It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Jason Scott Letourneau. Jason was born with a major heart defect and through the generous donation of an anonymous family, Jason received the priceless gift of a new heart 18 years ago. Although 40 years of age, Jason thought of himself as just turning “18″ – old enough to vote. Jason worked hard to support those going through any type of hardship. He had been a spokesperson for the Organ Donation and Transplant Association of Canada and helped others whenever possible. He worked for various charitable institutions and had a passion for fund raising. Jason really believed you can make a difference and recently discovered a new passion working at Calgary City Hall which fed his love for communication and public relations. He was overjoyed when the song he wrote for Kim for their wedding day was professionally recorded. Jason will be lovingly remembered by his wife Kimberly who shares his passion for life and music; his parents, Dave and Iris Letourneau; his sister and brother-in-law, Shelley Letourneau and Matt Aird; Baba, Anne Kitchen; in-laws Ron and Pin Baker, Wendy and Andrew Smith and favourite nephew Desmond; numerous aunts and uncles, many friends and coworkers and his always faithful dog Britany. At Jason’s request there will be no services held. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made directly to the Foothills Hospital, 1403 – 29 St NW, Calgary, AB T2N 2T9 or to Ronald McDonald House, 111 West Campus Place NW, Calgary, AB T3B 2R6. Expressions of sympathy may be left for the family at www.southcalgaryfuneralcentre.ca

I met Jason some 4 years ago.  I worked at the Canadian Cancer Society AB/NWT in the IT department, and Jason joined us to work with the Planned Giving department (gifts in wills and other legacy-style gifts).  Jason and I became friends pretty quickly (we were also maybe one of 4 or 5 guys on the North side of the CCS building).

Often we would talk in the mornings or during lunch.  He would tell me about his latest plans to set a Guinness World Record, or about the fantastic meetings he had with donors.  He would, of course, tell me lots about Kim, his wife, and about his music.  Jason always had candy in his desk, and he’d always be willing to share while we chatted about the world.

Some lunches, I would bring in my guitar, we’d close the door to the planned giving office, and I’d play while he sang.  We’d grab the chords for all sorts of country songs, both of our favourite genre, and we’d just play for an hour.

I don’t know if I introduced him to the background world of politics, but I’d like to think I certainly had an influence.  We would chat a lot about the federal arena, where I was most interested at the time.  Anyone who is close to me usually gets a lot of that political crap, but he didn’t seem to mind talking about it… so we did.

Eventually, both of us left the Cancer Society.  He went off to work for another charity for awhile, and spent some of his free time working on a campaign for Shane Keating.  Jason put his heart into what he did, and when Shane was elected in 2010, Jason was rewarded as being his EA.  And he was well respected in that position.  Ask Chima, or Naheed, or Shane.  They’ll tell you the same things – Jason was a hard worker who worked for the constituents of Ward 12, and a tremendous guy to boot.

The last time I saw Jason was at a hockey game in November.  A bunch of us politicos were there, and Jason and Shane came and chatted us up for awhile.  A few weeks before that, him and I went to a Stamps/Riders game… I reluctantly let him sit next to me, given that ugly green jersey he was wearing… but he bought the beer, so, you know…

In November, Jason also celebrated his eighteenth “hearty” birthday.  At the age of 22, Jason was the recipient of a donor heart.  He embodied the reason why it’s so important to sign your donor card.

Last September, when he turned 40, he remarked that he was no longer eligible for Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 under 40.  I know how much pride he would have if he had received it… but reflecting on this over the last few days, I can only imagine what people would have shown up to a service in his honour – he built a phenomenal reputation at City Hall, among the staff, elected officials, constituents, and the media… he knew power players in all three levels of government, who all respected him.  From his work in charities, he built tremendous friendships with people who are scattered around the charitable sector.  He was an incredibly influential person, and not because he worked his way up through nefarious ways, but because he genuinely was a good person who worked hard and became well respected for that.  He may not have been listed in the magazine, but he was, indeed, one of Calgary’s most influential and “top” people.

But for all the people who cared for Jason, there was one person in this world who Jason cared about more than anyone else – his wife, Kim.  You could not know Jason as a friend, and not have heard her name every day.  It was obvious, from everything he said, and his body language, that he loved his wife with all of his being.  Kim was his entire universe, and there was nothing he was prouder of in life than having her by his side.

To my friend, Jason… these last four years have been better for having known you.  Calgary was better for having known you.  You will be missed more than I think you ever knew.

Related links:

Those Rings, written and recorded by Jason for his wife, Kim.

Jason’s Obituary

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http://www.cbc.ca/homestretch/episode/2011/09/19/pc-bloggers/

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This weekend should finally bring some excitement to this race!  I am interested to see who will move on to the top three.

Shane

This post is a cross reference post from www.calgaryrants.com

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 Maverick.

 Agent of Change.

 Doug Griffiths has been called a lot of things in this race. My favourite, though, has to be ”Weapon of Mass Discussion“. Griffiths, the 9-year MLA from Battle River-Wainwright, will talk to anyone, about any issue, without any fear at all. He was one of the first MLAs in Alberta to make direct use of social media – no staffers filtering his account or writing for him – and he remains one of the best at it. But through the entire campaign, one question has dogged the Griffiths campaign: Who IS Doug Griffiths?

 He’s a family man, first and foremost. This blogger has been in attendance at speeches where Griffiths has, when speaking about children and family, had to pause to collect himself. He has missed his 2 young sons and his wife terribly during this leadership campaign. He’s also a renaissance man, and a study in remarkable contrasts: A University of Alberta grad in Philosophy and Education, Griffiths was an award-winning teacher – a job he took to, in his words, “support my ranching habit”. He still maintains that ranch. He’s one of the few people you’ll meet who drives a pick-up because he needs to, has cowboy boots that get worn over 250 days per year, and can also type a Tweet without looking at the keys. He’s an author, so passionate about communities that his speech, “13 Ways to Kill Your Community”, which started on the back on a napkin, has been delivered in every corner of the province over the past 10 years and came out in book form recently. He defies being pigeon-holed as “left” or “right” – talking about equality of opportunity and how government can be a force for good while at the same time standing firmly in favour of personal responsibility for our actions. His campaign – 100% staffed by volunteers – has also been the most “blog-friendly”, making sure that at every turn, from Day One, bloggers get invited to every event, to spread the message without wastefully spending donor money on ads – a nod to Doug’s fiscal conservatism.

