Here is an interesting study about how misinformed Fox News viewers are about the truth. Seems that the misinformation is deliberate too. This is beyond sad and dangerous to democracy. Wonder how much Fox News North will mimic their American cousins in this style of "journalism." I wonder what a comparative Canadian study of Hardcore Conservatives in Canada and Alberta would show.
The fundamental foundations of citizenship and democracy are truth, trust and respect. Sorely lacking principles by what we see from the political tactics of Hardcore Conservatives - on both sides of the 49th Parallel.
Progressives can't be content anymore with rolling their eyes as this kind of abuse of the truth and assault on informed free speech. It is morally reprehensible behaviour and must be challenged. Those who perpetuate and promote this kind of ignorance are in positions of political power or gaining political power. That power is over the rest of us and we risk losing control of our democracy as a result. This is a recipe for disaster.
This is happening because too many of us who are progressive, caring and compassionate people are siting on the political sidelines. We are merely abdicating our duties as citizens by our indifference. We are inadvertently abetting the erosion of our democracy as a result. Because of this irresponsible lack of response by Progressive, we are letting the Hardcore Conservatives take over the political and public agenda. Their goal is all about taking away hard won rights, freedoms and progressive values. And we are letting them get away with it.
The Hardcore Conservatives can't handle the truth. They don't feel comfortable considering competing ideas at a time. It drives them to distraction. Without the truth and respect for a diversity of opinions politics becomes more and more about deception, subterfuge and misinformation... coercion and suppression. Citizenship suffers and democracy declines...civil society disappears.
"All men make mistakes but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong and repairs the evil. The only sin is pride." ~Sophocles.
"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those, who in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality." ~Dante
Progressive thinking citizens in ALBERTA have to get re-engaged in the political culture of our times. We have to do more than just step up to the plate. We have to upset the Hardcore Conservative applecart as well.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Gwynne Dyer and Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta
Last June I and my company, Cambridge Strategies Inc., was part of the organization a of a symposium and a public meeting entitled Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta held in Edmonton and Calgary.
It was a very popular event with over 700 of active Alberta citizens coming together to become more informed about what we may be facing as Albertans between now and 2030. We had a number of great speakers about the implications of external, natural and internal events, trends and pressures on Alberta. Gwynne Dyer presented a most provocative scenario for the future of Alberta.
Dyer was well informed about Alberta, as always, he considers himself as an "honourary Albertan/" But he was very pointed about what we face and what adaptations we Albertans will have to make to respond to the changes we are in and can anticipate. We taped his comments just over 30 minutes of information and some implications.
Some salient points include that Dyer is an optimist about Alberta but climate change is the variable. Alberta has had it easy because we have had the stuff the world wanted and we became rich as a province. But change is in the air with the coming shift away from fossil fuels and the realities of peak oil we can't presume our tomorrows will simply be a reflection and continuation of our yesterdays, economically, ecologically, socially and politically.
We can't go back to try and relive or perfect our past either. We have to design and learn new creative ways of living that are flexible, deliberative, innovative, imaginative and yes - prudent if we are to continue to enjoy a superior quality of life.
Dyer muses about what Alberta must do to adapt to face the eventual and inevitable decline of interest in fossil fuels and the shift to alternative energies. He says one of the major blessing of Alberta are two big cities both with water and a that will be a big asset in the future. He said we need to immediately build a high speed rail between Edmonton and Calgary and create a utility corridor spine as well. That will attract the creative economy based on research and development which he believes is the ultimate future forward reality for a sustainable Alberta. We have attractive countryside, a great deal of room, social cohesion and a diverse dynamic culture with a high quality education and health care...yes we have quality health care - just crappy access!
All this adds to presenting a platform of providing a future of well being and happiness as the self-sustaining quality of life capacity will be the magnet for the best and brightest to want to come to Alberta for opportunity and challenge. Dyer says we need to spend more money on culture to add to the attractiveness of the place and he said do not think spending money on culture is an indulgence. I could not agree more.
He observes that there is nowhere else in Canada or between the Mississippi and the Rockies in the USA that can do it like Alberta can if they can do it at all. But we Albertans are way to complacent and compliant and comfortable in the old way of living and thinking. We need to get on with the adaptations that are necessary to design, capitalize and optimize our magnificent advantages and with the new narrative for the next Alberta on a vision of possibilities and aspirations, not contentment with a past that is not our future.
That involves some new thinking and engaging by Albertans in citizenship but getting involved in the politics and issues of the day. It is about stewardship from ecological to the legacy we leave future generations of Albertans. And it is about servant-leadership in politics but in other key aspects of our society and economy. But is also demands imagination, creativity and innovation. We are not overly blessed with those attributes but we can create them and hone them if we wanted to. We must want to do that and live up to the promise of this place. We can't presume the future will take care of itself. The planet will survive climate change and do just fine but there is no guarantee that our species is part of that future.
We are planning another public event next year, building on the Learning Our Way theme. We are planning another symposium with Alberta and Finland as the highest performing public education systems in the world. We will have another public event in advance of the symposium too and will build on the consciousness that the presentation of Sir Ken Robinson will make in Red Deer in early February. More to come on this NOT TO BE MISSED EVENT.
You can keep up to date on progress on Twitter via #abfuture, this blog and the www.learningourway.ca website. The website is being redesigned to focus on the next Learning Our Way event. The original material from the first event is still there and recording of the other speakers if you want to give them a listen.
It was a very popular event with over 700 of active Alberta citizens coming together to become more informed about what we may be facing as Albertans between now and 2030. We had a number of great speakers about the implications of external, natural and internal events, trends and pressures on Alberta. Gwynne Dyer presented a most provocative scenario for the future of Alberta.
Dyer was well informed about Alberta, as always, he considers himself as an "honourary Albertan/" But he was very pointed about what we face and what adaptations we Albertans will have to make to respond to the changes we are in and can anticipate. We taped his comments just over 30 minutes of information and some implications.
Some salient points include that Dyer is an optimist about Alberta but climate change is the variable. Alberta has had it easy because we have had the stuff the world wanted and we became rich as a province. But change is in the air with the coming shift away from fossil fuels and the realities of peak oil we can't presume our tomorrows will simply be a reflection and continuation of our yesterdays, economically, ecologically, socially and politically.
We can't go back to try and relive or perfect our past either. We have to design and learn new creative ways of living that are flexible, deliberative, innovative, imaginative and yes - prudent if we are to continue to enjoy a superior quality of life.
Dyer muses about what Alberta must do to adapt to face the eventual and inevitable decline of interest in fossil fuels and the shift to alternative energies. He says one of the major blessing of Alberta are two big cities both with water and a that will be a big asset in the future. He said we need to immediately build a high speed rail between Edmonton and Calgary and create a utility corridor spine as well. That will attract the creative economy based on research and development which he believes is the ultimate future forward reality for a sustainable Alberta. We have attractive countryside, a great deal of room, social cohesion and a diverse dynamic culture with a high quality education and health care...yes we have quality health care - just crappy access!
All this adds to presenting a platform of providing a future of well being and happiness as the self-sustaining quality of life capacity will be the magnet for the best and brightest to want to come to Alberta for opportunity and challenge. Dyer says we need to spend more money on culture to add to the attractiveness of the place and he said do not think spending money on culture is an indulgence. I could not agree more.
He observes that there is nowhere else in Canada or between the Mississippi and the Rockies in the USA that can do it like Alberta can if they can do it at all. But we Albertans are way to complacent and compliant and comfortable in the old way of living and thinking. We need to get on with the adaptations that are necessary to design, capitalize and optimize our magnificent advantages and with the new narrative for the next Alberta on a vision of possibilities and aspirations, not contentment with a past that is not our future.
That involves some new thinking and engaging by Albertans in citizenship but getting involved in the politics and issues of the day. It is about stewardship from ecological to the legacy we leave future generations of Albertans. And it is about servant-leadership in politics but in other key aspects of our society and economy. But is also demands imagination, creativity and innovation. We are not overly blessed with those attributes but we can create them and hone them if we wanted to. We must want to do that and live up to the promise of this place. We can't presume the future will take care of itself. The planet will survive climate change and do just fine but there is no guarantee that our species is part of that future.
We are planning another public event next year, building on the Learning Our Way theme. We are planning another symposium with Alberta and Finland as the highest performing public education systems in the world. We will have another public event in advance of the symposium too and will build on the consciousness that the presentation of Sir Ken Robinson will make in Red Deer in early February. More to come on this NOT TO BE MISSED EVENT.
You can keep up to date on progress on Twitter via #abfuture, this blog and the www.learningourway.ca website. The website is being redesigned to focus on the next Learning Our Way event. The original material from the first event is still there and recording of the other speakers if you want to give them a listen.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Citizenship, Stewardship and Leadership Revisited in Real Life
Every now and then you run across an example of action and insight that restores your faith that we may have people with the right ideas, the integrity to do something and the capacity to deliver on what they say they want to achieve.
I have come across just such an example of Citizenship, Stewardship and Leadership all integrated in the efforts of students, teachers and Trustees in the Canadian Rockies Public School in the Bow Valley. It has all come together in a blog post by Esme Comfort, a district School Board Trustee entitled "Trust, Learning and Innovation." Initiatives like these do not seek permission and should never need forgiveness either. It is this kind of taking on personal responsibility for a greater good that we need more of - in all aspects of life in Alberta. We know the Alberta Advantage but now we need to look at the Alberta Aspirations is we are to realize our potential as a province and as a people.
I think the democratic deficit we face in Canada and Alberta will only be overcome by informed engaged citizenship, who have a value set based on stewardship, including the protection and empowerment of students, and leadership that is dynamic, service oriented and based on character and capacity, not power and position.
It is most gratifying when we see all this coming together at the local level in public education. The emerging change in policy and governance culture that Minister Dave Hancock has been enabling in his efforts at transforming public education in Alberta for that past two years is is paying off. Inspiring Education and Inspiring Action on Education have traction and are now gaining momentum.
When these elements of Citizenship, Stewardship and Leadership can integrate in real time and real life we get the kind of life affirming and creative innovation Esme speaks of in her blog post. I hope I have made you curious enough to click on the link and read her post. Congratulations to the students, teachers, Trustees and administrators involved in enhancing Citizenship, Stewardship and Leadership in the CRPS public school district. Keep up the good work.
I have come across just such an example of Citizenship, Stewardship and Leadership all integrated in the efforts of students, teachers and Trustees in the Canadian Rockies Public School in the Bow Valley. It has all come together in a blog post by Esme Comfort, a district School Board Trustee entitled "Trust, Learning and Innovation." Initiatives like these do not seek permission and should never need forgiveness either. It is this kind of taking on personal responsibility for a greater good that we need more of - in all aspects of life in Alberta. We know the Alberta Advantage but now we need to look at the Alberta Aspirations is we are to realize our potential as a province and as a people.
I think the democratic deficit we face in Canada and Alberta will only be overcome by informed engaged citizenship, who have a value set based on stewardship, including the protection and empowerment of students, and leadership that is dynamic, service oriented and based on character and capacity, not power and position.
It is most gratifying when we see all this coming together at the local level in public education. The emerging change in policy and governance culture that Minister Dave Hancock has been enabling in his efforts at transforming public education in Alberta for that past two years is is paying off. Inspiring Education and Inspiring Action on Education have traction and are now gaining momentum.
