Dangerous words: Redford changes her tune on electricity after days of saying there is no problem.

Electricity prices have skyrocketed in Alberta over the last 2 months and it has not gone unnoticed. In the Alberta legislature Premier Redford has been asked for days if her government would do something and for days she has repeated her standard answer: That Alberta has some of the lowest rates in the country, which is not at all true, and that there is no problem because consumers can just sign up to one of the many fixed rate programs offered.

Some quotes from Redford's answers: (highlighting mine)

"What we know is that, as the Minister of Energy has
said, with a deregulated market we are able to provide some of the
lowest cost electricity in the country, Mr. Speaker."

"Mr. Speaker. What we know is that while there are a number
of companies that provide options, the customers only have to
make one call, and that's to the Utilities Consumer Advocate, to
get the information that they need."

These same talking points were also repeated by Ted Morton, Minister of Energy.

"Mr. Speaker, we're quite proud of the fact that we
give residential consumers this choice. It's not very complicated.
Albertans every day make a choice when they go to borrow
money for a mortgage. Do they want a fixed rate, do they want a
variable rate, or do they want some combination? It's exactly the
same situation with respect to electricity, and Albertans appreciate
that choice."

"I will say this very, very slowly for the benefit of the
Leader of the Opposition. There are 11 different providers, all of
them having a contract at 8 to 9 cents which can be cancelled in a
30- to 45-day period if you don't like it."

So there is NO problem. All is well and in fact they said that having the government involved would not be a good thing.

Redford: "Mr. Speaker, dangerous words were government
involvement. Dangerous words were presuming that the solution
to this is for government to fix the problem."

Morton: "Mr. Speaker, the members opposite always seem to
think the solution is more government involvement; we don't
think so. The facts speak for themselves."


But yesterday this non problem has seemed to turn into a problem, at least in terms of this being an election issue, and now it demands that the government do something.

"The Premier has ordered that an independent panel review the regulated variable rate option to consider the ability to reduce volatility and costs. The Premier will also direct the Utilities Consumer Advocate to represent consumers' interests to the independent panel. The advocate's mandate in this process is to ensure the costs associated with electricity are just and reasonable for consumers."

So some action may be required after all in spite of what both the Premier and Morton have been saying for days on the issue and even odder that it will include those dangerous words of government involvement.


 But before anyone gets their hopes up I have to remind you that like that "discussion on taxes" or the judicial, or maybe not judicial, inquiry into healthcare, that will be taking place after the election when it will be a matter us accepting whatever it is the government intends to do with no recourse.

So why are they doing it now? Simple, they are scared and are trying to defuse a potentially damaging election issue by pretending to do something now when they really are not doing anything and hope to ride it out hoping the usual PC smoke and mirrors again fool Albertans into voting for them.

Forming a task force to study, what they said was not a problem, is not action, it is pure fluff to appease the masses.  To borrow the words of Ted Morton, the facts speak for themselves.



Related (how well our PC government looks after the consumer) Trans Alta fined $370,000 for manipulating  power market.  BTW: Trans Alta made an estimated $5.5 million from gaming the system.

Can someone explain to me how a $5 million dollar profit (after paying the pittance of a fine) deters them or anyone else from doing it again, and again, and....?

.

Score one for the Ottawa Citizen!

Some great reporting from the Ottawa Citizen as they tracked the IP address responsible for posting details of Vic Toews divorce on twitter, the one Justin Trudeau was so fond of promoting, to a computer in the House of Commons!


OTTAWA — An IP address connected to what is known as the Vikileaks30 Twitter account originates within the House of Commons.
In a bid to determine the origin of the account, which details personal information about Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, The Citizen undertook an investigation on Thursday

Someone is busted big time.   Stay tuned.

Previous post on improper use of government computers for political reasons.

Nasitness from the Alberta PC's and why we can expect much more in the days to come.

