Ricardo Acuna from the Parkland Institute has an interesting piece in Vue Weekly. It is on his perceptions of who is "progressive" in the Alberta political firmament. He seems to settle on the NDP as the only party close to being what he sees as a progressive. Fair enough but progressives Albertans are mostly not in political parties.
I would recommend reading the piece but also suggest people go to the Reboot Alberta site and click on the What's a Progressive link and read the thoughts of what is a progressive many non-partisan citizen participants in the Reboot Alberta movement. It will add to the sense of what we are missing in Alberta political culture - even from the current progressively aspiring political parties.
If you red something at the Reboot Alberta site that resonates with you, consider registering on the site and become part of the broader progressive citizen's engagement movement in Alberta.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Shame on UN for Censoring Gun Sculpture.
I am most amazed that the United Nations, of all the institutions in the world, would succumb to pressure to censor art about the “Art of Peacemaking: the Gun Sculpture” by Edmonton artists Sandra Bromley and Wallis Kendal. It is even more ironic when you consider the nature of the UN event in Vienna where the Gun Sculpture was displayed. The UN Academic Council was meeting on "New Security Challenges" and
having speakers on the UN and the Media. (sic).
Sheila Pratt of the Edmonton Journal broke the story on the front page yesterday. Congratulations to the Edmonton Journal for giving this important but not conventional story such prominent display. Others have picked it up including the Montreal Gazette and the CBC, amongst others, with more interest being shown all the time.
I am very attached to this piece of art and have helped promote it in my own way for the past few years. I have helped bring it out of storage and brought it back from Europe for a display at The Works festival in Edmonton a few years ago. I am mostly interested in finding a permanent home for it...even considered the UN headquarters in New York, but with this development by the UN – you have to think twice.
The Gun Sculpture is one of the best examples I know of art doing its job. In no small part this piece tells us something about the human condition, ourselves and provokes strong reflecting reactions. By doing so, it becomes effectively controversial in a number of ways...all of them positive from my point of view.
The Chinese delegation at the Vienna International Centre was offended because a couple of the Gun Sculpture related photographs showed Tibetan victims, but did not reference any direct Chinese involvement with the victims. The Chinese delegation to the UN event objected to officials and insisted the Gun Sculpture be removed. The fact that the UN partially capitulated to such political pressure and removed the photographs of victims that forms an integral part of the exhibit is absolutely alarming. It makes you wonder what they were thinking especially since China was not singled out and this artwork has been displayed all over the world without similar incident.
The message of the Gun Sculpture is critically important. It is in the form of a prison cell and made up of 7000 thousand of decommissioned weapons from handguns, to AK- 47s, to ammunition and landmines. It challenges “accepted ways of thinking” about violence and “acts as a catalyst that makes (people) respond to the suffering” these small arms weapons cause for so many people in the world.
We need more artists like Bromley and Kendal and artwork like the Gun Sculpture to provoke our thinking and to make us reflect on our values, beliefs, perceptions and attitudes. I hope the artists get a formal apology from the officials at the UN, including those who made this decision to censor the Gun Sculpture.
Free speech is not free and if we are not aggressive in using it and vigilant in protecting it – we will lose it. The UN censoring of the Gun Sculpture is a shameful example of the erosion of free speech.
I hope this story has legs and others start to help to ensure this story travels around the world. We need to get the Gun Sculpture message out and deplore the kind of violence and suffering these weapons are causing in so many places, in so many ways to so many people.
We also need to get the message out about the place of art in illuminating this kind of core message about violence, suffering and aggression in the world. You would expect more support from the United Nations for endorsing that kind of core message and more respect for art as a way to communicate it, at least one would like to think so! This shameful example of capitulation and censorship is not the kind of action we would or should accept from the United Nations. They need to be more accountable and thoughtful about their role and responsibility on these core issues too.
Please forward this blog post around. Share it with as many people as you can who care about free speech, the role of art in our society and who decry institutionalized censorship.
having speakers on the UN and the Media. (sic).
I am very attached to this piece of art and have helped promote it in my own way for the past few years. I have helped bring it out of storage and brought it back from Europe for a display at The Works festival in Edmonton a few years ago. I am mostly interested in finding a permanent home for it...even considered the UN headquarters in New York, but with this development by the UN – you have to think twice.
The Gun Sculpture is one of the best examples I know of art doing its job. In no small part this piece tells us something about the human condition, ourselves and provokes strong reflecting reactions. By doing so, it becomes effectively controversial in a number of ways...all of them positive from my point of view.
The Chinese delegation at the Vienna International Centre was offended because a couple of the Gun Sculpture related photographs showed Tibetan victims, but did not reference any direct Chinese involvement with the victims. The Chinese delegation to the UN event objected to officials and insisted the Gun Sculpture be removed. The fact that the UN partially capitulated to such political pressure and removed the photographs of victims that forms an integral part of the exhibit is absolutely alarming. It makes you wonder what they were thinking especially since China was not singled out and this artwork has been displayed all over the world without similar incident.
The message of the Gun Sculpture is critically important. It is in the form of a prison cell and made up of 7000 thousand of decommissioned weapons from handguns, to AK- 47s, to ammunition and landmines. It challenges “accepted ways of thinking” about violence and “acts as a catalyst that makes (people) respond to the suffering” these small arms weapons cause for so many people in the world.
We need more artists like Bromley and Kendal and artwork like the Gun Sculpture to provoke our thinking and to make us reflect on our values, beliefs, perceptions and attitudes. I hope the artists get a formal apology from the officials at the UN, including those who made this decision to censor the Gun Sculpture.
Free speech is not free and if we are not aggressive in using it and vigilant in protecting it – we will lose it. The UN censoring of the Gun Sculpture is a shameful example of the erosion of free speech.
I hope this story has legs and others start to help to ensure this story travels around the world. We need to get the Gun Sculpture message out and deplore the kind of violence and suffering these weapons are causing in so many places, in so many ways to so many people.
We also need to get the message out about the place of art in illuminating this kind of core message about violence, suffering and aggression in the world. You would expect more support from the United Nations for endorsing that kind of core message and more respect for art as a way to communicate it, at least one would like to think so! This shameful example of capitulation and censorship is not the kind of action we would or should accept from the United Nations. They need to be more accountable and thoughtful about their role and responsibility on these core issues too.
Please forward this blog post around. Share it with as many people as you can who care about free speech, the role of art in our society and who decry institutionalized censorship.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Alberta Needs to Design a New Future for Itself
Nice to see the op-ed in yesterday's Edmonton Journal written by economist Todd Hirsch. Todd is turning into a first rate public intellectual with his op-ed writing. Now he and Rob Roach of the Canada West Foundation are planning a new book on the creative economy entitled Re-writing the Code: Changing Canada's Economic DNA. I am looking forward to it.
With all the changes happening in the world it is imperative for Canada - and Alberta especially - to shift from a virtually sole focus on a resource extraction economy into a more right-brained economy and society. The Dave Hancock Inspiring Education initiative as Minister of Education has been a step in the right direction. The new Literacy Policy and framework for Alberta is now established and needs life breathed into it as a key part of this shift in consciousness.
I have been involved with others in a new initiative that addresses this overarching concern about the future of Alberta in a series of public dialogues entitled Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta. I encourage you to visit the site and see what we are up to in this effort to influence the future direction of Alberta.
The Premier's Council for Economic Strategy has a discussion paper out that starts to reshape the thinking around Alberta's future too. The Council is focused on six key questions:
With all the changes happening in the world it is imperative for Canada - and Alberta especially - to shift from a virtually sole focus on a resource extraction economy into a more right-brained economy and society. The Dave Hancock Inspiring Education initiative as Minister of Education has been a step in the right direction. The new Literacy Policy and framework for Alberta is now established and needs life breathed into it as a key part of this shift in consciousness.
I have been involved with others in a new initiative that addresses this overarching concern about the future of Alberta in a series of public dialogues entitled Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta. I encourage you to visit the site and see what we are up to in this effort to influence the future direction of Alberta.
The Premier's Council for Economic Strategy has a discussion paper out that starts to reshape the thinking around Alberta's future too. The Council is focused on six key questions:
- What must Alberta do to earn a global reputation as a responsible energy producer and natural resource steward?
- How can we ensure the Alberta of the future has a robust, stable economy and fiscal position?
- What steps can Alberta take to create new wealth through knowledge and innovation?
- How do we ensure we have the healthy skilled and engaged citizens needed to drive innovation and sustain prosperity?
- How do we ensure Alberta's urban and rural communities are vibrant, supportive and inclusive?
- How can we engage more strategically with the rest of Canada and the world?
All of these question integrate into each other - which is a good thing, We need a robust and vibrant discussion amongst Albertans on each and every one of them. There is a place to share your thoughts on these and other concerns with the Premier's Council here. I strongly recommend you engage and exert some influence on the future of Alberta in this way. I will be engaging on these questions over the next weeks through this blog and my public speaking opportunities.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Congratulations James Rajotte MP On Your Stand for the Long-form Census
Here is why I like James Rajotte and think he is one of the quality Conservative MPs we have, and for my money, the best Conservative MP in Alberta. He will pay a price for this breaking ranks from the Prime Minister's Office position on the long form census. But isn't that what representative democracy is supposed to be all about?
Isn't good public policy supposed to emerge from a robust and informed public discussion of the issues by Canadians? Are we not supposed to be able to assume we can then depend on a public policy decision to be taken that is based on evidence and the applied practical wisdom from those to whom we grant our consent to govern us. Anyone in Canada seen that happen much lately, especially since Harper has been in power?
The scary top down command and control unilateral politically motivated decision making by Prime Minister Harper is wrong, reckless and abusive - especially to his Cabinet and Caucus. It is no good governance and no way to run a country, especially one like Canada. There are stronger words that get used in private by many Canadians when reflecting on the political style of Mr. Harper, including fascist. I think that is a little strong but one starts to wonder the more we see how he actually operates and behaves with the levers of power.
Harper's position on the census means we institutionalize ignorance about much of what we need to know about who we are as a people in this country. Such institutionalized ignorance and refusal to allow Canadians to become informed leaves Harper the political room to ignore facts and impose even more of his own beliefs on the country. He could then be more reckless and abusive with his political power, and do so with even great impunity from his duty to serve the greater public interest instead of his own personal political aspirations.
We need an election in this country sooner than later. We need to make some real changes as citizens and voters in how we want our democracy to work in our interests and not just for the interests that serve the Prime Minister's agenda.
Isn't good public policy supposed to emerge from a robust and informed public discussion of the issues by Canadians? Are we not supposed to be able to assume we can then depend on a public policy decision to be taken that is based on evidence and the applied practical wisdom from those to whom we grant our consent to govern us. Anyone in Canada seen that happen much lately, especially since Harper has been in power?
The scary top down command and control unilateral politically motivated decision making by Prime Minister Harper is wrong, reckless and abusive - especially to his Cabinet and Caucus. It is no good governance and no way to run a country, especially one like Canada. There are stronger words that get used in private by many Canadians when reflecting on the political style of Mr. Harper, including fascist. I think that is a little strong but one starts to wonder the more we see how he actually operates and behaves with the levers of power.
Harper's position on the census means we institutionalize ignorance about much of what we need to know about who we are as a people in this country. Such institutionalized ignorance and refusal to allow Canadians to become informed leaves Harper the political room to ignore facts and impose even more of his own beliefs on the country. He could then be more reckless and abusive with his political power, and do so with even great impunity from his duty to serve the greater public interest instead of his own personal political aspirations.
We need an election in this country sooner than later. We need to make some real changes as citizens and voters in how we want our democracy to work in our interests and not just for the interests that serve the Prime Minister's agenda.
When and What Will the Next Alberta Election Be About?
I get a strange feeling the Stelmach government is easing into the election prep stage known as The Red Zone. That is where not much happens in governance because they don’t want to make political mistakes. With the rise of the “pungent and pink” Wildrose the current government, if not in the Red Zone, it is definitely concerned about the Wildrose “pink zone” of election readiness.
I don’t think we will have a snap election in Alberta but I would not count on Stelmach waiting until March 2012 as stated earlier. Alberta is mindful of many external forces influencing its election timing. For example there is potential for a federal election late this fall or next spring. It may happen over the next budget or, depending if Harper thinks he can get a majority, he will engineer his own defeat. The midterm US elections will be watched carefully by the Stelmach government for policy trends that impact energy policy and oil sands development.
Then there are domestic concerns about election timing. The Stelmach government had an approval rating of 12% in a recent survey of Albertans. The economy is apparently recovering but is it due to the billions of provincial and federal government stimulus money or is it authentic economic growth at play? Are we into a slow and steady economic turn around or a double dip recession? Too early to tell yet and economist are pointing in every direction, as usual.
Then we have the volatility of politics to consider too. There is change in the air in Alberta these days. And what form that will take is still unclear. Albertan’s self –image from environmental pressures and negative PR is eating away at our pride of place, our self-confidence and our self-esteem. Albertans are clear that oil sands are critically important to our future prosperity. But they are now questioning themselves and their government about how well this resource is being developed and managed.
The lack of faith in the leadership in any of the current political parties is another measure of volatility. We recently asked a random sample of over 1000 Albertans which political leader they trusted most to manage the growth in the Alberta economy. The results brought a sharp focus on the general disaffection Albertans have with the current crop of political leaders. Only 4% picked the NDP’s Brian Mason. Some 9% trusted Liberal leader David Swann. As for The Wildrose and Danielle Smith only 19% would put their management trust in her. Premier Ed Stelmach of the PCs garnered a scant 23% who said they trusted him the most to manage Alberta’s growth. Here is the kicker – 45% of us said we mostly trusted none of them to manage the growth of the Alberta economy. That survey outcome speaks to potential for serious political change but begs the question – change to what alternative?
Now add in the right-wing conservative political culture war that is raging in Alberta between Progressive Conservatives and the Wildrose Alliance Party. With Ted Morton’s move to Minister of Finance and Enterprise he is doing the next budget for the spring of 2011. We can expect his ideological fingerprints will to be all over the economic and fiscal policy direction of Alberta by next year. Kevin Libin has a very insightful and telling column in a recent edition of the National Post on the Morton factor in Alberta politics and policy directions. I recommend you read it.
If Kevin is right in his observations about Minister Morton, and my comments he quotes about Minister Morton from 2006 are still valid (and Morton himself says they are) then we have another fly-in-the-ointment political dynamic that will influence the election timing.
What if the PCs become less progressive and more Morton-like conservative between now and the next election? What if the defacto election battle on the right is between the Sorcerer Morton and Smith, his former Apprentice from the Calgary School? Where does that leave Stelmach? Where do progressives go given the current anemic political alternatives they are being offered? What does the next Alberta look like if only the radical right and reactionary left show up to vote?
We need a viable progressive political alternative in Alberta. The current situation is untenable for any thoughtful Albertan who sees a positive balanced role for responsible, accountable, open and honest government. Reboot Alberta is not a political party but it is a way to influence and shape any new or existing political party. We need to show the powers that be and any that want to be that they must move towards a more inclusive and effective approach to a more contemporary political culture that reflects the next Alberta instead of trying to perfect the past.
