LEE RICHARDSON AND HIS 'COME FLY WITH ME' DESIGNATED TRAVELER

LEE RICHARDSON MP

His fetching Designated Traveler

Lee Richardson MP for Calgary Center is in deep doo-doo. I feel sorry for the bloke because if there was a Conservative MP that I like it is Richardson. He is from that kinder and gentler ancestor of the Harperites, the now defunct federal Progressive Conservative Party. I’m sure you remember the old federal PCs. You know - the ones that gave us Dief, Joe Clark, Karlheinz Schreiber’s pal Brian Mulroney, and the asterisk Kim Campbell. The old federal PC party had a proud and noble history to be sure, and I still have respect for many of the old red Tories that ran it. They didn’t come any better than Alvin Hamilton, Flora Macdonald and Bob Stanfield. Because Richardson comes from that old red Tory strain and doesn’t hide his pedigree his chances of making the cabinet of Stephen Harper or even getting a decent sinecure for services rendered rate from zero to none.

Now, as a result of recently disclosed information Richardson’s bleak chances of a Harper-inspired reward have become much, much worse. And it’s all over an awe-inspiring blonde and one of the great babes on Canadian television these days – CBC-TV national political reporter Krista Erickson. See:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9015821.html

Richardson, a widower and a warm and cuddly guy, has admitted to being linked to the delectable newshound for a couple of years, and it’s something about which he is justly proud. After all, although he is reasonably well preserved and not quite ready for the glue factory or the Royal Tyrell Museum (for those of you from outside of Alberta, the Royal Tyrell is one of the finest Dinosaur museums in the world), he is several generations older than the dazzling Miss Erickson.

Richardson’s trouble arises as a result of Erickson being registered as the designated traveler for Richardson in his capacity as an MP. This qualifies her to fly on Canada’s airlines courtesy of guess who? Richardson? Nope. The Canadian taxpayer? Yep.

As a result, the pesky Canadian Taxpayers Federation is mightily pissed with Richardson. Not only does it want to find out just how much of the $143,850 worth of travel expenses he charged up during 2008-2009 was for his ravishing gal pal, its spokesman is convinced that this will be a problem for everybody including the Tories. Not surprisingly, both Richardson and his exquisite designated traveler claim they have no knowledge of she being on any tax payer sponsored trip.


While the dashing and debonair Richardson has the sumptuous Erickson as his designated traveler, it should be noted that defence minister Peter McKay – he who was unceremoniously dumped by the equally resplendent Belinda Stronach – has named his mother as his designated traveler. No surprise there.

But if Richardson is in the soup over this one, his gorgeous fellow traveler is in even deeper. The Canadian Association of Journalists is pissed with both Erickson and the CBC. According to the Association’s president Mary Agnes Welch, the Association’s Code of Ethics [the Canadian Association of Journalists’ Code of Ethics, now there’s an oxymoron for you!] says that journalists should not have a personal relationship with the people they report on. What’s even worse, she says, is flying free because of the relationship. Welch puts it this way: “It is one thing to have a personal relationship. It’s another thing entirely to be benefiting from that relationship. Actually being able to fly for free because of that relationship kind of brings it to a new level. A reporter who covers national politics in any way who is in a relationship with an MP is clearly in conflict.”

This is the second time that the ravishing Erickson has been accused of running afoul of the code of ethics. In 2007 during the Commons committee hearings looking into the sordid Mulroney – Schreiber affair she planted a few written questions with some Liberals to ask Mulroney. The Harperites screamed blue murder about the affair to the CBC which resulted in her being banished to the boring gulag of Toronto for almost two years.

What will happen to Erickson next is anybody’s guess. However, if the CBC gives her the pink slip she can always seek employment with the Calgary Herald whose conflict of interest rules for journalists are applied with much less rigor and severity - that is, if they are applied at all. For example, Tom Olsen happily continued writing his Herald column and reporting on the government of Ralph Klein even though his brother Gordon (with whom Tom obviously had a relationship) at the same time held various positions in Klein’s office including executive director of the premier’s south office, executive assistant to the premier, and the premier’s caucus liaison.

So, for Erickson, even if worse comes to worse – hell, it’s not the end of the world.

