KEVIN TAFT: ON THE MOVE

For Special Ed, these are tough times. Brutal, in fact. For the past couple of weeks, with a single exception, its been all bad news. Indeed, he picked up plenty of speed going down the steep incline towards the Harry Strom world of political oblivion.

Calgary's Mayor Bronco continued his deft attack against Special Ed's double cross on what should have been no-strings infrastructure money to Calgary.
Surprisingly, Eddie's Calgary Tory Caucus Chair David Rodney, MLA for Calgary Lougheed was caught stumbling in the wake of the Bronco onslaught. Rodney blamed obvious Tory difficulties in Calgary to Bronco's attacks on municipal funding. He also accused the Mayor of misleading Calgarians on the issue in an effort to get the Government to knuckle under to his demands. Rodney added loftily that, "He [Bronco] needs to remember he's the mayor of Calgary, he's not his (sic) majesty's loyal opposition." Pouring more gasoline on the fire, Rodney said the Mayor was betraying Calgarians by sabotaging the efforts of Calgary Tory MLA's. Bronco, for his part, rose in righteous indignation to demand Rodney cease the 'personal attacks,' and work to solve the problem. Rodney's whining was surprising for a formerly sure-footed, two-time conqueror of Mount Everest cum gung-ho motivational speaker. Happily for him he stumbled at the low altitudes of the Alberta prairies rather than at 28000 feet.

Finance Minister Lyle Oberg continued his reckless musings by implying that that the Task Force looking into the adequacy of oil and gas royalties going into Government coffers would likely decide that they were fine. According to Oberg, because of high cost inflation in exploration and development, the oil companies just would probably not be able to pay any more. Hence, the obvious question - why bother continuing with the Task Force? Ministers had to clean up the motormouth's mess so that the Task Force could continue to stumble to what the oil barons are sure to see as a positive and just outcome.

In the meantime, formerly friendly editorial boards of the major print media are becoming increasingly bellicose and threatening of the Special Ed squad. Columnist Rick Bell of the Calgary Sun has been on the Government's case for a long time. But he is now being joined by the likes of the Edmonton Sun's Neil Waugh.

And to add to Eddie's woes, Cameron Strategies, a market research firm headed by political strategist Bruce Cameron who honed his skills with the Angus Reid firm for many years, released some polling results. The Tories could only regard them as bleak. In the formerly unassailable Tory bastion of Calgary, Special Ed's team had dropped 19 points from January to May - to a measly 40%. In Edmonton, the news was hardly better - the Tories had dropped 8 points to 42%. Worse yet, Ed's disapproval rating in Cowtown had jumped from 18% to 39%. That last number, Cameron colorfully described as the 'first shoe dropping.'

The only good news for the Tories was Health Minister Dave Hancock's announcement that he had convinced the Government to finally ban smoking in public places and work sites, as well as to restrict the number of establishments that may sell tobacco products. Not only did Hancock accomplish this over the strenuous objections of many in the Tory caucus, it is the only coherent piece of important legislation brought forth so far by the Government since Special Ed took power.

In the meantime on the by-election front, Grit candidate Craig Cheffins' campaign to win Ralph Klein's old riding in Calgary Elbow, is humming along nicely. Grit troops from throughout the City and some from as far away as Edmonton are busily knocking on doors, the red signs are out in abundance and the money is rolling in. In Drumheller-Stettler, Tom Dooley, a popular rancher from the riding who pilots his own plane, has his whole family out in force as well as his many friends and supporters. He too senses change in the air, as he cheerfully scours the large riding for Grit support.

And just this Wednesday past, Leader Kevin Taft spoke to 400 of the faithful at a fund-raising dinner at downtown Calgary's Hyatt Regency. His message was simple, effective, thoughtful and well received, and - not to mention - timely. According to Taft, it was high time an Alberta Government had a plan - a plan to manage our wealth for present and future generations. How was it, he asked, that even though the Provincial Government have spent 93% of all oil and gas royalties that it has received in the last 25 years, we still lack schools, hospitals, roads, and affordable housing? And where were the policies on land use, a dwindling water supply and proper municipal funding?

