Alberta's New Premier

[farmers_son]

Any thoughts on Alberta's new premier?

Allison Redford bio below(copied from CBC). Absolutely no experience with ag. There could be a new ag minister soon depending upon how Jack Hayden played his cards during the election.

Redford, a married mother of a nine-year-old daughter, is a lawyer by profession and a life-long conservative who was voted the president of the Alberta Young Conservatives as a high school student in Calgary.

After graduating from law school at the University of Saskatchewan in 1988, Redford worked in the Prime Minister's Office and for Joe Clark while he was the Secretary of State for External Affairs.

She later worked in South Africa, Vietnam, Bosnia and served as one of four international observers appointed by the United Nations to observe Afghanistan's first parliamentary elections in 2005.

She resigned from cabinet in February after joining the race to replace Ed Stelmach as party leader and premier.

During her campaign, she frequently took positions that were contrary to party policy. In a recent interview with CBC News, Redford said that she didn't receive a single endorsement from any of her former cabinet colleagues when she decided to run.

[farmers_son]

I should have added that the Alberta PCs needed to reinvent themselves and put a new face on the party and I think they have done it. Quite an achievement.

Watch for the the PC supporters who crossed over to the Wildrose to come flocking back to the Conservatives.

It is a remarkable day in Alberta politics.

[per]

Not so sure fs, it would seem likely to me for the conservative types in the party to head away from the very progressive Redford. They certainly did vote for a bit of a paradigm shift. Should be interesting.

[littledoggie]

So what exactly does "progressive" mean? I find Alison Redfords views slightly left of center. Do you really think that a lot of pc's will move over to right wing Wildrose when everything the pc's have done in the last 5 years or so have been very "liberal" in nature?

[per]

That "liberal in nature" of the last several years is why the WRA gained the ground it did. The C's had an opportunity to get a fiscal conservative at the helm and being as that never happened the WR will gain a few more members. I have been wrong before though.

[wd40]

"everything the pc's have done in the last 5 years or so have been very "liberal" "

5 years? We've known for 40 yrs that if your a Liberal and want to get into politics run as a PC. Were and when do you think the term "Red Torrie" came from?


The PC's have lost the "right to rule".

We hire and fire employees on their track rcord. How quickly we forget and forgive. Fickle electorit.

[ag-boy]

yes indeed AB did choose the right premier!she is not for private health-care or big corporations benefits .
me be agriculture be better to ,because it is under the minister of federal agriculture and of course OUR rich AB SUPPORT LINE !!!!
WAIT AND SEE !AND SUPORT HER FOR A BETTER OF ALL alberta

[wilagro]

I wonder if Mar can find another half-million severance package to comfort him after his loss. Thankfully he did not get enough support.

[ASRG]

I suspect Ms. Redford will have her work cut out for her?
Without some fundamental changes on spending and taxation nothing will change?
Relying on oil revenue for an ever increasing spending spree is a recipe for disaster. Oil prices are falling, gas prices are poor........and yet the spending is not being reined in! The prediction of a balanced budget by 2013 is based on $98/bl oil and $5/mbtu gas and that is unlikely to happen in a global recession.
Ms. Redford has already promised more spending ($107 million for education, an large increase in AISH payments, major dollars for arts and culture) without saying how she will fund it? She will also be stuck with the Ed Stelmach spending spree in his last few months in office?
If she can pull off increased spending for social programs and crazy infrastructure programs, while dealing with lower energy revenues....then maybe she can walk on water!

[wilagro]

One thing she could do but won't is scrap that bloody FLAT TAX. Worst thing to ever happen was that BS change to enrich the rich.