Alberta Tea Party Possibilities Update

I recently did a post on the possibility of an Alberta Tea Party forming at some time possibly from the social conservatives and separatists in our midst.

Canada 2020 recently hosted a panel on Polling with Frank Graves (Ekos Research) Nik Nanos (Nanos Research) and Bruce Anderson (Harris/Decima) moderated by Don Newman.  The panel was broadcast on CPAC last night and I missed it but hope it will be repeated.  Should be worth a watch.

I point this out because Susan Delacourt who writes on this Ottawa-ish for the Toronto Star picked up on a comment from Harris/Decima about the possibility of a Canadian Tea Party equivalent. She wrote a story about it here.  Susan has also written a blog post on it the concern here called "Distemper of our Times."

Nik Nanos, a very reliable pollsters at the Canada 2020 event, commented on "...the forces of disaggregation, the forces of discontent and the forces of dilution...of power."  He concluded by saying "So to wrap up: expect political instability and turbulence.  I believe we are at a risky but unintended place in our democracy -- that the forces of disaggregation

If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org

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:

1. Develop Alberta's oil sands in an environmentally responsible way;
2. Promote healthy communities and a quality of life that attracts and retains individuals, families and businesses;
3. Maximize long-term value for all Albertans through economic growth, stability and resource optimization;
4. Strengthen our proactive approach to aboriginal consultation with a view to reconciling interests;
5. Maximize research and innovation to further support sustainable development and unlock the deposit potential;
6. 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:

1. Revise the current environmental impact assessment process to support cumulative effects management;
2. Increase the pace of reclamation in the oil sands areas;
3. Continue implementing the Fort McMurray community development plan to address housing shortages and investigate opportunities for regional service delivery;
4. Leverage bitumen royalties to develop value-added oil sands products;
5. Develop a regional plan for the Lower Athabasca Region within the Land Use Framework
6. 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

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

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