In Egypt the Revolution Was Tweeted! Is Alberta Next?

Very interesting article in the Sunday edition of the Toronto Star by Don Tapscott entitled "Here Comes the Wiki Revolution."  I like Don Tapscott's writings and read his books. Still have to get to MacroWikinomics but the sub title alone "Rebooting Business and the World" grabs my attention as one of the instigators of Reboot Alberta. 

Tapscott starts with a challenge to the Malcolm Gladwell assertion last October in The New Yorker magazine essay "Small Change:Why the Revolution Won't be Tweeted."  Gladwell contended that social media only created "weak ties" between people and it took "strong ties" and close relationships to bring about real social change.

Tapscott says "If Twitter, Facebook and YouTube didn't exist, Hosni Mubarak would still be president of Egypt.  The social media tools gave Mubarak's opponents unprecedented ability to share information and organize their activities, including massive protest which riveted the world's attention."  This is the core new reality of the shift of power to the networks of engaged citizens from hierarchies of personal power brokers.

Last June  a 28 year-old businessman Khaled Said was beaten to death by two police officers. Said has posted video of these police officers dealing in illegal drugs.  Shortly after Said 's death a Facebook page was created called "We Are All Khaled Said" with pictures of his beaten body in the morgue.  Within weeks the site had over 100,000 friends and that grew to over 500,000 and became a rallying point for Egyptians.

Tapscott notes that social media "...can take weak ties between people initiated on the web can become strong ties and forge close relationships that organize for social change. Egypt shutting down the Internet gave citizens no other choice but to take to the street to communicate.  The paradox is dictators typically take control of the conventional gatekeeper media and can effectively control the message and stifle rebellion.  When the access to the Internet and social media was removed by Mubarak, those in remote and decentralized connected nodes "were triggered into action" and took to the streets. It had just to opposite effect from what the dictator expected.

Social Media Implications for Governments
There are some very serious lessons here for modern democracies and free market enterprises.  Stable democracies but with fundamental political deficits around accountability, honesty, transparency and openness, like Alberta and Canada, should take heed.  The political leaders and political parties depend on the voluntary consent by citizens to those in power to govern us. When the citizen wake up looking for change they will show up to make that change happen.  The voter volatility in Alberta is early signs of citizens waking up politically and not liking what they see offered by the current options.

When we vote, or not vote, we voluntarily give up some personal power and individual agency to politicians to form governments that we expect will act for the greater good.  The engaged and informed but frustrated or angry citizen will not comply with the old and outdated vertical political power model. It is being replaced by a horizontal participatory public service model of governance where stable and mature democracies are involved.  Social media is playing an enormous role in creating and sustaining that change to horizontal based shared governance with real citizen participation in the political culture.

Social Media Implications for Industry.
Industry that depends on a social license to operate in the marketplace is also in serious peril from the organizational capacity of social media.  The growing public opposition to big Telcos and Cable operators over ridiculously high cost and low performance of Internet service and the manipulation of rates known as User Based Billing is going to bring them to heel.  That is only one sector to feel the pressure.  Any other regulated sector is vulnerable and those unregulated industries will not escape the power of the mouse.

The shifting of public opinion on oil sands in Alberta and around the world, is another prime area where the corporations developing this resource are now responding to demands for authentic corporate social responsibility beyond providing investment, jobs and public relations campaigns.

Governments and industry who are not accountable, open and transparent, that do not align overtly and effectively with the values of the culture they operate in and fail refuse or neglect to adapt have reason to be afraid - very afraid.

The Alberta Party and Social Media
The Alberta Party and its membership gets this shift from vertical power based democracy to horizontal participatory democracy.  We know that social media is a powerful force to create and sustain this shift in power distribution and citizen participation in politics. We are mocked by those who's power comes from the status quo for saying we want to do politics differently.  We are belittled by conventional-traditional political thinkers who make comments like "it looks like the Alberta Party is trying to Tweet its way to power."   We are and we will because the capacity to do so is in the Internet here and the will of citizens for a better government will make it happen.

Those who think that accusing the Alberta Party of "Tweeting it's way to power" are partly true but they don't understand the difference this new technology is making.  What is happening is not a set of weak tie  relationships but new vibrant networks are forming of like-minded citizens who have decided to get involved in the spirit of Reboot.

They are citizens who are going to retake Control of our democracy and politics.  Many are looking to create Alternatives like the Alberta Party and others are dedicated to changing others parties from within.  Then there is the need to Delete the old attitudes that lead to cynicism and disengagement from politics and participating in preserving our democracy.

Rebooting Alberta
The Reboot Alberta effort was the sparked that got progressives in Alberta together where we realized we were not alone and others shared our values and perceptions.  We also realized political complacency was not a citizenship option in Alberta any more.  We had to get engaged in the political culture of the times to change the trajectory from the hard core right wing shift we saw happening with the rise of the Wildrose Alliance and its libertarian governing ideology.

The forlorn belief that there is no reason to believe that anything can or will change justified not getting involved.  The amazing way citizens in Egypt and Tunisia used their collected energy enabled by social media to overcome fear and get rid of dictators has to be an inspiration.  Citizens in Alberta are starting to challenge how their governments work and behave.

Albertans have a safe secure and stable society but without much resolve to achieve our true potential. We must move past the pure economic realm of the Alberta Advantage.  We need to consider what are our Alberta Aspirations in this changing world.  Those aspirations, must be a stretch that worthy of us and push our potential as people and a province.  We have to be a more integrated in our thinking and always be concerned for the economy, the environment and our social cohesion in policy and politics.

One of my aspirations as an Albertan is in the spirit and intend of the new Alberta Party as we create a new progressive, inclusive political culture with integrity, accountability, transparency, fiscal responsibility and environmental stewardship as fundamental values.  I see so much potential in this new citizen's movement that has morphed into the Alberta Party.  I am inspired by the courage and commitment of individual Egyptians and Tunisians who have so much more to lose and so much to gain by getting engaged.  I only hope Albertans  will now commit to change by a personal resolution for a peaceful but profound political revolution in Alberta.

Are You Alberta Party Curious?

There is an interesting piece in the Sunday Reader section of the Edmonton Journal on the Alberta Party written by Sheila Pratt. It shows that the Alberta Party is drawing attention and capturing the imagination of progressive thinking Albertans.  The article shows that there is a significant yearning for a different way of doing politics in our province.