 Griffiths is a man who doesn’t shy away from having difficult discussions on account of political expediency. He famously raised the subject of a consumption tax – a provincial sales tax, in other terms – only to have it dismissed summarily by Premier Stelmach last year. If all provincial goods and services were paid for by sales tax revenue, and the trade-off was that you could eliminate the provincial portion of your income tax – the money you work to earn – wouldn’t that be a discussion worth at least having? Current political dogma doesn’t even allow the conversation, which was exactly Griffiths’ point. Good governance doesn’t have room for dogma. When Doug talks about the need for long-term planning – “if we want more doctors 10 years from now, we have to start training them yesterday” – it strikes a chord with his audience. When he speaks of his vision for an Alberta of 20 years from now, he has been favourably compared to Peter Lougheed, who at 38 – ironically, the age at which Griffiths is often dismissed as “too young” – was elected leader of the PC Party with no experience in the Legislative Assembly. Aged 38, Griffiths has been around for nearly a decade already, and is consistently left out of cabinet due to, according to insiders, his penchant for being outspoken in his belief that an MLA’s loyalty to the voters and the truth is more important than loyalty to the Premier or the government.

Policy:

 Each of Griffiths’ policy releases has been accompanied by a very impressive video of the candidate laying out the argument and the vision. They’re among the best videos I’ve seen, from anyone, running for anything, anywhere. Definitely worth taking the time to look at. Some of the policy highlights:

•  Reengineer government, reducing regulatory burden on business/industry and on government employees.
• Turn the power of the legislature back to Members of the Legislative Assembly and accordingly back to Albertans.
• All health professionals can be used to their full scope of professional practice.
• Every health dollar allocation will have a performance measure associated with it to ensure value for money and quality service for the patient.
• Personal responsibility for your own health will be re-introduced into the system.
• A new focus on healthy living and preventative medicine rather than simply treatment of illness.
• Continue the development of Land Use Planning Initiatives that blend local planning, global best practices, accurate environmental information, provincial long term objectives, and protection of property rights.
• Increase the acreage of parks and protected places in the province for environmental reasons, and also to meet the growing demands of those who wish to enjoy those spaces.
• Support the University of Lethbridge Water Research Institute in research and development to ensure our global leadership on best practices in all aspects of water
• Encourage sustainable transportation around our urban centers that encourage emission reductions which will improve our air quality
• Alberta must work to remove the administrative and regulatory burden and cost of local food production and distribution.
• Adopt policy and regulatory structures that support local and national food security.
• Municipalities are critical to building better communities. We must clearly identify roles and responsibilities of the various levels of government as it relates to community issues. Once the roles and responsibilities are identified, appropriate funding levels and performance measures can be set, enabling the delivery of services that build better communities.
• Once roles and responsibilities have been clearly defined, revenue issues can be settled. Just as the province needs a stable revenue stream, so do the municipalities need steady, secure revenue sources to provide services and to build strong communities. Municipal government is a mature level of government, accountable to its electorate, and if communities identify a need for specific infrastructure, they should have the ability to levy taxes to pay for it when their citizens agree.
• Recognize the benefit and the importance of infrastructure investments to support quality of life needs and economic growth in every corner of the province to ensure the long-term success of all Albertans.
• Search for opportunities to use public infrastructure to maximize community benefits and address community needs, such as schools, hospitals, seniors’ complexes, and so on.
• Encourage and support arts, culture, recreation, and heritage. These activities are part of our community infrastructure and directly impact the quality of life in a community. Arts and culture activities thrive in communities with a positive attitude and outlook, without additional government funding.
• Balance program spending and tax revenue. A Griffiths government will focus on long term planning so Alberta is prepared for the next boom with an established foundation, so any surplus energy dollars flow into the Heritage Savings Trust Fund.
• Albertans are proud and want to pay their share as long as their money is not wasted. Alberta can no longer afford to have politicians try to “out-bid” each other with Albertans’ own tax dollars, as it is not government’s money, but Albertans’ money. Non-essential programs should be funded privately through alternate revenue sources such as personal service fees or corporate donations.
• Albertans and their government need to be open to reforming the province’s tax structure to maintain Alberta’s competitive advantage.
• To make the appropriate financial decisions, Alberta must have a long term plan first. The province must get value for the money spent and the best way to do this is to first understand what its long term goals are. If Albertans and their government know the long term goals, government is able to do a cost benefit analysis to ensure the province’s money is spent wisely.
• Select professional service providers based on qualifications, not cost.
• We must review all ministry budgets and identify efficiency targets. Government is not 100% efficient. A 10% improvement in government efficiency or priority re-allocation for the current $39 Billion annual budget will yield an overall savings of $3.9 Billion in the 2011/12 fiscal year. This improvement in efficiency will take Alberta from a deficit budget to a surplus budget, and start the province on the path of saving for the future.
• Ensure all students are successful in literacy and numeracy by grade three.
• Focus on education, not school fees. School fees should not be a barrier for education, particularly those who are less fortunate and more vulnerable. Basic school requirements should be included in our public education system.
• Reward excellence in teaching and recognize the profession for the value they contribute to our society. Establish a teaching reward system based on merit and outcomes.
• Ensure arts and fine arts are available in our basic education system – helping to build the creative thinkers and creative leaders to handle the dynamic and rapidly changing global economy.
• Encourage growth of programs similar to the Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) and the International Baccalaureate Program (IB) that addresses the challenges of providing unique programs in high school that match the individual student’s interests and the needs of society.
• Reform the student loan / bursary program to ensure Alberta students who require funding assistance have access to it.
• Increase the capacity in our post secondary institutions in order to leverage provincial and federal research and development project grants and private investment making Alberta the most attractive place to conduct research and facilitate innovation.

