Klein

macewan university – the future of story conference & alberta’s political narrative.

I had a great time participating in the Future of Story Conference organized by MacEwan University‘s School of Communications this weekend (you can read tweets from participants at #futureofstory). I was lucky to be invited to join a panel discussion focusing on “the political narrative” that was led by writer Curtis Gillespie and included panelists Michael Phair (Edmonton City Councillor from 1992 to 2007) and Patricia Misutka (Chief of Staff to Mayor Stephen Mandel). Our discussion topic led to some very interesting conversation about the role (and dangers) of narrative in politics and the differences between narrative, spin, and ideology.

Opening the discussion, I offered my thoughts on how the political narrative and mythology of Alberta has been translated into how Canadians from other provinces see us (a topic that I have recent written about). A sincere glance at our province will make it easy for anyone with common-sense to debunk the myth that Alberta is a cultural, societal, and political monolith.

Michael Phair spoke about the political narrative that dominated the run up to the 1995 municipal election. At the time, it was largely believed that Edmonton was falling behind and needed to elect a new and “business-friendly” Mayor. Two mayoral candidates, including Bill Smith, adopted this narrative as central to their campaigns and in October 1995, he was successful in unseating two-term Mayor Jan Reimer. Upon entering office, Mayor Smith discovered the limitations that municipal governments have to creating immediate economic growth and attracting businesses. This political narrative pigeon-holed Smith, who over his three-terms in office was typecast as solely being the “business Mayor” or “cheerleader” for Edmonton. Mr. Phair pointed out that this narrative overshadowed many of Mayor Smith’s accomplishments – including the leading role he played in ending smoking in bars and restaurants in Edmonton. Interestingly, current Mayor Mandel, who arguably has just as much business background as his predecessor, has successfully avoided being overshadowed by this political narrative.

Patricia Misutka gave a really good example of how the vacuum of leadership from the provincial and federal orders of government has allowed municipalities across the world to become leaders in environmental and sustainability initiatives. Having attended the ICLEI World Congress in Edmonton last summer, I completely agree.

The panel also generated some interesting discussion on the challenges of differentiating political narrative and political ideology. When describing the various political narratives that Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party has been successful in creating since they were first elected in 1971, a number of audience members pointed out that the root of the political narrative that defined Premier Ralph Klein‘s government was rooted in the ideology of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. I argued that Premier Klein’s decision to embrace a harder-line fiscal conservative agenda was less based on sincere ideology than it was in ideology of convenience. It was pointed out by one of my fellow panelists that the first politician to begin crafting that narrative in Alberta was Liberal leader Laurence Decore. As is fairly well-known in Alberta political circles, Premier Klein understood that Albertans were embracing that narrative and he embraced the idea and branded it as his own. Under this narrative, his party was re-elected in 1993, 1997, and 2001. Arguably, after the deficit and debt has been paid off, Premier Klein’s government drifted through the 2004 “Kleinfeld” election until his retirement in 2006.

One of the biggest challenges facing the government of Premier Ed Stelmach is its lack of defining purpose, or political narrative that Albertans will embrace. In the absence of any dominant narrative, there are a number of citizen groups and political parties competing to craft their own political narratives (or spin) around the upcoming provincial budget, including the Taxpayers federation, Join Together Alberta, the Parkland Institute and the Wildrose Alliance. This weekend, the Manning Centre for Building Democracy hosted a Conference on Alberta’s Future, where among many things, crafting various shades of blue political narratives for our province were discussed (you can read more about it here, here, here, here, and here). In a couple of weeks, citizens involved in Reboot Alberta will gather in Kananaskis to discuss other new ideas in crafting a new political narrative for our province. We are only two months in and 2010 already looks like it is going to be an interesting years for politics in Alberta.

Overall, The Future of Story conference generated some excellent discussion about the future of the craft of storytelling and brought together over 250 interested and passionate storytellers to share their ideas.

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Danielle Smith Dave Taylor David Sands Ed Stelmach Edwin Erickson Gene Zwozdesky Jerry Toews Jim Gurnett Joe Anglin Ralph Klein Ron Liepert Tom Olsen

upside-down week.

Shuffling the deck.

