bush 43 dines in calgary.

Former United States President George W. Bush had lunch in Calgary today, and 200-300 protesters showed up outside the 1,500 person luncheon hosted by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. At least three protesters have been reported as being arrested. According to the Toronto Star, the $400 per ticket luncheon will score Bush at least $100,000 in fees.

Gena Rotstein was at this afternoon's protest and posted a recap on her blog, and Aaron Braaten has shared his theory on the actual reason for Bush's visit to Calgary.

You can follow Bush's Calgary visit on Twitter at #gwbyyc and check out a photo gallery of the protests at CBC Calgary.

peter milliken visits alberta legislature. enjoys bipartisan brew.

- House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken stopped by Edmonton yesterday as part of a Canada-wide Legislative tour where he met with Speaker Ken Kowalski and MLAs. I haven't heard whether Milliken discussed Kowalski's recent ban of online social media during Question Period (Milliken allows the use of blackberries, laptops during Question Period in the House of Commons). The Kingston Liberal MP also stopped by the U of A Conservative Club Pub Night for bipartisan beer and pictures.

- Bonnyville-Cold Lake MLA Genia Leskiw's private members motion to dissolve Provincial Achievement Tests for Grade 3 students passed in the Alberta Legislature. After a vigorous debate, Lewskiw's motion passed 29 to 18, but did not gain the support of Education Minister Dave Hancock, or most members of the PC Cabinet.

- The Conservative Party of Canada is changing their nomination rules, effectively protecting incumbent MPs from nomination challenges. These rule changes may abort Donna Kennedy-Glans nascent nomination challenge in Calgary-West. Kennedy-Glans had recently announced her intentions to challenge sitting Conservative MP Rob Anders.

- National Defence Minister Peter Mackay was in Edmonton yesterday to announce plans to spend $40 million on much needed infrastructure upgrades for Armed Forces bases in Alberta. Mackay announced $21 million to CFB Edmonton for housing and training facilities, $11 million to CFB Wainwright for water treatment upgrades, and $8 million for CFB Cold Lake.

- Two Alberta newspapers recently closed their doors. In what can be described as a really bad year to own a newspaper, Quebecor's Jasper Booster and Morinville Town & Country Examiner (formerly the Morinville Mirror) shut down this week.

alberta politics online.

The following post is an attempt to create a central location to track the online and social media presence of MLAs and Provincial Political Parties in Alberta. If you have additions to these lists, please post them in the comment section or email daveberta.ca@gmail.com. Thanks!
(Last updated on June 19, 2009)

Facebook (description)
Nearly all 83 MLAs have a profile or page on Facebook, but here are the main party leaders: Brian Mason (NDP), Ed Stelmach (PC), David Swann (LIB)

MLA/Party Blogs (description)
Doug Elniski (Edmonton-Calder), Doug Griffiths (Battle River-Wainwright), Dave Hancock (Edmonton-Whitemud), David Swann (Calgary-Mountain View), Wildrose Alliance Blog

Flickr (description)
PC Caucus

Twitter (description)
Cindy Ady (CindyAdyMLA)
Lindsay Blackett (@LindsayBlackett)
Harry Chase (@chasemla)
Jonathan Denis (@jonomla)
Doug Elniski (@elniskimla)
Kyle Fawcett (@kylemla)
Doug Griffiths (@griffmla)
Dave Hancock (@davehancockmla)
Kent Hehr (@calgarybuffalo)
Fred Horne (@FredHorneMLA)
Darshan Kang (@darshankang
Brian Mason (@bmasonndp
Rachel Notley (@rachelnotley)_
Janice Sarich (JaniceSarichMLA)
Ed Stelmach (@premierstelmach)
David Swann (@davidswann)
Dave Taylor (@calgarycurrie)
Alberta Liberals (@albertaliberals)
PC Caucus (@mypcmla)