The Long & Short Of It:

 It’s been suggested that Griffiths will be a great premier someday, but that it’s not his “turn”, as the premiership must return to Calgary this time. Despite the fact that he’s younger than the other candidates, though, Griffiths has a great deal of experience as an MLA. The problem, though, has been that he collects legions of devoted followers one room at a time – and other candidates for the leadership are much better known. Whispers around the Legislature before Premier Stelmach announced his departure earlier this year were that Griffiths was done being kicked around and ignored by his own party caucus and leadership. He was widely expected to choose not to run again for the PC’s, go home, teach and tend to the ranch, and eventually run for Reeve in Paintearth County, where he could put his community building theories to use, parlay his immense local popularity into holding the job as long as he wanted it, and try to build the area as a “Shining City on the Hill”. He still might, if the party rejects change, and chooses a “status quo” candidate as leader. I know, from talking to many of my contacts within the various campaigns, that Griffiths would be FAR from the only party member to leave the PC’s if the status quo wins the day.

His performances at the PC Leadership Forums have been outstanding. His jokes hit the mark, his body language shows his sincerity, and his messages – while not the comfortable pablum that party members expect –  resound with Henry and Martha. He’s a social media giant – by leaps and bounds the most active and followed on-line. But will any of that make a difference? Or will the PC Party pick a “safer” candidate – one better known, less likely to do something radical and potentially cost the party its 40-year grip on power?

“He’d be a great choice, next time” goes the line from supporters of other candidates.

But as Griffiths himself points out: Albertans are bold, and the PC Party might be out of “next time’s”.

“This is our moment… this is not ‘next time country’.”

Links:

Doug Griffiths campaign website

Calgary Herald profile and video for Doug Griffiths

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BANG!

That sound you just heard might have been Rob Anders’ head exploding. Don’t be alarmed.

A first-term MLA representing Calgary-Elbow, Alison Redford has her eyes set on being the 2nd Premier to hail from the southwest Calgary riding (the first was a fella named “Ralph” a few years ago). Appointed to cabinet in the high profile position of Minister of Justice immediately after being elected, the unapologetic carnivore (the “Redford Diet”, I’m told, includes nothing that never had parents) had some big expectations to meet – and by most accounts, she did just fine, thank-you very much. In fact, Redford’s term as Minister of Justice was so successful, earlier in this campaign she gained the endorsement of the Calgary Police Association, representing the members of the Calgary Police Service. If you’re a lawyer and the cops actually LIKE you, you’re doing something right. The strategy for Team Redford has seemed to be, from the beginning, “make the top 3″ – and if recent polls are to be believed, that goal is within reach. As an unapologetic Red Tory, not to mention the only woman in the race, the hope is that Redford would do very well at converting supporters of defeated candidates, particularly those espousing “change”, into Redford voters on the second ballot.

In many ways, Alison is the Wildrose Party’s worst nightmare. She certainly brings with her some issues that they’d camp out overnight just to attack – such as her participation with Human Rights Commissions – but, on the flip side, she’s an articulate woman who flat-out knows her stuff and loves to mix it up, verbally.  Which cancels out many of the advantages that the Wildrose expected they’d have over Ed Stelmach in the next election (Ed has been called many things over the years, but “womanly” has never been one of them).  In the verbal sparring match between the former television personality and the lawyer, once they go off-script, you bet the lawyer. Every time. And if public debates matter, that has to be a very worrying outcome for the Wildrose.

Policy:

Much of Redford’s campaign has focused on the need for immediate solutions to immediate issues, followed by long-term planning. Examples of this include her pledge to immediately reverse the teacher cuts of this fall to get those teachers back into Alberta classrooms, and the setting up of Family Care Clinics so that families with working parents can still access the health system without needing to go to the local E.R.  Some of the others:

• Rejuvenating Albertans’ freedom to access government information by speeding up replies to requests for information and keeping processing fees low;
• Mandating that leadership candidates from all parties must publicly disclose their donors so Albertans can see where each is drawing support;
• Enacting whistle-blower legislation to force government to own up to its mistakes and in doing so, learn from them;
• Studying methods of telephone and e-voting so the disabled, residents in isolated areas and Albertans traveling abroad can easily have their say at election time.
• Increase funding for the arts in the education system, allowing schools to provide stronger course offerings with more capacity;
• Develop an organized campaign to promote kids’ access to the arts outside school – studies show that kids who regularly attend public art performances display a higher degree of public engagement as adults.
• Encourage high schools to develop close links with post-secondary universities, colleges and trade schools to allow students to obtain dual credits, better preparing them for higher studies;
• End provincial achievement tests for Grades 3 and 6, as these are too stressful for students and do not impart the information we need to measure performance.
• Legislate to end the “No Fail” practice in grade school, giving every student the chance to succeed or fail on their own merits.
• Allow adults at any age to obtain their high school diplomas for free via continuing education, no matter their age or how long they’ve been out of school.
• It is important that we restart the discussion between the ATA, school boards and the province to renew the current arrangement that would include more prep time for teachers, changes to professional days and review of class sizes. Guaranteed funding is needed to ensure we can continue to improve what we have started.
• Put post-secondary education funding on a 3-year funding cycle, so institutions will know what to expect and be able to plan effectively.
• Ensure all health care services at continuing care facilities are provided by Alberta Health Services. We need to separate private delivery of housing and related services from publicly funded and publicly delivered health care services.
• Expand the range of health care that is provided in continuing care facilities and seniors private homes so that seniors don’t have to travel to hospitals unnecessarily. Not only will this be more convenient and comfortable for seniors, it will also reduce pressure on our acute care system.
• Devolve decision making authority, and the responsibility that goes with it, to local decision makers within the health care system.
• Require AHS to publish local quarterly performance reports according to a set of indicators with comparisons to provincial standards in including: 

               – Emergency wait times
               – Surgery wait times
               – Hospital and clinic acquired infection rates

