A ‘Royal’ headache for the Alberta Government—Alberta Royalty Review

As I have taken a sort-of “sabbatical” from writing my blog, it felt fitting that my first re-entry would be about the Royalties Review in Alberta.
On September 18, the Alberta Royalty Review, an independent review board set up by the Government in February of 2007 to review Alberta’s formula in charging royalties, released their report. Their report alleged that Albertans were not receiving their fair-share of revenues from the oil-sands, conventional oil and natural gas.
The title of the report, “Our Fair Share,” sums the conclusion that the Alberta Royalty Review panel came to, which calls for an increase in royalities charged to oil companies. The report was released to Government and then to the public for their input.
Well, Albertans have had a chance to review the report and to hear varying opinons in the media and they approve of the report’s conclusion. In a poll conducted by the Calgary Herald and the Edmonton Journal shows that 88% of Albertans believe what the report is saying, that Albertan’s are not getting their fair share.
To no surprise, the oil companies are not impressed with the report. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) President Pierre Alvarez spoke at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce on October 2 stating that if there is an increase the royalties the oil companies will leave. Their arguement is that it is difficult and expensive to extract oil from the oil sands and increasing the royalties would make it less cost-efficient causing companies to look for oil elsewhere.
What makes this issue a ‘royal’ headache for the Government is that the Alberta Auditory General has accused the Government of hiding information in the past that proved Albertans were not getting their share of the oil royalties which is in the billions. The unfortunate thing for Premier Stelmach is that he inherited this problem from Klien, but it is up to him to deal with it appropriately. Stelmach is taking the blame and disregarding comments made by Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft's call for the firing of individuals who knew that Alberta was not charging enought in royalities.
All is not lost for Stelmach and the PC’s however. They have the oppertunity to take action and raise the percentage of royalties charged to oil companies which, if the percentage is substantial enough, could ease the PC's sliding approval ratings with Albertans. But if Stelmach is seen as too soft with how much to increase the royalties, the ammunition against him will be reloaded and primed for the next election.
The Government is expected to make a formal response to the report by mid-October, however, in the meantime, the Government has, and will be, facing strong criticism by both oil producers and their stakeholders as well as Albertans that feel the oil and gas companies have too much control over Alberta's natural resources. With a possible Provincial Election looming in the spring, the PC’s better get onside with the electorate or see themselves shut out of seats.

A Dark Day for Conrad Black

Conrad Black has been found guilty on the obstruction of justice charge which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and penalty $250 000. He has also been found guilty on three counts of mail fraud. each carry a five year maximum. On the racketeering charge, Black was found not guilty, a charge that was created to punish mobsters in organized crime and was no big surprise that it was dismissed.The other three co-defendants were mostly charged on counts of mail fraud.
At sentencing, Black faces a max of 35 years in jail. The jury went over this case with a fine-tooth comb, therefore, the Defense has few ways in which it can argue an appeal.
The jury was unanimous, therefore it will be will be harder for Eddie Greenspan, Conrad's lawyer, an appeal. However, since charges of mail fraud was inconsistent between Black and the other co-defendants, Black's lawyers will have good ground for an appeal on the lesser charges.
As for the forfeiture of his assets, the judge will decide, not the jury. This is a positive for the Defense as the jury showed that they clearly understood that Black and the other co-defendants knew what they were doing and would more than likely rule that the government take Black's property.
It will be interesting to watch sentencing and on what terms Black's lawyers will raise an appeal.

Bush commutes Libby…maybe Conrad should have gotten an US’ship

Washington is all a buzz about Bush commuting Scooter Libby of his 2 and ½ year prison term for leaking the identity of CIA agent whose husband was critical of US’ war in Iraq.

If a two and a half year prison sentence is too much for ruining a career of a distinguished CIA agent, then the Lord Black’s possible jail term of the rest of his life should be seen as excessive by this President.

Maybe Black should have chosen his desired titles better…maybe instead of a British Lordship of Crossharbour, he should have tried for a US’ship of the Bush Administration.

Third-party in Alberta full-circle?

