Taft says he won't make a hasty exit
That's why it's called the bums rush......
but there will be an automatic leadership review in six to eight months.
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Election forums becoming a rare event in AlbertaCBC.ca
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.
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.”
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.
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
a good assumption is many Albertans will simply cling to the Tory brand unless the actual Xs on the big day show something different. It's the brand. It has nothing to do with political philosophy. We have seen billions in boondoggles, an attitude of denial causing a building backlog you feel everyday you get out of bed. We've seen cutting and spending and behaviour that would be a firing offence elsewhere. We've smelled the stench of scandal and been served up arrogance as aggravating as anything Ottawa dishes out.
The key to election-night victory could be the support of the large segment of undecided voters, said Lois Harder, who teaches political science at the University of Alberta. "The issue in a province with a long political dynasty and a healthy economy is whether people are going to be motivated to vote."
The Tory leader found a more welcoming crowd during coffee shop meet-and-greets in Wetaskiwin and Calmar. But when his bus pulled into Drayton Valley for a chat to about 100 townsfolk at the 55+ Recreation Centre, he faced some tough questions from oil and gas workers upset with his royalty plan.
Ken Cameron, a 52-year-old co-owner of an oil and gas services company, told Stelmach that industry workers have been crippled by the soaring Canadian dollar and Ottawa's decision to tax income trusts. But "the final nail in the coffin" has been Stelmach's new royalty framework.
"I think the premier and (Energy Minister) Mel Knight are totally out of touch with conventional oil and gas," said Cameron.
Stelmach has vowed to review his royalty plan to ensure there's no "unintended consequences" for smaller oil and gas companies.
The review had better produce some major changes or Stelmach's lost another vote, this one from Dave Humphreys, a 42-year-old vice-president of an oil and gas company who also pressed the Tory leader on the issue.
"I'm very worried about the economic impact on the community," Dave Humphreys, vice-president of an oil and gas firm, told Stelmach. "It's going to have a terrible rippling effect."
The rough receptions in Red Deer and Drayton Valley only add to what's already been a rocky start to Stelmach's first election campaign as premier, suggested Peter McCormick, political scientist at the University of Lethbridge.
"This is the part of the campaign that should be on auto pilot," McCormick said.
"This was well set up to be a triumphant campaign, but it just isn't working."
CALGARY/AM770CHQR - The first poll of the provincial election campaign finds the conservatives are off to a good start and the opposition are yet to find traction.And Ed Stelmach's own poll numbers are even less than any other Tory leader, less than even the much maligned Don Getty.
Environics did a telephone survey February 1-4.
The Progressive Conservatives have the support of 52 per cent of decided voters across the province.
The Alberta Liberals come in at 25 per cent, the NDP ten per cent, the Green Party 7 per cent and the Wildrose Alliance 6 per cent.
19 per cent of respondants are undecided or chose not to answer the question.
Older and more affluent voters tend to back the tories while the liberals are more popular with younger voters and students.
The tories also have 48 per cent support in Calgary while the liberals are at 29 per cent.
It's not much different in Edmonton but in the rest of the province the tories jump to 57 per cent and the liberals drop to 19 per cent.
That's what happens when a central campaign starts to fly off the rails. Ed's might be heading for a dry gulch even deeper than the one former Premier Don Getty's campaign crashed into in 1989. Like Stelmach, Getty made a string of money promises which he could not explain. They were deeply flawed as policy and made voters worry about debt.
Also, like Stelmach, Getty had no discernible vision for the province beyond providing something expensive to every group that might be upset.It's all eerily familiar to veterans of that bizarre 1989 campaign.
Don Getty lost his own Edmonton Whitemud riding. Later he limped to a byelection victory in Stettler, and governed listlessly until his party ran him out of the leadership in 1992.
tagsA January opinion poll showed 28.5 per cent of Albertans think Stelmach would make the best premier, well in front of nearest rival, Liberal Leader Kevin Taft.
For some critics, the weakness in the polls is enough to compare Stelmach to Harry Strom, who was the leader of the Social Credit government when its 36-year dynasty was snuffed out by Peter Lougheed's Progressive Conservatives in 1971.
McCormick said there are some comparisons to be made -- Strom was a decent man in charge of a low-key government that was more progressive than it's remembered today.
"He just couldn't project it," McCormick said. "Where Stelmach is really lucky is, although he reminds us of Harry Strom, Kevin Taft doesn't remind us at all of Peter Lougheed."
