This is Paul Hinman's new house. Or something.

We know that not everyone has time to pay attention to politics.

We know that a lot of political information is forgotten after high school.

We know.

And we want to break things down so everybody can be an engaged citizen.

Part 1 of “Muddling Through: The Strange World of Provincial Politics”

By Dustin McNichol

Yesterday, Albertans got a chance to vote. But not all of us. Only those in the constituency of Calgary-Glenmore, where Wildrose Alliance candidate Paul Hinman won the provincial byelection.

A byelection occurs when an elected member of the provincial legislature vacates his or her seat at the legislature. Remember, every electoral constituency in the province gets one seat, and one member in each seat represents one constituency. Still with me? Good.

Now, a member of the provincial legislature can leave his or her seat due to death, resignation, fatigue from too many years of Tory government (just kidding), or simply if the member found a better job. In this case, former Progressive Conservative member Ron Stevens was appointed to be a Queen’s Bench judge, so he had to resign his seat.

The idea of democracy is that the people have to be represented. Since the seat is empty, it means the good people down in Calgary-Glenmore have nobody to represent them at the provincial level. And we can’t have that, can we!?

Of course not! So, the Premier calls a byelection to fill the seat, picks a date for everyone to vote, and the candidates start throwing mud at each other. Only residents of the Calgary-Glenmore constituency may vote; just as only the members of the specific constituency may vote in any byelection. The winner of the election gets to be the new Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the constituency of Calgary-Glenmore.

And that, my friends, is a provincial byelection.

Now I’m sure your next question is: “Okay, but why should I give a shit about some tiny little election that has no effect on me?”

I’ll tell you why. In provincial politics, byelections are viewed as an indication of how people feel about the current government. So if the Progressive Conservative (the current governing party) candidate comes in third place (which is what happened yesterday), it is viewed as a message to the government that they suck. Or that they need to improve.

It shows that people are unhappy with the ways things are going under the current regime. It means change is possible. And when this is the case, it means we can possiblly change things for the better.

Of course, we can’t interpret too much from provincial byelections. Many people thought that the Alberta Liberals would do well after winning a key byelection in Calgary, only to be crushed by the Progressive Conservatives in the general election of 2008. Byelections are only a small piece of how people think about provincial politics, and you can only read into them so much.

Anyway, take what you want from it. Personally, I’m happy to see that, after 40 years of the same party in Calgary-Glenmore, people finally decided to vote for someone else. I think it is a fairly good message to the current government party, considering the PC candidate not only lost, but lost by a long shot.

So, I was having a lovely breakfast with some friends last weekend when my pal Ryan (of the blog GrandeFullBody) told me a magical tale of a replica of the Alberta Legislature made entirely of Lego. Obviously, I called him a liar, right to his stupid face. But then he then backed it up with this picture. (Sorry, buddy.)

Now, those of you in the know are going to be all like, “yeah, Sally, way to discover something that we knew about in 2005.” And I will reply, “Look, don’t ruin this for me. I did not live here in 2005. And based on the fact that rents have doubled since then, I’m going to say there are probably a couple of new faces in Edmonton who will find this to be completely new, completely dazzling information.”

YES, this is 4 years old. But that doesn’t change that it is GREAT. In researching (read = googling) the LEGO™slature and its history, I have learned 2 things: one, that apparently “legoslature” is a common American misspelling of “legislature”, and two, that it was created in honor of the provincial Centennial in 2005, by the Northern Alberta Lego Users Group.

…and just in case this ISN’T rad enough for you, how about THIS? THAT IS A LOT OF LEGO™, people. Did I just blow your mind grapes?

Anyway, I found this press release from 2008 that says the model is located in the East-West pedway of the Legislature. When I called Visitor Services to confirm it was still located there, the operator plainly informed me that it was, because it’s “too big to move.” GOLD, JERRY. GOLD! Thanks Ryan!

What, what, WHAT?! It seems the chain link fences have come down and the fountains have gone up on the Legislature Grounds. Staff were cleaning up the wading pool early this morning, which must mean that summer has finally arrived. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for Jeff in the pool this summer; he prefers the Leg Grounds to city pools because of his whole never-nude thing.