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So what will the next excuse be?

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Yesterday I drove down to Olympic Plaza to make a point and I made that point in spades. Mayor Nenshi claimed that the squatters in Olympic Plaza could not be charged under our city bylaws because they were protected by the Charter of Rights and they were expressing themselves. Nenshi also said that the city does not have the authority to move and arrest people simply based on bylaw infractions. I proved both of those statements utterly wrong in short order.

I did my research. I made sure to park my vehicle in a safe spot where there would be no damage to the park and even put a pan underneath as the truck leaks the odd drop of transmission fluid and I did not want to stain the pavement. I did make sure that I was breaking a bylaw under the same act as those tenting in the park.

I screwed a few signs to the box-liner of my truck with some random and purposely inane demands. I wanted my parallel to the “occupiers” to be as complete as possible. Many have been scratching their heads over the ever changing and increasingly bizarre laundry list of demands being made by the occupiers. It was pretty clear that for a person to be considered as expressing themselves in order to qualify for this apparent Charter protection that a rational goal or demand is not really required. I had my demands and it is not the place of law enforcement to consider whether these were valid demands or not.

Within half an hour bylaw enforcement officers confronted me and demanded that I leave the park. I politely refused to and said that I was exercising my charter right of expression. The officers took my drivers license and registration and went back to their vehicle. They returned to warn me again that I would be charged for a bylaw infraction if I remained. Again I refused to move. They returned to their truck for some period of time then where doubtless many phone calls were made.

Next a couple officers from the Calgary Police Service approached me. They repeated their request that I leave or be charged with bylaw violation. I again refused to leave and stated that I was excersizing my charter right of expression. This pattern continued in a repetitive way for some time as an increasing number of police and bylaw vehicles appeared on the site.

The police finally approached me after this had gone on for perhaps a couple hours to let me know that a towtruck was on the way and that I would have to leave my vehicle in order for it to be towed. I asked the officer to clearly tell me what would happen if I refused to leave my vehicle. He made it very clear that I would be forcibly removed and arrested if I did not leave my truck.

At this point I decided to leave my truck. I had made my point and saw no need to further force the hand of the police nor increase the number of fines that I was getting.

Again to summarize. The Charter of Rights does not prevent the city from enforcing bylaws in Olympic Plaza against protesters. The city of Calgary does have the means and authority to have protesters arrested and removed by force from Olympic Plaza.

Some have been trying to claim that my removal was due to safety reasons and such. That simply is not true or I would have been fined for such. I was fined for incorrectly parking in a park. Some may claim that the reason for the law against that sort of parking is based on safety. Well to that I counter that the law against tenting in the city parks has some basis in safety as well.

A fellow blogger who attended the event did a great summary on his blog and took an excellent photo to make a point.

One of the shots shows the sign in the park that very clearly states that habitation and camping within the park is against the city bylaws. There is even a graphic depiction of a tent with a line through it in case a person may be unable to read or not speak English.  Another shot shows the tents illegally surrounding one of those signs.

Another item of note down there is that the squatters are settling in even more deeply for the winter. A larger structure has been added to their collection of tents and things such as wooden pallets are being piled up. This simply means more damage will be added to the already estimated $40,000 and I see a great deal more safety issues here as the sqatters either freeze body parts off or burn things to stay warm.

This farce has gone on long enough. Calgary city hall has allowed itself to be bullied by a collection of squatters and their bluff for non-enforcement has been called.

Do we have two sets of laws in Calgary? If the City of Calgary continues to refuse to enforce the laws on these squatters while they did not hesitate to charge myself I think that the answer is pretty clear.

 

As long as it takes!!

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Well we are certainly seeing discussion heating up on the collection of kids squatting in Calgary’s Olympic Plaza. The Muslim Heritage Festival had to share their space with a bunch squatters and got to enjoy a lower turnout (probably due to squatters in area) and a distracted event as a result. Other events are coming where groups have booked and paid for Olympic Plaza and those events are now at risk of cancellation due to these squatters. An estimated $40,000 in damage to the park from ground damage to washroom vandalism to damaged paint has occurred due to the squatters and that number can only be expected to grow.

There are only two ways the squatting in our taxfunded park is going to come to an end. One way is if the city stops politely asking the squatters to leave and actually enforces city bylaws on them as they do for the rest of us. The other way will be for Canada as a whole to accept and cave to the demands of these 20 some hipsters and radically change our entire national system. The squatters have already demonstrated that they are more than willing to camp indefinitely in our park and live on the goodwill of the productive. The squatters have repeatedly said that they will stay as long as it takes until their demands are met.

Lets look at the demands that we must meet.
Demand 1:

“We want a Canada that is not looking down the barrel of the same economic rifle that has already fired on the United States. Where the fiat currency with which we currently operate — a currency with a value based solely upon government regulation and law — and the fractional reserve banking system through which it operates, where the required reserves are defined as “nil” by the Bank of Canada Act section 457 (4), are brought to an end.”

Wow. These kids won’t leave our park until we completely change the entire system of Canada’s currency back to the gold standard or something. Yeah, that should happen right away.

Demand 2.

“We want an Alberta that grows its wheat, raises its cattle, cuts its timber and pumps its oil in a manner that is sustainable and to the benefit of the land and to every person, not to the benefit of corporations abroad.”

Hmm pretty broad. Do they mean we should end all exports or all foreign investment in Canada? Both perhaps? OK yeah, that will happen right way there kids.

Demand 3.

“We want a Canada where the debt per-capita does not double in the next decade”

Hmm. I guess we will need to legislate against personal borrowing somehow. This one could be tough but hey, we can get right on that.

Demand 4:

“We want a Canada where every single person is given the democratic representation they deserve, not representation based on mob rule of the majority”

Hmm, a magical system that does not rely on counting individual votes or something. Will the 20 kids determine which representation is deserving? How far will the electorate bend in ending this terrible democratic ruling by uhhh yes the majority.

Demand 5:

“We want a healthcare system based on healing, not on the perpetuation of illness for the sake capital gain.”

Hmm, now we are getting into a conspiracy realm where these folks believe that people are purposely being kept ill for capital gain. Uhhhh OK kids. We will talk to the Illuminati and the Freemasons and see if they can relax that control on people’s health.

Demand #6:

“We want a Canada Where our system of exchange no longer embodies
the logic of a cancer cell.”

Hmm, not sure where to go with this one. Maybe if we ask nicely we can convince cancer cells to change their logic. I see that happening sooner than changing our system of exchange.

Demand #7:

“We want a media that delivers information honestly, no longer filtering it through the lens of corporate or political agendas.”

Hmm. Media conspiracies. OK so we will nationalize all media. That should happen right away. Pravda was such a great paper of the past.