Like a cornered animal lashing out attacking anything that comes near them, the Alberta PC's seem to have taken the same approach towards anyone who dare criticizes them. And they are doing so for exactly the same reason, fear.

The AUMA kerfuffle, which you can read about here, is probably the most famous recent example of lashing out at criticism and detractors. First the Minister sends off a letter to Linda Sloan, which he cc'ed to all government members, all AUMA Board members, and all AUMA member municipalities, saying that because of the criticisms Sloan made of the government that no member of Cabinet or the PC caucus would attend the AUMA breakfast. Making the matter much worse however was the Premiers Chief of Staff, Stephen Carter's tweet: "Let's be clear, Linda Sloan didn't just criticize the budget, she lied. Maliciously. #ableg #AUMA"  where he not only called Sloan a liar but that she did so 'maliciously'. The tweet was happily re-tweeted by many and others took to twitter to also say that Sloan should apologize.  The premier has since had Carter apologize to Sloan and made Minister Griffiths play nice and go to the AUMA breakfast meeting, even though she has stated: "I firmly stand behind the minister’s comments," the pattern is clear.

While the most famous example, it certainly is not the only one that we have seen this week from the Government, staffers, or closely tied PC supporters.

Alberta Liberal leader Raj Sherman criticized for doing shifts as a medical doctor in the emergency department: "While we're talking about top ups, aren't you topping up your own salary by moonlighting in the ER?" and accused of being on twitter while he should be looking after patients: "... he was thinking about me while dealing w people's medical emergencies? or was someone else tweeting 4 him? #ableg #insafehands"

   
From just this morning Jessica Jacobs-Mino, a "communications officer", felt the need to attack Calgary Herald columnist Don Braid for his latest column highlighting political games in municipal funding. Here is some of what she tweeted (on taxpayer time?) : "@DonBraid should do his research. There's much more to the Isley story, and lots of history there."  and  "@DonBraid you're the almighty, all-knowing pundit. Do your job, expert-on-all-things-Alberta." and this gem "@DonBraid lol. cute. Taking the high road, I see. Guess you know a thing or 2 about bullying after all...." 

Note: I would provide links to the above tweets but they were deleted shortly after being posted and later the entire account was deleted. But having seen this game before, from the PC campaign manager, I took a screenshot just in case.

Don't like the latest poll numbers, then claim the poll is: "questionable push poll printed as legit in a major daily" without of course any proof whatsoever


There are many more examples but I think think you get the idea. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that, as far as I am aware, everyone of those tweets that I quoted came from someone who recently attended the PCAA "campaign college" where as we can see they appear to have taken full advantage of the social media seminars that took place. (sarc off)


I suspect that this is only the beginning and that as PC poll numbers go down and people start paying attention to the mess the PC's and their government actually are, that these types of attacks will only intensify as they feel pushed more and more into a corner. Not a good thing for a party whose favorite spin consists of calling people who criticize the government as being "angry", but than again understanding irony has never been much a PC strong suit. They are scared and we can expect to see much more of this in the coming weeks.

Threats and intimidation: It's the Alberta PC way.

Minister of Municipal Affairs Doug Griffith in a letter to Linda Sloan, President of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association: (From Global News)

 "Please be advised that as a result of your comments in the media, neither I nor any of my Cabinet or Caucus colleagues, will be attending the AUMA breakfast on February 16th, 2012."


"You have chosen to make false accusations in the newspaper while claiming you want to work together. This situation can be remedied if you publicly apologize and retract your erroneous statement."

Griffiths Letter to Sloan Pg1

Griffiths to Sloan Pg2


Wow, and on the same day that they announce that there will be an anti-bullying week in Alberta.

Note how the letter is cc'ed to all AUMA members and ALL municipalities. Talk about trying to send a message.

The Premiers Chief of Staff comments: "Let's be clear, Linda Sloan didn't just criticize the budget, she lied. Maliciously. #ableg #AUMA"


Media: Miffed Tories play guess who is not coming to breakfast.

Don Braid's on the subject.

