The Liberal candidate for Calgary West, Jenifer Pollock, is attending four events over the next two months to talk to Calgarians in her riding. Each will be occasions where people can walk up to her and ask her questions, and likely get a a solid feel for her emphasis on putting a “New face on politics”.

(1) On September 22nd between 7:00pm and 9:00pm at Varsity Community Center for a meet and greet.

(2) On September 24th between 6:30pm and 8:30pm she’s at Signal Hill Library for a townhall.

(3) On October 19th between 4:00pm  and 6pm Pollock is attending Strathcona Community Centre for a townhall.

(4) On October 20th between 7:00pm and 9:00pm Pollock is attending Scenic Acres Community Hall for another townhall.

No, seriously, what happened?

I knew people were peeved at the provincial PCs for botching royalties, landing a deficit unseen in Alberta’s existence, and for wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars on trips around the USA for cabinet staff. The upset that happened seemed to be quite overboard, though. The intensity was just incredible to watch and the volunteers (especially the Wild Rose ones) truly carried the race when push came to shove.

A party that was shut out last election (cumulative vote of a little more than 8%) ousted a district that had been a Conservative bastion for almost forty years. The Conservative candidate was squashed down to a 25% of the vote (HALF of what the Cons won in 2008), and the Liberals were only two points shy of the Wild Rose Alliance’s winning 37%. Voter turn out in the election was only 40.5%, it isn’t too much off of it’s 2008 turn out (which was 41.2%), so my gut says that it’s the same block of 11,000-ish voters that voted again in this election–this time by changing their allegiances.

If the same block of voters remained, the Liberals increased a tad, while the Cons waned and the Wild Rose gained, I can only really assume as much. There’s been a flip in the power scheme, it seems, of Alberta.

This has, funnily enough, caused one of my Wild Rose friends to make fun of Conservatives. Wait for it–it’s hilarious–he tells Conservative-minded friends that they should continue splitting the left so that the WR can form government in the next election. As you can probably tell I was very much amused. Why, you ask? Well, as polls recently indicate, Alberta is about a third Liberal in their taste for political parties. As these two duke it out, it allows for some upsets later on from the centre–meaning Liberals will be snapping up seats all over Alberta. It was also funny.

The Wild Rose likely has another four years to prepare for an election fight across the province. Already, from its win in Calgary-Glenmore, it has drawn the attention of tens of thousands wanting to purchase memberships. Their leadership debate drew 400 people–quite a bit for a party with only a single seat.

Anyways, I’m still wondering what happened there. Something is still off. Obviously voters didn’t flock to the Liberals, the official opposition party, since they stayed at a rough third of the vote. It seemed to be a huge gain to the Wild Rose at the pain of the Conservatives–an obvious rebuke to their management. I suppose if you want to send a message to the Conservatives you’d have to send a “expletive-disturber” to the legislature, which is odd since from all the media I’ve been carousing over the Wild Rose MLA is very calm and mild-mannered.  It doesn’t quite seem to be the case that this guy can put the screws to the Cons in Edmonton–but he now has ample opportunity to prove me otherwise.

It might just be a few Conservatives flipping this vote over to a party they think will go nowhere, and this is just a small blip on the Conservative’s track record, rather than the start of a new political reality in Alberta. It’ll be fun to watch, anyways.

http://www.liberalalberta.blogspot.com/

Although it writes “For a Redder Alberta” at the top of its main page, it isn’t that red, is it? That small quibble aside, the Liberal Party is setting up another website for communicating to citizens–this time, it has heavy emphasis on Alberta. This newest one is among the numerous blogs/sites you can find by just playing around on liberal.ca.

The great thing about this new blog is that they’re actively searching for people to submit some articles to it. Just now I received a facebook message from Corina Ganton (who sent it to the entire facebook group belonging to the Liberal Party of Canada in Alberta, not just me–I’m not that important)  about the new Liberal blog. So if you’re interested just jump in and send in some articles.

Here’s her message below:

Hello:

The Liberal Party in Alberta has developed a new blog site that we are going to use to promote the Liberal Vision in this province.

This blog site is a way for you to communicated your thoughts about being a Liberal, about the Liberal Party and about the specific issues and policies that you are passionate about.

You can check out the new site at http://www.liberalalberta.blogspot.com/
(Thank you to Caitlin Schulz for the first, and wonderfully written entry)

We are looking for entries that are short about 100-200 words about anything your heart desires.

If you need inspiration…. try to answer this question, Why are you a Liberal in Alberta? What makes Liberals in Alberta unique? Why are you proud to be an Albertan and why are you proud to be a Liberal, and how do the two characteristics meet?

If you would like to see your work posted please email you entry to me at cmganton@gmail.com

Thanks and I hope that you take this opportunity to make your voice heard!