Well it looks as though history just might be repeating itself. As Stemach announces that he will have more involvement from Calgary and Edmonton MLA's in the cabinet, in Red Deer today a right wing party is having their founding meeting. They do not want the Liberals to win by default in the next election so they hope to have their party ready for the next election.
Although Alberta has a long history (better yet, its whole history) based on third parties (UFA, Social Credit, PC), what is the likelihood that another 3rd party will take the helm in governing Alberta?
Unlikely...why? Alberta's demographics are quickly changing with the upsurge in immigration. Urban outnumber rural Albertans, where urban is more likely to vote for parties that are not conservative, let alone a right-wing party that will probably more right than the current PC government.
Second, in all of Alberta's governing parties, it has always been the third leader of the government that brought the party down...Charles Stewart (Liberal), Richard Reid (UFA), Harry Strom (SC), however Klein, being the third Premier from the PC's was to be the one to bring the party down. The tradition of third leaders bringing their third party down has been broken with Stemach being elected the fourth Premier from the Progressive Conservatives. Therefore, the likelihood of a third party coming to take control of government is not looking very promising…the cycle may just be broken.
What happened to the good old days when third parties could do some good? Manning needs to come out of hiding...

Summer reading suggestion

I just finished reading an autobiography by Ayann Hirsi Ali titled Infidel and thought if you have any interest in politics and social policy towards religious toleration, then this is a book you need to read.
Ayann was an Islamic Somalian who was born into political, religious and cultural turmoil. Without giving the book away, this woman managed to receive refugee status and later citizenship in Holland where she became a Member of Parliament in 2002. Her life has been threatened on many occasions; however she still speaks out about women’s rights.
In the book and though out her stay in Holland, she has been outspoken about the cruel world that Islam forces women to live in, and in come cases die from. She goes into great detail about her abuse and treatment as a woman in an Islamic world. Some of the subject matter will be disturbing, but after reading this book, my eyes were opened to how far society is willing to turn a blind eye to women’s treatment in one particular religion as to not disturb the delicate balance in multicultural society.
Her message is straight forward—Islam needs to allow critical thinking and modernization. If it continues to teach total submission, than Islamic societies will continue to lag behind. Furthermore, if the Western world continues to accept religious toleration with Islam, then women will continue to live a life of torture, honour killings, beatings and submission.
I am, by no means attempting to start a political debate about religious toleration nor expressing my beliefs, what I am doing is introducing an alternative perspective.

Long-Term Bill shelved…Good!

I was glad to see that the Senate shelved the Tory’ bill to set Senator’s term limits eight years. If this legislation were to pass, it could enable a long serving Prime Minister to appoint most and in an extreme case all of the Senators. This is the major reason behind the Liberal majority Senate decision to delay it. Without elected senators, the Tory bill does not make the Senate more accountable, but more of a puppet to the Prime Minister.

However, this is not a blog that supports elected senators. I have always stood my ground on this contested issue and despite having many characteristics from Alberta; this is one that I do not share. Elected senators will lead to delayed legislation, power politics between the house and the senate and most of all, Senators who focus more on being re-elected than on being the House of “sober second thought”.

Senators do a respectable job in committees, research and issue awareness and if they have to focus on being re-elected then their duty to Canadians become second to fundraising and campaigning. There is no better example than our neighbour to the south where Senators spend most of their time in office campaigning.

Calvert calls Harper’s bluff

Just days after Harper told the provinces that if they have a problem with the budget they can take him to court; Saskatchewan’s Lorne Calvert might do just that. With the new equalization formula in the budget, Saskatchewan is set to loose millions of dollars from the inclusion of non-renewable resources with the “O’Brian Report” being used by the federal government. Saskatchewan has been on the border between being a have/have not, however if NRR are included (as they will be with the O’Brian Report) then Saskatchewan will receive no equalization payments.

The inclusion of NRR is another broken promise of Harper government. Harper campaigned in Saskatchewan during the 2006 election that he would not include NRR in the equalization formula, and by that managed to win 12 seats in the province.

Premier’s Danny Williams (NFLD) and Rodney MacDonald (NS) said they would testify in court if it went that far. Calvert is welcoming them to join him in his intent to sue the federal government.

Harpo can lie to the Canadian people that he did not break his promise and that the provinces are better off, but the facts prove just the opposite. He breaks promises…leaders don’t break promises…Stephen Harper is not a leader!