No bacon, eggs and ham for PC's.

Redford plan is beyond words.

The Redford Government has plans to repeal the requirements that all bedrooms have a window large enough to escape from in the event of fire.

"Alberta's Minimum Housing and Health Standards have been in place since 1999, and they set clear rules about emergency escape routes in rental bedrooms. The current law says: "Each bedroom shall have at least one outside window which may be opened from the inside without the use of tools or special knowledge."
It requires the window be at least 3.8 square feet or big enough to climb out if a house catches fire. The only exception is if the bedroom has a door leading directly outside or if there is a sprinkler system installed.
The proposed new regulation, called the Rental Housing Premises and Shelter Standards, was drafted in July and is much less specific.
"Each room or area used as a bedroom must provide a reasonable means of egress," it reads. There is no mention of windows or doors and it is up to landlords to decide what "reasonable" means." Read the rest at the Calgary Herald. The political donation angle is worth taking a look at.

This is a political disaster. The idea is so stupid that it is beyond words and if the documents were not real we would have heard about it hours ago as the PC spin machine never sleeps, but so far it has been silence from the PC's.  My prediction is a total bail and flip flop on the changes and try to spin it as only a 'preliminary' doc.

As for the optics of the donations, well that is something else entirely.

Make that 51.

 (see update below, it seems the liberals jumped the gun as did I)

Seems that the illegal donation scandal plaguing the Alberta Progressive Conservatives has no end in sight.

Today my friends* in the Alberta Liberal Party released another example of illegal donations received by the PC party, this time from the Town of Penhold: "At a council meeting held on September 26, 2011, Penhold’s councillors reviewed items of payment, including a cheque for $609 issued to the Innisfail PC association. Municipal governments are prohibited from donating to political parties.

The minutes of the Sept 26, 2011 meeting of the Town of Penhold Council which clearly show a payment was made to the Innisfail PC Association for the sum of $609.00 can be seen here.

Another in an already long list, which appears now to be greater than 50 instances, of donations received by the Alberta PCs which are against Alberta election laws including those from the Calgary Zoo, the University of Lethbridge, Alberta Health Services, school boards and others.

But will the almost endless examples of illegal donations to the PC's sway Albertans to vote someone other than the PC's? Only time will tell if they buy the PC spin of trying to blame those that made the donations rather than the party that cashed the cheques and kept the cash works.


Quick update: "In a news release, the Alberta Liberal Caucus is accusing Penhold Town Council of making a donation to the provincial Tories, which is prohibited. Penhold Mayor Dennis Cooper says the $600 payment to the Innisfail PC Association was a refund, when the group overpaid a pre-booked meeting space at the multiplex."

The MSM finds the story hours later: Penhold peeved by Liberal news release.

Oh well, I guess only 50 instances is better than 51. Not. 







*I use the term friends because in the past few weeks I have had many of my tweets re-tweeted by Alberta liberals of all shapes and sizes at least as many times as the current known number of suspect PCs donations. Politics does indeed make strange bed fellows but it isn't about that, it is about doing right for Alberta and in that regard I agree 100% with my liberal friends in that the PCs have to go. We just have a different idea on who should be replacing them.

The PC's big lie about the Alberta 2012 budget.

There is no other way to put it other than saying that Premier Redford and the PC's have flat out lied about the 2012 Alberta budget when they said that it would contain no tax increases. It does and the worst part is not the lies but rather that they will probably get away with it.

From the budget speech delivered by Finance Minister Ron Liepert: "I will point out, Mr. Speaker, that these higher tax revenues are a result of Albertans and Alberta corporations doing better and thus having higher
taxable incomes, and not because of any tax rate increases by the province." (highlighting mine)

From the document itself: "Budget 2012 introduces no new taxes, or tax rate increases." (underlined by PC's)

Premier Alison Redford: "Budget 2012 is about investing in Albertans with no new taxes or tax increases"

Clear enough or did you want to see about 1 million more examples? (more on this Google search later)

But none of that is the truth as taxes are going up, at least the education portion of your property taxes.