When these elements of Citizenship, Stewardship and Leadership can integrate in real time and real life we get the kind of life affirming and creative innovation Esme speaks of in her blog post. I hope I have made you curious enough to click on the link and read her post. Congratulations to the students, teachers, Trustees and administrators involved in enhancing Citizenship, Stewardship and Leadership in the CRPS public school district. Keep up the good work.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
What Kind of Leadership is Needed to Meet Alberta's Aspirations
I am thinking about the next stage coming in the development and growth of the Alberta Party and Alberta the province. While there are many constituency organizations forming, new members joining and people coming out to learn more because they are curious about the Alberta Party, the next big thing is the leadership of this progressive political movement. That is about to start getting going in the new year.
It caused me to think about the kind of leadership we need in a 21st century society and economy. I had breakfast last week with an academic friend from Ontario who specializes in leadership and found out her most recent thinking. Alberta has a great potential but we are not even close to realizing it with all the blessings and benefits we have. One major reason for such under performance is the kind of political leaders we select. We can't blame the leaders for this alone, after all we select and elect them as citizens and once the are chosen we belittle and bemoan them relentlessly instead of supporting them and making them clearly accountable. That attitude of citizens has to change completely if we are going to improve the quality, character, scope and capacity of our political leaders.
I am involved with a group called Leadership Edmonton that has a counterpart called Leadership Calgary that takes a more adaptive holistic and systems approach to leadership training and development. I think the kind of political leadership we need now is not the charismatic, or the business icon or the celebrity models. They are simply not suited to the challenges we face. To get a sense of what qualities, capacities and perspectives I will be looking for in the leader of the Alberta Party - and for any political party or other areas where leadership is critical is captured in the 10 minute video done by Leadership Calgary. I have also added the short video by Leadership Edmonton that will give you further perspective on what pioneering leadership we need these days to go forward...not left or right.
The kind of leaders we need now have foresight and wide sight, can integrate ideas, be honest, accountable and transparent, be fiscally responsible and accept the duties and obligations of stewardship in many aspects of being human and our deep co-dependent relationship with nature and our natural capital.
As you rush to get the work done before Christmas, this 10 minutes of video will be an intriguing cultural creative break that will be worth your time. It will raise your consciousness about leadership. It will focus your attention on what we need in competent skilled leaders. I hope is will trigger your imagination and give you a meaningful framework to consider your choices for the leader of the Alberta Party in the next few months.
I hope it will assists you as you contemplate the strengths, opportunities, threats and barriers we will need in 21st century political leadership. We need to look beyond the old rush to the bottom ideas of the Alberta Advantage. We need to look a wealth to move beyond conspicuous consumption and towards a greater well being and happiness. We need leaders who can inspire and assist us to define and deliver a new sense of integrity as we get on with a cultural change towards achieving our Alberta Aspirations. It is not enough to target Alberta as being the best in the world. We need to aspire to being the best for the world.
It caused me to think about the kind of leadership we need in a 21st century society and economy. I had breakfast last week with an academic friend from Ontario who specializes in leadership and found out her most recent thinking. Alberta has a great potential but we are not even close to realizing it with all the blessings and benefits we have. One major reason for such under performance is the kind of political leaders we select. We can't blame the leaders for this alone, after all we select and elect them as citizens and once the are chosen we belittle and bemoan them relentlessly instead of supporting them and making them clearly accountable. That attitude of citizens has to change completely if we are going to improve the quality, character, scope and capacity of our political leaders.
I am involved with a group called Leadership Edmonton that has a counterpart called Leadership Calgary that takes a more adaptive holistic and systems approach to leadership training and development. I think the kind of political leadership we need now is not the charismatic, or the business icon or the celebrity models. They are simply not suited to the challenges we face. To get a sense of what qualities, capacities and perspectives I will be looking for in the leader of the Alberta Party - and for any political party or other areas where leadership is critical is captured in the 10 minute video done by Leadership Calgary. I have also added the short video by Leadership Edmonton that will give you further perspective on what pioneering leadership we need these days to go forward...not left or right.
The kind of leaders we need now have foresight and wide sight, can integrate ideas, be honest, accountable and transparent, be fiscally responsible and accept the duties and obligations of stewardship in many aspects of being human and our deep co-dependent relationship with nature and our natural capital.
As you rush to get the work done before Christmas, this 10 minutes of video will be an intriguing cultural creative break that will be worth your time. It will raise your consciousness about leadership. It will focus your attention on what we need in competent skilled leaders. I hope is will trigger your imagination and give you a meaningful framework to consider your choices for the leader of the Alberta Party in the next few months.
I hope it will assists you as you contemplate the strengths, opportunities, threats and barriers we will need in 21st century political leadership. We need to look beyond the old rush to the bottom ideas of the Alberta Advantage. We need to look a wealth to move beyond conspicuous consumption and towards a greater well being and happiness. We need leaders who can inspire and assist us to define and deliver a new sense of integrity as we get on with a cultural change towards achieving our Alberta Aspirations. It is not enough to target Alberta as being the best in the world. We need to aspire to being the best for the world.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Merry Christmas
I am just now getting into the Christmas spirit. We will spend some time tonight with friends and family are our house partying as a way to start the "serious" celebration of the season.
To help you get into the spirit as we shop, bake, warp, bustle and hustle in preparation for Christmas, we will undoubtedly find ourselves in a shopping mall at some time between now and December 25.
I wish for a Merry Christmas and hope as you shop 'til you drop that you have an opportunity to experience this or something equally as endearing or whimsical to help you enjoy this great holiday time.
Enjoy and - turn up your speakers:
To help you get into the spirit as we shop, bake, warp, bustle and hustle in preparation for Christmas, we will undoubtedly find ourselves in a shopping mall at some time between now and December 25.
I wish for a Merry Christmas and hope as you shop 'til you drop that you have an opportunity to experience this or something equally as endearing or whimsical to help you enjoy this great holiday time.
Enjoy and - turn up your speakers:
Creativity as a Key to High Performance Public Education
This link is to a comment by my friend and some-times mentor, Senator Tom Banks. It is an insightful comment that arts education is core to competence - not a frill. Senator Banks frames the role of the arts in a high performance public education system very well. The need for the arts and creativity is especially true as we move through the Information Age into the Conceptual Age.
We need a critically-thinking engaged citizenship that is concurrently global and local in perspective and that means culture matters, especially as part of our public education system. Budget pressures and restraints, standardized testings of narrow and shallow education outcomes plus market driven models creating private competition for public education has driven creativity and arts out of the systems.
Save Our Fine Arts (SOFA - follow them on Twitter and track them at #sofab) is a citizen's based group focused on restoring and restating arts education as core to curriculum in our public education in Alberta. This is lead by a group of citizens with energy and enthusiasm and the leadership of Bill Campbell
Alberta's public education system is one a recognized high performance system all around the world. But like any local prophet, it is too often taken for granted. The seeds of our failure are often planted in the times of our success because we rest on laurels. I sometimes fear for this in Alberta's public education system.
There are however some significant inspiring actions and ideas coming out of Minister Dave Hancock's transformation initiative "Inspiring Education." There is lots of meat in that effort but it is not gong to achieve its potential as a top down authority driven command and control government program. It is going to be successful if it comes from the community, citizens, employers, teachers, parents, and especially students.
SOFA is a perfect example of this kind of community based efforts to help advance the transformation of public education for a 21st century reality. Another citizen's based group that is setting out to help transform public education is Creative Alberta lead by Dr. Haley Simons. She has been organizing and conceptualizing abouts arts in education and looking at positioning our province as a center of creativity and innovation. She is getting us linked to other high performance communities and regions around the world who are on the same journey.
Please visit SOFA and join them in their quest. Keep tracking them and #creativealberta on Twitter and share the information and insights with you friends. Our province is positioned to move beyond the Alberta Advantage and into the Alberta Aspiration. It is no longer game of pushing a society of consumptive competition with a slogan of being the best in the world. Success for the next Alberta narrative has to inspire our aspirations to be the best for the world. We are up to that goal and I think it is an idea who's time has come...let me know your thoughts on what we can do to be the best for the world given all our blessings and benefits.
We need a critically-thinking engaged citizenship that is concurrently global and local in perspective and that means culture matters, especially as part of our public education system. Budget pressures and restraints, standardized testings of narrow and shallow education outcomes plus market driven models creating private competition for public education has driven creativity and arts out of the systems.
Save Our Fine Arts (SOFA - follow them on Twitter and track them at #sofab) is a citizen's based group focused on restoring and restating arts education as core to curriculum in our public education in Alberta. This is lead by a group of citizens with energy and enthusiasm and the leadership of Bill Campbell
Alberta's public education system is one a recognized high performance system all around the world. But like any local prophet, it is too often taken for granted. The seeds of our failure are often planted in the times of our success because we rest on laurels. I sometimes fear for this in Alberta's public education system.
There are however some significant inspiring actions and ideas coming out of Minister Dave Hancock's transformation initiative "Inspiring Education." There is lots of meat in that effort but it is not gong to achieve its potential as a top down authority driven command and control government program. It is going to be successful if it comes from the community, citizens, employers, teachers, parents, and especially students.
SOFA is a perfect example of this kind of community based efforts to help advance the transformation of public education for a 21st century reality. Another citizen's based group that is setting out to help transform public education is Creative Alberta lead by Dr. Haley Simons. She has been organizing and conceptualizing abouts arts in education and looking at positioning our province as a center of creativity and innovation. She is getting us linked to other high performance communities and regions around the world who are on the same journey.
Please visit SOFA and join them in their quest. Keep tracking them and #creativealberta on Twitter and share the information and insights with you friends. Our province is positioned to move beyond the Alberta Advantage and into the Alberta Aspiration. It is no longer game of pushing a society of consumptive competition with a slogan of being the best in the world. Success for the next Alberta narrative has to inspire our aspirations to be the best for the world. We are up to that goal and I think it is an idea who's time has come...let me know your thoughts on what we can do to be the best for the world given all our blessings and benefits.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Interesting Speculation on Seat Projections in Alberta
The norm in politics is a What If World for the most part. Politics is hardly a science but it lends itself to analysis. This is the most "fun" when applied to the political fortunes of the various parties and players. We have an great example of just such a What-If scenario done by Duncan at Albertavote.ca .
This analysis is speculation and based on the 2008 election results and the findings of the recent Environics poll. That poll put the PCs and the Wildrose Alliance in a statistical dead heat for overall voter support. However, as Duncan points out, "all politics are local" so how does this support translate into seats in the various
constituencies? Here aggregates and averages become almost meaningless.
What a critical thinking must also appreciate in such an analysis is it is entirely hypothetical since voter intentions are pretty much meaningless between elections. Those who suffer in such polls say the only poll that counts is the one on election day. That is mostly true but humans are strange creatures and we get persuaded by the influence of others, conventional wisdom and we love to hear and make up stories. These between election polls feed those curious aspects of our species.
These polls create a sense of "perceived reality" that is influential to some degree or more. Narratives get told, impressions get formed and new "truths" emerge from those inputs as they impact on our values and form our beliefs. Is is the attempt of the political players to frame the narratives, control the impressions and speak the new "truths"is where the spin doctors come in. Give Graham Thomson a read to see how that works.
