Anyone know how Alberta's mainstream media factors in to all this, if at all? I ask because I don't know what Alberta's political press is like... does it claim to hold "the government's feet to the fire," like ours do (and fail at, in my opinion)?

Were there any maveric voices in Alberta's press during the Klein years, or did they all pretty much tow the line.

verso, the nature of the press would not have mattered one whit.

The Klein years have been punctuated by such massive profits (from Oil & Gas) that living memory of the pains of losses taken in the 1980's is gone, most likely moved away to greener pastures.

In my observation the vast majority of the 'politically active' in Alberta are many of the 'new arrivals' whom have jumped on the petro-gravy train. So no publication could have influenced their view of the "Alberta Experience" that they were currently enjoying.

The average age of Alberta has been dropping, and with it the voice of experience is gone...

As long as an individual is 'prospering' in Alberta, nothing will change.

Will Ralph be pitching his post democracy at the Fraser Institute?

Is BC following a similar course?

At some point water will be the important commodity, then Alberta will suck hind teat!
Let us hope that the public will have some input on how our water rescources are handled!
This article shows that money controls everything, who needs religion when money will do?

Murdock,

That is the thrust of the article... and I can't argue with the points you make, except in one regard -- If Klein is not responsible for putting the oil in the ground, or even extracting it, what kept him in power all these years?

If the mass amount of wealth generated in Alberta was all that was needed to keep Klein in power for so long I have to wonder how well their media was doing it's job.

In BC, who would have thought Gordon Campbell's political career would survive the DUI in Hawaii? There's no no doubt in my mind that Clark, given our MSM, could never have survived such a thing. I guess it depends on what role/influence you view the mainstream media having in shaping public opinion.

I'm not sure if my point is clear, or even relevant to the article above but to put it simply, if all it takes for a government to remain in power is a booming economy than we really are in trouble. (freebear makes the same point above).

Verso,
Th mainstream media in Alberta little more than wave the pom-poms in support of the Klein government's policies. This is nothing new. However, the smaller media publications (Fast Forward in Calgary, The Vue Weekly in Edmonton, and Alberta Views magazine) regularly provide excellent commentary on the social, economic, and environmental consequences of the government's policies.

There was the beginning of a political shift in the last election, with the opposition winning considerably more seats than they had in the past. Most people recognize the intellectual bankruptcy of the Klein government's policies and are looking for a change.

What I find extremely interesting about Alberta politics right now is the composition of the voices speaking out against Klein's policies. There are many people who would be considered "elite" (at least economically) that recognize the harm being done by underfunding universal education and health care. The "dog eat dog" mentality, generally speaking, seems to be coming more from the middle - to slightly lower-income people who are buying into the dream of economic prosperity.

These are all my observations, and could be wrong, but that's the general sense I have.

Part of what has made the Tories so successful in Aberta is the fact that they behave like Liberals (or even New Democrats) in terms of public spending. Alberta outspends every other province in most areas of provincial jurisdiction, although there are a few exceptions.

The notion that Alberta is a conservative place is generally false.

greenalbertan,

Thanks, I suspected the media there was a little like our own...

When I was in Calgary this summer I was again struck by the huge "homeless population" seen in the downtown core. I could only wonder how such a wealthy province could produce such a large population of poor. I guess that it would be no different than downtown Vancouver (Which I have not visited in some time). We are still a have province due to our own wealth generating resources but next to Alberta, our own financial situation pales in comparison. I thought that the citizens of Calgary should be ashamed of the situation.

I love the picture of Ralph, why do I get the feeling that I wouldn't even buy a used go-cart from that face.

Alberta is an "oil created anomaly" in this country. In my youth, before oil, it and Saskatchewan were virtually indistinguishable, even for the influence of the Bible Thumpers. And oil per se is doubtlessly the most "Amerikanized" sector of the economy, which has intruded itself most "culturally" into Alberta than anywhere else in Canada. It is the Ameriikanized oil wealth corruption of Alberta, seeping itself only marginally less into all aspect of heretofore Canadian post-Trudeau social, economic and political culture. Alberta, now with the Harper Conservatives in power in Ottawa, an echo of Alberta "Republikan" Conservatism, is the preview image of what the entire country is destined to become, is becoming-, on this US "boot-lick" course the entire Anglo-Canadian nation is on in the Age of The Neocons.

What Alberta has become is like looking into the Wicked Queen's looking glass and seeing the entire country's future, at least for so long as the oil holds out, and the US Empire continues to desire it and need it so extremely, and there are those amongst us who have the power of privilege and will sell it and us out to them.

"Snow Nigger Nation." did somebody say here earlier?

Ralph actually looked a lot better when he was still on the juice.

Let's remember that the vast majority of voters vote on only two issues:

1. What can that person do for me?

2. Can I identify with this person?

Ralph hit the nail on both heads. It is a policy that every politicial who ever wanted to get elected has to learn. The NDP sure hasn't.

That must have been a while ago. The past will never, however much you want it to, return. Better to look forward.

realist,
you're right, the homeless issue in Calgary is a huge embarrassment. I've lived in Calgary my whole life, and in the past few years the situation has started to become truly dire. The easy answer is to build affordable housing in the downtown core (where the homeless people are), but that decision is pretty unpopular politically.

We have a visionless mayor who thinks that all the city needs are more roads, and a large percentage of people with a "where's mine" attitude - they can't see why perfectly good real estate would be used to create affordable housing solutions.

So, until the local political winds blow in a different direction the affordable housing problem will be Calgary's (and Alberta's) black eye.

I think Ralph could only be successful in Alberta's political culture. If he left the province and ran somewhere else without all that oil and a history of being the leader of a one-party state, he wouldn't go very far.

