Pam Barrett RIP

Pam Barrett former leader of the Alberta NDP passed away this morning after a long battle with cancer. She will be missed but her fight goes on.

In 1997 I worked with Pam on the election campaign to get the NDP back into the leg after the disasterous election of 1993 saw the party wiped off the map. With a populist and popular leaders like Pam, and in a province driven by the politics of personality, we did changed the face of NDP politics forever.



As the unpaid volunteer Co Chair of the Party's Strategy and Communications committee we made the election about Pam. Our slogan was Pam Barrett and the NDP. Never before had the party done such a thing. Secondly we ran for opposition, all the old gray beards said it couldn't be done, you run for government, but we ran as the 'effective' opposition.

Finally we launched the first cyber campaign in the Province, with web pages, internet use and email campaigns as well as using regular media. It was one of the first cyber campaigns in North America.

With little money we elected not only Pam in Highlands but Raj Pannu in Edmonton Strathcona. Two seats which the NDP have held ever since.

Yes an anarchist ran a Leninist cult of personality campaign for the NDP. And it worked. Worked so well the party adopted it nationally as you can see with Jack Layton. And they also adopted the strategy of running as an effective opposition federally.

She had arisen out of the Anti-war left influenced by the Trotskyist movement as well as the British New Left around Tony Benn and Ralph Miliband.

Unknown to many but her closest confidantes, Pam was also a pagan and we celebrated many a solstice and other special days in her Riverdale backyard.

May the Goddess embrace her daughter in the wings of her darkness.

You know how well you have done in life when your enemies praise you on your passing.

"I’ll miss her": Ralph Klein


To her admirers, Pam Barrett was feisty, fearless and passionate. To a legion of people she helped, from the underprivileged in her Edmonton Highlands riding to the unrepresented Alberta women who followed provincial politics, she was a hero.

Barrett, the former leader of the Alberta New Democrats, passed away late Monday night at age 54 from cancer at the Cross Cancer Institute. Her legacy is admirable, said longtime friend and colleague Ray Martin.


Cancer claims New Democrat dynamo Pam Barrett
Canada.com, Canada - 4 hours ago
EDMONTON - Pam Barrett, a three-term New Democrat member of the Alberta legislature who also served as party leader, died late Monday at age 54, ...

NDP stalwart in Alberta, Pam Barrett, dies of cancer at age 54 The Canadian Press

NDP Leader Brian Mason remembers Pam Barrett

Here is the text of NDP Leader Brian Mason's statement on the passing of Pam Barrett:

I was saddened today to hear about the passing of Pam Barrett, former leader of Alberta's NDP.

Pam will be remembered most for her fighting spirit. She was always standing up on behalf of the little person in Alberta, the person who was passed by.

She was a voice for the voiceless.

Albertans who were there will never forget her defense of the legal rights of individuals who had been involuntarily sterilized by the government; she forced the government to back down and it was her finest hour.

Her commitment to the NDP was unquestioned. She spent a large portion of her career serving our party as staff, and MLA, and as leader. Her feisty performance in the legislature is an inspiration to us to this day.

Pam's public service to our province made Alberta a better, more humane place. We are forever in her debt.

Statement from NDP Leader Jack Layton on death of Pam Barrett

Tue 22 Jan 2008 |

I was deeply saddened to learn of Pam Barrett’s death today. On behalf of all New Democrats, I would like to extend my most heartfelt condolences to her family and friends.

Albertans – and all Canadians – will remember Pam as a hard-working, impassioned and witty NDP Leader and MLA. She punched above her weight in the legislature and effected important changes for everyday Albertans – even when the odds were stacked against her. In everything that she did, Pam was driven to make life better for the less fortunate.

Pam will be missed, but she has left her stamp on Alberta and the changes that she made will continue to be felt for years to come.

