Stelmach prepping?
Stelmach was a very busy boy on the eve of his potential election call.
- He’s finally reached a royality deal with Suncor. Only one week late – not bad. But they are obviously behind on Syncrude’s deal.
- He’s also unveiled the province’s 20 year plan. Sor far it doesn’t sound like critic’s like it much. I like Liberal finance critic Rick Miller’s quote, calling a, “plan to make a plan.” I’m curious how this capital plan aligns with Calgary’s 10 year plan. I look forward to reading the two side by side. Already we can see the disparity on the topic of the high speed rail link between Calgary and Edmonton. Which mayor is going to go to bat on that one?
More to come I’m sure…
China Airlines you have not broken my will yet! But Stelmach has broken Hung Pham’s
Well here we are, however many god-forsaken China Airlines survived hours later, in Taipei. (BTW, I’m pretty sure I know what Canada’s contribution to China’s development was: they gave the old Air Canada planes to China Air.) Yeah, it wasn’t the most fun 12 hours I’ve ever spent. Especially when the flight started off sitting on the Vancouver tarmac for an hour waiting for them to de-ice the plane.
So far in Taiwan the only difference I can see is that their airport’s computers are all in Chinese (I hope I remember what buttons to click in Blogger to actually make this post). But on the bright side they are free which they weren’t in Vancouver. [On that, note if anyone needs internet access and they happen to be at the international terminal in Vancouver airport I've got 35 minutes of time saved on the internet kiosk by Gate 54. Drop me a line, I'd be happy to provide you my login.]
So, there isn’t much to report on the cultural front yet. An airport is an airport is an airport I guess. The Amazing Race should’ve taught me that. But we still have one flight more to go and then we can begin the real fun part of the trip: exploring. We’ll be in Kaohsuing in a little over two hours from now. Where I look forward to having a shower.
Until then, remember what they say on China Airlines, “Sir, please sit down.” I might have lost something in the translation, but they said it enough times to so many different people it must have more cultural meaning than I have found as of yet.
I hear the rumour from Pierre Trudeau Is My Homeboy that the Alberta election may be called tomorrow (today? what time zone am I in anyway?). This would be a little surpising as they would be jumping the gun. Not that I think it really matters. The Alberta Liberals and NDP are probably as ready as they’ll ever be and I know the Alberta PC Party is ready. (Although the Calgary-Montrose debacle could not have been handled worse after Ed Stelmach’s comments last week about selecting a candidate if he has to and it might not be Hung Pham. Pham blasted back earlier today announcing he will not run.) If the election is called while I’m away, I’ll try my best to stay updated before I get back when I’ll provide you with my two cents on each Calgary riding. Election! Whoo!
Run for the hills! (Of Taiwan)
Ed Stelmach is running from the other premiers, who want to talk global warming, right after he proposes Alberta’s new “green” plan and just as election is set to kick off. This is all great stuff that I have a fair amount to say about but then I thought to myself, “nah, this is the perfect time to get the heck out of the country.”
And with that I’m off to Asia. Hopefully to find some interesting things that we as Calgarians and Albertans can learn from.
But for now I’m off to the Vancouver airport on my way to Asia. Finding all sorts of interesting (tacky) thinks a marketer has thought up to put a Canada flag/Vancouver 2010 logo/ or polar bear on.
And thus I am here paying to use the internet in the international terminal on the west coast.
I should apologise in advance to all you readers that normally enjoy the political bent this blog regularlly has. For the next fortnight it’ll probably read more as a travel journal. But I promise there will be plenty to keep you entertained.
I’ll try to blog next after I complete a 13 hour flight to Taipei, Taiwan. (If I don’t get a blood clot in my ass after it falls asleep before then!)
I’m not far into the journey yet but I hope you’ll join me. As a matter of fact I’ve already had my first cultural awakening. On the flight from Calgary to Vancouver (thank you for letting me watch The Daily Show and the State of the Union address WestJet seatback TV), as we were landing, the flight attendent asked the man in front of us to return his tray “to its full and upright postion” (or whatever they say). The man did not respond as he obviously did not understand English. So the attendent asked again. Sloooowwwer and LOUDER. I leaned over and mentioned to my traveling companion, Skyler, that, “that seemed awfully rude”. To which his response was, “ya, and just think, in 24 hours you’re going to be in the same situation.”