Ok above is just a few of some of the gems these guys are demanding. If you want to go to the source head here. I strongly suspect that it will all make a great deal more sense with the massive consumption of some sort of mind-altering drug however because it sure as hell makes little sense sober. There are all sorts of other broad demands such as ending “systemic inequity” though none can point to direct examples. Some have said they want the oilsands totally shut down while others are on about pipelines. The list of demands appears to be as infinite as the schedule of these squatters.

I guess another thing that can happen is that we let these kids and pretty much anybody with a chip on their shoulder camp in our public spaces any time they want in perpetuity.

This is getting totally unreasonable people. The demands being made are totally in outer space and the damage being caused by the squatters is increasing. Whatever point these guys may have had to be made has been made. We need to move these squatters out of our park.

In the posting on this blog prior to this one there is contact information for making bylaw complaints and for contacting individual aldermen. Call 311 and let the city know that this foolishness has gone on long enough.

We need to equally enforce our bylaws for all.

 

Time to move these “occupiers” on.

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I was going to begin by saying something like “alright, these guys have made their point and now it is time to move on.”. I then realized that the “occupy” Edmonton and Calgary squatters haven’t even figured out what their point is much less made one. The bottom line is that they are a bunch of bored, spoiled malcontents trying to seek a sense of purpose through complaining rather than working whether in an employed sense or in the political/activist sense that our great free nation provides. Taxpayers are paying and people who have legitimately booked parks for functions are at risk of being displaced by these squatters. Park maintenance is falling behind and we may see delays in the outdoor skating rink that we pay for as taxpayers.

Appeasement with this small group of squatting complainers is a waste of time. The city graciously set aside and allowed free camping at St. Patrick’s Island for this. The motley group of the entitled turned up their noses at this and began to squat in our Olympic Plaza  instead. Now should people want to spend an afternoon with their kids on the grass in our downtown park, they will have to weave between tents and protest signs. The “occupiers” have demanded condoms by the way so I would suggest not getting too close to those tents.

I find it outright offensive when I see these directionless layabouts comparing themselves to to the revolutionaries participating in the recent “Arab Spring”, Martin Luther King and even Gandhi. These guys live in one of the most prosperous cities in the most prosperous province in one of the most prosperous countries on earth. Canada is not perfect but we have some of the most open and democratic rights as individuals on the planet in living here. For these “occupiers” to liken themselves to those living in third world dictatorships where civil rights are simply a dream is insulting to say the least. I even saw one person vacuously  claiming that medieval peasants have better standards of living than Canadians do.

On twitter and facebook I have seen people try to claim that if we evict these squatters from our parks that we will violate their charter rights. Sorry folks but that is complete, total, unadulterated bullshit. These guys have full free speech. They have been exercising it on the latest apps as they tweet about their trials and tribulations with their Iphones. We have free expression. The protest and march was allowed and demonstrations will continue to be allowed. That covers free assembly too. In most of the other countries in the world this group would have been locked up in the planning stages of their protest and definitely assaulted when the march began. We rightly have and protect all of those rights to assemble and speak here in Canada.

The self-styled occupying stooges however feel that they have a charter right to camp in a city park. Sorry guys, simple by-law enforcement is not a violation of your rights. I used the analogy before in that if I kicked out people squatting in my backyard I have not violated their rights to assembly, speech or expression. They have all of those rights. They just can’t camp in my yard. It is not that complicated.

It is clear that this handful of people truly do have nothing better to do. To appease and wait them out will be to allow them to turn our beautiful city park into a shantytown that city citizens and visitors will avoid. These guys are playing the game that kids would do where they put their finger as close to your nose as possible and repeatedly chant “Im not touching you” until the victim of the annoyance finally slaps the hand away. The child then will claim they have been wronged of course. It is time to give these kiddies a lesson in life and kick them out of our park. They can go to a campground, back to their mom’s basement or even get a job and a home. Playtime in the taxpayers park is over.

This cause and this group has become an outright laughingstock and even folks on the left are distancing themselves from the remnants squatting in parks. Corbella at the Herald went and visited the park and interviewed the squatters in person. They indeed proved themselves to be as vapid and directionless as they appeared on the outside. In a followup Corbella found that they are not learning anything as time passes.

City bylaws exist for a reason. I don’t agree with all of them and I often feel that we have too many of them. That being said, when you are going to have over a million people living in an area, a degree of regulation is required. I can’t  simply ignore parking rules if I feel the federal government did something I disagreed with and my free assembly rights will not be violated if my vehicle gets towed away. I can’t dispose of motor oil in my garbage and I cant open a commercial production facility in a residential area. I can’t camp in city parks as well.

As I said in the beginning, it is time to kick these kiddies out of our park. If we want to simplify it lets just say it is a matter of bylaw enforcement.

Perhaps (though I hold out limited hope), the eviction of these complainers may help inject a dose of reality into their worlds. We have a myriad of democratic and free means to pursue changes to our governance and system. People can form/join political parties and activist groups. Rallies can be held and marches can be organized. Letters can be written and doors can be knocked (all that work terrifies some though). Sitting around in a park complaining is not an effective (or legal) way to get anything done. Perhaps the bylaw boot to the collected bottoms of this bunch of squatters will encourage them to move on to something productive.

Our city council has been unsurprisingly reticent on this issue. With members such as Farrell and Pincott in there this sort of turning a blind eye to our laws is to be expected I guess. Some on council have some common sense though. I strongly encourage everybody to email members of city council and demand that they enforce our park bylaws as vigourously as they do with our parking bylaws.

If we are going to have regulation and laws, they must be evenly enforced.

Edit:: I want to add this fellow’s video. He hits the nail on the head quite well in describing a day in the life of an “occupier”

Fear factor.

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One odd trait that I will never understand is humanity’s enjoyment and pursuit of being frightened. The reason for fear in itself is pretty self-evident in evolutionary rationale. We have (or should have) a natural inclination to avoid things that may harm us. Despite this worthy instinct, we go out of our way to put ourselves into fearful situations. We participate in extreme sports and we put ourselves on midway rides that have been assembled by carnies of the most questionable mechanical merit in our pursuit of the thrill that fear gives us. An entire genre of fearful storytelling has evolved from Dante’s Inferno to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to movies such as Nightmare on Elm Street.

Writers who want to thrill their readers with fearful creations have realized that one of the most fearful realms for that of humanity is the fear of the unknown. Dante Alighieri crafted an epic trilogy dealing with the afterlife. Mary Shelley wrote on the possible outcomes of work with electricity which was poorly understood at the time and the creators of a Nightmare on Elm Street made a frightening movie based on what happens while we dream.

The aforementioned stories (and many others) were quite successful in playing on the fear of readers as they took an area where people generally have a lack of understanding and they filled that void with a terrifying explanation.

