Pallin's Pipeline

Sarah Pallin's American nativist politics ends when it comes to oil. The Alaskan Govenor is in the pocket of one of Canada's oldest and leading Pipeline companies; TransCanada Pipelines. But shhhh don't tell anyone. Her Drill Baby Drill rhetoric belies the fact that you can drill all you want in Alaska but the point is to get the oil and gas to a refinery. And Alaska for all its ground assets does not have refinering capacity, so that oil and gas has to get shipped south. And who will do the shipping? TransCanada Pipelines, tying Alaska into its Keystone pipeline project.

The controversial pipeline will ship bitumen from the Tarsands south to the Gulf Coast for refining. In Alberta, and in fact across Canada, the pipeline is controversial for several reasons, one is it runs through disputed Lubicon Cree land, and secondly it shows that we remain hewers of coal and drawers of oil, rather than having true energy independence by doing secondary and tertiary production; refining here. Unlike Alaska, Alberta has refineries, and refining capacity.But thanks to TransCanada's cozy relationship to the Stelmach regime, like its cozy relationship with Pallin, we and the Alaskans get screwed.

During the election Harper announced that if elected he would restrict exports of bitumen, the Stelmach regime remained uncharacteristically silent over the issue. Usually Ottawa intrusion into Alberta's energy patch would elicit a hue and cry of outrage with the usual rantings about the NEP. However Harpers move was to assure Americans that Canada has continues to view them as the primary preferred customer for our oil.

With the current fiscal meltdown most of the refining expansion planned for Upgrader Alley in Alberta are now on hold which gives carte blanche to TransCanada to ship our oil and jobs south . As Ross Perot once said; can you hear that giant sucking sound as Alberta and Alaska oil jobs go south?

As Ms. Palin takes to the road to campaign with Mr. McCain, invoking the pipeline as a major victory, some Alaska lawmakers who initially endorsed her plan now believe it was a mistake. State Senator Bert Stedman, a Republican who is co-chairman of the finance committee, said that in its contract with the chosen developer, TransCanada, the state bargained away too much leverage with little guarantee of success.

Of the five companies that eventually bid, Ms. Palin’s administration chose TransCanada Pipelines, which operates 36,500 miles of pipeline across North America. TransCanada had previously tried to negotiate a pipeline deal with the Murkowski administration, but was sidelined by the governor in favor of the big oil companies, some officials who were involved in the talks said. That contributed to the rift that led to the departures of Mr. Irwin, Ms. Rutherford and five others from the state Department of Natural Resources.
The proposal that TransCanada negotiated with the Murkowski administration was structured differently from the current one and had no provision for a $500 million state subsidy, said two people who reviewed it and who spoke on condition of anonymity because the proposal remains confidential.
Of the Palin aides familiar with TransCanada from those earlier negotiations, Ms. Rutherford had an unusually close connection. For 10 months in 2003, she was a partner in a consulting and lobbying firm whose clients included Foothills Pipe Lines Ltd., a subsidiary of TransCanada.
Ms. Rutherford said in an interview that after TransCanada submitted its pipeline proposal to the Palin administration, she and the governor never discussed whether her role on the team might be viewed as improper or give the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Ms. Rutherford, who said she had not lobbied for Foothills but had done research and analysis, stated that she was not one of the pipeline team members who recommended a developer to Ms. Palin. That was done by Mr. Irwin and Patrick S. Galvin, the commissioner of the Department of Revenue, she said.

TransCanada is already building the $5.2-billion Keystone pipeline, which will carry 590,000 barrels a day from Hardisty, Alta., to refinery hubs in Illinois and Oklahoma from 2009. The expansion will take an extra 500,000 barrels a day to refineries in Houston and Port Arthur, Tex.
As well as the confirmed supplies and the possible construction delay, TransCanada said it has increased its stake in Keystone and the expansion as its partner, ConocoPhillips Corp. of Houston, has reduced its share from 50 per cent to 20.1 per cent. TransCanada now has 79.9 per cent of the pipeline, although shippers will have an option to take a 15-per-cent stake.
ConocoPhillips spokesman Bill Graham said the company is still committed to Keystone, and will be a major shipper on the pipeline, but he wouldn't comment on why the company had reduced its interest.

Currently, Alberta exports 500,000 barrels of bitumen daily to the U.S., about 40 per cent of total production of the tar-like substance from the oilsands. That will rise to one million barrels a day by 2010 when two new pipelines, the Alberta Clipper and Keystone pipelines, take bitumen to Texas and Illinois respectively.
Bitumen must be upgraded into heavy oil before it can be sent to refineries to be made into gasoline and other fuels.
Stringham disputed the suggestion that oil companies are sending bitumen south for upgrading to avoid Canada's greenhouse gas emission standards, which come into effect in 2010.
Everyone expects the U.S will have some similar standards soon, he says.
Besides, the decision on where to build an upgrader for bitumen is based on economics, not the environment, says Stringham. In some ways, Alberta is a preferred place to build an upgrader, given the low taxes and stable political environment, though high labour costs are a problem these days.

But building bitumen upgraders isn't easy in the Edmonton region's upgrader alley.
Last month, the BA Heartland upgrader, partly completed near Fort Saskatchewan, was suddenly mothballed. The credit crisis in the U.S. was the major reason cited by the company for closing down the project at this time.
The very same day, however, ConocoPhillips and Calgary-based Encana began work in the U.S. on a $3.6-billion refinery retrofit to handle Alberta bitumen flowing to Illinois.

