Edmonton Strarthcona PC Candidate MIA

Meet another PC candidate who is internet challenged. Unlike his boss though this guy is a member of the net generation.

T. J. Keil is Ed's boy in Edmonton Strathcona.TJ to his friends. But he doesn't have much of a campaign or a hope in hell of winning . The PC's have given up on Edmonton Strathcona leaving it for the NDP to retain.

Not for signs or literature would I have known who this guy was, Nor do I find out much from his sparse web page.

T.J. enjoys many different sports, traveling, and participating in journalism and broadcasting.

For instance we find that this is on the candidates itinerary page;

T.J.'s upcoming appearances
Coming soon.

And then we find he has no events planned, half way through the election......

Events

This page will soon hold information about T.J.'s campaign events in the Edmonton-Strathcona area.

And it only gets worse..... being one of those hip internet savvy politicians T.J. has his own blog....not....

Click....oops....

Forbidden

You don't have permission to access /blog/ on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

---

Apache/2.2.8 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.8 OpenSSL/0.9.8b mod_auth_passthrough/2.1 mod_bwlimited/1.4 FrontPage/5.0.2.2635 Server at www.tjkeil.com Port 80

Instead I have to visit his Facebook page to find out anything about him. Like last year he worked on one of the campaigns for one of the unnamed, unsuccessful candidates for Ralph's job.

T.J. was an active volunteer in the 2006 Leadership Campaign, organizing membership and campaign data and worked on the get-out-the-vote strategy.

And that he really, really, wants to represent us in Edmonton Strathcona.

T.J. has decided, after being involved in politics for most of his teen and young adult life, to throw his hat into the political ring. “This is something I really want to do right now”, he says. “It would be an honour to represent Edmonton-Strathcona as a Member of the Legislative Assembly.”

Not likely TJ.

Can you say parachute candidate....

Tory candidate drops out

Notley's chances grew Sunday with news that the Tories' candidate in Edmonton-Strathcona has dropped out, leaving the party scrambling to fill the slot.

Hughena Gagne, a staffer in Finance Minister Lyle Oberg's office, had been nominated. "She just didn't want to run," a senior Tory campaigner said. The party expects to replace the candidate later this week.

Yep the PC's have abandoned Edmonton Strathcona to the NDP.


nd blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Alberta election, NDP,
Facebook TJ Keil,
election,Edmonton Strathcona, Rachel Notley, politics, Conservatives,blog, politics,

Ed Gets No Love

I am surprised more folks have not picked up on this earthshaking political shift. Ralph Klein's Brain supporting a Liberal.

The Scud Stud can't get no Love.

Rod Love, the one-time top adviser to former Conservative premier Ralph Klein, remarked Tuesday on a CBC radio show that in the current provincial election campaign, he is endorsing the Liberal candidate in his home riding of Calgary Currie.

That's the same riding where the Tories are running quasi-celebrity Arthur Kent, a former NBC reporter who earned his nickname for his good looks and unfazed live coverage of Scud missile attacks during the Persian Gulf War.

Liberal candidate Dave Taylor welcomed the endorsement, though he acknowledged Love is probably still firmly entrenched in the Alberta Tory camp.

In Alberta, well at least Calgary, you can't tell the difference between the Liberals and Tories. After all Ralph Klein was Liberal for a while. And Lougheed built the PC's on an alliance with Calgary Liberals and Socreds.

And no sooner had loose lips sunk Ed's ship Love recanted. Of course there is no love lost between Ed and Ralph. Which may have been why Love blurted out his preference. A little bit of the old stab in the back.

Rod Love, one of Alberta's most well-known Conservative backroom strategists, wants everyone to know that he hasn't gone "to the dark side" to support the Alberta Liberals.

Love took to the airwaves Wednesday to correct earlier reports that he was endorsing Liberal incumbent Dave Taylor in the March 3 provincial election.

On a radio panel Tuesday, the one-time top adviser to former Conservative premier Ralph Klein had conceded that Taylor has been a "very good" elected representative in Calgary Currie, where Love lives.

