To begin, let me give you all some backstory. Alberta has a history of electing the same party into a majority in the provincial government for stretches of 30-40 years at a time. The Progressive Conservatives are the latest recipients of this voter goodwill, coming up on 40 years.
Anyway, in the last election that mattered (namely, the leadership election for the PCs), the candidate who won was Ed Stelmach - he beat out the two other guys running as the compromise candidate (all the people who lost the first ballot backed him) as Albertans weren't willing to elect the ultra-pro oil or the ultra-right winger almost-separatist. To be honest, I joined the party JUST to be able to vote in that election (they sold memberships AT THE DOOR) and DID vote for Stelmach - as he was preferable to the other guys.
So Stelmach hasn't had the most effective premiership - he's been very wishy washy, and inherited a bad economy through no fault of his own. But the real problem is he continued the previous government's approach of "throw all our oil money at any project under the sun that wants it", and now that it's dried up due to the economy... well. The idiot went and promised NO NEW TAXES, AFTER the province started doing all its deficit spending. When we already have among the lowest in the country. And he went and abolished healthcare premiums - while we had money when he did it, it was a stupid move and as a result there's 2 billion less in the treasury.
And now, the government is making a whole TON of very unpopular cuts due to their lavish spending, and the deficit is ballooning, well on its way to 10 billion. The fact we've had an incompetent government since the oil money started rolling in is coming home to roost, as they didn't save anything.
Anyway, he's got a leadership review coming up. Being one who lacks charisma, and having made a LOT of questionable decisions (I swear, I'm half-convinced the government's TRYING to break our healthcare system so they can privatize it to save money), he's not going to get a lot of support. The party lost a byelection to the right wing nutso party in a safe riding, and a LOT of people don't like him now.
So tonight, being on the mailing list for the party and all, I get the following email from "Ed Stelmach":
Hello Michael,
Welcome to the first Message from Premier Ed.This is a new way to reach out to those who are curious about what our government is doing and why we are doing it.In subsequent messages you will hear directly from me on issues that are on the minds of regular Albertans. At the bottom of these emails, including this one, there will be a link which you can click to take your name off our list. You can resubscribe or unsubscribe as many times as you wish.Also coming out this week is a new web-based newsletter from the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta, containing interesting articles and other information about our party. Look for it soon in your email inbox.In the past, we would communicate with the public through phone calls, advertising and direct mail. Today, the internet provides us with much faster, simpler and cheaper ways of getting our message out. We will not abandon the old ways but we are offering this and other new ones to reach as many people as possible.Times have changed quickly. A mere decade ago, there was no Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or YouTube. Google is not much older. Yet many Albertans regularly use these sites to get information and stay in touch with their friends, relatives and colleagues. I have already set up a Facebook supporter page and a Twitter account and now I hope you will read these emails from me so we can stay in touch.Kindest regards,Ed StelmachPremier of Alberta
The fact that he's sending this out NOW, 2 weeks away from a leadership review within his party that he's going to score horribly low in (which will make him a lame duck if he doesn't step down as leader) is an indicator of one thing:
He's boned.
Time to renew my PC membership so I can vote in the only election that matters.