Liberal Leader Kevin Taft reiterated today his pledge for "an absolute cap on greenhouse gas emissions from all sources" within five years of becoming Alberta premier as part of a plan to control oilsands expansions, offer subsidies for carbon sequestration and bar new coal-power plants that don't use the cleanest technologies.The Liberal leader did not provide specifics on where emission targets would be set, but said he would work with industry to establish caps.
Liberal Leader Kevin Taft promised today to give the natural gas sector a break on royalties amid its current struggles, but squeeze more from the oilsands to rebalance Albertans' fair share of energy riches.But he admitted he doesn't know how to tweak the rates Ed Stelmach's Conservatives have already announced, saying only that the Liberal goal is to somehow reap 20 per cent more from royalties.
One prominent environmentalist said she likes that the Liberals were planning quicker short-term steps than the Tories, but contended their agenda was "empty" on detail."They're all great statements, but you have got to outline some steps on how you're going to achieve (the reductions)," the Sierra Club's Lindsay Telfer said.
Yeah no need to have plan now, wait till we are the government then we will plan. Wait a minute I have heard that before.
And like the Tories they are good at recycling, announcements that are not much different than those announced by the Tories. And like the Tories they are calculator challenged when it comes to costing their promises.
And they also don't follow their own play book when making election announcements.Taft explained a plan his deputy leader Dave Taylor first released in October.
The Liberals would temporarily cap rent increases until new housing units get built, hire a provincial housing director to co-ordinate various cities' 10-year homelessness plans, and boost outreach services.
Taylor said the plan would likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but couldn't say exactly how much.
Like the mayors of Edmonton, Calgary and Red Deer, Ed Stelmach's Conservatives have also pledged to end homelessness in 10 years.
Liberal Leader Kevin Taft envisioned a day when school closures were banned forever in Alberta - but then he was reminded his party plan is for only a three-year moratorium.
A few hours after announcing a plan for an "indefinite" halt today, Taft was forced to modify his proclamation, because his Liberal policy book promises the more temporary suspension on school closures.
Yep Liberals Tories same old story.
He may say he favours hard caps on greenhouse gasses, but Liberal Leader Kevin Taft and his party voted against motions to that effect when the subject came up in the legislature.
On April 10, 2007, members of the Liberal caucus voted against an NDP motion in favour of Kyoto- compliant hard caps on green house gas reductions. Liberal environment critic David Swann spoke against the motion.
“This highlights exactly what we have been saying about the Liberals and Conservatives in this campaign,” said Mason. “They talk a good game when they want your votes, but when push comes to shove – they support their financial backers in big oil and other large polluters.”
Mason also slammed the Liberals for continuing to call for an end to home heating rebates, noting that the Liberals want to take rebates away from families while subsidizing big oil for carbon capture projects.
“Alberta families will suffer,” said Mason. “The Liberal plan will particularly hurt tenants who pay their own heating bill, but live in homes that have not been retrofitted.”
“Kevin Taft’s ideas are not practical for average families. They simply don’t reflect the reality of the struggles Albertans go through to make ends meet.”
“The Liberals, like the Conservatives, put the needs of big oil over regular Albertans.”
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.
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.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.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.
Greenhouse gas levels will climb for 12 years
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.
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.
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.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.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.
Tories, Liberals address social issuesEdmonton Journal
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.
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.
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?
Alberta is signing a $2.1-billion cheque to avert a province-wide teacher strike.The Alberta government announced Thursday it will assume the $2.1 billion teachers' portion of their unfunded pension liability. In return teachers' associations across the province must pledge five years of labour peace.Since it was created in the 1930s, the teachers' pension fund has been underfunded by both the government and the ATA. The liability currently totals $7.1 billion, including $6.4 billion up to 1992 -- when both sides agreed to increase their contributions -- as well as $700 million since then.
If they accept the deal, teachers will stop paying pension liability contributions -- 3.1 per cent of their salaries this year. The deal would save teachers roughly $2,000 a year that has been deducted from their paycheques for years to help cover the pension liability.
They will also each get a $1,500 lump-sum payment and a yearly raise tied to the average weekly earnings index, which is also used to calculate MLA salaries.
The deal came with two months left to prevent province-wide walkouts. If ratified by the 62 affected union locals by Jan. 1, 2008, it will give teachers a 3% raise this year and assume their payments for the fund beginning this year, bringing the immediate salary increase to 6.1%.
Additionally, teachers are limited under the Education Act to working no more than 200 days per year.
If school boards and teachers' ratify the deal, it will eliminate any possibility of strikes or lockouts until September 2012.Alberta Teachers' Association president Frank Bruseker called the agreement one of the highlights of his career. He pledged to do everything he can to ensure it's ratified at the board level.
