I have been travelling the province facilitating workshops on the the impacts and implications of emerging technologies in our economy. These technologies are also called disruptive and exponential by some folks, depending on if you have a half empty or half full mindset.
NEW SKILLS & NEW COMPETENCIES:
The underlying motivation for these workshops is to gauge the awareness, interest, readiness, planning and actions being taken to adopt and adapt to these transformational changes. We have taken a special interest in the skills and competencies we humans will need to be able to work with these technologies and in spite of them.
There is a lot going on in the physical realms of autonomous vehicles, drones, robotics, automation, 3D printing for example. It seems there is even more going on in the computational and information realms line artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented and virtual reality, quantum computing. Then we have bio-engineering and nanotechnology happening at alarming rates too.
NEW MINDSETS NEEDED:
Alberta has a unique opportunity to engage and lead in many of these areas as a smart way to diversify our economy. But we need to get our heads out of the incremental mindset of conservative thinking and get seriously and creatively into an innovation mindset of progressive change.
Boldness doesn't mean recklessness or brash behaviours but it does demand leaps of imagination using ingenuity in an applied way to see things differently. This is not a call to rely on faith as a way forward. It is a demand that we look at evidence and deal with facts and live as much in the question as we do in seeking the answers.
That mean we have to teach ourselves to be innovative. We need to escape the comfort and stability of the known and consciously choose to seek out the opportunity in the uncertainty and to seek to see things differently.
RENEWING OUR INSTITUTIONS:
All of this comes into play in the collective exercise of our democracy through governance, regulation and...yes politics! Are we citizens ready, willing and able to attract, identify and elect the kind of candidates? Will we stay informed and engage with the policy-makers to influence and deal with these issues? Are our institutions up the the challenge in these transformations, including political parties?
By example of policy implications, here is a brief recent backgrounder by Herman J.H. Ossthuysen on Autonomous Vehicles in Alberta. It was originally published by the Alberta Council of Technologies as a provocation on the technological implications for policy issues for Alberta's transportation and infrastructure from autonomous vehicles in the trucking industry.
This change in approach must pervade all aspects of our lives and relationships to ourselves, to our economy, to our environment and our society. We often define ourselves by what we "do" mostly by our work. What if we envisaged a post-work society in the new reality of automation robotics and machine learning? What will we use to establish our sense of worth if we are at the end of "Homo-Economicus?"
Here is a link to a Guardian Long Reads podcast on a "Post-work: the radical idea of a world without jobs." It's about 35 minutes long so grab a cup of coffee of brew some tea and give it a listen.
The world is run by those who show up! Passive pretentious progressivism can no longer be tolerated. I will look forward to your comments on this blog post. After all we are all in this alone...together.
Sunday, March 18, 2018
Saturday, March 03, 2018
Alberta Party 3.0... How Did It Come to This?
The Only Sure Thing in Alberta Politics is There is No Sure Thing.
The on-going volatility of the Alberta political culture is not smoothing out with Stephen Mandel's recent Alberta Party leadership victory. That volatility is likely to become more vociferous and starkly apparent as the adversarial win-lose, right versus left hardens the positions of the UCP and NDP. Is there any room for a rational, pragmatic and progressive centrist party option in this win-at-any-cost political culture?
Alberta Party 1.0
The Alberta Party wasn't always a progressive centrist movement, in fact quite the opposite. According to Wikipedia, which in this instance I have no reason to doubt, the Alberta Party was founded in 1985 and started out " in the early 1980s as an alliance of small separatists political parties...spawned in the wake of the National Energy Program...."
There were five parties to the right of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives in 1985 and some had elected MLAs but had lost them in the 1982 election. In 1990 there was a movement to join these right-wing parties into a new party called the Alliance Party of Alberta. It unsuccessfully contested 2 by-elections, fielded a handful of candidates in 1993 election and passed on participating in the 1997 general election entirely.