No wonder, then, that Harper's policy to keep the bitumen here was hailed as good news in the Fort Saskatchewan area where there are plans for a dozen upgraders. "Our group feels it's a very progressive move," said Neil Shelly, executive director of Alberta's Heartland Industrial area.
"It levels the playing field for us because we will be capturing carbon dioxide at the plants in this area, and the U.S. does not have those requirements that entail an additional cost." Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, agrees those upgrading jobs should stay in Canada.
But he doesn't hold out much hope that Harper's bitumen policy will actually reduce the flow of jobs or bitumen down the pipeline.
In fact, McGowan suggests that Harper is sending a reassuring message across the border that energy hungry America will remain Canada's preferred customer and that China, with its lower environmental standards, will be on the prohibited list.
Even if the Democrats win the U.S. election, they too will want a continental energy policy, as that's the only way to reduce U.S. dependence on Venezuelan and Middle East oil.
"He's sending a signal to Washington and Houston that if he is prime minister, Canada will continue the continental energy system," says McGowan "It's the worst kind of election promise. ... He's able to give the impression he was doing something to protect jobs, without taking concrete action.
"What this really does is tie the hands of Alberta producers from looking for other customers." Pipeline builder Enbridge Inc. is one of the few companies going after those new customers in China and Southeast Asia. It's the biggest shipper of bitumen to the U.S and is currently building a $4.2-billion pipeline to the Pacific Coast, dubbed the Northern Gateway, initially to serve China.

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:The Economist, Alberta, tarsands, oilsands, Canada, state capitalism, royalties, oil, profits, Alberta Royalty Review,Alberta Cabinet, CAPP, Ed Stelmach,Big Oil,oil royalties, John McCain, republican, U.S.presidential election, Sarah Pallin,

Forget Ike It's PetroCan's Fault

P.O. about the 13 cent rise in gasoline prices at the pump last Friday. Don't blame hurricane Ike, rather it was exasperated by the shut down of Petrocan here in Edmonton. The plant has been offline since July!

September 15, 2008

Petro-Canada Refinery Shutdown Causes Shortage Petro-Canada, Canada's second- largest refiner, said filling stations in Alberta and British Columbia may run out of fuel after the unexpected shutdown of a unit at its Edmonton, Alberta, refinery. The company is investigating the reason for the closing of the catalytic cracking unit, a gasoline-producing piece of equipment, according to a Bloomberg report. Petro-Canada spokesperson Jon Hamilton said the reduction in gasoline could last several weeks as the company fixes the unit. "It could be short term, it could be a little longer," Hamilton said. "We're looking at, I'd say, weeks not days, right now." Gasoline shortages may occur in parts of British Columbia's so-called interior region and Alberta, Petro-Canada said in a statement. The Calgary-based company said it's trying to boost supplies in Canada's western provinces partly by buying fuel from rivals. Deliveries to some customers and filling stations have been curbed, Hamilton said without providing details. "The deliveries that we're sending out are reduced from what they would normally get,'' he said. "That might mean a smaller load or that might mean less frequent loads." The company intends to import more supplies to its port terminal in Vancouver and truck the fuel to customers, Hamilton said. Petro-Canada also is altering its distribution network across the country to boost supply in western Canada. The equipment failure is unrelated to a C$2.2 billion ($2.07 billion) modification project nearing completion at the plant. Parts of the refinery were scheduled to be shuttered for about two months starting this month so that the plant can run on crude extracted from Alberta's oil sands. Output at the refinery was cut last month because of a water-boiler equipment problem. The plant is capable of processing 135,000 barrels a day. Imperial Oil Ltd. of Calgary is Canada's largest refiner and marketer.

Since Petrocan, Shell and Imperial Oil are the area's main refiners losing Petrocan put pressure on their retail outlets. Of course this should have been predicated. Add to that the shut down of East Coast gasoline due to Ike and you have the perfect storm.

In March, a shut down at Imperial's 187,000-barrel-a-day Strathcona refinery near Edmonton caused gasoline shortages at Esso stations throughout Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C. and Manitoba.

Around the same time, Shell Canada Ltd. said its Scotford refinery and upgrader near Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., were operating at reduced rates because of unplanned maintenance.

Last year, Ontarians experienced gasoline shortages for several weeks after a fire at Imperial's Nanticoke refinery.

Canada's refining infrastructure is aging, but companies are not keen on investing in new facilities, said Roger McKnight, an energy analyst with Oshawa, Ont.-based consulting firm En-Pro.

Not only would it would take up to 10 years and billions of dollars to build a new refinery, but they would tilt the market against the companies' favour.

"Their refining margins would drop because of excess supply. So there's no incentive at all for them to do that," McKnight said.

Another factor discouraging the industry from spending money on new refineries is uncertainty about government regulations.

"If I was an oil company, I would like to know in 10 years, when I'm going to have this refinery built, what the eventual specs are going to be and what the emission standards are going to be," McKnight said.

As for the solution it is as clear as the nose on Uncle Ed's face, we need more refinery capacity in Alberta and Canada. Of course given the anti regulatory anti-public ownership attitude of Big Oil and its government in Alberta that ain't gonna happen any time soon.


And so we have gasoline shortages on refinery row.

Back in August, it was Petro-Canada. Now, it’s Shell that has run out of gasoline at some of its Alberta stations.

