Had a great time doing a podcast at the request of the Alberta Liberals on social media and how it is changing politics. Here is the link to the podcast. Give it listen and let me know what you think about how social media can - and is - changing politics.
My sense is the impact is already dramatic. Just look at the Obama campaign. Also, we have just seen the tip of the iceberg The conventional old-school political ships-of-state command-and-control types will either hit the iceberg or they will sink even before they get there. If they sink beforehand it will be cause of they have not repaired their communications and political culture fast enough to adapt to the new world disorder on the Internet.
I have done a major piece for The Edmontonian on the reluctance of government and business to embrace social media. It will be in the February edition coming out soon.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Reboot Alberta is Doing a Citizen's Survey on Progressive Values
RebootAlberta2.0 is scheduled for February 26-28 at the Delta Lodge in Kananaskis. The Agenda for the event will be on the http://www.rebootalberta.org/ site on Monday so people can see what is about to happen around progressive politics in Alberta.
SURVEY WILL EXPLORE WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A PROGRESSIVE IN ALBERTA:
Part of the process leading up to Reboot2.0 will be an online conjoint survey designed to glean insight into the kinds of values progressives attach to their citizenship and relations with governments. The survey will force participants to make some hard value choices and tradeoffs...just llike in real life. It will help Reboot Alberta participants answer the question they posed at Reboot1.0 "What is a Progressive?" There will be a link to the survey on the Reboot Alberta site starting about Wednesday next week.
There are discussion papers and blog posts on the Reboot website exploring that same question: What is a Progressive? Here is a link to them http://www.rebootalberta.org/index.php/whats-a-progressive. I encourage you to read them and comment too. Writers and bloggers love comments and feedback.
CAN REBOOT 2.0 BE A POLITICAL GAME-CHANGER IN ALBERTA?
The focus for RB2.0 is to get individual participants to share their personal stories and concerns about the direction Alberta is heading. Conversations are game-changers but only if they have good listeners as well as opportunity to voice ones own thougths. What Reboot2.0 is going to do is get individual progressive Albertans to gop beyond talking. Progressive citizens need to start taking personal responsibility to "Press for Change" and start taking effective action to impact the political and public policy agenda in Alberta.
Cynicism and indifference are luxuries we can't afford anymore. This is especially true if the only "viable" political choices we are being offered is a far right-wing or an extreme right-wing political culture. Albertans need more options and political choices to have an effective vibrant democracy.
LOTS OF WAYS TO PARTICIPATE IN REBOOT ALBERTA:
Many of the actions Reboot people will be undertaking will be within the four Theme Streams that are emerging in the Reboot Alberta community. They are to start a new progressive political party, to pursue ways to encourage more voter participation and democratic and electoral reforms. Some want to pursue the progressive political agenda as members of the conventional political parties and governing institutions. Others in the civil society stream want to enable ane empower the not-for-profit and voluntery sector to have more respect and influence on the politics and public policy decisions in the province.
REGISTER FOR REBOOT ALBERTA:
There is lots of Buzz happening about Reboot Alberta. The Twitter hashtag #rebootab is the second most popular provincial political hastag in Canada. The website http://www.rebootalberta.org/ has had 6000 visits and almost 22,000 page views since it went live on November 27 at Reboot1.0. Not bad uptake considering this was over the Christmas holiday period. Not too shabby from a standing start for Reboot Alberta merely 2 month ago.
If you consider yourself to be a progressive thinking person concerned about the future of Alberta you will be interested in Reboot Alberta. If you want to be part of this citizen engagement movement or are just curious about whzt the fuss is all about, you should come to Reboot2.0. You can register here: http://rebootalberta.org/rsvp We are a month away from Reboot 2.0 and space and hotel rooms are limited. So if you are coming, you best get registered ASAP. I look forward to meeting many of my new virtual friends in real life in late February in K-country at RebootAlberta 2.0
SURVEY WILL EXPLORE WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A PROGRESSIVE IN ALBERTA:
Part of the process leading up to Reboot2.0 will be an online conjoint survey designed to glean insight into the kinds of values progressives attach to their citizenship and relations with governments. The survey will force participants to make some hard value choices and tradeoffs...just llike in real life. It will help Reboot Alberta participants answer the question they posed at Reboot1.0 "What is a Progressive?" There will be a link to the survey on the Reboot Alberta site starting about Wednesday next week.
There are discussion papers and blog posts on the Reboot website exploring that same question: What is a Progressive? Here is a link to them http://www.rebootalberta.org/index.php/whats-a-progressive. I encourage you to read them and comment too. Writers and bloggers love comments and feedback.
CAN REBOOT 2.0 BE A POLITICAL GAME-CHANGER IN ALBERTA?
The focus for RB2.0 is to get individual participants to share their personal stories and concerns about the direction Alberta is heading. Conversations are game-changers but only if they have good listeners as well as opportunity to voice ones own thougths. What Reboot2.0 is going to do is get individual progressive Albertans to gop beyond talking. Progressive citizens need to start taking personal responsibility to "Press for Change" and start taking effective action to impact the political and public policy agenda in Alberta.
Cynicism and indifference are luxuries we can't afford anymore. This is especially true if the only "viable" political choices we are being offered is a far right-wing or an extreme right-wing political culture. Albertans need more options and political choices to have an effective vibrant democracy.
LOTS OF WAYS TO PARTICIPATE IN REBOOT ALBERTA:
Many of the actions Reboot people will be undertaking will be within the four Theme Streams that are emerging in the Reboot Alberta community. They are to start a new progressive political party, to pursue ways to encourage more voter participation and democratic and electoral reforms. Some want to pursue the progressive political agenda as members of the conventional political parties and governing institutions. Others in the civil society stream want to enable ane empower the not-for-profit and voluntery sector to have more respect and influence on the politics and public policy decisions in the province.
