Who would you be proud to have as premier?
I’m not a fan of party politics. Quite frankly I could care less which “party” is in charge. I care more about who the people in government are and what kinds of decisions they make. With three leadership races going on at the provincial level there is an immense possibility for new leadership, some names are even being touted as leader for more than one party.
To that end I wanted to post a poll here on the blog to find out who would make you proud to have as our premier. Regardless of party affiliation. So have at it. Pick one or pick several. Who do you think would do a good job?
If you’d like me to add more names to the poll, just leave them in the comments.
Metro column: Griffiths right man at right time?
It looks like Stelmach made the decision for us.
There’s no need for an election to make it happen. There will be a new premier by next year. And in the wake of Premier Stelmach’s resignation the long list of potential replacements is starting to pile up.
Ted Morton has to be the front-runner at this point — if not for the caucus budget brouhaha we’ve been reading about, then at least for the number of Wildrose Alliance members who could very well purchase a PC Party membership to install him as the next premier. (Consider this a hedging-your-bets play by more conservative-minded politicos.)
But behind the obvious choice of Morton, the pack starts getting very confusing. The other contenders may include Dave Hancock and Doug Horner, as well as “outsiders” Jim Dinning and Jim Prentice.
But it is 2011 now. The upcoming election campaign will be unlike any the Progressive Conservatives have faced in their 40-year run. It will take a different kind of leader to pull off another win over the upstart Wildrose Alliance and Alberta Party.
It’s going to be someone like Lindsay Blackett, Jonathan Denis, Thomas Lukaszuk, Alison Redford and their like who will have to lead the party forward. But sadly, the majority in this group have ended up in their seat by playing the “old” game well and don’t really represent a “new,” less partisan way forward.
The only man I can see in a position to be the right person at the right time is a little-known MLA from Hardisty: Doug Griffiths.
To begin with, he is Alberta. He fits in everywhere and everyone has an immense amount of respect for the man — north, south; rural, urban; conservative, liberal; the energy sector, farmers. He gets Alberta as a whole, and is the only person, regardless of party, who bridges all these traditional opposites.
Griffiths has tough decisions to make, too. The PCs have barely embraced him, let alone recognized him as the golden boy who could lead them into the next century by transcending the type of election every other party is going to run. Sources tell me that at this point, he’s just as likely to not run in 2012 and be closer to his young family, who will no doubt show him more appreciation.
The Alberta Party, which is entering into a leadership race of its own, sees Griffiths’s value.
Before Stelmach’s announcement, Griffiths was no doubt being pursued to run in the Alberta Party contest for the reasons I list and more.
I don’t want to put too fine a point on it, but the future of Alberta’s government could hinge on Griffiths’s decision. If he were to run, I think he would have a very good chance as a dark-horse candidate to put aside all the PC baggage others will inadvertently carry and win.
Because during leadership conventions the best candidate to lead the party into an election isn’t always the one who comes out on top (Stelmach?), I should stop short of saying Griffiths will be our next premier. But he would offer the Progressive Conservatives, and Albertans in general, a great choice.
Calgary Original: “Griffiths right man at right time?” http://www.metronews.ca/calgary/local/article/756489–dark-horse-griffiths-the-man-to-lead-tories
Edmonton Original: “Dark-horse Griffiths the man to lead Tories” http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/756489–dark-horse-griffiths-the-man-to-lead-tories
Where’s the mayor?
This afternoon Prime Minister Stephen Harper joined Premier Ed Stelmach, federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice and Mayor Dave… what?… what’s that? Bronconnier wasn’t at the Calgary ring road funding announcement? But it’s the Calgary ring road. All three levels of government are putting up the cash for it. Where the heck is the mayor? Deputy mayor? Or an alderman of any kind? I don’t see any of these folks in the ‘platform party’ photos.
Maybe we sent this sleepy/bored Roads worker instead to represent the City instead.
BTW, is this really one of the best photos you have of the event? Aside from the City worker it looks like the two speakers are about to fall asleep too. Maybe Bronco knew this and decided he had better things to do than nod off in a SE Calgary hanger.
We made the long list! Only you can help us make the short list.
Well it looks as though our little blog here has been nominated for three 2007 Canadian Blog Awards!
It’s been nominated for:
- Best New Blog
- Best Blog Post
- Best Local Blog
So please vote! Everyone only gets one vote so yours counts! Please help me move up those rankings and place in the top five so I can make the final ballot.
Voting is open now and closes Monday, January 21 at 11:59 PM (Pacific).
So everyone please go and vote here: http://cdnba.wordpress.com
If you like you can always join the “Vote for the “djkelly.ca Blog” at the 2007 Canadian Blog Awards!” Facebook group here.
Thanks in advance for voting!
Also, if you like I’d also recommend voting for some of the other nominated blogs I read daily (who are probably more modest than me and might not even mention they’re nominated):
In other slightly off topic news I’ve been a little busy to post the past couple days. I guess I can stop trying to figure out how to join the Beltline community association (honestly, it shouldn’t be that hard to find contact details for your community association) because we bought a house this past Sunday in Winston Heights/Mountview (16 Ave and Edmonton Trail area).
We’re really pleased with the location although the walk downtown is a little longer.
- Our new Aldermand: Joe Ceci, Ward 9
- Our new MLA: Richard Magnus, Calgary North Hill (PC) – Who is retiring apparently.
- Our new MP: Jim Prentice, Calgary Centre-North (Conservative)
So look out neighbourhood, here we come!
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