It's a Rich Full Life

Is there room for the Alberta Party?

With the recent interest in the WRAP here in Alberta, there has been chatter about how they will succeed in taking votes away from the Conservatives in the next election. It doesn't hurt that they have a young, attractive, and well spoken potential leader in Dannielle Smith. I won't speculate much about that leadership race as I don't understand the details, but I will suggest that the WRAP are getting their disproportionate percentage of the media coverage and discussion in the online communities.

In my opinion however, Smith is possibly barking up the wrong tree. I don't think the majority of Albertans are looking for a more conservative solution to our governmental problems. As much as Smith may say that she is a Libertarian, and even Link Byfield has written why it's ok that their social conservative party can be led by a Libertarian, the reality is that the party remains the home for the far right. In my opinion the far right is doomed forever as a relevant party position in nearly any jurisdiction. As our population gains a more urban nature, and tools like social media and the internet start to bring people together as informed equals, we are simply becoming more progressive on social issues.

From the left, the Liberals have discredited themselves by just hating everything about the PC's instead of creating their own separate vision for Albertans. Mostly they are an academic bunch who seem to revel in looking down on the "Stupid" Albertans who voted in this Government. This is a not a party for me, and certainly not for the average Albertan. The NDP are as radical as the WRAP, just as close-minded from the other side of the spectrum, and frankly irrelevant.

So, I wonder if many Albertans feel like I do? I wonder a lot lately about the left flank of our Progressive Conservative Party in Alberta. I am unhappy with the PC's failure to provide a progressive vision for the future on social issues, while trying to maintain an open environment for economic success. If you don't think it can be done, I would say that Brad Wall's Saskatchewan Party has done a dcent job in their first two years. Which leads me to wonder if there is room in Alberta for an Alberta Party. One that celebrates our independent and entreprenurial nature, yet resists the pandering to the social right. A small but loud-mouthed constituency that seems to be more concerend about who is sleeping with who, and how "God's word" might be reflected in our Government, Education, etc.

Properly thought -out, with a well distilled platform, I think an Alberta Party could fill a huge centrist vacuum which has been created by PC mismanagement and the voters lack of trust for the Liberals and WRAP. What this effort needs is a strong leader who is able to articulate to Albertans that they can be both things in a modern world. We can be indepenent and entreprenurial, we can maintain our "cowboy way" within Canada while staying relevant to the progression of humanity.

What are your thoughts?

Is it time to talk leadership?

Much of my life over the last while has been consumed with the political discussion that is Bill 44 here in Alberta. From that discussion, I have seen much debate around how my party, the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta, is heading in a direction that many of us centrist-faithful has questioned.

One thing that has resounded lately is how some of us feel that the party is moving backwards on social issues. There is also a far right contingent that feels the party should become less progressive. This is starting to split the party, and the resurgence of the Wild Rose Alliance Party is making things worse. (Much of tonights discussion was around how the party is worried about vote-splitting between the PC's and a Danielle Smith led WRAP). All of this is leading to an annual general meeting in November of this year that might prove to be a watershed issue for our leadership. My thoughts on this are that the Premier, our party leader, has done a poor job of articulating and galvanizing the grassroots behind an agenda that resonates with the PROGRESSIVE conservative. Here's where I think we are missing the boat:

1. Fiscal pragmatism
2. A general trend towards social progressiveness
3. Protecting our Environment with insightful vision

So at the PC AGM this fall, we will vote in confidence on the leadership of the party. I have heard that the social right faction is working on it's position, and might even be working to retrench support for a swing to the right. That work might include an underground movement to support a new right-wing leader. I abhor the thought of this, and wonder if there might be an opportunity to look for new progressive leadership in the party.

Tonight I spoke with some personal passion about a policy resolution to have Section 9 of Bill 44 repealed. It was my goal to see if my constituency would take a stand against a further swing to the right. Luckilly our board of directors agreed that it was an important enough issue to be debated again at the provincial party level, but I have seen some party executive take the position that they hope for the issue to go away. I happen to think that our party needs to reconnect with the average Albertan, and one way to do that is for someone to stand up and speak against Bill 44.

So, I agree that we need a leadership review, but I also think that perhaps the good which might come from this, would be a new leadership candidate to step forward who would reconnect with the party moderate. Here's hoping.

Seeds of Discontent - Our Children will Repeal Bill 44

As most of my readers know, I have been steadfastly against the Government of Alberta's passing of Bill 44. It has been written about by many of the provinces best bloggers and journalists, so I won't get into all the reasons why this is bad legislation. What I really want to talk about is how this unecessary legislation is being seen for what it is by our young people, and the PC Party may not realize it, but they have just planted what could be serious seeds of discontent among the future electorate.

