Taft Ride Along. Pedal to the Metal!

I had been following them for a good 20 kms, from a party rally on the way to a meet and greet and door knocking at a mall in north east Calgary. I stayed close the whole time, unsure of the exact location. Taft's men understood this, but the driver seemed to have his own agenda, as if he had finally spotted the tail and had to shake it immediately. It's a good thing my resume boasts “evasive driving techniques”. I pulled out and over a curb, cutting off a white van as I made my way – quite literally – back on the campaign trail.

The bastards wouldn't lose me that easily. I caught a glimpse of their right turn down the hill, but by the time I made it to the busy intersection, the lights had changed and traffic was flowing against me. Any number of motorists are probably still angry with me, but I darted out and pulled another sharp turn, catching the van taking another right. I quickly caught up and made the curve. The van was waiting, already turned around in the opposite direction.

The driver and Taft's lead media man were laughing.

“The mall's right there,” the driver said, pointing back across the busy intersection. “We got lost.”

“Yeah,” I replied, “those were some effective driving manouevers.”

And what do you want for Xmas?

Taft strikes you as a genuine man when you meet him, but one who has the whole political persona down pat. He's intelligent, well versed in the popular issues and isn't afraid to fight anyone or debate the facts.

And there's this glaring little fact about the governing Progressive Conservatives Taft wants everyone to know. He's even written a book about it entitled, Democracy Derailed. In short, the Conservatives have become so entrenched in this province, that not only is it a dynasty, it's a full-blown regime where whatever they say goes.

“The Conservatives have been in power so long in Alberta that they've distorted the whole system of democracy; they've derailed it,” Taft explains during the door-knocking expedition. “That means everything from the Tories appointing their own members to be the local returning officers, to refusing to provide whistle blower legislation, to the fact that the Conservatives pushed through a bill two years ago concealing the results of internal audits for 15 years – which is outrageous.”

Everyone in rural Alberta should remember the Bill 46 issue last fall, that dealt with splitting up the Energy and Utilities Board and setting new, stricter guidelines for landowners to object to power projects and other energy infrastructure in their backyards:  “You have a government that spies on its own citizens, you have a government that rams through something like Bill 46. In fact, on the last day of the fall legislature, more than 20 bills were pushed through in one day. That's not democracy,” Taft continues.

All political bias aside, the man has a point.

“We're seeing a trend in more and more legislation where the government is trying to put itself above the law. Putting in clauses basically saying if we want to change this law in cabinet, we can do so. That's wrong, it's just wrong.”

For reasons known only to the electorate, this message is not getting through. It's been 37 years since another party governed this province. Does anyone else find this a shocking and completely terrifying reality? History has shown us the outcome of this type of unquestioned leadership. Yet here is the richest province (maybe the richest region in the free world) still beholden to one party to tell them what's right and wrong and what's good for them.

It really is unbelievable when you think about it. No one party made this province rich, it did it on its own.....

But Taft has been hearing the sweet note of optimistic change as he's been banging on doors throughout the province. Today, in this predominantly low-income, ethnic community, people want change. Some here in north east Calgary are the ones who came post-1971 and others still are elderly pure-bred Albertans forced to live here out of economic conditions. Either way, most of them know there's at least a chance for something different now.

Taft wanders into a local barber shop at the strip mall with the local candidate and a bunch of supporters to ask the local boys what's important to them this election. None of them have an answer. Two middle eastern barbers are in the middle of haircuts with customers that look equally confused about what is happening. What is this bald man doing here with this large entourage, holding signs and smiling? What does he want? Is that a cameraman, is this some sort of Publisher's Clearing House deal? Have we won the jackpot?

Not quite, and Taft talks briefly and continues on the path. Outside, he tells the supporters to lay off a bit as we approach a row of townhouses.

People might get spooked if they see a gang approaching their homes, Taft explains. Especially in this neighbourhood.

What would you like us to do?

“We're running hard on a platform, well a whole range of issues,” he offers to the man as four of us approach him, including a photographer for the Herald. “On affordable housing, on re-regulating electricity. Utility bills are ....”

