Minister's Biker Girlfriend is Not a Security Risk

Let me get this straight. The Minister of Foreign Affairs (sic) has a girlfriend who was married to a well known and convicted mobster and formerly in a relationship with another who was killed before he got to trial. This is a private matter and “none of our business” and not a security risk according to the Prime Minister.


Our government does not know where 41000 at large deportees are and they presume they left Canada when we rejected them status and because they must be honourable folks.

Now tell me again just who is not a leader?

Politicians who are that naive, lack a modicum of judgment and are self-delusional are not fit to govern.

Western Canadians - Including Albertans - Are Moving to the Center.

I really appreciate the good work the Canada West Foundation does. The recent study from the CWF provides proves my admiration is well founded as they provide more clarity as to the direction western Canadians want to go on some 15 public policy issue they studied.

The findings are very interesting and show a shift in public consciousness squarely toward the social infrastructure deficit and looking for a more activist government to invest qualitatively in the future prosperity in a knowledge economy.

The most significant finding is the consistency on the top public policy issues for all four western provinces. We all agree across the west that the top three public policy issues being improving health care (77.2%) doing more to protect the environment (74.9%) and doing more to reduce poverty (71.7%). These findings are consistent with a conjoint research project we did in the fall of 2006 during the Progressive Conservative leadership campaign.

The growing public concern over dealing with poverty issues surprised most people back then. The greater concern for Aboriginal social issues (44.3%) and creating employment opportunities for Aboriginal people (43.9%) over attracting skilled workers from other countries (31.3%) is illustrating a shift the social infrastructure deficit as a critical issue as well.

Alberta and BC align on the next priority of issues with concerns about investments in post-secondary education (61.9%), transportation and infrastructure (58.1%) plus science and technology (57.1%) are ranked as more important than lowering personal income taxes (55.1%). Expect TILMA to assist in this regard.

Westerners are all still big on the free market economy with 6 out of 10 wanting government to stay out of the economy but still 78.8% of us want government to protect rural economies. There is enormous support for activist government in using tax incentives for supporting resource industry, science and technology and increasing R&D funding as well as putting money into universities for hiring top researchers. Albertans are at the very top of the push in these areas. Ironic really, given that the previous government’s mantra of “government on being in the business of being in business.”

There are some storm clouds indicated about acceptability of high levels of foreign investment. Only 49.2% support and 46.7% oppose this trend and the highest support is not from Alberta but recognize the differences between provinces are not statistically significant. Times are good in Alberta and the west generally. This all may change if the economy changes dramatically.

CWF’s concluding remarks really nails the essence of the research when they say “ Western Canadians’ top public policy priorities are decidedly non-economic: while addressing issues of health care, the environment, poverty and greenhouse gas emissions may have economic dimensions, they are not economic policy areas.” They go on to note “…there are a wide range of areas in which western Canadians are supportive of government action and intervention.”

Squaring this circle of free enterprisers and activitist government is done by the CWF who point out only 2 of 10 strongly agree for government to stay out of the free market, at least “…suggesting that almost 8 in 10 are open to government economic intervention in selected areas.”

Westerners, including Albertans, have moved on from the past harsh economic policies and the far right political focus of reducing government capacity to simply lower taxes. The new Stelmach government clearly has a sense of this and is adjusting accordingly. Lots to do and fiscal prudence is still the overarching principle but we need to do more for those less able to help themselves in the brave new world of western Canada.

Why Are Alberta Opposition Parties Blaming Voters the Election Results?

The talk of a new political party or the merger of the Alberta Liberal and the NDP in response to the recent Stelmach Progressive Conservative landslide majority is interesting but if it is reactive it will not get any momentum.

The gnashing of Liberal and NDP teeth after the last election results was more like they were blaming Alberta voters for electing the Stelmach versions of a Progressive Conservative government. They bemoaned that 20% of total of eligible Albertans selected the Stelmach government. Stelmach actually got over 50% of the 41% of eligible voters who bothered to show up on election day.

The Alberta results could also be legitimately framed that the majority of voting Albertans selected Stelmach and it is worth noting only two political parties showed an increase in their popular vote, the Progressive Conservative and the Green Party of Alberta. The rejection of the Alberta Liberals and the NDP means they need to look at themselves instead of blaming the voter or the apathetic Alberta for the performance of their parties in these election results.

Still the opposition parties and vested interest groups wailed and moaned that these election results were unacceptable and somehow undemocratic and the low participation actually diminished the PC mandate. That is utter nonsense.

That kind of reaction from the losers was just insulting the Albertans who had considered the options, made a decision on who to vote for and then took the time to show up and vote. Those engaged Albertan made their preferences known about who they wanted to grant consent to govern the province. It was not the Alberta Liberals or the NDP. The right to vote is a moral duty and not a legal obligation. Enough said!

That said, there is still a problem that threatens our democracy when only 41% of the population could be bothered to vote in the first place. That is not going to be solved by blaming the voter or arranging a shotgun marriage of the Alberta Liberal and the NDP. Even worse is the “solution” of some who are calling a strategic machination to reduce the democratic choices for Alberta voters. This is the end result of the proposal that the Alberta Liberals and NDP collude and not run candidates against each other in certain close ridings to avoid splitting votes.

