Dec. 29, 2010 - Issue #793 : Selling Out
Issues
Down for the count
Can the Conservatives recover from the pummelling of 2010?
The "saved by the bell" rule in boxing means that a boxer who is on the verge of losing a match, or in the process of being counted out, when the bell rings to signal the end of the round is saved from losing—he can take his one minute break and come back to try again at the beginning of the next round.
That must certainly be how Premier Ed Stelmach feels as 2010 comes to a close, and he gets a short break before starting the next round.
The pummelling of the province's Conservative caucus this year began almost immediately, as MLAs Rob Anderson and Heather Forsyth crossed the floor on January 4 to sit for the Wildrose Alliance. They left due to what they called dysfunction and lack of democracy, and said that, as far as they and their constituents were concerned, the government was completely unsalvageable.
The following month the government was subjected to another nasty round of hooks and jabs from all sides of the political spectrum when it introduced its 2010 provincial budget—a budget that, despite being labeled a "hold the line budget" by the government projected a deficit of $4.7 billion and included significant spending cuts to areas like post-secondary education, arts and culture, education and environmental monitoring.
The education cuts played out especially badly for the provincial government, as school boards that were already struggling to deal with understaffing and overcrowding made it clear that the budget cuts would mean laying off even more teachers. After a huge public back-lash, the government was ultimately forced to backtrack and pay for the raises for teachers that they had committed to three years previous.
The environment portfolio was another one that sent Premier Stelmach flying back into the ropes every time it came up. A large US-based NGO took out billboards encouraging a boycott of Alberta because of the tar sands, numerous states and foreign governments considered adopting clean fuel standards to avoid fuel derived from bitumen, and a number of multi-national corporations also looked at the possibility of no longer using tar sands derived fuel.
While the government was trying to deflect all of those attacks, Dr David Schindler released a study demonstrating the level of toxins present in the Athabasca river downstream of the tar sands, and highlighting the lack of adequate monitoring by both the federal and provincial governments.
Although Alberta's environment and energy ministers tried to fight back against Dr Schindler, both Premier Stelmach and the federal government were forced to concede that there might be some merit to the study, and both launched high-profile inquiries into environmental monitoring and water quality.
Then in October more ducks died on tailings lakes in the north. Environment Minister Rob Renner later showed up in Cancun to find a full-page ad featuring him in a sombrero and a tongue-in-cheek message on behalf of multi-national energy companies thanking him for fighting against progress on climate change and for their interests.
As the legislative session came to a close in late November of 2010, the government lost its third caucus member, Raj Sherman. This one, however, was kicked out of caucus after having done serious damage to the government's credibility on the health care file by pointing out the level of disarray that existed in the province's emergency rooms, and the failure of the government to adequately address a series of other problems in the system.
At the same time, the government was forced to adjust its deficit projections for the year to an even $5 billion, and a new poll was released showing the Wildrose Alliance in a virtual tie with the Conservatives. And just before Christmas, the federal panel on water monitoring reported back with the finding that not only was current monitoring of the tar sands inadequate, it was virtually non-existent. That same day the Premier began backtracking on his previous promise to have Alberta back in the black by the 2012 fiscal year.
Fighters always seem to believe that, after being saved by the bell, they'll be able to come back in the next round and gain the upper hand. Mr Stelmach is no different, suggesting in his year-end interviews that things are looking up and his government will have its feet solidly under it again early in the new year.
The reality, however, is usually that enough damage has already been done that a boxer will just step back in the ring and the pummelling will continue. The government has thus far vowed to fix health care, get the provincial economy back on track and implement genuine environmental monitoring in the new year. They also have to bring in a new budget within the first three months of the year.
Will they really be able to make it happen, or will they just be stepping into the knock-out punch that's out there waiting for them in the next round? Either way, 2011 promises to just as interesting politically in this province as 2010 was. V
Ricardo Acuña is the executive director of the Parkland Institute, a non-partisan public policy research institute housed at the University of Alberta.
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