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Tax Funded Creationism

When you allow Creationists charitable status you are in effect having taxpayers fund them. CTM is right here in the heart of the bible belt and ironically the largest collection of dinosaur remains in North America. Ask yourselves why Revenue Canada allows them charitable status to promote creationism as an alternative to evolution.Still waiting for Revenue Canada to give charitable status to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Creation Truth Ministries

Box 25147

Deer Park P.O.

Red Deer, Alberta

T4R 2M2

Canada

Creation Truth Ministries is a not-for-profit corporation recognized by the federal Government of Canada. Creation Truth Ministries is also a registered charity. Since Creation Truth Ministries is now a registered charity, you will receive a Canadian income tax receipt for all financial donations. Our charitable status is now approved by the Federal Government of Canada.

Purpose/Goals of CTM:
1. To see unbelievers come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

2. To build the faith of believers in the accuracy of the Bible.

3. To teach believers to defend their faith in a secular age.

4. To counter-act the atheistic/evolutionary indoctrination that faces adults and children alike on a daily basis.

Creation Education For Children
CTM offers interesting and creative education programs for children that include learning the truth about dinosaurs, the six days of creation, the true history of the world from the Bible. Children will not only be taught the truth about these and other areas, but will be equipped to defend the Biblical view of history.

Creation Museum Traveling Exhibits
CTM also makes available a wide selection of displays. These displays include around fifty authentic museum quality fossils. Among other things, two different dinosaur eggs from China will be on display (Hadrosaur, Segnosaur/Therizinosaur). Many museum quality fossil replicas will also be displayed.

We will bring such things as two eight foot long fossil cabinets filled with museum quality genuine fossils. We also have a 1:87 scale model of Noah's ark, a full size Coelophysis dinosaur cast, a T. rex footprint replica, and a full size Mosasaurus sp. skull cast. We will also bring Three realistic dinosaur models - a Triceratops (9 1/2 feet long), a Raptor (about 4 1/2 feet tall), and a T. rex (8 feet long). Included in our displays is a wonderful ten-foot wide display of many pictures of evidence that provide powerful positive support of Biblical creation. More displays are in the plans. These displays are assembled neatly and professionally. They are wonderful education tools.

SEE:

Creationism Is Not Science

Islamicists and Evangelical Christians

The War Against Secular Society

Dinos and World Systems Theory

Missing Link Missing Funding

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Fire The Bums

These guys are all Tories appointed by the Tory government. They are the folks who told us to tighten our belts, who closed beds and laid off staff while giving themselves golden parachutes and corporate salaries that would be the envy of those in the private sector. And they still ran up a deficit. Because they cut staff and forced existing staff to work overtime. Fire the bums. And lets demand the right to elect health boards, something the Klein government took away. Once again we suffer a democratic deficit in the One Party State.

Calgary Health Region revealed Thursday that its 2007-08 deficit may balloon to $85 million and Jack Davis will hand over the reins as president in part of a senior executive shuffle.

Davis will retain his duties as chief executive officer in the reorganization that takes effect next week.

The CHR's executive team is being pared from about 18 positions to 11 in an attempt to reduce bureaucracy and allow for quicker decision-making.

But the organizational changes are not expected to produce major cost savings at the cash-strapped CHR, leading the Alberta Liberals to call on the government to assess how the province's health authorities are spending their money.

The financial troubles at CHR -- a $2.8 billion organization that runs Calgary's medical system -- are largely related to massive staff overtime costs, worth about $63 million.

The reorganization -- which includes sweeping changes to the way CHR is structured -- isn't likely to significantly cut costs from the region's $91 million administrative budget, in part because only two executive team members have left the organization. Others who aren't part of the new executive team have been reassigned to other areas.

SEE

Legacy Of The Ralph Revolution

Transparency Alberta Style

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Sex, Religion and Violence

I love that as a header. In Alberta yet. It comes from this CP wire story that ran over the weekend. And it's all about right wing homophobe Craig Chandler.

