Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Premier's Awards for Alberta Public Service
The 2010 Premier's Award of Excellence are now out. These are the Alberta Public Service employee awards for "outstanding achievement in business excellence and service delivery to Albertan." There are Gold, Silver and Bronze levels
These are a great form of recognition by the Premier. I actually won one of these awards even though I never worked as a public servant. I am very proud to wear the Gold level pin. I was one of the external people bought in to help design and execute the Future Summit back in the day. The folks who ran that terrific project were generous enough to include me and another external consultant in their team to receive the award.
Ironically I was an external consultant on the Domestic Violence and Bullying project a few years back. It was dealing with male perpetrators and victims of domestic violence. It was a tense situation and a delicate role to play. I think I was the only male in the front lines of this very important project. It was the inspiration of the Minister of the day Iris Evans and Colleen Klein, the wife of former Premier Ralph Klein. It also won the Gold level that year. A different attitude by the internal administrative powers in place then actually excluded external people from participating in the Award of Excellence recognition. This had nothing to do with the Minister of Colleen Klein - just a small minded senior bureaucrat at the time.
I was proud to be associated with a great team of dedicated civil servants who worked on the ground in these projects and exemplified the essence of "business excellence and service delivery to Albertans" in both projects.
So my congratulations go out to this years Premier's Award of Excellence recipients. Thank you for your great work and service to the people of Alberta. I for one really appreciate it.
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
Canada Touted as a Green Energy Powerhouse
Interesting quote in the Calgary Herald today. "The most pressing business challenges in the Alberta oil sands are the same ones the environmentalists have identified" according to Samir Brikho, the CEO of the international engineering firm AMEC PLC.
Looks promising to see some of the energy industry talk be about transforming Canada into a clean energy powerhouse. That is the central premise of the book Green Oil written last year by my business partner Satya Das. We published it through the Cambridge Strategies Inc. imprint Sextant Publishing so you can buy it at better book stores and online in hard copy or by digital download at the Cambridge Strategies Bookstore
Ironically the government of Alberta has the policy positions in place to promote this objective but is seems that there is insufficient focus and political will to design and execute an proactive plan to those ends. Check out the report "Responsible Actions: a Plan for Alberta's Oil Sands" This document outlines six integrated strategies to optimise economic growth, reduce the environmental footprint and increase the quality of life in Alberta.
The Strategies are:
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
Looks promising to see some of the energy industry talk be about transforming Canada into a clean energy powerhouse. That is the central premise of the book Green Oil written last year by my business partner Satya Das. We published it through the Cambridge Strategies Inc. imprint Sextant Publishing so you can buy it at better book stores and online in hard copy or by digital download at the Cambridge Strategies Bookstore
Ironically the government of Alberta has the policy positions in place to promote this objective but is seems that there is insufficient focus and political will to design and execute an proactive plan to those ends. Check out the report "Responsible Actions: a Plan for Alberta's Oil Sands" This document outlines six integrated strategies to optimise economic growth, reduce the environmental footprint and increase the quality of life in Alberta.
The Strategies are:
- Develop Alberta's oil sands in an environmentally responsible way;
- Promote healthy communities and a quality of life that attracts and retains individuals, families and businesses;
- Maximize long-term value for all Albertans through economic growth, stability and resource optimization;
- Strengthen our proactive approach to aboriginal consultation with a view to reconciling interests;
- Maximize research and innovation to further support sustainable development and unlock the deposit potential;
- Increase available information, develop measurement systems and enhance accountability in the management of the oil sands.
The resent values research we did with OSRIN on what Albertans want to see guide and drive the development of their oil sands...remember Albertans own this resource...track very well with this "Responsible Actions" policy proposal.
The Priority Actions in the plan for a focused implementation include:
- Revise the current environmental impact assessment process to support cumulative effects management;
- Increase the pace of reclamation in the oil sands areas;
- Continue implementing the Fort McMurray community development plan to address housing shortages and investigate opportunities for regional service delivery;
- Leverage bitumen royalties to develop value-added oil sands products;
- Develop a regional plan for the Lower Athabasca Region within the Land Use Framework
- Conduct a pilot project to assess the cumulative environmental impact of oil sands development on the rights and traditional land uses of aboriginal people.
Some significant progress is being made in some of these Priority Action areas notably #3 and #5. I am not sure of the progress in the other areas. I just don't know. Strange we don't hear more about the progress in the work in these areas and less about multi-million dollar taxpayer paid advertising campaigns that we hope will counteract the negative messages of some aggressive ENGOS.
As an owner of the oil sands and a citizen of Alberta I want more updated information on this policy and its implementation. If it is being attended to aggressively it would go a long way to assuring me that the right things are being done. I want to know my government, as my proxy holder, and the industry, as my tenant, is doing the right things in the right way and right now to promote integrated action in create responsible prosperity from this enormous advantage we have from the oil sands.
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Alberta Party and Doing Politics Differently
I was unable to make it to the AGM of the revitalized Alberta Party on the weekend. I had a speaking engagements in Calgary of the Oil Sands Leadership Initiative and the Banff Centre Leadership Development program. Then I had to be back to host a table at the Gandhi Foundation Dinner my partner Satya Das was speaking at. It was a busy weekend already.
From all accounts the Alberta Party AGM was a positive exercise in doing politics differently. Dave Cournoyer was there and offers a comprehensive blog post on his impressions of the meeting. It is worth a read and some time for reflection on this new political initiative.
