Alberta Political Finance: why you should be outraged

Over the summer of 2006 I was in discussions with senior representatives of the then, Alberta Alliance Party, regarding being appointed as their Chief Financial Officer. It would be a volunteer role, with no training or remuneration. Talks also included moving their office, from a space in Red Deer they could no longer afford, to my business office in northeast Calgary.

The move and my appointment as CFO were completed by mid September. Before the end of that same month, unbeknownst to me, three RCMP officers would descend upon my office. They would comb through every piece of paper ever generated by the very young Alberta Alliance. They took copies of hundreds of pages of documents. In some cases they took possession of the originals and left us with the photocopies.

The RCMP recorded audio statements from me on matters that occurred before I was even involved and I would sign off on a number of written statements as to my role with the Party, specifically in relation to the financial matters.

That was my baptism by fire to the world of political finance. Those three paragraphs are an excerpt from the introduction of "Before the Bloom". It will be many months yet before its complete, but recent events have prompted me to share this tidbit and my perspective on topic of political finances in Alberta.

Fundraising (and alleged illegal fundraising)  has been the hot topic this week in Alberta politics. Some say it is a blip and it won’t resonate with voters at election time. Yet I’ve heard from both Wildrose and PC candidates who are out door knocking that indeed the subject is coming up. Let’s face it, when it comes to how politicians handle money (our money) it should be front and centre. It is one area where I feel there must be the most transparency and accountability.

On Thursday Paul Hinman, MLA for Calgary-Glenmore, was on the Rutherford show on QR77 discussing this topic. Well worth a listen via the audio vault; January 12, 10:00 AM. (Starts at about the 7:30 minute mark) The first caller says he doesn’t like when one party is “criticizing and basically throwing another party under the bus”. He goes on to say the Wildrose hasn’t had a turn at the table, so shouldn’t be commenting on this issue.

The reality is every party can and should be vocal on these issues. Regardless of whether a party is the governing party, the opposition or has zero seats; they are ALL subject to the same electoral finance laws.  A brand spanking new party like the EverGreen Party (registered last month) is subject to the same rules as the PC’s who's origins go back over 100 years.

Which brings me to my first concern about electoral finances; how people learn the rules. In Alberta every party, every CA and every candidate must have a Chief Financial Officer (CFO, sometimes also called a Treasurer). The vast majority of these roles are held by volunteers, some with little or no formal training in accounting or bookkeeping; let alone the laws governing electoral finance. Some say it’s not a complicated role; “if you can balance a cheque book, you can handle the duties of being a CFO”. This is true to a point.

Tracking and receipting for donations and expenses can be fairly straight forward. However knowing if you can “accept” certain monies is another matter. Some volunteers receive training from their predecessor or as in my case no training at all. 

I relied upon reading pamphlets from Elections Alberta, the Elections Finance Act and asking a LOT of questions. Even with my own concerted effort I made mistakes. Elections Alberta was always available and offered tremendous guidance.

Occasionally, usually in the rush of a campaign, Elections Alberta will hold training sessions. And some parties provide training to their CA and candidate CFO’s. Generally though in both cases, they are far too short and lack the depth that the topic deserves.

This is a snap shot from the 2008 Elections Alberta report on training. (Page 39, click to enlarge)

Approximately 180 attended information sessions. In 2008 there were nine Parties in Alberta. Granted they didn't all have CFO's in each constituency and they didn't all run full slates of candidates. But we do know there were 407 candidates (plus CFO's is 814). If we assume only the three major parties (at the time) had 83 constituency associations, that's another 249. Over 1000 individuals who should be fully trained.

This lack of training is why we see the same mistakes happening repeatedly; mistakes that violate Election Finance laws. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to justify these occurrences. Simply pointing out that if one is instructed that it is “okay” or that "it has always been done this way" they tend take it at face value. I believe we there should be detailed, formal training directly from Elections Alberta. It should be offered frequently and be a requirement for all CFO’s.

The second issue I have with current Election Finance law is unfortunately how closely it is tied to the governing party via Alberta Justice.  For example:

Back in 2007, then-chief electoral officer Lorne Gibson reported his office had investigated nine examples where Alberta politicians and parties had received improper contributions from municipalities and publicly funded organizations. He recommended Alberta Justice prosecute all nine cases. Penalties under the act include a maximum penalty of $10,000.

Instead, in six of the cases, Alberta Justice said there wasn't enough evidence to proceed and in three of the cases officials missed the two-year deadline to prosecute. Shouldn’t it go through a process and the courts decide if the evidence is sufficient?

It does make one wonder though, if Mr. Gibson was able to investigate far enough to recommend prosecution, he must have found something. Yet the government of the day was able to dismiss the cases by saying there wasn’t enough evidence. Ironically, (or maybe not so ironic) Mr. Gibson’s contract wasn’t renewed. It's also interesting to note that since then (2009) the new (well re-run) Chief Electoral Officer, Brian Fjeldheim,  hasn't made any (as in zero) recommendations for prosecutions.

This brings up a third area of discussion. Who is involved? I can understand Elections Alberta not revealing who they are investigating. That would be like the police putting out a list of suspect drug ops. However, in my opinion once charges are laid it should be public information and I do believe they have been, as we see here, a case involving PC MLA Pearl Calahasen. 

Now if a party wants to demonstrate they are “open and transparent” and willingly reveal any entities under investigation; that is (in my opinion) purely up to them. Plus any party that pressures another to do so better be prepared to walk that path as well.

