Showing posts with label Brian Mason. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brian Mason. Show all posts

Sunday, March 02, 2008

It's Not A Leadership Race

Not since the ill fated Don Getty regime have the Tired Old Tories been in such a sorry state. Before Getty the Lougheed Team could do no wrong. After Getty the man of the people; King Ralph could do no wrong. The Tories would do well in the polls because of the Leader. The leaders polling numbers would often be stronger than the party's, and thus the party was buoyed by the popularity of its leader.

Now with wimpy Ed as leader the election comes down to hard fisted Realpolitiks. Despite polls saying Ed's Tired Old Tories are at 40% that is a serious crash in popularity, the direct result of Ed's mushy leadership.

The leadership debate showed that this is not a race about who will be premier, but rather which party will govern and which one is the opposition. While Taft and Stelmach vied for Premiership, Brian Mason showed himself as the leader of the Opposition.

And even then party politics and labels are not as important as the local campaigns. Because there is a lack of political process that involves us as citizens.

Election forums becoming a rare event in Alberta CBC.ca


Liberals have called for strategic voting, and Albertans will. But it won't necessarily be for the Liberals. Sure they will gain seats, as will the NDP.
Hinman and his right wing rump party are destined for the dustbin of history, splitting the vote on the right. Hinman is fighting for his political life just to retain his own seat.

Instead of venturing into Calgary, Wildrose Alliance Leader Paul Hinman campaigned in his home riding of Cardston-Taber-Warner, knocking on doors and attending a barbecue with supporters.


And who knows the Green Party may even have a chance, with their appeal to rural Tory voters disenchanted that Farmer Ed has become Alberta CEO and the mouthpiece for Big Oil.

Farmers join forces with 'tree huggers' to protest Tories' lax environmental record


Tomorrow there will be a sea change in Alberta. A record number of folks are voting in advanced polls. There are hundreds of thousands of new Albertans and consequently undecided voters.
Conservative party supports will stay home in droves unsatisfied with Stelmach's regime.


Barely 5 per cent of the electorate could be bothered tuning in to the only leaders' debate of the campaign.

And voter turnout, which hit historic lows last time with a meagre 44-per-cent turnout, could well drop even lower on Monday.

“The turnout's going to be brutal,” says Arnie Hansen, an Onoway-area cattle rancher and oil driller who has come in to the fertilizer supplier this sunny afternoon.

“That's the way it works in Alberta. They stay home. They don't vote for someone else. They just stay home.”



All in all it looks like perhaps we will have a minority government. Or at least as close a semblance to a minority government after 76 years of the One Party State. Who will lead this new government is anybodies guess.

Polls have repeatedly projected an 11th consecutive Tory majority on Monday, but they also reveal a persistently large number of undecided voters - even this late in the campaign. Meanwhile, a surprising number of voters are calling for a change in government, are unhappy with Progressive Conservative Leader Ed Stelmach and are willing to switch their vote.

"There's definitely a lot of fluidity yet in the voter commitment," said Harold Jansen, a political scientist at the University of Lethbridge. "Voters are ready for a change. They're ready for something different, but none of the opposition parties have done a good job inspiring it."

The undecided segment has all parties - especially the Tories - in a knot.



But it ain't about leaders or party labels. It is about issues though. And voters will decide what issues are important and vote for their issues, which leaves Stelmach's Tired Old Tories in a very weak position.

And in the final analysis this election is about who has the hard slogging political machine in each riding. Who can get out the vote. It's the closest thing to real election this province has seen since 1971.

And I would remind folks who say the opposition parties are weak, that back in 1971 the Lougheed Team that came to power had only 6 sitting MLA's.

And when all is said and done its not just about who gets to govern but who is the opposition. That is the understated part of this election. And surprise, surprise guess which party looks good for that job.

During the campaign, Brian Mason's New Democrats have shown they have the policies and philosophy to provide effective and consistent opposition.

Neil Waugh, Edmonton Sun, Sunday March, 2, 2008


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Thursday, February 21, 2008

Alberta Election Debate

Watching the leaders debate tonight ...Mason hits Taft with a zinger over the issue of capping greenhouse gas, the NDP brought a motion into the legislature that would cap greenhouse gases but both the Liberals and PC's voted against it. Zingo, bang, direct hit. Taft stumbles backtracks doesn't answer the question. Mason hits back and says the legislature is where laws are made not election campaigns. So Kevin why did you and the Liberals not support the NDP motion on greenhouse caps. Waiting Waiting.

The debate formate is counter productive, far to short a time for answers. CBC is doing online polling of viewers and it is not realistic at all. The whole format is counter productive.

Watching CBC, though this is a joint CBC, CTV, CPAC, Global production, it is amtuer hour.

