Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper announces $200 million for Afghanistan for infrastructure development over 10 years.
Alberta’s Premier Ed Stelmach announces $400 million for Fort McMurray for infrastructure development over 3 years.
Hey Prime Minister Harper - are you serious about solving the problem in Afghanistan or are you just into PR?
Monday, February 26, 2007
Stelmach Will Release Minister's and EA's Expenses Accounts
March 1, 2007 UPDATE: Alberta Government confirms that Ministerial and Executive Assistant expenses are being disclosed.
Premier Stelmach was in fine form at a fundraising breakfast for a number of Edmonton constituencies today. One of the important but subtle messages that he sent was about a new way of doing politics. It was centred on his principle of governing with integrity and transparency.
He said he was going to release the monthly expense reports of Cabinet Minister’s and their Executive Assistants. This is not doubt driven by the recent Auditor General review and pending report of an expense claim made by a Klein era Ministerial Executive Assistant who charged some Las Vegas bachelor expenses to a government credit card.
He has already made a step in the right direction by making public by posting on a government website, every month, the entire manifests of who uses the provincial government airplanes, when, where and why.
This, and a Lobbyist and Contractor Registry Act as Bill 1 in the Spring Session set a new tone for integrity and transparency. It is a sure sign that Stelmach is differentiating his government from the Klein regime.
Now if he would only get his messaging clearer and straight on the economy and the environment relationship.
Premier Stelmach was in fine form at a fundraising breakfast for a number of Edmonton constituencies today. One of the important but subtle messages that he sent was about a new way of doing politics. It was centred on his principle of governing with integrity and transparency.
He said he was going to release the monthly expense reports of Cabinet Minister’s and their Executive Assistants. This is not doubt driven by the recent Auditor General review and pending report of an expense claim made by a Klein era Ministerial Executive Assistant who charged some Las Vegas bachelor expenses to a government credit card.
He has already made a step in the right direction by making public by posting on a government website, every month, the entire manifests of who uses the provincial government airplanes, when, where and why.
This, and a Lobbyist and Contractor Registry Act as Bill 1 in the Spring Session set a new tone for integrity and transparency. It is a sure sign that Stelmach is differentiating his government from the Klein regime.
Now if he would only get his messaging clearer and straight on the economy and the environment relationship.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Al Gore Wins an Oscar - Will a Nobel Be Next?
Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” just won the Oscar for Best Documentary. I predicted this in an earlier posting. At that time I said he would win the Nobel Peace Prize too. I should start taking bets…anyone out there prepared to give me odds?
There are a growing number of Progressive websites in the United States with petitions and pushes to draft Gore to run for President in 2008. That effort should be heating up a bit now.
There are a growing number of Progressive websites in the United States with petitions and pushes to draft Gore to run for President in 2008. That effort should be heating up a bit now.
Premier Stelmach and Dr. Suzuki Need to Sit Down Over a Beer
Premier Stelmach and Dr. David Suzuki need to sit down and have a beer and get to know each other. The media induced tempest between the two is not informative nor helpful.
I was at the Suzuki lecture at the University of Alberta last night and heard him say “I did not write that headline” referencing the Calgary Herald headline attributing a statement to Suzuki on Stelmach’s qualifications to govern. In fact Suzuki admitted he “did not even know the new Premier’s name.” While Suzuki is a man of dedicated passion he is no fool and not prone to reckless character judgments.
I don’t know Suzuki except through his writings, lecture and television programs, which come to think of it, I perhaps know quite a bit about him. I do know Ed Stelmach and that his personal sense of responsibility as Premier is that he is a trustee for Albertans for the natural resources and the environment.
Stelmach has made "managing growth" a principle of his Premiership but that does not mean he is going to intervene inappropriately in the marketplace. As Premier he sees himself as the public’s trustee for the environment and as a working farmer, even today, he has a personal sense of what stewardship means.
I was at the Suzuki lecture at the University of Alberta last night and heard him say “I did not write that headline” referencing the Calgary Herald headline attributing a statement to Suzuki on Stelmach’s qualifications to govern. In fact Suzuki admitted he “did not even know the new Premier’s name.” While Suzuki is a man of dedicated passion he is no fool and not prone to reckless character judgments.
I don’t know Suzuki except through his writings, lecture and television programs, which come to think of it, I perhaps know quite a bit about him. I do know Ed Stelmach and that his personal sense of responsibility as Premier is that he is a trustee for Albertans for the natural resources and the environment.
Stelmach has made "managing growth" a principle of his Premiership but that does not mean he is going to intervene inappropriately in the marketplace. As Premier he sees himself as the public’s trustee for the environment and as a working farmer, even today, he has a personal sense of what stewardship means.
There is lots that Stelmach and Suzuki can learn from each other. I think these two men of character and capacity need to have beer and get to know each other personally. The potential synergy of their talents and perspectives will serve us all for the better – at so many levels.
James Rajotte is a Class Act
James Rajotte is a class act. His letter to the Editor in the Edmonton Journal today sets the record straight over the visit by the CEO of CV Technologies (the Cold FX folks) to attend a luncheon on Parliament Hill - at his invitation.
He clears the air over what was talked about and why the meeting was held and deals effectively with the issue of any possible impropriety concerning the Lobbyist Registry Act.
There may be a technical and procedural issue here as to whether the meeting should have been registered pursuant to the Act. I expect it should have been but the parties are not professional lobbyists and were there at the invitation of their government MP. They deserve the benefit of the doubt.
That said the spirit and intent of disclosure of such meetings is resolved by MP Rajotte’s letter where he is putting it all on the public record. In fact his disclosure of the meeting is significantly more information than you usually get from the official records pursuant the lobbyist registration legislation. I expect 99% of citizens don't even know how to access the disclosure information under the federal lobbyist registry system. Rajotte puts this public disclosure right in the MSM. Good for him! Good for the Edmonton Journal for publishing the letter.
This is a shining example of open, transparent, accountable and responsive government. If this was the norm for how our elected representatives acted we would not have the “gotcha” mentality exhibited by the NDP over this invitation by an MP to a constituent to tell of her personal and business success story.
Memo to self: It looks like even if an MP asks you to have lunch on his agenda one best register the event as your lobbying activity. An ounce of prevention….
He clears the air over what was talked about and why the meeting was held and deals effectively with the issue of any possible impropriety concerning the Lobbyist Registry Act.
There may be a technical and procedural issue here as to whether the meeting should have been registered pursuant to the Act. I expect it should have been but the parties are not professional lobbyists and were there at the invitation of their government MP. They deserve the benefit of the doubt.
That said the spirit and intent of disclosure of such meetings is resolved by MP Rajotte’s letter where he is putting it all on the public record. In fact his disclosure of the meeting is significantly more information than you usually get from the official records pursuant the lobbyist registration legislation. I expect 99% of citizens don't even know how to access the disclosure information under the federal lobbyist registry system. Rajotte puts this public disclosure right in the MSM. Good for him! Good for the Edmonton Journal for publishing the letter.
This is a shining example of open, transparent, accountable and responsive government. If this was the norm for how our elected representatives acted we would not have the “gotcha” mentality exhibited by the NDP over this invitation by an MP to a constituent to tell of her personal and business success story.
Memo to self: It looks like even if an MP asks you to have lunch on his agenda one best register the event as your lobbying activity. An ounce of prevention….
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