REGISTER FOR REBOOT ALBERTA:
There is lots of Buzz happening about Reboot Alberta. The Twitter hashtag #rebootab is the second most popular provincial political hastag in Canada. The website http://www.rebootalberta.org/ has had 6000 visits and almost 22,000 page views since it went live on November 27 at Reboot1.0. Not bad uptake considering this was over the Christmas holiday period. Not too shabby from a standing start for Reboot Alberta merely 2 month ago.
If you consider yourself to be a progressive thinking person concerned about the future of Alberta you will be interested in Reboot Alberta. If you want to be part of this citizen engagement movement or are just curious about whzt the fuss is all about, you should come to Reboot2.0. You can register here: http://rebootalberta.org/rsvp We are a month away from Reboot 2.0 and space and hotel rooms are limited. So if you are coming, you best get registered ASAP. I look forward to meeting many of my new virtual friends in real life in late February in K-country at RebootAlberta 2.0
Friday, January 22, 2010
What Zwozdesky is Doing in Health Must Also be Done in PDD
Minister of Health Gene Zwozdesky first days on the job have been significant, and I have to say, reassuring. Stopping bed closures is one thing. Taking back control of the healthcare system into the government is even better. The bluster and bulling culture of the past years has done nothing to get those who work in the system to help the province accomplish the goals it has set out. Zwozdesky has not likely doing this without the support of the Premier.
I am wondering just how much the Whitemud Citizen’s Forum on Health Care rally a few days ago had on reversing the attitude of the government towards providing healthcare services. Dave Hancock had the largest margin of victory for any PC candidate in the last election. His constituents came out in droves to express their frustration and dissatisfaction with their government. So maybe, just maybe, the message got through that the bullying, intimidation and heartless approach to providing public services to citizens who need help is not winning friends. It was sure influencing people – and they are starting to show up and talking back.
So now we need the same Zwozdesky decisiveness and caring to infiltrate the Department of Seniors and Community Services. The last time this department was understood and had a champion in government was when Zwozdesky was the Minister. He understood the role of the department. He had compassion for the people it served and he was able to provide accountability for the taxpayer dollar too. He was well respected by the professionals in the field then too. In fact I have seen letters from Zwoz that he wrote to community based not-for-profit volunteer supported service provider agencies for persons with developmental disabilities that they have framed and on their walls. When was the last time you saw a politicians with that much respect?
I am working on a volunteer basis helping the service provider agencies who serve Persons with Developmental Disabilities stop the final quarter claw backs of fees for services to cover off projected deficits in the Regional Boards of PDD. How is it that these regional boards appointed by government and run by CEOs who work for the Department and allegedly report to both the boards and the Minister are running deficits? They know what money they get from the province. They determine who gets what services for how much so how is it they are in deficits?
The PDD service provider agencies have been bullied and intimidated by the province for years with these end of year claw-backs. But now the attitudes amongst service providers have changed. They are no longer willing or even able to cover the shortcomings of the funders. They do this work as a calling more than a job and have in the past spread out the services and pressed staff capacities thin to the point they can’t meet the safety, care, and dignity needed of the clients in their care. The services providers are standing up, demonstrating and asking questions of government – and insisting on answers. Over 1200 people in the PDD sector recently demonstrated in a church to demand that the government deal with the shortcomings in the funding of this sector and stop downloading bad regional and provincial management on the agencies.
The province wanted a “more business-like relationship” with the service providers and insisted on a contract – not a grant – relationship. Contracts were negotiated and signed but again in an atmosphere of intimidation, threats and bullying of the agencies by the province. I know, I helped the agencies in the negotiation of those contracts. The province however still seems to think that they can unilaterally at their whim single-handedly change a contract. That is not the law - and one thing for sure - the province is not above the law.
The intimidating and innuendo calls and comment to the agencies continue but the threat of a Court Injunction for anticipatory breach of contract has seen the province pull back. It no longer says they will just withhold the funds they demanded in the next payment. They are now threatening to cut back the claw back funds and more in the next contract rounds that are supposed to be in place April 1, 2010 for most agencies. That, of course is a matter for negotiation between the parties. If the province is not willing to pay not-for-profit community based volunteer local agencies what is needed to do the job, then the province will have to do the job of caring for citizens with development disabilities itself.
Let’s look at a bit of law to see who is really responsible for these vulnerable Albertans. The “Persons with Developmental Disabilities Community Governance Act of the Revised Statues of Alberta has a most enlightening preamble. Preambles are intended to set a tone, a spirit, if you will, and some context about a law. Let’s review this spirit of the law in the context of the intimidation actions and the bullying attitudes of the Government of Alberta in dealing with those who provide the services for the government to these citizens.
1 “Whereas the people of Alberta honour and respect the dignity and equal worth of adults with developmental disabilities;”
If this were true why is the province jeopardizing the safety, care and dignity of those vulnerable adults by not providing enough funds to meet their needs? Why the community based service agencies are only allowed to pay staff about 2/3 of government employees doing the same jobs and with fewer benefits? How can this sector attract and retain qualified trained staff with such uncertainty in working conditions and pay levels. So much for “equal worth” and “respect for dignity.”
2 “Whereas the Government of Alberta recognizes values and supports the ability of communities to respond to the needs of adults with developmental disabilities;”
Again if this were true why does the government strangle the ability of community based agencies to respond to the local needs with arbitrary funding cuts coupled with intimidation and bullying of agencies? Why are funding levels are so low that there are known risks being created that could threaten the safety of clients and put staff, volunteers and agency administration? Why are these people being asked to assume a risk of liability for possible contributory negligence because they can’t meet their legal duty of care for clients because of the low level of resources being provided?
