Alberta Includes Midwifery Under Health Care Services - Finally

The Stelmach government once again shows its progressive side by including midwifery in the fully funded public health care system. This has been a long time coming and credit is due to the Stelmach government in this positive policy position.

I acted as legal counsel for the Alberta Association of Midwives many years ago and managed to get them legal status as a profession. A breakthrough in the “negotiations” happened when a Red Deer doctor complained to the RCMP about a mother having a home birth that had no complications. Charges were laid and the public saw this as ridiculous and abusive – which it was. It was also seen as by the public as turf protection by some members of the medical profession. To their credit, not all physicians had this attitude.

The mom hired a lawyer to push the matter through courts and I pursued it in the court of public opinion. We won in both courts and midwifery became legal as the political barriers that many backward thinking politicians had put up suddenly disappeared. Midwives became recognized as a profession under Alberta law – but the province refused to include them in the health care system for years.

Midwifery services have always been part of the access to services and wait times solution. With the shortages and aging of family physicians and obstetricians midwifery service is not so much an innovation as a necessity.

Alberta is slow to get up to speed on midwifery services compared to other provinces. We were never able to get them included in the public health care system for pure political reasons. The same backward attitudes slowed down seatbelts, smoking bans and unfunded teacher’s pension liability. Well Ed Stelmach has changed all that and now he adds enlightened policy on midwifery to his accomplishments. Congratulations Premier Stelmach and to all those who involved in this wonderful decision.

Stelmach to Harper - Stop the Attack Ads! They are Offensive.

Good for Albert a Premier Ed Stelmach for coming out against personal attack ads in this federal election. The Harper Conservatives have been bending the election advertising rules by spending millions of unaccountable dollars on television attach ads designed to mislead Canadians about Liberal leader Stephane Dion.


Harper is always looking for some tactic, angle or scam for personal political advantage. He would be better advised to concentrate on looking for better ways to do the right thing FOR THE RIGHT REASONS. Harper sees politics as all about personal political power and gamesmanship…never it seems is he focused on providing good old-fashioned honest, open, accountable and transparent government.

Ed Stelmach faced the same kind of misleading propaganda attach ads about his character and capabilities in the recent Alberta election. The anti-Stelmach ads were sponsored by some labour unions but the Alberta Liberals got blamed for them…and punished in the polls. They did not work. They backfired as Stelmach got a huge majority that rivaled anything Lougheed or Klein ever received...and Stelmach did it the first time out.

These attack ads don’t work unless they are truthful. Harper’s attack ads are not true and he doesn’t care about that. Dion is now calling Harper a liar for the propaganda ads - and other reasons of misrepresentation of the facts.


Albertans don’t like these sleazy and sneaky campaign tactics. Canadians don’t either. Only Stephen Harper’s party seems to be using this American style Karl Rove dishonest campaign tactics. Not surprising given his proclivity to follow the George Bush neo-Republican political playbook since he became the Conservative leader.


At election time citizens what to know if they can trust Stephen Harper’s character and integrity! They gave him a minority government as a chance for him to prove his worthiness to govern.

Harper has failed the test. He has only shown us his sly, conniving and disingenuous side. He has shown that he has no understanding or capacity to serve in the best interest of the country…only his own. He is out of step with the fundamental values of Canadians around fairness, justice and inclusion.

There are viable alternatives to vote for this time and Harper knows that. We are about to decide the nature and future of our country this election. I think Canadians want a new majority government and are tired of the status quo.

Harper is showing us that he is out of touch and out of ideas. He has displayed time and time again that he is deficient as a leader and a danger to democracy. That is why he is so focused on belittling his opponents instead of showing us HIS own better angels…if they exist.

Swann Runs for the Alberta Liberal Leadership

David Swann is in the race for the leadership of the Alberta Liberal leadership race. It is as I suspected and I am not surprised he did not pursue a new party approach. A new party demands you gather a swack of signatures from a bunch of diverse, disgruntled and disengaged Albertans and then try and mould them into a unified political force, all within four years. That would a quixotic adventure at best.

He is by far the best candidate in the Liberal Leadership running so far based on insight, intelligence and ability to listen and learn. He is also a reluctant politician. He got into the political arena to respond to the injustice and unfairness of being fired for speaking out as a medical health officer. That all appeared to be about pure politics. I kind of like reluctant politicians. Ambitious politicos like Stephen Harper make me nervous. I like the pure laine servant leader types who are in it for the opportunity to be of service to the public and not about wielding power. My reading of Swann is he fits the servant leader mould well.

I got to know a bit about David Swann this past week end because we were both at the Keepers of the Water Conference in Fort Chipewyan. We coincidentally flew up together on Friday and he was scheduled to fly out later that day. The conference was so significant that he stayed over and we had some time to sit and chat about issues facing the province and the state of democracy in Alberta.

We share a concern over the decline of citizen participation in the political and public life of the province. He said many Albertans were “allergic to politics.” When he said that, I remember thinking two things, first, he is right. My second reaction was wow a medical doctor who can use a metaphor in a meaningful way. There may be hope for this guy in political leadership. He is clearly a social progressive and ecologically conservationist Albertan and wants a responsible and sustainable economic regime.

Regardless of policy and issues, Job 1 for the next Alberta Liberal leader will be to pay off the party debts of about $700,000.00. They simply can’t be a viable alternative if they are fiscally vulnerable and can’t afford to campaign effectively. Swann showed he can raise money and did pretty well comparatively speaking in the fund raising for his constituency run last election.

If he wins, he has to show he can push a bigger rock up a steeper and longer hill and get some serious dollars donated to kill the deficit in the Liberal coffers. Given the political culture of Alberta, Swann is not likely to find 70 donors with $10K each. In fact what he needs to do is find 7000 Albertans with $100 each to come to the aid of the Alberta Liberal party. That would be more effective politically too. The good news is there are at least a couple of years to get it done given that the next Alberta election is about four years hence.

