I went to Premier Ed Stelmach's swearing-in ceremony today on the steps of the Alberta Legislature.
It was an interesting event. Watching now FORMER PREMIER RALPH KLEIN official hand his resignation letter to Lueitenant Governor Norman Kwong and Premier Ed Stelmach being sworn in after that was a little exciting.
Premier Stelmach's acceptance speech (is that what you call it?) was folksy. I can see that he has one-on-one appeal but it remains to be seen how his communication skills will emerge when attempting to communicate with a couple million Albertans through electronic mediums.
I also had a nice chat with Dave Hancock and Ken Chapman at the swearing-in-ceremony.
On another note, I'm sure Stelmach supporters are still spinning in joy following his come-from-behind win in the Alberta PC leadership race against Jim Dinning and Ted Morton.
Not too much to report other than that. Still waiting to see what Premier Stelmach's first cabinet will look like...
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No, I don't think it's called an "acceptance" speech. He "accepted" the position a while ago, that speech would have been at his victory party.
ReplyDeleteThis was a swearing-in. Maybe an "inauguration speech"? Or a swearing-in speech.
I like the fact that the oath doesn't include the word "premier."
I liked Normie Kwong. Someone get that man two nights as a headliner at the Comic Strip.
ReplyDeleteOur new premier has a girlish laugh. Maybe it was the nerves, maybe it was how completely inappropriate Norman Kwong's jokes were...
ReplyDeleteanonymous 8:14:51 AM,
ReplyDeleteWhat, next you'll be commenting on his shoes? Get a life.
He didn't have a coat on either. Maybe you should comment on how manly it was to sit and stand out there without one. But somehow I don't think you will.
BTW, I like his laugh. Why? It is genuine, not forced, and infectious - people couldn't help joining in yesterday at the event.
Fewer women, fewer city folk. Nothing to get excited about here. Lots of rookies. This sets up an interesting scenario for any future elections.
ReplyDeleteOne minister for Edmonton. Not exactly the Premier for the capital he claims to be.
ReplyDeleteOnly two women (down from five). It's an old, white, boys club. Pretty hard to have a worse record than Klein on promoting women, but Stelmach succeeds.
pink,
ReplyDeleteHe never claimed he would be "premier for the capital". His words were "for all Albertans. Fail to see evidence of a problem here.
And women do have quite a bit of say in the other committees. Of course, it's too bad there aren't more women in Cabinet, but it's not like there are that many women MLAs to choose from.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with 1:19, he never said he was "premier of the capital". Besides, there is representation from Spruce Grove/St. Alberta and Sherwood Park. Neither are the capital, but they are pretty close geographically... and honestly, how many people do you need to represent one city in the province?
more than one. And I'm sorry, Sherwood Park is not Edmonton. His supporters have been boosting him as practically born and bread on Jasper Ave. I'm calling BS. This is a rural cabinet in a province that is more and more urban.
ReplyDeleteSo Pink, is your contention that rural MLAs better give up their hopes of cabinet, since by your definition there would only be room for one or two, as the "province is more and more urban"? They are OK for Ministry of Agriculture, but not Culture? What a discriminatory thing to imply. A cabinet minister has a fiduciary duty to the province, not to a specific city or region. And where a person chooses to live should not be used as a means to pigeonhole him or her for their "cabinet-worthines".
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Sherwood Park IS Edmonton by any practical definition. People that live in Sherwood Park work and shop in Edmonton - they only sleep outside the city limits. Same goes for St. Albert and to a lesser degree Stony Plain.