Today was a calmer day than yesterday, I tuned up the snow blowers, (yes plural) and spent a nice afternoon at the ranch. When I got home, as I have decided I don't need to read twitter or email on my phone, I was overwhelmed with the support I have received for my decision to joint the Wild Rose.
Wiser men than me coined the phrase "I might disagree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
It is my solemn belief that the second responsibility of ANY government is to ensure that all groups have opportunity to speak unfettered by what it is they are likely to say. I stand by that principal and this government seems to have no time or concern for opinion not favorable to their own.
Grown ups can handle criticism. Speaking of which, the classiest guy in the Wild Rose has got to be Rob Anderson the MLA for Airdrie. Now I was unkind to Rob when he moved over to the Wild Rose and his fake shoulder punch Friday told me that he was glad to see me. I thought about and was nervous about his reaction as Rob was quoted in a paper once as saying "We used to be friends" well, we are again.
I want to emphasize: I joined the Wild Rose. The "Big Blue Machine" is alive and well without my help, I was asked to resign my seat on the constituency association yesterday and I won't be attending the AGM in Red Deer next month, even though as a former party MLA I have a constitutional right to.
I thought about it, but really there is a fine line between charisma and bull shite and I'd be doing a Cal Dallas without the excuse that it was close to my house.
I'm busy that weekend, whatever week end it is.
As for Wild Rose policy review: Our friends in the PC party have confused flexibility with indecision and to cast aspersions on the private citizens who voted in the Saturday policy review is to do a tremendous disservice to those Albertans as we are all, first and foremost, Albertans.
I think the folks in the Wild Rose policy meeting realized that, upon sober second thought, protectionism, firewalls, discrimination are not the tenets of a modern political organization or society. They are the objects of fear and as such fall flat on their face when measured against the question "What problem are we trying to solve?"
It is political posturing that makes the PC's look, to be polite, very silly indeed. I use the phrase silly because it is an accurate measure of maturity. Motivated by fear.
It is this fear and that will result in continued PC attacks on persons like me and the policies of the Wild Rose generally. But in reality the best the PC's can hope for now is to go into 2016 with a budget surplus, happy nurses, happy teachers and some new extended care beds.
The time for planning is so far gone, the vision so far forgotten that it will take a collective amnesia on the part of Albertans to forgive and forget. There will be no "Ralph Bucks", there might be some loonies, but I digress.
I'm not here to do to the provincial PC's what I did for them, at least not yet. But I will measure each and every action against sound fiscal behavior, transparency, decency and fairness and let each decision made stand or fall on it's own merit.
I predict every government bill will pass, every opposition amendment will be defeated and many references will be made to why they call it Question Period not Answer Period.
I also predict that towards the beginning of December, though not on the night of the PC MLA Christmas Party, all night sessions will be held. The Wild Rose and the Liberal Laurie Blakeman will do their best to hold the government to account and the session will end with a whimper rather than a roar.
I am taking some time off work to be a full time student for a couple months, I will need a diversion, because my attention span isn't that good, so I will have time to look at the work of the government from the perspective of the freest ex MLA.
I intend to make this "most" of the focus of my blog, but remember what I said about attention span.
Doug
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