Last year I worked with a consortium of NGO health agencies in Alberta. We were successful in getting legislated smoking bans in public and work places, elimination of tobacco sale power walls and as of Jan 1, no tobacco sales in pharmacies.
Reports indicate this new legislation is working. Tobacco tax revenues are down in spite of a recent tax increase. This kind of prevention measure will save the health system money and improve the quality of life for everyone. Well maybe not for those poor souls who are freezing on the sidewalks at -30 and still puffing away. I wonder if the recession will help some more Albertans to get serious about quitting?
Alberta was one of the last provinces to get on the ball with this kind of legislated health prevention effort. With the change in Progressive Conservative Party leadership we have seen some interesting progressive policy efforts like this...and my other favourate public funding of midwifery. Again Alberta was a laggard. Better late than never.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Gas Prices Are Low BUT a Crunch is Coming
For all those who think climate change is someone else's problem and far enough in the future that we don't need to get serious about it now I recommend you read Dan Gardner's column in the papers today.
Keeping Our Cool: Canada in a Warming World
Along with the rest of Alberta, I am huddle at home, caught in the grasp of a serious but blessed Pine Beetle killing cold spell. I was pleased with my surfing this morning to run across an intelligent piece of commentary on climate change in the U of A student newspaper The Gateway.
There was a recent on-campus lecture by Dr Andrew Weaver, professor and Canadian chair in climate modelling and analysis in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria, our province hardly deserves the sole blame.
Here is what hooked me into a deeper consideration of what is happening and what needs to change about how we view climate change, including Alberta:
“Most of us don’t read the peer-reviewed literature. We’re not going to go to journals and read about the latest research in a particular area. We’re going to get science knowledge—and this includes media in most areas of science—by going to the newspaper, the television, and radio,” he noted.
The problem with that, as Weaver sees it, is that the media has a tendency to be inaccurate in their depiction of the facts. His second critique was centered around the fact that most media personalities aren’t scientists.
“I’m not making fun of the media, but rather, through these extreme examples, [I want] to show how difficult it is to convey this science to an audience, and how it can be exploited by individuals who know how the media works,” he remarked.
Eventually delving into the real issue at hand—global warming—and its ability to shape the future of this world, Weaver was blunt in his assertion that at this point, there are just some realities that can’t be escaped."
Here is the link to the rest of The Gateway piece.
I guess I have another book to read over Christmas now Weaver’s recent book, Keeping Our Cool: Canada in a Warming World.
There was a recent on-campus lecture by Dr Andrew Weaver, professor and Canadian chair in climate modelling and analysis in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria, our province hardly deserves the sole blame.
Here is what hooked me into a deeper consideration of what is happening and what needs to change about how we view climate change, including Alberta:
“Most of us don’t read the peer-reviewed literature. We’re not going to go to journals and read about the latest research in a particular area. We’re going to get science knowledge—and this includes media in most areas of science—by going to the newspaper, the television, and radio,” he noted.
The problem with that, as Weaver sees it, is that the media has a tendency to be inaccurate in their depiction of the facts. His second critique was centered around the fact that most media personalities aren’t scientists.
“I’m not making fun of the media, but rather, through these extreme examples, [I want] to show how difficult it is to convey this science to an audience, and how it can be exploited by individuals who know how the media works,” he remarked.
Eventually delving into the real issue at hand—global warming—and its ability to shape the future of this world, Weaver was blunt in his assertion that at this point, there are just some realities that can’t be escaped."
Here is the link to the rest of The Gateway piece.
I guess I have another book to read over Christmas now Weaver’s recent book, Keeping Our Cool: Canada in a Warming World.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
More "Truthiness" From the Harper-Cons.
I don’t trust Stephen Harper and I don’t trust Jim Flaherty. They don’t tell the truth. They have done nothing by mislead and lie and fudge the facts about the real state and pending prospects of our economy. Now they are changing their story – yet again. They are moving from a minimalist economic growth myth in the last “FU Canada” (fiscal update for the uninitiated) to and even smaller marginal projection of a deficit and recession. Which political motivated myth is the reality? What are we to believe and who can we trust to give it to us straight?
These guys are nothing more than silver-tongued fiscal devils that are always shifting their share of the blame (with apologies to Kris Kristofferson). They have squandered all benefit of the public’s doubt in their integrity and ability, and even intention, to govern. They have given us their false promises that are just pockets full of political mumbles and vainglorious lies (with apologies to Paul Simon).
Thanks to their inconsistencies we don’t know what the true state of the Canadian economy is because these guys are constantly fudging the facts for partisan political purposes. They were playing pure politics in the recent election when they trumpeted that the Canadian economic fundamentals were strong. The clear implication was that if we voted for the “superior ability of the Conservatives to manage the economy” we would weather the storm and not be caught in the US recession (cum depression?). What a load of crap that was! Thanks to these guys we are now scrambling to get a handle on what is really coming at our economy and what it means for our future.