MLA Websites (click here for 2008 campaign websites)
Cindy Ady (Calgary-Shaw)
Rob Anderson (Airdrie-Chestermere)
Laurie Blakeman (Edmonton-Centre)
Harry Chase (Calgary-Varsity)
Iris Evans (Sherwood Park)
Heather Forsyth (Calgary-Fish Creek)
Dave Hancock (Edmonton-Whitemud)
Kent Hehr (Calgary-Buffalo)
Doug Horner (Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert)
Mary Ann Jablonski (Red Deer-North)
Art Johnston (Calgary-Hays)
Darshan Kang (Calgary-McCall)
Ron Liepert (Calgary-West)
Thomas Lukaszuk (Edmonton-Castle Downs)
Brian Mason (Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood)
Rachel Notley (Edmonton-Strathcona)
Verlyn Olson (Wetaskiwin-Camrose)
Bridget Pastoor (Lethbridge-East)
Alison Redford (Calgary-Elbow)
Dave Rodney (Calgary-Lougheed)
Peter Sandhu (Edmonton-Manning)
David Swann (Calgary-Mountain View)
Dave Taylor (Calgary-Currie)

Caucus Websites
Liberal Caucus, NDP Caucus, PC Caucus

Party Websites
Alberta Greens, Alberta Liberal, Alberta NDP, Alberta Party, Alberta Social Credit, Alberta PC, Communist Party of Alberta, Separation Party of Alberta, Wildrose Alliance

YouTube (description)

Joe Anglin, Green Party Leader, Laurie Blakeman (Edmonton-Centre), Dave Hancock (Edmonton-Whitemud), Doug Griffiths (Battle River-Wainwright), David Swann (Calgary-Mountain View), Dave Taylor (Calgary-Currie), Liberal Caucus, NDvids, PC Caucus, Wildrose Alliance

prins, mcqueen, berger, and olson legitimize opposition to bill 19.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) about central Alberta becoming the revolutionary hotbed of Albert politics, but while it may not be an actual hot bed of revolution, politics in central Alberta have becoming increasingly interesting.

After Infrastructure Minister Jack Hayden introduced Bill 19: Land Assembly Project Area Act into the Legislature on March 2, 2009, the legislation has met strong opposition from landowners in central Alberta, including Green Party leader Joe Anglin. Anglin described Bill 19 as "a punitive Bill that is chock-full of consequences for any landowner or citizen who would defy the Minister of Energy," and is a member of a group of landowners who have organized town hall forums and information sessions on Bill 19 in communities across central Alberta. The opposition to Bill 19 appears to have caught the attention of the region's PC MLAs, four who have been seen attending these town halls to defend the legislation.

At a forum in Warburg, PC MLAs Ray Prins (Lacombe-Ponoka), Diana McQueen (Drayton Valley-Calmar) and Evan Berger (Livingstone-MacLeod) were in attendance, and yesterday in Ponoka, Prins, McQueen, Berger, and Wetaskiwin-Camrose MLA Verlyn Olson defended Bill 19 at an information session hosted by Anglin.

Rather than using the reliable 'ignore the opposition between elections' strategy that has served the PCs so well over the past 36 years, the very presence of these four PC MLAs have actually legitimized the opposition to Bill 19 in rural central Alberta.

this man wanted to be prime minister.

Former Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pockington has re-entered the news after his recent arrest in California on charges of bankruptcy fraud, and his $1 million bailout by former Oilers and current New York Rangers General Manager Glen Sather.

Nearly 26 years ago, Pocklington was one of eight candidates to contest the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Placing sixth on the first round of voting with the support of 102 delegates (3.41% of total delegates), Pockington threw his support to Brian Mulroney. Rumours from the convention floor said that Mulroney had promised to make Pocklington chairman of a proposed Royal Commission on Taxation in exchange for his support.

Mulroney defeated former Prime Minister Joe Clark on the fourth ballot, but thankfully didn't put Pocklington in charge of Canada's tax system...

be careful where you dump your wastewater.

