Media reports say there is a battle brewing between the Harper and Stelmach governments and it is where the environment and the economy meet. Former Premier Peter Lougheed predicted this over two years ago in a speech to the Canadian Bar Association.
Cambridge Strategies is in the final stages of data collection in a random sample conjoint survey on values Albertans want to see guide and drive politicians and policy makers when they are deciding matters that impact the lives of citizens. We have also asked some very pointed opinion questions on the political culture of Alberta oo.
Given some recent mainstream media stories, I thought it helpful to give a preview of some of the preliminary findings. We are almost finished gathering the data so some of these result might change but likely only slightly.
In the context of the “Battle Brewing Between Alberta and Ottawa over Oil Sands Exports” only 22% of Albertans Strongly Agreed or Agreed that “Prime Minister Stephen Harper pays sufficient attention to Alberta issues and concerns.” Only 25% Strongly Agreed or Agreed “Prime Minister Harper should stop Chinese investment in Alberta’s Oilsands while 56% of Albertans disagree this proposition to some degree of other.
As for perceptions of Albertans on how well the Harper and Stelmach government are getting along on major issues of environment, investment and natural resources over 82% do not think the two governments are getting along that well. Indications are it will only get worse as the Harper government continue to ignore Alberta's concerns and Stelmach government continues to lag in public confidence. This all typical fed-prov political infighting will happen at a time when the world is targeting Canada and Alberta for our politically inert attitudes and embarrassingly inept approaches towards environmental policy.
Then we have the other interesting story that Suncor CEO Rick George is reported to be in favour of a carbon tax as part of a national energy strategy to reduce emissions and promote responsible energy development. George is calling for a carbon tax that applies to industry and consumers and to all emitters from “oilsands plants to the tailpipe of your car.” George sees a need for a national energy strategy to harmonize the patchwork of provincial policies and align with major trading partners like the United States.
The Stelmach government has apparently “shot down the idea” according to mainstream media reports. Apparently Deputy Premier Doug Horner “…flatly dismissed the idea of a tax on consumers and bristled at the suggestion of a national energy policy beyond simple co-operation between provinces and the federal government on energy issues.
Our research study preliminary findings show that Albertans, when asked if “Alberta should have a carbon tax and use the money to clean the environment” 23.71% strongly disagreed, 15.81% disagreed and 21.36% slightly disagreed. On the other hand those who supported a carbon tax showed 4.27% strongly agreed, 13.46% agreed and 21.36 slightly agreed. That is a surprising 60/40 split. Seen another way the swing vote of the slightly agreed or disagreed are over 42% so there is volatility around acceptance of a carbon tax by Albertan depending on if the mush middle moves one way or the other.
As for the strength of support the politicians representing Alberta we have figures from another random study of 1032 Albertans that is complete. The bottom line is there is not much confidence in any of the existing federal or provincial alternatives. When asked “who do you trust the most to responsibly manage Alberta’s growth” the results were telling. Brian Mason (NDP) 4%, David Swann (Liberal) 9%, Danielle Smith (Wildrose Alliance) 19%, Ed Stelmach (PC Party) 23%. NONE OF THE ABOVE 45%. Albertans are clearly not happy with the directions and choices the current political parties are offering. Kind of shows why only 40% of us even bother to vote.
The Federal politicians representing Alberta have nothing to brag about either. When Albertans were asked how satisfied they were the way the Alberta-based MPs were representing Albertans interests in Ottawa only 1% were completely satisfied, 16% were satisfied and 27% were slightly satisfied. On the other hand 11% were totally dissatisfied, 22% were dissatisfied and 23% were slightly dissatisfied. Again 50% are in the mushy middle of being slightly satisfied or dissatisfied. As for if the Alberta MPS are doing enough to protect Albertan oil and gs resources in Ottawa 40% thing they are and 60% don’t thing they are. Not a strong vote confidence as a federal election looms.
Bottom line is the Feds and the provincial governments appear to be increasingly misaligned and misreading the mood of the Alberta public on many key issues. I will show more about this misalignment in subsequent blog posts once the final survey results are in and the analysis has been completed.
All this research is showing us that there is a need for a political revolution to change the political culture of this province. As I have said this before on this blog, I see a Renaissance, a Reformation and a ReEnlightenment all now happening at the same time. I wonder if it is enough to create the kind of political unrest that festers and fosters the kind of Revolution we have sen before in Alberta's political culture. It has before when Social Credit and the Progressive Conservatives came into power years ago.
