Transatlantic Tory

Calgary Currie nominations open

2011-03-18T22:31:00.003Z

Calgary Currie Wildrose Alliance has today announced that it is opening the nominations process to find a candidate for the riding. The Currie Board agreed the move at Thursday's meeting in Westgate Community Hall, at the request of the party's Executive.

So far, there are two declared candidates - Corrie Adolph and Sonja Chycoski. Any other interested candidates have until 5pm on Friday, 8 April to collect the required signatures and submit their application. A vote of the membership will then take place no more than 60 days after the close of nominations.

Calgary Currie is an interesting riding. Firstly, it is currently represented by second-term MLA Dave Taylor, who was elected as a Liberal and is now the only Alberta Party MLA. Prior to his election in 2004, Currie had been PC controlled since 1971. Secondly, it has significant boundary changes. The whole riding is moving to the west, and slightly to the north, taking in parts of the current Bow, Buffalo and West ridings and only includes a small part of the existing Calgary Currie constituency, which could change the dynamics significantly. There will be four parties which believe they have a realistic chance in this riding, and voters will have a real choice for a change.

If you live within the new boundaries of Calgary Currie, why not join up and help to choose our candidate? If you would like to run for the nomination, you can email the Wildrose Nominations committee for an information pack. More details about the process are available on the Wildrose Alliance website, Nominations Central section.

Obama Bumper Sticker Removal Kit (feat. Brad Stine)

2010-07-17T21:50:00.001+01:00

h/t Oliver Rowlinson

Rather EFTA than the EU

2010-07-11T22:08:00.000+01:00

Lord Mandelson should take a look in the mirror

2010-04-04T00:18:00.001+01:00

So, Lord Mandelson reckons that Bob Diamond is the unacceptable face of banking. Why should a director at Barclays be singled out for criticism in this way? After all, Barclays is one of only two major British banks which has neither required support from the British taxpayer, nor been taken over by the Spanish. I suspect that is Mandelson’s real problem – Socialists prefer businesses that fail.

So what was Bob Diamond’s crime? Mandelson lays two criticisms at his feet – that he is overpaid and that he doesn’t benefit society. Has Lord Mandelson ever taken a look in the mirror? His current non-job as “Secretary of State for Business and Innovation and Skills” and previous employment as “European Commissioner for Trade” are surely two of the greatest non-jobs in history, with extortionate salaries, expenses and administrative costs, born by the taxpayer. If anyone is employed to “push pieces of paper around”, Lord Mandelson is he. By contrast, Bob Diamond has successfully generated substantial income for the UK economy and, via taxation, the treasury. He has helped to secure the high-skilled jobs that any worthwhile Business Secretary would support and encourage.

The future of British Business and Enterprise looks pretty bleak with the likes of Mandelson and his comrades in government – particularly those many unelected Socialists who sit beside him in the House of Lords – at the helm. Thank goodness the election is only a month away now.

Attack of the Baby Killers

2010-03-31T07:27:00.001+01:00

We all know that Africa suffers from a lot of troubles. Economically deprived, chronically corrupt, ravished by a seemingly endless string of wars and political upheavals with many lacking access to basic amenities like food and clean water, let alone things that we take for granted in the west, such as education, health services and electricity. In some African nations, HIV infects the majority of the population.

With all those problems to deal with, you’d think that world leaders would have their hands pretty full. Apparently not. Today, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband have both waded into the row about abortion in Africa. The Ignatieff’s Federal Liberal Party of Canada seems to think that offering all African women access to baby-killing services should be high on the international agenda. Sensibly enough, PM Steven Harper has refused to do so at the forthcoming meeting of the G7, which he is due to host.

So why is it that the Leftist governments of the States and Britain and equally opposition in Canada view killing unborn babies as such a panacea for Africa’s many problems? Shouldn’t they be focusing on bigger issues, like ensuring that the children who are allowed to be born have access to clean water, education and peace, so that one day Africa may be able to enjoy the western lifestyles? It may be a long way off, but some countries such as Ghana, Zambia and Botswana are already making real progress. They should be upheld as beacons of hope for Africans suffering under the despotic regimes in DRC, Zimbabwe, Darfur and elsewhere.

I believe that there is a simple reason why the Left is kicking up such a stink about offering all African women abortions. Without it, the media may instead focus on the failures of so many western governments to deal with the genuine problems in Africa. Anything that keeps Darfur off the front pages will be welcomed in the White House and Ten Downing Street, who have stood by as genocide has taken place, despite claims by both governments that they have embraced new ethical foreign policies.