Unfortunately, it is not simply novelists and movie creators who take advantage of societies fear of the unknown. The media and special interest groups take advantage of this human tendency all the time and often to our detriment as a whole.

Take heavy metals for an example. It has been long known that ingesting quantities of many of these elements can harm or even kill people. There seems to be quite an ignorance displayed by some on how one does ingest these metals and how much is dangerous.

I will always remember a news story on TV that I saw a couple of years ago leading up to Halloween. A woman had purchased some mechanical porch decorations and put them outside in preparation for the evening of little ghouls and goblins. These decorations were robotic sort of witches and such that moved and made sounds. In a moment of revelation this gal decided to fully read the packaging on her purchase and much to her horror she discovered that THE PRODUCT CONTAINS LEAD!!!!

Oh dear oh dear. What to do? Return the item? Call a hazmat crew for removal? Call the Prime Minister? Call Ghostbusters? Nah, this lady called the media. A crew rushed down and filmed this woman fearfully and indignantly ranting on how her entire block has been put at risk by this toxic product. Children could very well have dropped dead walking up her steps and birds could have fallen from the sky.

Now lets inject a touch of reality here. The lead contained in the products was in a solder within the circuitry of the units. A person would literally have to take the things apart, extract the lead and eat it from multiple units in order to be harmed. These were not baby toys in the crib, they are porch decorations. Has a person ever noticed that most fishing tackle boxes will include some lead weights? Has anybody ever wondered what that fast oxidizing grey metal is on their car battery posts? We are surrounded by lead people and we always have been. It is an essential metal to us in many ways and is pretty much harmless when we utilize it properly.

Now back to the main issue; did the reporter do the simple research to dismiss and move beyond this hysteric claim of mass poisoning? Of course not. She needed a story that would scare people and facts would certainly ruin that. An expert was quoted on what the harmful effects are due to mass consumption of lead (but he never explained how one ends up consuming so much) and a protectionist labor leader was interviewed to explain the evils of importing products from other nations. The story actually ran over multiple days so I guess viewer reviews were positive. Sad.

Now on to a bigger scale we are seeing a renewed hysteria about nuclear energy due to the tragic events in Japan. Aging hippies are gleefully feeling justified in their attempts to liken nuclear power generation to nuclear bombing as they have done so for decades. Again facts are being completely left aside as media and special interests swarm over this story and try to instill a fear of Armageddon in society at large. Iodine is selling out in Calgary despite their being utterly no risk of radiation exposure in Alberta and “health” stores are eager to fill this irrational demand as they prey on unfounded fears.

Now lets get back to reality. Currently there are 442 nuclear power plants in operation in over 30 countries. Nuclear power has been used for over 50 years. There have now been 3 incidents. Three Mile Island is often cited. People need to remember that the death toll of the Three Mile Island is ZERO. Chernobyl was certainly a disaster. Due to the communist tendencies of hiding facts, we never will know the true human cost of that tragedy. People have to keep in mind though that the Chernobyl reactor was created and run by a communist regime that was completely dysfunctional to the point of being incapable of manufacturing a good clock radio.

The contributing factors in the TWO nuclear generation incidents must be kept in mind and it is foolish to try and blanket what is statistically a very clean and safe industry. The earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan were exceptional and rare occurrences. Despite this, I see Alberta activists trying to use that example to fight potential nuclear power generation in Alberta. How about this folks, I am offering $10 million insurance coverage for tsunami damage within Alberta for the paltry premium of $100 per month. Contact me for details.

Interest groups are comparing apples and oranges and leaving aside facts as they take advantage of public fear in their opposition to pretty much every form of power generation known to man. Wind farms kill birds and whales, dammed rivers flood habitats, coal is evil, natural gas is evil, solar requires masses of mined heavy metals from third-world countries and of course nuclear energy is created by Satan Himself.

These groups preying on public fear never offer alternatives to things. They simply create hysteric theoretical outcomes. Keep in mind, if you are fundraising for an environmental group your efforts will be far more successful if you portray a mushroom cloud frying millions of people as opposed to the kinda sorta possibility that a few people may get hurt reality involved in power generation. Many people have died building dams, in oil/gas exploration and in coal mining. No form of energy comes with no cost.

The best case that I have seen against nuclear power generation in Alberta has been the economic one. If nuclear generation is unviable without government grants, then it is not a feasible form of generation. When the element of fear is set aside and a person thinks rationally on the issue, that is the simple and correct outcome.

Fear sells but I hope we can try better to move away from letting it impact our choices on important issues. We need to do our own research on issues. Whether it is an irrational fear of vaccinations or of types of power generation, if we make any decisions based on fear rather than fact we will almost invariably make the wrong choice. Remember, most fear is based on the unknown. We can make many of our fears go away simply by educating ourselves.

Yes I am alive!!

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I am indeed alive and well though it has been the better part of a year since my last posting.  It has indeed been quite a year politically. I won’t recap but the explosive growth and evolution of the Wildrose Alliance Party has been exciting and has kept me quite busy as a provincial board member.

 I have recently resigned from the provincial board of the party as I am now pursuing the nomination for Calgary North Hill (to be renamed Klein). Yes, the PCs have actually renamed a Calgary constituency after Ralph Klein in hopes of rekindling feelings of better days within the electorate. I suspect that this strategy like so many others made by Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives will fail dismally. I guess I should be happy that I am not living in Calgary Stelmach or Calgary Getty at least.

 Well, I am in campaign mode and should be back to blogging semi-regularly from here on in. A formal campaign website is in the works and the campaign organization in general is coming together. Today I went knocking to the membership to gain nomination signatures and it really was great seeing how engaged and enthusiastic our members are. The next election is going to be an exciting one indeed. It really does not matter which leader the tired old Progressive Conservatives choose this time; their days in government are clearly numbered.

 I look forward to documenting the campaign here and continuing to inspire/annoy/enlighten/inflame people with my rants which I expect will continue in their usual pattern of ranging from tongue in cheek to philosophical to deep to inane.

Campaign Like Pose

A 12 Step Program for the Liberal Party of Alberta to attain electoral viability.

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 Yes, the Alberta Liberal Party has hit a whole new level in demonstrating their disassociation with political reality and their utter lack of viability as a governing party with their release of a 12 step program for Alberta. While their 12 step release contains a great deal of the usual fluffy statements of limited substance, there are gems in there that really help illustrate what the Alberta Liberals are all about.

 One great idea is the banning of all corporate and union donations. Now on one hand, our Alberta Liberals have been patting themselves on the back for having retired their party debt through laying off their staff and putting on the lackluster performance these last two years that one would expect from a party with no money. There was of course some revenue brought in and dedicated to the party debt. Why, in 2009 alone the Liberal Party of Alberta solicited for and received $115,845 in corporate donations.