Efforts are afoot for staging Reboot 3.0 in late October to look at a more activist approach to bring the progressive agenda and voice back to Alberta politics. Stay tuned for more information here and to join the Reboot Alberta citizen's movement go to http://www.rebootalberta.org/
I don’t think we will have a snap election in Alberta but I would not count on Stelmach waiting until March 2012 as stated earlier. Alberta is mindful of many external forces influencing its election timing. For example there is potential for a federal election late this fall or next spring. It may happen over the next budget or, depending if Harper thinks he can get a majority, he will engineer his own defeat. The midterm US elections will be watched carefully by the Stelmach government for policy trends that impact energy policy and oil sands development.
Then there are domestic concerns about election timing. The Stelmach government had an approval rating of 12% in a recent survey of Albertans. The economy is apparently recovering but is it due to the billions of provincial and federal government stimulus money or is it authentic economic growth at play? Are we into a slow and steady economic turn around or a double dip recession? Too early to tell yet and economist are pointing in every direction, as usual.
Then we have the volatility of politics to consider too. There is change in the air in Alberta these days. And what form that will take is still unclear. Albertan’s self –image from environmental pressures and negative PR is eating away at our pride of place, our self-confidence and our self-esteem. Albertans are clear that oil sands are critically important to our future prosperity. But they are now questioning themselves and their government about how well this resource is being developed and managed.
The lack of faith in the leadership in any of the current political parties is another measure of volatility. We recently asked a random sample of over 1000 Albertans which political leader they trusted most to manage the growth in the Alberta economy. The results brought a sharp focus on the general disaffection Albertans have with the current crop of political leaders. Only 4% picked the NDP’s Brian Mason. Some 9% trusted Liberal leader David Swann. As for The Wildrose and Danielle Smith only 19% would put their management trust in her. Premier Ed Stelmach of the PCs garnered a scant 23% who said they trusted him the most to manage Alberta’s growth. Here is the kicker – 45% of us said we mostly trusted none of them to manage the growth of the Alberta economy. That survey outcome speaks to potential for serious political change but begs the question – change to what alternative?
Now add in the right-wing conservative political culture war that is raging in Alberta between Progressive Conservatives and the Wildrose Alliance Party. With Ted Morton’s move to Minister of Finance and Enterprise he is doing the next budget for the spring of 2011. We can expect his ideological fingerprints will to be all over the economic and fiscal policy direction of Alberta by next year. Kevin Libin has a very insightful and telling column in a recent edition of the National Post on the Morton factor in Alberta politics and policy directions. I recommend you read it.
If Kevin is right in his observations about Minister Morton, and my comments he quotes about Minister Morton from 2006 are still valid (and Morton himself says they are) then we have another fly-in-the-ointment political dynamic that will influence the election timing.
What if the PCs become less progressive and more Morton-like conservative between now and the next election? What if the defacto election battle on the right is between the Sorcerer Morton and Smith, his former Apprentice from the Calgary School? Where does that leave Stelmach? Where do progressives go given the current anemic political alternatives they are being offered? What does the next Alberta look like if only the radical right and reactionary left show up to vote?
We need a viable progressive political alternative in Alberta. The current situation is untenable for any thoughtful Albertan who sees a positive balanced role for responsible, accountable, open and honest government. Reboot Alberta is not a political party but it is a way to influence and shape any new or existing political party. We need to show the powers that be and any that want to be that they must move towards a more inclusive and effective approach to a more contemporary political culture that reflects the next Alberta instead of trying to perfect the past.
Efforts are afoot for staging Reboot 3.0 in late October to look at a more activist approach to bring the progressive agenda and voice back to Alberta politics. Stay tuned for more information here and to join the Reboot Alberta citizen's movement go to http://www.rebootalberta.org/
Friday, July 09, 2010
Time for Alberta Progressives to Become Activists Again.
UPDATE JULY 16 HERE IS A LINK TO SOME COMMENTS ON THE IDEA OF PROGRESSIVES BECOMING ACTIVISTS FROM THE LIBERAL PARTY OF ALBERTA BLOG AND WORTH A READ:
http://albertaliberals.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/reaction-to-the-cooperation-ads-a-sample/
I have been talking with leaders and others of the progressive parties as a result of David Swann's letter and "Let's Talk" advertisement as Leader of the Alberta Liberals. I have also spoken at length with Dave King, fellow Reboot Alberta Instigator about the framing and intent of the Swann initiative. Dave and I agree whole-heartedly about what are the limitations of the Swann suggestions but also about the potential for something to happen.
Here is the recent blog post of Dave King's that captures where my head and heart is at. I am away next week but on my return I think you will see Reboot Alberta offering to host a gathering that will become a place for progressive politics and progressive political action to be discussed and action plans put forth by aspirational and actual political people - partisan and otherwise.
Stay tuned. In the meantime if any of this interests you encourages you or makes you want to get involved in designing and defining a progressive political culture for the next Alberta...go to Reboot Alberta and sign up.
http://albertaliberals.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/reaction-to-the-cooperation-ads-a-sample/
I have been talking with leaders and others of the progressive parties as a result of David Swann's letter and "Let's Talk" advertisement as Leader of the Alberta Liberals. I have also spoken at length with Dave King, fellow Reboot Alberta Instigator about the framing and intent of the Swann initiative. Dave and I agree whole-heartedly about what are the limitations of the Swann suggestions but also about the potential for something to happen.
Here is the recent blog post of Dave King's that captures where my head and heart is at. I am away next week but on my return I think you will see Reboot Alberta offering to host a gathering that will become a place for progressive politics and progressive political action to be discussed and action plans put forth by aspirational and actual political people - partisan and otherwise.
Stay tuned. In the meantime if any of this interests you encourages you or makes you want to get involved in designing and defining a progressive political culture for the next Alberta...go to Reboot Alberta and sign up.
Get Used to Incredible Uncertainty in Alberta Politics
Dave Clemenhaga once again provides a well researched and coherent commentary on things political in our province. His insight into the implications of the rise of the Wildrose Alliance Party coincide with my own, No wonder I like his perspective.
Since this post was written new developments sparked by the Liberal leader David Swann have triggered some serious conversations in progressive political circles about what to do. Reboot Alberta has been instrumental in starting policy conversations amongst progressive thinking Albertan. But the time has come to get more focused on the politics side of the progressive agenda.
I have been in a number of conversations with progressive thinkers in the province and the MSM in the past few days. There is a plan emerging in my mind about how to use the conversation space David Swann has opened up with his invitation. Expect a blog post on the ideas and events peculating around shortly.
Since this post was written new developments sparked by the Liberal leader David Swann have triggered some serious conversations in progressive political circles about what to do. Reboot Alberta has been instrumental in starting policy conversations amongst progressive thinking Albertan. But the time has come to get more focused on the politics side of the progressive agenda.
I have been in a number of conversations with progressive thinkers in the province and the MSM in the past few days. There is a plan emerging in my mind about how to use the conversation space David Swann has opened up with his invitation. Expect a blog post on the ideas and events peculating around shortly.
So You Think You Want to be a School Trustee!
The Alberta School Boards Association is doing a candidate school for people standing for school trustee in the October elections. The next workshop for candidates is mid-September. I am doing the politics part of it. Go figure eh! We did this for the first time in conjunction with the ASBA Spring Conference. It was a lot of fun and very well received. I am looking forward to the next one.
Here is a link for more information. If you are thinking of running as a school trustee this workshop is for you. Here is the link to register
If you are interested in some of the new directions education and learning is going in Alberta you will want to check this links to Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta.
Here is a link for more information. If you are thinking of running as a school trustee this workshop is for you. Here is the link to register
If you are interested in some of the new directions education and learning is going in Alberta you will want to check this links to Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
David Swann Calls on Alberta Progressive to Come Together.
Got a call last night from Alberta Liberal Leader David Swann giving me a heads up on his effort to reach out to progressive thinking Albertans to do politics differently. As part of Reboot Alberta I am all in favour of that and pleased to see David making the gesture.
This is part of a larger discussion he and I had a week or so ago about getting a larger gathering of progressives together in the new year to really get serious about how we want to be governed,with whom and what are the core values we want expressed and applied by our politicians and in how we are to be governed in the future. It has to be much more that vote for me and lets get rich quick!
To linear people that sound like a lot of navel gazing I know. But the reality is we are so badly governed in Canada and Alberta these days that something has to change and dramatically. I am of the opinion that major transformations do not happen incrementally from the status quo. Something altogether new replaces the status quo. A superficial example is with the advent of cell phones just try and find a payphone. They have become virtually extinct.
What is the transformational replacement for the inert, inept, and inadequate model of politics and government these days? I don't think for a minute that the reversal of decades of positive social development that the Wildrose Alliance Party wants to accomplish with its social conservative "us versus them" approach to politics is the way to go. None of the existing political "alternatives" are resonating. There are 45% of Albertans in a recent poll said they had no confidence in any existing Alberta party or leader to adequately manage Alberta's growth.
As Monty Python said, "...and now for something completely different" is where most Albertans at at. The Alberta progressives are overwhelmingly committed to making a positive contribution to the province's future and feel their personal efforts make a difference. How do we focus that commitment, energy and spirit into actual political and democratic change? That is the question before us and I am delighted that people like David Swann are prepared to pose it dramatically and purposefully.
I will await with great interest what he and others like the fledging Alberta Party are ready to do. There are progressive thinking people who are showing up and stepping up to the plate. Time to take a swing and even more timely to make a pitch. (sic)
Stay tuned Alberta. This could get interesting.
This is part of a larger discussion he and I had a week or so ago about getting a larger gathering of progressives together in the new year to really get serious about how we want to be governed,with whom and what are the core values we want expressed and applied by our politicians and in how we are to be governed in the future. It has to be much more that vote for me and lets get rich quick!
To linear people that sound like a lot of navel gazing I know. But the reality is we are so badly governed in Canada and Alberta these days that something has to change and dramatically. I am of the opinion that major transformations do not happen incrementally from the status quo. Something altogether new replaces the status quo. A superficial example is with the advent of cell phones just try and find a payphone. They have become virtually extinct.
What is the transformational replacement for the inert, inept, and inadequate model of politics and government these days? I don't think for a minute that the reversal of decades of positive social development that the Wildrose Alliance Party wants to accomplish with its social conservative "us versus them" approach to politics is the way to go. None of the existing political "alternatives" are resonating. There are 45% of Albertans in a recent poll said they had no confidence in any existing Alberta party or leader to adequately manage Alberta's growth.
As Monty Python said, "...and now for something completely different" is where most Albertans at at. The Alberta progressives are overwhelmingly committed to making a positive contribution to the province's future and feel their personal efforts make a difference. How do we focus that commitment, energy and spirit into actual political and democratic change? That is the question before us and I am delighted that people like David Swann are prepared to pose it dramatically and purposefully.
I will await with great interest what he and others like the fledging Alberta Party are ready to do. There are progressive thinking people who are showing up and stepping up to the plate. Time to take a swing and even more timely to make a pitch. (sic)
Stay tuned Alberta. This could get interesting.
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Have You Met OSQAR? You Should!
OSQAR is "Oil Sands Questions and Responses" and an effort of Suncor to help answer the "who can you trust" question on the oil sands. I recently did another blog post on this question.
Here is a link to the latest offering of OSQAR on air quality in the oil sands producing region. It is worth a read and even worth you subscribing to for future editions if you take your rights and responsibilities as a citizen owner of the oil sands. Full disclosure, I am a Suncor shareholder and have done work for them on occasion but not for some time.
Notice a couple of thing in this effort by OSQAR. They quote evidence based scientific research to substantiate the claims. They identify the individual who did the study and provide a link to learn more about the research. They also provide a link to the original material they are challenging. This time from Environmental Defence. Lots of context, content and authoritative sources you can read and judge for yourself.
This is clearly a more trustworthy approach than the glossy paid advertising approaches being used in too many instances by government and industry. But I have to say, it is not quite there yet. What they don't do is provide for a capacity for readers to have a conversation on the issue so people can share their thoughts, information, reaction and insights to the material and the issues. This is still a one-way - let me tell you what you need to know approach to reach an audience. It will inform and raise awareness but it will not create a trusting relationship with a recipient. Nor will it likely form a community of conversation amongst Albertans on the issues being addressed so the sharing of ideas helps everyone learn more from each other as well as from authorities and experts. It is not participatory.
The overarching question in all of this for Albertans still is who can we trust. Research quoted in Reader's Digest in 2009 shows that some of the least trusted people in our society are CEOs and Politicians. The least trusted industries are Oil companies and Advertising. It is a tough up hill battle for oil sands companies but that is no reason not to engage but REALLY engage.
I think Suncor is one of the leading companies and one of the bright lights and most worthy on its social license to operate in the Alberta oil sands. There are lots of reasons, OSQAR is only one very small but personal reason I hold this opinion.
So good start Suncor but open OSQAR up for some community feedback please. People are already talking online and in person about oil sands, Suncor, air quality and a host of other topics that will interest and be about you. You may as well know what is being said out there about you and your issues. So come into the new media world with a bit more courage. Create a space in OSQAR for a dialogue and participate along with Albertans in the conversations that will occur. You will have ample opportunity to listen, be heard, correct the facts, add evidence and challange some incorrect assumptions if need be.
Here is a link to the latest offering of OSQAR on air quality in the oil sands producing region. It is worth a read and even worth you subscribing to for future editions if you take your rights and responsibilities as a citizen owner of the oil sands. Full disclosure, I am a Suncor shareholder and have done work for them on occasion but not for some time.
Notice a couple of thing in this effort by OSQAR. They quote evidence based scientific research to substantiate the claims. They identify the individual who did the study and provide a link to learn more about the research. They also provide a link to the original material they are challenging. This time from Environmental Defence. Lots of context, content and authoritative sources you can read and judge for yourself.
This is clearly a more trustworthy approach than the glossy paid advertising approaches being used in too many instances by government and industry. But I have to say, it is not quite there yet. What they don't do is provide for a capacity for readers to have a conversation on the issue so people can share their thoughts, information, reaction and insights to the material and the issues. This is still a one-way - let me tell you what you need to know approach to reach an audience. It will inform and raise awareness but it will not create a trusting relationship with a recipient. Nor will it likely form a community of conversation amongst Albertans on the issues being addressed so the sharing of ideas helps everyone learn more from each other as well as from authorities and experts. It is not participatory.
The overarching question in all of this for Albertans still is who can we trust. Research quoted in Reader's Digest in 2009 shows that some of the least trusted people in our society are CEOs and Politicians. The least trusted industries are Oil companies and Advertising. It is a tough up hill battle for oil sands companies but that is no reason not to engage but REALLY engage.
I think Suncor is one of the leading companies and one of the bright lights and most worthy on its social license to operate in the Alberta oil sands. There are lots of reasons, OSQAR is only one very small but personal reason I hold this opinion.
