I have been meaning to do a post on my impressions on last Monday evening's event on Renewing our Democracy ably organized by Liberal MLA David Swann. It was a trans-partisan event with lots of Liberals licking their wounds, lots of Greens with loads of organizational envy and a few Dippers and a handful of PCs… and some real citizens too.
I really enjoyed the conversation and the debate and just plain listening to folks. I was impressed by the enthusiasm and size of the crowd of about 165. Not bad for a warm summer evening. There is a obvious thirst for authentic meaning political conversation and I hope it can happen in a post-partisan atmosphere so we can change things intelligently and not belligerently.
The old style adversarial political model of perpetual spin and counter-spin with professional message massaging for the media is maladaptive and dangerous to enabling an informed citizenry and a participatory democracy. It is also ineffective in dealing with addressing the real issues and growing complexities of our networked world.
Jason Morris blogging as The Gauntlet was there and has done a very good live-to-disc blog post synopsis of the evening. He does a great job capturing the essence of the event and his blog is really worth a read. His comments confirm to me that we were at the same very interesting meeting.
I like how you begin a post on the need for trans-partisan cooperation in Alberta by insulting two other parties. Gaunlet.ca does have a good run-down of the events, though.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The government of Alberta should consider setting up a committee to assist in democratic reform.
ReplyDeleteWe need to get Craig Chandler's opinion on this. After all democracy was denied after he had a thunderous result in the Calgary-egmont nomination. In fact the vote wasn't even close and democracy was still denied.
ReplyDeleteSorry Ken, but the whole non-partisan solution is a non-starter for me. Larry Booi's piece in Monday's Journal is a grim tally of the democratic damage done since Stelmach has become premier. As cynical as I am, I was surprised to find out that the Public Affairs Bureau has been financially boosted to counter-campaign the national (and international) criticism of our environmental policies.
ReplyDeleteThe fact is he's taken backwards steps, and the Tories do what they do best: keep themselves in perpetual power. No meaningful reform in electoral system, party financing, legislative proceedings etc. will ever take place unless the braintrust of the divinely appointed party allows it to happen.
And, why would they want to?
Hi Jonathan - I am looking at a post-partisan approach that goes beyond left and right frames. I don't think a non-partisan approach is practical either. We need better more engaged parties with more and varied participation at the level of citizens.
ReplyDeleteI think we need a public policy design culture that is based on science and collective wisdom not raw political power and adversarial messaging that misleads and encourages a pooled ignorance and myth.
I also disagree with the Tory machine keeping them in perpetual power due to the electoral system. The rural-urban imbalance is a concern for the effectiveness of representative democracy but the key is citizen engagement and participation.
Citizens vote for government and in a democracy we get the government we deserve...not always what everyone wants. The world is run by those who show up so cynicism is not a pragmatic nor practical option for change.
When the voter wants a change in the political party in government - it will happen. Just ask Paul Martin.
- "Larry Booi's piece in Monday's Journal is a grim tally of the democratic damage done since Stelmach has become premier."
ReplyDeleteLarry Booi is anything but non-partisan. He is just smarting from the money wasted on the "No Plan" ads and from the modest tinkering on union practices (restrictions on salting and MERF-ing).
- "As cynical as I am, I was surprised to find out that the Public Affairs Bureau has been financially boosted to counter-campaign the national (and international) criticism of our environmental policies."
Why is this a bad thing, exactly? Something has to be done to counter the negative spin from the "no development, nowhere, at no time" crowd. Considering that this can directly affect the treasury of the government (a multi-billion dollar enterprise), and hence the amount and quality of the services that can be provided to Albertans, it is a reasonable investment to make over the next few years.
And your comment about the PAB in this context has no relationship to your main comment of democratic damage. Setting straight some of the myths surrounding oilsands development has nothing to do with the PC Party (or the ALP, or the NDP).
Be cynical all you want, but at least be aware that you are drinking someone else's Kool-Aid, if not the government's.
I attended this meeting and was pleasantly surprised to see so many people. Thought there would be 5 or 6 besides the organizers. It was a good evening with a respectful, but also spirited exchange of ideas. I am interested to see where this leads.
ReplyDeleteAnon:
ReplyDeleteI see how you feel about Mr. Booi, but if you state exactly what is untrue about his column that would be helpful to me. To me the PAB is exactly part of the discussion for a number of reasons. 1) It is not solely about the environmental damage control. The purpose of the PAB is to make the government look good, period. It is a very large paid staff that works to ensure that government members synchronize talking points. Taxpayer money is used to try and convince Albertans that health-care reforms or utility deregulation is what they actually want. 2) Perhaps the reason there is a "no development, nowhere, at no time" crowd is that some are fed up with the "no brakes whatsoever on the oilsands" crowd, of which the premier is a member. 3) Your comments on the possible curtailing of development and what that means for the Alberta treasury: are you assuming that this is the only way to go? Alberta is stuck in a cycle where it must spend huge amounts on services to attempt to meet the needs of 100,000 newcomers into the province each year. Ask the town of Fort Mc how this boom period has affected them. Stelmach's party flatly admitted that their was no plan to deal with this enormous growth, due to a lack of foresight. Crime rates have gone up drastically, inflation and housing price increases have put further hardships on those who are struggling. Of course this tends to get glossed over when Alberta's fortune is discussed.
