I had the privilege of being one of the speakers at the Speakers Series at the Banff Centre on Tuesday night this week. It was a white-knuckle drive there with the first serious snow fall of the season but it was well worth the effort to get to speak on Citizenship, Stewardship and Leadership from an Albertan point of view.
My theme was tied to the democratic deficit and decline in Alberta. This is manifesting itself in many ways including the sad state of citizen engagement in being an informed voter. We have seen a bit of a turnaround over voter turnout at local municipal and school board elections this year so there is hope. Reboot Alberta is going to be come more focused on citizen engagement by the looks of it.
The theme of this presentation is also stewardship and that is tied to a wade range of ideas and concepts from environmental to natural capital, to social infrastructure and even inter-generational equity. What kind of a province are we leaving future generations economically, environmentally, socially, culturally and even politically? Albertans as owners of the oil sands means we have the ultimate stewardship responsibility for them and that reality touches all of the stewardship aspects. How well as we doing in insisting our tenant, the energy industry, are taking proper care of this enormous and critically important natural capital asset beyond project investments and job creating. Those are good to have but they are far from sufficient in themselve in meeting a social license to operate in a stewardship context.
Finally there is the issue of leadership and my main point there is everyone has some responsibility to be a leader in their community and to be careful who we select as leaders in all aspects of civil society, business and especially politically. I agree with Daveberta when he says we do not have corrupt or bad leaders in our political culture, just a rash of mediocre leaders. As a result we do not come anywhere close to reaching our potential as a people or as a province. That is not just the fault of those in leadership roles. It comes on our heads as citizens for letting this happen. I will have more to say about this in future blog posts.
In the mean time here is a blog link to Kim Bater a friend of mine (and client) who was at the Banff Centre presentation. It will give you another perspective
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
The Alberta Party is on the Move and Making Waves.
I had a great time at the Alberta Party Policy Convention last Saturday. Could not stay for Sunday but I watched a lot of the events online through the Alberta Party website. I have been to a lot of these events over the years and this one felt comfortable in its format but more engaging in the content and context. This is because of the new party feel and the mix of people in the room. I was mostly struck by the much lower than usual age of the crowd. It is encouraging.
The authentic openness to discuss ideas and the respectful request for explanation and information at the discussion tables was refreshing. It is not unique to any one political to be respectful as Albertans sit down to explore ideas about the direction of the province. What the Alberta Party has as a blessing and a burden is they are starting a policy process from scratch. Well not exactly from scratch because they were trying to respect the inputs they received from the 100 individual Big Listen meetings held all over the province and not be prescriptive. They still had to respect the meaningful inputs from those who showed up at the Policy Convention to add, amend or reject the initial proposals. I think they found the balance and I look forward to seeing the final policy results.
There was an vibrant energy in the room that Dave King reflected on as reminiscent of the times he spent travelling all over Alberta with former Premier Peter Lougheed when the re-emerging PC Party caught the temper of the times and imagination of the citizenry. Dave should know how all that happened and how it felt because he was Lougheed's EA. He was an elected PC candidate at 25 years old and went into the Lougheed Cabinet.
I got involved with the Alberta PC Party after the 1971 election while I was in Law School and was captured by the sense of something new, exciting and significant was happening to design the next Alberta back then too. It was about a new narrative for Alberta then, and it is about another new narrative foe Alberta now.
There was a similar sense of something significant happening around the Alberta Party on Saturday in Red Deer. There were people there who believe in the province and who are personally committed to its future. That is not unique amongst political partisans. What is different about Alberta Party members is the level of dissatisfaction with the current public policy trajectory and the hard shift to the right they see in the political culture of the province. For the first time many are seeing a glimmer of hope and an emerging reason to believe that progressive political change may be possible for Alberta. The best evidence of this was the number of people who attended the Alberta Policy Policy Conference initially as observers but who bought memberships that weekend as a result of what they heard, saw and got to say.