But he says his support still lies with the Conservative candidate, former reporter Arthur Kent, who earned the nickname Scud Stud for his good looks and unfazed live coverage of missile attacks during the Persian Gulf War.

Love told The Rutherford Show on CHQR radio that he'd no sooner support the Liberals than cheer for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Taylor, meanwhile, says he represents all his constituents regardless of how they voted in the last election and is pleased that Love is happy with the job he's done.

It seems that Conservatives across North America lately suffer from Flip Flop.

“I woke up this morning to find out that I had gone to the dark side.”

-- Rod Love, long-time Alberta Tory operative, on Wednesday responding to a Calgary Sun story he had endorsed Liberal candidate Dave Taylor. Mr. Love told Calgary radio host Dave Rutherford the “torqued” story arose from a radio interview he gave on Tuesday. Mr. Love said he told the CBC that he lived in Mr. Taylor’s riding of Calgary Currie and he was a competent MLA.

And once the cat is out of the bag well its hard to spin it as yuck,yuck just kidding. Nope this key political strategist and back room boy did not misspeak, he said exactly what he wanted to get out there. The old Klein gang is not happy with Mr. Ed. Haven't been since he lost Ralph's seat in a by-election.


tags
Rod Love, Alberta, Ralph Klein's Brain, Arthur Kent,
Calgary,PC, Calgary Currie/a>, Conservatives,Liberals, Dave Taylor, Alberta election,

Socialist Alberta

As I posted here earlier one wag complaining about the idea of increasing oil royalties in Alberta, called the province socialist. Another referred to us as becoming like Venezuela, which is far more democratic, and one clever fellow called us Albertastan.

How right they were. But not for the reasons they think. In a series of articles this week in the Edmonton Journal they exposed the number of card carrying PC appartachiks who dominate government appointments to public boards.

This of course is a well known fact of the nudge, nudge, wink, wink variety.

The Conservatives have drawn criticism in the past over blatant patronage appointments, but The Journal probe, which analyzed the composition of 100 government agencies, boards and commissions, reveals just how far the party's influence reaches into the everyday lives of Albertans.

It shows that the province's most influential boards are loaded with Tories -- constituency executives, former candidates or key members of the party's powerful provincial executive.

Keith Brownsey, who teaches political science at Calgary's Mount Royal College, is not impressed.

"The party has become the province, and it's a real slap in the face of democracy. It demonstrates that if people want to be appointed to these boards they have to become a card-carrying Conservative," he says

The party has become the state and the state is the province. Hmm, I have heard that before, oh yeah Trotsky said something like that when he was a Menshivik criticizing the Bolsheviks. The party substitutes itself for the people and the leader substitutes himself for the party.

The most prescient critique of Lenin's style and methods was contained in Trotsky's 1904 pamphlet, "Our Political Tasks":

"Lenin's methods lead to this: the party organisation at first substitutes itself for the party as a whole; then the Central Committee substitutes itself for the organisation; and finally a single 'dictator' substitutes himself for the Central Committee."

Which is what of course happened in Alberta with the cult of the great leader. As I have said before the difference between Stalin and Klein was the mustache metaphorically speaking.

His current stand in Farmer Ed is attempting to pull a Gorbachev by claiming to create a more open state, perestroika Alberta style. Of course its all for show.

Of course Alberta isn't a police state, the state doesn't spy on its citizens who democratically protest its policies for being in bed with big oil interests.Nope that would never happen here.

And once having allowed democratic elections for health boards the state would not overturn those elections because the folks elected weren't Tories. Nope and they wouldn't then fire those elected officials to replace them with party hacks.

And of course unlike other one party states Alberta would never come up with a five year plan, even if it knew it was a failure. Nope no comparison with that and the provinces insistence on P3's.

And the party hacks and political commissars would never engage in historical revisionism claiming that the conservative party and its ideology was the natural ruling ideology of all the people in the province, anyone else who thinks or votes differently of course is not a real Albertan.

Nope none of those nasty aspects of the one party state happen here. Because of course this is a conservative one party state. Wait a minute there have been plenty of them too. Of course the right wing always calls them socialist too.

Here is a list of the the party apparatchiks in government. The Tories are the Government, and the government is the Party. Just like back in the good old USSR.