In Medicine Hat, the Shell stations on Dunmore Road and Eighth St. NW have been out of gas since Friday, while the Shell on South Railway had gas as of Monday but wasn’t sure how long its supplies would last. Shell stations on Redcliff Drive SW and Trans-Canada Way were reporting they still have gas.

Jana Masters, spokesperson for Shell Canada, said there are also a couple of stations in Calgary and Edmonton that are running on empty.

“But these are very small numbers compared to our total operations across the province,” she said.

While the Petro-Canada gas shortage in August had to do with a problem at that company’s refinery, Masters said that is not the case at Shell.

“It’s just a temporary challenge keeping up to customer demand,” Masters said.

It is the lack of tertiary refining that causes gasoline shortages in Canada and subsequently price increases. And wqe won't get more refineries built until there is a national initiative to make it so including a Green Plan.

Call it a Green National Energy Program. If you want to end price gouging lets have a made in Canada Energy Plan that includes increased bitumin processing and tertiary refining capacity.

Of course others have solutions too, like importing more dirty gas from the U.S. but that is all refined in Hurricane Alley, and we know what that means. 13 cent price increases in one day.

Petro-Canada said it’s pulling out all the stops to make sure supplies of gasoline keep flowing.

Company officials said on Petro-Canada’s website that it was able to use trucks to ship approximately 200,000 litres of gasoline per day from its Vancouver storage facility last week, but that volume has now more than quadrupled.

That’s been partially accomplished by hiring truckers from Ontario to move more product, Stevens said.

The company is also trying to find rail cars that could be pressed into service to deliver gasoline to destinations in B.C. and Alberta.

The company also is trying to boost its gasoline supplies by looking to its other Canadian refineries and to the United States and overseas, Stevens said.

An industry group that represents independent gasoline retailers is calling for a harmonization of gasoline standards between Canada and the U.S., which would allow for more importation of American products during shortages.

Canadian gasoline has hard caps on sulphur and benzene levels in gasoline, which prevents the importation of the product from the U.S. to ease any shortages, said Dave Collins, a director with the Canadian Independent Petroleum Marketers Association.

"It’s great if you’re a refinery because it blocks competition and helps you keep our prices up," he said in an interview from Halifax.

"But it’s not good for consumers and, at times like this, it’s not good for our operations either because we can’t get any gas," he said.

The federal government’s failure to ease importation restrictions means such shortages will likely happen again, Collins said.

Of course the solution is not unrestricted trade with the U.S. for dirty gas, rather the solution was in hand until the Liberals under Paul Martin sold off the last of Canadians taxpayers shareholdings in Petrocan.There is a solution to price gouging, that is worker and community control of the refineries.


SEE:

It's Time to Take Back Our Oil and Gas

NDP And Workers Control

Nationalize the Oil Industry

The Myth of the NEP

Aren't you sorry you sold your shares

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
royalties, oil, profits,
Bill Hunter, Alberta Royalty Review,
Alberta Cabinet, CAPP, Ed Stelmach,
Big Oil,oil royalties, PC, Calgary, Party of Calgary, politics, NEP, Conservatives, Fort McMurray, One Party State,
Parkland Insititute, Encana, Nationalize, Nationalization, Workers Control, public ownership, Petro Canada, Anarchism, NEP, Self-Management

Albertans Want Oil Sands Moratorium

It's not just folks out east who want a moratorium on oil sands development, Albertans do to. Jack was right.

While 56 per cent of respondents are worried about the impact of oilsands development on the environment, more than seven in 10 said they're worried about the health impacts.

A slim majority of Albertans (51 per cent) don't want the federal government to intervene to protect the environment affected by the oilsands, fitting with many Albertans' long-standing dislike of having outsiders interfere with what is seen as a domestic affair. But 42 per cent want Ottawa to become involved.

A sizable majority of Albertans (63 per cent) do not agree the Alberta government is adequately protecting the air, land and water affected by oilsands developments. Only 29 per cent of Albertans say they think the government is doing a good enough job.

One in five say the provincial government is doing enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while nearly six in 10 say they are not. Twenty per cent of respondents say they don't know. The federal government receives a similarly poor review.

Seven in 10 young people between the ages of 18 and 34 say the province and Ottawa are not doing enough.

The poll found 88 per cent of respondents think the oilsands are important to Alberta's economic development.

And we are still waiting to get our fair share of royalties to pay for all the environmental and health impacts of the tarsands.



Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
royalties, PMO, big oil,
tarsands,oil royalties,politics, Fort McMurray, Conservatives, homelessness, Stephen Harper,
$100 oil, Alberta, tarsands, oilsands, Canada, peak oil, royalties, oil, profits, Province, Jack Layton, Alberta Royalty Review,
Alberta Cabinet, CAPP, Ed Stelmach,
Big Oil,oil royalties,

Perks

One of the perks of being a one party state is that you can give yourself pay raises without fear of opposition in the legislature.

EDMONTON — One of the wealthiest provinces in Canada has dramatically boosted the pay packets of its premier and cabinet ministers.

The Alberta government has approved a pay hike, which will see each of the province's 23 cabinet ministers get a pay hike worth about $42,000, bringing their annual compensation to around $184,000 per year.

Premier Ed Stelmach will become among the nation's best paid premiers after approval of a 34 per cent pay hike.

That brings his total compensation package to over $213,000 per year.

Stelmach is defending the hefty hikes, saying they're needed to help recruit more people into politics.

