Give Me Prentice Over Harper and Hill Any Day

I was struck by the juxtaposition of CPC stories in today’s Globe and Mail. Off the top, let me disclose I was a Jim Prentice supporter for the leadership of the CPC and still hold out a hope that one day it will happen. I have known him for a number of years, as a PC Party member and a fellow lawyer. We were on opposite sides over the environmental and expropriation issues surrounding the building of Old Man River Dam by the government of Alberta in southern Alberta. He was a young lawyer and second counsel on the matter but his compassion, wisdom and sound judgment was very self evident even in his “younger” days.

So in the Globe and Mail today we see Jim Prentice adding fairness and equity in a proposal to “shake up” the process for aboriginal land claims settlements. The issues are the back log of claims and a means to dispense with the stacked deck our aboriginal people face in pursuing settlements. When the “government of Canada acts as defendant, judge, jury and research body” in such matters, it is had to seen the balance and fairness and equity of such “negotiations.” Talk about conflicting roles!

Prentice sees the Indian Clams Commission, an independent body where he once served as a co-commissioner in the Mulroney days, as the means to his ends. The ICC under Prentice’s idea will be delegated the power to actually settle treaty and land claims itself, not the conflicted government of Canada. According the G&M front page story, this approach “marks a “seismic shift in the way land-claims treaties have been negotiated in the past 60 years.” I agree!

Then, by way of contrast, we have the page A4 story and picture of the co-conspirators of Stephen Harper and Jay Hill (CPC Whip) presumably mulling over their latest masterpiece a “manual on disrupting committee meetings.” We have the Keystone Kons shifting their share of the blame many times before in a masterful display of “Bush-league” tactics. They justify this travesty again blaming the opposition by Hill claiming all they are doing is “to push back when we see the opposition parties basically getting together and trying to put together a coalition government between the three of them.”

HELLO! What do you expect in a minority government? The Kons and the “other parties” did the very same thing in order to bring down the Martin Liberal minority government when it pleased…save and except the dearly departed (in more ways than one) Belinda Stronach. The reaction to disrupt and abdicate the responsibility to govern is not an acceptable response Mr. Hill!

The CPC is a minority government selected by Canadians with expectations that they would work towards finding compromises and actually actively govern, perhaps with a tad of integrity and alacrity from time to time. We see delay tactics from both sides but especially from the Cons. Worse yet we see our “government” engaged in cheap tactical gamesmanship designed to “push back!” Again we see the character flaws of the current PM shining through. He seems always to be more intent on winning skirmishes in Question Period and now at Commons Committee instead to showing a capacity for meaningful leadership.

I can’t help thinking that if Jim Prentice were the CPC leader today we would have a socially progressive and a fiscally conservative government with enlightened and compassionate leadership that respects people as citizens and taxpayers. We could trust our leader as a person of integrity and character with new approaches and new ideas and a personal capacity to govern.

But alas my desire for change is not much more than thinking and hoping. Unfortunately thinking doesn’t make it so and hope is not a method to achieve meaningful change.

This Site Allows and Likes Comments but Dislikes Anonymity

Thx to the Cowboys for Social Responsibility for correcting their post on yesterdays offering in this Blog. For some strange reason Blogger did not provide for Comments to be posted on “Rankled Reformers Resurrecting to Reject Harper.” CfSR thought I did not allow comments and they said so when they responded to he merits my item – and rather well I thought.

There is plenty of interest in yesterdays post so I thought I would try again with this entry to see if it would enable Comments that relate to “Rankled Reformers Resurrecting to Reject Harper.” It did not work. I have checked my site parameters in Blogger and Comments are enabled. I don't know what else one can do. Sorry!

I have been Blogging since late July 06 and have only deleted one Comment (so far) because it was libelous. I invited that Commenter to connect to me by e-mail and if they removed the offensive language I would hope he would resubmit. He did connect with me and we talked on the phone and he resubmitted a more appropriate comment as I recall.

I note that CfSR does not allow anonymous Comments. I find them offensive and often cowardly and say so very often. I wonder how others feel about anonymous comments. I am considering following the lead of CfSR and perhaps asking a Commenter who want to remain anonymous at least give a good reason for doing so.

Any thoughts? I guess without Comments on this post you will have to share your comments with me by email at: ken@cambridgestrategies.com

Rankled Reformers Resurrecting to Reject Harper

UPDATE: May 21 - more MSM is now picking up on the story.

Just as been predicting, the Harper’s “Gnu Government” political pandering to Quebec and personal power agenda is pissing off the base and he is about to start paying the consequences. There are moves afoot to revitalize the Reform Party and it is coming out of Kingston Ontario. There are not many happy campers in Reform country in Alberta either from what I see and hear.