SHOCKER! STELMACH TORIES DIVORCE STANWAY AND OLSEN

Graham’s Thomson’s piece in the Edmonton Journal (and Calgary Herald) of March 1st deals with the departure of Paul Stanway as director of communications for Special Ed Stelmach. See: http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/Gentleman+Stanway+bows+premier+office/2625768/story.html

In it, Thomson speculates as to whether Stanway was a rat leaving the seriously listing H.M.S. Dweeb, or told to walk the gang plank by Captain Dweeb himself. He poses the question, is Stanway the fall guy for the government’s lousy communications policy? Or is he actually taking the blame for it? Not that it matters anymore given that Dweeb is likely going down with the ship.

Thomson also observes that Stanway, and Stelmach’s press officer Tom Olsen, who are now leaving their employment at the same time, went to work for the Premier at the same time in 2007 and did so immediately upon leaving their posts as political columnists at their respective newspapers, Stanway at the Edmonton Sun, and Olsen at the Calgary Herald.

No doubt due to some misguided sense of professional courtesy Thomson fails to remind his readers that prior to the appointments of Stanway and Olsen to cushy government jobs both of them were shameless and consistent Tory propagandists who never wrote a word of even muted criticism of the inept and incompetent Alberta Tory administrations that they covered.
See: Darryl Raymaker blog Thursday, February 01, 2007 TORIES, STANWAY, 0LSEN: FINALLY CHURCHED

What Thomson finds interesting is not the pay-offs these political hookers received for the servicing of their Progressive Conservative johns, it is that there were two of them who came and left their well-paid, tax-payer funded jobs at the same time.

In fact Thomson even calls their hiring by Stelmach, “From watchdog to lapdog in a single bound.” Watchdog? Puleeeeze!!!! They were lapdogs, from beginning to end. He should have referred to the relationships as "From lapdog to lapdog via a thousand Tory kiss-ass columns."

Thomson says that their hiring by Stelmach rattled both reporters and PR types, who felt their professions had been insulted, and that they also added to public cynicism about ties between government and press. Well, it wasn’t so much their hiring that pissed off the discerning members of the public. It was because it was so obvious why they were hired. They were hired because they were Tory hacks!

Olsen’s case was even more flagrant. He was a young pup of a reporter who was present at the dawning of the bleak Conrad Black era of media dominance in Canada (which understandably coincided with the collapse of good and decent journalistic ethics). It has been said that Olsen was a Black favorite because he sided with management during the Herald’s infamous strike in 1999. The story makes some sense in that Olsen’s rise within the organization was inexorable from there on – from cub reporter, to legislature reporter, to bureau chief, to legislature columnist, and finally to senior columnist – all in a few short years with Olsen currying the favour of the Tory party all the way.

During Olsen’s tenure in the Klein years, as luck would have it, his brother Gordon served as a senior policy advisor to none other than Ralph Klein, as well as Executive Director of the Premier’s Southern Alberta office. The Herald concluded that such a comfy arrangement between brothers as they tended to their respective jobs - one protecting the subject and the other supposedly objectively commenting and reporting on the same subject - still passed the stink test!

For more on the careers of these two Tory mouthpieces read: http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=5577

Anyway, Thomson goes on to say that Stanway is a nice guy and a gentleman. He is silent on Olsen.

TORY MLA DOUG ELNISKI: A TWITTERING TWIT

Doug Elniski as a Young Man

Doug Elniski, MLA for Edmonton Calder today

For those Canadians who live in parts of Canada other than my beloved Alberta, don’t think you are missing anything. Apart from substandard roads and health care, a lack of schools, services for seniors, adequate nursing homes, and overcrowded universities, many of the province’s citizens are represented by Progressive Conservative members such as Doug Elniski.

The knuckle-dragging 6 ‘ 7” Elniski who drives a smart car, squeaked out a victory against the NDP in Edmonton Calder in the last provincial election. Over the past few days he has shown that he is right on top of things when it comes to new technology by revealing his proficiency at twittering. Obviously using the technology for his official purposes, he recently twittered his followers that they should direct their attention to a bikini car wash where “girls look cold.”