The recent municipal elections have shown dramatic evidence of that thirst for change all over the province.  Many incumbent  candidates were rejected by the electorate in cities, towns. municipal districts and counties.  Edmonton is the exception but we made that shift in consciousness two elections ago.  We liked the direction and destination of our city and it continues to move forward with a progressive council and mayor.  So all incumbents in Edmonton were all re-elected.  The exception that proves the rule.

CHANGE IS WANTED BUT A CHANGE TO WHAT?
The problem about a change is what is the alternative to the traditional left versus right tedious model of politics as usual.  That old-style thinking about ideological and manipulative politics is very distrusted by most Albertans.  The majority of us respond apathetically by simply not voting.  The consciousness is changing now and people realize if they don't participate politically as informed  citizens, there are negative consequences. Disillusioned apathetic citizens can give away their political power to an alternative that is not reflective of their values and not aligned with their aspirations for Alberta.  Apathy is not just boring - it is dangerous.

There are some Albertans with hardcore social conservative and libertarian values that believe the Wildrose Alliance is the change answer for our political culture.  Their approach is to essentially eliminate government then privatize public policy on the presumption that the marketplace is the answer to all the social, environmental, economic and political problems we face, including health care.  That is not consistent with the dominant values of most Albertans.  But most of us don't vote so we could end up there by default...with nobody to blame but ourselves.

There are many who are nominally supportive of the Wildrose Alliance because they see it as a "place to park your vote and frown sternly at the PCs"  as University of Lethbridge political scientist Peter McCormick says in the Journal article.  But given another viable balanced, moderate and progressive political alternative like the Alberta Party, one has to question the real level of committed public support for the fundamentalist hardcore conservative politics of the Wildrose Alliance.

No doubt the Alberta Party has a long way to go and very little time to get ready for the next election - which is expected within a year.  It is making progress, getting traction and picking up speed.  I am told membership has doubled to over 900 in the 6 weeks since the end of October Policy Conference.  More Albertans are buying memberships and engaging the start of constituency associations, looking a leadership campaigns and considering being a candidate....but still more is needed for the Alberta Party to be a contender in the next election.

It will have over 40 constituency associations formed by the end of January and the rest of the province will be organized right afterwards.  The party leadership campaign begin in the new year.  The leadership campaigns will bring mainstream media attention to the Alberta Party and that will attract the attention of everyday Albertans to this new fresh political movement.  Albertans will become more Alberta Party curious as they hear about how we can do politics differently and move forward to a progressive future.

In the last Alberta election 60% of eligible voters could not be bothered to get informed about the candidates, the leaders, the party platforms or ever show up to vote.  The Alberta Party will be fishing in that large pond of citizen disenchantment.  It will offer a viable alternative to politics-as-usual and will attract soft and swing support from all the traditional political parties who are fed up with the old-style politics.

There are reasons for the Alberta Party to be cautiously optimistic about gaining greater voter support.  The citizen disaffection for all of the current political offerings and the longing for change is obvious.  There are some of us who were there in 1971 when Lougheed led the dramatic change from the tired, tedious and out of touch Social Credit government to a new modern, youthful forward thinking and energized kind of government.

There are signs that we are back to the future.  There is the emergence of a revitalized voter who showed up in the recent local elections in larger numbers and with a message to politicians.  This is another reason to believe things can change quickly and dramatically in the political culture of our Alberta.  The rejection of so many conformist incumbent candidates is another encouraging sign of the coming of real political change.  The election of so many younger, imaginative and progressive thinking candidates to local governments and school boards also adds to the sense of a sea change shift that is emerging in the political culture of the province.      

ALBERTANS ARE MORE PROGRESSIVE THAN CONSERVATIVE
On top of all that is some interesting research results we have discerned from the work of Reboot Alberta on the degree of shared values of progressive thinking Albertans compared to a random sampling the everyday average Albertan. The results are enormously encouraging for the progressive and fresh thinking of the Alberta Party.  We studied 22 value attributes of 644 self-selecting Alberta progressives within the Reboot Alberta citizens movement.  We wanted to find out what were the most vital values for progressive Albertans and what they wanted to see guide and drive politics and policy decisions of their government.

We did the same study with a statistically valid random sample of 568 Albertans so it is accurate at the +/-4% level.  We then compared the random results to the Reboot progressive citizens movement results.  We wanted to get a sense of how many progressive thinking people there are in Alberta.  We looked at the degree of alignment of the random results and compared them to the top quartile of the Roboot results.  This top quartile alignment of the two surveys is an indication of an excellent fit of the Alberta population with the progressive values of Reboot Alberta Influentials.  What we found is that 28% of Albertans are profoundly aligned with the Progressive values. 

When we compared the random results to the top two quartiles of the Reboot survey we found that 63% of everyday Albertans shared the same set of values as Reboot Alberta Progressives.  What is just as important is there was no difference between ages, genders or between rural and urban progressive thinking Albertan when you look at the random sample results.  Rural and urban Albertans share the same values, maybe not the same priority about issues but we Albertans are fundamentally the same kind of people...regardless of where we live.

If this extrapolation of the alignment of random sample of regular Albertan and the Reboot community is accurate that means the red-neck social conservative image of Alberta so "popular" in the rest of Canada is a myth.  It is a myth that needs to be debunked.   It also means there is a large untapped group of progressive thinking Albertans looking and longing for a political home and a political party they can believe in.  Could the Alberta Party be the answer to the quest for change for the 63% of us who want a real progressive government that reflects our values?

LOOK AT THE ALBERTA PARTY AS A PROGRESSIVE ALTERNATIVE
If you are Alberta Party curious, take a chance and go to the website, read the policy document and other items.  If you are curious about what is a Progressive go to that link on the Reboot Alberta  and read the commentaries. Then take a minute and look at the mix of young-old, male-female on the Alberta Party Board and ask yourself if this mix makes sense in how a new political party should look.  Can you see that the Alberta Party is on to something and serious about doing politics differently?  Is this new political movement something worthy of your support and involvement as a citizen? If you want real change we all know it is basically about taking personal responsibility.  We have to be the change we want to see.

So overcome your reluctance about political participation.  Take the leap and buy a membership in the Alberta Party.  Become active in the forthcoming party leadership selection process.  Share your engagement and enthusiasm with your family, friends, co-workers and your community.  Encourage them to revitalize their sense of empowerment as a citizen.  Ask them to consider joining the Alberta Party too.  After all it is still a free country and province...for now but that could change if you choose to stay disinterested in the future of our Alberta.  