All this leads me to think we need more critical thinking citizens with some serious media literacy skills and a capacity to cut through the spin and get a sense of what is really happening in the hearts and minds of people when the see these polls.
I have tried to put some of my sense of the realism into my analysis of the Environics poll implications here and here. Hope you find all this information helpful in getting a better understanding of the facts and their implications - but understand it is all hypothetical. You are reading poetry that needs interpretation, not a recipe that will provide you with a predetermined result.
This analysis is speculation and based on the 2008 election results and the findings of the recent Environics poll. That poll put the PCs and the Wildrose Alliance in a statistical dead heat for overall voter support. However, as Duncan points out, "all politics are local" so how does this support translate into seats in the various
constituencies? Here aggregates and averages become almost meaningless.
What a critical thinking must also appreciate in such an analysis is it is entirely hypothetical since voter intentions are pretty much meaningless between elections. Those who suffer in such polls say the only poll that counts is the one on election day. That is mostly true but humans are strange creatures and we get persuaded by the influence of others, conventional wisdom and we love to hear and make up stories. These between election polls feed those curious aspects of our species.
These polls create a sense of "perceived reality" that is influential to some degree or more. Narratives get told, impressions get formed and new "truths" emerge from those inputs as they impact on our values and form our beliefs. Is is the attempt of the political players to frame the narratives, control the impressions and speak the new "truths"is where the spin doctors come in. Give Graham Thomson a read to see how that works.
All this leads me to think we need more critical thinking citizens with some serious media literacy skills and a capacity to cut through the spin and get a sense of what is really happening in the hearts and minds of people when the see these polls.
I have tried to put some of my sense of the realism into my analysis of the Environics poll implications here and here. Hope you find all this information helpful in getting a better understanding of the facts and their implications - but understand it is all hypothetical. You are reading poetry that needs interpretation, not a recipe that will provide you with a predetermined result.
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Haven't We Had Enough of Harper Yet?
Here is a great summary blog post on the latest and greatest governance shortcoming and political manipulations of our Past-His-Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Imagine There's No Harper
It's Easy If You Try
Political Uncertainty in Alberta - Anything Could Happen
In response to the recent Environics poll on Alberta voter intentions omitted the Alberta Party as a voting option. My friend and fellow blogger Daveberta has run his own "poll" on his blog that included the Alberta Party as an option. His analysis and commentary is worth a read but with all your critical thought faculties fully engaged.
This information and so many other indications promise the next Alberta election will be the most interesting. There has not been this much volatility since Klein got elected in 1993 and it may be as dramatic as Lougheed in 1971. This excitement is assured if the Alberta Party becomes a viable governance option for Alberta voters. Its politics people so anything can happen.
Now back to the reality of today. I have a hard time relying even on professional scientific polls about political fortunes because they are so unreliable in predicting actual voter behaviour. My attitude is summed up in one of my favourite bumper stickers of all time: "Save Democracy, Lie to a Pollster." So you can imagine how difficult it is for me to give any credence to the kind of unscientific opinion "polls" we see in newspapers and blogs - yes including this one. I run unscientific blog-based polls too. My latest one is on royalty rates beside this post.
There is some value in these blog-based "polls" however as they gauge (but do not measure) some sense of public sentiment, at least in a segment. While participants are sort of random we don't know the distribution and they are prone to being hi-jacked by special interests. In fact it appears the PC Party tried to do just that by sending out a notice to PC party members to go and vote PC on the Daveberta poll. Details of that effort is in is post. Given the results you can judge for yourself if that effort was effective.
In that context these blog-based polls are more like exercises in stimulating conversation, raising consciousness and focusing attention - not evidence of general public opinion. So the results should looked at with a critical eye and taken with a large grain of salt. I still findings the results interesting and useful for several reasons.
WHAT GOOD ARE BLOGGER BASED POLLS?
Bloggers have regular readers through links to and from other sites as well as RSS subscribers, Facebook Friends, LinkedIn contacts and Twitter Followers, even through videos and podcasts on occasion. Then there is the impact bloggers have by participation and mentions of them in mainstream media. The impact of search engines is important too. They track and trigger readers based on key words that people are using to find information on-line that connects people to various blogs. Bloggers have both a core and a casual readership as a result of this connectivity and their content. This kind of audience makes the blog polls interesting as anecdotal collection of citizen comments - but not as reliable (sic) science based professional opinion polling.
Bloggers have points of view, personalities and influence. They create conversation spaces that attract readers who agree and disagree with them. While it is possible to find an issue that creates an echo effect where like minds congregate to validate each other's opinions, group think is not likely the net result of blog readers. Just read the range of comments on a popular blog post to see group think is not the norm.
So what are we to make of the reader blog poll results that Dave Cournoyer has done relative to the Environics professional random poll? First you can't compare them for obvious reasons already stated. However when you consider Davberta is one of the most popular and respected political bloggers in Alberta, you can't just dismiss those results either. Here is why.
INFLUENTIALS OPINIONS MAY HAVE MORE IMPACT ON ELECTION OUTCOMES THAN POLL RESULTS
Almost 600 people participated in the poll so it represents the opinions of a significant group of people who took the time to participate. Anyone trying to measure the mood of Alberta ignores this kind of information at their political peril. When you consider the popular but seriously misplaced faith governments and political groups put in focus groups I would tend to rely on a large participation blog poll like Davberta's so much more. Focus groups are closed and controlled events where the reactions of a very small and minimally representative group of folks get paid to comment on a subject. What they say get expanded and extrapolated to mysteriously assume and presume they reflect the larger population.
The real value of such blog-based polls, according to my educated guess, is the influence of the blogger and the influence that is inherent in the people who took Daveberta's poll. Daveberta readers are much like mine. I know this because we share many readers in common. What I know of my readers is they are cultural creatives, progressive thinking and highly influential. They are informed, active and very engaged in communication within their personal and professional networks. They are respected opinion leaders, thought leaders, trend setters and trend spotters.
They are what have come to be known as "Influentials." I expect Dave and I share a large readership of Influentials all over Alberta. I have a permission based email list of almost 5000 Alberta based Influentials I send political and policy information to on a regular basis. Research shows that what Influentials are thinking and talking about today is what the general public will be thinking and talking about in 12-18 months. The impact of Influentials happens sooner if the topic is hot and of major concern...like the future of their jobs, the stability of their family, their self-identity issues like who will I vote for and why! The alleged political conspiracy to discredit Dr. Raj Sherman over speaking out on health care shortcomings is a perfect case in point. It is a hot issue and lots of Influentials are talking about how inappropriate that is and how misaligned it is to their values. That incident will be remembered and influence the choices in the next election.
NEVER UNDER ESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF FEAR UNCERTAINTY AND DOUBT
There are lots of Albertans looking for an option or alternative to vote for these days. Some are just trying to send the existing government a message to "smarten them up" while others have just given up on them. Still others are reawakening that something significant is happening in Alberta politics and it may be time to reaffirm their roles and responsibilities as citizens and be an informed voter. As a result of this uncertainty, doubt and linger fears, what the Influentials say now about who to vote for and why to vote for them will have a significant impact on voter turnout and the results of the next election.
The new voting option with the most buzz since the last election has been the Wildrose Alliance but they are seen as extreme by Influentials and that makes people very nervous about giving them political power. The other option, the Alberta Party, is just getting organized and is moving into a leadership campaign in the new year. Many Influentials are becoming aware of the Alberta Party and many are joining up to help formulate a new way of doing politics and reaffirming democracy in Alberta. It will be interesting to watch this influence unfold. The early signs of the impact of Influentials on voting possibilities are right in the Daveberta poll results. The PCs firmly in #1 but not in majority government territory. The Alberta Party #2 and the WAP #3 but essentially tied. As for the Liberals and the NDP, not much interest.
IS THERE A NEW PARTY OPTION ON THE HORIZON?
The components of the merged parties that became the Wildrose Alliance had been active politically for many years. They, won a by-election participated fully in the last election, chose a new leader and have very active ever since. The revived and reconstituted Alberta Party has been working quietly for only a year to get the foundation of a new party set, with a new constitution and an expanded board and that is all ironed out. It engaged in face to face home based conversations with Albertans finding out how people were doing, uncertain about and grateful for as Albertans. They showed off a new policy document last month and they are setting up a leadership process in early 2011.
With that backdrop, and if I am right that the Influentials are paying some serious attention to the Alberta Party, they are about to become a competitive force in the forthcoming political culture of the province. Will it be in time for the next election? That is their major organizational challenge right now but so be it. Life is not fair. Tying this back to the Daveberta blog poll results we find there may be at least three viable voting options for Albertans next election. The rapidly shifting to the right PCs, the centrist progressive Alberta Party and the extreme right wing Wildrose Alliance are the mostly likely options. The Liberals and NDP risk being seen as lacking relevance as moderate, progressive Albertans see a reason to believe they can impact the future direction, destination and narrative of the Next Alberta through the Alberta Party option.
It is guaranteed to be a fascinating election whenever it happens. With the Environics results showing the strength of the Wildrose and if I am right about the Alberta Party, I would not rule out an early election in 2011. That would most likely happen to stave off an internal caucus revolt against Ed Stelmach like has just happened to BC Liberal Leader Gordon Campbell and BC NDP Leader Carol James. Remember its politics and anything can happen.
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
School boards facing a test of relevance
Larry Booi, former President of the ATA and current head of Public Interest Alberta has penned a pointed op-ed. He offers his considerable experience with some observations and sage advice to the newly elected school board trustees. I am in total agreement with everything Larry says in this push to promote participative and deliberative democracy.
There is enough freedom and flexibility in the Inspiring Action on Education to enable all of Booi's suggestions to happen - starting now. Some boards are already into the possibilities and I am pleased to be working with some of them.
Which hand should I hold the baton in?
Which hand should I hold the baton in?
There is a video just over 4 minutes that will make you smile to the core of your soul.
A small segment of joy for all of us as we work through some difficult times
Enjoy and share.
Thanks to Coralnet.org for making it available
Albertans Are Waking Up and Looking for Viable Political Options
My reading of the recent Environics poll of the political mood of Albertans shows that we are well into our winter of discontent- at least politically. Alberta voters have been a somnambulent since the 1993 election. Back then we found two politicians (Decore and Klein) who captured the public concern about Alberta's debt and deficit problem. The next election was about massive cuts or brutal cuts. In fact we did both kinds of cuts and we entrusted Klein more than Decore to undertake the dirty work.
Albertans are once again waking up politically and we are not too pleased with what we are seeing. We are in uncertain economic times, difficult social times, and now we are being targeted internationally as environmental bad guysover the "dirty" oil sands. This means there is a new volatility in the Alberta political culture. Daveberta has a blog post that shows the shifting tides and times in Alberta politics comparing December polls in 2008, 2009 and now.
What this trending tells me is Albertans are looking for policy options and political alternatives. Our discontent has been brewing for some time. Politically we are told the Wildrose Alliance Party is the only viable alternative to the Progressive Conservatives. The other traditional political parties, the Liberals and NDP, are apparently being passed over by the public as potential agents of change. Equally as interesting, according to Environics, is 17% of us are "Undecided" about voting intentions. That too is a significant sign of the shifting political sands in Alberta.