Alberta Grits take Calgary-Elbow

Way to go Craig Cheffins! Calgarians have spoken and they are not happy with how Stelmach is treating Calgary. In Drumheller-Strathmore, a honest hard fought campaign by Tom Dooley and supporters…however, rural Albertans still are not ready for change.
Next step…defeat the Tories in the next provincial election.

Caucus split or Caucus blip?

Tonight’s budget vote is going to be an interesting one. Will tonight’s federal budget third and final vote end up in a Tory caucus split or just a blip on the radar screen. With two Nova Scotia MPs already voicing their concerns and the expectation of Saskatchewan’s Lorne Calvert that none of the 12 Tory MP’s in that province will support it…tonight is shaping up to be a very exciting night.

O’l Harpo can say again and again until he is blue in the face that he didn’t break any promises, but Canadians know he has. As Premier Rodney MacDonald stated this morning, “A deal is a deal and a deal is being broken.” By threatening the Provinces to take him to court Harper has told Canadians that he does not want to govern this country in dignity and respect to alternative opinions—a pillar of democracy.

If you care about Alberta politics, tonight is also going to be an exciting night as Albertans go to the polls in Calgary-Elbow (Klien’s old riding) and Drumheller-Strathmore. More than just your usual bi-election, tonight’s vote will give either a thumbs up or down to Stemach’s first 6 months in office. Even if one goes to the Liberals tonight, it will spell disapproval and could be hard for the Government to smooth over. PC’ers are so nervous about Calgary-Elbow that they have called in the big guns. Runner up in the PC leadership and popular former minister, Jim Dinning has been seen door knocking in the riding.

Municipal infrastructure deficit getting addressed by Dion

In Calgary this weekend Dion gave the Big Cities Mayor’s Caucus what they wanted and desperately need. Municipalities have been at the short end of the stick for way too long by not being able to raise money to deal with aging infrastructure and in Alberta’s case, the need to expand due to increasing population growth. Dion’s statements this weekend was a breath of fresh air, albeit that he did not promise Mayor’s and city manager’s that if he was elected Prime Minister, he would give them 1% of the GST, he did promise them substantial future funding. Adding to his promise to permanently transfer the gas tax, Dion also promised to develop a 20-year strategy to deal with Canada’s infrastructure deficit.
Municipalities have always been considered the inferior of three levels of government, however with the world’s population increasingly moving into urban areas, the 21st century is proving to be the century of the city. The two higher levels of government need to stop treating the cities like a child as it is the cities that are the moving forces behind our growing economy. A city is where research and development, corporate headquarters, manufacturing, governmental institutions, trade and commerce are located. Without out the growth of cities, the industrial revolution would have never happened. It is cities that fuel our future and it is Dion’s promise this weekend that will hopefully open doors to further transferring of capital and one day greater responsibilities and revenue raising possibilities for cities.

Forget the belt…Harper’s cheap shots will try to hit you everywhere

Another round of attack ads…
This subject has been one that I have found myself in many arguments with my conservative friends. They view the Conservative attack ads as being good policy which shows they are the stronger party. This could not be further from the truth. Attack ads, although effective in putting a different light on an individual or subject, do not show strength, but desperation.
Harper has not been able to capitalise on his previous attack ads against Dion’s leadership and the conservatives are still almost head to head with the liberals. Going into the summer break without an opportunity to have an election, the Tories feel it necessary to inappropriately misconstrue the information in hopes of getting Canadians to think that they are the victims of a very turmoil filled session in the House.
They spend more time spin doctoring than they do governing and I hope that Canadians are starting to catch on to the Tories’ childish behaviour. I guess one cannot expect a party who acts like children in the House to act any different in the real world.
I am please to see the new commercials that the Young Liberals are now airing, a comedic spin on the very visible difference between the two parties…we just need more money to run them on tv.

Bring the dustpan…Dion is cleaning house

Could a call by Dion for the government to stop disrupting committees if it goes against the government’s agenda really clean up Parliament? Will it change when the House resumes in the fall? It is highly unlikely looking at the past misconduct in this government that maturity and civility will be the conduct of Parliament in the future. Manipulation of opposition parties positions and comments only seems likely to continue as long as the conservatives hold power. I appreciate Dion’s stance on this issue, however it is unlikely change the government’s childish behaviour.