Stelmach was profound in his victory speech when he won the PC leadership saying “Nice guys can finish first.” Same could be - and should be - true for David Swann in this campaign. Glad to see quality people, regardless of party affiliations, still prepared to put their private lives on the line, their careers on hold, and stand for public office in hopes of serving the greater good…

Stelmach Goes Green - Big Time With Big Money.

I have not had a chance to digest the $4B scope and scale of the climate change policy announcement made by Premier Stelmach on July 8. Today I took some time and I have to say I am impressed on the Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) and the significant public transit investment. The news release, backgrounder and video of the announcement are worth reading and watching.

The top GOA priority is to “Ensure Alberta’s energy resources are developed in an environmentally sustainable way.” The mandate bullets in that priority include to “Implement carbon capture and storage research and demonstration projects (and to) Implement the climate strategy, including conservation, energy efficiency and adaptation initiatives.”

This announcement not only aligns with and delivers on these priorities; it surpasses some of them by not merely doing research on CCS, it is getting right into the action and investing serious sums in projects. The value-add of enhanced oil recovery (EOR)from injecting CO2 into conventional wells is estimated to recover up to 2B barrels of oil without further drilling or fragmentation of the land with roads and seismic lines. I hope they only allow EOR for those producers that are the best stewards in the oil patch and who have the best records for reclamation of abandoned well site and roads as preconditions to playing in the EOR opportunities.

Some will be critical and others will be cynical but at least they are contributing to the conversation about conservation and mitigation of our carbon footprint in Alberta. I am a partisan and support the PC Party, most of the time, but not all of the time. On this one initiative I whole-heartedly applaud the effort.

I think this policy pronouncement will add to transferable technological innovations and new adaptations in energy production as well as addressing emissions issues. I heard Environment Minister Rob Renner say in the announcement video that Alberta will move beyond intensity emissions and “reduce real emissions by 2020.” That is the kind of serious and significant commitment we need to have our government take. He has said all along that intensity measures of GHG emissions were interim measures only and we would get to absolutes emission reductions. He has set the date to get that done and while it is 12 year out that is pretty impressive given the size, scope and scale of development going on in Alberta these days.

The public transit aspects are equally as exciting as they encourage creativity and adaptability in how we respond to the growing economic and population needs in our cities, large and small. Again we see a serious effort to shrink the carbon footprint of the province.

Dirty oil and dead ducks in toxic tailing ponds and a sense that Albertans are greedy and indifferent to the environment is the growing sentiment in many parts of the world. This announcement, if executed rightly and rapidly will not change that image by itself, but it will be a profound and resonant rebuttal of the damaging presumption about Albertans that exists in too many minds of too many people in the world today.

"The Right Call" Column on Ethical Issues for July Is Published

This month’s Alberta Venture magazine is out and on line. I was able to participate in The Right Call business ethics panel discussion lead by Fil Fraser. This month's topic is on the widely publicized Tim Horton firing of an employee for giving away a Timbit.

BTW - My friend Mark Anielski made the Alberta's 50 Most Influential People listing in Alberta Venture this edition too. I promote his best selling book The Economics of Happiness: Building Genuine Wealth every chance I get. He just won Gold in the Conscious Business Leadership category at the Nautilus Book Awards in Los Angeles. He won the BRONZE at the Axiom Business Book Awards in New York earlier this year.

Mark's passion is the Genuine Progress Indicator movement and it is gaining strength. People like Mark are the guiding lights. He has done some great work on GPI measures for Alberta. They would give us a much better sense of what it really going on in our province. We should be measuring the good, the bad and the cumulative consequences of our comprehensive economic development activities to really evaluate our growth plans.


Mark recently participated for a Learning Day in Leadership Edmonton on how we can all make the human venture more effective and meaningful. I gave a copy of Mark's book to Premier Stelmach a month ago and sure hope he reads it. It would be good for Alberta to look at how we define our progress as a province more progressively.

Issues on MLA Pay Raises Get Confusing and Are Not Going Away.

My friend Les Brost is up to his Old Prairie Dog antics again. This time he also takes on the pay hikes to Alberta's provincial politicians. He sees the process problems with this decision much like I do. He sees the pay hikes a part of a "secret deal" apparently done before the election intended to help recruit better candidates - but it was all kept quiet during the election.

Interestingly there are follow up news stories of interviews rookie PC politicians who openly say they never had such conversations. The old MLA pay was known going in and of no concern to them as candidates. This is getting murkier and sticking to the Stelmach Premiership in the minds of many Albertans. the MSM will tire of it soon given the short attention span of the 24 hour MSM machine. However, it will lurk and linger in the minds of Albertans, and with Google, they will be able to refresh their memories and rekindle their anger any time they want to do a search on "Alberta MLA pay raises."

Check out what Les has to say on his opinion piece in the Calgary Herald today.

Pay Politicians Well - and Pay the "Little People" Better!

I don’t begrudge the Alberta Premier, Cabinet Ministers and other elected representatives getting “healthy” raises. Let’s face it if you pay peanuts you get monkeys. I don't want to be governed by monkeys - regardless of party affiliation.

Now will they do the same for the lowest paid people in our work force? I am talking about the working poor who work in the social service sectors. What about paying a livable wage and benefits to those folks who take care of our developmentally disabled citizens, our at-risk and troubled children and our frail and fragile senior citizens who work in the not-for-profit community based service provider agencies.

Mr. Premier, during the election you never mentioned wage hikes for elected people. However you did promise to narrow the wage gap between these people and the equivalent work done by Alberta's civil servants. True more money has been put towards staff retention efforts but it is ad hoc and one-time band-aids. A more systemic and long-term commitment to closing this gap is required if people are going to stay in the social services sector.

