Alberta Business Back PC Candidates

Two interesting Edmonton Journal articles on which Alberta companies back PC leadership candidates. Dinning of course has the backing of the majority of big corporations in the province. But Mark Norris, had the backing of his bosses and their corporation, The Edmoton Oilers.

One of the articles is by the Journals Business reporter the other by the Journals Sports reporter. Not the usual political reporting. But then again in Alberta politics is both, big business and a professional sport.

No secret who backs Dinning business

As detailed in a 2005 Journal profile, Dinning's corporate ties are far broader than those of any other candidate.

Besides a lengthy stint as a senior exec at TransAlta, the widely perceived front-runner served on the boards of Shaw Communications, Finning International, Parkland Income Fund and Western Financial, among many others.

What's more, as chairman of the Canadian Clean Power Coalition, Dinning rubbed elbows with the brass at Atco, Epcor, Luscar and TransAlta.

His backers include such powerful execs as Finning CEO Doug Whitehead, Shaw founder J.R. Shaw, TransAlta boss Steve Snyder, PCL boss Ross Grieve, Stantec CEO Tony Franceschini, and Parkland founder Jack Donald.

Not only did The Globe and Mail -- the preferred daily read of the nation's corporate elite -- endorse Dinning in a recent editorial, its Calgary-based business columnist, Deborah Yedlin, also gave the ex-Alberta treasurer two thumbs up.

While Edmonton's Mark Norris, Alberta's former economic development minister, also boasts some key corporate backers -- including Calgary tycoon Murray Edwards -- the buzz on the street indicates that most of the big-money crowd backs Dinning.

In fact, only one company -- Agrium -- offered any specifics, noting that its chairman, longtime Dinning acquaintance Frank Proto, has contributed $250 to the candidate's campaign.

Two firms -- Telus and EnCana -- said they coughed up $5,000 apiece for each of the eight candidates. Meanwhile, 14 other firms, including Imperial Oil, Agrium, Epcor, Syncrude and ATB Financial, said their own in-house policies forbid any financial contributions to individual politicians.

Only three firms -- WestJet, Agrium and PCL -- specifically confirmed who their CEOs are personally supporting (Dinning, in each case). But it's well-known that other senior execs whose firms were polled are also in the Dinning camp.

Mark Norris and the Edmonton Oilers

The chair of the Oilers ownership group, Cal Nichols, was also the driving force behind GLG Consulting Ltd. Formed in Dec., 2004, it was a unique corporate mechanism that essentially morphed into the financial backing and campaign team for Mark Norris, who went down in flames as a first ballot also-ran Saturday. GLG employed Norris, a former MLA who lost his seat in the 2004 election, as its president at $10,000 per month until last May when he resigned. GLG's 130-odd shareholders included Nichols and at least nine other members of the Oilers ownership group, as well as Edmonton Rush lacrosse team owners Craig Anstead and Bruce Urban.

On Saturday, Nichols had a team of about 20 people manning the phones at his west-end Gasland offices, urging people to brave the chill and vote for Norris. But he was a distant sixth, well behind Calgarians Jim Dinning and Ted Morton and Edmonton-area MLA Ed Stelmach, who will duke it out on a second ballot next weekend.

So the line between Norris and Oilers owners like Nichols, Ron Hodgson, Gary Gregg and Ed Bean is indeed a straight one.

And if a sports fan wants to discern the value of friends in high places, he need only ask the Eskimos, who have always enjoyed a cozy relationship with the Conservative party, owing to the fact former premiers Peter Lougheed and Don Getty are Eskimo alumni. So too is current lieutenant-governor Norman Kwong.

Do you think it's a coincidence that Eskimos CEO Rick LeLacheur mused aloud about new seats for Commonwealth Stadium mere weeks before the provincial government announced a commitment of $9.5 million to do the job? Me neither. The Eskimos are connected the way the Oilers can only dream about.

But in their quest to increase Edmonton's political voice in the provincial arena, Nichols and the rest of GLG's shareholders simply backed the wrong horse.

Yep I said that too.

See:

Conservative Leadership Race

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Ralph's Ghost Haunts Alberta

Calgary Blogger Rusty Idols points out;

in any other province the sheer overwhelming profusion of one huge scandal after another would be government killers.

But in One Party State Alberta those in power as King Ralph's henchmen simply give the Nuremberg Defense for their high crimes and misdemeanors. We were just following orders. Along with the other pathetic excuses. Gosh shucks we didn't know. Not our Fault. Don't look back, lets move forward. It's all Ralph's fault.

Like the proverbial three monkeys they saw no evil, heard no evil, and spoke no evil.

