Monday, February 22, 2010

Voltaire:

So long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men.
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4 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 23, 2010 at 7:44 AM

    They may not be sleeping ....

    Alberta Party renewed with merger

    By Renata D'Aliesio, Calgary HeraldFebruary 20, 2010

    The Alberta Party, which once contemplated joining forces with Paul Hinman's Alliance movement, has thrown out its policy book to embrace a new centrist political group.

    Renew Alberta, an organization started last year with the goal of forming a new political entity, has merged with the Alberta Party, which is led by former Green party candidate Edwin Erickson, 59.

    Erickson, who cut ties with the now-defunct Greens, ran uncontested to become Alberta Party chief last month. The party had been led for five years by Bruce Stubbs, a Reform pioneer.

    Under Stubbs, Alberta Party policies included several measures designed to loosen ties with Ottawa, including creating a provincial constitution, pension plan and police force.

    Erickson, a former entrepreneur who lives near Buck Lake in central Alberta, said the Alberta Party board voted unanimously to suspend its policies and welcome Renew Alberta to the fold.

    "We were on a similar path. We just realized that we had a lot in common," Erickson said Friday.

    Next month, the party will begin encouraging Albertans to hold kitchen-table talks to help define the new policies and principles.

    Both Erickson and Calgary corporate lawyer Chima Nkemdirim, co-chairman of Renew Alberta, hope to build a moderate, centrist movement to challenge the Conservatives. They contend the Wildrose Alliance party is too far to the right, the NDP is too far to the left, and the Liberal brand is mired in a long history of election losses.

    "We think most Albertans are in the centre of the spectrum," said Nkemdirim, who was campaign manager for Calgary Liberal MLA Kent Hehr in 2008.

    Nkemdirim said he's not worried that the Alberta Party's right-leaning past will hamper its reinvention.

    " Ninety-nine per cent of people would have no idea there was an Alberta Party," he said.

    "What we're trying to do is build something new."

    rdaliesio@theherald.canwest.com

    © Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

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  2. Donn LovettFebruary 24, 2010 at 12:30 PM

    Thank you for this as is sometimes hard to keep up from Oman, back in Calgary April 1st.

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  3. UnknownFebruary 25, 2010 at 9:10 AM

    http://www.renewalberta.ca/

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  4. Donn LovettFebruary 25, 2010 at 10:44 AM

    Thank you and enjoy today's Blog.

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