Remember when some in Alberta wanted him to run federally, leading the PC's or Reform?

Even Ralph knew his "magic" stopped at the Alberta border.

For years ,i have, along with many,many others put forth the idea a fence post could have gained as much popularity as klien with all those OIL BUCKS rolling in.

That he had the arrogance of a drunken dictator only endeared him to the mental midgets that tout his so called genius...

On the news just as i got home the other day,they were saying..."klien,finally admitted he never had any plan...for anything."

With a gazillion bucks coming in every day to the government,the only plans anybody has in that province is to get on the voters list so they can avail themselves of those klien bucks ralphie like to send out like welfare cheques to his constituents.

Anyways,hey ,just be glad he won't be abusing the underprivilidged and giving Herr Kampbell ideas on how to abuse the disabled...

I can see ralphie and gordo as kids by a pond,down on their knees giggling madly,while ralphie sticks a firecracker up a frogs ass and saying to gordo,when we gets into politics cousin,we can do this to people...

only ralphie could get away with crap like that,so it's small wonder he smiles like a weasel beaming from the adoring right wing rags.

I am not so sure of that, Frank. I think the message is pretty universal. Look at Bush:

1. He appeals to the super wealthy and gives them what they want. In turn their bank roll them.

2. He appeals to retarded knuckle dragging bible thumpers, who in turn support the rich who bank roll them.

See, popularity is enought to get elected to run the largest kleptocracy in history.

Other example: Joey Smallwood, Richard Hatfield, McKenzie King (maybe!) and of course Maurice Duplessis.

Oh, and Gordon Campbell!

WM, some of those guys you listed trailed their party in popularity. Anyway, I can't argue whether Bush would have got elected without the Republican brand or Klein without the Conservative one. I don't think so, but I can't prove it.

By the way, I don't want Albertans to think that I think Alberta is the only province that would support a drunk, Campbell puts the lie to that.

The Alberta press were big cheerleaders for Ralph. The opposition was ignored, there would be the odd article or mention but mostly to say they are idiots.

Major negative stories are buried on inside pages with blah headlines. e.g.Kleins biggest policy initiative - electricity de-regulation - was abandoned over a year ago as a failure and the Calgary Herald had one thin column on page three instead of the front page.

One of the main contributors to Ralph Klein's success is an electoral system with big discrepencies in urban/rural riding size. Two thirds live in Calgary Edmonton but only 48% of the seats are for these cities. I am not even talking about proportional rep, just having rural and urban ridings having the same numbers of voters would have made a huge difference.

The simple solution to all the homeless people in Calgary used to be to give them a bus ticket to Vancouver.

Kleins legacy. Giving away 250,billion dollars in forgiven oil royalties from the major petro companies .

They told a bunch of us being indoctrinated at Syncrude that they (yabnkees) are in Alberta to stay and if we don't like it we can leave. And they wonder why people don't like them much, unless they are kissing their butts for a job.

Coyote: the quote was from ursus on the Ironworkers piece by Tom Sandborn.

Klein set did nothing for 10 years, he set us back 20 yrs in health care. The damage he has done will cost billions because we now have to re-build what we already had plus pay more to accomodate all the new people coming in.

The most interesting thing is since he himself admitted his own incompetence the Alberta media are actually saying not so flattering things about him. We can't get excited because whoever the next tory leader is he will be treated like a god.

As long as things are booming, there will be little thought given to this de facto truth. But wait until things tighten up........(it's the sine wave thing).

...good to hear from you again Coyote...!! Missed ya bro.

Ralph Klein has never promoted the values of a democracy. His era is a "post-democracy" era. He only listens to industry leaders, his ol' drinking buds, and the voices in his head, and then answers to no one...

In discussing the things that really matter, such as grizzly bears, and the Boreal Forests, Ralph has left Alberta a more "has-been" province then before he was Premier of Alberta...

My understanding is Ralph is not retiring in Alberta... I can only assume he wants to live in a healthier enviroment. You know, clean air, and clean water...

RTB

And that's exactly what it is, bro. It's a bullshit Neocon period we have to ride out. Maybe even take on and defeat if we can muster it. "It's the sine wave thing."

I think it is actually called the Kondratieff Cycle, if I remember my economic theory correctly. Seriously. Check it out. Google.

Some folks who know me have been prevailing on me. The argument is, that when a purge is being organized (see "what'ername", Shannon Rupp or some such), it is always a mistake to purge yourself. Make them actually do it, and take the discredit. :-)

And ya brother, there are too many of you really good folks to just up and abandon to the wingnuts and pale drawn mushy "moderates" who would otherwise just take over here. :-) Make the twits fight for it and do their own dirty work, is the philosophy I believe. :-D

You don't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. Just pay attention. :-)

from the article:

This is actually also very true throughout the Canadian political system, i.e. in relation to smaller non-traditional parties of whatever stripe; because of the stranglehold the Three Big Parties have on the whole electoral process and media machines are geared to entrench these parties and discredit all others: what Klein did to Alberta's Opposition, as with Campbell's first-term shut-out of the Opposition (even in name), was to treat the competing political viewpoint as a fringe viewpoint; not worthy of even acknowledge in the House, never mind on the hustings.

What about New Brunswick, by the way? I guess there the one-party province syndrome was partly avoided because of hereditary party membership, as is common in the Maritimes. And notably there, when there was no Opposition, the Premier undertook to recruit someone to serve as Leader of the Opposition and to incorporate non-party participation in government committees.

Klein's legacy in BC, by the way, is the street people/white trash that got pushed out of Alberta and wound up here; same with Harris re Ontario.

i.e. non-ruling party participation.

I took my family to Disneyland at the end of August. On the way back we stopped in Calgary to go to their zoo.

