Dear Premier Designate Prentice –
Congratulations on your selection to be leader of PC
Alberta and Premier of the Province of Alberta. It is a high honour to serve ones community
at that level, and I thank you for the commitment you have made.
There is no doubt you have been receiving much good advice
on how to proceed with getting things back on track. I want to share my thoughts with you as well, regarding
the task at hand –
- There will, unfortunately, be no honeymoon. Our fellow citizens are expecting you to get right to work trying to calm the political storm we have been experiencing the past several months.
- Term limits for the Premier & for MLAs is not a good policy. I believe it is the job of the electorate to determine if a representative has served long enough, if he or she has not been able to come to that conclusion on their own. It is and will always be difficult to encourage the best of us to serve in this capacity; we should not limit the term of office by legislation. History has shown that some can serve their constituents well in the long term, and that should be okay.
- The aircraft issue – While there needs to be a solid policy around use of the aircraft, I am in favour of keeping the fleet, as it allows Cabinet members to travel to all of Alberta. When we are expecting members of Cabinet to work 16 hour days on our behalf, how can we then expect our Government to have a presence in rural Alberta, given the time & distance to travel by automobile? Our Province is geographically vast, and we can afford to own aircraft, so we should keep the fleet to allow our Government to interact with its citizens.
- By the way you & your Cabinet need to get out to rural Alberta more.
- While we are on this subject of aircraft, I want it to be known that I have no issue with family members riding along with MLAs & Ministers as long as they are not bumping another Government person from the flight. This is no different than me having a family member along when I am driving for Municipal Government business. It costs nothing more and may be the only family time these folks get in that particular day.
- Big City Charters – I understand the need for a special relationship with large urban centres due to challenges like homelessness, poverty & other things. These are important issues that deserve our attention. However don’t lose sight of the fact that all municipalities face challenges – they are just different. In my part of Alberta we have serious challenges in the area of housing, labour, access to medical services & Government services, transportation issues, education issues, shadow population issues, out-migration of youth, etc., etc. We need to consider the whole picture.
- Government has done some pretty comprehensive work on Rural Alberta’s challenges (e.g. Rural Development Strategy, Rural Economic Development Action Plan). Now we really need to spend some time on this file and commit resources to it. We tend to minimize the challenges in rural Alberta because they don’t affect the day to day lives of most of our population. However, ignoring this part of our province has dire consequences in the long term. A healthy rural Alberta means a healthy Alberta.
- Low voter turnout for the Leadership race is not a sign of a failing party, but more likely is a sign that people are disillusioned with provincial politics right now. Former Premier Redford made some bad decisions & that has contributed to the disillusionment to be sure. However I think a lot of this disconnect is because of an underlying nastiness on the part of some MLAs in their interaction with other members of the Legislature, and some media people in their so-called reporting of provincial politics. People are sick & tired of hearing it.
- I believe that many Albertans can still feel very comfortable living in that part of the political spectrum where the Progressive Conservative party flies its banner. If we can get back to a political climate of respect, of debating the issues instead of attacking the individual, of understanding that most, if not all, MLAs are there because they want the best for our Province and its citizens, Albertans will feel more comfortable with provincial politics in general, and with PC Alberta in particular.
- Despite all my griping and all the griping of others, we need to remind ourselves that life is pretty good here in Alberta. I think we live in the best Province, in the best Country in the world. Can it be better? Of course, and we need to strive for that. But we have it pretty good right now.
Best to you and your family as you tackle this challenge. There is much to be done, but I am optimistic
for Alberta’s future, and I know you are too.
Sincerely,
Bud James