Scott Hennig, a spokesman for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, is critical of the move, saying it's not fair that the premier and cabinet were able to get such big pay raises without first putting the matter before the legislature. (CTV)

Oh that's rich Scott the legislature is dominated by the PC's. And they very rarely meet. In fact this pay increase goes to the politicians that work the least in Canada since Alberta has the shortest legislative sittings of any government in Canada. And in fact like most things done by the Alberta Government, (tm)(c) of the PC Association of Alberta, this increase was passed by Cabinet fiat.The issue never will come up in the legislature. That would mean it would be subject to public debate.

When Alberta’s freshly re-elected premier Ed Stelmach decided to hand his caucus a massive pay increase this week, he avoided such complications: there was no panel, no polling. Just a quiet notice buried in the daily compendium of passed Orders in Council, of something called the “MLA Remuneration Order.” In actuality, it was an eye-popping 30% pay raise for cabinet ministers, who now will make $184,000 a year, instead of $142,000 — more than federal MPs and most provincial premiers. Premier Stelmach gets an even bigger boost to the paycheque: He’ll now make $213,450 a year, up from $159,450. Mr. Stelmach now makes more than his Ontario counterpart, Dalton McGuinty, who manages a province nearly four times as large, making Alberta’s CEO the highest paid premier in the land (Quebec’s premier makes $194,900 and everywhere else the rate is $165,000 or lower). Not bad for a government that famously chooses to sit in the legislature for less than five months out of the year. MLAs will also get bonuses for attending committee and cabinet meetings, which had previously been considered part of their full-time job.

Ok folks the Premier has set the rate for collective bargaining increases in Alberta for this year. After all he claims his 34% increase is needed for purposes of attraction and retention, a current problem faced by all employers in the province.

Then Stelmach tried to explain the inexplicable.

"If we are going to attract younger people for government we've got to pay them appropriately," the premier said. "I remain committed," he said without much conviction.

And the Alberta Weekly Average Wage increase was 4.53% as announced by the Government in April. Ed gets a whopping 30% increase over that. Far greater than the incease most Albertans got this year. And a salary increase that is larger than the annual Canadian salary.

Albertans have every right to be furious at Premier Ed Stelmach and his 23 cabinet ministers for topping up their salaries by 30 to 34 per cent.

That's an extra $41,950 to $54,000 a year for work that's always been included in their base salary -- attending meetings for cabinet, Treasury Board and policy committees.

Not a bad promotion, considering the average weekly earnings in Canada last year were just $751, or $39,052 per year.

And certainly larger than any minimum wage increase in Alberta.

In June 2007, government announced minimum wage increases would be adjusted based on the average weekly wage and come into effect April 1. If Alberta's average weekly wage increases from one year to the next, the minimum wage will increase by the same percentage.

And its not like they don't get raises, the Government members get an annual increase based on this same index, so its not like they weren't going to get a raise anyways.

Edmonton Journal

Published: Monday, April 03 2006

Members of the Alberta legislature received pay raises of 5.23 per cent effective Saturday, an increase more than twice the rate of inflation.

That brings their yearly salary to $71,244, up from $67,698 last year.

Salary levels for Alberta MLAs are set every April 1 based on the annual increase in average weekly earnings in the province as calculated by Statistics Canada.

Meanwhile former Tory Energy Minister Greg Melchin gets to become a paid lobbyist to the government that used to employ him. This is the same guy who screwed Albertans out of our fair share of royalties from his pals in Big Oil. This is the ultimate kick back for his doing his masters bidding.

Word of the cabinet pay hike broke the same day we learned former energy minister Greg Melchin was hired on to the board of a Calgary oil company -- just three months after leaving politics.

Turns out Melchin is exempt from the government's six-month cooling-off period because he hadn't been energy minister since 2006. (He's also not bound by the new 12-month cooling-off period because he left politics before April 1.) He was most recently minister of seniors. So, there's no problem with him taking the oil company job, says the province's ethic's commissioner.

Rules are made to be broken or gotten around, or well you see how it works. It's all very transparent and above board. The rules don't apply to clever Tory Cabinet Ministers never have, never will. After all those who write the rules know how to get around them, they wrote them.

The Democratic Deficit continues in Alberta, it is the Alberta Advantage for the Tired Old Tories.


d blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Alberta, Premier, Ed Stelmach,
salary increase,PC, MLA, Conservatives,Greg Michlen, Cabinet Minister, Alberta Weekly Wage, democratic deficit, One Party State,, ,

Navel Gazing Tourism

I flip channels on my satellite TV and find lots of ads promoting folks to visit Ontario, not just on Ontario channels. I see ads promoting tourist to visit Newfoundland and Labrador, again broadcast across Canada. But Alberta, well once again the mentality of the One Party State is reflected in Travel Alberta campaigns.

That is they market not to Canada or the U.S. but within Alberta. Their latest campaign is to tell Albertans to stay home. And to our neighbours east and west of us, to come visit Alberta and when they do stay longer. Of course all these folks are not really visiting Alberta they are coming here for jobs.

Especially now that Alberta and B.C. have created a free trade market in labour; TILMA. And most of our so called tourism is oil business related, not the usual mom pop and the kids coming for a visit rather it is conventions and business related travel

Tourism in Canada is in a crisis and in Alberta it has been for years, due to the short sighted ideology of promoting Alberta to Albertans rather than to Americans or other Canadians.

Statistics Canada reported Tuesday that American visitation was down 14.8 per cent in March 2008 compared with the same month a year ago.