In addition, In his capacity as an MLA he attended the Edmonton gay pride parade a few days ago. While attending to his official functions he tastefully twittered to his avid followers that at one point he was "surrounded by bumping and grinding lesbians."
Read: http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Tory+draws+fire+offensive+Twitter+posts/1723327/story.html
But that’s not all. Recently while using the new technology to publicize his lofty views on junior high school graduations, Elniski posted some homespun advice to young girls. Elniski declared that "Men are attracted to smiles, so smile and don't give me that 'treated equal' stuff, if you want equal it comes in little packages at Starbucks."

He also opined, "There is nothing a man wants less than a woman scowling because he thinks he is going to get sh--for something and has no idea what."

For more of Elniski’s twittering intellectual musings, read: http://twitter.com/ElniskiMLA?max_id=2255128223&page=2&twttr=true

The publicity generated by the offending posts brought forth considerable derision from many thoughtful Albertans thus prompting Elniski to expunge his musings from the internet. He observed, “"To be honest with you, I feel kind of foolish because as I go back and look at it now I can say I never, ever should have done what I did." Indeed.

Elniski’s gaffes came only a few days after Stelmach’s Finance Minister Iris Evans said in a speech in Toronto that families with two working parents did not properly care for their children. Like the erudite Elniski, the high positioned ditz also apologized for her offensive comments.

Tom Olsen, a former Calgary Herald columnist and prominent Tory cheerleader during the dark ages of the Klein years, is now Premier Stelmach’s mouthpiece on damage control matters. He reported that Stelmach is not considering disciplinary action against this Neanderthal Calder MLA.

So, all you Canadians out there in the hinterland, you are not missing much!

MENDACITY OR IGNORANCE REDUX: THE TIRESOME NEIL WAUGH

Waugh

Anxious to join his pals? Or, just plain dumb?

I note in yesterday's Calgary Sun, the last remaining Tory neanderthal columnist not yet hired by Premier Stelmach's propaganda office - Neil Waugh - wrote about the recent downturn in Alberta housing construction:

“ . . . The senior market analyst immediately concluded that when it came to single-detached starts: 'last month's activity represented the worst July performance since 1986.'
That harkens back to a time when the Alberta economy was still locked in the economic winter that Pierre Trudeau's NEP caused. . . .” http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Columnists/Waugh_Neil/2008/08/12/pf-6422166.html

Either Waugh is getting desperate to join his pals Olsen and Stanway on the Stelmach gravy train or, he really is ignorant. Either way its an even money bet.

For the real facts read:

http://darrylraymaker.blogspot.com/2008/07/calgary-heralds-disrespect-of.html

NEIL WAUGH'S CONTINUING QUEST FOR RESPECTABILITY

In his Sun Media column today, 'Liberal Bent to Blogger' http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Columnists/Waugh_Neil/2008/01/10/4764940.html, it looked for a moment as though Neil Waugh was finally going to take his beloved Tories to task. That he was going to show some guts. Some independence. He called 'obscene' a payment of 1,348,645 big ones by the Stelmach government to a company controlled by ex-energy department mandarin Kellan Fluckiger for a redesign of the provincial electrical system. He noted - courageously for Waugh, who is normally a Tory lackey - that so far the only thing coming out of Fluckiger's expensive retooling effort was a near brownout at Christmas and 'sky-high' utility rates.

Alas, his just and righteous indignation at the continuing excesses of the Special Ed crew was not to last. It was merely the opening act for - surprise, surprise, - an attack on the Liberals. The nearly one-and-a-half million dollar scam on the taxpayer was bad. But in Waugh's twisted mind, it was not near as bad as the actions of an over-zealous young Liberal, who Waugh himself referred to as a 'teeny, tiny Grit.'

So what horrendous act did this 'teeny, tiny Grit,' commit that would justify Waugh's judgement that it overshadowed the Fluckiger cookie jar invasion?

This 'teeny, tiny Grit' reserved the domain website name of http://edstelmach.ca/. Horror of horrors! Oh, the humanity! A juvenile prank committed by one barely beyond the age of a juvenile in Waugh's Tory-warped brain is a far more weighty breach of ethics and honor than the awarding of a contract - untendered of course - of over a million bucks to a government pal.

Premier Eddie, this here Waugh fellow has been turning chicken sh** into chicken salad for Provincial Tories for so long, I doubt that he knows the difference any more. Let him take his rightful place alongside of Olsen and Stanway. C'mon Ed, you owe him big time!