The Department of Energy
Royalty Review Scandal.

Murray Smith, the former Energy Minister, went to Washington as a Tory Shill for Big Oil interests. Now he has retired in with a pile of patronage payola, to be replaced by Gary Mar, another former cabinet minister at the trough. And the past Minister Greg Melchin was demoted to Seniors. While the current Minister Mel Knight denies all knowledge of the cover up despite the fact he sat in the inner sanctum of Ralph's world.

Alberta’s auditor general suggested Monday that the province has been the woolly-headed chump of the global oilpatch for years by willingly allowing billions of dollars in royalties to slip through its fingers due to political inaction.

“The royalty resources belong to Albertans,” Fred Dunn told reporters as he released his annual report.

He said Alberta is among the lowest jurisdictions for royalties and has stood still while others moved ahead to charge more as prices in the industry rose.

“Why is Alberta selling it low? What is the support for Alberta to receive less for a similar commodity than other jurisdictions?” he asked.

“There’s good evidence going back to 2004 that the royalty regime was very low. What was needed, really, was just leadership.”

Dunn said that as far back as three years ago, researchers in Alberta’s Energy Department stated that the province’s share of royalties from its giant petroleum industry had fallen below its target range. They also said the government could easily collect an additional $1 billion or more per year without stifling industry profitability.

It even got to the point, said Dunn, that a specific request urging a decision moved up the department chain to then-energy minister Greg Melchin.

Dunn said Melchin, now minister in charge of seniors, told his investigators he decided to not go forward because more study was needed.

“It was paralysis by analysis.”

Overall, Dunn paints a damning picture of the energy department under former Minister Greg Melchin. He says it did not fully meet a single one of the audit's criteria. In particular, the ministry need to do a better job publicly explaining and justifying its work.

As early as 2000, Energy Department staffers were telling senior management that they weren't collecting their appropriate share. Dunn placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of senior management, including assistant deputy ministers, deputy minister and ultimately, Melchin.

Melchin defended his record as minister.

"I'm very proud of the work that we've done and in fact how successful our model has been. On balance I stand behind the decisions made at that time."

While Melchin was energy minister, his department publicly released almost no information about the royalty review and the outcomes. Much of the public information currently available comes from a Journal freedom of information request, which has big portions blacked out or excluded entirely.

That’s despite both Melchin and Klein saying publicly that the government’s studies showed Alberta was getting “a very generous” return, as Klein claimed on June 12, 2006.

"We get enough," said Klein about royalties before welcoming delegates to the Global Petroleum Show in Calgary.

Melchin said today he stands by his decisions, despite the majority of experts having claimed both at the time and presently that Albertans were being shortchanged.

“I was in receipt of that information. I was also in receipt of many other documents, and you have to make sure you look at all of the information available,” he said.

“I think when you realize that you’ve got something that’s going well, one can always look at the model and extrapolate a number. But we also have to look at what made us successful and you don’t lightly change those things.

“I stand by that as the best judgement at the time for Albertans.”

Dunn's audit set out to answer three questions about the province's royalty review systems: Do they exist? Are they well-designed? Do they operate as they should?

His findings paint a damning picture of the Energy Department under former energy ministers Greg Melchin and Murray Smith.

Current Energy Minister Mel Knight said Dunn's report actually reflects well on his ministry. He rejected the idea that his senior staff were negligent in failing to act on the department's internal recommendations. Knight also claimed Dunn, who is employed by the legislature, was airing personal grievances when he criticized the deputy minister.

"It absolutely was a personal attack and I really feel that it wasn't necessary," Knight said.

Evan Chrapko, a member of the government-appointed royalty review panel, said the auditor general's report reaffirms the conclusion that royalty rates need to be increased.

"It's an interesting coincidence that independent reviews conducted with different mandates reached the exact same conclusion given the same set of facts."

Chrapko noted, as Dunn's report concludes, that the government has known for several years that it hasn't received its fair share. All that was needed to rebalance the royalties to the proper level was the signature of Melchin or Smith.

Energy Minister Mel Knight has refused to review any actions taken by the department prior to his appointment earlier this year, despite a scathing report delivered yesterday that identifies "critical issues" by failing to collect billions in past oil royalties.

"We work from today forward. I can’t look back," he told reporters yesterday. "It wasn’t my responsibility at that point."

Would Be Premier Treated Government Credit Card
as Personal Expense Account

And Energy is not the only department Dunn found problems with. Another would be Ralph from last years leadership race; Edmontonian Mark Norris, a single term MLA and Cabinet Minister had his head handed to him by the Auditor General. Rumours abounded about his free spending ways during the Leadership race, and Norris whined about a smear campaign. However as we find out now, the rumours were true.