3 “Whereas the Government has ongoing responsibility to ensure and oversee the provision of statutory program, resources and services to adults with developmental disabilities;”
Here is kicker for the Minister. She is the one ultimately responsible for all of this, the good the bad and the ugly. There is not much that qualifies as good these days. What is the function of the regional based community boards serve to meet the needs of the clients? They are appointed by the Minister, they get remuneration and expenses, and they get to recommend a CEO to the Minister. That CEO becomes a government employee not a regional board employee because the law says the community boards can’t have employees, can’t borrow money and have to be non-profit. That is the full extent of their powers – just stuff they can’t do. Why have them? They act as buffers between the community and the politicians and protect the Minister from the rabble called citizens. So much for responsibly “ensuring and overseeing” when the government has no intention of taking advice from its own community boards on PDD issues.
To be fair according to the Act the Minister “may” – not shall – give written direction to the community boards as part of her duty to “monitor and asses the community boards in the carrying out of their activities.” The role of the community boards is to provide services, determine community priorities, allocate funding, develop plans of delivery of services, oversee and evaluate the implementation of the plans, assess the ongoing needs of a region, manage the provision of services, ensure reasonable access to services and co-ordinate with other community boards, public and private bodies for the proviso in of services. With powers and responsibilities like that, if there is a regional deficit that is due to the management at the regional and departmental levels…not at the community based service provider levels.
The CEOs of the community boards have the power and ostensible responsibility to the Minister and the community boards. However the Minister pays them, so guess who they really work for. The appointed members are mostly inconsequential and either misinformed or uninformed. I expect they share that latter reality along with the Minister. I can’t believe the Minister is fully and appropriately informed about what is going on when these claw backs and bullying started to happen all over again. I could be wrong about the Minister but even so, it is about time she started asking some serious questions.
Here are a few questions ask her department and her regional CEOs and community boards.
1 How come there are last quarter deficits in the regions year after year? Can’t these people learn from mistakes?
2 Why does the money go? For example in 2006/07 of $508 million in the Budget only $404m went to the community based service providers but $104 stayed in the regions and the province to “oversight and direct delivery.” Why can’t we have a better breakdown of that $104m portion to see how much value we get for “oversight” and what the costs are for government provision of services? Rest assured if the community based service providers do not accept the provinces funding levels those services will have to be provided by the province in new institutions with unionized workers. That will not be cheaper.
3 Why are the Calgary Region Community Board expenses so out of line? Based on the government’s own audited financial statements in the seven years 2001 to 2008 Calgary community board “Supports to Delivery System” actual expenses have gone through the roof. These are the region administrative costs that do not provide services – just “supports to delivery.” In two words, administrative overhead! Here are some actual Supports for Delivery System costs numbers:
2001 12.0m 15.23 % of total budget
2002 13.8m 15.5 %“
2003 16.2m 16.9%
2004 19.5m 18.5%
2005 19.9m 17.5%
2006 22.0m 17.7%
2007 28.2m 22.1%
2008 31.0m 22.1%
By contrast Edmonton region spent $24.2m in 2008 in total Support for Deliver of System costs. Edmonton has a total budget that is $10m larger than Calgary yet spent $7m less on administrative overhead. The Calgary region 2008-09 budget for this cost was $31.6M a whopping 24% of total budget.
To add insult to injury the Calgary region board froze the administration and service delivery costs for community agencies for 2007 and 2008 even though they took on more clients.
There is something radically wrong with this picture and they still claim to be running deficits at the community board levels. This does not pass the sniff test as lawyers sometimes say. This is just one example of many I could bring forth but it makes the point. Service providers are in survival mode. They are not just playing hardball. They are meeting with MLAs and bringing their books with them to show them the facts not the spin that is coming to them from other sources. Service providers have nothing to hide and they are tired of being bullied and intimidated and misinformed.
All this information was provided to the Minister in a letter dated January 7, 2009. There has been lots of time to investigate and respond. I think that is exactly what has to happen, an independent investigation into the regional boards and departmental management and administration.
A request for a meeting with the Minister by the group that represents the community based service providers has not been responded to. A five page letter was sent to the Premier just before Christmas but no response has come yet. The letter outlined “Principles of Partnership” like accountability, independence, interdependence and dialogue. The service providers acknowledged that there are difficult choices facing the province but better decisions could be made in collaboration with service providers – not unilateral punitive actions. A recommendation for Principles Guiding Funding was made to the Premier that would take a long term sustainable approach that would provide stability and certainty for clients and the sector. There were Key Messages and Recommendations made for a Joint Solution to the challenges.
Gene Zwozdesky took the right path by re-engaging government directly in a hands-on way in health care. Minister Jablonski needs to do the same thing but the Premier has to give her the blessing to do that housecleaning and fact finding and verification in her department. The good news is this Minister’s heart is in the right place but she needs to make sure she has her facts straight from her department. I think an independent review of the PDD system internally and externally is in order. It is happening in Children’s Service and it is warranted here.
I am wondering just how much the Whitemud Citizen’s Forum on Health Care rally a few days ago had on reversing the attitude of the government towards providing healthcare services. Dave Hancock had the largest margin of victory for any PC candidate in the last election. His constituents came out in droves to express their frustration and dissatisfaction with their government. So maybe, just maybe, the message got through that the bullying, intimidation and heartless approach to providing public services to citizens who need help is not winning friends. It was sure influencing people – and they are starting to show up and talking back.
So now we need the same Zwozdesky decisiveness and caring to infiltrate the Department of Seniors and Community Services. The last time this department was understood and had a champion in government was when Zwozdesky was the Minister. He understood the role of the department. He had compassion for the people it served and he was able to provide accountability for the taxpayer dollar too. He was well respected by the professionals in the field then too. In fact I have seen letters from Zwoz that he wrote to community based not-for-profit volunteer supported service provider agencies for persons with developmental disabilities that they have framed and on their walls. When was the last time you saw a politicians with that much respect?