• $1,500 Family Recreation Tax Credit to support participation in organized sports and recreational activities like summer camps.
• Childcare must be accessible and affordable. Alberta will subsidize childcare for all Alberta families with less than $50,000 household income.
• Create a 10-year corporate tax exemption for new daycare operators and a personal income tax exemption for all income earned by daycare or day home employees and owners.
• Reintroduce full-day kindergarten within one year of forming government.
• Create a Department of Human Services to replace Child & Family Services, Community Spirit, Housing & Urban Affairs, Employment & Immigration and Aboriginal Affairs (shrinking cabinet by 4 ministries).
• Establish a truly independent Child Advocate to monitor the performance of provincial child welfare services, advocate on behalf of children in care and report directly to the Legislative Assembly.
• Start a Children’s Serious Incident Review Team to independently investigate the death of any child in provincial care.
• Require all government departments to conduct detailed program reviews and demonstrate why programs and services cannot be delivered by community-based organizations or the private sector. Within six months, I want to identify services that can be transferred to community leadership or privatized.
• Implement a five-year funding model for Alberta Health Services and a three-year model for education at all levels.
• Order regular budgetary reviews to uncover savings in existing expenditures wherever possible. Departmental budgets will only grow when there is a clear need, not just a desire for more money.

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Candyman.

Candyman.

If you look into a mirror and say it 3 times, so the legend goes, you’re in for a VERY bad night.

So it goes, too, with “Wildrose Party” – at least, if you subscribe to Ted Morton’s view of provincial politics.

Long a darling of the “deep blue” conservatives in this province – first as one of the brains behind the Reform Party, and later as a senator-elect and PC Leadership candidate in 2006 (finishing 3rd behind Jim Dinning and Ed Stelmach), Ted Morton is a giant among conservative thinkers. Born in Los Angeles in 1949, Morton chose at the age of 32 to move to Canada, and 10 years later became a Canadian citizen. His detractors suggest he is therefore somehow “less Canadian than the rest of us”, but that’s purely tripe. He earned his doctorate in political science, and then went to work in the trenches with the nascent Reform Party, believing in its message of lower taxes, traditional values, fiscal responsibility and democratic reform.

During his 2006 run for the PC Leadership, Morton was roasted by the media (this blogger included) for his decidedly right-of-centre slant. Morton finished third in that race, and since then Alberta has seen the rise of the Wildrose Party (nee Wildrose Alliance), espousing many of the same values and policies that Morton brought to the table in 2006. Those ideas have clearly found an audience, although to what degree the Wildrose was a protest against Ed Stelmach and his policies rather than the natural evolution of political thought in Alberta and the “new normal”, remains for history to decide. Ted, though, has his own theory – warning us that the only way to bring the Wildrose supporters “back to the mothership” is to send them a sign, through his ascendancy to the PC throne, that right-of-centre ideas are welcome in today’s PC Party. He goes on to warn that vote-splitting of the right-of-centre vote between the PC Party and the Wildrose would make it possible for the Alberta Liberals, New Democrats and possibly even the Alberta Party to take advantage and wrestle away seats – or even control of government, as was seen when the federal political scene featured both the PC Party and the Reform Party, and Jean Chretien’s Liberals reaped the benefits.

For their part, I haven’t spoken to many Wildrose supporters who have indicated a Morton victory means they’ll tear up their Wildrose card and come back to the PCs. But they MAY just be playing coy.

Policy:

Morton has mostly stayed away from the traditional “social conservative” policies that earned him so much scorn in 2006, instead calculating that most Albertans agree with him on fiscal policy and the need for reform. His policies, therefore, have a decidedly mathematical and “common sensical” (it’s a word NOW) slant to them. For example:

• Return Alberta to balanced budgets by restraining spending, not by making deep service cuts or tax hikes.
• Limit the annual growth of government spending to no more than population plus inflation—ensuring that the public sector grows no faster than the private sector.
• Ensure the Alberta Advantage by not raising income taxes or introducing a PST. And a Morton government will legislate that no future government can increase income taxes without Albertans’ approval by referendum.
• Protect Albertans from short-term fluctuations in government revenues by rebuilding the Sustainability Fund.
• Protect Alberta’s future by rebuilding the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund
• Work more closely with Ottawa under the Federal Pan-Canadian Framework for the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Qualifications to expedite entry of foreign-trained professionals into the Alberta work force.
• Negotiate an immigration agreement with the federal government to move decision-making on immigration to Alberta, similar to Quebec’s current agreement.
• Immediately put a stake in the heart of Bill 50.
• Support the development of new urban conservation areas and parks and a new dedicated fund to help pay for these parks. This fund would also be used to protect environmentally valuable lands (such as the conservation easements on OH Ranch) and to build new recreational infrastructure (such as campgrounds and trails)
• Amend the current Leadership Selection Process by adopting a cut-off date for the sale of memberships before balloting begins. The current system allows people to purchase memberships on the last day of voting – minutes before they cast their ballots. Many of these “two minute Tories” tear up their newly purchased membership cards as soon as they exit the voting booth.
• Provide the opportunity for PCAA members to purchase multi-year memberships.
• Continue with the implementation of Alberta Netcare (Alberta’s electronic health records system) and will replace the current paper Alberta Personal Health Cards with secure Smart cards for Albertans.
• Re-institute the practice of sending yearly statements to each person using Alberta health services so Albertans know the costs of their personal health care.
• Ensure that all existing property rights of landowners and leaseholders are respected—including all existing rights to compensation, plus the new right to compensation for loss of value caused by any new environmental restrictions on current use.
• The Alberta Tuition Tax Credit Program will provide a refund of tuition paid by Alberta students if they complete their program of study and then remain in Alberta and work for the next seven years. The tuition will be paid back in the form of non-refundable tax-credits and capped at a maximum value of $20,000.
• I will establish a transparent, independent review of MLA compensation and roll back the 2008 Cabinet and MLA pay increases until I receive the recommendations of the review.
• I will introduce fixed election dates, removing the power of the Premier to arbitrarily choose when Albertans go to the polls.
• I will introduce term limits for Premiers – no more than two full four-year terms and a maximum of 10 years total. This would ensure the province continues to move forward with vigorous leadership and fresh vision.
• I will reduce the size of Cabinet from the 24 that we have now to 17
• Reclaim Alberta’s position as the leading voice for Senate reform by holding new Senate elections in conjunction with Alberta’s provincial elections. 
 

