Do the PCs think we're stupid? Alison Redford resigns as a PC MLA

"See! There's no one on that plane, Dave."  (not actual quote)
Premier Dave Hancock with former premier Alison Redford, who stepped down during this legislature session, in a FILE PHOTO. (EDMONTON SUN/File)

One minute you're flying around on a plane with your daughter and only a few people on it while looking forward to your new Premier's Palace on top of the refurbished Federal Building in Edmonton, then the next you're told to step down or more allegations will surface, and soon, of what we already knew, the auditor general reports you've really really been abusing your flight expenses, and staffers were making up people to be on those flights.

Oh, but you thought there were always more people on those flights.  Riiight.

No longer will Alison Redford, now known as the worst premier in Alberta's history (Canada too?), have her name and face on the side of the party bus.  She's been thrown under it.   No longer premier and now no longer MLA (not like she was showing up anyway), and now the RCMP are going to investigate.

Such is life in the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta.

What perfect timing too though, eh?  They should thank Redford for this nice distraction.

Nice distraction?  From what?  What do I mean?

Let us not forget how this party built up a coalition of ATA and AUPE folks to vote for them and Redford in the last election by promising money and stuff only to have them turn around and stab them in the backs by freezing their wages and benefits.  But then. THEN! Then just a couple weeks ago, these PCs quietly turn around again and GIVE THEMSELVES THE VERY SAME RAISE those employees were to get.

Did you vote for the PCs last election?  Nice going.

PCAA president, (who cares what his name is), then says it was Redford's "personal choices that led to her demise".

Was it really?  Do you really think we're that stupid?  Did any of you do anything to stop it while it was happening?  And while it was happening, how did you not know?  Seriously, Doug Horner, how did you not know?  You're the provincial treasurer.  Are you that incompetent too?  You must be since the province has been mired in deficits and debt for many many years now, yet our population and tax base have increased well over other provinces.  Not only that, but Albertans are working longer hours than before.

Don't let the PCs fool you.  Don't let leadership "newcomer" Prentice, McIver or Lukazuk convince you it's going to be different under their watch.  It's not just about Redford's "personal choices".  It's the entire culture of entitlement of that party and total disregard for taxpayer's money and voting support.  The wink wink.  The nudge nudge.

It's the same party that allowed school boards and towns to pay for party fundraising dinners without any accountability on these illegal donations.

It's the same party that's been in government for 43 years.

It's the same party that elected Alison Redford as leader.

It's the same party that just might think we're stupid and won't notice.

"Alberta has the stupidest gov't in Canada"

Ezra goes off on how stupid the Alberta PC government is.  I couldn't agree more--40 years is enough of this drifting, visionless, anti-liberty, and wasteful government party.  The PCs need to go.

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.

Alberta PC gov't continues its war on fun

Just when I thought this government couldn't get any more useless and intrusive, "Prohibition Eddie" is continuing his war on fun.

I have made the prediction that this PC Ed Stelmach government will soon raise the alcohol drinking age to at least 19 to match our adjoining provinces, if not higher or back to 21.  I am further convinced of this with today's stupid announcement that they are banning the sale of beer with an alcohol content of more than 12%.  

Since Ed's been in power, they have banned happy hours having cheap drinks, have limited a person to two drinks after the midnight hour.  They have taxed booze and revoked it leaving much of it at higher prices.

I don't know anyone who binge drinks on this higher-end beer.  And it is higher-end.  I remember being in San Francisco this August at a really cool bar on Haight Street that had the widest variety of beers, stouts, ales, malts, and Pislners I have ever seen.  I tried a couple that were above 12% in alcohol content.  They were delicious but let me tell you, I wouldn't have a second one of that same kind.  Very filling.

With the recent passing of their "comprehensive distracted driver" law which studies show that it will actually INCREASE accidents, it's nice to know that there's a nanny-state government right here in "strong and free" Alberta.  It's nice to know that they are incrementally removing responsibility and freedoms.  It's nice to know that I'll never vote for this party ever again.

