Sunday, March 23, 2014

Alberta Heritage and Trust as good as gone! Thank you Redford!

 This is a truly great and exciting piece of quality journalism  by Milke!




BY MARK MILKE, CALGARY HERALD
MARCH 21, 2014


Alberta’s provincial government has provided plenty of political theatre as of late, with, as I write, three resignations from the government, including that of Alison Redford as premier.
However, the Redford resignation may not be the end of her influence on Alberta’s future, and in particular, upon the Alberta Heritage Savings and Trust Fund.
A clue here came from an earlier resignation, when Donna Kennedy-Glans, the now-former associate minister for electricity and renewable energy, jumped out of the Progressive Conservative caucus. As she herself resigned, Kennedy-Glans made a curious and consequential critique, noting that Bill 1, recent legislation sponsored by Redford, contained a “$200-million slush fund.”
The reference was to a new Alberta Future Fund, a sub-fund in the Alberta Heritage Savings and Trust Fund. Kennedy-Glans was on to something big. And few have noticed.
But first some explanations: Redford’s legislation, Bill 1, the Savings Management Act, creates several new funds. They include the Social Innovation Endowment Account, which diverts $1 billion from the main Heritage Fund over two years; the Agriculture Food and Innovation Endowment Account, with $200 million from the Heritage Fund; and the Alberta Future Fund, referenced by Kennedy-Glans, which will receive $200 million every year, and reach $2 billion by 2024, according to the provincial budget.
Bill 1 has no description of the Alberta Future Fund, or how the money can be used. Post-budget media reports note how Finance Minister Doug Horner said the fund was not dedicated to specific projects, but “future strategic opportunities.” Moreover, Budget 2014 describes the potential for this new fund thus: “Opportunities offering long-term strategic potential may arise and warrant the use of Alberta’s savings. These opportunities may arise unexpectedly, and may require large one-time investments.”
Because the other new funds will be used for social purposes, and the province already has plans for infrastructure spending, the vague description of this $2-billion fund’s intention (“future strategic opportunities”) should ring a few alarm bells. This looks to be a slush fund for more corporate welfare, beyond existing and ill-advised “investments” in the energy sector.
Some history: in the past, the Alberta government lost billions of tax dollars trying to spot strategic “opportunities.”
Back in the 1980s, the Alberta government placed big taxpayer-financed bets on startup companies and others that politicians and bureaucrats thought could help diversify the Alberta economy. Loans and loan guarantees were given to a variety of firms in multiple sectors: a pulp and paper mill, waste treatment plant, meat-packing plant, high-tech firms, and even a provincial oil upgrader.
The experiment was a disastrous failure. When, by the late 1980s and early 1990s, the provincially backed companies failed, and dozens did, the taxpayer (through provincial entities holding the loan guarantees) ended up paying the bills.
By 1994, these and multiple other corporate welfare failures cost Alberta’s taxpayers at least $2.2 billion. Back then, the Alberta experiment in loans and loan guarantees to business became so publicly toxic, that by 1996, the province even passed legislation greatly restricting the practice. Then-Premier Ralph Klein regularly said the province was “out of the business of being in business.” It was a promise mostly kept for the rest of that decade, with rare exception.
Even the province’s Heritage Fund, which had its own 1980s-era division (The Alberta Investment Division) dedicated to “strengthen or diversify the Alberta economy,” was restructured to eliminate rubbery and politicized goals. As the Heritage Fund itself notes, in 1997, the province reorganized the Heritage Fund to eliminate “economic development” and “social investment” as possible uses for the fund.
Back to the present: Memories of past provincial government intervention and the subsequent failures have obviously faded in the provincial legislature. The plan to use the Heritage Fund for social and “strategic” purposes is evidence of such forgetfulness. The recent provincial budget and Bill 1 have gutted the responsible 1990s-era reforms made to safeguard the Alberta Heritage Savings and Trust Fund — and to keep Alberta’s provincial government out of the business of being in business.
No wonder Kennedy-Glans labelled the new Alberta Future Fund a “slush fund.”

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Monday, March 17, 2014

Alberta Politics

It has been common knowledge that Redford was/is probably the most hated Preimer in Conservative Governments.  Unfriendly is an under statement; overtly short of people skills would be closer to the truth.

