Gary Mar

[farmers_son]

There is little doubt Gary Mar will be Alberta's next premier.

Just some thoughts...

Who is funding Gary's campaign? Although Gary previously had a good job it would not provide the capital he has spent getting elected. And although Mar says he will balance the budget his campaign would suggest he is a big spender. Gary is going to owe some political backers some real big favours after the election. Who are his political backers? Mar has had controversy in his past by awarding lucrative contracts to his friends and business associates without an official tendering process.

Gary Mar is a bit of an unknown when it comes to agriculture. Not that it matters, Alberta is all about energy. Agriculture is something that happens in Saskatchewan. In Alberta, agriculture serves to provide cheap land for powerlines and pipelines.

Schools....In Red Deer I heard Mar say education funds from a municipality would stay in that municipality. Such as Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer. That kind of policy would be bad for rural Alberta which does not have the same municipal tax base. But in Gary's policy book at

http://garymar.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Gary-Mar-Policy-Book.pdf

Mar says K-12 education will come out of general revenue. So who knows what will happen.

I think there is a valid question about these leaders putting forth these policy positions in their leadership campaign. Is that how policy is made in the Alberta PC party, by leadership vote? Maybe it is. In fairness to the Wildrose their policy was made after Danielle was elected. It seems as if the PCs are a more top down party with the leader deciding policy.

[wilagro]

We don't need that stooge for Premier. His record speaks for itself.

[Kathy]

Top down politics, and the premier isn't at the top.
He's or She is still a middle-man. Business runs
Alberta, and our biggest business is OIL.

I'm quite disturbed by the articles in the Calgary
Herald this weekend, as most of the lines of thought
demonstrate that the PC leadership candidates are
all in it for their own gain. Comments like, I'll
decide if I will run in the next provincial election -
IF I get the favor ie: a ministership, in the new
Cabinet....

It's all about brown nosing the eventual leader, and
Morton is in their with a dirty shirt. Can't they just
represent their ridings. Oh yah, Mar doesn't have a
riding - yet. Fact is, he doesn't have to have a
riding (MLA-ship) to act as Premier (if he gets in)....
The Party system wields enough power now that
voting in an election is almost mute.

Sadly, when people forget their roots, and how they
got to where they are now... they condemned to
repeat their mistakes.... Maybe we as parents need
to do more to take back our education system,
instead of using it as a baby-sitting business.

[ASRG]

In reality if we ever hope to get away from "buying influence" in politics a new approach must come about on how campaigns are funded? Perhaps the best way would be for the public to fund campaigns? Yes it would cost us something but probably be much cheaper than what we pay when the oil company presents the "bill" to the winner, after the election!

[riders2010]

That's why I think the feds getting rid of public money for political parties is so backwards. The conservative(reform coalition), sask party (liberal,reform coalition) has oil and bankers in their pockets buying them off, look at the policy coming, there is no opposition to the big money boys because no one can afford one except the other extreme of unions. Sound like US politics? And look at where they are, and headed, and we are headed right behind them. All parties should be allowed only a certain amount of public money no large corporate or union money, that way the focus is on the message not the fancy way the message is spun.

[Kathy]

The political system in Canada is now being pushed into a TWO party system, JUST LIKE THE USA.

This is why many are promoting the amalgamation of the Liberal party and NDP Party, into one.

The USA system of Republicans and Democrats is a joke, because ultimately they are the SAME. This is because the SAME lobbying groups pay big bucks to influence both SUPPOSED sides.

It was clear by the Calgary Heralds articles and photos leading up to the first vote, who they were supporting (Mar)...

I don't think you can beat this pathetic system by giving them public funds for campaigns... they will still influence the people through advertisements, just as the case is with ATCO and Altalink/SNC Lavalin. If we educate ourselves and our children as to how the system is manipulative and how to read between lines and find the truth, then all the money for ads during a campaign won't mean a thing. Sadly, too many people make decisions based on who looked best in the photos on the front page of a newspaper.

Our so-called news media is as corrupt as the party system; these anchors must be very well paid (and morally deficient in many cases) to regurgitate the crap they are given on the teleprompter.