The current political narrative is also interesting. The media has covered the rise of Danielle Smith as the face and focus of the Wildrose, but has done almost nothing to expose and explain the WAP policies. The rush to the right by the PCs in an attempt to catch up to the Wildrose (or head them off?) leaves many of us with a sense of despair about the future direction of the province. The predominant political options are personality based. We get to choose between a young smart, urbane and articulate Smith versus the nice guy, over-his-head, inarticulate and very tentative Stelmach. But what about their governing philosophies and their visions for the future? When will that be considered and become part of the political conversation so can get beyond the pedantics of personalities?
The Environics poll has another vital piece of data that needs context. Stelmach's government has 34% support has stopped bleeding politically. But the bloom is off the Wildrose who seem stuck around 30%. Neither is strong enough to form a majority government if we believe this poll and it is the on-going reality.
We are living in economically uncertain times with the province anticipating the largest budget deficit in our history. We are into a shaky slow recovery tied directly to the fortunes of a seriously failing and faltering American market and threats of a double-dip recession. Even with that reality, Albertans have relegated the economy to the #2 spot of top policy concerns, down to 16% from 27% last Spring. The Alberta environment issues gets lots of media coverage but only 7% of Albertans think it is our major issue and only 8% of us are focused on oil sands development and royalties as the biggest thing on our policy plate.
What has happened is health care has vaulted to the #1 issue for almost half of Albertans. Some 47% of us think that it is the most serious policy issues we face now - compared to 27% who thought so last Spring. That sudden, dramatic and intense concern over health care is a potential game changer and could be a government changer too if is becomes a ballot question.
I think this focus on the politics of health care is more than a function of hyper media focus. It goes deeper - much deeper. Health care is an issue that integrates our personal concerns for care when we and our family need it and into a bigger-than-self compassionate concern for others who also need health care help. When it comes to health care we are all in it together and alone.
The lack policy transparency, the suspicion of some hidden privatization political agendas and the real and growing fear of continuing erosion of our highly valued Canadian health care system is making us all very nervous. The politics of health care is drawing our attention, triggering our fears and making us wonder what is really going on...and we are questioning who are to believe any more!
Health care is in systemic crisis, regardless of the denials by the political powers that be. There is a growing suspicion that some people with political influence and power are intentionally undermining the effectiveness of the publicly funded health cares system to insure it will fail. Once that public system failure is self-evident, the theory goes that private insurance will be promoted as the saviour of the failed public health care system. Such is the conspiracy theory, but if it exists, are we enabling privateers to use public funds for private privilege because of political indifference of citizens?
There is no viable progressive political alternative in the Alberta these days. There is no trusted countervail to the reactionary right wing tendencies of the PCs and the even more extreme Libertarian views of the Wildrose Alliance. But moderate and progressive is the political values space where most Albertans see themselves. Our Alberta based random sample research shows over 60% of Albertans hold Accountability, Integrity, Honesty, Fiscal and Personal Responsibility, Transparency and Clarity as the most important bundle of values we should use to evaluate our government's performance. This is not rocket surgery but we are far from seeing those values articulated in our political culture today. Nor are we seeing an attractive alternative political party emerge that speaks authentically to these majority Albertan values today.
I think that political alternative shortcoming is about to change in Alberta. This is partly because the political events surrounding Dr. Raj Sherman and his dogged determination to expose the political and administrative fault lines in our health care system. He is the lightening rod that is attracting public attention, focusing our fears, capturing our imagination and giving us political context so we can begin to understand what is really going on.
But the future of health care in Alberta is not about Raj Sherman. We now need to focus on what has become a broken system and we need to get it fixed - right and right away. We don't need the kind of anti-intellectual, anti-expertise of so-called "common sense approach" characteristic of the Klein era amateurs who were running health care based on Fraser Institute ideology. We need professionals and public servants with expertise, integrity and a public policy perspective to take over the mess and to look past the next election with their solutions.
Albertans have been looking for a galvanizing political issue and a trustworthy proponent of the public interest. I think the Environics poll shows health care is the galvanizing issue and Dr. Raj Sherman has become the trustworthy exponent of the public interest. We need a broader and better public discourse around a new narrative for Alberta and a viable progressive political alternatives to deliver on the promise and potential of the next Alberta.
Could that new narrative and promising new way of doing progressive politics be articulated and exemplified by the Alberta Party? Could the Alberta Party emerge as the viable political alternative that actually aligns with the values of most Albertans? I have to say it is early times but the numbers of people who are approaching me these days with a genuine curiosity about the Alberta Party, and who are joining up, is making me quite optimistic. The times they are a-changin' and only time will tell if it is change for the better or the worse. Over to you Alberta. Informed engaged active voters hold the keys to the future.
Albertans are once again waking up politically and we are not too pleased with what we are seeing. We are in uncertain economic times, difficult social times, and now we are being targeted internationally as environmental bad guysover the "dirty" oil sands. This means there is a new volatility in the Alberta political culture. Daveberta has a blog post that shows the shifting tides and times in Alberta politics comparing December polls in 2008, 2009 and now.
What this trending tells me is Albertans are looking for policy options and political alternatives. Our discontent has been brewing for some time. Politically we are told the Wildrose Alliance Party is the only viable alternative to the Progressive Conservatives. The other traditional political parties, the Liberals and NDP, are apparently being passed over by the public as potential agents of change. Equally as interesting, according to Environics, is 17% of us are "Undecided" about voting intentions. That too is a significant sign of the shifting political sands in Alberta.
The current political narrative is also interesting. The media has covered the rise of Danielle Smith as the face and focus of the Wildrose, but has done almost nothing to expose and explain the WAP policies. The rush to the right by the PCs in an attempt to catch up to the Wildrose (or head them off?) leaves many of us with a sense of despair about the future direction of the province. The predominant political options are personality based. We get to choose between a young smart, urbane and articulate Smith versus the nice guy, over-his-head, inarticulate and very tentative Stelmach. But what about their governing philosophies and their visions for the future? When will that be considered and become part of the political conversation so can get beyond the pedantics of personalities?
The Environics poll has another vital piece of data that needs context. Stelmach's government has 34% support has stopped bleeding politically. But the bloom is off the Wildrose who seem stuck around 30%. Neither is strong enough to form a majority government if we believe this poll and it is the on-going reality.
We are living in economically uncertain times with the province anticipating the largest budget deficit in our history. We are into a shaky slow recovery tied directly to the fortunes of a seriously failing and faltering American market and threats of a double-dip recession. Even with that reality, Albertans have relegated the economy to the #2 spot of top policy concerns, down to 16% from 27% last Spring. The Alberta environment issues gets lots of media coverage but only 7% of Albertans think it is our major issue and only 8% of us are focused on oil sands development and royalties as the biggest thing on our policy plate.
What has happened is health care has vaulted to the #1 issue for almost half of Albertans. Some 47% of us think that it is the most serious policy issues we face now - compared to 27% who thought so last Spring. That sudden, dramatic and intense concern over health care is a potential game changer and could be a government changer too if is becomes a ballot question.
I think this focus on the politics of health care is more than a function of hyper media focus. It goes deeper - much deeper. Health care is an issue that integrates our personal concerns for care when we and our family need it and into a bigger-than-self compassionate concern for others who also need health care help. When it comes to health care we are all in it together and alone.
The lack policy transparency, the suspicion of some hidden privatization political agendas and the real and growing fear of continuing erosion of our highly valued Canadian health care system is making us all very nervous. The politics of health care is drawing our attention, triggering our fears and making us wonder what is really going on...and we are questioning who are to believe any more!
Health care is in systemic crisis, regardless of the denials by the political powers that be. There is a growing suspicion that some people with political influence and power are intentionally undermining the effectiveness of the publicly funded health cares system to insure it will fail. Once that public system failure is self-evident, the theory goes that private insurance will be promoted as the saviour of the failed public health care system. Such is the conspiracy theory, but if it exists, are we enabling privateers to use public funds for private privilege because of political indifference of citizens?
There is no viable progressive political alternative in the Alberta these days. There is no trusted countervail to the reactionary right wing tendencies of the PCs and the even more extreme Libertarian views of the Wildrose Alliance. But moderate and progressive is the political values space where most Albertans see themselves. Our Alberta based random sample research shows over 60% of Albertans hold Accountability, Integrity, Honesty, Fiscal and Personal Responsibility, Transparency and Clarity as the most important bundle of values we should use to evaluate our government's performance. This is not rocket surgery but we are far from seeing those values articulated in our political culture today. Nor are we seeing an attractive alternative political party emerge that speaks authentically to these majority Albertan values today.
I think that political alternative shortcoming is about to change in Alberta. This is partly because the political events surrounding Dr. Raj Sherman and his dogged determination to expose the political and administrative fault lines in our health care system. He is the lightening rod that is attracting public attention, focusing our fears, capturing our imagination and giving us political context so we can begin to understand what is really going on.
But the future of health care in Alberta is not about Raj Sherman. We now need to focus on what has become a broken system and we need to get it fixed - right and right away. We don't need the kind of anti-intellectual, anti-expertise of so-called "common sense approach" characteristic of the Klein era amateurs who were running health care based on Fraser Institute ideology. We need professionals and public servants with expertise, integrity and a public policy perspective to take over the mess and to look past the next election with their solutions.
Albertans have been looking for a galvanizing political issue and a trustworthy proponent of the public interest. I think the Environics poll shows health care is the galvanizing issue and Dr. Raj Sherman has become the trustworthy exponent of the public interest. We need a broader and better public discourse around a new narrative for Alberta and a viable progressive political alternatives to deliver on the promise and potential of the next Alberta.
Could that new narrative and promising new way of doing progressive politics be articulated and exemplified by the Alberta Party? Could the Alberta Party emerge as the viable political alternative that actually aligns with the values of most Albertans? I have to say it is early times but the numbers of people who are approaching me these days with a genuine curiosity about the Alberta Party, and who are joining up, is making me quite optimistic. The times they are a-changin' and only time will tell if it is change for the better or the worse. Over to you Alberta. Informed engaged active voters hold the keys to the future.
Monday, December 06, 2010
Alberta Readers' Choice Awards Long List Announced
The Alberta Readers' Choice Awards has just announced the long list of 30 titles for the 2011 version of its $10,000 prize. Theses are all submissions from Alberta publishers from releases in the past year.
So the next step is for Librarians from all over Alberta to case votes for the Top 10 titles by the end of this year. Then the Jurors take over and read the Top 10 and we select 5 finalists which will be announced May 1, 2011. Then Albertans can get in on the action and vote online in the month of May to select the winner and that will be announced on June 11 at the Alberta Book Publishing Awards Gala in Calgary.
The Jurors (including me but that is a secret until January when all of the Jurors are announced) will no doubt be sharing our thoughts and opinions on the Top 10 titles on line as we select the 5 Finalists. This is a great event with the sponsorship of the Edmonton Public Library and the Book Publishers Association of Alberta
When we get to the five finalist, I hope Albertans pick up the spirit of the competition, buy the books, read them. Please share your thoughts on each book with friends, family and others in their various networks as well as online through Twitter. I hope you also get into promoting the online voting for your favourite book too.
I love books, book stores and libraries. I tend to get lost in them as my imagination get stirred by shared ideas and new senses of how to "see" things with the help of great writers. Alberta is a dynamic cultural and creative place in both arts and innovation. Recently the funding philistines have been busy undermining our sense of self and are starting to starve the provincial government support arts and innovation in the face of "fiscal pressures." If we did not give away our natural resources by under charging for royalties and other revenues we leave on the table we would not have any such self-induced fiscal pressures. I will comment more on that public policy problem at another time as I look in more detail at the future political direction for the next Alberta in the new year.