- What is it about the current government and concealing information until after elections? In 2004, it was access to flight logs, and in 2008, it appears that the governing PCs didn't release information about charges that had been laid against Suncor in relation to the dumping of undertreated waste water into the Athabasca River. Meanwhile, on the topic of Oilsands, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers have published a response to a recent National Geographic feature on Canada's Oilsands.

- While the Council of Alberta University Students met with over 50 MLAs at the Alberta Legislature this week to advocate on Post-Secondary Education issues, the Alberta College & Technical Institute Student Executive Council practiced a much less effective method of advocacy.

- Former Cabinet Minister and Medicine Hat Conservative MP Monte Solberg is once again blogging. After writing a popular blog during his time in the opposition benches, Solberg stopped blogging when he became a Cabinet Minister in 2006. After serving 15 years in the House of Commons, Solberg did not seek re-election in the 2008 election. Solberg also writes a regular column for SunMedia (h/t @BreakenNews).

- Following Michael Ignatieff's visit to Alberta last month, two Liberal MPs will be visiting the province. Beaches-East York MP Maria Minna will be speaking at a Calgary Liberal fundraiser on March 20, and Willowdale MP Martha Hall Findlay will be speaking at an International Women's Day Brunch in Edmonton on March 22.

last thoughts on neil waugh.

Provincial Affairs/Fish & Game columnist Neil Waugh was one of twenty staff laid off at the Edmonton Sun yesterday. A fixture of the Alberta political scene for decades, Waugh seems to have become one of the latest casualties of continent-wide media layoffs.

Though I wish him good luck in his future endeavors, in my humble opinion, Waugh was not an amazing political columnist, nor even a mediocre columnist. I struggle to name another mainstream political writer in Alberta who's columns were as qualitatively inconsistent as Waugh's. Perhaps he showed promise as a columnist at one point in his writing career, but over the past ten years, his columns had rapidly declined in their quality, and had come closer to resembling one-line rants rather than well-thought out columns.

I have had two experiences with Waugh that stick out in my mind. The most obvious was his January 2008 column that ingrained in infamy the quote "...Dave Cournoyer isn't some obscure fat frat boy with a sticky-up haircut" (or at least in the header of this blog). Though I appreciated the attention on the issue, I was surprised that Waugh didn't even attempt to contact me before accusing me of being part of an secret well-oiled Liberal Party conspiracy to tarnish the image of Premier Ed Stelmach (and as we all know, the same well-oiled political machine steamrolled to electoral victory in March 2008... oh wait...).

My second memorable Waugh experience sits more in the realm of bizarre. During a February 2008 media conference about the PC-connected Election Returning Officers, Waugh threw then-Liberal leader Kevin Taft a screwball question about Federal Liberal appointments to the Canadian Senate. Off-topic? Yes. Bizarre? Undoubtably.

ken chapman on the #ableg debate.

Ken Chapman offered some thoughtful comments on Twitter and social media technology in the Alberta Legislature on CBC this afternoon:

Also, I was interviewed by CTV on the story.

Follow the debate on Twitter at #ableg.

letter to speaker ken kowalski. re: online social media and the alberta legislature.

Dear Speaker Kowalski,

As an active participant in what you recently described as the “virtual wonderland” of the Internet, I am hopeful that Internet technology and online social media hold great potential to reconnect citizens, elected officials, and government in our province.

I would urge you to revisit your initial reaction to the use of online communications from the floor of the Assembly. I agree that Members should respect the institution and proud traditions of the Legislature, but it is important to understand the limitless potential that these technologies now play in connecting elected Members to citizens outside the Dome.

During the February 4, 2009 Members’ Services Committee meeting, you warned MLAs about taking the advice of “hotshot” staffers in their Caucuses who were pushing the elected representatives to become more Internet savvy. These comments lead me to believe that you may not fully understand the power of these technologies to reconnect citizens with their democratic institutions, such as the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. A democratic institution remains effective only as long as those occupying it remain relevant and connected to the citizens the Assembly exists to represent. With less than forty percent of Albertans having participated in the last election, this is a very real concern.

