Dear Premier Stelmach:

I wasn't going to write this when I first caught wind of Alberta's Cabinet handing itself a 30% pay hike on what amounts to an Order In Council motion.

I recognize that politicians have demanding jobs - but two things have happened since that have made me reconsider that initial stance.

First was hearing one of your ministers braying away on the news about the "overwhelming mandate" that Albertans gave you. You won an overwhelming number of seats on an underwhelming plurality. Yes, your party won over 70 seats, but in terms of Alberta voters, you won that with just over 20% of Alberta's voters expressing direct support for you. That means just a hair under 80% of Alberta's voters DID NOT vote for you. (An absentee vote is not "a proxy in favour of status quo - it is in fact a non-vote - period) While I have my own opinions about the wisdom of Alberta's voters, I don't think any voter believes that they elected you and your party brethren just so you could go vote yourselves a hefty pay hike the moment you were sworn into office.

Second on my mind is the classic issue of accountability and transparency. This province's government has been one of the worst in Canada on both topics - largely because under Ralph Klein not only has the amount of time the Legislature sits dwindled to an absolute minimum, but worse, more and more of the government's actions are decided in forums that are closed-door. A sad condemnation of Ralph's need to protect his thin-skinned nature from any kind of criticism. In taking this action today, you have just signalled to Albertans that you are more likely to follow the footsteps of Don Getty - a man whose tenure in the province is memorable more for the utter ineptitude of the government than anything else.

When you have such an overwhelming majority, arrogance is the worst of all traps to fall into, and you seem to have walked right into the pit, willingly. I think it was Peter Lougheed, after winning a landslide majority in the late 1970s, who said something to the effect that the government has to be doubly careful when it has such a majority, for it can too easily lose touch with the wisdom of the people.

So, Ed, besides picking my pocket all the deeper, just what have you done for me today?