So why stop at beer?  While we're at it, let's ban ALL booze with an alcohol content above 12%.  That will wipe out many wines, all liqueurs, and hard booze.  And while we're at it, let's just ban all booze.  Because if you make an argument that high-alcohol boutique beer is a problem, then you HAVE TO argue that all booze is a problem.

And "Prohibition Eddie" will soon have a real problem--declining revenue and a vast underground economy run by gangs.

Alberta's new Lt. Governor

I just found out that Prime Minister Harper will be meeting with Alberta's new Lt. Governor in Ottawa in 15 minutes (12:30pm MDT).

Who is it?

Col. Donald Ethell will be named as the new lieutenant-governor for Alberta in an announcement Thursday, according to reports.

Ethell, 72, is a Vancouver native who calls Calgary home. He is considered to be Canada's most experienced and decorated peacekeeper.

He's a veteran of 14 peacekeeping missions, including Lebanon, Cyprus, Israel and the Balkans, and led Canadian peacekeeping operations from 1987 until 1990.

Can't say anyone is going to complain about this inspired choice and I think I can say that I'm proud to have this man in the honour post.  I thought Normy Kwong also did an excellent job.

My personal favourite has always been Lois Hole.  I remember her years ago at the U of A Model Parliament acting as the Governor General giving the speech from the throne. She was such a warm, personable human being. I'll never forget her telling all of us mock MPs how inspired she was by the fact we took such a vested interest in politics, but more especially her saying "I love and adore you all!"

Anyway, now the speculation is mounting on who Prime Minister Harper is going to pick as the next Governor General of Canada this year.  Personally, I hope that Michaelle Jean stays on.  I think she's been an excellent ambassador for Canada and with her eating that seal heart with Inuit women, I thought was pretty cool. I didn't so much like it when she twice referred herself as 'the head of state' when that title is only for the Queen.  But when she greeted President Obama on his official visit, the visuals were outstanding.  All that said, my feeling is that Harper will want to make his own decision and pick someone new. 

Earlier this year, a source told Canwest News Service columnist Don Martin the change at Rideau Hall would happen sooner rather than later – so that Canada’s 28th viceroy could be sworn in by the Queen herself during her upcoming nine-day tour of Canada, which starts June 28.

Rumours are Rick Hansen, Mary Simon, Preston Manning, and of course, William Shatner.  Beam me up!

Alberta to sue criminals over health care costs

The spirit of the bill is fantastic. The Alberta gov't wants to sue criminals for any health care costs as a result of their crimes. Sounds brilliant, doesn't it?

A few questions though...

1. How many criminals are actually going to be aware that they'll have to pay these costs (likely expensive), and most importantly, will it deter them from committing crimes that cause a burden on our health care system? I doubt it.

2. Do judges have the power to determine this? Is this open for interpretation dependent upon the situation?

3. Even if a criminal is convicted, would they even actually pay a likely very high cost?

That all said, even if the money doesn't flow or if it doesn't deter, what's the harm then?

Let's say a drunk driver hurts someone badly in a crash? Would they pay directly or would their insurance company cover it? Or what if the fact he or she was drunk was in question? At that point, it would be up to the insurance adjuster in determining this. Regardless, instead of Albertan taxpayers covering unnecessary negligence, that responsibility is transferred to those that caused the problem in the first place.

Ok, more questions...

But is THAT the issue?

What if we didn't have publicly funded health care?

Would having this law even be an issue then?

Wouldn't the health insurance companies between both parties fight it out, like they do with car crashes?

Oh, but with drunk driving, they already do in regards to vehicle damage. But why not personal physical damage that taxpayers have to cover?

Do people hold back their physical injury upon someone else if they know they will be sued for health care damages? Perhaps, on a personal level. But now the gov't wants a piece!

So...

Have their been studies done on this as regards the effectiveness of such laws?

And...

What other jurisdictions have implemented this and does it work?

I love the spirit of the bill, but is it worth the trouble?