Taking the c-train into downtown Calgary was interesting. Everyone on our train got to see a crack deal going down. The downtown was uninspiring and the city was pretty ugly.

What are the citizens of Alberta getting with all that oil money? If Calgary is their flagship city, I would say not much. The only way you'd know that Calgary was experiencing an economic "boom" was with all the low-paying service jobs that were being advertised on almost every billboard in town.

The zoo wasn't too bad, but Calgary isn't even a nice place to visit. It's a city that truly shows where the money in Alberta is going: out of the province.

Outstanding set of observations, Skookum 1. (And those of Chris H which immediately follows as well.)

On the one hand, incredible wealth is flowing, largely south into the Empire heartland, and into the pockets of those amongst us who facilitate the sell-out, and to whom "sharing" is anathema, a violation of the basic principles of capitalism.

I can remeber when it was thought and preached as factual history that Canada had finally emerged as its own nation out of the fiery furnaces experiences of the First and Second Great Wars. The reality is we still haven't broken out of the Colonial, serving the imperial heartland role in which we were originally cast. And Alberta above all others is a still living, heart beating demonstration that we still serve colonial masters-, only where it was the old British Empire, it is now the US Empire.

We are still a slave, Snow Nigger State, to foreign masters. (Thanks for this entirely accurate description, Ironworker.)

And whilst some "trained journalists" on Tyee, in the "professional" stratosphere above we mere scarcely literate plebian horde, would dance us around the Maypole of cute journalism, the realities asserts itself despite them.

Doesn't it? :-)

Sorry, but I really think this article misses the point altogether.

The one-party state in Alberta was not created by Ralph Klein -- it has been a fixture of the province's political culture for its entire lifetime. There have been only 3 changes of government in Alberta in 101 years -- the Liberals from 1905 to 1921, the United Farmers of Alberta from 1921 to 1935, Social Credit from 1935 to 1971 and the Tories ever since. There has never been a minority government and only rarely is the opposition more than a handful. Effective opposition has almost always come from inside the governing party, the media and/or the federal government of the day, not from the other side of the legislature.

You want to talk about anti-democratic behaviour in Alberta politics? Forget Klein. Try "Bible Bill" Aberhart, the Social Credit premier who literally tried to legislate government censorship of newspapers back in the 1930s before a heroic press campaign (the Edmonton Journal won a Pulitzer Price for it, the only Canadian newspaper ever to win one) and the courts shot him down. Even after that, his party still held power for a good 30 years, with no opposition to show for it.

Ironically, the largest opposition showing in recent history (the last 40 years) was Ralph Klein's first election as premier in 1993, when he took 51 seats to the Liberals' 32 -- and that was only because both Klein and Liberal leader Laurence Decore (the ex-Mayor of Edmonton taking on the ex-Mayor of Calgary) campaigned on near-identical platforms of "massive" cuts and "brutal" cuts to bring the deficit into line. Once the Liberals got off that line in subsequent elections and started criticizing the government, they went back to the typical fate of Alberta oppositions -- that is, single digit showings in the legislature under the hapless Grant Mitchell (now a Senator thanks to Paul Martin) and Nancy MacBeth, who actually placed second to Klein in the Tory leadership race back in 2002.

The current opposition, which looks like it's on the upswing under Kevin Taft, is in a similar situation to when Don Getty took over the listless Conservative ship in the late 1980s -- possibly poised to take over if the Tories elect a dud to replace Klein, but doomed to another long spell of obscurity if the new leader can reinvent the party's image like Klein did.

Sorry for the long wind, but this really needs to be set straight. You can call Klein a lot of things, but not the father of post-modern democracy. Alberta's democracy has been "post-modern" since the 1920s.

One last thing. Those who don't like Klein or the Tories can take comfort in one facet of Alberta's political history: once a party loses its edge with the electorate, it's gone for good. The Liberals, the UFA and Social Credit didn't gradually fade from power, they were wiped out -- suddenly and completely, never to return.

Oops. Sorry about the bad coding. I usually don't post more than one paragraph at a time. :-)

Intersting history squishy dude... Thanks. I am sure conditions were perfect when Klein first got in. Proof of this is that he has been around for a long time... Too long to be sure...imo. ;-)

Peace,

RTB

Someone earlier in the comments asked where the media was/is during the Klein years. Some say the real leader of the opposition in Alberta in the 1990s was Marc Lisac, the Edmonton Journal's lead political columnist and author of the 1995 book The Klein Revolution. He did a kick-ass job of holding Klein's feet to the fire during both the cuts and a stock scandal involving Klein's wife that did temporarily threaten to cut short his career. He either left or lost the gig in 2001 for reasons I don't know (I left Alberta in 1998 and stopped paying as much attention) and is now publisher of an online Alberta politics (insightalberta.ca, which I just found after being reminded of him by this thread) as well as the author of another couple of books on Alberta politics. I heartily recommend him for anyone looking for insight on Klein's Alberta.

Never say 'Never'.

Some of the media in Alberta stopped wasting time criticizing the elected Conservative Govt. and used their resources to go after the Federal Liberal Govt. As they should have. Why bother with a conservative friendly Govt. when you can go after the real enemy, The Liberal Party of Canada, who were wiped off the map when Ann McClellan lost her seat in Redmonton. I am delighted by this. The NDP? not a factor. How can anyone be so naive to not understand that these great people are an independent , conservative, hard working population that is not going to go liberal.
Thank God. They put a lot of work in fifty years ago to realize this overnight sensation economy. You gotta love those guys.

50 years IAMC - you've got to be kidding. It's a lot longer than that. Who do you think the Socreds under Aberhart and Manning were before Peter Lougheed came along. The whole province is an extremely bad and smelly joke.

