The Hon Ron Stevens, Deputy Premier of Alberta call it quits - IMMEDIATELY! There was lots of speculation that Ron would retire from politics and head to the Bench sometime this year but not right now, before the Spring Session is over. There is so much going on and so much to do it is strange that he seems to be bolting out of the building. The timing and decisiveness of the decision to leave so abruptly is a big surprise.
There is going to have to be a by-election in Calgary pretty soon, I expect in the fall of 2009. It will be seen as a test of confidence in the Stelmach government by the Calgary elites. It will be interesting to see what happens but mid term by-elections are hardly ever good news for governments, especially those in a recession.
The Stelmach government has relationship problems in the energy tycoons in the Calgary Towers but I am not so sure that is also true of the guy on the street in Calgary. As Deputy Premier Ron Stevens would be the point guy on the ground to bridge any information and perception gaps and quell any angst in the Towers.
There is plenty of Tower Angst and the denizens of the Towers are equating the Jan 1/09 royalty regime as equivalent to the NEP. That is hyperbole and hypocrisy but the stuff that Stevens would have to deal with. Here is a link to a piece my business partner Satya Das did in rebuttal to a Calgary Herald columnist on the Tower Angst.
http://www.cambridgestrategies.com/news-room/doc_download/74-new-era-for-the-oilpatch
Will Premier Stelmach appoint another Deputy Premier out of Calgary, if so who. The Calgary crew in the Stelmach Cabinet is short on experience, with Ron Liepert now looking like the senior Calgary guy. My guess is the Premier will not appoint a Deputy Premier, from Calgary or elsewhere.
The more interesting political concern is with Steven's immediate departure Stelmach can do a Cabinet shuffle without looking like he is intentionally throwing anybody under the bus...something he will likely do anyway.
Stelmach needs to make changes and regroup. The government is strategically incoherent and becoming top down, centralized, thin skinned and insular. This is happening just at a time when they ought to be bold, looking outward, forward and listening to citizens.
Stelmach was always going to do a shuffle after the current spring session anyways. I don't see him deviating from that plan and doing one at this point, not when so many current ministers have rather heavy impact legislation working its way through the Assembly.
ReplyDeleteHopefully Stelmach's shuffle will see a smaller cabinet size. He should eliminate the next-to-useless Parliamentary Secretary positions and collapse the size of cabinet down by several orders. Maintaining the current super-sized executive flies in the face of today's economic realities and the time for rewarding his loyalists should be up by now anyways.
Hopefully the next cabinet will see smart MLAS like Janice Sarich and Raj Sherman elevated to Ministers. And while we're at it, can we please dismantle the giant boondoggle that is Service Alberta? Since when does the government's highly incompetent IT team need to be a full fledged ministry.
I know the federal government and Saskatchewan government have parliamentary assistants but the last poster is probably right in a way. I'd say they need to be trimmed down but not eliminated for higher end ministries like Health and Education that are likely a lot of work.
ReplyDeleteAbout Service Alberta, where would this ministry go if it were eliminated?
Sarich and Sherman are bright MLA's from Edmonton for sure. I'd see Len Webber and Jonathan Denis as likely cabinet picks from Calgary. Both were speculated as picks from the Herald after the last election.
I don't think it was a surprise to anyone. Most people have expected this for quite a while.
ReplyDeleteI bet we'll see someone from Calgary caucus elevated to fill a Cabinet vacancy without the need for a full shuffle. Don't expect any of the major portfolios - Energy, Finance, Treasury Board - to change hands. Doubt we'll see another Deputy Premier appointed.
ReplyDeleteI would bet Len Webber gets appointed to a junior post if anyone.
The question I want to know is "who will run in Calgary-Glenmore"? What kind of candidates will the party attract right now?
I'd say you'll see someone more from the conservative side of the party. That seems where the party is going these days. Even a lot of the new crop of 2008 MLA's are from this wing.
ReplyDeleteI assume that Janice Sarich and her husband are writing all these Janice Sarich for Cabinet posts. Never going to happen, and Raj Sherman is also unlikely right now. Sarich suffers from baseless arrogance, and Sherman thinks he should be health minister. A lot of these new kids have very inflated opinions of their own abilities. Calgary may get an "economic portfolio" but energy is unlikely. My pick for that is Horner. Diane Colley-Urquhart is Ron Steven's choice to replace him - no one else should bother.
ReplyDeleteHE basically served 1 year out of a 4 year term. What a selfish jerk. Why did he bother running . HE would have submitted his judge application to the Harper government before the last provincial election. If he didn't want to be an MLA why did he do this? Padding his fat payout and pension?
ReplyDeleteWell, the by-election will waste more taxpayer money. Nice.
I bet you see Craig Chandler run for the Wildrose Alliance. He got over 2,000 votes as an independent and is a force to be reckoned with.
ReplyDeletethe way Calgarians feel about their city council, I highly doubt Colley-Urquhart will be a welcome addition .... she might be a past president and current board member, but this is not the way to renew the PC Party...
ReplyDeleteCraig, there you go posting anonymously again. I don't know why you believe you would have a chance. Your homophobia and fundamentalist Christianity might sell in Mississippi or Alabama, but not in Calgary-Glenmore (or anywhere else in Alberta for that matter). Go back to ranting on the radio (by the way, you're paying for that airtime and selling your own commercials, aren't you). By the way, you finished third to a Liberal, and even combining your vote and that of your WRA buddy, you wouldn't have beaten her. Force to be reckoned with, indeed. LMAO, pal.
ReplyDeleteBTW - Craig Chandler has posted on this blog before and he used his own name as I recall. I don't agree with Mr. Chandler on many (any?) issues but I also think it is grossly unfair to take such a cheap shot at him and do it anonymously. There are too many cowards in blog comments these days.
ReplyDeleteRon Stevens was (and is) a gentleman. I do not agree with much that happened when he was AG, but I always found that he and I could agree to disagree and still respect one another. Indeed, he was that way with all members of the Assembly; he did not stoop to personal attacks or sarcasm in question period or debate, and always made a point of introducing every MLA that may be in the audience at a speaking engagement as "my honourable colleague from the Assembly" - very few other Ministers did that for members of HM Loyal Opposition.
ReplyDeleteI firmly believe his was one of the (few) moderating voices in cabinet and caucus - and that's now one less such voice.
I know that he had the respect of the judiciary to an extent that few of his predecessors had and, as a senior lawyer, I can say without hesitation that I think he will be an outstanding judge.
Regrettably, the Bench's gain is a (serious) loss for Albertans that do not subscribe to the views of the extreme right when it comes to (our perception of) good government.
It's odd; as I reflect on the last 4 decades (in Alberta and elsewhere), I recall that at the time, I thought the Lougheed government/cabinet was comprised of a bunch of right-wing fruitcakes. In retrospect, they now seem to exemplify a golden age of enlightened thinkers. Perhaps all things really are relative.
In any event, while both he and I would agree that Ron is "to the right" of me in our political beliefs, I believe he would have been right at home in the Lougheed cabinet. And as (that Liberal Senate appointee) Tommy Banks once said to me, "The Lougheed cabinet was filled with people of intelligence, culture, and sensitivity".
Actually, I'm somewhat surprised that the Harper would appoint someone as "liberal" as Ron Stevens to the Bench.