 Will the Liberal Party of Alberta lead through example and turn down corporate donations from here on in? Taft certainly is working to eliminate corporate donations to the party with his selective number crunching and attacks on Alberta corporations (employers) but that is not the same as the party itself turning down that money now is it? Alberta’s Liberals feel that the corporations who employ the majority of people in the province should not be able to donate to political parties. OK, fair enough. Show the other political parties how to run without corporate donations then Swann.

 The Liberal Party of Alberta knows that they will never form government Alberta and it shows in their unrealistic platforms.

 One would think that with nearly 100 years in opposition in Alberta that the Liberals would learn something by now. Stelmach has created the worst provincial government in living memory and brought the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta to record lows in provincial support. Have the Alberta Liberals been able to capitalize on this opportunity? Nope. With their best chance to form government in nearly a century in front of them, Alberta’s Liberal party has found itself in a distant third place in the polls.

 What solution was found to this voter rejection of Alberta’s dwindling Liberals? What profound initiative was going to bring the Liberal Party of Alberta into contention? Which of the Liberal’s 12 step program steps would solve this conundrum?

 In step 8 the Liberals want to financially castrate themselves. In step 10 the Liberals feel that they have found the route to all those hidden Alberta Liberal voters. The Liberal step 10 calls for us to pay people to go out and vote. That’s right, Alberta’s Liberals feel that we should offer $50 tax credits to everybody who goes out and casts a ballot. Of course, the provincial Liberals seem to be ignoring the reality that even if people suddenly felt inspired to cast a ballot due to this initiative; they still probably would not vote for the Alberta Liberals. Tax credits are really only beneficial to the employed. People who support the Alberta Liberal brand of socialism usually don’t suffer from excess income tax as they usually are not bothered by such annoyances as employment. The chronically self-entitled are the domain of the NDP anyway who are not going to be amused by the Liberal concept of banning union donations to political parties.

 With dozens of electoral defeats in Alberta, the best the Liberal Party of Alberta can do is create a lame 12 step program that demands that we pay people to vote.

12 step programs exist and have been used to help correct people who practice compulsive and self-destructive behaviors (primarily addictions) for decades.  Let’s have a look at how the classic 12 step program could be applied to Alberta’s Liberal party.

Step 1 – We admitted we were powerless over our addiction – that our lives had become unmanageable.

 Well, the Liberals have indeed been powerless in Alberta for a long time and Liberals in general have demonstrated that they are addicted to the fruits of the labors of others through taxation. It will be a tough step for Liberals to actually admit this though.

 Hey guys, you have to work the program. Let reality be your guide and admit for a change. Voters appreciate humility and they certainly have no appreciated the Alberta Liberal Party. Give it a crack. You have very little to lose.

 Step 2 – Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity

 OK, classic 12 step programs get pretty spiritual and that can be a hindrance to participants. In order to deal with this, programs have allowed their participants to define their own “higher power” into one of their own understanding in case the addict may be an agnostic or practice something outside of mainstream faiths.

OK Liberals, listen up! I am going to define the power greater than yourselves to be that of the electorate. You know, those folks who shun you at every election who you then label as fools for their not having voted for you who then loathe you and your Liberal ways even more thus causing you to go deeper into your ivory-tower world thus separating you further from real Albertans thus dropping you in the polls thus…………….. How’s that for a run-on sentence? I think it helps make the point of the self-destructive cycle Alberta’s Liberals are in though.

 For the remainder of the 12 steps I will substitute the word “God” with “the electorate”. In electoral politics voting (the ones who stay home on election day mean nothing) are God as far as political parties are concerned (at least to parties who want to actually get elected one day).

 Come to believe that the electorate can restore you to sanity Liberals!

Step 3 – Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of the electorate as we understood the electorate.

 OK folks, not all of this should be taken literally.

 You Liberals most certainly should be turning your lives and will over to that of the electorate. This is the key misunderstanding that Alberta Liberals have of the electorate. Albertan voters want to be listened to, not dictated to. The snotty and condescending attitude that Alberta’s Liberal party sends out to the electorate is not exactly endearing. The  academic champagne socialism of the Alberta Liberal party does not sell. Get used to it and get over it.  You either respect democracy or you  don’t. The majority of Albertans do not embrace the Alberta Liberal brand of leftism. Learn this or forever resign yourselves to the opposition benches like the NDP whom you are not very far from at all lately.

 Now back to that “understood the electorate”. Alberta’s Liberals do not understand the electorate at all as they constantly refuse to listen to them. A group of some disaffected Liberals realized part of this and have broken away from the Liberal Party of Alberta to take part in the Alberta Party with their “big listen”. While the listening has been realized, the undemocratic takeover of an existing party has not exactly gotten that bunch off to a good beginning. I am getting the impression that they are claiming to listen but are rather selective so far in what they want to hear. Holding coffee meetings all over the place is indeed dandy, but it will not win seats in the end which really is all that matters if one wants to achieve their goals.

 Do a “big listen” dammit! Shut your Liberal mouths for a minute and listen to the Albertans that you purport to care about. Don’t just listen like the breakaway group though; act on what you hear. Represent those speaking to you and work to get yourselves into a place where you can make the changes that Albertans tell you they want (some call that place the legislature).

 In other words, turn your will over to the electorate as counseled to in this step.

Step 4 – Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves

 OK, having not been in power since the turn of the last century you really have few contemporary examples to view for your moral inventory.  Federally though, your Liberal counterparts have held power on many occasions. Whether through Trudeau’s assault on the West or Chretien’s sheer arrogance and the corrupt shenanigans of his cabinet, the Liberal brand has been completely soiled in Alberta. Look within guys and admit this. Be fearless and accept this.

 Morally, what else are you Liberals in this for? Do you respect democracy? Do you want to represent the majority of Albertans or are you seeking a backdoor way to pursue your personal ideals? Most Albertans feel that Liberals are pursuing the latter goal (voters are more perceptive than you Liberals give them credit for).

 Alberta’s Liberals are in desperate need of some soul-searching. An honest practice of step 4 will go a long way towards that.

Step 5 – Admitted to the electorate, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs

 Now, if you Liberals properly pursued step 4, you will have gotten yourself a list of things that you have done wrong. Rest assured if the list is short, you need to repeat step 4.

 I am going to bring up the name of the person you Liberals consider to be the “Great Satan” of Alberta politics; Ralph Klein. Yes, Klein came from nowhere and snatched the last vague chance you Liberals ever had of forming government under Lawrence Decore from you. Most of you are still stuck in that Decore lala land thinking it will come back for you. Here is one hint on what Decore did that you guys can’t or won’t; Lawrence Decore campaigned from the right-wing.