The Lorne Gibson example above also mentions that a couple of cases missed the two year time limit on prosecution. (I believe the law now has a 3 year window) Either way, this will be the case for the University of Lethbridge, where the most recent alleged infraction appears to have been in 2005. If we (meaning Albertans) want infractions investigated and charged in a timely fashion, we will have to demand that Elections Alberta be given the means and authority to do so. While I’m not familiar with the current resources of Elections Alberta, I can tell you that from 2006 to 2010 (while I was CFO/Executive Director of the Wildrose) they appeared to be understaffed and underfunded.

The most recent case that has been unveiled is with the Medicine Hat Catholic School Board, they admit they bought tickets to the recent Premiers dinner and in fact have purchased fundraising tickets for some seven years now. This is a prime example of how political donations can get downright messy.

According to the PC President:

……. Bill Smith said the party had no inkling the board paid for the tickets and said a purchase receipt was given to the individual who bought them.

Tickets were purchased with a corporate credit card, which bears the name of the board employee and the term Medicine Hat Catholic.

While I hate to side with the PC’s, Bill is likely right on the money (no pun intended) as to how this came about.  There is no way every CFO in the province can run searches or ask every donor what boards they might sit on, who they might work for or who might be reimbursing them for the expense.

Where it gets messy is with this person who got the receipt.  They get the taxable benefit from that contribution and if they are also getting reimbursed by other attendees to the event or by group that is not allowed to contribute, they are double-dipping. More importantly though, it would be tax fraud. 

While fellow blogger Dave Cournoyer questions why he doesn't feel outraged by the illegal donations, I believe we should not only be outraged, we should bear some responsibility for it. 

Outraged that these things can happen in Canada of all places; we are not a third world dictatorship. 

And responsible because we have allowed it to happen. We need to all demand better. Regardless of your party affiliation or your political leanings; we need to demand that Elections Alberta be given the resources to carryout their mandate. We need to demand that all CFO's be provided the training and tools to adhere to the laws.

.

Predictions on PC Leadership Race

I said it (Twitter ‘ed it actually) a couple of months ago and a few weeks ago; that I thought Alison Redford might pull off the win.  I had no basis for my prediction, it was a just a gut feeling.  Now that they are going into the second round I’m getting a clearer picture of how this might come about.

Despite umpteen current MLA’s lining up behind Gary Mar and his high percentage in the first go round, there seems to a lot of hatred out there working against him.  I think in order for Gary to win he has to achieve his 50% at the first count on October 1^st.  If it goes to the second count it will go to Alison.

Here’s why (in my opinion)

Gary Mar’s supporters likely won’t put a second choice on the ballot.  They will want to avoid a “Stelmach” or “Dion” third placer coming up the middle. Redford and Horner supporters are far less likely to be worried about this; their main beef is with Gary and keeping him out of office.  They will mark a second choice. Redford supporters for Horner and vice versa.

I think Horner will be in third. This is partly based on the showing after the first round and I believe Redford has a more organized campaign. (Granted, I could just be thinking this way because I know some of the people involved and I live in Calgary where she has a greater presence.) Either way, I think his supporters will be quite comfortable in putting a ‘2’ beside Alison’s name.  She is from their current cabinet, but still new enough and she is saying the right things to offer that glimmer of hope the PC’s so desperately need.

Conversely Mar, is so many things they are trying to distance themselves from. Bussing in “supporters”; rumors of leaking a members list to media; rumors of offering plum positions to those who back him; generally old-school distasteful politics.  

Should Redford pull it off… well she will have monumental, if not impossible task ahead of her.  As I understand it Alison has the backing of a handful of MLA’s: Doug Elniski, Kyle Fawcett, Art Johnston, David Xiao and Dave Rodney.  With the exception of Rodney they are all first term MLA’s and Johnston won’t even be running in the next general election, having lost his local nomination.  She will have to regroup the other MLA’s; mostly made up of long term members who now clearly stand behind Mar, and there are a LOT of them.

If I’m wrong though and Mar wins, there are two things I’m looking forward to.

      1)      The caucus funding to the PC’s to be cut since they no longer will have a Leader in an elected position. 

      2)      Their caucus putting out press releases, but not being able to name their “yet to be elected as an MLA, Leader”.

If you aren’t familiar with the background, one might say, “That’s absurd. Why would those things happen?’ You can read it for yourself, here and here. It’s exactly what the PC’s did to the Wildrose.

PS: I don't choose the ads that display on my blog and in no way support nor endorse any candidate who might happen to show up. :)

Ed Stelmach's Resignation Speech - Translation

Sometimes you hear a speech and you laugh, because you know what they really meant. Here is my translation of Ed Stelmach's non-resignation speech.


And before all the PC'ers start jumping down my throat.... it's satire; not US style politicking. 