So far with your government's union settlements and signing bonuses and increased staff benefits, the gap is wider than ever - even with the ad hoc one-time payments. What is worse, some PDD Boards have been very slow to get into the hands of agencies and employees. So much for crisis control and urgency.

I believe our elected representatives should be paid well, very well in fact. After all they are potentially more important to our well being and long term quality of life than hockey players who can make millions of dollars a year and they have about the same shelf life as a politician.

Now Alberta has pony up and honour, respect and compensate the “little people” who do the difficult and often dirty work we need done to care for the most vulnerable in our society. Quit the delay and the deflection of the issues Premier Stelmach. Pay the working poor in community based agencies a wage that can support a family. You do it for unionized employees why not the rest of the people who work in the sector in non-profit community based agencies?

Maybe that is the message the Progressive Conservative government is sending these folks. Perhaps your government is saying they should “join a union” and pick a fight if they want to be treated fairly and with respect. I hope that is not the message you intend to be sending these working poor. What else can they do to get the attention, respect of government. Remember the responsibility to take care of the vulnerable Albertans serviced by these workers is ultimately the government's.

These people need a significant raise, just like you and your colleagues just got sir. They need enough money and benefits to live in our expensive Alberta. Is it too much for such workers to expect to be financially secure enough to to actually enjoy the so-called " Alberta advantage?"

Congratulations on your raise Mr. Premier. It was the right thing to do. Now take that same philosophy one step further and show the same concern for the working poor who are doing some of the most important and most thankless (next to a politician) jobs in our society.

Alberta Election Reform Should Not Limit Free Speech

The existential anxiety I feel when I agree with Lorne Gunter amuses and alarms me. His column today goes beyond my usual cognitive dissonance. It actually astonishes me because I can’t even find a quibble with what he says - never mind any significant disagreement with him.

The election reform we need to restore citizenship and participation in Alberta’s democratic process is not going to be achieved by putting a limitation on free speech. The contest of how to correct the system so far sees Stelmach’s trial balloon of limiting third party election spending and the Alberta Federation of Labour’s counter punch of demanding big business donation bucks are taken out of politics too.

The story line is there is too much political muscle vested in special interests like labour and business. Those big money guys are the problem. Why? Because they can buy influence via paid advertising in the election process. I don’t buy that. I also don’t buy that political parties should be the only serious players in politics at election time. If any group has too much power over the process it is the political parties, not business and labour.

The problem with our lack of political engagement in our democracy is not about who has and is exercising monetary muscle. It is more about that what is being said at elections. What problems being presented in platforms. What solutions are being offered by the political class. For the most part the content and context of elections are not meaningful to the population.

Political parties try not to lose elections rather than win them. They play super safe by doing pointless polls, run obtuse focus groups, then media train the personality out of the leaders by shrink-wrapping them into a message bubble so they will be politically safe. Elections are supposed to be about choices and consequences. Instead of making election politics about practical purposes and people they become personality contests focused on tactics, gaffes and shallow media events.

There are some changes that need to be made in the election process that deals more with openness and transparency of who exactly is trying to buy influence over me. People who show up and think about the issues and how to cast their vote are not stupid. Those who don’t bother to get informed or to vote effectively abdicate their democratic rights to those who do vote. As a result the no-shows have made a decision that they don’t want to count in the future political direction and decisions that impact their lives. So be it but paid advertising is not likely to change the opinions much less the behaviours of the pathologically disengaged “citizen.”

The solution for that democratic dilemma is not the elimination of third party advertising or abolition of certain financial support sources for elections. I would be trying to expand both elements and also be encouraging individual donations and citizen political participation as a way to get political parties and leaders to become more open to new ideas.

We need more candidates who are able to be bolder, braver and come forward with more engaging and meaningful policy promises. they need to be able to clearly articulate a relevant practical political platforms they intend to keep. I think if there is going to be a focus on election reform, it is not so much about how free speech is being exercised but to ensure we know who exactly is “talking” to us to influence our vote.

The AFL gambit of not disclosing that they were behind the anti-Stelmach TV ads hurt the NDP who could have used the money. It also hurt the Liberals who got caught in a backlash because they were presumed to be the source of the ads and they got blamed because for many Albertans they were seen to be in bad taste and too negative. The irony is, as Gunter points out, that while Stelmach may be trying to limit such ads, he actually benefited significantly from the AFL negative TV ads at the end of the day.

There is some positive, serious and significant election reform going that will not likely get front page headlines because it is not deemed to be newsworthy. It is the recent Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta effort to amend and fix its own leadership selection process. It is one of the most open and democratic processes in the country today but still needs improvement. I suggest this effort is a more important and meaningful step at significant political reform.

The Alberta Liberals and NDP are poised for leadership changes as well. They might we well advised to look at their own party processes and shortcomings before they jump into any exercise or bandwagon to limit free speech masquerading in the guise of enhancing our democracy.

Why Are Alberta Opposition Parties Blaming Voters the Election Results?

The talk of a new political party or the merger of the Alberta Liberal and the NDP in response to the recent Stelmach Progressive Conservative landslide majority is interesting but if it is reactive it will not get any momentum.

The gnashing of Liberal and NDP teeth after the last election results was more like they were blaming Alberta voters for electing the Stelmach versions of a Progressive Conservative government. They bemoaned that 20% of total of eligible Albertans selected the Stelmach government. Stelmach actually got over 50% of the 41% of eligible voters who bothered to show up on election day.

The Alberta results could also be legitimately framed that the majority of voting Albertans selected Stelmach and it is worth noting only two political parties showed an increase in their popular vote, the Progressive Conservative and the Green Party of Alberta. The rejection of the Alberta Liberals and the NDP means they need to look at themselves instead of blaming the voter or the apathetic Alberta for the performance of their parties in these election results.

