PC MLA Rob Renner: "Alberta Water NOT for Sale.. Maybe.. "

Rob Renner: "What answer do you want..?"

Well.

Curious.

As reported by Reuters today, the chairman of Nestle Corp., Peter Brabeck, says they are "actively dealing" with the Alberta government to consider the establishment of an exchange-based water trade.

Of course, the Alberta government is trying to talk out of both sides of it's mouth in the same conversation, with Environment Minister Rob Renner, making the following statement in the legislature:

"Alberta's water is not for sale and will not be for sale".

And then, once walking out of the legislature, telling the press:

"There needs to be at some point in time a healthy discussion about how we create the circumstances that will (encourage) the conservation of water beyond voluntary measures," he said.


"I think there will come a day where we need to value water, whether that means in the form of a regulatory regime or whether it means in the form of some kind of market."

Alright.. so Alberta water will "not be for sale", but "there will come a day where we need to value water.. which might mean "some kind of market".

What kind of "market" doesn't include the concept of "sale"?

Maybe I just don't understand the concept of a "market"..  let's have a quick look at Merriam-Webster for a quick check, shall we?

Market: mar-ket, noun, often attributive: a meeting together of people for the purpose of trade by private purchase and sale and usually not by auction (2) : the people assembled at such a meeting b (1) : a public place where a market is held; especially : a place where provisions are sold at wholesale (2) : a retail establishment usually of a specified kind .

I see.

So a "market", apparently, is a place where people meet for the purpose of trade by private purchase and sale.

And so, then, what Rob Renner is saying is that Alberta water "will not be for sale", but we may need to create a place where people buy and sell water.

I see.

In other words, to no shock, the Alberta government, holding a commanding majority, is simply afraid to tell the truth and, instead, resorts to making a lame effort at sitting on the fence.

Now - do I think there should be a market?  Well, oddly enough, at a Progressive Conservative policy conference a few years ago, I had just that conversation with Rob Renner who then scoffed at the idea of monitoring who uses water and how much.

Should we market water?

Definitely.

Consider that home owners, typically, are paying for the water they use measured by the cubic meter, and yet, Suncor and irrigation farmers are more or less able to waste to their hearts content, at no cost to them.

For raw water in Alberta, the government charges an annual one-time fee – i.e.) users are charged only $150 annually for 125,000 cubic metres of water. Irrigation water fees are paid only according to land area irrigated, not the volume of water applied to irrigated acres. Typically, license fees for water merely serve to cover license administration costs.

In other words, water is almost free for use by industrial and commercial users - the only cost relating to administering the programs.  The actual product, water, is free for the taking.

And that use is significant.

According to Alberta Environment, in Alberta, for example, only 11% of water consumption is municipal - by home-owners and municipalities.


The rest - 89% of all water consumed in Alberta, is used commercially.  Free of charge.

Imagine if we did that with oil.  Or coal.  Or Lumber.

People would be losing their nut.

Now - I'm not going to make any friends in the irrigation community saying this, but water is a product that has value - potentially great value in the future - and to ignore that reality and to continue to give that product away is a crime.

Now - there is no suggestion that we need to increase the total cost of water to any great degree - only that we actually charge a certain amount for what is consumed.  To encourage efficiency and to assure that those who use the most, pay for it.

That's called a free market.

And that's what Rob Renner doesn't have the guts to tell you.  Because the idea of free market in Alberta is a "conservative" idea..  which is why it scares the NDP.. err.. Progressive Conservative government of Alberta.

Blueprint for NDP Surge in Alberta: Premier's Council Report

Well.

NDP supporters are pretty happy.

They have succeeded in obliterating the Bloc Quebecois in Quebec, and suddenly enjoy a new federal legitimacy as the official opposition in Ottawa.

However, flying under the radar is the real story.

The NDP have slowly, but surely, captured control of the economic engine of Canada..  Alberta.

Oh, sure, the "official" name of the Government is the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta, but, when you look a little deeper, you will see that there has been a slow, but sure, move from a Conservative government under Peter Lougheed and Ralph Klein, to the current incarnation, which is NDP in all respects but in name only.

Which, perhaps, was the plan all along.

The NDP "brand" would be a tough sell in Alberta.. we like to think of ourselves as independent and hard-working, eschewing the ideology of government control and intervention in our lives.

