Danielle Smith Wins Wildrose Alliance Leadership.

There is much talk and news coverage of the Wildrose Alliance Party and Danielle Smith, the new charismatic and equally intelligent and articulate leader of the Wildrose Alliance Party. She represents many, many concerned Albertans and I want to thank all those who supported Danielle in the leadership race and look forward to seeing how Albertans respond to Danielle and her ideas. Because she is ideas focused and a public policy wonk. She is going to make you a very proud supporter and I believe Albertans are going to embrace this charming lady and all she stands for. She is a breath of fresh air in what has become the Stelmach Alberta outhouse.

There is no doubt that politics in Alberta has become very interesting and out of the ashes of what is left of the Alberta economy comes a young, female, charismatic, articulate, well educated, well informed and determined leader;  a new leader that has started a prairie wildfire across the political lanscape in Alberta and has already managed to catch the imaginations of true fiscally conservative Albertans, social moderates, social conservatives, fiscally conservative liberals and maybe even the odd ND. And we all know just how odd that is in Alberta.

It is worth noting the dynamic happening inside the PC Caucus and Albertans should try to understand how it is that the premier can keep his critics within the party silenced. This is a battle for power within the PC caucus. It is an internal power struggle between the northern rural powerbase that holds more seats than the southern fiscally conservative caucus members. It is North vs South, rural vs urban, Edmonton vs Calgary, Stelmach vs his old opponents and in this battle of Alberta we are all getting beat on. Stelmach MLA's outnumber anit-Stelmach MLA's and to challenge the premier is a sure way to find yourself on the outside looking in. It would result in a loss of committee posts and money and influence. Not that any Calgary MLA's seem to influence the premier other than our TLC starved health minister.

This article appeared in the Edmonton Journal Ocober 20, 2009. Please leave comments. I have had several converstaions with many Albertans and several current and former politicians and what I can say is that Danielle has their attention and she is well on her way to gaining all the credibility and support she will need to gain the trust of Albertans.  Have a read and stay tuned. Alberta politics just got very interesting.

Daggers drawn for Stelmach

Trish Audette and Renata D' Aliesio October 20, 2009 Edmonton Journal

No endorsement from Manning, Klein

Big names on Alberta’s political right fired shots at Ed Stelmach on Monday, with his predecessor predicting the premier will face a tough time at his party leadership review next month.

When asked whether Alberta’s business community is ready for a change in leadership, former premier Ralph Klein said: “I think so. Enough said.”

Reform party founder Preston Manning made a prediction of his own, that the 38-year Progressive Conservative dynasty may be ready to topple under its own weight.

“The government has been around a long time,” said the former Reform leader, who contemplated a run for the PC leadership in 2006. “When you’re the governing party that’s been around a long time, you’re carrying a lot of weight.”

One former Klein cabinet minister also weighed in, saying he’s frustrated with Stelmach’s leadership, but is contemplating casting a ballot of support when the premier faces a mandatory review from party members next month.

Former Bonnyville Tory MLA Ernie Isley said he thinks the Wildrose Alliance has a better chance of winning ridings in the next election if Stelmach remains at the Tory helm.

“Unless there’s a significant change in attitude in the Stelmach Conservatives, I will be with the Wildrose,” said Isley, who holds memberships in both parties. “At this point in time, it’s more progressive than the Progressive Conservatives are.”

linkAnd then the premier sat down for an in depth interview with the CTV's Barb Higgins. That took all of one minute and as usual there was really nothing of substance other than the premier looking miffed and mad as he is aked why he didn't roll back the entire increase he and all MLA's and cabinet ministers voted for themselves in May 2008. The hypocrisy is thicker than the energy ministers skull.