Corina Ganton

So if you’re interested, feel free to contact the group. Their contact information should be up within a month when they’re prepared to start publishing people’s works online.

No one has asked me to return to blogging, but after a summer long break, I’m back. But I am neither bigger, nor particularly better.

Link.

Although no one asked me to note his return, I’m doing it anyway.

I regularly go to his (Their? They are two people, after all..) blog to read his opinions and to see what’s up in his neck of the woods (Edmonton), and with in-depth numerical/statistical/political analysis of election results. He’s promised to look at numerous scenarios that may have happened during Calgary Glenmore’s recent election (where a Wild Rose Alliance candidate barely beat out a Liberal candidate, and left the Conservative in the dust).

The partisan hack within me is telling me to write about how the Separatist Scum (a term probably trademarked by the Progressive Conservative party and that I use in jest) are supporting the PCs on Monday’s reno’ vote. I’ll try to restrain my urge to write it as such.

All this can only help the Bloc Québécois, I suppose. Harper’s reviled in Quebec according to EKOS polling done there. Simply enough, it’ll cement the Bloc’s core support there, too. So, really, Harper is in the same position in Quebec as he was before, without a single gain, and he’s empowered the Bloc. Well, this is concerning for the Liberals because it may just push the party out of the favour its been gaining over the last few months under Ignatieff by painting them as uncooperative (as in, in favour of an election) in addition to against those who want the tax credit.

In other words, the Cons are being pushed out and are taking the Liberals with them. Brilliant. Or, at least, it’d be brilliant if the Liberals were against the renovation credit. Or if it wasn’t so clear that Harper’s uncontrolled brinkmanship was the issue at hand, too.

At least, to this lone blogger, this is what is happening as the undercurrent to the vote on Monday. This pulling out from Quebec by the Cons, and the attempt to drag the Liberals along with them, at least.

If we simplify the topic at hand, of Harper being supported by the Bloc in this vote, it’s the PCs being supported by the separatists they have been alienating/antaganizing for a solid two years. They are being supported by the separatists. A group that, well, Harper has been rather antagonistic to and has rallied his base supporters against.

As an aside, I don’t think the Bloc are separatists anymore. Take a gander at how they reformed after the Clarity Act was put through, and then at the 2001 provincial Bloc leadership/policy convention. There was a marked change in the party then and there, and it shifted the party from being separatists to a regional party still interested in being a part of Canada.

Putting that aside, though, as a famed writer (Frank Luntz, by the way) from the United States once wrote, “It’s not what you say, but what they hear.” The Bloc have a nuanced position right now–of supporting the bill while not supporting Harper–but I wouldn’t be surprised if citizens across Canada see it more simply: as the separatists helping out Harper like they were about to a year ago in an almost agreed to coalition government. It wouldn’t be unheard of to see some people mumbling about being saved from an election by the Bloc.

Just like the events that drew so much attention a few months ago (here, here, and here, I’ve written about them), there will probably be a backlash from Conservative supporters. Or, at least, the regular block of citizens that normally aligns with the Conservative’s morally and fiscally conservatives–or, with less political lingo/labels, my neighbours.

This will be interesting to see how this pans out. Obviously an election will be postponed, and a confidence vote will not occur again till Friday where the EI changes will be put through. The NDP is likely to allow this to go through by voting along with the Cons, thus making the “socialists” (Harper’s words, not mine) support Harper now. Again, this prompts the simple image of what Harper was complaining about a few days ago: the fear mongering over a Liberal-NDP-Bloc (“Liberal-Socialist-Separatist”, in his words, of course)… which exemplifies the hypocrisy building against the leadership of the Cons.

So let us assume that the vote on Friday allows for the minority government to continue to exist. By now, of course, it’d be the Cons supported by the “separatists” and “socialists” that Harper says he despises so very much, that allows him to continue on. In early October the Liberals will have another chance to cause an election.

Heh. If the Liberals keep on with the pleasant, hopeful, and positive ads as before (I’ve posted one on my blog, actually), while the Conservatives keep hitting Iggy as a opportunist/scumbag in their negative ads, well, we might be seeing a different government come election time when Canadians start to notice somethings is amiss. Maybe. Definitely it’s a maybe–because, in all honesty, I can’t predict what’s about to happen. Heck, I never expected the Bloc to support the Cons so I wouldn’t be surprised if they continued doing so.

We’ll just have to wait and see, I suppose.

I am not an economist. However, the threat to the Canadian economy over having an election seems to stem from three pathways of thinking: (1) an election would create a situation in which business and consumers could not forecast nor predict the actions of the next elected government thus making economic choices halted or stopped, (2) it’s a waste of money that the government could spend elsewhere, and (3) it threatens the approval certain areas of the stimulus package being sent out on time.

It is in my opinion that all three points are crock.