So good start Suncor but open OSQAR up for some community feedback please. People are already talking online and in person about oil sands, Suncor, air quality and a host of other topics that will interest and be about you. You may as well know what is being said out there about you and your issues. So come into the new media world with a bit more courage. Create a space in OSQAR for a dialogue and participate along with Albertans in the conversations that will occur. You will have ample opportunity to listen, be heard, correct the facts, add evidence and challange some incorrect assumptions if need be.
Could There Be an American Style Tea Party in Alberta's Future?
I subscribe to an American progressive site http://www.democracyinaction.org/. I just got a note about the Glenn Beck (Fox News ultra right-wing talk show host ) pushing the “conservative message machine” as the “chief cheerleader” for the Tea Party types. He is tapping into the resentment of working and unemployed people in the USA....and there are a lot of them that is for sure.
There are allegations that a lot of misinformation being spread by Mr. Beck including suggestions President Obama was not prepared to meet Tony Hayward the British Petroleum CEO because he was “a white CEO.” Beck apparently is also saying the American progressive movement is a “cancer” that was “designed to eat the Constitution.”
The conclusion is “...many progressives, liberals and Democrats are in denial, not tuned in to what is happening in Tea Party-land.” There is a concern that the money and machine behind the otherwise kooky and incoherent rage of Tea Party supporters "...is a powerful cartel of right-wing interests with very deep pockets...(and) a cabal of high-priced political operatives and lobbying groups....”
We have not seen the Tea Party effects in Alberta ... yet. What is just as interesting is what if the progressive voice in Alberta is in denial too. If so the political culture and political power can be highjacked very easily as a result of continued indifference – never mind actual denial.
Alberta has been more of less socially progressive and fiscally conservative for a long time. The shift of focus as of late by the PC and the WAP has been to be conservative on social issues, loose on economic issues and narrow focused on environmental issues too. The progressive element is all but lost in the current Alberta political culture. The trend lines are not promising that positive progressive change will happen automatically.
I have said before that progressives live in their heads and Alberta is no exception. The old ethos of the Lougheed PCs is long gone and actually very much forgotten. If progressive continue to be distant and indifferent to politics and to the realities – not merely the possibilities – of a hard fundamentalist shift to the right in Alberta we will have ruined the possibility of a pluralist, progressive and inclusive province. Such a waste of the potential for our place in time and for us as a people going forward.
So if you don’t want a Tea Party Alberta style in your future, you have to get informed and engaged. I suggest you start looking for and supporting progressive candidates, or better yet, become a progressive political candidate yourself. I strongly urge you to join whatever political party you feel most at home in and start working for whatever candidates that comes closest to reflecting your values.
Many progressives in the Reboot Alberta citizen’s movement are already doing this in the forthcoming civic and school board elections. This is good but we also need to get geared up for the next provincial election too. There will be more on that in later posts-for now a word to the wise is all I am suggesting. There is no time to waste. Hope is not a strategy and denial is not an option.
There are allegations that a lot of misinformation being spread by Mr. Beck including suggestions President Obama was not prepared to meet Tony Hayward the British Petroleum CEO because he was “a white CEO.” Beck apparently is also saying the American progressive movement is a “cancer” that was “designed to eat the Constitution.”
The enraging of vulnerable and fearful people in the Tea Party has been effective in mobalizing them for the November elections in the States. The “enthusiasm gap” which is the difference between positive feelings Republicans have for their candidates versus the same for Democrats is a 35 point spread in favour of the Republicans.
The conclusion is “...many progressives, liberals and Democrats are in denial, not tuned in to what is happening in Tea Party-land.” There is a concern that the money and machine behind the otherwise kooky and incoherent rage of Tea Party supporters "...is a powerful cartel of right-wing interests with very deep pockets...(and) a cabal of high-priced political operatives and lobbying groups....”
We have not seen the Tea Party effects in Alberta ... yet. What is just as interesting is what if the progressive voice in Alberta is in denial too. If so the political culture and political power can be highjacked very easily as a result of continued indifference – never mind actual denial.
Alberta has been more of less socially progressive and fiscally conservative for a long time. The shift of focus as of late by the PC and the WAP has been to be conservative on social issues, loose on economic issues and narrow focused on environmental issues too. The progressive element is all but lost in the current Alberta political culture. The trend lines are not promising that positive progressive change will happen automatically.
I have said before that progressives live in their heads and Alberta is no exception. The old ethos of the Lougheed PCs is long gone and actually very much forgotten. If progressive continue to be distant and indifferent to politics and to the realities – not merely the possibilities – of a hard fundamentalist shift to the right in Alberta we will have ruined the possibility of a pluralist, progressive and inclusive province. Such a waste of the potential for our place in time and for us as a people going forward.
So if you don’t want a Tea Party Alberta style in your future, you have to get informed and engaged. I suggest you start looking for and supporting progressive candidates, or better yet, become a progressive political candidate yourself. I strongly urge you to join whatever political party you feel most at home in and start working for whatever candidates that comes closest to reflecting your values.
Many progressives in the Reboot Alberta citizen’s movement are already doing this in the forthcoming civic and school board elections. This is good but we also need to get geared up for the next provincial election too. There will be more on that in later posts-for now a word to the wise is all I am suggesting. There is no time to waste. Hope is not a strategy and denial is not an option.
Monday, July 05, 2010
Who Can Albertans Trust to Tell the Truth About Oil Sands?
The Quest for Truth in the Oil Sands is the title of the Todd Hirsch op-ed in today’s Globe and Mail. It captures much of the angst Albertans are feeling as citizens and the owners of the oilsands. We know this from some of the values surveying we have been doing with Albertans in the last few years and more extensively in 2010. This survey was commissioned by OSRIN, the Oil Sands Research and Information Network out of the University of Alberta.
The subtext of Todd’s piece asks if the oil sands are an “economic bonanza” or an “environmental apolalypse.” There is so much spin and self-serving selection of fact that everyone know that the whole truth is not being told. Who can we trust and believe about what is happening in our oil sands these days? In Alberta today 89% of us believe the oil sands are either extremely important or very important to our future prosperity. Any government or industry that risks betraying our trust on oil sands development will face serious consequences from the voter and the public.
Progress is being made on the environmental front and a more rational approach to the pace and purpose of development is happening now too. There is more of a long term integrated view that is becoming the normative oil sands development model. This is in stark contract to the “damn the consequences” lets make a quick buck attitude that was so common in black gold rush of the recent past.
That said the facts are that conservation, habitat, air, water and reclamation concerns dominate the minds and values of Albertan around oilsands development. There is a sense that not enough is being done in these areas of concern to convince Albertans that our government or our industry tenants “get it” about how we want this resource developed.
The politics and policy approaches to oil sands development are still mired in mendacity, mediocrity and even the mundane. We are giving the resources away as we trade reasonable royalty rates in exchange for short term jobs or to appease industry threats that investment will dry up. Our environmental laws are not as good as we tout and our enforcement has been lack lustre. That is true notwithstanding the recent successful Syndrude prosecution of 1600 migrating ducks who drowned in tailings ponds due to corporate negligence.
Corporate and government communications efforts are focused mostly on PR positioning and not about sincere efforts at communicating and solving the problems. There are efforts being made and progress is being achieved but we don’t seem to hear or even believe those stories and when we do we sense they are mostly self-serving. We get snippets of stories but it seems the culture of spin is so pervasive that we just can’t bring ourselves to trust any good news about the oil sands. It is truly sad that the level of skepticism and cynicism about the oil sands is so endemic in Alberta and beyond these days.
Even the recent effort by the Alberta government to score a media coup with the Premier’s Letter to the Editor in the Washington Post has some interesting twists and turns. I applaud the efforts of the Premier to get out there and start telling the Alberta oil sands story in a broader context. Unfortunately the Washington Post Editor did not see the newsworthy merit of the letter saying it was more about “Canada Day than anything new.” So the province bought the newpaper space to promote their message instead. Even a cursory read of the Premier’s letter shows how wrong that “Canada Day” perception was about the content and context of the Permier’s letter. Still such a newspaper ad looks like the kind of boiler-plate damage control apologizing advertising we always see from businesses that screw up. Earned media is more believable than purchasing advertising space as a way to get a messgage out any day. But you still gotta do what you gotta do to try and communicate I guess.
I really applaud the Premier’s points about the safe, secure, reliable energy supply from the Alberta oil sands to the States – and the fact we are the largest suplier of oil to the Americans. That is a critical fact that is not well understood or appreciated by the Americans...and their ignorance is largely our fault.
As for GHG and other environmental issues, they are critical concerns but they need some context, like the Premier’s “letter” provided. If the entire value chain costs of oil sands development is considered and compared to entire value chain of other oil sources like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Nigeria, Angola and Algeria then the dirty oil tag on Alberta’s oil sands is not justified. All fossil fuels are dirty to varying degrees but to focus only on certain aspects of the oil sands in isolation and to ignore the greater political, environmental, human and social costs of other jurisdictions is a lobbying tactic that needs to be challenged.
Alberta is one of the few oil energy providers that have a democracy, the rule of law and stable currency and government. In addition there is only casual corruption in our culture compared to the rampant corruption in other supplier nations. You don’t have to worry about staff being kidnapped for ransom and you should not ignore the costs in human life in the internal conflicts in many other energy provider jurisdictions. Those costs are nonexistant in Alberta. I suggest the oil sands are by comparison is actually “cleaner,” than the sources form these other jurisdictions, all things considered. I may be right in that contention but that is still not good enough and Albertans know that too.
Getting back to Todd’s point about who are we to believe in the Babel about oil sands, there is a need for the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth to be discussed in the public realm. We have to stop the focus on issues management, message framing and media massaging that thrives on reporting conflict and not about construtively informing the public and helping us get a handle on the issues and the implications.
Our recently complete conjoint research survey tracked 8 crucial values Albertans have around the development of the oil sands as the owners of the resource. The insight we gained adds to the dilemma and disconsternation of the government and the industry as they continue to be tone deaf over what Albertans really want attended to in the development of their oil sands.
Safe secure reliable supply to the American market is a given. No “atta boys” for stating the obvious. Technology as a means to overcome environmantal and other abuses is not seen as the only a valid mitigation strategy we need to use to overcome harmful affects of oil sands development. It is acknowledged by Albertans that technological solutions are the responsible and reasonable thing to do but not the only asnwer to the concerns. No “atta boys” for doing the obvious here either.
The rationalization of the pace of development that does not cause boom and bust cycles is also now to be expected of intelligent investors and our industry tenants. We need to be sure only those who deserve their social licence to operate in Alberta are given the responsibilty and opportunity to exploit this public resource. The pull out threats from some elements in the energy industry (not all) and the rapid retreat by the provincial government in response to the reasonable and rational royalty regime is the epitome of fear and collusion against the public interest. That kind of intimidation by the tenants has to stop too.
None of the actions by government or industry on royalties has been seen to be in the greater public interest, either long term or short term. Misleading messaging and school-yard style bullying was the rule of the day around royalties. And all it did was show Albertans who really runs the province...and they do so all too often behind closed doors. Not approprite behaviour in any way.
So I think Todd has struck a nerve and hit a nail on the head at the same time with his op-ed. So who can we trust and believe in the noise around oil sands development? Albertans have to believe in someone and trust that someone is serving the public interest. We are mature and wise enough as people to know there are real issues and they are complicated. We know we can handle bad news. It seems that is pretty much all we get now about our oil sands development anyway. I would like to call for more carity and comprehensive information to the public instead of the over-simplified pap we get now in the oil sands messaging. We need and deserve that kind of comprehensive candour. It needs to come from the province and the companies that are in the business of developing our oil sands.
In the meantime governments, as our proxy holders of our oil sands interests, and the energy industry, as our tenants, had better start thinking about public perceptions of their worthiness to govern and to justify a social license to operate with our public assets.
Safe to say, Albertans are not amused. In fact, we are tired of being bemused and abused by the PR machines and machinations of government and industry around oil sands development. We need a reason to believe and trust government and industry aroudn oil sands issues. We must have some serious evidence of their integrity, honesty, accountability, transparency, environmental end economic stewardship around oil sands development. The stakes are too important for all concerned. Failure is not an option for oil sands development for Albertan. However, failure is an option for government and energy companies if public opinion and perceptions continue to distrust and disbelieve them.
The subtext of Todd’s piece asks if the oil sands are an “economic bonanza” or an “environmental apolalypse.” There is so much spin and self-serving selection of fact that everyone know that the whole truth is not being told. Who can we trust and believe about what is happening in our oil sands these days? In Alberta today 89% of us believe the oil sands are either extremely important or very important to our future prosperity. Any government or industry that risks betraying our trust on oil sands development will face serious consequences from the voter and the public.
Progress is being made on the environmental front and a more rational approach to the pace and purpose of development is happening now too. There is more of a long term integrated view that is becoming the normative oil sands development model. This is in stark contract to the “damn the consequences” lets make a quick buck attitude that was so common in black gold rush of the recent past.
That said the facts are that conservation, habitat, air, water and reclamation concerns dominate the minds and values of Albertan around oilsands development. There is a sense that not enough is being done in these areas of concern to convince Albertans that our government or our industry tenants “get it” about how we want this resource developed.
The politics and policy approaches to oil sands development are still mired in mendacity, mediocrity and even the mundane. We are giving the resources away as we trade reasonable royalty rates in exchange for short term jobs or to appease industry threats that investment will dry up. Our environmental laws are not as good as we tout and our enforcement has been lack lustre. That is true notwithstanding the recent successful Syndrude prosecution of 1600 migrating ducks who drowned in tailings ponds due to corporate negligence.
Corporate and government communications efforts are focused mostly on PR positioning and not about sincere efforts at communicating and solving the problems. There are efforts being made and progress is being achieved but we don’t seem to hear or even believe those stories and when we do we sense they are mostly self-serving. We get snippets of stories but it seems the culture of spin is so pervasive that we just can’t bring ourselves to trust any good news about the oil sands. It is truly sad that the level of skepticism and cynicism about the oil sands is so endemic in Alberta and beyond these days.
Even the recent effort by the Alberta government to score a media coup with the Premier’s Letter to the Editor in the Washington Post has some interesting twists and turns. I applaud the efforts of the Premier to get out there and start telling the Alberta oil sands story in a broader context. Unfortunately the Washington Post Editor did not see the newsworthy merit of the letter saying it was more about “Canada Day than anything new.” So the province bought the newpaper space to promote their message instead. Even a cursory read of the Premier’s letter shows how wrong that “Canada Day” perception was about the content and context of the Permier’s letter. Still such a newspaper ad looks like the kind of boiler-plate damage control apologizing advertising we always see from businesses that screw up. Earned media is more believable than purchasing advertising space as a way to get a messgage out any day. But you still gotta do what you gotta do to try and communicate I guess.
I really applaud the Premier’s points about the safe, secure, reliable energy supply from the Alberta oil sands to the States – and the fact we are the largest suplier of oil to the Americans. That is a critical fact that is not well understood or appreciated by the Americans...and their ignorance is largely our fault.
As for GHG and other environmental issues, they are critical concerns but they need some context, like the Premier’s “letter” provided. If the entire value chain costs of oil sands development is considered and compared to entire value chain of other oil sources like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Nigeria, Angola and Algeria then the dirty oil tag on Alberta’s oil sands is not justified. All fossil fuels are dirty to varying degrees but to focus only on certain aspects of the oil sands in isolation and to ignore the greater political, environmental, human and social costs of other jurisdictions is a lobbying tactic that needs to be challenged.
