Is there a potential for an Alberta Tea Party? Where has Craig Chandler gone? What happened to WAP leadership candidate Jeff Willerton? Where are the Alberta Separatists these days? Where are the Libertarian activists located politically these days? We get little or now news from them for quite some time but we know they are out there...in more ways than one!
My sense is they are hiding quietly in the basement of the Wildrose Alliance Party. So long as Danielle Smith can keep up the media generated momentum for the alliance side of the WAP, the wild side of the party will keep quiet and wait until the power shift happens. If that happens after the next election expect the Tea Party types to come out of hiding. they will want to reassert and impose their values on what has become a very compliant, confused and all-too content and comfortable Alberta public. It will be a a hard-fought contest for the heart and soul of the WAP too but all of us will suffer in the internal culture war that will ensue.
The sense is the popularity of the Wildrose Alliance Party has peaked but at a significant level of support that cannot be ignored. They are not going away but the question is will Albertans vote for them in protest just to send a message to the PC Party? Smith has done a remarkable job of soothing the citizen's fears about the scary side of the WAP. This is in no small part because she is personally able to do that with her mellow messaging and skillful positioning of herself as a Peter Lougheed kind of politician.
There is a yearning for a return to Alberta of that kind of Lougheed socially progressive social, fiscal conservative and culturally diverse basis of public policy coupled with a long term view of good governance over short term pursuits of political power. So far nobody has been able to capture the imagination of the Alberta public to convince us that any of the existing parties can deliver that kind of inclusive, creative and conscientious government we used to enjoy under Peter Lougheed.
I hope nobody is fooled by this illusion of the WAP selling us that they are going to be a return to a Lougheed style of governing . The hard-nosed mean-spirited Harper Conservatives are very much behind the provincial Wildrose Alliance Party in our Alberta. We have seen the dire consequences to progress from that kind of Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld inspired reckless abuse of power.
The way I see it is with the Harper-Cons coupled with the Fraser Institute inspired WAP will take Alberta into a socially conservative policy approach that will be marked by wedge issues, division and marginalization of minorities and further damage vulnerable citizens. They abhor government because they think it interferes with individual rights and freedoms and is inefficient. While at the same time they fail to understand the need to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens - especially those who disagree with them.
They think individual competition and marketplaces forces are the only way to create a society based on economic wealth being the trump card in any political policy decision. They scoff and the idea of a synergy existing between individual talents foster in ways the benefit those individuals and in the service of our society as a whole. They are proudly the anti-intellectual and rejects science, preferring superstition and fundamentalism as a basis to make public policy decisions.
They think nature is a resource only to be exploited now and not protected in a duty to ensure we leave the planet in better shape than when we arrived as an obligation to future generations. Environmental policy is always seen to be in the way of their version of wealth-creation based on market forces that dictate conspicuous consumption. Long term conservation and habitat protection policies it must be tamed to ensure "wealth" is created as quickly as possible with little or no regard for the long term environmental or biodiversity implications. As "wealth gets created they have little if any regard as to fairness in how that wealth is distributed. If you are poor or disadvantaged the social conservatives say it is your own fault. You must simply pull up your socks...if you have no socks...well that is your fault too.
So is there a Tea Party in Alberta's future? In my opinion, chances are yes! Especially if progressive thinking Albertans continue to avoid their responsibility to re-engage in the political culture of the province. Abdication by progressive thinking Albertans of their duty of citizenship will leave the wielding of political power to those who aspire to take Alberta backwards. If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta come to RebootAlberta 3.0, November 5-6 in Edmonton. Register now at www.rebootalberta.org
Monday, October 04, 2010
Don't Vote!
There is a link at the end of this post to an American video made for the 2008 election. However the sentiment is very applicable to the Alberta local, provincial and national elections. It makes the point that not voting is stupid...uninformed voting may be even dumber. However, it is no longer acceptable for uninformed apathetic citizens to stay that way and give up on their citizenship responsibility to support democracy and cast an informed ballot for the candidate(s) of their choice.
So we are 2 weeks away from civic and school board elections all over Alberta. You have 2 weeks to check out the candidates and see which one comes the closest to reflecting your values. You have to consider which ones are wise enough to govern not just slick or rich enough to run. You have to decide who is worthy of your trust to govern you and to make the hard far reaching decisions that will impact your life and your family.
No candidate will be a perfect fit - that is life. But that does not mean you can't support the closest fit to your values and issues and priorities. You just have to take the time to find that candidate and with the Internet it is easy. Google them. If they don't show up on Google you may want to consider if they are even serious enough about the job of being a politician if they are not even with it enough to be using digital media to reach out to connect with citizens.
There are the values our research shows that Albertans want their politicians to use when making decisions. I strongly suggest you put every candidate for municipal government or school board in your community to these values tests. Do they have integrity? Are they honest? Do you believe they will be accountable and transparent? Do you believe they will be fiscally responsible and expect you to take personal responsibility too - like being an informed voter!!!