In 1998 the party changed its name to the "Alberta Party Political Association" and became known as the Alberta Party for branding purposes. In advance of the 2004 election there was a failed attempt to merge with the "Alberta Alliance Party" that had formed out of the old federal Reform Party cum Canadian Alliance party but in an Alberta context.
The merger idea was for the new entity to campaign under the Alberta Alliance Party name and to adopt the Alberta Party platform. The merger fell apart when the Alberta Party refused to de-register its name with Elections Alberta. In fact the Alberta Party official changed it name just before the 2004 election and ran 4 candidates in that election and 1 in the 2008 campaign.
Alberta Party 2.0
As the Wildrose Alliance became the dominant right-wing party in Alberta the hard-right conservatives gravitated there leaving the Progressive Conservative Party and the Alberta Party. The Alberta Party was pretty much inert but it was kept registered. It was then that the new efforts to start a movement to attract progressives from the PCs, Alberta Liberals and Greens coming out of a series of three province wide gatherings of progressives called Reboot Alberta. Reboot Alberta arose from a discontent with the rise of the far right and the need for a more effective progressive voice in Alberta politics.
This progressive movement was a loose arrangement of the Progress Party, the Reboot Alberta initiative and a Calgary centric Renew Alberta. The daunting task of raising 8000 signatures to start a new party and the attractiveness of the Alberta Party name resulted in informal discussion with the tired but true board of the Alberta Party. I took the lead in those discussions with the old board acknowledging that the Reboot/Renew initiative where the old board agreed to suspend the old far-right policy platform. The idea was to formulate a fiscal conservative, socially progressive and environmentally responsible platform.
That openness of the old Alberta Party board resulted in the unanimous election of Edwin Erickson, a former Green Party deputy leader as the Alberta Party leader. That was the beginning of a new centrist progressive political party that was a gathering place for a wide range of Albertans looking for a more authentic voice for an integrated and comprehensive pragmatist approach to politics and governance in Alberta. That was the beginning of the Alberta Party as we know it today.
Alberta Party 3.0
What will be the fortunes of the next Alberta Party? Time will tell. It appears that it finally has traction and momentum after many years of frustration and false starts. The recent leadership contest has drawn new members, new energy and renewed purpose. The hard work of raising some real money, some great candidates and viable constituency organizations with a resonant policy platform is on the agenda for the new leadership.
The on-going volatility of the Alberta political culture is not smoothing out with Stephen Mandel's recent Alberta Party leadership victory. That volatility is likely to become more vociferous and starkly apparent as the adversarial win-lose, right versus left hardens the positions of the UCP and NDP. Is there any room for a rational, pragmatic and progressive centrist party option in this win-at-any-cost political culture?
Alberta Party 1.0
The Alberta Party wasn't always a progressive centrist movement, in fact quite the opposite. According to Wikipedia, which in this instance I have no reason to doubt, the Alberta Party was founded in 1985 and started out " in the early 1980s as an alliance of small separatists political parties...spawned in the wake of the National Energy Program...."
There were five parties to the right of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives in 1985 and some had elected MLAs but had lost them in the 1982 election. In 1990 there was a movement to join these right-wing parties into a new party called the Alliance Party of Alberta. It unsuccessfully contested 2 by-elections, fielded a handful of candidates in 1993 election and passed on participating in the 1997 general election entirely.
In 1998 the party changed its name to the "Alberta Party Political Association" and became known as the Alberta Party for branding purposes. In advance of the 2004 election there was a failed attempt to merge with the "Alberta Alliance Party" that had formed out of the old federal Reform Party cum Canadian Alliance party but in an Alberta context.
The merger idea was for the new entity to campaign under the Alberta Alliance Party name and to adopt the Alberta Party platform. The merger fell apart when the Alberta Party refused to de-register its name with Elections Alberta. In fact the Alberta Party official changed it name just before the 2004 election and ran 4 candidates in that election and 1 in the 2008 campaign.