Still the opposition parties and vested interest groups wailed and moaned that these election results were unacceptable and somehow undemocratic and the low participation actually diminished the PC mandate. That is utter nonsense.

That kind of reaction from the losers was just insulting the Albertans who had considered the options, made a decision on who to vote for and then took the time to show up and vote. Those engaged Albertan made their preferences known about who they wanted to grant consent to govern the province. It was not the Alberta Liberals or the NDP. The right to vote is a moral duty and not a legal obligation. Enough said!

That said, there is still a problem that threatens our democracy when only 41% of the population could be bothered to vote in the first place. That is not going to be solved by blaming the voter or arranging a shotgun marriage of the Alberta Liberal and the NDP. Even worse is the “solution” of some who are calling a strategic machination to reduce the democratic choices for Alberta voters. This is the end result of the proposal that the Alberta Liberals and NDP collude and not run candidates against each other in certain close ridings to avoid splitting votes.

Instead the oppositions parties ought to be look at ways they can offer Albertan’s a better government through better leadership, better candidates and more resonate platforms. Tinkering with the system with schemes like Proportional Representation is another folly of political parties who just can’t cut it with the electorate.

We need a strong opposition. They help make government better, more accountable and more effective and can provide voters with choices and alternatives. That is the job of the opposition and they need to get on with it. They should quit trying to change the rules and stop blaming voters or apathy for their own shortcoming. More opposition members is an obvious “solution” but remember the four-man NDP Caucus last session was pretty damn effective by all counts.

Reality is when Albertans what more opposition member it will elect them. In the meantime opposition parties should refocus and get serious about being an effective opposition and an acceptable alternative for Albertans if they ever want to govern us. So far they look like they just want to whine about not getting political power.

Syncrude Apologizes - Alberta Investigates - Albertans Expect More

The media’s, special interest groups and citizens mistrust of authority and power is showing itself in follow up coverage on the ducks on toxic ponds stories. The apology advertising by Syncrude in major newspapers over the weekend is not a request for absolution but an acknowledgement of culpability and an undertaking to do better.

The front page newspaper coverage on the weekend shows that the newsworthiness of an acknowledgement by Premier Stelmach that the apology will not stop the probe and investigation. Stelmach is quoted as saying he appreciates the apology “but done not necessarily accept it.” He has promised to ensure “…once the investigation is complete it will be shared with Albertans.”

The ENGO quotes in these stories are casting more doubts on the oil sands companies “management of their waste products” emerging from the “On Tailings Pond” incident is more proof of this endemic mistrust.

Syncrude is promising to do better. Alberta’s international image is tarnished. The linking of Alberta’s claim of “Mission Accomplished” to Washington DC legislators about the ecological integrity of our oil sands to Bush’s similar claim a couple of years ago about Iraq is more collateral damage.

Syncrude is still looking for distressed ducks and have sent three more to Edmonton for care. Of the original five ducks rescued only one has survived and indications are the next three are in better shape and early indications all of them will survive.

Now ConnoPhillips has reported that eight migratory birds had settled on a pond at its Surmount oil sands project and one loon was found dead, although the cause was unclear but they are quoted as “taking this very seriously.” I would not be surprised to see more such admissions from other sources in the near future.

The most important comment made by Syncrude and the Premier on this situation to date was that both parties are working to “ensure” that it does not happen again. Syncrude’s ad said: “We understand you expect the best from Syncrude in environmental management and the protection of wildlife. It’s a value that we share, and we are committed to making the necessary changes opt our long-established practices to help ensure a sad event like this never happens again.”

This is all further acknowledgement of the new expectation levels of the public for ensurance on not just insurance or assurance has been noted in the blog before. There is nothing totally ensurable so that prevention is 100% effective in the world today. But without assuming a higher standard of ecological care we will merely continue to degrade and destroy the environment for the sake of growth and artificial short-sighted “wealth creation.”

This lack of an integrated and long-term approach that respects the social and biological ecology as an integral part of resource development is an unacceptable state of affairs to any thinking Albertan. We citizen/owners/voters have to stay engaged if this is going to really happen.

Tailing Ponds and the Tale of Two Leaders: Stephen Harper and Ed Stelmach

Readers of this Blog will know I am no big fan of Prime Minister Harper. However, when he gets things right, I have to take my hat off and give credit where credit is due.

Harper Gets It:

The Prime Minister sure got it right in Edmonton the other day when he commented on the death of 500 ducks in the Syncrude oil sands tailing pond. He said the obvious when he commented "There were supposed to be systems in place to prevent this particular kind of event and obviously we're greatly disappointed, and troubled that we've seen what has occurred here." So what happened?

He shows he gets it with this comment, "I'm not here to make any excuses for the particular event that occurred in the last few days. It's a terrible event. It's not going to do anybody's image any good." So are we just going to spend money on PR to “improve” our image?

Then Harper put the incident in the larger context when he said, "Part of our responsibility as an emerging energy superpower is to be good stewards of our environment and also to become world leading on the environmental side of the business." Stewardship is the key issue here, not just growth at any cost.

Alberta - Not So Much:

The Alberta government response so far has not been as clear, consistent or as correct as it should be. Ed Stelmach is one of my favourite politicians but he seems to be vacillating and not showing that he “gets it” about the significance of this event. The GOA seems to be focused more on parsing the "facts. " Albertans are all about the greater symbolic significance of the demise of these ducks in these man-made toxic tailing ponds. The facts can be dealt with, but are they really all that critical determining how our political leaders need to respond to this "tragic" event.

