Good for the Federal Liberals for this Truth to Power Outreach.

I got this in my Inbox this morning and feel compelled to share it.  It is partisan from the Liberal Party of Canada - of which I am a member.  It is not however the negative style ads like the Puffin pooping approach of the Harper Cons.  This is fact based reality showing how totalitarian and anti-democratic Prime Minister Harper is behaving.  

The people on Stephen Harper’s enemies list aren’t so different from you and me.

Richard Colvin. Munir Sheikh. Linda Keen. Or the rest of the dozen watchdogs and public servants the Conservatives have fired, forced out, harassed or publicly maligned since they took office.

They’re just regular Canadians, dedicated to doing their jobs the best they can. Telling the truth because it’s the right thing to do.

These distinguished Canadians had the courage to speak truth to power and were punished for it. That’s why I’m asking you to speak up. Please take a moment to visit the Harper enemies list slideshow and add your name in support.

Harper’s adding new enemies to his list every week.

Last Tuesday veterans ombudsman Pat Stogran was sacked for standing up for veterans. Wednesday it was RCMP firearms Chief Supt. Marty Cheliak, pushed aside for fighting to keep the life-saving gun registry.

Now reports are surfacing that Conservatives are trying to oust CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein and vice-chair Michel Arpin in a bid to remake the Canadian media landscape in the Conservatives' own image.

Take a stand for these dedicated Canadians who refused to put Conservative ideology before public interest. Watch the Harper enemies list slideshow and add your name in support. The Liberal Party, the only progressive, compassionate and responsible alternative that can replace the Harper Government today, is standing behind you.


If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org

Mayor Melissa Blake of Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo Makes a Difference

Here is link to a news release about how individuals can make a difference about how Alberta and Albertans are perceived. Melissa Blake is the Mayor of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, a friend and former client (Full Disclosure).

This International Visitor Leadership Program around international environmental leadership is the kind of thing Alberta ought to be doing to create a better understanding of the efforts around oil sands environmental mitigation, reclamation and restoration.  It is about making personal connection and providing authentic evidence-based impressions that are an awful lot better than any expensive slick  advertising campaign - not that advertising should be abandoned.

I think Mayor Blake says it best in the release when she noted here visits were in the thick of the Rethink Alberta ad campaign by Corporate Ethics:

"It was the variety of people I met with that was most interesting," said Mayor Blake. "And the unexpected warm welcome I received."

"I was fully prepared to arrive at this conference as the most despised Mayor in Canada. Fortunately that wasn't the case at all," Blake said.

This approach is just so much more effective because it is about having real conversations with real people meeting face-to-face to form real relationship that focus on finding the real problems and figuring out the real solutions.  This with some supportive advertising that is authentic and evidenced-based not counter-spin coupled with more online follow-up with Influentials and communities of interest is a more effective way to get the next Alberta oil sands narrative out.  We need that oil sands narrative to be understood, accepted, acknowledge and respected...presuming of course the efforts we are making are in fact worthy of respect....and that is another kettle of bitumen.

If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org

Are We on the Verge of Ecological Disaster?

This link is from a Harvard publication and was brought to my attention through Ruben Nelson of Foresight Canada. Ruben is one of the Reboot Alberta "Weavers" - the integrated whole-systems thinkers who help me try and make sense of the energy and angst behind the Reboot Alberta citizens movement.

Ruben's note was a reference to a piece in yesterdays New York Times by Thomas Homer-Dixon entitled "Disaster at the Top of the World."  I hesitate to add the New York Times link due to copyright concerns.

There is a great danger that Alberta will be very vilified by geopolitical propaganda forces like the Corporate Ethics "Rethink Alberta"  advertising campaign against tourism to our province due to oil sands development.  They, amongst others, have decided to target the oil sands as "dirty oil" and push perceptions that Albertans are not doing enough to respond to the environmental charges being laid against us.  Well quite frankly we are not doing enough.  But that is a far cry from doing nothing about the environmental and habitat consequences of oil sands development either.  The problem is our actions speak softer than  our words and too much of what we say is done in expensive glossy and untrusted paid-advertising counter-attack campaigns.

We need to do more, better, smarter, faster and with more authenticity integrity, honesty, accountability, transparency and demonstrate the on-going and extended efforts towards environmental stewardship of Albertans.  Only that way will be counter the criticism and return to being proud as owners of how this vital and necessary resource is being developed.