It is feeling more and more like Albertans are ready for some serious and radical changes to our political culture - but what is the alternative? The open question for all Albertans now is does the WAP reflect enough of the core values of contemporary Albertans so they gain the political power to run the province as they wish in this emerging wave of citizen re-engagement? I will have more to say shortly in answering that question. First we must finish the current research and do the thorough analysis of the conjoint study results. We will then have some insight about some of the core the value drivers that Albertans what to see used by politicians. then we will know more about what Albertans expect in order to grant their consent to be governed. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Why Do Our Governments Treat Us Like Mushrooms?
Mark Anielski is making headlines in Nova Scotia these days. Seems like more than one government in Canada is afraid of the truth - especially when it comes to problem gambling. Anielski did a study for the previous Conservative government in Nova Scotia but now the NDP government is trying to bury it.
The media in Nova Scotia is all over the story and Mark recently published an op-ed in The Chronicle Herald in Halifax explaining some of the issues around VLTs and problem gambling. It is a problem everywhere but is seems regardless of the political stripe or the province, governments are as addicted to gamling as some of it most vulnerable citizens. What is disturbing is the political attitude that tries to hide facts from the public. It undermines public confidence in government and deomcracy.
Mark says, amongst other things: "The study, commissioned by the previous Conservative government, had two objectives: to establish a baseline analysis of a range of social and economic impacts that can be attributed to gambling in Nova Scotia, and to present an objective snapshot of those impacts."
There are currently similar studies on problem gambling being done in Alberta and Ontario. We can only hope they learn from the ham-handed political, governance and PR mistakes of the NDP in Nova Scotia and release the study results publicly. If they have a problem with the reports then take issue based on facts don't hide and stifle information that citizens need to evaluate what kind of society they want.
If you want to see yet another example of a government lacking integrity, honesty, accountability and transparency here it is.
The media in Nova Scotia is all over the story and Mark recently published an op-ed in The Chronicle Herald in Halifax explaining some of the issues around VLTs and problem gambling. It is a problem everywhere but is seems regardless of the political stripe or the province, governments are as addicted to gamling as some of it most vulnerable citizens. What is disturbing is the political attitude that tries to hide facts from the public. It undermines public confidence in government and deomcracy.
Mark says, amongst other things: "The study, commissioned by the previous Conservative government, had two objectives: to establish a baseline analysis of a range of social and economic impacts that can be attributed to gambling in Nova Scotia, and to present an objective snapshot of those impacts."
There are currently similar studies on problem gambling being done in Alberta and Ontario. We can only hope they learn from the ham-handed political, governance and PR mistakes of the NDP in Nova Scotia and release the study results publicly. If they have a problem with the reports then take issue based on facts don't hide and stifle information that citizens need to evaluate what kind of society they want.
If you want to see yet another example of a government lacking integrity, honesty, accountability and transparency here it is.
Stelmach Government Honours Gary McPherson With Leadership Scholarships.
Congratulations to Premier Stelmach for a fitting tribute to the life of Gary McPherson. A post-secondary student leadership scholarship throughout Alberta is brilliant. If anyone was a role model for citizenship it was the inspiring life and actions of Gary McPherson.
Here is the link for more details on the scholarship program in Gary's honour.
Here is the link for more details on the scholarship program in Gary's honour.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Some Thoughts on Governance Teams for Alberta School Boards
This blog post has been a long time coming with all the meetings, events scheduling and traveling I have been doing. So while it has been promised a few times other priorities have taken precedence. So now here is my take on the Inspiring Education Dialogue with Albertans report on Governance in public education. For the record, I did not participate in the process except to attend one day to listen to some key speakers including Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind.
SOME CONTEXT ON INSPIRING EDUCATION REPORT:
There is much more to the Inspiring Education document than governance. So a brief overview, without commentary, I expect will be helpful for context to those who have not read the report. It was a process about setting a long-term vision for public education in the province. Minister Hancock wanted to raise awareness of the importance of education in the life of Albertans and its contribution to a prosperous society and economy. He wanted to “develop a clear understanding of what it will mean to be a successfully educated Albertan” in the future and finally, to develop a broad policy framework around the overall direction, principles and long-term goals for public education in Alberta.
PRINCIPLED-BASED TRANSFORMATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION:
The goal was to be “transformational” about the education system by empowering educational innovation throughout the province. Time will tell if that is going to happen, but the governance provisions in the report are one fertile place to focus for transformation to occur in public education.
The underlying aspect of governance transformational directions in Inspiring Education is a “principles based” approach instead of rules based. There is merit in this but if it is to be effective the school trustees are going to have to pick up their game and be more engaged in policy development and execution.
The over reliance on the Carver governance system that has been adopted by many school districts is a significant barrier to school trustees being principled based governors. This old-fashioned and outmoded governance model is antithetical to a principles shift in accountability for learning excellence and away from accountability to bureaucracy. In a horizontal networked connected community engaging world the centralizing narrow approach to governance in the Carver model is more than a barrier, it is a danger to realizing the transformational direction Inspiring Education is all about.