Alberta Party 2.0
As the Wildrose Alliance became the dominant right-wing party in Alberta the hard-right conservatives gravitated there leaving the Progressive Conservative Party and the Alberta Party. The Alberta Party was pretty much inert but it was kept registered. It was then that the new efforts to start a movement to attract progressives from the PCs, Alberta Liberals and Greens coming out of a series of three province wide gatherings of progressives called Reboot Alberta. Reboot Alberta arose from a discontent with the rise of the far right and the need for a more effective progressive voice in Alberta politics.
This progressive movement was a loose arrangement of the Progress Party, the Reboot Alberta initiative and a Calgary centric Renew Alberta. The daunting task of raising 8000 signatures to start a new party and the attractiveness of the Alberta Party name resulted in informal discussion with the tired but true board of the Alberta Party. I took the lead in those discussions with the old board acknowledging that the Reboot/Renew initiative where the old board agreed to suspend the old far-right policy platform. The idea was to formulate a fiscal conservative, socially progressive and environmentally responsible platform.
That openness of the old Alberta Party board resulted in the unanimous election of Edwin Erickson, a former Green Party deputy leader as the Alberta Party leader. That was the beginning of a new centrist progressive political party that was a gathering place for a wide range of Albertans looking for a more authentic voice for an integrated and comprehensive pragmatist approach to politics and governance in Alberta. That was the beginning of the Alberta Party as we know it today.
Alberta Party 3.0
What will be the fortunes of the next Alberta Party? Time will tell. It appears that it finally has traction and momentum after many years of frustration and false starts. The recent leadership contest has drawn new members, new energy and renewed purpose. The hard work of raising some real money, some great candidates and viable constituency organizations with a resonant policy platform is on the agenda for the new leadership.
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Trans Mountain Pipeline: Politics With a Purpose
Can We Build and Operate a Sustainable Pipeline?
I am very much in favour of the Kinder Morgan TransMountain pipeline project. As an Albertan, and therefore the owner of the natural resources it will transport, I acknowledge the special benefits as well as the concurrent burden associated with it.
To me this project should be a prototype for an integrated, comprehensive Triple-Bottom-Line approach a promote as part of an Alberta Party governance and evidence based decision-making model. Triple Bottom Line comprehensive approaches include considerations for people, the planet and people concerns in any public policy decision. The integrated aspect is best summarized as "All things considered, consider all things."
Hard Choices to be Made
Governance is said to be about making "hard choice." That includes priority setting and values trade-offs. In this policy setting approach a policy a project may be driven by economics, like TransMountain. However in the project analysis as to what should be the policy priority, the economics may dominate but they should not trump to the point where the environmental and social concerns are dismissed as irrelevant.
Hard policy choices by government is where our elected representative set policy priorities,determine the values trade-offs and advise the public, a.k.a. citizens, of their decisions and how they came to them. We need to be aware of and accepting the consequences of such trade-offs with prior and fully-informed consent of society as well as indigenous peoples through our Treaty obligations. Such acceptance must be with an on-going goal of anticipating and detecting, preventing and correcting ignorance and error on a continuous basis.
Albertans, as resource owners, must be assured this project is not just economically viable, that conclusion is unassailable, yet it could be even better. Getting bitumen to domestic tidewater will get a much better market price, reduce market vulnerability by diversifying our market which is now 99% American, and provide good high paying jobs.
Pipeline economics however are like water is to soup, necessary but insufficient. We need to be sure this project provides social benefits, especially to those indigenous communities in it's path. We need to be sure that taxes that are levied are collected and not avoided by off-shore shenanigans we have discovered through the Panama Papers.
We also need to be vigilant and capable of dealing with ecological consequences of the pipeline operations. Yes pipelines are the safest way to transport hydrocarbons, but are they a safe as they could be? We need a new standard of continuous innovative technology adoption where industrial operations are concerned as related to the environment. This will make operations responsible, sustainable and productive in a full life cycle approach.
