Fiscal Four, Thrifty Three, Tightwad Two...

Fascinating development coming out of the PC ranks; the Fiscal Four or is it Five.

If they add more are they still being fiscally responsible?

On Twitter the predictions are that it goes the other direction. @justin_archer quipped

“When Fawcett loses his seat to Danielle Smith, the Fiscal 4 can be the Thrifty 3! Nice!”

To which I responded

“and when the third falls, they will be down to the Tightwad Two.”

Kidding aside, Daveberta has an interesting perspective and speculates this might be a staged undertaking.
This brings two questions to mind.

1) Is the PC party even intelligent enough to pull something like that off without having it completely backfire? And really what benefit is there from creating, for what, by all intents and purposes, looks like a mini internal revolt? Some Albertans may even say it just four youngsters having a tantrum.

2) Are these four truly spineless? I mean if you believe that this is a staged operation; then you must also believe that they are completely operating under the direction of Stelmach and company.

It is that second one that leads me to believe that this is not a PC staged maneuver. I don’t know Rob Anderson or Doug Griffiths; but I have never heard anyone who does know them, speak ill of them. Jonathon Denis and I have crossed virtual paths and spoken on the phone; I believe him to be principled, I think we have more in common than different.

That leaves Kyle Fawcett. He and I first faced off in the 2008 General Election. Those who have seen that exchange would likely be surprise to learn how things have changed. Since then we have shared late night banter; we have had lunch a couple of times and as a resident of Calgary – North Hill, I am a member of the Community Advisory Panel.

One of the things I have learned about Kyle is that he does care; he takes the time to listen and understand the local issues. In fact he spoke out about what he had been hearing. Unfortunately, this type of vocalizing is not tolerated.

This brings us to why (in my opinion) the Fiscal Four exists. They have seen what happens when “one” speaks out. Perhaps they feel there is safety in numbers. Perhaps they feel by being a group, it will give others the strength to join them.
Sadly though, I think they might also believe they can make a difference.

We have seen over the years that change from within the PC’s is not possible. This past weekend’s leadership result also demonstrates they are quite happy with the course of they are on. Since March ‘08 Stelmach has been saying “we have the overwhelming support of Albertans”; now he can change that to “we have the support of our members.” And he will use that to down play any MLA(s) who are not singing from his song sheet.

Stelmach and his band of merry men have not figured out that the role of an MLA is to represent their constituents; with the overall wellbeing of the province and nation in mind. They cannot get past the narrow minded mentality that if you are not with them you are against them.

It will be intriguing to see how this plays out. Will the four (or 5) be strong enough to speak their minds? And at what cost? Will it even make a difference? Will they bend under pressure from the more senior members and end up silenced?

I will close with this.

Don't worry if you don't get it, it's a lame reference that only some of my friends will get.

Too darn early for this

Stewie decided today that 4:44 would be a good time to get up.  Grrrr. I get up, let him out and reply to a couple of emails. Let him in and go back to bed. Not good enough; he starts bringing toys, one by one, into bed and pestering me. So am awake enough to post a few words.

As I eluded to in a previous post I have gone from having two blogs to just this one. I have received emails, direct Tweets and a few phone calls from viewers and friends asking what happened to my Executive Director blog. Well it is being replaced by another blog; one much better and with a bit of a different angle.

Beyond that I can't say too much, so stay tuned. I would like to thank everyone who had been following it and I hope some of you continue to follow me on this blog.

Meanwhile you still have a day or so to throw a vote my way. I  have pulled ahead, into second place and the only one ahead of me is PC'er Jonathon Denis. Click here to vote.

Life is about change......

Many new and exciting things are happening in my life.  Though I haven't had much time for blogging and I am currently on a "blog reduction program" as many of you have noticed..... LOL
(I will post more on this later).

It seems fate works in odd ways and another blogging opportunity might be presenting itself. You can see what I mean here.

Please help the Enlightened Savage out by voting for the person you feel best qualified to take on such an important role. Whether that is me or not, is your choice. Let democracy reign. :)

Prediction on Ed Stelmach's leadership review

A lot has happened since I last posted. Late on by-election day I fell, resulting in two cracks to my elbow and a sprained wrist. During the healing process it was in a cast and my typing ability very limited. The timing could not have been worse due the influx of new members to the Wildrose Alliance Party.


The old saying about being busier than a one-armed paper hanger would have been funny; if it hadn’t been so true. Alas the cast is gone and bruising is starting to fade and typing is again possible with only some pain. Today I finally have a few minutes and topic to motivate me to blog.


There has been a lot of talk in the media of late regarding Ed Stelmach’s leadership review. Even Ralph Klein has come out saying he must attain at least 70% to be safe. I am going to go out a limb and make a prediction. (Something I rarely do)

Based on his performance (IMHO) I think he “deserves” a 50% approval rating at best. However, there are two key reasons why the number will be higher than what he deserves.

First, a lot of the people who would have voted against him have moved on and joined the Wildrose. Our membership numbers will be released tomorrow and while we are nowhere near the level of the PC’s; we have made huge strides. Generally it is a very small percentage of the public who join political parties and those who do tend to be politically aware and politically active. I have lost count of how many people I have spoken to over the last few months who have said; “I used to be the President (or CFO or director) of … (insert any constituency name) and I am fed up with Stelmach.”