And while it pales in comparison to billions not collected, it still shows the Tired Old Tories have overspent their welcome. When they view the government and tax payers money as their personal piggy bank.

Norris top aide used gov't credit card to party in Vegas

Nobody in government bothered to crack down on the misuse as the top aide to former cabinet minister Mark Norris racked up more than $35,000 in personal debt on his government credit card, Auditor General Fred Dunn said Monday.

Norris himself was also inappropriately charging items on his government-issued card, Dunn found. Together, he and his executive assistant, Sasha Angus, rang up more than $47,700 in personal charges between 2003 and 2004.

Angus's expenses included a bachelor party in Las Vegas, CBC-TV reported earlier this year.

Norris was economic development minister from 2001 to 2004, before being voted out of office. His aide repaid the $30,000 he still owed government in November 2004, after the provincial election left Norris and Angus jobless.

Angus told auditors that he was never trained to properly use government credit cards, the report says. Dunn didn't buy the excuse.

"People knew what they're to be used for," he said. "They're supposed to be used for government purposes."

Norris was supposed to approve Angus's credit card statements monthly. "Mr. Norris told us that when he received credit card statements and supporting receipts for review and approval, he often approved them without a thorough review," the report says.

Norris claims that Angus paid his credit card expenses;

Norris, who mounted an failed bid to become Conservative leader and premier last year, told The Canadian Press it was "an unfortunate situation" that the credit card given to Angus "got used in that fashion," but he noted that taxpayers weren't affected because Angus repaid it.

Funny though that's not what the Auditor General says.

He rapped Norris's department, in particular. "It's not a good use of the government's senior resources, chasing down assistants for invoices," he said, adding Economic Development was "by far and away the worst."

Of Norris's $45,776.23 total spent on the card between 2002 and 2004, fully $9,466 was spent on "self-disclosed personal expenses". Another $10,500 went towards alleged government expenses with no supporting documentation.

Angus spent $143,426 on his card in the same period. More than half of that did not include supporting documentation, including some $38,291 in personal spending. The government eventually garnisheed his $80,000 annual salary to address repayment.

"The approval process for paying Mr. Angus's card included a review and approval by the minister," said Dunn. "Mr. Norris told us that when he received credit card statements and supporting receipts for review and approval, he often approved them without a thorough review."

And although Norris paid off his charges monthly, his assistant racked up tens of thousands of dollars in debts, including one period in 2004 when his bill reached nearly $30,000 and languished unpaid for months, costing Albertans thousands in interest that was never repaid.

Unfortunately they were not alone in abusing government credit cards. Just the guys with the most expensive tastes. After all this is a government that believes it is entitled to it's entitlements. Sounds familiar, heck some even bought golf balls.

By comparison, Dunn's office reviewed 1,300 recent credit-card transactions in other ministries between 2003 and 2006, and found only 14 of them were for personal use, worth a total of $7,100.

But the audit found also found shoddy paperwork throughout government. If found 383 transactions worth $36,346 that were identified as "gifts." Officials usually gave in receipts, but rarely disclosed who received the gifts and why, the report says.

The auditor eventually reviewed 80 government credit cards and found thousands in expenses that were simply identified as "gifts."

Some spent their money on fridge magnets or golf balls featuring their constituency address. Another bought 160 legislature watches as gifts for overachieving school kids.

In four cases, MLAs used the gift budget to supplement constituency assistants’ salaries to the tune of nearly $20,000.

But in many cases there was “little to no indication” of who received a gift or how the public would benefit.

While the previous stories made news, there are other departments that came under criticism from the Auditor General. And they did not make the news yet. One of those was the Department of Agriculture, a vote gathering slush fund.

The Ministry received $531 million in revenue in 2006–2007.

In 2006–2007, the Ministry spent $1.068 billion.

Its largest expenditures are:
Farm income support $ 573
Insurance $216
Environment and food safety $63
Infrastructure assistance $51
Industry development $46
Rural services $37
Farm fuel distribution allowance $32

The Review of the Department of Agriculture found a bigger boondoggle than just a loosey goosey farm fuel give away program. In fact the departments loans and support payments to farmers has a high failure rate. The department is a net loss, it spends more than it takes in. And fails to assess risk on farm loans it makes. And once again it is a question of failure of any oversight being taken. It in fact lost over $30 million in bad loans. And it could not account for how that happened.

The Agriculture Financial Services Corporation

The Corporation recorded an SLLA of $12.1 million and a GLLA of
$18.5 million at March 31, 2007.