It's not a smelly joke, it's just different than what what you are used to. When I talk about the efforts fifty years ago, I am talking about how Alberta was sensible enough and capitalist enough to see the future, and put in the effort to realize a economy based on petroleum.
I took a course called "Enterprise" ( later names Social Studies.) and the entire year was dedicated to Petroleum. I was only 10 at the time. We toured drilling rigs and oilfield supply companies.
Our only friends were people from Oklahoma and Texas.
It's a totally different world in Alberta.
I love to see the fruit trees we planted producing fruit now. I am so proud of that.

It's smelly and it's a joke. And the joke is on you Ron because you are such a homer.

It's too bad your education stopped with that course you're always going on about. It has warped your judgment, your sense of fair play and your ability to understand anything that doesn't have a dollar sign in front of it. Isn’t it kind of a shame you don’t have a few Canadian friends?

So YOU planted the OIL?

I hope you're prepared to clean up the Athabasca area then.

You said it best G, someone sure better...!! And better a neocon, as they damaged and destroyed this area robbing my children of the wonders of the Great Boreal Forest in Alberta... Pathetic...!!

What a legacy Klein has left them.

Peace to the Earth Lovers...

RTB

Post-democratic. Now there's a word to build a revolution on. Howdy coyote.

This article is very perceptive, and very disheartening for anybody who loves Democracy. The process it points to has proceeded throughout the New World revolutionary nations. It has now consumed The US and Canada and almost all the smaller states in order of wealth of resources.

Like all such dictatorships, it has already begun to express it's arrogance, as shown by the explosion of deep poverty which remains unaddressed by the power elite.

I question Mr. Dabbs' analysis of inability by the oppositions in these places to be effective. I've been struck by the repeated failure of even strong oppositions to so much as squeek at the dismantling of cherished principles of law in all these countries. Where is our own opposition while Campbell's crew cancel the fall session so they can be unavailable for questions during their shameful corruption trial? Which according to BC Mary is scheduled for this fall.

I just would like to point out that all Democracy had to be won by fighting. These people think their populations are just sheep, to be fleeced at will and just shut up about it. If we sit silently by and let it be taken like this, the only way to recover it will be the way we got it in the first place.

As the Mexican population is discovering, this is harder than you think. Law abiding people do not easily take arms against their own.

We absolutely must find an opposition with a voice, and the will to be heard.

For more commentary similar to what we have above:

http://ralphsworld.blogspot.com/2004_09_01_ralphsworld_archive.html

I found some good pro-active and reactive writing in that blog and I would like to invite John Clark to this site ... SIG

Yea, and at one time the neo-Nazi's held every seat in the legislature .
The Edmonton Journal declared itself the official opposition .
What I despise about Alberta and Albertan's is them moaning on and on about how bad the Liberal's are and a need for change in Ottawa when they are totally gutless and haven't changed their Government(?) for severnty five years .
Filthy brain dead red necks who by dint of geography ended up winners with the oild under theri feet .
As a race they suck .

A really excellent piece, Squishy. Jogged my own memory some of Alberta's history.

I agree with Baily, if I am reading him correctly here.

Part of the problem I often think is that we, both French and Anglo speaking populations of Canada, proceeded immediately after securing (thieving) this New World from the Natives, to follow the over-populated, over-developed, resource stripping socio-economic model of the Europe of our forefathers really. (And there are always differences between two things otherwise more or less the same.) Such that over time, regardless of the good, even so-called "democratic" intentions of everyone starting out, with this bloated European development model (not exclusive to Europe for sure) the point is reached, reaching its zenith with the evolution of capitalism, where the growth potential reaches the limits of one's own land and resource base. It has been effectively "strip-mined".

Thereafter, this "strip-mining" model of socio-economic development, in order to maintain itself and meet the wealth demands of especially its elites, is compelled to impoverish large strata of its own population (Calgary's homeless amidst opulent wealth) and engage in the theft of other people's/nation's land and resources-, that is fundamentally imperialism.

In our case, that of Canada, the historical evidence suggest to me, the development model pursued by our own ruling class, in order to prevent first Great Britain and then the rising US Empire from merely just rolling in here and taking everything it wanted anyway, was to first ingratiate itself to this foreign imperialism by fighting its wars, as we did for Britain and are now doing for the new US Empire (Afghanistan). Additionally, the response of our ruling class has been to simply accept and content itself with a "junior partner" role in its own house, in order to have a share in the wealth at least, with the dominant imperialism of the day-, like I say, first Britain and now the US Empire.

(There are reasons why, to here in time anyway, that has probably only ever been the real choice available to us, but which is too complex to get into in this piece.)

And that underlying economic reality and political culture has manifested itself most dramatically in Klein's Alberta, but also to an only marginally lesser degree typifies the entire country.

Though I do also think we are at a place in our development and a historical moment vis a vis the US Empire, given this latter's current preoccupations elsewhere and the degree to which it has entrapped itself in the Middle East, where, be there the will of the people, where we are finally positioned, no less that Venezuela and the rest of Latin America, to finally break free of this colonial dependency situation we are trapped in.

The key question being, for the nation, "Is there the will?"

Or after all this time, and bedazzled by the temporary appearance of things in Alberta (until the oil eventually runs out) are we now too timid as a people to even contemplate "seizing the moment".

The guy who ran Alberta, Peter Lougheed said a few days ago that Ralph didn't spend any effort figuring out how to make the oil sands work. Same political party. So who was right? The people who lost their jobs in education and hospitals sure wouldn't be cheering for Ralph either. But money talks and in alberat it's quite loud.

An exceptionally good article, I think. It reveals the wily process of co-option that business thrives on...where the designated "underlings" whomever they may be are consoled by the appearance of power when they really have none at all. It is a deceptive process of flattery really, that business uses to its advantage... and fools continue to fall for.