They are upset for many reasons. Most stem from overall direction and governance of our province. Some cite the internal changes to the fundraising structure. Previously if a constituency hosted a Premiers dinner (as one example), they would receive full benefit of this; now the Premier gets a 50% cut or in the case of cabinet ministers they take a 25% slice. Looks like the provincial arm wants their "fair share".

As a side note: This confirms what we already knew, that their party fundraising is suffering. Actually in my opinion it is more likely that their spending at the party level is the problem. It has been interesting watching their party finances mirror what is happening to the provincial budget. Interesting, but sad.

These are the very people who had voting rights as delegates; for most of them, they have given up those voting privileges. The ones who remain are either Stelmach supporters or still holding out hope for “change from within”.

Which brings me to my second reason for my prediction; who will be the delegates? As I understand it all sitting MLAs and former MLAs can vote. Each constituency can send 15; three of which must be youth.

I have had the unique opportunity to speak with a few sitting and retired MLAs over the past month and they have all shared similar stories. They are receiving emails and personal contact from the Premiers office pressuring them to put in place delegates who will vote in favor of Stelmach. In each of their cases they have lost so many from their core constituency boards that they cannot even come up with 15 delegates!!!

As I understand it in these cases the Premier has the option to appoint delegates to fill in the spaces. Mind you these are for the most part southern MLAs so this may not be the case across the province, but all the same you can see he has the ability to stack the process, ensuring a favorable outcome.

Ironically today their Executive Director is quoted as saying;

Jim Campbell, executive director of the Tory party, insists there's no way anyone can corrupt the voting process. He concedes, however, that people can get emotional as delegates are chosen in each riding by the constituency association executive.
"Sure there's disputes over who's on the (voting) list," says Campbell. "But we don't interfere in constituency delegate selection processes."

Why would MLAs be saying something completely different? Who is not telling the full story here, the MLAs speaking in confidence to the WAP Executive Director? Or the Executive Director of the PC’s trying to dance around the real issue in the media?

At this point I can see Eddy still having enough influence and enough people wanting to “stay at the trough” for him to get somewhere between a 72 to 76% approval rating.

Leftover random thoughts on the Calgary Glenmore by-election.

A collection of random thoughts that never quite made it to full blog commentary.


On the NDP:

Not sure why they bothered. An appointed candidate, with no visibility or support. Perhaps Travis pegged it best.



On the SC & Independent (also ran SC):

Both very comical. Toni might actually have a slim chance of coming out ahead of Len.




On Avalon Roberts;

Impressed that Avalon recognized me and approached me at debate to introduce herself.

Campaign manager is top notch fellow.

Too bad they couldn’t decide what to call us; neo-con, right wing, too conservative.

They realized too late in game they had two opponents.

David Swan overheard saying to a Hinman volunteer; “Paul is a good guy. He deserves to win and looks like he might take Glenmore.” I am still pondering this one. Does he not support another Dr. in the Leg? Have they done some polling to show this? Or is he just blowing sunshine up you know where?



On Diane Colley-Urquhart:

Premier Ed Stelmach didn’t go door knocking with the PC candidate. Likely best thing he could have done for Diane Colley-Urquhart. Rick Bell seems to agree.

From everything I have been able to gather DCU door knocked an average of four hours a day. If this map is any indication she couldn’t have covered more than 50% of the constituency.
 
Speaking of pictures; this one makes you go WTF???   Rule #1 of a campaign; “Don’t let the candidate touch the money.” That’s why Elections Alberta mandates candidates have CFO’s. It leads to speculation. The next picture is worthy of captions.  Gentleman contributor; “Really, for $600.00 you will do that for me?”

I wonder if she still is feeling the sting from one of her key volunteers jumping ship midway through the campaign to join a Wildrose Alliance Leadership candidate’s team.

Will Diane’s supportive hugging sessions continue on Election night?

Her number one supporter Jonathan Denis has been eerily quiet since the debate.

There are more, but I've likely said too much already.
As the saying goes; keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer.



On Paul Hinman;

I make no bones about my admiration of Paul’s dedication and his ability to lead or serve as an MLA. I could point to many examples of this, but perhaps the most defining moment during the campaign came on Friday, August 28th. That was the day Paul learned of the sudden passing of his brother-in-law. It was the day CTV called him for an on camera interview - - and he agreed. I think that speaks volumes and adds more insight to the man than I can ever attempt to accomplish.

Sadly, it was also the same day our campaign manager learned of the passing of his father. I cannot begin to describe the strength they have each demonstrated to the team. Two of the finest men I am privledged to call friends.


Good luck to all candidates on Monday.

DCU - Decline Comment Urquhart; comments - finally !!

Tonight we attended the all candidates’ debate for the Calgary-Glenmore by-election. It was very well attended and attendees were packed in like sardines. As I understand it the Raging Grannies couldn’t get in due to the number of people.