The loan loss allowance is an estimate of the losses that exist in the loan portfolio at a specific time. The loan loss allowance has two parts—the specific
loan loss allowance (SLLA) and the general loan loss allowance (GLLA). The
Corporation records an SLLA for loans it identifies as impaired and a GLLA for
loans at risk of loss, but not specifically impaired.

However, the Corporation’s processes do not ensure that credit risk indicators and security values are updated regularly for all loans.

Account managers update the indicators annually for
commercial loans, through the annual commercial account review. However,
they do not update these indicators for farm loans annually—instead, they
update these loans only if a customer requests additional funds or a loan is
amended.

We found that 47% of the Corporation’s loan customers did not have the credit
risk indicators in the lending system. For 54% of the Corporation’s loan
customers, the Corporation had not updated the security values in the lending
system in more than two years.

Other recommendations, the Government can accurately budget but doesn't

Government’s revenue forecasting systems (Vol. 1, p. 142)—government has adequate systems for preparing revenue budgets and forecasts. The government’s actual revenues have exceeded budgets by an average of $5 billion in the last 4 years;

Your privacy is not protected. In fact the computer you are using to read this on is probably more secure than the ones used by the government and its departments. Let alone all those scandals around the loss of private information via contracted out registry services.

• Service Alberta may not be providing the right services, and the governments and Albertans’ confidential information may not be secure.

Yep Rusty Idols was right any other province and just one of these scandals would bring down the government. But in Alberta the Tired Old Tories simply arch an eyebrow and go back to being asleep at the wheel.


Read the report here.


SEE

Socialist Alberta

Alberta KGB

Transparency Alberta Style

Stelmach the Perfect Strom

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The Biggest Losers

In the race to be the guy to replace Ralph. Lyle Oberg and Mark Norris.


FINAL RESULTS (courtesy The Invisble Hand)
11:45pm:
Dinning 29,470 (30.2%)
Morton 25,614 (26.2%)
Stelmach 14,967 (15.3%)
Oberg 11,638 (11.9%)
Hancock 7,595 (7.8%)
Norris 6,789 (6.9%)
Doerksen 873 (0.9%)
McPherson 744 (0.8%)
Total: 97,690



Lyle Oberg ran the race with all the self assured bravado of being in second place. That bravedo and confidence was a case of believing his own press.Unfortunately through out this campaign Oberg created nothing but bad press and on Saturday night the reality of that came through loud and clear.

As I write this, Lyle Oberg has finished fourth, and is off the final ballot. He was ashen, looking like a 10-year-old who has just discovered his bike was stolen. Edmonton Journal Legislature Reporter Graham Thompson

And all those PC memberships that the Building Trades bought for their membership to support Oberg added to his self delusion. And in the end made little difference as I predicted.

Mark Norris had lost his seat last provincial election not a great place to run from, especially when he had been a cabinet minister. And despite rallying the Edmonton Conservative business community, with constant propagandizing from his biggest cheerleader the Edmonton Sun, he actually came in behind the only Red Tory in the race, his fellow Edmontonian David Hancock. Like Oberg he believed his own press.

That makes Oberg and Norris the biggest losers.

While Stelmach came in third his numbers are so low he is neither a king maker nor a spoiler. He is however a rich widow that the two princes left in this race will come courting.Edmonton Journal Legislature Reporter Graham Thompson agrees with my initial assessment of Stelmach.

Some of the biggest cheers of the night came from Ed Stelmach's supporters, who were overjoyed their guy finished third and is on the second ballot. But third place is the booby prize. It's hard to imagine Stelmach bouncing back when he's so far behind.

But as usual with the Tories, some continue to live in their own fantasy worlds. Like Oberg and Norris did. Stelmach thinks he stands a chance on the third ballot, despite it obviously being a two way race between two conflicting ideologies in the party.Stelmach not quitting

Stelmach is no Third Way. And he should bow out gracefully.And for the good of the party endorse Dinning. Though frankly I have never been one to give one hoot for the good of the Party of Calgary. But that is the realpolitick that faces Stelmach and the other losers.

With a Morton win the old Reform party will consoldiate its rule in Edmonton and Ottawa. And woe to the party and Canada. If that happens, until the next provincial election, the other big losers will be you and I.

Morton's strong second-place showing could be seen as surprising for a rookie MLA who's never held a cabinet post and was only elected in 2004.However, the former senator-in-waiting has been thumping the war drums against the federal government for years on several fronts, and had deep roots to the former Reform and Canadian Alliance parties.He's also backed by many Alberta Tory MPs and has been using his network of supporters to build a political machine many analysts believe is only surpassed in size by Dinning's.