An ugly internal dispute over sex, religion and violence erupted within the Alberta Conservative party Saturday, ending up with a candidate being ousted and Premier Ed Stelmach saying the reasons for the "difficult" decision must remain confidential.

Where was the violence in all this? He was denied the right to be a candidate.Sex and Religion sure I can see but 'violence'? Where's the violence? Except in over active imaginations of reporters. This was a bloodless purge of 'fightin' Craig Chandler the pugilistc politician.


Edmonton Journal Leg reporter Graham Thompson equates poor Craig Chandler with being bashed like a poor baby seal on the weekend. Well actually he equates it with the Sopranos.

It was like a Mafia hit gone wrong.

What should have been done quickly and bloodlessly months ago ended up being done messily with a baseball bat last weekend.

Officials with the Alberta Progressive Conservatives bludgeoned to death the political career of Craig Chandler in a meeting room of a Red Deer Hotel on Saturday. It took 21/2 hours for the officials to bash away at Chandler's history and credibility before rejecting him as a candidate for Calgary-Egmont.

By the time they were done, there was so much blood on the carpet it's a wonder someone didn't think to put down a plastic sheet beforehand.

Don't any of these guys watch The Sopranos?

What's so puzzling about all this isn't that the Conservatives whacked Chandler but that they took so long to do it. And I don't mean the 21/2 hours of brass knuckles behind closed doors on Saturday.

The Tories could have saved themselves and Chandler a lot of grief if months ago they had taken him aside and warned him off. They could have simply told him that he wasn't welcome because while he might be a "conservative" they didn't think there was much "progressive" about him. Furthermore, if he managed to win the nomination, Premier Ed Stelmach wasn't going to sign his papers.

Chandler says he would have appreciated the warning.

"Someone could have taken me aside and told me," he said in an e-mail exchange on Monday.

It's not as if Chandler was a stranger to the PCs. He has a long and loud history of involvement with right-wing political movements including the federal Reform party and the Alberta Alliance. He is a social conservative, at times belligerently so.

More to the point, he has a long history of making inflammatory comments, often against homosexuality. He got in trouble with the Canadian Human Rights Commission and earlier this year posted an apology on his radio program's website agreeing to "cease and desist" from saying homosexuals are "sick, diseased or mentally ill" or that they are "wicked or dangerous."

It was brought on by his stacking and winning the nomination in Calgary Egmont, but the nail in his political coffin was this Human Rights Ruling last week.

An Alberta man who has pressed for five years to get an anti-gay letter branded as hate literature won a victory Friday with a human rights commission ruling that said it broke provincial law and may even have played a role in the beating of a gay teenager.

The letter, written by Stephen Boissoin and published in the Red Deer Advocate in 2002, carried the headline "Homosexual agenda wicked" and suggested gays were as immoral as pedophiles, drug dealers and pimps.

Darren Lund, a high school teacher in Red Deer at the time, complained to the Alberta Human Rights Commission after the teenager was beaten in the city two weeks after the letter was published.

In Friday's ruling, commission panel chairwoman Lori Andreachuk said both Boissoin and the Concerned Christian Coalition to which he belonged broke provincial human rights law by likely exposing gays to hatred and contempt.

During the panel's hearing earlier this year, Boissoin testified that Craig Chandler - a former CEO of the coalition who recently won a provincial Progressive Conservative nomination in Calgary - was aware of and supported what he was doing.

Chandler posted a formal apology on the coalition's website about the letter last January after a separate complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

Tory officials are scheduled to review Chandler's nomination on Saturday.

The implication in the news reporters and pundits comments was that this was the Night of the Long Knives for the Social Conservative Right Wing in the PC's. Unlikely or they would have gotten rid of Oberfuerher Ted Morton.


Some bloggers say this shows how undemocratic the internal politics of the PC political apparatus is. In fact Craig Chandler sold more memberships, and stacked the nomination meeting with his supporters. Which is far more 'undemocratic' then ousting him cause he does not meet Uncle Ed's 'progressive' standards.