Politics With a Purpose
There are partisan politics around this project but it is more of a larger public policy concern that who is wining the court of public opinion battle. So lets get beyond the "He said; She Said" of left vs right politics as usual. Progressive Albertans can get more informed, take some positive action and help to make this project the best it can be, now and in the future.
Here is a link to an excellent Government of Alberta website that is key to helping Albertans to achieve those ends. I encourage all progressive Albertans and especially Alberta Party members, friends and family to take this pipeline project to heart and help out.
I am very much in favour of the Kinder Morgan TransMountain pipeline project. As an Albertan, and therefore the owner of the natural resources it will transport, I acknowledge the special benefits as well as the concurrent burden associated with it.
To me this project should be a prototype for an integrated, comprehensive Triple-Bottom-Line approach a promote as part of an Alberta Party governance and evidence based decision-making model. Triple Bottom Line comprehensive approaches include considerations for people, the planet and people concerns in any public policy decision. The integrated aspect is best summarized as "All things considered, consider all things."
Hard Choices to be Made
Governance is said to be about making "hard choice." That includes priority setting and values trade-offs. In this policy setting approach a policy a project may be driven by economics, like TransMountain. However in the project analysis as to what should be the policy priority, the economics may dominate but they should not trump to the point where the environmental and social concerns are dismissed as irrelevant.
Hard policy choices by government is where our elected representative set policy priorities,determine the values trade-offs and advise the public, a.k.a. citizens, of their decisions and how they came to them. We need to be aware of and accepting the consequences of such trade-offs with prior and fully-informed consent of society as well as indigenous peoples through our Treaty obligations. Such acceptance must be with an on-going goal of anticipating and detecting, preventing and correcting ignorance and error on a continuous basis.
Albertans, as resource owners, must be assured this project is not just economically viable, that conclusion is unassailable, yet it could be even better. Getting bitumen to domestic tidewater will get a much better market price, reduce market vulnerability by diversifying our market which is now 99% American, and provide good high paying jobs.
Pipeline economics however are like water is to soup, necessary but insufficient. We need to be sure this project provides social benefits, especially to those indigenous communities in it's path. We need to be sure that taxes that are levied are collected and not avoided by off-shore shenanigans we have discovered through the Panama Papers.
We also need to be vigilant and capable of dealing with ecological consequences of the pipeline operations. Yes pipelines are the safest way to transport hydrocarbons, but are they a safe as they could be? We need a new standard of continuous innovative technology adoption where industrial operations are concerned as related to the environment. This will make operations responsible, sustainable and productive in a full life cycle approach.
Politics With a Purpose
There are partisan politics around this project but it is more of a larger public policy concern that who is wining the court of public opinion battle. So lets get beyond the "He said; She Said" of left vs right politics as usual. Progressive Albertans can get more informed, take some positive action and help to make this project the best it can be, now and in the future.
Here is a link to an excellent Government of Alberta website that is key to helping Albertans to achieve those ends. I encourage all progressive Albertans and especially Alberta Party members, friends and family to take this pipeline project to heart and help out.
Friday, February 16, 2018
Looking at the Alberta Party Leadership
A New Day and a New Way? With the retirement of Greg Clark as leader, there are four phases to the leadership change process within Alberta Party. First was to find quality and committed candidates. Done! Membership sales was next phase that closed on February 12. Done! Now the candidates have to get out there votes and persuade others members to support them for the end of February voting. In progress!
The final phase will be for the new leader to get to work. That is true for the other candidates, the sitting MLAs and the Board to grow the Party, recruit candidates and raise some cash for the next election and get focused to contest a by-election in the meantime. Next Steps!
The Alberta Party members will be deliberating on who they will support for Leadership and why. Ideally they will be sharing their thoughts with friends and family and through their social and professional networks. Raising the profile of the Party is only worthwhile if it raises support and participation in the next election.