Though I personally believe it would be the best thing. A Morton led PC Party will be fractious and split, interncine power struggles between the progressives and the social conservatives will ensue. Causing Progressive Conservatives, liberals, centerists and Red Tories to abandon the party for the Alberta Liberals, their natural home. And with Taft purging the party of one if its most Red Liberals the outspoken trade unionist, Dan Black, he is preparing a home for them.

Peter Lougheed created the PC's as a popular front party of Liberals, Progressive Conservatives and the old Socreds. The later have morphed over the years into seperatists like the old Western Canada Concept, Republicans, Federal Reformers, social conservatives and fundamentalists. With Morton in charge it would be the final death of the last lingerings of the Lougheed era political party. Which is why he endorsed Dinning.

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Conservative Leadership Race

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It's Not An Election

The Tories are tryng to pretend their provincial leadership race is an election. It ain't.

The biggest challenge facing the next premier will be rekindling interest in the Tory party, says a political expert who expects voter turnout to fall well below projections.

"The number of voters will be a lot fewer than candidates estimated back in September," Steve Patten, a University of Alberta political scientist, told the Sun yesterday.

Three months ago, the camps of top Tory leadership candidates Lyle Oberg, Mark Norris, Jim Dinning and Ted Morton all expected to sell upwards of 100,000 party memberships.

"Add up all their claims and we're talking in the neighbourhood of 500,000 memberships sold to people who would be expected to vote for the next premier," Patten said.

"Nothing close to that kind of number has materialized."

Patten said he's interested to see how close voter turnout will be to the 78,000 who cast ballots in 1992, when Ralph Klein won the premiership on a second ballot.

Since 1992 our population has grown to be 3.5 million. And it is still growing.

Edmonton is expected to gain 83,000 residents by 2011

Although many former Saskatchewan residents return home for a visit, there are still far too many heading for black gold in Alberta."Pretty much everyone is moving to Alberta these days," said Fritsche, who thinks Saskatchewan should try and capitalize on the growing population that lies right next door.

So when Klein was elected leader 78,000 PC members voted. Even though more memberships than that were sold.

Today we know that the membership sales will not be reflected in those who vote. For instance business and unions have bought up memerships to hand out to get out the vote for their candidates. The Building Trades unions are supporting Oberg, despite his right wing views, because he is promising them jobs with his position on increasing funding for infrastructure.

The Edmonton Business community has gone all out in buying memberships in bulk to hand out to their employees and friends to support Mark Norris. Its a campaign to get an Edmontonian elected leader. They have abandoned Hancock the other Edmontonian because he is a Red Tory, and Norris has pull because of his political family connections.

So less than .o5% of the population will make the decision on who will lead the party and thus elect the leader of the One Party State in Alberta.

When Klein ran it was against Red Tory Nancy Betkowski. A second ballot was needed because he lost to her by one vote. He had sold more memberships than her but his supporters did not come out on the first ballot. This is the fear the Dinning folks have.

That vote was then spilt between the Calgarian For Leader and the Edmontonian for Leader factions. The Red Tories lined up behind Betkowski, the social conservatives behind Klein for the second ballot.Still in the final tally more memberships were sold than came out to vote.

In this race the front runners are Dinning and Oberg.

But the race is split this way;

Dinning represents the Calgary Establishment, a centerist candidate, a liberal fiscally and politically as was Lougheed who supports him.

Norris represents the fiscal conservatives, social liberals, business establishment of Edmonton. Its the anti-Calgary Tories he represents.

Hancock is a Red Tory to the left of the other candidates. His support is really limited to Edmonton to those not supporting Norris. Whom he throws his support behind on a second ballot will be important.

Oberg, Morton, and Doerkson split the social conservative vote between them.

Oberg relies upon the rural anti-urban anti-Calgary voters, based in Southern and Central Alberta. He also has the support of the traditional Liberal Building Trades unions. Though how many of their members will vote is questionable. As it is boom time and the tradesmen are busy working, working, working. Lots of OT versus taking time to vote.

Morton has organized the grass roots social conservative base, and is getting support from Manning, Harper, Day, Kenney, etc. So he poses a second ballot threat to Oberg. Failing that he and Doerkson could combine to push Oberg past Dinning on the second ballot.

Doerkson is a spoiler, taking votes away from Oberg, but a late comer so his campaign is really about anybody but Lyle. His supporters will go to Morton.

Ed Stelmach, farmer, rural vote, fiscal conservative, in this race a centerist compared to the social conservative gang above. His chances are zip, nada.
Though on the second ballot who he throws his support behind could be telling.

Advance polls opened yesterday. The vote is this weekend. Place your wagers.