Alberta is one of the few oil energy providers that have a democracy, the rule of law and stable currency and government. In addition there is only casual corruption in our culture compared to the rampant corruption in other supplier nations. You don’t have to worry about staff being kidnapped for ransom and you should not ignore the costs in human life in the internal conflicts in many other energy provider jurisdictions. Those costs are nonexistant in Alberta. I suggest the oil sands are by comparison is actually “cleaner,” than the sources form these other jurisdictions, all things considered. I may be right in that contention but that is still not good enough and Albertans know that too.
Getting back to Todd’s point about who are we to believe in the Babel about oil sands, there is a need for the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth to be discussed in the public realm. We have to stop the focus on issues management, message framing and media massaging that thrives on reporting conflict and not about construtively informing the public and helping us get a handle on the issues and the implications.
Our recently complete conjoint research survey tracked 8 crucial values Albertans have around the development of the oil sands as the owners of the resource. The insight we gained adds to the dilemma and disconsternation of the government and the industry as they continue to be tone deaf over what Albertans really want attended to in the development of their oil sands.
Safe secure reliable supply to the American market is a given. No “atta boys” for stating the obvious. Technology as a means to overcome environmantal and other abuses is not seen as the only a valid mitigation strategy we need to use to overcome harmful affects of oil sands development. It is acknowledged by Albertans that technological solutions are the responsible and reasonable thing to do but not the only asnwer to the concerns. No “atta boys” for doing the obvious here either.
The rationalization of the pace of development that does not cause boom and bust cycles is also now to be expected of intelligent investors and our industry tenants. We need to be sure only those who deserve their social licence to operate in Alberta are given the responsibilty and opportunity to exploit this public resource. The pull out threats from some elements in the energy industry (not all) and the rapid retreat by the provincial government in response to the reasonable and rational royalty regime is the epitome of fear and collusion against the public interest. That kind of intimidation by the tenants has to stop too.
None of the actions by government or industry on royalties has been seen to be in the greater public interest, either long term or short term. Misleading messaging and school-yard style bullying was the rule of the day around royalties. And all it did was show Albertans who really runs the province...and they do so all too often behind closed doors. Not approprite behaviour in any way.
So I think Todd has struck a nerve and hit a nail on the head at the same time with his op-ed. So who can we trust and believe in the noise around oil sands development? Albertans have to believe in someone and trust that someone is serving the public interest. We are mature and wise enough as people to know there are real issues and they are complicated. We know we can handle bad news. It seems that is pretty much all we get now about our oil sands development anyway. I would like to call for more carity and comprehensive information to the public instead of the over-simplified pap we get now in the oil sands messaging. We need and deserve that kind of comprehensive candour. It needs to come from the province and the companies that are in the business of developing our oil sands.
In the meantime governments, as our proxy holders of our oil sands interests, and the energy industry, as our tenants, had better start thinking about public perceptions of their worthiness to govern and to justify a social license to operate with our public assets.
Safe to say, Albertans are not amused. In fact, we are tired of being bemused and abused by the PR machines and machinations of government and industry around oil sands development. We need a reason to believe and trust government and industry aroudn oil sands issues. We must have some serious evidence of their integrity, honesty, accountability, transparency, environmental end economic stewardship around oil sands development. The stakes are too important for all concerned. Failure is not an option for oil sands development for Albertan. However, failure is an option for government and energy companies if public opinion and perceptions continue to distrust and disbelieve them.
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Alberta Government Plays Oil Sands PR Games While Canadian Forest Industries Show Leadership
I have to say the front pages of the Edmonton Journal for the past while have been amazing. The stuff they are featuring is so much of what I am interested in for public policy and politics. Some of the stories about the Alberta Minister of Energy telling a Middle East audience that the dead Syncrude ducks is a media event promoted by ENGOS has been astonishing. He has shown an enormous sense of tone deafness as to what Albertans and the world are seeing happen in terms of how we are developing our vital oil sands resources.
Then the fact that the Premier can't get earned media in the Washington Post newspaper from a Letter to the Editor so he bought advertising space to run the content is telling. In the Social Media world paid advertising is a necessary part of an y effective communications campaign. That said, it is also well regarded as the price you pay for being boring. I will read the letter with interest. Some of the media coverage n the paid ad has been "earned media" and the content has mentioned some vital points but rejection of a Letter to the Editor of one of the most influential newspapers in the USA has to speak volumes about how un-newsworthy they saw the letter from the Premier.
Buy space to run a text message on the Friday before a long weekend in the USA is damage control. It is not and effective media strategy...but what is new for the $25m of propaganda programing the province perpetrated and cancelled early...again after being caught publishing misleading photographs of Alberta beaches.
Today's front page is reassuring and provocative in that it shows some conservationist, political and industry support to ensure the Canadian Boreal Forest is revered , respected preserved and respected as an intact and extensive ecosystem. I have much more to say about this later but for now, know that I worked for a few years on establishing a policy for biodiversity offsets in the Boreal forest to mitigate the habitat destruction of the oil sands development.
The forest industry also hired me in 2005 to help them understand what it would take to have them to be seen and valued as the preferred stewards of the public Boreal forest assets. We know that answer now and much is being done by the forest industry to deliver on that brand promise - in very difficult times.
There was a time when the forestry sector was the economic pariahs of corporate social responsibility. While not everyone in the industry is a stellar performer, many are now. The oil sands and conventional energy industry need to go to school on how be be worthy of a social license to operate as developers of the public's natural capital.
If we did not have the forestry industry in Canada these days, for purposes of setting a positive corporate social responsibility model, we would want to invent it. It is not all sweetness and light but the parties are on the right path and energy sector titans would do well to take a lesson from them and learn to be effective stewards and good tenants - not self-serving masters or their own universe.
The energy industry needs to be more concerned about the public interest and quit trying to bully government. Elections are coming and there is lots of evidence of changes in the air. Behind closed door deals with lame duck politicians is not a winning strategy to preserve a social license to operate in the public and shareholder interest any more. Time for real engagement by industry and the public and time to quit the behind the scenes games we see being played now.
So energy executive, take a forestry company leader to lunch and learn from them. You need to change your attitude just like they did.
Then the fact that the Premier can't get earned media in the Washington Post newspaper from a Letter to the Editor so he bought advertising space to run the content is telling. In the Social Media world paid advertising is a necessary part of an y effective communications campaign. That said, it is also well regarded as the price you pay for being boring. I will read the letter with interest. Some of the media coverage n the paid ad has been "earned media" and the content has mentioned some vital points but rejection of a Letter to the Editor of one of the most influential newspapers in the USA has to speak volumes about how un-newsworthy they saw the letter from the Premier.
Buy space to run a text message on the Friday before a long weekend in the USA is damage control. It is not and effective media strategy...but what is new for the $25m of propaganda programing the province perpetrated and cancelled early...again after being caught publishing misleading photographs of Alberta beaches.
Today's front page is reassuring and provocative in that it shows some conservationist, political and industry support to ensure the Canadian Boreal Forest is revered , respected preserved and respected as an intact and extensive ecosystem. I have much more to say about this later but for now, know that I worked for a few years on establishing a policy for biodiversity offsets in the Boreal forest to mitigate the habitat destruction of the oil sands development.
The forest industry also hired me in 2005 to help them understand what it would take to have them to be seen and valued as the preferred stewards of the public Boreal forest assets. We know that answer now and much is being done by the forest industry to deliver on that brand promise - in very difficult times.
There was a time when the forestry sector was the economic pariahs of corporate social responsibility. While not everyone in the industry is a stellar performer, many are now. The oil sands and conventional energy industry need to go to school on how be be worthy of a social license to operate as developers of the public's natural capital.
If we did not have the forestry industry in Canada these days, for purposes of setting a positive corporate social responsibility model, we would want to invent it. It is not all sweetness and light but the parties are on the right path and energy sector titans would do well to take a lesson from them and learn to be effective stewards and good tenants - not self-serving masters or their own universe.
The energy industry needs to be more concerned about the public interest and quit trying to bully government. Elections are coming and there is lots of evidence of changes in the air. Behind closed door deals with lame duck politicians is not a winning strategy to preserve a social license to operate in the public and shareholder interest any more. Time for real engagement by industry and the public and time to quit the behind the scenes games we see being played now.
So energy executive, take a forestry company leader to lunch and learn from them. You need to change your attitude just like they did.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
AHS Superboard Released Its $11B Alberta Health Budget
Last May I did this blog post suggesting the Alberta Health Services Superboard should go...(along with regional PDD and Children's Service boards).
The $11Billlion budget is out and if it passed without a debate or even a question about that much money being spent by appointed people, where is the due diligence, the oversight and the responsibility to public duty of such an entity. Don Braid of the Calgary Herald covers some of these concern rather well in his column.
I have no trouble with the quality and character of the people on the Superboard. I just don't know what value they add to solving the concerns around health care in Alberta. Those should be handled by the government itself. It seems like the disbanding of the regional boards for political reasons and the set up of the Superboard, for other political reasons, was just another Liepert induced level of bureaucracy that distances political policy makers from the problems.
This structure is confusing about who is in charge. It does not enhance transparency, accountability or assure citizens of integrity and fiscal responsibility for our tax dollars. It does not help health care providers or the government meet their responsibility to provide health care for Albertans.
Time has come to disband the Superboard and make the Minister and his administration directly accountable. The evidence is that since Gene Zwozdesky took over they are very capable of doing the job and don't need or want an buffer from the realities and challenges.
The $11Billlion budget is out and if it passed without a debate or even a question about that much money being spent by appointed people, where is the due diligence, the oversight and the responsibility to public duty of such an entity. Don Braid of the Calgary Herald covers some of these concern rather well in his column.
I have no trouble with the quality and character of the people on the Superboard. I just don't know what value they add to solving the concerns around health care in Alberta. Those should be handled by the government itself. It seems like the disbanding of the regional boards for political reasons and the set up of the Superboard, for other political reasons, was just another Liepert induced level of bureaucracy that distances political policy makers from the problems.
This structure is confusing about who is in charge. It does not enhance transparency, accountability or assure citizens of integrity and fiscal responsibility for our tax dollars. It does not help health care providers or the government meet their responsibility to provide health care for Albertans.
Time has come to disband the Superboard and make the Minister and his administration directly accountable. The evidence is that since Gene Zwozdesky took over they are very capable of doing the job and don't need or want an buffer from the realities and challenges.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Daveberta Disagrees With Me on Danielle and I Respond
HI Dave - good to have you comment. But I have to stand by my concerns over the Wildrose Alliance Party being a scary alternative and not open to open political debate and good governance.
Of course the WAP AGM as a well produced and well-managed event -but that is not the point. The reporting on the event was that is was more like "stage managed" to ensure only certain and deemed acceptable voices of the membership were heard.
Of course there are fringe elements in every party. I was part of one of them in the PCs for years but it never stopped me from speaking up. It occasionally got me chastised and denied me access and influence on the power structure of the PC government. But that was not often and besides, that is the price one must be prepared to pay for being an independent voice in the face of old style politics.
Of course the fringe elements might hurt the WAP if they got the spotlight. And the media loves to distort the attention to the conflict not the content or substance of the debated issues. Look at the recent G20 television coverage for evidence of that.
However, if those fringe voices truly do not represent the mainstream thinking of the WAP then let them be heard, be openly debated and then defeated on principle by a vote of the membership. Lets not decline into political manipulation or pandering pragmatism just to stifle and hide the truth of those voices in the "big tent" merely because they may embarrass us. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Fringe elements who are not persuasive should be defeated in a vote of all party members, but only after being heard, respected and understood. In many cases if it were not for fringe elements nothing would change. Wasn't it GB Shaw who said to the effect if it were not for the unreasonable man there would be no progress at all? Is not the unreasonable man the essence of a fringe element? All change happens at the margins why shirk from the margins?
The culture of refusing to listen to the other side of an argument is the essence of old style politics and undemocratic and a slight to free speech.
I was talking about the undisclosed influence of certain powerful private sector funding sources for theSmith leadership campaign not the WAP election campaign. When we don't get to know who is paying for the Smith leadership campaign we need to worry about where we are headed as a democracy. That same can be said for the Morton, Oberg and some of the Stelmach PC leadership donors too.
The reason Smith says she will not disclose is because her donors are afraid of the government. That is interesting. I applaud Smith's AGM speech for spotlighting the intimidation innuendo and threatening culture in some parts of the PC government saying communities and organizations will be cut off government funding, even if the money serves some of our most vulnerable citizens. They are being told there will be consequences if they don't be quiet, compliant and show support the PC party. as government. I have been a victim of that kind of subtle bully of late since I quit the PC Party last December.
I don't see why any political party leadership campaign is not subject to the same campaign funding disclosure rules as elections. Then your comment Dave about us getting to see the leadership campaign funding sources would be true. But now that disclosure is only about election campaigns where the laws are strict and clear. It is not a means however of us getting to know now who, if any, is pulling the strings of party leaders
I think is it disingenuous at best, for private citizens and private sector funders to be allowed to use fear as a reasonable excuse not to exercise your citizenship rights to support whatever political candidate they may wish. If this degree of fear is true, then our democracy is in deeper and more dire straits than even I think. A political culture of fear leads to the decline and eventual demise of open representative democracy. I do not want to say fascism is around the corner but it is definitely down the block if this is truly the case in Alberta and allowed to continue.
.
If the Smith leadership campaign donors are truly fearful of retaliation from the PC government did they propose a policy resolution for full campaign disclosure of all political party leadership campaigns? That kind of progressive accountable transparent and honest public policy would go a long way to raising my appreciation that the WAP is offering a different and better way of governing.
We cannot allow ourselves the luxury of hiding behind an excuse of fear of our government as a justification for anonymity - even if it is true, it is not justified. If we are afraid of our government and intimidated from exercising our right or free speech and free association we not only lose them, we invite the dirty political tricks of the Nixon era to be normative again.
When someone aspires to be worthy of our consent to govern us, the fact that they get to do so through an internal process of a private club called a political party is not a sufficient reason not to have full disclosure of leadership campaign funding.
With 40 years of a one-party state, the Alberta population has been lulled into inertia, indifference and overwhelmingly cynical about the consequences of not being informed and engaged citizens. Changing that mindset is the essence of the progressive citizen's movement called Reboot Alberta.
Our conjoint survey research shows that the most important values we progressives want from our political leaders are INTEGRITY, HONESTY, ACCOUNTABILITY, and TRANSPARENCY AND ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP. The recent random sample of all Albertans had FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY instead of ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP but all the other values were in the top tier of progressives and average Albertans. There is a values consensus and a longing for political change to align with those basic political values again.
I applaud when anyone offers themselves up as a candidate for the duties and responsibilities of political servant leadership. But I suggest all citizens had better be more vigilant in pursuing evidence from those who aspire to public office or political power to demonstrate these values. They better be at the core of their characters and their campaigns and continue into how they govern.