In the mean time, check out the long list of titles and if any of them catch your eye. BTW! Alberta books make great Christmas gifts. Full disclosure, I am an Alberta book publisher under the name Sextant Publishing, an imprint of Cambridge Strategies Inc. but we made no submissions to this competition, so there is no conflict in my serving as a Juror. If you are interested in what we publish and authors who are friends that we help promote go to the Bookstore link at Cambridge Strategies Inc.
So the next step is for Librarians from all over Alberta to case votes for the Top 10 titles by the end of this year. Then the Jurors take over and read the Top 10 and we select 5 finalists which will be announced May 1, 2011. Then Albertans can get in on the action and vote online in the month of May to select the winner and that will be announced on June 11 at the Alberta Book Publishing Awards Gala in Calgary.
The Jurors (including me but that is a secret until January when all of the Jurors are announced) will no doubt be sharing our thoughts and opinions on the Top 10 titles on line as we select the 5 Finalists. This is a great event with the sponsorship of the Edmonton Public Library and the Book Publishers Association of Alberta
When we get to the five finalist, I hope Albertans pick up the spirit of the competition, buy the books, read them. Please share your thoughts on each book with friends, family and others in their various networks as well as online through Twitter. I hope you also get into promoting the online voting for your favourite book too.
I love books, book stores and libraries. I tend to get lost in them as my imagination get stirred by shared ideas and new senses of how to "see" things with the help of great writers. Alberta is a dynamic cultural and creative place in both arts and innovation. Recently the funding philistines have been busy undermining our sense of self and are starting to starve the provincial government support arts and innovation in the face of "fiscal pressures." If we did not give away our natural resources by under charging for royalties and other revenues we leave on the table we would not have any such self-induced fiscal pressures. I will comment more on that public policy problem at another time as I look in more detail at the future political direction for the next Alberta in the new year.
In the mean time, check out the long list of titles and if any of them catch your eye. BTW! Alberta books make great Christmas gifts. Full disclosure, I am an Alberta book publisher under the name Sextant Publishing, an imprint of Cambridge Strategies Inc. but we made no submissions to this competition, so there is no conflict in my serving as a Juror. If you are interested in what we publish and authors who are friends that we help promote go to the Bookstore link at Cambridge Strategies Inc.
Friday, December 03, 2010
Stairway to Brand Heaven and Hell
Here is a great representation about how citizens/people feel about their relationship to politics and to politicians these days. Everyone has a BRAND. How is your brand doing on this set of values? How would you rate the political parties in Alberta on these brand values?
Looking forward to your comments.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7855449@N02/2780450986/in/set-72157606844282993/
H/T Sharon Matthias for the link and thanks to David Armano for the image.
Looking forward to your comments.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7855449@N02/2780450986/in/set-72157606844282993/
Thursday, December 02, 2010
Some Musing About the "Moving Forward"Leaked Health Policy Document
The cut and thrust of politics is heating up in Alberta, especially over health care. Now the discussion is moving towards the place it should about - the fixing of the system. The leaked "Alberta's Health Legislation: Moving Forward" document has been the catalyst for the policy discussion. It has been lead by Dr. David Swann, leader of the Official Opposition and the Liberal Party of Alberta and the recently rejected PC caucus member Dr. Raj Sherman.
The details of the debate are well documented in the main stream media so I will not repeat them here. The implications of the debate are what is interesting to me. I want to talk about the threat of a Two-Tier system that involves private insurance, and if docs can operate on both side of that street. I also want to talk about delisting health service elements contained in the Moving Forward document too.
Swann is pressing Stelmach on if there will be a two-tier health care system in Alberta. He wants a promise from Stelmach "in writing" he will not allow doctors to work in both the system, a public and private side, at the same time. There is nothing stopping doctors from option out of Medicare now and working strictly in a private patient pay system. There are lots of private sector elements in our health care system now. Any talk of keeping private enterprise out of health care is futile. That is all ready the case and it is working well. It is working well because there is a single-payer for health services, the government. If we allow private insurance to be purchased and to pay for medically necessary services we are into the feared and reviled two-tier system and the unnerving possibility of doctors playing both sides of the street and eroding the effectiveness of the public health care system.
THREATS OF A TWO-TIER HEALTH SYSTEM COMES AROUND AGAIN:
I do not expect Premier Stelmach to commit to writing that he will promise to not allow doctors to work in a private and public system at the same time...because there is no political will (today) to go to a two-tiered system. That is now. What about after the next election when the fear is major system changes will be imposed, including a private insurance possibility for health care. That is what the government plan is according so some interpretations of the "Moving Forward" leaked document.
If it is of any comfort, I received a fund raising letter from the Progressive Conservative Party today signed by Ed Stelmach as Leader. In it he says "Your government (his government) firmly believes we can build a better (health care) system without moving towards a two-tier system with privatisation of health care." Hardly a public statement since it is in a political party fund raising letter...but it is a commitment of sorts to the single-payer public health care system that we now have - and it is in writing. But as Ralph Klein used to say when he "changed" his political mind for political purposes"That was then. This now."
It has a bullet about health providers working to full scope of practice. That is a problem as Docs, Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses are all underutilized to some degree or other, due to the payment system that is used to pay docs. More on that at some future time. What Moving Forward talks about is providing health providers to opt-in and opt-out of the public health system as part of the new Health Act. I have not reviewed the just past Act but know that doctors can to that now. Why is it part of the "new" law?
The proposed policy shift in Moving Forward that is intended to bring "fairness" to this fictitious imbalance is to "Apply the same constraints to all health providers and allow government the flexibility to regulate health provider commitment in the public system." That is very abstract language indeed and fairness to physicians is compared to the way midwives and pharmacists operate in a partially publicly and privately funded arrangement. To meet the spirit and my sense of the intent to induce more fairness would mean we would need to make sure Midwives and Pharmacists would enjoy access to a fully funded public payer system for their areas of endeavour, including a fully funded drug program. That way they and the docs would be on a level playing field under the current arrangements.I don't see that sense of providing fairness to druggists and midwives to be involved in the Moving Forward proposals at all. This framing for "fairness" to doctors to allow them to play both sides at the same time, if there were a public and private system, is disingenuous at best and intentionally misleading at worst.
DELISTING:
Then there is the delisting section entitled "Process to Establish Essential Services." The issue is stated to be that there is not a clear process to determine essential services and current services are not based on a "regular, rigorous and evidence-based process." That used to be more true than it is today and some medical services have been delisted. There was a full review of what process should be used to see if medical services should be in or out of the public system done by an Expert Panel Chaired by Dr. Bob Westbury.
We at Cambridge Strategies were involved assisting with that review and there was a Progress Report issued to the Alberta government in December 2002.. The Expert Panel was commissioned by then Minister of Health and Wellness, Gary Mar. The mandate was "...to review the current basket of publicly funded health services and, on an ongoing basis, to review new health services to ensure that Alberta's publicly funded health services remain comprehensive and sustainable for the future, and provide the best value."
The idea was an expert panel would determine what services were to be publicly funded or not. Those determinations of what service was in or out of was also to be done in an open objective way using criteria established by the Expert Panel to determine what new diagnostics, treatments and drugs would be added to the system too.
The review and recommendations made by the Expert Panel were sound and soundly shelved by the Klein government. The next phase of actually setting up the process and structures to do a thorough and detailed review of current funding, new services, priority setting and specific services review was never allow to happen. This sense of intentionality and rationality over what health care services should or should not be covered by the goes back even further in Alberta.
Premier Don Getty set up The Premier's Commission of Future Health Care for Albertans that reported in December 1989. In Recommendation #8.0 sand " THEREFORE WE RECOMMEND that the Government of Alberta, in consultation with health care practitioners and consumers, define with is considers to be basic insured services covered by the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan." I will be doing a series of comparisons with the new Alberta Health Act to the recommendations made over 20 years ago in the Premier's Commission on the Future of Health Care for Albertans to see what is same, similar new and missing. The old Premier's Council spent two years and made 21 Recommendations and 66 suggestions for action. The current Minister's Advisory Council on Health represents some very good work too. It made four Recommendations with a total 20 sub elements including 6 Principles. A thorough review and comparison will take some time but I think it will be helpful and useful for Albertans to have.
Perhaps the Stelmach government should revisit these reports and finally to stimulate a public conversation about what medical services Albertan want to pay for as a society or as individuals, and how they want to proceed to reconcile and rationalize the differences. The recent truncated public consultation over the past summer on the new Health Act was not a serious effort at effective citizen engagement. Premier Stelmach recently said about the new Health Act in the Alberta Legislature "The one thing that all members should focus on is the Bill (Bill 17 the Alberta Health Act just passed awaiting Proclamation) that we've debated in the house that says very explicitly that Albertans will have a say in the future direction of health-care delivery ..." Go to the link and read Section 14 and see if that provision satisfies your test of if it amounts to Albertans having a say in the future direction of health-care delivery.
There is more to be sceptical about in the Moving Forward document but this post is too long already. My advice is that Albertans better not suspend their critical thinking faculties about this and other public policy directions that may be lurking behind the confidential and closed doors of the government caucus. Time to use the cracks that Raj Sherman has caused to happen and that is letting some light shine in on what is really happening. Sunlight is still the best disinfectant.
The details of the debate are well documented in the main stream media so I will not repeat them here. The implications of the debate are what is interesting to me. I want to talk about the threat of a Two-Tier system that involves private insurance, and if docs can operate on both side of that street. I also want to talk about delisting health service elements contained in the Moving Forward document too.
Swann is pressing Stelmach on if there will be a two-tier health care system in Alberta. He wants a promise from Stelmach "in writing" he will not allow doctors to work in both the system, a public and private side, at the same time. There is nothing stopping doctors from option out of Medicare now and working strictly in a private patient pay system. There are lots of private sector elements in our health care system now. Any talk of keeping private enterprise out of health care is futile. That is all ready the case and it is working well. It is working well because there is a single-payer for health services, the government. If we allow private insurance to be purchased and to pay for medically necessary services we are into the feared and reviled two-tier system and the unnerving possibility of doctors playing both sides of the street and eroding the effectiveness of the public health care system.
THREATS OF A TWO-TIER HEALTH SYSTEM COMES AROUND AGAIN:
I do not expect Premier Stelmach to commit to writing that he will promise to not allow doctors to work in a private and public system at the same time...because there is no political will (today) to go to a two-tiered system. That is now. What about after the next election when the fear is major system changes will be imposed, including a private insurance possibility for health care. That is what the government plan is according so some interpretations of the "Moving Forward" leaked document.
If it is of any comfort, I received a fund raising letter from the Progressive Conservative Party today signed by Ed Stelmach as Leader. In it he says "Your government (his government) firmly believes we can build a better (health care) system without moving towards a two-tier system with privatisation of health care." Hardly a public statement since it is in a political party fund raising letter...but it is a commitment of sorts to the single-payer public health care system that we now have - and it is in writing. But as Ralph Klein used to say when he "changed" his political mind for political purposes"That was then. This now."