Online social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, have developed quickly, and it is understandable that someone in the position of Speaker would not be fully exposed to their nuances. Instead of instituting a blanket ban on technology during Question Period, I would ask that you reflect on the changes in technology that have occurred since you first stepped into elected office nearly thirty years ago.

This technology has the real potential to engage citizens with MLAs on the floor of the Assembly.

If you are interested in learning more, it would be my pleasure as a citizen of Alberta to meet with you and offer reflections on my personal experience of how online social media and internet technology can re-energize citizenship in our province.

Sincerely,

David Cournoyer

Edmonton, Alberta

PS. I’ve taken the liberty of posting this letter on my blog, http://www.daveberta.ca, so that other Albertans can have the opportunity to join this debate online.

one big happy conservative family in calgary-west.

Candidate nomination season has kicked off in Alberta with Ezra Levant taking aim at Donna Kennedy-Glans, accusing her of being a "Liberal saboteur" and promoting "Marxist feminism." Kennedy-Glans recently announced her intentions to challenge incumbent-MP Rob Anders for the Conservative nomination in Calgary-West.

I'm going to bet that this nomination battle is going to get much nastier before it comes to a vote.

this mushroom better be on our new licence plates.

Ladies and Gentlemen, MLA Carl Benito, representing the simple people of Edmonton-Mill Woods, introduced Motion 502 on the floor of the Legislative Assembly yesterday:

Be it resolved that the Legislative Assembly urge the government to introduce amendments to the Emblems of Alberta Act to designate Leccinum boreale, also known as northern roughstem or red cap, as the official mushroom of Alberta.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It is my pleasure to rise and introduce Motion 502. I acknowledge that there are pressing economic issues that currently exist; however, this motion is important to my constituents and 2,500 Albertans who have chosen this mushroom to be designated as Alberta’s provincial mushroom emblem.

MLAs rising to speak to the motion included Neil Brown, Rachel Notley, Jonathan Denis, Genia Leskiw, Doug Elniski, Evan Berger, and Bridget Pastoor.

It passed.

edmonton ideafest a success.

Highlighting the power of online social media, Saturday's IDEAfest, which was largely organized through Facebook and Twitter, drew over 100 Edmontonians to the University of Alberta on a snowy Saturday in March. The event was open to the public, and saw three presenters in three different rooms present every half an hour on an idea or topic of their choice. A big congratulations to Michael Janz (@michaeljanz) for organizing the excellent day-long event.

There were many great presentations, but the two that stuck out in my mind were Andy Grabia's (@agrabia) presentation what the experience of listening music means to him on a personal level, and Alex Abboud's (@alexabboud) "15 Steps to Making Edmonton a Better City." Both were excellent, well-prepared, and very interesting. Other great IDEAfest presenters and participants included @zoomjer, @bingofuel, Colby Cosh (@colbycosh), @chrishenderson, Mack Male (@mastermaq), Walter Schwabe (@fusedlogic), Ian Bushfield (@thzatheist), Alain Saffel (@alainsaffel), Shawna McConechy (@out_inc), Cam Linke (@camlinke), @brendantrayner, and many more....

Thanks to everyone who showed up to my afternoon presentation, "The Fall of the Media Empires and Rise of Citizen Journalism." My presentation focused on the evolving nature of mainstream media, and the growing number of citizen journalists filling the gaps in community and political media coverage created by layoffs in the industry (which you can follow at @canmedialayoffs). Though some people may argue that examples like CanWest teetering on the brink of bankruptcy protection will herald the extinction to the mainstream media, I argued that the downfall of the major media corporations is simply an evolution of the media industry. I was glad to read that the event and my presentation were reported on in Sunday's Edmonton Journal (and I can understand why a CanWest-owned newspaper wouldn't want to include the main point of my presentation in their article).

