2015: The Year for Acting Politically

Here is a draft of a piece I did emerging from my guest spot at the Summer Conference for the Alberta Teachers Association.  I am often invited to attend ATA events as a "friendly critic and critical friend of the ATA" as a former President likes to call me.

Summer Conference includes the ATA leadership cohort from across the province.  They looked collectively into their professional and political role in Alberta's public education policy going forward.

This "post" was inspired from the ATA event last August.  That was in the heat of the PC leadership process and just before the oil price changes gathered momentum.  You will see from the content it was written after the October by-elections.

2015: THE YEAR FOR ACTING POLITICALLY

Politics was a key message this year for ATA Summer Conference participants. Politics pervaded the Conference program. PC Leadership candidates were invited to attend and speak but Thomas Lukaszuk was the only one to show up. Opposition Education Critics all attended, spoke civilly and shared insights on their approaches to education policy.  

I got to “interview” Lukaszuk and moderate the Opposition Critic panel.  I also got to observe and add commentary in Political Engagement sessions.  As a result I learned a lot about the political positioning and thinking of the ATA.  I got to listen to those members charged with bringing the voice of teachers into the complex public policy process of the province.

My special privilege was when I was asked to make some wrap up comments at the end of the Conference.  My closing comments were based on Martin Luther King’s speech on Power and Love.  He said power without love is reckless and abusive. Love without power is sentimental and anemic. King’s conclusion was that we need power and love not power or love.

Since the Summer Conference, there have been lots of political power plays in Alberta.  The PCs have selected a new leader.  There was a significantly diminished level of citizen participation than in previous contests.  There was a serious controversy over electronic voting irregularities.  Then there were accusations of ethical lapses by the winning candidate over giving “free” memberships, paid for by others.

The “new management” leader selected a Cabinet that had unelected and controversial Ministers in the key portfolios of Health and Education.  This exercise in political power caused two additional, costly but interesting by-elections.

More power based politics emerged in one of the by-elections.  Ethical breach allegations of conflict of interest were formally filed against the appointed Minister of Education.  The Alberta Party and Wildrose both accused him of conflict of interest by using his Ministerial power for private benefit during his election campaign.

Robocall tactics came from federal politics and to the Alberta by-elections.  This time, anonymous social conservatives targeted robocalls at Wildrose supporters in all by-election campaigns.  Their message belittled the Wildrose party leader’s values for pursuing moderate policies on sexual preference issues.  

In politics, power is often applied in ways that is reckless and abusive.  And when it comes to the values of many care givers, including educators, the love they have for their work is embraced as a calling.  So they are often seen, and even become, sentimental and anemic…and therefore ineffectual in getting what they needed for themselves and those in their charge.

The repulsion of power politics coupled with a genuine love of their work (aka their "calling"), educators often get badly treated by the dynamics of politics. They tend to get abused in the power-based public policy development and deployment process.

My closing message to teachers was to stay professional but also to dust off their citizenship duties.  Get informed, get engaged, then get on with politically active citizenship. Start making a real difference on issues that are important to you.

Being a professional in a publicly funded education system puts some legitimate limits on advocacy activities.  But citizenship is a justifiable distinction and a strong basis for individual advocacy and values-based activism.

I suggested teachers, acting as citizens, have a lot to offer our declining democracy.  They have special training and skills that can help others understand and interpret information (aka seeing and understanding propaganda).  They have analytic abilities and high degrees of literacy that can help marginalized groups access and understand politics and political messaging.

My engagement plea was for teachers to join a political party and volunteer to help a candidate in an election campaign.  If you want to have real influence the leverage of your time is via political partisanship.  Access to power is easier and only 2% of Canadians belong to parties so the "power" is significant.

You don’t have to subsume your values to the party ideology but research which party is closest to your values.  Great parties encourage and enable active dialogue on values.  This is because good political parties recognize political decisions are values trade-offs.  Policy design and political priorities are, at their essence, moral choices.

Democracy necessitates a dynamic diverse dialogue and an informed debate served by a wise set of elected and listening decision makers.  None of that happens without engaged citizens who want to synergize Power and Love.