The fact is he should never have been allowed to run if they were going to deny him his nomination, and that has raised the hew and cry from bloggers left and right. But what did they expect why are they surprised at this apparent anti-democratic action by a Party that has ruled this One Party State for thirty six years.

Well because Uncle Ed blundered badly. Unlike King Ralph and his advisors, who pulled folks aside in the back rooms and told them whether they could run or not, Uncle Ed made this public. He wants to send a message that the Party is for All Albertans not just the radical right. Which does not explain his making Morton a Cabinet Minister, since he too represents the radical right. And Morton has campaigned long and hard against Gay Rights, just as Chandler has.

Like I said it is being equated with a Night of the Long Knives for the radical right in the PC's. But is it?

This is all for show, Chandler is an easy target, Morton isn't. There is going to be less fall out from kicking Chandler out than there would have been if Morton hadn't been given a Cabinet position. And considering how Morton is blundering, and dependent on the next election, he may not be in cabinet next time around.

Why is everyone surprised? This is typical of political parties that dominate power in other One Party States. Just look at Putin's election victory in newly 'democratic' Russia over the weekend.


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Edmonton Journal A Liberal Rag

Brian Mason and the NDP have been complaining about lack of press coverage they get in the pages of the Edmonton Journal. When days before Farmer Ed went on TV, Liberal leader Kevin Taft finally came out, five weeks after the royalty report was issued, to say he supported the royalty review recommendations. It made front page news in the Journal, and he was given an approving pat on the head in the papers editorial.

The NDP on the other hand was given short shrift over their announcements regarding the royalties.

The NDP issued a statement to their members and supporters in their email newsletter;

Some party members have asked about the extensive coverage the Alberta Liberals have been receiving in the Edmonton Journal. This has been the case for several years, and with an election approaching, it will likely only get worse. The Journal is entitled to support the Alberta Liberals editorially, but unfortunately, its news coverage is often biased in their favour. This relates not only to the content of articles, but also to placement of stories, headlines, and photos.

Last week's coverage of the Liberal's position regarding royalties is a good example. The Liberals waited nearly 5 weeks before taking any position on the Royalty Task Force report, and then issued only the vaguest support for increasing royalties. In the Journal, this warranted a front page story and an editorial praising Kevin Taft for helping to "define the issue". In the meantime, Brian Mason and the NDP caucus have worked tirelessly to raise awareness on royalties and to fight for a better deal. Kevin Taft failed to provide leadership on this issue when it counted - but this does not deter the Edmonton Journal.

I want to be clear that this problem does not extend to other media outlets. It is unique to the Edmonton Journal. The Sun newspapers and the Calgary Herald have conservative editorial perspectives, but this doesn't usually affect their news coverage. Television and radio outlets also give generally fair coverage.

I would like to encourage our members and supporters to be aware of this problem, and to consider challenging biased coverage when they see it. The best way to do this is to write letters to the editor when you see unfair news coverage. You can write to the Journal at letters@thejournal.canwest.com. You may also wish to consult other media sources in order to get a more complete picture of politics in Alberta.

Thank you.

Sandra Houston,

Provincial Secretary

Often the pro-Liberal editorial bias of the Journal creeps into the news stories coming from the Leg.

The other day when Mason got an emergency debate over the royalty issue passed in the Legislature the Journal headline was:

Conservatives' actions regarding royalties criminal: Taft
... EDMONTON - The Conservatives' lack of accountability on oil and gas royalties verges on criminal behaviour, Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft charged.

Which was not the real news story as even Right Wing Edmonton Sun Columnist Neil Waugh noted in his column;

Then he hilariously got out stick-handled by Brian Mason's tiny NDP caucus who asked for - and got - an emergency debate on resource royalties.