While Chris Laboissiere (@chrislabossiere) and Ken Chapman (@kenchapman46) wrote some positive blog posts about the event, I was surprised to read a blog post by presenter Derek Warwick (@derekwarwick) in which he argues that the lack of gender or skin-colour diversity among the presenters was due to an "embedded racism" among those involved in the event. I should probably know better, but as someone who was involved in the event I feel the sheer ridiculousness of this accusation requires a response. Warwick's visual observation are fair, but his "embedded racism" theory doesn't seem to be grounded in any sort of reality. IDEAfest grew though a very open and organic word of mouth process (over 1,000 people were invited to the event over Facebook) and offered the opportunity for anyone interested to present on the idea or topic of their choice.

Anyway...

I could spend all day writing about the diverse range of topics and ideas covered in the presentations, but you will just have to come to the next IDEAfest (date to be announced) and enjoy it for yourself!

ideafest 2009: bright ideas on a snowy day.

IDEAfest 2009 started this morning, and presentations will be happening until 5pm in the Tory Building (Room B95) on the University of Alberta campus.

I've made a last minute change to the topic of my presentation. At 1:30pm, I will be presenting "The Fall of the Media Empires and Rise of Citizen Journalism." It should be an interesting day, and there are a lot of cool presentations coming up, including "Countdown to Copenhagen: International Climate Negotiations and the Quest" (10:30am) "15 Ways to make Edmonton a Better City" (11:00am), "Twitter and social media..." (11:00am) and "Underground Media and the Importance of do-it-yourself local media" (12:00pm).

Follow IDEAfest on twitter: #uaif.

mayoral ambitions take off in city centre airport debate?

- Cal Nichols has stepped down as Chair of the Edmonton Oilers to lead the Alberta Enterprise Group in its fight to keep the Edmonton City Centre Airport open. AEG was created in 2007 from of the ashes of the Grassroots Leadership Group, a corporate entity that essentially existed for the purpose of providing financial backing to Mark Norris' 2006 PC leadership bid (donations to party leadership campaigns are not tax deductible, but donations to GLG were eligible for tax deductions as business expenses). AEGs current President is former PC Party Director and Norris campaign manager Tim Shipton. With support coming from many well-heeled Edmonton business types, I wouldn't be surprised to see this group become a launching pad for a Mayoral candidate in October 2010.

- Bill 19: The Land Assembly Project Area Act, introduced by Infrastructure Minister Jack Hayden, is meeting some resistance in central Alberta. Leading the charge is Green Party leader Joe Anglin, who described Bill 19 in a recent media release as "a punitive Bill that is chock-full of consequences for any landowner or citizen who would defy the Minister of Energy." Over the past two years, Anglin has led a vocal group of central Alberta landowners in their fight against numerous provincial regulatory bodies and legislation. Former Green Deputy Leader turned Progress Party advocate Edwin Erickson joined the opposition to Bill 19 in an open letter.

- Federal Conservative nomination campaigns are beginning to ramp up in Alberta. In Calgary-West, Donna Kennedy-Glans will be challenging Rob Anders (and I wish her good luck). In Edmonton-East, it appears that Matt Altheim may be mounting a nomination challenge against MP Peter Goldring. Both Anders and Goldring were first elected to Parliament in 1997.

- Arthur Kent is continuing to publicly voice his disappointment in the current PC government. In a recent blog post, the internationally-known journalist and former Calgary-Currie PC candidate wrote that he believes Alberta will only regain its economic edge "once we deal with the disadvantage of a government that lets patronage trump free enterprise, and stubbornness get in the way of common sense." Damning words from a former star candidate.

ideafest 2009 in edmonton.

If you're looking for something (free and open to the public) to nourish your mind this weekend, check out IDEAfest 2009 at the University of Alberta this Saturday (location: Tory 95).

Based on the format of DemoCamp and BarCamp, IDEAfest 2009 gives interested people a chance to host their very own session (kind of like TED). 3 speakers every half hour, 3 different rooms. Choose the room that interests you.