We see it in BC with the NDP participating in legislative committees alongside the Campbell Liberals, participation by both the NDP Opposition and teachers in the various round tables designed to distract from issues rather than solve them.

The answer to a government like Campbell's that has betrayed this province by selling the control of so much of it out of the hands of the people is to not co-operate, to not participate, and thus to not be co-opted into a process of which you will be given no control over.

Dabbs gives the example of Klein not allowing the Opposition MLA's in Alberta the use of Government House - a public facility -- as a venue to make formal presentations...a privilege he extends freely to the Conservatives. But why did those Opposition MLA"s accept that from Klein? Surely they could have made a mockery of the whole process and the undemocratic nature of it... but, no they accept and comply...and they don't seem to have an imaginative bone in their body when it comes to the art of protest...to outwitting power.

Co-option is really the old "assistant manager" trick we see in fast food places but on a grander scale. The worker who is "promoted" to assistant manager... but the overlooked reality is that along with keeping up his old job he now has more responsiblity and worries, and longer hours, his pay often remaining the same...but he is "an assistant manager" after all. No power, not even as a worker because he is now in "management".

Between a rock and a hard place.

That's pretty well where business has taken our system of democracy... into a bleak post-democratic world where subterfuge and the appearance of things is all.

Time to rattle those enslaving chains that come with the appearance of power.

I notice with pleasure that Bailey has joined us again. Always with something worthwhile to say too. I wonder if you might be interested in another little project we're working on.

Send me an email at

for further details.

Something fun to do .
http://www.politicalcompass.org/

Yea, well Canada is well on its way to becoming remade in Alberta's image thanks to 'The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight'
It is no accident that Harpo owns all the seats in Alberta . He appeals to their worst instincts .
All his talk about Senate reform is a sop to those who want a triple E Senate, but it will never happen .
This is appeasement at its worst .
Harpo and Klein are cut from the same cloth . Believe it .
Klein admitted his crew had no plans for the latest oil boom other than to spend the money as fast as they could .
Alberta should have the best schools,hospitals and infrastructure in the nation and yet they do not .
Post secondary education could be free .
The EUB(Energy Utilities Board) greenlit virtually every oil sands project that was proposed .
Peter Lougheed has called for a moratorium on the expansion until a full enviornmental audit is completed .
That went over like a lead balloon .
The Athabasca river is hopelessly polluted and the fish are poisened and showing signs of mutation .

Near the beginning of the article, we are told:

Yet further on in the article, municipal government is portrayed as a healthy political environment and a good place to get political experience:

This leads me to wonder how Klein's background in municipal politics, which he shares with many other Canadian politicians, explains his disdain for the Canadian tradition of government, and what municipal politics is really like: a breeding ground for people like Ralph Klein, or a healthy political environment and valuable training ground that Ralph Klein has curtailed.

Okay Hannibal, apparently I'm on the far left in the libertian quadrant, in my economic views, and similarly far left some distance into the same libertarian quadrant in my social views. :-)

That's less confusing than the old left-right line paradigm?

Thanks for totally messing with my head, eh! 8-D LOL My life was so much simpler before. :-(

commentator: municipal politics hasn't really been the same kind of training camp for provincial politicians in Alberta that it is elsewhere in the country, nor has it ever been a particularly strong level of government against the province. While four of B.C.'s last seven premiers came from municipal politics (Van der Zalm, Johnston, Harcourt, and Campbell), Klein is the first mayor to make premier in Alberta to my knowledge (at least the first since the 1930s). As far as quashing dissent goes, the school and hospital boards posed more of a threat to Klein as a viable opposition than municipalities ever did -- hence their emasculation.

"The chief weapon of sea pirates, however, was their capacity to astonish. Nobody else could believe, until it was too late, how heartless and greedy they were. "

Kurt Vonnegut, "Breakfast of Champions"

Sorry, it is the NDP's obligation to make the best of whatever mandate the voters gave them!
Likewise the teachers had to make the best possible out of an impossible situation!
The idea of bribing union workers with their own money, calling it a "signing bonus" was a trick that even old Ralphie had not figured out.
So, before you blame any organization, cast the blame on the stupid voters who once again got sucked in!
It should have been obvious that Gordo would continue to harrass the poor, but maybe some voters felt they were "assistant managers" now?
How about working hard to ensure that Harpo does not pull a similar trick, and get himself re-elected?
Our only real hope is that voters eventually get enough gory news from Afghanistan, and decide to vote for the NDP and its policy to withdraw from ANY war!

Agree.

But have they made the best of it?

Who went along , in the most co-operative of manners, with Campbell's crew and agreed to an increase in MLA salaries while so many in BC (that they supposedly represent) were still being victimized by Campbell's cuts? And the teachers should have called them on their round table ploy... and refused to participate.

Hey Hannibal,

Hows things?

Spot on with your comments on the Klein government... ;-)

This is something else. I tried to find more on this. Any suggestions?

Interesting test Hannibal. Left\left of course...

Peace dude,

RTB

He already has. It's the obligation of an opposition to oppose. They must debate every single proposal with sufficient vehemence to expose every facet and consequence that might flow. If they don't, we have no idea what's being done.

That obligation extends even when they agree with whatever the government is proposing.

The loss of democracy has more to do with Lynn's idea of a co-opted opposition than a corrupted government. We expect government to get corrupted. They have power, they control lots and lots of other people's money. It's the opposition that prevents them from stealing too much or getting too powerful. Without that it matters not one whit what party anyone belongs to.

It's not the Liberals who sold us out, we knew who they were when we elected them. Socreds who couldn't be re-elected after getting caught with their hands in the cookie jar, and who bought a second hand party cheap so we wouldn't see them coming back.

