Blog entries

Learning Our Way to the Next Alberta: The Alberta Aspiration

Ken Chapman — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 20:07:48 +0100

Here is a link to a blog post on the Next Alberta. This is an exciting project about the future Aspirations of Albertans for themselves and our province. Just the kind of stuff the Reboot Alberta movement is all about.

http://ken-chapman.blogspot.com/2011/01/learning-our-way-to-next-alberta.html

It is being done in conjunction with the Alberta Teachers' Association.

Please share this with friends, family and your larger networks.

Why Not Bring Back Elected Hospital Trustees

Jane Harris Zsovan — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 02:32:07 +0100

27th November, 2010, Greg Weadick, MLA for Lethbridge West, told the Lethbridge Herald that he favours more local imput from the local health advisory councils. (Apparently, the one in Lethbridge doesn't hold many public meetings.) He added that he'll also be scheduling meetings to get citizen input.

A good start, maybe.

But Weadick and the rest of the Tory caucus know, the Alberta Health Services Supe...

New to the site

Richard Smith — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 20:23:06 +0100

I have just found this site and thought I would say hello to everyone here. Could anyone tell me how you get added to the blog roll?

Reboot 3 - Now What?

Alex Muir — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:35:14 +0100

In the aftermath of Reboot 3 I put a few thoughts up on the event and where I think the Reboot movement can and should be going.

http://myroundhouse.blogspot.com/2010/11/reboot-3-now-what.html

Austerity in the times of bail outs

Frank K — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 17:02:02 +0100

Much is being said these days about austerity measures that Europe in enacting and the likelihood that similar "structural adjustments" will be made here in North America. But no where have we seen comments by the main stream media (MSM) being made about austerity for the banks and big business.

This has resonance here in Alberta, we have a party in power that has time and time a...

Progressive Reflections on the Alberta Elections

Ken Chapman — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 15:44:25 +0100

Here is a link to my blog post yesterday on my take of the implications for Progressives in Alberta as a result of the local elections on October 18th.

The success of so many Reboot participating people in the local elections all over Alberta was very impressive. Naheed Nenshi's dramatic and game changing victory as Mayor of Calgary is the most obvious. But there are many others who are worth noting in school boards, town, city and county councils all over the province.&nbs...

Social media and those damn young progressives by Chris LaBossiere

Reboot Alberta — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:34:47 +0100

If you ever doubted the impact of social media, and an active and engaged young electorate, it's time to stop and look at the reality.

I was watching two major storylines tonight as the provinces municipal election results streamed onto my laptop, iPad and iPhone. The TV was only one for background noise and quickly faded away to the real-time discussion that can only happen online.

First, the progressive candidates proved they have resounding support. That support was loud a...

Alberta Gets to Vote on Monday - Will Progressives Show Up? by Ken Chapman

Ken Chapman — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:29:49 +0100

There are elections for municipal politicians and school board trustees all over Alberta on October 18. These elected officials are the closest to the community but ironically result in the lowest voter turnout.

There are some indications that this is changing in Calgary and Edmonton at least. I have not had the time to review other places to get a sense of voter turnout intentions. I can only hope the sense of the import of the opportunity to participate in our democracy is hitting home ...

Sue's thoughts on Wildrose Education plan by Sue Huff

Reboot Alberta — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:57:04 +0100

I read through the following link and watched the video narrated by Danielle Smith. My first response was- "Hmm... this hits some interesting notes". Some of what is being said is very appealing and I'm guessing it will resonate with many people. Parents who are facing over-crowded classrooms and didn't not receive one of the 18 new ASAP schools may nod their heads in agreement. Parents who wonder why their child, who clearly needs a full-time aid, is instead sharing an aid with other childre...

Alberta Gets to Vote on Monday - Will Progressives Show Up? by Ken Chapman

Reboot Alberta — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:49:10 +0100

A poll of my own by WIlliam Munsey

Reboot Alberta — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:45:53 +0100

I have been doing an informal poll of my own. I have been asking front-line RCMP officers here in rural Alberta what they think of the gun registry. To my surprise an overwhelming majority of them support a continuation of the registry in one form or another.

They comment that while they do not depend on the registry's information for their safety, when answering a call, it is one more piece of information... and that if they find that a person has weapons registered, they can begin t...