I am working on a volunteer basis helping the service provider agencies who serve Persons with Developmental Disabilities stop the final quarter claw backs of fees for services to cover off projected deficits in the Regional Boards of PDD. How is it that these regional boards appointed by government and run by CEOs who work for the Department and allegedly report to both the boards and the Minister are running deficits? They know what money they get from the province. They determine who gets what services for how much so how is it they are in deficits?
The PDD service provider agencies have been bullied and intimidated by the province for years with these end of year claw-backs. But now the attitudes amongst service providers have changed. They are no longer willing or even able to cover the shortcomings of the funders. They do this work as a calling more than a job and have in the past spread out the services and pressed staff capacities thin to the point they can’t meet the safety, care, and dignity needed of the clients in their care. The services providers are standing up, demonstrating and asking questions of government – and insisting on answers. Over 1200 people in the PDD sector recently demonstrated in a church to demand that the government deal with the shortcomings in the funding of this sector and stop downloading bad regional and provincial management on the agencies.
The province wanted a “more business-like relationship” with the service providers and insisted on a contract – not a grant – relationship. Contracts were negotiated and signed but again in an atmosphere of intimidation, threats and bullying of the agencies by the province. I know, I helped the agencies in the negotiation of those contracts. The province however still seems to think that they can unilaterally at their whim single-handedly change a contract. That is not the law - and one thing for sure - the province is not above the law.
The intimidating and innuendo calls and comment to the agencies continue but the threat of a Court Injunction for anticipatory breach of contract has seen the province pull back. It no longer says they will just withhold the funds they demanded in the next payment. They are now threatening to cut back the claw back funds and more in the next contract rounds that are supposed to be in place April 1, 2010 for most agencies. That, of course is a matter for negotiation between the parties. If the province is not willing to pay not-for-profit community based volunteer local agencies what is needed to do the job, then the province will have to do the job of caring for citizens with development disabilities itself.
Let’s look at a bit of law to see who is really responsible for these vulnerable Albertans. The “Persons with Developmental Disabilities Community Governance Act of the Revised Statues of Alberta has a most enlightening preamble. Preambles are intended to set a tone, a spirit, if you will, and some context about a law. Let’s review this spirit of the law in the context of the intimidation actions and the bullying attitudes of the Government of Alberta in dealing with those who provide the services for the government to these citizens.
1 “Whereas the people of Alberta honour and respect the dignity and equal worth of adults with developmental disabilities;”
If this were true why is the province jeopardizing the safety, care and dignity of those vulnerable adults by not providing enough funds to meet their needs? Why the community based service agencies are only allowed to pay staff about 2/3 of government employees doing the same jobs and with fewer benefits? How can this sector attract and retain qualified trained staff with such uncertainty in working conditions and pay levels. So much for “equal worth” and “respect for dignity.”
2 “Whereas the Government of Alberta recognizes values and supports the ability of communities to respond to the needs of adults with developmental disabilities;”
Again if this were true why does the government strangle the ability of community based agencies to respond to the local needs with arbitrary funding cuts coupled with intimidation and bullying of agencies? Why are funding levels are so low that there are known risks being created that could threaten the safety of clients and put staff, volunteers and agency administration? Why are these people being asked to assume a risk of liability for possible contributory negligence because they can’t meet their legal duty of care for clients because of the low level of resources being provided?
3 “Whereas the Government has ongoing responsibility to ensure and oversee the provision of statutory program, resources and services to adults with developmental disabilities;”
Here is kicker for the Minister. She is the one ultimately responsible for all of this, the good the bad and the ugly. There is not much that qualifies as good these days. What is the function of the regional based community boards serve to meet the needs of the clients? They are appointed by the Minister, they get remuneration and expenses, and they get to recommend a CEO to the Minister. That CEO becomes a government employee not a regional board employee because the law says the community boards can’t have employees, can’t borrow money and have to be non-profit. That is the full extent of their powers – just stuff they can’t do. Why have them? They act as buffers between the community and the politicians and protect the Minister from the rabble called citizens. So much for responsibly “ensuring and overseeing” when the government has no intention of taking advice from its own community boards on PDD issues.
To be fair according to the Act the Minister “may” – not shall – give written direction to the community boards as part of her duty to “monitor and asses the community boards in the carrying out of their activities.” The role of the community boards is to provide services, determine community priorities, allocate funding, develop plans of delivery of services, oversee and evaluate the implementation of the plans, assess the ongoing needs of a region, manage the provision of services, ensure reasonable access to services and co-ordinate with other community boards, public and private bodies for the proviso in of services. With powers and responsibilities like that, if there is a regional deficit that is due to the management at the regional and departmental levels…not at the community based service provider levels.
The CEOs of the community boards have the power and ostensible responsibility to the Minister and the community boards. However the Minister pays them, so guess who they really work for. The appointed members are mostly inconsequential and either misinformed or uninformed. I expect they share that latter reality along with the Minister. I can’t believe the Minister is fully and appropriately informed about what is going on when these claw backs and bullying started to happen all over again. I could be wrong about the Minister but even so, it is about time she started asking some serious questions.
Here are a few questions ask her department and her regional CEOs and community boards.
1 How come there are last quarter deficits in the regions year after year? Can’t these people learn from mistakes?
2 Why does the money go? For example in 2006/07 of $508 million in the Budget only $404m went to the community based service providers but $104 stayed in the regions and the province to “oversight and direct delivery.” Why can’t we have a better breakdown of that $104m portion to see how much value we get for “oversight” and what the costs are for government provision of services? Rest assured if the community based service providers do not accept the provinces funding levels those services will have to be provided by the province in new institutions with unionized workers. That will not be cheaper.