From the Calgary Herald: Although the Redford government boasts about no tax increases or new levies in the budget, it hikes the province's 2012 education property tax take by more than at any time in the last two decades.
Alberta taxpayers will shell out $1.8 billion in education property taxes to the province, an increase of more than $107 million over the 2011 total.

From The Edmonton Journal: 'A jump in the amount Alberta takes from education property taxes means the levy on a typical Edmonton home could go up at the highest rate in three years.'
 'The province intends to collect an extra $120 million from education taxes this year, including an additional $38 million — or 10.8 per cent — from Edmonton ratepayers,'
'it means the total average Edmonton property tax hike could hit 7.2 per cent in 2012'

There is no way around it, this is a tax increase, but it gets worse.  Not only did they lie about it but this arrogant bunch has the audacity to take it one step farther by trying to pass off the blame and heat onto our municipalities who are the ones that have to collect it. You will see this tax hike show up on your property tax bill, which will get mailed out in Edmonton on May 18 probably AFTER the election) and by then your vote will have already been counted.


As I eluded to earlier the lying and the arrogance are not the worst part of this. They will, or perhaps it would be better stated as, they have already gotten away with it. How could they have gotten away with it since I am obviously reading about it here and in those article linked above you ask?  That is easy because the word has already gotten out that the Alberta 2012 budget contain  no tax increases and that has already been in every newspaper, on every radio talk-show, and on every television news broadcast both here in Alberta and from beyond when they reported on the 2012 budget. (see Google search linked above)  This is what Albertans first heard and even though it is not true it is what most will remember hearing about the budget, that it did not raise taxes. All the PC's have to do now is just continue to repeat the lie and the deception will live on.

It really is brilliant, in a totally underhanded way mind you, but you have to give the PC's credit because after being in power for 40 years they do know all of the tricks on how to hose us without most of us even realizing it until it is too late.

Get the word out. Don't let this deception stand. I fear for what may be in store for us if the PC's do get elected to a majority again since we already know that they don't tell the truth and refuse to give straight answers to direct questions on the subject of taxes.


Real life leadership my ass.




Previous blog on budget 2012


Bonus: I asked Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk a simple question on Saturday night.

AA: " Speaking of facts, how is this NOT a tax increase? http://bit.ly/y5Dwae" (link to Journal story)

His answers, or rather his lack of a straight answer and his sad attempt to spin me (maybe he should have taken one of those social media seminars at PC campaign college this weekend because trying to spin a political blogger is not a bright thing to do) shows that he knows the truth that there are tax increases in the budget, but will do anything he can not to admit it.

TL: "It is all in the Budget. Open and transparent. Read it. How is that a hidden agenda?"

AA: "Those weren't my words. So about my question: How is this http://bit.ly/y5Dwae not a tax increase?"

TL: "That is investing in world class education for our children. Would you cut #abed budget?"

AA:  "Didn't ask what it was for, mention cuts, or why I won't 'think of the children'. Your refusal to answer says it all. #ableg"

(No reply)
  

You can read the twitter thread yourself here

Redford's Budget: Smoke, mirrors, broken promises and prayer.

The 2012 Alberta budget was released yesterday and when I heard Finance Minister Ron Liepert come out and comment on US trillion dollar deficits in one breath while trying to paint the rosiest of pictures on Alberta's economic future the next, as if he had no idea how or why the recession started or why it has taken so long to recover,  I knew that we were in trouble. While the budget may sound good or at least sound better than it has been the last few years, and you can be sure that the PCs spent many hours trying to come up with buzz words and feel good phrases to make it appear that way, it is little more than smoke, mirrors, broken promises and prayer.


