christmas in the alberta bayou.

It's Christmas Eve and I will be noticeably absent over the next week as I return to the family homestead in the Alberta bayou for some rest, relaxation, and cross-country skiiing.

I will return with regular posts on my triumphant return.

Until then, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy Holidays!

See you in 2007!

a case of the humbug.

It's fairly clear who deserves a visit from the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and yet to come.

U of L won't pay for day care
Deborah Tetley, Calgary Herald
Published: Friday, December 22, 2006

The day-care debate remains unresolved at the University of Lethbridge despite a strong showing of student support at Thursday's board of governors meeting and an agreement by administration that such a facility is needed.

Administrators spelled out for the board a number of conditions that have to be met before the university agrees to set aside space for a day-care centre.

Such commitments include a firm pledge from an external provider and assurance that students, staff and faculty and any other users of the facility will agree to pay construction costs.

"We need a serious financial commitment, a pledge, and then I'm sure the board will agree to take a serious look at this," said Nancy Walker, vice-president finance and administration at U of L.

Props to the U of L Daycare Action Committee for all their hard work.

tip o' the hat to the ol' hydro electrical autobus.

Linda Duncan is making a move to once again become the NDP flagbearer in Edmonton Strathcona. In 2006, Duncan placed an extremely strong second to Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer. Depending on the strength of the Liberal candidate, Duncan again stands a decent running chance at potentially scooping the riding for the Dippers (though I tend to believe that 2006 may have been a high water mark for the NDP in Edmonton Strathcona - we'll see soon).

Here are the 2006 results...

Rahim Jaffer, Conservative - 21,956
Linda Duncan, NDP - 17,142
Andy Hladyshevsky, Liberal - 9385
Cameron Wakefield, Green - 3,128
Mike Fedeyko, PC – 604
Dave Dowling, MP – 455
Kevan Hunter, ML - 106

It should also be interesting to see how strong the Green Party will be in Edmonton Strathcona next time around. 2004 & 2006 Green candidate Cameron Wakefield performed well in the last election and now with Elizabeth May as leader I believe the Greens will have an opportunity to surge (especially if Elizabeth May is allowed to join the national leaders debates!)

And I thought this was pretty cool Edmonton Transit System (ETS) now has two Hybrid Electric buses...

Two diesel-electric hybrid buses went into service in Edmonton on Mon, Dec 18. The buses are manufactured by Mississauga’s Orion Bus Industries, a division of DaimlerChrysler, and are designed to use as little as 50 per cent of the fuel burned up by traditional diesel buses in optimal operating condition.

Cool.
ADDITION: I am very pleased to see that Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel has announced that he will be running for re-election in October 2007.

quote of the day: rick miller, mla.

The quote of the day goes to Edmonton Rutherford MLA Rick Miller for his comment on the recent "mandate letters" sent from Premier Stelmach to his Cabinet today...

Liberal finance critic Rick Miller said the priorities are nothing new. The government, he said has had a number plans in the past, but hasn’t acted on them.

“It’s kind of like Aunt Martha’s fruitcake. It keeps coming back at you year after year,” he said.

Miller is looking forward to seeing the timelines for the work. The government, he said, has been on autopilot and needs to address many of these issues as soon as possible.

einstein says enter this contest!

Click here for contest details!

(props to Samantha B. for the Einstein pic maker)

ministerial musings of the third kind.

Over the weekend, I had some thoughts on Alberta PC Premier Ed Stelmach's new Cabinet... I was originally going to write them down in Haiku, but I decided this was easier...

ALBERTA PC CABINET 2006 - Composition...

SEX: It's a great time to be a white male Alberta Tory MLA between the ages of 40 and 60. You scored big! There are only 2 women and no visible minorities in Stelmach's first Cabinet.

GEOGRAPHY: Rural Alberta scored big over Alberta's two biggest cities in this cabinet (see map).

Northern Alberta specifically scored big with eight MLA's making it to the Cabinet table: Hector Goudreau (Dunvegan-Central Peace), Mel Knight (Grande Prairie-Smoky), Guy Boutilier (Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo), Ray Danyluk (Lac La Biche-St. Paul), Lloyd Snelgrove (Vermilion-Lloydminster), Doug Horner (Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert), Fred Lindsay (Stony Plain), and Iris Evans (Sherwood Park). And of course, Tory Premier Ed Stelmach (Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville).

Central/Southern Alberta has six Cabinet Ministers rolling the die at the Cabinet table. Ted Morton (Foothills-Rockyview), Janis Tarchuk (Banff-Cochrane), George Groenveld (Highwood), Lyle Oberg (Strathmore-Brooks), and Rob Renner (Medicine Hat). Lethbridge is left out of the cabinet room this time around as three long-time Lethbridge and area Tory MLA's Clint Dunford (Lethrbridge West), Barry McFarland (Little Bow), and David Coutts (Livingstone-Macleod) have been sent to the backbenches. The City of Red Deer's representatives Victor Doerksen (Red Deer South) and Mary Anne Jablonski(Red Deer North) are also not missing from the Cabinet table. This is the first time Red Deer has not been home to a Cabinet Minister in over 15 years.

