Phendrana Drifts

I have a soft spot in my heart for people whom "politician" would not be the highlight of their resume but decide to throw their hat in the ring anyway. The people who could be doing anything, who could be changing their world for the better in a dozen ways and decide to serve in politics anyway are the people who make government work and ensure that it works for real people rather than for a political elite. Looking at Alberta's new Minister of Justice and Attorney General Alison Redford you see someone who has an astonishing list of credentials. She is almost lowering herself to helping keep Albertans safe. But I doubt she sees it that way.

Prior to being one of five new Ministers in Premier Stelmach's cabinet, Alison Redford had:

Managed a judicial training and legal reform project for the Ministry of Justice and Supreme People's Court in Vietnam;
Worked as a human rights lawyer for 16 years;
Appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations as one of four International Election Commissioners who administered Afghanistan's first parliamentary elections;
Served the Privy Council Office on Canada's involvement in Afghanistan; and
Volunteered for the Lycee Louis Pasteur Society, the Heritage Park Foundation, the Calgary Winter Club, the Lakeview Community Association and the Alberta Human Rights Education Advisory Board.

As Graham Thompson said in his column yesterday about her: "Exceptionally smart and capable with an impressive legal record that includes a stint with full body armour in Afghanistan to help run that country's elections. By all accounts, a rising star." Interesting tidbit on Redford's political past - she was the one who challenged Rob Anders for the federal CPC nomination in 2004 for Calgary-West. Nothing like someone who tries to right wrongs regardless of the odds stacked against you.

Alison Redford unseated Liberal Craig Cheffins in Calgary-Elbow, which no doubt adds to her clout within caucus and in the eyes of the Premier. After all, many Tories point to the by-election loss in Calgary-Elbow as the low point of the last 15 months and Redford succeeded where Brian Henninger couldn't. At 414 votes her victory wasn't quite as comfortable as the 2,034 Ralph enjoyed in 2004, but we should be impressed that Redford found 2,000 votes more than Henninger did just eight months earlier and approached Klein's 2004 total votes. Indeed, when you factor in the 949 votes cast for former Alderman Barry Erskine who wanted to be the PC candidate but failed to file on time in the nomination along with the impressive 961 votes won by the Alliance, you can see Redford was not just fighting Cheffins.

In her campaign Redford made two issues a focus: safety and the Calgary ring road. Having lived right beside the Tsuu T'ina reserve prior to university, I remember the endless discussions and maneuvering. As I got older and maybe a little more objective, I realized how big and complicated an issue this is. But I think Ms. Redford is the right person to help steer this project to its conclusion. Her position on the matter is reasoned and sound - and importantly she is obviously well-prepared to represent her constituents on the matter.

Crime was an issue that dwelled below the surface in the election, always present but never the highlight of a news cycle. Naturally when the governing party is seen as the best party to tackle the issue and always has the best plan it is rare an opposition party will want to make it the issue of the day. With the election over and the team ready to govern that will change.

An aggressive agenda awaits the new Minister of Justice - Alberta is growing by leaps and bounds, there is an overheated economy with lots of people with way more money on their hands than they know what to do with, and that all comes with difficult challenges on keeping everyone and their property safe.

Of the Premier's new five priorities, crime and safety takes centre stage, with the government focused on "reducing crime so Albertans feel safe in their communities." The previous priorities focused the government in their first 15 months and was continually referred to by government as the road map for every major initiative. No doubt the new government will operate the same way, and Redford will be the quarterback for the government on meeting their goal in reducing crime.

Redford mentions the work Crime Reduction and Safe Communities Task Force and how we have hired more Crown prosecutors, more court staff and more funding for police officers but in her campaign she emphasized that the status quo is not acceptable.

Importantly she has stressed a balanced approach to making our society safer - not just more bars and more walls, not just more police officers and not just more programs aimed at the margins of society to prevent crime. The right strategy is one that balances prevention, intervention and enforcement.

Links:
www.alisonredford.ca
CBC story on cabinet
Enlightened Savage's profile on Calgary-Elbow

Labels: alberta politics

5 Comments:

At 7:29 PM, Brian Dell said…

Shame she couldn't take out Rob Anders.
At 11:04 PM, Duncan said…

We can't always get what we want. As many have said though, I think Redford will enjoy being a provincial Justice Minister more than a federal backbencher.
At 12:18 AM, Anonymous said…

She sounds like she could be a future leadership contender / Premier of Alberta.
At 6:39 PM, Allie said…

She sure could be!
At 3:26 PM, Anonymous said…

I think this election eliminated the possibility of another Premier coming from the current generation of leaders.. By the end of stelmach I don't think we will see a Liepert, or a Hancock, or a Morton or a Dinning Premier. The next premier will be from this generation.. watch for Alison to be a MAJOR contender should she have the ambition.

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