I Love Alberta

For the last several months I’ve been on an incredible journey as I have sought the Leadership of The Alberta Party. I’ve met wonderful people who have great ideas – about what they want to see this Province become.

They have told me they want a long-term vision for Alberta; not just for the next election or to grab a headline, but for generations to come. They have told me they want government and leadership that will build a solid long-term plan around that vision as well. And they want political leadership to actually make it happen.

In my campaign, I have brought these issues from the majority of Albertans – rural and urban – to our Party. Those voices reflect a clearly moderate, centrist and inclusive Alberta and Canada.

I’ve also had the opportunity to recently meet with several senior members of the Alberta Party, who told me that many of my fellow Alberta Party members find it distasteful, even offensive, that I do not (in their opinion) respect the Party’s policies and philosophies by coming out with definitive statements that “put a period at the end of the sentence”. They have also suggested I should not bring up issues that have not been raised through the “Big Listen” process. I’ve been told that the Leader of our party is to simply listen, and is not to attempt to shape policy in any way.

With all due respect – If we are not prepared to “put the period at the end of the sentence” on ending Aboriginal poverty; on ending industrial wastewater and emissions; on eliminating illiteracy; on demanding stable, publicly funded healthcare and educational systems – then, yes, my campaign is clearly at odds with the philosophies and policies of The Alberta Party.

A couple of weeks ago, Jeff Blodgett (one of President Obama’s organizers) inspired us with many things, but particularly that "leaders needed to be authentic and genuine". But during the past couple of weeks I have been asked several times by Party people to “tone down” the fact that I’m an energy CEO, and to “soften” the message that I’ve been in the energy industry for 28 years. I had hoped that my energy sector knowledge would be seen as a benefit to the Party. I had hoped it would be seen as an opportunity to build bridges and help move Alberta forward into a long-term vision of energy and the environment. Instead, I’m told this is a bad image for the Party.

To be authentic and genuine, I want to make this clear (again): The energy industry needs to make positive change. It needs to change its practices with regard to industrial wastewater and emissions. It needs to continue to improve its methods of environmental response. It needs to take a long-term view of wealth creation, and long-term capital infrastructure investment for all Albertans. I was very clear on these issues during my campaign. And I also want to be clear that I am very proud to be part of the energy industry and the new generation of professionals that are determined to bring balance to that industry.

Many Albertans have asked me to make a statement on the “power line” issue. I have held off making such a statement, as it would have been definitive, and not in keeping with the Alberta Party policy process. But it needs to be definitive, particularly for a leadership candidate. This has a dramatic impact on all Albertans, as well as the energy industry. We need to take an immediate and courageous stand on this issue. But, as a Leadership Candidate for The Alberta Party I cannot make a definitive statement because, to many in the Party, this would not respect the policy process.

I want to express my sincere, heartfelt gratitude to all of you who have encouraged me in the campaign. Your support, encouragement, thoughtful and heartfelt discussions about real issues that really matter to you, your families and your communities is what always made my day.

However, I cannot continue to run a campaign that offends the Party, including some of the Board, and causes them to say I don’t respect the Party’s policies and processes.

All of my platform issues and comments have always been within the clear context of Alberta Party policies. And, to be true to myself and not hypocritical, I will continue to “put the period at the end of the sentence” with respect to poverty, illiteracy, sustainable funding of healthcare and education, wastewater and emissions, an Alberta-first agricultural strategy, and other issues. I will not, as was suggested to me by a senior Party member, “embrace the ambiguity”.

I am a moderate, centrist and inclusive Albertan. At the 61st Annual Canadian Oilmen's Executive Association Governors' Ball, which I attended a few days ago, several senior energy executives told me they found such a notion appealing. But they would only support strength, not ambiguity.

Here is my video: http://bit.ly/fy1eDW

I will continue my efforts strenuously to bring a moderate, centrist and inclusive long-term vision and strategy to Alberta. I have listened to Albertans, and I have heard what they’ve said. And I am prepared to act on what they tell me.

Many of you know I’m on a journey to lose 50 lbs by 2012. You’ve shared your personal stories and congratulated me. I’ve talked about it a lot, thought about it a lot, and consulted with my doctor about it. I thank all of you who’ve given me encouragement. And I haven’t lost a single pound. In fact I’ve gained a few. This morning I woke up, got on the exercise bike, and had a healthy breakfast.

Let's Keep Our Community Schools

Dozens of community schools across Alberta are scheduled to close this year. And their communities will wither even more when they do. While budgets might suggest closing a school will help with spending and taxes, the reality is quite often the opposite.