Tonight for the first time I asked my daughter if she had heard about the law. She is in Grade 10 at Strathcona High School and I shouldn't have been surprised when she said that all of her friends were buzzing about it. The school, and her friends in particular, are an engaged and informed bunch. It would probably be a stretch to say that they were offended as much as I have been, but they were still shocked that it had passed. I find it interesting that a bunch of 15-16 year-olds were actually talkking about the law. Their teachers of course were discussing it with them, and not to inflame the discussion but to express their concern about how they will apply it in the classroom. In Grade 10 as an example, many of the topics that the law is set to impact are being discussed. English (the curriculum includes reading and discussing Inherit the Wind, a novel on the Scopes Monkey Trials), and Biology (a whole unit teaching evolution), and Social Studies (which she said is all about opinions and debate on same-sex rights, religion, etc.).

My daughter said it best when she said "how can students make an informed decision about what they believe when they are only hearing one side of the argument". She told me  that among all of her friends, and the classes where they discussed it, there wasn't one child who thought the law was a good idea. That doesn't surprie me for a couple reasons. Firstly, I have always believed that young adults are more open to multiple viewpoints, and especially sympathetic to oppressed groups. If racism is any example, major improvements in social tolerance and acceptance can be made over a few generations. Smoking, drinking and driving, racism, and sexual orientation are all examples of this.

Secondly, I believe that no matter what a child is taught at home, they are now exposed to media, movies, television and the internet enough that they will always hear about the other side of any argument. I think kids have chosen to use the classroom and the internet as a place to shape ther own opinions. Teachers by and large are excellent moderators of this formative thought and at least my kid looks up to them as their educational guidance counsellors. She is aware enough to see that this law puts the teachers in a very dificult spot. To the extent that my daughter actually understood her teachers would have to send home permission forms for so much more now, and that they are exposed to "getting sued" as she puts it. This is not my teachings on her, these are all things that she had become aware of on her own, and her and her fellow students are actually upset about.

I firmly believe that the majority of Albertan's feel the same about this law. As proof, I asked he if she was aware of any student ever removing themselves or having to be removed from a subject. She said that she was not aware of it ever happening. So that in itself tells me that this law is unnecessary, and only a very small contingent of very social conservatives are driving this change. So what is my point?

I think that this law is going to turn out to be very bad politics for the Alberta PC Party. I think that by standing their ground on this, they are ignoring the tidal wave of social evolution, and have drawn their line in the sand about 30 years behind where they should be. That may take some time to catch-up with them, as most older generations don't see it as offensive as it really is. But I think that our young people do. They base their character development on information that flows to them from 1000's of sources every day. To react to that, we actually see them forming their own "classrooms" and discussion groups. The facebook group to protest Bill 44 by students is a perfect example. It grew rapidly and exponentially (5500 and counting in two weeks), and kids joined because they wanted to get behind a cause. No parents, schools, teachers, church or Government will be able to stop this. What really inspires me is that all of the rallying and cause support I have seen from the younger generations are based on altruistic beliefs of fairness, hope, charity to disenfranchised groups etc.

Social media communities in particular are an atruistic new landscape. If you speak in extremes, and insult or isolate any of these groups, you will be called out harshly and have 100's or 1000's of voices on you right away. Social media communities have proven that they are very good at self-policing themselves, because we all want to maintain our "followers", and acting extreme or rude to others will have you losing "friends" rapidly. This be-nice or lose popularity effect is actually making our children better citizens (or netizens).

So we may not be wise enough to see the World as our children do, but I am willing to bet that when they get to voting age, and start to transfer their learned approach of tolerance and open-mindedness to the political sphere, the decisions made by our PC party now will be admonished.

As of today, I am choosing to be one of this new generation, and will start to think of ways to hold this Government accountable for this step backwards. I just want to be on the right side of the debate when our young Albertan's hit voting age.

Cuba Embargo Decision

I am a big fan of the decision today of the Obama Administration to relax the current US Embargo against Cuba. It is a well thought out and timed changed policy that will relax on three key fronts:

• Removing travel restrictions on US based Cubans visiting their families
• Allowing US Cubans to send money to their loved ones
• Opening telecommunications links between US telephone carriers and Cuba

If your a regular reader of this blog, you know that I visited Cuba a couple years back and found it bittersweet. Although it a beautiful country, it left me feeling sadness for the general public. Although they were a proud population, the oppressive nature of their government and the unnecessary poverty was bothersome.

Today's announcement was very exciting as I see it as a very large move in the right direction regarding governmental relations between the countries. Immediately after the Whitehouse announcement, the Fidel Castro administation responded in a friendly and respectful tone. I think this is a perfect example of where Obama's posture, and openess to "talking with one's enemies" allows those enemies to come closer in areas of diplomacy.