The fact that one could fully participate in the formal policy discussion of a political party without being a member is unique in itself. Opening up public policy and political conversations at party event with ordinary citizens attending as citizens and not requiring them to take out party membership is a unique enhancement of democracy that was shown by the Alberta Party. Live streaming the policy process on the Internet so anyone could watch and even participate with comments and Twitter feeds was another opening up of the political and policy making process. That openness will pay dividends to the Alberta Party as being seen and accepted as a preferred agent for positive democratic change going forward to the next election.
My final observation is the potential for the Alberta Party to form government in the next election. It is possible if not probable at this time but times are a-changin' and quickly. My late friend Robert Theobald observed awhile back that Alberta was getting better and better, worse and worse and faster and faster, all at the same time. I think that was true over10 years ago when he said it and it even more accurate today going forward.
The classic conventional political presumptions of what it takes to win elections have been challenged in many of the dramatic changes seen in recent local elections all over Alberta. Some things in Alberta's elections are getting better, others are getting worse but everything is moving faster and faster...that is for sure. There is also a general feeling of dissatisfaction with the status quo and a disillusionment with the current offerings of political alternatives. There are feeling of uncertainty in the air and a growing concern about the future of Alberta that are just below the surface but could emerge as a political game-changer at any time and on any issue.
There is a feeling that the Alberta Advantage is a worn out and forlorn governing philosophy that generated rapid economic growth but at an unacceptable environmental and social costs. The economic benefits generated were not equitable distributed either. All boats did not rise with the economic growth of the Alberta Advantage just the yachts. The rich got richer, the poor are still poor and the middle class is struggling just to keep up.
There is a feeling that Alberta is not living up to its potential, especially given all our blessings. There is a sense that we are not leaving a positive legacy to future generations with the social and environmental deficits we are creating along with a limited economic diversification. The race to the bottom with an ideologically instilled tax policy that says they are only going down...always. That means, to sustain current necessary public services we are using substituting non-renewable, one-time natural resource capital revenues instead of paying our own way now for the social, health, and education needs we have. That is squandering the birthright of future generations because we choose to, not because it is right to do.
Today we have a new sense of a need for change. The traditional political party alternatives are not able to capture the mood of the public and are not seen as the kind of change people want. The other "alternative" is a hybrid of old-line narrow, market-model conservatives with a hard line libertarian "every man for himself" social/economic philosophy. And now we have the emergence of the yet to be defined but diverse, young and democratically interesting Alberta Party as a new kid on the block.
It took Peter Lougheed two elections to come to office and change Alberta into a modern province. He had the sense of change in the province working for him. He had youth and energy working for him too as a contract to the stodgy, tired and tepid Social Credit incumbents. What he did not have was the Internet and Social Media as a way to reach, engage and energize citizens directly as a supplement to the tried and true election campaign activities. Will all of this new media and traditional campaigning converge and be sufficient to capture the public imagination through the launch a new party and be dramatic and trusted enough to garner a new mandate?
I think the real Alberta battle isn't a battle between various political parties. It is all about changing the Alberta narrative. We need to move beyond the Klein era of the Alberta Advantage that was about being the best IN the world as defined by the lowest taxes and royalties to attract investment along with lax environmental enforcement and a push to privatize the public interest. We need to reject ideologically driven by top down, command and control governance models that is at the root of the political culture war between the PCs and the Wildrose Alliance
We need to move the narrative now to the Alberta Aspiration of being the best FOR the world. We can do the by using our enormous natural resources and develop responsible prosperity with environmental stewardship. We can become a leader around inclusive, caring and compassionate social policy with evidence based decision making. We need leadership that is pioneering for these times, not caught in a political marketing mindset that seeks to perfect yesterday or, worse yet, drag us back to the 1950s ways of thinking.
Is the Alberta Party up for that? Time will tell!