• Ed's original words are preceded by the bullet points. 
Translation is in bold.


~~~~~


• Since the New Year I have been spending the last few weeks asking my Caucus to indicate to me their intentions for the next provincial election.


Over the last few weeks my Caucus has been telling me they have no intention to run if I’m the leader.


• I am impressed by the passion of my caucus colleagues and their desire to serve Albertans.


I am impressed with how adamant they are to see me gone.


• They firmly believe in the mandate that Albertans gave us in the last election- the largest majority for a new Premier in Alberta's history.


They firmly believe that the mandate that Albertans gave us was an opportunity to show Albertans we could take care of the province, yet we failed.


• Our members are also equally committed to continuing in their role as members of the PC Caucus and fight in the next election.


Our members are also equally committed to continuing in their role as members of any party (other than the PC) and fight against us in the next election.


• I have been asking these good men and women to make a minimum commitment of five years. It is a commitment to serve Albertans and those in public office know that this service comes with a personal sacrifice.


I have been asking these good men and women to make a minimum commitment of five years. It is a commitment to serve as PC MLA and it is an unrealistic expectation.


• As I have been having these discussions I have also been reflecting on my own commitment to serve beyond the next election.


As I have been having these discussions everyone is telling me, it is I who should be reflecting on my own commitment to serve beyond the next election.


• Upon much reflection and consultation with family and close friends, I have determined that after 25 years of public service I am not be prepared to serve another full term as Premier.


After many arguments with Ted Morton and bitter consultation with caucus, they have convinced me that I am not competent enough to serve another full term as Premier.


• Therefore I have decided to announce today I will not be running as a candidate in the next general election.


Therefore with Ted’s ultimatum I have decided I will not be running as a candidate in the next general election.

 • There is no doubt that my decision today will come as a shock to many and a disappointment to my friends and Albertans.


There is no doubt that my decision today will come as a shock since I didn’t even run it past my communications manager. It may be a disappointment to my three friends, but Marie is very happy.


• I am grateful to all those who supported me – who gave me the opportunity to raise integrity and honesty into government for the benefit of all Albertans.


I am grateful to all those who supported me as their second choice – who gave me the opportunity to raise royalties and bring dictatorship into government for the benefit of all PC members.


• At a further date, I will provide written notice to the President of the PC Party, my intention to resign as leader.


At a further date, I will provide written notice to the President of the PC Party, because I want to hang onto my title as long as possible.


• In due course, a full, fair and transparent leadership race will be held to select my successor.


In due course, a full, fair and transparent leadership race will be held to select my successor; I can say this as I have absolutely no control over it and it would indeed be a first for the PC Party.


• Until I provide the formal notice of intent to resign, I will continue to govern to fulfill commitments I made in the last general election.


Until I provide the formal notice of intent to resign, I will continue to govern and fall short on all the commitments I made in the last general election.


• And to advance the interests of Alberta to the best of my ability and will put my full effort into this work – as I always have.


And to advance the interests of PC members to the best of my ability and will put my full effort into this work – as I always have.


• And to this end, we will present a budget that shows the way to being balanced on a fully consolidated basis in 2013 – a year later than we had hoped.


And to this end, we will present a budget that Ted Morton refuses to put his signature on because we will not be balanced until 2013 – a year later than we had promised.


• It will be a budget that will be received by most as tough yet responsible.


It will be a budget that will be received by every progressive as tough yet responsible.


• But it will not be a budget that guts funding to municipalities, mothballs health projects underway or halts school, and road construction at a time when people need work and the prices for construction are good.


But it will not be a budget that can pass the rigorous demands of fiscal conservatives and Morton in particular.


• The budget my government brings in will use the cash we saved during the boom to help us through the bust and position us to leap ahead of the nation and the continent.


The budget my government brings in will suck the rest of the cash out of the Sustainability Fund.


• My successor will be under no obligation to go to the polls in March of 2012.


My successor will be under no obligation to go to the polls in March of 2012; he or she will have the same lack of respect for democracy and fixed election dates.


• That was my timetable and mine alone.


That was my timetable and mine alone. Even though my advisors have been saying we have to go early to catch the other guys off guard.


• My successor has the parliamentary authority to call an election anytime up to the constitutional deadline of March of 2013.


My successor will enjoy the same dictatorial powers that I hold dear; to call an election anytime.


• No one needs to be stampeded into a decision. Let’s all take the time to get this right.


No one needs to be stampeded into a decision. Let’s all take some time, so I can enjoy more days as a lame duck premier.


• I have always put my family, my constituents, my province and my party ahead of myself.
• So I say to you this as directly as I can.


I have held my tongue since the Calgary-Glenmore by-election. So I say to you this as directly as I can.

• There is a profound danger that the next election campaign will focus on personality and US style negative, attack politics that is directed at me personally.


There is a profound danger that the next election campaign will be just like Glenmore; that all of our shortcomings will be under a microscope.


• The danger is that it could allow for an extreme right party to disguise itself as a moderate party by focusing on personality – on me personally.


The danger is that it could allow for Wildrose Alliance; a moderate, fiscally conservative party to make serious gains at our expense.


• This type of US style wedge politics is coming into Canada, and it comes at our peril.


This type of real life campaigning in politics in Canada scares the heck out of me.


• Albertans deserve to have better level of public debate on our policy options.


Albertans deserve to have better level of public debate on our policy options. And I there is no way I can debate Danielle in a public forum.


• Alberta must move forward to address the challenges of the future. 