My guess Prime Minister Harper’s summer of discontent will spread by wafting on the July winds like the Mountain Pine Beetle. You know it is big and it is moving and it spells disaster, but you can’t be sure where it will land next. When it does land - look out – it will attach itself to all the grumpy old Reformers in the area, just like the Mountain Pine Beetle takes over all the old growth forest.

Harper has found he can engineer a bump in the polls enough to just flirt with risking an election but it only lasts for a week or so. He can’t sustain a 40% approval level and he will not risk an election if he can’t win a majority. Now he has seen his “Canada’s New Government” poll results showing declining popularity and his trust levels retracted to the point where the Cons are even a bit below the ill-defined and detested Liberals some days.

The citizenry is ornery and volatile and not in a mood to be trifled with these days. With the rise of the Reformers again the future looks even more dire for the Keystone Kons. The Greens are on the rise, the Bloc is bumbling and the ND’s need a progressive government that they can make deals with to feel they have a purpose or else they end up infighting amongst themselves. The Liberals are under funded and unfocused but those things can be fixed…at least they are no longer demoralized.

It looks like Harper is about to board up the House of Commons for the summer and hit the BBQ circuit with his wardrobe and makeup department in tow. I'm betting we will definitely not see him with a cowboy hat on backwards and the vest that was five sizes too small at this years Calgary Stampede.

If the Reform Party resurrects itself with a vengeance in Calgary by this July, we may not see Steve Harper at the Stampede at all this summer. He may end up spending more time commiserating with Dubya on the ranch in Crawford Texas instead. He may believe it would be a might friendlier down in Texas instead of the BBQ circuit in Alberta by then.

Stelmach Government Moves One Step Closer on Tobacco Control

The Campaign for a Smoke Free Alberta supporting tobacco control legislation is moving along well. We are assisting the campaign made up of a coalition of 15 professional and health advocacy groups that are the driving force supporting this policy initiative. They are promoting the health and wellness aspects of tobacco control and the dangers of exposure to second hand smoke that currently impacts half a million Albertans.

Smoking bans in public and work places became an issue in the recent PC leadership campaign. It is now being addressed and moving through the government’s policy development and legislative process lead by the Minister of Health and Wellness Dave Hancock. Seven provinces have already passed smoke-free legislation and have banned the “power walls” displays of tobacco products. Six provinces have outlawed tobacco sales in pharmacies. Alberta is just now catching up on these tobacco control public health and workplace safety issues.

A recent poll showed public support for the Hancock initiative at an all time high of 80% for public and workplace bans, 78% for banning pharmacy sales and 67% against tobacco power wall displays. These citizen support figures are essentially the same for urban and rural Albertans.

The Premier has reconfirmed tobacco control legislation must have the support of the PC Caucus and he will abide by that decision. With the change in leadership we are now seeing some change in the political climate around tobacco control in Alberta too – but it is far from a slam dunk. The first indication of this positive change in attitude was the recent Provincial Budget increasing tobacco taxes in the face of past edicts that “…the only way taxes are going in Alberta are down!”

The proposal has passed the first two stages of Agenda and Priorities Committee and the Cabinet Policy Committee. Now it has to go to the Cabinet and Caucus for a decision. The Campaign for a Smoke Free Alberta (http://www.smokefreealberta.com/) has mobilized a very impressive effort to have citizens to contact local MLAs to encourage support.

Now the MSM are getting into the issue big time, with front page stories. The political newsletter Alberta Scan (780-421-9077 for more information) is carrying a very informative piece on the politics of this initiative now too. We have done three related interviews, representing a range of interests and perspectives, on our affiliate website Policy Channel (http://www.policychannel.com/) as well. One interview is with the CEO of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce, another is with the President of the Alberta Federation of Labour and there is an interview with the past-President of the Canadian Medical Association…all of them supporting the tobacco control proposals.

The Yukon is the most recent jurisdiction to catch up on this public health issue and recently passed a private member's bill imposing a territory-wide smoking ban in public places. The Feds have signalled the same kind of ban in federal buildings across the country. Albertans clearly believe this is an idea whose time has come but it is still a political decision so nothing can be taken for granted.

Now it is time for the Stelmach government to make sure Albertans have protections from second hand smoke and we discourage smoking as a public health and wellness issue, particularly amongst teenagers, 8000 of whom took up the habit in 2005 alone.

Premier Stelmach and the Shifting Ground of Alberta Politics

There is lots of moving ground beneath the political feet of Premier Stelmach these days. The big shift in PC party power base to the north and Edmonton from its “natural” place of Calgary and the deep south has caused great angst in Cowtown. This anxiety is "true" even though in Calgary they have three Cabinet Ministers compared to Edmonton’s one.

