Alberta poll: PCs 54%, WR 16%...

Zoiks!

PCs at 54%
Wildrose at 16%
Liberals at 13.5%
NDP at 13.5%
Alberta Party at 2%
Undecided at 19%

It is summer and these numbers don't mean much, but the media and bloggers are dumping on Danielle Smith and the Wildrose for "plummeting".  That's what happens when you peak way too soon.

When Danielle went through a honeymoon period, the Wildrose was tops.  Mind you, Ed Stelmach was still intending to be leader and premier.  Since he's stepping down, the numbers have changed.  And now the PCs are currently in a leadership race, drawing support and attention.  I've always felt that the best the Wildrose can do in next year's election is official opposition somewhere at 10-18 seats.  But even now that seems difficult.  The problem is that the party touted itself as grassroots but had a top down management style as well, which ticked off a lot of riding associations and soft supporters.

"Hey, but the Liberals are in a leadership race too, why aren't their numbers up like the PCs?"  Because really, no one really cares about that race, other than maybe Raj Shermann.

The NDP haven't moved much.  And the Alberta Party?  Well, not much to say really.  Each will get 1-3 seats next time.

Anyway, when the PCs pick their leader, that's when a new poll will mean something, whether it's Gary Mar, Ted Morton, or Rick Orman vs. Danielle Smith, it'll really depend on how they're perceived ideologically.  For Danielle, the further left the PCs go with a leader, the better off she and the Wildrose are.

Edmonton downtown arena funding

Mayor Mandel and Premier Stelmach are meeting today to discuss funding for the new downtown Edmonton arena to host the Oilers, along with a casino, hotel, bars, restaurants and a whole entertainment area.

The project is $100 million short.

Mandel wants the province to kick in.  Stelmach's right for not just handing the money over, but the tax revenue generated from alcohol taxes alone (especially in this town) will eventually make up the amount.

Or why not a loan?  Wait, the province doesn't exactly have a good history with Oilers owners and loans, do they?

Or, here's another idea from Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith.

The leader of the Wildrose Alliance is saying "no" to the idea of tax hikes to help pay for a new arena in downtown Edmonton, but Danielle Smith has an idea of her own.

Smith is proposing a special lottery to help raise money for what would be the new home of the Oilers. Progressive Conservative Party leadership hopefuls Ted Morton and Alison Redford have both suggested that the province could help by raising sales taxes, even by just 1%.

Smith says under her plan, "interested Albertans" could buy tickets, with proceeds going towards arena construction. The City of Edmonton has a framework deal in place with the Katz Group, but the sides are still about $100 million short on funds.

Shame on Morton and Redford for their stupid tax idea.  Why should folks in Calgary pay for an Edmonton arena?  Is that their solution going forward to fund any new project?  Raise taxes?  I thought Morton was smarter than that.  Guess not.  Now I have no idea why I supported him when he ran for the PC leadership years ago.  I'm certainly not supporting him now.  (I haven't decided yet, but if I were to choose, Rick Orman is now on my radar although the PCs have completely lost my support.)

Anyway... a lottery?  A simple yet effective idea.  While I'm not sure it would generate enough revenue to make up the entire amount, it wouldn't hurt either.  I'd buy a $50 ticket.  Why?  Because I want a new arena downtown.  Those who don't want an arena, don't have to buy one. 

Jack Layton

Very sad news about Jack Layton.  I wish him a speedy relief from his suffering and a quick return to his role as leader of the opposition.  If anyone can beat cancer, it's him.  He has now appointed Nycole Turmel from Quebec as the interim leader.

In other political news, this summer has not turned out to be your usual "silly" one... thankfully.  We'll leave the silliness up to the mainstream media.

Anyway... get well soon, Mr. Layton!

Leadership races

Hey, now that Will and Kate have completed their Canadian journey, did you know that the Alberta PC Party is having a leadership race?  Did you even know that Premier Ed Stelmach is stepping down this fall sometime?  Do you know that the PC Party has been the governing party in Alberta for 40 years?   Well, it's all true!

Can you name all the candidates?  Can you name three?  Does it matter who wins?

Oh and did you know the Alberta Liberals are having a leadership race too?  Does anyone care?  Who's running?

Well, there are a lot of candidates.  Seems everyone wants to be premier these days.  And don't forget about Danielle Smith from the Wildrose Party (they dropped the Alliance part).  Oh and the new (old) Alberta Party has a leader too but I forget his name.  I know he's the mayor of Hinton though.  Then there's the old vet, Brian Mason of the NDP.