Alberta must move forward to address the challenges of the future. Albertans realize Danielle is the one best suited to this.


• Alberta must be a participant in the global community.


Alberta must be a participant in the global community and the fact that it is bigger than Lamont scares the pants off me.


• Alberta must lead the way in responsible resource development.


Alberta must lead the way in responsible resource development and after 25 years I still don’t know what that means.


• Alberta must not look backward when all the world is looking for modern leadership.


Alberta must not look at me; for modern leadership when Danielle Smith is available.


• As a grandson of immigrants who came to this country to harness a better future for their children out of a piece of prairie they could claim as their own, I believe in the good and truth of private enterprise and democracy.


As a grandson of immigrants who came to this country to harness a better future for their children out of a piece of prairie they could claim as their own, I believe the government should have the right to extinguish those land rights at any given time.


• I believe deeply in democratic institutions and the parliamentary system of government that has served Canada so well.


I believe deeply in democratic institutions and the parliamentary system of government so long as it serves the PC Party.


• And I believe that the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta is the best institution we have to unite Albertans around a positive, progressive future.


And I believe that the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta was the best institution we had to unite Albertans around a positive, progressive future.


• The PC Party has been a fundamental success story in Alberta politics because it is firmly rooted in our culture – a culture that is conservative, yet looks always to achieving a bold future.

The PC Party has been a success story in Alberta politics but we must now take our place in the history books and look forward to the future with the Wildrose Alliance.

How to dissect a Liberal blogger.

One of the keys to successful blogging is to use FACTS to support your position. Facts are what give you credibility. Have I been caught with my pants down (or is it skirt up)? Sure I have. Everyone makes mistakes.

The thing is, if you are going to open your mouth, (or take to the keyboard) you better be sure what comes out is based in truth. As the saying goes: “Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt.”

This brings us to Vincent St. Pierre’s blog entry today. I am reposting it here in its entirety (in red) with my responses (facts) interspersed.

The Wildrose isn’t tough enough.



Their media outreach has been lousy this spring. So has their outreach.


And their claim to be “ready to govern”? Doubtful.


In the Legislature they have been almost silent, in the streets almost invisible, and on the airways simply not there. Movements solely around a specific leader, with no basic organization or organizational strength, tend to collapse quite quickly as soon as they arise.

Here is a video collection from Rob Anderson, one of the Wildrose MlAs, so one third of the “silence” in the Legislature.

This is the Wildrose 2010 calendar of events. Does it look empty? Are they invisible on the street and lacking organization? Last I heard they had gone from 15 organized CAs to over 70 in the past six months.

A look at the Liberal calendar reveals 5 events from January to May 2010; conversely the Wildrose Alliance has 47.

Airways? I have heard Danielle Smith, Rob Anderson and Paul Hinman several times on the Rutherford show. And I understand they have also been on CBC, but I haven’t heard those personally. I will let readers root these out on their own.

Unless of course by airways he meant flying. Then no, they rarely fly.

The Wildrose Alliance, at least their elected MLAs, haven’t even been showing up to press conferences and meetings. Shirking their duties and giving up on free and easy opportunities to get attention.

This one that makes me go, huh? The Wildrose has had at least six pressers since the beginning of the year and put out more than 20 press releases.



In fact they took a bit of heat (comical heat) over the last one.


 This compared to the five listed on the Alberta Liberal website over the same time period.

And the Wildrose’s fundraising? Less than the Alberta Liberal Party in 2009. The Wildrose also has less than the Alberta Liberal Party’s membership tallies, too.

If you look at purely the “annual” fundraising of the Liberals, yes they raised slightly more than the Wildrose. However, there is much more to this picture. It should be noted that the Liberals were actually down from 2008 and the Wildrose was up from the previous year.



In 2009 the Wildrose had a leadership race; many supporters were shifting their contributions to those efforts or waiting to see the outcome. Most of the fundraising on the Wildrose side came in the final quarter, after the leadership race, as opposed the Liberals who had all year to seek donations.


Plus there was also a by-election where Paul Hinman’s fundraising was nearly double the Liberal candidates. On the party side, the Wildrose exceed the Liberals by $15,000.00.


All of this is looking purely at the “revenue” side of things. If we look at the year-end bottom line, the Wildrose ended up on the positive side with $196,000.00 and the Liberals in the hole by $89,500.00.

Full information available at Elections Alberta.


Now to those membership numbers. According to the Liberals annual financial statement membership fees amounted to $8505.00. With membership fees at $5.00 each that equals 1701 members for the entire year. The Wildrose put out a press release early in October 2009 with a membership total over 11,670. That works out to the Wildrose outnumbering the Liberal support base by nearly 7 to 1. I suspect it is actually over 8 to 1 now.

The Wildrose also hasn’t had any luck whittling off support from the federal Conservative party. Partisans federally are still wary of the Wildrose and are still holding their bets, and my instinct says that the Wildrose will never be able to tap into those resources there, both human and in expertise.

Not sure where to start with this one. Why would we want to “whittle” support from the Feds? It’s not like we are going to get floor crossers from them. For the most part their supports are “conservative” and are likely to vote that way provincially. The Wildrose finally gives them a conservative choice on the ballot.



As to tapping into those like minded people, it is not much of a stretch to guess this is going on. If Mr. St. Pierre was paying attention he might have already seen evidence of this on some of the constituency boards….or he could have just looked at our Executive Director, Vitor Marciano.

The crossing of the floor of two PC MLAs is not a measure of anything, now. Anderson was a firm Morton leadership supporter and Forsythe has ambitions. With Morton as finance in the PC government all the Mortonites will not flip over to the Wildrose–the leaking of MLAs to the Wildrose stopped with that decision by Ed Stelmach. It’s moot.

This is purely an opinion and I am quite happy to let the Liberals continue to believe this.

