Give it a read...it is worth it. I especially like the parallels he draws between this Alberta Liberal' s approach to the same type of innuendo smears that have been done on Dion by Harper in the federal scene. Harper is obvioulsy a master of stepping upto but not over the line. It would be interesting to see his butt booted out of Parliament for a day or so for such offensive allegations but he cleverly contains them within the "rules." Never mistake clever for wisdom.
Interesting that the Democratic Deficit in Alberta is being addressed by the Stelmach government in some significant ways. The recent agreement to open up the Standing Policy Committees for all party participation is a reform that is long overdue. Stelmach and Hancock have to be given the credit for this initiative.
The civility in Question Period and the amazing increase in the number of questions being dealt with are other more subtle but also very important reforms. Hell you can take school kids to view Question Period now and not be afraid that they might actually model the behaviour of the politicians.
Perhaps it is taking the Alberta Liberals some time to adjust to some good governance.
I agree, Ken. The Enlightened Savage gave an excellent review of what actually happened in the Legislature. The first question was perfectly fine and deserved a detailed response. But the second question crossed the line.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why the Liberals try to personalize issues with baseless innuendo. It would have been appropriate for the Liberal MLA in question just to repeat his first question, rather than linking CIP grants to so called "secret" donors of the leadership candidates.
It is the same situation with their baseless allegations against Sam Spenglet, a member of the Royalty Review Panel, who they claim is in conflict of interest and in the hip pocket of the oil and gas industry just because he holds stock options in his former employer, Shell Canada. I know Sam Spenglet personally, and I can assure you he is not in the hip pocket of the oil and gas industry. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Thx for the comment Anonymous at 5:51 am
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear your comments on Sam Spenglet and the alleged conflict od interest issue. The current royalty review process is a critical part of the future of Alberta and we need to be sure we get it right.
Ken:
ReplyDeleteYou will note that the Pembina Institute did not comment on the Liberal's baseless Spenglet allegation. If the Liberals had down their homework they would have found that Shell Canada is one of the most progressive companies in Canada in cutting GHG emissions at their facilities. Another interesting fact that the Liberals fail to appreciate is that Matthew Bramley of the Pembina Institute sits on Shell Canada's Climate Change Advisory Council.