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Conservative Leadership Race

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The Stalin Circle in Alberta

It was the New Left that created the term PC or Politically Correct to diferentiate itself from movements of Stalinism and Maoism which took the line that it was the Great Leaders way or the highway, to Siberia. Or in Alberta's case Fort McMurray.

In Alberta to be politically correct is to be PC, full caps.

Our PC's are the Party of Calgary, the Progressive Conservatives, under the Great Leader Ralph Klein.

The Party dominance is everywhere outside of Redmonton, which is the equivalent of revolutionary St. Petersburg (Leningrad).

The current power struggle in the party metaphorically is Stalinism rather than that of the earlier "Great Man" politicks; Bonapartism.

The dictator may pay a hypocritical homage to the tradition of popular consent by means of occasional plebiscites in which the people are asked to endorse some proposal desired by the government. But this purely formal consultation is usually carried out in an atmosphere of intimidation wherein the propagandists of the ruling clique predict the direst consequences unless the proposition is confirmed. What Are The Characteristics Of Bonapartism?

Why Stalin? Because the conflict in the Bolsheviks was a PARTY conflict. The same cannot be said of Fascist states of the time, which were Bonapartist, based solely on the Great Man; Hitler, Mussolini, Franco. Such Bonapartist regimes would become the model for post war Latin American nationalist movements such as Peronism.

Between 1928 and 1933, Stalin inaugurated the First and Second Five-Year Plans to achieve his goal of rapid industrialization. In many respects he was successful - by 1939 the USSR was behind only the United States and Germany in industrial output. The human costs, however, were enormous. Modern History Sourcebook: Josef Stalin (1879-1953 )

And Stalin oversaw the industrialization of Russia, while Ralph did the same in Alberta fulfilling Lougheeds original vision. Which makes Lougheed our Lenin.

But Bloshevism was all about the PARTY and internal faction fights. No different from the PARTY in Alberta. In Russia they sent you to work camps in Siberia, and in Alberta we too are now building work camps in our Siberia; Fort McMurray.

So in keeping with our metaphor, which is endorsed by no less an expert than Alberta NDP Leader Brian Mason, here are the players in the game of the Bolshevik Power Struggle in Alberta as the Great Leader flounders and weakens.

Let's play pin the cult of personality on the Leadership contenders and the Great Leader, ala the politicks of the One Party State. Which are unique to the old Soviet Union and to Alberta politicks.

Think of it as a card game, for a pack of cards. Just in time for the Convention next weekend.

Seeking Klein's crown are: former provincial treasurer Jim Dinning, former economic development minister Mark Norris, backbench Tory MLA Ted Morton, Infrastructure Minister Lyle Oberg, Intergovernmental Relations Minister Ed Stelmach and Advanced Education Minister Dave Hancock

.





Ralph Klein Stalin

"He is an unprincipled intriguer who subordinates everything to his appetite for power. At any given moment he will change his theories in order to get rid of someone"

Lenin became increasing concerned about Stalin's character and wrote a testament in which he suggested that he be removed. "Comrade Stalin, having become General Secretary, has concentrated enormous power in his hands: and I am not sure that he always knows how to use that power with sufficient caution. I therefore propose to our comrades to consider a means of removing Stalin from this post and appointing someone else who differs from Stalin in one weighty respect: being more tolerant, more loyal, more polite, more considerate of his comrades."

While Vladimir Lenin was immobilized, Joseph Stalin made full use of his powers as General Secretary. At the Party Congress he had been granted permission to expel "unsatisfactory" party members. This enabled Stalin to remove thousands of supporters of Trotsky, his main rival for the leadership of the party. As General Secretary, Stalin also had the power to appoint and sack people from important positions in the government. The new holders of these posts were fully aware that they owed their promotion to Stalin. They also knew that if their behaviour did not please Stalin they would be replaced.

Ralph Stalin Purges Alberta Cabinet

Kliein: A man whose time has come?

The Social Credit Party, which ruled for 34 years, was seen as tired and out of fresh ideas when a newcomer on the scene, Peter Lougheed, swept them from power in an unthinkable rout in 1971. Klein himself has only been in power for 12 years, but the Tories have held onto Alberta for 35 years, since Lougheed’s first win. We don’t change governments very often, but for such a right-wing province, we do think collectively every three decades or so.)

EDITORIAL: Ralph has to go. Now.
Edmonton Sun, Canada -
It's time to go, Ralph. Next Friday, at your party's convention, you should do the honourable thing and resign as leader of the




Colleen Klein Nadezhda Krupskaya

Yep the brains in the outfit. Relegated by Stalin to the backstage, much like Ralph does with Colleen. She has attempted to ameliorate the Ralph Revolution with philanthropy.