The Long & Short Of It: 
 

July 28th will go down as the day that the Morton campaign hit its biggest snag. There have been hard days since – the Frederick Lee/document shredding “scandal” springs to mind – but on July 28th, the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald ran stories about a poll that showed the PC Party at 54% public support, and the Wildrose at 16%. In effect, Ted’s “We need the Wildrosers to come back” argument had suffered a devastating blow. And yet, the mantra has stayed the same… at every function, on every doorstep, in every speech, Ted continues his insistence that the party members, donors and Albertan voters who have spurned the PCs for the Wildrose are going to cost the party – and perhaps the province – dearly when the votes are counted. Is he right? Well… he’s got his doctorate in political science, so chances are good that he knows a little bit about which he speaks. Ultimately, however, it’s another Journal/Herald poll that, ironically, might get Ted onto the second ballot. A poll released yesterday shows Morton in 4th place, trailing Doug Horner by just 1 point. As Morton learned ALL too well in 2006, the first ballot battle isn’t to win outright, it’s to finish in the top 3 and buy yourself 2 more weeks to sell memberships and mobilize your voters. Bet the farm that Morton’s people went to Costco and bought several pallets of Red Bull yesterday, because they (and the 10 MLA’s endorsing Morton) are going to pull out all the stops to get him that extra 2 points he needs to make the second ballot. 

Will the provincial government look radically different under Ted Morton? Absolutely. For the better? Some would say so. But the critical question for a lot of party members as they consider their options on Saturday remains exactly the same as in 2006: If Ted Morton is given a mandate to lead this party, and if the Wildrose defectors DO come back to the mothership, will it still be the PROGRESSIVE Conservative Association of Alberta?

Links:

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That said, Gary Mar had better find the accelerator on his huge campaign bus, because momentum can be a fickle mistress for such a massive campaign.

Mar has been the front-runner for this race since the day after the LAST PC Leadership race. An able cabinet minister, Mar served as an MLA for his north Calgary riding from 1993 to 2007 and as a cabinet minister under Ralph Klein in the portfolios of Environment, Community Development, Education, Health and International/Intergovernmental Relations. Before being first elected at age 31, Mar was a lawyer in his hometown of Calgary, earning the much-coveted “Q.C.” designation for his accomplishments in the legal field.

After leaving the political arena in 2007, Mar accepted a posting to Washington as Minister-Counsellor of the Province of Alberta to the United States. In this capacity, Mar was Alberta’s point man for any issue that required the attention of U.S. lawmakers in the Capitol. This included issues such as agriculture and energy. Mar was criticized for accepting his MLA transition package while continuing to work for the government in a paid role.

Indeed, despite his accomplishments and (compared to his old boss) squeaky-clean image, controversy has dogged Mar from time to time. In addition to the severance package, which he initially had deferred and then later accepted while working in Washington, Gary also ran into trouble during this leadership race when one of his booths was photographed offering “Free Memberships” to students. After a few tense hours, the story that came from the Mar camp was that a donor had offered to pay for student memberships, rather than the suggestion that, in contravention of the rules, Mar’s campaign was purchasing memberships for people. These whiffs of scandal have also served to remind voters of the Kelly Charlebois issue, when Mar’s Ministry (Health & Wellness) awarded a non-tendered contract to Charlebois, Gary’s former executive assistant, for “advice” that produced no written record or reports. The cost to taxpayers? A paltry $400,000. What’s almost half a million between friends?

Despite criticisms old or new, valid or invalid, Mar has raised an absolute boatload of cash with which to run his campaign. Indeed, while some of his opponents drive their private vehicles to forums, Mar has run a General Election-style campaign, even having his massive and VERY visible orange campaign bus drive to the forum in Fort McMurray while Gary himself flew in days earlier. Mar is said to be spending over a quarter of a million dollars in ads over the next week, and there’s probably a lot more than that in reserve for the second ballot, if required.  It’s not just money that Gary’s swimming in, however – it’s also endorsements from sitting PC MLA’s. At last count, Gary had the public backing of 26 MLA’s, including half of the current cabinet. Conventional wisdom is that Gary should, by all accounts, win this race – and it’s a good career move to be backing the guy who wins. This can also be seen in the very polished “fresh-out-of-university-polisci” look & feel of Gary’s younger supporters, and their handlers. New executive assistants and caucus researchers and campaign managers will be the order of the day when the new leader takes over. It’s unfortunate, because there are a lot of MLA’s and young people who genuinely buy Gary’s message and support him for all the RIGHT reasons – but they’re lumped in with the career climbers.

Mar’s messaging has been about “Greatness on purpose, rather than by accident”, and he has opined that he feels Albertans today are more inclined to follow visionary leadership like Lougheed’s in the 70s, rather than Klein’s populism of the 90s.

