random facts.

A while back, Derek Raymaker tagged me for 8 random facts. So, because I'm original (or I could only think of 6, here are five random facts about myself...):

- I'm a huge Johnny Cash fan. I have 11 Johnny Cash CD's and saw Walk the Line in theatres 3 or 4 times (I own the DVD).

- I was nominated the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal by Cliff Chadderton Chair of the National Council or Veteran Associations of Canada (and I was awarded the medal…)

- I just returned from spending 6 weeks in Quebec.

- I was once almost kicked out the Alberta Legislature for being part of an impromptu media scrum in front of the Premier's Office on the fourth floor (Ralph Klein actually walked by during the scrum). Apparently you're not allowed to do that.

- I've visited the Big Valley Creation Science Museum...

- I was once in Amersterdam's Schiphol Airport during a bomb threat.

And because it's only fair, I'll have to tag Dan, Blake, and Ken.

an unruly bunch.

Ed Stelmach leaves the province for only a couple of days, and already the kids are at each others throats...

Tory MLA slams Ted Morton
By RENATO GANDIA, SUN MEDIA

Tory MLA Denis Ducharme is slamming Sustainable Resource Minister Ted Morton’s decision to allow seismic tests by a Calgary-based company on Marie Lake, one of Alberta’s remaining pristine bodies of water.

He’s also “very disappointed” that he found out about the decision through the media.

“I found that his lack of professional courtesy to me was unacceptable,” Ducharme, of the Bonnyville-Cold Lake constituency, told Sun Media. “I’m certainly going to be having a discussion with the premier regarding this decision.”

Ducharme suggested Morton’s hands may be tied by the province’s oil development policy.

“Maybe there are some changes that have to be done,” he said. “Unfortunately, Mr. Morton did not show leadership.”

daveberta in outremont.

Last weekend, I spent the last days of my six weeks in la belle provence of Québec on the island of Montreal.

Along with going to check out the Tamtams, I also took a walk through the streets of Outremont, where a federal by-election happens to be occuring.

Being a good political blogger, I tried to play the game of "spot the campaign sign." Unfortunately, I was only able to spot two candidate's campaign signs on the streets of Outremont...

NDP candidate Thomas Mulcair

Bloc Quebecois candidate Jean-Paul Gilson

I found it quite interesting that neither Federal Liberal candidate Jocelyn Coulon or Conservative candidate Gilles Duguay had signage posted for their candidacy, especially since the riding was vacated by former Liberal MP Jean LaPierre (then again...). The 2006 election saw Jean LaPierre gain 35% of the vote compared to 28% for Bloc Quebecois candidate Jacques Leonard, 17% for NDP candidate Leo-Paul Lauzon, and 12% for Conservative candidate Daniel Fournier. With this kind of vote split in a General Election, it should be interesting to see how voters in Outremont will vote in the September 17, 2007 by-election.

Also, having spent the past 5 weeks in the Saguenay-Lac-St. Jean region of Quebec, I think we could see some interesting results from the Roberval–Lac-St-Jean by-election to replace former Bloc MP Michel Gauthier. More on this in another post.

(and yes, I can see that the Thomas Mulcair sign is sideways)

i'm back...

...in Alberta.

And two new candidates have been added to the 2007 Edmonton Municipal Election candidates list: Ward 1 candidate Andrew Knack and Ward 6 candidate Chuck McKenna.

I will try to keep this list as updated as possible, so if you have knowledge of candidates that should be added feel free to post them here or email me at daveberta@linuxmail.org.

2007 edmonton municipal election candidates.

UPDATED: Click here for the official list of City Council candidates!

Because it is never to early to start up a list of election candidates, I have put together a list of candidates running for election or re-election in the Edmonton City Council elections on October 15, 2007 (candidates in BOLD are daveberta approved candidates - I will announce more as the election approaches).

I will try to keep this list as updated as possible (last updated on September 14, 2007), so if you have knowledge of candidates that should be added feel free to post below or email me at daveberta@linuxmail.org.

2007 Edmonton City Council candidates
(* indicates incumbency)

Mayor of Edmonton
Dustin Becker
Dave Dowling
Peter Lefaivre
Stephen Mandel*
Sonny Pawchuk
Bill Whatcott

Edmonton City Council
Ward 1 (Map)
Betty Kennedy
Andrew Knack
Karen Leibovici*
Linda Sloan*

Ward 2 (Map)
Jabin Caouette
Ron Hayter*
Kerry Hutton
Kim Krushell*
Dave Loken
Mike Sokoluik
Shelley Tupper

Ward 3 (Map)
Kyle Balombin
Tony Caterina
Ed Gibbons*
Jacob Hiller
Chris Martin
George Tsoukalas
Harvey Voogd
(Councillor Janice Melnychuk is not seeking re-election)