In fact, they hit a record low for the fifth consecutive month.

In March, foreign visitors made 2.3 million trips to the country, which is the lowest since record keeping started in 1972.

Overall visits were down 12.4 per cent in March 2008 compared with March 2007, Statistics Canada reported.

Worse yet Alberta has the highest costs for Skiing of anywhere in North America, go figure. Now that's sure not to help encourage folks to visit here.

Alberta is one of the most expensive places in the world to ski, says a comparison of ski passes from around the world.

Alberta's Ski Big 3 Pass that covers the Sunshine, Lake Louise and Mount Norquay resorts around Banff costs about $485 US for six days of skiing, ranking it second behind Vail, Colorado's peak season six-day pass at $552 US, said the World Lift Ticket Price Report.

And where do Albertan's go on vacation? Why B.C. of course because prices are cheaper.

B.C. remains one of Alberta's top choices for recreation property, says Rudy Nielsen, president of Landcor Data Corp.

Landcor collects statistics on real estate sales in B.C. and found Albertans accounted for 67 per cent of out-of-province "secondary property buyers" in B.C. in 2007, generating nearly $2.2 billion in sales.

"Albertans love B.C. because we have so many recreational uses, with good golf courses, good fishing -- you can still go to the Queen Charlottes and catch a 30-pound salmon, and we have the ski hills," says Nielsen.

"And of course, there's the beauty."

Even during economic downturns, interest from Alberta remains strong in B.C.

"We've had no indication of any slowdown of Albertans buying in B.C.," says Nielsen, who is also president of NIHO Land & Cattle Co.

And no amount of Vacation in Alberta propaganda will change that fact. So when will Tourism Alberta start advertising to non-Albertans? Well considering they haven't done much in the past two decades since the Calgary Olympics, don't hold your breathe. Until they do we will only get visits from the Accidental Tourist.

SEE:

Avalanche

Jasper National Park Centennial

tags
Canada, Alberta, tourism, Jasper, Banff, national parks, tourism, Jasper, Albera

Alberta No Longer Rat Free

Alberta has long prided itself on being rat free. No longer. There are now 73 of the little buggers newly elected as the Tired Old Tory Government. Ed Stelmach of course is King Rat now having even beat King Ralph's election record. . Yep its the year of the rat I should have known this would happen.

When Buddha invited the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac to his New Year party those many years ago, the cunning little rat was the one who took the first seat by his side.

While the tale is told differently in each eastern culture, the rat's manipulative nature is always connected to his ability to be the first animal to arrive at the party and the first to be selected for the Chinese Zodiac.

Thus, this year, 2008, is not only the Year of the Rat, but also the beginning of a new 12-year zodiac cycle.

The Rat (鼠) was welcomed in ancient times as a protector and bringer of material prosperity. It is an animal associated with aggression, wealth, charm, and order, yet also associated with death, war, the occult, pestilence, and atrocities.

Negative Traits Controlling, obstinate, back-stabbing, resentful, manipulative, cruel, vengeful, power-driven, critical,sleepy

Rat people are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized, meticulous, and systematic of the twelve signs. Intelligent and cunning at the same time, rats are highly ambitious and strong-willed people who are keen and unapologetic promoters of their own agendas, which often include money and power. They are energetic and versatile and can usually find their way around obstacles, and adapt to various environments easily. A rat's natural charm and sharp demeanor make it an appealing friend for almost anyone, but rats are usually highly exclusive and selective when choosing friends and so often have only a few very close friends whom they trust.

Ah well I cry in my beer at the NDP victory party which began as a raucous affair only to end as a wake. They lost two seats to the Tories.

Though of course not as bad a loss as the Liberals which never even had a victory party but rather held a subdued gathering planning the upcoming going away party for Leader Kevin Taft.

And the Wildrose Alliance Party, WAP, appropriately got whapped with Leader Paul Hinman losing his seat, the only one the fledgling party had. As I had predicted. Well at least one of my prestidigitations was correct.

The Greens on the other hand, didn't win any seats but gained in popular support especially in central Alberta. Look for them to be the new party of the right to challenge the Tories.

Sigh ah well another four years of Tory democracy in Alberta, now I know how the folks in Russia feel.

With 97 percent of the precincts counted early Monday, Medvedev had more than 70 percent of the vote, according to the Central Election Commission. That percentage nearly matches Putin's tally in 2004 and infuses Medvedev's victory with the numbers to claim a clear mandate for the next four years.

As expected, Medvedev crushed the anemic challenges of three opponents who never had a chance to debate him and were drowned out by a deafening media drumbeat that Medvedev was "Putin's choice" and that his victory would ensure the continuation of the popular president's policies.

Another King Rat in the year of the Rat.





d blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
, media,
Alberta, Premier, Ed Stelmach,
election,PC, Liberals, Conservatives,Brian Mason, Kevin Taft, Alberta election,NDP,Kevin Taft,
Alberta, Alberta Liberals,Alberta Election,

Ed's Facebook Page

Ed Stelmach doesn't have his own Facebook page....but he has a Facebook Fan Club which is formed by folks out in Toronto and Kingston, Ontario..... claiming Northern Alberta loves Ed....

	The Ed Stelmach fan club
Type:	Organizations - Political Organizations
Description:	Because all of northern alberta loves steady Eddie.