When you reflect on the potential of a progressive values-based society like I just described, it occurs to me that I have also just described a very good school.
Yes teachers, as citizens, have a lot of skills, talents and qualities to help integrate the concepts of power and love.

Our democracy and our society needs great classroom teachers but that does not mean they can't  also become active and effective citizens outside of school.  that said, 2015 is indeed the year for educators to begin acting politically - especially if there is a snap election coming.

Does Jim Prentice Need a New Mandate?

The spring 2015 election rumours are rampant amongst the chattering class in Alberta politics.  Of course all the reasons given to go early are pure politics and nothing to do with good governance.

Some reasons for an early election, instead of honouring the legislated fixed election date, is the "new management" under the new Premier needs his own mandate from Albertans.

Other reasons are the oil price decline needs Albertans to go to the polls to provide Prentice with the power to make the "tough choices" (a.k.a. draconian cuts) about programs and to keep taxes low.

Finally I believe the new Premier wants an election to enable him to clean house and get rid of the remaining progressives in his caucus. An election is the fastest way to do that by culling the herd.

A New Man Needs a New Mandate:
Why a new mandate?  Prentice won the PC leadership and consequentially became Premier of all Alberta.  He ran in the context of a very recent ( April 2012) and successful Redford election with a majority government.

He also knowingly inherited the fixed election date period of March 1-May 31 in every fourth calendar year of office.

The PCs have a clear mandate and a majority government elected less than two years before they decided to dump Redford. He inherited a 66 seat majority government elected with 44% of the vote that crushed the WRP momentum.

His own leadership win was "decisive" with 17,963 of the 23,386 of memberships counted.  We know more memberships were sold or given away by the Prentice campaign so there is a cloud over his "win." Not all eligible members were able to vote due to serious and suspicious electronic voting irregularities.

As for the PC Party mandate, Prentice has (or at least had until recently) the overwhelming support of the party executive, the caucus and the party establishment.  The PC caucus members were almost unanimous in their support for Prentice as leader.    

Alberta citizens were able to participate in this leadership selection by simply buying a PC membership (or getting a free one from Prentice's campaign) and voting for any one of three candidates.  

The fact that the general population overwhelmingly choose not to participate in this PC selection process, compared to previous contests, can be seen as indifference to the outcome. It could be seen as a general public acceptance that any of candidates offered could continue governing the province for the rest of the legislated mandate.

What if the low participation rate is because Albertans stayed away from the PC  selection process in protest? Even that clearly means they were prepared to accept the winner as their Premier in the context of the PC 2102 campaign platform and election victory.  

Then consider the dramatic shift in the polling results away from the Wildrose to the PCs since Prentice's victory in September 2014.  This shows Albertans now support his Premiership over the WRP regardless of the Redford legacy.

His recent polling results are at least as good, if not better, than the Redford 44% election support in 2012.  Again evidence that Albertan's do not see the need for a "new mandate" for the "new management" Premier. "He's da man!"

Budget Pressures Due to Oil Prices:
This is hardly a reason for a general election.  In fact it is just the opposite.  We need certainty in governance and leadership in such volatile economic times.  Oil prices started dropping in June of last year, when Prentice was announcing his candidacy.  They became more significant starting in September, when Prentice was selected PC leader.  It is not as if he didn't see this coming.

Prentice is not a new kid on the political block.  He is an experienced and seasoned politician, elected federally in June 2004 until November 2010 when he mysteriously resigned the Harper government.

In that time he served as Harper's Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Minister of Industry and Minister of the Environment. All vital portfolios and significant experience for dealing with Alberta's policy choices and fiscal plight in the light of falling oil prices.  We don't need him to win an election to prove is political bona fides.

Again his leadership success on October 27th by winning all four by-elections shows Albertans are not ready to dump him or even send him a discouraging word about his leadership...at least not so far.

We need certainty in provincial leadership and management to deal with the pending budget issues.  This is not new to Alberta or Albertans, notwithstanding Prentice's hyperbole to the contrary about the fiscal issues.  We have been down this road before.