The Media running this are acting like they have never moderated or organized an election debate before. Paul McGloughlin pundit extrodinare just said there was no defining moment, but again I would say Masons counter attack on Taft over greenhouse gases was just such a defining moment. He praised Paul Hinman of the Wild Rose Party as doing a good job. As what a discombobulated disorganized rambling babbler? Hinman did the worst job.He wandered was unprepared and never made any other point except that he was the voice of Big Oil interests in the province and the PC's weren't.

The CBC ran an online poll, which was skewed by the fact that it had all of three people responding to it.

Over all it was amateur hour, not for the leaders but the media who sponsored this whole debacle. By keeping it to short answers they failed the public in allowing for any substantial debate. They had an hour and a half, and they decided that the whole thing should be run as if it was a WWE closed ring match for two minutes a round.

If the debate was supposed to be the event that would decide this election, it failed miserably. Better to have changed channels and watched the Obama Clinton debate.


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Monday, February 18, 2008

Dynamic Leadership

The difference between the Tories and Tory Light...is the NDP.

Keith Brownsey, political science professor at Mount Royal College; "Taft has performed well," Brownsey said, although he noted the Grit leader isn't connecting on a personal level with voters. "He speaks too much like a business professor."

NDP Leader Mason is showing himself to be a more "dynamic individual,"


It's all a question of leadership dynamics. For those that dismiss Brian Mason as Premier material well look at whose Premier now. And that guy leading the Liberals who wants to be Premier. Nope they both make look Brian look positively Premier like.


SEE:

Sun Love In With NDP


Careful Of What You Ask For


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Thursday, February 14, 2008

Sun Love In With NDP


Is subversive socialism creeping into the Sun Editorial Room. After all their new marketing slogan smacks of Bolshevism; Read Red. Red being their banner colour.

And they are saying nice things about Brian Mason and the NDP after Brian met with them yesterday.

When Mason appeared yesterday to talk to the Sun's editorial board he didn't seem to have any blood-sucking socialist fangs and wasn't wearing a red beret.

Instead, he wore a tie and jacket and patiently outlined a policy platform aimed at what ex-premier Ralph Klein dubbed severely normal Albertans.


Kerry Diotte, a transplanted Ontario libertarian, gushes again over Brian and the NDP.

There's long been an innate fear of socialism here and it has been reflected by the poor showing by NDP candidates who run federally and provincially.

That's why it's got to be frustrating for a guy like Alberta NDP Leader Brian Mason, who's the most charismatic of the three major party leaders contesting the March 3 provincial election.

Which is why he falls into the revisionist right wing myth that Alberta fears socialism. Which is contradicted by the historical fact that Western Canadian Socialism was given birth here with the strikes of miners who belonged to the IWW in Medicine Hat and Lethbridge. Again in 1919 with the founding Convention of the One Big Union in Calgary, during the Winnipeg General Strike, organized by the Socialist Party of Canada. And later with the founding of the CCF in Calgary in the 1920's, not as some mistakenly believe in Regina.. Albertans embraced socialism even in its later distributionist right wing variant; Social Credit.

Neil Waugh gushed this week over Brian as well.

There was nothing about a Liberal-style
assault on the oilsands for Our Brian, clearly a friend of the working man and woman, or at least not for now. Heck, he even wants to charge a bitumen removal "barrel tax" to force oilsands outfits to upgrade their production here.


Then today Waugh joins in with a clarion call of pending class war because of Big Oil's finger puppet Ed Stelmach. Suddenly Waugh is sounding like more like Lenin than Ayn Rand.

That was all before Canadian National Resources Ltd.'s $2-billion oilsands overrun suddenly appeared to bite the Tories this week.

With only 10% of the Horizon oil sands plant at Fort McMurray still to build, the costs mysteriously soared 28% in what the company blurb called the "toughest, most labour intensive portion" of the controversial project controlled by Calgary billionaire Murray Edwards.

"Unfortunately, mid to late January and early February saw a significant deterioration of labour productivity on the site," company brass lamented.

The reason was "much colder than normal weather seriously curtailed activity."

Who knew that it sometimes hits -40 C at Fort Mac in the winter? When in doubt, blame the workers and the weather.

But it won't be CNRL shareholders picking up the extra $2 billion. Somebody messed up big time and tried to build the biggest piece of the project in brass monkey weather.

In all likelihood, Alberta taxpayers will once again bite the bullet.

Even under Stelmach's new royalty deal (a strangely forgotten part of the PC campaign), oilsands outfits still only pay pennies on the dollar until the massive plants are paid out. Then the royalty jumps to a more reasonable rate of 25% to 40%, depending on oil prices.

Energy department spokesman Jason Chance insisted that any additional costs "would have to be validated and determined whether they are appropriate. It's based on what the reality is."

The sweet deal CNRL got from the Tories for Horizon allowed the company to tear up the oilsands labour construction deal and broke the peace that ruled in the oilsands for the last quarter century. It touched off last fall's Hard Hat Flu walkouts.