Insuring and Assuring are Insufficient Responses:

The focus on the facts falls into the “insurance” level of pubic accountability. It is the lowest level of meeting the public's expectations for good governance. Screw ups happen and with the insurance approach to consequences the guilty are simply slapped with a fine - in this case of up to a million dollars. This fact of a fine has also been noted. Will a fine, of even a million dollars, change a corporate culture where the potential offender made a net profit approaching $300m in the last quarter?

The next public expectation level is for an “assurance” that public policy, industry practices and actual performance aims to prevent the repeat of such events. The failure to perform, the failure to monitor, the failure of timely notice to government, the potential failure to account and be transparent are some of facts that can and will be dealt with. This usually creates a governance culture of increased government regulation, monitoring, auditing reporting and enforcement. That increases government accountability and enforcement is obviously needed but is it enough to fix the stewardship problem?

It is an approach that too often results in industry merely complying with the new regulations as the stewardship standard. There is no incentive for project developers to raise the stewardship bar or to invest in new and better approaches. It is more about creating a corporate and political culture that worships the status quo.

Albertan's Know We Must Be More Responsible Stewards:

Albertans know we have a special responsibility to be global leaders in responsible sustainable development and also ensuring environmental stewardship - especially around oil sands development. A $25m PR campaign is not the way to prove this to the world. The indications are that the GOA has shelved its PR campaign aimed at countering ENGO messages about dirty oil ands. That image has already become the world-wide normative consciousness about Alberta's ecological values.

You can’t change values, earn respect or prove integrity with PR and paid advertising campaigns. We have to be more worthy and substantive than that if Albertans are going to regain the respect and trust of others in this interdependent globalized reality.

Why I Believe in Ed Stelmach:

Ed Stelmach made two very important and telling value statements during the PC leadership contest. He said “The environment trumps the economy” and “Leadership trumps issues.” Those two comments did a whole bunch to cement my conviction that his values were just what we needed for Alberta’s next leader.

Now, as the elected Premier of Alberta with an overwhelming mandate, Ed Stelmach knows he has to show us that he is serious about walking that talk. Good farmers are also good stewards of the environment. Ed Stelmach is well known as a good farmer. He has proven himself to be a capable leader. He can also be a good steward. It is time for Ed Stelmach focus on using his life experiences, his leadership skills and his stewardship values to ensure Alberta's economic, environment and social future.

It is Time Alberta Ramped Up Tailing Pond Reclamation Requirements

Back in the day Syncrude was one of the top rated corporate citizens in the country and for sure in Alberta. In the days when Eric Newell and Jim Carter were at the helm, Syncrude’s community involvement, imaginative philanthropy and social responsibility performance was exemplary.

Their fostering and nurturing of aboriginal people in hiring and contracting was ground breaking. They have recently received the first reclamation certificate for any oil sands operator. Their environmental leadership was also well known and respected.

Then things seemed to change when Exxon took over the corporate leadership. The focus became more about maximizing profits and pushing growth over an integrated sustainable an responsible approach to development.

Now it seems to many observers that this project is being run mostly out of Houston more than from Fort McMurray. Syncrude is a complex corporate entity with an interesting mix of other corporate owners. I am sure they are all starting to think about what exactly the impact of the recent death of ducks in their toxic tailing ponds means for them as owners and their social license to operate now too.

There were some players in the oil industry who overplayed their hands using intimidation tactics on Ed Stelmach during the public debate on the royalty review. I can’t think of a single threat those players made then that had any real substance or could be tied to the royalty rate increases…which do not even start until January 1, 2009.

The Government of Alberta is the proxy for the citizens of Alberta to ensure our natural resources are developed in a sustainable and responsible manner. The days of the energy industry self-regulation, self-monitoring and voluntary reporting of their environmental performance obligations should be over. Our government needs to step up to the plate and take over inspections and reassert its responsibility to the citizens of Alberta.

The need to ensure high environmental standards and enforced for air, land and water protection is squarely on the Stelmach government’s shoulders. They also need to take steps to ensure biodiversity and wildlife habitat protection has to be added to the GOA’s active engagement in ecological integrity.

Syncrude was required at one time to set aside $100m for reassurance around their reclamation obligations. That was reduced to a line of credit only. Then the annual $1m fee for keeping the $100m line of credit was eliminated along with the line of credit - with a promise that Syncrude’s reclamation efforts would start sooner. Syncrude has done some reclamation and it takes time but one site in 40 years is nothing to brag about in the bigger scheme of things.

Clearly the Alberta government has to demand that tailing pond reclamation for all producers start immediately and that it be done right – not just rapidly. Suncor, for example, has committed to reclaim its first tailing pond by 2010. That is a 136 hectare site that Suncor says will include rebuilding wetlands to encourage the return of wildlife. We need to see more examples like that coming from industry. Perhaps more huge profits being realized from $100 oil need to be invested in reclamation now and not wait for other generations to carry the can.

Government spending $25m on a PR campaign to “protect Alberta’s integrity” will do nothing of the sort and will actually do more harm than good if that is the key message. You can’t buy integrity and respect with advertising and brochures…you have to earn it. Substance over style and performance over posturing will have to be the new standards of behaviour that must become embed in our provincial culture.

Albertans will expect nothing less from their government and the energy corporations who we license to develop our natural resources. The energy industry is only a tenant. They are not the owner of the resource. Albertans own these resources and we have the obligation to insist our government and our tenants act responsibly and not just expediently in how they are developed.

The ecological tipping point has arrived and the citizens of Alberta are coming out of their cynicism and are mad as hell. I think they will become much more informed, aware, engaged and insistent about environmental performance concerns in all aspects of our provincial progress as an energy supplier.

Anyone who want to get re-elected or requires a natural resource lease and a social license to operate those resources had better take this new Alberta attitude to heart. The public is watching and they are not impressed.

Nice To See Alberta Ministers Musing About New Ideas in Public

Anyone who has read this Blog for any length of time knows that I am a card carrying member of the Alberta PC Party and friend and fan of Dave Hancock, Alberta’s new Minister of Learning.

