Worthy Websites if the Environment is Your Alberta Ballot Question

There is no clear “ballot question” going into the Alberta election. The Alberta Liberals are basically saying 37 years is enough so change to us. The NDP is saying Alberta is out of control and a socialist approach to controlling us is the best option. The Greens are well…too green experience-wise not Green wise. The Wildrose Alliance is just too wild and wooly in their thinking.

My bet is we will see a variety of ballot questions form various places, sectors and value segments spread all through Alberta. One of the leading ballot question contenders will be the environment.

As an Alberta Progressive Conservative I really want to see Ed Stelmach wearing his farm based stewardship values on his sleeve. I want him to put conservation principles back into Alberta's conservative politics. Conservative politics used to be almost exclusively related to fiscal issues but has been hijacked by the social conservative agenda for far too long. Equating conservative with conservation in this growing ecological consciousness of Alberta is a much better emphasis as to what it means (should mean) to be an Alberta conservative in a modern and progressive context.

If that resonates with you, Conservation Voters of Alberta is a site worth book marking and/or adding to your favourites for future reference. It promises to be informative and knowing some of the people behind this effort…it will be comprehensive too!

While you are at it, visit the "My Vote is for the Environment" site too...and become a regular visitor for info and updates. It too will be worth your time.

Dave Hancock Starts Candidate Blog - Other Candidates Starting Too.

So Dave Hancock (Edmonton Whitemud) has entered the blogosphere and is posting as The Daily Dave. Sweet. I see Janet Hancock has done the most recent post. Lots to talk about in any election campaign and with -30 it is tough to get at the doors – but all candidates are up for that and into it.

A candidate blog is going to be a pretty good supplement to door knocking I think. I know PC candidates Wendy Andrews (Edmonton Riverview) and Heather Klimchuk (Edmonton Glenora) are starting up candidate blogs too. I will let you know how to connect to them shortly

Check out Dave Hancock's Blog and be a regular reader. If I know Dave, and I do, it will be a read well worth your time.

Daveberta and Ken Chapman Get Ready to Rumble on CITYTV Next Friday Morning

So the uber-Blogger Daveberta and I go head to head next Friday morning on CITY TV in Edmonton punditing and pontificating about things electoral in Alberta.

I am the PC but not like the one in the now famous Malcolm Mayes cartoon in the Edmonton Journal. My brand of PC is PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE.

If you are not familiar with the cartoon, you need to be. Dave is using all over his site as his personal Brand...kinda like Donald Trump's comb-over. Check it out there.

Round One starts live at 7:40 am on the Breakfast Show. Good thing I am a morning person.

Nice to see Hill & Knowlton (the competition…?) linking to this blog. Smart people hanging out over there.


YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST.

McCAIN is a lead pipe cinch for the Republican nomination and his VP nominee?

That will be Rudy Giuliani…count on it. Remember you heard it here first.

Come on CBC - You're Too Good for This Tripe

I am intrigued by the CBC report on “issue framing” around Mr. Ron Wood, the retired and former press secretary of former and retired Preston Manning, former leader of the former and retired federal Reform Party.

I have no problem with "retired" folks, and "former" folks expressing opinions or voting however they wish. But to suggest the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta under the new leadership of Ed Stelmach is “tired, old and complacent and need some time in exile” is just too rich and wantonly rhetorical. It just does not reflect any reasonable sense of reality!!!

If the Stelmach government is “tired, old and complacent” then how do you account for Stelmach’s considerable political and policy accomplishments of the past year? His new accomplishment and the fixing of the old mess left behind were so numerous and so significant that they outstripped the entire policy program and performance of the last 8 years of the Klein regime - substantially.

To suggest the PC Caucus that is tired, old and complacent, if it holds any truth, which I reject; it is mostly because of those MLAs who have announced their retirement. No doubt many are retiring as a result of the change in leadership and that is a normal renewal process. Not everyone who is retiring fits the description of tired, old and complacent but some do. But that has nothing to do with Stelmach’s capacity for good governing.

I have no problem with Mr. Wood publicly supporting a Liberal candidate. That is his right. I have done it myself, federally, with Anne McLellan. To suggest a federal Reform Party operative who is voting Liberal provincially is not shifting allegiances. For one reason, it is not just different parties but entirely different jurisdictions.

There is no affiliation between the federal Reform Party and the provincial PCs so how is this endorsment a shift of allegiances? Voting PC, or for any other party, is hardly enough to conclude that a citizen has declared an allegiance to a political party. Voting is nothing more than a right of citizenship – it is not a declaration of party allegiance.

There is no indication from the CBC piece that Mr. Wood was ever active in the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party either. To assume his retired and former role in the former Reform Party is equivalent to an allegiance to the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party is misleading. They have nothing to do with each other.

It would be equally misleading if the Wood story were framed by the CBC in such a way to claim that he has shifted his allegiance away from Stephen Harper’s federal Conservatives because he is voting Liberal in an Alberta provincial election. That would also be pure balderdash.

Mr. Wood can vote for whomever he likes and for what ever reasons he chooses. But to characterize his vote from Federal Reform to provincial Liberal as a shift of allegiance is a stretch beyond any measure of reasonableness. Mr. Wood's other gratuitous comments accusing Stelmach of leading a "tired, old and complacent" government is equally unreasonable and belied by the facts.

There are serious issues in this election and there are serious candidates from all parties putting forth their ideas on how to address those issues. There are real stories out there people - not this fluff! Can’t we focus our coverage efforts in this campaign on actually trying to identify the impact and import of those issues and ideas? Can’t we put some rigour into our media commentary and talk about the effectiveness of the various ideas and try to bring some clarity to complex issues. Can't we focus on exploring the implications the real issues and stories may hold for the future of Alberta?

Being tedious, trite, misleading and truly irrelevant like the voting choices story of Mr. Wood are a waste of CBC time and talent. CBC may not be the only MSM to “cover” this but I am a big fan of Mother Corp. When I see them decline to this level of political "coverage" I don’t just despair, I get disappointed.

Daveberta Cleans UP at 2007 Canadian Blog Awards

Daveberta has won the Canadian Blog awards…CORRECTION. Daveberta has cleaned up at the 2007 Canadian Blog awards. He has been voted the 2007 Best Progressive Blogger, the Best Political Blogger and the Best Blogosphere Citizen.

Dave is a talented and quality guy and has a devilish sense of humour. Just ask the Premier's Office. I can’t help thinking that in spite of it all those personal and blogger qualities, that Dave owes a bunch of this Canadian Blog Awards success to EdStelmach.ca -whoever he is :~}.

Ralph Klein once made Kevin Taft as best selling author over one of his book length policy pamphlets. Klein sold a truck load of Taft’s books by calling Dr. T a Communist. “Plus change…etc.”

Congratulations Dave – well deserved.

Now get ready my friend. I understand you and I get to politically rumble on the CityTV Breakfast Show a few times in this election. Watch this space to dates and times.