Klein Outta Control

Ralph Klein Abuser

Krupskaya had opposed Lenin's calls for an early revolution but after its success she hid her political differences with her husband. Trotsky's main hope of gaining power was for Lenin's last testament to be published. In May, 1924, Lenin's widow, Nadezhda Krupskaya, demanded that the Central Committee announce its contents to the rest of the party. Gregory Zinoviev argued strongly against its publication. He finished his speech with the words: "You have all witnessed our harmonious cooperation in the last few months, and, like myself, you will be happy to say that Lenin's fears have proved baseless. The new members of the Central Committee, who had been sponsored by Stalin, guaranteed that the vote went against Lenin's testament being made public.

Jim Dinning Bukharin

Alberta's next CEO, Mr. P3, and leader in this pack of cards. Sitting on the outside looking in, and allowing the night of the longknives at the Convention to wreak havoc amongst the social conservatives in cabinet, causcus and the backbenches.

Bukharin's theory was that the small farmers only produced enough food to feed themselves. The large farmers, on the other hand, were able to provide a surplus that could be used to feed the factory workers in the towns. To motivate the kulaks to do this, they had to be given incentives, or what Bukharin called, "the ability to enrich" themselves.

Lyle Oberg Trotsky

Trotsky accused Stalin of being dictatorial and called for the introduction of more democracy into the party.

Calgary — Alberta Tory Premier Ralph Klein's long goodbye from politics is hurting the province and should be reassessed by party faithful, says a leadership hopeful who was turfed this week from cabinet for making “inappropriate comments” about the Premier.

Lyle Oberg, who was Alberta's infrastructure and transportation minister until he was stripped of the position for six months after a Thursday night caucus meeting, apologized yesterday for suggesting he would reveal government “skeletons.”

But he did not back away from his suggestion that delegates at next week's annual meeting of the Progressive Conservative Party should rethink Mr. Klein's plan to stay in the premier's chair effectively until the spring of 2008.

"Given the urgency of the challenges that face the province, and the amazing opportunities that lie before us, the impact of a two-year leadership race must seriously be considered," Oberg said Friday.

Deposed cabinet minister Lyle Oberg says he will spend the weekend considering his political future and whether he will remain in the race to replace Premier Ralph Klein as leader.

Appearing sombre and subdued, Oberg told reporters today the past couple days have been “a difficult time within caucus” but he gave no indication he plans to quit the race.

But he also appeared to criticize Klein’s decision to stick around for two more years and hinted that fellow Conservatives should send a message at a March 31 leadership review that they want a leadership contest before then.

“The vote is not a referendum on the premier’s leadership,” he said, reading from a prepared statement. “The premier has already said he is not running again. The vote is a vote on when the leadership should occur.”

Riding rallying for Oberg

Wendell Rommens, past president and treasurer of the Strathmore-Brooks riding association, said Oberg's call for delegates to vote their conscience was met with applause and reflects what has become a commonly-held view. "I think it's time for (Klein) to move on and I would say the sooner the better," Rommens said.

Gregory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev united behind Stalin and accused Trotsky of creating divisions in the party. In April, 1937, Trotsky appeared before a commission of inquiry in New York headed by John Dewey. Trotsky was found not guilty of the charges of treason being made by Stalin.

Stelmach Zinoviev

After the death of Lenin 1924, Zinoviev joined forces with Lev Kamenev and Joseph Stalin to keep Leon Trotsky from power. In 1925 Stalin was able to arrange for Trotsky to be dismissed as commissar of war and the following year the Politburo.With the decline of Trotsky, Joseph Stalin felt strong enough to stop sharing power with Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev

Ed Stelmach, Klein's intergovernmental relations minister, resigned a week after the premier ordered ministers who want to run for the Tory leadership to step down by June 1 - even though the premier himself doesn't plan to step down for two years. Premier Ralph Klein said he was somewhat surprised that Stelmach decided to resign from cabinet so quickly. "I set June 1 as a deadline and I didn't expect it to happen this fast," the premier told his daily news conference.

Stelmach's move may bolster a sense of urgency among those looking for change.

It's all very confusing for most Albertans watching Conservative politics from a distance. Stelmach's public comments are very reassuring. He's a team player, he supports Klein and all party policies. "Officially, there is no race," said Stelmach, until Klein steps down.

At the same time, he told reporters his resignation means: "Look, there's no doubt about it. We're here, we mean business and we're in the race."

Yes, and there's a new urgency about that business.