The Eyes of the World Are On Alberta's Oil Sands

Here is a link to yet another excellent Sunday Reader feature in the Edmonton Journal by Sheila Pratt on what it might take to get a reconciliation between industry the environmentalists and our governments on what is appropriate oil sands development approaches.  I was interviewed by Sheila for this piece and pleased to participate.

What we need now is an adult conversation in Alberta and by Albertans on how we want to see our oil sands resources developed.  The basis for that conversation should be framed from the findings of our resent research at Cambridge Strategies Inc. on the values Albertan's want to see guide and drive oil sands development was done in collaboration with OSRIN (Oil Sands Research and Information Network)

The citizens of Alberta need to create the place and space for that conversation to take place.  That can be in community meetings, church basements, coffee shops, service clubs, business groups, union halls, educational institutions, political gatherings and kitchen tables, just to name a few.  That conversation can begin where ever  one Albertan takes the time to asks another about what they want to see done to assure us that our natural resource is being responsibly developed so we can be proud of all the outcomes.

I am quoted in the Edmonton Journal story saying Albertans are starting to lose pride in the province.  I believe this to be true partly because our research shows only 31% of Albertans believe the oil sands resource in being managed well.  The Influentials in the province are at the forefront of this emerging sense of a loss of pride in being Albertan.  When asked if they tell others great things about living in Alberta only 51% of Influentials agreed or strongly agreed and only 45% of them would strongly recommend living in Alberta to a friend.

UPDATE:  REX MURPHY ASKS WHY AREN'T WE PROUD OF THE OIL SANDS?  This industry also needs a human face and not just the nice folks who work in the industry that populate the full page colour newspaper ads the industry is wasting money on - as if that would persuade us of authenticity, trustworthiness and integrity

The reason the opinions of Influentials are so important is because they are trend setters and opinion leaders.  These are the people the rest of the population relies on to help form our own thoughts on issues, ideas and many of the decisions we make in our lives.  Some have suggested what Influentials think today is what the general population will be thinking in 12 to 18 months from now.

That is why government and industry better start a more meaningful, serious and adult conversation with Albertans about what we want to see happening with the development of our resource.  After all it is Albertans who own the oil sands.  Industry is a mere tenant that depends on public confidence to gain and sustain a social license to operate their businesses be it forests, oil and gas or oil sands.

As for government their equivalent of a social license it to be seen worthy of the citizen's consent to govern.  Right now all of the political parties and their leaders in are seen to be less than adequate to the task of effectively managing the growth of Alberta.  When Albertans were asked who did they think was best able to responsibly manage Alberta's growth the results were astonishing.  Premier Ed Stelmach was the choice of 23%, Danielle Smith garnered 19%, David Swann had 9% and Brian Mason only 4%.  None of the Above was the assessment of 45% of the 1032 Albertans who were in the random survey done last May.

Change is in the air and alternatives are needed based on this survey result. If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org

Why is Harper Avoiding the Media?

I picked up this link this morning on Twitter via @BrianMCarroll from the Nanaimo Daily News.  It shows that our totalitarian Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in image control but not into communicating with Canadians...at least not through the conventional media.

I am on the PMO distribution list of what Harper is doing and the activities are mere message massage and manipulation.  I can't understand why cash strapped and staff starved MSM even bother to cover these circuses of events where photos are allowed but journalists questions are not allowed or severely limited.

It is becoming more obvious that our democracy is in decline and the personal ambitions of Prime Minister Harper are pleased and promoting that demise.  Canadians have to wake up and smell the political rot - and it is not just in Ottawa.

Many of our political parties and leaders have forfeited the benefit of the doubt from citizens that they are acting in our best interests.  The uncertainty amongst citizens it there but individually they seem to be afraid of the consequences of taking back political power into the hands of the electorate and not the elites in political parties or back rooms.

Giving up on democracy is not an option.  Showing up, speaking out and insisting on accountability, integrity, honesty and transparency from those who seek our consent to govern us is the only option.  If you are better off today than 4 years ago I can understand a contentment to the status quo...but not many of us are as well off.

The fear uncertainty and doubt we are feeling about the future can best be fixed by citizens taking action.  We need to change the political power structure, who is in political power and how we select those to whom we grant political power.  If you are not content with the status quo and the infighting between left and right politics you can re-engage in a progressive approach to democracy through Reboot Alberta   Join us and start making a difference in the future of Alberta and even Canada.

If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org

Is This Why Democracy is in Trouble?

This is a British video but the principles apply broadly - including we Albertans.  It is worth the 10 minute watch to help us understand why there is some serious shortcoming in our democracy.  The problem is us.  As humans  are actually trying to change ourselves to become better evolved citizens?



Solutions:  Devolve more power to people.  Use citizen juries to deal with major problems at least twice a year.  Publish all the advice politicians get to help them make decisions.

That would enhance integrity, honestly, accountability, transparency and responsibility all the way around.  These are key values that motivate progressives in Alberta society.

We have to use our brains in ways better than we used them before we invented the wheel.

If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org

What Do We Want to Achieve in RebootAlberta 3.0?

SOME CONTEXT ON WHY REBOOT 3.0
My sense is people are at different stages in the Reboot Alberta community.  There is an overall impatience for taking action and a feeling that time is wasting if progressives are going to make an impact on the next election.  That frustration is going to be focused by those participating in RebootAlberta 3.0 and then framed in a way that people can take action.

In Reboot 1.0 we discovered that there were other progressive thinking people who were also concerned about the future direction of the province.  We met listened and explored our shared values, ideas and yearnings about being a progressive Albertan.  In Reboot 2.0 we had some research findings about what made a Progressive, what were our priority values and our personal potential as Influentials to use the Reboot Alberta movement to relate to others and help create positive change.

There were four distinct streams formed by the past Reboot events.  Some progress has been made in the political partisan streams for sure.  There is a new progressive political party on the scene as the Renew Alberta people aligned with the Alberta Party and getting organized and moving on it Big Listen project. 

The partisan faithful from the Progressive Conservatives, NDP and Liberal parties have been going through transitions and changes too since we last met.  Even some Wildrose Alliance folks showed up at RebootAlberta 2.0 concerned about farmland conservation and local food.  They found some kindred spirits and worthwhile conversations.