NEIL WAUGH: C'MON ED, CHURCH HIM TOO.

Waugh: Time for a wedding?

Stelmach (left) with Olsen, now happily settled down.

The reader will recall my ribald and rollicking blog about the long overdue marriage between the Alberta Tory Party and two of its ink-stained flim-flam artistes Tom Olsen and Paul Stanway (Tories, Stanway, Olsen: Finally Churched, Darryl Raymaker Blog 1/16/07).

Stanway, you will recall, was for many years a scribe for SunMedia during which time he was a loyal and faithful shill for all manner of Tories. Ditto for the longtime Calgary Herald Legislative columnist Olsen. Olsen's Tory connections included his own brother working as a PR flack out of the Klein Premier's office. It was a sign of the times that it dawned on neither of the Olsens that both were in a real and perceived conflict of interest and that the honourable thing to do was for one to resign.

Special Ed finally stopped the charade. Realizing his run as Premier was off to an unpromising start, he felt he needed his shills closer at hand, and so he hired both Stanway and Olsen as press mouthpieces for his office. No longer were these two scribes merely illicit lovers and mistresses of the Tories, they were now married. No doubt each had a fat pre-nuptual contract complete with a sweetheart Murray Smith severance payment clause.

But left at the altar, surprisingly, was another working stiff at the Tory's SunMedia bordello - one Neil Waugh. Waugh, you will recall, was the subject of another brilliant piece, Weasel Words and the Art of the Big Lie (Darryl Raymaker Blog 2/1/07), which reflected on Waugh's aptitude in both of those subjects.

Among other services performed for the Tories over the years, Waugh and others among his colleagues argued that the Multicorp scandal (wherein many of Klein's associates were given shares of a company that was trying to do business in a Chinese city where the Premier was about to do some promotion work), was dead and buried and that opposition members were wasting their time trying to focus public attention on it. He also was one of the first scribes out of the chute to promote the message that the real story behind Premier Klein's egregious drunken behaviour at a homeless shelter just before Christmas a few years ago, was not the Premier's behaviour. No, no, no. According to Waugh it was that the Premier had quit drinking as a result.

Waugh is at it again. In this morning's Calgary Sun (December 23, 2007), in commenting on what he sees as the dismal state of opposition to the Tories in the Legislature, he writes about Opposition Leader KevinTaft:

"Taft's fall session was dismal - fixated on his madeup claim that billions in royalty money was missing from the treasury. It was a preposterous claim that lost media traction two days in."

Just as Waugh conveniently ignored the highly suspicious circumstances of Multicorp, and the scandalous actions of the Premier at the homeless shelter, he ignores the scathing report of the Tory appointed Auditor General Fred Dunn on the collection of royalties issue.

Dunn stated that the Alberta Government was losing a billion dollars a year by not collecting from the industry the royalties that should have been collected. Indeed, he noted, even though these losses were identified by government personnel, they were still not collected. Dunn further commented deploring the government's lack of "completeness and accuracy" of well production data for oil and natural gas. And in dealing with royalties, Dunn said that the government did not follow "principles of transparency and accountability."

So if Taft's claim is 'preposterous,' and a 'made up claim,' Waugh's logic would conclude that so is the report of the Auditor General of Alberta.

I have a message for Special Ed:

Eddie, this is yeoman service from one of your great Tory flim-flam ink-stained tarts. Lord knows, he's been loyal and faithful to you. A true Tory toady. And l hasten to point out that all isn't well in the SunMedia empire where he toils. There are those who are highly critical of its present management, and of course the Chairman of the Board of its parent company Quebecor Inc, is none other than Brian Mulroney himself. Think of poor Neil's reputation. It was bad enough having to lurk around in quiet bars as a Tory mistress. C'mon Eddie, church him, like you did Olsen and Stanway. Its time. And don't forget the contract. He might need the Murray Smith severance clause after the next election.

SPECIAL ED: BEING BATTERED IN A BY- ELECTION

As the by-election in Calgary Elbow reaches its climax, Special Ed is pulling out all the stops Tory-wise. Alas, there are not too many to pull.

