Phendrana Drifts

In my 12 years of looking carefully at Alberta politics (that is a bit of an arbitrary figure, assuming I likely paid attention just I was heading into high school) I have to be honest and say I have not experienced a more interesting time. Lots is going on, and the decisions being made now are actually really important.

I was talking with a friend yesterday about democracy, not in the Alberta sense but more in the global context, and looked at our mutual desire to increase the level of democracy and participation here at home. He is way more eloquent than I, so I will let his ideas speak for themselves:

Let me be clear: I like the majority of his ideas - I'm not a massive fan of proportional representation, but on the whole I like them. But I did present the one nagging concern of how the serious political decision we need to make require careful thought - this is not the time for shortsighted planning driven by polls. Back to Alberta, the decision on increasing royalties needs careful thought - and that is why I like the decision taken by the Government of Alberta. The decision itself is strong but most importantly it was done in the right way. Consider:

Oct. '06 - Candidate for the PC leadership Ed Stelmach promises to review the royalty regime
Dec. '06 - Ed Stelmach wins and becomes the Premier of Alberta
Feb. '07 - Gov't of Alberta announces Royalty Review Panel
Apr. '07 - Royalty Review Panel begins public consultations
Jun. '07 - Public consultations end; report writing begins
Sep. '07 - Royalty Review Panel delivers report; Gov't of Alberta makes it public
Oct. '07 - After five weeks of internal and public debate Stelmach increases royalties

That is a good process - one where everyone gets heard and no one makes a knee-jerk reaction, with the exception of a few oil companies and small activist groups. Now it just happens to be that increasing royalties was the popular thing to do, but I doubt that is why it was done. It was done because it was the right thing. One that was produced by careful thought, solid information and lots of public input. Imagine a province that looks at all sorts of public policy issues through the same approach - how strong will our province be?

PS: I decided to blog because a friend who is 800% more busy than I decided to blog, so if he has time, I must.

Labels: alberta politics

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