Wildrose Alliance Party President Quits - On the Eve of an Election!

I know Rob James, not all that well, but I do know he is not a quitter. However, James, the former Wildrose Party founder, and until now, founding President of the Wildrose Alliance of Alberta Party. He just quit as President of the new merged party. Strange!

James quit as President of the WRAP saying the merger of the Wildrose Party and the Alliance Party was “a merger in name only.”

This is pretty tough for this new political group to take as they boldly set out to take down Ed Stelmach. Like so many other examples the far right seems to be most adept at disemboweling themselves as the constantly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Lots of old Alliance debt inherited in this “merged party” and not time to get a common platform. It is even tougher to round up serious and respected candidates for an election coming next week. Maybe this political juggernaut is an initiative that is better off having never happened than being late and lame.

Suncor Invests in Alberta While Some Other "Alpha Oil" Types Choose to Intimidate.

There is plenty of business and news coverage of the Suncor decision to spend $20.6B…that is right Billion with a “B” in oil sands operations and expansions. Full disclosure, I hold shares in the company and have done work for Suncor in the past but not presently.

This company continues to show quality leadership and management and a demonstrable commitment to improved corporate social responsibility. They are not perfect but they get it and they work hard on getting it right taking to heart an integrated triple bottom line approach. In addition to this increased investment announcement, I see Suncor has also renegotiated its royalty contract with Alberta. Some business writers and industry commentators said the Alberta government was “tearing up contracts” with Suncor and Syncrude as part of the royalty changes. Not so and never was. This negotiated agreemetn revision proves that such hype was misleading and perhaps even intentionally by some.

Last October and November in response to the “Our Fair Share” Hunter royalty review expert panel recommendations “Big Alpha Oil” used intimidation tactics on workers, suppliers, communities and the Premier. The were saying that recommended royalty increase that merely put Canada and Alberta as the second lowest takers on the planet would devastate the industry and they would be leaving the province.

Well for a few weeks some actually did cut capital and exploration budgets but not nearly as drastically as they threatened and those decisions were made in light of market realities and taken long before the “Our Fair Share” report came out anyway. They moved some activity to Saskatchewan, which a good thing. They seemed to think it was their oil and gas and not Albertan’s oil and gas. That is a big mistake.

Now we see the most aggressive of the ENGO's shifting focus away from forestry and on to big oil, Alberta's oil sands in particular. We knew this was coming as early as the spring of 2005 when we did some work for the Alberta forest industry. The ENGO's we worked with then said that was their new strategy...and it is now happening.

With these announcements, Suncor steps up and shows leadership and wisdom - once again. This is not the first time Rick George has shown competence and class as a major corporate CEO. When the energy and manufacturing industries got twisted out of shape over the potential dire impacts on the economy due to the Kyoto Protocol, Suncor stayed out of the silliness. After a few months however, Suncor’s CEO said that they had calculated the cost impact of Kyoto in its Canadians operations and it was pennies on the barrel. Suncor said it could absorb that level of additional cost. Within days the din of dire consequences from the other aggitators and fearmongers, who were playing politics more than economics, were silenced and they slide quietly into the background and off the radar screen.

There are lots of examples of why big business has trust, respect and credibility issues with the public. But when we see a good example of a corporation and leadership that shows it is worthy of trust and respect, we have to applaud it. Suncor is consistently such an entity and an exemplar for others to emulate. Good on them!

Stelmach is Heading for the Hustings on Monday February 4th

My little birds tell me the Alberta election Writ gets dropped on Monday February 4th after the Throne Speech. Bundle up Alberta because candidates will be knocking on your doors and sticking signs on your lawns in the dead of winter. They will want to talk about the best possible future for the province and why they are the best way to get there.

There will be differences of opinion to understand, choices to be considered and judgements to be made. Citizens will have to be engaged and get self-informed as to who they think will be best to position our province for the challenges ahead.

Today there is a serious disconnect between Alberta’s opinion and thought leaders and our political and powerful economic elites. Our recent oil sands survey results show that disconnect most dramatically. Albertans want a more reasoned, integrated and sustainable approach to our growth, not just growth for its own sake and at any cost. With oil at $100 a barrel, traditional cost controls have not been effective as a market restraint for energy projects. Other factors will have to come into play,

Albertans clearly want growth but they also want a new definition of success that includes a greater focus on ecological integrity. They want attention paid and solutions found to the wide range of serious societal needs that an overheated economy has brought to Alberta. They also want better quality decision making at the political and policy level.