For those of you lucky ehough to be there tomorrow afternoon, I will be presenting at 1:30pm on some of my personal experiences using social media.

political conversations thriving on twitter and blogs.

This week's FFWD Weekly has two interesting articles covering online social media in Alberta.

Alberta political conversation thrives on Twitter by Jeremy Klaszus covers some of the interesting political debates happening on Twitter. In a recent trend that has taken the Wild Rose province by storm, Twitter users from across Alberta have been "live-tweeting" commentary of the Alberta Legislature's daily Question Period. You can follow the live commentary by searching for the hash-tag #ABLeg using Twitter Search.

Alberta MLAs on Twitter include Doug Griffiths, Jonathan Denis, Doug Elniski, Kyle Fawcett, Dave Hancock, Kent Hehr, and Dave Taylor.

The Rise of Political Blogs by Trevor Scott Howell gives some good insight into the state of political blogs in Alberta, and includes interviews with bloggers Ken Chapman, David Climenhaga, Enlightened Savage, a member of the AGRDT crew, and yours truly.

david swann names neil mackie as official opposition communications director.

After recently naming Rick Miller as the new Official Opposition Chief of Staff, David Swann today named Neil Mackie as the Communications Director, replacing former Director Larry Johnsrude.

Mackie comes from Calgary with some interesting (and perhaps mixed) partisan roots.

Having served as President of the Calgary-Southwest Federal Liberal Association, Mackie ran unsuccessfully against former Calgary-West PC MLA Karen Kryczka in the 2007 Board of Education election, and is listed as having supported Michael Ignatieff during the 2006 Federal Liberal leadership race.

Mackie will be leaving his position as President of the Calgary-based Vincero Communications, a subsidiary of Ivrnet Inc. In the recent past, Ivrnet/Vincero have done political polling for Calgary-Currie MLA Dave Taylor during his unsuccessful Liberal leadership bid, and former Edmonton-Riverview PC candidate Wendy Andrews during her run against former Liberal leader Kevin Taft in March 2008. I'm told that while working with the company, Mackie also handled polling in up to 53 PC held ridings during the 2008 election, and in Calgary-Buffalo for the campaign of Liberal Kent Hehr.

Well-known politicos with Ivrnet/Vincero connections include its current Vice-President, former Calgary-Centre Reform Party MP Eric Lowther, and former Calgary Herald reporter David Heyman. Heyman was employed as Director of Communications for Ivrnet/Vincero before becoming Calgary Communications Manager for Premier Ed Stelmach.

auditor general delays audit into highwood communications.

Alberta Auditor General Fred Dunn has delayed or canceled 27 of the planned 80 systematic audits because of budget constraints (apparently, in Alberta, our politicians underfunds two of a government's most important responsibilities, Audits and elections).

Among the delayed includes a recently announced audit into the now defunct Highwood Communications that has been postponed until October 2009 (for more on Highwood Communications...).

Other important audits that have been delayed or canceled include investigations into the collection process of Alberta natural resource royalties (delayed indefinitely), post-secondary education facility capacity and utilization (canceled), post-secondary program planning (canceled), Sustainable Resource Environmental Management (delayed until 2010), and measuring the effectiveness of the fiscal regime of the Department of Finance and Enterprise (delayed until 2011). A full list can be found here.

(h/t Trish Audette)

judy wilson leaves alberta liberal caucus. former mla rick miller new chief of staff.

Following the recent trend of staff departures at the Alberta Legislative Assembly that have included Larry Johnsrude and Troy Wason, Official Opposition Chief of Staff Judy Wilson is now the departing the Dome.

After serving as Director of Operations at Government House for 13 years, Judy Wilson joined the Official Opposition caucus in 2007 as Chief of Staff under former leader Kevin Taft, and remained in her position after David Swann was selected as leader of the Liberal Party in December 2008. Wilson will be succeeded by Rick Miller, who served as the MLA for Edmonton-Rutherford and Finance Critic from 2004 to 2008.