It has a bullet about health providers working to full scope of practice. That is a problem as Docs, Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses are all underutilized to some degree or other, due to the payment system that is used to pay docs. More on that at some future time. What Moving Forward talks about is providing health providers to opt-in and opt-out of the public health system as part of the new Health Act. I have not reviewed the just past Act but know that doctors can to that now. Why is it part of the "new" law?
The proposed policy shift in Moving Forward that is intended to bring "fairness" to this fictitious imbalance is to "Apply the same constraints to all health providers and allow government the flexibility to regulate health provider commitment in the public system." That is very abstract language indeed and fairness to physicians is compared to the way midwives and pharmacists operate in a partially publicly and privately funded arrangement. To meet the spirit and my sense of the intent to induce more fairness would mean we would need to make sure Midwives and Pharmacists would enjoy access to a fully funded public payer system for their areas of endeavour, including a fully funded drug program. That way they and the docs would be on a level playing field under the current arrangements.I don't see that sense of providing fairness to druggists and midwives to be involved in the Moving Forward proposals at all. This framing for "fairness" to doctors to allow them to play both sides at the same time, if there were a public and private system, is disingenuous at best and intentionally misleading at worst.
DELISTING:
Then there is the delisting section entitled "Process to Establish Essential Services." The issue is stated to be that there is not a clear process to determine essential services and current services are not based on a "regular, rigorous and evidence-based process." That used to be more true than it is today and some medical services have been delisted. There was a full review of what process should be used to see if medical services should be in or out of the public system done by an Expert Panel Chaired by Dr. Bob Westbury.
We at Cambridge Strategies were involved assisting with that review and there was a Progress Report issued to the Alberta government in December 2002.. The Expert Panel was commissioned by then Minister of Health and Wellness, Gary Mar. The mandate was "...to review the current basket of publicly funded health services and, on an ongoing basis, to review new health services to ensure that Alberta's publicly funded health services remain comprehensive and sustainable for the future, and provide the best value."
The idea was an expert panel would determine what services were to be publicly funded or not. Those determinations of what service was in or out of was also to be done in an open objective way using criteria established by the Expert Panel to determine what new diagnostics, treatments and drugs would be added to the system too.
The review and recommendations made by the Expert Panel were sound and soundly shelved by the Klein government. The next phase of actually setting up the process and structures to do a thorough and detailed review of current funding, new services, priority setting and specific services review was never allow to happen. This sense of intentionality and rationality over what health care services should or should not be covered by the goes back even further in Alberta.
Premier Don Getty set up The Premier's Commission of Future Health Care for Albertans that reported in December 1989. In Recommendation #8.0 sand " THEREFORE WE RECOMMEND that the Government of Alberta, in consultation with health care practitioners and consumers, define with is considers to be basic insured services covered by the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan." I will be doing a series of comparisons with the new Alberta Health Act to the recommendations made over 20 years ago in the Premier's Commission on the Future of Health Care for Albertans to see what is same, similar new and missing. The old Premier's Council spent two years and made 21 Recommendations and 66 suggestions for action. The current Minister's Advisory Council on Health represents some very good work too. It made four Recommendations with a total 20 sub elements including 6 Principles. A thorough review and comparison will take some time but I think it will be helpful and useful for Albertans to have.
Perhaps the Stelmach government should revisit these reports and finally to stimulate a public conversation about what medical services Albertan want to pay for as a society or as individuals, and how they want to proceed to reconcile and rationalize the differences. The recent truncated public consultation over the past summer on the new Health Act was not a serious effort at effective citizen engagement. Premier Stelmach recently said about the new Health Act in the Alberta Legislature "The one thing that all members should focus on is the Bill (Bill 17 the Alberta Health Act just passed awaiting Proclamation) that we've debated in the house that says very explicitly that Albertans will have a say in the future direction of health-care delivery ..." Go to the link and read Section 14 and see if that provision satisfies your test of if it amounts to Albertans having a say in the future direction of health-care delivery.
There is more to be sceptical about in the Moving Forward document but this post is too long already. My advice is that Albertans better not suspend their critical thinking faculties about this and other public policy directions that may be lurking behind the confidential and closed doors of the government caucus. Time to use the cracks that Raj Sherman has caused to happen and that is letting some light shine in on what is really happening. Sunlight is still the best disinfectant.
Alberta Venture "The Right Call" Calls it a Day
I read with interest my latest edition of Alberta Venture and the wrap up column on business ethics "The Right Call" that has been shepherded by Fil Fraser since April 2008. I got to participate as a contributor in a number of the issues and enjoyed the opportunity to consider some key ethical questions that industry faces these days.
I agree with the tag line on the contribution written by Fil alone in this edition "We Broke New Ground." Ethics is a key concern of most people these days, in our dealings with business, politics, government and in relation to all our institutions. It is hard to name an institution that has not betrayed our trust in one way or another in the past 15 years or so. Albertans are measuring business and government on ethical terms these days. This is especially true in terms industries who must justify their a social license to operate or governments to be seen as worthy of a citizen's consent to govern. Institutions are been evaluated by citizens too in terms of effectiveness, integrity, intent, accountability and transparency, as well as fulfilling their public service duty and mandate.
The list of fellow contributors is in the final column and I am proud to note most of them are friends of mine. Like all good things, it has come to an end. I encourage you to read the columns and especially the last one. It has been fun so thanks to Fil Fraser and Ruth Kelly for making it happen.
I agree with the tag line on the contribution written by Fil alone in this edition "We Broke New Ground." Ethics is a key concern of most people these days, in our dealings with business, politics, government and in relation to all our institutions. It is hard to name an institution that has not betrayed our trust in one way or another in the past 15 years or so. Albertans are measuring business and government on ethical terms these days. This is especially true in terms industries who must justify their a social license to operate or governments to be seen as worthy of a citizen's consent to govern. Institutions are been evaluated by citizens too in terms of effectiveness, integrity, intent, accountability and transparency, as well as fulfilling their public service duty and mandate.
The list of fellow contributors is in the final column and I am proud to note most of them are friends of mine. Like all good things, it has come to an end. I encourage you to read the columns and especially the last one. It has been fun so thanks to Fil Fraser and Ruth Kelly for making it happen.
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
For Alberta Being the Best in the World is NOT Good Enough
I have read the leaked Government of Alberta Power Point presentation "Alberta's Health Legislation: Moving Forward" It is a document that begs a lot of questions and raises some legitimate suspicions about the political intent of the Stelmach government on just how secure is the future of publicly funded health care in Alberta.
Bill 17, the new Alberta Health Act is now passed with Closure invoked by the Stelmach government. I expect to hear very little about it now. The government wants to shift our attention to the "Becoming the Best: Alberta's 5-Year Health Action Plan" and not have us dwell on any boogie-man fears of a secret strategy of privateers out to make our health care system the private property right of some insurance companies.
I have not yet read the Five Year Action Plan. It was just released yesterday. But I will read it with great interest. At first is sounds like a revision of the Olympics motto with words like "more, faster, quicker, reduced, best" as the hooks. There is only one small mention of a wellness aspect and that is a 32% increase in child immunization rates...what ever that means. We need much more attention to prevention and wellness in our health action planning. Don't you think?
I know Minister Zwozdesky had some resistance getting this Action Plan through Cabinet. But all the publicity and pressure over Raj Sherman and the leak of July strategy document I am sure that forced the hands of the foot-draggers in Cabinet. After all what is the point of a five year stable funding commitment if you don't have a five year plan to be able to prove you are using the money wisely?
I will comment more on both document in future blogs. Let me say for now, on the leaked "Alberta Health Legislation: Moving Forward" it is difficult to understand the document because it is terse and in bullets points. There is not much narrative to help one really understand the integrity and intent of the policy approach being proposed. Some stuff is very good and other stuff is veiled political framing of a privatization agenda. Minister Zwozdesky says this is "not his document" and he rejected it because some elements were contrary to the Canada Health Act. Go figure!
From that statement by Minister Zwozdesky, it is safe to conclude this government document is must then "belong" to former Health Minister Ron Liepert. Is sure sounds like his free-market competitive Fraser Institute approach to health care. Given the clear comments from Minister Zwozdesky that he rejected the leaked "Moving Forward" document, we can hopefully conclude that the public health care system in Alberta is safe from ideologically driven privatization agenda - at lest for now.. That sense of safety for the public health system in Alberta only goes up to the next Cabinet shuffle, when ever that might be. If Minister Liepert performs as badly in Energy as he did in Education and Health, a shuffle could be sooner than later. Who replaces Gene Zwozdesky in the Health and Wellness portfolio will tell us a great deal about the integrity and true intent of the Stelmach government on the privatization of the public health care system in Alberta.
As for the Five Year Action Plan, at first blush is it all about targets, measures and percentage but almost entirely aimed at the acute care end of the spectrum. The care and compassion, respect for professionalism in the system is not readily apparent. Fair enough but we also need a culture shift to include encouraging personal action on disease prevention, wellness and well-being too. Albertans must take personal responsibility for their health care and that is about each of us taking steps in the areas of prevention, including lifestyle changes as necessary. Health care is not just all about the system. Much of it is about us, our values and attitudes.
I get put off when I see policy documents aspiring to be the "best." Like in this document title: "Becoming the Best:Alberta's 5-Year Health Action Plan." Stating Alberta's goal to be the "best-performing publicly funded health system in Canada is to merely measure ourselves relative to others. That is a mugs game and is more sloganeering than a soundly reasoned policy objective. With all the wealth in Alberta and our highest per capita spending on health care we should already be the best in Canada...but on what measures? Life expectancy and wait times are important but not very sophisticated outcome aspirations.
We know economic wealth translates into good health outcomes. Given the enormous wealth and potential in Alberta we should have the aspiration to be the best health care system for the world, as well as the best in the world. That better aspiration for Alberta to be the best health care system for the world can happen in terms of investment in other areas like prevention, teaching, research and innovation. Now that is something to strive for in addition to value for tax money and, quality care and better access times...all of which are essential but not sufficient for live up to our potential.
To close let me invite you to watch this interesting video. It is just over 4 minutes and shows how the wealth of a country is correlated to life expectancy. Watch it and ask yourself why the Alberta government sets its health care sights so low and narrow given our potential. (H/T to Kim Bater for the link)
Bill 17, the new Alberta Health Act is now passed with Closure invoked by the Stelmach government. I expect to hear very little about it now. The government wants to shift our attention to the "Becoming the Best: Alberta's 5-Year Health Action Plan" and not have us dwell on any boogie-man fears of a secret strategy of privateers out to make our health care system the private property right of some insurance companies.
I have not yet read the Five Year Action Plan. It was just released yesterday. But I will read it with great interest. At first is sounds like a revision of the Olympics motto with words like "more, faster, quicker, reduced, best" as the hooks. There is only one small mention of a wellness aspect and that is a 32% increase in child immunization rates...what ever that means. We need much more attention to prevention and wellness in our health action planning. Don't you think?
I know Minister Zwozdesky had some resistance getting this Action Plan through Cabinet. But all the publicity and pressure over Raj Sherman and the leak of July strategy document I am sure that forced the hands of the foot-draggers in Cabinet. After all what is the point of a five year stable funding commitment if you don't have a five year plan to be able to prove you are using the money wisely?