There is a shift in focus to local direction form central influence which is a good thing too but that means school trustees are going have to be much more engaged in the overall life of the communities they serve, beyond the limited interests of schools and students as isolated form community. The potential for more direct and collaborative engagement of the local schools and school districts in other critical aspects of their communities is where the transformational change in public education needs to happen first.
GOVERNANCE TEAMS AND WHAT THEY COULD MEAN:
These principles based shifts is very significant but received scant attention compared to the more politically contentious provision for “Governance Teams.” This idea was seen by some as a provincial government power move to replace locally elected school boards, or at least to dilute and decrease the role and power of local school boards.
I don’t think that is the intent of this Minister, but political power is so centralized in the Premier’s office in Alberta and Cabinet shuffles happen. Who knows what might happen in the future that sees local school boards eliminated or at the very least, even more eviscerated? Regional health authorities were eliminated overnight an unceremoniously without advanced warning or consultation so it would be naive to think the same could not happen to local school boards in one way or the other.
My take is the potential for effective governance teams is that they can be the key to the culture change in public education that needs to happen so other changes can be enabled and empowered as well. More public engagement and involvement in the political culture of the province can start with the local schools and municipalities. That is where the citizen’s concerns are closest to the politicians and policy-makers. Adding talent and expertise to school boards in governance teams, on an as needed basis, to serve the greater good of the community by integrating schools and increasing learning capacity is a critical issue for the future prosperity of Alberta is there ever was one.
The key questions are who decides the need for a governance team, who sets the objectives for the team and who selects the team members? It the Minister or the provincial bureaucracy who makes these decisions then we have a serious governance problem. It will be paternalism at best and more likely lead to the eventual elimination of effective local governance in public education. That is a policy decision that needs to involve all Albertans and not just the unilateral imposed action by the government of Alberta, as they have done in the past.
If the essential issues about governance teams are in the control of the local school boards then we can see public education transforming and finding renewed relevance as a positive political force and as effective public policy instruments to enhance local communities. This is the preferred option in the execution of governance teams. The reality is that most school boards and individual trustees are not nearly prepared, experienced, engaged, focused or even competent enough at present to take advantage of this transformational opportunity emerging with governance teams.
There is a lot more to say on the subject but for now, I think cautious optimism is the appropriate response to governance teams. That optimism is justified so long as Dave Hancock continues as Minister. There is a reasonable likelihood of another Cabinet shuffle before the next election so time is of the essence for enlightened school boards to embrace governance teams. Not every board has to take on the challenge and opportunity inherent in governance teams but those with the inspiration to do so need get at it.
I will be doing a number of blog posts on the Inspiring Education implications in the weeks ahead as my part in increasing citizen engagement in school board and municipal elections coming this October. In the meantime there is energy and effort available to transform public education for the better but it needs more and continuing citizen engagement to be realized and effective. Elections are a great time for citizens to get informed and engaged and Inspiriting Education is healthy fodder for that to happen.
SOME CONTEXT ON INSPIRING EDUCATION REPORT:
There is much more to the Inspiring Education document than governance. So a brief overview, without commentary, I expect will be helpful for context to those who have not read the report. It was a process about setting a long-term vision for public education in the province. Minister Hancock wanted to raise awareness of the importance of education in the life of Albertans and its contribution to a prosperous society and economy. He wanted to “develop a clear understanding of what it will mean to be a successfully educated Albertan” in the future and finally, to develop a broad policy framework around the overall direction, principles and long-term goals for public education in Alberta.
PRINCIPLED-BASED TRANSFORMATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION:
The goal was to be “transformational” about the education system by empowering educational innovation throughout the province. Time will tell if that is going to happen, but the governance provisions in the report are one fertile place to focus for transformation to occur in public education.
The underlying aspect of governance transformational directions in Inspiring Education is a “principles based” approach instead of rules based. There is merit in this but if it is to be effective the school trustees are going to have to pick up their game and be more engaged in policy development and execution.
The over reliance on the Carver governance system that has been adopted by many school districts is a significant barrier to school trustees being principled based governors. This old-fashioned and outmoded governance model is antithetical to a principles shift in accountability for learning excellence and away from accountability to bureaucracy. In a horizontal networked connected community engaging world the centralizing narrow approach to governance in the Carver model is more than a barrier, it is a danger to realizing the transformational direction Inspiring Education is all about.
There is a shift in focus to local direction form central influence which is a good thing too but that means school trustees are going have to be much more engaged in the overall life of the communities they serve, beyond the limited interests of schools and students as isolated form community. The potential for more direct and collaborative engagement of the local schools and school districts in other critical aspects of their communities is where the transformational change in public education needs to happen first.
