Reboot Alberta

Showing posts with label Election. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Election. Show all posts

Monday, March 13, 2023

IF NOT THIS; THEN WHAT?

Are you tired of the overheated right versus left, political rhetoric?  Are you weary of the partisan blame game?  Are you concerned about the rise of misinformation and disinformation spreading throughout our society? 


Are you worried about political polarisation that is dividing us and leaving a trail of debris in our economy, our environment, ourselves and many of our fellow citizens? 


Do you have a nagging, or even gut-wrenching, feeling that there are people and groups who are committed to separating Alberta from Canada and intent on replacing our democracy with an autocracy?  As a citizen of Alberta, are you unsatisfied with the direction of our province?  


If so, we must ask ourselves, IF NOT THIS, THEN WHAT? This is the  core political question for Albertans in these volatile, uncertain, complex times.  This question is especially significant given the fundamental and consequential choices we will be making as voters in this election. 


ELECTIONS ARE GOOD TIMES TO PRESS FOR CHANGE

An election is a serious time for Albertans to take up our roles and responsibilities by becoming engaged and participating citizens. It is time for those of us with the capacity, skills, and talents to apply ourselves, to show up, speak up, stand up and even act up with a renewed sense of civic purpose.  It is time to use our energy, capabilities, skills and many talents to exert the power of our citizenship and press for the changes we want to see.


While this core question provides a framework to uncover and consider the problems, it does little  to provide us with any doable solutions.  That takes a personal commitment to the work of participatory citizenship. 


The work is the go-forward mission for those of us ready, willing and able to move into the next stage of Reboot Alberta. We, those of us who are able, will assist the majority of like-minded individuals to become more engaged in purposeful and political activities.  


The stakes are high.  Our democracy is in danger. We must become effectively engaged politically if we are to protect, promote, preserve and improve our democracy.  We must use the power of citizenship to defeat ideological extremists, at both ends of the political spectrum.  We must expose and depose the authoritarian tyrants in our midst who are trying to take control of our province and weaken our democratic institutions.


THE INVITATION 

It is time for some of us in the Reboot Alberta Group, to take our political participation to a different level.  It’s time to transition from passive Likes and Retweet levels of involvement.  We must move into an engaged, active, and purposeful community approach that is committed to conceiving and co-creating a better Alberta.


That better Alberta is more economically viable, socially just, environmentally responsible, and politically representative.


THE SHIFT

The Reboot Alberta Facebook Group has been a place for politically moderate and conscientious citizens.  We are citizens who want to help raise awareness, share ideas and information on public policy issues, government programs, policy and even politics.  As a result, we have been able to get more clarity about where we are these days as a province where volatility, uncertainty and ambiguity is “normal.”

There is broad consensus amongst us, given our answer to what is wrong with the direction Alberta is heading. We are well aware of the current deficiencies in so much of being in Alberta.  When we ask ourselves,  If not THIS, then WHAT?We can all make a list of the “THIS” things in present day Alberta that we need to change.


CITIZENS MAKING CHANGE IS NOT NEW

This focus on what needs to be changed is not new. Albertans have, as pluralist people, been focused for a number of years  on the “IF NOT” aspect of the question.  Ever since the Klein days many of us, as citizens not partisans, have been actively seeking better political leadership.  We did this by rejecting various ideologically insufficient alternatives we were offered by the long reigning, now defunct, Progressive Conservative Party.


For example, over the years, many non-partisan citizens bought Progressive Conservative party memberships to participate in the selection of the party leaders.  That’s an example of the activated and engaged individual citizenship action we are speaking about as Rebooters.


What emerged was an act of engaged citizenship because individuals realised that the change of leadership of a party in power, was also selecting the next Premier of Alberta. More recently, many independent citizens realised that the UCP leadership outcome was too serious a matter to leave to the party members alone.  So they purchased UCP memberships, if only to have a say in who would become the next Premier of Alberta.


NOW WHAT? IT’S TIME TO GET SERIOUS

 The “What” is the uncertainty in our core question.  This part of the question is especially important at this election time given our divided and polarised political reality.  The What part of the question is personal to We the Citizens as voters.  It is where your choices, based on your concerns, will have consequences for all of us.  What issues, policy, perceptions will drive and determine the choices of Albertans as we collectively decide how to mark our ballot?  Such choices must be made soon because we have  a deadline. Election day is May 29th.  This is now IMPORTANT AND URGENT.


