Bruce Rowe not Seeking Re-Election

I read in the Three Hills Capital newspaper an open letter from our MLA, Bruce Rowe.  He has declared in the letter that he will not be running for the Progressive Conservative nomination in this constituency, and not seeking re-election as MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills. 

I totally understand his reasons for leaving Edmonton, but in many ways I wish he could have stayed one more term. 

I've worked closely with Bruce for many years when we served on Beiseker Village Council together.  You'd be hard pressed to find a more dedicated and hard working elected official!  I admired his tenacity and ability to stay ahead on the learning curve. 

Many of us have been in local politics for decades; Bruce was a "newbie" when he was elected by the good folks of Beiseker.  The learning curve here was steep, but he mastered it to go on to be our mayor.  He joined the executive of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) and started doing those long drives to the provincial capital almost weekly to represent us there at AUMA meetings.

When he was first nominated for the Wildrose Party, then elected as our MLA, I was pleased for him and saddened for Beiseker.  We were losing a great local politician, here.  The learning curve just got a lot steeper for him, too.  But he persevered and I think he served his constituency well these last few years.  Those hard won skills and knowledge will be hard to replace!

In his statement in the paper, Bruce cited family ties as the main reason for his leaving provincial politics.  I totally understand.  He and his wife Carol are going to want to see their grandchildren grow up, and they do that so very fast.  I know that Bruce will continue serving this constituency to the very best of his ability until the election is called.  Then I and many other folks in beautiful downtown Beiseker are going to want to welcome him back! 

Thanks for all your hard work, Bruce.  I look forward to seeing you around town more often again soon!

Enough Rhetoric

I think everyone and his dog has had a kick at the Wildrose MLAs' floor crossing in Alberta's Legislature, last week.  Every journalist and coffee shop political analyst has an opinion, and none have been shy at expressing that opinion to the rest of us. 

But I think time's up!  Lets let the politicians on both sides of the Legislature get down to doing what they're supposed to do: legislate! 

In my opinion, a series of by-elections at this time would be counter-productive and a waste of money - and we've got less than two full years before the next provincial general election.  Let's wait until then.  Let's see what these new Conservatives can do. 

As we get closer to that mandated election time, each constituency association; Conservative and Wildrose, will have to decide who will be their candidates.  Until then, we should all listen and watch intently.

The Floor Crossing

The strange happenings in Edmonton these past couple of days has left me totally baffled!  Members of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Alberta Legislative Assembly up and crossed the floor to join the government!

Although I thought Danielle Smith and her Wildrose team never really managed to reach the level of what I thought an opposition party should be doing, they were at least trying.  In my opinion, a strong governing party needs a strong opposition sitting across from them.  The Wildrose party had the potential of being that strong opposition.  There are some excellent, hard working MLAs sitting on the speaker's left, including our own Bruce Rowe!  I thought they were getting stronger as an opposition.  Apparently I was wrong.

The other thing that bothers me is that these Wildrose MLAs were elected by their constituents as Wildrose Party members.  Now, they're crossing the floor to become Conservatives!  I'm hoping they polled their constituents to see if those folks who elected them don't mind that they taking that stroll.  At least they must try to justify that walk across the floor! 

In the late 1960s, a young Peter Lougheed led a handful of Progressive Conservative MLAs to be Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, against the ruling Social Credit government.  The Social Credit majority was so overwhelming, some of the Social Credit members had to sit on the Speaker's left because there was no more room for them on the Government side!

Yet Lougheed plugged away.  His credibility rose higher every time he stood to oppose the government.  Soon after the next election, he and his party was the government!

That short walk across the floor of the Legislature is a short walk for a man, but a long journey across the Alberta political landscape!

A Gentler Time in Politics

There was a gentler time in Canadian politics, where parties respected each other and each others duties.

For example, if the governing party elected a new leader who did not hold a seat in that Legislature or Parliament, usually a member of the government caucus would resign and open up a by-election in a "safe" seat.  The opposition parties would field a "token" candidate in that by-election, and effectively let the new leader run unopposed.  

Other by-elections would be fought tooth and nail to hopefully get the Opposition's message out and increase the number of members on the Speaker's left!  But the opposition realized that if the newly elected leader was defeated in the by-election, the government would have to appoint an interim premier or prime minister while they held another leadership convention, or another by-election. 

The day-to-day business of the government would be severely compromised for perhaps months! 

I believe it is the job of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition to offer legislative alternatives and to criticize the actions of the government.  It is not their job to prevent the government from governing!