When looking at deciding who should be the new Alberta Party leader. I am looking at what should be the go-forward leadership qualities, focus and capabilities. for the benefit of the Party My lens is about what the Alberta Party needs now to be successful in these times of change, uncertainty, pressing stewardship obligations, social cohesion needs and economic challenges.
Welcome to Uncertainty and Volatility. The Alberta Party has had a number of false starts at gaining traction and momentum since I became involved in 2009 and manged the Glenn Taylor Leadership Campaign. What is past is definitely not a prelude for what is needed today. The past is not much of a factor in helping members to decide the criteria they must apply for selecting the next leader of the Alberta Party and promoting it's future.
This is a new day in Alberta's political culture, especially given the electoral rejection of the PC dynasty and the coagulation of Reform-based social conservatives into the Kenney lead UCP. The the dramatic rise of the NDP from a 2 seat No Party Status in 2009 (when the Alberta Party started) to a 54 seat majority government by 2015. Volatility is the new normal in Alberta's political culture and anything could happen.
So what can and should the Alberta Party expect to achieve based on the three leadership candidate options? Quite a bit I would suggest. If I have my druthers I would like a leader that had the combined strengths of each candidate all rolled into one. That, unfortunately, is not reality. My list of Alberta Party leadership needs is based on what it will take to become a viable political alternative, capable of forming government and worthy of earning the public's trust.
Here is what I see as the strengths of each candidate, as applied to the needs of the Alberta Party today, and in no order of priority:
Organization. We need a leader who can recruit quality, capable and committed candidates. Those candidates must be loyal to a set of inclusive and comprehensive progressive principles, and not beholden to a party leader. That means the leader must be capable of creating a strong local presence throughout the province that results in viable, active and effective constituency organizations. That requires a leaders with a province-wide network and the ability to be forthright with potential candidates about the realities of political life. Stephen Mandel has the best capacity to offer that in my opinion.
Articulate an Albertan Progressive Vision. The failure of left versus right hyper-partisan policy options is bemoaned but what is the alternative? The Alberta Party leader must be able to position the party clearly as the progressive centrists option with pragmatic policy offerings. That policy approach must be based on an aspirational pragmatism with an inclusive, integrated Triple-Bottom-Line governance approach that sees government as force for achieving a greater good.
The "vision thing" is best articulated with a common touch and a forthright candor about Alberta's challenges, limitations, weaknesses and threats. What must we do to realizing our potential as people, communities, businesses and as a province. On this criteria I see Rick Fraser sense of the province today and aspirations for the future as the best carrier of that flame for the Alberta Party.
Future Focus and Forthrightness. The province is changing in so many ways and at an unprecedented accelerated basis. We need to get serious about Alberta coming to grips with the realities of a post-fossil fuel future. We need fresh 21st century thinking and ideas to be able to adapt to the new technologies and adopt the many available productivity innovations to secure our continuing economic prosperity.
We need to be forthright about our ecological stewardship obligations and quick enough to find the clean-tech and other business opportunities within those challenges. We need inclusive secular public policy approaches that fosters social cohesion and enables more well-being, especially for vulnerable citizens. Leaving debts and environmental clean up and reclamation obligations to future generations because we refuse to be responsible in raising government revenues to pay our way today is not acceptable. I believe Kara Levis has the courage and intelligence and has best sense of differentiating the Alberta Party to have the hard conversations of pressing and pending realities.
Citizenship and Democratic Engagement. Many Albertans have become very disengaged from the political culture of the province. As a result we run the risk of forfeiting political power to active extremists. We can see the consequences of this in American politics under President Trump. Encouraging and enabling informed citizenship to engage on issues of importance to them and thereby increasing voter participation is key to a vibrant, effective and representative democracy must be a goal for every Alberta Party member, regardless of who is the leader.