The reason behind the pro-Taft position of the Journal news and editorial writers covering the Leg was made clear in Leg Reporter Graham Thompson's column on the same subject. After spending the first half of his column uncritically quoting Taft he goes on to belittle the NDP's success at getting an emergency debate on the royalties issue. A debate that does not occur often in the Tory dominated house.
And one supported by disgruntled backbenchers not Stelmachs cabinet.

In supporting the NDP motion for an emergency debate on royalties, government members were embracing the old adage that the enemy of my enemy is my friend and so were happy to see the NDP go at the Liberals like two scorpions in a bottle and leave the government relatively unmolested.

It is much easier for the NDP to take a black and white stand on royalties than the Liberals.

The NDP doesn't have any chance of forming government and therefore doesn't have to worry about implementing its policies. Its ambition begins and ends at replacing the Liberals as official opposition.

It's an understandable strategy, one leader Brian Mason has been playing for months. And it's one he'll continue to play all through the fall session.

Or compare these two stories on the Premiers charge that the NDP wanted to bring back the dreaded NEP. Of course it is a favorite tactic of the Government to cry NEP when wanting to inflame their supporters. Of course the charge didn't stick but you wouldn't know it from the Journal article.

Edmonton Journal

Premier Ed Stelmach compared an oil and gas production tax to the much maligned national energy program today in the legislature.

Such a tax was one of the key recommendations of the province's royalty task force that delivered its report in September.

In question period, NDP Leader Brian Mason pressed Stelmach as to why he didn't adopt it and panel's other recommendations. Stelmach said it would cripple the province's economy.

"He wants a production tax, which goes back to the old strategy ... that drove Albertans out of the province, created a situation that people actually couldn't pay off their mortgages, had to leave, businesses went broke," Stelmach said.

"We're not going back to that kind of model of collecting royalties."

It was the second straight day opposition leaders went after Stelmach over royalties.

The Alberta Liberals demanded to see energy department documents from previous royalty reviews. So far, the government has kept most of those documents from the public.

Stelmach didn't answer the question directly. Instead, he talked about his government's record since he became premier last year.

Taft also asked Stelmach to explain why his governments refused to raise royalties until this year, despite warnings from the energy department that they were missing their internal targets.

"We take advice, obviously, from others," Stelmach said.

"But at the end of the day in this government the decisions are made by government, not listening to advice that may come from bureaucracies."

Edmonton Sun

Premier Ed Stelmach compared a key recommendation of his own royalty task force to the dreaded national energy program yesterday.

He also said the government overruled calls from experts for higher royalties from the energy sector because it got better advice from Tory politicians.

After ignoring repeated demands from the opposition to table all documents related to proposed energy royalty increases in the house, Stelmach suggested his government couldn't have followed through on an independent panel's recommendation that it charge a surtax on products from the oilsands.

"He's supporting the panel in its entirety," Stelmach said of a question from NDP Leader Brian Mason on why Alberta receives less oil royalties than nearly every other jurisdiction on earth.

"He wants a production tax, which goes back to the old, old strategy the former party from Ottawa imposed in Alberta, that drove Albertans out of the province and created a situation where people actually couldn't pay off their mortgages, had to leave. Businesses went broke. We're not going back to that kind of model for collecting royalties."

Mason was incredulous, noting that the independent task force was appointed by Stelmach's own government.

"Mr. Speaker, I just heard the premier compare the royalty task force to the Trudeau government's national energy program.

"So my question is, if they came up with something that's equivalent to the national energy program, Mr. Premier, why did you appoint those individuals?"

Stelmach didn't answer, instead suggesting the NDP can't both support the report and criticize it.

And for those who are in the know many of the editorial staff at the Journal have been suspected of having a bias towards the Liberals. And not just because the are the 'Official Opposition'. Now we know for sure.

Another One Bites the Dust...

Edmonton Journal veteran Larry Johnsrude is leaving journalism for redder pastures -- to join the staff of the Alberta Liberals.