The authentic openness to discuss ideas and the respectful request for explanation and information at the discussion tables was refreshing. It is not unique to any one political to be respectful as Albertans sit down to explore ideas about the direction of the province. What the Alberta Party has as a blessing and a burden is they are starting a policy process from scratch. Well not exactly from scratch because they were trying to respect the inputs they received from the 100 individual Big Listen meetings held all over the province and not be prescriptive. They still had to respect the meaningful inputs from those who showed up at the Policy Convention to add, amend or reject the initial proposals. I think they found the balance and I look forward to seeing the final policy results.
There was an vibrant energy in the room that Dave King reflected on as reminiscent of the times he spent travelling all over Alberta with former Premier Peter Lougheed when the re-emerging PC Party caught the temper of the times and imagination of the citizenry. Dave should know how all that happened and how it felt because he was Lougheed's EA. He was an elected PC candidate at 25 years old and went into the Lougheed Cabinet.
I got involved with the Alberta PC Party after the 1971 election while I was in Law School and was captured by the sense of something new, exciting and significant was happening to design the next Alberta back then too. It was about a new narrative for Alberta then, and it is about another new narrative foe Alberta now.
There was a similar sense of something significant happening around the Alberta Party on Saturday in Red Deer. There were people there who believe in the province and who are personally committed to its future. That is not unique amongst political partisans. What is different about Alberta Party members is the level of dissatisfaction with the current public policy trajectory and the hard shift to the right they see in the political culture of the province. For the first time many are seeing a glimmer of hope and an emerging reason to believe that progressive political change may be possible for Alberta. The best evidence of this was the number of people who attended the Alberta Policy Policy Conference initially as observers but who bought memberships that weekend as a result of what they heard, saw and got to say.
The fact that one could fully participate in the formal policy discussion of a political party without being a member is unique in itself. Opening up public policy and political conversations at party event with ordinary citizens attending as citizens and not requiring them to take out party membership is a unique enhancement of democracy that was shown by the Alberta Party. Live streaming the policy process on the Internet so anyone could watch and even participate with comments and Twitter feeds was another opening up of the political and policy making process. That openness will pay dividends to the Alberta Party as being seen and accepted as a preferred agent for positive democratic change going forward to the next election.
My final observation is the potential for the Alberta Party to form government in the next election. It is possible if not probable at this time but times are a-changin' and quickly. My late friend Robert Theobald observed awhile back that Alberta was getting better and better, worse and worse and faster and faster, all at the same time. I think that was true over10 years ago when he said it and it even more accurate today going forward.
The classic conventional political presumptions of what it takes to win elections have been challenged in many of the dramatic changes seen in recent local elections all over Alberta. Some things in Alberta's elections are getting better, others are getting worse but everything is moving faster and faster...that is for sure. There is also a general feeling of dissatisfaction with the status quo and a disillusionment with the current offerings of political alternatives. There are feeling of uncertainty in the air and a growing concern about the future of Alberta that are just below the surface but could emerge as a political game-changer at any time and on any issue.
There is a feeling that the Alberta Advantage is a worn out and forlorn governing philosophy that generated rapid economic growth but at an unacceptable environmental and social costs. The economic benefits generated were not equitable distributed either. All boats did not rise with the economic growth of the Alberta Advantage just the yachts. The rich got richer, the poor are still poor and the middle class is struggling just to keep up.
There is a feeling that Alberta is not living up to its potential, especially given all our blessings. There is a sense that we are not leaving a positive legacy to future generations with the social and environmental deficits we are creating along with a limited economic diversification. The race to the bottom with an ideologically instilled tax policy that says they are only going down...always. That means, to sustain current necessary public services we are using substituting non-renewable, one-time natural resource capital revenues instead of paying our own way now for the social, health, and education needs we have. That is squandering the birthright of future generations because we choose to, not because it is right to do.
Today we have a new sense of a need for change. The traditional political party alternatives are not able to capture the mood of the public and are not seen as the kind of change people want. The other "alternative" is a hybrid of old-line narrow, market-model conservatives with a hard line libertarian "every man for himself" social/economic philosophy. And now we have the emergence of the yet to be defined but diverse, young and democratically interesting Alberta Party as a new kid on the block.