The audience was largely liberal leaning and asked very good questions.
Len and Toni seemed very comfortable with the fact that they are not considered contenders in this and they both demonstrated great use of humor.

Paul responded to the questions asked, of course I think he did a good job. He got some great chuckles from the crowd when he read a quote from Ed Stelmach using Hinmans’ campaign slogan.

“When Stelmach was asked if it would be a reflection of his government if Conservative candidate Diane Colley-Urquhart loses the byelection, he said without speculating they would wait to see the results.

If she loses, we’ll look at the results of the election and see what the message is.

The questions directed at Diane Colley-Urquhart clearly were plants. So much so that she started nearly every response with “….{insert name} I have know you for XX years,…..” yadda yadda. I swear I saw Jason Fekete roll his eyes at one point. It was so blatantly obvious.

A couple of questions that they thought would corner Paul backfired when he very ably and succinctly responded to them.

Diane skirted around a few questions. She clearly does not understand the difference between being working in City Hall and in the Legislature. She kept comparing what she does in council to what she would be able to do in the Leg. She stated several times that she would continue to fight for the residents. Well that sounds all well and fine, expect at the Provincial level she is “in” a party; one that doesn’t take kindly to those who speak up for their constituents.

One question to Diane though stole the night and is a must see for every Calgary-Glenmore resident.

An attendee from the front row, who was obviously frustrated with Diane Colley-Urquhart skirting the “party” question, posed a Yes or No question;

“Are you willing to put your (PC) membership on the line and sit as an independent if the needs of the riding (constituency) are in variance with the political Party (PC) line?"

You can see her answer for yourself.




So there you have it another trained PC seal in action. I will give her kudos for being honest; for being up front that it really doesn’t matter what the constituents want or need; Stelmach and his PC dictatorship will rule.

DCU – "Decline Comment Urquhart" - Part Trois

It's like a gift that just keeps on giving..... We can now add Macleans Magazine to "Decline Comment Urquhart's" black-balled list.

The failure of a name Tory like Colley-Urquhart (who, oddly, would not permit Maclean’s to accompany her door-knocking) would be a black mark against the Stelmach regime not unlike that left by the Calgary-Elbow by-election two years ago, which sent an Alberta Liberal to the leg (the loss would not be as symbolically potent, however: Elbow was Klein’s old riding). Standing at his door in Calgary-Glenmore, Pete, the landscaper, says he plans to vote for Paul Hinman, the Wildrose Alliance Party candidate (and still its leader pending a leadership race). Hinman is capitalizing on the Tories’ fiscal woes with a campaign to “Send Ed a Message.”

Diane Colley-Urquhart, would not permit Maclean’s to accompany her door-knocking!!

I have never heard of a candidate turning down an opportunity like this. It is an chance to put your best assets on display. Interaction with the constituents is the prime function of an MLA. The door step is where the election is won or lost.

What was she afraid of? That they would not find a favourable reception? That they would be hard pressed to find someone who would openly say they were voting for the PC's?

Is she worried that they might see the little group hug her team does when she gets dissed at the door? Would that lead to the question of how she might handle that in the Leg? Who is going to be there to give her the reassuring hug? Denis? Fritz?

This just in....
A blogger gets shut out!!!! Another Jeremy added to the list.

Here is the list as it now stands:

- Anyone commenting on her blog.
- Interested followers on Twitter.
(Probably just limited to me, but who knows.)
- Fast Forward Magazine - Jeremy Klaszus
- CTV
- CBC
- Calgary Sun
- Macleans Magazine
- PolitiCalgary - Jeremy

Part one can be found here and part deux here.

Tonight should be interesting, or will the community be snubbed as well?

Stewie - All grown up

How Stewie gets his exercise. Looks like Cory gets a little bit too. LOL




This is Stewie when we first got him in March 2008, then he was about 10 weeks and 8 pounds.

Next photo, taken tonight on same spot on the couch. He is one year, eight months and about 60 pounds now.  We are pretty confident he is full grown now.

This past weekend, chillin at Paul Hinman's campaign office.

Will it really happen?

PC candidates here in Alberta historically do not take part in public forums. They seem to have every excuse under the sun. Such as; there's a scheduling conflict, not all the other candidates are participating, there are too many candidates participating, etc, etc.


This week it looks like we might actually get a chance to witness this rare phenomenon.

Might be worth a drive south.

The sign thief - part 2

As mentioned yesterday a couple of our volunteers witnessed an attempt theft of a sign, one that had been stolen twice before. They also tried to videotape it.

The homeowners who were the victims have seen the video and do not recognize the individual, yet we are quite certain he lives in the area.

I met with the Liberal team yesterday and they had received a call that a number of signs had been dumped in someone's backyard and that was within about a block of the Palliser location. I also went to the PC campaign to see if they had any information to add to the story, but they were closed yesterday.


In the video there is no clear image of his face. He is about 16-18 years old, fairly tall and his mode of transport that evening was a skateboard.
 
It is unlikely that he can be identified by this video, but perhaps it will serve as warning to others. Volunteers take their roles seriously and don't take kindly to delinquents tearing down their efforts.



Here are a couple screenshots.

The skateboard is quite long and fairly pointed on both ends.