This resulted in the "No Plan" Stelmach attack ads backed by the Alberta Building Trades Council.

These took a turn for the bizarre last weekend when the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees' brass, after "extensive debate," voted to kick in $300,000 to the TV spots, meaning government workers are now attacking their own work.

Meanwhile Employment Minister Iris Evans continues to sit on the probe into CNRL's all-fall-down tank farm, where two Chinese foreign temporary workers were crushed to death.

"The chickens are coming home to roost for Mr. Stelmach," Mason chuckled, calling for a "special unit" of government auditors to "validate and verify" CNRL's cost-overrun claims.

Or is Klein's political ghost now haunting Eddie's campaign bus?


Mason also met with the Liberal Edmonton Journal editorial board. And again a fair gushing ensued over the only charismatic politician in the race. Mason was the winner in the 2000 race, and the NDP has made the transition from being a decimated party in 1993 to rising from the ashes in 1997 to winning four seats in 2004. And in each of those elections the NDP was a new party with new directions and new leaders who appealed to the public.

Albertans should be grateful the competent, thoughtful, personable likes of Brian Mason is willing to fight the uphill battle, to make the case for New Democrat MLAs in the legislature at election time, and to stoke debate on issues such as health care each time the Tories introduce one of their numbered "ways" of challenging the public system.

Do the NDs have a place in the next legislature?

That's a decision voters -- in practice, Edmonton voters -- must decide as they balance their desire for change in government offices, their recognition that our new Edmonton-area premier already constitutes change from the Calgary-centric Klein past, and their admiration for stands of principle by people like Mason and his predecessors Raj Pannu and Pam Barrett.

But would this election be as valuable or as useful a forum of political renewal and debate without Mason's and the NDP's thoughtful perspective on issues?

It certainly would not.

The Edmonton media seems to have given Brian and the NDP an election bouquet of good wishes on Valentines Day.


SEE

Careful Of What You Ask For



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Saturday, February 09, 2008

Daveberta Smears NDP


Daveberta the liberal blogger thinks he has found a scandal in the NDP calling for an end to corporate and union donations to political parties in Alberta. He reports in high dudgeon on his website that the NDP raised $100,000 from unions during the election campaign of 2004.

However the majority of funds raised during the campaign, as is usual with the NDP, came from individuals for a total of $180,529.35 slightly less than twice as much as raised from union contributions.

Something he fails to mention. Now why might that be?

Because unlike his former employer the Liberal Party of Alberta, the NDP gets the majority of its donations from individuals. And of course unlike the Liberals none from the big corporations in Alberta. So he has to pretend that union funding of the NDP is somehow scandalous.



2005
POLITICAL PARTY
CAMPAIGN RETURN
ALBERTA NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY

SUMMARY OF CAMPAIGN PERIOD REVENUE AND EXPENDITURES
FOR THE PERIOD October 25, 2004 - January 24, 2005

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM CORPORATIONS

ALBERTA BUILDING TRADES COUNCIL INC. EDMONTON
$7,000.00
Cash


CONTRIBUTIONS FROM TRADE UNIONS
ALBERTA & NWT REGIONAL COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS EDMONTON $1,000.00

Cash
ALBERTA & NWT REGIONAL COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS EDMONTON $2,400.00

Cash


Subtotal:$3,400.00

AREA CNCL PAC STEELWORKERS TORONTO TORONTO - ONTARIO
$500.00
Cash
AREA COUNCIL C E P EDMONTON
$1,000.00
Cash
C A W CANADA

$8,000.00
Cash
C E C U EDMONTON
$1,000.00
Cash
C E P NATIONAL EDMONTON $4,000.00

Cash
C E P NATIONAL EDMONTON $7,000.00

Cash


Subtotal:$11,000.00

C L C EDMONTON
$10,000.00
Cash
C M P L

$5,000.00
Cash
C S U EDMONTON
$1,000.00
Cash
C U P E EDMONTON
$5,000.00
Cash
CANADIAN COUNCIL A T U

$2,500.00
Cash
DISTRICT # 3 U S W A BURNABY - B.C.
$500.00
Cash
EDMONTON FIRE FIGHTERS UNION EDMONTON $2,000.00

Cash
EDMONTON FIRE FIGHTERS UNION EDMONTON $2,000.00

Cash


Subtotal:$4,000.00

EDMONTON LABOUR COUNCIL EDMONTON
$750.00
Cash
IRONWORKERS LOCAL 720 EDMONTON
$3,000.00
Cash
LOCAL 1118 U F C W RED DEER
$500.00
Cash
LOCAL 183 U N A EDMONTON
$1,000.00
Cash
LOCAL 1900 C E P EDMONTON
$500.00
Cash
LOCAL 569 ATU EDMONTON
$3,000.00
Cash
LOCAL 6034 U S W A CALGARY
$500.00
Cash
LOCAL 855 C E P HINTON
$2,000.00
Cash
U T U EDMONTON
$1,500.00
Cash
UNITED ASSOC OF PLUMBERS & PIPEFITTERS - LOCAL 488 EDMONTON
$14,000.00
Cash
UNITED NURSES OF ALBERTA EDMONTON
$500.00
Cash
UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA PAC TORONTO - ONTARIO
$500.00
Cash
WORKERS UNION TELECOMMUNICATIONS EDMONTON $10,000.00