With the forthcoming general election in Britain set to see one of the nastiest campaigns in history, as a desperate Labour government seeks to cling onto power, we can expect a lot of “Baby-eating” accusations flung at the Conservatives there – by the Trots at the Mirror and the Labour Blogs. The Labour Government’s support for these baby-killing plans could come back to haunt them.

Time to stop fighting America’s wars

2010-02-25T02:20:00.001Z

So much for the special relationship between Britain and the US. After years of laying down British lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, isn’t it time for some support back from the States? Yet Obama doesn’t even feel able to offer words of support when the Argies try to blockade British territory in the south Atlantic. Instead, he declares his country to be neutral.

It was understandable when the Marxist Venezuelan dictator, Hugo Chavez, declared his support for Argentina. He has never shown any interest in democracy, so I wouldn’t expect him to give a damn about the opinions of Falkland Islanders, who don’t want to be taken over by a corrupt Argentine regime. Whilst Obama may share his Marxist ideals with Chavez, one would have hoped that the leader of the Free World would have had some regard for democracy.

Sadly not.

Join Keep the Falklands British on Facebook

h/t Telegraph blogs

Technorati Tags: Falklands,Obama,US-UK relations

Prorogation: Lee Richardson’s view

2010-02-21T05:55:00.001Z

At today’s AGM of the Calgary Centre Conservative Electoral District Association, Lee Richardson defended the decision to prorogue Parliament. The decision has proven controversial, and has been blamed for the drop in Conservative support in recent opinion polls. I have to admit that I was none to keen on the decision, it being an alien concept to me given that it never happens back in the UK. However, I certainly thought that Lee made a good case.

In summary, he said that it was quite normal for Parliament to return from the Christmas break towards the end of January, and that it normally rises for the Olympics, when attention is elsewhere. That would have left only two weeks between restarting Parliament, before then closing it again and it would have been impossible to do anything in that time. Instead, the Government has been able to spend time talking to Canadians across the country. Normally, MPs are able to spend a considerable amount of time in their constituencies, talking to the general public, but that has been difficult in a hung parliament, which has required MPs to spend more time in Ottawa in case a tight vote arises at short notice.

Meanwhile, prorogation is not an unusual situation in Canadian democracy. Parliament has been prorogued 105 times since Confederation, with the average duration of a session standing at 122 days. The last Parliamentary session was actually longer than average, at 138 days.

Finally, there was the difference between adjourning and proroguing. The former involves suspending a Parliamentary sessions, whereas the latter ends the session. The advantages of the latter are twofold. Firstly, it saves taxpayers’ money. When Parliament is adjourned, the committee chairmen continue to receive their allowances. In a prorogued parliament, there are no committees, so no chairmen to pay. Secondly, prorogation resets the committees. That means that the new committees in the Senate will reflect the new balance of power, meaning that the Liberals will lose their inbuilt majorities and the associated opportunity to filibuster.

It’s worth noting that the legislation that was not passed before the prorogation will not be lost. A simple vote of the House of Commons can restore the Bills to their pre-prorogation status and pass them onto the Senate to debate.

That all being said, the CPC really needs to improve its PR operation. The Opposition got a real jump on the government in the propaganda war on this one. It’s time to learn from those mistakes, or we’ll never see a Conservative majority government in Canada.

Technorati Tags: Conservatives,Parliament,Politics,Prorogation,Canada

The free trade area that isn’t

2010-02-20T02:33:00.001Z

The European Union makes much of its position as the world’s largest single market. Europhiles decry British Eurosceptics as “Little Englanders” determines to cling to the Britain of old in the face of inevitable progress. They simply can’t comprehend any other reason why we might object to handing our hard-earned freedom and national sovereignty to an unelected regime in Brussels.

Well, maybe the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom will clear things up. The second free-est nation in Europe is Switzerland. That oasis of independence in a sea of EU-induced bureaucracy, which continues to hold out hope that Britain may one day enjoy an independent future once more.

Most startlingly, one area that EU states fall down is freedom of trade! That great trading block that developed out of the European Economic Community, aka the Common Market, restricts international trade more than independence loving Switzerland.

