I was having a cigarette with Battle River-Wainwright MLA Doug Griffiths on a dark September night in Castor last fall, when I first heard we'd all be going to the polls this month.

Doug was on some type of rebellion truth-telling crusade and had just finished apologizing to town council if they felt he had let them down over the last year. It was a trying time, Griffiths explained, but he was over whatever personal turmoil he had gone through earlier in 2007 and was back and focused and ready for anything.

He said a lot that night and his candor struck me as refreshing. It's one of those nights for a reporter where you start to think, 'sweet Jesus, there are good people in politics who aren't afraid to give their straight opinion'. I've always valued that trait in people, but here was a Tory MLA telling a group of awestruck town councillors that the premier was wrong to go after Big Oil the way he did. It wouldn't be effective, Griffiths told them, because foreign oil investors will pull their money and move it someplace else.

Screw the oil companies and their threats of pulling out. That wouldn't happen, but the money behind them would go elsewhere and the drilling would slow down. Many of Griffith's constituents would lose their jobs and the province, in turn, a lot of it's potential future wealth. I followed him out of the council meeting, to ask him what he was doing.

Griffiths has a certain charm that he uses well. It's the boyish smile followed by a look of wisdom or a wink that lets you know you're in on the whole shuck. But this wasn't a shuck, was it Doug?

“We do have some tremendous infrastructure strains that need to be addressed, but it's not all the oilpatch's responsibility,” I quoted him as saying in the Castor Advance. “It's time both [the industry and government] bore responsibility and both fixed [infrastructure demands]. I think the oilpatch is open, I don't know if we've been completely. I don't know if we've taken a serious look in the mirror to see what we can do better too. I think it's time we do. Before we ask the oilpatch for more money, we better get our game in shape.”

So there it is. A Tory MLA standing outside the party ring and saying the Leader didn't handle things the right way. This is rare in politics and has resulted in Griffith's now continual occupancy of the Tory doghouse. He first took up residence there in December of 2006 when his man, Jim Dinning, failed to capture the leadership. He was the front runner and the complete opposite of ultra-conservative Ted Morton, who scared just about everybody with a conscience. In between was a little guy named Ed Stelmach who captured enough second choice votes to propel him into the premiership. When you look back on it, it is strange that a man who was thought of as 'second choice' would now be governing the richest province in the country. And there's a very strong contingent in the Tory party that feel he's destroying the province. Mostly urban dwellers though, and nobody who will actually tell you that over a smoke....

Since that December 2006 leadership run, Stelmach has done more than anyone thought he could. He did address the royalty issue, whether his decision fell short or went too far, he did address it. He also paid $2 billion to resolve the teacher's unfunded pension liability issue. He should be able to count on their vote at least, (Christ that's a hell of a deal for anyone when multiplied by everything else the teachers got in the end. They shouldn't be complaining until five years are up or they start actually educating people.) But it's Stelmach's demeanour that bothers voting party members.

He's not an eloquent speaker, he doesn't have that self-righteous gusto Albertans took for granted before and he's actually trying to lead in that quaint, small-town way in a province of over three million. There are Tory strategists who must be scratching their heads. Why doesn't the Alberta electorate love this man? Here he is, behold the pure-bred Albertan male! And a thinking one at that. One who listens to all sides and then makes up his mind. Shit, this man was reeve at one point, a small town boy made good. So why, in “Alberta's second century”, as Stelmach himself has called it, do the voters not get it?

Well, the answer is as simple as the Albertan boy's claim. This is Alberta's second century and a lot has changed. The rest of the country has moved here. A country that has seen governments of all colours and political stripes in every province across this nation. A country not as afraid of change as some old-time folks here. It would take a colossal failure, the likes of which have never been seen in the free world before, to take this province down. So why is everybody afraid of change?

That term has become the unofficial Alberta 2008 campaign slogan. Stelmach himself is selling something along the lines of 'change that works' and every other party is running with it in simpler terms: Change. After 37 years, it's long overdue....

I've spoken with candidates in three constituencies from all parties who point out the political obvious: in any free and democratic society, change is necessary. We have all learned this lesson federally and yet here we are with a 37 year regime.

And who's better off for it? That's what this election comes down to. The Liberals, the NDPs, the Greens, the Wildrose Alliance, the SoCreds, and the Tories will be trying to persuade every Albertan that a vote for them will mean an even better way of life. Complacency and lack of imagination have always been the major deterrent of change. How the leaders will deal with that should make for an intriguing campaign......

Or maybe not. That's why most Albertans grow tired of campaigns. It's a pretty good life here, when you think about it, and why mess with a good thing? Well, there are cracks in the dynasty that are showing. No doctors, out of date sewer and water facilities, crumbling roads, no place to live, and a tremendous feeling of prosperity in spite of it all are the big issues. Let's see what happens.

I'll be out traveling with the leaders in the coming weeks to get a sense of their vision for the province and what they see as the biggest issues facing people here. Things will get strange, people will crack, and the rest will head to the polls March 3.

Comments

Add New Search RSS

3.20 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."