SOME PROMINENT TORIES WITH MULTIPLE APPOINTMENTS

- Audrey Luft, organizer of 2007 Alberta PC annual convention: Alberta Foundation for the Arts (chair), NAIT, Alberta Economic Development Authority

- Doug Goss, Edmonton co-chair of Tories' next election campaign: Capital Health, Alberta Economic Development Authority

- Wayne Jacques, former Conservative MLA: Peace Country Health Region, Transportation Safety Board, Law Enforcement Review Board

- Alf Savage, former PC president: Auto Insurance Rate Board (chair), Municipal Government Board

- Wendy Kinsella, losing Edmonton PC candidate in 2001: NorQuest College (chair), Capital Health (vice-chair)

- Marvin Moore, former PC campaign manager and cabinet minister: Peace Country Health (chair), Agriculture Marketing Products Council Appeal Tribunal

- Dale Johnson, president of Whitecourt-Ste. Anne PC association: Aspen Health, Credit Counselling Services of Alberta

- Robert Seidel, lawyer to former treasurer Stockwell Day: Grant MacEwan College, Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research

- Skip McDonald, former president of Klein's PC constituency association: Calgary Health, ATB Financial

Some appointments provide an honorarium while others pay expenses. For health authorities, it's between $134 and $350 per day for members, based on hours worked, and up to $492 daily for chairs. On the Peace Country Health board, Moore earned $42,000 in 2005-06, while most others members earned around $15,000, including additional allowances and benefits. At Capital Health, chair Neil Wilkinson -- an admitted fan of former premier Ralph Klein, under whom he was first selected -- earned $79,000 for 2005-06, the last year for which figures are available.

SOURCE: Alberta Government

- - -

A TORY TOP 40

The Journal has examined 100 Alberta agencies, boards and commissions and compared the names of the people appointed to serve on the boards to a recent membership list of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Association.

Here are the top 40 boards with the highest percentages of card-carrying Conservatives serving on them.

Health boards and regions

- Peace Country Health Region:

13 Tories / 13-member board

- East Central Health:

9 Tories / 12-member board

- Capital Health:

8 Tories / 14-member board

- Calgary Health:

7 Tories / 13-member board

- Aspen Health Region:

11 Tories / 14-member board

- David Thompson Health:

11 Tories / 15-member board

- Chinook Health:

7 Tories / 12-member board

- Northern Lights Health:

7 Tories / 12-member board

- Palliser Health Region:

7 Tories / 13-member board

- Alberta Cancer Board:

5 Tories / 10-member board

- Health Quality Council:

4 Tories / 8-member board

- Public Health Appeal Board:

2 Tories / 4-member board

- Health Facilities Review Board:

8 Tories / 12-member board

Post-secondary Institutions

- Northern Alberta Institute of Technology:

8 Tories / 12-member board

- Portage College:

5 Tories / 7-member board

- Lethbridge College:

4 Tories / 7-member board

- Athabasca University:

6 Tories / 11-member board

- Red Deer College:

3 Tories / 6-member board

- Mount Royal College:

5 Tories / 10-member board

financial

- ATB Financial:

9 Tories / 13-member board

- Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corp.:

4 Tories / 8-member board

addictions and disabilities

- Premier's Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities:

5 Tories / 8-member board

- Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission:

7 Tories / 10-member board

- Crystal Meth Task Force:

7 Tories / 12-member board

- Northwest Alberta Persons with Developmental Disabilities:

6 Tories / 7-member board

Agriculture

- Alberta Grain Commission:

8 Tories / 11-member board

- Agriculture Products Marketing Council:

7 Tories / 11-member board

- Alberta Agriculture Research Institute:

4 Tories / 7-member board

Other

- Seniors Advisory Council:

8 Tories / 10-member board

- Northern Alberta Development Council:

9 Tories / 10-member board

- Worker's Compensation Board:

3 Tories / 4-member board

- Alberta Foundation of the Arts:

6 Tories / 10-member board

- Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission:

6 Tories / 7-member board

- Alberta Economic Development Authority:

29 Tories / 60-member board

- Alberta Order of Excellence Council:

6 Tories / 6-member board

- Social Care Facilities Review Commission:

7 Tories / 11-member board

- Alberta Science and Research Authority:

9 Tories / 19-member board

- Northeast PDD Board:

5 Tories / 7-member board

- Alberta Fatality Review Board:

3 Tories / 3-member board

- Rural Alberta's Development Fund:

6 Tories / 12-member board

For more on who runs Alberta

SEE:

Alberta Business Back PC Candidates

Vencap

Alberta State Capitalism

posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Alberta, Premier,
Alberta Cabinet, Harry Strom, Ed Stelmach,
Social Credit,Socreds, PC, Calgary, Party of Calgary, politics, leadership, Conservatives, Edmonton, One Party State,PC,
Alberta, Liberals, MLA, Taft,

Vote Conservative...Or Else

More Historical Revisionism with a dash of threat. Love it or Leave It. And vote Conservative or else. According to Craig Chandler, who is running to be the Alberta PC Candidate for MLA in Calgary Egmont.

"To those of you who have come to our great land from out of province, you need to remember that you came here to our home and we vote conservative. You came here to enjoy our economy, our natural beauty and more. This is our home and if you wish to live here, you must adapt to our rules and our voting patterns, or leave. Conservatism is our culture. Do not destroy what we have created."

The graphic from his web page its entitled "Wanna Fight."

I guess he can be forgiven for not knowing that Alberta was home to the founding convention of the socialist CCF, the radical industrial syndicalist union the OBU, and the original farmers workers government the UFA, it was the origin of socialized medicine in Canada, even before Tommy Douglas. Even the right wing Social Credit party was result of left wing farmer worker discontent in Alberta.Like the rest of the Conservative historical revisionists in Alberta Chandler forgets that Alberta politics were based on populism and producerism.

Like those he threatens Craig is not originally from Alberta.

Chandler moved to Alberta, and ran in the 1997 provincial election as a candidate for the Social Credit Party of Alberta, led at that time by future Alberta Alliance party leader Randy Thorsteinson. Chandler ran in the riding of Calgary West, finishing with 1,100 votes, or 7.5% of the electorate. He later rejoined the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and endorsed United Alternative candidate Brian Pallister in the party's 1998 Progressive Conservative leadership convention.

Nor is the right wing political business lobby front group he represents.

The Progressive Group for Independent Business (PGIB) was founded in 1992, in Burlington Ontario as a voice for small 'c' conservative business owners and individuals who were rapidly becoming economic refugees in their own country.

And he is proudly paleo-conservative. Which is how he makes his money. Through setting up political front groups. Which he then services. All very Republican.

Craig Chandler is chief executive officer of Concerned Christians Canada Inc., and a former pro-merger leadership candidate for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

You will remember him from the Conservative Party leadership Convention.

In 2003, Chandler took out a membership in the Progressive Conservative Party in order to run in that party's 2003 leadership race. He ran on a platform of creating a coalition between the PC and Alliance party caucuses. He withdrew prior to voting in order to endorse the only other candidate that was open to tangible cooperation on the right, Calgary lawyer Jim Prentice.

The night before the PC leadership convention, Chandler delivered a platform that the Canadian Press described as homophobic, fundamentalist and "neoconservative to the bone." James Muldoon, a fundraiser for front runner Peter MacKay, described Chandler as "the true black face of neoconservatism. He could live to be 100 and he'll never know the meaning of, I am my brother's keeper." Chandler's statements were called "bitter and resentful" by MacKay, whom Chandler criticized for supporting of the passage of Criminal Code of Canada amendment Bill C-250 that added homosexuals to the list of groups protected by hate crimes legislation. Chandler suggested that the amendment would lead to the banning of the Bible and other religious texts in schools and public libraries. Chandler complimented Tory MP Elsie Wayne on her "honest statements" about homosexuals, suggesting that no one has to apologize for having an opinion, even if it is not politically correct. This section of his twenty minute speech was booed by many delegates.

And his political campaign against gays and lesbians resulted in this.

Edmontonian Rob Wells was pleased when the Canadian Human Rights Commission investigated his complaint against Craig Chandler, a Calgary-based “family values” activist. But Wells is not impressed with the actions the federal body is taking to remedy the situation.