So, can I once again point out to the Europhiles, that they are the inward looking (if not backward looking) ones, while those of us they decry as Little Englanders are often freedom-loving internationalists. Why else do they think that so many Brits now emigrate to Canada (7th free-est) and Australia (3rd free-est)? Canadian trade regulations are amongst the least restrictive in the world, and it’s no accident that the Canadian economy is also amongst the world’s strongest.

Pauline Hanson is in for a shock!

Technorati Tags: EU,Free Trade,Politics

MyLabourPoster launched

2010-02-19T20:10:00.010Z

MyLabourPoster

Maxime Bernier's speech to Calgary Centre Conservatives

2010-02-13T00:11:00.003Z

I'm not sure how I missed this event in my own riding, but thankfully it has been posted to YouTube.

h/t: Canadian Conservatives on Facebook

Wildrose Alliance publish alternative budget

2010-02-10T18:27:00.000Z

Danielle Smith and the Wildrose Alliance have published their alternative budget proposals, designed to eliminate Alberta's deficit within two years and reduce this year's funding shortfall by two thirds. A key theme is reducing the cost of government bureacracy, by shrinking Alberta's bloated cabinet by almost two thirds and shrinking the Civil Service management through natural wastage. Beyond that, a lot of the savings come from proposals to delay capital projects until the economy recovers and keeping a tighter reign on health budgets. Alberta already spends more per capita on health than any other province, and this year's budget allocates an astonishing 13.7% increase.

It's about time that this "Conservative" province had a fiscally conservative agenda. Ed Stelmach has fallen for the old Socialist dream - see a problem and throw money at it. Reality check Alberta PCs; all you're doing is making the problem more expensive.

The Wildrose proposals in full:

WILDROSE CAUCUS

2010-2011 DEFICIT REDUCTION OVERVIEW

Although Albertans expect their elected representatives to protect frontline social programs (health, education, PDD) while providing critical public infrastructure, they also expect their government to responsibly protect the Alberta Advantage, live within their means and prioritize needs before wants.

Erasing the $7.55 billion cash deficit in one year is not practically possible without heavy cuts, however, the Wildrose Alliance Caucus believes the PC government can cut this cash deficit by approximately $4.668 billion to roughly $2.882 billion by implementing the following spending adjustments:

Spread the $20.1 billion capital budget over 4.5 years rather than three years. This yields a budgetary savings of nearly $2.79 billion in 2010 alone.
Increase Health and Education operational spending in line with inflation plus population growth (3.5%) rather than the astounding Budget 2010 increases of 13.7% (Health) and 4.6% (Education). This would yield $1.33 billion in savings for 2010 and still provide significant investments in these two areas.
Delay the Green TRIP mass transit initiative until economic conditions improve for savings totalling $70 million.
Cancel the wasteful and unproven $2 billion Carbon Capture and Storage experiment saving Albertans $100 million this year.
Eliminate Alberta's Venture Capital Fund. Government should not be allocating funds to private business ventures. This would return $100 million to the balance sheet in 2010.
Cut corporate subsidies for product commercialization. The government has no business being in business. This would save Albertans an additional $110 million in Budget 2010.
Terminate the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency. Marketing beef is a role for private farmers, agricultural marketing organizations and private business, not the Government of Alberta. This correction will save roughly $50 million in 2010.
Reduce the size of cabinet from 23 to 16 by combining, among others, Infrastructure with Transportation, Treasury Board with Finance and Enterprise, and Municipal Affairs with Housing and Urban Affairs. This will save Albertans approximately $44 million.
End the direct subsidization of horse racing, saving $25 million per year.
Through retirement and natural attrition, increase the Government's worker to manager ratio from 4:1 to 12:1 (the ratio in the private sector is about 25:1). This will save Albertans approximately $35 million this year alone.
Cut the Government's communications (public affairs) budget in half saving $7 million.
Significantly reduce spending in the Premier's Office and end Alberta's wasteful 'rebranding initiative' and save $7 million this year alone.

PC Government's Real Cash Deficit........$7.550 billion
Total Wildrose Alliance deficit savings.....$4.668 billion
Revised Cash Deficit.............................$2.882 billion

These proposed adjustments would not cut the government services Albertans deem most important, such as health care, education, PDD, seniors or public security. They would simply limit their departmental increases to the rate of inflation plus population growth. More importantly, they would reduce our province's real cash deficit from a staggering $7.55 billion to a much more manageable $2.882 billion (a roughly 62% decrease in the real cash deficit) making it possible to eliminate this deficit by next year.