So with that bias disclosed let me say Hancock has been making some interesting moves in that of portfolio of late. Suggesting that school planning has been “insane” and that perhaps school boards are worthy of more respect and responsibility than they have been in the past decade and maybe ought to have some more political power.

I have to say I am surprised and encouraged by this new openness and policy commentary actually making news coming from Ministers like Hancock, Liepert on health reform and Morton on land use issues. This is kind of political using before matters get to Cabinet good for democracy and key to achieving a re-engaged and informed citizenry.

There seemed to be a message controlling chill over government MLAs and Cabinet Ministers expressing opinions before Stelmach became Premier. For sure, once a Cabinet decision has been take that position is, and should be, gospel for all Ministers. If they don’t like it they can resign from Cabinet. It has happened.

As a citizen I am as interested in what range of options is being considered and how policy issues are being explored before they go behind the closed Cabinet doors for decisions. I want to see want is left on the cutting room floor as these who govern us make the hard choices on our behalf. This new openness is so much more respectful of Albertans.

It is important that our policy makers show that they are informed, engaged and actively exploring options that, in the end, serve the common good. If the politicinas want to earn our respect and gain our trust they need to show citizens that they are not just in a sheep-like acceptance of a top down pre-ordained and dictated “political solution.”

I credit Premier Stelmach for this change in attitude and governing philosophy. The old-style pre-ordained political positioning that is pushed through a public consultation process purely for show is hopefully a thing of the past now too.

Stelmach's Throne Speech Addresses Lots of Priority Concerns

I have spent some time studying the recent Alberta Speech from the Throne. It is worth your time to read it and reflect on the content and context.

There are the obvious focus elements on energy resources but in the context of sustainable development. There is a promise of provincial energy strategy focused on innovation, new sources and responsible energy use, efficiency and conservation. Balance needs to be restored and the Royalty Review issue is not really resolved yet and this energy strategy may help compensate for the short coming of the GOA respsonses.

The pace of development is noted as an on-going issue – particularly in terms of housing in Fort McMurray. The GOA holds the keys to unlocking this problem by releasing land to the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo so the servicing can get done and housing built. The cumulative effects of the growth challenge are now being considered and that is good news, especially for Edmonton and region with the pending impact of billions of dollars of upgrader construction.

The down side realities of the livestock and forest industries are going to be addressed as these folks are in dire straits. The need to look at the “cultural and economic importance of vibrant rural communities…” is noted and something I will be doing a number of posting on as I work on two new projects to get the SuperNet missing link to non-profits, local economies and rural Albertans through the Rural Alberta Development Fund and the Access to the Future Fund. These SuperNet based initiatives are foundational to Premier Stelmach realizing this Throne Speech aspiration...and he knows it.

Lots more coming this summer in consultations on Land Use Management and a new Parks Policy hopefully based on conservation, preservation, reclamation, water quality and quantity concerns and wildlife habitat protection as guiding principles – not just a negotiation of priority listing of users.

I am biased but if you look past the health care headlines in the MSM speech coverage, I see a lot of potential in this Throne Speech. There is a wide array of issues and concerns mentioned. It has the usually pomp and puffery but a careful read shows a definite and more progressive agenda and tone in this document. Now we need to see how it gets acted upon and if the agenda that we end up with is as comprehensive as the content of the Throne Speech indicates.

I will post again soon on some of the important social and cultural aspects of the Throne Speech that have not been covered much. Stay tuned.

Alberta is Ready for High Speed Rail

High speed rail between at least Edmonton and Calgary is an idea whose time has come. Perhaps extending it to Fort McMurray and even Banff could be considered now too. I know Ed Stelmach likes the idea. Heather Douglas the CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce has a well written piece on the concept in the Calgary Herald today.

It makes much more economic, social and ecological sense than adding two more highway lanes to the current highway between Edmonton and Calgary. That old-school “solution” will only add to problems when you consider all aspects of the pressures of growth in our "Corridor" and the transportation and other challenges that is causing

There are feasibility studies already done on high speed rail and some more detailed study efforts are underway and soon to be completed. High speed rail is green, clean, safe, quiet and quick. It is audacious enough that it triggers the imagination of forward thinking progressive Albertans too. I have been a fan of high speed rail in the Corridor since the late 1970’s and early 80’s. It was before its time then but not any more. Let’s get on with it.

Introducing the Honourable Heather Klimchuk

Heather Klimchuk is my new MLA and my friend and is now Minister of Service Alberta. It has been quite a week.

Heather is going to bring a new sensibility, a different political perspective and a critical skill set to the Stelmach government. This is because of her personal experiences (political and otherwise), her character qualities and her engaging persuasive personality.

Heather as been actively involved in Progressive Conservative party politics ever since she was 3 years old, when her folks brought/dragged her to numerous town hall meetings and election rallies. She has a real-world sensibility as she and her husband deal with the day-to-day challenges of bringing up two teenage children. She has been the ultimate volunteer and an uber-citizen. For years she has been continually active in the issues that affects her community from education to transportation, to recreation and development issues.

She is a long time activist in Alberta Progressive Conservative Party she has served at the constituency level as a board member and as a Constituency President. She has volunteered on dozens of election campaigns and now she has become a successful candidate in her own right. She will now get to continue to bring her talents, imagination and insights to her community's needs, but now to a larger community as well and in her new role as the MLA for Edmonton Glenora.

Heather has a wealth of retail political experience. She was recently elected to the PC Party Provincial Executive and served until her election victory. She has plenty of practical front line political experience coming from her 10 years of work in the offices of both Premier’s Lougheed and Getty.