Officers

Mathew Molsberry (Royal Military College of Canada)

Royal Military College of Canada '09

Kingston, ON

Director of Northern Alberta Relations

Daniel Muscat-Drago (Toronto, ON)

Director of Ghetto/Centenial relations

Max Riopelle (Royal Military College of Canada)

Director Ed Stelmach(visa ve Alberta)/Eastern Canada Relations

Administration

Stephen Paish (Royal Military College of Canada)

And it has 402 members not all of whom are Ed fans.....

Amber Kay (Simon Fraser) wrote at 3:57pm yesterday NARROW, I would describe narrow minded as selling your souls for a profit, a profit in which Albertans and Canadians don’t see because your wonderful premier won’t charge higher royalties!! Alberta has the lowest oil royalties in the world!! And the oil companies and the government have your balls in a vice because if you speak out to what you are entitled to, they will leave- very democratic of them, to bad your government won’t protect you! And what are you willing to sacrifice, because right now- its everything. Fresh water, air, and the lives of thousands of people- so if a human life is worth less then your job, then wow, what a sad state of affairs our world it is- and I believe we have your friend steady Eddie and the conservatives to thank.

Ivan Abelar wrote at 11:26am yesterday Such a narrow view Amber...Yes its hard on the enviroment but without Alberta's Economy Canada's economy we down the tubes. There are steps that still have to be taken for the good of the province but to much change will push oil companies out and thousands of people out of work and the ripple will be felt in all provinces. Even at simon fraser...

Amber Kay (Simon Fraser) wrote at 6:49pm on February 15th, 2008 OMG- are you people slow!! Ed is a retard, sure he is great if you dont mind a guy who gives away Alberta resources, alows the WORLDS WORST NATURAL DISASTER to occur in your back yard, alow the oil companies to fuck every Albertan in the ass- and they dont even use lube!! So ya go Stelmach- cause ya, if you blind sheep keep voteing,then you will all continue to get screwed!! there is no Alberta advantage- and this group proves it

Oh dear seems like maybe this was not such a good idea...quick someone notify Tyler Shandro to sue these guys...they are doing more harm than good....Ed and the Tired Old Tories are internet challenged this election.

See:

Ed's Ides of March


nd blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Alberta, Premier,
Facebook Ed Stelmach,
election,PC, Ed Stelmach Fan Club, politics, Conservatives,media, politics,

Why Canada Failed Kyoto

The truth about why the Liberals failure to meet their Kyoto commitments,that the Harpocrites deliberately side step, was revealed last night by Jean Chretien when he spoke at the U of A.

He said his Liberal government of the 1990s had done much to pump up the economy Albertans now enjoy, including helping to push ahead development of the oilsands. "If I had done for Quebec what I had done in Alberta in terms of incentives for the tarsands, I would have won all the seats in Quebec," he joked.

Surprise, surprise development trumped the environment and Kyoto was window dressing. State Capitalism is the source of Alberta's oil wealth, unfortunately it is socialism for the rich. Them that's got gets.

H/T to AlbertaTory

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Alberta, tarsands, oilsands, Canada, state capitalism,
Liberals, Jean Chretien,
Big Oil, PC, Calgary, kyoto, state capitalism, Conservatives, Fort McMurray, One Party State,

Careful Of What You Ask For

Some Liberal bloggers in Alberta are wondering why there will only be one leaders debate during the upcoming election.Because this is Alberta and the Legislature only has one 'official' sitting.

They should be careful of what they ask for. The charismatically challenged leaders; Hinman, Taft, and Stelmach will bore viewers into a slumber only to be awakened by the quick wit and sharp retorts of the bus driver who leads the NDP.

And a sleeping voter is safer than an awakened one.





nd blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Alberta, Premier,
Alberta NDP, Brian Mason, Ed Stelmach,
election,PC, Edmonton, politics, Conservatives,media, politics, Kevin Taft,
Alberta, Liberals, Paul Hinman, Taft,

Gee I Said That

Here.

Red Deer Advocate Editorial , Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008

Amazingly, the Conservatives — who have been in power since 1971 — are campaigning under the slogan “Change that works for Albertans.” They are apparently determined to run against their own record, after realizing many Albertans are tired of their arrogance and mistakes.

“I think we can deliver as much change as anyone else,” said George Rogers, Tory MLA for Leduc-Beaumont-Devon, with no hint of joking in his voice. After 37 years in government? That makes absolutely no sense.

Do the Tories think voters are stupid enough to consider them the party of change?

Apparently they are underestimating the intelligence of Albertans. Comes from Tired Old Tories talking to themselves in caucus.

H/T Cowboys For Social Responsibility

nd blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Alberta, Premier,
Alberta NDP, Brian Mason, Ed Stelmach,
election,PC, Edmonton, politics, Conservatives,media, politics, Edmonton Journal,
Alberta, Liberals, MLA, Taft,

Ed's Ides of March

The best not kept secret in Alberta was finally blurted out last Friday, while farmer Ed was glad handing and announcing another pre-budget billion dollar give away, one of his MLA's gleefully announced to the media that the provincial election would be March 3rd. And sure enough right after the throne speech on Monday, Ed announced his own Ides of March, the election is now on and will be Monday March, 3.

Stelmach has something no other political premier can match for wooing voters - lots of money. Before the writ was even dropped, the Tories pledged $6 billion a year over the next 20 years on capital projects, including municipal infrastructure, schools, highways, housing and health facilities. And there's plenty more where that came from. Just watch the promises over the next three weeks leading up to the March 3 vote.