Now take 4:45 minutes and watch this video and forgive the fact it is American. If that offends you then make your own Alberta version and send it to me. I will be sure it gets an audience.
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
So we are 2 weeks away from civic and school board elections all over Alberta. You have 2 weeks to check out the candidates and see which one comes the closest to reflecting your values. You have to consider which ones are wise enough to govern not just slick or rich enough to run. You have to decide who is worthy of your trust to govern you and to make the hard far reaching decisions that will impact your life and your family.
No candidate will be a perfect fit - that is life. But that does not mean you can't support the closest fit to your values and issues and priorities. You just have to take the time to find that candidate and with the Internet it is easy. Google them. If they don't show up on Google you may want to consider if they are even serious enough about the job of being a politician if they are not even with it enough to be using digital media to reach out to connect with citizens.
There are the values our research shows that Albertans want their politicians to use when making decisions. I strongly suggest you put every candidate for municipal government or school board in your community to these values tests. Do they have integrity? Are they honest? Do you believe they will be accountable and transparent? Do you believe they will be fiscally responsible and expect you to take personal responsibility too - like being an informed voter!!!
Now take 4:45 minutes and watch this video and forgive the fact it is American. If that offends you then make your own Alberta version and send it to me. I will be sure it gets an audience.
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
Elizabeth May & Ezra Levant on CTV Question Period
Here is a great piece of informative video from CTVs Question Period where Green party Leader Elizabeth May and Ezra Levant discuss implications about the oil sands. May makes the point that being "ethically" the best oil supplier in the world (ignoring Norway???) is not a pass to responsible developing the oil sands more responsibly. Being the best hydrocarbon provider of a bad lot is not good enough for Canadians. It most assuredly not good enough for Albertan, as evidenced our recent research on values we want to see guide and drive oil sands development. Only 31% of Albertans think oil sands are being responsibly developed now.
I have written about trade off between dirty oil and blood oil on this blog in the past. My position is in agreement with Elizabeth May and many of the more progressive and responsible oil sands companies that have formed the Oil Sands Leadership Initiative (OSLI). Those forward thinking oil sands companies that are starting to realize they need the direct support of the Alberta public as owners of the oil sands to justify an on-going social license to operate in our natural resource.
It should not be lost on Albertans that two of the companies in OSLI are state owned by Norway (Statoil) and France (Total). The other key members of OSLI are Nexen, ConocoPhillips and Suncor. These companies are aiming higher than the ethical standard of competitive advantage of Mr Levant. The get that there needs to be responsible prosperity from the oil sands that integrates concerns for issues of environmental integrity, social well being and fairness as well as a reasonable rate of return to the owners - Albertans.
BTW - you can see my business partner Satya Das the author of Green Oil in discussion/debate/dialogue (who knows what it will end up as) with Mr. Levant at LitFest in Edmonton's Stanley Milner Library October 19th at 7 pm. Tickets available at TixontheSquare
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
I have written about trade off between dirty oil and blood oil on this blog in the past. My position is in agreement with Elizabeth May and many of the more progressive and responsible oil sands companies that have formed the Oil Sands Leadership Initiative (OSLI). Those forward thinking oil sands companies that are starting to realize they need the direct support of the Alberta public as owners of the oil sands to justify an on-going social license to operate in our natural resource.
It should not be lost on Albertans that two of the companies in OSLI are state owned by Norway (Statoil) and France (Total). The other key members of OSLI are Nexen, ConocoPhillips and Suncor. These companies are aiming higher than the ethical standard of competitive advantage of Mr Levant. The get that there needs to be responsible prosperity from the oil sands that integrates concerns for issues of environmental integrity, social well being and fairness as well as a reasonable rate of return to the owners - Albertans.
BTW - you can see my business partner Satya Das the author of Green Oil in discussion/debate/dialogue (who knows what it will end up as) with Mr. Levant at LitFest in Edmonton's Stanley Milner Library October 19th at 7 pm. Tickets available at TixontheSquare
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Kennedy-Nixon TV Debates 1960 Strangely Familiar
If you have an hour and a belief if we don't learn from history we are doomed to repeat it you will want to watch this first televised presidential debate. It is eerily reminiscent of today some 50 years later. I am old enough to have watched this on September 26, 1960 and sad enough to wonder if democracies are making headway with the political structures, cultures and institutions we have. Are they dated and deficient? Do we need to redesign our political culture, parties and democratic institutions to reflect a different world we have today? I leave that for you to reflect on. Also reflect on the detail and depth of this debate compared to the emotional hot-button rhetoric and propaganda we see from our political discourse of today.
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
The Eyes of the World Are On Alberta's Oil Sands
Here is a link to yet another excellent Sunday Reader feature in the Edmonton Journal by Sheila Pratt on what it might take to get a reconciliation between industry the environmentalists and our governments on what is appropriate oil sands development approaches. I was interviewed by Sheila for this piece and pleased to participate.