3 Why are the Calgary Region Community Board expenses so out of line? Based on the government’s own audited financial statements in the seven years 2001 to 2008 Calgary community board “Supports to Delivery System” actual expenses have gone through the roof. These are the region administrative costs that do not provide services – just “supports to delivery.” In two words, administrative overhead! Here are some actual Supports for Delivery System costs numbers:
2001 12.0m 15.23 % of total budget
2002 13.8m 15.5 %“
2003 16.2m 16.9%
2004 19.5m 18.5%
2005 19.9m 17.5%
2006 22.0m 17.7%
2007 28.2m 22.1%
2008 31.0m 22.1%
By contrast Edmonton region spent $24.2m in 2008 in total Support for Deliver of System costs. Edmonton has a total budget that is $10m larger than Calgary yet spent $7m less on administrative overhead. The Calgary region 2008-09 budget for this cost was $31.6M a whopping 24% of total budget.
To add insult to injury the Calgary region board froze the administration and service delivery costs for community agencies for 2007 and 2008 even though they took on more clients.
There is something radically wrong with this picture and they still claim to be running deficits at the community board levels. This does not pass the sniff test as lawyers sometimes say. This is just one example of many I could bring forth but it makes the point. Service providers are in survival mode. They are not just playing hardball. They are meeting with MLAs and bringing their books with them to show them the facts not the spin that is coming to them from other sources. Service providers have nothing to hide and they are tired of being bullied and intimidated and misinformed.
All this information was provided to the Minister in a letter dated January 7, 2009. There has been lots of time to investigate and respond. I think that is exactly what has to happen, an independent investigation into the regional boards and departmental management and administration.
A request for a meeting with the Minister by the group that represents the community based service providers has not been responded to. A five page letter was sent to the Premier just before Christmas but no response has come yet. The letter outlined “Principles of Partnership” like accountability, independence, interdependence and dialogue. The service providers acknowledged that there are difficult choices facing the province but better decisions could be made in collaboration with service providers – not unilateral punitive actions. A recommendation for Principles Guiding Funding was made to the Premier that would take a long term sustainable approach that would provide stability and certainty for clients and the sector. There were Key Messages and Recommendations made for a Joint Solution to the challenges.
Gene Zwozdesky took the right path by re-engaging government directly in a hands-on way in health care. Minister Jablonski needs to do the same thing but the Premier has to give her the blessing to do that housecleaning and fact finding and verification in her department. The good news is this Minister’s heart is in the right place but she needs to make sure she has her facts straight from her department. I think an independent review of the PDD system internally and externally is in order. It is happening in Children’s Service and it is warranted here.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Public Protests Grow as Albertans Show Discontent With Government
Congratulations to all those caregivers, citizens and families who are involved in and helping those with developmental disabilities in Alberta. Your rally was amazing. I wish I could have been there.
The disconnect of the Stelmach government with citizens is growing. The discontent of Albertans with the political culture of the province is growing too. Last week marked a turning point where Albertans are no longer prepared to be differential to the powerful forces in politics and government.
The Whitemud Citizen’s Forum on Health Care last Monday was organized by four self-described “ordinary citizens” and drew over 500 people in one constituency in Edmonton. More of these protests are being organized all over the province by other "extra-ordinary citizens." The PDD service sector agencies organized a mock "bottle drive" rally to help fund the Stelmach government so they did not have to brutally and unilaterally claw back funds from disabled Albertans. They drew over 1200 to the rally in Edmonton on Thursday night. Then on Friday Join Together Alberta launched a campaign to hold 22 town hall meetings all over the province to fight the service sector funding cuts that are said to be coming in the next Budget.
Albertans are clearly fed up and are now standing up and gathering together to be heard by their government. I see discontent everywhere and I smell democracy in the air in Alberta again.
Indifference, complacency and cynicism are attitudes that progressive Albertans can no longer afford. This province and its resources belong to the citizens of Alberta, not the politicians or the corporate tenants who we give social licenses to so they can create wealth for more than just shareholders and executives.
Premier Stelmach is right when he says to attract investment business requires certainty. That certainty in our energy sector does not come from giving the resources away by foregoing royalties and ever increasing subsidies to the industry. That is just selling off the topsoil from our non-renewable resource and giving away the natural capital birthright of our young and future generations of Albertans.
Alberta’s investment certainty to the energy sector is not created by absurdly low taxes and ridiculously low royalty rates. Real investment certainty in Alberta includes a place where industry have assurances of a educated, skilled, trained and healthy workforce. Where they can depend on the rule of law and a justice and policing system that is independent of government that enforces that rule of law. Certainty comes from a quality and reliable banking system, no government and political corruption like most other energy producing areas of the world. Alberta has clear and fair environmental laws and project approval processes that provide certainty. We have no civil wars or terrorists threats but discontent is growing. We have no government or dictatorship nationalization threats of their investments and no concerns over kidnapping and ransom of employees as happens in so many other energy producing countires. We have a stable currency and we have the closest proximity on the planet to the largest energy market in the world plus all the necessary infrastructure in place to deliver the energy to theat market. With oilsands there are enormous and reliable sources of supply with no uncertainty over exploration and discover costs. In oilsands the Alberta taxpayer shares the investment risk via royalty forgiveness until all capital costs of projects are totally recaptured. The list goes on.
Compare that to the shabby treatment our government is giving to the most vulnerable citizens in our society from foster children to seniors to the disabled and you have to ask yourself “What is wrong with this picture?” The answer is becoming more obvious. We always get the government we deserve in a democracy. If our governments can’t change to respond more appropriately to fulfill their duties to citizens then citizens must change their government. That is becomoing more obvious to ordinary Albertans who are standing up and speaking out. And it is about time.
Reboot Alberta is one of the ways progressive Albertans are using to get their message out to government. That message is that things need to change in Alberta's politics and governance. Citizens have a duty to help their government change - complaining is a good place to start but it is not good enough all by iteslf. Change has to happen in the attitudes of the government and what gets their attention, time and resources. If the exercise of the power of politics takes precedence over the duty of our elected representative to govern, then citizens have to step up and make the necessary changes.