The civil society groups and independent citizen streams progress has not been as easy to monitor. However we can say many in the Reboot movement have stepped up as candidates for municipal and school board elections or have volunteered to support local government candidates.  The not-for-profit groups have been just doing their vital jobs with fewer resources and more demands. It is difficult to see how the folks in those organizations have been able to press for progressive policy changes when they are so strapped for time and spread so thin. 

But then we have RebootAlberta 3.0 where these people can come together to share and consider solutions to their concerns.  They can share the load start working together to create the progressive political culture we want to achieve in the Next Alberta.

WHAT DOES "TAKING ACTION" MEAN ?

The key question is what will accomplish coming out of RebootAlberta 3.0.   The theme is Taking Action and that means first determining what that needs doing as part of the goal.  We have very little time so the focus must be fast and energy will have to be high.  Reboot 3.0 is going to be a process about defining issues, describing successes and determining what needs to be done to win.  We then have to pick out spots and commit to personal action.  We need that to get all the effort mustered on dealing with our issues.  That focus, energy, commitment and action will have a positive impact on the progressive direction of political culture in the Next Alberta.

RebootAlberta 3.0 will provide the place for progressive thinking folks in the Alberta political party, civil society groups, ENGOs, and individuals to define their concerns and work them through to taking action.  This all starts with the insights and efforts of individuals.  That moves to informal collaborative learning circles with others who eventually join in will expand the capacity to reach out to others.  This will reinvigorate the sense of citizenship and rejuvenate progressive Albertans to take back democratic control of the political culture of the province.


The end result is more effective, active and meaningful engagement of individuals as citizens, leaders, members of groups and organizations and even within our families and friends, all working to realize a self-selected worthy goals towards a better Alberta.    

EXPECTED REBOOT 3.0 OUTCOMES:
In Taking Action we will be striving for more than a few goals at Reboot 3.0. It all starts with the individual, then grows to a smaller group who work together and who engage others though their networks and spheres of influence.  Finally they all work towards creating a plan to push and pull on the levers of political power in to realize the changes they desire.  It is all done in the spirit of creating informed, engaged responsible citizenship that wants to achieve progressive democratic principles and good government.

REBOOT GOALS FOR INDIVIDUALS:

We hope coming out of Reboot 3.0 we will see individuals identify concerns.  What need to happen next is for participants to make a personal commitment to take effective action to resolve their issues and add to the progressive voice to the political culture of the Next Alberta.  That personal commitment would include learning about the issue and gathering background information.  Then defining a personal preferred outcome and sharing that with others.

Next is to reach out and gather more support and understanding about the reason for the concern.  We then anticipate some people will take a leadership position in pursuing those outcomes by finding and engaging more to become involved in helping resolve the issue. Finally we expect that people will take personal and collective action to bring attention to the issue to advance the preferred outcome.  This can be done in many ways including through political participation and influencing policy makers.

REBOOT GOALS FOR GROUPS:

In addition to pursuing personal concerns there are some broader concerns that may become theme areas for the wider group of Reboot progressives to pursue.  They will advance on the same citizenship engagement model of defining the concerns, getting informed on the background, designing and agreeing on the preferred outcome.  Then a plan will be designed to reach out to engage and inform other Albertans as they push and pull the political and public policy levers to realize their objective.

GOALS FOR REBOOT ALBERTA GOING FORWARD:

Finally I hope to get some input and ideas on what those in the Reboot community want next from Reboot Alberta itself.  Should it continue as a loose convener of events and a communications conduit?  Should it become more substantial and sustainable as an on-going organization to pursue and promote the idea of creating a progressive political culture in Alberta?  Or is the Reboot Alberta job done if the goals of Reboot 3.0 are realized and civil society, political parties and progressive citizens take up the various causes in their own ways and means?

Does Reboot Alberta grow and reach out to other Progressive and encourage them to engage and become empowered as citizens again?  Do we need a place for Progressive to congregate and share time and ideas or are we comfortable to continue living individually and in our heads?  Where do the resources and leadership come from for this work and what does success look like if there is agreement to continue Reboot?  These are key questions about the direction and destination of any effort to sustain a progressive citizen's movement in Alberta.

CONCLUSIONS: 

It is premature to draw any hard conclusions about Reboot 3.0 but one thing for sure; we should not come to Reboot 3.0 just to talk.  We need to identify issues that are worth the effort and justify our commitment to determine and seek solutions.  We have very little time to make a difference or impact the public policy agenda and even the possible outcomes for the next election and for the Next Alberta. 

We need to find ways to seek out, empower and re-engage other progressive citizens who have opted for non-engagement in democracy.  We need to give them a reason to believe again – even in the face of controls, coercion, fear and resentments we see all too often the current political culture of the province.  

If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org.  Dates are Nov 5-6 in Edmonton at the Delta South hotel.  Space is limited and the early bird reduced rate of $110 goes to the first 75 who register.  See you soon.

Cultural Creatives Are Showing Up in the Next Alberta

I love creative people with courage to imagine and explore.  Beth Sanders is just such a person.  She is an Urban Planner who I met a few years ago when she was working in Fort McMurray in the planning department of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.

She runs her own business called Populus Community Planning Inc. and is a member of the progressive citizen's movement of Reboot Alberta.

She attended a symposium called Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta we at Cambridge Strategies co-sponsored with the ATA, Literacy Alberta and others.  As a "creative note taker, she wrote poems to capture the conversation.

Speaking of creative people, you may want to see if you are a Cultural Creative and therefore likely to be a Progressive too.  Check out the survey link "Are You a Cultural Creative?"   If you are you might want to meet like-minded Albertans at the Reboot Alberta site where you can register to the Taking Action gathering of Rebooters Nov 5-6 in Edmonton

As for Beth, the cultural creative, here is a sample of one of her symposium offerings that I offer to help make your day this crisp and cool Monday morning in our Alberta:

inspiring education

an important day

for inspiring education

listening for resonance

and build the next Alberta

with shock and awe

genuine wealth

and happiness

knowing neighbours

walking to school

in the absence of truth

myth pervades

stories

we need to talk about

conscious  of renaissance

of home

economy, ecology

in genuine well

being

resilient

spirit

care

holders

diversity heals

inner spirit

virtues, values

individual to collective

practically

measuring

happiness

when I hear the word

spirituality

I reach for my revolver

to revolt

oh, you do care

about friends, family, children

we’re not bad people

we can look here

to be happy

learning to live

together

then

literacy for efficiency, equity,

efficiency

happiness

not without

mismatched skills and jobs

but diverse interventions

for significant work

wrestling shortages

demanding literacy

to entice investment

so how to support, lead

catalyze change

continually improving complex systems

observe the time

for opening

taking, making

holding space

until then

an unusual choice for

a whole province

to aim quite high

transforming, designing, researching

choosing

commitment to

excellence, equity, value

add – ing

what is, to

what could/should be

resilience designed with talking, listening

conversation

for action

If Beth's poem resonates with you and if you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org

How Proud are You as an Albertan and Owner of the Oil Sands?