Long-time Government spokesperson Jerry Bellikka replaces Tom Olsen as spokesman for Premier Ed Stelmach (Olsen now becomes Alberta’s Olympic Spokesperson in Vancouver). Former MLA Jim Gurnett replaces Jerry Toews as Chief of Staff at the NDP caucus. Instead of laughing at satire, PAB blogger David Sands leaves Twitter altogether. Taking a more open approach to the media than his predecessor, Health & Wellness Minister Gene Zwozdesky‘s cell phone number is now showing up on Government media releases.

Not your father’s NEP

With new Energy Minister Ron Liepert‘s mandate to reclaim PC dominance over energy sector support from Danielle Smith‘s Wildrose Alliance, the Liberals do not want to be left out. Calgary-Currie MLA Dave Taylor is leading his party’s 180-degree policy change from their previous position that resource royalties are too low. On the policy change, Mount Royal University Professor Bruce Foster told FFWD:

“It seems as if the Liberals didn’t take the lead on this or didn’t distinguish themselves and now they’re playing catch-up,” he says.

Calgary Grit has more.

Alberta Party of Alberta

Former deputy leader of the now-defunct Alberta Green Party Edwin Erickson is now leader of the Alberta Party. In the last election, Erickson placed second with 19% of the vote against Tory Diana McQueen in Drayton Valley-Calmar. Erickson and Joe Anglin led the fight against Bill 50 and Erickson had publicly mused about creating the Progress Party of Alberta. The Alberta Party has existed in a number of forms since 1986, but has never been competitive (highest support: leader Mark Waters earned 1,200 votes in Calgary-Currie in 1993).

Ralph University

Olds College has re-named their Community Learning Centre after former Premier Ralph Klein and not everyone in Olds is enamoured with the decision.

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Calgary Board of Education Danielle Smith Gordon Dirks Jennifer Pollock Judy Tilston Liz LoVecchio Pat Cochrane Peggy Anderson Teresa Woo-Paw

Danielle Smith v. Calgary Board of Education (part 4)

Danielle Smith speaks at an all-candidates forum in Edmonton during the 2009 Wildrose Alliance leadership race. (source: Dave Cournoyer)
Danielle Smith speaks at an all-candidates forum in Edmonton during the 2009 Wildrose Alliance leadership race. (source: Dave Cournoyer)

This post is the fourth and final of a multi-part series that was published over the past week. Part 1 was posted on October 26, 2009, Part 2 was posted on October 28, 2009, and Part 3 on October 30, 2009.

August 14, 1999: In a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, Calgary Board of Education (CBE) Trustee Peggy Anderson accused Judy Tilston of getting John Lovink to file a privacy complaint against her. She also publicly speculated that Tilston, Liz LoVecchio and Jennifer Pollock encouraged the filing of Lovink’s complaint to embarrass Anderson and Danielle Smith. From the Calgary Herald:

Smith and Anderson have called for Tilston’s resignation after it was learned that Tilston had leaked letters dealing with a different issue that resulted in a complaint to the privacy commissioner. Tilston had initially denied leaking the letters which resulted in a taxpayer-financed probe into the matter. The privacy commissioner said Tilston leaked the letters.

Commissioner Bob Clark is investigating a complaint by Lovink who had a $120,000 contract with the CBE for an 18-month period ending after last October’s municipal election.

Calling Lovink a “$500-a-day spin doctor”, Smith, a rookie trustee, earlier this year released Lovink’s invoices and criticized veteran trustees for spending money to boost their image. Lovink said he provided “strategic communications” when the board was trying to get more money from the provincial government.

In Saturday’s story Pollock denied encouraging Lovink to complain to the privacy commissioner but did say she had friends who asked her to encourage him but wouldn’t identify the friends. LoVecchio and Tilston denied they had anything to do with Lovink’s complaint. “I accept their word on that,” said Anderson.

August 16, 1999: After being advised by Chair Teresa Woo-Paw that the CBE had become “completely dysfunctional” due to internal bickering, Learning Minister Lyle Oberg dismissed the CBE Trustees. Woo-Paw said in a statement that the decision represented “a failure of adults to act in an adult manner.” Following the decision, LoVecchio told the Herald that “the atmosphere is so poisoned that I don’t believe this board could work together.” The CBE, which was responsible for 100,000 students, had accumulated a deficit of $55 million in 1999.