A Tailings Breach in Alberta: Expert Opinions and Government Documents by Avnish Nanda

Reboot Alberta — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:35:32 +0100

As I’ve mentioned before, the tailings pond breach in Hungary should serve as a warning to all Albertans about the risks associated with wet tailings reservoirs. After research into the risk and consequence of a tailings breach in Alberta, this belief has only been strengthened.

Not only would the impact of an Alberta tailings pond breach be farther reaching and more devastating than what occurred in Hungary, but depending on the season, it would be impossible to clean. This view was ...

18? Step into Your Power by Aaron Holmes

Ken Chapman — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:29:04 +0100

Governments are tempted to push problems into the future rather than dealing with them now. In case you haven't been told, well, you're an adult now: There are lots of problems.The big problems involve living beyond our means. Financially, and ecologically, we borrow from the future to get some sort of benefit right now. We're sorry. We mean well. It's the system. You'll get to use the [expensive_amenity] too. There are lots of excuses.

Municipal governments in Alberta will ...

Seth Godin, the factory & Alberta's oil sands by Mandi Wise

Reboot Alberta — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:25:38 +0100

The following are snippets from Seth's Blog today, from a post title What does "pro-business" mean?:

The race to the top will belong to communities that figure out how to avoid being the dumping ground for the organizational, social and physical pollution that factories create. Read the rest of Mandi's blog HERE.

Why I Won't Tell You For Whom You Should Vote by Joey Oberhoffner

Reboot Alberta — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:15:22 +0100

Nation, I belong to a sub-class of human observer that Ken Chapman and others refer to as "The Influentials".

This isn't a reflection of status or economic power, but rather a label that reflects the fact that, when people are wondering what's going on in their world, or for whom they should consider casting a ballot, they look to me for guidance. Not because I'm smarter than they are (unlikely), not because I'm well-connected (somewhat more likely, but still far from a sure thing). ...

Chasing Net Zero - A project (and blog) you should be following by Duncan Kinney

Reboot Alberta — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:08:33 +0100

It was only last year that Shafraaz and his family acquired a lovely little corner lot in Beverly Heights. He's torn down the house (amazingly the walls were made of cardboard, lots of layers of wallpaper and woodchips as insulation) and is aiming to build a Net-Zero home. A Net-Zero home aims to have a zero energy balance and as low an environmental impact as possible.This is typically accomplished through passive solar design, a super tight and super insulated building envelope and solar photo...

An Oilsands Hero? by Donna Kennedy-Glans

Reboot Alberta — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:04:40 +0100

It’s a funny thing. If you have ever seen an oilsands project in northern Alberta, you would be hard-pressed to deny the pioneering achievement: “Properly understood, the work of investigating, mining, processing and building the infrastructure to extract the oil–the whole complex of engineering and technological achievement represented by the oil sands — should be a story of Canadian triumph.”. Yes, this scale of development presents many challenges that need to be addressed. But if this projec...

Metro column: ‘Striking 180’ for Calgary city voters by DJ Kelly

Reboot Alberta — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:01:36 +0100

Have we really changed our minds this much in just one short year? In wards where there is no incumbent, every race is much closer, with not a single candidate even coming close to having majority support.

The biggest story, though, could be the number of undecided voters. In every ward the number of voters who haven’t made up their mind vastly outnumber those that have. “Undecided” describes 34-64 per cent of voters in each area.So the big question is, who will the “undecided” vote f...

Education in Alberta and the Promise of Technology by Dave Hancock

Reboot Alberta — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:57:54 +0100

In the not-so-distant past, something as simple and commonplace as a bicycle was looked upon as a newfangled gadget suitable only for children and a few cranks. Yet as soon as bicycles proved their worth, they were widely accepted and embraced. The same holds true for technology in learning. The questions of the last century were about if technology had a role in learning and, if so, how it should be integrated into teaching and learning. That debate is over.

However, there is a natur...

the hyperbole of alberta’s pc party. by Dave Cournoyer

Reboot Alberta — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:54:51 +0100

While perusing through the latest issue of PC People Magazine, I quickly noticed a very obvious theme. It really amazed me that nearly every article in the 13-page membership magazine was framed to dispute a position taken by the Wildrose Alliance. Anyone who believes that the PCs are not concerned about their bleeding support in the polls should take a read of this newsletter. Read the rest of Dave's blog post HERE.