Fixed Election Dates/Bad Cops Get Off

St. Alberta MLA Ken Allred is pushing the idea of fixed election dates in Alberta. I've never been a big fan of it, but in light of the last Provincial Election perhaps fixed election dates would be valuable. Elections Alberta would have a predictable time frame to work with, allowing them to systematically update voter lists and logistically prepare for an election, in a more effective manner. Furthermore, I agree with Allred in thinking that fixed electoral dates would aid democracy in the province by providing Albertans voting predictability, which might spur greater electoral participation. How about even declaring election days a Democratic Holiday in which people are off work and given the whole day to vote, this is something that occurs in many other nations.

There are a lot of options we can consider in combating the growing disengagement within the electoral process. Although Premier Stelmach acknowledged that low voter turnout is a problem, there doesn’t seem to be a real drive from his government to address it. Props to Allred for attempting to spur some debate regarding electoral reform.
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I just watched American Gangster this week and when these two stories (here and here) came out, they resonated with me a bit more.

Who will police the police?... well, definitely not our courts/existing disciplinary system.

Stupid Comments

I hope this was a case of our Treasury Board President not thinking before speaking because justifying child poverty, and poverty in general, along the lines of it being an educational experience can only be characterized as a stupid, stupid mistake.

But then again this is Alberta.

And this guy has done worse and achieved more.

Throne, Liepert's Plan, and Schindler

So, the last week and a half have been quite eventful in the realm of Alberta politics with the throne speech and the Liepert Health Care Action Plan announcement (I use the word "Plan" loosely obviously, these are Alberta PC's remember).

My fellow blogger, Mr. Ken Chapman writes that the throne speech addresses "lots of priority concerns," and honestly, it does. Ed talks about the need to diversify the economy, retool our health care system, and invest in public infrastructure. But let's hope that these words turn into real action, especially after a leaked Alberta Government report that warns that development within the province has reached a "tipping point" and that our quality of life will deteriorate if we don't abandon our "current laissez-faire approach to planning" immediately. Straight up, I'm a 'hater' of the current governing party (the same one who led us into this mess and the same one who just won a larger mandate, claiming that they’ll lead us out of it) but I hope they can turn shit around, since it appears that if things aren’t dealt with soon we'll be in trouble.

This is why I'm not feeling Health Minister Ron Liepert's Action Plan, who calls for a 1990s/Klein like approach to Health Care. It appears to me that the "tipping point" we are soon approaching is a result of this type of leadership and philosophy. I don’t know much about Liepert, but I hope to hell that Cournoyer and AGRDT are dead wrong about him.
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Also, props to Dr. David Schindler for receiving the Alberta Order of Excellence. He is one of Alberta's top environmental advocates, having won numerous awards for his advocacy work and research. He recently played an extensive role in the CBC documentary Myth - Crude Awakening, which was released late in 2007. Check it out:

Canada's New, Emerging Face

Another reason why the CBC is the bomb...

Epidemic

It's an epidemic. The Conservatives care and are helping us. They recognize the indisputable evidence, the immediate threat, and are listening to scientists in order to fix things. Just like climate change.

60 Years Today...

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the assassination of Colombian populist political leader Jorge Gaitan. Gaitan's assassination would spark massive riots in Bogota, and usher in an extremely violent era in Colombian history referred to as La Violencia. Read up on it.

Tom Lukiwski on Homosexuals

In case you missed it, here is Saskatchewan Conservative MP Tom Lukiwski's views on homosexuals (I apologize for the video choice, it was the best one I could find):


I'll be posting more on this later.
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Also, props to Morgan Tsvangirai and the Movement for Democratic Change, and their victory in the Zimbabwe elections. Despite what recent developments may indicate, it appears that after 28 years of authoritative rule, Robert Mugabe's reign is over.