Policy:

Mar’s policies are a bit of a mish-mash on his website. There’s a LOT of text, to be sure, but much of it is background. It’s also hard to navigate between the “paragraph-style” content, the “bullet point policy steps”, the press releases, and the one policy document that was actually in pdf format. The lack of consistency in format, though, doesn’t dilute the fact that there’s a lot of good stuff in there. Among the highlights:

• That the federal government designate the building of energy infrastructure to the U.S. Gulf Coast and the West Coast of Canada as a national economic priority and ensure they receive the needed national support to get done.
• Implement the recommendations of the Alberta Environmental Panel Monitoring Report on environmental monitoring of the oil sands.
• Work with industry to evaluate the merits sharing the cost of development of roads and other common infrastructure in areas of intense energy development.
• Ensuring stability in the current royalty regime for conventional oil, natural gas and the oil sands.
• Remove the discretionary power of Cabinet under Bill 50 to establish Critical Transmission Infrastructure (CTI) requirements and place it with the Legislature where all Parties can debate and approve the action. The need for CTI can also be determined, as it was in the past, by the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC), in full consultation with industry stakeholders and Alberta consumers.
• Reach out to families and friends of seniors by developing an enhanced caregiver supports program to include respite and elder “day care” components. There are opportunities to build on existing tax credits to ensure that families and friends can stay home to care for their loved ones when it is necessary.
• Build a common entry point for access to all seniors housing and health services. The Accommodation Standards public reporting website could be built on to include information such as wait times to get into a supportive living or continuing care facility. This website could serve as a portal for information on accommodation costs and services provided.
• Work with Albertans on preparing for their senior years by encouraging financial planning and wellness initiatives.
• Establish an independent Alberta Environmental Monitoring Authority with an expert staff. This independent authority will monitor and report on the environmental impacts of developing Alberta’s energy resources, from oil sands to fracing and CO2-enhanced oil recovery.
• Prohibit bulk water exports.
• Put the implementation of Bill 36 on hold until a full dialogue has been undertaken on the two existing regional plans (the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan and the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan) and Albertans have time to see how they will be implemented. These first two plans will serve as pilots. Action on further regional plans will not proceed until we get these first two plans right
• Commit to a comprehensive public review of Alberta’s tax system, with the objectives of enhancing overall productivity, competitiveness, and innovation, creating opportunities for further job creation, and strengthening the capacity of Alberta families to participate in the global economy. This work will commence once the provincial budget is balanced in 2013/14, and a sustainable balance between revenues and expenses has been restored. Tax reductions must be affordable.
• Work with the federal government to target and fast track skilled workers needed by the Alberta economy, and to remove the cap on immigrants under the Immigrant Nominee Program (INP).
• Work with the federal government to accelerate the process for foreign credential recognition. 
• Commit to reducing the number of ministries and ministers. For example, it will put the Treasury Board and Finance and Enterprise ministries back together so that government’s spending, revenue and budget planning work hand in hand once again.
• Establishing a high school completion rate target of 100 percent, to stretch provincial efforts to ensure students complete high school.
• Pushing ahead on enhancing the role of schools as “community hubs”, so that parents and families can access various services. Schools, community agencies and service providers work together to deliver services in a coordinated, “wrap-around” approach.
• Commit to stable and predictable operating funding for schools boards. Stable and predictable funding would allow school jurisdictions to plan ahead and to know how much funding they can count on to implement long term plans and initiatives.
• Municipalities will be given full access to the education property tax base, effective the 2013 assessment year. K-12 education funding will not impacted.
• Place greater emphasis on professional development and training opportunities for public servants and make use of various leading edge online, social media and mobile device methods.
• Place greater emphasis on alternative working relationships and flexible working hours, through such approaches as remote access, to allow public servants to more effectively balance work and family obligations.

The Long & Short Of It:

If you want to know who’s going to win a PC Leadership race, you follow the money and the MLA endorsements. Thus goes the conventional wisdom. If this was always the case, though, we’d be on year 6 of Premier Dinning’s reign.

Gary has gone to great lengths, and spent a lot of money to get his name and face everywhere he can. His team has put together a masterful campaign. Every city and town he goes through has a guest column penned by the local MLA, talking about why they’re supporting Gary. His bus has become a fixture at public events across the province. And yet, for all his talk of “Change”, and despite the fact that he wasn’t directly tied to the Stelmach regime, Gary is perceived as the “status quo” candidate. In fact, a lot of the PCs I hang around with have expressed the opinion that Gary is the candidate under whom the PC Government would change the LEAST – at least, until election time, when Mar’s speaking style – hilariously lampooned by a local pundit in Calgary as “Droopy Dog teaching third grade” – would be put up against Raj Sherman’s passion and Danielle Smith’s polished libertarian soundbytes.

Mar’s team has to use all of the manpower and cash at their disposal to get out the vote on Saturday. The front-runner often sees supporters staying home, on account of victory being all but assured. Gary can’t afford to take victory for granted – he knows this, and needs to make sure his supporters know it, as well. But if you’re betting money on the most likely winner of this race, you’d be wise to bet Mar.

26 sitting MLA’s already have.

Links:

Gary Mar campaign website

Calgary Herald profile and video for Gary Mar

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Any story about Doug Horner’s rise in politics has to start with the Horner legacy.

Doug’s grandfather, Ralph, was a Senator for Saskatchewan.  At the time of Doug’s birth, his father was the sitting Member of Parliament for Jasper-Edson. Three of his uncles also served as MPs. After 9 years in Ottawa, Horner’s father stepped down to try his hand at provincial politics, and served as an MLA for 12 years, first as a member of the 6-strong Official Opposition PC Caucus under young firebrand Peter Lougheed, and later holding cabinet posts as Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Transportation, Minister of Economic Development and Deputy Premier.

So, yeah… Doug’s got some family connections.

All that said, though, Horner seemingly resisted the siren call of political service, opting to strike out on his own as a young man. After following the money to jobs in the oilpatch and at a lumber mill, Horner attended SAIT in Calgary (a stint during which he developed an unfortunate attachment to the Calgary Stampeders), married at age 19 (!) and worked in the financial sector as a banker, as well as in agriculture, where he did sales and marketing for ConAgra in Nebraska for several years. After returning to Alberta, Horner (at age 29) enlisted and served as a Canadian Forces Reservist, fulfilling a lifelong dream. In 2001, at the urging of his MLA (Ken Kowalski) he got into the family business, winning election to the Legislative Assembly, where he has served ever since. After 3 years on the back benches, Doug got the call from Ralph Klein to sit in Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, and later had a very successful stint as Minister of Advanced Education and Technology under Ed Stelmach – also serving as the most recent Deputy Premier.

