On one side, we have the opposition parties trying to be heard, but working with little or no real resources (none of the "opposition" parties have all that much money to play with); on the other side, it's becoming very clear - painfully so - that the word has been put out to the PC candidates "don't say anything" - no door knocking, no public forums - nada, zip, zero, zilch.
Even Ralph has toned it way down. (Granted, after his unfortunate comments about AISH recipients, that was probably wise) Other than a handful of lawn signs for various candidates, you'd scarcely know that there's an election going on. My MLA didn't even have campaign workers deliver her re-election flyer, no it came delivered along with the weekly delivery of crap that comes from ADCO. (Conveniently, it arrived on the same day as ADCO delivered a door hanger written by some white supremacist nutbar)
I've been worried for a long time that the Progressive Conservatives have been in power long enough to start to rot from the inside. Sure enough, I look around a local PC candidate's name is starting to emerge in relation to some voting irregularities in the civic election. Granted, he hasn't been charged with anything yet, nor has he been convicted, but something here starts to smell mighty rotten. Of course, the candidate is denying everything. Can't people smell the rot? - it's worse than a Louisiana Swamp on a hot summer's day. Even the appearance of such a conflict used to be enough to cause a candidate to step aside. Now his own premier backs him up and says "he's a fine upstanding man". You know what? I don't care - there's a small matter of credibility and apparent honesty involved, and I don't think Pham is exactly looking like he cares about either.
More troubling is Ralph and his notion of a "medicare referendum". Ralph, we're in the middle of an election. Perhaps _NOW_ is a good time to put your cards on the table, and let the voters decide. A referendum is something the government can choose to ignore if the results aren't convenient to it. I'm not going to advocate for, or against, your position Ralph - you haven't told me enough of it for me to start believing that there is any correlation. My suspicion is that what you have in mind would get you into serious trouble with the voters, so you're desperately trying to hide it. (Not a difficult leap - I have yet to see Ralph present as much intellectual sophistication as a Harry Potter novel does)
Given Ralph's propensity for privatizing everything in sight, I have to wonder what he's up to. My wild guess is that Klein wants to arrange for more "private delivery" (a euphemism at best) of Health Care - but nowhere do I see Klein and his henchmen musing over how to protect the consumer and taxpayers that will be funding this private delivery. With one of Ralph's candidates musing out loud about making water a 'paid utility' (it already is!), it's not hard to guess the overall direction.
Given some recent incidents that I have become aware of that stem from the deregulation and privatization of our gas and electrical utilities, I can only imagine that the consumer is in for a giant screwing over. In the particular event that I am thinking about, a back bill adjusting someone's energy bill for the past year was delivered, with an immediate demand for several thousand dollars.
After much thrashing about, it turns out that the EUB's regulations give the utilities the right to adjust billing up to a full year old. However, on investigation, you quickly realize that the EUB's mandate is carefully designed to avoid dealing with the end consumer and their issues. Ah, but there's a "consumer advocate" that Ralph's government created - they are supposed to provide that force for consumers. Bzzt - wrong.
On the Utilities Consumer Advocate website, the mandate is described as follows:
The primary goals of the UCA are:
- To help consumers help themselves;
- To inform and empower them in Alberta's restructured energy markets; and
- To facilitate their representation at regulatory hearings and other proceedings.
Well, frankly, if you dig further around their website, you quickly discover that the "consumer advocate" isn't there to help you contact and negotiate with your utility - they have a mandate that pretty much says that they won't get involved directly in a dispute:
You should contact the Utilities Consumer Advocate for help if:
- You have contacted your utility company to discuss a billing or service concern, but things have not been resolved and you would like advice on how to proceed.
- You require information or advice regarding an Alberta Energy and Utilities Board regulatory hearing or possible representation at a regulatory hearing.
- You would like information about Alberta's restructured utilities market and/or your rights and responsibilities as a consumer.
I'm no genius in these matters, but it seems to me that basically says "you get to play David to the Utility Goliath". Most people don't have the time, energy or resources to pursue a fight with a utility company that is back-billing in an apparently arbitrary and capricious manner.
Now - consider that Ralph's government is the architect of the current mess in the utilities, take many of Ralph's random musings about Health Care (and now Water), and put the picture together. It looks worse than I do in the morning!
2 comments:
The sound of silence is absolutely deafening.
There seems to be little interset in this election from either the candidates or the voters. I look out my window and am dismayed by seeing signs for the local Conservative candidate. And I know that less than a block away there is a small army of signs for the Alliance. And, I THINK I might have spotted one or two NDP generi-signs. But nothing, absolutely nothing from the Liberal candidate.
Now, I do not think that the lack of Liberal signage is due to the complete dearth of interest in the party. Quite the opposite. As a matter of fact, I think that the first sign I ought to see when I peer out of my window should be a Liberal sign. After all, I DID request one. And I am still waiting... as the election creeps inextorably closer.
Now, to his credit, when I made the request my Liberal candidate assured me that he would LOVE to put one my front lawn, just as soon as they were printed. It sounded to me as if the Libs had selected the candidate at the last possible moment, and he was caught a bit flat footed in regards to signage... but the week is well over, and I have not seen a sign.
This is not to say that I have not heard from teh candidate - quite the opposite. He called me last week. Assured me that the signs were still on the way, and asked if he could count on my support. He then explained the one reason that he felt that I ought to make a monitary donation to his campaign - he did NOT tell me that my donation would support the Liberals.... He did NOT tell me that it would help the fight against Unca Ralphie... quite the opposite - the one reason that I was given to donate was for the Tax Receipt. Taxes? This is the best reason you can give me to donate? Well, if THAT is my primary concern, I will choose a different charity - one that gives me a higher percentage of my deduction back as a receipt, thank you very much.
Now, before I sound totally ingrateful bitching about the candidate's lack of interst, I will also point out that I did volunteer my time in doing some door knocking for the candidate. I was told taht he would be in touch just as soon as he had organized his door-to-door-campaign. I guess he forgot to mention that he was organizing it for the NEXT election.
Sadly, given the track record, I do not feel that I can throw my vote in the direciton of this candidate. I am seriously thinking about going over to a neighbourhing constituency to obtain a Liberal sign for my lawn... as a protest against the choice that I have been given. Conservative. Alliance. Liberal sleeper... or NDP? Well, at least THAT candidate dropped materials in my mailbox.
The one thing that I MUST say in favour of the alliance, apart from the party politics and the fact that replacing the Conseravatives with them would be a step backwards, is that I am seeing some genuine effort there. I see signs. And, as they were knocked over by a windstorm they were re-erected almost immediately. I had a door-knocker come to my door from their party. They delivered their literature in-person. In short, they are at least ACTIVELY intersted in the job.
Damned or further damned, that is the question of the sleeper election.
Any bets if we will even hit 20% voter turnout on this one? Anyone? Come on... there MUST be a sucker or two out there...
I noticed a couple of things. It looks like the Liberals in Calgary are trying to consolidate their campaign offices:
www.calgarysouthliberals.com
And, from the lack of signage/presence, I have to imagine the campaigns were caught quite flat-footed. I think the Liberal focus is on Edmonton this time around.
If, as you propose, the turnout will be down in the 20%-30% range, then it's all the more important for those of us who oppose King Ralph's Reign of Stupdity to get out and VOTE. It may involve holding your nose and doing the 'strategic' vote thing.
To their credit, the ND's have done a not bad job of at least getting themselves heard over the roaring silence.
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