He's the third high profile Alberta journalist to make the jump to politics this year. In January, Paul Stanway of the Edmonton Sun and Tom Olsen of the Calgary Herald joined Premier Ed Stelmach's office as senior flacks.

Here's the letter Johnsrude wrote to his colleagues at The Journal

Hi all,
With mixed emotions I would like to announce I have accepted the position of Director of Communications for the Alberta Liberal Caucus. It wasn't something I was seeking but was an opportunity that presented itself and I felt I couldn't turn it down. Over the past 11 years with The Journal, I have enjoyed working with all of you. I admire your professionalism and journalistic integrity. Journalism has been good to me, but I feel this is an opportunity to acquire a new set of skills and embark on a new profession.
Best wishes to all.
Larry Johnsrude

Johnsrude was the web-site editor for the Journal. He used to do a political blog
until April of this year. His new online blog he launched back then is now gone. As is he.

I've got a new blog address: MY NEW BLOG ADDRESS

It uses new software that allows for posting photos, video, links and room for feedack — all the bells and whistles.

The blog address this one appears on will remain online as an archive of my pre-April 24 postings. But anything posted since then will be at my new blog address.

Not Found: Forum Not Found

The forum you requested does not exist.

So if you detect a bias in the news coverage in the Edmonton Journal when it comes to Kevin Taft and the Alberta Liberals it's part of the Journal's view that the paper is a political player, a king maker if you like.

The paper has a long history of this going back to when they covered civic politics in the city and what applies to civic politics also applies to their provincial coverage.

In Edmonton, just as the Journal pandered shamelessly to William Hawrelak's Citizens' Committee during the 1950s, it again shilled patently for the new age progressivism of the city's brie elites in the 1990s. According to Lorimer, "Given the situation in which the mass media operate, however, it is unlikely that there can be any dramatic change in the way they inform people about city politics."(f.42) With little budget for sustained investigative reportage, and with so little real, long-term news of significance to break, the press gallery appears to fear becoming as marginalized on the news pages as the councils they cover. One remedy has been to transcend "objective" reporting and to editorialize within the guise of covering the story.

The Journal quickly turned on Bill Hawrelak when he decided to run again in the Sixties after he was found to have been in a conflict of interest. They ran a concerted campaign against him ,including front page editorial telling voters not to vote for him, but he won anyways.

During the Lougheed years, when the PC's dominated the Leg and the NDP had only one seat,and the Liberals none, they viewed themselves as the 'official opposition'. This inflated view of their political importance, has continued in the editorial mindset at the paper ever since.

This of course fulfills William Burroughs dictum; "we don't report the news, we write the news."

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Mason Forces Royalty Debate

Slick Eddie had hoped his TV show and Royalty announcement would have avoided any discussion of his royalty plan in the fall sitting of the Legislature which kicked off yesterday.

The Stelmach government doesn't want to discuss royalties or homelessness. Rather they want to talk about busting speeders and smokers. The best laid plan of mice and Tired Old Tories.....And it took the NDP to force the debate.

The legislature will try to debate 26 bills during the month-long session, but royalties took centre stage on the opening day despite the fact no legislation is being introduced on that issue.

NDP Forces Emergency Debate On Energy Royalties

Nov, 05 2007 - 4:20 PM

CALGARY/AM770CHQR - The fall sitting of the Alberta Legislature got off to a raucous start Monday afternoon, as oil and gas royalties became a hot topic during question period.
NDP leader Brian Mason was also successful in forcing an emergency debate on the issue, by getting a Standing Order approved.

Premier Ed Stelmach told the legislature he can't see how the province was shortchanged because of the tremendous prosperity Albertans have enjoyed in recent years. But the NDP and Liberals disagree.

"The auditor general said this minister had access to information showing that their royalties could be raised without hurting the industry and he denied it in this house," Mason said. "How can you condone that, Mr. Premier, why don't you do the right thing and fire that minister?"