Hydrogen highway as much as a reality as a bullet train between Calgary and Edmonton?

The BC government wants to set up hydrogen fuelling stations from San Diego to Whistler to form a hydrogen friendly highway by 2010 to encourage Californians to come to the Olympics. Despite Campbell’s push to get more stations set up in the Greater Vancouver area and on the island, Governor Schwarzenegger believes that it will not be a reality until at least 2015. A major obstacle is that Washington and Oregon has yet to commit to a hydrogen future since there are no major fuel-cell industries in their states to promote. This will leave a substantial gap in the highway. Another major problem is that the North American car manufactures are not expecting to have hydrogen cars in showrooms for another decade.
Will Campbell’s dream become a reality by 2010 or will it become another bullet train dream that never makes it to the station?
The higway would be a significant step towards reducing our environmental foot print and to have the highway by the Olympics would bring about awareness to the issue. Although it might never become a reality there is no harm in attempting to achieve that goal. BC has already made significant gains in purchasing 20 hydrogen buses and developing hydrogen fuelling stations. Heightened awareness from the highway might create pressure to increase the development of hydrogen vehicles and place greater pressure on governments and the automakers to fund and develop hydrogen vehicles sooner.
Every dream has its goal; it just might take longer to get to Campbell's dream than he wants.

Alberta by-election: a precursor for a Chinook wind of change?

With the upcoming by-elections in Calgary Elbow (Klein’s old riding which has been held by the PC’s since 1971 when it was first drawn) and Drumheller-Strathmore an exciting time in the province of Alberta is upon us. We Albertans do not get much excitement with elections as we already know the outcome even before an election is called, however the proverbial Chinook winds of change has warmed our province as the ice-cold grasp of the provincial PC’s have started to melt.

Although the Drumheller-Strathmore by-election may be a long shot, the candidate is a great choice (little biased as I am good friends with his son). Calgary Elbow, as Rod Love stated today on CBC Radio Calgary, that Calgary Elbow will be a challenge for both parties and that it will be a snapshot of the approval of leadership for both Eddie and Taft.

With the PC government seemingly digging themselves into deeper hole everyday over their inability (or lack of desire) to grasp the concerns of Albertans, with the unfair treatment of Calgary with their broken promises of infrastructure monies, refusal to address the affordable housing crisis and their now supposed favoritism of UofA over UofC (this one gets me fired up as a UofC student), it seems as if this party is running itself right off the cliff at Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump.

The sad reality is when it comes to these by-elections and the future provincial election, will Albertans be able to change their habits and put a check mark next to another party? After 35 years of PC domination, will a change in government ever come?

There is hope however, with the changing demographics and the substantial population growth we have experienced here in Alberta over the past five years, the Chinook winds may come sooner and stay longer than us liberals in Alberta could have ever dreamed of.

Duceppe jumps in, but how big will his splash be?

Today, Gilles Duceppe announced that he will run for leader of the Parti Québécois, although not a surprise too many as there was speculation earlier this week that the leader of the BQ would enter the race.

With that question being answered, the next one we must ask is how much of an impact will his run for leader have on the PQ and on the BQ. Will Duceppe have enough pull to bring the party back from its disastrous third place finish in March’s provincial election? Better yet, will he be able to return to provincial politics victorious in the leadership race as just this week PQ members said that they wished to have a leadership race. A cakewalk for the BQ leader was rejected and the desire for a competition for Duceppe to compete in was expressed by many PQ's .

No doubt that this move leaves questions as to who might succeed Duceppe federally and what sort of advantages this may give Harper in his quest to claim victory in Quebec in regards to the sovereignty issue.
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Make sure to wash your fruits and veggies

The Tory government is increasing the levels of pesticides in our food products to match that of the US. Their excuse? To prevent any trade disputes with the US over the levels of pesticides.

All of this after last summer when Environmental Minister Rona Ambrose said that the government was going to reduce the levels of carcinogens and other harmful toxins from products we use everyday. Even this past December the Tories announced their new Chemicals Management Plan which aimed at regulating harmful chemicals. “The plan takes immediate action to regulate chemicals that are harmful to human health or the environment.”