I don't think the WAP massaging their policy messages just to divert attention away from their "true conservative" principles is any way to show evidence of alignment with those vital political values Albertans require of our political class. We need to be shown and have every right to expect those values be extant from all our actual and aspiring servant leaders...not just the WAP.
As always Dave - great to engage in conversation with you - sorry for the long response.
Of course the WAP AGM as a well produced and well-managed event -but that is not the point. The reporting on the event was that is was more like "stage managed" to ensure only certain and deemed acceptable voices of the membership were heard.
Of course there are fringe elements in every party. I was part of one of them in the PCs for years but it never stopped me from speaking up. It occasionally got me chastised and denied me access and influence on the power structure of the PC government. But that was not often and besides, that is the price one must be prepared to pay for being an independent voice in the face of old style politics.
Of course the fringe elements might hurt the WAP if they got the spotlight. And the media loves to distort the attention to the conflict not the content or substance of the debated issues. Look at the recent G20 television coverage for evidence of that.
However, if those fringe voices truly do not represent the mainstream thinking of the WAP then let them be heard, be openly debated and then defeated on principle by a vote of the membership. Lets not decline into political manipulation or pandering pragmatism just to stifle and hide the truth of those voices in the "big tent" merely because they may embarrass us. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Fringe elements who are not persuasive should be defeated in a vote of all party members, but only after being heard, respected and understood. In many cases if it were not for fringe elements nothing would change. Wasn't it GB Shaw who said to the effect if it were not for the unreasonable man there would be no progress at all? Is not the unreasonable man the essence of a fringe element? All change happens at the margins why shirk from the margins?
The culture of refusing to listen to the other side of an argument is the essence of old style politics and undemocratic and a slight to free speech.
I was talking about the undisclosed influence of certain powerful private sector funding sources for theSmith leadership campaign not the WAP election campaign. When we don't get to know who is paying for the Smith leadership campaign we need to worry about where we are headed as a democracy. That same can be said for the Morton, Oberg and some of the Stelmach PC leadership donors too.
The reason Smith says she will not disclose is because her donors are afraid of the government. That is interesting. I applaud Smith's AGM speech for spotlighting the intimidation innuendo and threatening culture in some parts of the PC government saying communities and organizations will be cut off government funding, even if the money serves some of our most vulnerable citizens. They are being told there will be consequences if they don't be quiet, compliant and show support the PC party. as government. I have been a victim of that kind of subtle bully of late since I quit the PC Party last December.
I don't see why any political party leadership campaign is not subject to the same campaign funding disclosure rules as elections. Then your comment Dave about us getting to see the leadership campaign funding sources would be true. But now that disclosure is only about election campaigns where the laws are strict and clear. It is not a means however of us getting to know now who, if any, is pulling the strings of party leaders
I think is it disingenuous at best, for private citizens and private sector funders to be allowed to use fear as a reasonable excuse not to exercise your citizenship rights to support whatever political candidate they may wish. If this degree of fear is true, then our democracy is in deeper and more dire straits than even I think. A political culture of fear leads to the decline and eventual demise of open representative democracy. I do not want to say fascism is around the corner but it is definitely down the block if this is truly the case in Alberta and allowed to continue.
.
If the Smith leadership campaign donors are truly fearful of retaliation from the PC government did they propose a policy resolution for full campaign disclosure of all political party leadership campaigns? That kind of progressive accountable transparent and honest public policy would go a long way to raising my appreciation that the WAP is offering a different and better way of governing.
We cannot allow ourselves the luxury of hiding behind an excuse of fear of our government as a justification for anonymity - even if it is true, it is not justified. If we are afraid of our government and intimidated from exercising our right or free speech and free association we not only lose them, we invite the dirty political tricks of the Nixon era to be normative again.
When someone aspires to be worthy of our consent to govern us, the fact that they get to do so through an internal process of a private club called a political party is not a sufficient reason not to have full disclosure of leadership campaign funding.
With 40 years of a one-party state, the Alberta population has been lulled into inertia, indifference and overwhelmingly cynical about the consequences of not being informed and engaged citizens. Changing that mindset is the essence of the progressive citizen's movement called Reboot Alberta.
Our conjoint survey research shows that the most important values we progressives want from our political leaders are INTEGRITY, HONESTY, ACCOUNTABILITY, and TRANSPARENCY AND ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP. The recent random sample of all Albertans had FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY instead of ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP but all the other values were in the top tier of progressives and average Albertans. There is a values consensus and a longing for political change to align with those basic political values again.
I applaud when anyone offers themselves up as a candidate for the duties and responsibilities of political servant leadership. But I suggest all citizens had better be more vigilant in pursuing evidence from those who aspire to public office or political power to demonstrate these values. They better be at the core of their characters and their campaigns and continue into how they govern.
I don't think the WAP massaging their policy messages just to divert attention away from their "true conservative" principles is any way to show evidence of alignment with those vital political values Albertans require of our political class. We need to be shown and have every right to expect those values be extant from all our actual and aspiring servant leaders...not just the WAP.
As always Dave - great to engage in conversation with you - sorry for the long response.
Proud to be on Alberta Venture's 50 Most Influential Albertans for 2010
I am proud to be on the Alberta Venture Magazine list of 50 Most Influential Albertans for 2010. I know many of the others and agree with their designation.
My "influence" comes from my recent political stands and my work with Reboot Alberta. If you are a progressive thinker and want to see the future of Alberta NOT veer to the far right from the political culture war that is currently being waged between the Wildrose Alliance Party and the "Progressive" Conservative Party, you might want to join this citizens movement called Reboot Alberta. You will find your tribe if you are a progressive thinker.
My "influence" comes from my recent political stands and my work with Reboot Alberta. If you are a progressive thinker and want to see the future of Alberta NOT veer to the far right from the political culture war that is currently being waged between the Wildrose Alliance Party and the "Progressive" Conservative Party, you might want to join this citizens movement called Reboot Alberta. You will find your tribe if you are a progressive thinker.
Will Danielle Smith Deliver Us From Evil?
So we are supposed to believe the kinder, gentler more moderate mask of the Wildrose Alliance Party coming out of their first AGM! I’m not buying it and I doubt any thoughtful Albertan will either.
We are being told by the WAP leader that “We’ve enough of socialists and liberals masquerading as conservatives.” Well we are about to get a snoot full of moderate masquerading to divert us from the realities of the reactionary and radical republican like Wildrose. They will try to tell us they are more like true blue caring conservatives and not the Wild West reformers of the past.
Be afraid Alberta. Be very afraid. We need transformative change in Alberta’s political culture for sure. We don’t need to return to the ways of thinking and acting back in Eisenhower’s and Nixon’s days. That is where the WAP would take us – back and backwards. We need to move forward and while the PCs are increasingly inept, the WAP is not the kind of political alternative that is in the best interests of Alberta and Albertans moving forward.
Let’s look at some of the outcomes of the WAP “coming out party” this last weekend at their AGM in Red Deer. First, it was hardly a ”coming out party” when you look at just how much of the authentic and actual beliefs of the social conservative base were gagged and stuffed in the policy and platform closet. Keeping the reactionary radical right base of the WAP out of sight and out of mind is the hope and strategy of the WAP power elite as they pursue personal political power in our province. Instead of bringing Albertans some clarity about the true policy intentions of the WAP we now have more opaqueness and obfuscation as we saw the policy resolutions orchestrated and staged.
Calling themselves “the true conservatives” this group of libertarians and social fundamentalists is still the same as they were before the weekend in Red Deer. They are still playing politics the same old HarperCon way. Say whatever you need to say to get elected then do what you want with the political power at your disposal. Most of the Harper Con MPs are working for the WAP including such enlightened luminaries as MP Rob Anders. The new kids on the block are being well mentored
There is a quote from the Edmonton Journal about a resolution debate on granting “unequivocal right to own firearms” that sums it up so far as the true conservative beliefs behind the soft peddling of policy resolutions. One WAP delegate is quoted as saying regarding establishing the right to bear arms in Alberta “basically I support…what is written here, I’m just worried about how this may be received in the public and portrayed in the media, so I am voting no.” So much for integrity, honesty, transparency, accountability and trustworthiness of the WAP approach to a different kind of politics. It’s the politics of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld being imported into Alberta.
We are all supposed to stay asleep at the switch and suspend our disbelief about the cold cunning and calculating fundamentalist heart of the social conservative base of the WAP. We are supposed to pretend there is a shift in the “true conservative” thinking of the WAP towards the political centre. I think this is no shift to the centre. It is merely a cynical calculating crusade to take political power and move Alberta society to the far right as fast as possible.
I find it eerily ironic that the education guidelines for the Bill 44 amendments to our Human Rights laws by the Stelmach PCs as an appeasement to the social conservatives came out this week too. To refresh your memory, Bill 44 was successfully pressed on Stelmach by guys like Rob Anderson, WAP floor crosser. It allows religious fundamentalists to persecute teachers if they don’t get advanced notice where religion, sexuality and sexual orientation even come up in class. With those restrictions it may be dangerous to even teach the Canadian Charter of Rights, and the Catholic schools are already seeing the dire consequences to their faith based education rights. That is just one example of the kind of socially regressive and intentionally oppressive laws we can expect more of with a WAP government in Alberta.
The “inching to the centre” by virtue of carefully worded revisionary framing of key policy issues are that are to appease the average Albertan and lull us into staying inert politically. Let’s look at some of the manipulation of language to manufacture a myth of WAP’s new found moderation. They watered down a resolution aimed at killing unions and passed a policy to “allow individual workers the choice to determine their membership in labour organizations.” That is the law now! There is nothing transformative, useful or even intellectually honest in that pointless policy stance. It is bound to be overturned on a Charter challenge anyway but that is the fundamental philosophy of the WAP policy approach.
They whitewashed the prior policy to disallow teachers to strike to simply review what services in Alberta are to be deemed essential. Cute and cunning but the motivation to still punish teachers and unions prevails notwithstanding the vague and vacuous wording change.
I love the resolution to establish an Alberta Constitution. That is a real wolf in sheep’s clothing. There are about 8 to 15% of Albertans who are separatists and they are mostly lurking in the bowels of the WAP these days. The idea of a sub-national constitution is absurd, unless of course you intend to pursue separation from Canada. That is the hidden agenda behind that resolution otherwise it makes no sense.
Then there is a semi-secret society of serious and self-serving oil money in Calgary that was behind Smith’s leadership and now they seem to be pushing the WAP itself. They were originally out to spank Stelmach and they did that rather well. They were after Stelmach because he was not one of them and not their puppet – at least not in the first year of Stelmach’s Premiership. Now they are out to unseat Stelmach. Have they found a new and more compliant puppet in Danielle Smith so why even bother to intimidate and bully Stelmach anymore? There is a certain faction within the Alberta energy sector that has effectively become the natural governing party in this province. The operate behind closed doors and were especially influential in controlling the economy and environmental policy under Klein. They seem intent to continue to wield quiet power and behind closed doors influence through Smith and the WAP, just as they did through Klein.
These energy sector tenants have all but effectively taken over the title to the natural resource property that Albertans actually own. And Albertans need to wake up to that reality and change it. The WAP is not the way to take back control of our democracy and reassert the citizen ownership of our resources. Just consider Smith’s response to the recent negligence conviction of Syncrude over the dead ducks in its tailings ponds. She did not assert the proxy position of the people of Alberta. She sided with the company calling for “common sense and restraint I how the verdict is applied.” Not a thought about beefing up enforcement and monitoring or environmental laws and regulations behind that attitude! No calling out the industry tenants of our natural resources for negligence and risking being seen as not worthy of their social license to operate their businesses responsibly in service the public interest as well as stockholders. Nope – Smith was all about not ruffling the feathers of big oil and she chose to dance around any debate on enforcement by using escape clause language like “common sense and restraint.”
There is change in the political air in Alberta but I don’t see the change offered by the Wildrose Alliance Party as anything more than the same old pursuit of political power for its own sake. What is worse is they are already showing they are intellectual dishonestly, a lack of integrity and a less than robust commitment to transparency. Albertans are going to demand those values be demonstrated not just talked about in stage managed political theater before any trust will be bestowed on any political party or leader. Means justify ends in Wildrose country and that is not good enough.
We are being told by the WAP leader that “We’ve enough of socialists and liberals masquerading as conservatives.” Well we are about to get a snoot full of moderate masquerading to divert us from the realities of the reactionary and radical republican like Wildrose. They will try to tell us they are more like true blue caring conservatives and not the Wild West reformers of the past.
Be afraid Alberta. Be very afraid. We need transformative change in Alberta’s political culture for sure. We don’t need to return to the ways of thinking and acting back in Eisenhower’s and Nixon’s days. That is where the WAP would take us – back and backwards. We need to move forward and while the PCs are increasingly inept, the WAP is not the kind of political alternative that is in the best interests of Alberta and Albertans moving forward.
Let’s look at some of the outcomes of the WAP “coming out party” this last weekend at their AGM in Red Deer. First, it was hardly a ”coming out party” when you look at just how much of the authentic and actual beliefs of the social conservative base were gagged and stuffed in the policy and platform closet. Keeping the reactionary radical right base of the WAP out of sight and out of mind is the hope and strategy of the WAP power elite as they pursue personal political power in our province. Instead of bringing Albertans some clarity about the true policy intentions of the WAP we now have more opaqueness and obfuscation as we saw the policy resolutions orchestrated and staged.
Calling themselves “the true conservatives” this group of libertarians and social fundamentalists is still the same as they were before the weekend in Red Deer. They are still playing politics the same old HarperCon way. Say whatever you need to say to get elected then do what you want with the political power at your disposal. Most of the Harper Con MPs are working for the WAP including such enlightened luminaries as MP Rob Anders. The new kids on the block are being well mentored
There is a quote from the Edmonton Journal about a resolution debate on granting “unequivocal right to own firearms” that sums it up so far as the true conservative beliefs behind the soft peddling of policy resolutions. One WAP delegate is quoted as saying regarding establishing the right to bear arms in Alberta “basically I support…what is written here, I’m just worried about how this may be received in the public and portrayed in the media, so I am voting no.” So much for integrity, honesty, transparency, accountability and trustworthiness of the WAP approach to a different kind of politics. It’s the politics of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld being imported into Alberta.
We are all supposed to stay asleep at the switch and suspend our disbelief about the cold cunning and calculating fundamentalist heart of the social conservative base of the WAP. We are supposed to pretend there is a shift in the “true conservative” thinking of the WAP towards the political centre. I think this is no shift to the centre. It is merely a cynical calculating crusade to take political power and move Alberta society to the far right as fast as possible.
I find it eerily ironic that the education guidelines for the Bill 44 amendments to our Human Rights laws by the Stelmach PCs as an appeasement to the social conservatives came out this week too. To refresh your memory, Bill 44 was successfully pressed on Stelmach by guys like Rob Anderson, WAP floor crosser. It allows religious fundamentalists to persecute teachers if they don’t get advanced notice where religion, sexuality and sexual orientation even come up in class. With those restrictions it may be dangerous to even teach the Canadian Charter of Rights, and the Catholic schools are already seeing the dire consequences to their faith based education rights. That is just one example of the kind of socially regressive and intentionally oppressive laws we can expect more of with a WAP government in Alberta.
