Our brilliantly articulate Tory Premier Ed Stelmach has pretty much cleared up any confusion as to what the problem is with Alberta's 36-year old Tory government.
[Alberta] Liberal Leader Kevin Taft also asked Stelmach to explain why his governments refused to raise royalties until this year, despite warnings from the Energy Department that they were missing their internal targets.
"We take advice, obviously, from others," Stelmach said.
"But at the end of the day in this government the decisions are made by government, not listening to advice that may come from bureaucracies."
Posts
7 comments:
and that just sums it up doesn't it?
sigh. I can only hope the 'pur laine' of alberta are in for a painful surprise from the 'ethnic' and 'immigrant' vote next election.
But I keep hearing no one, even the newcomers from parts else, want to jeopardize taking a crumb of the black gold rush.
Civic-style rubber stamping of whatever anyone else says Dave? I don't think you actually want that.
tjk, the civil service exists to provide expert advice and knowledge on the issues. By not listening to the civil service - the experts that the government employs - defeats the purpose of even having the civil service.
No one is saying that the civil service should make the decisions in the end, but you have to have reached a certain level of omnipotence in government to completely ignore the experts which you hired in the first place.
Did Stelmach just confirm what the Auditor General has been accusing them of doing with the lost billions?
The civil service may "provide advice" and the government does seem to listen - BUT it's the government that is elected by the people of Alberta and who is answerable to their constituents - not the "civil service."
The Premier has it right for a change - the government needs to consider ALL of the "advice" (that comes from all areas) and make a decision. That's what governments do.
Stelmach is a stumblebum goof. He is so inarticulate it is hard to decipher what he is trying to say.
I would prefer a technocratic government to what we saw under Klein (i.e. policy made by a bunch of oilmen around a table of the Petroleum Club in Calgary.) Look were that got us. God forbid we research a vexing policy question! (or consider interests other than the oil patch or economy).
Post a Comment