5 provinces not 3 or 1

The above historical map taken from here shows a very different Western Canada divided into five provinces, Athabasca, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Assiniboia, and Manitoba, with the NWT Keewatin district taking what is now Northern Manitoba and Northwest Ontario. It was ultimately then Liberal Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier's idea to carve them vertically, similar to British Columbia, into three basically equal sized provinces. There was even a proposal to have British Columbia grab Alberta. Of course, the other big proposal was from Frederick Haultain, Premier of the NWT, whose name rests on a building north of the Alberta Legislature, to have one big province called Buffalo to compete with big provinces like Quebec and Ontario. But Laurier wouldn't have it.

It's interesting to think of what could've been and to note that the Athabasca in the above map would be a very rich province being that it's where the oil sands are.

But I also wonder if Canada were carved up more like the United States, with smaller geographical provinces, would they get treated as equals in the senate, unlike it is now in Canada. I still don't think Liberals respect the West, with their lack of leadership on senate reform, the national energy program, and now this dumb Green Shift idea from now Liberal "leader" Stephane Dion which will basically transfer even more money from the West to the East.

Drop the Writ!

Whoops!

The website www.assembly.ab.ca temporarily displayed a short sentence saying that information about elected members was no longer available because an election writ had been dropped.

The Speaker of the Assembly, Ken Kowalski, said it was a glitch, not a hacker.

Or maybe it was a teaser.

R o y a l t i e s. Royalties.

I remember that Trailer Park Boys episode where J-Roc put out an album using the tunes of another rapper, Detroit Velvet Smooth (DVS.), and called it "cross promotion, mafa." Then the evil Mr. Lahey called DVS and told him about all this. So DVS shows up at the rap concert party at J-Roc's, shoots a gun in the air for attention, and tells J-Roc that he's a punk for "jackin' my tunes" and deserves a thing called "r o y a l t i e s ... royalties".

First off, it makes me laugh that rappers are going after other rappers for jackin' their tunes when everyone knows that everyone does it and a lot of it is simply unoriginal.

Secondly, it reminds me of the whole "sitchiation" in Alberta with the oil sands, the missing $6 billion in r o y a l t i e s, and the provincial government's ineptitude. In this case, J-Roc is the oil company, DVS is the Alberta government, and Mr. Lahey is the auditor general who brought this to our attention in the first place.

I'm not sure where I stand on this issue. It's complex... formulas, backroom deals, and stuff.

But what I do wonder is, even if we got that $6 billion, what would the provincial government do with it anyway?

I mean, they already have large surpluses and squander it away. MLAs and bureaucrats already rack up high expenses on trips and the like. All while, cities are still under the crunch and raise property taxes, lack of affordable housing, lower-middle class hurting health care insurance premiums are still around, power bills are still high, tuition is high, taxes are high, and our roads, highways, and infrastructure are at least a decade behind in maintenance, upgrades, and creation.

Yet at the same time, what do these big energy companies do with that massive profit? Some of them have threatened to pull out of Alberta. Yeah, right. Callin' you on that bluff there, sharky.

So to me, it really doesn't matter who has that $6 billion. No matter what, the average Albertan still gets screwed and we wouldn't see a dime of it anyway.

That said, we need a decision on this, immediately before it gets muddled. It's obvious what Albertans will say, so why have a citizens' review? Premier Stelmach should have the interest of the people of Alberta and the government in particular, not bow to idle corporate threats and simply needs to act like Detroit Velvet Smooth, shoot a gun off in the air, go up to J-Roc Oil and say, "You jackin' our oil? R o y a l t i e s... royalties".

Alberta Tories look at raising the drinkin' age ... again

$650,000. What a freakin' waste of money. The Alberta government is implementing a "Cage Your Rage" campaign to curb fighting in bars.

Alberta has been growing like crazy lately and has been getting many under 30 folks coming here from other provinces to work. This has definitely raised the number of patrons at local waterholes.

But raising the drinking age won't do a thing to stop fighting. The under age crowd will find a way. They'll have more house parties when the parents aren't home, or in their aparments, at bush parties, illegal hall parties, and they'll find the booze. There has been a bit too much violence at house parties in the Greater Edmonton area over the last few years. Raising the age just might increase that.

I can see it now, they'll announce when the drinking age will be raised, to even 19, and you'll see a slew of 18 year old guys stocking up at the liquor stores and having their own parties after that date.