The Wildrose’s battle with the Progressive Conservatives on oil royalties is also moot in that Albertans who care about the economic environment of Alberta will notice that before an election is called the economy will improve. By 2012 the royalties fiasco will be long over, long solved, and, with that, the anger against the Progressive Conservatives will just be as long gone.

Wow, Vincent you don’t even read newspapers do you?  They have all but been reversed due to pressure from the WAP.

There’s something to be said about relying on anger and public vitriol to base a party on, too. Members and the public tire of anger. Albertans even more so–we can be pissed for a while but, eventually, we come around to the “then what?” The Wildrose hasn’t provided a “then what” answer yet and the time has passed for it. Their attempt to channel anger to change has, for the most part, been negligible and the public will realize this soon enough. A hefty round of applause should be given to the media who, through their efforts, channeled the outcry against the Tories.

Anger is merely what gets people involved, gets them to take that next step of being active and aid in the growth and development of a party. Something the Liberals haven’t been able to do for decades.

But back to the Wildrose–their numbers are soft. Their support is soft. The anger will run out, their answers will never arise, and their electoral chances will never be more than a seat or two. I actually have a bet with one of my friends (a Wildroser, in fact) that the Wildrose will not receive more than four seats come 2012. We’ve bet beer on it. And, from my assessment of the facts, I think I’m going to win.

A beer! One whole beer? What is that worth? About 5 loonies at a pub perhaps. That’s a pretty strong commitment there Vincent. I will see your beer and raise you. How about we go for a two-four? No wait, I don’t drink beer and since I am going to win, let’s make it a magnum of Baileys.

Side note: You may have noticed that I disabled the comments on this post. The reason is because I know some Wildrosers follow my blog and like to comment on it. (The only time I get comments is when I comment on the Wildrose, too.)

I actually highly doubt Wildrosers follow your blog. It is far more likely people are finding it through Google or Twitter, like I did. Otherwise true followers would be commenting on everything you spew.


This should also give you a clue that the people commenting are finding the Wildrose more interesting to discuss as opposed to the fractured Liberals.

I want those special, active individuals to start blogging and create that institutional toughness vis-a-vis their soap boxes within the blogosphere to assist the Wildrose. Trackbacks are enabled.

I have never posted on your blog, as mentioned I only just discovered it. I have had my soap box (and some would say Wildrose soap box) going since February 2008 when I ran as a Wildrose Alliance candidate.


Do I have “institutional toughness”? Frick, I’m not even sure I want to have that!


A very successful blogger once told me; “If you end up in a debate with another blogger; the goal is not to sway the other bloggers position; it is to influence your readers’ opinion.” I would add, at a minimum it should engage the reader enough to “think”.

Invite to bloggers of all stripes

I would like to invite Bloggers and Tweets of all political stripes to attend the Wildrose Alliance Leadership Convention in Edmonton October 17 at the Holiday Inn Convention Centre.

For just $30.00 (same price members will pay) you can have lunch, mix, mingle and be there first hand when the results come in!!

You can register online here. Then drop me an email with your blogs URL and I will add a link to your blog on my Executive Director’s blog. (Your real name will NOT be revealed.) I will also provide you with the discount code for accommodations at the centre.

Edited to correct: (Your real name will NOT be revealed.)

Clearly, I wasn't very clear. LOL

You have to register in your REAL name. Your BLOG name will appear in the list on my official WAP blog. It is your option to have your real name appear there also. And as Ken Chapman has pointed out it will add hugely to your credibility.

Paul Hinman, Calgary Glenmore Kick-off a HUGE success.

It was a beautiful day in Calgary; perfect for the first large volunteer effort on Paul Hinmans campaign. We met at 10:00 AM and the workers were eager to go. We managed to snap this picture of the first 35 volunteers.

By 10:15 they had their packages and spread out like busy ants throughout the constituency. CTV stopped by to do a quick interview with Paul and then he was on his way too.

By 11:00 AM we had late arrivals signed in, along with another half dozen from each the Mark Dyrholm and Danielle Smith campaigns. Bringing our confirmed number to 55!!

With so many hands we covered all the targeted areas without having to over work any of your dedicated members. We reconvened at the Boston Pizza at Southland Drive and 24 St.SW.



The management welcomed us with great hospitality and the staff did an amazing job creating a vast selection of their finest pizzas. The food was delicious and was perfect for those who had worked up an appetite.



All in all, it was a great day, it went smoothly, we accomplished our goal; it was a HUGE success.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who came out.

In the coming days I will be posting an invite to visit at our campaign headquarters. For more information you can also visit Pauls website.

You know you are a political nerd when…..

...when you are watching the Legislature proceedings at 1:00 AM; worse, you are Twittering with your MLA at the same time.

It started when I noticed this comment by Dave Breakenridge.

BreakenNews @KyleMLA If people only listened to
your party they would think #bill44 is a wonderful piece of legislation.

I realized Kyle was Twittering from under dome. So the exchange started. I thought it was viewable at the time, but still being a relative newbie to Twitter they were direct messages between us.

WildroseJane: How about the voice from an everyday parent who is one of your constituents?
Vote against it Kyle. Free vote, this is your chance.

KyleMLA Jane I
did not know you were a supporter of a Nanny state over parents rights... not to
mention the ND's and Libs.

WildroseJane: I am in favor of
freedom of choice and reduction of legislation, not infringement and
duplication.

KyleMLA Freedom of choice just not for
how parents educate their children, next you will be getting rid of charter
school and private schools

WildroseJane How did you make
that leap? Freedom of choice would mean more specialized schools.

KyleMLA I agree, but feedom of choice
also has a broader context then just that, parents should also have a choice
within the public system

WildroseJane: They already do
have the choice within the public system thru the school act. You are opening up
the teachers to HRC nightmares.

KyleMLA I understand your strategic
reasoning though, have always maintained that without this clause more people
will opt out of the public system.

At this point I went to bed and then I get this one.

KyleMLA Is
your stance a personal view or one of the WRAP?

Now this is pretty sad….I responded on my BlackBerry from my bed…

WildroseJane Personal. But it is in line with our principles.