The PC Government, even if all their rose-colored projections pan out, will keep Alberta in a cash deficit position well past 2012 (contrary to their claims of being back in the black by that time).

Shepway Lib Dems rewriting history once again

2010-02-01T02:14:00.002Z

So, Shepway Lib Dems claim that they "have consistently pushed to keep Folkestone Council Tax down." A case of selective amnesia, it would seem. For most of my time as a Folkestone Councillor, we were constantly fighting against the Liberal urge to raise taxes. In 2005, they pushed through a massive increase, well in excess of 100%, against Conservative objections and counter-proposals.

As we predicted, much of the 2005-2006 budget went unspent. Yet, the Lib Dems once agains pushed through an inflation-busting increase in 2006, against Conservative calls for a tax freeze or reduction.

The subsequent tax freezes between 2007 and the present, and the currently proposed tax cut prove one thing and one thing alone. Shepway Lib Dems got their sums wrong. Yet again. For years, Folkestone Town Council has been over taxing Folkestone's residents. Having finally admitted their past mistakes, Shepway's Lib Dems have the nerve to seek credit. The golden rule of politics is to never trust a Liberal. I'm sure that the people of Folkestone and Hythe will remember it in this year's General Election.

It was a one horse race again (Beaumont edition)

2010-01-16T22:33:00.003Z

Last Sunday, Shepway Lib Dems selected their parliamentary candidate for the 2010 General Election - Lynne Beaumont. The result wasn't an overwhelming surprise, given that she was the only candidate, but will she stay the course until the election - as the third Lib Dem candidate to be selected since the last election, and the second to be acclaimed. Given that the election is likely to be held by May at the latest, it seems likely that she will remain in place.

The answer to the other question lies with Toby Philpott. Toby was selected as the original Lib Dem candidate, defeating Lynne "Third-Choice" Beaumont in the process. Apparently, that was not acceptable to Third-Choice, and her ensuing tears and foot stamping were well covered in the local media. Ultimately, Toby resigned as both PPC and Lib Dem member, made formal complaints to the national Lib Dems and no fewer than six Lib Dem Councillors crossed the floor to join the Conservatives. A further three sitting Lib Dem councillors have also discussed crossing the floor, and more than 50% of the party's membership has resigned since 2003.

Toby has previously indicated that he would stand against Cllr Beaumont if she was selected. Will he do so? If he does, will he run as in Independent or for a political grouping? A number of disaffected Shepway Lib Dem Councillors now sit for the People First Party, so could he run on their ticket? Alternatively, the situation could present the Liberal Party with an opportunity to reform in Folkestone and Hythe - there is a precedent, with significant localised strength for the party in various constituencies such as Slough, Peterborough, Wyre Forest and much of the South West of England.

Perhaps more importantly, given the circumstances of her selection, will the official Liberal Democrat candidate be forced to run as a Liberal Autocrat?

Socialism doesn't wash Stateside

2009-12-14T00:24:00.003Z

"They elected a symbol, when they elected a president" - HeraldSun, Australia

Quote of the Day (so far)

2009-06-07T23:54:00.001+01:00

"I think this is a great personal victory for Michael Foot this evening," says the Times's Daniel Finkelstein of the man who led Labour to a crashing defeat in 1983. "He has emerged as not the biggest loser in Labour's history."

Danny was a high profile member of the SDP, the moderate group which broke away from Labour in 1981. He is now a Conservative activist.

European Conservatives win in Czech Republic

2009-06-07T23:47:00.002+01:00

Congratulation to the Czech ODS, who have topped the poll in the Czech Republic with 9 seats. The group is now guaranteed to meet the 20 MEP requirement to be recognised as an official group. The second hurdle, that at least 20% of the countries of the EU must elect members to the group, is yet to be met, although the leadership claims that parties from several other countries have expressed their intent to join the group. We won't know the outcome for some days, during which there will be much wrangling with independents and parties willing to switch allegiance, as is customary after every European Election!

European Conservative group moves closer in Poland

2009-06-07T23:32:00.002+01:00

The results from Poland are showing that the Law & Justice Party has seen similar results to the last election, with an estimated 12 members elected to the European Parliament. They are set to form a new coalition with the British Conservative Party. Hopefully we will see a similar result for the Czech Republic's ODS.