Encouraging more effective progressive citizen political involvement, including social media literacy, must be part of an Alberta Party approach to out political culture. We must do more to ensure Albertans have the skills needed to thrive the new reality of disruptive technologies including their impact on our democratic institutions. Engaging the disengaged, especially women and youth, in Alberta's political culture is key to any on-going Alberta Party success.
In conclusion....... This is not an exhaustive list of reasons to support one candidate or another. It is an effort to get Alberta Party members, and Albertans, to think past the horse-race approach of who is winning or losing, so common in political leadership contests. We also don't need to get caught up in the superficial personality assessments all too often applied to leadership selection. This Alberta Party leadership campaign is more akin to the Bruce Mau challenge in his book Massive Change when he said: "Now that we can do anything, what will we do?"
I am not endorsing any candidate directly and this post should not be interpreted as an indirect endorsement of any candidate either. I am still undecided at this time. All I ask is that Alberta Party members vote on the basis of what is best for the Alberta Party so it can be the best for Alberta.
The final phase will be for the new leader to get to work. That is true for the other candidates, the sitting MLAs and the Board to grow the Party, recruit candidates and raise some cash for the next election and get focused to contest a by-election in the meantime. Next Steps!
The Alberta Party members will be deliberating on who they will support for Leadership and why. Ideally they will be sharing their thoughts with friends and family and through their social and professional networks. Raising the profile of the Party is only worthwhile if it raises support and participation in the next election.
When looking at deciding who should be the new Alberta Party leader. I am looking at what should be the go-forward leadership qualities, focus and capabilities. for the benefit of the Party My lens is about what the Alberta Party needs now to be successful in these times of change, uncertainty, pressing stewardship obligations, social cohesion needs and economic challenges.
Welcome to Uncertainty and Volatility. The Alberta Party has had a number of false starts at gaining traction and momentum since I became involved in 2009 and manged the Glenn Taylor Leadership Campaign. What is past is definitely not a prelude for what is needed today. The past is not much of a factor in helping members to decide the criteria they must apply for selecting the next leader of the Alberta Party and promoting it's future.
This is a new day in Alberta's political culture, especially given the electoral rejection of the PC dynasty and the coagulation of Reform-based social conservatives into the Kenney lead UCP. The the dramatic rise of the NDP from a 2 seat No Party Status in 2009 (when the Alberta Party started) to a 54 seat majority government by 2015. Volatility is the new normal in Alberta's political culture and anything could happen.
So what can and should the Alberta Party expect to achieve based on the three leadership candidate options? Quite a bit I would suggest. If I have my druthers I would like a leader that had the combined strengths of each candidate all rolled into one. That, unfortunately, is not reality. My list of Alberta Party leadership needs is based on what it will take to become a viable political alternative, capable of forming government and worthy of earning the public's trust.
Here is what I see as the strengths of each candidate, as applied to the needs of the Alberta Party today, and in no order of priority:
Organization. We need a leader who can recruit quality, capable and committed candidates. Those candidates must be loyal to a set of inclusive and comprehensive progressive principles, and not beholden to a party leader. That means the leader must be capable of creating a strong local presence throughout the province that results in viable, active and effective constituency organizations. That requires a leaders with a province-wide network and the ability to be forthright with potential candidates about the realities of political life. Stephen Mandel has the best capacity to offer that in my opinion.
Articulate an Albertan Progressive Vision. The failure of left versus right hyper-partisan policy options is bemoaned but what is the alternative? The Alberta Party leader must be able to position the party clearly as the progressive centrists option with pragmatic policy offerings. That policy approach must be based on an aspirational pragmatism with an inclusive, integrated Triple-Bottom-Line governance approach that sees government as force for achieving a greater good.
The "vision thing" is best articulated with a common touch and a forthright candor about Alberta's challenges, limitations, weaknesses and threats. What must we do to realizing our potential as people, communities, businesses and as a province. On this criteria I see Rick Fraser sense of the province today and aspirations for the future as the best carrier of that flame for the Alberta Party.