Heather personal life is typical of busy women, wives and mothers all over Alberta. She knows what they are dealing with in trying to cope with the overwhelming demands of working inside and outside the home, being totally immersed in the day-to-day demands of bringing up a family and running a household. She, like so many other women in her situation, still finds time and energy to volunteer and contribute to the betterment of their communities.

There is a need for our political system to have more appreciation of the demands that are put on so many women these days, especially those who are in personally challenging circumstances. In the male dominated world of provincial politics and government these realities can easily be overlooked. With Heather in the “House” I don’t think that failure to notice will be happening anymore.

Heather and I have been friends for over 20 years. We have shared thoughts on a wide array of political and policy issues over the years. I can tell you she also knows the important role of good government to our society, our environment and our economy. She is especially well versed in how a progressive and conservative approach can be applied to meet the challenges we Albertans now face, both individually and together.

She worked hard for her election success. I know she is honoured and humbled with the Premier’s appointment to Cabinet. All this mean is that she will get to bring her experiences, skills and capacity for caring to bear even more on setting the future directions and defining the new destination for Alberta.

Good Cabinet choice Ed - and congratulations Heather.

Spec Stories On Stelmach's Cabinet Are Spin - Not News.

I read with interest the two different speculation stories on the new Stelmach Cabinet from Neil Waugh of the Edmonton Sun and Jason Markusoff of the Edmonton Journal. These two MSM outlets are fierce competitors and especially these days as they battle over political stories around a new government.

I see that same gamesmanship is continuing in these “spec” stories on the new Stelmach Cabinet. In a competitive media market the media goal appears to be around getting the story first more than getting it right. Is that what is happening this morning in the Cabinet spec stories in these two papers? Both these writers will have “sources” and both have different takes on what they say Premier Stelmach has decided about his Cabinet. As if they or any of their “sources” actually know…they don’t…and shouldn’t. So don’t get fooled Alberta.

I often speak to journalists on matters of public policy and offer personal opinions on political events and public policy and have often been a MSM source as a result. Media relations is part of my business. The right and responsibility of the Premier to announce his Cabinet when and how he wishes is nobody’s business but the Premier’s. Full disclosure, I am not one of the sources for either of these writers on these speculative stories. I have no inside information on the cabinet making process and results - nor should I.

Nobody but a very small group of advisers, who are totally loyal to the Premier or senior government administrators, who are duty bound to the government, knows the outcome of this process in advance. They would never get ahead of the Premier and be a media “source” on a matter so crucial to his leadership.

Citizens, including myself, are content to let the Premier make his cabinet decision in his own way, for his own reasons and in his own good time. To otherwise speculate on the Premier’s decision from the outside falls in the same category of gossip like what changes Mr. Katz will make to the Oiler organization. There will likely be changes but only Mr. Katz knows for sure and anybody else who thinks they know the final decisoin in advance is delusional.

Cabinet making is the work of political leaders and at the heart of public policy leadership. It is so important to the successful launch of a new government. That is why the Premier has to keep his own counsel on such important decisions. At the end of the day he alone has to make up his mind and deal with the consequences of his choices. He alone has to take the time to brief his Cabinet Minister's on his expectations of them and to do this in his own way and on his own terms.

In the mean time anybody else who the MSM quotes as “in the know” on such matters are simply not. They are gossiping and spinning and speculating - or very naive…nothing more. That does not mean you won’t get people, especially pundits, lobbyists and even bloggers talking about the make-up of new Cabinet. But rest assured none of them actually knows anymore than anybody else.

The MSM media will naturally be nosing around the margins of the political class for any tidbit, piece of gossip or rumour from “insiders” or “reliable sources” in advance of the final Cabinet announcement. These “insights” from so-called insider’s are mere rumour, gossip and pure speculation.

Remember MSM is a competitive business. They are all prone to speculation on such newsworthy events. They will even “sex them up” up as a “news” story from time to time and then claim that they got the “story first.” This is the nature of the media and for any politicians to complain about it is as about useless as a sea captain cursing the ocean.

This speculation approach is fine for op-eds and other opinion pieces but the public should not confuse them with “news.” Speculation on personality politics is fun, entertaining and engaging but that is all it is – it is not news. If these items are presented and perceived as “hard news” they do nothing to add to the battered credibility of the MSM. This approach to cover gossip as hard news does nothing to enhance the public’s perceptions of the reliability of the MSM either.

We need the MSM to be authoritative, credible and reliable because the alternative news source of the world-wide-web is so deplorable on these criteria. Citizens need an informative news source they can continue to believe and believe in. That reliability and credibility is the ultimate differentiating factor for traditional media these days as the Internet encroaches on their news source territory and their market share for readers.

Let’s hope the proper role of the opinion piece does not get conflated with hard news in our newspapers like entertainment has conflated with new on television. They all have a place but they ought to be very clear and distinct from each other.

So polish up your media literacy and read these spec pieces on the makeup and implications of the Stelmach Cabinet appointments today and realize that it is spin, speculation and supposition…but not fact based news. If the speculation turns out to be “accurate” that will be by coincidence only not because of the authoritativeness of the media’s “sources.”

Memo to Premier Stelmach - Alberta's International and Intergovernmental Department Needs a Very Strong Minister

As Premier Stelmach get out the shop tools and builds his first Cabinet with his own team and mandate there is one key department that needs to be elevated and have a much stronger Minister to head it. That department is International, Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs.

In the constitutional wars of the 70’s this department was the intellectual powerhouse of the Lougheed government…and it had to be, given the constitutional and other challenges Alberta was facing then with Ottawa. It was an impressive group of minds and focused motivations in those days and the depth of ability is still there notwithstanding the budget cuts of the mid 90s.