The other parties who will join the coalition have not yet been named, but it seems that neither the UEN or Indepencence and Democracy groups are going to gain enough seats to retain their positions in the European Parliament, so some of the parties in their groups must be prime candidates for the new Conservative group. A large number of non-aligned representatives are also winning, and only time will tell how many of them may decide to join the Conservatives. It seems likely that some will form another attempt to form a far right grouping once again. We've been told that there are some members of the Christian Democrat European Peoples Party (EPP) who are also planning to join the Conservative group, but we will have to wait and see over the coming days how many of them will actually do so.

The elections are generally proving a good day for Europe's centre-right - the EPP will again be the largest group, with moderate gains. The far left is also picking up support, with the Socialist group being the main loser. The Liberal Group has also dropped back a little, with the resurgent Greens putting in a strong showing.

Britain elects first Fascist to European Parliament

2009-06-07T23:27:00.002+01:00

Yorkshire and the Humber region has just become the first part of Britain to elect a representative of the BNP, as Labour has slumped. The BNP's seat was gained from Labour, who also surrendered their top place in the region to the Conservatives.

Final Result:

Conservative 2
Labour 1
UKIP 1
Lib Dem 1
BNP 1

In the East of England, Labour had slumped to just 10%, against UKIP's 20%! Again, the Conservatives topped the ballot. Final result (unchanged on 2004):

Conservative 3
UKIP 1
Lib Dem 1
Labour 1

The good old days return

2009-06-07T23:22:00.002+01:00

Some pretty spectacular results are coming out of the results of the elections to the European Parliament. Surely, nowhere can top Wales, where the Conservatives have stormed to a sensational victory. It's the first time that Labour have lost Wales since 1918, and the best Conservative result there since 1867!

A minor blemish on Kent's landscape

2009-06-05T19:19:00.002+01:00

All in all, the results in Kent were all that could be hoped for - and more besides. A thumping Conservative majority, with the Labour opposition reduced to a rump of two, with both the leader and deputy leader losing their seats. No real change for the Lib Dems either, with one gain taking them to just six seats. What a pity that their gain was in my old area - Folkestone West, and by a painful 11 votes.

The final composition of Kent:
Conservative 74 +17
Lib Dem 7 +1
Labour 2 -18
Swanscombe and Greenhithe Residents Association 1 +1

Glennis Kinnock as Minister for Europe?!

2009-06-05T17:11:00.002+01:00

Yet more resignations from Gordon Brown's Cabinet today - Caroline Flint. More and more unelected ministers are being appointed to the Cabinet, as MPs fear that association with the Brown government could cost them their seats. Can Gordon Brown keep limping along like this? It seems that he plans to!

Bluewash across Britain

2009-06-05T16:53:00.004+01:00

It's certainly turning into an amazing set of election results in England. Labour have lost all four of their County Councils - Staffordshire, Lancashire and Derbyshire all have Conservative majorities and Nottinghamshire is now hung. Meanwhile, the Lib Dems have lost both of their County Councils - Devon and Somerset are both now in the Blue column.

Congratulations go to Dick Pascoe, who has just retained his Folkestone Northeast division on Kent County Council. That was the Lib Dems' best hope for a gain, so bodes well for the other five Conservative County Councillors in Shepway. Kent is looking like a particular disaster for Labour, who have a large number of parliamentary constituencies there as well. Shocking results have seen the Labour leader fall to sixth place in Deal, with the Conservatives taking both seats. So far, every Labour seat has been lost. One to the Residents Association of Swanscombe and Greenhithe, and the rest all to the Conservatives. Even in my wildest dreams, I didn't imagine us taking control of all the seats in Dover, Dartford, and places like Sheerness and Ashford South. Labour's only real hope of holding any seats in Kent now rests with Northfleet and Gravesham West and Ramsgate. The Lib Dems have stood still, with one gain in Maidstone, matched by a loss in neighbouring Malling.

The rise and rise of the left-wing British Gay Mafia

2009-05-14T05:15:00.004+01:00

I've always taken the view that governments have no place in private bedrooms. In fact, they shouldn't try to control our lives at all. It's not as if they can run countries well, so why would they be able to run our lives? Those underlying principles may be the reason why I've never understood why anyone would care whether someone is gay or what they want to get up with in their private lives. Unfortunately, it seems that some British gay groups are less inclined to adopt the same principles, and the government's attempts at social engineering are proof that they should not have a place in the bedroom.