Shannon McElroy, president of the Edmonton Catholic teachers' local of the ATA, also praised the pact. "From my perspective as a local president it's unprecedented, historically, that we would reach a deal ... of this magnitude on so many issues," McElroy said. "I'm not seeing any downside to this."
The winners are the teachers and school boards. The province has got province wide bargaining that they always wanted but now they have to foot the bill. Be careful of what you wish for. This frees up school boards to use provincial funding for public education instead of teacher salaries.
But don't think that it means that teachers will vote Tory. On the other hand it does mean the Alberta Liberals have just been screwed.
But the losers are the Alberta Liberals - who in times past acted like they were the political arm of the ATA. "In raw political terms," Liberal finance critic Rick Miller gulped, "this means our policy platform just got a page shorter."
And you just can't satisfy some folks.
But the Canadian Taxpayers Federation was scathing in its reaction to the deal, criticizing Stelmach for selling out taxpayers.
"Premier Stelmach has offered teachers $2.1 billion of taxpayers' money in exchange for them not going on strike during the upcoming provincial election," Scott Hennig, the group's Alberta director, said in a news release.The federation calculated the deal will cost each Albertan $600, and called on the government to hold a plebiscite before signing any new agreement.
"Teachers are getting their debt paid off 52 years early and all taxpayers get is a lousy five years of no strikes."
$600 bucks for five years of labour peace. Priceless.
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Brian Mason and the NDP have been complaining about lack of press coverage they get in the pages of the Edmonton Journal. When days before Farmer Ed went on TV, Liberal leader Kevin Taft finally came out, five weeks after the royalty report was issued, to say he supported the royalty review recommendations. It made front page news in the Journal, and he was given an approving pat on the head in the papers editorial. Some party members have asked about the extensive coverage the Alberta Liberals have been receiving in the Edmonton Journal. This has been the case for several years, and with an election approaching, it will likely only get worse. The Journal is entitled to support the Alberta Liberals editorially, but unfortunately, its news coverage is often biased in their favour. This relates not only to the content of articles, but also to placement of stories, headlines, and photos.
Last week's coverage of the Liberal's position regarding royalties is a good example. The Liberals waited nearly 5 weeks before taking any position on the Royalty Task Force report, and then issued only the vaguest support for increasing royalties. In the Journal, this warranted a front page story and an editorial praising Kevin Taft for helping to "define the issue". In the meantime, Brian Mason and the NDP caucus have worked tirelessly to raise awareness on royalties and to fight for a better deal. Kevin Taft failed to provide leadership on this issue when it counted - but this does not deter the Edmonton Journal.
I want to be clear that this problem does not extend to other media outlets. It is unique to the Edmonton Journal. The Sun newspapers and the Calgary Herald have conservative editorial perspectives, but this doesn't usually affect their news coverage. Television and radio outlets also give generally fair coverage.
I would like to encourage our members and supporters to be aware of this problem, and to consider challenging biased coverage when they see it. The best way to do this is to write letters to the editor when you see unfair news coverage. You can write to the Journal at letters@thejournal.canwest.com. You may also wish to consult other media sources in order to get a more complete picture of politics in Alberta.
Thank you.
Sandra Houston,
Provincial Secretary
Which was not the real news story as even Right Wing Edmonton Sun Columnist Neil Waugh noted in his column;
Conservatives' actions regarding royalties criminal: Taft
... EDMONTON - The Conservatives' lack of accountability on oil and gas royalties verges on criminal behaviour, Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft charged.
Then he hilariously got out stick-handled by Brian Mason's tiny NDP caucus who asked for - and got - an emergency debate on resource royalties.
In supporting the NDP motion for an emergency debate on royalties, government members were embracing the old adage that the enemy of my enemy is my friend and so were happy to see the NDP go at the Liberals like two scorpions in a bottle and leave the government relatively unmolested.Or compare these two stories on the Premiers charge that the NDP wanted to bring back the dreaded NEP. Of course it is a favorite tactic of the Government to cry NEP when wanting to inflame their supporters. Of course the charge didn't stick but you wouldn't know it from the Journal article.
It is much easier for the NDP to take a black and white stand on royalties than the Liberals.The NDP doesn't have any chance of forming government and therefore doesn't have to worry about implementing its policies. Its ambition begins and ends at replacing the Liberals as official opposition.
It's an understandable strategy, one leader Brian Mason has been playing for months. And it's one he'll continue to play all through the fall session.