But, apparently, we like the REALITY of NDP ideology.  Huge, burgeoning civil service, massive government spending and intervention into all aspects of our lives.

And if the recently released report of the Premier's Counsel on Economic Strategy is any indicator, we will be taking steps in this Province that would make Olivia Chow blush.

Go ahead and have a read.

Sure - on the surface it appears to be a sort of "business plan" for the future, but the problem is that it's a plan premised upon the government controlling business.  And everything else.

Remember government effort in expanding our economy through investing in NovAtel cell phones, or Gainers?

Well, get ready for much, much more of that.

Oh.

And if you think Universal Daycare is just for Ken Dryden's federal Liberals, well, get ready for that as well..  the strategy doesn't exactly propose that - but reading between the lines, it's a pretty good warm-up for the subtle sales job coming soon.

Don't you know that:

"A dollar invested in early childhood yields three times as much as a dollar invested in school-aged children, and eight times as much as a dollar for adult education." 

This comment with a slick little graph appears in the Executive Summary, without any explanation as to why it's even there.
 
Of course it's a little more apparent in the full report - although, again, it talks in generalities about the importance of addressing the needs of our "children" - the word child or children appearing 56 times in the report.
 
Be wary of a government who calls itself "conservative" but lays out plans that look like they were taken from Hillary Clinton's "It Takes A Village".
 
But maybe it's just me.
 
Maybe my disappointment in the metamorphosis of the PC Party into what I see as the de facto NDP Party of Alberta has colored my judgment.
 
Maybe I should ask what other's think about the plan - people outside of Alberta.. like, say, Terence Corcoran.  He was born in Montreal, went to Carleton University, and is the Editor of the Financial Post in Toronto. What's Terry's take on the Premier's Council Report?
 
Well, this:

Ah, Alberta. Home of rugged conservative free-market-loving individualists, low taxes and a right-to-do-business credo that likes to keep big government at bay. On the other hand, we've just received a report from the Alberta Premier's Council on Economic Strategy, a 100-page lexicon of babbling agit-policy and jargon that aims to wipe out most of what has come to be known as "the Alberta advantage."


The council headed by former politician and corporate executive David Emerson, last week delivered a series of recommendations that call for, among other things, tax increases of up to 30%, more government intervention, a new sovereign slush fund, bureaucratic control over core investment decisions, carbon pricing, more regulation, central planning — all the stuff a good market-oriented province doesn’t need and shouldn’t want.

Really?
 
So.
 
I'm not alone.
 
The conservative ideals that helped mark this Province as a leader of not only Canada, but of North America, are at serious risk under our current government.

The Alberta Government keeps coming up with ever newer ideas of how to wipe the noses of Albertans, and all it takes is a few more civil servants manning a desk in Edmonton to put together the plan and monitor the so-called "progress". 
 
Until recently I sat on a legislative review committee and reviewed new legislation by the bushel - this is a government that is addicted to control of it's people and their property - and there is no end in site.  And this new report is a clear indicator of things to come.
 
More government spending.. massive government spending.
 
And higher taxes.
 
And when you ask "why", you get the liberal.. err.. NDP response that "it's for the children".
 
Terence Corcoran summed it up perfectly:

"Say goodbye to the Alberta advantage."

P.S.:  If you think the graphic at the top of my blog is an exaggeration, and that the NDP surge will never take hold in Alberta, take a stroll over to Premier-in-waiting Gar Mar's new website - http://garymar.ca/

Can you say Jack Layton Orange?

Elxn41: Twitter Sport Fishing

Well.

I used to think twitter was useless.  I think I referred to it as a mechanism to allow people to say less, but faster.

I'm slowly changing my tune, however..  and I've come to enjoy what I call Twitter Sport Fishing.

As most Conservatives would agree, election night was quite enjoyable - watching the media twist themselves inside out, deserately hoping that the last 20 reporting ridings wouldn't elect 1 or 2  Conservatives.

Better was watching the Twitter feed.

Which has created my new favorite sport.. Twitter Fishing.

Some examples election night:

@journo_dale

Dale Smith-Journo
Hey Canada - we're rewarding contempt of Parliament. Good one! #fail #elxn41 #cdnpoli


2 May via TweetDeck

@Rob_Harvie


Rob H.
@journo_dale hey Canada, we're slapping down Michael Ignatieff for dragging Canada into an election we didn't need.