Of course I hit the wrong button and this one goes public and makes no sense whatsoever to the casual follower. And a few people called me on it today.... I mean literally called me, using a good old fashion telephone.

One of the Twitter drawbacks is that it limits you to 140 characters, making it difficult to present a reasonable argument.

Bill 44 started out so well, there were high hopes that Alberta was going to lead the way in HRC reforms.

Important reforms to the Alberta Human Rights Commission are coming -- including adding sexual orientation as a grounds of prohibited discrimination, and the removal of wording that endows the commission with censorship powers. Both reforms, especially those relating to free speech, have been strongly advocated by the Herald for some time. The government, and in particular the minister responsible-- Lindsay Blackett--is to be warmly applauded. Alberta has seen collisions between gay rights and free speech rights: Citizens will be best served by reforms that acknowledge both.

Enter Eddy with a heavy hand.

And then Premier Ed Stelmach’s government finally unveiled its proposed reforms, spinning a golden political opportunity into dross. Under the proposed Bill 44, the section prohibiting expressing ideas “likely to expose a person or a class of persons to hatred or contempt” goes entirely untouched, shocking freethinking Albertans and chastening Blackett.

Now the debate over the school portion of this has totally outweighed the freedom of speech issue, which has gone the way of the dinosaur. There is very little good left in what started out at such a promising step. I want to know who and where are all these people supporting it?

The liberal bloggers don’t.

The Wildrose doesn’t.

Even the usually very PC friendly bloggers don’t believe serves Albertans.

I believe this proposed Alberta Human Rights law does not elevate Alberta society, or in any way, serve the greater good. It is supposed to be a law about what we believe in and reflect positively on us as a fair-minded, inclusive, diverse and respectful society. But it is so defective in serving those core Alberta principles, rather than make us proud to be Albertan; Bill 44 makes us want to cringe.

So who are these throngs of people supporting Bill 44?

Hot off the press..........

Wildrose Alliance Says "No" to Federal Opposition Cabal

Calgary, December 2, 2008 - In light of the blatant power grab shaping up against the democratically-elected federal government, Wildrose Alliance Leader Paul Hinman is calling on Premier Stelmach to show leadership on behalf of Albertans and Canada to ensure the country stays strong and united.

"Premier Stelmach needs to serve notice that the formation of any governing coalition that requires support from the Bloc Quebecois, whose sole purpose is the break-up of Canada, will result in a complete withdrawal of Alberta from the Federal Transfer Payment Program," Hinman says. "Alberta cannot stand by and support with its tax dollars, opposition and separatist parties which conspire and coalesce for power and money."

"It's bad enough now that federal dollars are extorted from other areas of Canada so the BQ Party can further their agenda," Hinman says, "but to see the Liberals and NDP actually getting into bed with the separatists is unconscionable and not in Canada's best interest."

Hinman also emphasizes the fact that the timing of this blatantly political maneuvering couldn't be worse and will only continue to erode the confidence of Canadians and foreign investment in our economy.

Premier Stelmach must serve notice now that "as long as there's a government in Ottawa beholden to the separatists' agenda, our contributions to the federal coffers must stop. Alberta has been a major contributor to the success and strength of a united Canada." He asked the premier take the following actions immediately, before any confidence motion is brought forward in Ottawa:

1. Serve notice of Alberta's intent to withdraw from the current Federal Transfer Program.
2. Initiate measures for Alberta to begin collecting its own taxes;
3. Initiate discussions on a Regional Equalization Program involving the four Western Provinces;

"The Wildrose Alliance Party believes in a strong confederation. We also believe it is the strength of our communities and province that makes Canada strong." says Hinman. "We cannot support parties who enter into alliances for the purpose of gaining power with a divide and conquer strategy along with the BQ who desire to destroy our great nation."

The Wildrose Alliance leader calls upon our premier to stand up for Canada and Alberta by putting the governor general and the opposition parties on notice of our intent to pull out of the destructive, divisive, faulty formula Federal Transfer Program if a coalition government is formed with the BQ. Alberta will not stand by and watch our home and native land be shattered.

For more information, contact:
Paul Hinman
Wildrose Alliance leader
Phone: 403 393-2003
info@wildrosealliance.ca

Congratulations

I would like to extend congratulations to my husband, Cory Morgan, on his recent appointment as the VP of Policy for the Wildrose Alliance.

He is no stranger to the politically arena and I can't help but think that the timing of this seems a bit serendipitous

Wildrose leader scores a win

By NEIL WAUGH,
EDMONTON SUN
November 30, 2008

Full column

Nope, it was the Alberta opposition party with no reps in the legislature that took home the golden drill bit.

Step up Wildrose Alliance Party chief Paul Hinman and accept your gong.

The reason why Ed Stelmach and the Alberta Tories did what they vowed never to do - and ditch a major part of the sacred new royalty framework - was not totally due to Hinman's needling. There was a lot of behind-the-scenes oilpatch arm-twisting too.

But when Stelmach's struggling Energy Minister Mel Knight announced he "remains confident that the NRF is the right plan over the long-term," then trimmed $1.8 billion from the take for conventional oil and gas wells, the political win went to the Wildrose Alliance.

Five days later, Knight was forced to make another "clarification" and roll back the implementation date from Jan. 1 to Nov. 19.

Stelmach claimed it was in response to the "global economic crisis and a slowdown in oil and gas drilling," even though the rig count at the time was up from November 2007.

Stelmach's response would be almost credible if Hinman hadn't stepped up his campaign three weeks earlier, demanding the premier not only cancel the royalty hikes, but scrap the $2-billion carbon capture and storage scheme.

Hinman calls it a "pipe dream."

"Now is not the time for the government to throw another wrench into the economy," the Wildrose Alliance leader spat.

And when the premier and his energy minister - who was always a reluctant passenger on the royalty express - blinked, Hinman issued another statement condemning the move as "too little too late."

Hinman called the Tory backdown "reactionary" and "policy-making on the fly."

He then demanded a "full retraction" of the framework and "full and open consultations" with the industry.

It's a long way from the Milk River Ridge to the legislature.

But the rancher from Welling was clearly savouring his victory last week.

"What these guys cannot understand," Hinman snapped, "capital is the easiest thing to move around the world.

"Had they left things alone we wouldn't be going into a recession right now," he continued.