Fighting throughout the campaign to get noticed among the flashier and more controversial candidates, Horner has also had to work hard to avoid being stuck with the label “Stelmach 2.0″, as many Stemach loyalists have jumped on board the Horner Campaign. Indeed, while Doug spends a great deal of time talking about the things that will change if he wins the leadership, it’s worth noting that the cabinet mainstay and former number-2 man on the totem pole has 15 endorsements from sitting MLA’s for whom the “old way of doing things” worked out just fine -among them Speaker Ken Kowalski, who replaced Doug’s father upon his retirement under Lougheed and will celebrate his 32nd year in the Legislature this November – so, the “Change” motivation is a bit harder to believe in some cases. It’s also reportedly a source of frustration that Horner has been painted as a “rural candidate”, a characterization reinforced by the fact that of his 15 MLA endorsements, only one – Lindsay Blackett – comes from a constituency within one of Alberta’s 2 big cities.

Policy:

Horner has released a LOT of policy, making his candidacy a field-day for wonks such as myself. Among the more interesting (to me) policies:

• Accelerate the development of new technologies that reduce environmental impacts, economic costs and extraction deficiencies;
• Embrace the social licence given to Alberta to develop our natural resources wisely by protecting the environment and encouraging economic diversification;
• Develop separate investment and trade strategies for China, India, Mexico, Middle East, and South America;
• Establish a stable regulatory environment and a planned approach to growth for a vibrant energy sector in Alberta;
• Give education professionals the tools and resources they need to achieve success for our students. Confront our high school dropout rate with systems and programs that reduce the rate by 10% per year over five years;
• Reduce the barriers to education by using technology tools and resources that are both scalable and distributable. Let’s become the first jurisdiction to create the virtual text book library for all students K-12;
• Working with all stakeholders in the system to remove the requirement for doctors to deliver all services face to face in order to bill. Access is the number one issue facing Albertans today and we must open the points of access to health professionals best suited to effectively treat the patient.
• Collaborating with stakeholders to minimize unnecessary residency requirements for foreign-trained doctors. Establish equivalency programmes with non-Albertan medical schools to recognize training conducted outside our province and country.
• Enabling health care professionals to practice to the full scope of their training and keep pace with innovations already practiced by several healthcare disciplines. Enable direct payment from the publicly funded system for their services.
• Establishing meaningful benchmarks for wait list times and offer Albertans options to seek medical care from other providers with the province funding a majority of those costs;
• Explore increasing coverage and options for Alberta Blue Cross.
• Introduce engagement opportunities for Senior Citizens to mentor, and participate with youth in the community, including school participation, business mentoring, and other ideas to tap the enormous wealth of knowledge and experience that our elders have;
• Establish a care-giver tax credit for family members who care for senior citizens who live in their home or nearby;
• Negotiate an Alberta-specific immigration policy with the federal government in the same manner as Quebec’s immigration model, tailored to Alberta’s needs, and is flexible and responsive;
• Develop foreign academic equivalency programs that allow new graduates in targeted countries to be qualified for work in Alberta upon graduation as opposed to having to be re-qualified once landed in Alberta;
• Augment temporary foreign worker programs to allow for job transferability and qualification for full citizenship with the timely immigration of family members.
• Create an Associate Ministry whose focus is on the wellness of all Albertans in sport, fitness and nutrition. Put emphasis on our children, youth, adult and senior-citizen involvement in community-based activity programs;
• Double the funding for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts over the next three years and establish a basis for long-term planning and funding;
• Begin discussion with the AUMA and AAMDC on “MSI 2” (Municipal Sustainability Initiative 2) that includes “no strings attached” to up-front funding; a funding model designed to recognize unique challenges of high growth areas and the importance of local decisions. We need to include our Metis settlements in the discussion and the model should also recognize that our two major centres have unique issues;
• Suspend the implementation of regulations related to the Alberta Land Stewardship Act, until such time as all seven watersheds are fully studied and the implication of water-use is comprehensively understood with regard to the environment and economy;
• Determine with industry and Albertans, the current and forecast transmission capacity requirements and ensure that transmission line construction meets our anticipated capacity requirements. The final determination of transmission construction should rest with Alberta`s elected officials;
• Increasing time spent engaging Albertans in home constituencies by elected representatives on matters of importance to Albertans; and
• Eliminate hiring freezes and other imposed barriers to attracting the best and the brightest into the public service;
• Provide opportunities for Government of Alberta employees to be engaged in their communities and to contribute to volunteer organizations;
• Amend the Municipal Government Act to establish four-year terms of elected officials to allow for greater long-term planning;
• Commit to long-term funding for regional school divisions across the province, each with the authority to deliver services and also to publicly share performance metrics which benchmark and compare performance with the other provincial regions. We must have a funding model that recognizes that some areas and issues are not the same across the Province.
• Harness the brainpower and feedback of 3.7 million Albertans on a continual basis with online policy forums that promote democracy and engagement across the province;

In particular, Horner has a lot of very interesting policies regarding healthcare and promotion of healthy lifestyles, to address the cause rather than the symptom of ballooning health costs.

Links:

Doug Horner campaign website

Calgary Herald profile and video for Doug Horner

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The PC Party, according to Orman, has strayed from its founding principles. It doesn’t handle itself the way it should. It needs saving. And Rick, after 18 years away from politics, is just the man for the job – or, so says Rick.

But who IS this Rick Orman?

A Getty loyalist, Orman was a cabinet minister in the Getty PC governments of the late 80s and early 90s. When Getty was ousted as leader, Orman ran in the subsequent campaign to replace his old mentor, and finished third behind Ralph Klein and Nancy Betkowski, whom he endorsed over Klein (Betkowski went on to contest & win the Liberal Leadership and served as Leader of the Opposition under her new married name, Nancy MacBeth). Getting out of politics after his leadership loss, Orman (who married a daughter of one of Alberta’s wealthiest families) went into the energy sector, where he founded several companies and did business both domestically and internationally.