2 May via Twitter for iPad

And this:

@mode23

collin grasley

Stephen Harper breaks election rules, campaigns on radio on election day: http://exm.nr/lQ7wwd . #elxn41

2 May
@Rob_Harvie

Rob H.
@rjhelms @mode23 lol.. Accept the Liberal drubbing with at least a modicum of dignity already.

2 May via Twitter for iPad
@mode23


collin grasley
@Rob_Harvie lol.. accept contempt of parliament with at least a modicum of dignity already.

2 May via web
@Rob_Harvie


Rob H.
@mode23 sorry, I didn't see your tweet til now.. I was busy doing my happy dance ;)

2 May via Twitter for iPad

 
But my favorite was this short exchange with Shadi Elien, a Journalist with Straight.com:

@Shadielien

Shadielien
Voice your complaints about @pmharper campaigning for his party on election day on @CKNW to commissionersoffice@elections.ca #elxn41

2 May
 
@Rob_Harvie


Rob H.
@Shadielien @pmharper @cknw ..or send your congratulations to Stephen Harper @ pm@pm.gc.ca. Currently trending to majority -happy dance time

2 May via Twitter for iPad

@Shadielien


Shadielien
FUCK YOU! All of you who voted Conservative! This is beyond disappointing Canada! #elxn41

2 May via web

Yes.

This Twitter thing just might be more useful than I originally gave it credit for.  Even when you aren't engaged, it's kind of nice to be able to vent a little with respect to people who take themselves, perhaps, just a little more seriously than they ought to.

Following the above Shadi Elien exchange, I noticed that Naomi Klein saw fit to use the killing of Bin Laden as an excuse to take a shot at Stephen Harper, predicting the failure of the Conservatives this election:

@NaomiAKlein

Naomi Klein

May this usher in the true end of the Bush Era, and that includes you Stephen Harper. #binladen #outwiththeold #elxn41 #cdnpoli

1 May 

I couldn't resist:

@Rob_Harvie


Rob H.
@NaomiAKlein ..congratulations for Stephen Harper may be sent to: pm@pm.gc.ca.

2 May via Twitter for iPad

The Coming Conservatism - The Youth Shall Set Us Free

The New Religion

Something to think about as the political seas in Canada have calmed under our first majority government in some time.

As the Liberal Party struggles to figure out what went wrong, and as, no doubt, the unhappy left everywhere but in Quebec starts bellow for "proportional representation", we can perhaps muse on what the future holds for politics in Canada.

In my opinion, the key to deciphering the future is perhaps inherent in the profusion of the Iphone.

The symbol of today's youth.

Control.

Self-expression.

Expectation.

Capitalism.

Control: I want what I want when I want it.  If I want an answer to a question I want it NOW.  Not later.  I want to be able to Google 24/7, to text my friends and parents - and as far as political participation, well, it it takes more time and effort than entering 140 characters, I can't be bothered.

Self-expression:  I want to be able to watch, listen, read and express myself freely and openly without censorship or consequence. 

Expectation: The line between "wants" and "needs" is not for you to impose on me.  If I tell you I "NEED" to be able to text message my friend, I mean NEED as in breathing and eating.  Don't tell me I can't afford it.

Capitalism: If it's new or improved, I NEED it (see above).  I will happily ignore the expectations of family and others if they conflict with my NEEDS.  If I happen to be texting or receiving a phone call during a family dinner or a job interview, DEAL WITH IT.  Yes, my Iphone works, but it's so.. last year.  I need the newer and better model.   I'll stand in line for 24 hours to get the newer and better model.

The youth of today are a capitalist dream.

Maybe I'm wrong.

But I don't think so.

After the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, report after report commented on two things:

a) How the youth voter turnout was the second largest in U.S. History; and
b) How the youth who did turnout, voted overwhelmingly in support of the liberal (Democratic) candidate, by almost two to one;

What they don't mention, however, is that the youth turnout was still the lowest among all age groups at about 49%, compared with rates of about 60 to 70% for older age groups.

Think about that.

What some call the greatest emotional connection to a Presidential candidate since Kennedy couldn't motivate 1/2 of the youth to vote.