Instead the oppositions parties ought to be look at ways they can offer Albertan’s a better government through better leadership, better candidates and more resonate platforms. Tinkering with the system with schemes like Proportional Representation is another folly of political parties who just can’t cut it with the electorate.

We need a strong opposition. They help make government better, more accountable and more effective and can provide voters with choices and alternatives. That is the job of the opposition and they need to get on with it. They should quit trying to change the rules and stop blaming voters or apathy for their own shortcoming. More opposition members is an obvious “solution” but remember the four-man NDP Caucus last session was pretty damn effective by all counts.

Reality is when Albertans what more opposition member it will elect them. In the meantime opposition parties should refocus and get serious about being an effective opposition and an acceptable alternative for Albertans if they ever want to govern us. So far they look like they just want to whine about not getting political power.

Syncrude Apologizes - Alberta Investigates - Albertans Expect More

The media’s, special interest groups and citizens mistrust of authority and power is showing itself in follow up coverage on the ducks on toxic ponds stories. The apology advertising by Syncrude in major newspapers over the weekend is not a request for absolution but an acknowledgement of culpability and an undertaking to do better.

The front page newspaper coverage on the weekend shows that the newsworthiness of an acknowledgement by Premier Stelmach that the apology will not stop the probe and investigation. Stelmach is quoted as saying he appreciates the apology “but done not necessarily accept it.” He has promised to ensure “…once the investigation is complete it will be shared with Albertans.”

The ENGO quotes in these stories are casting more doubts on the oil sands companies “management of their waste products” emerging from the “On Tailings Pond” incident is more proof of this endemic mistrust.

Syncrude is promising to do better. Alberta’s international image is tarnished. The linking of Alberta’s claim of “Mission Accomplished” to Washington DC legislators about the ecological integrity of our oil sands to Bush’s similar claim a couple of years ago about Iraq is more collateral damage.

Syncrude is still looking for distressed ducks and have sent three more to Edmonton for care. Of the original five ducks rescued only one has survived and indications are the next three are in better shape and early indications all of them will survive.

Now ConnoPhillips has reported that eight migratory birds had settled on a pond at its Surmount oil sands project and one loon was found dead, although the cause was unclear but they are quoted as “taking this very seriously.” I would not be surprised to see more such admissions from other sources in the near future.

The most important comment made by Syncrude and the Premier on this situation to date was that both parties are working to “ensure” that it does not happen again. Syncrude’s ad said: “We understand you expect the best from Syncrude in environmental management and the protection of wildlife. It’s a value that we share, and we are committed to making the necessary changes opt our long-established practices to help ensure a sad event like this never happens again.”

This is all further acknowledgement of the new expectation levels of the public for ensurance on not just insurance or assurance has been noted in the blog before. There is nothing totally ensurable so that prevention is 100% effective in the world today. But without assuming a higher standard of ecological care we will merely continue to degrade and destroy the environment for the sake of growth and artificial short-sighted “wealth creation.”

This lack of an integrated and long-term approach that respects the social and biological ecology as an integral part of resource development is an unacceptable state of affairs to any thinking Albertan. We citizen/owners/voters have to stay engaged if this is going to really happen.

Looks Like Albertan's Are Back to Being "Blue-Eyed Arabs"

I find gems every now and then in Hansard. Most of my readers have lives and do not spend a lot of time on the detailed happenings in the Legislature, I do for professional reasons and often come across these gems. I will share them from time to time.

One that struck me was Kevin Taft's speech in reply to the Budget. He puts the petroleum wealth of Alberta in terms of how much there is for each Albertan. Our total reserves may be second to Saudi Arabia, which I would dispute - the Saudi's have not really updated reserve estimates for decades. Kevin Taft put reserve comparisons in per capita terms. Here is an excerpt from his speech on April 23rd:

Dr. Kevin Taft Alberta Liberal Leader - MLA Edmonton Riverview
"Alberta’s petroleum riches are even more impressive when measured against Alberta’s small population; on a per capita basis Alberta has 51,900 barrels of recoverable oil reserves, tops in the world. In other words, for our small population, per capita we have the largest oil reserves
in the world. Second is Kuwait, then the United Arab Emirates, and then Qatar. Saudi Arabia, which we always assume is incredibly wealthy in petroleum, actually ranks fifth on a list of petroleum wealth per capita. Alberta ranks first."

"I think that’s something we should all remember when we’re weighing out how we manage this
wealth. Now, that’s just oil reserves. If you add in natural gas reserves, our wealth rises even higher. Natural gas reserves are almost 57 trillion cubic feet, and there’s perhaps another 500 trillion cubic feet of coal-bed methane. So we have here staggering wealth."

Iris Evans in a recent speech to the Edmonton Glenora and Riverview PC party faithful noted this "managing our future, savings and long term investment policy" is going to be the focus of her time as Alberta's Minister of Finance. By the looks of it Albertans will need a new mind set to think long term. Adopting a Genuine Progress Indicator model of measuring real growth - not just GDP would be a great place to start a change of mind set.