“I hope you regulate a lot more than that,” Victor Lassen says.

“What would you like us to do?”

“Well there's a lot of issues for us pensioners. How do you live on a thousand dollars a month?” Lassen asks.

“Well, part of that then is things like helping you with utility bills, electricity. We will offset the education portion of property tax for seniors....and improve dental benefits and health benefits,” Taft says.

He hands the man some party info. Victor says he'll look at it.

“People need to hold their governments to account,” Taft continues.

“Yes.”

“After 37 years, the Conservatives think they're gonna be here forever. They don't even pay attention to you,” Taft again.

“Well, what the Liberals did to us a few years ago, ah, in the main government,” Victor trails off, hitting on a sore point with the provincial Liberals. (At the Independent, we received a letter last year from the Alberta Liberals stressing to us the importance of referring to them as the Alberta Liberals, not the Liberals. Too much mess there, the letter pointed out and Taft is not even a member of the federal Liberals.)

“Well, that's Ottawa,” Taft tells the man. “We're not connected to them at all. We're not connected to them at all. We're the Alberta Liberals.”

We continue along the row. A surprising number of people tell Taft they're voting Liberal this time because they're tired of things the way they are.

The Liberals are promising a few key points in addition to the ones mentioned above:

• Maintaining hospitals and training new health care professionals
• Invest 30 per cent of all royalties
• Eliminate health care premiums immediately
• Cap greenhouse gas emissions in five years

They also have a “rural plan” that Taft says will give power and control back to rural communities by returning agricultural offices in rural places and supporting locally-owned agricultural production.

“We're very keen to restore a balance, so that farmers and producers actually have some control over their pricing and markets,” Taft says.

But not just farmers. Taft says rural communities are more than just farms and that they will put a three year moratorium on school closures.

“If you're a small town and you lose your school, it just about wipes out the town,” he says. “There's no reason, in our view for schools to be closed in Alberta at least for three years.”

Whether or not Taft's rural plan will make much of a difference in rural Alberta might not matter. The Liberals are poised to sway enough pissed off urbanites to make some serious gains this time. Nobody thinks they'll win, but at the very least, we might finally see a balance of power and another party with enough clout to guide some policy initiatives. That's what they're hoping for anyway and nobody can count that out at this point.

We end the door-knocking session at the local Tim Horton's. Taft orders a coffee and starts shaking hands with other patrons. I'm standing next to the Herald photographer at the door reminiscing about bad assignments and asking him if he thinks the ubiquitous Politician/Tim Horton's shot is too cliché at this point. (My vote is yes.)

“Ah, no,” the photog responds. “Stelamch's been doing it all over central Alberta and they seem to love it. But there are certain laws about taking photos here and they want you to ask permission.”

He starts to focus on Taft shaking hands with a couple of patrons through the glass inside the front door. I'm wondering if that would even work when a Timmy's employee jumps out of nowhere.

“You've been told,” she tells the Herald guy, “that you can't take photos in here. You have a camera and you gotta get out right now!”

He explains, on his way out, that he was merely focusing and that no photo had been taken.

“I don't care,” Ms. Horton says. “Get out.”

I was now behind the woman as she made sure the photog was leaving. I looked down and realized I was holding a camera, too.

“What about me?” I asked, assuming this was some sort of long-standing beef with the Herald.

“You too,” she says without hesitation.

A Liberal volunteer was standing outside by herself when we were tossed.

“What was that all about?” she asked.

“They told us Ed Stelmach has exclusive rights for the Tim Horton's photo-op,” I explained. “The Liberals can't get any respect.”

Taft followed a minute later and I shook his hand, thanking him for the interview.

“Hey, sorry again,” he offered. “We weren't trying to lose you earlier in the van.”

“Yeah, no problem,” I said. “I really do have evasive driving techniques and being a good tail listed under 'other skills and interests' on my resume.”

“That was pretty good driving,” he laughed. “You could be a cop with that talent.”

Maybe. But I wonder where the Liberal Campaign Cruise will end up election night.

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