Only when the Harper-Cons faced the threat of losing political power did they change their story. Only then did they feigned to reform and revise their reign of truthiness. Does anyone who is thoughtful and informed on the issues we face believe Harper any more about anything? Does anyone anymore think the Harper government is working for us? Does anyone anymore feel like he is being accountable and transparent with Canadians? Does anyone anymore feel they are informed about what is actually going on in this government about anything and in particular the economy? Does anyone anymore believe the Harper government is capable of admitting its mistakes and adapting its approach to new realities and new information? Does anyone anymore believe that the Harper government is making decisions based on facts instead of political expediency?
By the way, those questions are “some of the intangibles” that Barrack Obama announced yesterday that he wanted to be judged on in the first two years of his Presidency. My God we are badly governed in this country. Wake up and stay awake Canada! It is time to make our politicians pay attention to the needs of the country and its citizens – not just their own personal purposes of preserving political power.
These guys are nothing more than silver-tongued fiscal devils that are always shifting their share of the blame (with apologies to Kris Kristofferson). They have squandered all benefit of the public’s doubt in their integrity and ability, and even intention, to govern. They have given us their false promises that are just pockets full of political mumbles and vainglorious lies (with apologies to Paul Simon).
Thanks to their inconsistencies we don’t know what the true state of the Canadian economy is because these guys are constantly fudging the facts for partisan political purposes. They were playing pure politics in the recent election when they trumpeted that the Canadian economic fundamentals were strong. The clear implication was that if we voted for the “superior ability of the Conservatives to manage the economy” we would weather the storm and not be caught in the US recession (cum depression?). What a load of crap that was! Thanks to these guys we are now scrambling to get a handle on what is really coming at our economy and what it means for our future.
Only when the Harper-Cons faced the threat of losing political power did they change their story. Only then did they feigned to reform and revise their reign of truthiness. Does anyone who is thoughtful and informed on the issues we face believe Harper any more about anything? Does anyone anymore think the Harper government is working for us? Does anyone anymore feel like he is being accountable and transparent with Canadians? Does anyone anymore feel they are informed about what is actually going on in this government about anything and in particular the economy? Does anyone anymore believe the Harper government is capable of admitting its mistakes and adapting its approach to new realities and new information? Does anyone anymore believe that the Harper government is making decisions based on facts instead of political expediency?
By the way, those questions are “some of the intangibles” that Barrack Obama announced yesterday that he wanted to be judged on in the first two years of his Presidency. My God we are badly governed in this country. Wake up and stay awake Canada! It is time to make our politicians pay attention to the needs of the country and its citizens – not just their own personal purposes of preserving political power.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Reflections on a Black Swann in Alberta Politics
I am reassured that a man like David Swann can win a political party leadership in a place like Alberta. Getting 54% of the less than 5000 votes is not sign that Swann is seen as the “game changer” that many politically frustrated Albertans are looking for. I am not sure a game changer is what we need anymore. The game has already changed. We now need a pioneering leader who can help us adapt to a very different and difficult human journey.
I don’t know if David is a game changer but he may be a mapmaker who charts a new course for politics in Alberta. We are sailing into unknown territory economically, ecologically and socially all over the globe. Alberta may be more blessed and less stressed than many other places but we are not immune from the new realities of recession and restructuring. The game has changed and so must our politics.
The early mapmakers described the as yet unknown parts of the world as “There be Dragons.” It is an apt metaphor for today as we venture into this new sense of the unknown. I call it “Vueja Day.” That funny feeling nobody has ever been here before.
The new world order is going to challenge our conventional narratives and business-as-usual model of politics. We have emerging and imminent challenges that we have created by enabling greed and the centralized political power that has been abdicating its oversight roles and responsibilities in the economy, the environment and even in our social institutions.
We are at a stage where we can’t solve the complex problems coming at us by applying the old cultural norms and institutional levers. That is because they are not simple not responsive enough, applicable enough nor adaptive enough. Our conventional tools of government, our traditional definition of success and our current decision making models are actually adding to the problems, not resolving them. We see more political bungling and lost opportunities as a result. We have our “leaders” posturing to avoid accountability, transparency and responsibility. We see more squandering of our scarce resources with disingenuous politicians who are good at feigning that they care as they fail to provide adaptive leadership in the face of the new dynamics.
Alberta seems to many like a political mono-cultural and a one-party state. That may have been Alberta’s past but I don’t think that is Alberta’s future. The Alberta narrative is about to change significantly. The myth of the rugged self-reliant individual, risk-taking wealth generating entrepreneur who exploits the abundant natural resources for big bucks will not go away. But it will not be the only narrative that defines Alberta going forward. If it is the only operational narrative, then Alberta will quickly fail because we will fail to adapt to the new realities of the post hydrocarbon world that is confronting us.