It took Peter Lougheed two elections to come to office and change Alberta into a modern province. He had the sense of change in the province working for him. He had youth and energy working for him too as a contract to the stodgy, tired and tepid Social Credit incumbents. What he did not have was the Internet and Social Media as a way to reach, engage and energize citizens directly as a supplement to the tried and true election campaign activities. Will all of this new media and traditional campaigning converge and be sufficient to capture the public imagination through the launch a new party and be dramatic and trusted enough to garner a new mandate?
I think the real Alberta battle isn't a battle between various political parties. It is all about changing the Alberta narrative. We need to move beyond the Klein era of the Alberta Advantage that was about being the best IN the world as defined by the lowest taxes and royalties to attract investment along with lax environmental enforcement and a push to privatize the public interest. We need to reject ideologically driven by top down, command and control governance models that is at the root of the political culture war between the PCs and the Wildrose Alliance
We need to move the narrative now to the Alberta Aspiration of being the best FOR the world. We can do the by using our enormous natural resources and develop responsible prosperity with environmental stewardship. We can become a leader around inclusive, caring and compassionate social policy with evidence based decision making. We need leadership that is pioneering for these times, not caught in a political marketing mindset that seeks to perfect yesterday or, worse yet, drag us back to the 1950s ways of thinking.
Is the Alberta Party up for that? Time will tell!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Alberta Party Policy Conference - I Smell Democracy in the Air
Tomorrow will see the first Policy Convention of the revitalized Alberta Party. This is the next step of many stage that is the evolution of the Alberta Party as it fosters a civilized political revolution in our province.
The political culture in Alberta is changing faster and more profoundly than most casual observers realize. Gerard MacLellan was at Reboot 3 last weekend and that reminded me about a blog post he did last August really captures the essence of the shifting ground in Alberta politics. He give 10 reasons why the Alberta Party will grow and make Alberta more democratic.
The recent opinion poll commissioned by the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta provides more evidence of a shift in the political culture of the province. There are 76% of Albertans who believe we have a "pressing social deficit" that includes homelessness, wait times for health care and post-secondary education access. We are confused when it comes to trading off jobs for protecting the environment as 48% believe environment comes first, 40% say the opposite and 9% can't make up their minds.
When it comes to moral issues the religious fundamentalist and social conservatives who want government to meddle in private moral issues are in the minority. There are 75% of us who say people must make up their own minds on moral issues like same sex marriage and abortion. We found in our Reboot Alberta values survey that using religion as a basis for making public policy decisions was the lowest ranking criteria. We see lots of political pressure coming from the social conservatives in the WAP and the PC Party that needs to be resisted and rebutted by mainstream Albertans.
The PC Party poll shows that there is a political shift in the works when Albertans were asked about leadership, competence and responsibility. The PC take solace in the fact they are still the highest rated political alternative but the levels of support are not what they are used to and the indifferent-undecided responses are surprisingly high for a "one-party state." For example 37% see the PC as best prepared to run government but after 40 years of doing it, why wouldn't they be. None of the Above or Undecided are the same or larger than the Liberals or Wildrose on this issue. As for competence the PCs are only are 33% support after 40 years and 35% question the competence of all the parties.
I found an interesting political framing question in the PC poll when they asked which party would would describe as "extreme." The Wildrose is seen as extreme by 21% of Albertans and the NDP by 22%. The PCs were perceived a extreme by 9% and 27% said no party was extreme or they were undecided.
On the other end of experienced competent leadership the Stelmach PCs get 28% support and after 40 years of governing Alberta, that is hardly a ringing endorsement. All the other political party leaders only get 7-6% support for their record. The moving ground comes into play when 21% say none of the current leaders are given credit for a proven record of accomplishment. The measure of strong leadership and competence shows a race between Stelmach and Smith each in the 20% range on both counts but Mason and Swann are both inconsequential.