GOVERNANCE TEAMS AND WHAT THEY COULD MEAN:
These principles based shifts is very significant but received scant attention compared to the more politically contentious provision for “Governance Teams.” This idea was seen by some as a provincial government power move to replace locally elected school boards, or at least to dilute and decrease the role and power of local school boards.
I don’t think that is the intent of this Minister, but political power is so centralized in the Premier’s office in Alberta and Cabinet shuffles happen. Who knows what might happen in the future that sees local school boards eliminated or at the very least, even more eviscerated? Regional health authorities were eliminated overnight an unceremoniously without advanced warning or consultation so it would be naive to think the same could not happen to local school boards in one way or the other.
My take is the potential for effective governance teams is that they can be the key to the culture change in public education that needs to happen so other changes can be enabled and empowered as well. More public engagement and involvement in the political culture of the province can start with the local schools and municipalities. That is where the citizen’s concerns are closest to the politicians and policy-makers. Adding talent and expertise to school boards in governance teams, on an as needed basis, to serve the greater good of the community by integrating schools and increasing learning capacity is a critical issue for the future prosperity of Alberta is there ever was one.
The key questions are who decides the need for a governance team, who sets the objectives for the team and who selects the team members? It the Minister or the provincial bureaucracy who makes these decisions then we have a serious governance problem. It will be paternalism at best and more likely lead to the eventual elimination of effective local governance in public education. That is a policy decision that needs to involve all Albertans and not just the unilateral imposed action by the government of Alberta, as they have done in the past.
If the essential issues about governance teams are in the control of the local school boards then we can see public education transforming and finding renewed relevance as a positive political force and as effective public policy instruments to enhance local communities. This is the preferred option in the execution of governance teams. The reality is that most school boards and individual trustees are not nearly prepared, experienced, engaged, focused or even competent enough at present to take advantage of this transformational opportunity emerging with governance teams.
There is a lot more to say on the subject but for now, I think cautious optimism is the appropriate response to governance teams. That optimism is justified so long as Dave Hancock continues as Minister. There is a reasonable likelihood of another Cabinet shuffle before the next election so time is of the essence for enlightened school boards to embrace governance teams. Not every board has to take on the challenge and opportunity inherent in governance teams but those with the inspiration to do so need get at it.
I will be doing a number of blog posts on the Inspiring Education implications in the weeks ahead as my part in increasing citizen engagement in school board and municipal elections coming this October. In the meantime there is energy and effort available to transform public education for the better but it needs more and continuing citizen engagement to be realized and effective. Elections are a great time for citizens to get informed and engaged and Inspiriting Education is healthy fodder for that to happen.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Politics in Cyberspace Presentation to ASBA Spring Conference
Here is the PowerPoint slides I used for the presentation to the Alberta School Boards Association on "Politics in Cyberspace" last week at their Spring Conference. I adapted the presentation for the workshop then next day for aspiringng and prospective school board trustees.
Now I am working through a blog post of the proposed Governance Teams provisions of the Inspiring Education report. - Go to page 33 of the report for the start of that section. My sense is I like the idea of governance teams but only if they come from the school boards themselves. If the ideas is to enable and empower school boards to augment their expertise by recruiting or appointing people from the district's communities or from outside depending on the shortcoming of experience the school board may see in itself to meet a challenge, then I am all for it.
If it is a ruse to have the Minister or the department appoint or recruit additional school board members at their discretion then I am all against it. That would further add to the centralization of power in the provincial government, add to the democratic deficit and increase citizen cynicism around our already deplorable political culture in this province.
So come back to this site tomorrow and read my post on my take about the posibilities and pitfalls of the Governance Teams portion of the Inspiring Education report. It all fits within Jim Bottemley's point in his ASBA Spring Conference presentation when he said "In the future we'll all be LEARNING a living."
Now I am working through a blog post of the proposed Governance Teams provisions of the Inspiring Education report. - Go to page 33 of the report for the start of that section. My sense is I like the idea of governance teams but only if they come from the school boards themselves. If the ideas is to enable and empower school boards to augment their expertise by recruiting or appointing people from the district's communities or from outside depending on the shortcoming of experience the school board may see in itself to meet a challenge, then I am all for it.
If it is a ruse to have the Minister or the department appoint or recruit additional school board members at their discretion then I am all against it. That would further add to the centralization of power in the provincial government, add to the democratic deficit and increase citizen cynicism around our already deplorable political culture in this province.
So come back to this site tomorrow and read my post on my take about the posibilities and pitfalls of the Governance Teams portion of the Inspiring Education report. It all fits within Jim Bottemley's point in his ASBA Spring Conference presentation when he said "In the future we'll all be LEARNING a living."
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