Edmonton now has only one Cabinet Minister - Dave Hancock (Edmonton Whitemud) - and Calgary has only thee - Ron Stevens (Calgary Glenmore), Ron Liepert (Calgary West), and Greg Melchin (Calgary North West). The only other "urban" MLA's being Iris Evans (Sherwood Park) and Rob Renner (Medicine Hat). This leaves "urban Alberta" with 6 representatives at the Cabinet table.

PORTFOLIO: New powerful Cabinet portfolios include a newly created President of the Treasury Board - manned by the untested new Cabinet Minister Lloyd Snelgrove, Advanced Education and Technology - manned by former Ag Minister Doug Horner, Minister of Employment, Immigration and Industry - manned by Iris Evans, and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing - manned by Ray Danyluk. Gone are the Ministries of Gaming (phew~!), Innovation & Science, and RAGE to name a few. Downsized is the Ministries of Finance held by former PC leadership candidate Lyle Oberg.

THE BOOT: Ministers from Ralph Klein's last dynastic Ministry who have been put out to pasture include Shirley McClellan (Drumheller-Stettler), Ty Lund (Rocky Mountain House), Gary Mar (Calgary Mackay), Harvey Cenaiko (Calgary Buffalo), Heather Forsyth (Calgary Fish Creek), Denis Herard (Calgary Egmont), Barry McFarland (Little Bow), Clint Dunford (Lethbridge West), Pearl Calahasen (Lesser Slave Lake), Gordon Graydon (Grande Prairie-Wapiti), Mike Cardinal (Athabasca-Redwater), and Denis Ducharme (Bonnyville-Cold Lake).

POST-LEADERSHIP: It should be interesting to see if Premier Ed Stelmach is able to build this caucus in to a functional team. With nearly 40 of the 62 PC MLA's supporting Calgarian Jim Dinning in the Alberta PC Leadership race, it should be interesting to see how they react to leader Ed Stelmach in the coming months. Considering that all but one Calgary PC MLA supported Jim Dinning (Hung Pham (Calgary Montrose) supported Ted Morton)I expect to see a large number of PC MLA's retire before the next election.

TO BE SEEN: With Assembly Speaker Ken Kowalski (Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock) openly endorsing Jim Dinning before the second ballot of the Alberta PC leadership race, will Kowalski be able to muster support to be re-elected Speaker when Premier Stelmach reconvenes the Legislature in Spring 2007? Or will Premier Ed Stelmach attempt to purge the Speaker's Office and make way for a new Speaker?

How will the lack of Calgary Minsterial representation effect the political psyche of Calgarians? Edmontonians are used to it, but until Ralph Klein's selection as PC leader and then Premier in 1992, Calgarians were waining in their political support for the Alberta Progressive Conservatives (as shown in 1989 when Calgarians elected 3 Liberal and 2 NDP MLA's in their midst). Will the northern Alberta based Stelmach Conservatives see a backlash for their downsizing of the Calgary Cabinet contingent? A strong indicator will be a potential by-election in Ralph Klein's riding of Calgary Elbow following his resignation on January 15, 2007. The Alberta Liberals had a strong showing in Calgary Elbow in 2004 despite Klein's Premiership. The results will no doubt be interesting...

alberta's new cabinet.

Alberta's new cabinet has been announced...

Ed Stelmach (Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville) - Premier, President of Executive Council, Chair of Agenda and Priorities, Vice-Chair of Treasury Board

Lloyd Snelgrove (Vermilion-Lloydminster) - President of the Treasury Board, Minister of Service Alberta, (Minister Responsible for Personnel Administration Office)

Doug Horner (Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert) - Minister of Advanced Education and Technology

Iris Evans (Sherwood Park) - Minister of Employment, Immigration and Industry

Mel Knight (Grande Prairie-Smoky) - Minister of Energy

Dave Hancock (Edmonton-Whitemud) - Minister of Health and Wellness, Government House Leader

Ray Danyluk (Lac La Biche-St. Paul) - Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing

Ron Liepert (Calgary-West) - Minister of Education

Janis Tarchuk (Banff-Cochrane) - Minister of Children's Services

Rob Renner (Medicine Hat) - Minister of Environment, Deputy Government House Leader

George Groeneveld (Highwood) - Minister of Agriculture and Food

Lyle Oberg (Strathmore-Brooks) - Minister of Finance

Luke Ouellette (Innisfail-Sylvan Lake) - Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation

Ron Stevens (Calgary-Glenmore ) - Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Deputy Government House Leader

Greg Melchin (Calgary-North West) - Minister of Seniors and Community Supports

Guy Boutilier (Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo) - Minister of International, Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Relations

Ted Morton (Foothills-Rocky View) - Minister of Sustainable Resource Development

Fred Lindsay (Stony Plain) - Solicitor General and Minister of Public Security

Hector Goudreau (Dunvegan-Central Peace) - Minister of Tourism, Parks, Recreation and Culture

Definitely some interesting picks that caught me off guard... thoughts?

Props to the anonymous commentor with the press release link...