The various leaders caring and compassion measures again shows a PC preference 20-23% but not a ringing endorsement as 16-17% say none on the above, the second highest number in each case. Even as 30% of Albertans see Stelmach as a "regular person" over 15% for Smith, 12% for Mason and 8% for Swann. With 4 years of "Steady Eddy" leadership, only 25% see him as "reliable" and #2 is at 15% - None of the Above...more evidence of shifting political culture.
There are more interesting insights from this poll but that will be for another post in the future. The reality is the PCs are no longer in free fall and the Wildrose has peaked. The Liberals and NDP are inconsequential and not gaining from the fear of the ultra-right Wildrose and the tired and terrified PCs. The political discontent is growing in the heads and hearts of Albertans as 45% of us do not trust any of the existing players to responsibly manage the future of the province.
What is emerging is a time for change but to what? There is not a popular enough alternative and the status quo is unacceptable. In that dynamic something reasonable, different and fresh like the Alberta Party may be seen as a place to park a vote, place a vote and send a message. That is not as par fetched as the conventional wisdom of the main steam media and usual talking pundit heads would typically dismiss. The local elections all over the province showed the yearning for change incumbents as well and presumptive alternatives getting dumped or beaten by reasonable, intelligent and progressive alternatives.
What is certain is change and if the existing parties do not adapt quickly enough or completely enough, I would not be surprised by a minority government with an Alberta Party balance of power. The Alberta Party was not included in the PC Party poll so we just don't know what impact they are having right now and they have a lot of work to do. Interest in them is coming from many surprising sources and they are about to launch into a leadership campaign which will raise interest and profile. I am not making a prediction or engaged in wishful thinking, merely proposing a plausible possibility that this could happen by election time in March 2012 if the trends continue as they have in the past year or so.
The political culture in Alberta is changing faster and more profoundly than most casual observers realize. Gerard MacLellan was at Reboot 3 last weekend and that reminded me about a blog post he did last August really captures the essence of the shifting ground in Alberta politics. He give 10 reasons why the Alberta Party will grow and make Alberta more democratic.
The recent opinion poll commissioned by the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta provides more evidence of a shift in the political culture of the province. There are 76% of Albertans who believe we have a "pressing social deficit" that includes homelessness, wait times for health care and post-secondary education access. We are confused when it comes to trading off jobs for protecting the environment as 48% believe environment comes first, 40% say the opposite and 9% can't make up their minds.
When it comes to moral issues the religious fundamentalist and social conservatives who want government to meddle in private moral issues are in the minority. There are 75% of us who say people must make up their own minds on moral issues like same sex marriage and abortion. We found in our Reboot Alberta values survey that using religion as a basis for making public policy decisions was the lowest ranking criteria. We see lots of political pressure coming from the social conservatives in the WAP and the PC Party that needs to be resisted and rebutted by mainstream Albertans.
The PC Party poll shows that there is a political shift in the works when Albertans were asked about leadership, competence and responsibility. The PC take solace in the fact they are still the highest rated political alternative but the levels of support are not what they are used to and the indifferent-undecided responses are surprisingly high for a "one-party state." For example 37% see the PC as best prepared to run government but after 40 years of doing it, why wouldn't they be. None of the Above or Undecided are the same or larger than the Liberals or Wildrose on this issue. As for competence the PCs are only are 33% support after 40 years and 35% question the competence of all the parties.
I found an interesting political framing question in the PC poll when they asked which party would would describe as "extreme." The Wildrose is seen as extreme by 21% of Albertans and the NDP by 22%. The PCs were perceived a extreme by 9% and 27% said no party was extreme or they were undecided.
On the other end of experienced competent leadership the Stelmach PCs get 28% support and after 40 years of governing Alberta, that is hardly a ringing endorsement. All the other political party leaders only get 7-6% support for their record. The moving ground comes into play when 21% say none of the current leaders are given credit for a proven record of accomplishment. The measure of strong leadership and competence shows a race between Stelmach and Smith each in the 20% range on both counts but Mason and Swann are both inconsequential.
