Is Alberta Tired of Being Taken For Granted by Harper?

Susan Riley writes an interesting take on Liberal leader, Michael Ignatieff's possibilities in a forthcoming by-election in Calgary.  With the sudden and unexpected departure of Jim Prentice, the last progressive voice in the Harper government, there is a need for a by-election by May 2011.  There may be a general election before then but I doubt it will happen until the fall of 2011.  The Liberals should wait for Canadians to see the continuing failure of integrity the hardcore Harper Cons to live up to their fundamental political ideology. Harper's hypocritical character flaws will show again as he will retreat even further from what he touts as sound and conservative fiscal management in their upcoming budget.

Could Calgary send a message for the rest of Alberta in this by-election and elect a Liberal in protest to the indifference and disdain Harper has shown for his home province and his home city?  Harper has been increasingly estranged from Albertans ever since he got all that personal political power and his iron-fist control over everything that happens in the federal government.

Nenshi's election as Mayor last October give us hope.  He won handily over two variations conventional Conservatism. One rejected candidate was run by the Harper machine and the other had her strings pulled by the old Klein crowd.  Provincially there are now more Liberals elected in Calgary than in Edmonton and they used to call us Redmonton back in the day when that was reversed.  Stranger things have happened is all I am saying.

I am not making any political predictions but we know from our conjoint research last May that only 17% of Albertans are in any way satisfied with the way Alberta's federal MPs protect and promote our interests in Ottawa. That indicates changes could happen and a by-election that elects a Liberal is just the ticket to send Harper a much overdue "we are not amused" political message.

When Premier Klein was kicked out by the PC rank and file his "safe" seat was lost to a Liberal in a by-election.  Klein was a lot more popular in Alberta then than Harper can ever hope to be.  When Deputy Premier Stevens quit provincial politics, as quickly and mysteriously as Prentice, the by election that followed went to the Wildrose Alliance as a way to send Premier Stelmach a "we are not amused" political message.  The Liberal vote stayed the same but the protest vote went to the Wildrose Alliance in that by-election.

So stay tuned Alberta and consider the strategic opportunity to send a wake up call to the Harper-Cons in the   soon to be announced by-election.  And if there is a general election beforehand, the opportunity is even greater to ensure Alberta is not taken for granted by the presumptive arrogance of the Harper political machine that we are all mindless sheep without voting or political options.

Welcome to one small piece of the new narrative that is being written about the next Alberta by a revived sense of citizenship that is happening all over the province.

BOOTilier's Been a Problem for a Long Time

Here is another reason why the Premier is right to Boot Boutilier. Three years ago today I posted a piece about Boutilier as then Minister of Environment insisting that he be allowed to testify at an EUB hearing on an oil sands project...on two days notice.

He became famous for his testimony consistently saying he was there as the Wood Buffalo MLA and not the Minister of Environment. He assured the hearing that "he could turn off that part of his brain that was the Minister's role and just be the MLA." He became famous for that advanced neurological capacity.

I called him reckless then and he was. He could have forced that hearing to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court with his ill advised ege driven "intervention." I believed then and I still believe today that he was more concerned that the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo's legitimate intervention and that would somehow upstage him as the local MLA. This hubris was too much. But to take such a position and for the Klein government to allow that to happen meant Boutilier actually jeopardized the executive branch discretion of the Klein government in the oil sands project approval process.

Klein knew what Boutilier was up to but was either ignorant of the consequences or oblivious to the problem. Soon afterwards Ron Stevens, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Justice suddenly became the Chair of the all powerful special multi-departmental Cabinet committee that was dealing with the oil sands policy and strategy. I think the Minister of Justice took over that committee just in case the province got sued because of the rashness of the then Minister of the Environment.

The problem that is Boutiler goes back a long way and has persisted for many years. Stelmach has not over reacted to this. There is always a last straw.

Brouhahas, Bungling, Banter and Buzz Befuddle the Alberta Government

There is a bunch of buzz out there about the Stelmach government, where they are going and how they are doing. I recently did a backgrounder interview with a daily newspaper reporter on the issue of how transparency has been changing - deteriorating - in the Stelmach government. I have also written a paper for a client on governance in Alberta that will be released in late May or early June.

There is a power shift happening in what forms public opinion these days. That power to form and inform public opinion is devolving to citizens who are actively engaging in conversations on matters of concern on the Internet, primarily through social media. This is generating buzz about the performance and positions being taken by the Stelmach government on a variety of issues and events. It is pretty obvious the traditionalists in government communications are unnerved by all this goings on becasue they have not come to accept that they can't control the message and provide the meaning behind the message anymore. The world has changed.

Now with the hasty departure of the Deputy Premier Ron Stevens, speculation and buzz will build. Part of the ongoing and online buzz is caused by past events like the Northumberland Beach brouhaha.