The “inching to the centre” by virtue of carefully worded revisionary framing of key policy issues are that are to appease the average Albertan and lull us into staying inert politically. Let’s look at some of the manipulation of language to manufacture a myth of WAP’s new found moderation. They watered down a resolution aimed at killing unions and passed a policy to “allow individual workers the choice to determine their membership in labour organizations.” That is the law now! There is nothing transformative, useful or even intellectually honest in that pointless policy stance. It is bound to be overturned on a Charter challenge anyway but that is the fundamental philosophy of the WAP policy approach.
They whitewashed the prior policy to disallow teachers to strike to simply review what services in Alberta are to be deemed essential. Cute and cunning but the motivation to still punish teachers and unions prevails notwithstanding the vague and vacuous wording change.
I love the resolution to establish an Alberta Constitution. That is a real wolf in sheep’s clothing. There are about 8 to 15% of Albertans who are separatists and they are mostly lurking in the bowels of the WAP these days. The idea of a sub-national constitution is absurd, unless of course you intend to pursue separation from Canada. That is the hidden agenda behind that resolution otherwise it makes no sense.
Then there is a semi-secret society of serious and self-serving oil money in Calgary that was behind Smith’s leadership and now they seem to be pushing the WAP itself. They were originally out to spank Stelmach and they did that rather well. They were after Stelmach because he was not one of them and not their puppet – at least not in the first year of Stelmach’s Premiership. Now they are out to unseat Stelmach. Have they found a new and more compliant puppet in Danielle Smith so why even bother to intimidate and bully Stelmach anymore? There is a certain faction within the Alberta energy sector that has effectively become the natural governing party in this province. The operate behind closed doors and were especially influential in controlling the economy and environmental policy under Klein. They seem intent to continue to wield quiet power and behind closed doors influence through Smith and the WAP, just as they did through Klein.
These energy sector tenants have all but effectively taken over the title to the natural resource property that Albertans actually own. And Albertans need to wake up to that reality and change it. The WAP is not the way to take back control of our democracy and reassert the citizen ownership of our resources. Just consider Smith’s response to the recent negligence conviction of Syncrude over the dead ducks in its tailings ponds. She did not assert the proxy position of the people of Alberta. She sided with the company calling for “common sense and restraint I how the verdict is applied.” Not a thought about beefing up enforcement and monitoring or environmental laws and regulations behind that attitude! No calling out the industry tenants of our natural resources for negligence and risking being seen as not worthy of their social license to operate their businesses responsibly in service the public interest as well as stockholders. Nope – Smith was all about not ruffling the feathers of big oil and she chose to dance around any debate on enforcement by using escape clause language like “common sense and restraint.”
There is change in the political air in Alberta but I don’t see the change offered by the Wildrose Alliance Party as anything more than the same old pursuit of political power for its own sake. What is worse is they are already showing they are intellectual dishonestly, a lack of integrity and a less than robust commitment to transparency. Albertans are going to demand those values be demonstrated not just talked about in stage managed political theater before any trust will be bestowed on any political party or leader. Means justify ends in Wildrose country and that is not good enough.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Alberta Progressive Values Align Well with the Average Albertan
As regular readers and subscribers to this blog know, I am very involved in the Reboot Alberta progressive citizen's movement - amongst other things. We did a conjoint study of the most important value drivers for the Reboot Alberta community last February. It was not a random sample of Albertans. It only surveyed those self identifying and self selecting and there were about 644 of them who participated. Here is a link to an earlier blog post on the top values that progressive Albertans want to be used by those to whom we give political power and our consent to govern us.
We have just completed a similar conjoint survey based on the same values as the Reboot Alberta survey, this time it is a random and representative sample of Albertans. It is a small sample of 535 but the findings are so strong and conclusive, the small sample size is not a concern.
We did the random survey to see how much the political and public policy value drivers of the overall population of Alberta aligned with the progressive political thinkers value drivers too. The results show significant similarities and differences too. Here are the comparisons:
Reboot Survey of Progressives:
The progressive political voice is very stifled by the activist social conservative element who are much better organized and overtly engaged in trying to gain political power in the province. Many of the progressives are jaded, cynical and disengaged in the political culture of the times. As a result we end up not voting and getting politicians with policy objectives that we don't like and political directions that we disdain. Nobody to blame but ourselves when all is said and done.
With these survey results the progressives can confidently speak their minds and values. They now know that what they are concerned about how political and public policy decision are being made in Alberta also resonates with the general population. Progressive have to find a reason to re-engage in the political culture of Alberta. They have to find their voice and start making it heard. That is one sure way to return a viable vibrant democracy to the province. I hope it happens.
Reboot Alberta is a place to come and join in this progressive citizen's movement and to start making your voice heard.
We have just completed a similar conjoint survey based on the same values as the Reboot Alberta survey, this time it is a random and representative sample of Albertans. It is a small sample of 535 but the findings are so strong and conclusive, the small sample size is not a concern.
We did the random survey to see how much the political and public policy value drivers of the overall population of Alberta aligned with the progressive political thinkers value drivers too. The results show significant similarities and differences too. Here are the comparisons:
Reboot Survey of Progressives:
- Integrity
- Honesty
- Accountability
- Transparency
- Environmental Stewardship
- Accountability
- Integrity
- Fiscal Responsibility
- Honesty
- Transparency
The progressive political voice is very stifled by the activist social conservative element who are much better organized and overtly engaged in trying to gain political power in the province. Many of the progressives are jaded, cynical and disengaged in the political culture of the times. As a result we end up not voting and getting politicians with policy objectives that we don't like and political directions that we disdain. Nobody to blame but ourselves when all is said and done.
With these survey results the progressives can confidently speak their minds and values. They now know that what they are concerned about how political and public policy decision are being made in Alberta also resonates with the general population. Progressive have to find a reason to re-engage in the political culture of Alberta. They have to find their voice and start making it heard. That is one sure way to return a viable vibrant democracy to the province. I hope it happens.
Reboot Alberta is a place to come and join in this progressive citizen's movement and to start making your voice heard.
Nice to be Honoured by University of Alberta in such a Special Way
I was honoured to be part of the University of Alberta Board of Governors retirement dinner last week. I was there becuase of my part of a government relations committee that was disbanded because Karen Wichuk and company have done such a great job in the government relations area they really did not need outside advice anymore.
Nice to be part of the celebrations though and really touched by the gifts from the University. Instead of a plaque or certificate, they actually dedicated a digitized Alberta book from the Library collection for each of us. My commemorative book is the 1930 edition of the College Saint Francois-Xavier. In addition they gave us a copy of the recently published translation of the Prayer Book in Cree Syllabics done originally in 1883 by Father Emile Grouard in Lac La Biche. This is believed to be the very first book written in Alberta.
The company honoured at the retirement dinner was pretty good too. It included, amongst others, Lou Hyndman, one of my early mentors, and good friends Eric Newell, Gerry Protti, Audrey Poitras and Michelle Stanners. Here is a link to the Peel Priairie Collection at the University of Alberta Library where the digitized books are housed. Give it a visit if you are interested in exploring the history of western Canada and the culture of the prairies.
Nice to be part of the celebrations though and really touched by the gifts from the University. Instead of a plaque or certificate, they actually dedicated a digitized Alberta book from the Library collection for each of us. My commemorative book is the 1930 edition of the College Saint Francois-Xavier. In addition they gave us a copy of the recently published translation of the Prayer Book in Cree Syllabics done originally in 1883 by Father Emile Grouard in Lac La Biche. This is believed to be the very first book written in Alberta.
The company honoured at the retirement dinner was pretty good too. It included, amongst others, Lou Hyndman, one of my early mentors, and good friends Eric Newell, Gerry Protti, Audrey Poitras and Michelle Stanners. Here is a link to the Peel Priairie Collection at the University of Alberta Library where the digitized books are housed. Give it a visit if you are interested in exploring the history of western Canada and the culture of the prairies.
Friday, June 25, 2010
China's Purchase of Syncrude Stake OK'd by Harper.
Reuters is reporting that the Chinese government controlled corporation Sinopec's $4.65Billion investment in Syncrude is a done deal. Prime Minister Harper has approved the sale. Good! I wonder how much that deal came into play in China opening up its borders to Alberta beef again? That was announced today too.
Our recent random sample survey of Albertans values asked if Harper should stop the Chinese from investing in Alberta's oilsands. The results were 45% agreed that China should be stopped from investing in the oilsands. However 55% believed that China should be allowed to invest in our oilsands. I agree with the majority. This is a smart move by China, a prudent sale by ConocoPhillips and it might be a good influence on the other Syncrude owners to raise their environmental performance standards.
We have lots of "foreign" (meaning not American) investment in the oilsands already. We have Britain, France, Norway, Japan, Hong Kong to name a few, investing already. I think the more diversity of international investment the better it is for Alberta. China is in now. My bets are that India will not be far behind and I would not be surprised if Russia and Mexico invested eventually too.
What we need to be assured of is that China understands that they are tenants and it is the citizens of Alberta who actually own the resource. We need be sure or provincial and federal governments enforce the oilsands environmental standards more aggressively. The Syncrude dead ducks incident proves that. With China in with such a large investment, maybe the provincial and federal governments will be emboldened to be more assertive about monitoring and enforcing environmental standards. That would of course have to apply to all operators and that sure can't be anything but good.
ConocoPhillips divests its Syncrude stake just before the court decision on the consequences of 1600 ducks dying in the tailing pond. That decision comes out later today and should be a must read for all Albertans as responsible owners of the oilsands. We need to be sure our tenants understand we will not tolerate indifference to the environment, habitat, reclamation, water usage and biodiversity as a result of oilsands exploitation.
Our recent random sample survey of Albertans values asked if Harper should stop the Chinese from investing in Alberta's oilsands. The results were 45% agreed that China should be stopped from investing in the oilsands. However 55% believed that China should be allowed to invest in our oilsands. I agree with the majority. This is a smart move by China, a prudent sale by ConocoPhillips and it might be a good influence on the other Syncrude owners to raise their environmental performance standards.
We have lots of "foreign" (meaning not American) investment in the oilsands already. We have Britain, France, Norway, Japan, Hong Kong to name a few, investing already. I think the more diversity of international investment the better it is for Alberta. China is in now. My bets are that India will not be far behind and I would not be surprised if Russia and Mexico invested eventually too.
What we need to be assured of is that China understands that they are tenants and it is the citizens of Alberta who actually own the resource. We need be sure or provincial and federal governments enforce the oilsands environmental standards more aggressively. The Syncrude dead ducks incident proves that. With China in with such a large investment, maybe the provincial and federal governments will be emboldened to be more assertive about monitoring and enforcing environmental standards. That would of course have to apply to all operators and that sure can't be anything but good.
ConocoPhillips divests its Syncrude stake just before the court decision on the consequences of 1600 ducks dying in the tailing pond. That decision comes out later today and should be a must read for all Albertans as responsible owners of the oilsands. We need to be sure our tenants understand we will not tolerate indifference to the environment, habitat, reclamation, water usage and biodiversity as a result of oilsands exploitation.
Bill 44 Guide for Teachers/Parents on Stupid Law Released.
According to news reports the guidelines for the application of the Bill 44 idiocy have finally been released. I have not read them yet so I can't comment. But based on the stupidity of the original enabling legislation that creates a capacity to persecute and prosecute teachers I can only imagine how angry this policy is going to make me once I read it.
Here is the link to the policy if you want to get at it before me. Feel free to comment in advance of my review and thoughts.
Here is the link to the policy if you want to get at it before me. Feel free to comment in advance of my review and thoughts.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Albertans Want Senate Elections - Stelmach, Not So Much!
I have been doing some more checking on some other interesting preliminary results from our recent Cambridge Strategies conjoint research study. This time it is Albertan's opinions around Senate elections that I want to share with you.
In the past Senate elections in Alberta were a joke. They are not binding but two elected Senators have been appointed from Alberta so they have had some affect. The other joke was in the past it was perceived that only the radical right wing nuts ran and nobody really cared about the election or them because it was not binding. It was all just so much bad political theatre. In fact many Alberta voters in the past refused Senate ballots or spoiled them intentionally in protest.
That indifference and anger seems to be changing based on our new study results. Now we see 69% of Albertans saying they "believe we should have another election for Senators in Alberta." Moreover 82% believe it is important to have a Senate election and 88% say they are ready and willing to vote for a Senator this time. That is a big change in the minds of Albertans about Senate elections.
That change in attitude is amazing. I think the reason for this change in thinking is because it is an opportunity to send a message to politicians that would be influential but not really radically change anything. There is a need to change somethings however. I think the well documented lack of trust and respect for the current political options by Albertans is what is driving the desire to a Senate electoin this fall. It is a feebie way to send a message to the political class that they are out of touch and in danger of being dumped in the next provincial election. The same message applies to the Alberta MPs too I expect.
The current crop of Senators-in-Waiting had a 6 year term that was to expire December 2010. So what has the Stelmach government done? The original announced intent was to hold the Senate elections in conjunction with the October municipal and school board elections. Instead, last April, Premier Stelmach unilaterally and undemocratically extended the terms of the existing Senators-in-Waiting until December 2013. What is that all about? So much for legislated fixed election dates.
There are vacancies coming up for Alberta Senators soon and we have not had a chance to elect them, according to law, since 2004. And we will not get that chance to choose Senators-in-Waiting now until 2013. Does anyone believe these three current Senators-in-Waiting still have a mandate? They are on record as saying they don't believe they still have a mandate. They will be waiting as our preferred appointees for over 9 years. That is longer than the 8 years terms they could actually sit in Harper's proposed Senate reform legislation.
That is a long time between opportunities for voters to choose and that is not reasonable in a modern democracy. Lots has changed in Alberta since 2004 and a lot more will change between now and 2013 but one thing that will not change is the "preferred" nominees for Senator to represent Alberta as a sober second voice.
Here is another real kicker in this folly. The Alberta Senatorial Selection Act itself expires on December 31, 2016. If the Stelmach government does not want to hold regular Senate selection elections then why not say so and simply repeal the legislation. That would have more integrity, be more honest, accountable and transparent than the obvious manipulation of the democratic process they have done and for pure partisan political purposes.
This is just another example of the continuing erosion of democracy in Alberta and abuse of centralist power structures in governing the province. It is just power politics trumping good government and also the Stelmach PCs still running scared of the Wildrose. The thinking in the Stelmach government is obviously that they see a Senate election this fall will become a further referendum on the current government. They sure don't seem to want to know what Albertans are actually thinking and saying these days.
They don't want to have anymore proof of citizen discontent by giving them the opportunity to express their frustration about how badly we are being governed these days. So democracy gets suspended, the cynicism of citizens increases and the political culture continues to turn weak and ugly. There is a serious and growing sense of revulsion by many Albertans about our deteriorating political culture.