Hopefully with Prentice's experience, and others in the recent PC political past, we can avoid making the same policy mistakes of previous resource revenue downturns. Time will tell but in any event oil price volatility is not a reason for an early general election.  

Prentice's Purge of the Progressives:
Prentice has taken the PC party significantly to the right in the political spectrum. This is especially evident with the floor crossing of the majority of the Wildrose caucus.  He has been described by Danielle Smith, the former Wildrose leader and floor-crosser, as the "first Wildrose Premier."  How much more proof do you need of his shift to the right?

The "retirement" of progressives like Hancock and Hughes was allegedly for being too close to Redford.  The demotion of people like Lukaszuk and Griffiths plus the announced retirement of Pastoor, (with others to come?) it is pretty clear the "P" in the PC party is being systemically removed by Prentice.

An early election gives Prentice a way to tell remaining progressives there is no future for them in his government,  He can also give the WRP crossers the chance to try and win nominations as Prentice Conservatives before other inside progressive candidates can get organized.

The other pure political reason for an early election is to kill the rest of the WRP as a political force.  They would not have time to select a new leader with an early election call, in fact may be trying to select a leader in the middle of an election.

That is Harper-esque politics at its lowest.  It is sadly ironic for the WRP to be subjected to such tactics given the past support the enjoyed from the Harper caucus members. The death of the current WRP would be the culmination of Prentice becoming the de facto WRP hard-right Premier of the province.

Change to a Progressive Political Culture:
The centrist Alberta Party, the centre-left Liberals with the leftist NDP do not have the funds or other resources to mount a strong offence against Prentice in the short term. The non-aligned progressives who voted Redford in fear of the WRP are in a dilemma.  The Prentice PCs are clearly no longer destined to be a big-tent party that includes progressives.

The Liberals and NDP are not a preferred progressive alternative choice or they would have done better in the 2012 election and in the October by-elections. The NDP is an Edmonton-based party and the Liberals are in serious internal decline loosing 3 seats in 2012 and with 2 of the current MLAs leaving for federal politics in the next election this year.

The Alberta Party showed they can campaign and do well in the Calgary Elbow by-election coming in a strong second.  However there are no silver medals in politics.  They have a lot of organizing and fund raising to do to be a contender but they are making progress on both fronts.

However, given Prentice is not going to lose the next election, the Alberta Party is a smart parking place for a progressive protest vote against the Prentice Conservatives. Full disclosure: I am on the Provincial Board of the Alberta Party.

What will happen about an early election call is anyone's guess, including Prentice, who says he is keeping the option open. To go early would require the Lt. Gov to call it or for Prentice to call the Legislature back and amend or repeal the fixed election dates law. Integrity, accountability and transparency would suggest the latter course is the better approach, but again, who knows and does Prentice really care about those political values?  

If we do have an early election it will be for purely partisan political reasons and not sound public policy purposes.  Hopefully progressive Albertans will take such self-serving partisanship seriously and judge the "Wildrose Premier" accordingly.

The best way to show displeasure for Prentice opportunism in making such a partisan anti-democratic early election decision is to get out and vote for a new progressive movement.

To my mind that is the Alberta Party.  While it is new it is young, energetic and full of  new ideas and public-interest thinkers.  With proper support, it would legitimately aspire beyond becoming a replacement opposition.  It could and should aspire to become a progressive party capable of offering a viable alternative the first "WRP Premier" approach to the governance of the province.

Time will tell if any of that happens too...but in the true spirit of Don Quixote, I remain faithful to an Alberta Aspiration that is hopeful for her progressive future.

Harper After New Victims

So Eve Adams and Dimiti Soudas are the new "power couple" about to be dropped from the Christmas card list of Prime Minister Harper.

Shades of Helena Gerugis and Rahim Jaffer?

Nasty nasty stuff Mr Prime Minister,  Why are Pierre Poilivere and Rob Anders are still amongst the anointed ones?

Seems like the Harper Cons are falling apart. I expect more retirements and a lot of runaway Harper Con staffers rushing into the bosom of the Wildrose Party in Alberta.