Today we have two stories which illustrate the problem well. The first is truly shocking. The state-funded British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) have published various documents claiming that opponents of adoption by gays and lesbians are "retarded homophobes." What a pleasant organisation for us to entrust the care of our most vulnerable children. Britain's adoption Nazis, as the Daily Mail so eloquently describes them, have previously banned a Christian couple from fostering any more children, because they were not prepared to teach the children they fostered that gay relationships were right. Worse than that, when the 40ish grandparents of two boys whose mother was a junkie wanted to adopt their grandchildren, they were refused for being too old. Instead, the children were placed with a gay couple and the grandparents were told that they would be allowed to see them twice a year, on the condition that they didn't complain about the incident.

The second story is that Canterbury Pride has taken Conservative controlled Canterbury City Council to the Local Government Ombudsman to complain that there is no gay bar or gay community centre in Canterbury. This, apparently, has turned Canterbury into a "Cultural Wasteland."

Let's be absolutely clear. Canterbury, population 43,000, is the home of Canterbury Cathedral, the centre of the global Anglican and Episcopalian faith. It is world renowned as the subject for Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, to which there is a museum in the city. It houses not one by two universities and a theatre which attracts top London shows when they tour. It is famed for its international food markets held at Christmas time, and beer festival held in the summer. Within Kent, it is well known for its excellent pubs and restaurants. It is also where I proposed to my wife. What kind of narrow definition of culture states that all of this is negated by the lack of a gay bar and community centre?!

To top it all, it has also hosted a regular gay nightclub called Girls And boYs for several years and the council has previously granted Canterbury Pride money to help fund a Gay Pride festival and to hold civic events to engage with the LGBT community. Given that there were plans to redevelop the area around Girls And boYs, it is possible that the venue is no longer available, but given that it was a commercial venture there was nothing to stop the event moving to an alternative venue if it was commercially viable. If there is the level of demand that Canterbury Pride claims, there is no doubt that gay bars, clubs and community facilities would flourish within the night scene, which has all managed very will without taxpayers' funds, thank you.

Thankfully, the Ombudsman has already indicated that there is no case to answer. However, it is legally obliged to investigate all allegations, leaving taxpayers on the hook for that. Whatever happened to Democracy, where people debated issues and answers were found at the ballot box, insead of in front of an unelected judge?

Ignatieff uncovered

2009-05-14T05:05:00.004+01:00

The new CPC attack ads certainly make for interesting reading. Iggy clearly has made some pretty poor judgements - both in the way he has presented himself in the global media, and the way he voted in Britain! He must have hoped that no-one in Canada would realise that he had been bad-mouthing the country when he was away from home, claiming that the only thing he missed about Canada was Algonquin Park or that people in Quebec don't speak proper French, like he does. I'm surprised that he ever knows where he is. Everywhere must look pretty much the same when you're that far up your own arse.

I do wonder whether he would still support Labour if the opportunity arose today? The party has delivered Britain a record 12% budget defecit, and plans to borrow £800 bn between 2008-2013, raise income tax for all, especially the highest and lowest earners and has introduced authoritarian laws which even mean that peoples' rubbish is inspected before it is taken away, to make sure that they are recycling everything. No wonder they've stopped calling the Conservatives un-Canadian.

Debate is good for city council

2009-05-13T05:03:00.004+01:00

There has been much talk of Calgary City Council being dysfunctional, after disagreements between Aldermen during recent debates. I find the uproar rather bizarre - surely debate is what democracy is all about. If we want all of our elected representatives to sit around agreeing with one another, why bother electing them?

For years, Mayor Bronconnier and his cronies have run the city like their own personal fiefdom. At last they now face scrutiny at the hands of a sound-minded group of Aldermen, which normally includes Ric McIver, Diane Colley-Urquhart, Joe Connelly amongst others. What's more, voters will have a clear choice between the same old Bronco-Liberalism, as espoused by many of our "Independent" representatives (particularly Druh Farrell and Bob Hawkesworth) and a fresh new conservative alternative at next year's elections. That makes a welcome change, and is far more democratic than the usual method of having to guess how Aldermen are likely to vote.

The new CivicCamp organisation is an interesting development. I'm not clear as to their intentions, but they look like they may be developing into a Liberal-leaning municipal party. Particularly amusing is their complaint about "the ward politics system." I wonder why they have a problem with Aldermen standing up for the communities they represent!