Knight and Stelmach largely dodged questions about their roles in past royalty reviews, preferring instead to focus on the government's overall performance.

Knight took issue with opposition claims that the province missed out on billions of dollars in royalties. "There are no missing billions. Those dollars remained in the province of Alberta, were invested, were a magnet for additional dollars," Knight said. "The royalty structure in the province of Alberta is a policy set by the government. The policy is not set by reports that are developed both internally and externally and are given to any minister at any point in time."

Funny that's not what the Auditor General or the Royalty Review Committee said. They said Knight and his Department had NOT collected billions in royalties.

Last month, Auditor General Fred Dunn said the Tory government knew at least three years ago that it was losing royalties from energy projects in the province.

He slammed former energy ministers and their staff for identifying, but not collecting, about $1 billion per year in fees owed by oil and gas companies.

In light of those findings, the NDP hounded the Tories Monday over why the current energy minister was unaware of what his predecessors knew about the province's royalties.

"What I'm saying is there is not billions of dollars missing any place," Energy Minister Mel Knight said. "There is no requirement for me to get a briefing from any previous energy minister in respect to the royalty structure."

SEE:

Mason Hits The Bricks


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Martha, Henry, and Ed

Common sense from the common folks. And one thing you don't do is threaten Albertans with "we will get up and leave", cause you will get told "git up and go", "we can do it ourselves". It's an Alberta attitude of self reliance that the right wing likes to lay claim to, except when the shoe is on the other foot.

More Albertans support Premier Ed Stelmach's royalties strategy than do not, but his plan has fallen short of many people's expectations and may have created a "lose-lose" situation for the rookie Tory leader, a new poll indicates.

As the debate simmers, the online poll conducted by Leger Marketing shows most Albertans -- 61 per cent -- believe the oil and gas industry overinflated the negative consequences that higher royalties would have on the sector.

"The program fell short for many Albertans," Tremblay said.

The poll indicates many Albertans are skeptical of industry warnings, with six in 10 respondents agreeing the oil and gas industry overinflated the negative fallout from higher royalties. And just 38 per cent of people polled believe the new royalty regime will create job losses in Alberta, while 46 per cent do not.

As for the threat that the oilpatch will withdraw investment, about one-third agreed, but slightly more than half didn't buy it -- although the numbers show more Calgarians remain concerned than people in other areas of the province.

Only 28 per cent of Albertans agreed Stelmach's decision will have a negative effect on them or their families, either through work or through investments, while 52 per cent disagreed.

However, only 37 per cent of the people surveyed said Stelmach's decision will have a positive effect on them or their family through improved government spending on programs or infrastrastructure, while 39 per cent do not.

The poll of 804 Albertans, fielded from Friday to this Monday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Also see Enlightened Savage for his take on this poll.

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Made In Calgary Homeless Plan

No rent controls. A bungled boondoggle of subsidies to renters. And now a corporate committee to deal with homelessness in Alberta sometime in the next decade.

Alberta's government has announced it's forming the Alberta Secretariat for Action on Homelessness to help end the problem over the next 10 years.

Premier Ed Stelmach says in a release that while that may be an ambitious goal, it's one that the government needs to strive for to help those in need.

The secretariat, which will include representation from across the province, is expected to be working by April.

It will be headed by Yvonne Fritz, the government's associate minister of affordable housing and urban development.

The government says issues such as a budget and membership will be worked out over the next few months.

Last January, a committee that includes some of Canada's biggest corporate leaders formed with the aim to wipe out Calgary's homelessness problem over the next decade.

Calling any announcement on the issue a good one, Calgary Homeless Foundation president and CEO Wayne Stewart said he's hoping Stelmach will focus on long-term sustainability.

Stewart said his group has been working on a 10-year plan to eliminate homelessness in Calgary and expects to release its preliminary findings in January.