What we need now is an adult conversation in Alberta and by Albertans on how we want to see our oil sands resources developed. The basis for that conversation should be framed from the findings of our resent research at Cambridge Strategies Inc. on the values Albertan's want to see guide and drive oil sands development was done in collaboration with OSRIN (Oil Sands Research and Information Network)
The citizens of Alberta need to create the place and space for that conversation to take place. That can be in community meetings, church basements, coffee shops, service clubs, business groups, union halls, educational institutions, political gatherings and kitchen tables, just to name a few. That conversation can begin where ever one Albertan takes the time to asks another about what they want to see done to assure us that our natural resource is being responsibly developed so we can be proud of all the outcomes.
I am quoted in the Edmonton Journal story saying Albertans are starting to lose pride in the province. I believe this to be true partly because our research shows only 31% of Albertans believe the oil sands resource in being managed well. The Influentials in the province are at the forefront of this emerging sense of a loss of pride in being Albertan. When asked if they tell others great things about living in Alberta only 51% of Influentials agreed or strongly agreed and only 45% of them would strongly recommend living in Alberta to a friend.
UPDATE: REX MURPHY ASKS WHY AREN'T WE PROUD OF THE OIL SANDS? This industry also needs a human face and not just the nice folks who work in the industry that populate the full page colour newspaper ads the industry is wasting money on - as if that would persuade us of authenticity, trustworthiness and integrity
The reason the opinions of Influentials are so important is because they are trend setters and opinion leaders. These are the people the rest of the population relies on to help form our own thoughts on issues, ideas and many of the decisions we make in our lives. Some have suggested what Influentials think today is what the general population will be thinking in 12 to 18 months from now.
That is why government and industry better start a more meaningful, serious and adult conversation with Albertans about what we want to see happening with the development of our resource. After all it is Albertans who own the oil sands. Industry is a mere tenant that depends on public confidence to gain and sustain a social license to operate their businesses be it forests, oil and gas or oil sands.
As for government their equivalent of a social license it to be seen worthy of the citizen's consent to govern. Right now all of the political parties and their leaders in are seen to be less than adequate to the task of effectively managing the growth of Alberta. When Albertans were asked who did they think was best able to responsibly manage Alberta's growth the results were astonishing. Premier Ed Stelmach was the choice of 23%, Danielle Smith garnered 19%, David Swann had 9% and Brian Mason only 4%. None of the Above was the assessment of 45% of the 1032 Albertans who were in the random survey done last May.
Change is in the air and alternatives are needed based on this survey result. If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
What we need now is an adult conversation in Alberta and by Albertans on how we want to see our oil sands resources developed. The basis for that conversation should be framed from the findings of our resent research at Cambridge Strategies Inc. on the values Albertan's want to see guide and drive oil sands development was done in collaboration with OSRIN (Oil Sands Research and Information Network)
The citizens of Alberta need to create the place and space for that conversation to take place. That can be in community meetings, church basements, coffee shops, service clubs, business groups, union halls, educational institutions, political gatherings and kitchen tables, just to name a few. That conversation can begin where ever one Albertan takes the time to asks another about what they want to see done to assure us that our natural resource is being responsibly developed so we can be proud of all the outcomes.
I am quoted in the Edmonton Journal story saying Albertans are starting to lose pride in the province. I believe this to be true partly because our research shows only 31% of Albertans believe the oil sands resource in being managed well. The Influentials in the province are at the forefront of this emerging sense of a loss of pride in being Albertan. When asked if they tell others great things about living in Alberta only 51% of Influentials agreed or strongly agreed and only 45% of them would strongly recommend living in Alberta to a friend.
UPDATE: REX MURPHY ASKS WHY AREN'T WE PROUD OF THE OIL SANDS? This industry also needs a human face and not just the nice folks who work in the industry that populate the full page colour newspaper ads the industry is wasting money on - as if that would persuade us of authenticity, trustworthiness and integrity
The reason the opinions of Influentials are so important is because they are trend setters and opinion leaders. These are the people the rest of the population relies on to help form our own thoughts on issues, ideas and many of the decisions we make in our lives. Some have suggested what Influentials think today is what the general population will be thinking in 12 to 18 months from now.
That is why government and industry better start a more meaningful, serious and adult conversation with Albertans about what we want to see happening with the development of our resource. After all it is Albertans who own the oil sands. Industry is a mere tenant that depends on public confidence to gain and sustain a social license to operate their businesses be it forests, oil and gas or oil sands.
As for government their equivalent of a social license it to be seen worthy of the citizen's consent to govern. Right now all of the political parties and their leaders in are seen to be less than adequate to the task of effectively managing the growth of Alberta. When Albertans were asked who did they think was best able to responsibly manage Alberta's growth the results were astonishing. Premier Ed Stelmach was the choice of 23%, Danielle Smith garnered 19%, David Swann had 9% and Brian Mason only 4%. None of the Above was the assessment of 45% of the 1032 Albertans who were in the random survey done last May.
Change is in the air and alternatives are needed based on this survey result. If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
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