 Back to Klein, rather than demonizing the man, try to learn from him. Love him or hate him, Klein was unquestionably one of the most successful politicians in the entire history of Alberta. Now here is something important about Ralph Klein that relates to step 5. Listen closely:

   ADMIT IT WHEN YOU ARE WRONG!!!!!

Nothing puts off voters in Alberta more than that usual Liberal arrogance. You guys have been wrong for decades and it is undeniable. That is why you are still in distant opposition. Why do you think that if you use the same formula over and over again that something will change?

 People want to see some humility from you clowns. Drop your nose down an inch and look a voter in the eye for a change. You may be amazed with the results.

 Klein made mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. Klein used to admit that he made mistakes. Do you Liberals remember that? What would happen after Klein admitted to making a mistake? The PC party jumped in the polls!! Think about that.

 Alberta needs to be convinced that the Liberal Party has recognized the nature of it’s wrongs and is legitimately changing it’s ways. Are you guys ready to do that? How much more electoral rejection will it take before you do this? You don’t need to making and admitting to a mistake a minute, but geeze guys you have to be realizing that you need to change some things.

Step 6 – Were entirely ready to have the electorate remove all these defects of character

 OK guys, this gets back to that listening and acting. Do you have faith in the electorate? Do you want to listen to them and actually represent them? Will you represent the electorate even when it may clash with your personal ideals?

 The electorate will remove your defects of character. They will tell you what they want you to do. You have to be prepared to listen to the electorate in good faith in order for this to work.

Step 7 – Humbly asked the electorate to remove our shortcomings

OK, I have to admit that the steps get a little repetitive here. The point is important though and is worth repetition.

 You have searched yourself, you have questioned the electorate and you have come to some conclusions. Are you ready to put those conclusions into action?

 Your opportunity is at election time. Is your platform based on the wishes of the electorate or is it built on your flawed and repeatedly rejected Liberal ideals?

 Have you any idea what it is to humbly do anything? I understand that this is another one of those challenges for many Liberals. Be humble and give the voters what they want for a change. You may be astounded by the results.

 Try to cut back on calling Albertans rednecks and decrying the province as some sort of backwards cesspool. I assure you that the voters do hear you when you pull that crap.

Step 8 – Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all

 Here is one area where your utter electoral failure has made your job easier for you. Having not been able to gain any power, you really have not been able to harm many people.

 Your initiatives and platforms have been an assault on common sense and your supporters chronic talking down to the electorate have been an offense to good taste. You can’t make amends to taste or common sense however.

 How about people who have supported the Liberal Party through fiscal and volunteer support through the years only to watch you guys throw away election after election? These people must feel like season ticket holders to the Maple Leafs.

 At this point, are you willing to make amends?

 Step 9 – Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others

The best way you can make amends is to follow these steps and actually become a force in the province guys.

 Easier said than done.  If you listen to the electorate, your making of amends will not injure others.

 The collective wisdom of Albertans is more than you Liberals will give them credit for. Try following it for a change.

Step 10 – Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it

OK, now we are talking. You have reformed yourself, your party is growing in the polls. Hell, lets jump waaaaaay ahead and assume that you have gotten the Liberals into power in Alberta for the first time in nearly 100 years.

 Sorry guys, the work is not done. These steps are an ongoing process. Were your prior steps a means to an end or did you truly reform yourself? If you simply pretend to work the earlier steps, rest assured the electorate will continue to see through you so you will not get into power and this step is moot.

 There is always a risk that you will get into power and fall back into your old Liberal ways. I guess if you want a single term before sinking into another century of electoral obscurity you could disregard this step.

Step 11 – Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with the electorate as we understood the electorate, praying only for knowledge of the electorate’s will for us and the power to carry that out

Consult your higher power (the electorate) at all times whether in or out of power.

 Your own best thinking has failed you. What have you got to lose in asking voters what they want for a change?

 Prayer and meditation are not really required for this. Polling, townhall meetings and doorknocking will suffice.

 Only the electorate can grant your wishes. That can’t be stressed enough to you guys thus the repetition.

Step 12 – Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs

 Here is the good news guys. Once you are truly reformed, you can spread the good word country wide. Liberals languish in an electoral wasteland in many provinces within Canada. If you guys could learn to win in Alberta, you could help Liberals in Canada win in any jurisdiction.

 Congratulations on completing your 12 steps.

 Of course, I am somewhat skeptical of the capability of Alberta’s Liberals in reforming themselves so I will stick to supporting the Wildrose Alliance Party who’s willingness to listen to and represent Albertans is reflected in current polls.

If you feel like making your eyes bleed for some reason….

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 May I suggest that you read some of the wisdom provided within the forums and articles at rabble.ca.  

 Rabble has been around for some years now as a haven for elements of Canada’s extreme left wing. The site initially enjoyed government subsidies and actually offered tax-receipts to donors. After having been exposed the site lost such benefits in embarrassment but sadly still does exist. Despite their constant pleas for funding in the past (and demands for tax dollars) it is obvious that an online discussion site does not require multiple full time staff members (as rabble used to have).

 Either way, I do pop in there now and then when I am seeking a distraction. Reading the rabblers tying themselves into knots while discussing ways to save the world without ever offending anybody in any sort of way is entertaining in a dark-comedy sort of way. The infighting on their threads is worthy of a chuckle for the political voyeur as well as one tries to out-extreme the other in their self-styled political correctness. It does appear that the only thing that these people can really unite upon is their deep seated loathing for individual success on any level.

 Going through their labor threads, feminism threads etc. etc. one constantly sees calls for the boycotting of this and that. It must be incredibly difficult to be an extreme left wing consumer in this day and age. The obvious purveyors of evil such as Wal-Mart go without saying in demanding boycotts of course. It is the ever growing list of other companies that is laughable.

 I see they hate American Apparel stores. Now American Apparel prides itself on purchasing and selling only domestic-made products and refusing to exploit third world labor. Isn’t that what the left has self-righteously been demanding of all businesses? Well aside from the clear American involvement (lefties hate all things American of course), it turns out that American Apparel may be guilty of refusing to hire enough ugly people. Yup, I am not kidding. I saw the term “lookism” for the first time in my life on rabble and nearly choked on my coffee (no it is not free trade or organic). Wow. Now what should be done? Shall there be quotas set for a level of ugliness among the employees? Perhaps a union of the esthetically challenged should be formed (I would hate to attend their rallies). What happens if an ugly person evolves into a good looking person through change of diet or something? Should this neo-attractive person resign any management positions? Decisions decisions.

 How about the Body Shop. They sell products that are natural, hypo-allergenic, fair-trade, yadda yadda yadda and have openly refused to sell anything that has been tested on animals. They are OK right? WRONG! The Body Shop is evil as somewhere in their corporate structure a subsidiary of another company that crossed paths with some corporate soul has made a many times removed connection to the evil empire of Nestle incorporated. Nestle is on the evil list for selling baby formula thus people MUST NOT shop at the Body Shop. This is of a limited dilemma to people on the fringe of the left anyhow since personal hygene has never really been a priority in their subculture. They can still roll in organic dust or something in order to get clean. Any other body aromas may be covered with copious application of pitchouli oil (as I have discovered at left-wing rallies to my dismay).