Here is a very interesting article by Simon Dyer of the Pembina Institute on the reality of government and industry actions on addressing the obvious challenges in responsible development of our oil sands.   As owners of the oil sands we Albertans have to start demanding more attention to the key issues of oil sands development beyond getting rich quick.

We need to ensure we realize the wealth from this resource for the development of Alberta and to respect the birthright of future generations of Albertans.  This has to be done through a realistic royalty regime.  We had a modest increase in royalties recommended by an independent review but the current government retreated from the recommendations 7 times so far.  We now get lower revenues from royalties with $75 oil that we did at $40 oil.  Go figure.

We need to ensure and be assured that the development is done with the best evidence and science based eco-conscious extraction techniques.  We need to ensure that there is more benefit to Albertans coming out of the oil sands than investment and jobs, important as those are.  We need to ensure the pace of growth, the commitment to reclamation is real and that land, water and air as well as wildlife habitat are monitored, and damaged mitigated, fixed and aggressively protected.

If these questions are of interest to you go to www.cambridgestrategies.com and do the Are You a Cultural Creative survey.  If you are, you should consider coming to RebootAlberta 3.0 and become part of the design, development and delivery of a more progressive political culture in our Alberta.

If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0

Progressive Albertans Taking Political Action - the Essence of RebootAlberta 3.0

I have been busy in out of town activities and summer time and remiss in keeping current with blog posts.  That will change starting now.  That is because I have signed the contract for the hotel to hold RebootAlberta 3.0, the next gathering of Alberta progressives will focus on what needs to be changed in order to put Alberta on a different more integrated social, political, economic and environmental trajectory.

RebootAlberta 3.0 will be in Edmonton November 5-6 at the Delta South hotel and registration will be open tomorrow.  Mark you calendar and register early, this event, like all past RebootAlberta events, will sell out quickly. I will post the link for registration on this blog in the morning along with another blog post.

RebootAlberta 3.0 will be citizens getting together deciding what most needs doing to get Alberta on a more progressive path.  It will see people making a commitment to take personal action to renew democracy, review our governance and make a difference on any issue or concern they may have as individual Albertans.  They will find other link-minded Albertans who will get with them to make a difference.

The goal is not to be the bland boosterism you hear who have a goal of making Alberta the best place in the world.  There is a much greater potential for this province if we the people dare to push ourselves and capitalize on our skills, blessings and capacities.  We can be the best for the world and perhaps with our enormous hydrocarbon energy assets we have a duty to strive for such an audacious goal.  But we need to renew our democracy, revise our institutional governance models and revive our sense of citizenship before any of this can happen.

If you have 10 minutes (and I encourage you to make the time) take a look at this video and get some context about what I am talking about.  It is from the United Kingdom but it travels well into the current Alberta context. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql3Jp3ydfE8&playnext=1&videos=hGdSiM4qY_A

If you wonder if you are a progressive go to the Cambridge Strategies website and do the "Are You a Cultural Creative" survey.  That will give you an indication and then come to RebootAlberta and find your tribe.


 

Change is Not Easy But Committing Makes It So!

On the other blog I write called RebootAlberta I did a post citizen empowerment as a consequences of individual commitment to a cause, issue or concern.  Once someone makes a commitment then things start to really happen.  I found a great quote by Goethe to make the point.

I expect we will see people going into and coming out of Reboot 3.0 with a clearer sense of what needs to be done in Alberta for us to become the best we can for the world and why that is worthy of our efforts.

Progressives found in Reboot 1.0 that they were not alone. There are many of us.  In fact we are looking at the Reboot Values random survey and seeing how many of those folks align significantly with the Reboot progressive value set.  It will be a rough approximation of the size of the progressive population in Alberta.

In Reboot 2.0 we discerned and researched who we are and what we considered as important values as progressives in Alberta. That research is discussed in this blog post http://ken-chapman.blogspot.com/2010/06/alberta-progressive-values-align-well.html and in the context of the priority of the values held by the Reboot community and everyday Albertans.

In Reboot 3.0 there is a sense of some need for focused action on what is of importance to progressives in Alberta.  We will be designing the event to let people select what they want to talk about, what they see as winnable issues and what it will take to embed progressive values in the Alberta political culture going forward.

Stages of a Political Relationship & Thoughts for Change

I was recently given a schematic showing a model of the evolution of relationships that was mostly intended to describe personal situations.  When I saw it I was fascinated on how well it worked for the political relationship between citizens and politicians/political parties.

Let me take you on the latter journey in the Alberta political context...knowing that it may also apply to Canada.  As a Reboot Alberta instigator, this diagram helped me get a better appreciation on where we are as Albertans and what options we have before us.  Not all of them are generative.  Some are even tending to the nihilistic.  But in a free will, free speech and democratic society, all options are open to us.

First we have the Romance stage.  Here we get entranced or at least excited about the possibilities of the  relationship.  I know in the early stages after Stelmach's PC leadership win there was lots of romance with Albertans.OK maybe not with the conventional oil patch but they needed a less patronizing way to relate to government anyway.  Too band that never happened as evidenced by the rapid retreat on reasonable royalty rates for the owners of the oil and gas in the ground .

The same romance thing happened with Danielle Smith and the WAP.  The Wildrose romance was especially strong amongst the mainstream media who saw the bright articulate and media-savvy Smith as a real challenge to the tired, tepid and too-long-in-the-tooth Tory government. There is a sleeper relationship issue for the WAP.  The Social Conservative wing of the Wildrose Alliance was badly beaten by Smith in the leadership contest. She humiliated them on a 75-25 leadership vote split.

