Gary Vows to Be a Nightmare for O'Leary

The small town Canadian and ex municipal councillor is looking to cause a stir in Canada, a stir in the best interests of hard working Canadians that know Canada's governments should be looking after our best interests not those of the rich and powerful.

Gary Taje warns the greedy individuals like O'Leary he will tear their attacks against working Canadians apart.

“What I’m going to be doing with this platform and why I’m here today is I’ve decided that in every attack of his (O'Leary) against our interests, I’m going to spend a tremendous amount of energy exposing him to the public as a person that has used the resources and infrastructure we have created in this country to insure the success of our nation for his own selfish purpose with no sense of responsibility to insure the wealth produced in this nation benefits us all,” he said.
“I hope to make this a nightmare for selfish businessmen like him that think they can continue to force our governments to act only in the interests of the rich.”

He said he has never met him, at a corporate social event, nor anywhere else, but when he does he will tell him directly. “Listen O'Leary Canadians want a nation that works for us all not just your back pocket.’ ”

Alberta Campaign 2015

On June 19 2014, the 100th anniversary of the Hillcrest Mine Disaster I had the incredible opportunity to walk the kilometre or so from the Mine Memorial back to Hillcrest with the man who would end up being our premier, Jim Prentice. I didn't really know him but because of a conversation with former PC minister of environment, Fred Bradley, just after Harper formed his first government I did watch him. Fred tried to allay my fears about what we would likely see from Harper as our Prime Minister. He said simply "watch, if Harper puts Prentice into cabinet you will see his government will be more progressive than you think".

It appeared Fred was right, about Prentice anyway. He showed himself to be a very good cabinet minister. The only one that Canadian mainstream media approved of, calling him the rising star in Harpers government. Prentice confirmed himself as the progressive person Fred said he was when he stood up, against his government, and voted to support gay marriage. The only Conservative to do so. When he left government it could only mean he didn't fit in Harper's regressive regime. So it was kind of exciting when Prentice came back to seek the leadership of Alberta's PCs. After all the reality is the PC's are Alberta's governing party no matter what. We do need another progressive like the province's first PC leader Peter Lougheed.

On that bright sunny day in Hillcrest our next premier said all the right things. He talked of the need to build schools, the delivery of better health care, fixing the ignored infrastructure of the province. He was going to restore all that Alberta was. Fix the wrongs. He looked to be everything we needed here. To top it off he was from Grande Cache. He worked time at the mines. He understood that part of our economy. He was impressive enough and had him tell Robin Campbell to get me membership cards.

With his campaign in full swing and just a few days before the vote Jim came to Grande Cache with Robin. Jim impressed all with his talk of fixing the wrongs of the recent past invoking the name of Peter Lougheed, Alberta's best premier. He reiterated everything he spoke of that beautiful day in the Crowsnest Pass. There was no doubt, in my mind, that he was the person best suited to lead this province. Robin gave me some membership cards that night. There were only a couple of days left in the leadership race but some memberships got sold.

Prentice wins the leadership! A good day for us here in the coal mining town of Grande Cache dependant to large degree on an ailing mine. We will have a progressive government with a Premier and Finance Minister both with close ties to this town and its economy.  Finance Minister, Robin Campbell, is the Past President of UMWA Local 1656 in Hinton and we have known each other and worked together in the union since the mid 80's. I was sure we would see positive progressive change in our beautiful and diverse province. Things look as bright as that gorgeous June day in Hillcrest.

Our new premier puts his stamp quickly on our government and gets set for his election in one of the four October by-elections. Going in it was easy to assume Prentice and Mandel would be elected. It was also easy to assume (with no change in government on the line) the Wild Rose would win one if not two of the Calgary races. Who could have predicted that out come? With nothing at stake, and with a chance to send the government a message the voters did exactly that. They told us, they told the world, Wild Rose is dead and that there is no room in Alberta for a social conservative party.