Rick takes a lot of offence over the sort of management he’s seen from the PCs in recent years. So much so, in fact, that in listening to him speak you’d think he’s running to be leader of an opposition party. The royalty change? Terrible idea. Deficit spending? Unacceptable, regardless of circumstance. Not keeping up with the Heritage Trust Fund? Brutal decision. He suggests intimidation of doctors is taking place. He’s sure that the government is passing land use bills because they want to steal your land. And the band plays on…

Rick’s campaign has been wrought with difficulties, however. He launched his campaign website prematurely, with large sections sitting empty. His social media approach was largely panned at the outset. His well-publicized reluctance to participate in public forums, calling them a “waste of time”. His campaign’s email foibles resulting in an automatic lock-down by Shaw’s servers, and the subsequent tone-deaf response from his spokesman, who simultaneously exposed his candidate to characterizations of “elitist” and “unable to get his calls returned from major party supporters and donors”. Rank-and-file party members are criticizing the Orman campaign’s targeting of specific ethnic communities. Not helping matters is the fact that, for all his insistence that the 5 other candidates be held accountable for the fiscal performance of their governments, he hasn’t yet been able to explain why he shouldn’t be held accountable for the performance of the Getty government, which (while he was in cabinet) doubled the provincial debt and ultimately built the mess that Ralph Klein needed a chainsaw to cut his way out of in the 90s.

Policy:

This is normally where I’d write about the candidate’s policies. Rick, however, doesn’t have policies. According to his website: “Policies hatched by a small group of people, who remain nameless behind closed doors, are no way to make laws that affect everyone”. Instead, Orman offers “Vision Statements”, in which he makes commitments (which read a WHOLE lot like those awful, top-down, secretly-constructed-by-shadowy-figures Policies, to this blogger’s eye) and is careful to link them back to the PC Party Principles (where the “fiscal responsibility” principle was during his time in the Getty cabinet isn’t immediately clear – perhaps it was on vacation?)

Among those commitments:

◦Re-focus government to support new business development, international trade, labour market planning, innovation in skills training and updating, research, product innovation and new technologies to enhance environment protection.

◦Repeal the Alberta Land Stewardship Act (Bill 36) Act , which needlessly sterilizes resources that generate economic growth for large and small communities throughout the province and undermines the property rights of Albertans.

◦Full disclosure of findings of Health Quality Council’s investigation into allegations of wrongdoing. Confirmed cases will be handed over to appropriate authorities for immediate action. Will appoint a Judicial Inquiry if there is reasonable doubt surrounding the thoroughness of the investigation by the Health Quality Council.

◦Negotiation of a new five-year agreement with teachers.

◦Reverse the province’s recent decision to move all lottery revenues into the General Revenue Fund. Rick will restore the Lottery Fund to its original purpose, which included funding for community enhancement projects. Rick will also support increasing the portion of lottery funds allocated to community enhancement projects and arts and culture by $100 million next April 1, 2012.

◦25% reduction in Cabinet.

◦Initiate a review of the 191 government agencies to assess continuing need.

◦In consultation with First Nations and Metis, establish a Premier’s Task Force to identify and remove barriers that are preventing the full, active and meaningful participation of First Nations and Metis in Alberta’s economy.

◦Within ninety days of being elected Premier, Rick will engage post-secondary officials in discussions to determine the most effective approach for implementing a $25,000 Alberta tax credit for graduating students from Alberta post-secondary institutions who choose to remain and work in Alberta.

The Long & Short Of It:

Rick Orman is going to have to have sold an absolute TONNE of memberships to see his name carried forward to a second ballot. Not because of his ideas, or his background. Not because of his campaign, per se. It’s because he’s the only candidate who has essentially declared war on the current iteration of the PC Party. It’s as though he’s saying “Things are all screwed up, and every one of you is to blame for enabling these jerks”. Needless to say, that tactic isn’t going to win Rick a lot of love from existing members. So, if someone’s going to carry Rick to victory, it simply HAS to be the people to whom he’s sold memberships over the past 6 months.

Rick represents change, all right – but is it progress? Or a trip back to the Getty days?

Links:

Rick Orman campaign website

Calgary Herald profile and video for Rick Orman

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Nation, almost 5 years ago, the Enlightened Savage blog was born.  The first post was a welcome. The 2nd was a review of the recent PC Leadership Forum. And the third was the first in a series of profiles of the candidates to replace outgoing Premier Ralph Klein (that first profile was long-shot candidate Ed Stelmach. Whatever happened to that guy?).

The blog was, in effect, born to provide coverage that other outlets just weren’t providing at the time. (Sound familiar, CalgaryPolitics.com readers?)

I’m happy to report that the mainstream media have stepped up their game during the 2011 PC Leadership race – in particular, the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald have done some fantastic work. The Journal’s “Brady Bunch”-esque videos comparing candidate policies are great, while admittedly a little creepy at times. And the Herald has published some very in-depth profiles of the candidates themselves, along with video.

All that said, though, I’m not abdicating my own responsibility to provide some unbiased thoughts on the 5 men and one woman running to be Alberta’s next Premier.  I’ve drawn names, in the presence of witnesses, from my pith helmet (don’t ask), and this is the order of the profiles to be published daily between now and Friday the 16th (the day before the first ballot):

Profile 1: Rick Orman
Profile 2: Doug Horner
Profile 3: Gary Mar
Profile 4: Ted Morton
Profile 5: Alison Redford
Profile 6: Doug Griffiths

Again, I can’t stress this enough: One of these 6 WILL be Alberta’s Premier. They will, at the VERY least, determine how $35 Billion (with a “B”) in public funds will be spent (“public funds” being a political euphemism for “money that belongs to you and me”) and heavily influence the timing of the next provincial election. So, I’m begging you: Get informed. Here, and elsewhere. Slap down your $5, even on the day of the voting, and make an informed choice – even if you’ve never considered supporting the PC’s before. This party – heck, ALL parties – determines its policies based on the participation and expressed opinions of its membership. Throw a Laurier down on the table, and you’re one of those members, at which point your ideas matter just as much as mine or anyone else’s.

You want change?

Don’t WAIT for it.

Make it happen.

Vote.

Note: The Journal’s above-mentioned videos are a bit tricky to find, so I’ve posted them at The Enlightened Savage for your viewing pleasure.

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