That dramatic  rejection of a Social Conservative leader was even after another staunch social conservative candidate withdrew from the campaign to stop a vote split.  Will the social conservatives stay quietly within the WAP and let Smith run the show...or will they go away?  If they go away will it be quietly?  I would not take any bet on any odds that the social conservative forces in the WAP stay quiet for long, inside or outside the bosom of the Wildrose Alliance Party.

That WAP sleeper issue segues nicely into the next relationship stage; the Power Struggle.  This stage is the essence of the current right-wing political culture war we see going on in Alberta between the PCs and the WAP.  We are being told we will need an election to sort it out...but the false presumption is that there are only two viable voter options...PCs or WAPs.  So far that seems to be the case as the centre-left alternative parties are not resonating.

If the sense of limited viable election options persists to the next vote and our only choice is between a reactionary right-wing and an extreme right-wing government I will expect an even lower turn out next election and a more vulnerable democracy as a result.

The relationship options coming out of the Power Struggle stage are interesting.  They are Apathy (tell me about it...on second thought - don't bother).  This is where most Albertans seem to be regarding their "engagement" with politics.  In essence the disengagement or who cares what happens politics is the norm.  Government is seen as not listening so why try.

Next is the Transcendence option which shows up as non-engagement.  That non-engagement is were we care what happens but in some sense for some people, they seem themselves above politics.  The passive progressives, indifferent Influentials and the majority of thought-leaders in Alberta are these days seem to fall into this non-engagement category.  They are safe and secure themselves and can afford to disengage and wallow in disillusionment without taking any responsibility to apply their skills and experience to change things.   The reason for non-engagement comes from a past of anti-intellectualism in the provincial government's political class. Arrogant abdication?  Absolutely...by both sides!

We also have Separation that shows up as alternative coming out of a Power Struggle. That leads to a sense of abandonment of hope for the future as social cohesion breaks down and a "we versus they" attitude emerges.  It is seen in the rhetoric of in real political separatist who are still around in Alberta who believe the federal government is expropriating Alberta's wealth and giving it away to others, most notably Quebec.  The Alberta Separatists are below the radar, on the fringes but they appear to be quietly infiltrating the WAP.

There are others who feel separated in their relationship with government and governors.  They have started to abandon hope as they get marginalized and misused.  They are those people who are over-extended, burned out and over-burdened trying to constantly do more with less in the voluntary not-for-profit groups.  These folks are now also being bullied and intimidated by government politically and administratively into alleging a feigned loyalty to the status quo of the current government.  They are particularly vulnerable because they do a lot of work for government and depend on good political relations for fiscal and operational survival.

There are many tragic stories from these people who are now afraid of their own governors but who merely want to serve the greater good and public interest to the best of their abilities.  They are qualified, caring and compassionate people but they are turning into cowering compliant operatives who are abandoning any hope of being effective in their work or in taking truth to power.  This is especially true in these times of a political Power Struggle in a pending election.  Power, it would seem, is not interested in truth.  It has it's own agenda...retain power at all costs.

The more hopeful and generative option coming out of the Power Struggle is Curiosity and that leads to Integration where the struggle is resolve issues or at least mitigate the consequences through Integration.  Integration in a political cultural sense is what progressive Albertans in Reboot Alberta want to see happening in a renewed and revived democracy.  Progressives see Integration as a political and public policy tool to redefine and determine a different destiny for Alberta where control is returned to citizens and citizenship matters again.

The progressive citizen's movement within Reboot Alberta seeks a new trajectory for the province in all aspects from the economy and environment as well as social policy and democratic and political reform.  Integration in these terms would be a renewed governing and political philosophy that would ensure that social, environment, economy and democratic elements are all taken into account in any public policy decisions that were being considered and the best outcomes for each governing element would be accommodated.

Integration simply means; all things considered, consider all things.  Integration and integrity are closely related and would be achieved even if all these elements were embraced in some honest, open, obvious and authentic public policy, political or governance approach.

What emerges out of Integration is a Commitment to a direction and a destination for Alberta that is based on the clear intention as well as the expressed and committed will of the governed (citizens) as well as the governing(politicians and policy operatives).  The consequences of Commitment is action but action that is about being together on achieving a clear intention and goal.  The action step is not to vote or not vote.  It is much more complicated than that, even though voting is key to creating change.

The lawyer in me knows the concept of being together and intentional about a direction and a goal is captured int the Latin phrase "ad idem"  When parties are ad idem, they are of the same mind and spirit.  It helps enormously to be ad idem in reaching agreements and in contracts for example.  When misunderstandings or differing interpretations appear, ad idem parties can return to intent and spirit of the agreement to resolve, reconcile or even revisit the agreement based on going forward towards even more mutual respect and trust.  This is all about being adaptive.  Being able to learn and to create a culture of practical applied wisdom instead of the win-lose adversarial model that merely breeds litigation as the default solution space to settle disagreements or misunderstandings.

What comes out of being ad idem in action and intent is a nice framing for the next relationship stage known as Co-Creativity.   This is were there is a possibility to synergistically change everything but still reaffirm what is important and vital to our society, our sense of self-respect and overall well-being.  I will share in later blogs my sense of the change of everything we need as we strive for as Albertans to integrate all things in a progressive approach.  I will explore how we can ensure we are clear on our political values as we express our individual and inter-dependent intents.  I will look at how we can, as citizens, use our democracy to insist and be assured that our governors act accordingly to our values and align policy decisions with our aspirations.

The outcome of this Co-creativity is described as Renewed Imagination. I can't think of a better working definition of Romance in political cultural terms than "Renewed Imagination."  When this happens we get progress, learning, wisdom and the culture of adaptive change that we want and will benefit from.  This is the path being proud again to be a citizen of  and a co-creator in designing and delivering the next Alberta.  And that stages leads to a new romantic period and starts the whole relationship building process anew.

So my fellow Albertans - it is time to rethink the trajectory we are on as a province and to set another course.  We have to come to grips with the harsh reality that way we are being governed is broken.  We have to fix it by rethinking the decision making criteria we use as citizens when we show up at the ballot box to grant politicians our consent govern us.  We need to become better informed and more engaged in our roles and responsibilities of citizenship.  And then we need to show up to vote in a way where we are least make a conscious positive decision about who we want to run our province instead of a forlorn choice between lesser evils.