Cash
WORKERS UNION TELECOMMUNICATIONS EDMONTON $50.00

Cash


Subtotal:$10,050.00

YELLOWHEAD LABOUR COUNCIL HINTON
$500.00
Cash

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS
MEDICINE HAT LABOUR COUNCIL MEDICINE HAT
$1,500.00
Cash



But what daveberta does not he tell us is how much corporations donated to his former employer the Liberal Party of Alberta during the election campaign. Count all the oil companies. Which you will not find donating to the NDP. Which of course is the whole point ain't it Dave.And note the corporate donations to the Liberals far exceed the union donations to the NDP for the same election campaign.



2005
POLITICAL PARTY
CAMPAIGN RETURN
ALBERTA LIBERAL PARTY

SUMMARY OF CAMPAIGN PERIOD REVENUE AND EXPENDITURES
FOR THE PERIOD October 25, 2004 - January 24, 2005

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM CORPORATIONS
ALBERTA VIEWS CALGARY
$15,000.00
Cash
ALL WEATHER WINDOWS LTD EDMONTON
$500.00
Cash
AMEC INC OAKVILLE - ONTARIO
$2,500.00
Cash
ATCO GROUP CALGARY
$5,000.00
Cash
BELL WEST CALGARY
$3,000.00
Cash
BREWSTER TRANSPORTATION AND TOURS BANFF
$500.00
Cash
CANADIAN NATIONAL MONTREAL - QUEBEC
$3,000.00
Cash
CIBC TORONTO - ONTARIO
$5,000.00
Cash
COHOS EVAMY CALGARY
$1,000.00
Cash
DAVID B. ROSS PROF CORP EDMONTON
$500.00
Cash
DAVIS & COMPANY EDMONTON
$1,000.00
Cash
DON WHEATON LTD EDMONTON
$5,000.00
Cash
DOW CHEMICAL CANADA INC SARNIA - ONTARIO
$5,000.00
Cash
EDCO FINANCIAL HOLDINGS LTD CALGARY
$2,500.00
Cash
ENBRIDGE PIPELINES INC EDMONTON
$6,000.00
Cash
ENCANA CORPORATION CALGARY
$5,000.00
Cash
ESPRIT EXPLORATION LTD CALGARY
$1,000.00
Cash
FIELD MANAGEMENT SERVICES EDMONTON
$2,500.00
Cash
HOLE'S GREENHOUSES AND GARDENS LTD ST. ALBERT
$883.00
Valued
HUSKY OIL OPERATIONS LTD CALGARY
$1,000.00
Cash
JAMES A. BUTLIN PROFESSIONAL CORP CALGARY
$750.00
Cash
KATARINA O. STERLIND VANCOUVER - B.C.
$1,000.00
Cash
LAFARGE CANADA INC. CALGARY
$500.00
Cash
LOVINK MEDIA INC CALGARY
$3,300.00
Valued
MADACALO INVESTMENTS LTD CALGARY
$1,000.00
Cash
MANCAL PROPERTIES DEVELOPMENT INC CALGARY
$2,500.00
Cash
MANCAL PROPERTY VENTURES INC CALGARY
$2,500.00
Cash
MCDANIEL COMPANY INC. CALGARY
$500.00
Cash
MCNALLY CUMING RAYMAKER CALGARY
$2,000.00
Cash
NEXEN INC CALGARY
$5,000.00
Cash
NOVA CHEMICALS CORPORATION CALGARY
$3,000.00
Cash
OCTAGON CAPITAL CORPORATION CALGARY
$2,500.00
Cash
P.J. PERRY EDMONTON
$500.00
Valued
PETROVERA RESOURCES CALGARY
$5,000.00
Cash
PHS HOLDINGS EDMONTON
$500.00
Cash
PRECISION DRILLING CORPORATION CALGARY
$2,500.00
Cash
PRICE WATERHOUSE COOPERS LTD CALGARY
$1,000.00
Cash
RBC CAPITAL MARKETS CALGARY $5,000.00