George Cornish, Calgary’s chief commissioner under Mayor Ralph Klein, was appointed as interim trustee until the results of by-elections scheduled for November 29, 1999. Angus-Reid reported that 7 in 10 Calgarians agreed with the decision to dissolve the board.

August 22, 1999: Anderson and Smith declared their intentions to seek re-election in the by-elections.

August 24, 1999: From an Edmonton Journal column by Lorne Gunter:

Within minutes of Oberg announcing his intention to dismiss the seven elected trustees and replace them with one government- appointed trustee until byelections can held, a senior staffer in his office was on the telephone to Danielle Smith and Peggy Anderson, the board’s two right-wingers, encouraging them to run again.

Oberg, the staffer explained, did not want to get rid of the pair, but his hands were tied. The School Act permits him only to fire all or none of the trustees. Oberg, it seems, wanted to purge the board’s three avowed Liberals and weak chairwoman, and in order to discard the bath water had to dispose of the baby, too.

August 30, 1999: Declining to seek re-election, Smith accepted an editorial writer position with the Calgary Herald. Nishimura told the media that she “respected the way in which she [Smith] was able to tackle the tough issues.”

September 14, 1999: Nishimura declared her intentions to seek re-election.

September 24, 1999: Herald columnist Don Martin wrote that Premier Klein’s former Chief of Staff Rod Love was exploring the possibility of running against Tilston. Love’s previous forays as a candidate included running unsuccessfully against Lee Richardson for the Calgary-Southeast Progressive Conservative nomination in 1988 and as the PC candidate in the Calgary-Buffalo by-election in 1992.

October 7, 1999: Pollock declared her intentions to not seek re-election.

November 1, 1999: At the nomination deadline, only three incumbent trustees filed papers to seek re-election: Woo-Paw, Nishimura, and Anderson. Love did not file papers to run in the by-election. 50 candidates filed nomination papers, a leap from 17 in 1998 and 27 in 1995.

November 29, 1999: Nishimura was the only incumbent Trustee re-elected. Woo-Paw was defeated by David Pickersgill and Anderson placed third in the race that saw Sharon Hester elected. Current CBE Trustees Gordon Dirks, a former Saskatchewan MLA and Cabinet Minister, and Pat Cochrane were first elected in these by-elections. Total voter turnout was 9.3%.

November 2, 2009: Where are they now?

Danielle Smith is the new leader of the Wildrose Alliance. She has announced her intention to seek election in Calgary-North Hill in the next election.

Teresa Woo-Paw was elected as the PC MLA for Calgary-Mackay in 2008. She currently serves as a member of the Private Bills Committee, the Public Accounts Committee and the Standing Committee on Public Safety and Services.

Jennifer Pollock is the nominated Liberal Party of Canada candidate in Calgary-West. Pollock previously sought election against Conservative MP Rob Anders in 2006 and 2008. She garnered the most votes of any Liberal candidate in Alberta in the 2008 Canadian federal election.

David Heyman, the Herald reporter who wrote many of the articles covering the CBE in 1998 and 1999, is now the Calgary Communications Manager in the Office of the Premier of Alberta.

Bill Smith was narrowly defeated by Danielle Smith in the 1998 CBE election in Wards 6 & 7. Bill Smith is now a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Calgary and is the incoming President of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta.

This post is the fourth and final of a multi-part series that was published over the past week. Part 1 was posted on October 26, 2009, Part 2 was posted on October 28, 2009, and Part 3 on October 30, 2009.

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Calgary Board of Education Danielle Smith Jennifer Pollock Judy Tilston Liz LoVecchio Peggy Anderson Teresa Woo-Paw

Danielle Smith v. Calgary Board of Education (part 2)

Danielle Smith speaks at an all-candidates forum in Edmonton during the 2009 Wildrose Alliance leadership race. (source: Dave Cournoyer)
Danielle Smith speaks at an all-candidates forum in Edmonton during the 2009 Wildrose Alliance leadership race. (source: Dave Cournoyer)

This post is the second of a multi-part series that will be published over the next week. Part 1 was posted on October 26, 2009, Part 3 was posted on October 30, 2009, and Part 4 was posted on November 3, 2009.