Future Focus and Forthrightness. The province is changing in so many ways and at an unprecedented accelerated basis. We need to get serious about Alberta coming to grips with the realities of a post-fossil fuel future. We need fresh 21st century thinking and ideas to be able to adapt to the new technologies and adopt the many available productivity innovations to secure our continuing economic prosperity.
We need to be forthright about our ecological stewardship obligations and quick enough to find the clean-tech and other business opportunities within those challenges. We need inclusive secular public policy approaches that fosters social cohesion and enables more well-being, especially for vulnerable citizens. Leaving debts and environmental clean up and reclamation obligations to future generations because we refuse to be responsible in raising government revenues to pay our way today is not acceptable. I believe Kara Levis has the courage and intelligence and has best sense of differentiating the Alberta Party to have the hard conversations of pressing and pending realities.
Citizenship and Democratic Engagement. Many Albertans have become very disengaged from the political culture of the province. As a result we run the risk of forfeiting political power to active extremists. We can see the consequences of this in American politics under President Trump. Encouraging and enabling informed citizenship to engage on issues of importance to them and thereby increasing voter participation is key to a vibrant, effective and representative democracy must be a goal for every Alberta Party member, regardless of who is the leader.
Encouraging more effective progressive citizen political involvement, including social media literacy, must be part of an Alberta Party approach to out political culture. We must do more to ensure Albertans have the skills needed to thrive the new reality of disruptive technologies including their impact on our democratic institutions. Engaging the disengaged, especially women and youth, in Alberta's political culture is key to any on-going Alberta Party success.
In conclusion....... This is not an exhaustive list of reasons to support one candidate or another. It is an effort to get Alberta Party members, and Albertans, to think past the horse-race approach of who is winning or losing, so common in political leadership contests. We also don't need to get caught up in the superficial personality assessments all too often applied to leadership selection. This Alberta Party leadership campaign is more akin to the Bruce Mau challenge in his book Massive Change when he said: "Now that we can do anything, what will we do?"
I am not endorsing any candidate directly and this post should not be interpreted as an indirect endorsement of any candidate either. I am still undecided at this time. All I ask is that Alberta Party members vote on the basis of what is best for the Alberta Party so it can be the best for Alberta.
Sunday, February 04, 2018
Is There New Political Compass Emerging in Alberta?
What is the New Political Compass?
The concept of a New Political Compass, one that moves beyond the linear spectrum of Left vs Right was introduced in 2008 by Dr. Paul Ray, the co-author of "The Cultural Creatives."
The research this post references is based on American data but I think it translates well into the Alberta political culture. We seem to be the part of Canada that is the most akin to and influenced by our relationships to the USA, especially in our oil and gas industry.
Dr. Ray's premise is that political culture in the States is no longer a horizontal binary model of left-right options. Rather we are experiencing a more complex east vs west and north vs south set of "compass" points to delineate our political culture evolution. This richer redefinition of what values people stand for frees us from the overly simplistic labeling of someone as either left or right,,,or even centrist, seen as some form of mushy middle compromise.
The old left vs right political culture model is too rigid as it over-simplifies our complex political culture and hampers the effective performance of our institutions from political parties to election reforms. Left vs Right sets up adversarial politics and offers citizens few practical options. It also seems to encourage and attract more extreme views, on either end of the spectrum. The extremes on the left and right use propaganda to crowd out the systems and design thinking necessary to deal with complex public policy issues and options.
Is There a New Political Compass in Alberta?
The majority of Albertans are in the "centre" of the Left vs Right spectrum and also believe the current political model fails to speak for them. The left and right party activists work hard to frame and label the other side as some extremist political from Communist/Socialist or Libertarian/Anarchist. We saw this in 2016 Primaries where the Republicans stirred up their base by challenging Hillary Clinton as an establishment elitists, and calling Bernie Sanders a "socialist" regardless that he identified himself as such.
