Stelmach and Hancock Disclose Leadership Campaign Contributions

I see from media reports that Stelmach and Hancock have both disclosed their campaign contributions and Dinning's is on the way. Some will suggest the word disclose might best be put in quotes given the anonymous donations are still there. I see a number of comments on this Blog and others are coming directly to me asking for my thoughts on the PC Leadership Campaign fund raising disclosure.

I have posted on this issue during the campaign and will do so again later today. First I want to review the disclosures and put some context around money and politics. Expect something to be posted tonight on this topic.

I have been out of town - visiting the good folks in Vulcan Alberta - yes those same folks who revere and celebrate Dr. Spock of Star Trek fame. In fact their town motto is "Science and Trek." I was talking to them about the impact of the Alberta SuperNet and how they perceive they can use it. Vulcan is a very interesting community in southern Alberta and I learned so much about them from this workshop I did but more on that in later postings.

For those outside of Alberta, the SuperNet is a provincial wide fibre optic network that has been installed in all our hospitals, schools, municipal offices and public libraries in every Alberta community. Everyone in Alberta is now potentially connected on this huge "data pipe" and we are now starting to design and discover how that will change the nature of our province and how we relate to each other and the world.

In the meantime a friend forwarded this email - which I presume is a spoof - but with Dubya...you never really know! In any event it is a perfect example of "framing and defining" a politician...and pretty funny at the same time.

A letter from a US colleague….

Dear Friends,
I have the distinguished honor of being on the committee to raise $5,000,000 for a monument to George W. Bush. We originally wanted to put him on Mount Rushmore until we discovered there was not enough room for two more faces. We then decided to erect a statue of George in the Washington, DC Hall Of Fame.

It was a quandary as to where the statue should be placed. It was not proper to place it beside the statue of George Washington, who never told a lie, nor beside Richard Nixon, who rarely told the truth, since George could never tell the difference.

We finally decided to place it beside Christopher Columbus, the greatest Republican of them all. He left not knowing where he was going, and when he got there he did not know where he was. He returned not knowing where he had been, and he decimated the health of the majority of the population while he was there, and did it all on someone else's money.

Thank you, George W. Bush Monument Committee P.S. We have raised $1.38 so far.

Alberta's Tobacco Reduction Strategy is in Trouble

There is lots of good news coming out of the Budget Update. The surplus is up and the spending in under control. Stelmach has brought some much needed fiscal discipline back to this government in the short 3 month he has taken over the leadership.

Some serious concerns on the revenue side are being reported. Not that the revenues are down, they are not. The concern is the increase in tobacco tax revenue of some $40M over budget.

Indications are, according to Action on Smoking and Health this increase is due to higher sales volumes that are in fact caused by price discounting by manufacturers.

Alberta as a Tobacco Reduction Strategy that called for a 50% reduction in tobacco shipments between 2001 and 2011 but only a 15% reduction has occurred since 2001 and there have been repeated sales increases since 2003. The performance success on this health indicator is in serious jeopardy. Stats show that tobacco is the leading avoidable cause of 3,400 premature deaths in Alberta every year.

For the last several years, tobacco revenues have been repeatedly underestimated by Alberta Finance and these increases are a disturbing reminder that the Alberta Tobacco Reduction Strategy is not meeting its stated objectives. The performance measure for tobacco shipments is 2528 million cigarettes for FY2011 (four years from now). The total shipments for FY2006 were 4380 million cigarettes. This means that tobacco shipments need to decline by over 40% within the next four years in order to achieve the ATRS 10-year performance target. This reduction would require a Herculean effort by the Alberta government.

Dave Hancock, the Minister of Health and Wellness is calling for a total ban on smoking in workplaces and public places, something that was tied many times before but never got passed Ralph Klein, the former Premier.

Here is hoping this is an idea whose time has come under a new Premier.

Peter Russell Weighs in on Judicial Appointments

Peter Russell is one of the most respected authorities on judicial appointments and the process. Everyone who values democracy and ther personal freedom and fear political ideology replacing the statesmanship role of the Prime Minister's office needs to read his Globe and Mail Op-Ed today.

If you are not a G&M subscriber - buy today's edition - this Opinion Piece alone is worth the cost.

"I Read the News Today - Oh Boy!"

Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper announces $200 million for Afghanistan for infrastructure development over 10 years.

Alberta’s Premier Ed Stelmach announces $400 million for Fort McMurray for infrastructure development over 3 years.

Hey Prime Minister Harper - are you serious about solving the problem in Afghanistan or are you just into PR?

Stelmach Will Release Minister's and EA's Expenses Accounts

March 1, 2007 UPDATE: Alberta Government confirms that Ministerial and Executive Assistant expenses are being disclosed.


Premier Stelmach was in fine form at a fundraising breakfast for a number of Edmonton constituencies today. One of the important but subtle messages that he sent was about a new way of doing politics. It was centred on his principle of governing with integrity and transparency.

He said he was going to release the monthly expense reports of Cabinet Minister’s and their Executive Assistants. This is not doubt driven by the recent Auditor General review and pending report of an expense claim made by a Klein era Ministerial Executive Assistant who charged some Las Vegas bachelor expenses to a government credit card.

He has already made a step in the right direction by making public by posting on a government website, every month, the entire manifests of who uses the provincial government airplanes, when, where and why.

This, and a Lobbyist and Contractor Registry Act as Bill 1 in the Spring Session set a new tone for integrity and transparency. It is a sure sign that Stelmach is differentiating his government from the Klein regime.

Now if he would only get his messaging clearer and straight on the economy and the environment relationship.