One was the soon-to-be-forgotten Jim Dinning. The Tories surprisingly recruited Dinning for a little campaigning in Calgary Elbow. It was 'a little campaigning' alright. A feeble, nanno-second, photo-op door knock in the riding. That was about the only good news for the Tories in Calgary Elbow in recent days.

Apparently the still battered and bleeding Dinning, who fell during Special Ed's Hayseed Revolution last December in his bid to replace Klein, still feels some loyalty to the party that gave him the boot, notwithstanding his years of loyal and faithful service to the cause. Then again, maybe it was Dinning's last hurrah and he wanted to go out with some class - an attribute largely missing among Special Ed's forces.

The Premier had the usual Tory gall to use government operating cash for a late election propaganda pamphlet. To the tune of about $200,000 of taxpayer money, the government published a mail-out to show 1.3 million Alberta households just how much loot is being spent by Special Ed's team on Calgary and Alberta generally. Tom Olsen, now one of Eddie's in-house press flacks after years of working for the Klein government by writing his Calgary Herald Legislature column, told the public that the pamphlet was really no big deal. These "non-partisan" communications went out 3 times a year to show how government is working for Albertans, said Olsen. As his nose became more extended, Special Ed's Pinnochio said blithely, "Its got nothing to do with by-elections."

The Premier continued his campaigning by resorting to another traditional Tory election goodie - hospitals. He announced - for the fourth time - that the Tory government would pay for the new hospital in the south part of the city.
The construction of this hospital has a depressing, boring and irksome history. Back in 1998 when Ralph was in the midst of his deficit and debt reduction mayhem, blowing-up and closing down hospitals, he said that the hospital should be built 'fairly quickly.' In 2004 he presided over a ground breaking ceremony. In 2005, Ralph's government promised to pay the 500 million or so cost of it. Just 3 months ago in March, Special Ed promised to pay the full shot of 900 million. And now, Ed says once again that his government will pay the full cost - which now stands at $1.25 billion. He also says that it will be complete by 2011, 13 years after Ralph said it should be built 'fairly quickly.' And he is using this commitment on the by-election hustings in Calgary Elbow to attract votes. Strange, you say? Yes, indeed, strange! And stranger still, if the good burghers of Calgary Elbow fall for it.

In the meantime, uber-mountaineer and now Tory caucus chair, David Rodney continues to pummel away at Mayor Bronco. The two-time Everest conqueror told outstanding Calgary Sun columnist Bill Kaufmann during an interview that when people meet Special Ed, "they're instantly won over." About Bronco he opined that the Mayor was causing Tory approval ratings to go down because he wasn't grateful enough or obedient to the Tories. He also said that the Mayor's behaviour was such that he, Rodney, was having a hard time having a professional relationship with him - i.e. Bronco is unprofessional. One wonders if Rodney's personal attacks on a popular Mayor during a crucial by-election might be a manifestation of some high altitude vascular accident in his brain.

The week ended with Ed's neocon Sustainable Resource Development Minister, Ted Morton and Education Minister Ron Leipert making matters much worse. Morton revved up the battle with Bronco with a speech in Banff to some municipal leaders. Morton had the temerity to say that "Calgary by itself is a good, but not a great city." The Mayor, once again livid with righteous indignation, replied that Morton ". . . stood up there and ripped our city. . . . Calgary is a great city and I am offended." Of course, Morton could not leave the matter rest. He responded, "This shows the source of a lot of these polemics is a mayor who is far too thin-skinned." Naturally, the melee led to lurid headlines. The Herald Saturday edition of June 9 headline was: Mayor takes Tories to task." Not helpful at all.

Nor was it helpful to Special Ed and the Tories when Education Minister Ron Leipert announced that because of rising costs, and the rising value of the loonie, the province was feeling a financial strain. Thus, the people of Calgary should not expect too much in the way of new school construction. Lack of schools in new subdivisions has been a critical problem for some time now. With no end in sight, parents of small children who are bussed long distances every day are, and will be in the forseeable future, bloody angry.

In the end there was another piece of what could be interpreted as good news for the Premier. His predecessor, mentor, and patron Ralph Klein had a slough named after him. Oh, they call it a Park. Ralph Klein Park. But it is 30 hectares located in the 225 hectare Shepard Wetlands, located in south-east Calgary near the City limits. And so, its a slough.