Budget 2007, the biggest spending budget in Alberta history was put together in 60 days and is suffering from some spotty execution. We are seeing this particularly in areas like municipal infrastructure funding coming with strings that are seen as forcing inter-municipal “co-operation.” As a result we have the Mayor of Calgary leading the charge over claims of broken promises. Even the distribution the funds using the assessment base make Counties happy and anger the Towns. The Counties gets most of the cash for the “co-operation projects” but the Towns have the infrastructure pressures. We all know the Golden Rule. He who has the gold makes the rules. This is not likely to be a winning formula for fostering any true town and county infrastructure co-operation...I could be wrong and hope I am...but time will tell.

There was too little budget bounce for what is needed to meet public service provider wage levels to stop the Diaspora of skilled workers in the disabilities sectors departing to the oil patch so they can make a living wage. For the record I am working on this issue. Staffing shortages and turn over in the disability private non-profit service sector is averaging 40% and some citizens with disabilities are going to suffer serious harm if this is not fixed and quickly.

Then there is the "minor" matter of ticking off the teachers in the Budget by tying a $25M supplement to pension fund payments as condition to labour peace. That is flying in the face of the Premier saying they would be separate issues during the leadership campaign. Expect work to rule job action from teachers this fall…and parents to be super ticked by October.

The affordable housing efforts have been sidetracked into a political football as shelter cost are soaring due to market demands and poor planning by the past regime. The environment has been given short shrift and oil sands management tie to growth is a concern. The resource royalty rates review is starting now but they are facing a monumentally complex job and have to report with recommendations by August 31.

Then we have the pure political plays. The recent Ethics Commissioner Report on the misguided scheme of the Stelmach campaign volunteers to sell access for $5k a pop to cover campaign deficits was found not to be illegal but not prudent either. The anonymous campaign contributions of leadership candidates was frowned up (to be euphemistic) by the Party membership at the recent PC Party AGM too.

Scads of public consultations are going on all over the province. They are aimed at reporting in the fall and positioning for a possible spring 2008 general election. This all add to the pressures and helps to keep the political footing tricky as the policy and political ground seems to be moving constantly.

Then we have the by-elections set for June 12. Framed as a litmus test for Stelmach’s leadership in Calgary circles it has some interesting dynamics. CalgaryGrit has an interesting take on how the story goes if the PCs drop Calgary Elbow. If the Liberals win it, that is somehow the end of the PC world. That is true if you are so Calgary centric that you think Calgary IS Alberta. It used to be the case but Alberta became a more balanced and interesting place when Stelmach won the PC leadership. Calgary obviously has some serious issues and now it will have some interesting politics. PC MLAs in Calgary will have to win seats on their own merit and not ride on the coat-tails of the leader any more. It has been that way for decades in Edmonton since Premier Getty lost his seat to a Liberal, the late Percy Wickman. It will result in better government and governance in the end.

Calgary Elbow is Ralph Klein’s old seat. Rod Love says the PC could lose it in this by-election and he is right. We lost Calgary Varsity to the Liberals in 2004 right after Murray Smith “retired” and went to Washington DC and he was a very popular Calgary PC politician. That should have been the wake up call to the Calgary PCs. The PCs in New Brunswick immediately lost former Premier Bernard Lord’s seat when he retired from politics. So it happens and yes, it could happen again. What does such a change mean in a by-election though…other than the usual chance to “send the government a message?”

Albertans in general, and Progressive Conservatives in particular, have been too complacent too long. We have been benignly presumptive that tomorrow will be an extension of yesterday so planning was seen as simply unnecessary. We seemed to believe this myth even when all the evidence we could see emerging belied those presumptions. Evidence like massive oils sands investment and development, the Edmonton-Calgary Corridor growth phenomenon and chronic labour shortages plus the implications of many other indicators were ignored.

Any partisan change in the by-elections on June 12 will only be meaningful if the voter participation rates exceed 50%. If people stay home and do not show up we may well see some changes. They will be based on local campaign dynamics and by-election realities, but they do not necessarily make a trend. Any local by-election change in party representation will be a wake up call for the PCs particularly if they lose Calgary Elbow to the Liberals and Drumheller-Stettler to the Alliance. All politics are local and by-elections are the epitome of that truism.

In the meantime Premier Stelmach has some refocusing and serious short term fixing to do based on sound principles of good government and long term planning not just the short game of partisan politics. He is very capable but he best get at it. Change is in the air...his election as Progressive Conservative leader has already proven that...but that was just the beginning. No doubt there are lots more changes yet to come so it is time to get ahead of the curve and design the changes - or sit back and be devoured by them.