Citizens will have to wake up and make political and governance changes we need at the ballot box in the next election. Albertans also need to help create some viable alternatives to the existing political culture. Right now we seem to have choices two viable choices, the right wing PCs and the extreme right wing Wildrose Alliance. Reboot Alberta is a place to have that discussion and to start dealing with that democratic deficit too.
How do Albertans get their government to listen and internalize the messages they have to hear? How do we help our government make better public policy decisions? How do we get our government to be more open, accoutable and transparent in its decision making? How do we attract our best and brightest into a politics based on public service and not a political exercise of pure power that uses intimidation and bullying to promote its policy agenda?
Democracy is in the air in Alberta - but it is not yet on the ground where it counts. That will depend on citizens acting as owners and stewards of their democracy. I see green sprouts of democratic reform but there is a long way to go.
The disconnect of the Stelmach government with citizens is growing. The discontent of Albertans with the political culture of the province is growing too. Last week marked a turning point where Albertans are no longer prepared to be differential to the powerful forces in politics and government.
The Whitemud Citizen’s Forum on Health Care last Monday was organized by four self-described “ordinary citizens” and drew over 500 people in one constituency in Edmonton. More of these protests are being organized all over the province by other "extra-ordinary citizens." The PDD service sector agencies organized a mock "bottle drive" rally to help fund the Stelmach government so they did not have to brutally and unilaterally claw back funds from disabled Albertans. They drew over 1200 to the rally in Edmonton on Thursday night. Then on Friday Join Together Alberta launched a campaign to hold 22 town hall meetings all over the province to fight the service sector funding cuts that are said to be coming in the next Budget.
Albertans are clearly fed up and are now standing up and gathering together to be heard by their government. I see discontent everywhere and I smell democracy in the air in Alberta again.
Indifference, complacency and cynicism are attitudes that progressive Albertans can no longer afford. This province and its resources belong to the citizens of Alberta, not the politicians or the corporate tenants who we give social licenses to so they can create wealth for more than just shareholders and executives.
Premier Stelmach is right when he says to attract investment business requires certainty. That certainty in our energy sector does not come from giving the resources away by foregoing royalties and ever increasing subsidies to the industry. That is just selling off the topsoil from our non-renewable resource and giving away the natural capital birthright of our young and future generations of Albertans.
Alberta’s investment certainty to the energy sector is not created by absurdly low taxes and ridiculously low royalty rates. Real investment certainty in Alberta includes a place where industry have assurances of a educated, skilled, trained and healthy workforce. Where they can depend on the rule of law and a justice and policing system that is independent of government that enforces that rule of law. Certainty comes from a quality and reliable banking system, no government and political corruption like most other energy producing areas of the world. Alberta has clear and fair environmental laws and project approval processes that provide certainty. We have no civil wars or terrorists threats but discontent is growing. We have no government or dictatorship nationalization threats of their investments and no concerns over kidnapping and ransom of employees as happens in so many other energy producing countires. We have a stable currency and we have the closest proximity on the planet to the largest energy market in the world plus all the necessary infrastructure in place to deliver the energy to theat market. With oilsands there are enormous and reliable sources of supply with no uncertainty over exploration and discover costs. In oilsands the Alberta taxpayer shares the investment risk via royalty forgiveness until all capital costs of projects are totally recaptured. The list goes on.
Compare that to the shabby treatment our government is giving to the most vulnerable citizens in our society from foster children to seniors to the disabled and you have to ask yourself “What is wrong with this picture?” The answer is becoming more obvious. We always get the government we deserve in a democracy. If our governments can’t change to respond more appropriately to fulfill their duties to citizens then citizens must change their government. That is becomoing more obvious to ordinary Albertans who are standing up and speaking out. And it is about time.
Reboot Alberta is one of the ways progressive Albertans are using to get their message out to government. That message is that things need to change in Alberta's politics and governance. Citizens have a duty to help their government change - complaining is a good place to start but it is not good enough all by iteslf. Change has to happen in the attitudes of the government and what gets their attention, time and resources. If the exercise of the power of politics takes precedence over the duty of our elected representative to govern, then citizens have to step up and make the necessary changes.
Citizens will have to wake up and make political and governance changes we need at the ballot box in the next election. Albertans also need to help create some viable alternatives to the existing political culture. Right now we seem to have choices two viable choices, the right wing PCs and the extreme right wing Wildrose Alliance. Reboot Alberta is a place to have that discussion and to start dealing with that democratic deficit too.
How do Albertans get their government to listen and internalize the messages they have to hear? How do we help our government make better public policy decisions? How do we get our government to be more open, accoutable and transparent in its decision making? How do we attract our best and brightest into a politics based on public service and not a political exercise of pure power that uses intimidation and bullying to promote its policy agenda?
Democracy is in the air in Alberta - but it is not yet on the ground where it counts. That will depend on citizens acting as owners and stewards of their democracy. I see green sprouts of democratic reform but there is a long way to go.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Stelmach Shuffles the Cabinet but Does it Make a Difference?
So the Stelmach government Cabinet shuffle is over. Let’s take a look at the "new look" Cabinet. The media plays the winner- loser game on Cabinet shuffles and that is always “fun” except for the losers. I will not characterize the shifts in those terms but more in capacities and consequences for the Stelmach government and the potential for better or worse governance.
The Sad side:
The most notable exclusions from Cabinet are Janice Tarchuk and Fred Lindsay. We will never know the real reasons but the fact is they are not demoted they are delisted. Both are quiet people and questions of competence have enveloped them both. I know them both as good people and pass no judgment as to competency. That is the Premier’s job.
Also "delisted" is Doug Griffiths. He is out of his role as Parliamentary Assistant. That is a serious political mistake at so many levels. I know Doug has been marginalized, as have most progressives in the Stelmach government. I am sure the Fiscal Four framing did not help Doug and the fact he actually speaks with some independent thought as an MLA. What is more (and worse from the leader’s brains trust perspective I am sure) Doug speaks his mind on his Blog and to a lesser extent, on Twitter. Griffith’s use of social media is an effective means of ensuring that “better communications” the Premier has been promising for about a year now, but has not yet achieved.