Revenue is up to $40.3 billion but unfortunately spending is also going up to $41.1 billion creating a deficit of $886 million. The 5th straight deficit budget in a row from the Progressive Conservatives and one that right off the bat would be $1 billion higher if not for the Harper governments recent decision on health transfer payments that return 1 billion dollars to the Alberta Treasury.That and the PC's have elected NOT to borrow the $1.8 billion this year that they said they would in the 2011 budget. (2.8 billion off the deficit between these 2 things alone!)

Now here is where the smoke and mirrors along with a little prayer comes in. The numbers are all totally based on government projections on the future price of bitumen, oil and natural gas in the highly unpredictable energy market. ( A great but dry blog here from Andrew Leach, second last paragraph a must read) If their crystal ball like numbers are off even a little bit the deficit will climb, and looking at the numbers they are using for natural gas which the US suddenly has a glut of, they are indeed going to be off their estimates. The same can be said for the bitumen estimates while their oil estimates seem more realistic. No one knows for sure just what future prices or economic conditions will be but with the entire budget and their credibility riding on it you can bet that Redford and the PC's are praying that their estimates hold out.

A couple more things on the deficit this year. Why are they running one at all? No, I am not talking about why they are not making cuts to spending, which is entirely a valid point and worthy of discussion, but does it really make sense to you for Redford to increase spending by $1.3 when they could have just increased it $500 million and wiped out the deficit right here and now?  I don't have an answer but I have a few ideas why they may have done so. First off if something goes wrong in the short term during the election and Redford is running on a no deficit budget it would be devastating and possibly an election loser for the PCs; better to go into it with a small deficit and promises of surpluses to follow to reduce expectations. Secondly Redford is trying the tried and true old PC trick of being all things to all people and the only way to do that is not make cuts and increase spending and then they can paint the other parties, or at least the one they are worried about, as the bad guy who wants to make cuts. Lastly, and in my mind the best explanation, is that they are worried that Albertans may wonder how the PC's managed to do it. IMHO the last thing that the PCs want to do is have Albertans take a real good look at how they have been managing the deficit and playing with the numbers by way of going dipping into the sustainability fund.

Which brings me to my next point, broken promises.

Heard that there are no tax increases in Redford's 2012 budget? After all it is what the PC have been telling  isn't it? Well think again. Alberta taxpayers will shell out $1.8 billion in education property taxes to the province, an increase of more than $107 million over the 2011 total.    Interesting number that $107 million; where have I heard it before?  Sure a weird coincidence and even weirder is the promise that the $107 would come out of savings from other departments?

But perhaps the biggest broken promise is the one that most people have already forgotten about and by the looks of it so has Redford. Here is what Alison Redford said: "Reducing our dependence on non-renewable resource revenue will be one of my major goals. The first $6 billion we amass from resources annually will go to cover government operating costs in areas like public services. I will split any additional revenues up to $4 billion between the Sustainability Fund and the Heritage Trust Fund."    

A promise which is now impossible to achieve because there is not exactly an extra $4 billion dollars lying around and there won't be until 2014-2015 and that is only if the PC's crystal ball on energy revenue is accurate and the prediction of a $5 billion dollar surplus actually materializes. The fact that they are predicting a surplus in 14-15 shows that there is NO way that they are planning to put $4 billion dollars into the Sustainability Fund because if they were it would have to be a predicted $1 billion surplus rather than 5. Either that or the surplus is really going to be over $9 billion and the money for the fund has been figured in but if you believe that I have a bridge for sale with your name on it. The truth is that Redford has totally abandoned one of her major promises from the leadership campaign. Not the first time either.

And speaking of the Sustainability fund that will not get the above mentioned promised 4 billion:
In 2009 The Sustainability Fund was worth 17 billion dollars and four years and four consecutive deficit PC budgets later it now sits at $3.7 billion. That is 13 billion dollars gone in less than 3 yrs to cover deficit spending by the PCs.

 I can't remember where I read it but someone asked a great question about the Sustainability Fund: What happens if the budget is wrong and the sustainability fund hits zero?  Not at all out of the range of possibilities and if the PC record is anything to go by it may be even probable. Something to think about.