First of all, the first point is a ghastly attempt at fear mongering. We are not a third world country, and we do not have parties that differ to the extremes on any spectrum. The business community and general consumers can most definitely rely most parties in the Canadian electoral system to engage in fruitful, steady, and clear guidelines for anything that they do. The Liberals have a proven track record of slaying deficits and the debt, in addition to guiding the economy of Canada through turbulent times.

Conservatives, if they attain another minority, will be doomed to continue on their little escapade. They definitely will not get a majority according to the latest EKOS polling. The NDP will never form government. The Communists haven’t had a seat since the 1930s, the Greens sunk their electoral ship when Mays/Dione made their deal, and there aren’t any other contenders that can really provide much a fight in any riding.

There’ll be a steady hand at the keel in any case. Also, if the election swings power to a party that most of the people of Canada like it will increase business and consumer confidence.

The second point is almost a valid claim. The issue is, however, is that the cost of an election to the government (an estimated 250 million by most guesses and Elections Canada did spend $277.8 million on the 2004 general election [including reimbursements to parties, by the way]) pales in comparison to the hundreds of millions of dollars spent by campaigns and businesses on advertising, polls, data companies, printshops everywhere, and software development–all out of the pockets of party members and not the general tax paying population.

In 2008, the groups seeking to be elected paid a lot of money. This went directly into the economy for services. Thing is, however, is that Canadians are not too sure on how much was put into use because of Conservative spending scandals, like the amount set aside to bribe a certain member of parliament. Election Canada, however, reports that the total spent by the Bloc, Cons, NDP, and Liberals in 2008′s election hit a record $55,643,927.6. This ignores all the activities of smaller parties, single-issue groups, and general actions by people who want to impact the election (ei: newspapers selling more papers by having their own polling and debates).

Almost 60 million pumped into the economy by non-government, non-tax payer support initiatives, and then the other economic benefits, puts an serious doubt on the complaint that the cost of an election makes it “not worth it”.

Please note that the spending during an election is immediate, puts cash into the pockets of numerous enterprises, and forces Elections Canada to hire more staff–all of which causes immediate benefit to Canadians seeing that more people will be employed and more money will be put into play.

In addition to the money arguments, the fundamental importance of encouraging and employing our democratic rights should not be impeded by money. An argument against the emancipation (giving the vote to) non-land owning white people, women, blacks, and natives, was this one. It would be too expensive to have elections in which these people would be allowed to vote, supposedly. Well, err, the democratic principle, of every person being given and encouraged to participate in our democracy, trumps the eccentricities and bigotry of yesteryear’s generation.

Cost should not imperil our democratic liberty and freedoms. To say otherwise acknowledges that undemocratic methods are to be encouraged and invoked against citizens of this country. This is a bad.

The third point, the threat of the stimulus not  being put into effect or even put on hold, is also doubtful. As CTV’s interview with TD Bank’s chief economist Don Drummond points out:

… the effect on Ottawa’s $12-billion infrastructure stimulus designed to fight the recession would be minimal (…)

“This would affect only a certain type of infrastructure spending that was coming up for approval, but a lot of it would have already been approved, as the (government) said in their last report,” he pointed out.

“Once it has cabinet approval, the bureaucrats could kick that into action.”

So, again, there is no argument for the election harming the economy. It may, in fact, assist in its recovery. Mr. Harper is incorrect in saying that an election would “screw up” anything. Well, it might screw up his political career, but that’s another topic entirely.

The credit allows for a maximum of $1,300 to be reimbursed to someone who spent a max of $10,000. Otherwise, it’s a 15% return on investment on your home. You can claim this reimbursement for any renovations done between Jan. 27, 2009, and Feb. 1, 2010. Just remember to bring your receipts with you when you file.

Conservatives, and specifically Harper, say that this tax credit may be in danger if an election is called. Seeing that it might be the piece of legislation that is to be the none confidence vote (any vote that fails to be in favour of the governing party is a non-confidence vote and thereby causes an electoral threat thus becoming a hazard to said voted on stuff) it could be an easy jump in logic to worry about the tax credit.

Issue being, however, is the tax credit has already been put into the Canadian Revenue Agency’s books. As per usual, these promised and acted upon tax credits are normally put into tax code before even being put through parliament. So not only would it be impossible to stop it from being used this tax season, the actions of the Liberal party cannot throw it away.

In addition to this cogent piece of information, Ignatieff has come out on cbc.ca and to the rest of the media saying that:

“We supported the home renovation tax credit before. Our problem is we just don’t support the government any more. But home renovation tax credit is a good measure, and it would continue under a Liberal government.”

As a person who is taking advantage of the reno credit I feel safe in that my money hasn’t been squandered. There’s no threat, no harm, nor any possible danger, to those who have spent their money or are going to spend their money. Period.