I will comment more on both document in future blogs. Let me say for now, on the leaked "Alberta Health Legislation: Moving Forward" it is difficult to understand the document because it is terse and in bullets points. There is not much narrative to help one really understand the integrity and intent of the policy approach being proposed. Some stuff is very good and other stuff is veiled political framing of a privatization agenda. Minister Zwozdesky says this is "not his document" and he rejected it because some elements were contrary to the Canada Health Act. Go figure!
From that statement by Minister Zwozdesky, it is safe to conclude this government document is must then "belong" to former Health Minister Ron Liepert. Is sure sounds like his free-market competitive Fraser Institute approach to health care. Given the clear comments from Minister Zwozdesky that he rejected the leaked "Moving Forward" document, we can hopefully conclude that the public health care system in Alberta is safe from ideologically driven privatization agenda - at lest for now.. That sense of safety for the public health system in Alberta only goes up to the next Cabinet shuffle, when ever that might be. If Minister Liepert performs as badly in Energy as he did in Education and Health, a shuffle could be sooner than later. Who replaces Gene Zwozdesky in the Health and Wellness portfolio will tell us a great deal about the integrity and true intent of the Stelmach government on the privatization of the public health care system in Alberta.
As for the Five Year Action Plan, at first blush is it all about targets, measures and percentage but almost entirely aimed at the acute care end of the spectrum. The care and compassion, respect for professionalism in the system is not readily apparent. Fair enough but we also need a culture shift to include encouraging personal action on disease prevention, wellness and well-being too. Albertans must take personal responsibility for their health care and that is about each of us taking steps in the areas of prevention, including lifestyle changes as necessary. Health care is not just all about the system. Much of it is about us, our values and attitudes.
I get put off when I see policy documents aspiring to be the "best." Like in this document title: "Becoming the Best:Alberta's 5-Year Health Action Plan." Stating Alberta's goal to be the "best-performing publicly funded health system in Canada is to merely measure ourselves relative to others. That is a mugs game and is more sloganeering than a soundly reasoned policy objective. With all the wealth in Alberta and our highest per capita spending on health care we should already be the best in Canada...but on what measures? Life expectancy and wait times are important but not very sophisticated outcome aspirations.
We know economic wealth translates into good health outcomes. Given the enormous wealth and potential in Alberta we should have the aspiration to be the best health care system for the world, as well as the best in the world. That better aspiration for Alberta to be the best health care system for the world can happen in terms of investment in other areas like prevention, teaching, research and innovation. Now that is something to strive for in addition to value for tax money and, quality care and better access times...all of which are essential but not sufficient for live up to our potential.
To close let me invite you to watch this interesting video. It is just over 4 minutes and shows how the wealth of a country is correlated to life expectancy. Watch it and ask yourself why the Alberta government sets its health care sights so low and narrow given our potential. (H/T to Kim Bater for the link)
Monday, November 29, 2010
Visit AlbertaVote.ca for a Wealth of Political Insight & Incite
It is great to see Duncan Wojtaszekback into political blogging, returning from a self-induced exile. A visit to his new site www.albertavote.ca is a rigorous and thorough approach to "what ifs" based on a recent poll and the re-jigged constituency boundaries coming soon in Alberta.
His commentary and analysis of Edmonton Rutherford (Fred Horne) and Edmonton Meadowlark (Raj Sherman) is timely and telling. Of course these are predictions based on assumption in a hypothetical election that is not now happening. But what is interesting is the electoral implications of shifting public opinion.
Here is another post "Trying to Predict What Would Happen in Calgary" all of which points to the growing volatility in the Alberta political landscape...but without any consideration yet of the potential impact of the emerging Alberta Party. That will no doubt be part of future commentaries.
There is lots more from the imaginative mind of Duncan Wojtaszek...and I anticipate a lot more to come. Welcome back to blogging. We have missed you.
His commentary and analysis of Edmonton Rutherford (Fred Horne) and Edmonton Meadowlark (Raj Sherman) is timely and telling. Of course these are predictions based on assumption in a hypothetical election that is not now happening. But what is interesting is the electoral implications of shifting public opinion.
Here is another post "Trying to Predict What Would Happen in Calgary" all of which points to the growing volatility in the Alberta political landscape...but without any consideration yet of the potential impact of the emerging Alberta Party. That will no doubt be part of future commentaries.
There is lots more from the imaginative mind of Duncan Wojtaszek...and I anticipate a lot more to come. Welcome back to blogging. We have missed you.
Is There a Conspiracy to Discredit Raj Sherman?
I love politics and I think it is a force for good. But sometimes I despair about the way politics is practiced and portrayed. When politics is all about getting and keeping power it is becomes manipulative, intimidating and even corrupt. That is politics at its lowest. When politics is about exploring new ideas, sharing wisdom to protect and empower citizens, it is at its best.
This past two weeks politics in Alberta has been at its worst, at its best and is changing faster than most of us could imagine. I am talking about the events around the courage of Dr. Raj Sherman to take a stand and expose some political truth about health care in Alberta. There is now evidence of politically motivated reactions and tactics by anonymous forces who are intent on discrediting and even destroying Dr. Sherman.
Efforts to discredit Raj by questioning his mental and emotional state are an example of politics at its worst. Dark forces are now challenging his professional capacity to practice medicine with anonymous innuendos. Sherman is fighting back by talking openly about these perverse efforts against him. That is the only way to defeat these dark forces.
Intimidation, threats and bullying is on-going from some segments of the PC government as they try to control messages and command loyalty. I know I faced this myself when I publicly announced I was no longer going to stay as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta. Clients were told they would have more success in dealing with government if I was no longer involved in representing them. Long time party supporters have been suddenly and unceremoniously removed from positions on boards because they were suddenly not “acceptable” to serve. Why? Because those individuals were simply publicly speaking truth to power. Community based not-for profit agencies that rely on government funding to provide services to vulnerable citizens have been told to toe the line or there will be “consequences”- personally and organizationally. This is no way for those in authority to behave.
When this kind of coercion happens paranoia runs deep and creeps into your heart. Intimidation should not becomes “normal” in our political culture. It must be stopped. That can only happen by public exposure by those who are its victims. Silence is compliance. Speaking out against this kind of intimidation and coercion is exactly what Dr. Raj Sherman is doing now. More reason to applaud him and value his courage.
When we feel threatened by powerful forces we can even start to question the integrity of our friends. That is what has happened in the recent highly publicized conversation between Fred Horne and Dr. P. J. White, who are both friends of Raj Sherman. Many of us are friends of Raj Sherman and admire him for what he is doing. We are also aware of the enormous stress Raj is facing as he stands up against some very powerful and entrenched political forces.
With such intense feelings and threatening circumstances it is very easy to misinterpret good intentions…even of your friends. Drawing a negative conclusion is easy and often justified as a survival strategy - but it also could be a wrong conclusion. I think the wrong conclusions have been drawn around the actions and intent Fred Horne and P.J. White in sharing an authentic mutual concern for the well-being of Raj Sherman.
Some context is important in trying to better understand what is happening here. Fred is the new Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Wellness. Fred ran the new health act public consultation process this summer. P.J. White is a psychiatrist and the newly elected President of the Alberta Medical Association. In a cynical world it is easy to misinterpret the actions and intentions of Fred and P.J. as powerful people who may be part of a conspiracy to discredit Raj Sherman politically and professionally.
The other, more realistic interpretation in my opinion and based on the personal characters of Fred and P.J., is they are simply sharing a genuine concern for the well-being of a mutual friend in a difficult time In the vulnerable reality of Raj Sherman these days, one can hardly blame him for being paranoid about such a conversation taking place, even amongst good friends. To see the erosion of the benefit of the doubt about the intent of friends, shows just how sad and dysfunctional our political culture has become these days.
I have a long standing friendship with Fred Horne. I have a growing friendship with Raj Sherman and a deep respect for his character and courage. I have recently met Dr. P.J. White, under other circumstances, but we share some personal values about politics. I also admire P.J. for his personal and professional courage for standing up against the irrational political decision of Dr. Duckett and the AHS to close Alberta Hospital in Oliver. He stopped the closure.
When the conversation Fred and P.J. had about the well-being of Raj Sherman became public and a focus in the media I called both Fred and P.J. to get some first-hand content and context on what was really going on here. I am certain from my personal knowledge of both gentlemen and our recent chats that the intent of the conversation between Fred Horne and P.J. White was motivated by a shared respect for Raj Sherman and a genuine concern for his overall well-being.
But the record can and should be set straight. I hope this blog post is a step in that direction.If there is a politically motivated conspiracy to discredit Raj Sherman based on innuendo about his mental state and capacity, Fred Horne and P.J. White are not part of it. They, along with many others, and me included have reached out to personally and publicly support Raj. We are all dismayed at how low some will stoop to sustain or gain political power at the expense of others.
Raj Sherman has supporters – lots of them. He has powerful enemies too – I expect many of them. The big difference is the supporters are open and public while the enemies are anonymous and secretive. So who should the public trust? Which narrative of Raj Sherman will "win" in the court of public opinion? When seeking changes in political attitudes and culture, it is the court of public opinion that matters most. What people come to believe becomes political reality. In politics perception is reality…and that is not just a cliché.
Monday November 29th will see a Point of Privilege presented in the Alberta Legislature asking if Fred Horne is part of a political conspiracy to discredit Dr. Raj Sherman. I trust it will be debated in the spirit of supporting the political integrity, transparency, honesty and the accountability of our elected representatives. I hope it is motivated by a desire to enhance our democracy and to regain some increased respect for the institution of the Alberta Legislature. If this is not the case, it will only perpetuate the worst of our declining political culture.
I hope for better angels to prevail on all of our provincial politicians today. I am no Pollyanna but I do believe the better angels will triumph. That will only happen if the wisdom and good judgment of our elected representative overcomes the excessive partisanship that dominates our political culture these days.
Albertans are not fools and we do not think our elected representatives should be either. If there is a politically motivated whisper campaign to discredit and destroy Raj Sherman, it must stop NOW! I hope the NDP Point of Privilege Motion being heard today is the start of a new direction in our political culture. If it is merely another tactic in political gamesmanship, I will despair even deeper about the democratic deficit in this province.
So, ladies and gentlemen of the Alberta Legislature, it is time to listen to your better angels….here and now…on this issue and the many other health care concerns of Albertans. It is time to return to your task of serving the best interests of Albertans…not just personal or partisan power agendas. Rest assured we will be watching and judging you.
UPDATE NOV 29 12:35 PM - I HAVE JUST BEEN ADVISED BY SOMEONE IN THE MAIN STEAM MEDIA THAT THE NDP HAVE WITHDRAWN THEIR POINT OR PRIVILEGE THAT WAS TO GO TODAY ON IF THERE WAS AN ANTI-SHERMAN CONSPIRACY TO DISCREDIT HIM.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Update on the Harper Induced Democratic Deficit
I did a post last week asking Albertans if they have had enough of Stephen Harper yet. If the content of that post did not convince you this rant by Rick Mercer should help. Canadians as well as Albertans know it is time for an election and that we have to remove our Not So Prime Minister and his Sheeple from power over us.
The Harper Conservatives now control the Senate due to his hypocritical stance about Senate reform. He used to say it should be Triple E: elected, equal and effective. He has personally appointed more Senators than any other Prime Minister in history. So much for the integrity, honesty, transparency and accountability of Prime Minister Harper.