ACTION PLAN

The What part of the question, in the emerging more engaged Reboot Community, will not be focused very much on helping you decide how to mark your ballot.  We will be citizens who are preparing for a more effective engaged active personal citizenship in the post-election period. We will be organising for taking more direct action approaches to more effective personal and collectively engaged citizens pressing for change through political, but not just partisan, means.


We will consider the choices, changes, and alternatives for Alberta and Albertans, that we can influence that are actually within our control.  We will focus on solutions that we can design and deploy through democratic processes.  After the election will take a longer term future-forward view of issues and seek solutions that go beyond the ballot box focus of the current election cycle.  


We will also consider the external pressures we will have imposed on us, by geopolitical and other forces.  We will accept  that we can’t control those external forces but we will press for changes where we can and must move to mitigate and learn to adapt to the external consequences and impacts.


CITIZENSHIP MATTERS

The next phase of Reboot Alberta will not be for everyone.  The Reboot Alberta Facebook Group will continue to raise awareness and share reliable and relatable information.  But there will be another community based platform for those Reboot-minded citizens who want to expand their role and responsibility as a citizen into more direct political action.  


We are not talking about marching and waving placards, or running around with our collective hair on fire as much as that is often fun. Nor are we about signing meaningless petitions or feeding rage machines by spreading  misinformation.


This Citizenship Matter initiative will not be  for everyone. We will be looking for people with a passion for Alberta, experienced in service to others, and the capacity to contribute time, talent and other resources.  It will be for those citizens who want to be involved and who aspire to exert personal positive impact on those areas of concern and purpose towards co-creating a better next Alberta.


We are now searching out venues and will be convening gatherings around issues, policies, and programs. Specific working groups will design and deploy the work. Yes, there will be work. Democracy  takes work.  I promise it will be frustrating at times, but also satisfying when we see that we are making constructive and positive changes in how we are governed.


We will  be looking at how to be effectively engaged and how to take direct action on those citizenship matters that drive the desires of the various community members.  We are in fact calling this parallel community- inspired platform Citizenship Matters.  Citizenship Matters because citizenship participation in political processes and decisions are the only way we have, as a society, to move  away from the adversarial, divisive and polarised political culture we Albertans have fallen into.  


Citizenship Matters are all those things about being Albertan that really matter to the majority of independent, critical-thinking citizens, who are not politically aligned but also not politically disengaged. They are curious and concerned about things that matter, considering what do we need and what do we want as Albertans for Albertans 


The Citizenship Matters mindset will be to clearly understand a citizen’s chosen focus area and the problems they face, personally, in their community or provincially. We will be committed to solution finding through community leadership, acting as citizenship trustees of our democracy.  We will not wait for the political establishment to act and then merely respond complacently or complicitly where and when it matters to our Citizenship.


We will use the power of our citizenship to look for solutions that work within the power levers of our democracy and our system of government.  We will apply 21st century tools that include but go beyond the ballot box. 




In the beginning we will be starting small, but that does not mean we will be going slowly nor without a defined purpose.  We will look to  some focus area we know something about, where we are in the issue, and where there is some clarity about what constitutes a preferred future.   


JOIN US AND HELP DESIGN THE NEXT ALBERTA

Many of us have all but forgotten that public participation through political engagement is some of the most meaningful and impactful ways we can create much-needed change.  Citizenship Matters will be a community approach to citizen engagement to help create change in what concerns you. 


That change may be getting your disabled child the school support they need or finding safe and affordable long-term care for a frail parent.  Do you have a community-based concern you want to see fixed like policing reform and public safety?  Perhaps energy transition and climate change issues are some of your big issues. Of course there are always enormous challenges in our healthcare systems. 


Too many of us are sitting on the political sidelines.  Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by the range and complexity of the issues and challenges we are facing. Others feel powerless because they don’t understand how to leverage our democratic and civic systems.  Many avoid political participation because they see it as vile, nasty and corrupt. 