I think that the embargo has served a pupose, but also I believe that the conciliatory move back to the table also was timely. Castro is on his death bed, and technology has opened the door to more freedoms for the Cuban people. By opening telecommunications industry to Cuba, as well as letting families increase their ties without government interference will effectivly make Comminism obsolete. At least thats my wish.

Issues trump Party

I had a very nice time tonight chatting with local political enthusiasts and friends on the state of politics in Alberta and Canada. One resounding theme stayed with me throughout the conversation, and that was that partisan politics have not done any service to progress on issues that are becoming more and more important to me.

I care about many things, but they are increasingly falling outside the "mandates" of the traditional political parties. As an example, I care about economic sustainability in Alberta, but feel that we are missing opportunities to develop new industries. I think that the future growth of our Province should come from new industries that might compete with our traditional drivers. An example of course is alternative energy. This will no doubt be a growth industry in my lifetime, and yet some traditional Conservatives in this province might think that competes with our core strength. I think it's both practical and visionary to plan for the day new energy replaces our reliance on oil and gas. I don't think that means I am not a Fiscal Conservative, and frankly I would argue the opposite.

I also care about the environment. I think that global consumerism is causing lasting harm to our environment. That doesn't make me a tree hugger, but simply a realist who sees that we need to find a way to improve our quality of life, while still maintaining our planet for future generations. I really believe that we don't know the extend to which we might be harming our environment, and cautious environmental consideration needs be part of our governance. But I also believe that there is a solution, and it might even create a new economic driver for our future generations.

The problem as I see it, is that we are stuck in the mindset of having to compromise one ideal for the other. I don't have all of the answers, but what I do know is that I am starting to care less about sticking myself behind one political party, for purely ideological or partisan reasons. I am starting to care more and more about the issues, and less and less about the parties that seem to govern to stay in power, as opposed to govern to the pressing issues at hand.

The real question was how do we get out of this rut, which is forcing us to try and choose a party, even if it means ignoring some of our ideals. I don't have the answers, but I do have some faith, as the smart young people I visited with tonight are starting to talk the same way. Couple that with new disruptive technologies like Twitter and blogs, and I think that a movement can begin from the center, ignore the extremes, and find a majority of moderates to support it.

An interesting observation made tonight, was around the 60% of the electorate who stayed home during the last election. What would it look like if they had come out to vote, as it was argued that they were possibly a more moderate group. We need to engage this block of citizens, assuming they don't fall into the traditional political affiliations, and get them excited about certain issues. That's a movement I would support, even if it's not a party.

Waking up President

Awesome for Barack Obama to wake up tomorrow as the leader of the free-world. I am truly excited about this Presidency simply because I believe that he will be like no other President we have known. He is young, hip, and connnected to our generation. Carrying a blackberry may seem like a small deal, but watching some of tonights inauguration celebrations, he is obviously connected with the here and now.

I can only imagine that will translate into him doing some thing we have never seen. Let's face it, popular culture is an important part of today's hyper-media generation. That credibility will help him put things into action. Even America's enemies will be battling against an image of Hope, Change and Promise. It will be harder, if even a little bit, to hate a country who's leader is an idealist that connects with 8 out of 10 Americans.

His first executive act tonight was to suspend prosecutions at gitmo for at least 120 days. That sends a strong message to the World, particulary America's enemies, that he can be trusted to be at least a tiny bit more compassionate to the view-points of other nations, religions and ideals. He has some very powerful political currency, at a global level, and that can only mean a chance for embetterment.

If there is a measure for global tension, I would say that things just cooled down a bit, and everybody will be watching. What an awesome chance to make things better. Good luck First Dude, may you stay safe and keep the momentum moving.

Dare I say..... Boring?

I am going to stick my neck out here and make a bold prediction. The Alberta PC Party will win the next provincial election. I know what your thinking, how can Chris make such a grossly reckless prediction when the election is so far away and so much can happen on the political front? Especially since we are faced with an Armageddon like economic horizon?

Well his name is Dr. David Swann and I have never heard of him. There is a statistical likelihood that you haven't either. He just happens to be the new leader of the Alberta Liberal Party, and so you can now see how I have deduced such a bold prediction. Now, before you go all smarty-pants on me, which many of my Liberal friends tend to do, accusing me of judging a book by it's cover, please hear me out.

This may be the smartest and most pragmatic man ever to have stepped foot in this province. I doubt it, seeing as the average Albertan has probably never heard of him, but let's just assume for a second that he is. The problem is that he strikes me as having the same amount of endearing personality as the box of all-bran cereal that has been at the very back of my pantry for well over 8 years. Sure it's there, but it just keeps getting pushed further and further back in the cupboard to be replaced by sweet and salty replacements, some which are probably not even good for me. (Insert Ralph Klein jokes here)

Now, before you set-off on attacking my shallowness when we are talking about something so important as the leadership of our Province, just accept this one fact. There are not enough true-blood Liberals in Alberta to elect any Liberal leader, and if they ever want to govern, they absolutely MUST take votes from the center and even right of center. That can only happen when the usually non-engaged citizenry gets excited about someone. Interestingly Mr. Swann even mentions this in the video below. Now I am admiteddly a Provincial PC supporter, but I certainly feel that they could be doing so much more in the areas of the environment, economic diversification and some human rights issues....and if the Liberals could elect someone as leader who might get Joe Public off his couch, we might get some change in those areas.