And if that is the best thing that can happen to the Tories on the cusp of the Elbow by-election, well, I think Special Ed is going to lose this one. On Tuesday, look to Liberal Craig Cheffins taking Ralph's old riding away from the Tories.

FAST EDDIE AND THE GATHERING STORM

Bad news. Its all bad news. That's what Premier Fast Eddie must have thought last night as the Quebec polls rolled in announcing big changes in the offing for La Belle Province.

At least part of Bush's pal Steve Harper's Nation of Quebecois spoke pretty clearly. They wanted change. As a result, Mario Dumont's Action Democratique du Quebec came out of nowhere to vault to second place, the PQ dropped to a dismal third, and Jean Charest squeaked to a slender minority victory.

Fast Eddie must be asking himself and his other paid flaks that loiter about his office - Olsen and Stanway come to mind - Is the desire for change in the Provinces catchy? Will it catch on in Alberta?

If they are honest they will say, 'dern right!' or 'dern tootin!' consistent with the hayseed lingo of Eddie's new Government. Why? Because first of all, Alberta has profound problems that are affecting everyone. Lack of Hospitals, dirty Hospitals, inadequate health care, lack of schools, crumbling infrastructure, overcrowded universities - you name it. It would be surprising if they did not want change, given how the chickens have come home to roost as a result of the do-nothing boys of the Klein years - one of those boys being Fast Eddie himself. Fast Eddie was a Big Stick for Ralph during those dark ages (See Darryl Raymaker Blog, January 27, 2007).

In addition, the new Premier's record since he blew Dinning and Morton away has been less than stellar. His Ministers are not singing from the same song book, he's been seen as graspy respecting fund-raising, and is now widely regarded as being slow to respond to the Province's woes.

Furthermore, he seems to have no clout with his fellow-traveler, Bush's pal Steve Harper, who
in his recent Budget included resource revenues for the purpose of calculating equalization payments - an idea long considered to be heresy in the Tory establishment in these parts.

The upset in Quebec follows closely upon an ominous poll taken recently by CTVglobemedia. The results were announced last thursday. In the poll, more than 1200 Calgarians were questioned about Fast Eddie's performance to date. 20% of them thought he was doing a good job, 64.5% said it was too soon to tell, and 15% thought he was doing a poor job. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Edmonton, a Liberal stronghold, was a little kinder to Eddie. 34% said he was doing a good job, 56% said it was too soon to tell, and 10% thought he was doing a poor job. The poll is considered accurate to within 2.5% 19 times out of 20.

The Grits are gearing up for two by-elections, one in Calgary Elbow - the Riding vacated by Klein - and one in Drumheller-Stettler. In Calgary, even Ralph's bosom buddies are predicting the Tories will lose the seat. In Drumheller, all reports indicate that farmers and ranchers are on the warpath against the Tories respecting water supply and other long-standing issues, and are for the first time taking a long long at the Grits.

All of which is bad news for Fast Eddie. The good old days when a Tory didn't even have to campaign to win are gone.

Is change catchy? Dern Tootin!

NEIL WAUGH: WEASEL WORDS AND THE ART OF THE BIG LIE

Neil Waugh has been a columnist for the Edmonton Sun for many years. His message is always the same: Tories are great; Grits are vermin - much like the scribblings of his Edmonton Sun colleague Paul Stanway and Herald hackster Tom Olsen. Stanway and Olsen were finally put on the Tory payroll full time. How is it Waugh didn't make the cut? He probably will, the next time the Premier wants to reward his pals in the media with cushy jobs paid for by the tax-payer in his Communications office.

Waugh is representative of virtually all of the right-wing scribes and loud-mouth conservative talk radio hosts who ply their less than awesome talents in Alberta and elsewhere. They are not above exploiting the Goebbels truism of the BIG LIE: Tell the BIG LIE often enough, and the masses will sure to believe it.

An example is the BIG LIE of the National Energy Policy (you remember, shurely, the 'NEP'). It was the proposition that it was the NEP alone that devastated the Alberta economy when it was launched in the fall of 1980, and that it was a punitive measure imposed on the oil industry, deliberately and with malice, by the Trudeau Government of the day, to destroy Alberta prosperity. Perhaps it has been expressed with differences here and there, but that is the essence of it.