Wells had alleged that three websites linked to Chandler—freetospeak.ca, concernedchristians.ca and freedomradionetwork.ca—contained material that is “likely to expose persons of an identifiable group to hatred or contempt.”

The Canadian Human Rights Commission’s investigation, received by the complainant in early July, agreed with Wells.

Canadian broadcast standards council

PRAIRIE regional panel

Decided January 9, 2007

CBSC File # 05/06-1959 – Complaint regarding a Freedom Radio Network program which was broadcast at 6:30 pm on Saturday, July 29, 2006 on AM 1140 Radio Station CHRB from High River, Alberta.

Freedom Radio Network is a talk show broadcast on CHRB-AM (High River) on Saturday evenings. The program’s website declares that the program is produced by people who are “freedom fighters for family values” and “socially conservative”. It is hosted by Craig Chandler and, on July 29, 2006, was co-hosted by Stephen Chapman

the decision

The Prairie Regional Panel examined the complaint under the following provisions of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) Code of Ethics:

CAB Code of Ethics, Clause 2 – Human Rights

Recognizing that every person has the right to full and equal recognition and to enjoy certain fundamental rights and freedoms, broadcasters shall ensure that their programming contains no abusive or unduly discriminatory material or comment which is based on matters of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status or physical or mental disability.

CAB Code of Ethics, Clause 6 – Full, Fair and Proper Presentation

It is recognized that the full, fair and proper presentation of news, opinion, comment and editorial is the prime and fundamental responsibility of each broadcaster. This principle shall apply to all radio and television programming, whether it relates to news, public affairs, magazine, talk, call-in, interview or other broadcasting formats in which news, opinion, comment or editorial may be expressed by broadcaster employees, their invited guests or callers.

CAB Code of Ethics, Clause 7 – Controversial Public Issues

Recognizing in a democracy the necessity of presenting all sides of a public issue, it shall be the responsibility of broadcasters to treat fairly all subjects of a controversial nature. Time shall be allotted with due regard to all the other elements of balanced program schedules, and the degree of public interest in the questions presented. Recognizing that healthy controversy is essential to the maintenance of democratic institutions, broadcasters will endeavour to encourage the presentation of news and opinion on any controversy which contains an element of the public interest.

The Prairie Regional Panel Adjudicators reviewed all of the correspondence and listened to a recording of the challenged episode. The Panel concludes that the broadcast was in violation of Clauses 6 and 7 but not Clause 2.

The Panel does not find that the co-hosts fared as well in terms of Clauses 6 and 7 of the Code. To begin, essentially all of the half hour was consumed with a one-sided attack on the complainant, who was a private, not a public, individual. This constituted, in and of itself, an unanswered application of the powerful microphone which broadcasters are licensed to use for the purposes laid down in the Broadcasting Act. This opportunity creates a disparity of power between the person(s) on the transmitting side of the microphone and those on the receiving end of the radio waves. There is, therefore, a need for those whose transmissions are to all extent untrammelled to exercise their licensed authority with a particular appreciation of the responsibility that that privilege bestows upon them. In the view of the Panel, the co-hosts exceeded reasonable bounds in this episode.

Among other things, they distorted the nature of the acts of the complainant in a serious way. They said that they had been accused of a “hate crime”.

The Panel considers that the cumulative effect of the comments discussed in the previous paragraphs of this section constitutes a breach of the obligation of broadcasters to present opinion, comment and editorial matter fully, fairly and properly, as required by Clause 6 of the CAB Code of Ethics.

The Panel is also mindful of the not unrelated obligation established in Clause 7 to treat fairly all subjects of a controversial nature. In this respect, it also finds the broadcaster in breach. Not only has Freedom Radio stacked the odds against the complainant by directing virtually the entire half hour against the complainant, it has boasted that it will not only sue him and take the matter to the Supreme Court if necessary (which is their right to do), but it will not pay any fines that may be levied (in apparent disregard of the anticipated order of the duly constituted judicial authorities). It is rather arrogant to state baldly that “We won’t pay those.” The Panel considers the judicial assertions unfair and an example of electronic bullying, which is precisely the opposite of what is anticipated by the requirement of fairness in Clause 7.