There were Grits in the crowd alright. But there were plenty of old Tories. And they were listening carefully, and clapped vigorously at the end. This is not a dream. It is happening. Special Ed's nightmares continue.

EDDIE'S WORLD: FALLING APART

So far, the Premier has been able to capture the attention of the Alberta public once. He resorted to the trite bashing of the Federal Liberals for an innocuous statement by a neophyte Ontario MP that, according to Eddie, meant the the Fed Libs would 'take over the oilsands.' The MP, Mark Holland, from Ajax-Pickering, was merely reiterating the sane preaching of former Tory icon and Premier of Alberta Peter Lougheed about adopting a go-slower approach in the development of the oil sands, to maximize benefits to Albertans and to protect the environment. I say 'former Tory icon' Peter Lougheed because since the 'Dumb and Dumber' crowd took over the Tory Party during the Klein and now Stelmach years, Lougheed has been widely regarded by the new Tory power group as a big spender, Fed Lib appeaser, and God forbid, a liberal.

The rest of the public's attention towards the Stelmach Government has been generated by bickering Ministers (Snelgrove and Hancock, with Eddie's big stick Snelgrove saying that Hancock the Health Minister should not talk about more anti-smoking legislation without caucus approval), poor judgment calls (Eddie and the $5000 intimacy payments, and Harvey Cenaiko's feeble attempt at currying Eddie's favour), conflicted policy statements (Energy Minister Mel Knight wanting to export bitumin, and Eddie saying 'wait and see'), embarrassing actions of the deposed King Ralph (taking the cushy lobbying job with a blue-chip law firm with unseemly haste after pocketing a $600,000 severance payment).

The weekend has produced more very dark clouds on Eddie's horizon. His big-stick, big-mouth Treasury Board head, Lloyd Snelgrove wants the oilsands to go nucleur to reduce green-house gas emissions. According to Snelgrove, nuke energy was a natural fit and the only way to keep the oilsands development going and reduce CO2 emissions. Happily, he assured his audience that he wasn't an expert on the subject. Polling indicates that in Northern Alberta, more than half of the population opposes the nuke option. Bruce Cameron, the energetic and smart pollster who conducted the poll said, "This could be the hill on which the Stelmach Government is defined." That metaphor doesn't make sense. 'The hill that the Stelmach Government may die on,' I think is what Bruce - usually a fuss-pot with the English language - meant.

More stormy weather can be expected as a result of the Education Minister Ron Liepert's indefatigable promotion of the P3 policy for schools construction. P3 programs bring in developers to own the land on which new schools are built. They also build the buildings and lease them back to the school boards on long-term, sweetheart deal leases. The developers of course are croneys of the Government. They will have triple A tenants for the duration of the leases, line their pockets for years, and in the end wind up owning the very valuable land on which the schools sit. P3 can be defined as 'Pork, Pork, and More Pork.' The people are beginning to see the program for what it is.

To further complicate Eddie's future, we heard this week that long-time Calgary Herald columnist, Don Braid, is taking over the task of Alberta Legislature columnist, now that Tom Olsen is officially married to the Tory Party as a communications advisor to the Premier. Braid has been in the business for a very long time. He is no fool and will never be a fawning sycophant to any Government, including Eddie's.

And there's worse news for Notsofast. Health Care, botched by Klein time and again, has been in a crisis situation in Calgary for years. Premature babies sent to Saskatoon for treatment, patients dying for lack of fast emergency care, accident victims having to wait for hours for emergency treatment, negligence of overworked medical staffs causing unnecessary deaths, deliveries of premature babies in Calgary having to be transported to Great Falls, Montana hospitals for treatment, very ill-patients cared for in Ward hallways, and other Dickensian true stories have been growing exponentially for years. But there has always been the promise of a major new hospital to be built in the far-south of the City. Well, the Government has dawdled, delayed, obfuscated, and procrastinated to the point that, because of the boom, the costs are now $350,000,000 or so over what was originally anticipated. The 'Dumb and Dumber' crowd in the Legislature are giving pause. Reportedly, they may decide not to cover any shortfall. Defrocked Ministers and other MLA's from Calgary are starting to raise hell. City Aldermen are going ballistic. Columnists are finally coming out swinging. And in a most unnerving signal, for Eddie and his Tories, the editors of the Calgary Sun are finally lambasting the Government in lead editorials, to shape up or be shipped out.