A school is often the centrepiece of a neighborhood. A school brings fond memories and the people in a community together for concerts, sporting events, music, fundraising and community meetings involving children and adults. Schools and real neighborhoods make our cities more livable and friendly.

The limited and simple "numbers crunching" practice of removing the heart out of our communities and thinking that they will somehow magically continue to thrive and prosper is ludicrous. They will not. Such simple solutions only encourage migration to the outer reaches of a City that has already sprawled out of control. It creates "bedroom communities" without neighborhoods or real community.

It is time to revitalize our inner city communities. Closing down our community schools goes to the very heart and lifeblood of neighborhoods. It does not require courage or leadership to take the "simple" road of closing down these community schools. That is an abdication of our responsibilities to our families and neighbours. 

How do we put a value - dollars and cents - on the loss of community? Some suggest the "simple" solution of just looking at the amount spent, and deciding that it costs less to close a school when a community is in transition. Simple. And a truly false economic. It assumes a community is static and will never again thrive. Most school board members and teachers know that it just doesn't work well for the children, and not for the parents nor the community. But, funding is political and doesn't address the bigger question of "what makes a community?" That's too complicated for some politicians.

We talk about bullying in schools, yet faceless bureaucracy often comes wagging its financial finger and bullies public school boards into closing community schools, leaving no reasonable alternative.

I truly believe we can and should invest in our communities and neighborhoods, starting with properly sustainable funding of public schools, investing in the students, parents, teachers and neighborhoods. This is a complex issue, but it requires a Partnership to build the communities we want. Please join me in this partnership.

About my "Alberta Empowered, Alberta First" Agricultural Policy

I can guarantee you that the United States is not putting Canada on the plate first, nor is anyone else we trade with.

And let no one be mistaken - I am a capitalist. I do not believe in protectionism, legislated socialism, nor deep subsidies to keep markets competitive. I'm not talking about closing markets.

But, as a candidate for Leader of the Alberta Party, I do propose a provincial government strategy (under my leadership) to empower Alberta farmers so they can have the opportunity to actually get their products to markets. 

For those who insist that NAFTA stands in the way of such a policy, I respectfully disagree. If NAFTA had actually been drafted so that we would have to bypass healthy, locally grown food for cheap processed alternatives from the U.S. or elsewhere ... then I believe our current government would have a lot of explaining to do to Alberta's farmers and ranchers. I am fully aware, that in order to comply with NAFTA, we cannot legislate an Alberta Only agriculture policy. But we can choose to "Put Alberta on the Plate First". We can also stop granting carte blanche massive municipal tax incentives to big box stores. Instead, we can give tremendous incentives for choosing local Alberta agriculture over cheaper, industrialized products from elsewhere.

This is why I will argue that "cutting government out of the food supply", as proposed by some, is to say the least, very misguided. Government is and must be 100% involved in the bureaucracy of our food production, safety, supply and distribution ... but they are noticeably absent when it comes to promotion and choice. The pseudo-libertarian view, as promoted by some Alberta politicians lately, of the little fleet of local pickups trying to change the food system is simply a smokescreen for continuation of the industrialization of the food supply. They propose that it's simply a matter of keeping a few farmers' markets running and everyone will be happy. As nice as it sounds on the surface, this is just too simplistic a model.

Everyone who is involved in trying to promote a local food economy, and proponents of the "Slow Food" movement, knows beyond a shadow of a doubt - although the movement must include the determination of committed individuals willing to fight the system - that until wholesale systemic change occurs in the food chain, at best it is a naive notion that the system will change. It is in fact the adoption of "Slow Food" by various levels of government in Europe that has led to its worldwide success. The discussions will require courage and leadership ... not excuses that since government isn't handling the job, let's just go ahead and let large multi-national corporations self-regulate and tell us how it should be done.

I have met with many people throughout Alberta, far more knowledgeable in this area than I. As a result of hearing their opinions and wisdom, I will not be dissuaded from my contention that we must empower Alberta agriculture to begin the process of creatively and actively getting their products onto the tables of Albertans ... fully supported by an empowered food system in the Province that supports and empowers our local producers. We all remember the recent $3 million handout given by our current government to one of the world's largest food-processing corporations. This could have gone a long way to ensure that healthy, safe, rotationally grass-fed, grain supplemented, local abattoir processed beef made it into the cafeterias and plates of Alberta's government institutions. Instead, the Government chooses to buy cheap products, and ignores the negative impact on smaller communities.

My "Alberta Empowered, Alberta First" agricultural policy is about promoting health and wellness, and absolutely about choice.