But the NDP. They are another kettle of fish. They seem to have sold their souls (and our a sses) for nothing. What are they getting for their compliance?

I really didn't see this coming. They've surprized me, and I don't see what they get out of this betrayal of everything I thought they were.

Coyote: Sorry ol' man . My scores were pretty close to yours .
I guess we're both potential anarchists .
Didn't mean to mess with your noggin .
ROTFLMAO .
Yea, I figured that is where you'd score Bear . Almost identical to my score .
I thought it was fun !
I'll see what I can dig up .
A link .
http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/613619949.shtml

Very interesting reading Bear.

While I agree, it also suggests the importance and responsibility of each individual to pay close attention in these times.

That says it all, Bailey...and it defines, sadly, where the real betrayal lies.

...that link is a keeper...! Thanks hannibal.

RTB

More links for Bear .
http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/show_enough.html

http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/show_lessismore.html

Background stuff :
http://www.vueweekly.com/articles/default.aspx?i=4353
What amazes me is that Lougheed was the grand poobah of a cabal of anti- Kyoto syndicates.
He sure has changed his tune since those unenlightened days.

Your welcome Bear .
Peace to you and yours

Hey hannibal,

I watched the the Nature of Things with David Schindler interviewed on the Oil Sands projects and it's devastating impact on the water, the land, and the FN's that live there. The look on the face of the FN's leader from that area as he was flying over the land torn apart by the greed of capitalism was unforgetable... Schindler calls it like it is... Good human being indeed.

Yeah, Lougheed hannibal. Wow, a conscience...who knew. So far it is very interesting eh? This little disturbance wasn't in the Globe and Mail, was it. I missed it if it was. Likely best for industry to keep it's exposure minimized...eh?

Good read...

Yeah, thanks hannibal, Peace to you and yours too brother...

RTB

Perhaps James should do a Klein-Campbell, get hammered and then go to a homeless shelter and throw money on the ground for the poor before driving drunk back to her hotel. The yokels love that stuff.

I thought the NDP would have done much better. The Norman Spector's of the world think the James-led opposition is great but clearly the voters of BC think less of them now than at the last election. Easy to see why.

Big surprise Hannibal, 7 units to the left and 5 units towards the bottom. I guess I'm a little more of an anarchist than Gandhi.

oh how the downtrodden victimist lefties hate alberta. gotta make you laugh and laugh and laugh, b/c over there they couldn't give a rat's ass about people that make excuses for everything and walk about in a perpetual state of whine.

lynn: you are correct,it looks bad when James vote for a salary increase!
What these damn governments are doing is to package their bills, so that they can slip in something that will hurt the opposition.
In other words if you want this , you also must approve that!
Each bill should contain only one proposal to vote on, not a bunch of mixed crap!
Like you said: the importance and responsibility of each individual to pay close attention in these times.
And perhaps someone was asleep at the switch?
NDP is far from perfect, in my opinion, but it is the only party that has a chance to stand up for the less fortunate.

No report on Klein is complete until the Sir Roger Douglas/New Zealand Experiment is included.

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:VLxU182QGEcJ:www.mngt.waikato.ac.nz/ejrot/Vol2_1/clancy.pdf+Ralph+Klein+%2B+the+New+zealand+Experiment&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=opera

http://thunderbay.indymedia.org/news/2003/06/7014.php?theme=default

http://www.islandnet.com/~luree/politics.html

http://www.cbc.ca/alberta100/en/timeline/1996_to_2005.html
In a move that will later come back to haunt him, Premier Ralph Klein sets out to fix Alberta's economic problems by imposing harsh cuts on provincial health and education spending. He also reduces government expenditures, cuts thousands of civil service jobs, rolls back wages for public employees, closes hospitals, and slashes welfare rolls. He takes his cues from an eccentric New Zealand economist and politician, Sir Roger Douglas, who coined the slogan, "Don't blink." Klein's version of the slogan is, "Short-term pain for long-term gain." For nine years, as Calgary's mayor, Klein had responded to complaints about mounting municipal debt by saying, "Everything has a price." Now he becomes Premier Scrooge. Cheered on by Alberta's business community, he sells off the province's liquor stores, deregulates electricity, and privatizes registry offices.

Dio

'you are correct,it looks bad when James vote for a salary increase!
And perhaps someone was asleep at the switch?'
you couldn't be more wrong about that alive. that arrangement was worked out very deliberately by farnworth and de jong. all the the ndp mla's were quite aware of what was going on and ALL were in favour. when the shit hit the fan they chickened out and tried to act holier than thou. didn't work though. too little too late. carole who? is toast.

It was the NDP that lowered BC welfare rates by $50 and introduced a 3 month waiting period for new residents from out of province. Rather than standing up for the less fortunate, they made the poorest people in the province poorer.

Hannibal calls Albertans e race? I guess that explains the poster of lies.

too true Commentator. As a disabled person I can tell you that we (the disabled) have been treated like animals by all parties. Like I have said before I am tired of voting against one party instead of voting for a party. We need real politicians who have grown out of the greedy neocon bull$hit and start treating all people with respect not just the sickening wealthy class who have lost their humanity in the quest for their new false god; Money.

More lies for Ronny to digest.

Decima Research, an excellent Ottawa-based firm, last week found the Conservatives at 33 per cent with the Liberals at 28.

A CROP poll in Quebec last week reported the Conservatives had fallen 9 points from June to August (to 24 per cent from 33 per cent), while the Bloc Québécois rose 6 points to 36 per cent, and the Liberals gained 4 points to 21 per cent.

And some more.