Here is a blog post by fusedlogic that gives some context and content as to why the online buzz about our government's performance and positioning is building. I will have more comments later but thought this link to blogger fusedlogic is worth a read.

Big Money Meeting Behind Closed Doors Today with Deputy Premier

So the National Post reports that some of the large capital investors are meeting behind closed doors with Deputy Premier Stevens today to add to “the-sky-is-falling message that for the energy industry to pay a fair share of taxes and royalties will put Alberta into recession. While the next story in this link shows unemployment in Canada is at a 33 year low.

I am sure there is a need for some confidentiality in these discussion with Deputy Premier Stevens. But as one of our Trustees for our natural resources, I am sure he will fully disclose what his visitors have presented to him by the end of today. Albertan deserve to know and transparency demands it.

The Globe and Mail Report on Business front page below the fold story today is interesting too. The headline is “Wall Street to Alberta: Don’t be so Stupid.” An “influential New York based analyst with Oppenheimer & Co.” is quoted as saying raising taxes on industries that are the “lifeblood of your economy…It’s so stupid – I thought these people were more sophisticated than that.”

Speaking of a lack of sophistication, I wonder if this influential analyst has read the Auditor General’s Report. We were such rubes that we have left $6B of oil and gas royalties alone on the table since 2005. That would have paid for school repairs, teacher’s unfunded pension liabilities and increases staff wages to liveable levels in Alberta’s social services sectors so we would not be endangering lives of disables Albertans.

The “Influential Analyst” says Albertan should attract investor, not repel investors.” Sir, perhaps you have been out of the loop as to the facts in Alberta. We have $140B of investors from all over the world keen to participate in Alberta with a 1% pre-production royalty and a 25% - soon to be 33% production royalty payable on their net profits. Pretty damn attractive I’d say…and based on the amount of money coming in…pretty damn effective too.

I find this other item in the Globe story too. It says this past May the Alberta Finance Minister, Dr. Lyle Oberg “returned to the city (New York) to assure analysts and investors that the new government of Premier Stelmach was …committed to a business-friendly investment climate.” A quote attributed to “one American Canada watcher” who was at the Oberg speech says: “There was never any indication there would be a move like this.”

Strange that Dr. Oberg did not mention this in his May meeting with the money men of New York. The Premier had announced the review on February 16, 2007 and it was to report to Dr. Oberg by August 31, 2007. It actually reported on Sept 18 but that is a quibble. Makes you wonder how far you can trust someone who omits such key information doesn’t it!

Too bad the Canada watcher did not know that this now Alberta Finance Minister was once kicked out of the government Caucus for his “misleading statements” over Klein’s political skeletons. Could the $6B royalty boondoggle Auditor General Dunn discovered have been the “skeleton Oberg was talking about? If so why didn’t he say so?

Stelmach Responds to the Urban Pressure and Expands Cabinet

Alberta Premier Stelmach has just announced some additions to Cabinet with three changes for Calgary.

Ron Stevens is Deputy Premier in addition to his role as Minister of Justice and Attorney General. This is a very wise move at so many levels by Premier and not just to appease Calgary. Stevens is one of the most respected and capable Ministers in the fold.

Cindy Ady (Calgary Shaw) is Associate Minister of Tourism Promotion (with responsibility for Alberta's participation in activities pertaining to the 2010 Olympics in British Columbia). Another capable person but a strange mandate I must say. But the backgrounder on the News Release adds “Sport” in terms of “participation in communities, schools and workplaces” …maybe she is the anti-obesity Associate Minister too? We could use an emphasis on this problem (including me). Another Cabinet Vote for Calgary is the politics at play here.

Yvonne Fritz (Calgary Cross) is back but working as Associate Minister of Affordable Housing and Urban Development. She had her challenges in the Seniors and Community Services portfolio before, especially in getting crown land released for Fort McMurray housing…lots of false starts mostly because the corporate history of the government had been let go during the Debt and Deficit civil service purging in the mid 90’s. Ray Danyluk needs the help because of volume of work and the complexity of issues…an Associate Minister should help carry some of the work load. Politics is more voice for Calgary.

Finally we have Gene Zwozdesky, MLA for Edmonton-Mill Creek, as Associate Minister for Capital Planning. This is a very bright light move. Edmonton now has 2 Ministers to Calgary’s 5 but the real story is the need for more urban voices has been heard by the Premier. The importance of infrastructure planning in managing growth is a key focus of the Stelmach government. There has been serious political damage caused by years of neglect in this area. Gene is on top of the issues and at the top of his game. It is good to see this important function given the Cabinet status it needs.

I am pleased to see the quick response to the obvious need for more urban representation in Cabinet and a capable newcomer like Cindy Ady getting a chance.