The Upside:
There are a couple of positive notes. I have to say I think Thomas Lukaszuk is one. He has grown over the years in politics and he has worked hard, especially at the constituency level. He is ready for Cabinet and I applaud the Premier for rewarding him but also for acknowledging his potential.
The fact that Snelgrove is still President of Treasury Board means Ted Morton has a “keeper” in his new Finance job. Snelgrove has been one of the most pleasant of surprises in the Cabinet from the Stelmach loyalists. He was a protégé of Steve West (comes from the same areas and riding) but Lloyd has none of that nastiness. He listens and sees all sides of issues and he can make hard decisions. But does so with reasons and takes the responsibility for the decisions too.
Having acknowledged “Political Ministers” in Edmonton and Calgary is a good thing too. Hancock and Redford in those roles are smart choices. Moving Jack Hayden into Agriculture and Rural Development makes him the de facto Political Minister for rural Alberta. That too is a very good choice and move. Jack is a rural development guy who gets agriculture. There is so much anger in Ag circles and even city-slickers like me hear about them. Jack has some work to do to fix that or the WAP will be eating PC s alive in the country come the next election.
The Downside:
The promotion of Ted Morton to Finance is not the downside that many may believe. I think he will surprise some folks in the effective execution of the budget's goals. The budget is done already. Morton just gets to write and read the speech – this time. Not all of the surprises Morton will execute will be pleasant. There is a move to “crack down” on social services budget expenses in health, education, vulnerable Albertans like children, seniors and PDD folks. That is all political more than fiscal, just like even more tax concessions, cash incentives and royalty giveaways to the oil patch are political...all in service of the perpetual push by Stelmach to buy some political love in Calgary.
And besides the current Budget is done and the deficit will have magically all but disappeared by the time the next Quarter “disclosure” comes due. Oil is up and gas has been over $5 for about five months now. Next time, the Budget for 2011-12, going into the red zone for the next election is a different story. Till the fiscal hawk still have sharp talons to cut and kill programs in the lead up to an election? Nope!
The downside is that this Cabinet is all about fixing the screw ups and papering over political problems. It is not about vision or striving or even sacrifice. There is no attempt to show fiscal sacrifice by amalgamating departments to reduce the size of Cabinet. They want the not-for-profit sector to become smaller and do more with less. They could have shown leadership if they were serious and sincere about the reasons and reduced the size of Cabinet. It still sits at 24 and was at 18 when Stelmach became Premier.
Here and the fixes and the wallpaper over the cracks. Liepert is in Energy and out of Health. The energy sector has direct access to the Premier whenever they wish. They will not go through Liepert nor will they trust him to be their guy at Cabinet. The patch will do its own lobbying directly to the powers that be. And if they want political attention from a recalcitrant Premier, they will call Danielle – not Ron.
Mel Knight in SRD means the Land Use Framework is losing steam. Morton took is as far as he could and had lost interest near the end. Knight is an energy guy not a forest and fauna guy and will not be able to take on reconciling the pending political battle between Quad owners and conservationists, never mind the real complex stuff that needs real attention like the mountain pine beetle’s capability for total destruction of the boreal forest. If ever a department could not afford a holding pattern – they are SRD and Environment…I will get to the latter department later.
The Ho-Hum Side:
The Morton and Denis Cabinet appointments are appeasements of the far right and to stop more floor crossings. No comments from me about competence in either case, I am sure they are. Just an interesting development that says more about the continuing fear the PCs have about the rise of the Wildrose Alliance. They are missing the reaction of that larger segment of the population, like those angry and frustrated citizens who showed up at the Whitemud Citizen’s Forum on Health Care earlier this week and gave Dave Hancock a piece of their minds.
The Cabinet seat merry-go-round of Goudreau from Employment to Municipal Affairs is a fix-a-problem shift. Danyluk had angered both the AUMA and AAMDC to the point where they were working jointly on advocacy issues, he had to be moved. Fritz to Children and Youth Services is a fix the Tarchuk problem not a solution to the Children’s Services problem. Hayden to Ag and Rural Development is a fix the Groenveld problem because he was as unpopular on the farm as Danyluk was in the towns and counties. Zwozdesky to Health is a fix the Liepert problem but will it deal with the problems in healthcare? These changes seem more like musical chairs than anything else. Guess we need to see the Mandate Letters, the Budget and Business Cases to see if there is any focus on fixing the real problems and not just the political perceptions.
Nine Ministers stay put and that is not a bad thing so far as Renner, Horner, Hancock and Snelgrove are concerned. There will be those who speculate that Horner as Deputy Premier is a signal that he is Stelmach’s choice to succeed him. It is way too soon to even suggest something like that. Even if it were true, it offers no upside advantage to Horner in his pursuit of that goal, presuming he aspires to be the next Premier.
The big downside is that the Shuffle is its utter insignificance. It offers no new energy, no new vision nor sense of a focused sense of a new direction. It says nothing to mark a place in time that we can look back on and say – that was when the fortunes of the PC Party turned around and got back on track. Harry Strom and Don Getty didn’t do it and Ed Stelmach hasn’t done it now either. With two years left in the mandate, he will not get a second chance at showing us some inspired real change…at least not with another Cabinet shuffle. If there is a next time for another Cabinet before the next election, the PCs would only look desperate, weak and afraid of the WAP.
The Sad side:
The most notable exclusions from Cabinet are Janice Tarchuk and Fred Lindsay. We will never know the real reasons but the fact is they are not demoted they are delisted. Both are quiet people and questions of competence have enveloped them both. I know them both as good people and pass no judgment as to competency. That is the Premier’s job.
