Alberta Bill 214: Beginning to reclaim our democracy from big money?

It is interesting to spend time with Kevin Taft’s new book, Oil’s Deep State, on the same week Dr. David Swann tables Bill 214 in the legislature to reign in the havoc wrecked by PACs on our democracy. For it is PAC’s in my hypothesis that continue the deep state, and create new pockets of control.

The book explores the journey of oil. It will define for you the difference between a Petrostate (when the companies create the state’s infrastructure) and a deep state (when the companies seize control of the democratic institutions- government, crown corporations, bureaucracies, media and academia). It is intriguing in the book that he touches on the shift that happens with deep state. That shift being from the resource belongs to the citizens, to the resource is an investment for business and governments need to get out of the business of being in business (the transformation of Lougheed’s citizens first approach, to the Klein Revolution).

As with any Taft work it is readable, much like a newspaper, well referenced, touches upon history and ties together the threads like a good mystery. It is a work that one can use to inform their understanding, or as many an investigative journalist will say to find the truth follow the money. And Taft did follow the money to lay out the capture of our collective good by the 1% with deep pockets. There is a look to a greener future, but also a frank look at the loss to the citizen on how much has been taken from the land and resources during this capture that lined other pockets while citizens suffered (just look to the state of education, health care and the good buzz term for Albertans, the Heritage Trust Fund) and I do not even want to open the subject of our crumbling nuts and bolts infrastructure, the high debt load carried by the average Albertan simply to keep up to the affordability of life.

It is interesting to have read this work while following the Alberta Liberal feed spear headed by grass roots, vocalized by their leader David Khan (current by-election candidate in Calgary Lougheed) and the actual legislation tabled by the party’s only sitting MLA.  Now many will say will this make a difference with one person doing this. To those I point out Laurie Blakemen’s bill on GSA’s.  Every so often there is a spark lit by opposition.  When well thought out, researched and presented creates an ember. This is an ember that all parties need to get behind to fan into flames of change for our democracy.

The Deep State of big money running our politics needs to change in Alberta (and Canada). The PAC bill is but one step, I have written previously about other steps that can be taken. Remember citizens, we are guaranteed peace, order and good governance in our nation by our Constitution Act 1982. The regulation (and hopeful removal) of PAC’s is a starting pointing of reversing the capture and deep state.

Other things need to happen, but I encourage you to contact your local MLA and/or sign the petition here to press them to support Dr. Swann’s bill. Let’s continue positive change in our province, let us show that Albertans matter by showing that we want to have our voice back in our democracy.

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An Open Letter to Premier Rachel Notley

Dear Premier Notley:

You did the impossible, toppled a dynasty that had begun rotting from the centre out, the top down, the bottom up and the outside in. 44 years and done. Yet in the time your new Government has been in power it has been the same cycle of petty partisan politics, and not the new day we hoped for casting our votes for change.

This is an open letter to your government to refocus on Albertans in such a way that partisanship no longer matters. Business should not longer be conducted as the Tory-tatorship did it.  It needs to be open, party branding becoming irrelevant, and getting the best MLA’s regardless of party affiliation for the job.

It is not just about rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, oil economies have cycles of ups and downs, but during downs stimulus and change need to be the focus.

What does this mean? This is simply one Albertans’ perspective:

1. Time to let the Skeletons out of the Closets, a full audit of government by an outside body. Time to clean house of cronyism, backroom deals, forced through legislation, hidden taxes (the Government calls them user fees), and bringing all laws in line with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Constitution Act 1982, and the Health Act. Yes in a far sweeping inquiry some Dippers may go down as well, but if they are not focused on the full good of Alberta then so they should.
2. Term Limits: Hard and fast for all elected officials…that’s right MLA’s limited to 3 elected terms in their life times; and for the Civic Elections your government oversees, 2 term limits only. Time to abolish the idea of politician as a career and get it back to true public service. Oh and shrink the size of the Legislature seriously we are at least 20 MLA’s to large (MLA Greg Clarke would be great to spear head these changes)
3. MLA Pension/Severance Packages—seriously???? Simply put, follow your party’s conscience with Raj Pannu’s votes on these issues: NO!!!! Abolish retroactively.
4. Health care: this should be a no brainer for a NDP government with the proud history of Tommy Douglas–a true one pay system is the cheapest most efficient–time to get Alberta back on track with public health care, and stretch it to include dental and optical.  MLA David Swann would be great to take on this portfolio.
5. Charging for parking at hospitals—this is a ridiculous fee for service that keeps low income Calgarians away from accessing care, and families financially challenged for accessing the Children’s Hospital.
6. AB Works/AISH/Human Services—the greatest inefficiencies as it is a system designed to keep people out, not work with the person at the community level to ensure proper care for Albertans….and seriously who decided that $323/month was an appropriate rental allowance for a person on social assistance?
7. Pay Day Loans–seriously, we still allow legalized loan sharking—a 6% rate drop is not even a start of a solution-let a Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt  take on this cancer.
8. School boards—Okay, huge bureaucracy, huge expenses on elections, and elected boards which are minimally duplicated twice in the public arena by Public and Catholic boards, then multiple fundings for private schools, etc…  Hmmm…what a quagmire? Perhaps it is time to realize that school principles can handle budgets, every child is appropriately coded, and each building has a need of a care taking staff for up keep with centralized trades people for bigger issues than that…yet what we have is schools falling apart, private schools admitting they get monies for special needs kids but direct the money away from the child to the general pool (YES HERITAGE Christian Academy Calgary I am looking at you and your admission 4 years ago at a Renfrew School Parents Recruitment Night, at least unlike the other Special Needs Private School you had enough common sense not to refer to our kids with the “R” word)…and so on… so what does all the excess bureaucracy give us? A craptacular education system, that needs to be reduced to simplicity…a few accountants in the Education Minister’s office doing money transfers to the schools to manage their finances. Abolishing all boards and folding into one local public school, oh and the tax money paid through taxes? Calgary Board of Education never collects it all—bad money management, that can be pooled. What does a localized strong public school give to a community? A central gathering point of celebration, learning and growth. As communities cycle through ages, and school attendance numbers drop do not sell off the capital, reinvigorate it with ideas for changing demographics, using different spaces for different community programs i.e. seniors clubs, social clubs, etc.
9. Busing, lunch room fees and school fees…. seriously! Constitution Act 1982–Free Public Education—have you read it recently? And as a family with a special needs child, we have no choice in where our son goes to school, so then we get dinged for busing when I can’t take him to his local school.
10. Utility companies—California failed with deregulation–then Klein deregulated—it is time to end this horrible experiment that punishes families financially.

Alberta is a great province to live in. But the cost of living is going through the roof, look at the high level of access of community meals, food banks, those opting out of the illegal school fees, making tough choices on paying the utility bills, internet (yes it is no longer optional in an education world that drives more to have everything online) or rent.

This is an open letter for there was hope when the Government changed…but that hope needs to be reignited…are you a Premier that will move beyond ideology to solutions that will help Albertans? Solutions that will correct decades of errors and punishments on the working classes?

Remember, the Alberta Government is not the NDP Party, it is made up of 84 MLA’s from across 5 parties currently, and it is a mixture of this wisdom that Albertans want guiding our province forward. Are you willing to actually show that Government can work for the people?

Sincerely,
Ty Ragan

A Parent, a Taxpayer, someone wondering where more money is to miraculously appear from.

Grit Collapse moves Tories to Centre?

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Alberta Legislature (Photo credit: Jeff_Werner)

In a province where the Right Wing has decimated social programs and created a homelessness epidemic, it is astounding to watch the collapse of the official opposition (which doesn’t even have a seat count in the double digits) and that this collapse is benefiting firstly the party in power as noted by the CBC Poll:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2012/02/01/calgary-alberta-election-poll-cbc.html

The surge of the Wildrose Alliance has taken the Social Conservatives out of the Progressive Conservative Party and with many older hard liners retiring and being replaced with Red Tories, the party has seized the centre for the province with the NDP growing to a stronger 3rd party in Province.

So why the Liberal collapse? To be bluntly honest, with a leader that stepped down recently David Swann, that was dogged with rumours of no party loyalty (every party spoke of him being their member when he announced the run for the Alberta Liberals) to be succeeded not by one of the many strong pluggers that have maintained the party, worked hard for Albertans, was it one of these members that ascended to the leadership…Nope.. it was a defector from the ruling PC Party in Raj Sherman a great advocate for health care, but by him rapidly leaving one party benches to become leader of another it simply proved that there was no difference in the newly Red Tory dominated PC Party, and the Alberta Liberals, effectively cutting the first ruling party of Alberta off at the knees for a slow bleed of a death, that if they are smart before the writ is dropped they will approach the Redford Tories for a merger and allow for their current MLA’s who have served Albertans well, to maintain and continue their service and not been swept away in the spring election, how do we know this prediction will happen??? The Communist Party of Alberta is having an easier time finding candidates than the Alberta Liberals currently are.

So, Grits, you have shown your true Grit over past 104 years, but now it is time to show some real GRITful determination, and admit that your ideology is not longer valid in the new political landscape of Alberta that is forming, make the choice that is best for the service of Albertans and strengthen the centrist-progressive voice within the ruling party through a merger.

Thank you.

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Endorsement to Tammy Maloney for Alberta Party Leader

I have served the less fortunate in this city with Tammy Maloney on my team.  I have seen her heart for people, and know that she speaks what she believes to be true, so if you are an Alberta Party member, I would encourage you to vote her your leader.