Cash
RBC CAPITAL MARKETS CALGARY $5,000.00

Cash


Subtotal:$10,000.00

READ JONES CHRISTOFFERSEN LTD CALGARY
$500.00
Cash
REIMER LAW OFFICE CALGARY
$500.00
Cash
ROCKWELL SERVICING PARTNERSHIP CALGARY
$2,500.00
Cash
SCOTIABANK TORONTO - ONTARIO
$4,000.00
Cash
SUNCOR ENERGY INC CALGARY
$3,000.00
Cash
TD SECURITIES INC TORONTO - ONTARIO
$1,000.00
Cash
TORONTO DOMINION BANK TORONTO - ONTARIO
$1,600.00
Cash
TRANSALTA UTILITIES CORPORATION CALGARY
$2,000.00
Cash
TRANSCANADA PIPE LINES CALGARY
$5,000.00
Cash
WESTERN FINANCIAL GROUP INC HIGH RIVER
$1,000.00
Cash
WEYERHAEUSER COMPANY LIMITED VANCOUVER - B.C.
$2,000.00
Cash
WILL CALL OILFIELD SERVICES LTD SPRUCE GROVE
$500.00
Cash

Total: 99 Receipts

$206,496.74
Total Campaign Period Revenue $241,438.34


Corporate donations to the Liberals were twice as much as union donations to the NDP for the election campaign in 2004! Something dave forgot to mention.

During that campaign individual donations to the Alberta Liberals totaled $34,941.6 Ouch. Not even close to the individual donations the NDP raised, and this is the real reason for daveberta's faux outrage.

His party and former employer, relies heavily on corporate funding for their election campaigns. Unlike the NDP. And so his attempt to do a bit of political slight of hand, look over there NDP gets union donations. The reality is that if the NDP policy of no corporate or union donations was the law, it would hurt the Liberals more than the NDP. And it is a policy the NDP has adopted as provincial governments across Canada.

Daveberta was outraged that Ray Martin wrote a letter last fall soliciting funding from unions for this pending election campaign. However what he does not tell his readers is that the Liberals on an annual basis raise more funds from unions than the NDP does.

Here is the 2004 corporate donations the Liberals received, during their regular operational year. And lo and behold you will find unions donating to them. Including the Building Trades Council Inc. who donated more to the Liberals than they did to the NDP. And AUPE the provincial government union which did not donate at all to the NDP. And even personal donations from the Alberta Teachers Association president Frank Bruseker who was once a Liberal MLA.



BRUSEKER, FRANK AIRDRIE $500.00

Cash
BRUSEKER, FRANK AIRDRIE $100.00

Cash
BRUSEKER, FRANK AIRDRIE $20.00

Cash


Subtotal:$620.00

Total donations from unions to the Liberals for the operating year 2004 was $47,675, while total union donations to the NDP was $14,000. So sorry no the NDP are not being hypocrites, they are calling for legislation that daveberta and his Liberal pals fear because it would limit their corporate fund raising including from their pals in the union movement. If any party benefits from union donations more than the NDP it's the Liberals. Because they lack the NDP's financial support which is based on individual contributions.

Mind you the NDP benefits from more unions donating to it, while the Liberals rely on their pals in the Building Trades, ATA, and AUPE to support them. These are unions and associations aligned politically to the Liberals as their donations show.



2004
POLITICAL PARTY
ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENT
ALBERTA LIBERAL PARTY



CONTRIBUTIONS FROM CORPORATIONS
AINSWORTH LUMBER CO LTD GRANDE PRAIRIE
$3,000.00
Cash
ALBERTA BLUE CROSS EDMONTON
$550.00
Cash
ALBERTA BUILDING TRADES COUNCIL INC. EDMONTON $2,200.00

Cash
ALBERTA BUILDING TRADES COUNCIL INC. EDMONTON $12,000.00

Cash


Subtotal:$14,200.00

ALBERTA FOREST PRODUCTS ASSOC INC EDMONTON
$550.00
Cash
ALBERTA MOTOR ASSOCIATION EDMONTON
$550.00
Cash
ALBERTA ROADBUILDERS & HEAVY CONST. EDMONTON
$550.00
Cash
ALBERTA VIEWS CALGARY
$15,000.00
Cash
ALLIANCE PIPELINE LIMITED CALGARY
$875.00
Cash
ALTAGAS SERVICES INC CALGARY
$525.00
Cash
AON REED STENHOUSE INC EDMONTON
$550.00
Cash
APEGGA EDMONTON
$550.00
Cash
ARTTEC ADVERTISING INC EDMONTON
$550.00
Cash
ASSOCIATED ENGINEERING ALBERTA LTD EDMONTON
$500.00
Cash
BOMBAY PALACE RESTAURANT EDMONTON
$500.00
Cash
BREWSTER TRANSPORTATION AND TOURS BANFF
$500.00
Cash
BURLINGTON RESOURCES CANADA LTD CALGARY
$1,200.00
Cash
CANACCORD CAPITAL CORPORATION VANCOUVER - B.C.
$1,750.00
Cash
CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF OILWELL DRI CALGARY
$1,100.00
Cash
CANADIAN ENERGY PIPELINE ASSOCIATION CALGARY
$875.00
Cash
CANADIAN NATURAL RESOURCES LTD CALGARY
$1,100.00
Cash
CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY CALGARY
$550.00
Cash
CANADIAN SALT COMPANY LIMITED POINTE CLAIRE - QUEBEC
$1,000.00
Cash
CAPITAL PACKERS INC EDMONTON $500.00

