Brent Rathgeber Man of Political Character

I know Brent a bit, when he was in the Klein Progressive Conservative government.  He was smart and insightful and had a great legal mind.  He was also an independent thinker then.  I formed these impressions from political meetings and convention conversations but mostly from some consulting work I did for the Alberta Minister of Justice and the Speaker of the Alberta Legislature.

I was reviewing the risk management policies for the Government of Alberta as a result of a defamation lawsuit brought against Stockwell Day, a Minister in the Klein Cabinet.  The issues were complicated, politically laced and competing values were everywhere.

Brent grasped all of this in one and was immediately able and interested in exploring the issues, the implications and all in the context of the goal of public service and the greater good.  He was not a guy who as concerned about the "Party" or his position in it.  He was a democrat and a politician with character and competence.

I have to say I was sorry to see him join the Harper government.  I always thought he was better than that.  Well I was right.  It took some time but the Brent Rathgeber I knew is back to being himself again.

Rex Murphy has a take on this that puts some more context on what I am trying to say.

Last Wednesday as a good day for democracy.  Citizens need to be very careful who they vote for and why.    We get the government we deserve, especially if we don't vote or vote mindlessly.

Why Robin Ford is Bad for Progressives

The Kahneman work is the thesis on why the Robin Ford Scandal is bad for progressives.  Give the Star story a read here.

The essence of the Kahneman thesis is this:

Behavioural economics has shown that the more times you hear something - even if you don't believe it, the more familiar it becomes.  Familiarity breeds a sense of seeming truthfulness...what Colbert calls "truthiness."
Question is will inert complacent and compliant Progressives become even more disassociated with politics because of an even more enhanced sense of cynicism due to Mayor Ford.

I recently attended a lecture sponsored by Leadership Edmonton by Carol Tavris, the authour of "Mistakes Were Made but Not by Me.."  She spoke of cognitive dissonance and self justification.  The cognitive dissonance aspect applies to those who support something that they even know to be untrue is rationalized by focus selective evidence.  I am sure mayor Ford is getting some positive feedback from his supporters who feel theyhave to rationalize their mistake in voting form him

We are seeing some of that perhaps with the comments of Prime Minister Harper who says he was not told of the Duffy payoff by his Chief of Staff so therefore he has nothing to do with it.  Also the "facts are clear" avoids dealing with the legal and moral obligation to deal with the mistake...duck and cover is not leadership but his base will use this selective "evidence" to justify their earlier support for Harper.

Thinking of a blog post on Integrity as a fading value in a complex political and partisan world...stay tuned.

Orwellian Governance in the Canadian Context

If this blog is to revive I want to do it systemically and thematically around supporting the return to democracy through enlightened progressive citizen engagement.

My friend Allan Gregg recently spoke to the Alberta Federation of Labour about this set of issues in the federalist context.  I thank the folks at Rabble.ca for posting it for the rest of us.

This is a 38 minute video.  So get a coffee or a tea and settle in and focus on the content and context.  In a sober second thought, perhaps you should pour yourself something stronger.  You may feel you need it after you fathom Allan's message.

Orwellian Governance in the Current Canadian Context

Looking forward to your feedback...even on if I should be back.

Is it time to revive this blog?  I will be publishing on oil sands issues as an owner of the asset at oilsandsken.com.

Is there another theme that this blog could pursue around citizen engagement and democracy commentary?

Take Time to Vote for The Grizzly Manifesto

I am championing Jeff Gailus' book The Grizzly Manifesto in the Alberta Readers' Choice Awards.  You can vote for this book - and you should - if only because I asked you to.  But you should also read the book and the other four books in the competition.  There is a rich array of genres awaiting your reading pleasure.

Here is a link to vote for Jeff's book. http://www.albertareaderschoice.ca. You have until the end of business on May 31 to vote on this book - so don't waste any time!  Vote once a day.  It is allowed!

If you want to get a sense of why I am championing this book - read this newspaper article based on an interview I did on The Grizzly Manifesto.

http://www.canmoreleader.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3139322