I don't believe Jim Prentice orchestrated what happened next but the conservative hierarchy did. Danielle Smith did what she was convinced was the right thing to do. She did it for conservatism in Canada. She did it for noble and moral reasons. Unfortunately poor Danielle learned too late politics is all about allowing your self to be used. The conservative oligarchs handed her the sword and she fell upon it in a fashion that will never be forgotten in Canadian politics. Prentice then welcomed the majority of the Wild Rose party into his caucus. I'm not angered like most are but begin to question whether the PC party is the going to be the progressive force under Prentice that I believed it would be and yes I do understand completely the impact felt by the collapse of oil prices.

Now the fourth premier in as many years brought out the much anticipated budget. Whew, not as bad as it could have been and an announced break for the working poor but not this year. Why? Working Albertans, though, would have to bear the burden of the loss in oil revenue. The big profitable corporations would be off the hook. Corporations continued to be favoured at our expense. That upset many Albertans including me. I get over it. It is only a single issue in a much bigger picture. it appears many Albertans are not quite so forgiving. Things are starting to turn for the PC star.  Prentice is no longer looking good to a lot of Albertans. The party that was killed in by-elections has been resurrected by the mass defection. Definitely not a time to call an election. He has to to know that but had already told us he would give Albertans a chance to judge him on his budget. Admirably he kept his word.  Joe Clark did an admirable thing once.

It begins. The election is called. Prentice and Campbell kick it off right here in Grande Cache! The local chamber hosts a dinner with unannounced special guests. It is a pleasant night. No big speeches or announcements. Each of the ranking two members of the governing caucus say a few obligatory words. Dinner is eaten, the visiting, and glad handing begins. Prentice comes across very well. Just another hometown boy. The following morning was more official, the big kick off, a staged event in front of the cameras surrounded by our local president, myself, employees, and staff of Grande Cache Coal Corp.

The PC leader laid out his "balanced plan" with a challenge to those on the extreme left, those who want to see corporations taxed, and the extreme right, those who don't want to see any tax hikes. Did he just call me extreme? No big deal Ive been called worse. What will voters think?  He then went on to talk about leadership invoking the names of Peter Lougheed and in the same breath Ralph Klein. Doubts about where this party is going are really pushing themselves to the front of my mind now. However I continue to believe we will see the positive and all the good in Prentice come out in the full campaign.

Now we are in the final weekend of a campaign, the likes of which we have never seen in Alberta. The PC's campaign disintegrated quickly under the attacks from Prentice's left and his right. Prentice hasn't shown Albertans where he is going. I pay attention and I don't know. A reversal on charity payments and hints at coming cuts do nothing to add any clarity. Who are you and where are you taking us? Tell us we are begging you? Show us why we should support you? Prentice's campaign completely failed and now completely degenerated into a farce with other actors taking the stage. It is nothing less than disgusting that the heads of corporations and federal tories are front and centre in this campaign of fear mongering. Its know I have never been accused of being conservative but enough is enough. This campaign completely lost me. More importantly it lost a whole lot of Albertans. We deserve better and just may get it. So to all you torys out there. Should you wake up Wednesday morning to a lost dynasty and want to know why. Look in the mirror!

Oh and just so it is clear. Don't be afraid to wake up Wednesday morning under a moderate progressive government led by Rachel Notley, nor even one led by the unknown Brian Jean.

9 Years too Late?

In 2005 I had the opportunity to attend the 100th birthday party for Alberta with my colleague on Crowsnest Pass municipal council, Gail Sygutek. That day was the start of what was to be a good friendship. Noting that, it is not the intent of this post to elaborate on our relationship. The event held at Commonwealth Stadium, in the pouring rain, was graced by Queen Elizabeth. Of course the show piece of the ceremonies was a video history of Alberta's 100 years displayed on a very large screen.

I watched with anticipation as the video moved from one geographic location to another showing us all what the province deemed important enough to be showcased. My anticipation turned to hopefulness and then to utter disappointment as we watched the history of agriculture, oil, then tourism and the communities that built up around those industries. There was no mention of any of our Crowsnest Pass towns, Coleman, Blairmore, Frank, Hillcrest, nor Bellevue. Neither was there any mention of Lethbridge, Drumheller, Canmore, nor Nordegg. No mention of the fact that coal and coal mining towns were a major contributor to Alberta's economy from the turn of the century up until the 60's.