Cash
CAPITAL PACKERS INC EDMONTON $100.00

Cash


Subtotal:$600.00

CARLYLE & ASSOCIATES EDMONTON
$550.00
Cash
CARMA DEVELOPERS LTD. EDMONTON $550.00

Cash
CARMA DEVELOPERS LTD. CALGARY $200.00

Cash


Subtotal:$750.00

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS EDMONTON $275.00

Cash
COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS EDMONTON $525.00

Cash


Subtotal:$800.00

CORIL HOLDINGS LTD CALGARY
$2,000.00
Cash
DOUGLAS A. LYNASS PROF CORP EDMONTON $550.00

Cash
DOUGLAS A. LYNASS PROF CORP EDMONTON $350.00

Cash


Subtotal:$900.00

DRAGICH DESIGN EDMONTON
$850.00
Valued
DYNACARE KASPER MEDICAL LABORATORIES EDMONTON
$1,000.00
Cash
ENBRIDGE PIPELINES INC EDMONTON $2,200.00

Cash
ENBRIDGE PIPELINES INC EDMONTON $1,000.00

Cash


Subtotal:$3,200.00

ENER-WEST PROJECTS LTD CALGARY
$550.00
Cash
FIELD ATKINSON PERRATON MANAGEMENT EDMONTON
$2,200.00
Cash
FIRSTENERGY CAPITAL CORP CALGARY
$1,000.00
Cash
FWD STEP RESOURCES CALGARY $500.00

Cash
FWD STEP RESOURCES CALGARY $25.00

Cash


Subtotal:$525.00

GENERAL ELECTRIC CANADA INC MISSISSAUGA - ONTARIO
$1,000.00
Cash
GRAHAM GROUP LTD CALGARY
$1,000.00
Cash
HAMILTON HALL SOYES/RAY & BERNDTSON INC CALGARY
$1,000.00
Cash
HEMISPHERE ENGINEERING INC. EDMONTON
$550.00
Cash
HOLE'S GREENHOUSES AND GARDENS LTD ST. ALBERT $836.74

Cash
HOLE'S GREENHOUSES AND GARDENS LTD ST. ALBERT $50.00

Cash


Subtotal:$886.74

HUSKY OIL OPERATIONS LTD CALGARY
$2,000.00
Cash
IMPERIAL OIL LIMITED CALGARY
$3,500.00
Cash
IMPERIAL OIL RESOURCES LTD CALGARY
$3,500.00
Cash
INLAND LEHIGH CEMENT LIMITED EDMONTON $2,200.00

Cash
INLAND LEHIGH CEMENT LIMITED EDMONTON $1,000.00

Cash
INLAND LEHIGH CEMENT LIMITED EDMONTON $500.00

Cash


Subtotal:$3,700.00

J.E. (BUD) MILLER CONSULTING LTD KITSCOTY
$500.00
Cash
JAMES A. BUTLIN PROFESSIONAL CORP CALGARY $275.00

Cash
JAMES A. BUTLIN PROFESSIONAL CORP CALGARY $500.00

Cash


Subtotal:$775.00

K P ACCOUNTING & TAX SERVICES EDMONTON
$1,000.00
Cash
K P M G EDMONTON
$550.00
Cash
LOCAL #8 SHEETMETAL BENEVOLENT FUN EDMONTON
$750.00
Cash
LUSCAR LTD EDMONTON
$3,000.00
Cash
LUTHRA LAW OFFICE EDMONTON
$500.00
Cash
MANSELL PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSULTING SE EDMONTON
$500.00
Cash
MCDANIEL & ASSOCIATES CONSULTANTS LTD CALGARY
$500.00
Cash
MCNALLY VALUATIONS INC EDMONTON $550.00

Cash
MCNALLY VALUATIONS INC EDMONTON $350.00

Cash


Subtotal:$900.00

NEXEN INC CALGARY $550.00

Cash
NEXEN INC CALGARY $2,200.00

Cash
NEXEN INC CALGARY $12,000.00

Cash


Subtotal:$14,750.00

NICHOLAS PERELES PROF CORP CALGARY $1,000.00

Cash
NICHOLAS PERELES PROF CORP CALGARY $350.00

Cash


Subtotal:$1,350.00

NORTHLANDS PARK EDMONTON
$550.00
Cash
PARKER FORD & MACKAY SPECIALTY OPT EDMONTON
$550.00
Cash
PAUL ZIFF & CO NATURAL GAS CONSULT CALGARY $275.00