Appendix A

Appendix B

After failing to lead the Conservative Party, he went back to being a third party lobbyist in the 2004 Federal Election.

Craig Chandler, chief executive officer of Concerned Christians Canada, says some of his membership are worried there won’t be any surprises behind the curtain should the Conservatives get elected.

“I’m getting lots of calls from people thinking Stephen might be abandoning them for the sake of appearing moderate,” said Chandler, who says he has faith in the Conservative leader. “I’m hearing from some people who are not going to vote. What I’m trying to tell them is that’s crazy. We’ve never been this close to getting rid of the Liberals.”

While Harper, by all accounts, doesn’t rank social issues at the top of his agenda – “He’s never ever given two hoots about social issues,” says REAL Women’s Gwen Landolt – groups like Chander’s and Landolt’s believe he will have to listen to his caucus. And their goal is to get MPs who share their beliefs elected.

“Harper is busy distancing himself from social issues, but who is in his caucus? They can put pressure on him. We have to get them in,” says Landolt, who stresses there are candidates they support in all three main parties. “Individual MPs carry more weight. He’ll have to listen to them.”

Chandler says he’s been stressing to his organization that this is an election, and that their best opportunity to influence the party’s direction will come at the policy convention.

“I tell them to get involved, become delegates and then we can make a difference,” he says. “There will be huge pressure from social conservatives at the policy convention.

“We have to stick to the game plan. It’s all in the follow through.”

Ever the political opportunist he supported the creation of the Alberta Alliance.

Alberta Alliance Party leadership election, 2005

David Crutcher

Campaign slogan: "A new Alberta"

David Crutcher, a member of the Progressive Group for Independent business, backed by Craig Chandler, ran in Calgary Egmont, and won the largerst percentage of the popular vote of any Alliance candidate in Calgary in the 2004 election.

• Supports an Alberta provincial tax on consumer goods
• Supports publicly funded alternative medicine in order to save money and resources
• Supports traditional marriage and is pro-life
• Supports Alberta's separation from Canada if the Conservative Party of Canada does not win in the upcoming federal election

Now he is running for Eddie Stelmach's Tired Old Tories. With friends like these Eddies in big trouble.




H/T to Idealist Pragmatist and Daveberta



g posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Alberta, Premier,Ed Stelmach,
Social Credit,Socreds, PC, Calgary, Party of Calgary, politics, leadership, Conservatives, Edmonton, One Party State,History, Politics, Economics,Craig Chandler, social conservatives, PGIB,
Alberta, MLA,

Atlantic Alberta Accord

Alberta and Atlantic Canada share an accord. The Federal NDP have gained in the polls in both provinces. This is an interesting poll result for the NDP in Alberta. It is the first time they have been in second place in the polls.

The Conservatives are continuing their free-fall in Atlantic Canada, taking only 13.9% of the vote compared to the Liberals 49.2%, the NDP’s 23.9% and the Greens’ 13.1%. These fortunes are mirrored in Alberta where the Liberals find themselves at 12.6%, marginally ahead of the Greens at 12.1%. The Conservatives lead that province with 52.1% of decided voters with the NDP in second place at 23.2%.

Which bodes well for my prediction of the impact a provincial election in Alberta would have on Federal Conservatives. The concern about the 'out of towners' impacting on Stelmach's regime has not been missed by the man himself.

"We've had over 500,000 new Albertans move to the province within the last six years."

SEE:

Williams Out Deals Stelmach

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Stephen Harper, Harper, NCC, Reform Party, Conservatives, Conservative Party, politics, Government, PM, Ottawa, Canada,Harper
Canada, politics, Conservative, parliament,
Harper, Government, Conservatives,Canada, poll, Conservative, parliament,
Canada, equalization, royalties,
F Harper, Government, Conservatives,Province,
Alberta, Premier, Ed Stelmach, PC, Calgary, Party of Calgary, politics, leadership, Conservatives, Edmonton, One Party State,History, Politics, Economics,leadership, politics, PC,
Alberta, MLA, Progressive Conservatives,Red Tories, politics,NDP

Not Before Alberta Votes

Hey, hold off those plans to bring down the Harpocrites.

Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe vowed Thursday — in the wake of the deaths of three Quebec-based soldiers this week — to bring down the Conservative government if it does not commit to a full troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2009.

He said if Prime Minister Stephen Harper does not soon notify NATO and participating countries of Canada's withdrawal plans, the Bloc will vote against the expected autumn throne speech with the hopes of bringing the government down.

Ignoring Kyoto law could bring down Conservatives, opposition warns

Federal opposition parties say a Conservative decision to ignore a law requiring them to find ways to meet Kyoto targets is a provocation that could spell the end of the minority government.

"It is an explicit and important example of how the government is not respecting the wishes of the majority of elected parliamentarians," NDP Leader Jack Layton said. "They can't expect our party to take that kind of disrespect lying down."

Not until we have a provincial election in Alberta, folks.

Why? Because with our unelected Premier and his gang of Tired Old Tories messing things up, business as usual in the One Party State, the PC's are in for a trouncing at the polls when an election is finally called.

A loss of seats and popular support in Alberta for Stelmach and the PC's will mean the conservative voting base will also be weakened. It is this same voting base that the Harpocrites take for granted in all Blue Federal Alberta. With a seismic voting shift provincially there will be a resulting Tsunami away from the Harpocrites.

With the influx of 'Eastern bums and creeps' from the ROC, the political landscape in Alberta has changed. And not in the Tories favour. Instead the mass of these are like other Albertans, middle of the road Red Tories, Lougheed liberals by any other name, wondering where to go.

Across the province, the percentage of undecided voters doubled, from 18% in January to 36% in August.

Dem's da folks dat don't know much about the opposition parties, dey just know dey don't like da folks in power.

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Stephen Harper, Harper, NCC, Reform Party, Conservatives, Conservative Party, politics, Government, PM, Ottawa, Canada,Harper
Canada, poltics, Conservative, parliament,
Harper, Government, Conservatives,Canada, poltics, Conservative, parliament,
Canada, equalization, royalties,
F Harper, Government, Conservatives,Province,
Alberta, Premier
Alberta Cabinet, Harry Strom, Ed Stelmach,
Social Credit,Socreds, PC, Calgary, Party of Calgary, politics, leadership, Conservatives, Edmonton, One Party State,History, Politics, Economics,leadership, politics, PC,
Alberta, MLA, Progressive Conservatives,Red Tories, politics,

Liberals, Dion, NDP, ,BQ,,

Cavet Emptor Illegitimate Goverment

There is no government like no government.

For an prime example of American Republican Libertarian forms of limited government one needs only look to Alberta.

Last weekend a fire destroyed 94 housing units, the majority were part of a new condo complex, the others were single family dwellings built too close to the complex, with little or no fire protection for their siding and outside walls. The result was mass destruction.And folks left homeless. In a boom economy with rental housing and other ownership options priced beyond most folks means.

The problem is an obsolete building code written in 1960 and based on the notion of preventing fires from spreading from building to building from inside out instead of from the outside in, Wolsey said.

"There has to be a better look at how we deal with building codes as to how we protect our society," he said.

"Is this preventable? I believe it is. With minor amendments to building codes and minimal costs, we can prevent this kind of a devastation from occurring in our communities."

The governments response was little, minor, small, none at all.

The Alberta government's own public safety division recommended changing building codes more than two years ago to prevent fires like Saturday's $20-million inferno in south Edmonton.

But the government chose not to act.

Instead, it forwarded the recommendation to the National Research Council for further study via a provincial committee - although it is under no obligation to wait for an NRC recommendation before making code revisions.

In fact, a year later, the department - then under the leadership of Rob Renner - rejected an official request by the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association to address the insufficient separation between homes, saying there was no evidence to support it.

Government exists to protect citizens, except after the neo-con revolution that defined government as existing above, apart, separate from the people. The earliest forms of self government, have been about building codes and fire prevention. Whether at the municipal, state/provincial or federal level. In Alberta this responsibility has once again been abdicated by the ruling Tories.