Then he gave the premier this advice: "Recognize you did wrong, apologize for it and promise not to raise taxes again."

And the winner is ...

Wildrose Alliance Stands Up for Albertans

October 3, 2008

Wildrose Alliance Stands Up for Albertans against Federal Constitutional Creep

All federal parties -- including the Conservatives, but also the Liberals, NDP and Greens -- are vowing to trespass on the resource ownership rights of Albertans. The right to own, manage, regulate, export and benefit from natural resources is reserved to provinces by sections 92 and 92A of the Constitution Act 1867.
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/const/c1867_e.html#distribution

Of particular concern is a declaration last Friday and repeated in the Federal debate by Conservative Leader Stephen Harper that his government will forbid the export of Alberta's raw bitumen for processing in countries with environmental standards lower than Canada's (such as China and the USA, though they are not named). http://www.conservative.ca/EN/rss/1974

The Wildrose Alliance advocates that as much bitumen processing as possible take place in Alberta and desires co-operation with Ottawa. However, this federal Conservative pledge amounts to a politically motivated challenge of Alberta's section 92A right to control its resource.

"Given the substantial volatility of oil prices both up and down, Albertans should stand on guard against constitutional trespass by the next federal government, regardless of which party wins this election," says Wildrose Alliance leader Paul Hinman. "National parties do not represent the unique needs and interests of Alberta but Provincial parties do."

The Wildrose Alliance calls on Premier Stelmach to stand up against this attempt of Constitutional creep and issue a statement that Alberta will not allow federal encroachment on the rights of Alberta.

"Silence is never a defence," says Paul Hinman, adding that "Canada was founded as a federation and we are proud Canadians and proud Albertans. However, there are areas of responsibilty for the Federal government and areas of responsibility for the Provincial government. The Wildrose Alliance desires to have Alberta play a strong role with the confederation and the abrogation of its rights is not congruent with that goal. The Premiers of Alberta have always stood up for Alberta before, now is not the time to begin silent protests."


FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Paul Hinman
Wildrose Alliance leader
Phone: 403 393-2003

Email:
info@wildrosealliance.ca

Wildrose Alliance - Press Release

Wildrose Alliance Runs Surplus,

Other Parties Run Deficits

The campaign statements are out and this government has proven it cannot grasp fiscal responsibility. They spent five times their fund raising and were happy to raid the rainy day fund built up by Ralph Klein supporters. The PC's believe if they spend enough money the voters will follow. The Wildrose Alliance believes Albertans cannot be so easily fooled.

This government has been exposed for their excessive spending and open cheque book policies. Like the federal Liberals, Premier Stelmach now finds it necessary to put in spending gag laws to protect their interests. Just like their personal pay raises they do it in secret and behind closed doors. The Wildrose Alliance believes this is unethical. Prime Minister Steven Harper and the federal Conservatives fought against such gag laws, why is this government implementing them?

The Wildrose Alliance is a party of principles and during the recent Election we demonstrated fiscal accountability to our members and Albertans. We have proven we are the fiscally responsible party and that we will respect the wealth of Albertans.

Clearly, this deficit spending by the PC's underscores why they called an Election. Albertans are shutting the door on donations to the PC's and only 1/5th of Albertans voted for them. With the rising support the Wildrose Alliance is receiving from Albertans it is clear we are a threat to their self preservation and 36 year reign.

The big concern we have for all Albertans is this government's budgeting. Their latest fiscal update left little room for error yet billions have been promised for environmental initiatives against millions in funding for crime and health care. Oil and Gas prices are far below even their latest economic assumptions just 2 weeks ago and threaten their budget. The PC's could not estimate oil and gas gas prices on the way up, how can we trust they'll make the right estimate on the way down? Further, when they prioritize high speed trains and carbon dioxide pipelines versus funding hospitals and fighting gangs, they've proven they are out of touch with everyday Albertans.

The Wildrose Alliance focuses on the issues of everyday Albertans: a strong vibrant economy, innovative health care available to all, quality education, responsible environmental management and safe communities.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Paul Hinman
Wildrose Alliance leader
Phone: 403 393-2003

info@wildrosealliance.ca

Alberta 2008 General Election “financial” Results

The financials for the campaign period (Feb. 4th to May 3rd.) are now public on Elections Alberta site. I was pretty confident the WRP would end up in a better situation than the opposition parties; but I never dreamed we would out do Ed Stelmachs PC's......

GRN $ (20,094.50) Deficit
LIB $ (162,683.62) Deficit
NDP $ (351,257.94) Deficit
PC $ (2,426,412.00) DEFICIT.

Yup, double checked it is nearly 2.5 MILLION and is deficit.

WRP $ 49,409.41 SURPLUS ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Remind me again; who is the "fiscally responsible" party in this province???

Source: http://www.electionsalberta.ab.ca/efpublic/efParties.cfm?MID=FP

I do find it somewhat humerous that it is the leader of the Green Party making these statements.

Would a wild rose plate by any other name smell sweeter to Tories?

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

The debate over changing the slogan on Alberta's licence plates is being driven purely by political motivation, according to a provincial party leader.

The Alberta government set up a website for public comment on a new design to be unveiled in 2009. Last month, Service Alberta Minister Heather Klimchuk said based on comments from 33,000 people, the leading suggestions were to keep the current motto "Wild Rose Country" or to replace it with "Strong and Free."

"I think it's a golden opportunity to brand Alberta and do something innovative and fabulous to be proud of our province," Klimchuk said.

But George Read, leader of the Alberta Greens, disputes the motivation: "It has to do with the fact that the Wildrose Alliance has 'wild rose' in their name, and [the governing Progressive Conservatives] don't want a free ad on the back of everybody's car."

He points out the licence-plate issue didn't appear on Tory Premier Ed Stelmach's agenda until the Wildrose Alliance became a political party.

"I think Mr. Stelmach is scared, and I think it's funny."

The Wildrose Alliance espouses policies to the right of the governing Conservatives. It lost its only seat in the legislature in the March 3, 2008, provincial election

Article continued.

And the even funnier thing about the article:

"It wouldn't be so much a change of licence plate so much as a change in nationality," observed David Taras, a political scientist at the University of Calgary.