The challenges Alberta is facing now on the intergovernmental front are even more complex and critical. That is why this Ministry needs the political leadership from the best and brightest talent available to Stelmach. It has the right stuff in the staffing and administrative leadership. It needs the political leadership to be beefed up significantly. It is not an entry level Cabinet position or a holding tank for under performing Ministers. Nor can it be merely a transition appointment pending retirement anymore.

Alberta has lots of complex issues do deal with on many fronts and with many different influences and influencers. The Alberta-Ottawa dynamics will be heating up significantly over the environment, climate change, transfer payment fairness, immigration and US trade relations, to name a few. There will be uncertainty caused over what appears to be an inevitable NAFTA review by President Obama or Clinton. Alberta will be one of the victims of the enormous desire for much tighter border control and homeland security measures that will undoubtedly be pursued under President McCain, if that is the Presidential election result this November. There is a raft of legislative initiatives in the US Congress that all impact the future of our so-called “dirty oil” from the oil sands development that need to be handled properly.

Then there will be the growing American demand on our oil sands sector to provide secure, reliable and relatively less expensive continental energy supply that will put even more growth pressures on Alberta socially and environmentally. Local upgrading versus shipping raw bitumen into new pipelines that have just been approved into the US refiners will be a friction point. The impact of more foreign direct investment in the oil sands, particularly from China will be a hot international and intergovernmental issues too.

The reconciliation of these different interests the between the integrated energy sector players, American political and economic interests and Ottawa policy approaches will impact Alberta’s control over its own future. These are powerful geopolitical forces and they put Alberta right in the cross hairs and a target in so many ways and at so many levels.

And then there will be the domestic intergovernmental pressures resulting from the growing central Canada angst over the power and influence shift to Alberta and BC from Ontario and Quebec. Alberta has half the population of Quebec and a much larger rate of growth and investment, that along with BC is rivaling Ontario. That power shift to the Canadian west will have to be handled adeptly as well.

The TILMA agreement with BC will be a dynamic intergovernmental situation for Alberta as BC’s Premier Campbell takes over the national leadership stage on the environment on carbon tax and other green alternative initiatives. That effort by BC will put pressure Alberta to match them under TILMA provisions sooner than later. There will intergovernmental issues with BC and Ottawa on how to deal with the Mountain Pine Beetle as it threatens to devour the boreal forest.

I have not even touched on the aboriginal aspect of the department which has its own challenges and urgency's. I could go on but I am sure you get my drift. Premier Stelmach held this portfolio and enjoyed it. Ron Hicks, the Deputy Minister of Executive Council served as Deputy Minister in this department too. They know it and no doubt see its emerging importance in the future of Alberta. I look forward to the Cabinet appointments this week – and the IIA Ministerial appointment with particular interest.

Federal Court Agrees With Stelmach - Environment Trumps Economy

Premier Stelmach is right the environment trumps the economy…and the Federal Court sees the world the same way. The Imperial Oil’s Kearl oil sands project has been sent back to the federal-provincial review panel because they did not adequately assess the environmental damage in the project in its first decision.

The Court was not satisfied that the environmental damages incurred could be mitigated and with specific reference to the representation that the project would not significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions.

And that is the environment trumping the economy my friends.

Our Oil Sands Survey found that CO2, a greenhouse gas was the second most important value driver that concerned Albertans about responsible sustainable oil sands development. For your interest our surveyfound that protecting wildlife habitat was the #1 value driver concerning Albertans about responsible and sustainable oil sands development.

Alberta is not a place that is all about getting rich or die trying. Once again the Courts intervene to be sure the right thing is done in the right way in the interests of citizens. That is supposed to the job of our governments but it is not always job 1 for those power focused politicians who are chronically disintereted in being statesmen.

Good government is always good politics. Good politics is rarely good government.

Stelmach Still a Target of the Energy Sector

Here is another piece out of the Calgary Herald that shows some folks are still thinking Stelmach isn’t up to snuff and that the energy business elites are still calling the shots in Alberta. Actually I am expecting Stelmach to evolve into a triple bottom line Premier who deals with the tax and resource revenues prudently. I expect his farming background will have him proving that he respects the environment even more prudently.

His election victory and new mandate with his experience as the Minister of both Infrastructure and Transportation will serve him well in addressing the growth and social pressures in Alberta. His experience as Minister of International and Intergovernmental Affairs will hale him be much more effective is dealing with determining Alberta' place in relation to the nation and the world too.

That means the business community has its place and creating jobs and wealth is a good thing so long as it serves the larger cause of a healthy society and a health environment. The need to design, develop and deploy an integrated effective public policy approach required of modern governments that must be individually accountable and still interdependent and interrelated on a global scale like Alberta will be much more difficult than the typical marketplace competition challenges of business.

With all the investment approved and in place in Alberta already we now need out government to start ensuring for citizens there are no are unintended secondary consequences of such accelerated growth. These unintended consequences don’t just emerge out of the Royalty Review for the energy sector but also for the rest of us. Look at the unintended consequences of unleashed growth in housing costs, inflation, family breakdown, gang crime, misuse of the environment including water, land and air plus an appalling lack of reclamation efforts, poor habitat protection - just to name a few.

Not all of the energy industry has this intimidation couples with an insouciant attitude…there are some absolutely wonderful exceptions and we all know them and are thankful they are here. But they don’t happen to be in the majority nor on the radar screen of this writer who implies the more condescending view that government is stupid and doesn’t knows its place. This is a very unwise stance for anyone who needs to acquire a lease, meet regulatory and statutory requirements to do their business.

Is it time for a change in attitude so some mutual respect can be developed between the Alberta government and the energy sector in this province. The coziness and favoritism and cronyism of the past relationship has to disappear and be replaced by a more open, transparent and professional relationship. If that were to happen I am willing to bet there would be more respect from the citizens of Alberta shown to both their government and the energy sector too. Voters have the real power after all. Anyone doubting that truth should have had it dissipate on election day.