Also "delisted" is Doug Griffiths. He is out of his role as Parliamentary Assistant. That is a serious political mistake at so many levels. I know Doug has been marginalized, as have most progressives in the Stelmach government. I am sure the Fiscal Four framing did not help Doug and the fact he actually speaks with some independent thought as an MLA. What is more (and worse from the leader’s brains trust perspective I am sure) Doug speaks his mind on his Blog and to a lesser extent, on Twitter. Griffith’s use of social media is an effective means of ensuring that “better communications” the Premier has been promising for about a year now, but has not yet achieved.
The Upside:
There are a couple of positive notes. I have to say I think Thomas Lukaszuk is one. He has grown over the years in politics and he has worked hard, especially at the constituency level. He is ready for Cabinet and I applaud the Premier for rewarding him but also for acknowledging his potential.
The fact that Snelgrove is still President of Treasury Board means Ted Morton has a “keeper” in his new Finance job. Snelgrove has been one of the most pleasant of surprises in the Cabinet from the Stelmach loyalists. He was a protégé of Steve West (comes from the same areas and riding) but Lloyd has none of that nastiness. He listens and sees all sides of issues and he can make hard decisions. But does so with reasons and takes the responsibility for the decisions too.
Having acknowledged “Political Ministers” in Edmonton and Calgary is a good thing too. Hancock and Redford in those roles are smart choices. Moving Jack Hayden into Agriculture and Rural Development makes him the de facto Political Minister for rural Alberta. That too is a very good choice and move. Jack is a rural development guy who gets agriculture. There is so much anger in Ag circles and even city-slickers like me hear about them. Jack has some work to do to fix that or the WAP will be eating PC s alive in the country come the next election.
The Downside:
The promotion of Ted Morton to Finance is not the downside that many may believe. I think he will surprise some folks in the effective execution of the budget's goals. The budget is done already. Morton just gets to write and read the speech – this time. Not all of the surprises Morton will execute will be pleasant. There is a move to “crack down” on social services budget expenses in health, education, vulnerable Albertans like children, seniors and PDD folks. That is all political more than fiscal, just like even more tax concessions, cash incentives and royalty giveaways to the oil patch are political...all in service of the perpetual push by Stelmach to buy some political love in Calgary.
And besides the current Budget is done and the deficit will have magically all but disappeared by the time the next Quarter “disclosure” comes due. Oil is up and gas has been over $5 for about five months now. Next time, the Budget for 2011-12, going into the red zone for the next election is a different story. Till the fiscal hawk still have sharp talons to cut and kill programs in the lead up to an election? Nope!
The downside is that this Cabinet is all about fixing the screw ups and papering over political problems. It is not about vision or striving or even sacrifice. There is no attempt to show fiscal sacrifice by amalgamating departments to reduce the size of Cabinet. They want the not-for-profit sector to become smaller and do more with less. They could have shown leadership if they were serious and sincere about the reasons and reduced the size of Cabinet. It still sits at 24 and was at 18 when Stelmach became Premier.
Here and the fixes and the wallpaper over the cracks. Liepert is in Energy and out of Health. The energy sector has direct access to the Premier whenever they wish. They will not go through Liepert nor will they trust him to be their guy at Cabinet. The patch will do its own lobbying directly to the powers that be. And if they want political attention from a recalcitrant Premier, they will call Danielle – not Ron.
Mel Knight in SRD means the Land Use Framework is losing steam. Morton took is as far as he could and had lost interest near the end. Knight is an energy guy not a forest and fauna guy and will not be able to take on reconciling the pending political battle between Quad owners and conservationists, never mind the real complex stuff that needs real attention like the mountain pine beetle’s capability for total destruction of the boreal forest. If ever a department could not afford a holding pattern – they are SRD and Environment…I will get to the latter department later.
The Ho-Hum Side:
The Morton and Denis Cabinet appointments are appeasements of the far right and to stop more floor crossings. No comments from me about competence in either case, I am sure they are. Just an interesting development that says more about the continuing fear the PCs have about the rise of the Wildrose Alliance. They are missing the reaction of that larger segment of the population, like those angry and frustrated citizens who showed up at the Whitemud Citizen’s Forum on Health Care earlier this week and gave Dave Hancock a piece of their minds.
The Cabinet seat merry-go-round of Goudreau from Employment to Municipal Affairs is a fix-a-problem shift. Danyluk had angered both the AUMA and AAMDC to the point where they were working jointly on advocacy issues, he had to be moved. Fritz to Children and Youth Services is a fix the Tarchuk problem not a solution to the Children’s Services problem. Hayden to Ag and Rural Development is a fix the Groenveld problem because he was as unpopular on the farm as Danyluk was in the towns and counties. Zwozdesky to Health is a fix the Liepert problem but will it deal with the problems in healthcare? These changes seem more like musical chairs than anything else. Guess we need to see the Mandate Letters, the Budget and Business Cases to see if there is any focus on fixing the real problems and not just the political perceptions.
Nine Ministers stay put and that is not a bad thing so far as Renner, Horner, Hancock and Snelgrove are concerned. There will be those who speculate that Horner as Deputy Premier is a signal that he is Stelmach’s choice to succeed him. It is way too soon to even suggest something like that. Even if it were true, it offers no upside advantage to Horner in his pursuit of that goal, presuming he aspires to be the next Premier.
The big downside is that the Shuffle is its utter insignificance. It offers no new energy, no new vision nor sense of a focused sense of a new direction. It says nothing to mark a place in time that we can look back on and say – that was when the fortunes of the PC Party turned around and got back on track. Harry Strom and Don Getty didn’t do it and Ed Stelmach hasn’t done it now either. With two years left in the mandate, he will not get a second chance at showing us some inspired real change…at least not with another Cabinet shuffle. If there is a next time for another Cabinet before the next election, the PCs would only look desperate, weak and afraid of the WAP.
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