We have to insist that we get offered a better choice than picking one set of SOBs instead of another group of SOBs to recklessly abuse their political power for their own ends. Abdication of citizenship is a luxury we Albertans can't afford anymore.  The world is run by those who show up.  Wouldn't it be nice if those who showed up knew what they wanted and had a positive progressive alternative.

That can happen but progressives are going to have to make it happen. Reboot 3.0 is all about starting to make that happen.  It is in early planning stages but it is happening November 5-7 in Edmonton.  You will get time to talk and plan with others who are longing and yearning for a positive progressive political alternative for Alberta. Block off this time to become a citizen again. It is time to revive your love of this province and restore your pride as an Albertan.

Here is a link to an earlier blog post that will give you a sense of what Albertans are thinking about politics and politicians these days. It will give you some context of how other progressives in Alberta are thinking and feeling.

 Join the Reboot progressive citizen's movement  and send a message to the powers that be that the status quo is not good enough - nor are the options that we are currently being offered.  Start making a difference and start making a different Alberta.  Reboot 3.0 is where it will all start.  Plan to be there.

Student Values Survey Very Interesting

I just read a news release on values of 2500 Canadian high school and post-secondary students.  The headline grabbed me:  "Happiness Rules: Canada's Youth Don't Live for $$$"

I wanted to see how the student values compared with the Influentials and Cultural Creatives in Reboot Alberta and the random sample we did of everyday Albertans on the same values.

First the students are said to be "idealistic, optimistic and confident in their abilities to accomplish goals.  They seem not to be entrepreneurial nor interested in great wealth accumulation with happiness being more important as a value driver.  The reasons stated were because this cohort placed low value on collaboration, innovation and leadership and they were risk adverse.

This is not good from my perspective.  If ever we needed a value shift in our culture it is now and this is needed in areas like collaboration, innovation and leadership.  The other side of the value coin for students was interesting too.   They reported a high importance on compassion, integrity and optimism and they believed that they would not change their values much between now and 2020.  They look forward to spending time with friends and family, getting more education, living a healthy lifestyle with a career and living in a safe and secure environment.

The top value drivers for the Reboot Influentials were around what they wanted policy makers and politicians to use when making decisions so they do not compare directly with the context of the student values. Rebooters want a government that had integrity, that was honest, accountable and transparent with a strong sense of environmental stewardship.  Next priorities were applied wisdom, a focus on well being and equity along with fiscal responsibility and respect for diversity.

If you share these values you should join Reboot Alberta  and become part of a citizen's movement Pressing for Change to a more progressive political culture in Alberta.  Block off November 5-7 for the next gathering of progressive thinking Albertans and help frame a progressive provincial political agenda and figure out what actions we need to take to make it happen.

RebootAlberta Blog Has New Post on Progressives in Alberta

I am using another blog site to deal with progressive thoughts and ideas in the Alberta context called RebootAlberta.  This is not a www.rebootalberta.org site - it is my own blog.  I will send links to it from time to time for readers of this blog to follow.  My purpose is to connect you with on my work to help generate a progressive citizen's movement in Alberta to influence the political culture in Alberta.

Here is a link that I invite you to follow to see an example of what I am doing over there.

Is Alberta Ready for a New Political Narrative?

There is a relatively true myth (sic) that Alberta sustains a one-party state politically for decades and then, seemingly, overnight changes its mind and goes with an entirely new set of politicians and a new government.

From some new research we have done at Cambridge Strategies, it appears that Alberta is on the verge of another a dramatic political shift.  For sure the ground is moving.  Not sure yet if the seismic indications are strong enough to have another political earthquake.  There will be more details on the survey findings in my blog posts over the next few weeks.  I suggest you subscribe or follow this blog to ensure you get notice of those posts when they happen.

The other macro-variable is to consider if the values and attitudes of the Alberta population of today is akin to those of the past.  It is a lot more urban, educated, wealthy and secure these days.  Not sure we can rely on history to repeat itself with how different Alberta is today form the past.

There is a sense of a social shift that is happening now that has some similarities to the revolutionary attitudes and hunger for change from the 60's.  That enabled Peter Lougheed to take the Progressive Conservative Party from nowhere to the overwhelmingly popular choice to replace the old, tired and out-of-touch Social Credit government.

What the conventional wisdom is the lack of a viable political alternative.  Kevin Libin did an interesting piece in the National Post looks at the Alberta Liberal party in this context.  He could do the same kind of analysis of the NDP and even the Wildrose Alliance.  Neither one has been able to capture the angst or the aspirations of the next Alberta.  There is a yearning, longing and hunger for a new narrative for the next Alberta that is just as strong as the anger and frustration with the current state of politics and governance in the province.

The rise of the Wildrose Alliance is an indication of some of the unrest and moving political ground in the province.  It is far from the mainstream values or majority point of view of everyday Albertans. There are many more conversations happening around the province these days about what kind of place and people we are and want to become.

The sentiment that is emerging in the conversations I am involved with and monitoring is not about Alberta being the best place in the world but about the potential and promise of Alberta to be the best is can be for the world.  That is a much more generative and engaging mindset than the banal boosterism we get from so many sectors in Alberta these days.

Reboot 3.0 is in the early planning stages and will happen in Edmonton this fall.  It will be focused on what it will take to get a more comprehensive and integrated progressive set of values in Alberta's political culture. It will be a focused conversation about how to use the aggregate political power of progressive thinking Albertans to Press for Change in the politics and governance of our province.  Stay tuned.  There is going to be a lot of changes in Alberta politics between now and the next election - I can assure you.

Vue Weekly Talks About Progressive Politics

Ricardo Acuna from the Parkland Institute has an interesting piece in Vue Weekly.  It is  on his perceptions of who is "progressive" in the Alberta political firmament.   He seems to settle on the NDP as the only party close to being what he sees as a progressive.  Fair enough but progressives Albertans are mostly not in political parties.

I would recommend reading the piece but also suggest people go to the Reboot Alberta site and click on the What's a Progressive link and read the thoughts of what is a progressive many non-partisan citizen participants in the Reboot Alberta movement.  It will add to the sense of what we are missing in Alberta political culture - even from the current progressively aspiring political parties.

If you red something at the Reboot Alberta site that resonates with you, consider registering on the site and become part of the broader progressive citizen's engagement movement in Alberta.