That is the challenge facing political candidates in this election. It is more than winning the election. It is also about proving to citizens through their platforms and proposals for the future that they “get it.” Even after proving that they get it, citizens will be looking at the various leaders and local candidates to judge if they have the personal capacity, ability and energy to be effective and to actually do something about “it.”

In 1993 Albertans “got it” that the province had a serious spending problem that was unsustainable. Laurence Decore, as Leader of the Opposition, stood up in the Legislature with his wallet held high above his head. He declared Alberta did not have a revenue problem, it had a spending problem, and that resonated with the feelings Albertans. The newly selected PC leader and then Premier, Ralph Klein, saw this happening and he jumped in from of that parade. As a result he was perceived as the political guy who best “got it” in those days. The rest, as they say, is history.

Today Albertans are once again way ahead of their politicians. We have yet to see the crystallizing moment for Albertans as we did to spur on the debt and deficit thrust of the 1990’s. It will come. In politics it always does. The moment came close with the release of the Our Fair Share Royalty Review Report. That however was way too complex a set of issues to become the crystallizing moment.

My guess that crystallizing political moment will come during this elections. It will be around ecology, wildlife habitat, climate change and the oil sands. These all relate in some way or other but there will be one shining moment when the emergent becomes both the important and the urgent in the hearts and minds of the voters. At that moment politics, policy and purpose in the role and responsibility of our government will shift dramatically.

As a result politics will become more meaningful again to everyday Albertans. Hopefully politicians will be allowed to be curious, exploratory and to show their humanity in ways that are authentic and genuine - not just media mobilized mush. Democracy will be better and social needs will return to the policy agenda along with the economy and the environment. If the happens we will all be better for it, you, me and our kids, will be the beneficiaries from this renewed and improved sense of purposefully engaged citizenship.

Citizens and Cynicism - Post Redux

I recently revisited some previous posts I have done on this blog. We face an imminent Alberta election and an inevitable Federal election. Under the circumstances I felt this post from August 2006 was worth a revisit and a reflection .

http://ken-chapman.blogspot.com/2006/08/has-citizenship-and-cynicism-become.html

Cynicism is an easy way out. Citizenship is harder to do. We need a more engaged and informed citizenry...especially at election time. I hope Albertans will throw off the cloak of cynicism and take up the challenge of active, engaged and informed citizen. With the Internet, websites and Blogs, it has never been easier.

Alberta Innovation Fund Invests $2M for Enhanced Rural SuperNet Access

The Alberta Government "Access to the Future" Fund has just announced a $2million SuperNet connectivity investment to a consortium partnership of Alberta social agencies. This innovative project is the collective effort of the Community Learning Network, Literacy Alberta and Volunteer Alberta. Full Disclosure, my firm, Cambridge Strategies Inc. was retained by the consortium to assist in developing the project design and proposal development.

The consortium project will focus on bringing SuperNet capacity and connectivity to communities and individuals throughout Alberta. Rural communities and groups who engage early will benefit the most from this investment because of enhanced community and individual access to the SuperNet.

Rural Alberta will have improved quantity, quality, convenience and access to a wide range of learning and other opportunities through this initiative. The project outcomes will ensure distance and time will no longer be a barrier. Access to the SuperNet will improve communication and connectivity capacity for groups and individuals all over Alberta, including and enabling more urban and rural networking .

The project will also provide technical resources and supports to enable an integrated and standard platform for the consortium to deliver enhanced Community Adult Learning Programs, Volunteer Adult Literacy Services and information and programs to Volunteers Centres across the province. Individuals and groups across the province will be able to use this enhanced SuperNet access and capacity for more sharing, networking, video-conferencing and holding web-based net-meetings.

This social entrepreneurial project will have spin off benefits that will also enhance rural-based businesses and professionals. By adapting and adopting the SuperNet technology connectivity, rural-based businesses will be able to grow and generate more opportunities. Rural entrepreneurs will have access tomuch larger markets because location will not be the limiting factor it used to be as time and distance is “virtually” eliminated through SuperNet access.

This project is going to be a paradigm shift that will add to the overall viability, vibrancy and quality of living in communities all over rural Alberta. Having a critical mass of population will no longer be a critical factor for continued community viability and sustainability as a result of this innovative approach to enhanced SuperNet access.