"Because those are words that ring in the American national anthem, on American licence plates, in the American Declaration of Independence."

... alas; someone else caught it too.

Idealist Pragmatist

Wildrose Alliance Enters its Teens

If you watched closely you could see the metamorphosis – the reaching of that slow, sometimes awkward midpoint between childhood and adulthood, the teens.
The Wildrose Alliance Party held its AGM on Saturday the 21 of June in Red Deer. By the end of the day you could see glimpses of what this new party will be as it began to stretch its gangly legs and through the occasional telltale squeak of a cracking voice you could make out the fine lines of maturity starting to emerge as the passion of the Alliance started to mix and mingle with the complementary skills of the Wildrose.

The party emerged from its AGM with a defined course of action by passing a resolution called “The Framework for the Future”. It provides the executive with clear definable goals and an interactive general plan for developing policy, membership and election-fighting capacity. It was interesting to watch as the party’s social conscience was stirred as it passed resolutions to deal with the bullying of the Human Rights Tribunals and its plan to end the overly-intimate relationship between the government and Elections Alberta.

What most stood out was the blend of young and old in the crowd. It was reflected in the pleasant mix of youth and experience in the newly elected executive, which ranges from 31-year-old Calgary investment advisor Jeff Callaway as President, to 56-year-old VP Policy Link Byfield, a longtime voice for centre-right, conservative values.

Members applauded the work of leader Paul Hinman in the annual leadership review, giving him the thumbs up to continue as leader.

Do we have it all together? No, but we are well on the way. There will be the usual growing pains that accompany a new party, but it will soon come of age, confident and sure on Alberta’s political stage.

Source

Bright future for the Wildrose Alliance

I am just back from our first AGM as the Wildrose Alliance Party.
It went very well; including yours truly being re-elected to the position of Treasurer (CFO). :)

For the benefit of those who were unable to attend and those who might just be curious; the following is the report I delivered today to the membership.

You will have in your packages copies of the audited financial statements for 2007. Keep in mind these are for the Alberta Alliance Party and do not include any figures from the recent election period.

Our auditor for 2007 was Doug Wilde of Mercer Wilde Moltz of Lethbridge; this is the third audit the firm has completed for the Party. I won’t bore everyone by dissecting them line by line, but rather touch on some key factors that are noteworthy.

Financially, 2007 was a significant turning point for our party. More Albertans were looking for a viable alternative and they found that with us. Through them we enjoyed growth in both our member base and contributions.

Contributions in 2007 were just shy of a quarter million dollars. This is more than four times our previous’ years total and a new annual record for the party.

In 2007 we continued the work we had started in late 2006, of reducing our operating costs as much as possible and not incurring an expense unless we had contributor lined up. This resulted in a savings of over $24,000.00.

The combination of increased revenue and reduced operating expenses afforded us the opportunity to make a sizable payment towards the accounts payable that had been on the books since the 2004 general election.

In 2007 we also ran candidates in the Drumheller – Stettler and Calgary – Elbow by-elections; our healthy financial situation allowed the party to help them out financially where their own fundraising fell short. I think I can speak for Dave France and myself; we are both very grateful for the parties support in this regard.

We closed 2007 on a very optimist note and clearly demonstrated who the fiscally responsible party is in Alberta.

That trend continued into 2008. While the audited statements for the recent election will not be available for a couple of weeks, I do want to share some information with you and layout out a financial game plan for the coming years.

During the recent election our membership numbers rose immensely; we raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. The source of these contributions was evenly split between individual and corporate donors.

I am very pleased to say, what is most impressive; is that we emerged from the campaign debt free. This is very significant as I doubt any of the other parties; aside from the PC’s, are in this enviable position.

Political parties are often referred to as “vehicles”; they have the features you like and can take you to a destination. Albertans buy memberships in parties they believe in and are proud to be an owner of.

In 2007 we tuned up the Alberta Alliance vehicle; many people work hard to make sure it was running smoothly and efficiently. Late in the year we met with some other people; they too were working on a political vehicle. Theirs still had that “new car” smell; a catchy name and many dedicated people were involved; they were the Wildrose Party.

Over December and January we all worked very hard to blend the best of each of our vehicles; thus on January 19th the Wildrose Alliance Party came to be. It is the hybrid of political vehicles.

While the paint was barely dry on our hybrid party in the 2008 election; we are in an excellent position to prepare our vehicle for its next race. In 3 to 4 years we will once again take to the racetrack. We know our competition; we know that we need a very large war chest to take them on. This is one area where we would like to appeal to all our members.

At the executive level, we have done all we can to reduce costs and be more efficient. Membership fees alone cannot sustain a party. We need donations for the maintenance of the vehicle. Things like our annual and election audits.

However the most important thing we need contributions for, is building a large reserve of funds to run an incredible campaign. We are at a point where this is well within our grasp.

Today I would like to challenge each of you to take your membership to the next level. I urge everyone to become a monthly contributor. You can choose any amount, but we are suggesting a minimum $30.00 per month. That is less than a dollar a day; it is less than a cup of coffee. At $30.00 per month your annual total is $360.00, this is under the amount that will make your name public thru Elections Alberta. With the tax benefit your net cost is only $100.00 per year.

If every member did this from now until the next election we would be in a very, very comfortable position to run an impressive race. For taking part in this monthly donation drive you will receive a Wildrose Alliance lapel pin, which is illustrated on the donation form in your package.

We are growing and more people like what we stand for and the direction we are going. I envision a day…. Maybe not a month from now; but a year or two down the road…..; when I will spot a stranger on the street wearing a Wildrose pin. I will be incredibly proud that they believe in and support the same hybrid political vehicle that I do.