And, aside from the so-called campaign of "Hope", youth voting has been in constant decline over the last few decades.

Why?

Some suggest it's about cynicism of youth with politics - "it doesn't matter who is in charge".

Perhaps.

But consider this.

Maybe our youth, by and large, have been raised to have an expectation to ask, "What's in it for me?"  Why should I interrupt my life to vote?

Which tends to push our youth, when they do vote, to vote Liberal, NDP and Green perhaps.  They want higher student loan allowances, greater government support for the arts and whatnot, and obviously, we need to save the seals, the whales, the rain forests, the old-growth forests,etc., etc...

But consider what happens as the millennial generation develops into adults and are suddenly faced with the very real consideration that all of the social programs they thought were such a great idea when they paid no tax, are maybe NOT such a good idea when they get handed the tab.

Maybe I'm wrong.

But I don't think so.

I believe that as the millennial generation matures, and enters the work-force, and, most importantly, starts to pay taxes - we are going to see a Conservative movement that would make Stephen Harper blush.

Maybe I'm wrong.

But consider this commentary from Morley Safer on 60 Minutes:

The workplace has become a psychological battlefield and the millennials have the upper hand, because they are tech savvy, with every gadget imaginable almost becoming an extension of their bodies. They multitask, talk, walk, listen and type, and text. And their priorities are simple: they come first.


Just ask Marian Salzman, an ad agency executive who has been managing and tracking millennials since they entered the workforce.

"Some of them are the greatest generation. They're more hardworking. They have these tools to get things done," she explains. "They are enormously clever and resourceful. Some of the others are absolutely incorrigible. It's their way or the highway. The rest of us are old, redundant, should be retired. How dare we come in, anyone over 30. Not only can't be trusted, can't be counted upon to be, sort of, coherent."

Sound like the type of people who will be voting NDP or Liberal in down the road?

I don't think so.

But maybe I'm wrong.

Welcome to the Liberal Nightmare

Justin Trudeau's Worst Nightmare..

A Conservative Majority.

We chased that car down.. now what will we do with it?

As the Conservative Party readies itself for the next Parliament now holding an unassailable majority, the great question on every one's minds is "what will they do with it?"

Of course, sad and angry Liberals are already suggesting that the sky is sure to fall, abortions will be outlawed next week, health care will be privatized by month-end, and all protesters will shortly be rounded up and shot.

Will there be changes?

No doubt.  Expect public funding of political parties to be cancelled.

I would imagine that registration of long guns will be no longer required.

And corporate tax rates will reduce as planned to 15% this coming January.

Beyond that, I don't suspect we will see any dramatic changes to Canada.  I don't expect any fundamental changes to the Canada Health Act beyond clarifying the status quo - namely, permitting private delivery of health services funded publicly.

To go much farther, to take drastic steps would be a Liberal dream.  If we think of Canada's voting public as a continuum from communists on the left to neo-conservative tea party Christian theocrats on the right, the best thing that could happen for the Liberals would be for the Conservative party to create a big space between themselves and the NDP.

What will probably occur - which will, in fact, become the Liberal Party's liberal nightmare, will be a Conservative party that continues to be only slightly right of centre, and an NDP party which sits itself only slightly left of centre..  leaving a small sliver of space between them.. leaving almost no place for the Liberal Party to carve out as an identifiable niche.

If the Conservative Party doesn't wish its majority to be a "one-off".. if the Conservative Party wishes to serve the broad interests of all Canadians, it will not make any significant moves towards the far right.

And in so doing, will assure that Michael Ignatieff, Kenny Dryden, Joe Volpe, Ruby Dhalla, Ujjal Dosanjh, Gerard Kennedy, Martha Hall Findlay, and Dan McTeague never wake up from their nightmare.

PS:  Sorry, but I just threw up in my mouth a little bit listening to the "chosen one" Justin Trudeau explaining about how afraid we need to be about the Conservatives and how the Liberals will save Canada.

Uh.

Justin.

Word of advice.

The arrogant douche-baggery typical of you Liberals didn't work out so well two days ago.. you might want to try something new.

Harper Majority! And the Man from Nowhere is Sent Packing..

No Where Man

He's a real nowhere man,

Sitting in his Nowhere Land,

Making all his nowhere plans

for nobody.