More importantly, did you know that the pub near the Leg. that Alberta MLAs frequent is no longer in operation?  It's true.  A month ago, Martini's Pub and Grill, a staple neighbourhood pub on 109 Street and 99 Avenue, one of my favourite establishments, closed its doors after a bazillion years in business.

I know, I'm not happy about it either.

Will & Kate in Canada!

I have never heard Canadians so simply and eloquently described than what was said today by HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge on the steps of Rideau Hall to kick-off their visit to Canada.

"Merci beaucoup, Votre Excellence et Monsieur le Premier Ministre, pour votre accueil chaleureux.

Catherine and I are so delighted to be here in Canada. Instilled in us by our parents and grandparents, who love this country, we have been looking forward to this moment for a very long time - and before we were married, we both had a longing to come here together.

The geography of Canada is unsurpassed and is famous for being matched only by the hospitality of its people. We are so very excited about having this opportunity to experience both - and learn much more about this amazing country.

Nous debutons aujourd'hui notre première tournée ensemble. Nous ne pouvions pas être mieux accompagnés que par la grande famille Canadienne.

[Joking about his French, going off-script] It will improve as we go on.

Thank you so much. We are truly looking forward to this adventure. Nous attendons avec impatience cet aventure. Merci a tous."

"The geography of Canada is unsurpassed and is famous for being matched only by the hospitality of its people."

I don't think there's any higher compliment than that.  Thank you, Your Royal Highness for the endearing words and on behalf of everyone here at Hatrock's Cave, we wish you and your lovely wife a wonderful trip.  We know you'll be back too!

Wheat Kings

The monopsony Canadian Wheat Board is planning to have a vote to see how many of the 70,000 Western farmers want out of the pool.
 


Eliminating the CWB is the right move.  Ag Minister Gerry Ritz is correct in saying that farmers should be able to choose who they sell their grain to.

This vote is likely a sham. It's non-binding anyway. But how many of the farmers will actually vote?  How are they voting?  Are they being lobbied?  It seems like a political ploy by this monopsony and nothing more.

Canada Post strike. Air Canada strike. And now the Wheat Board.  Methinks unions of mostly monopolistic corporations are flexing their muscle against the Conservative government.

That said, after watching the documentary "Food Inc.", I'd hate for a private corporation to run all the grain in Canada like they bully American farmers with law suits and this is an argument by the CWB to maintain its existence and control while canola farmers are doing just fine in a free market.

This only continues to solidify my distaste for monopolies and monopsonies whether run by government, as an oligarchy, as crown corporations, or as private business.

And let's not forget, the CWB only applies to parts of BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.  Ontario and the rest of Canada are not part of it. 

It's time to end it.

Afghanistan has a way more democratic and representative senate than Canada

Just out of curiosity, I checked to see what kind of senate they setup in war-torn Afghanistan.  Here is how it is constructed, and it's way closer to a triple-e than Canada could ever be.

I - COMPOSITION
102 members, or three times the number of existing provinces (currently 34).
The Meshrano Jirga is composed of three different thirds of members:
1. one representative from each of the 34 Provincial Councils, indirectly elected;
2. one representative from each of the 34  local District Councils, indirectly elected;
3. 34 qualified personnalities nominated by the President 
 
II - ELECTORAL AND NOMINATION SYSTEM
Voting system: Two-round majority vote.
Term of office:
- four years for senators elected by the province councils;
- three years for those elected by the district councils;
- five years for appointed members.
Age of eligibility or nomination: 35 years
Half of the members appointed by the President of the Republic shall be women.
Representation of minorities :
Two members appointed by the President shall be disabled people, and two others shall be nomads (Kuchis).
Incompatibilities:
- a senator position with being a member of the local electoral council;
- a parliamentary with a ministerial position.
First elections: 18 September 2005
First nominations: December 2005

Nota: Due to problems related to the definition of certain boundaries and estimates of population figures, District Council elections were not held in September 2005. The National Assembly, once constituted, will resolve such issues. To fill the 34 seats reserved for members of the District Council, the Meshrano Jirga will include, in addition to its 34 appointed members, two representatives from each Provincial Council, or 68 other members. Half of these (34 members) will occupy the posts in question until District Council elections can be held.

Canada?  The prime minister recommends to the governor in council who he or she should appoint and they serve until 75 years of age.

Alberta - Strong and Free

Have a read of this Globe and Mail article about how many Canadians are moving to Alberta over other provinces.

Could it be lower taxes, higher wages, more opportunity, and quality of life? 

Duh.