 Remember, this is the very same group of PC MLAs who promised that by yesterday, budget day 2012, Alberta would be "back in the black" and the government would be running surpluses.

Soon the PCs will be asking Albertans to vote for them and again they will be promising that this time, unlike all of the other times, that it is going to be different. But honestly, why should we trust them again?



As they say fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.



I know I am not going to let them fool me again.  How about you?


Updated: 2 National Post articles on the budget

As Ontario sinks, Alberta picks up the baton of bad government.

Alberta's first NDP budget.

November 2012 Update: Looks like everyone but Redford was right. Alberta to go back into debt.

James Ford to run (again!) as an independent.

Sherwood Park resident James Ford has announced that he will be running as an Independent in the upcoming elections for the Sherwood Park MLA constituency in the upcoming Alberta provincial election.

Here is hoping he has the same luck he had the last 2 times he tried this, and judging by his idiotic comments here I think that is pretty much a sure thing.


Previous entry on James Ford here. See if you can spot a similiar pattern in Mr. Ford's words.

Yup.

And the man wonders why he loses elections.

A strange thing happened in Alberta on the way to that Conservative majority in Ottawa.

I started blogging about politics back during the 2006 election when I became fed up watching the arrogance and antics of the then governing Liberals. Revelations on Adscam became daily breaking news, Paul Martin was trying to be all things to all people by making everything his number 1 priority and was again trying to scare Canadians with the campaign of fear against the CPC. That was a long time as well as a few elections ago and today the Liberals have been reduced to third party status and we have a strong stable conservative majority government in Ottawa; things are looking good.

But while many of us in Alberta were working hard in any we we could trying to get that majority in Ottawa, a funny thing happened. We let our guard down and ignored what was happening in our own backyard as the party that most of us have supported for up to 40 years, the PCAA, became something other than what I would call conservative.

They started passing more nanny state laws, making government bigger, harming the economy by tinkering with electricity, land rights, royalties, spending more money than we have, going as far as to abolish law that their own party passed saying that they would not run deficits, and as we have seen of late have been involved in multiple (50+) shady dealings regarding donations and the soliciting of donations.

It is like I am back in 2006 but only this time it isn't the Liberals, it is the so called Progressive Conservative Party of my own province that are the culprits.

The PC's have gone off the rails conservatively, fiscally, ethically and after 40 yrs have run out of ideas on how to govern other than by increasing government size and power while claiming (how I enjoy it when my gov't lies to me) that it is either for our own good or that it is what 'Albertans have asked' them to do. They have lost sight of the line that exists between party and government and are treating Alberta as some type of fiefdom where they can spend our money at will and where party cronies are appointed to almost every board, agency, committee and  position out there.(Mar, Hughes,and Charlebois being prominent examples)

Even the arrogance has reached a level that rivals that of the Liberals of '06.

The PC's rarely if ever admit that they are wrong; when confronted with details of illegal donations they are quick to blame those that gave the money rather than look to themselves, when promises of fixed election dates and judicial health inquiries get morphed into something not even close to the original promises they smile and say that they have 'fulfilled' those promises and paint anyone who suggests otherwise as angry. They go on a cross province taxpayer funded cabinet tours one week and then to Jasper the next meeting up with unelected PC candidates treating us as fools when they say that it is not campaigning or partisan.  Even Thursdays budget is going to contain the whopper that our budget will be balanced in 2013, though I have yet to meet a single person who actually believes this to be true, the PC's will maintain that they're speaking the truth and because of their belief that they are the natural governing party of Alberta will also assume that Albertans will ignore their record/promises and will once again be sheep returning the PC's to power they feel that they are somehow entitled to hold.

Well sorry PCAA but it is not going to be that easy this time around. People are starting to pay attention and they don't like what they have been seeing. It is going to take more than some vague vacuous promises in a throne speech to get them to again vote PC in the hope that this time a PC government will somehow be different.