Harper nabs his coveted majority.

Layton steals Quebec from the BQ.

The Liberals and BQ are decimated.

How does this happen?  How do two diametrically opposed parties, the Conservatives and the NDP, both manage to exceed expectations in the same election?

I think the answer is actually pretty simple. 

For the rest of Canada, clearly, there was a pay-back for an election being called that nobody wanted.  And the never-ending ankle-biting of the Liberals in particular took a toll - not on the Conservative party, which they hoped, but on themselves.  While the rest of us struggled to just try and keep our homes going - the incessant arguing about "respect for democracy" and "contempt for Parliament" just fell flat.

Because, for the most part, all politics is local.

While the Liberals delighted in their talking points, shared I'm sure over many cocktail parties where they served nice little appetizers, about how we treated Omar Khadr and Afghan detainees.. and then from there, how badly we treated the KAIROS people in refusing to fund them because they dared support the "Israel Apartheid".. and so on and so forth - for everyone outside of their little group hugs, their points fell flat.

Because they offered Canadians nothing with respect to their own concerns.

About how much gas cost.

About whether they might get a raise next year.

About whether or not their children going to University would have a job when they graduated.

The Liberals offered these people nothing but ethereal talk of "respect for democracy" and vague notions of "helping families" which was premised on handing money to people that would be paid for by taxing our employers more.

But the problem is, Liberals always look down their noses at Canadians.  They treat them as if they are stupid children - where the reality is that whether or not we happen to be University educated, we understand a few things.

Like, if you tax my employer more, I'm probably not going to get a raise this year.

Like, if you tax the people who run Safeway more, they're probably going to increase the price of my groceries.

Like, if you bring in a carbon tax, the cost of the gas in my car is probably going to go up.

Like, if you make it less profitable to do business in Canada, the chances of my children getting a job after they finish University is probably going to go down.

At the end of the day - they didn't trust Liberals to hold the reins.  For all the mistrust of people like Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs, the public still has more faith in the free market than they do in government bureaucrats.  And why is that?  Well, just take a look at the Liberal Adscam fiasco..  a moral lapse that the Liberal party has never fully accepted responsibility for.

You may say, "But what about the NDP in Quebec?"

Well, firstly, the local politics of Quebec reared it's head on Gilles Duceppe as well.  The ongoing discussion of sovereignty in Quebec has become tired and quite secondary to the same concerns, no doubt, which resonate all over Canada as stated above.  Jobs, prices.. the BQ offers nothing to answer the questions of their citizens.  Except a nagging concern that, perhaps, sovereignty would actually make things worse.

Now it is still the Province of Quebec.

So the tendency to "put your hand out" is still pretty ingrained in that part of the country.

But baby steps, baby steps.  They have at least developed the maturity to understand that a dollar and a promise of sovereignty gets you nothing but a cup of coffee.  Now we just need to help them understand that if their new pal, Jack Layton, increases corporate tax, or seeks to sack Western Canada under some income redistribution environmental protection program, the tap paying for essentially 100% of their health care is going to run dry.

The bottom line - the great middle has spoken.  Elitist snobs are not welcomed here. 

Say "hi" to your pals at Haaavaaad Michael.

I guess you were just visiting after all.

Bin Laden - Fish Food

"Osama.. so glad you could make it for dinner tonight.."

Well.

The sun is shining just a little brighter today.

You know, I'm no huge fan of Barack Obama.

But.  Give him credit - he did not shirk his responsibility.  He accepted that there are, sometimes, things in this world which are black and white. Where wrong is wrong and right is right.

When credible information was received regarding the location of Osama Bin Laden, he gave the order to finish him..  to bring about his immediate demise. 

And the Navy Seal black ops team did just that.

And, just as wisely, after confirming Bin Laden's identity through DNA examination, they put his body to sea.  No martyr grave his - Bin Laden will for all eternity have a resting place that, fittingly, will be in the bellies of bottom feeders.

And I would prefer not to make some lame effort to color this most excellent news with some partisan spin. 

I'll simply go vote today and would encourage others to do the same - as many have given their lives in the effort to secure freedom from despots like Bin Laden, Hitler, Stalin and their ilk.. and it would be great insult indeed to disregard that sacrifice by refusing to accept the great gift that they left us - the right to place your vote.

So go vote.