Albertans already know this from some values research we have recently completed.  For example the research that shows over 75% of Albertans think an integrated approach to protecting wildlife habitat, doing science based reclamation. ecological monitoring  and more concern for water and greenhouse gases is what we need to use as values to guide and drive oil sands development.  Acting with wisdom on these concerns starts to put Alberta in the preferred future spot of being the best for the world and not merely getting irresponsibly rich as we are been seen by many outside Alberta these days.

There is work being done but it is not what is being talked about in response to the criticism.  Jobs and investments are important but they are the givens in the oil sands game.  We already have more of them than we can handle responsibly. Yes they might dry up if commodity prices drop but we have no control over market prices and besides there is enough work and investment in the hopper now that will lasts us long into the future.  Time for the narrative to more on to the real issues of concern to Albertans about oil sands developments about environment and habitat protection and reclamation planning and performance.

Ruben has some hard-edged observations in his e-mail to me as to why there is a need for public pressure to do the right thing and that this cannot be left to governments and industry alone.  He said that "...business will not act as a sector - it is too tied up in short-term self interest, and democratic governments will not act until there is an obvious mega-disaster among their own citizens."

As citizens and owners of the oil sands Albertans have to start taking responsibility for how they are developed.  If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org

Cultural Creatives Are Showing Up in the Next Alberta

I love creative people with courage to imagine and explore.  Beth Sanders is just such a person.  She is an Urban Planner who I met a few years ago when she was working in Fort McMurray in the planning department of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.

She runs her own business called Populus Community Planning Inc. and is a member of the progressive citizen's movement of Reboot Alberta.

She attended a symposium called Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta we at Cambridge Strategies co-sponsored with the ATA, Literacy Alberta and others.  As a "creative note taker, she wrote poems to capture the conversation.

Speaking of creative people, you may want to see if you are a Cultural Creative and therefore likely to be a Progressive too.  Check out the survey link "Are You a Cultural Creative?"   If you are you might want to meet like-minded Albertans at the Reboot Alberta site where you can register to the Taking Action gathering of Rebooters Nov 5-6 in Edmonton

As for Beth, the cultural creative, here is a sample of one of her symposium offerings that I offer to help make your day this crisp and cool Monday morning in our Alberta:

inspiring education

an important day

for inspiring education

listening for resonance

and build the next Alberta

with shock and awe

genuine wealth

and happiness

knowing neighbours

walking to school

in the absence of truth

myth pervades

stories

we need to talk about

conscious  of renaissance

of home

economy, ecology

in genuine well

being

resilient

spirit

care

holders

diversity heals

inner spirit

virtues, values

individual to collective

practically

measuring

happiness

when I hear the word

spirituality

I reach for my revolver

to revolt

oh, you do care

about friends, family, children

we’re not bad people

we can look here

to be happy

learning to live

together

then

literacy for efficiency, equity,

efficiency

happiness

not without

mismatched skills and jobs

but diverse interventions

for significant work

wrestling shortages

demanding literacy

to entice investment

so how to support, lead

catalyze change

continually improving complex systems

observe the time

for opening

taking, making

holding space

until then

an unusual choice for

a whole province

to aim quite high

transforming, designing, researching

choosing

commitment to

excellence, equity, value

add – ing

what is, to

what could/should be

resilience designed with talking, listening

conversation

for action

If Beth's poem resonates with you and if you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org

How Proud are You as an Albertan and Owner of the Oil Sands?

Here is a very interesting article by Simon Dyer of the Pembina Institute on the reality of government and industry actions on addressing the obvious challenges in responsible development of our oil sands.   As owners of the oil sands we Albertans have to start demanding more attention to the key issues of oil sands development beyond getting rich quick.

We need to ensure we realize the wealth from this resource for the development of Alberta and to respect the birthright of future generations of Albertans.  This has to be done through a realistic royalty regime.  We had a modest increase in royalties recommended by an independent review but the current government retreated from the recommendations 7 times so far.  We now get lower revenues from royalties with $75 oil that we did at $40 oil.  Go figure.

We need to ensure and be assured that the development is done with the best evidence and science based eco-conscious extraction techniques.  We need to ensure that there is more benefit to Albertans coming out of the oil sands than investment and jobs, important as those are.  We need to ensure the pace of growth, the commitment to reclamation is real and that land, water and air as well as wildlife habitat are monitored, and damaged mitigated, fixed and aggressively protected.

If these questions are of interest to you go to www.cambridgestrategies.com and do the Are You a Cultural Creative survey.  If you are, you should consider coming to RebootAlberta 3.0 and become part of the design, development and delivery of a more progressive political culture in our Alberta.

If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0