Cash
PAUL ZIFF & CO NATURAL GAS CONSULT CALGARY $250.00

Cash
PAUL ZIFF & CO NATURAL GAS CONSULT CALGARY $250.00

Cash
PAUL ZIFF & CO NATURAL GAS CONSULT CALGARY $500.00

Cash


Subtotal:$1,275.00

PCL CONSTRUCTION GROUP INC EDMONTON
$5,000.00
Cash
PETERS & CO. LIMITED CALGARY
$1,000.00
Cash
PHARMACISTS ASSOCIATION OF ALBERTA EDMONTON
$550.00
Cash
PIPELLA AND COMPANY BARRISTERS AND SOLICITORS CALGARY $550.00

Cash
PIPELLA AND COMPANY BARRISTERS AND SOLICITORS CALGARY $350.00

Cash


Subtotal:$900.00

QUALICO DEVELOPMENTS WEST LTD EDMONTON
$550.00
Cash
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA EDMONTON $1,100.00

Cash
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA EDMONTON $2,000.00

Cash


Subtotal:$3,100.00

SCHUMACHER & ASSOCIATES WETASKIWIN
$825.00
Cash
SCOTIABANK TORONTO - ONTARIO
$2,000.00
Cash
SECURITY LIFE AND INVESTMENT CALGARY
$400.00
Cash
SHAW COMMUNICATIONS INC CALGARY
$550.00
Cash
SHELLY'S ENTERPRISE LTD EDMONTON
$1,000.00
Cash
SUNCOR ENERGY INC CALGARY
$6,500.00
Cash
T. BOWEN & A. ROBERTS PROF CORP CALGARY $275.00

Cash
T. BOWEN & A. ROBERTS PROF CORP CALGARY $175.00

Cash


Subtotal:$450.00

TALISMAN ENERGY INC CALGARY $550.00

Cash
TALISMAN ENERGY INC CALGARY $5,000.00

Cash
TALISMAN ENERGY INC CALGARY $1,000.00

Cash


Subtotal:$6,550.00

TAURUS INVESTMENTS LTD EDMONTON $825.00

Cash
TAURUS INVESTMENTS LTD EDMONTON $1,000.00

Cash


Subtotal:$1,825.00

TECHNA-WEST ENGINEERING LTD EDMONTON
$550.00
Cash
TELUS EDMONTON $2,200.00

Cash
TELUS EDMONTON $2,200.00

Cash
TELUS EDMONTON $700.00

Cash


Subtotal:$5,100.00

TERASEN PIPELINES INC CALGARY
$1,225.00
Cash
THE COHOS EVAMY CALGARY $275.00

Cash
THE COHOS EVAMY CALGARY $275.00

Cash


Subtotal:$550.00

THE TORONTO DOMINION BANK EDMONTON
$2,200.00
Cash
THURBER ENGINEERING LTD EDMONTON
$550.00
Cash
TRARION RESOURCES LTD STONY PLAIN
$500.00
Cash
VINTERRA PROPERTIES INC EDMONTON $1,100.00

Cash
VINTERRA PROPERTIES INC EDMONTON $50.00

Cash
VINTERRA PROPERTIES INC EDMONTON $750.00

Cash


Subtotal:$1,900.00

WEYERHAEUSER COMPANY LTD EDMONTON
$550.00
Cash
WILL CALL OILFIELD SERVICES LTD SPRUCE GROVE
$550.00
Cash
WILLIAM E. SEVICK PROFESSIONAL CORP EDMONTON $550.00

Cash
WILLIAM E. SEVICK PROFESSIONAL CORP EDMONTON $500.00

Cash


Subtotal:$1,050.00


CONTRIBUTIONS FROM TRADE UNIONS
ALBERT & NWT REGIONAL COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS AND ALLIED WORKERS EDMONTON $1,000.00

Cash
ALBERT & NWT REGIONAL COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS AND ALLIED WORKERS EDMONTON $275.00

Cash
ALBERT & NWT REGIONAL COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS AND ALLIED WORKERS EDMONTON $1,000.00

Cash


Subtotal:$2,275.00

AUPE LOCAL 50 EDMONTON
$2,000.00
Cash
AUPE LOCAL 9 EDMONTON $500.00

Cash
AUPE LOCAL 9 EDMONTON $200.00

Cash
AUPE LOCAL 9 EDMONTON $10,500.00

Cash


Subtotal:$11,200.00

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BOILERMAKERS IRON SHIP BUILERS EDMONTON
$15,000.00
Cash
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMST CALGARY
$500.00
Cash
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING EN EDMONTON $3,000.00

Cash
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING EN EDMONTON $750.00

