Reboot Alberta is hosting its third gathering of progressive thinking Albertans (RebootAlberta 3.0) in Edmonton November 5 and 6, 2010 at the Delta South hotel and focused on what needs to be done to get a progressive political alternative for Alberta.
The agenda will be about Taking Action and will be a call to action for Progressives who are hungry for the Next Alberta. If you agree that politics and democracy Alberta is broken and we need to take a different path forward then RebootAlberta 3.0 is where you want to be.
You will get a chance to help decide what changes we need, what needs to be done to make those changes happen and what you as an informed and engaged citizen can do to make a difference. The times in Alberta are about a power struggle between Libertarians who would isolate individuals from the needs of the larger society and our status quo politics that is more interested in sustaining political power than serving a greater and inclusive vision of Alberta.
If you are bored with apathy and disengagement and see a chance to co-create the next Alberta as a progressive forward thinking, inclusive, prosperous, ecologically responsible and sustainable real democracy then come to RebootAlberta 3.0. RebootAlberta 3.0 is not just a call for action – it will be action. At RebootAlberta 3.0 you will get to share your sense of the preferred future for our province, find a way to get personally active and become effectively involved in achieving that future with other like-minded progressive Albertans.
RebootAlberta 1.0 enabled progressives to discover that they are not alone and many other Albertans thought like them and shared concerns about where Alberta was going as a society, economically and in our duty to the environment. RebootAlberta 2.0 was focused on the values and priority issues progressives shared in common. RebootAlberta 3.0 will be about determining what needs to be done to make Alberta reflect progressive values and then Taking Action to make it happen.
The next provincial election may be sooner than March 2012, in any event, the work of informed and engaged citizenship has to start now if we aspire to get a progressive political agenda ready to present to the people of Alberta as well as to the political parties and leaders who will seek our consent to govern.
Good government starts with citizens taking personal responsibility for ourselves, our families, our communities and others who need our help, especially children and vulnerable people in our society. We also have to be aggressive in asserting our citizenship responsibility as the ownership of our natural resources and insisting on the highest quality of environmental stewardship now and for future generations. It is about honest, open, accountable, transparent and fiscally responsible government that serves the greater good with integrity.
Those are the primary values of progressive Albertans and we do not believe they are being provided by the current political power structure. There is plenty of blame to go around for this including the lack of informed, engaged and active citizenry who have been too compliant and content with the democratic deficit and the lack-lustre political leadership of the status quo.
RebootAlberta 3.0 will be a place to change all that and take back control of our democracy, create more effective alternatives to the status quo governance and to rid ourselves of out-dated and ill-conceived political philosophies that do more harm than good to life in our province as well as on our planet.
Citizenship is more than “What’s in it for me?” It is also about figuring what you are in Alberta for and then taking personal responsibility for the longer term greater good as well as you own self interest. With all the potential and promise that is Alberta we ought to aspire beyond the boosterism of being “the best place in the world” and try and be “the best for the world!”
If this makes sense to you come to RebootAlberta 3.0 and start to co-create a better Alberta. You can register here and the first 75 get an early bird discount. Click here to register
It is time to join with Danielle Smith, John Carpay and the Wildrose Alliance - the only party that has a hope of beating the PC's. Also the only party willing to offer true choice in health care.
ReplyDeleteThe WAP represents a forlorn and disproven governing philosophy of every man for himself and the first to the lifeboats survive. The rich get richer and the poor just have to pull up their socks...if they even have socks.
ReplyDeleteGovernment is not good nor bad. It is the way we make decisions that enable individuals to realize personal potential and for all of us to be better together than the isolated fragmented economic combatants that the WAP sees as normative social behaviour.
We can do better both as individuals and as a province by rejecting such a destructive view of society, politics and invitations for abuse of power.
Government is not any better than the people who vote for it and run for it. We can and must do so much better on both counts if Alberta is to reach its potential as a place that is best for the world.
Ken, your alarmist fear mongering does your progressives no justice.
ReplyDeleteTone down the partisan hype and maybe you will be more appealing to Albertans.
I consider myself a moderate and find much to like about Danielle Smith as do many of my friends, neighbours, relatives and colleagues.
When you say such silly things, you are also saying that about every person who has elected WAP members to office or who is considering voting for them.
I Am Anonymous. Deal with it.
Nothing I have said is alarmist about the narrow policy agenda of the WAP. It is pretty clear they want to strangle government's capacity to do its job in social policy, public education, health care, environment, and public safety. They want to push for marketplace principles in how they would run just about everything.
ReplyDeleteIf the marketplace could be doing a better job in delivering key public policy issues, they wold be doing it by now. The recent bankruptcy of the private surgery clinic in Calgary s shows just how bad business decisions can jeopardize a citizen's right to health care access - and guess what the taxpayer bails out the private sector yet again. This story of the misuse of the marketplace in public policy is getting tiring and expensive for taxpayers.
The WAP leader is a nice person but admittedly a Social Libertarian, what ever that is. It is not a balanced inclusive generative approach for providing public services and enabling individual success for all.
We still do not know who funded her leadership and it is prudent to presume that there are unspoken obligations owing to them due to their dollars and anonymity. This is just a tip of the iceberg in only one of the questions we need to ask of this "viable alternative."
As for your anonymity, it is nothing for me to deal with beyond presuming you must have something to hide too and you are afraid of something. Consider yourself a moderate but with such fear of exposure of your true self, how will we know. It is your choice to live in fear and in shadows but it fear and cowardice are not the values we need to honour if we are to preserve and protect an open, accountable, transparent democracy. We need a revived democracy that is in control of informed engaged citizens who care about each other and not afraid to show up and stand up for what they believe in - and not anonymously.
Next time please rebut some facts with evidence and don't just tell me you and your friends "like" Danielle Smith. That is not good enough for anyone as a good reason to grant consent to someone to govern over us and to have so much power as a result.
Typical elitist believing that the consent of people expressed at the ballot box "is not good enough".
ReplyDeleteWe will see where your progressive attitude gets you south of the border on November 2. And we will see where it gets you in Alberta within the next 12 months.
I Am Anonymous. Deal with it.
Citizenship is not a function of voting every four or so years. It is a constant pursuit of democracy, political integrity, honesty in governing, accountability, fiscal and personal responsibility and environmental stewardship. Waking up every four year to the political circus of election time is stupid. Constant vigilance is not elitist...
ReplyDeleteI hope you can overcome your fear and deal with your own anonymity and become part of the world and participate fearlessly and effectively in the conversations on this blog soon.
Ken pls. do not be discouraged by some of the -ve comments I have read. There so many people supporting your initiatives out there. Lots can't show up their hands because of nature of their employment. They are definitely inspired by your refreshing thoughts, ideas and +ve actions. At least you are doing something tangible, what have they done so far? Ken we support you, and there are lots of young and progressive people looking up to you for leadership. You provoke thoughtfulness, which is very rare these days, and obviously something very allergic to some. This province needs 100 more visionaries like Ken Chapman. THANK YOU.
ReplyDeleteThx for the kind words Anon. I know a number of my Anon commenters and keep them confidential exactly for the reasons you state.
ReplyDeleteIn this time of political uncertainty and citizenship indifference the powers that be tend to try to intimidate and too many good people go to the sidelines and pass on duty to be informed and engaged. I am trying to change both realities and help fix the democratic deficit in Alberta and a bit in Canada as well.