Since he can't control the destruction of democracy in the elected House of Commons as he centralizes more and more political power in himself, he is now doing it in the Senate. That is where his personal appointed political friends are killing laws duly passed by those WE DULY ELECTED TO GOVERN US. The Harper Senate appointees have a majority now and they are killing those duly passed laws without a word of debate. Political power is now in the hand of Harper's appointed cronies. This can't continue if our representative democracy is to survive.
The Harper Conservatives now control the Senate due to his hypocritical stance about Senate reform. He used to say it should be Triple E: elected, equal and effective. He has personally appointed more Senators than any other Prime Minister in history. So much for the integrity, honesty, transparency and accountability of Prime Minister Harper.
Since he can't control the destruction of democracy in the elected House of Commons as he centralizes more and more political power in himself, he is now doing it in the Senate. That is where his personal appointed political friends are killing laws duly passed by those WE DULY ELECTED TO GOVERN US. The Harper Senate appointees have a majority now and they are killing those duly passed laws without a word of debate. Political power is now in the hand of Harper's appointed cronies. This can't continue if our representative democracy is to survive.
It's Grey Cup Day in #YEG "GO RIDERS-ALLEZ ALOUETTES"
As we prepare for the mock battle that is the Grey Cup I offer this well edited video of the 40 Most Inspirational Speeches in moviedom - with a H/T to The Kelley Skar Daily
JUST A BLOGGER TRYING TO GIVE 110% Enjoy this mini-mocumentary:
JUST A BLOGGER TRYING TO GIVE 110% Enjoy this mini-mocumentary:
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Do We Need the AHS Super Board?
The media report on the “fracturing” of the Alberta Health Services Super Board is focused on the current and possible future resignations of board members. This is fallout from the Dr. Duckett contract decision is a crisis of confidence about the AHS Board and by the Board itself I expect. That crisis in confidence cuts both ways and is partly due to a failure of effective governance. There needs to be clarity of roles and responsibilities of the various boards the Government of Alberta and the AHS Super Board in particular.
Ron Liepert is being blamed by the public for much of this current crisis of confidence in our health care system. He was the political push to unilaterally and hastily disband the regional governance model in favour of a single Super Board system. The goal was cost savings but a lot of good work and service capacity was lost in the process, especially in the Capital Region. There was another political goal, the solving of the chronic overspending of the Calgary regional board.
So rather than solving the “Calgary problem” and risk looking like Stelmach was punishing or picking on Calgary, the Ministry “leadership” changed to Ron Liepert, a Calgarian to solve the problem. Overnight, without warning, consultation or concern for greater consequences, Liepert unilaterally changed the entire provincial health care governance structure. The dismantling of the regional governance structure into one centralized appointed governance model delegated to deliver health care was established. That was the planted seed that has lead us to the current health care governance, emergency room crisis and overall systemic disarray that is now province wide.
So let’s look at the current Super Board situation in context. Liepert created this centralized governance structure, selected and recommended the appointees to the new Super Board. Once it was established Dr. Duckett, a health economist, was hired by the AHS Super Board with a clear mandate to get spending and costs under control. What is particularly interesting is the composition of the Super Board…it is predominantly people with business experience – not public policy or health care experiences. So decisions would more likely be business based before public policy based.
These are all good people with valuable experience and who are undoubtedly trying to use their skills to make a difference and improve the health care system in Alberta. The problem is they may only have part of the skill sets necessary to do this very complex and critically important job of overseeing the design, development and deployment of an effective health care system in Alberta. They have the management discipline and a corporate governance experience. My question is do they understand there is a difference in dealing with public sector governance, public policy development, public sector accountability in a care giving system not a marketplace model of delivery? Are they analytical as well as design oriented? Are they sensitive to the human dynamics inherent in a health care delivery system at the patient, service provider and taxpayer levels? Are they insightful enough about the political culture and context of their relationship with the Minister and the government while serving on such a board? Can they effectively determine and articulate truth to the political power structure that is ultimately responsible and entrusted to provide health care to Alberta? Finally do they have the benefit of a mutual two-way trust with the political powers and administrative machinery of government?
The recent resignations from the Super Board are reported to be largely based on the principle of board independence. Political interference has to be resisted if a board is going to be effective. However when a board is mandated to execute government policy there are public policy and political realities that may have to trump the presumption of arms length independence. Those overarching realities are the ultimate responsibility of the elected Minister to represent the public interest. Provided the communications between the elected Minister and the appointed Board is done openly and transparently then it is not necessarily inappropriate interference with the independence of the appointed board. A board can choose to ignore the advice or even direction of the Minister. Unless the Board can convince the Minister that he is wrong or the suggested action is ill-advised, the natural consequences of non-compliance would be that the board would be replaced with others who would execute their roles consistent with the Minister’s interpretation of government policy. That is as it should be in a public policy governance model so long as this is all open and public information so we citizens can judge if there is improper political interference or there is a board that is not fulfilling its responsibilities appropriately.
So what about the current AHS board status in light of current events? I don’t conclude that Minister Zwozdesky insisting that the AHS board make the Duckett contract decision immediately instead of waiting two weeks is improper interference. I am only basing this conclusion on media reports of the communications but none of the parties have suggested they are in accurate so far as I know. The Board could have declined to comply with the Minister’s request for an immediate decision and if they believed that was the right thing to do in the public interest. That is moot because the Board did make an immediate decision. The question now is where this all goes from here!
I have suggested previously in this Blog the AHS Board and many others, like in areas of Children Services and PDD for example, are not effective in providing good governance for the province. They are ostensibly there to provide local input and intelligence to the Minister and Ministry but they end up being a buffer and a barrier between the politicians and the public. The system is unworkable in this kind of political culture where partisan politics replace good public policy. This default to partisan politics driving decisions was obvious in health care under Minister Liepert. Just look at the fact he decided unilaterally to change the health care governance structures for pure political purposes. He did that without warning, consultation or concern for consequences to the public or the professionals just trying to do their jobs.
If these various appointed boards are in reality mere buffers designed to protect politicians from accountability to the public they should be disbanded. Given the many Ministerial reversals of AHS Board and CEO decisions since Zwozdesky took over the Ministry, those still on the AHS Board should ask themselves if they still have the confidence of the Minister. I think the evidence is pretty clear the answer is no.
Zwozdesky is not the kind of Minister who wants to hide from the public in doing his policy and political duty. He and his department are the ones who are ultimately responsible for the outcomes of health care and they know it. The appointed and virtually anonymous Super Board, like many others in the province, are ineffectual in serving the public interest, especially if there is political interference and a lack of clear mandated authority. Under these circumstances I think the AHS Board should all resign and return the clear and direct lines of accountability and responsibility for design and delivery of health care to the government. This need not be in protest or seen in any way as a failure to perform by the AHS Board. Rather it would put the responsibility for health care policy clearly back on the Minister and Ministry where it belongs. It would set an example for the other Boards too who are mostly being used as mere buffers between the public and the politicians
The expertise in the health care system would not be lost and can be more effective at bring truth to power - directly – as the Emergency Room Docs are doing now. The bureaucracy can also do its job better in providing analysis and suggesting policy options for our elected representatives to consider when making public policy decisions on our behalf.
I have great respect for any citizen who comes forward to serve on government agencies, boards and commissions. I have done so many times myself. There is always a question about roles, responsibilities and relationships between these boards and the government, the Minister and the public interest. The wisdom and judgement of all those involved are always required in keeping these realities in context. My conclusion is the AHS board was set up by the previous Minister primarily for political reasons. If the current Board members come to the same conclusion then they need to return the legal responsibility to provide for health care in Alberta back to the elected officials. That is just part of the task of fixing the governance model as well as the resolving of the health care crisis that we are seeing unfold these days.
CLARIFICATIONS REQUIRED:
There is a news story in the Edmonton Journal today on the status of the Super Board quoting me that need clarification and correction. By way of clarification there is an implication in remarks attributed to me that Minister Zwozdesky threatened to remove the AHS Board if they did not comply with his request. I don’t know if that happened or not in the discussion between the Minister and the Board Chair. It appears that I am quoting the Minister in that regard. I was not.
My point is that is within the power of the Minister to replace the Board, and that is as it should be. It appears in the news story that I am saying the Minister made such a comment to the Chair. I did not say or imply that comment was made at all. I only suggested that removing the Board is a natural and appropriate consequence of not a Board not complying with a proper direction of the Minister....the key here is was the Ministerial direction proper and not just political. In my mind Minister Zwozdesky was acting appropriately and not politically in his comments on the preferred outcome from the AHS Board on the Duckett situation.
I DON’T SPEAK FOR THE ALBERTA PARTY!
The other point of clarification that is needed is the headline on the continuation of the story on page B12 that says “Alberta Party wants mass resignation.” This headline is totally inaccurate and misleading. While I am a member of the Alberta Party I do not speak for the Alberta Party. I know the headlines are not written by the same person who writes the story. The reporter here is doing a very good job at informing the public about some very important governance, policy and political events impacting our health care system. Unfortunately newspapers don’t have the reporters write the headlines for their own stories to ensure they accurately represent the content and intent of the articles they write. This is unfortunate. Please be assured I do not speak not do I intend to speak for the Alberta Party on any matter of its policy. That is the job of the Leader Sue Huff and the President Chris LaBossiere.
Let's let Minister Zwozdesky, Parliamentary Assistant Fred Horne and now Independent MLA Raj Sherman plus the rest of our elected representatives in the Alberta Legislature do their jobs in fixing the crisis in our health care system - just as we elected them to do.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Raj Sherman's Speech on the New Health Act in Alberta
OK gentle readers...it is Friday - a lovely day and just before Edmonton hosting the Grey Cup this weekend. Grab a sandwich and eat lunch at your desk and read Raj Sherman's opening speech in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta on the New Alberta Health Act.
There is a whisper campaign going on over Raj's emotional well-being. This is pure Nixonian, Dubya Bush and even Stephen Harper style of dirty politics. Read this speech and even others and judge for your self about the ability, commitment and capability of Dr. Raj Sherman to make a difference. He is now a single voice of reason, care and compassion. He is speaking for all of us who are disappointed and despairing over abusive politics and poor governance in our province.
Here is a link but go to page 1481 to start. Make sure you have the facts as outlined by Dr. Sherman and then be sure to talk about the facts to your family, friends, neighbours and fellow workers.
BTW vote on my blog poll on who you think is to blame for Alberta's crisis in health care? Rude Ronnie Liepert is seen and the major reason followed by Ed Stelmach so far. Dr. Duckett is not the culprit even though he was the wrong guy for the job...but you can blame Liepert for that lack of judgement
There is a whisper campaign going on over Raj's emotional well-being. This is pure Nixonian, Dubya Bush and even Stephen Harper style of dirty politics. Read this speech and even others and judge for your self about the ability, commitment and capability of Dr. Raj Sherman to make a difference. He is now a single voice of reason, care and compassion. He is speaking for all of us who are disappointed and despairing over abusive politics and poor governance in our province.
Here is a link but go to page 1481 to start. Make sure you have the facts as outlined by Dr. Sherman and then be sure to talk about the facts to your family, friends, neighbours and fellow workers.
BTW vote on my blog poll on who you think is to blame for Alberta's crisis in health care? Rude Ronnie Liepert is seen and the major reason followed by Ed Stelmach so far. Dr. Duckett is not the culprit even though he was the wrong guy for the job...but you can blame Liepert for that lack of judgement
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