Not one coal mining town was mentioned in that version of our history save for Edmonton, (oil, and capital city) and Banff (noted for its bid to become the capital). What a horrible feeling to be the guest of our province  and to find our host was ashamed of its history in coal and all of us that were part of or grew out of that history.

We now have a premier that hails from Grande Cache, worked in the coal mines at Coleman, and was a member of the UMWA. I am hopeful that Jim Prentice will remember where he came from, institute policy to the benefit of working men and women, and insure that coal (not just its history) plays a role in Alberta's economy.

Time to Begin Again

It has been some time since I blogged on a regular basis. My blog is definitely dated and most of the picture links are broken because my pics were uploaded to a server I no longer have access to. I am going to spend some time looking for the pics to reload them. The blog doesn't look good with out them and I do want to maintain what was here.

The blog was initially created with the spirit of selling the Crowsnest Pass and touched softly on politics mostly municipal in nature. While there may be some updates on what is happening personally I will mainly be using this forum to comment on the political scene here in Grande Cache, Alberta, Canada, and the World and what it means for working men and women here and abroad.

I am hopeful that you will find it interesting.

Main Street Blairmore

Wish I had a before photo. For those that remember just 3 and half years ago this photo shows how Crowsnest Pass has changed.
This picture was taken Sunday morning Oct. 7, 2007. I went down town hoping to get a picture of a completely empty street (didn't get it) back dropped by the snow covered hills to the east. Three years previous I would of got the picture I wanted almost any day of the week. Crowsnest Pass has grown in the last three years. People have discovered what locals have always known. Crowsnest Pass is a great place to live and play.

Who are these people? Some are entrepreneurs, young and old looking for a better quality of life while hoping to capitalize on the potential of the Pass. Many are retirees here to spend their free time fishing and enjoying our beautiful outdoors. Some are young miners, here to raise their families while working the mines across the border in BC. Others have bought homes just to enjoy on weekends until they can retire here. Then there is the electronic engineer who moved from Calgary with his wife and two young children. He works for a company headquartered in Munich. The software engineers he collaborates with are in Moscow. Most of his work is done from his home online. Every so often he has to head to his corporate offices or even to Russia. From the Pass his commute is only 2.5 hours longer than it was while he lived in Calgary. There is the newest member of our municipal Culture and Recreation Board a professional employed by the University that moved here with her husband and children. Also the professional couple from Medicine Hat that are here all weekends and other holidays with their young children enjoying our ski hill and other amenities. You will see these welcome additions to Crowsnest Pass, not only enjoying our facilities and outdoors, but also volunteering their time in the kind of social activities that define communities. I could mention many others, including the newly married lawyer and engineer that decided Crowsnest Pass was the right place to start their life together, but the point is made.

These young professionals could well be (and should be) the future of Crowsnest Pass. We should be sparing no expense marketing to this demographic currently coping with a stressful lifestyle in the big city. We can offer the quality of life they are searching for.

No More Open Spaces..Thank you Minister Morton

Hunting is a traditional form of recreation and means of adding to the larder of many Crowsnest Pass residents. With that Minister Ted Morton's proposal (Open Spaces) to create what amounted to paid hunting on private ranches met with unanimous disapproval with hunters from the Pass and province wide. The fear was we were moving to the European model that allows only those with wealth and privilege to hunt and that private landowners would be able to profit on elk herds that belong to the public.

Surprisingly the ranching and farming community was not in favour of the proposal either. This past week I attended the convention of rural municipalities (AAMDC) the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties in Edmonton. On Wednesday March 19th an emergent resolution was brought forward from the Counties of Warner and Cardston to add the AAMDC's voice to that of the Alberta Fish and Game Association denouncing the Open Spaces proposal and to lobby the province to the end of stopping the proposal. After a very good debate the members of AAMDC did pass the resolution quite handily.

Just a short time after the resolution session a bear pit session ensued with a dozen or so cabinet ministers, Ted Morton included. Answering a question from a young women the Minister of SRD announced that the portion of the policy that opened up private land to profit hunting would not go ahead. Mr. Morton showed that he does listen to Albertans and that he is the right person for this ministry.