 No petroleum companies are good nor automotive. We are supposed to walk or bike wherever we go of course. Well what is a good place for walking and hiking apparel? Mountain Equipment Coop comes to mind of course. They are a coop thus are not evil capitalists, they purchase fair-trade and all that crap so why not? Well it appears that MEC is going too far into the bicycle market and they have displaced some small bike retailers thus they rallying cry has been sent; BOYCOTT MEC!!!! Yup, MEC got to that point where they could be considered successful thus they are now not worthy of the patronage of pompous lefties. Only free-range bicycles handcrafted by some local tinker are now socially acceptable.

 Where is that magic line where a company goes from a nice little outfit to a corporate demon anyway? Starbucks is a prime example of this evolution. Starbucks began as a snotty little outfit that justified overcharging for coffee by going out of their way to purchase politically correct everything. Lefties could gather and share their pretension guilt-free and drink coffee that was saving the world somehow. Alas, the model was too good and Starbucks is now yet another evil corporate empire worthy of loathing and boycott by the left. Sigh….

 Tim Hortons is out too by the way. They have some American ownership and they cause too much pollution. They make a profit too which is of course immediate grounds for boycott.

 The great thing with left-wing boycotts is that they are completely ineffective anyway. You see, the majority of those who are calling for these boycotts are students or graduates with liberal-arts degrees (waiters/waitresses) who really have utterly no economic clout anyway. Sure there are champagne socialists such as Maude Barlow and David Suzuki who make immense money on the left. These folks purchase their stuff from high end specialty shops that are not part of these boycotts anyway.

 The pains in attempted political correctness are fun to watch with them too. It is quite a lexicon that the left must keep up upon in order to avoid offending anybody. Crippled went to handicapped went to special which went to disabled which went to differently abled which went too…..  bah I  don’t know. The term used makes no difference, it is the respect that a person displays towards people within that identifiable group. Smug fools who feel changing the term used changes the reality are living in the wrong world.

 The feminism forum is an entertaining read. The embittered gals who fire their venom at everything even conceivably male is almost frightening in it’s profound hypocrisy and hatred. It must be nice to plant every personal shortcoming one endures directly on the feet of another gender. Much better to blame men for everything rather than to better one’s self. The feminists hate exploitation of women thus harped on pretty strongly against prostitution. Alas, some women who have chosen prostitution spoke up and a conundrum regarding choice arose. The battle was legendary. The solution was to make an entirely new forum catering to issues with sex-trade workers and the feminists stick to their own. The growth in side forums at the site is interesting to say the least.

 The reviews of the movie Avatar are interesting. Apparently the movie is racist, it is anti-disabled and is pretty much evil in general. What their issue really is of course is that the movie is popular and successful. Those are two qualities that the left oppose at every opportunity.

 It must be stressful and tough living in such a world where one has to constantly tiptoe and live in a politically correct world. One needs to embrace a complete disconnect with economic and pretty much general reality in order to do so. Rabble contains those willing to pursue that disconnect. Thankfully these folks are a tiny but vocal minority among us.

 We see the extremes highlighted on the right on a regular basis. The extremists on the left are often overlooked. There is little to be gained in reading rabble aside from a distraction. I do feel that people should pop in there now and then though if only to remind themselves that such lunatics do exist out there.

Holy Crap!! I’m mortal!!

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 Yeah I know, for most people that conclusion about themselves is pretty much a no-brainer. Of course, I was always aware that I was indeed going to pass on to the great beyond eventually. I took an assumption that the passing would not happen until well past my retirement. I have taken my health for granted through heavy smoking, poor diet and sending a little too much single-malt towards my liver since my adulthood. To be fair to myself (though it does not justify my poor living), I have been in excellent physical condition due to genetic luck and regular exercise. I had not seen a doctor in well over a decade as I had not had a single symptom of anything that demanded that I do so.

 Well in the last few weeks I have seen more clinics and doctors than I had seen in my entire life. I will back up a bit and explain here.

 A couple months ago I headed to Southern New York to work on an exploration program (Stelmach has assured that there are few to none in Alberta). Within a few days of my arrival, I noticed for the first time a small, hard lump under my jaw. I saw little of concern at the time but did decide to keep an eye on it. The lump continued to grow over the next few weeks and I did begin to become concerned. As I was indeed still considered immortal on my leaving Canada, I had never even considered purchasing any extended health coverage for being out of country. I had reached a point of concern where I was resigned to see a doctor but was willing to wait a couple weeks until I returned to Canada and coverage. Needless to say that last couple weeks in New York was rather stressful and I wisely compounded the stress by researching the many many things that such a lump could be. The internet can indeed be a cruel tool for a new and budding hypochondriac. I had convinced myself of the possibility that I had dozens of potentially fatal conditions by the time I boarded the plane home.

 OK, so I finally got my butt to a doctor and had this thing looked at. I still tried to convince myself that I was simply being paranoid and so indeed did my doctor until he examined the lump. On the bright side, my web based research led to an accurate self-diagnosis. With a hard and attached mass growing in that location it was looking pretty likely that I had a submandibular tumor. I was promptly set up for some blood work and an ultrasound of the area. The ultrasound confirmed a tumor due to the density and location. Now we needed to seek the cause and nature of this thing. The term that the radiologist used for my next step was “expedited biopsy”. Did I mention that I rarely even  get colds?

 OK, moving on a few more days I am nervously in the treatment room of a specialist who is doing my biopsy. The good doctor did a thorough head and neck examination before beginning. In doing so, he determined that my thyroid is enlarged and suggested that I get blood work and an ultrasound to find out the cause of that. The biopsy was performed and I was sent on my less than merry way to await the results.

 I went in a couple months from a carefree guy with no health issues to a person who couldn’t seem to visit a doctor without them finding something else wrong with me. I was rather dejected and went to bed that evening fully expecting that I would awaken to find that my testicles had simply fallen off during the night. I had enjoyed figurative emasculation in my last marriage, I figured that the literal one was well on it’s way.

 My knackers did indeed remain with me I am happy to report. I did have to sleep a few more times before finding out the results of my biopsy however. If a person ever wants to truly slow time for themselves, I must say that nothing has made a clock move more slowly for me than to await the results of my biopsy. My high school French teacher could not even rival such time-slowing abilities.

