Alberta Budget
You can listen live to the Alberta Budget at this website.
Or follow the commentary and information on Twitter.
Go with #ableg or #abbudget for the latest details from the budget, the latest reaction and all kinds of zings.
Update: Read the budget documents, and more, here. Still check the Twitter hashtags though (you don’t even need to be on Twitter to search it).
Make your move!
This is probably the only time anyone will ever mention David Swann, Brian Mason AND Carson Daly in the same breath. And I’m going somewhere with it. (Probably.)
It’s their time to make a move.
Don't stare directly into his eyes! Or you'll fall in love.
With all the chatter about Jay and Conan (I’m with Coco, by the way), and the renewed interest in all late night talk shows, Carson Daly is getting zinged left and right. I bet he’s being talked about as much, or more, than in his TRL days. Make your move Carson. It’s time to capitalize on your current name-recoginition before NBC just dumps your show (or puts you on at 2am), and secure your retirement with a sweet deal somewhere else.
Now, for our Alberta politicians I’d also say it’s time to make a big move. Though, they don’t have near the current name-recognition of doe-eyed Carson.
With the governing Tories taking a beating from all sides, the Wildrose Alliance is striding up the right-side of the policical spectrum to one elected member and two crossover MLAs. Plus, they’re all over the news and sinking into the consciousness of Albertans.
Why isn't Rick Mercer hanging out with this guy at WEM?
So…it’s time for the centre-left guys to do something big. I know people have told you to join forces, I know people have told you to work together, or start a new party for progressives, and those who are socially liberal and fiscally conservative. I’m telling you this is your one real chance.
Hey, would you look at that. Someone has already gone out and started a party which is looking for enough signatures to become the real deal. If the NDP and Liberals could just suck up their egos for about a minute they might see that they aren’t being talked about at all these days.
At all.
Never surrender! Never win many seats!
And since they haven’t been able to do much with their current parties, and since Alberta feels like a two-party kind of parliamentary democracy, I think the only chance real centre-left, post-partisans have is something new.
Now is also the time because you’ve got a few years until the next election so you’ve got time for the Tories and Wildrose to split the partisan, socially conservative side of things even more, leaving a nice big swath of voters looking elsewhere. And maybe all this new action will get even more people out to vote.
Come on Carson, David and Brian, make a big move.
p.s. If you make a move to a new party, be sure to pay off your current party debts first.
Nuclear Power: Not green but not that scary
By Gregg Beever
It’s winter, isn’t it? Kind of tough to tell these days.
Winter brings shorter days and shorter days mean the lights stay on longer. Our winter heating bills double as we jack the thermostat in an effort to combat hypothermia. It’s the time of year our already rabid consumption of energy becomes insanely intense.
Edmonton, like many other city around the globe, is growing along with its insatiable energy needs. So how is Edmonton and the rest of Alberta going to fuel the future?
Before you answer, remember, we have to do it cleanly and greenly. You know, that whole global warming thing.
A few months back I was at the Greyhound Bus Station on a delivery errand. As my package was being processed a young woman cycled up to the door carrying several large, bound stacks of paper. Dressed in earthy tones she had natural, mid-length hair, wore no obvious make-up and was equipped with the kind of proper cycling gear that suggested her bike was her main mode of transport. In short, she was the type of girl that makes my hippy heart flutter.
It came as no surprise, then, that the stacks she placed on the conveyor belt beside me were posters for an environmental advocacy group. The poster read “A Truly Green Future…Does Not Include Nuclear Power,” a slogan belonging to the Coalition for a Nuclear Free Alberta (CNFA).
It occurred to me, as I was driving home, that I should have picked her brain about it. Why should Alberta be nuclear free? What makes nuclear power not “truly green?” Would that girl have given me her phone number?
These were all questions that demanded answers. Since I’ll never get the answer for that last one, I’ll have settle for answering the first two. (more…)
Ed Stelmach: lone wolf pack
A letter to the Premier of Alberta, on his most recent television appearance, by Janine Edwards.
Dear Mr. Stelmach,
Your speech last night put me to sleep. It’s a good thing I set my VCR to record the speech, because I had to catch up on it when I woke up.
Now that I’ve watched it, let’s get a few things straight.
That cost HOW MUCH? $134,000. Wow. How many ‘Paranormal Activity’ or likewise indie movies could that purchase? And just what exactly cost so much money?
Was it all that beautiful stock footage? Was it the suit? (Which made you look frightening and awkward.) Was it the powerpoint slides swinging by on the screen? Was it for the speech-writer?
Here are some things you, Mr. Stelmach, and your team could do to improve these paid speeches:
1. Don’t read your prompter word-for-word. We CAN see you, and can tell you are reading as you are talking. Next you’ll be sounding out the big words.
2. Ask NAIT and SAIT kids to get the stock footage. It could be their assignment at school and cost nothing to the taxpayer.
3. Ditch the suit, wear something comfortable. Mr. Stelmach, by wearing that suit – you, yourself, just look like a suit. There is no personality there… you are exactly what I thought you’d be. Next time – how about a warm sweater-vest? Or perhaps a three wolf, one moon t-shirt. It will show that you’re one hip cat.
4. If you must use the powerpoint slideslow – do me one favour: creative transitioning. I want that dissolve feature, the curtain transition, and of course, the star wipe. The star wipe is key. Do this over and over, and we’ll take you seriously. As well, you’ll be watched by more people, all over the world – as we will ensure the world sees the video on YouTube.
5. Did you see when Harper sang that catchy Beatles tune on stage? Canadians went ape-shit. Step one: Learn the clarinet. Step two: A groovy jazz number to close your next speech.
6. Ditch the whole ‘speech’ concept. Film it like an episode of ‘Cribs’. Take us on a tour of the Legislature, or your farm in Andrew, and discuss the economy as you tell us what’s in your fridge, and how many cars you have. The brief look at your forest was alright… but what sort of farmer are you? Is it a Beet farm? Beet farmers are popular nowadays.
As it stands, it wasn’t the exciting speech I so dreamed it would be. Do I think it accomplished what you thought it would? No. But I think you just found the opportunity to waste taxpayers money and have a solid 18 minutes of air-time too tempting to resist. I can’t fault you that.
Oh, and by the way – I recorded over some Survivorman episodes. Thanks a lot, Stelmach.