Ward 4 (Map)
Jane Batty*
Lewis Cardinal
Judith (Jodi) Flatt
Ben Henderson
Rev. Brian Patterson
Hana Razga
Brent Thompson
Steven Townsend
Brian Wissink
Debbie Yeung
(Councillor Michael Phair is not seeking re-election)

Ward 5 (Map)
Bryan Anderson*
Don Iveson
Brent Michalyk
Mike Nickel*

Ward 6 (Map)
Lori Jeffery-Heaney
Joani Linder
Chuck McKenna
Chinwe Okelu
Ronald Palmer
Amarjeet Sohi
Dave Thiele*
Thomas Dennis Vasquez
(Councillor Terry Cavanagh is not seeking re-election)

poll results.

In June 2007, I placed a poll on this blog to unscientifically gauge the voting intentions of daveberta readers.

With a total of 500 votes, here are the results...

Question: If a provincial election were held today, which party`s candidate would you vote for?

Alberta Alliance	18%	90
Alberta Greens	3%	14
Alberta Liberals	32%	160
Alberta NDP	31%	155
Alberta PC	13%	67
Alberta Social Credit	1%	5
Other	2%	9

I was very interested to see that this blog is quickly becoming a favorite of New Democrats. But considering their 1% and 3% showings of support in the Drumheller-Stettler and Calgary Elbow by-elections I don`t think this is indicative of an orange éruption in the next election.

Also, I`ve put up a new poll for your voting pleasure...

(Also, vote for Harry!)

an albertan in chicoutimi.

Because I`ve spent the last 4 weeks in Chicoutimi, Quebec I thought it would be interesting to look at the past federal election results for the city over the past 15 years. So, here they are for your reading pleasure…

Chicoutimi
1993
Gilbert Fillion, BQ – 29,392
André Harvey, PC – 11,038
Georges Frenette, Lib – 4,958
Christine Moore, NDP – 541

1997
André Harvey, PC – 18,598
Gilbert Fillion, BQ – 18,281
Eric Delisle, Lib – 4,839
Anne-Marie Buck, NDP – 853

Chicoutimi-LeFjord
2000
André Harvey, Lib – 20,105
Noel Tremblay, BQ – 15,073
Mauril Desbiens, Ind – 3,797
Douglas Schroeder-Tabah, AC – 2,001
Alaine Ranger, NDP – 689

2004
Robert Bouchard, BQ – 20,650
André Harvey, Lib – 19,787
Alcide Boudreault, C – 2,385
Éric Dubois, NDP - 1,699
Paul Tremblay, Grn – 1,038

2006
Robert Bouchard, BQ – 19,226
André Harvey, Lib – 14,581
Alcide Boudreault, C – 12,350
Éric Dubois, NDP – 2,571
Jean-Martin Gauthier, Grn – 1,226

(André Harvey has run in every federal election in Chicoutimi since 1984 - he served as the Member of Parliament for Chicoutimi from 1984-1993 and 1997 to 2004 - as a Progressive Conservative from 1984-1993 and 1997-2000, and as a Liberal from 2000 to 2004).

liberal v. progressive.

Well, it`s a beautiful balmy +31C in the Saguenay today - a nice change from the rain and cloudy weather from the past three weeks.

Though I`ve been mostly cut off from the world outside of the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region for the past three weeks, I was able to catch some of the CNN-YouTube debate between the Democratic Presidential candidates yesterday.

It was an interesting debate and I found the unscripted answers in response to the YouTube questions to be quite telling. I particularily found that Senator Hillary Clinton`s response to the `do you consider youself a liberal?` question by declaring that she is a `progressive` was interesting. It just shows how well the Republicans have been able to change the political language in the United States by making the word `liberal` a negative word. I personally like the term `progressive,` but it also has different conotations in different political environments.

But in the end, it`s all sematics. It`s just a name. Parties and politicians should be judged by their actions and policies, not by their brand name.

living the high life in d.c.

I may be all the way in Chicoutimi, Quebec but this still caught my attention. It looks like the Alberta Tories Ambassador to the United States of America isn`t having many problems enjoying a taxpayer funded high life in the District of Columbia...

Bills detail lavish perks for Alberta's D.C. envoy
Taxis cost $6,000 despite car; annual allowance of $15,000 added to $223,000 salary
Darcy Henton, The Edmonton Journal
Published: 1:50 am

EDMONTON - Alberta's man in Washington had just the right pitch to get the taxpayers to pay for a GPS for his $42,500 government fleet car.

Murray Smith told provincial officials he needed the global positioning system because he'd been lost for an hour chauffeuring premier Ralph Klein around Maryland during the premier's visit last year.

"Don't want to do that again," he wrote in an e-mail obtained by The Journal under Freedom of Information legislation.