 Now for some good news. The biopsy determined no cancerous cells in my tumour. Since then, the blood work has found that there appears to be nothing wrong with my thyroid though the ultrasound did find slight enlargement. For the time being, we are leaving things alone and seeing how they progress. While it is likely that I will still have to go in and have this thing removed from my jaw, it is not immediately critical. As we are going to be together for some time, I have decided to name my tumour Ed. The name reflects a problem that needs to be rectified but that I am forced to live with until the opportunity for removal presents itself.

 Now, that long and babbling story behind me I may as well get back to the subject at the title of this rant; my discovery of personal mortality. The long and sleepless period I enjoyed while waiting for test results certainly put thoughts and plans into my mind that I never really dwelled upon. Some was simple self-evaluation and wondering if I have even come close to accomplishing what I wanted to in this lifetime and others drifted into spirituality (I still remain an agnostic). I did vow to myself that I would no longer take my health for granted as I had. So far, I have not had a cigarette in nearly a month. The diet and scotch thing will be easier to tackle after the holidays but it is my intent to improve in those areas as well.

 I don’t plan to turn into a health nut who eschews all that is enjoyable in life nor will I live in fear that death is always lurking around the corner waiting for me. I will stop assuming that I am fated for a long life however and certainly will not do any of the obvious things that can lead to a premature demise (such as smoking). I am happy with how I have come out of this. I think this wakeup call has given me an improved outlook on things. I still have a pile to learn about myself what to do with myself within this life but I do think I have learned at least one big lesson.  

 A perception of mortality and a realization that one could drop-dead at any given moment does not mean that I need to live in fear or assume that I will not live until a ripe old age. Were I prone to live in fear however, our society sure is eager to feed me with things to be fearful of. There are clowns calling for the end of the world surfacing daily and a sensationalist media that is more than eager to give these people ink. Hysteria built upon nothing is the order of the day and I see no end to it soon.

 Every year it appears that some form of flu or infection makes the headlines and we get to hear about how it is a disaster ad nauseum despite the actual fatality numbers giving any credibility to this fear mongering.

 How about the dreaded West Nile virus. This one did wonders for insect repellent sales and caused fearful parents to douse their children in DEET if indeed they dared venture outside at all. How many people has this insidious and headline making virus killed in Canada anyway? To have kept us in fear for nearly a decade the deaths must indeed be in the tens of thousands. West Nile Virus has killed 42 people in Canada in the last 6 years.  WOW. If that death rate doubles, it may get near the number of people killed by lightning.

 How about SARS. You know the one. That virus of Asian origin that assaulted the center of Canada’s universe and called for mass Toronto subsidies due to tourist losses. Well this one is tougher to find global numbers on but one estimate is that almost 800 people died worldwide in 2002!!! The world population is around 7 billion and I will let you do the math on the odds of dying of SARS. In Canada overall we had 39 deaths by the way. That puts things in the one in a million range locally. Yes, we saw an entire year of breathless hysterical coverage of a diseases that has killed one in a million people.

 The disease flavor for this year is H1N1 of course. Solid numbers are difficult to find but one thing that we can conclusively determine is that we have gotten much better at making much ado about nothing. You see, the flu kills thousands of people every year in Canada as do other respiratory illnesses. This year we have simply given a name to one of the more particularly nasty strains going about. The deaths have not even come close to warranting the spending, the media or the general fear caused by this. That has not stopped this story from leading the headlines and creating countless new cases of agoraphobia.

 Here is a beauty that nobody likes to touch. When I graduated high school in 1988, we were all told that we would all know at least one person who will die of AIDS within a decade. We were assured that the disease was rampantly leaving the high risk groups where it dwelled at the time and would be sweeping the heterosexual, non-IV-drug using community. Massive public campaigns were launched. Research funding for AIDS surpassed (and still does) the funding for killers such as heart disease and cancer. Well folks, AIDS is still incurable and it has been over 20 years, how rampant has the spread been? AIDS does not even come close to killing 1000 people per year in Canada. The vast majority of HIV infections are still gay males and IV drug users by the way. I am not saying we should care less because of the effected groups, I am simply pointing out that we have indeed been fed bullshit in the demographics in a (successful) effort to spread a general fear of a disease that most of us have little reason to fear.

 The death count from global cooling as forecasted by environmentalists in the 70s or from the contemporary hysteria of global warming remains at a grand total of 0 so far by the way.

 Lead toys, hairspray, water bottles, trans-fats, saturated fats, good sugars, bad sugars, saccharine, good cholesterol, bad cholesterol………. damn, what won’t kill us anyway?

 Why do we see such exaggeration of deathly threats anyway? Well one part of it simply goes back to the old “if it bleeds, it leads” mantra of the media. Will people stay tuned if a flu is reported to kill one in 10 million people? People will pay attention if the true number is left out and it is implied that this new flu is spreading like wildfire and may kill us all. This is not some nefarious conspiracy on the part of the media; this is simple economics. Ratings drive advertising rates leading to profits thus reporting is geared towards increasing ratings. Sadly, viewers respond and keep viewing when they fear for their (or their children’s) lives.

 The global warming hysteria comes down to money as well though on a couple fronts. Greenpeace is multinational corporation burning through hundreds of millions of dollars. They need to keep the revenue coming in if they expect to pay their thousands of staffers. Now what gets more income for Greenpeace; a flyer going out saying “there is a theory that man may cause global temperatures to rise .5% in the next 100 years” or a flyer saying “man is causing cute fuzzy polar bears to die, the oceans will drown all coastal cities due to rising and your children will fry like bacon”? 

  Copenhagen showed how socialist groups have found a new way to try and tear down democratic and developed nations too. Using fear to hide facts, people are being convinced that by impoverishing ourselves and giving our funds to third-world dictators so that they may further slaughter their own people we may somehow keep global warming from happening. Socialism has never needed to be based in fact and their latest efforts demonstrate that.

Fear is a powerful tool that is commonly used to move large volumes of people whether through media, government or special interest groups.

 Now to finish off what is a looong and digressing ramble. I have learned new levels in fear for my own life. I have learned that my life will indeed end at some point and I should make reasonable efforts to defer that as long as possible. I will not let myself be led into a pointless fear of everything as so many have been.

 I have learned that life is a finite thing and it should not be taken for granted.

 Eschewing countless pleasures due to baseless fears is wasteful and is a form of taking life for granted.

 I will not live in fear or guilt no matter what the hysterical eco/health groups tell me through the all too eager media.

Compromise (it’s not a dirty word)

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com·pro·mise  (kmpr-mz)

n. 1. a. A settlement of differences in which each side makes concessions.

b. The result of such a settlement.2. Something that combines qualities or elements of different things: The incongruous design is a compromise between high tech and early American.3. A concession to something detrimental or pejorative

 One thing that nobody can deny is that we are within one of the most interesting periods of Alberta politics in over a decade. Many people are surprised at the explosive growth of the Wildrose Alliance Party which is suddenly showing itself to be a very serious contender to be considered by the Alberta electorate.