Yes I know the Ides of March are technically March 15 but heck what's twelve days for the man who would be Harry Strom. After all as Wikipedia informs us; The term has come to be used as a metaphor for impending doom.

Picking up from the Presidential primaries south of us the clever lads in charge of Ed's messaging have made this their slogan; “Change that works for Albertans.”

How about Change the government that has not worked for Alberta. Or Change that hardly works for Albertans. Or maybe "We didn't have a plan then, we don't have one now." The irony is that it is still the same old Tired Tories who are in charge. Just because they changed their leader doesn't mean they have changed.

Ironically Ed's election announcement got swamped in the news by the real election; the one south of us, as the press covered Super Tuesday primaries for U.S. President. And Ed sounds a lot like Republican loser Mitt Romney who claims Washington is broken, but forgets to mention its because the Republicans held the White House, Congress and the Senate till 2006.

Imagine a government running to change itself. Well after all it needs to do something because it has done little since 1993 but maintain the course. In fact most of the changes Ed promises are changes that Ralph refused to make. Like his musing that if elected he would eliminate health care premiums, something both the NDP and Liberals have campaigned on since 1993. Like his delayed Royalty implementation plan Ed will eliminate them four years after the election, just in time for the next one.

That's like his royalty increases which will be negotiated and not come into effect until 2009, or perhaps 2010 or even 2011 in some cases.

Alberta’s New Democrats want the province to consider adopting Alaska’s energy royalty rates, which are 60% higher than the new royalties put in place by Premier Ed Stelmach.

NDP Leader Brian Mason took an election campaign shot at the Tory premier today as he described how adopting Alaska’s system would add $4 billion a year to Alberta’s royalties.

Mason says Stelmach’s plan to increase royalties by only 20% next year amounts to “giving their political donors in the oilpatch a $4 billion gift.”

He also says Stelmach’s review panel was never given key documents, so a new panel should be given all the information and 90 days to reconsider royalties.

The NDP says these documents showed that the Tory government had ignored years of internal advice that Alberta’s royalties could be increased by at least $1 billion a year.

And while Ed barely gets Albertans any real money for our oil he allows Big Oil to continue to pollute and destroy the environment with his so called green plan.

Greenhouse gas levels will climb for 12 years

His next election promise was to increase the number of doctors in the province, despite the closure of hospital beds in Edmonton because of the lack of doctors and nurses, thanks to Ralph's cuts way back a decade ago.

In recent months, people with broken bones have waited longer for care because of a shortage of nurses for recovery beds. The Royal Alexandra Hospital closes two or three operating rooms a day.

In the past week, about 40 elective surgeries over two days were cancelled due to staff shortages.

Now, the region has stopped trying to reopen 33 acute-care beds that have been closed since summer.

"We're officially giving up," Buick said. "We have to retrench sometime. We're just grinding so hard all across the system.

"The pressure is carrying on, and with flu season just beginning to come up now, we're realizing we cannot go on as business-as-usual" for the last three months of the fiscal year, which ends March 31.

The public notice comes as Alberta health regions are speaking openly about projected budget deficits. Massive staff overtime costs, an unexpected hike in nurses' pay plus a huge recruitment program for foreign nurses could leave Capital Health $20 million to $30 million over budget by spring, said Sheila Weatherill, the region's president and CEO.

Still, that pales compared to the outlook in the Calgary health region, which projects an $85-million deficit.

Health Minister Dave Hancock refused this week to consider bailing out Edmonton, Calgary and five other health regions facing deficits that could total more than $100 million.

His pronouncement immediately drew flack from the Big Doc in charge;

But according to Dr. Trevor Theman, registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, that is likely not possible: although the need is there, it would require a near-doubling of current training spending from the province and involve recruiting dozens of more people to train them - with staff to train physicians already an issue for the existing 250 spots.

"Edmonton and Calgary are already maxed out in their ability to train, and even if there were more money, it's an issue of human resources," said Theman. "You need trainers available and you need people who have clinical experience to handle that training."

In fact, the only way to achieve the province's doctor target, said Theman, would be by relying chiefly on recruitment of overseas physicians, which is already the province's principal new source of doctors.

Yep like the oil sands the Tories solution to labour shortages are more temporary workers!!!

And again an election promise is made that could have been resolved in the past year of Ed's tenure as premier.

But unlike Ralph who kicked off the last election kicking the disabled and the poor Ed has embraced them.

CALGARY - Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has announced a plan to allow severely disabled people to earn more money without losing their provincial income benefits.

Campaigning in Calgary today, the Progressive Conservative leader said his proposal would allow disabled people to earn an additional $500 per month without affecting their living allowance under the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program.

Stelmach says helping AISH recipients go to work gives them a higher sense of esteem.

He says 36,000 Albertans who receive AISH benefits would be eligible under the program.

Singles would be able to earn up to $1,500 a month while single parents or couples could take home $2,500 and only lose half of their allowance.

But like any of his musings and announcements in the past year since his election as party leader he could have done this without calling an election. It's just another shallow promise. And a cheap one at that, if he really was concerned he would have also adjusted AISH payments, which are also federal funds, to rise with the Cost of Living, an allowance all MLA's get.

The Liberals with their mediocre charismatically challenged policy wonk leader Kevin Taft are campaigning with the message; It's Time. Time for what? The slogan aeon's ago was It's Time For A Change, that was when Lawrence Decore was leader, and it really never changed till now. Now they have truncated it. It's Time ...and you immediately want to add in; for a new leader.

