This past wednesday, we visited the Alberta Legislature and watch some Question Perioding. Here's a quick recap of our observations from the visitors gallery... (though they're definately not as exciting as some of our previous Legislature experiences)
(OPENING SCENE: Beautiful +14C day in the City of Edmonton)
1:00 pm - Leave work at the University, catch the train to Grandin station.
1:10 pm - Get off the train at Grandin station.
1:15 pm - Meet up with our friend Ms. Jane on the front steps of the Leg.
1:19 pm - Bump into Rick Miller in the elevator. We have a quick chat.
1:23 pm - Stand in line to get our QP pass... there are about 5000 school kids in the rotunda. crazy. Donna Martyn and Mr. Sharma are in line ahead of us. Dan McLennan is also in line.
1:30 pm - QP starts. Mr. Sharma crosses party lines and sits beside a Liberal (us). Way to go, Anand! ;-)
1:40ish pm - Laurie Blakeman introduces us. Very nice.
1:41 pm - Premier Klein is on his cross-Canada "Torpedo Stephen Harper" Tour, so Finance Minister Shirley McClellan is running the show... man does she have a boring voice...
1:42 pm - Liberal leader Kevin Taft asks the first question.
1:43 pm - Alliance MLA Paul Hinman is here. Sitting all by himself. The ND's are there too. Brian Mason is quieter than his usual "QP bull dog" self. But he does make some good heckles.
1:45 pm - It looks like Ted Morton is playing paddy cake... wha? either that, or he has a Juba song stuck in his head.... crazy right-winger...
1:47 pm - We notice that Dave Hancock is still in his "grey hair period" (as opposed to his
previous brown and black periods).
1:49 pm - Aboriginal Affairs Minister Pearl Calahasen is reading the Hill Times.
1:50 pm - Education Minister Gene Zwozdesky scoffs at an opposition question about hot lunch programs in schools. St. Albert Liberal MLA Jack Flaherty yells at Zwoz and looks like he's going to get up and deck him. For a 74-year old, Flaherty sure has alot of energy.
2:00 pm - Banff-Cochrane Tory MLA Janis Tarchuk is signing Christmas cards. Lucky for her, her seatmate Rob Lougheed is MIA. So she uses his chair to pile her cards.
2:05 pm - QP continues. The opposition asks decent questions, but the Tories give boring answers. They know the media isn't paying attention to QP while Klein is on tour. We're bored. Time to bounce. Adios.
2:10 pm - On our way out, we bump into Agriculture Minister Doug Horner. Have a nice chat with him in the rotunda.
(END SCENE)
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BAM.
ReplyDeleteName your top five favorite MLAs, Daveberta.
NAME EM.
hmmmm. we'll think about this one...
ReplyDeletewho are your's?
Damn, I actually need to think about this.
ReplyDeleteIn no particular order:
1. Mo Elsalhy
2. Dave Taylor
3. Laurie Blakeman
4. Raj Pannu
5. Toss-up between Kevin Taft and Hugh MacDonald
I have a soft spot for crusty old Jack Flaherty. I can't say the same for any Tories, but I'm horribly biased and can't think of any that I think are both doing a good job and have personal appeal (although Dave Hancock probably counts, even though I still wouldn't vote for him).
My criteria for this was a combination of personal appeal/sentimentalism and a sense of respect for the good job that they are doing. With Elsalhy, I both admire and respect him as a person and am amazed at his work ethic. Just talking to him makes me feel like a lazy jerk. Taylor is pure personal appeal. Taft and MacDonald are pure work ethic. Pannu I admire for his ability to command respect and dignity, and Blakeman for her tenaciousness.
I should also give shout-outs to David Swann for carrying himself like a gentleman. I respect that, and hope he can hold his seat for a long time.
ReplyDeleteStill waitin', Super Dave.
ReplyDeleteStill waitin'.
Okay...
ReplyDelete- Laurie Blakeman
- Rick Miller
- Kevin Taft
- Raj Pannu
- Weslyn Mather
Our criteria is majorly biased in favour of the Liberal/NDP side of the assembly, but whatever, it's just for fun. :-P
I think we're going to make a post about this...
Yes! I'd love to see some kind of, um... "Daveberta Legislative Awards" feature.
ReplyDelete