In summary, I've voted in every election after turning 18 and have since felt disenfranchised by an entrenched corporate-government stuck on autopilot.
Ken:
Booi points out that a Tory backbencher was shot down when he proposed fixed election dates. Not total election reform by any means, but that is an indication of the PCs appetite for any type of change to the electoral system. You mention the urban/rural imbalance, and my question is how will ever transform without the PC caucus voting for it? The imbalance is such a trump card for the PCs that it would make no strategic sense for them to allow any sort of change. They can easily carry rural seats by the strength of the PC brand, social conservatism, fear-mongering about Ottawa, etc etc. The threat from the right (Hinman) was a one-term phenomenon. I wouldn't underestimate the inertia here, as it really would not benefit the PCs in any way to tinker with the flawed system that serves them so well. I know you had a lot of hope for Stelmach and you have gone to great lengths to differentiate him from Klein, but sadly in the area of democratic reform things have not changed.
As for the electorate getting fed up and changing government a la Paul Martin, I have my doubts. All it took was adscam to scuttle the Feds, whereas the PCs have dozens of get out of jail free cards - despite the AUEB spygate mess, the "no-plan" boom, the huge growth pressures, etc etc the PCs were rewarded for it, despite having a new leader.
I am all for engaged citizenry, but with a PC friendly media and the PAB helping tell Albertans what's good for them, I can't see it happening any time soon.
Democracy does not work when those in power become corrupt (read the Liberal's greatest political scandal in Canadian history). We must have a strong auditor general to prevent future liberal governments from stealing the country's wealth for their own benefit.
ReplyDeletejonathan,
ReplyDeleteRe: PAB. Your comment was exactly about environmental damage control... you alluded to the $25 million PR spend. That was the focus of my comment. But as an organization, the PAB serves an important function. I am reminded daily as to the level of ignorance apparent in some segments of the populace by perusing the Letters section of my daily newspaper [in personal dictionary, ignorance is not stupidity; it just represents a lack of information]. It would be even worse if there was no communication outlet for the government. And since the PAB reports on government initiatives, there is going to be a natural convergence in subject matter with the party in power (it would be more disquieting if it were not).
re: development, population growth (2&3). With respect, I think you are incorrect in assuming that gov't policy is solely to account for population growth. To put it bluntly: there are jobs here, and that is why people are coming. A significant portion of job growth is related to strong commodity prices, leading to demand for people in resource extraction and services to support people in that industry. The government does not control the oil price, so I am not sure how one would "bar the gates" and prevent people from moving here. And you are bending the truth to say "Stelmach's party had no plan". That was a one-time Ralph Klein quote, not Stelmach's PC party. And even his political opponents concede that one of Stelmach's main challenges has been to try to make up time lost in Klein's obsession with paying off the debt to the exclusion of much else. That would be part of the hundreds of millions of dollars going to Ft. Mac. As a last bit on the development point, the "not touching the brakes" quote has been replayed as naseum. Far less often have these same folks noted Stelmach's stoppage of the Marie Lake OSUM development, or the new Cumulative Effects Management policy recently put in place.
Since Ken's original post dealt with democracy in Alberta, I would add one more thought on the subject. Many people are looking for ways of increasing voter participation, but in my opinion the conversation has drifted from that into "what can we do to end the PC run in gov't". They are not the same.
Alberta is not an island. We have the same electoral system as the other Canadian provinces, which have historically changed their governing parties more regularly. I submit it is not some quirk of the system that the PCs have been in power for so long. First, to put a marketing spin on it, the opposition parties just aren't selling what Albertans are interested in buying. The Sask Party just tossed the ND's out of Saskatchewan after their 12+ year run, so it can be done.
Secondly, organization counts. The experience of having volunteered a little in the last provincial campagin really showed me how important it is to have volunteers. Ideas don't knock on doors, distribute signs, and do call-outs for support. Money helps, but it does not win elections.... I estimate that the "No Plan" ad crew (that would be Booi's social crowd) spent a sum of money so large that would represent a large majority of the PCs total campaign spend. [Maybe they should have donated to the NDP, but Brian Mason likely put them off with his call to end union and corporate donations.]
Lastly, your PC-friendly media comment is high fantasy. Stelmach's honeymoon lasted all of about a week in 2006. In the last election, the media - in their urge to have a story to write about - did all they could to present the idea that the race was close, that Stelmach was losing support, that royalty increases and Albertan's 'desire for change' was going to do him in. CanWest Global (Pratt, Thomson, Braid) and the CBC (Trynacity) were particularly overt about it. They would also turn out the same cast of "pundits" (Brownsey, Taras, etc.) who couldn't predict the weather if they were standing out in the rain.