Where's Raj Sherman? At an Alberta Party Event in Edmonton Whitemud!

I am more and more impressed with the way Dr. Raj Sherman is reaching out and spreading his message about the need to fix the current mess around health care and then fixing the system.

Tomorrow night he is attending the organizing meeting of the Edmonton Whitemud Constituency for the Alberta Party as a guest speaker on health care.  He was invited by Don Schurman, a mutual friend and former head (retired) of the University Hospital to come to the Alberta Party meeting tomorrow night and speak on health care.  Don is one of my fellow Instigators of Reboot Alberta, also a former PC and a newly engaged member of the Alberta Party.

Raj continues to connect with a wide range of people across the entire political spectrum, throughout the wide range of the health care system and now is heading into communities all over Alberta with his message, working in collaboration with the Friends of Medicare.

He shows up in the NDP - Wildrose Alliance spoof video collaboration for the Legislature Press Gallery Christmas party too.  It is not all serious stuff.

We need more of this kind of non-ideological political conversation that focuses on the greater good in the public interest and not just silly scoring political points in snippy sound bites.  By the same token political parties have to learn to drop the destructive command and control top down democracy debilitating approach to politics too.  We need more integrity, accountability, honest, responsibility and transparency in our provincial politics.

Raj is getting very good at doing that everywhere and that is a good thing that is resonating with thinking Albertans.  Now if we can clone that political attitude and change the political culture so we have more adult political conversations. We need policy conversation with a long term public servant perspective that reflects a values approach.  Maybe then we will find Albertans prepared to return to a sense of citizenship that is active and informed.  Only with this king of political participation can we preserve, protect and promote our democracy, express our rights and enjoy our freedoms.

Good government is not one that is so small and starved for resources, including a professional civil service, that it can't do its job in the service of citizens and taxpayers.  Dr Sherman is showing a new way of thinking and of doing politics in Alberta.  As an Alberta Party member I also want to see politics done differently.  Dr. Raj Sherman is an inspiration.  But we need others to inspire us in other public policy spheres.   Raj has a laser-like focus on health care and while it is important it is not enough to change how politics are done in Alberta.  He sets an example and is showing us a way to do politics differently.  That has to be a good thing if only others in political office and influence or who aspire to political office and influence take a lesson from him.

Thanks Don Schurman and thanks Raj Sherman for helping us realize we can and must do politics differently. I am out of town tomorrow night otherwise I would be there.  I hope to hear all about the Edmonton Whitemud Alberta Party constituency event and about Raj's contribution on how to fix the crisis in our cherished public health care system the when I get back.