This is where I begin to get confused…studies have shown that pesticides have been linked to neurological damage, cancers and leukemia (in children).

I guess that they have to make up for the reduction of harmful chemicals that their environment plan will (supposedly) take care of by introducing the chemicals back into us by other means. This government does not know what its priorities are; they claim one thing and act on the other. The contradictions of this government are starting to give me a headache…could it be cancer caused by pesticides? The government is sacrificing Canadians health to benefit trade…and they called Liberals ‘soft’ on the environment?

Links:
Vancouver Sun http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=c01d8141-839d-41cc-a8e1-2863bbc9ee36
Chemical Substances Website, Government of Canada http://www.chemicalsubstanceschimiques.gc.ca/communique_e.html
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment http://www.cape.ca/toxics/pesticides.html

“Sorry Mr. Speaker, I forgot to state that I support the troops…”

Since when did asking for more information on our military’s mission mean that you do not support them? (As long as the Tories have been in government) Why are MP’s constantly having to prelude their comments with, “We the Liberal party fully support our brave men and women…”

The Tories are using our troops as an excuse to avoid the issues and not face the facts. Since when did asking questions make me not a supporter of the cause? Questions allow for greater transparency, without it, you have nothing more than cover up, corruption and misleading principles. Last time I checked, I lived in a democracy not a dictatorship.

Will the Prime Minster and the Tory government ever stop walking around the bush with this issue, accusing opposition parties of being sympathetic to the Taliban and answer the questions? If there is nothing to hide then why do the Tories keep dodging the questions? The answer is clear—they have been caught red handed and instead of dealing with the problem they have allowed it fester and have created a greater problem for our military.

Don’t blame opposition parties Hillier for this problem; blame the government for not dealing with it when it first arose…it is their ineptitude that has caused such distress for our troops.

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Life as an Albertan Liberal

I thought it would be fitting to write my first blog entry from the personal perspective of being a born and raised Albertan Liberal (born into a conservative family though).

An Albertan Liberal cannot be compared to other Liberals; we are unique and completely predictable. Unique for we face things that liberals in other provinces would never think of having to endure—mockery, door slamming, insults, ridicule, and being a constant outsider. Predicable for our support never sways and we eagerly support and dedicate our time to candidates with no chance of winning (even if hell were to freeze over).

I don’t mean this to imply that Alberta Liberals are better than all the other Liberals, but when you grow up in a province where it is impossible to have the candidate of your choice but you still put 100 percent into each election to know you are going to lose, you are a different kind of Liberal. We work hard for a cause we believe in, but see very little or if any results from our work.

Just imagine when politics are brought up, you are automatically judged negatively and conflict sometimes arises. During elections you door knock for the Liberal candidate and get doors slammed in your face, greeted with disgust and in most cases rude comments. In this province, everyone expects you to be a Tory, and if you’re not, people ask what is wrong with you.

Not only am I an Albertan, I was born and raised in the riding of Wildrose (for those of you not familiar with this riding, the incumbent Myron Thompson, wins with over 90% of the popular vote for not doing a single thing). Wildrose is a rural based riding of farmers, ranchers and has strong ties to the oil sector, and where every household has at least one truck. The bumper stickers go as follows: “Say NO to gun control, gay marriage and Kyoto”. Just saying the word Liberal will get people’s blood boiling and ranting about NEP, crooked liberals and how great Stephan Harper is.

While the University Conservative Association earns $16000 in one fundraiser and the University Liberal Association hits the jack pot with $1500 fundraiser, it is easy to see that Liberals are a long shot out here. We appreciate every opportunity that MP’s and MLA’s visit us and come to our speaking engagements; however, they are not that often. It is easy for the national party to forget about us when they don’t think that there is any support in Alberta, especially Calgary.

The support maybe minimal but it is strong. Liberals in Alberta have to endure so much and should be respected for that. We are outsiders. Constituency meeting usually consist of 3-6 in attendance and at the last election, membership got to an outstanding 113 people in some ridings. Such out casts are we that for some of us, even our own parents refused to buy memberships to support us as delegates for the convention.

Albertan liberals are not fair-weather liberals; we will stand our ground amongst harsh words and negative treatment because this is what we believe in. If you want a dedicated liberal—look no further than Albertan Liberals.

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