The Conservative vote is holding or rising where it was already strong, but not growing where it was too weak to win. Conservative core voters seem content enough; the rest are not. SES research shows opponents of Mr. Harper are much more passionate in their opinions than are his supporters.

alive, I sense your concern and the best of intentions in your words. I don't belong to the NDP but have voted for them many times...donated to their party as well... come from a strong NDP family in the Tommy Douglas sense of the word...but that doesn't mean they get my undying support, unless, of course, they earn it.

As an Opposition, the NDP should not co-operate with pirates...pirates who have allowed this province to be ruthlessly raided..nor should they sit with them on their pirate legislative committees, nor dine with them over their pirate round tables, square tables, whatever... where the pirates are making all the rules and determining the eventual outcomes. Otherwise, they ultimately become complicit themselves in the piracy taking place in this province. Pirates must always be outrightly opposed and fought.

The present leadership and backroom boys of the BCNDP have decided instead a more co-operative, nice, approach is the way to go. In doing so, they have not delineated themselves clearly enough from the pirates....and have become instead, part of the process of betrayal ... co-opted.

These are extremely critical and dangerous times for this province and this country..part of a world-wide sweep to remove power from the hands of the people and place it into the hands of an elite few...so a reticent Opposition, one that is always acting too late, one that seems unsure of what it stands for or what it is willing to stand for, just doesn't cut it, anymore. (At least some good news, it seems, via firm stands coming out of the federal NDP convention, though.)

And Bailey is quite right that all governments, due to the corruption innate in power, have the potential to become pirates acting against the best interests of the people... and that a strong effective Opposition, with the courage to oppose, is our defense against that...it is crucial both to the defense of our human rights and to our freedom.

Being nice to pirates is simply not a good idea. What we are asking is where is the forceful sword of Oppposition...that will let them know we will not stand for their devious attempt to steal this country and our system of democracy away from us?

Lynn wrote,

Which about sums it up for me.

Though, for me, as I have gotten older, I find that I am increasingly suspicious of all political parties, so-called left and right, without exception. One of the side effects, perhaps an unintended benefit, of the neoconservative dominance over all so-called western democracies since Thatcher and Reagan, in my view, and their betrayal of virtually all common or working class folks in these countries, is they have flushed out the inadequacies and degree of co-optation into "the system" of just about all political parties of which I am aware. (From Communist through socialist to social democratic (ndp); the heretofore assumed parties of the common folk/ working class.)

It would be nice if... again if a system of democracy could be evolved in society, within both the economy and the civil institutions of society that dispensed with the need for political parties, period, I think. And I think that isactually possible, that they can be encouraged at least to wither away, as society moves away from capitalism.

What is merely entrenches all forms of "elite power" at the expense of the mass of citizenry. (Which is why with every election in what passes for current democracy, I have to wrestle anew with whether or not to even bother voting within the status quo at all. Better I sometimes think that it simply be allowed, even encouraged to fall into disuse by the mass of society and precipitate a final "crisis of democracy". And there are persistant indications in the actual participation rate in elections, of that possibility.)

Participation through voting in what are already inadequate insititutions of so-called democracy, on one level at least, merely perpetrates the failed credibility of this status quo system.

It is a debate with myself as yet unfully resolved. :-)

Coyote, Lynn:
It is a matter of choosing the least offensive of the options avaiable.
Every NDP leader has been full of idealism and energy, only to learn the hard way, that this is a tough world, where anything goes!
It would certainly help if "the masses" would could be counted on to support new ideas, but only too often our media gets into the act and makes good ideas look like bad ideas!
If Coyote and other find it necesary to struggle about how to vote, then i can only suggest to get involved and help create a new platform!
Get involved and personally hold the leaders feet to the fire!
Yes, our system could be better, but politicians do not touch anything contentious, unless they are sure that their followers are behind them!
I think it took courage for Layton to come out against the war, but at least the convention endorsed his stand!
About co-operating with Pirates:
That is a bit like labour negotiations, basically you are on opposite sides, but there is one common goal!
To achieve that goal you MUST follow procedure!
Apparantly Dave Barret and Mini-Wac were hostile to one another; I am not so sure what that accomplished?
BC. NDP has had some typical "soft" leaders like Harcourt, who wanted harmony at any cost.
Again if you feel the present bunch are too soft, why not go to the nomination meetings and elect some tough opposition?
It is only too easy to bellyache about how "they" should behave! I for one am aware of the constant pressure they face from the combined forces of media and industry!
Simply put nothing is too dirty for those guys, if it can make NDP look bad.

Realist,
I am so sorry we have not done more to ensure that the lives of disabled people are as rich and problem-free as we can help make them. I hope that your being here will help some of the more selfish bloggers on this site become kinder and gentler in their outlook.

Perhaps Mr. Klein or Mr. Campbell would like to trade places with you for a few years...Nah, it'll never happen; just wishful thinking...

well, not always...sometimes, in some situations, it is required that you not follow procedure.....I would sometimes question the supposed inherent "commonality" of the goal as well...sometimes the goal has been deceitfully engineered ...those "signing bonuses" come to mind again.

I agree...but that's the political situation all over the world now... if the NDP are going to survive then they must develop an effective response to survive these dirty tactics...as well as the courage to take the reality of the situation on.

Thanks SharingIs Good

I have started to compile stories from the disabled about just how terrible it is to be forced to live in poverty. The one story that haunts me is from a woman in her sixties who suffers from seizures. She writes about not being able to afford Depends to prevent her from wetting the bed in the night when she has a siezure. I can picture this poor woman all alone, disorientated and confused trying to change the sheets on her bed because she couldn't afford the Depends to keep her dry. Yeah, I hate the greedy neocons out there who hide behind their ideologies that tell them it's o.k. to treat people like human garbage. I really do hope that there is a God, because if there is the neocons are in for a rude awakening at the Pearly Gates especially when they discover their wealth can't buy them a place in heaven. Perhaps people here can contact their M.L.A's and ask for help for the disabled but, it has been my sad experience that most people really do not care enough to even write a letter or make a phone call. S.I.G. is does feel good to see your post and to know that not all people are too caught up in their lives to not see what is going on and try to change reality.