The various leaders caring and compassion measures again shows a PC preference 20-23% but not a ringing endorsement as 16-17% say none on the above, the second highest number in each case. Even as 30% of Albertans see Stelmach as a "regular person" over 15% for Smith, 12% for Mason and 8% for Swann. With 4 years of "Steady Eddy" leadership, only 25% see him as "reliable" and #2 is at 15% - None of the Above...more evidence of shifting political culture.
There are more interesting insights from this poll but that will be for another post in the future. The reality is the PCs are no longer in free fall and the Wildrose has peaked. The Liberals and NDP are inconsequential and not gaining from the fear of the ultra-right Wildrose and the tired and terrified PCs. The political discontent is growing in the heads and hearts of Albertans as 45% of us do not trust any of the existing players to responsibly manage the future of the province.
What is emerging is a time for change but to what? There is not a popular enough alternative and the status quo is unacceptable. In that dynamic something reasonable, different and fresh like the Alberta Party may be seen as a place to park a vote, place a vote and send a message. That is not as par fetched as the conventional wisdom of the main steam media and usual talking pundit heads would typically dismiss. The local elections all over the province showed the yearning for change incumbents as well and presumptive alternatives getting dumped or beaten by reasonable, intelligent and progressive alternatives.
What is certain is change and if the existing parties do not adapt quickly enough or completely enough, I would not be surprised by a minority government with an Alberta Party balance of power. The Alberta Party was not included in the PC Party poll so we just don't know what impact they are having right now and they have a lot of work to do. Interest in them is coming from many surprising sources and they are about to launch into a leadership campaign which will raise interest and profile. I am not making a prediction or engaged in wishful thinking, merely proposing a plausible possibility that this could happen by election time in March 2012 if the trends continue as they have in the past year or so.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Lest We Forget
This came be email from my friend Frank Smith and i thought it was well worth sharing on this Remembrance Day. This is always a day of sad reflection and thanksgiving as I remember my Dad and his service in World War II
It is the VETERAN , not the preacher,
Who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the VETERAN , not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the VETERAN , not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the VETERAN , not the campus organizer,
Who has given us freedom to assemble.
It is the VETERAN , not the lawyer,
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the VETERAN , not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.
It is the VETERAN ,
Who salutes the Flag,
It is the veteran ,
Who serves under the Flag,
THERE IS MUCH OWED BY THOSE OF US WHO NOW ENJOY THESE RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS.
THANKS TO THOSE WHO DIED TO PRESERVE AND PROVIDE THEM
Another Progressive Calls it Quits on Ottawa
Keith Martin is the kind of caring, compassionate, intelligent and responsible politician we need more of. Well he is done with federal politics, saying he can accomplish more "off the Hill." Rabid partisanship and the totalitarian governing style of Prime Minister Harper has convinced him that our democracy is dysfunctional.
Sad that we learn of this on Remembrance Day, the time we reflect on the sacrifices of so many people just so we could enjoy our freedoms. We need to reboot our democracy. Citizens need to take back control, create alternatives to the current damaged and dangerous systems and get rid of totalitarian proto-facist political practices that are becoming normal.
Sad to see another good person in politics pass on any hope of making a difference through Parliament.
Cynicism and disdain are not good enough any more. Citizens have to rise up and revolt against those destructive forces that are destroying our democracy. Use it or Lose it Canada.
Sad that we learn of this on Remembrance Day, the time we reflect on the sacrifices of so many people just so we could enjoy our freedoms. We need to reboot our democracy. Citizens need to take back control, create alternatives to the current damaged and dangerous systems and get rid of totalitarian proto-facist political practices that are becoming normal.
Sad to see another good person in politics pass on any hope of making a difference through Parliament.
Cynicism and disdain are not good enough any more. Citizens have to rise up and revolt against those destructive forces that are destroying our democracy. Use it or Lose it Canada.
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