Actually, what should happen and what will solve a lot of problems (especially on Whyte Avenue) is to allow bars to stay open as long as they wish (like in Vegas) if they can afford to, while at the same time stop serving over-intoxicated patrons. People in Alberta work really weird hours, why should they be denied these freedoms?

The problem starts when all the bars close and drunk patrons pour out into the street all at the same time looking for cabs, food, etc. Now that bouncers and bodyguards will soon have to be trained like real security guards, they will be better enabled on dealing with and be responsible for handling situations inside and outside their establishments.

Telling an 18 yr old that he can vote, smoke, fight in a war, but not have a beer slaps in the face of liberty. The clear large majority of bar patrons are responsible.

All these regulations on bars, patio sizes, drink prices, closing times, blah blah blah, do NOTHING.

After the freak Canada Day riot on Whyte Avenue way back (which was actually started by out-of-province hoodlums in their mid-twenties), I wrote to the Edmonton Journal saying that we simply need a patrol car at each major intersection on the popular strip and more beat cops. Well, they finally did it and violence on the avenue has dropped dramatically (as long as the Oilers don't make the playoffs, but they had the whole works of cops out for that one eventually).

What's also stupid is how the city hasn't increased the number of cabs allowed in six years! It has become very difficult to find a cab once the bars all close at the same time. Again, stupid regulations.

Now you may think I'm contradicting my libertarian principles due to my strong stance on no smoking in bars. It's simple. In a bar, when someone is drinking, it doesn't affect me at all. If someone is smoking, even at the other end of the room, it does, especially the bar staff who are subjecated to it on a daily basis. There's a big difference there.

If that $650,000 should go to anything, it's more cops who can actually enforce the existing laws, not bureaucratic pet projects that will likely do nothing to change someone's behavior (in some cases, might actually cause a backlash).

Welcome to the new nanny state.

Alberta-wide Smoking Ban

YAY! The Alberta PC government caucus just approved Minister Dave Hancock's smoking ban proposal, which no longer allows smoking in all public and work places, which includes bars, bingos, and the like.

Party members agreed, also deciding to ban tobacco sales in pharmacies and on post-secondary campuses, as well as outlaw promotional and so-called "power wall" cigarette displays in retail stores.

For someone like me who suffers from chronic sinusitis, I loathe cigarette smoke. Since Edmonton has had such a ban, I have enjoyed going to the bar again, my clothes don't smell like an ashtray, and I can breathe without nearly vomiting.

They don't have a state-wide ban in Kansas, like they do in California, and it sure is noticeable when I head to the pub here in Topeka.

There is one thing I do not like about the bylaw in Edmonton is it does not allow smoking on bar patios or in outdoor beer gardens, which is really odd for two reasons:

1) When the popular Fringe Festival is on, for example, adults are not allowed to smoke in the outdoor beer garden, yet children walking with their parents around the Fringe grounds outside the no-smoking beer gardens are subjected to public smokers.

2) These laws often do not have requirement that smokers are not allowed to gather right outside the door of a building, which in the winter time usually entails a swoth of stinky smoke when you enter and leave a building. Not only that, especially outside of bars and niteclubs, the amount the cigarette butts (that smokers think are biodegradeable) which are left on the cement or nearby sidewalks has dramatically increased. Since Edmonton has had a smoking ban, I've taken notice of this disgustingly massive increase in making Edmonton look dirty and grose. This is littering. I guess more covered ashtrays is the solution or bylaw enforcement will have to step up and fine businesses that do not clean up their patrons' crap.

Regardless, although I'm a libertarian at heart, smokers have crossed the line with my health and enjoyment of fresh air too many times to count. It's not about us non-smokers being whimps or intolerant, and don't give me that "cigarette taxes pay for health care" bullshit, when we all end up paying for your lung cancer surgery anyway. Many friends of mine who've quit always tell me that while smoking, you don't really notice the smoke until you're a non-smoker.

And because we all share in the burden of increasing healthcare costs in Alberta, it's time we all shared in the prevention.