Reasons for King Ralph to LEAVE

I've complained for a long time that the PC's (I refuse to accuse Klein's bunch of being "Progressive" - they aren't) in Alberta have been doing far too much of the government's business using "Order in Council" motions instead of the legislature where public debate can take place.

Finally, we are beginning to see other people catch on to this being problematic. Rick Bell has finally said - in print - the painfully obvious. The huge, overwhelming majority that Ralph Klein has enjoyed the last few elections has caused him to think of his hold on power as almost divine right. Long time observers of the Alberta legislature will have observed that the length of time the legislature sits has steadily declined under Ralph's watch (actually, I think it started dropping off under Don Getty's tenure). Then, to add insult to injury, the Premier wasn't even _IN_ the legislature for the bulk of the Fall, 2003 sitting.

If the legislature isn't sitting, and the government is 'taking action' that would ordinarily have to be debated in the legislature, then it's doing so as 'Order in Council'. This is about as undemocratic as you can get. Basically, the cabinet sits down and decides what to do, and issues orders to the bureaucracy based on that decision. There isn't even so much as a caucus debate with the back-bench MLAs. More or less, whoever happens to have the ear of the various cabinet ministers wins. *Aaaaargh!* I would point out that even while the legislature has been sitting, this government is doing a lot of business as "Order in Council" - a deeply disturbing thought to anyone who believes that the legislature is there to keep self-appointed monarchs from taking liberties they have no right to take.

With the recent release of the Auditor General's BSE investigation, we see yet another delightful whitewash inflicted upon us. "Oh, the program worked as designed" - that's an excuse??? That makes it "okay" that the bulk of the money wound up in the packer's hands? The public was told, unequivocally, that this was intended to help the _producers_, not the _packers_. Therefore, if the program worked "as it was designed to", there is a fundamental problem - the design was flawed, or we were lied to. (I'm banking on the latter).

Klein has been musing aloud that we will head to the polls in late November. It is past time to send a message to the provincial Conservatives - a message as loud and clear as Martin received this past federal election. In the absence of any truly compelling (as of yet) alternative that is ready to take the reins of power, it is time to send the PCs back with no more than a razor-thin minority. The current bunch in the Conservative party have lost sight of the people that put them in power. Taft's Liberals or Mason's NDP may not be ready to form a government today, but we, the electorate owe it to ourselves to groom an effective opposition party that will be ready to form the government. Democracy relies on alternatives to work effectively - Alberta's democracy is not working!