We are not seeing the benefits of the Alberta advantage except for those "masters of the universe" types in big business who collude behind closed doors with government. We see a lack of integrity, honesty, accountability and transparency from our government as a result. Our pride in the province is getting softer all the time and we know we are not being listened to and that our opinions do not matter to those in political power. I wonder when will the revolution will start in Alberta for real change? We need more political choices and not just an option between two reactionary conservative parties locked in a culture war.
It is not too late for Stelmach to return the Senate elections to this fall but don't hold your breath given the angst and anxiety of the current government. I wonder if this debasing of democracy by the current government will be a topic of discussion at the weekend gathering of the Wildrose Alliance Party? Their leader was vocal about it last April with the Senate election was deferred. I am no fan of the WAP but they are right on this point. I hope they come out of Red Deer this weekend with guns blazing on this issue.
In the past Senate elections in Alberta were a joke. They are not binding but two elected Senators have been appointed from Alberta so they have had some affect. The other joke was in the past it was perceived that only the radical right wing nuts ran and nobody really cared about the election or them because it was not binding. It was all just so much bad political theatre. In fact many Alberta voters in the past refused Senate ballots or spoiled them intentionally in protest.
That indifference and anger seems to be changing based on our new study results. Now we see 69% of Albertans saying they "believe we should have another election for Senators in Alberta." Moreover 82% believe it is important to have a Senate election and 88% say they are ready and willing to vote for a Senator this time. That is a big change in the minds of Albertans about Senate elections.
That change in attitude is amazing. I think the reason for this change in thinking is because it is an opportunity to send a message to politicians that would be influential but not really radically change anything. There is a need to change somethings however. I think the well documented lack of trust and respect for the current political options by Albertans is what is driving the desire to a Senate electoin this fall. It is a feebie way to send a message to the political class that they are out of touch and in danger of being dumped in the next provincial election. The same message applies to the Alberta MPs too I expect.
The current crop of Senators-in-Waiting had a 6 year term that was to expire December 2010. So what has the Stelmach government done? The original announced intent was to hold the Senate elections in conjunction with the October municipal and school board elections. Instead, last April, Premier Stelmach unilaterally and undemocratically extended the terms of the existing Senators-in-Waiting until December 2013. What is that all about? So much for legislated fixed election dates.
There are vacancies coming up for Alberta Senators soon and we have not had a chance to elect them, according to law, since 2004. And we will not get that chance to choose Senators-in-Waiting now until 2013. Does anyone believe these three current Senators-in-Waiting still have a mandate? They are on record as saying they don't believe they still have a mandate. They will be waiting as our preferred appointees for over 9 years. That is longer than the 8 years terms they could actually sit in Harper's proposed Senate reform legislation.
That is a long time between opportunities for voters to choose and that is not reasonable in a modern democracy. Lots has changed in Alberta since 2004 and a lot more will change between now and 2013 but one thing that will not change is the "preferred" nominees for Senator to represent Alberta as a sober second voice.
Here is another real kicker in this folly. The Alberta Senatorial Selection Act itself expires on December 31, 2016. If the Stelmach government does not want to hold regular Senate selection elections then why not say so and simply repeal the legislation. That would have more integrity, be more honest, accountable and transparent than the obvious manipulation of the democratic process they have done and for pure partisan political purposes.
This is just another example of the continuing erosion of democracy in Alberta and abuse of centralist power structures in governing the province. It is just power politics trumping good government and also the Stelmach PCs still running scared of the Wildrose. The thinking in the Stelmach government is obviously that they see a Senate election this fall will become a further referendum on the current government. They sure don't seem to want to know what Albertans are actually thinking and saying these days.
They don't want to have anymore proof of citizen discontent by giving them the opportunity to express their frustration about how badly we are being governed these days. So democracy gets suspended, the cynicism of citizens increases and the political culture continues to turn weak and ugly. There is a serious and growing sense of revulsion by many Albertans about our deteriorating political culture.
We are not seeing the benefits of the Alberta advantage except for those "masters of the universe" types in big business who collude behind closed doors with government. We see a lack of integrity, honesty, accountability and transparency from our government as a result. Our pride in the province is getting softer all the time and we know we are not being listened to and that our opinions do not matter to those in political power. I wonder when will the revolution will start in Alberta for real change? We need more political choices and not just an option between two reactionary conservative parties locked in a culture war.
It is not too late for Stelmach to return the Senate elections to this fall but don't hold your breath given the angst and anxiety of the current government. I wonder if this debasing of democracy by the current government will be a topic of discussion at the weekend gathering of the Wildrose Alliance Party? Their leader was vocal about it last April with the Senate election was deferred. I am no fan of the WAP but they are right on this point. I hope they come out of Red Deer this weekend with guns blazing on this issue.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Can Harper & Stelmach Get Along & is Alberta Ready for a Carbon Tax?
Media reports say there is a battle brewing between the Harper and Stelmach governments and it is where the environment and the economy meet. Former Premier Peter Lougheed predicted this over two years ago in a speech to the Canadian Bar Association.
Cambridge Strategies is in the final stages of data collection in a random sample conjoint survey on values Albertans want to see guide and drive politicians and policy makers when they are deciding matters that impact the lives of citizens. We have also asked some very pointed opinion questions on the political culture of Alberta oo.
Given some recent mainstream media stories, I thought it helpful to give a preview of some of the preliminary findings. We are almost finished gathering the data so some of these result might change but likely only slightly.
In the context of the “Battle Brewing Between Alberta and Ottawa over Oil Sands Exports” only 22% of Albertans Strongly Agreed or Agreed that “Prime Minister Stephen Harper pays sufficient attention to Alberta issues and concerns.” Only 25% Strongly Agreed or Agreed “Prime Minister Harper should stop Chinese investment in Alberta’s Oilsands while 56% of Albertans disagree this proposition to some degree of other.
As for perceptions of Albertans on how well the Harper and Stelmach government are getting along on major issues of environment, investment and natural resources over 82% do not think the two governments are getting along that well. Indications are it will only get worse as the Harper government continue to ignore Alberta's concerns and Stelmach government continues to lag in public confidence. This all typical fed-prov political infighting will happen at a time when the world is targeting Canada and Alberta for our politically inert attitudes and embarrassingly inept approaches towards environmental policy.
Then we have the other interesting story that Suncor CEO Rick George is reported to be in favour of a carbon tax as part of a national energy strategy to reduce emissions and promote responsible energy development. George is calling for a carbon tax that applies to industry and consumers and to all emitters from “oilsands plants to the tailpipe of your car.” George sees a need for a national energy strategy to harmonize the patchwork of provincial policies and align with major trading partners like the United States.
The Stelmach government has apparently “shot down the idea” according to mainstream media reports. Apparently Deputy Premier Doug Horner “…flatly dismissed the idea of a tax on consumers and bristled at the suggestion of a national energy policy beyond simple co-operation between provinces and the federal government on energy issues.
Our research study preliminary findings show that Albertans, when asked if “Alberta should have a carbon tax and use the money to clean the environment” 23.71% strongly disagreed, 15.81% disagreed and 21.36% slightly disagreed. On the other hand those who supported a carbon tax showed 4.27% strongly agreed, 13.46% agreed and 21.36 slightly agreed. That is a surprising 60/40 split. Seen another way the swing vote of the slightly agreed or disagreed are over 42% so there is volatility around acceptance of a carbon tax by Albertan depending on if the mush middle moves one way or the other.
As for the strength of support the politicians representing Alberta we have figures from another random study of 1032 Albertans that is complete. The bottom line is there is not much confidence in any of the existing federal or provincial alternatives. When asked “who do you trust the most to responsibly manage Alberta’s growth” the results were telling. Brian Mason (NDP) 4%, David Swann (Liberal) 9%, Danielle Smith (Wildrose Alliance) 19%, Ed Stelmach (PC Party) 23%. NONE OF THE ABOVE 45%. Albertans are clearly not happy with the directions and choices the current political parties are offering. Kind of shows why only 40% of us even bother to vote.
The Federal politicians representing Alberta have nothing to brag about either. When Albertans were asked how satisfied they were the way the Alberta-based MPs were representing Albertans interests in Ottawa only 1% were completely satisfied, 16% were satisfied and 27% were slightly satisfied. On the other hand 11% were totally dissatisfied, 22% were dissatisfied and 23% were slightly dissatisfied. Again 50% are in the mushy middle of being slightly satisfied or dissatisfied. As for if the Alberta MPS are doing enough to protect Albertan oil and gs resources in Ottawa 40% thing they are and 60% don’t thing they are. Not a strong vote confidence as a federal election looms.
Bottom line is the Feds and the provincial governments appear to be increasingly misaligned and misreading the mood of the Alberta public on many key issues. I will show more about this misalignment in subsequent blog posts once the final survey results are in and the analysis has been completed.
All this research is showing us that there is a need for a political revolution to change the political culture of this province. As I have said this before on this blog, I see a Renaissance, a Reformation and a ReEnlightenment all now happening at the same time. I wonder if it is enough to create the kind of political unrest that festers and fosters the kind of Revolution we have sen before in Alberta's political culture. It has before when Social Credit and the Progressive Conservatives came into power years ago.
It is feeling more and more like Albertans are ready for some serious and radical changes to our political culture - but what is the alternative? The open question for all Albertans now is does the WAP reflect enough of the core values of contemporary Albertans so they gain the political power to run the province as they wish in this emerging wave of citizen re-engagement? I will have more to say shortly in answering that question. First we must finish the current research and do the thorough analysis of the conjoint study results. We will then have some insight about some of the core the value drivers that Albertans what to see used by politicians. then we will know more about what Albertans expect in order to grant their consent to be governed. Stay tuned.
Cambridge Strategies is in the final stages of data collection in a random sample conjoint survey on values Albertans want to see guide and drive politicians and policy makers when they are deciding matters that impact the lives of citizens. We have also asked some very pointed opinion questions on the political culture of Alberta oo.
Given some recent mainstream media stories, I thought it helpful to give a preview of some of the preliminary findings. We are almost finished gathering the data so some of these result might change but likely only slightly.
In the context of the “Battle Brewing Between Alberta and Ottawa over Oil Sands Exports” only 22% of Albertans Strongly Agreed or Agreed that “Prime Minister Stephen Harper pays sufficient attention to Alberta issues and concerns.” Only 25% Strongly Agreed or Agreed “Prime Minister Harper should stop Chinese investment in Alberta’s Oilsands while 56% of Albertans disagree this proposition to some degree of other.
As for perceptions of Albertans on how well the Harper and Stelmach government are getting along on major issues of environment, investment and natural resources over 82% do not think the two governments are getting along that well. Indications are it will only get worse as the Harper government continue to ignore Alberta's concerns and Stelmach government continues to lag in public confidence. This all typical fed-prov political infighting will happen at a time when the world is targeting Canada and Alberta for our politically inert attitudes and embarrassingly inept approaches towards environmental policy.
Then we have the other interesting story that Suncor CEO Rick George is reported to be in favour of a carbon tax as part of a national energy strategy to reduce emissions and promote responsible energy development. George is calling for a carbon tax that applies to industry and consumers and to all emitters from “oilsands plants to the tailpipe of your car.” George sees a need for a national energy strategy to harmonize the patchwork of provincial policies and align with major trading partners like the United States.
The Stelmach government has apparently “shot down the idea” according to mainstream media reports. Apparently Deputy Premier Doug Horner “…flatly dismissed the idea of a tax on consumers and bristled at the suggestion of a national energy policy beyond simple co-operation between provinces and the federal government on energy issues.
Our research study preliminary findings show that Albertans, when asked if “Alberta should have a carbon tax and use the money to clean the environment” 23.71% strongly disagreed, 15.81% disagreed and 21.36% slightly disagreed. On the other hand those who supported a carbon tax showed 4.27% strongly agreed, 13.46% agreed and 21.36 slightly agreed. That is a surprising 60/40 split. Seen another way the swing vote of the slightly agreed or disagreed are over 42% so there is volatility around acceptance of a carbon tax by Albertan depending on if the mush middle moves one way or the other.
As for the strength of support the politicians representing Alberta we have figures from another random study of 1032 Albertans that is complete. The bottom line is there is not much confidence in any of the existing federal or provincial alternatives. When asked “who do you trust the most to responsibly manage Alberta’s growth” the results were telling. Brian Mason (NDP) 4%, David Swann (Liberal) 9%, Danielle Smith (Wildrose Alliance) 19%, Ed Stelmach (PC Party) 23%. NONE OF THE ABOVE 45%. Albertans are clearly not happy with the directions and choices the current political parties are offering. Kind of shows why only 40% of us even bother to vote.
The Federal politicians representing Alberta have nothing to brag about either. When Albertans were asked how satisfied they were the way the Alberta-based MPs were representing Albertans interests in Ottawa only 1% were completely satisfied, 16% were satisfied and 27% were slightly satisfied. On the other hand 11% were totally dissatisfied, 22% were dissatisfied and 23% were slightly dissatisfied. Again 50% are in the mushy middle of being slightly satisfied or dissatisfied. As for if the Alberta MPS are doing enough to protect Albertan oil and gs resources in Ottawa 40% thing they are and 60% don’t thing they are. Not a strong vote confidence as a federal election looms.
Bottom line is the Feds and the provincial governments appear to be increasingly misaligned and misreading the mood of the Alberta public on many key issues. I will show more about this misalignment in subsequent blog posts once the final survey results are in and the analysis has been completed.
All this research is showing us that there is a need for a political revolution to change the political culture of this province. As I have said this before on this blog, I see a Renaissance, a Reformation and a ReEnlightenment all now happening at the same time. I wonder if it is enough to create the kind of political unrest that festers and fosters the kind of Revolution we have sen before in Alberta's political culture. It has before when Social Credit and the Progressive Conservatives came into power years ago.
It is feeling more and more like Albertans are ready for some serious and radical changes to our political culture - but what is the alternative? The open question for all Albertans now is does the WAP reflect enough of the core values of contemporary Albertans so they gain the political power to run the province as they wish in this emerging wave of citizen re-engagement? I will have more to say shortly in answering that question. First we must finish the current research and do the thorough analysis of the conjoint study results. We will then have some insight about some of the core the value drivers that Albertans what to see used by politicians. then we will know more about what Albertans expect in order to grant their consent to be governed. Stay tuned.
Why Do Our Governments Treat Us Like Mushrooms?
Mark Anielski is making headlines in Nova Scotia these days. Seems like more than one government in Canada is afraid of the truth - especially when it comes to problem gambling. Anielski did a study for the previous Conservative government in Nova Scotia but now the NDP government is trying to bury it.
The media in Nova Scotia is all over the story and Mark recently published an op-ed in The Chronicle Herald in Halifax explaining some of the issues around VLTs and problem gambling. It is a problem everywhere but is seems regardless of the political stripe or the province, governments are as addicted to gamling as some of it most vulnerable citizens. What is disturbing is the political attitude that tries to hide facts from the public. It undermines public confidence in government and deomcracy.
Mark says, amongst other things: "The study, commissioned by the previous Conservative government, had two objectives: to establish a baseline analysis of a range of social and economic impacts that can be attributed to gambling in Nova Scotia, and to present an objective snapshot of those impacts."