...

But the Canadian Taxpayers Federation expressed shock at the Washington office expenditures, especially the GPS.

"That's unbelievable," said Alberta director Scott Hennig. "What does it cost to buy a map? $5? What about a Google map? That's free."

Indeed...

Also, Jeffery Simpson has some thoughts on Ed Stelmach`s Alberta Tories 34% approval rating...

daveberta à qc.

Yes, I`m still alive and well here in la belle provence.

I was in Quebec City over the past couple days for the festival d`été (with musique) and had a lot of fun. I`ve actually been enjoying the Québec music scene quite a bit. On Friday night, Xavier Rudd played a show at the festival and it was great. I would recommend to anyone in the area during that time to check out that festival.

Nothing else to report. The Saguenay is still beautiful, but I`m longing to gaze across the Alberta prairies once again... soon enough.

salut!

Bonjour! I just wanted to write a quick message to let everyone know that I`m still alive. I`m enjoying myself in Quebec (I am in Chicoutimi right now and was able to find a computer with les internets).

Since I haven`t been paying much attention to the Alberta scene since I`ve come to Quebec I`m not totally up to speed on the newest news of the day. I was able to do a bit of a blog scan in the past couple minutes, so I would recommend that you check out CalgaryGrit as Dan has had some good posts over the past couple days.

For those of you wondering, the Montreal Jazz Festival was lot of fun. I would recommend it to anyone who just enjoys fun in general.

If I reach another location with access to les internets in the next month I`ll try to post again, but if not, Daveberta will return to regularily scheduled postings in August 2007.

PS: Also, comment dit-ton free fall en francais?

happy canada day!

I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy Canada Day!

(I'm in Montreal enjoying the amazing Jazz Festival)

top ten.

I'm going to be taking a break from the world of blogging for the month of July, but I will be back in August.

Until then, I will leave you with the Ed Stelmach Top Ten List...

10. The $5,000 Fundraiser

9. Ed Stelmach's first cabinet (90% male, 90% rural, 90% rookie)

8. Ed Stelmach's second cabinet (89% male, 89% rural, 89% rookie).

7. The Stelmach-Oberg 2007 Budget.

6. Ed Stelmach agreeing with Calgary Elbow PC candidate Brian Heninger that he should be choked (Heninger was defeated by Alberta Liberal Craig Cheffins. Kevin Taft's Alberta Liberals won Calgary Elbow after 36 years as a Tory stronghold).

5. Ed Stelmach picking a fight with Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier over municipal funding.

4. Ed Stelmach letting Education Minister Ron Liepert pick a fight with the Alberta Teachers' Association over the unfunded pension liability during a bargaining year.

3. Ed Stelmach defending the AEUB for hiring four private investegators to spy on Albertans and their lawyers.

2. Ed Stelmach doing nearly nothing to address Alberta's growing affordable housing crisis.

1. Ed Stelmach blaming market forces for his 19 point drop in support in Calgary.

There you have it folks, see you in August!

alberta: political clearing house.

The newest of the new in the never halting rotating door of right-wing parties is entering stage right: The Wildrose Party.

If Ken's list is correct, it is certainly an interesting group. Senator-in-waiting Lynk Byfeild, former Alberta Alliance candidates Elanor Maroes and Marilyn Burns, and Gordon Stamp.

commissioner to investigate aeub.

As Ed Stelmach and Mel Knight continue to defend the AEUB for its hiring of four private investagators to spy on Albertans and their lawyers in Rimbey, Information and Privacy Commissioner Frank Work has opened an investigation into the AEUB scandal.

Meanwhile, the angry letters continue to roll into the newspapers.

shuffling the political deck.

From Andrew Cohen in today's Ottawa Citizen:

If Saskatchewan is poised for change, so is Alberta, where the Conservatives have been in office since 1971. The loss of Ralph Klein's seat -- which the Conservatives held for years -- in a recent byelection in Calgary may well be the first knock on the door of their undoing.

Led by the intelligent Kevin Taft, the Liberals offer a government-in-waiting. Mr. Taft's provocative new book, Democracy Derailed, is a searing indictment of a government that he calls unaccountable and unimaginative in a province coping with explosive growth.

Alberta, like Saskatchewan, is on the cusp of change.

take two.

In reaction to the Alberta Liberal victory in the June 12 Calgary Elbow by-election, Ed Stelmach has added three Associate Ministers to his cabinet. Here are my thoughts on the move:

- A cabinet shuffle this early is a very odd move for a Premier that has yet to receive a mandate from the electorate.

- Appointing Gene Zwozdesky (Edmonton Mill Creek) puts two of three Edmonton Tory MLAs at the cabinet table (does Zwozdesky get a ‘half-seat?’). Zwozdesky’s responsibilities surround “capital planning,” something that suffered greatly over the past decade under the Tories. This may also give Zwozdesky a boost if he decides to run for re-election next Spring (Zwozdesky was re-elected by 781 votes in 2004).