It is a BIG LIE because the NEP was not a malicious and punitive measure. It was a response - albeit, probably a bad one - to sky high oil prices that were crippling world economies, including Canada's. Furthermore, there were other far more significant factors that plundered the economies of all oil producing regions of the day - whether it was in Alberta, Texas or the Sultanate of Brunei. Interest rates, led by the U. S. Federal Reserve Board during the reign of conservative poster-boy Ronnie Reagan, went through the roof for an extended time, exceeding 20% and thus bringing construction and industrial expansion to a crashing halt. In addition, oil prices did not continue to rise, as predicted by the economic gurus of the day. Oil prices went south, which combined with the high interest rates, resulted in the cataclysmic collapse of the oil and gas economies.

But the BIG LIE has been told ad nauseum by the likes of Waugh and his pals in the conservative media and politics, and so a great proportion of Albertans have come to believe it.

Waugh is at it again. His target again this time is of course the Liberal Party. His recent column of Thursday February 15, entitled 'Scary and Really Scary' beats up on Ajax-Pickering MP Mark Holland. Never one to understate when it comes to an attack on the Grits, Waugh states that 'the greatest threat to the Alberta oil patch is not Al Qaida terrorists . . . but Ottawa Liberals ' such as ' M.P. Mark Holland.

Now here comes the BIG LIE. Waugh goes on to say, 'Holland, apparently, let the cat out of the bag when he blabbed on open-line talk shows recently that Stephane Dion and the Libs would seize the oilsands if companies didn't conform to the Kyoto agreements impossible green house gas emission targets.'

Holland said no such thing, 'apparently' (a weasel word if there ever was one) or otherwise. Furthermore, no Liberal - from the Leader on down, has said such a thing. Nor could any Liberal's words be interpreted as saying any such thing. And neither did Mr. Holland try to 'wriggle out' of what he said - as alleged by Waugh - when Holland later claimed that the Liberals still support oilsands development 'in a reasonable and sustainable manner.' That is what Holland and the Liberals, and indeed, former Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed, have said all along.

What Waugh has done is introduce another BIG LIE to once again scare the people of Alberta into voting Conservative. He and his ilk have done it before and they will try to do it again. They will repeat the BIG LIE over and over again, so as to maintain the depressing, monolithic presence of the Federal Conservative Party representing Albertans in Ottawa.

Let's hope the people of Alberta finally recognize that they have been manipulated by twits like Waugh long enough. Good bye to the BIG LIE.

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.

TORIES, STANWAY, 0LSEN: FINALLY CHURCHED

Its about time, really. The Love Affair between the Provincial Tories and columnists Tom Olsen and Paul Stanway, has been an open secret to discerning readers for years. It has been as passionate as it has been long-lasting. Finally, it is sanctified.

Oh, perhaps not in a religious sense. That could have happened maybe in the old Social Credit Days, when Parson E. C. Manning was Premier. He could have performed the ceremony during one of his 'Back to the Bible Hour' Sunday broadcasts. No, in these more secular times, the more worldly Tories and their illicit love companions Olsen and Stanway, have sanctified their relationship legally. They have signed a contract to join 'Notsofast' Eddie's communications staff. Longtime Sun columnist and Tory cheerleader and apologist, Stanway, is the new Director of Communications. Olsen, longtime Klein insider, stroker, coddler, brother to Gordon who for years was on Klein's office payroll, and Herald hack columnist, is Notsofast's Director of Media Relations.

The Tories have finally made Olsen and Stanway, an honest woman. No longer will they be forced to deny the obvious. No more darkened, smoky bars, cheap hotel rooms, ducking around corners. No. The two Tory hacks can come right out and admit it now. They can honestly say, "Yes, we work for the Tories." No more shameless denials. No more dissembling. No more masquerading objectivity. No, its finally truth-time. They're working for the Tories, and proud of it.

In fact, they've been working for the Tories for years. Not paid by them, although their hiring after years of unflinching Tory loyalty in their columns, causes the raising of more than one set of eyebrows, and more than a whiff of whatever it was Marcellus thought was rotten in Denmark.