Get Used to Incredible Uncertainty in Alberta Politics

Dave Clemenhaga once again provides a well researched and coherent commentary on things political in our province.  His insight into the implications of the rise of the Wildrose Alliance Party coincide with my own,  No wonder I like his perspective.

Since this post was written new developments sparked by the Liberal leader David Swann have triggered some serious conversations in progressive political circles about what to do.  Reboot Alberta has been instrumental in starting policy conversations amongst progressive thinking Albertan.  But the time has come to get more focused on the politics side of the progressive agenda.

I have been in a number of conversations with progressive thinkers in the province and the MSM in the past few days.  There is a plan emerging in my mind about how to use the conversation space David Swann has opened up with his invitation.  Expect a blog post on the ideas and events peculating around shortly.

Proud to be on Alberta Venture's 50 Most Influential Albertans for 2010

I am proud to be on the Alberta Venture Magazine list of 50 Most Influential Albertans for 2010.   I know many of the others and agree with their designation. 

My "influence" comes from my recent political stands and my work with Reboot Alberta.  If you are a progressive thinker and want to see the future of Alberta NOT veer to the far right from the political culture war that is currently being waged between the Wildrose Alliance Party and the "Progressive" Conservative Party, you might want to join this citizens movement called Reboot Alberta.  You will find your tribe if you are a progressive thinker.

Alberta Progressive Values Align Well with the Average Albertan

As regular readers and subscribers to this blog know, I am very involved in the Reboot Alberta progressive citizen's movement - amongst other things.  We did a conjoint study of the most important value drivers for the Reboot Alberta community last February.  It was not a random sample of Albertans.  It only surveyed those self identifying and self selecting and there were about 644 of them who participated.     Here is a link to an earlier blog post on the top values that progressive Albertans want to be used by those to whom we give political power and our consent to govern us. 

We have just completed a similar conjoint survey based on the same values as the Reboot Alberta survey, this time it is a random and representative sample of Albertans.  It is a small sample of 535 but the findings are so strong and conclusive, the small sample size is not a concern. 

We did the random survey to see how much the political and public policy value drivers of the overall population of  Alberta aligned with the progressive political thinkers value drivers too. The results show significant similarities and differences too.  Here are the comparisons:

Reboot Survey of Progressives:

1. Integrity
2. Honesty
3. Accountability
4. Transparency
5. Environmental Stewardship

Random Survey Results:

1. Accountability
2. Integrity
3. Fiscal Responsibility
4. Honesty
5. Transparency

So the real difference is a higher concern for fiscal responsibility in the general population than environmental stewardship in the progressive population.  We know that there is no need to trade off a good economy against environmental stewardship.  They are all an integrated part of the same issue and not in any way mutually exclusive.  So emphasis is slightly difference but the essence is not.  Also very interesting was the total rejection of religion playing any part in political decisions by both survey results.

The progressive political voice is very stifled by the activist social conservative element who are much better organized and overtly engaged in trying to gain political power in the province.  Many of the progressives are jaded, cynical and disengaged in the political culture of the times. As a result we end up not voting and getting politicians with policy objectives that we don't like and political directions that we disdain.  Nobody to blame but ourselves when all is said and done.

With these survey results the progressives can confidently speak their minds and values.  They now know that what they are concerned about how political and public policy decision are being made in Alberta also resonates with the general population.  Progressive have to find a reason to re-engage in the political culture of Alberta.  They have to find their voice and start making it heard.  That is one sure way to return a viable vibrant democracy to the province.  I hope it happens.

Reboot Alberta is a place to come and join in this progressive citizen's movement and to start making your voice heard. 

Reviving the RebootAlberta Blog to be About Informed Citizens for the Fall Elections

I have revived the RebootAlberta blog after 6 months of hiatus.  I will be using it for information and activities on citizenship, citizen engagement, the democratic deficit in Alberta and the pending municipal and school board elections.  The first post in that theme is about the Edmonton and Calgary municipal elections. 

You can expect follow up posts on school board elections in the province as well.  I am encouraged by the increased interest in both orders of government, especially the number and quality of candidates I met at the Alberta School Boards Association Candidate School I presented at in Red Deer last week.  If you are interested in running for school board election, the ASBA is there to help you get started.

If you want to more about what you might be getting into as a School Trustee you may want to research the fiscal status of your district.  The Alberta Teachers' Association has gathered all the information together in a section of their website they call "The good the bad and the ugly."

I am also encouraged by the signs of citizen re-engagement in politics in Alberta based on the number of fine and qualified candidates running for Mayor in Calgary.  I know many of them and can assure you they cover a wide swath of interest and approaches to politics and governing.  Calgary will have a range of leadership styles and political approaches as it decides what kind of a city is aspires to be in the next Alberta. 

So visit the RebootAlberta blog for a more non-partisan approach to public policy and democracy in Alberta.  I hope you comment and share your thoughts on the posts there too.  I welcome guest blogs there as well. So if you are interested to writing about 500-750 words of your thoughts and commentary, send them to me by email ken@cambridgestrategies.com

New Kids on the Political Block Event Shows a Yearning for Real Change in Alberta's Political Culture

Congratulations to Intervivos and Zohreh Saher in particular for creating the New Kids on the Political Block event yesterday.  Thanks also to Walter Schwabe at fusedlogic for covering the event with live streaming.  Special thanks also to Danielle Smith, Leader of the Wildrose Alliance Party and Chima Nkemdirim, the Chairman of the Alberta Party Big Listen project.  Then we need to thank the in person and online audience for attending and sharing their thoughts and concerns about the future of Alberta.

You can watch the event by clicking here but be forewarned - this is the entire event, not an edited version, so get a beer and enjoy some political conversation that is respectful, informative and meaningful.

In my quest to help Albertans dust off their citizenship and re-engage in politics and political culture, I get encouraged by these citizen based efforts.  The need to fix the democratic deficit in Alberta is becoming more of an issue for many progressive people, especially those who take the time and apply their talents to organize and participate in these kinds of events.  It is all aligned with the continuing spirit of Reboot Alberta where people are retaking Control, creating Alternatives to the status quo and Deleting the useless and harmful parts of old-style command and control, authority driven, coercive and power based adversarial politics of the past.

We need a new progressive, respectful, effective, curious and capable political culture that thrives on diversity and difference.  I see an Alberta renaissance, reformation, re-enlightenment and cultural revolution all happening at the same time.  It is coming none too soon either if we are going to continue to progress, grow and thrive as a province.