In a legislative assembly or parliament, the opposition has many excellent tools in its bag to oppose the government's actions. But I think throwing a wrench into the whole political system should not be one of them. 

But I guess I'm thinking of a gentler time.

Plane Silly!

I received an email from Airdrie MLA Rob Anderson the other day, asking me to support a Wildrose petition demanding the Alberta government sell off their fleet of four small business planes to save money. 

I refused to support this short-sighted move.

It is true that the current government, specifically former Premier Alison Redford, have been perceived as grossly misusing the planes.  But selling them off would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. 

Alberta is a big and vibrant province with things happening all over, and the provincial government needs the mobility to get around.  I don't think chartering and renting aircraft is the answer. 

It is true that some other provinces (namely, New Brunswick) have eliminated their government aircraft fleets.  But there are differences between those provinces and Alberta.  I think the Wildrosers would be better off asking for changes in the policies governing the use of these aircraft.  Suggestions;

• Tighten up use of the aircraft to make sure they are used for Alberta Government business only.
• Make them available to ALL those sitting in the House, including the Wildrose caucus - after all, they are Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition!  They should also be available to top level government officials.
• Have the pilots complete an extended log entry for every flight.
• Have an annual report available to all MLAs showing who flew where and for what reason.  That could be extracted from the log book entries.
• Retire the older aircraft and possibly reduce the fleet to two or three planes from the now four.

The cost of supporting this fleet of four aircraft is the price of doing business!
 

Politics and the Weather!

I was saddened by Premier Alison Redford's resignation, the other evening. 

Our province is indeed the best in Canada when measured on many different scales.  We do not need all this drama of political wheeling, dealing and backbiting by the governing party!

Collectively, they're acting like a bunch of kids in a school playground, pushing and shoving each other in order to accomplish some sort of lofty goal!  If  this was a school, their principal would be organizing an anti-bullying program for them!

The Premier made some critical errors with her spending of tax dollars in travel expenses.  Other Alberta premiers have faced much worse!  But it is obvious that Redford did not think she had the support of her cabinet and caucus to correct the mistakes, and fight back against the pressures from the media and Opposition. 

She had little choice than to resign.  Her party basically threw her under the bus.

I believe that Premier Redford did give her heart and soul to this province over the past two and a half years, and for that I dearly thank her.

To the governing Alberta Progressive Conservatives;  Get back to running this province!  Throw the poll results into the trash, and start carrying out what you and your now-former Premier set out to do, when you were given a mandate in 2012!

And to the Wildrose Party; Throw the poll results into the trash and let's get back to your job - of being Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition!

______

We got another winter blast Thursday which halted our melt in its tracks.  It also froze a lot of that meltwater!  Highways and streets may not get better for a day or two so be careful out there! 

The melt has been going very well.  Water is leaving town in an orderly manner!  I see a couple of issues around town, which I've mentioned to the Village Office.  I hope you are doing the same. 

Public Works is also searching for a water leak this next couple of days.  I wish them success in their search and thank them for their dedication and hard work.

Congratulations Bruce! Now What?

May I be one of the first to congratulate our new MLA-elect Bruce Rowe on his win tonight!  Bruce took a leave of absence as Beiseker's Mayor a month ago to run as the Wildrose candidate for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills in the provincial election.  

Bruce now joins the other 16 or so elected Wildrose MLAs to form Her Majesty's Loyal Oposition sitting on The Speaker's left, facing Premier Alison Redford's Progressive Conservative government!  We in Beiseker are very proud of Bruce!

But what becomes of his position on Village Council?

First, we must wait for Bruce to hand us his official resignation as councillor of the Village of Beiseker.  Then we are given a set period of time by the Municipal Government Act to hold a byelection to select a new councillor. 

After we have elected a new councillor, we will ask the Minister of Municipal Affairs for permission to have an organizational meeting.  These are normally held once a year in October.  Permission will be given automatically.  That meeting will be chaired first by or Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and then taken over by the newly elected mayor. 

In small municipalities like Beiseker, the mayor and deputy mayor are elected by council from their number.

I will continue in my role as Acting Mayor until the organizational meeting is held.

Dirty Politics

Listening to the rhetoric coming from all political parties during this election campaign, I find it hard to believe that many of these same folks are going to be our government in a few months!

I hear the leaders of the two front running parties take shots at each other.  Do they realize that they will be facing each other across the Legislature floor?  One will be Premier and one will be Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition!  I wonder if they really understand that.