December 22, 1998: Peggy Anderson and Danielle Smith publicly called on the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) to drop its legal challenge to regain the right to tax collection. “I’m not sure that the power to tax should rest with the local boards,” Anderson said. “I’m not very excited about spending my time trying to bully the province into giving us more money.” The two trustees opposed the CBE decision to spend up to $100,000 arguing the board’s right to collect taxes before the Supreme Court. Liz LoVecchio defended the legal challenge and compared the 1994 government amendments to the School Act to “constitutional change by stealth.”

January 8, 1999: Smith introduced a motion to achieve 100% utilization in CBE schools by June, 2002. Officials had estimated that moving to an 85% utilization rate would require closing up to 30 schools. Smith told the Herald: “I am not doing this to be alarming, I want clarity, and communities deserve clarity.” The motion was rejected in a 5-2 vote on January 12.

January 10, 1999: CBE superintendent of finances Don Dart informed trustees that “the chances are not good the board can have a balanced budget and meet contract demands” of employees without an increase in provincial funding. The public board has run a $34.6-million deficit in the previous fiscal year due largely to an early retirement deal that encouraged 465 senior teachers to leave. Smith objected to the board spending $6,000 to pay for newspaper ads advertising the meetings. Teresa Woo-Paw disagreed, saying newspaper ads are the best way to get the word out.

January 12, 1999: CBE trustees unanimously passed a motion introduced by LoVecchio that expressed alarm at the number of elementary schools who had stopped French instruction. LoVecchio and several other trustees argued the CBE had a duty to offer French language instruction. Smith said she was not sure parents want French forced on them at the exclusion of other options, such as music and art. Smith told the Herald:

“This is a cost issue. Feasibly, French can’t be offered at every school and I don’t think that parents want that, either.”

January 26, 1999: Reported by the Herald:

Trustee Jennifer Pollock accused trustee Danielle Smith of deliberately leaving the boardroom before a vote, saying it was the second time such a thing had happened.
Pollock even briefly blocked Smith’s path out and whispered a warning to her not to leave.
“I said `don’t be unaccountable and leave the boardroom,’ ” Pollock said afterward.
Smith said she simply saw someone in the hallway she wanted to talk to.
“I got back in for the vote and that’s the bottom line, isn’t it?” she said later.
During Smith’s absence of about five to 10 minutes, Pollock was livid.
“I personally find offence with trustees who choose to leave the room” before a vote, she said.

January 28, 1999: Following the January 26 confrontation between Pollock and Smith, CBE Chair Woo-Paw suggested that trustees “need to review how we work together from time to time.”

March 10, 1999: Nominated by Smith, Lynn Nishimura was elected vice-chairwoman over Pollock in a 4-3 vote. LoVecchio had resigned as vice-chair after claiming that Woo-Paw had shut her out of important decisions.

April 13, 1999: Smith publicly states that the CBE needs to take action to plug leaks to the media.

May 9, 1999: In a letter to Premier Ralph Klein, Calgary businessman and Liberal organizer Donn Lovett accused Anderson and Smith of skipping three school board meetings in a row. Lovett’s letter argued that the School Act provided for removal of anyone who misses three consecutive regular meetings. Anderson and Smith sought legal advice and Smith fired back:

“The allegation is that I’m breaking the law. I’m not breaking the law.”

Smith and Anderson told the Herald that they suspected Pollock, LoVecchio and former chair Judy Tilston convinced Lovett to send the letter.

May 22, 1999: The CBE unveiled a plan to close 565 classrooms as part of its budget trimming. With the lights switched off and heat turned down, $1.5 million would be trimmed from the maintenance budget. The total maintenance budget was cut by $2.5 million.

June 14, 1999: A National Post editorial:

Political irregularities may be acceptable — that is for the voter to decide. But financial irregularities are less easily excused. And the inquiries by Ms. [Peggy Anderson] and Ms. [Danielle Smith] revealed excesses that would make Livent blush. They found dozens of questionable expenses; one trustee had racked up $4,500 in cell- phone bills in one school year. That’s tough to do — being a trustee is a part-time job with an office and phone included. More than $25,000 was spent on travel — on top of trustees’ car allowances. Office expenses for the seven were grossly over budget. A $104,000 legal opinion on the “rights of parents” had been commissioned.

 

This post is the second of a multi-part series that will be published over the next week. Part 1 was posted on October 26, 2009, Part 3 was posted on October 30, 2009, and Part 4 was posted on November 3, 2009.

 

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