Comments on: The Next Chapter in the Alberta Story

By: Gladys Teske

Gladys Teske — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:02:48 +0000

Mr Manning, I admire your consistent drive to improve life not only in our own province, but civilaization in general. Visions and dreams are wonderful, but the building of these dreams must be based on valid, integral and solid building blocks. One of these building blocks in a democracy has to be the ballot of every citizen, which elects the government to power. Each ballot cast must be seen to be completely equal in value to every other ballot cast in that election.
As you are well aware, for the past few years, elections in the West are a farce. I live in Alberta, and I faithfully vote at every election held, even though my vote is really not of any value. The system of FPT (First Past the Post)is medieval, and belongs in the pages of history. More and more countries are investing in a much more fair system of elections…Proportional Voting. It’s well past the time of initiating this idea to our provincial and federeal governments. Someone must grab the horse by the tail and begin bringing this idea to the people.
Once this is in place, we in the West will have a more fair representation.

By: Ruben Nelson

Ruben Nelson — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:09:05 +0000

Think with me about some of the questions we need to ask, but are not asking:

• Will the 21st Century be essentially like the 20th or profoundly different – at least as different as the 20th Century was from the 19th?

We need to come to terms with the fact that our present aspirations, plans, efforts and forms of governance and organization all assume that we face an essentially familiar future. Without realizing it, we are betting our grand-children’s future on the fact that the classic Industrial view of reality, the earth and human persons will be good for another hundred years. In spite of all the talk of change, innovation and transformation that is now required from public platforms, if you scratch under the paint you will find that virtually every leader of every institution is committed to a future that is essentially like the world they now know and take for granted.

• On what underlying assumptions about the earth, history and the human does our late modern Industrial society and economy rest? Will they still be valid throughout the 21st Century? If not, what forces are driving us to new perceptions of reality, our relationship to it and the implications for governance, wealth creation, learning and the creation of healthy persons, families and communities? What new understandings are challenging today’s orthodoxy?

To the extent we are ignorant of the well-springs of our own society and economy and out of touch with the forces that are eroding their legitimacy, we are as lambs before wolves. Yet few today can speak knowingly to these questions. Our CEOs, mayors, college and university presidents, bishops and deputy ministers should be thankful that they do not have to write an insightful and grounded 10 page essay on these questions in order to keep their jobs.

• What unseen opportunities are hidden in today’s societal noise and signals of change?

The franchise that could be ours is this – to become the world’s first jurisdiction that openly embraces the challenge of consciously evolving into a post-Industrial society and economy; one that truly fits the novel emerging conditions of the 21st Century. It is ironic that this commitment would also be our best long-range economic development strategy. It would create a positive global reputation and knowledge work for Albertans for several generations.

• What vision could be ours in our second century?

Alberta – we are acknowledged as the world’s leading pioneers of 21st Century economies, societies and ways of living.

We are admired around the world for our courageous and explicit commitment to (a) exploring and understanding the profoundly changing conditions of the 21st Century; (b) making it easy for us to access the knowledge, persons, resources and tools that we require to adapt to change; and (c) developing the new ways of living that truly fit with and capitalize on the changing conditions – ways that allow us to sustain success regardless of the conditions we face; ways that ultimately lead to the creation of a civilization that works for all.

We are the partners of choice for companies and organizations that share our commitment to creating a world that is truly wise, courageous, secure, prosperous, innovative, inclusive, integrated, sustainable and humane.

We are, in short, the most future-savvy and influential small jurisdiction in the world. The best of the world’s best willingly invest and come to live here in order to participate in the work of pioneering a great 21st Century culture – a culture so exciting that our children and grandchildren have reasons to stay!

• Which future is in our heads, hearts and hands?

The choice is ours. We are making it daily. The tragedy is that we are not yet making it consciously or wisely. Our hope lies in these facts: (1) Deep down we know that we know better than to live as we are. (2) The most powerful force in human history is evolving human consciousness. History changes when we change our minds. The time to do so is now.

Let’s talk about it.

By: Michael Hotrum

Michael Hotrum — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:20:50 +0000

I have registered and have been accepted to be part of the “Conference on Alberta’s Future” in Edmonton on Feb. 5-6. And I submitted my name based on the premise that this would be a discussion about Alberta’s future. But is the agenda fixed before we even attend? Graham Thompson Edmonton Journal Jan 23 cites that Preston Manning contends that it is a conference on conservatism. “It’s more on the conservative side of the house, on the two major conservative options,” says Manning,.”There will be other people there not of that persuasion, but those will be the two main ones that will be discussed.” (Have any Liberal or NDP been invited?) “It’s to try to create a democratic forum to assess Alberta’s political future at a pretty interesting time and really to try to enable people to discuss two of the main options — namely, can and will the governing Conservatives reinvigorate themselves and get a new lease on the province, or will the Wildrose Alliance people be able to actually make the transition from an opposition party to a governing party?”
The Manning Centre for Building Democracy is helping organize the conference but they should not be setting a conservative agenda. I’m attending to speak about Alberta’s future not the future of Albertan conservatives.

By: Proud Albertan

Proud Albertan — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 04:52:24 +0000

Either you are part of the solution or you quit whining.

By: Johnny Rocket

Johnny Rocket — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:16:07 +0000

Preston Manning,

Enough said.

By: Wes McLeod

Wes McLeod — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:55:14 +0000

Historians are documenting 1987 to 2009 (and beyond) as a period of great reform (improvement) in Canadian federal politics. Canadians continue to rally by the hundreds of thousands to a vision of a better Canada built on the solid foundations of fiscal responsibility, sustainable social programs, democratic renewal and rebalanced federalism.

Now, a vision-casting conference for a better Alberta, as one of our leading provinces, continues this tradition.

It will help Albertans link the province’s great past to its even brighter future by proposing concrete actions in the present.