Media Release

March 3, 2009

Alberta Liberal caucus sees change in Chief of Staff

Edmonton – Judy Wilson, Chief of Staff of the Alberta Liberal Caucus will be leaving her position, effective Friday March 6, 2009. Rick Miller, former MLA for Edmonton-Rutherford, will be stepping into that role.

“Our caucus has a new leader, and he has decided to take a new direction,” said Wilson. “I wish Rick all the best in his new role.

“I’m looking forward to new challenges and opportunities, and to having time to focus on other projects that are important to me – like the Student Refugee program at the U of A, and my Rotary club. I’ll have more time to devote to coaching my daughter’s soccer team,” says Wilson.

“I have appreciated working with Judy and all that she has contributed to our Caucus in her nearly 2 years here”, says Dr. David Swann, Leader.

Rick Miller will assume his new role effective Monday, March 9, 2009.

“I see this as an opportunity to contribute to democracy in this province, which has always been important to me,” said Miller.

“I feel very fortunate to be able to come into an organization where a strong, solid foundation has been built, thanks to the commitment and talents of Judy Wilson. I’ve known Judy for many years – we are in the same Rotary Club and worked together in caucus when I was an MLA. I have tremendous respect for the skills that she brings to any endeavour in her future,” concluded Miller.

-30-

One of the first challenges faced by Miller will be to boost the moral and provide internal direction in Alberta's Official Opposition caucus, which fell to 9 elected MLAs in 2008. Miller will also face the challenge of plugging leaks that have contributed to a rumour mill of anonymous gossip emanating from the Liberal Caucus over the past couple months. Many of the anonymous rumours surrounded Wilson's participation in conversations being held by various groups of Albertans dissatisfied with the state of democracy in this province (including myself and Jason Morris from Gauntlet.ca).

a year after alberta's 2008 election, it's easy to remain cynical.

On March 3, 2008, less than 40% of Albertans ventured into the March cold to exercise their democratic responsibility, and a full year later the debate around that election still rages.

There are likely many reasons why the large majority of Albertans failed to cast their ballot on that day, but one that continually arises in conversations is cynicism. It's hard to argue that any of our political parties gave Albertans a compelling reason to race to the polls in droves a year ago, and I don't believe that much has changed a year later.

Entering the second year of Ed Stelmach's first term as Premier, our province is facing many challenges. No longer rolling in the billion dollar surpluses that we had been told were thanks to the now dead Alberta Advantage, Finance Minister Iris Evans now tells us that this year's $1.4 billion deficit is 'market induced' (and not the fault of a political party which has been happy to take credit for Alberta's fiscal prosperity over the past decade).

Should Albertans blame the Stelmach PCs for the economic downturn? Of course not, because it's not their fault, but nor should Albertans praise them for the (also market induced) boom.

In their March 2009 edition, National Geographic shined a powerful international spotlight on Alberta's oilsands, dealing an unintentional blow to the yet to be launched replacement for the Alberta Advantage. The $25 million taxpayer-funded public relations campaign is set to brand Albertans with a new identity by combating international criticism of the oilsands. Do Albertans really need government-hired public relations consultants to determine our identity? Albertans are more than just a brand, and our identity will be determined by our actions, not by government-hired public relations consultants.

The death of the Alberta Advantage has led the Progressive Conservatives to once again return to the realm of budget deficits, and as the government cuts important programs like the $2 billion GreenTRIP funding for public transit in our cities, they are continuing to funnel $2 billion into a Carbon Capture and Storage project.

It wasn't that long ago that the governing PCs would claim and shame the opposition parties for wanting to spend Alberta back into a deficit. Now faced with a billion dollar deficit, the same PCs are willing to push aside 15 years of fiscal dogma to continue spending billions of dollars on an unproven technology, that if developed would put Alberta at the forefront of collecting yesterday's dirty pollution, while the rest of the world focuses on tomorrow's new and renewable energy.

Maybe Albertans are right to be cynical?