If there is no post hydrocarbon world coming at us, then Alberta will still fail. We will just fail along with the rest of our species as the planet heats up and we slavishly seek to keep to our illusions and delusions that tomorrow will be a variation of yesterday…regardless of evidence to the contrary. The world will go on, perhaps without us, but the planet will not care one way or the other, if we fail to adapt and survive.
So I’m hoping David Swann is the Black Swan and the improbable exception that enables us to make new models of politics, governing and government. Our democracy is ailing and we lack political leaders who have sufficient wisdom and judgment to be life affirming. Instead we see them all to selfishly focused on preserving personal and political power. David Swann strikes me as being unselfish and life affirming. After all aren’t medical doctors all about being life affirming and in service the public good?
The educated person quickly comes to realize the more we learn the more ignorant we actually are. The wisdom of that truth has to be brought to bear on our politics and become foundational to the new operating narrative for the next Alberta. I’m thinking David Swan may be the new mapmaker that is willing to explore new ways of seeing and doing politics. He may be able to help us realize our current ignorance and actually encourage and enable us to write a new citizen-based narrative for the next Alberta.
Will he be able to lead us in ways so we start to really reengage in responsible, caring, resourceful citizenship? Will Albertans be wise and skillful enough to take on the adaptive change challenges that the new world realities demand of us?
Will David Swann be allowed to become the kind of unconventional pioneering political leader that can help us find and refine the next Alberta? Or will he just become another prophet? A prophet’s lot in life is to be stoned by the masses. Time will tell but one thing is obvious to me, we need new maps to be drawn by new mapmakers as we move forward as strangers in a strange land that is the uncertain, chaotic and complex future of the planet.
I don’t know if David is a game changer but he may be a mapmaker who charts a new course for politics in Alberta. We are sailing into unknown territory economically, ecologically and socially all over the globe. Alberta may be more blessed and less stressed than many other places but we are not immune from the new realities of recession and restructuring. The game has changed and so must our politics.
The early mapmakers described the as yet unknown parts of the world as “There be Dragons.” It is an apt metaphor for today as we venture into this new sense of the unknown. I call it “Vueja Day.” That funny feeling nobody has ever been here before.
The new world order is going to challenge our conventional narratives and business-as-usual model of politics. We have emerging and imminent challenges that we have created by enabling greed and the centralized political power that has been abdicating its oversight roles and responsibilities in the economy, the environment and even in our social institutions.
We are at a stage where we can’t solve the complex problems coming at us by applying the old cultural norms and institutional levers. That is because they are not simple not responsive enough, applicable enough nor adaptive enough. Our conventional tools of government, our traditional definition of success and our current decision making models are actually adding to the problems, not resolving them. We see more political bungling and lost opportunities as a result. We have our “leaders” posturing to avoid accountability, transparency and responsibility. We see more squandering of our scarce resources with disingenuous politicians who are good at feigning that they care as they fail to provide adaptive leadership in the face of the new dynamics.
Alberta seems to many like a political mono-cultural and a one-party state. That may have been Alberta’s past but I don’t think that is Alberta’s future. The Alberta narrative is about to change significantly. The myth of the rugged self-reliant individual, risk-taking wealth generating entrepreneur who exploits the abundant natural resources for big bucks will not go away. But it will not be the only narrative that defines Alberta going forward. If it is the only operational narrative, then Alberta will quickly fail because we will fail to adapt to the new realities of the post hydrocarbon world that is confronting us.
If there is no post hydrocarbon world coming at us, then Alberta will still fail. We will just fail along with the rest of our species as the planet heats up and we slavishly seek to keep to our illusions and delusions that tomorrow will be a variation of yesterday…regardless of evidence to the contrary. The world will go on, perhaps without us, but the planet will not care one way or the other, if we fail to adapt and survive.
So I’m hoping David Swann is the Black Swan and the improbable exception that enables us to make new models of politics, governing and government. Our democracy is ailing and we lack political leaders who have sufficient wisdom and judgment to be life affirming. Instead we see them all to selfishly focused on preserving personal and political power. David Swann strikes me as being unselfish and life affirming. After all aren’t medical doctors all about being life affirming and in service the public good?
The educated person quickly comes to realize the more we learn the more ignorant we actually are. The wisdom of that truth has to be brought to bear on our politics and become foundational to the new operating narrative for the next Alberta. I’m thinking David Swan may be the new mapmaker that is willing to explore new ways of seeing and doing politics. He may be able to help us realize our current ignorance and actually encourage and enable us to write a new citizen-based narrative for the next Alberta.
Will he be able to lead us in ways so we start to really reengage in responsible, caring, resourceful citizenship? Will Albertans be wise and skillful enough to take on the adaptive change challenges that the new world realities demand of us?
Will David Swann be allowed to become the kind of unconventional pioneering political leader that can help us find and refine the next Alberta? Or will he just become another prophet? A prophet’s lot in life is to be stoned by the masses. Time will tell but one thing is obvious to me, we need new maps to be drawn by new mapmakers as we move forward as strangers in a strange land that is the uncertain, chaotic and complex future of the planet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)