Ted Morton Kamanev

On his return to Russia he was elected Chairman of the Moscow Soviet and became a member of the party's five-man ruling Politburo. He reached the peak of his power in 1923 when with Joseph Stalin and Gregory Zinoviev he became one of the Triumvirate that planned to take over from Vladimir Lenin when he died.

When Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev eventually began attacking his policies, Joseph Stalin argued they were creating disunity in the party and managed to have them expelled from the Central Committee. The belief that the party would split into two opposing factions was a strong fear amongst active communists in the Soviet Union.

Alberta cabinet ministers who want to take a run at Ralph Klein’s job in two years will have to resign their portfolios by June 1, the premier said Wednesday. Ted Morton, another leadership contender, called Klein’s action “a good idea for obvious reasons.”

Until now, the many Albertans who want their next premier to be ready to at least threaten separation with Ottawa in order to get the kind of respect and deference Quebec has received over the past 40 years -- and there are many of them -- thought their best choice was political scientist and Calgary MLA Ted Morton.

Morton is one of the fellas who developed the idea of building the Alberta firewall -- an idea that basically advocates the province taking full advantage of its jurisdictional rights -- such as establishing its own pension plan, having its own provincial police force, controlling its immigration etc. -- Morton was the closest they could get to threatening Ottawa to keep its paws off of our valuable oil and gas resources.

Not anymore.

This, in effect, means Morton's leadership hopes are severely dampened, since Norris has already raised about $1.4 million from some heavy hitters with more surely to come as the race heats up.

Mark Norris Sergy Kirov,

As usual, that summer Kirov and Joseph Stalin went on holiday together. Stalin, who treated Kirov like a son, used this opportunity to try to persuade him to remain loyal to his leadership. Stalin asked him to leave Leningrad to join him in Moscow. Stalin wanted Kirov in a place where he could keep a close eye on him. When Kirov refused, Stalin knew he had lost control over his protégé.

Budget not bold enough, says Norris

Norris suggested this week that sitting ministers would have an unfair advantage if they remained in cabinet.

Mark Norris, a former cabinet minister who lost his seat in the 2004 election, said he's glad to see Stelmach stepping away from cabinet to focus on the leadership.

"I was a little surprised that it happened this early, but I'm very happy about it," Norris said in an interview. "It's going to be good to get this race going."

Norris said he's been paying all of his own leadership expenses and he'll be glad to see more of the candidates doing the same, especially cabinet ministers.

"It'll not only put interest into the race, but interest back into the party."

Norris, the 43-year-old Edmonton businessman and former Alberta economic development minister who is chock-a-block with fresh, concrete ideas delivered with a folksy, Ralphy kind of charm.

Norris wants to better care for Alberta's seniors and disabled, believes in strategic investing at all levels of education, would institute a two-term limit for a premier and set election dates for the province.

But it's Norris' willingness to play hardball with the feds and even lead this province down the road of separation if necessary that will set him apart from the others running in this race.

Dave Hancock Genrikh Yagoda

Yagoda was a close friend of Joseph Stalin and in 1934 he was put in charge of the Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD). In 1936 Yagoda arrested Lev Kamenev, Gregory Zinoviev, and fourteen others and accused them of being involved with Leon Trotsky in a plot to murder Joseph Stalin and other party leaders. All of these men were found guilty and were executed on 25th August, 1936.

Klein's rebate musings anger many in party
Short-term view slammed by leadership hopefuls

Advanced Education Minister and leadership hopeful Dave Hancock also indicated he's not too keen on the idea of more cheques. Rather, the dollars should be invested in endowment funds and savings accounts, he said.

"My priority is that non-renewable resource revenue should be saved for the future in a manner which can expand our economy, expand our society and pay dividends long-term into the future," Hancock said Tuesday.

11. This could change everything for Dave Hancock's leadership bid. Over the past week, I was beginning to be convinced that Advanced Education Minister Dave Hancock would drop out of the race in the face of Klein's June 1st deadline, but I now think he may stick around the racetrack. Though I don't think he stands much of a chance at winning the leadership, I think he could probably top the list of "best Tory Premiers Alberta never had." Daveberta

Iris Evans Alexandra Kollanti

Evans gives Klein healthy boost

Alberta Health Minister Iris Evans says she's squarely behind Premier Ralph Klein and his leadership.

When Joseph Stalin gained power he sent Kollantai abroad as a diplomat. This included periods in Norway (1923-25), Mexico (1925-27), Norway (1927-30) and Sweden (1930-45). Kollantai retired in 1945 and lived in Moscow until her death on 9th March, 1952. She was the only major critic of the Soviet government that Joseph Stalin did not exterminate.