Her lies and deceit have finally caught up to her.  Her caucus is bailing which is very significant for a number of reasons the most being they are sitting as independents trying to catch the eye of Danielle Smith, herself no better than Redford.

These people are still after the golden ring.  They would join the NDP if they happened to be in opposition.  They are opportunists of the worst kind.

And, there will be more to come!

The Conservatives just gave Redford a majority vote on her leadership.  It is against Conservative law to force her to resign.  Fact is; they cannot do that!.

Your wild rose party is really ugly by comparisons They are supported by the LDS church in Alberta just as the LDS church supports the Republicans in the US.   By supporting these crass right wing movements they can look forward to social program being cut, schools privatized and Medicare done away with.

If people need help they LDS church will assist them, first you have to join.  They have built up the worlds largest private aid organization and to their credit have boots on the ground long before any other support group Government or private.

Alberta's political land scape is run or largely influenced directly by oil!  Witness the oil in the planning of your kids education!.

If you want a change that will protect your jobs and salvage something of this province for the people the Alberta Liberals is the only real choice you have!

We speak often of Norway's accumulation of gold from resources and their high standard of living along with their educated population.   Compare this to Alberta being broke, robbing pension funds and cutting funding for senior care and there is a difference alight.

The reason for this difference is this:  Norway turns out 70% of its population to vote every time.  They keep their Government honest!  Alberta on the other hand turns out 21%.  The other thing is Norway doesn't vote in Conservatives!

Friday, March 07, 2014

Alberta Budget 2013 Lining up the Lies.

First off: Alberta is grossly overproducing petroleum.  No markets, no delivery system and and still in a panic to get more oil out of the ground.  They are setting up for the election, now around the corner where they will roll out their usual "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" platform and not show up at any of the inter party debates.

Companies leading up to the election will put out a rash of job advertisements and when you apply you will be told to wait for one reason or another.  After the election the adds will be pulled and the positions will be said to be filled.

How to I know this?  It is exactly what they have done the past 2 elections.

They have pulled 700 billion dollars from the Heritage Savings and Trust Fund, now they are trying to legitimize their actions by setting up a savings account inside the Heritage fund and pull another 5 billion out of the fund.  This is where your "rainy day" money comes from.

They stole 7 billion plus from the union pensions held by AIMCo.  I sure wouldn't want AIMCo to  have any of my coin in their control!  This was straight theft!  The Government had no intention of paying any of it back and called it a loss due to bad investment.

The Unions threatened court; this would expose AIMCo on a grande scale for that they actually are!


New clinics on the horizon?   This Government is searching for foreign health organizations to invest in Alberta to build and staff the same clinics.   We are on a very slippery slope!

The press, not the people are pushing the bunch of nutters in the Wild Rose Party.

The province is essentially broke as is Canada.   Fatherly declared a surplus budget using the same bastardized accounting that Albert a is using.   There hasn't been a Conservative Government in history that has produced a surplus with the one exception of Saskatchewan. 

Why are we so broke?  Because when Klein took over our royalty collected as 34% and when he left office it was 16% and is now 00%


The Conservatives are running a US Republican program and the US has rejected them 3 times now.

Rem Total Summary of PNWER
http://albertathedetails.blogspot.com/2011/03/conservativerepublican-alliance-pnwer.html Alberta hosted the last meeting in Banff at taxpayer expense.
  
Here's where your money went to:
and

We talk a lot about the luxury and gold in Norway's oil and their saved billions upon billions. The difference between Alberta and Norway?  Easy!  70% of Norway's population turn out for a vote!  By doing so they keep their Government honest!

Alberta turns out 21% of its population, seldom more.  We encourage thievery lies and cheating simply by not bothering to vote!

The Wild Rose's campaigns were run by retired Tory Ministers working as consultants in the oil patch.  Really!  Do you think you will get any different from them than you are getting now?  Give your head a shake!

The Alberta Liberals have identified every problem going by and have offered up business solutions to each problem!   Spend some time on their site!  The Liberals represent the only single chance for a progressive change in Alberta!   Vote!


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