Building codes blamed for massive fire
Condo blaze sparks call for tighter fire codes
$25-million fire calls building codes into question
Insurance industry backs tougher building codes
Heed fire's warning: improve building code
Fire chiefs say Alberta should be leader in Canada on building codes

Since the Ralph Revolution of the nineties the neo-con/neo-liberal republican lite agenda of the Fraser Institute and the right wing political business lobby the NCC have dominated conservative politics in Alberta and Canada.

Tougher code carries a price

The Tories created a myth, first they attempted under Lougheed to both expand oilsands development and diversification of the economy. The former succeeded the latter failed. Under Don Getty the diversification expanded, but it ended up a failure because it was simply the government doling out corporate welfare to businesses and lobbyists that had the best selling points, rather than realistic business plans.

Though some plans and businesses were by their nature something the state should have done as public services, such as hazardous waste disposal, due to the costs and long term responsibilities involved, as well as the continuing need for state funded research and development required for technological and industrial advances.

And as usual the left wing moonbats like Neil Waugh of the Edmonton Sun trash our glorious republican government for their obvious contradictions.

More study is needed before deciding whether to update building codes to prevent repeats of a $25-million condo development inferno, Alberta's municipal affairs minister said yesterday.

Although he said he personally favours a "proactive" approach, Municipal Affairs Minister Ray Danyluk also said the numbers aren't all in. He said the province approached the National Research Council 18 months ago and asked it to study the issue. Its next major amendment of national standards, however, isn't until 2010.

Ray's job in Ed Stelmach's Country Club Cabinet is housing and municipal affairs. Both are hot topics after Wolsey warmed up to his usual theme following the MacEwan Fireball. Edmonton houses are fire prone. Thanks to the controversial vinyl siding that's slapped on them without any fire retardant board beneath.

Wolsey talked about a "simple fix." And when asked whether the MacEwan blaze and other similar fires involving Boom-berta houses are preventable, he answered: "I believe it is."

He talked about "minor amendments" to the building code. Which is Ray's responsibility.

And if the houses around the condo blaze had something as simple as exterior grade drywall under the plastic siding "we probably wouldn't have lost any of those homes."

So here's the question I put to Ray in the flower garden.

"Are get-rich-quick developers cutting corners and building shoddy houses that could put Albertans' lives in peril?"

Which, of course, is the Monday-morning-coming-down question for many folks.

No emergency meeting with Battlin' Randy Wolsey, no read-the-riot-act session with the Edmonton Region Homebuilders Association, no task force of surly bureaucrats to prepare a report, make recommendations and get to the bottom of what's going down out on Pleasant Acres Drive and Woodside Wynd.

Instead Danyluk froze up like a rusty Lada at 40 below.

The best he could offer was that the National Research Council is apparently working on something, but it won't be ready for three years.

Once again showing this government has no use for its citizens and is in the pocket of establishment special interests.

Caveat Emptor, citizen beware you have nobody to blame for getting screwed but yourself, the government refuses to protect you or to govern for the public good. Just as they have failed renters in this province now they fail homeowners, in favour of developers.

This then is limited government in a nutshell.

See:

Pay 'Em What They Want

He Can't Manage

Drumheller Bell Weather

Stelmach Tanks

Alberta Deja Vu

ind blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Alberta, minimal government, Edmonton, libertarian housing, rental, condominium, apartment, Income Trusts, rent controls, homelessness, housing-costs, housing-boom, Alberta, ED Stelmach,
Premier, Alberta Cabinet,PC, Party of Calgary, politics, leadership, Conservatives

Separated At Birth

Eddie Munster and Ed Stelmach.

Check out Stelmach's widows peak.

Imitating the other Eddie.









SEE:

Drumheller Bell Weather

Lily Munster RIP

Grandpa Munster RIP

g posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Alberta, Premier,
Alberta Cabinet, Harry Strom, Ed Stelmach,
Social Credit,Socreds, PC, Calgary, Party of Calgary, politics, leadership, Conservatives, Edmonton, One Party State,History, Politics, Economics,leadership, politics, PC,
Lily Munster, The Munsters, TV, Stars,