Cash


Subtotal:$3,750.00



2004
POLITICAL PARTY
ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENT
ALBERTA NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM CORPORATIONS
629075 ALBERTA LTD EDMONTON
$400.00
Cash
ALBERTA BUILDING TRADES COUNCIL INC. EDMONTON
$4,000.00
Cash
ALL WRIGHT INFOTECH EDMONTON
$600.00
Valued
LYLE S R KANEE PROF CORP EDMONTON
$420.00
Cash
P GILL CNC INDUSTRIES LTD EDMONTON
$500.00
Cash

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM TRADE UNIONS
AREA COUNCIL C E P EDMONTON
$4,000.00
Cash
C E P NATIONAL EDMONTON $1,000.00

Cash
C E P NATIONAL EDMONTON $5,000.00

Cash
C E P NATIONAL EDMONTON $4,000.00

Cash


Subtotal:$10,000.00


So nice try dave, guess all those blogging awards and the ensuing publicity you get now as a political blogger have gone to your head. Next time you try a drive by smear full of righteous indignation get your facts straight. And before making allegations about union influence over political parties look in your own back yard.



SEE:

Diotte Endorses Mason and NDP



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Diotte Endorses Mason and NDP

The Edmonton Sun's resident right wing city hall columnist Kerry Diotte actually praises Brian Mason and the NDP. Truly this election is going to see things shook up in Alberta.

NDP Leader Brian Mason is easily the most quotable and savvy of the three,
but he's saddled by the innate fear of socialism in Alberta. The party has made a smart move, though, by gearing its policies toward the average Joe and Josephine and accusing the Grits and Tories of being too tight with big corporations.


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Speaking in the heart of corporate Calgary, Alberta NDP Leader Brian Mason proposed legislation Friday that would ban both corporate and union donations to political parties.

"Big money in politics has a corrosive effect on our democracy and it undermines decision and policy making by political parties," Mason said at the Fairmont Palliser Hotel, a building surrounded by Calgary office towers.

"In the last couple of years the Conservatives have accepted over a half a million dollars from oil companies alone and the Liberals (accepted) close to $200,000 . . . .

"If they depend heavily on big corporations for their money, they will not stick up for the average family in this province when push comes to shove."

Lisa Young, a political science professor at the University of Calgary, sees the NDP proposal as a positive development. Alberta stands out from most Canadian jurisdictions in its "Wild West" treatment of political finances, she said.

The current situation in Alberta has helped create a longstanding tradition of "lopsided elections... that is very difficult to overcome," Young said.



The Edmonton Sun and Journal have done political leader bio's about Brian. Both pointing out that under Brian's leadership the NDP increased their seat count last election. Hardly the 'loser' party with no chance in hell of winning, that the pundits predicted then or predict now.

In fact Diotte is right on; Mason and the NDP have real chances of gaining ground as the best party to be the Opposition. Which is what the NDP has run for since their return from political purgatory under the leadership of Pam Barrett and then Raj ( Against the Machine) Pannu.


In 2000 the provincial New Democrats came calling.

They had fallen from 16 seats and official Opposition status under Ray Martin in the late 1980s to zero seats by 1993. By 1997 they’d crawled back to two seats when new leader Pam Barrett triumphed in Edmonton-Highlands and Raj Pannu won by just 58 votes in Edmonton-Strathcona.

“We took a kicking in 1993, and when Pam stepped down (in 2000) we were in serious difficulty,” said Martin.

But Martin had knocked on doors for Mason in civic campaigns, knew him as a scrapper with a conscience and convinced him to run in the Highlands byelection. He got three times the votes of his nearest competitor. “That victory probably paved the way for the future of the NDP,” said Martin. “If we hadn’t won that, I think it would have been tough slogging.”

By 2004, Mason was also party leader and the NDP had improved from two seats to four, giving him a chance to hone his skills for political theatre while his party pounced on the Tories on issues from royalty rates to skyrocketing rents.

After a Tory cabinet minister suggested Albertans chilled by high heating bills put on warm sweaters, Mason and Pannu sat in the legislature during question period and knitted.

When former premier Ralph Klein declined to debate health-care privatization in the 2004 election campaign, saying it was too complicated, Mason came out with a pamphlet entitled “Health Care for Dummies.”

He said his party prides itself on being ahead of the curve — it called for oil royalty increases back in the 2004 campaign. The idea was roundly derided at the time, but in 2007 the Tories announced even more drastic hikes.





SEE

Careful Of What You Ask For



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Thursday, February 07, 2008

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.


The image “http://www.albertandp.ca/images/template2008/billboard_08-01-26_BrianMasonQuote01.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.


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Wednesday, February 06, 2008

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?

The image “http://www.albertandp.ca/images/template2008/billboard_08-01-26_BrianMasonQuote01.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.


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