Too true. I’ll try to take pictures at least though.
See you in Taiwan!
A culture of policy announcements: 30% is a good step
This morning the provincial government unveiled their much anticipated (at least it was anticipated a year and a half ago) cultural policy. (You can read it here.)
I was extremely impressed with the number of people that showed up to the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Turnout was such that there were not enough chairs and about one third of the audience had to stand. It is fantastic to see that there are that many people in Calgary that believe it is about time that Alberta once again had a cultural policy guiding them. And it was good to see Peter Lougheed front and centre leading the charge. (Unless they were trotting him out as a publicity stunt.)
The big news of the day however was probably the fancy dual press conference technology – Minister Hector Goudreau in Edmonton and Premier Ed Stelmach in Calgary – that allowed both cities the honour of participating in the announcement together. (That and watch the premier befuddled by said technology: “Hopefully this works.” Yes it has been working for 10 minutes already. “I guess they are still clapping.” Yup. You have two audiences listening. That’s how it works. That’s the point of all this.)
All kidding aside there was good news for arts and culture practitioners in the content of the press conference: “Alberta’s Cultural Policy”. Which like most policies has keystone goals and guiding principles et al, but there were a couple real numbers included too. All in all, it will be a $12 million investment in arts and culture, which includes $1.6 million for the Alberta Film and Television Development Fund and a 30% increase to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.
To put that last number in perspective the Calgary arts community has been advocating for about 5 years for a doubling (100%) increase to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts which before 2002 hadn’t received an increase since the early 80s. So, to the arts community this announcement is a very positive thing, but is only being seen as a first step.
On the negative side I’m not sure what to think of the announcement that the government is expanding its definition of “culture” to include sport and recreation. I agree this can – and perhaps should – fall into the province’s definition of “culture”, but I certainly hope this will not be at the expense of the inclusion of “art”. It’d be a shame to see money earmarked for one funnelled to the other.
The real good news for all in the room – myself included – was this was the first time the arts community has heard the government use the same language we’ve been using during the advocacy process. Could it be that the message is finally getting through? I hope so. Or is it just that Michelle Stanners wrote the premier’s speech? None-the-less its wonderful to hear a provincial government talking about culture once again.
PS – When I got home I was impressed to see the Alberta Liberal Caucus had already emailed me a copy of their Arts Policy. Comparables? A doubling of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts in their first year and a tripling by the end of their third year as the government. Tough not to give this round to the Liberals who are taking the Calgary arts community’s ask and going above and beyond it. That’s something most everyone tends to like to see in their government. (Of course they are the opposition and can promise whatever they like at this point. They are after all just trying to get elected.)
[On the arts front: I'll blog more later about British academic John Holden's lecture on "Arts and Politics" which was presented by Calgary Arts Development last night. I was lucky enough to get to sit beside Mr. Holden at dinner on Wednesday night. He certainly had lots to say and for us, arts folk and politicians, to think about.]
Taking health care seriously: a politician finally looks in the mirror
While I’m on the topic of health care… I wanted to draw your attention, dear reader, to something that I believe is unprecedented.
Certainly no one who works in the health care system, or for that matter who uses the health care system, will say things have been great over the past decade. For example, the idea that Saskatoon – pop. 208,300 – has the same number of hospitals as Calgary – pop. 1,019,942 – is more than a little ridiculous. The problem in Alberta is systematic and, most importantly, ongoing. But could this be a sign that things are finally changing.
After MLA Dave Hancock was named Minister of Health last year by the premier, he realized if he was going to focus on fixing the overweight problem Albertans are facing he had to start with himself. Practise what he preaches. Lead by example. So over the course of 2007 the minister set himself to task and lost 76 pounds.
It’s small, I know, but to see a minister acknowledge his hypocrisy and go out of his way to do something about it is a breath of fresh air.
We need more ministers who take their jobs as seriously as Minister Hancock. If we had them in the past, maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess.
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