Sadly Mr. Swann doesn't have what it takes to get me excited. Yes that means more than just brains; you need flowing oration, style, charisma and a rallying cry that appeals to me. And I am one of the few who actually gives a shit, understand that for every one of me, there are four who don't.

It's not you, it's me.

Who's responsible for this coalition mess? We are of course. We are a sorry apathetic bunch when it comes to politics in this country. We of course whine with the best of them, but when push comes to shove, we simply do not participate enough to suggest anyone else is to blame.

Now I am guessing that if you are one of the enlightened ones, you have voted in every election and think that I am a nut job. But like every train-wreck, we must do some root-cause analysis. What do I mean by that? Well basically I want to give you my simpleton explanation as to why I think we are in this mess.

I don't know enough about a Parliamentary Democracy to debate the nuances, but what I do know is that it punishes moderate, progressive thinking. We buy the nonsense that we must vote along party lines. Firstly at our riding level, but our whole system actually chastises MP's & MLA's who deviate from the party line. The whole system is set to punish those who may want to walk their own talk. Unlike the American system, where a party faithful can object to the party line for their constituents, we never let that happen. How can the shining stars ever rise out of the mix to make a name for themselves if they have to pretend to believe that everything their party believes in is gospel. The moderates are lost in the fray. The visionaries threaten the status-quo and for that they must be punished. Most great ones simply don't bother, and continue to be great in their industry, profession or calling.

Is it too much to imagine that there are fiscal conservatives who care for the environment, or compassionate entrepreneurs who want to get rich, but also take care of those who can't themselves? Can an Union Boss actually see the value of knowledge based economy?

I would like to see a new party, party leadership or new system rise from this situation and get us thinking more moderately.

We have forgotten how we got here, and that if we continue to rely on others to serve their community or country, we will often get the person who might not be the best at it. There are many great politicians who have succeeded because of their ideals, but I suspect that there are even more who have succeeded because of their lack of ideals. Community service at nearly every level used to be revered. Not just the politician, but policeman, clergywoman or volunteer. Sure we respect others for their service, but damn if we are going to waste our own time on such petty things. There are TV's to buy dammit.

Great things happen when we are following the vision of great leaders. Great leaders can capture the spirit of the the masses, help people see other sides of an issue, and force us all to take a little more responsibility for the greater good. They know that by working to the greater good, we all benefit. This does not mean socialism, in fact in a way the opposite. It means everyone taking personal responsibility for themselves, but also their neighbour. Extreme left of center viewpoints harm this, with some expecting to take from others simply for the sake of "fairness". But this also means that a succesful system must also offer basic protections and equal access to the elements of success. Education, health, infrastructure and public safety are things that we must all expect from our Governments. After that, those who want more must work for it, and learn not to resent others who simply work harder to achieve more.

I know that this is simplistic and even idealistic, but it really is that easy. So what would it take to fix this mess? Well I would put my support behind the first politician who calls a press conference and apologizes to the Canadian people for betraying their trust. One who sheds their party allegiances and offers to work in any capacity to help the Country through our financial crisis, our environmental challenges and to maintain the security of our neighborhoods and the men and women who are currently risking their lives on the other side of the World. They must really be disappointed.

I know it won't happen with this sorry lot, but someday I believe that it could.

US Election is here.

I am hopeful that the election today is without any major controversy and my preference is an Obama victory. Truthfully I have liked John McCain, but this election has soured my opinion of him. But I must admit that much of what he has said and done has been born of the pressure that he has received from the fundamentalist base of the GOP.

The only thing that I will have a lasting distaste with, has been his choice of Sarah Palin as his VP pick. She is an embarrassment to the process, and this video really summarizes what I would like to see happen tomorrow. Alas, it won't happen. But I really would like to know how they do this!

I'm in shit with Barack Obama

Kidding aside, this has to be one of the brightest Get out the Vote (GOTV) tools ever deployed in an election. The MoveOn.org political action committee has developed this great tool to inspire those who might be thinking about sitting out the vote next Tuesday. (watch video)

According to an email that I received tonight, this has been sent out 6.3 million times already since the beginning of the week, and about 30 per second are going out to Obama supporters. I have no doubt that this will set the new standard for using new media tools to win an election. Well, here's hoping anyways.