P.s Klien and Campbell are disabled. They both suffer from an acute loss of humanity and are have a large hole in their chests where their hearts should be.

Realist, LOL

Realist:
Yea, and they both need a personality implant .
It is shameful that these two clowns are the best and the brightest of their respective provinces .
I heard that Clamhole took Kleins agenda and applied it to BC uncut .
Way to go Gordo that's thinking outside the box .

For one thing, Ralph sent it south by not charging the royalties he could have (and the companies owuld gladly have paid). Average Albertans never even saw what doesn't exist in their province. It's like when one has a keg of beer and spills a glass or two -- no loss, right? Except when the bottom of the keg starts to show.........

I am a single working mother of 3 wonderful kids. I have yet to see the good of ralph and this big money boom,,,,,as i am one the the poor people that he says do not exist in Alberta hahahaha.......i would love for him or any of his needing a raise members of the house try to live on my wage of $9 500 a year then try to tell me that i am not poor, as for affordable housing and denying the fact that we need a rent cap, all boloney, i will belive affordable housing when i see it, and hope that someday before i have to live in my car or a hotel again that someone will see fit to have a rent cap in place..

Welcome to the new Neoconservative World Order, eh?

And really, I think, we all know or should that all things are not equal, or even anywhere near equitable, even in Klein's "Oil Riches" Alberta. It wouldn't be capitalism if that were the case. The old inequitites that came with the system's Industrial Revolution in the 18th Century are still with us, through all its ruling class greed driven cycles of booms and busts. (And anyone with a living experience longer than a teenager has seen this all before. The booms and busts come and go, strip mining the land, and leaving the people with the environmental and human disasters they leave behind, after they sneak off with their money treasure.)

Regards to you good woman. Great numbers of us out here do hear ya.

Good post lady1012. I don't know how you stay sane but I admire and appreciate the fact you keep going.

And really, I think, we all know or should that all things are not equal, or even anywhere near equitable, even in Klein's "Oil Riches" Alberta. It wouldn't be capitalism if that were the case. The old inequitites that came with the system's Industrial Revolution in the 18th Century are still with us, through all its ruling class greed driven cycles of booms and busts. (And anyone with a living experience longer than a teenager has seen this all before. The booms and busts come and go, strip mining the land, and leaving the people with the environmental and human disasters they leave behind, after they sneak off with their money treasure.)

Regards to you good woman. Great numbers of us out here do hear ya.

Spot on Coyote.
There was a ,very,interesting documentary about how most CEO's score the same as sociopaths and psychopaths .
Could have something to do with the bucaneer mentality displayed by these morons .
I was,really, glad Gwynn Morgan( x head of Encana) was shot down by the committee . As he is definitely off the rails .
The 'Peter Principle ' has come about .
All these goofs have been raised to a level where they are totally incompetent.
Lady I feel deeply for your predicament .
Will Social Services not top up your income so you can get some decent housing for you and your kids ?
All this talk of low income housing is just that- talk .
The only low income housing I am aware of is the houses built by 'Habitat for Humanity '
And they only build 2 or 3 houses a year .
This is shameful in the richest province in the nation .

Rather than a rent cap Lady what I feel would be more equitable is a means test .
Whereby if you only make $9,500 per anum then your rent should be $100.00,per month and no more .
Leaving you money to actually clothe and feed your children .
I am going to propose this to Brian Mason and Kevin Taft . See how they feel about it.

Hi Lady 1012,

Thank you for your excellent description of the state of affairs for a single mom in the economically prosperous, and spiritually vacant, city of Calgary. I myself walked a simular path back in the late 80's. I understand sister...

The Klein government is only about money, not about being fully human with all the spiritual, and emotional needs that this entails... Even the folding money most often never sees the pocket of the many who truly need it. ie,consider Klein, drunk, in a home for the homeless, yelling at them to get a job... Heartless and without true understanding.

Coyote said it well of the values upheld by the Alberta leaders

Right on hannibal... Practical suggestions to "Lady". I am not surprised coming from you brother... :-)

coyote said:,

...indeed we do my friend.

Peace and Love,

RTB

Lady 1012:
Your situation is desperate, but unfortunately not so very special!
At least you seem to have access to a computer, and the ability to explain your situation.
I know of a good many who do not have such luck, and simply assume that they must deserve to be treated like shit.
Keep up your writing, try to embarras the politicos!

To Hannible and others that responded to me. Yes social services helps somewhat, after they take off what i earn with my job they give me some it usually amounts to around $200bucks a month it helps to pay the sitter so i can earn money to pay rent $715.00 bills around $300 so far (it isn't winter yet) and then food, insurance for my vehicle that i can't afford to drive so it is parked. I might have a bit after the month is done to purchase clothing or something that the kids would like......BUT i am better off than most i have a place to live after 3 months of living in a hotel room with 3 kids... but it makes me angry when people assume that all homeless people are drug addicts or worse. some homless are what we like to call "working homless" they never make enough to afford a place to live..a means test for low income would be wonderful...but the government would never support something like that it would take money out of their pockets...and that would be unacceptable as they need that to drive their new suvs or take the trip south on time off......yes there are the poor that need to get off their butts and do something about their situation but a little help is needed.........grrr it just makes me angry that politicians think that they are helping all they can when they havn't even scratched the surface of the problem yet!

Then you for letting me vent, Lady

The only good memory I have of that stupid @#$% is when that kid smoked him in the face with a pie.
If it had been me though I would have used a sh!t pie.
Good riddance troll!