In the Alberta political context this effort to label the other as extreme is alive and well. The UCP messages the NDP as collectivists and socialist, union-friendly and therefore a threat to growth and economic prosperity. The NDP pushes the impression that the UCP is economically Republican-lite as business conservatives, and Tea-Party type socially conservatives. The BCNDP government is the most obvious example of using propaganda to push extreme positions. Social conservatism in Alberta is mostly elderly and dying off due to simple demographics. The aggressive Eco-activist leftists are also losing influence seeing fewer people identifying with them and that trend is anticipated to continue.
The majority of Albertans identify as progressives but in the "mushy middle" sense of that concept. The "centre" has not been effectively defined in Alberta's political culture so it really doesn't communicate anything meaningful to those who want to see an integrated holistic political approach. They see their current options as between a plutocracy where big business makes the rules and exercises economic controls are used mostly for the benefit of the rich, or a collectivism that is seen as stifling innovation and hindering changes for more productivity and growth.
Is Alberta Ready for a Different Political Movement?
The old political model is a failure by any metric. Voter turn out is chronically low, confidence and participation in political parties is almost non-existent and trust in our democratic institutions, media, politicians and parties is low and declining. The content and compliant so-called Alberta centrist is politically alienated, disengaged and consequently ignorant about who to vote for...so they don't. As a result the election results are far from optimal in their opinions and that reinforces the alienation and disengagement.
The New Political Compass research by Paul Ray uncovered a new sense of citizenship, the so-called "New Progressive." They are not so much a bunch of mushy middling but more at "right-angles" to the socialist left or social conservative right and they are also very opposed to political control by big business. The American expression of this is the rise of the Independents who are not opting for the Democrats or Republicans, with some efforts to form a third political party Is the Alberta Party the potential provincial equivalent of the rise of Independents in America and the emergence of the "third party" evolution?
The New Progressives, according to the American research, are aligned with the values of the Cultural Creatives, more likely to volunteer, donate to charity, engaged in social justice movements and want to change the culture more than the rest of society. They are in the front of some big issues from climate change to women's concerns.
The American research shows the New Progressives are 36% of the population and estimated to be 45% of those likely to vote. Are those the new Alberta Party supporters? The "Longing for the Old Ways Cultural Conservatives, the Alberta Social Conservative UCP Rebel Media viewer types, are 19% of Americans and 22% of likely voters.
The "Stand Pat of the Left Modernists and New Deal Liberals" are 12% of Americans and 15% of likely voters. Is that equivalent of the traditional NDP supporter? There are 14% of American who identify as "Profits Over Planet and People, Business Conservatives and the Establishment Right" with 19% of the likely voters. That is the equivalent of the Calgary Belt-line big energy tower-dwellers, Canadian Federation of Independent Business members and Fraser Institute fans. Then there are 20% in the nexus of all this who feel alienated and ignored and not likely to engage or change.
Will the Alberta Party Be the Gathering Place for New Progressives?
The core question for the New Progressives, and especially in Alberta, is will they mobilize under a single banner like the Alberta Party, as a big political tent, like the Lougheed Progressive Conservatives did, and become a dominant political force? Alberta is into a time of transformation and we are seeing a change in many of our institutions, including political institutions. They are in dire need of repair or replacement but potentially driven by a desire for a re-enlightenment and a new progressive social contract.
We Albertans have lots of potential but not if we don't change from the status quo. The tired stale-dated unimaginative return to the Alberta Advantage of the United Conservative Party is the exact wrong way to go. We need to define a new Alberta Aspiration that looks beyond the superficial competitive framing of "Being the Best in the World" and stretch our New Progressive vision ino "Being the Best for the World."
That means we need to learn how to create, innovate, adapt and design our way forward as a movement dedicated to practical progressive political policies. Otherwise the writing is on the wall and Alberta is destined to decline and be a disappointment economically, ecologically, socially and politically.
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