In a related position, Yvonne Fritz (Calgary Cross) becomes Associate Minister of Affordable Housing and Urban Development. I’m not convinced that these two new Associate Minister appointments will actually solve the problems facing Albertans (ie: municipal funding, infrastructure, affordable housing) as what is needed is action and policy change – not the creation of new political jobs with hefty pay increases.

- In an odd move, Cindy Ady (Calgary Shaw) becomes Associate Minister of Tourism Promotion (with responsibility for Alberta’s participation in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver). I’m not quite sure why Alberta needs an Associate Minister of Olympics, but Hector Goudreau needs all the help he can get. I wonder how Mark Norris is feeling this week...

- All three newly appointed Associate Ministers supported Jim Dinning in the PC Leadership selection.

- Both Fritz and Zwozdesky were Ministers in Ralph Klein’s cabinets. All three supported Jim Dinning in the 2006 PC Leadership selection.

- These appointments raise serious concerns about the effectiveness of the Cabinet Policy Committees created after Stelmach became Premier.

- Appointing Justice Minister Ron Stevens as Deputy Premier is substantial only in a superficial manner. Considering that no one noticed when no Deputy Premier was appointed in December, it’s hard to say that this is anything more than bestowing another title. That said, Stelmach would be smart to move closer to veteran Ministers like Stevens and Dave Hancock - as surrounding himself with rookie rural Ministers Ray Danyluk, Lloyd Snelgrove, and Luke Ouellette hasn’t done him much good.

This all occurred the day before the release of a new Ipsos poll released on Saturday that shows party support sitting near 2004 levels (the more things change…).

where are the rolling heads?

As Ed Stelmach continues to defend the AEUB, Tory Minister Mel Knight is refusing to discipline anyone in the AEUB for hiring four private investigators to spy on a group of Alberta farmers and their lawyers.

"They discussed in hindsight that some of the things could have been handled differently and will be using this as a learning opportunity for the future. There will be no disciplinary measures at this time,” Knight's spokesman Jason Chance said.

So, a provincially appointed tax-payer funded public body hired four private investigators to spy on ordinary Albertans and it's a "learning experience?"

There are no repercussions?

No heads are going to roll?

No "review" of security policies?

"There are some very obvious security threats to oil and gas production and we shouldn't discount that, but that is a totally different matter from public engagement in hearings," said Lois Harder, a specialist in Canadian politics. "The effort to keep insisting this is a security issue is a ruse.”

"It's trumped up."

Democracy in Alberta just took another shot, Harder said.

"It's very clear that if there is a threat of violence you call the police, not a private investigator who has no power to stop a threat of violence," Harder said.

This would have been a perfect opportunity for Ed Stelmach to step up and lead by saying that this type of behavior is unacceptable. Instead, he towed the AEUB line. Albertans should be furious.

(Sheila Pratt also has some intersting thoughts on this issue)

not a silent absence.

For those of you wondering about my absence in the wake of this and this, don't despair. I'll be posting something soon. Busy with real life today.

In the meantime, keep on voting in the poll on the sidebar. 145 votes so far...

aeub hired p.i. to spy on albertans.

The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board hired a private investegator to spy on Albertans. Yes. A spy.

To quote Paula Simons:

Activists also allege that one of the EUB's agents, Don MacDonald, infiltrated the Alberta Environmental Network by posing as a concerned environmentalist.

Under that guise, they claim, MacDonald took part in conference calls in which the landowners and their lawyers discussed legal strategy.

For the record, the EUB denies hiring MacDonald to spy on the Alberta Environmental Network, suggesting MacDonald was acting for some other, unnamed client. (And for the record again, AltaLink insists it did not hire any PIs, including MacDonald.)

You know what? In a free and democratic society, the state does not normally hire private detectives to spy on citizens. If the EUB was sincerely worried about threats of violence, it could have called independent officers from the RCMP to investigate -- officers who wouldn't have been in the pay of the EUB, officers who would have had to worry about things like search warrants and probable cause and the Charter of Rights.

That's what makes the EUB's actions so disturbing. The board tried to do an end-run around civil liberties by contracting out surveillance work to a private company. For a quasi-judicial body to behave in the way that's alleged, in the midst of a hearing, is reprehensible.

I'm speechless on this one. Someone in the AUEB had a case of very very poor judgement on this one. For a Public Board to hire a PI to spy on a group of ordinary Albertans is completely unaccetable.

What is even more confusing is Ed Stelmach's poor judgment in defending the AEUB's spying tactics. Honest Ed, eh?

(*Cough* Spelling errors corrected - thanks, Bee)