Edmonton Journal
Premier Ed Stelmach compared an oil and gas production tax to the much maligned national energy program today in the legislature.Such a tax was one of the key recommendations of the province's royalty task force that delivered its report in September.
In question period, NDP Leader Brian Mason pressed Stelmach as to why he didn't adopt it and panel's other recommendations. Stelmach said it would cripple the province's economy.
"He wants a production tax, which goes back to the old strategy ... that drove Albertans out of the province, created a situation that people actually couldn't pay off their mortgages, had to leave, businesses went broke," Stelmach said.
"We're not going back to that kind of model of collecting royalties."
It was the second straight day opposition leaders went after Stelmach over royalties.
The Alberta Liberals demanded to see energy department documents from previous royalty reviews. So far, the government has kept most of those documents from the public.
Stelmach didn't answer the question directly. Instead, he talked about his government's record since he became premier last year.
Taft also asked Stelmach to explain why his governments refused to raise royalties until this year, despite warnings from the energy department that they were missing their internal targets.
"We take advice, obviously, from others," Stelmach said.
"But at the end of the day in this government the decisions are made by government, not listening to advice that may come from bureaucracies."
Edmonton SunPremier Ed Stelmach compared a key recommendation of his own royalty task force to the dreaded national energy program yesterday.
He also said the government overruled calls from experts for higher royalties from the energy sector because it got better advice from Tory politicians.
After ignoring repeated demands from the opposition to table all documents related to proposed energy royalty increases in the house, Stelmach suggested his government couldn't have followed through on an independent panel's recommendation that it charge a surtax on products from the oilsands.
"He's supporting the panel in its entirety," Stelmach said of a question from NDP Leader Brian Mason on why Alberta receives less oil royalties than nearly every other jurisdiction on earth.
"He wants a production tax, which goes back to the old, old strategy the former party from Ottawa imposed in Alberta, that drove Albertans out of the province and created a situation where people actually couldn't pay off their mortgages, had to leave. Businesses went broke. We're not going back to that kind of model for collecting royalties."Mason was incredulous, noting that the independent task force was appointed by Stelmach's own government.
"Mr. Speaker, I just heard the premier compare the royalty task force to the Trudeau government's national energy program.
"So my question is, if they came up with something that's equivalent to the national energy program, Mr. Premier, why did you appoint those individuals?"
Stelmach didn't answer, instead suggesting the NDP can't both support the report and criticize it.
Another One Bites the Dust...
Edmonton Journal veteran Larry Johnsrude is leaving journalism for redder pastures -- to join the staff of the Alberta Liberals.
He's the third high profile Alberta journalist to make the jump to politics this year. In January, Paul Stanway of the Edmonton Sun and Tom Olsen of the Calgary Herald joined Premier Ed Stelmach's office as senior flacks.
Here's the letter Johnsrude wrote to his colleagues at The Journal
Hi all,
With mixed emotions I would like to announce I have accepted the position of Director of Communications for the Alberta Liberal Caucus. It wasn't something I was seeking but was an opportunity that presented itself and I felt I couldn't turn it down. Over the past 11 years with The Journal, I have enjoyed working with all of you. I admire your professionalism and journalistic integrity. Journalism has been good to me, but I feel this is an opportunity to acquire a new set of skills and embark on a new profession.
Best wishes to all.
Larry Johnsrude
Johnsrude was the web-site editor for the Journal. He used to do a political blog
I've got a new blog address: MY NEW BLOG ADDRESS
It uses new software that allows for posting photos, video, links and room for feedack — all the bells and whistles.
The blog address this one appears on will remain online as an archive of my pre-April 24 postings. But anything posted since then will be at my new blog address.Not Found: Forum Not Found
The forum you requested does not exist.
The Journal quickly turned on Bill Hawrelak when he decided to run again in the Sixties after he was found to have been in a conflict of interest. They ran a concerted campaign against him ,including front page editorial telling voters not to vote for him, but he won anyways.
In Edmonton, just as the Journal pandered shamelessly to William Hawrelak's Citizens' Committee during the 1950s, it again shilled patently for the new age progressivism of the city's brie elites in the 1990s. According to Lorimer, "Given the situation in which the mass media operate, however, it is unlikely that there can be any dramatic change in the way they inform people about city politics."(f.42) With little budget for sustained investigative reportage, and with so little real, long-term news of significance to break, the press gallery appears to fear becoming as marginalized on the news pages as the councils they cover. One remedy has been to transcend "objective" reporting and to editorialize within the guise of covering the story.