Add to that Grit Leader Kevin Taft's newly released book 'Democracy Derailed,' a tale of the Tories' sense of entitlement and arrogance, acts of petty tyranny and their refusal to be accountable. The book is a must-read, true story. It will make you very angry. It is enjoying brisk sales in Alberta books stores.

The future looks bleak indeed for the Premier.

MORE PUNGENT ODORS FROM TORYDOM

Since the election of Fast Eddie, the Tories sure haven't been short on providing blogging material: Eddie trashing Cenaiko; Eddie and his volunteers being caught red-handed trying to organize the $5000 intimacy session with the new Premier,only to shut it down because of 'perceptions;' Fast Eddie the Statesman refusing to have his photo taken with Stephane Dion; Energy Minister Mel Knight's generosity with the people of Alberta's birth-right bitumin so that his corporate and political pals in the U.S. line their pockets with billions of dollars of value-added benefits; the wounded Ty Lund wanting to keep the Government out of the bedrooms of Albertans, while looking for law -breaking smokers (presumably Ty wants to protect the honorable tradition of cigarettes following sex); Treasury Board Chairman Lloyd Snelgrove (one of Fast Eddie's bosom buddies)admonishing Health Minister Dave Hancock that he had no business speaking out on stronger anti-smoking legislation! Wow! A veritable smorgasbord of gaffes, fumbles, foolishness and stink test failures all of which are making thoughtful Albertans shudder about their future under Fast Eddie.

And if that wasn't enough, who should again emerge, 'Godzilla'-like, but arguably the worst Premier in the history of the Province, Ralph Klein. Just when we thought we were rid of him once and for all, there he was, all over the newspapers and television screens enveloped in a miasma of foul pungent air, talking about his new job as a senior business advisor with the national blue-chip (if not blue-blood) law firm of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP.

Well, just what does a 'senior business advisor' do for a 'blue chip' law firm? The firm's spokesman stated that, "The Alberta economy has got to be the hottest place for investment in, if not Canada, North America.. . "So people all around the world are interested in investing here, and with our expertise and Mr. Klein's profile, reputation, and expertise . . . those investors will want to come and speak to us." He went on, "We have a very significant client base of corporations from the United States and around the world and Mr. Klein is well known in both Asia and Europe and, quite frankly, there's a lot of them that want to invest here in Alberta and there's nobody better to advise them on what's happening in Alberta than Mr. Klein." Translation: We want Ralph out glad-handing our clients and smoothing their way through the morass of Government regulations and decision-makers, so that they get from the Government what they are looking for.

Ralph, so far, falls within the letter of the law - the Conflicts of Interest Act. He mustn't lobby on behalf of clients in the first six months upon leaving office; he can only advise them. Borden Ladner Gervais assures us that they and their new acquisition will adhere to the letter of the law.

So, why the foul air? The announcement that Ralph took the job came just 3 days after his final day in office, the same day that he became entitled to his fat $650,000 severance payment. He grabbed the job with unseemly haste-particularly when Bush's pal, Steve Harper's Federal Accountablility Act provides for a 5 year 'cooling off' period before any member of the Federal Government can begin to apply his charm and influence for his new private-sector bosses.

Ethics Commissioner, Don Hamilton, found nothing wrong, with Ralph's taking the job. This followed the tradition of his predecessor Ethics Commissioner, Bob Clark, who seldom found Tory wrong-doing in his investigations. A couple of Clark's investigations topped the El Stinko charts - like the Multicorp and the Hong Pham/Aftergood Civic Election scandals, the stench from which still permeates the air on a bad day. Interestingly, both are alumnae of the dead carcass of the Social Credit Party. Oh well, after the disappearance of the Party of Aberhart and Manning the Elder, they had to do something for a living.