We in Alberta do not change governments often, but when we do, we do so in spectacular fashion. Lets hope that in election 2012 that we can do so again and reclaim our government back from a PC party that can't manage to balance a budget with $100 oil and takes its citizens for granted by ignoring them and treating them as idiots with their political games and ridiculous spin. This is no longer the party of Lougheed or even Klein and for the first time that I can remember people are openly speaking of change and after 40 yrs of one party rule the time for change may have again arrived.


So to my readers who come here looking for something related to federal politics I would like to apologize in advance for the lack of posts on the federal scene as something happened in Alberta on the way to getting that Conservative majority in Ottawa and I have to turn my attention to Alberta for the next few months and try to change what I and many others here have ignored for far too long. Our own government.





Comments are always welcome but as I have been attracting plenty of attention lately from PC staffers and party hacks (they don't like it when their fiefdom gets challenged and their BS gets called out) comment moderation will be turned on.  Sad really because even during the last 3 federal elections the left wing trolls didn't post half as many vulgar comments as these so called conservatives have.

While you were working this week...

Your tax dollars were going towards this:

Don Braid: Hubris of Tory spending on Jasper caucus retreat is breathtaking.

Don Braid from the Calgary Herald nails it with his most recent column:

The hubris of spending that kind of dough for a caucus retreat, with a deficit budget and an election looming, is breathtaking even for our durable Tory regime.

The $70,000 comes from caucus funding, which technically means it’s legislature money rather than government cash. But every last buck still derives from the public trough.

The PCs do not appear to care.

And he's right, the PCs don't care. After 40 yrs in power they seem to have forgotten the difference between government and party and it is costing every one of us money.

BTW: Has anyone else noticed that not single PC candidate has tweeted about being in Jasper? (There are over 20 of them there) I wonder why that is; I mean if the PC's really believed their own spin that the Jasper trip is no big deal and will not hurt them in the polls, why the twitter silence from a group who tweet enough about themselves for it to be almost considered spam?
 

Hours after touting their upcoming budget, Alberta PCs go on taxpayer funded trip to Jasper

Alberta Treasury Board President Doug Horner: "Bill 1 will be about getting better value for taxpayer's dollars, doing things better, smarter," "Certainly we are going to be frugal."

But just a few short hours later: the Tory caucus was in Jasper for a three day, two night retreat – at a cost of $70,000, funded by taxpayers, days before another deficit budget is set for release.

This all after last weeks 4 day taxpayer funded (although they refuse to reveal the costs * ) 'cabinet tour' which one PC MLA called nothing but "a photo-op for the pre-election".

No, nothing partisan going on around here. No siree: Many newly nominated Progressive Conservative candidates and party organizers will also travel to Jasper this week for a concurrent party meeting.

This party has become so damn arrogant that they aren't even pretending anymore.It is time to give the PCs the boot.

 -----------------------

* update: The PC campaign err 'cabinet tour' ended up costing taxpayers $100,000  (seems low considering 77K in flights alone over the course of 4days vs $70,000 for 3 days in Jasper with few if any flights involved.)

But who are you going to believe? Your own tired eyes or the Treasury Board President of the tired PC party when he said earlier today: "Certainly we are going to be frugal.".

Suspect donations to PC's hit 50 and Ron Liepert loses it.

Just a couple of tabs open currently on my browser.

This appears to be illegal donation to the PC party number 50.  Yes, 50!
Related: About those donations to the PCs from the Calgary Zoo


Corruption and arrogance, a wicked combination. Someone questions the sorry record of the PCs and Minister Ron Liepert loses it.

How the PC's are ignoring our seniors: Video.  They didn't listen at all.

I'll pay a 370k fine everyday of the week if I can make 5.5 million in the process.


Remember how Bill 26 was such a high priority. It was all about safety doncha know.


The PCs are a mess. I just hope Albertans care enough to notice and give them the boot they deserve.