Citizenship Matters will help independent, critical-thinking, and passionate Albertans become more effective and active citizens.  Are you ready, willing, and able to  step up your efforts to seek solutions we need now and for future generations of Albertans? Join us.  Whatever your passion, if you want to press for change using the power of your citizenship to design and define the next Alberta - Join Us. 




Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Mr. Harper, Your Time is UP!


So the Federal Liberals have their political mojo back and are ready to be a political party and a political force once again. The key message from Michael Ignatieff coming out of the Liberal Caucus meeting this week is "Mr. Harper, your time is up!" Yes it is and it is about time too!

The Liberals are back, they have some buck and bravado to boot. So will we have a fall election? That depends on Jack Layton all of a sudden. The NDP have to shed their sheep's clothing of the past 4 years and now have to stifle their sanctimony. They loved to talk about how they were "consistently" not supporting the Harper government as if that was some symbol of political integrity. It was pure positioning and political opportunism, and a safe bet because of how weak an unprepared the Liberals were to face another election. But that was then and this is now.

Layton met privately with Harper recently. I am sure they are working on a deal to prop up Deceivin' Stephen for a while longer. Harper is hoping to buy some time by doing some Dipper pandering. He want to give the economy time to really turn around so his Con Artists can take credit for it. Layton will trade an early election for regulated credit card rates. Harper will give him an all-party committee to study the issues like with EI!

This gamesmanship is not new for Harper or Layton. Layton cut a deal to prop up Martin' s minority and even had the nerve to claim the Martin budget as an NDP budget in the bargain. Hyperbole and histrionics are part of the political game but Layton can go overboard. Harper was cutting a deal with the Bloc a few years back to force the non-confidence vote to defeat the Martin government. So Harper has proven that he will even hop into bed with separatists for the purposes of gaining personal political power. Old-time Reformers (are there any other kind?) must be fuming at the prospects of a repeat of that possibility.

So we have had at least two recent and really unnecessary elections - both caused by Mr. Harper's hubris. First, when he defeated the Martin minority when Canadians had just elected it. We were insisting we wanted our politicians to learn to work together for the good of the country. That was our political agenda in electing a minority government. But that was not the goal of Deceivin' Stephen. He cut a deal with the separatists and pushed us to the polls.
The next unnecessary and unwanted election was the last one. That was when Harper was too scared to face the House of Commons. Instead he shut down Parliament and prorogued the House then slithered off to ask the Gov Gen for an election. That too was and election that nobody wanted and to prove our discontent, we stayed home from the polls in record numbers.

Now Deceivin' Stephen is saying, rather sanctimoniously, that he "...hasn't met a single Canadian who's saying they want to see an election right now." As if that matters to him as some kind of foundational principled way that he stands by. The last two unnecesasry election were one that he caused. We didn't want or need them but that did not matter to Harper because he was on a mission to gain absolute personal political power.

So will we have an election this fall? Ask Jack Layton. It is in his hands right now. After the Bloc news conference today we may also see a different scenario emerging. Will Duceppe try to take the stage as the primary prop manager to keep the limp and languishing Harper government afloat? What price will we have to pay and what is Harper's price? What will he pay to Jack and/or Gilles to retain the Hill and preseve his personal political power?

The only federal party that will be talking to, for and about Canadians now will be the Federal Liberals. All the rest of them will be in back rooms "cutting up the cash" as Lyin' Brian used to say.
Remember when Mulroney was one of Harper's mentors and role models? Harper officially shunned Mulroney politically when he finally had to fulfill his promise to call the inquiry into the Mulroney/Schreiber affair. Speaking of cutting up the cash, Mulroney proved to be pretty good at that all by himself as he admitted in his inquiry testimony.

The next election is inevitable, it is only a matter of time. One thing for sure Harper's time is up! It is time for Canadians to shun Deceivin' Stephen just like he did over the Schreiber Affair and just Canadians did to Lyin' Brian in the 1993 election leaving his majority government with only 2 seats.
With some luck and an informed, activist and engaged citizenry maybe we can get back to some peace, order and good government with a Liberal majority. the only way to get it done is with an election So let's get on with it! Over to you Jack - or Gilles! What do you say?