The comments on Daveberta's blog post are interesting too in that the sense of the Alberta Party is working on doing politics differently. The goal is not to beat the other party in the pursuit of political power but rather to make Alberta the best it can be. I see the potential for Alberta to aspire to look beyond trying to be the best in the world but rather to be the best for the world. I hope the Alberta Party can help refocus our province towards this kind of future.
Dave King is very active in the Alberta Party too and one of the co-instigators of Reboot Alberta. He has written a thoughtful blog post that sums up this progressive spirit of the Alberta Party...at least to my mind.
Dave King captures my sense of where we need to move the political narrative and culture of the province. The adversarial gamesmanship of conventional politics turns off citizens, discourages quality people with the necessary wisdom and servant-leadership qualities and capabilities from getting involved in politics and governing.
The influence of big business and donors working behind closed doors in government relations seems like collusion for self-interest and not open collaboration to create a better Alberta for a greater number of citizens. The merchandising of messages instead of sharing ideas and concerns and seeking mutually agreeable solutions is the basis of party politics these days. Too many everyday Albertans feel their governments are not listening to them and that their opinions don't count any more.
We live in complex and chaotic times and solutions offered by superficial and artificial mock battles played out in the media between partisans is not going to get us to realize the potential we have as a province. Achieving our potential will not result by one side merely proving the other side wrong and therefore "winning." Albertans lose in that situations. This progressive approach to politics will take a greater degree of pioneering leadership embraced by people with a genuine intent on serving the greater good not just winning the next election.
I am hopeful that the Alberta Party can be the beginning of that more progressive and enlightened approach to politics and government and can develop into being as a positive force in the betterment of the lives of Albertans. The prerequisite for any of this is an informed, engaged and conscientious sense of citizenship. More citizens have to take back control of the power and become influencers on the politics of our time in order to overcome the deficiencies in our democracy that have been caused by decades of political indifference.
Full disclosure - I am a member of the Alberta Party but not actively engaged in their organizational efforts. My time is focused on Reboot Alberta and that is a progressive citizen's movement in Alberta that welcomes participants from any or no political affiliation provided you want to do help Alberta to be more than it is and serve a greater good beyond ones self. Reboot is a great place to start re-engaging as a fully responsible citizen without the burden of political affiliation. If you are a partisan who wants to change from within your party you can find others with a similar goal at Reboot too.
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 Nov 5-6 at Edmonton Delta South at www.rebootalberta.org
From all accounts the Alberta Party AGM was a positive exercise in doing politics differently. Dave Cournoyer was there and offers a comprehensive blog post on his impressions of the meeting. It is worth a read and some time for reflection on this new political initiative.
The comments on Daveberta's blog post are interesting too in that the sense of the Alberta Party is working on doing politics differently. The goal is not to beat the other party in the pursuit of political power but rather to make Alberta the best it can be. I see the potential for Alberta to aspire to look beyond trying to be the best in the world but rather to be the best for the world. I hope the Alberta Party can help refocus our province towards this kind of future.
Dave King is very active in the Alberta Party too and one of the co-instigators of Reboot Alberta. He has written a thoughtful blog post that sums up this progressive spirit of the Alberta Party...at least to my mind.
Dave King captures my sense of where we need to move the political narrative and culture of the province. The adversarial gamesmanship of conventional politics turns off citizens, discourages quality people with the necessary wisdom and servant-leadership qualities and capabilities from getting involved in politics and governing.
The influence of big business and donors working behind closed doors in government relations seems like collusion for self-interest and not open collaboration to create a better Alberta for a greater number of citizens. The merchandising of messages instead of sharing ideas and concerns and seeking mutually agreeable solutions is the basis of party politics these days. Too many everyday Albertans feel their governments are not listening to them and that their opinions don't count any more.
We live in complex and chaotic times and solutions offered by superficial and artificial mock battles played out in the media between partisans is not going to get us to realize the potential we have as a province. Achieving our potential will not result by one side merely proving the other side wrong and therefore "winning." Albertans lose in that situations. This progressive approach to politics will take a greater degree of pioneering leadership embraced by people with a genuine intent on serving the greater good not just winning the next election.
I am hopeful that the Alberta Party can be the beginning of that more progressive and enlightened approach to politics and government and can develop into being as a positive force in the betterment of the lives of Albertans. The prerequisite for any of this is an informed, engaged and conscientious sense of citizenship. More citizens have to take back control of the power and become influencers on the politics of our time in order to overcome the deficiencies in our democracy that have been caused by decades of political indifference.
Full disclosure - I am a member of the Alberta Party but not actively engaged in their organizational efforts. My time is focused on Reboot Alberta and that is a progressive citizen's movement in Alberta that welcomes participants from any or no political affiliation provided you want to do help Alberta to be more than it is and serve a greater good beyond ones self. Reboot is a great place to start re-engaging as a fully responsible citizen without the burden of political affiliation. If you are a partisan who wants to change from within your party you can find others with a similar goal at Reboot too.
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 Nov 5-6 at Edmonton Delta South at www.rebootalberta.org
Monday, October 04, 2010
Donald Duck Meets Glenn Beck
This came via @prog_blog and is a very funny and telling narrative of the "reality"of the radical right
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
Is There a Tea Party Movement in Alberta's Future?
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
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
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