 One of the key elements that has allowed the WAP to break out of what has been considered “fringe” status has been the ability of the people involved within the party to accept a degree of compromise.

 There are countless parties languishing within the political wilderness and the thing that will keep them on the outside looking in is their inability to accept compromise. Some parties are easy to identify as they name themselves based on a single issue that they will never compromise on (Green Party, Marijuana Party, Separation Party etc). While other fringe parties may not carry their burden right in their names, a glancing evaluation of their policies will invariably display why they will remain on the outskirts of mainstream politics whether federally or provincially.

 A giant step in the evolution of right of center alternative parties in Alberta occurred when the Alberta Alliance Party and the Wildrose Party merged. It became clear to people seeking an alternative to the PC party of Alberta that such an alternative will never come about if right of center movements keep splintering and fighting among themselves. Many people demanded that this practice end and the boards of both the Wildrose Party and the Alberta Alliance Party began the realize the futility of their walking along separate paths. The merger of the two parties took months of negotiation that was often heated and progress waxed and waned.

 Some people within the boards on both sides refused to accept compromise and it hindered negotiations greatly. Minor issues were nitpicked and hairs were split in hopes of derailing the process. Both boards realized that the merger would never come if a couple of key individuals continued in the negotiation process. The compromise that was reached was that each party would remove one of those individuals from the negotiation process. In one meeting without the participation with those two, the agreement was drafted which would lead to the memberships of both parties accepting a merger of the two parties.

 Now what is more important than the merger itself is the the people who remained and carried on with the newly formed party. People who stubbornly refused to accept any form of compromise were shed and a party executive that understood the benefits of examining more than one point of view was born. A broader vision was adopted by the party executive and critical discussions could happen without people petulantly storming from the room. Progress in party growth and evolution happened at a rate never seen before as the board worked with a cooperative attitude. Prominent and skilled people were drawn to the management of the party as it became evident that clear focus was finally coming from the helm.

 The next large turning point for the party was the annual general meeting that was held in Calgary last June. A massive cleaning of party policies was proposed and was accepted by the membership at the meeting. In a party with a fringe mentality, such a wholesale change would never have been adopted as the uncompromising would have dominated the room. The single issue folks with chips on their shoulders tried to fight back by utilizing the means of member driven policy by trying to insert the types of policies that hinder fringe parties into the new and improved policy set adopted by the membership.

 A motion calling for the party to accept a separatist stance was proposed. That motion was never even considered by the membership as nobody within the room would even second it. I was almost disappointed when that happened as I had prepared a long diatribe to speak against this idiocy and pursuit of political suicide and I never had a chance to speak it to the room. I comforted myself by ranting against an almost equally inane proposal that called for the provincial government to assume management of private trade associations. That motion was quashed by nearly 100% of the room by the way.

 Not only did we shed such fringe policy proposals in that meeting, we shed many of the proponents of these proposals which is equally if not a more important outcome of that meeting. The proponent of the separatist motion abandoned the room when it was clear her proposal was going nowhere. I say good riddance. While I would like to see as many passionate and involved people as possible working towards policy development within the party, we are better off without those who will only participate based on a single issue.

 I have been on the losing end of motions in executive meetings with the current party and with prior partisan incarnations that I have been involved with. I have felt frustration and have felt that the board took the wrong stance. Despite those feelings, never for a second did I consider storming off in a pout and no longer participating in the party. I had to accept that either; a) I did not make a strong enough case or; b) I was simply wrong (it has been known to happen). Our party has become dominated with people who can accept such things and this has shown in the unity we now enjoy as well as the wise decisions that have come from collective and open discussion.

 Other more recent events have been great factors in the exposure and growth that the party is seeing. The election of Paul Hinman in Calgary Glenmore was one event and the leadership race currently underway with two excellently qualified candidates is the other. Neither of these events would ever have come to play had we been dominated by a group of uncompromising individuals as fringe parties are prone to being.

 Part of what brings about my extended rambling here though is reading and hearing from uncompromising individuals regarding the leadership. So many that say they will storm into this direction or that direction if such and such wins. I don’t see our leadership race as having been that divisive and no matter what the outcome I am confident that we will end with a stronger and more unified party than ever before. While I would prefer that those who refuse to accept compromise grow up and learn to look at a bigger picture, I am almost as happy to simply watch them storm away after having not gotten their way. Such people simply foster division and hinder progress.

 I expect that no matter what the outcome of our leadership race that there will be some folks who will try to send a rallying cry with yet another new party. Personally I think that may not be such a bad thing. Let a new (or existing) party collect the single issue cranks. Let that bunch gather others such as Alberta’s perennial “leaders” who’s only wish is to be a big fish in a small pond. The absence of these people will only foster further growth and a better collective wisdom within the Wildrose Alliance Party. I expect the attempted rise of another right of center party will simply act as a crank-filter for us.

 I am a person driven by ideals. I began in politics by taking many unrealistic stands and pursuing many unrealistic goals. While doing so over the past 15 years or so I have been learning through my actions. What is more important to me? Dying on a hill of uncompromising idealism or actually making changes that will better the province no matter how small they may appear? My goal is to improve Alberta for all Albertans. Sure there are some dreamland events that I think would act as catalysts for quick and large change. I also understand that Albertans do not want to follow that path. I accept the collective wisdom of the province and now seek to find changes and improvements for the province that can actually be achieved. I find taking this rational path to be much more personally satisfying as I can see progress towards actual improvement in our province.

 While the Wildrose Alliance Party is learning how to compromise and to listen to a broader spectrum, the Alberta Progressive Conservatives under Ed Stelmach have been moving in the opposite direction. Catastrophic errors have been made by the government in the past few years. Despite that, the government stubbornly refuses to accept that it could have possibly erred. Ideas and compromise are not considerations. Health workers began to publicly speak out on problems. They were gagged. MLAs have spoken up for their constituents. They were gagged. The Chief Electoral Officer of Alberta recommended changes; he was fired. If the government put half of the effort into some introspection as they do towards shutting down dissenting voices, they may actually slow their plummeting in support within Alberta.

 Alas the StelmachPCs are incapable of compromise and it will indeed be their downfall.

 Excess compromise is a risk as well. A party can’t simply be governed by polls. A party at times has to lead as well as reflect the wishes of the electorate. That combination is impossible without a degree of compromise. Critical thought is impossible without compromise, progress is impossible without compromise and party growth is impossible without compromise. The degree of compromise is always and should always be up for debate. As long as it can be debated though the party is healthy.

 When people spit out compromise in a derogatory way, keep this posting in mind.

 Now appeasement is a different story altogether and compromise is often wrongly substituted for that word. The problems with appeasement are fodder for another rambling posting on another day. 🙂