This is not a solution to the problem of affordable housing it is just another Tired Old Tory form of the old poor laws updated for the 21st century. Where the old poor laws produced workhouses run by the Church, we now have corporate philanthropists coming up with housing solutions, but no cheap housing while the condo conversions boom and tent cities for the homeless spread across the province.

Premier Ed Stelmach unveiled an initiative Monday to build 11,000 new affordable homes in Alberta over the next five years.

Eleven thousand homes is a drop in the bucket. What we need is the end to condo conversions, rent control and the creation of mass public housing NOW; town houses, row housing and apartments subsidized by the provincial and federal governments.

About 2,600 people in Edmonton and 3,400 in Calgary don't have a place to live, according to the last count of the homeless population in 2006.

Both major cities have seen an increase of at least 20 per cent in their homeless populations since 2004.

Add to that the fact that Syncrude alone is looking to hire 5000 workers to live in Fort McMurray a 11,000 homes across the province is a joke.

Not only is the oil boom in Alberta causing a labour shortage, but Syncrude faces a host of retirements, with an attrition rate of eight to nine per cent, he said.

"We're trying to get up to 5,000 employees," said House, adding the company now employs some 4,600 people.

Exciting as all this might sound, he was finding few takers at the CASTLE event.

"Housing cost is the number one deterrent," said House.

In labour-starved Fort McMurray, he said, "you can work at a Burger King and make $15 an hour.

"But in order to afford the housing, you'd better work a lot of hours," he added. "A person making $15 could not survive alone."

SEE:

This Is Better Than Rent Controls?

Stelmach's Robber Barons

And New York Has Rent Controls

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Labour Rally Today

AUPE and other unions are calling for changes to the labour laws in Alberta in favour of workers.

October 26, 2007
There will be a rally on Friday October 26 at the Alberta Labour Board at 3PM (10808 99 ave) AUPE along with many other concerned Albertans will be presenting the Albertan Government with thousands of letters asking the government to change Alberta's antiquated Laws. Please help spread the word and most certainly bring family and friends
www.albertasolidarity.com

Abolishing the Labour Relations Board would be one solution.

"The employing class and the working class have nothing in common."
Preamble to the IWW Constitution

See:

Alberta's Padrone Culture

Temp Workers For Timmies

Labour Shortage = Union Busting

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Someone Tell Don

Gee now maybe the CBC will dis' him too.

Ezra Levant Disowned By The Sun

See:

Ezra Says Gay Bashers Are Muslims

Don Newmans No Spin Zone

Western Standard RIP

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Edmonton Anarchist Bookfair 2007

Time again for Redmonton's annual Anarchist Book Fair.

Your humble servant will once again be doing a workshop.

This time on Anarchism and the origin of the Anti-Anarchist International Police Org. aka Interpol

It will be on Sunday, October 28.

Norman Nawrocki: Lessons from a 7ft Penis
Thursday October 25^th
Jekyll & Hyde Pub
10610 100 Avenue
Doors 8pm
$8 (or by donation to the underemployed)

Ward Churchill-organizing to win
Friday October 26^th
Doors 6:30 event 7:00 pm
Myer Horowitz Theatre
Students' Union Building
8900 114 Street
University of Alberta
$10 (or by donation to the underemployed)

Anarchist Bookfair
Vendors, workshops, food and childcare
Saturday October 27th 11am-7pm
Sunday October 28th 12pm-5pm
Alberta Avenue Community Center
9210 - 118 Avenue

Halloween Party
Saturday October 27 8pm-closing
Jekyll & Hyde Pub
10610 100 Avenue

Anarchist Folk Show
Todi Stronghands (halifax)
Starla! Ubiquitous (halifax)
R.Olson (vancouver)
Ben Disaster (local pop punk hero)
Lex Mckie (lamenting folk)
Sunday October 28th
7 pm
Donation $5 +
The Remedy Cafe (upstairs) 8631 109 Street

See:

Sacco and Vanzetti

Anarchist History of Edmonton

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