Jim Dinning Releases a Can of Whoop-Ass on PC Party

Wake Up Call is the polite way to describe Jim Dinning's "admonitions" to the elite in the Progressive Conservative Party.

To my mind he is right on in his comments.  The next leader may end up being the Harry Strom equivalent of the PC Party.  Mr Strom was the Social Credit leader at the time when Peter Lougheed captured the new mood of a young Alberta and swept into office in 1971.  I was there and a door-knocker, phone-caller, foot soldier type for the emerging Lougheed government in those days.

Now I smell the democracy of dramatic change in the air again.  The problem is the lack of acceptable choices.  Citizens of Alberta are almost universally disgusted with the PCs.  Most of us are terrified of what the Wildrose would do to Alberta, especially after seeing what their soul mates the Harper Conservatives have done to Canada.

As for the Liberal, they are just too boring to get behind and they seem like a one-man show.  The NDP have been effective opposition parliamentarians but seem just too biased and ideologically focused to grasp the complexity of the next Alberta.

The next Alberta government has to have a servant leader culture capable of governing an comprehensive integrated balance of a prosperous economy, environmental stewardship and social well-being and inclusion in the face of rapid growth and change.

There is god news and bad news for Albertans as they choose their next government, not just the next leader of the PC Party who gets the job temporarily and by default.  The good news is we have a prosperous foreseeable future with some bumps on the way no doubt.  The bad news is that it will not happen by any autopilot public policy approaches.  We will have to create that future ourselves.

Time is now for Albertans to pay attention and take stock of where we are, where we want to go and what it will take from all of use to make the changes needed to get there.  

That still does not answer the question of what are the political options out there for us if not the current crop?  I think the bad news is, it currently does not exist so, once again, just like Peter Lougheed did in the late 1960s early 70s, we have to create the option we want.

For me that is a socially progressive fiscally prudent and environmentally engaged political movement of citizens.  We need a movement of citizens to get behind a group of their fellow citizens who want to serve the public interest through the greater good...with a long term view and not just helping those on "their side" and only up to the next election.

There is the embryo of such a movement as that now in the Alberta Party. Small but serious and all of a sudden growing leaps and bounds as Albertans have started thinking about the real changes they want.  So if you are curious as to if the Alberta Party is for you, and you for it, click on Politicalmatch and take five minutes to check it out. I think you will be glad you did.

Is the Alberta Party Getting Cred?

The Globe and Mail Gary Mason recently wrote an insightful piece on the possibility of enhanced political fortunes of the Alberta Party.  With the shifting attitudes of Albertans of ennui, uncertainty and distrust of the establishment political parties with a well founded fear of the socially conservative Wildrose.  People are looking for an alternative preferred future.

The Alberta Party is becoming just that preferred alternative for socially progressives and fiscally prudent citizens who are looking for some fresh ideas and renewed energy to change the political culture of the province.

Young, informed engaged citizens who want a different future for themselves and future generations are leading this values based political shift. Progress in Alberta for these folks must be more responsible and sustainable than the current offerings of the established left-versus-right hyper-partisanship inherent in the current politics of the province.

With the PCs in a leadership campaign, it is a good time to think about what kind of Alberta you want and what you intend to do to achieve it. There will be lots of change talk in the next 4 to 6 months.  There always is in political campaign, including leadership races.

Can real change happen in ways we want and need to at least restore a civil polity that is focused on public interest not just winning or preserving political power.  Can we trust the current governing party and the wannabe opposition parties to create a truly caring, capable and statesmanship approach to governing?

Must we settle for the Wildrose, the so-called "only viable alternative" in an extremely socially conservative, government killing, narrow-minded Alberta version of the American Republicans?

It's time for change and change is in the air. It will not happen by accident.  It must be created by citizens who get engaged, get informed and get clarity about what they want from government and governance.  I think it's time to create a viable refreshing and authentically progressive political alternative to all the current batch of status quo parties.

For me that means its time to give the Alberta Party a chance to change things for a positive and progressive Alberta for all of us.

If you are interested in a discussion on the issues and values around what Alberta could and should look for in political leadership check out my other blog at www.oilsandsken.com