There are currently similar studies on problem gambling being done in Alberta and Ontario. We can only hope they learn from the ham-handed political, governance and PR mistakes of the NDP in Nova Scotia and release the study results publicly. If they have a problem with the reports then take issue based on facts don't hide and stifle information that citizens need to evaluate what kind of society they want.
If you want to see yet another example of a government lacking integrity, honesty, accountability and transparency here it is.
The media in Nova Scotia is all over the story and Mark recently published an op-ed in The Chronicle Herald in Halifax explaining some of the issues around VLTs and problem gambling. It is a problem everywhere but is seems regardless of the political stripe or the province, governments are as addicted to gamling as some of it most vulnerable citizens. What is disturbing is the political attitude that tries to hide facts from the public. It undermines public confidence in government and deomcracy.
Mark says, amongst other things: "The study, commissioned by the previous Conservative government, had two objectives: to establish a baseline analysis of a range of social and economic impacts that can be attributed to gambling in Nova Scotia, and to present an objective snapshot of those impacts."
There are currently similar studies on problem gambling being done in Alberta and Ontario. We can only hope they learn from the ham-handed political, governance and PR mistakes of the NDP in Nova Scotia and release the study results publicly. If they have a problem with the reports then take issue based on facts don't hide and stifle information that citizens need to evaluate what kind of society they want.
If you want to see yet another example of a government lacking integrity, honesty, accountability and transparency here it is.
Stelmach Government Honours Gary McPherson With Leadership Scholarships.
Congratulations to Premier Stelmach for a fitting tribute to the life of Gary McPherson. A post-secondary student leadership scholarship throughout Alberta is brilliant. If anyone was a role model for citizenship it was the inspiring life and actions of Gary McPherson.
Here is the link for more details on the scholarship program in Gary's honour.
Here is the link for more details on the scholarship program in Gary's honour.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Some Thoughts on Governance Teams for Alberta School Boards
This blog post has been a long time coming with all the meetings, events scheduling and traveling I have been doing. So while it has been promised a few times other priorities have taken precedence. So now here is my take on the Inspiring Education Dialogue with Albertans report on Governance in public education. For the record, I did not participate in the process except to attend one day to listen to some key speakers including Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind.
SOME CONTEXT ON INSPIRING EDUCATION REPORT:
There is much more to the Inspiring Education document than governance. So a brief overview, without commentary, I expect will be helpful for context to those who have not read the report. It was a process about setting a long-term vision for public education in the province. Minister Hancock wanted to raise awareness of the importance of education in the life of Albertans and its contribution to a prosperous society and economy. He wanted to “develop a clear understanding of what it will mean to be a successfully educated Albertan” in the future and finally, to develop a broad policy framework around the overall direction, principles and long-term goals for public education in Alberta.
PRINCIPLED-BASED TRANSFORMATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION:
The goal was to be “transformational” about the education system by empowering educational innovation throughout the province. Time will tell if that is going to happen, but the governance provisions in the report are one fertile place to focus for transformation to occur in public education.
The underlying aspect of governance transformational directions in Inspiring Education is a “principles based” approach instead of rules based. There is merit in this but if it is to be effective the school trustees are going to have to pick up their game and be more engaged in policy development and execution.
The over reliance on the Carver governance system that has been adopted by many school districts is a significant barrier to school trustees being principled based governors. This old-fashioned and outmoded governance model is antithetical to a principles shift in accountability for learning excellence and away from accountability to bureaucracy. In a horizontal networked connected community engaging world the centralizing narrow approach to governance in the Carver model is more than a barrier, it is a danger to realizing the transformational direction Inspiring Education is all about.
There is a shift in focus to local direction form central influence which is a good thing too but that means school trustees are going have to be much more engaged in the overall life of the communities they serve, beyond the limited interests of schools and students as isolated form community. The potential for more direct and collaborative engagement of the local schools and school districts in other critical aspects of their communities is where the transformational change in public education needs to happen first.
GOVERNANCE TEAMS AND WHAT THEY COULD MEAN:
These principles based shifts is very significant but received scant attention compared to the more politically contentious provision for “Governance Teams.” This idea was seen by some as a provincial government power move to replace locally elected school boards, or at least to dilute and decrease the role and power of local school boards.
I don’t think that is the intent of this Minister, but political power is so centralized in the Premier’s office in Alberta and Cabinet shuffles happen. Who knows what might happen in the future that sees local school boards eliminated or at the very least, even more eviscerated? Regional health authorities were eliminated overnight an unceremoniously without advanced warning or consultation so it would be naive to think the same could not happen to local school boards in one way or the other.
My take is the potential for effective governance teams is that they can be the key to the culture change in public education that needs to happen so other changes can be enabled and empowered as well. More public engagement and involvement in the political culture of the province can start with the local schools and municipalities. That is where the citizen’s concerns are closest to the politicians and policy-makers. Adding talent and expertise to school boards in governance teams, on an as needed basis, to serve the greater good of the community by integrating schools and increasing learning capacity is a critical issue for the future prosperity of Alberta is there ever was one.
The key questions are who decides the need for a governance team, who sets the objectives for the team and who selects the team members? It the Minister or the provincial bureaucracy who makes these decisions then we have a serious governance problem. It will be paternalism at best and more likely lead to the eventual elimination of effective local governance in public education. That is a policy decision that needs to involve all Albertans and not just the unilateral imposed action by the government of Alberta, as they have done in the past.
If the essential issues about governance teams are in the control of the local school boards then we can see public education transforming and finding renewed relevance as a positive political force and as effective public policy instruments to enhance local communities. This is the preferred option in the execution of governance teams. The reality is that most school boards and individual trustees are not nearly prepared, experienced, engaged, focused or even competent enough at present to take advantage of this transformational opportunity emerging with governance teams.
There is a lot more to say on the subject but for now, I think cautious optimism is the appropriate response to governance teams. That optimism is justified so long as Dave Hancock continues as Minister. There is a reasonable likelihood of another Cabinet shuffle before the next election so time is of the essence for enlightened school boards to embrace governance teams. Not every board has to take on the challenge and opportunity inherent in governance teams but those with the inspiration to do so need get at it.
I will be doing a number of blog posts on the Inspiring Education implications in the weeks ahead as my part in increasing citizen engagement in school board and municipal elections coming this October. In the meantime there is energy and effort available to transform public education for the better but it needs more and continuing citizen engagement to be realized and effective. Elections are a great time for citizens to get informed and engaged and Inspiriting Education is healthy fodder for that to happen.
SOME CONTEXT ON INSPIRING EDUCATION REPORT:
There is much more to the Inspiring Education document than governance. So a brief overview, without commentary, I expect will be helpful for context to those who have not read the report. It was a process about setting a long-term vision for public education in the province. Minister Hancock wanted to raise awareness of the importance of education in the life of Albertans and its contribution to a prosperous society and economy. He wanted to “develop a clear understanding of what it will mean to be a successfully educated Albertan” in the future and finally, to develop a broad policy framework around the overall direction, principles and long-term goals for public education in Alberta.
PRINCIPLED-BASED TRANSFORMATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION:
The goal was to be “transformational” about the education system by empowering educational innovation throughout the province. Time will tell if that is going to happen, but the governance provisions in the report are one fertile place to focus for transformation to occur in public education.
The underlying aspect of governance transformational directions in Inspiring Education is a “principles based” approach instead of rules based. There is merit in this but if it is to be effective the school trustees are going to have to pick up their game and be more engaged in policy development and execution.
The over reliance on the Carver governance system that has been adopted by many school districts is a significant barrier to school trustees being principled based governors. This old-fashioned and outmoded governance model is antithetical to a principles shift in accountability for learning excellence and away from accountability to bureaucracy. In a horizontal networked connected community engaging world the centralizing narrow approach to governance in the Carver model is more than a barrier, it is a danger to realizing the transformational direction Inspiring Education is all about.
There is a shift in focus to local direction form central influence which is a good thing too but that means school trustees are going have to be much more engaged in the overall life of the communities they serve, beyond the limited interests of schools and students as isolated form community. The potential for more direct and collaborative engagement of the local schools and school districts in other critical aspects of their communities is where the transformational change in public education needs to happen first.
GOVERNANCE TEAMS AND WHAT THEY COULD MEAN:
These principles based shifts is very significant but received scant attention compared to the more politically contentious provision for “Governance Teams.” This idea was seen by some as a provincial government power move to replace locally elected school boards, or at least to dilute and decrease the role and power of local school boards.
I don’t think that is the intent of this Minister, but political power is so centralized in the Premier’s office in Alberta and Cabinet shuffles happen. Who knows what might happen in the future that sees local school boards eliminated or at the very least, even more eviscerated? Regional health authorities were eliminated overnight an unceremoniously without advanced warning or consultation so it would be naive to think the same could not happen to local school boards in one way or the other.
My take is the potential for effective governance teams is that they can be the key to the culture change in public education that needs to happen so other changes can be enabled and empowered as well. More public engagement and involvement in the political culture of the province can start with the local schools and municipalities. That is where the citizen’s concerns are closest to the politicians and policy-makers. Adding talent and expertise to school boards in governance teams, on an as needed basis, to serve the greater good of the community by integrating schools and increasing learning capacity is a critical issue for the future prosperity of Alberta is there ever was one.
The key questions are who decides the need for a governance team, who sets the objectives for the team and who selects the team members? It the Minister or the provincial bureaucracy who makes these decisions then we have a serious governance problem. It will be paternalism at best and more likely lead to the eventual elimination of effective local governance in public education. That is a policy decision that needs to involve all Albertans and not just the unilateral imposed action by the government of Alberta, as they have done in the past.
If the essential issues about governance teams are in the control of the local school boards then we can see public education transforming and finding renewed relevance as a positive political force and as effective public policy instruments to enhance local communities. This is the preferred option in the execution of governance teams. The reality is that most school boards and individual trustees are not nearly prepared, experienced, engaged, focused or even competent enough at present to take advantage of this transformational opportunity emerging with governance teams.
There is a lot more to say on the subject but for now, I think cautious optimism is the appropriate response to governance teams. That optimism is justified so long as Dave Hancock continues as Minister. There is a reasonable likelihood of another Cabinet shuffle before the next election so time is of the essence for enlightened school boards to embrace governance teams. Not every board has to take on the challenge and opportunity inherent in governance teams but those with the inspiration to do so need get at it.
I will be doing a number of blog posts on the Inspiring Education implications in the weeks ahead as my part in increasing citizen engagement in school board and municipal elections coming this October. In the meantime there is energy and effort available to transform public education for the better but it needs more and continuing citizen engagement to be realized and effective. Elections are a great time for citizens to get informed and engaged and Inspiriting Education is healthy fodder for that to happen.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Politics in Cyberspace Presentation to ASBA Spring Conference
Here is the PowerPoint slides I used for the presentation to the Alberta School Boards Association on "Politics in Cyberspace" last week at their Spring Conference. I adapted the presentation for the workshop then next day for aspiringng and prospective school board trustees.
Now I am working through a blog post of the proposed Governance Teams provisions of the Inspiring Education report. - Go to page 33 of the report for the start of that section. My sense is I like the idea of governance teams but only if they come from the school boards themselves. If the ideas is to enable and empower school boards to augment their expertise by recruiting or appointing people from the district's communities or from outside depending on the shortcoming of experience the school board may see in itself to meet a challenge, then I am all for it.
If it is a ruse to have the Minister or the department appoint or recruit additional school board members at their discretion then I am all against it. That would further add to the centralization of power in the provincial government, add to the democratic deficit and increase citizen cynicism around our already deplorable political culture in this province.
So come back to this site tomorrow and read my post on my take about the posibilities and pitfalls of the Governance Teams portion of the Inspiring Education report. It all fits within Jim Bottemley's point in his ASBA Spring Conference presentation when he said "In the future we'll all be LEARNING a living."
Now I am working through a blog post of the proposed Governance Teams provisions of the Inspiring Education report. - Go to page 33 of the report for the start of that section. My sense is I like the idea of governance teams but only if they come from the school boards themselves. If the ideas is to enable and empower school boards to augment their expertise by recruiting or appointing people from the district's communities or from outside depending on the shortcoming of experience the school board may see in itself to meet a challenge, then I am all for it.
If it is a ruse to have the Minister or the department appoint or recruit additional school board members at their discretion then I am all against it. That would further add to the centralization of power in the provincial government, add to the democratic deficit and increase citizen cynicism around our already deplorable political culture in this province.
So come back to this site tomorrow and read my post on my take about the posibilities and pitfalls of the Governance Teams portion of the Inspiring Education report. It all fits within Jim Bottemley's point in his ASBA Spring Conference presentation when he said "In the future we'll all be LEARNING a living."
Reviving the RebootAlberta Blog to be About Informed Citizens for the Fall Elections
I have revived the RebootAlberta blog after 6 months of hiatus. I will be using it for information and activities on citizenship, citizen engagement, the democratic deficit in Alberta and the pending municipal and school board elections. The first post in that theme is about the Edmonton and Calgary municipal elections.
You can expect follow up posts on school board elections in the province as well. I am encouraged by the increased interest in both orders of government, especially the number and quality of candidates I met at the Alberta School Boards Association Candidate School I presented at in Red Deer last week. If you are interested in running for school board election, the ASBA is there to help you get started.
If you want to more about what you might be getting into as a School Trustee you may want to research the fiscal status of your district. The Alberta Teachers' Association has gathered all the information together in a section of their website they call "The good the bad and the ugly."
I am also encouraged by the signs of citizen re-engagement in politics in Alberta based on the number of fine and qualified candidates running for Mayor in Calgary. I know many of them and can assure you they cover a wide swath of interest and approaches to politics and governing. Calgary will have a range of leadership styles and political approaches as it decides what kind of a city is aspires to be in the next Alberta.
So visit the RebootAlberta blog for a more non-partisan approach to public policy and democracy in Alberta. I hope you comment and share your thoughts on the posts there too. I welcome guest blogs there as well. So if you are interested to writing about 500-750 words of your thoughts and commentary, send them to me by email ken@cambridgestrategies.com
You can expect follow up posts on school board elections in the province as well. I am encouraged by the increased interest in both orders of government, especially the number and quality of candidates I met at the Alberta School Boards Association Candidate School I presented at in Red Deer last week. If you are interested in running for school board election, the ASBA is there to help you get started.
If you want to more about what you might be getting into as a School Trustee you may want to research the fiscal status of your district. The Alberta Teachers' Association has gathered all the information together in a section of their website they call "The good the bad and the ugly."
I am also encouraged by the signs of citizen re-engagement in politics in Alberta based on the number of fine and qualified candidates running for Mayor in Calgary. I know many of them and can assure you they cover a wide swath of interest and approaches to politics and governing. Calgary will have a range of leadership styles and political approaches as it decides what kind of a city is aspires to be in the next Alberta.
So visit the RebootAlberta blog for a more non-partisan approach to public policy and democracy in Alberta. I hope you comment and share your thoughts on the posts there too. I welcome guest blogs there as well. So if you are interested to writing about 500-750 words of your thoughts and commentary, send them to me by email ken@cambridgestrategies.com
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