Flogging

I merely suggest that reform-balking Conservative senators should be flogged because there's no other recourse for their hypocrisy, and then tonight on Sun News Network, Charles Adler discuss flogging on his show with Peter Moskos, author of "In Defense of Flogging".

Coincidence?

(new tag: flogging)

Senate reform bill introduced (again but amended)

Barely into this session of parliament, as promised, the Conservative government has tabled a Senate reform bill with term limits now set at nine years and will only apply to senators appointed after October 2008 (34 total).  It also does not bind the prime minister to recommend appointments, nor does it bind provinces into a democratic process, but it "strongly encourages" provinces to do so.

This will pass the house and hopefully in the senate.  If it doesn't pass the senate, but gets stalled and amended there, then I think there are two options, one I've already suggested, and the other I read on Twitter.

1.  Flogging.  Flog any senator who agreed to be appointed based on their support for senate reform but is now balking.  Flog hard. Flog often.

2.  Reduce or eliminate their pay and benefits.

The NDP critic wants the government to hold a national referendum on the fate of the senate because the NDP believe Canadians will want to abolish it.  Well, he's wrong.  Poll after poll suggest a majority of Canadians want it reformed.  In fact, there's a Conservative majority in the House of Commons, who have continually campaigned on senate reform, and so that's the mandate given by the people.

So what will happen now?  Let's say this bill gets Royal Assent. 

Before the next federal election in 2015, we have a pile of (22) senators who have to retire (not including the 34 Conservatives appointed by Harper after October 2008). Broken down as follows:

10 Conservatives
11 Liberals
1 Progressive Conservative

Then by 2019, there will be another 20 (mostly Liberals).

So in the next 8 years, we will have the 34 appointed by Harper, the 22 who have to retire on or before 2015, plus the 20 who retire up to 2019, for a total of 76 out of 105 senators.  (There are about 8 who were appoint by Harper before October 2008, for a total of 84 of 105.)

That's a lot of vacancies.  What will the provinces do?  If I were Harper, I'd stand by his bill and not recommend to appoint anyone from a province unless a province does one of these things:

1a) hold a senatorial election covering the whole province
1b) hold a senatorial election for each region as determined by the province
2a) have the provincial legislature elect senators from a list of nominees to represent the whole province
2b) have the provincial legislature elect senators from a list of nominees to represent a provincial region

My preference is 1b).

And you know what else I'd do?  I'd appoint only a certain number from each province, instead of the full amount, drawing further attention to the blaring inequality of representation. 

In the next 8 years, there will be
3 senator vacancies in B.C., leaving 3. I'd appoint 3 based on if they're elected.3 senator vacancies in Alberta, leaving 3. I'd appoint 3 based on if they're elected.
4 senator vacancies in Sask., leaving 2. I'd appoint 2 based on if they're elected.
4 senator vacancies in Manitoba, leaving 2. I'd appoint 4 based on if they're elected.
18 senator vacancies in Ontario, leaving 6.  I'd leave it at 6.
12 senator vacancies in Quebec, leaving 12.  I'd wait until another 6 retire and leave it at 6.
 3 senator vacancies in N.B., leaving 7.  I'd leave it at 7 and wait for the next one to retire and leave it at 6.
5 senator vacancies in N.S., leaving 5. I'd appoint 1 based on if they're elected.
3 senator vacancies in N.L., leaving 2. I'd appoint 3 if elected, and see about adding another 1 to make it 6.
2 senator vacancies in P.E.I., leaving 2.  I'd appoint 2 if elected, and see about adding another 2 to make it 6.
1 senator vacancies in NWT, leaving 1. I'd appoint 1 if elected, maybe more. Same for Yukon and Nunavut.

You see where I'm going with this.  Each province gets 6 senators, each representing a provincial region (which regions are basically what we have in some provinces already).  After every 3 years, 2 of the 6 senators get elected and serve 9 year terms.

We must must must must remember that we ALREADY have representation by population in the lower house.  Even then, it's usually out of balance and needs correction.   What we don't have is each province having an EQUAL say in the federation.  Canadian provinces are unique and this should be celebrated and acknowledged.  Our current senatorial allocation is archaic, unfair, and not based on any logic.  Why should one province get even more say than another?   Why have provinces then?  Having an equal senate is the next step and having six senators per province appears to be the logical outcome over the next decade.

And for those who hold up stop signs in the senate and want proportional representation, an equal senate addresses this need by being a check against provincial domination in the house (Ontario and Quebec have a majority of seats in the house don't ya know).

So in a way, if provinces start to elect senators, based on the bill today, it is permissible that the prime minister can then only choose the right number to balance out the current provincial inequality.

All without opening the constitution.