Despite polling numbers that show massive dissatisfaction with the PC's under Stelmach, support for the Liberals is not there. Rather this election will be about winning over the mass of undecided voters.

Polls have suggested the Tories still have a comfortable lead but that as many as one voter in three hasn't decided or won't say who they will vote for.

Undecided voters have proven to be poison for the Tories. In the 2004 election, they lost ground in Edmonton and Calgary after an estimated 200,000 disillusioned party supporters stayed home on voting day.

Tory hold on Alberta apt to fade

Some of the elements that contributed to the perfect storms that reshaped the Ontario and Quebec scenes in the past are in place as Alberta heads to the polls, including an uncertain premier, Ed Stelmach, and an unfocused malaise with the direction of the province.

That combination alone would be enough to make next month's vote the provincial story to watch this year. But there are more fundamental reasons than a rare and still elusive Alberta horse race to keep this campaign on the national radar for its duration.

The fabric of Alberta is changing. Its population has been growing at twice the rate of the national average. Even the language barrier has not prevented the siren calls of a booming economy from resonating beyond its provincial borders. The latest census figures on Canada's linguistic makeup showed Alberta to be one of only two provinces outside Quebec where the francophone population has been increasing.

Many of the new Albertans bring a more activist outlook on the role of the government. Their initial experience with an overextended social infrastructure and a degrading environment is unlikely to convert them to a different vision. Over time, they will transform the political culture of the province.

And just to show how out of touch the Liberals are; Taft also predicted no chance of an NDP breakthrough, suggesting they could even lose existing seats.


He wishes that was true. But Brian Mason and the NDP have been electioneering since last fall, and the party was raring to go with candidates nominated in both Edmonton and Calgary.

Of course Taft's prediction may be predicated upon reading the Liberals own press; the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald, that will try their best to make this appear to be a race between the Tories and the Liberals, no one else need apply.

Tories, Liberals address social issues Edmonton Journal

For the Liberals this election is make it or break it, without a victory it will be time to show Taft the door. And so far his campaign is not getting off to a great start.

A homeless couple asked hard, frustrated questions of their own to Liberal Leader Kevin Taft this morning as he laid out his party's strategy to end the plight of thousands of other Albertans without a home.

Taft reannounced a Liberal plan that his deputy leader Dave Taylor released a month ago - temporarily cap rent increases until new housing units get built, hire a provincial housing director to coordinate various cities' 10-year homelessness plans, and boost outreach services.

The mid-morning campaign event drew the attention of Diane and Les McIntyre, two newspaper distribution workers who've lived in a nearby shelter on and off for the last five years because of addiction problems.

As reporters fired questions towards Taft's lectern, Diane McIntyre yelled her own from the sidelines.

"The high rent, we can't afford it. so it doesn't give you incentive to get off the street. because you can't afford to get off the street."

"Like, we need to know, like, where are they going to put (the housing?) There's a lot of questions because nobody wants to put affordable housing anywhere, because it's all drug and alcohol... there's no incentive. There's no incentive."

Taylor responded that the only answer it to create more affordable housing, spread throughout the city. He couldn't say how much the Liberal approach would cost.

For the NDP this election is about making gains in Edmonton and breaking into Calgary.

The right wing rump party the Wildrose Alliance will take right wing votes away from Ed, leaving both the NDP and Liberals able to move up the middle, when disenchanted PC voters stay home in droves.

And when it comes to internet savvy the NDP out does the Liberals and PC's, again.

It's a political faceoff on Facebook, and so far the NDP's Brian Mason is in the lead.

Not that anyone expects the NDP to be there come election time in a month. But Mason had signed up 730 friends on the social networking site, to about 620 for Kevin Taft of the Alberta Liberals at press time yesterday.

UNSPOKEN-FRIEND RACE

"Everyone's been monitoring it - it's kind of an unspoken-friend race between the two opposition leaders," said NDP spokesman Mark Wells, who said his party plans to hit web outlets with a ton of material during the campaign. He also noted both opposition leaders have been blogging through their sites as well.

The Liberals are confident they've got a solid web presence, said executive director Kieran LeBlanc.

"Kevin's been on Facebook for over a year and he gets quite a few hits - we've been using it to announce events and generally get the message out, and it works pretty well."

The Liberals, whose site was voted by local press as the most useful during the last election campaign, also use mail servers, intranet for candidate conversations and are regularly updating event videos on YouTube, she noted.

The Alberta Progressive Conservatives said web use is part of their strategy and they "won't reveal our strategy before the election has started," said spokesman Joan Forge. "We'll be using that...oh, what's the term - I'm not very technical ..."

Social networking?

"Yes, that's it."

And it doesn't appear as if Premier Ed Stelmach will be joining the unofficial race for friends any time soon, either.

NO PAGE FOR PREMIER

For one, he doesn't have a Facebook page. For another, the number of pages opposed to the premier on Facebook outnumber those supporting him by about 10 to one.

Nope no Facebook page for Ed, and he still hasn't sued over edstelmach.com.

And besides neither Ed nor Kevin can make this claim;

Brian Mason used to be a bus driver, so he knows what it means to get up at 4 am for the early shift and work on Christmas Eve. How many other political leaders can say that?

ind blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Alberta, Premier,
Alberta NDP, Brian Mason, Ed Stelmach,
election,PC, Edmonton, politics, Conservatives,media, politics, Edmonton Journal,
Alberta, Liberals, MLA, Taft,