Alberta Greens Response to Auditor General Report

(Calgary Oct 6th, 2008) “The Auditor General’s report throws Alberta’s whole climate change strategy into question. What a boondoggle! We are going to spend $4.7 billion without knowing whether it’s working or not.” said George Read Leader of the Alberta Greens.

The Oct 2008 Alberta Auditor Generals report states. “To date, we have identified planned provincial spending for climate-change costing about 4.7 billion.” And that, “There is no overall reporting to allow Albertans to know how much is being spent to meet climate change goals.”

“We are on the edge of a recession and we need to be diversifying our options and managing our money well, not spending $4.7 billion on a poorly managed boondoggle,” said Read.

The Alberta Greens have a plan to combat climate change by reducing energy demand by improving our transportation structures that would include high speed rail. The party also plans to move Alberta in to more renewable energy like solar, wind and geothermal. Alberta Greens strategies would see investment in diversifying Alberta’s economy and cost savings for Albertans by encouraging energy efficient technologies.

“Albertans are world leaders in energy. Albertans need leadership that embraces that fact,” said Read.

Additional Reading Calgary Herald

Alberta Greens

There is alot of support pouring into the Alberta Greens website. Comments like the one below by Ron Ayotte really support our grassroots party check out the Alberta Greens website for further comments:

This morning's Calgary Herald wrote up this conflict as a leadership struggle.I suppose it may have been described in those terms to the folks from Wetaskiwin way when they agreed to attend the meeting at Morningside.It would seem likely, from the comments above.If that's the case, Cameron's hopeful and positive comments above may well be prescient. So, for all the well meaning folks from the area who came to Morningside to see the right thing done, here are a few things to think about.Our Party Leader's job has a lot of baggage attached to it including an opinionated membership, and of course the larger Green community. There are Tax Department and Elections Alberta expectations, an individually elected executive, a lengthy constitution, some Key Principles that every action must be measured against, and a Justice and Fairness Committee to ensure those Key Principles are respected. I know, that part sounds naive and idealistic but what do you expect from an organization that has less protection from hostile takeover than my Gardening Club?So the plan as I heard it at the Morningside meeting is to get rid of the baggage. Replace the executive with a hand-picked slate, redo the constitution, and take the party in a different direction from the larger Green movement. It follows that there was little attempt to bring the general membership along this path. Some, busy with the Federal Election, are just now hearing that there has been a problem.So whats left of interest to hijackers?Our Key Principles? Ummm, No. Into the garbage with the constitution. Truth to tell I would have hung around longer for the show if I thought they were actually going to elect a Justice and Fairness Committee. I could have dined out on that story forever. Damn. Someone please tell me they didn't do that.Anyway all that's left worth taking is the relationship with Elections Alberta and the tax people. Our Official Party Status means contributions are partially tax deductibe. A group seeking status in Alberta in 2008 would need 7,050 registered voters to support the application. A lot of work.The thing is these weren't evil people in that Meeting Hall.I don't think anyone, however persuasive, could have got them out on Saturday with "Hey let's go steal thousands of hours of work by hundreds of volunteers, so we don't have to do it." I just can't picture it.Someone with more information help me out with this, but I'm thinking it had to have been presented as a somehow justified attack on George Read and the executive of the party.So my friends, get your heads around this. The Green Party of Alberta and the official party status you're after does not belong to George Read or to the Executive Committee. It belongs to the membership.For better or worse, we are your neighbours. Some of us got together and over the space of many years we built a political vehicle. A Green one.Very few of those from the beginning are still around, people come and go, but the work goes on.We carelessly left it unlocked.It seems that someone with a grievance convinced his friends that the vehicle belongs to a real creep (or creeps) and it would be ok to take it away from them. They share this plan between themselves by e-mail a few days before the meeting by e-mail and then tell us that the hijacking was justified by our executives refusal to hang around and watch them do it. If you think that's a little twisted remember that this vehicle doesn't even have any parts they want, they intend to use the license plate, and discard the rest. They aren't shy about that.Oh yeah, and apparently George Read is bad.
A proud moment.I stopped in for a little while on a room full of Greens on the way home. A room full of people determined to not turn in to the opposition. Grant Neufeld read from the 10 key Values.We are going to be all right.
Ron Ayotte

2007-2008 Alberta Greens Leader Report

I was asked by Edwin Erickson and Joe Anglin to step down as leader at two separate private meetings earlier this year, following the provincial election.

Maybe it’s time we held a leadership race?

The last year has been the best year in the history of the Alberta Greens and I am proud of the things we’ve accomplished.

• We ran 79 candidates in the 2008 provincial election, just shy of a full slate and a far cry from the 49 candidates we ran in 2004, or the 10 we ran in 2001! This really is the fastest growing political party in North America.
• Since our 2007 AGM we have tripled our membership! To accomplish this we designed and produced professional looking membership books, cleaned up our database and found organizers for Calgary and Edmonton.
• Our popularity climbed from 24,451 votes in 2004 to 43,563 votes in the 2008 spring election! To put this in perspective, in 2001, before I became leader, we received only 2,850 votes, less than 0.3% of the popular vote. This rate of growth is unprecedented! And we did this at a time when every other opposition party lost popularity and support!
• The 2008 spring election also saw us finish in second place in 2 ridings, Lacombe-Ponoka and Drayton Valley-Calmar. As a party we made the decision to throw our support and resources behind these two strong campaigns. Over 40% of the monies transferred to candidates by the party was spent on this beach-head effort. These campaigns received 3,226 votes and 1,970 votes respectively.
• At the beginning of the 2008 provincial election we were the only opposition party that was not in debt. Throughout the campaign we fundraised and spent close to $50,000 and we finished the campaign with a little money in the bank. We were the only opposition party to finish the election without a debt. We really are the only fiscally conservative choice on the ballot.

How do we continue this rapid growth?


The fastest way to increase membership outside of an election is to have a Leadership race.

The Green Party of Canada held a leadership race in 2006 and they increased their membership from 3000 members to 10,000 members! We could do the same.

A leadership race will generate attention for the party between elections when interest is traditionally at its lowest.

We could hold debates around the province throughout the year. The candidates can articulate their vision for the party to the membership and to the press.


We have advocated for fixed election dates in provincial elections and we walk our talk. We have fixed election dates for internal party elections. Anyone can run for the positions that are open and candidates know years in advance when a leadership race will be.

Well, the next leadership contest is scheduled for fall 2009.

Let’s make this year the most exciting year outside an election that the Alberta Greens have ever enjoyed!

I need your help to do this. Since 2003 when I first ran for leader against our past leader David Parker, I have not had my leadership contested. There can’t be a race if you’re the only one running.
But surely with the explosion of growth we’ve experienced there are more names that could be put forward.

So I’m asking you now, who is your leader?

By holding a contested leadership race we will all know that the leader of this party truly has the mandate from the membership to lead it.
The Alberta Greens have now grown to become a real force in the political landscape of this province.

Without a mandate from the membership it will be impossible for any leader to focus that force to achieve the success we’ve all worked so hard towards.

I look forward to seeing you Saturday at the AGM in Morningside where you’ll be able to voice your thoughts on this and the future direction of the party!

Sincerely,


George Read
Leader, Alberta Greens

Alberta Greens Response to the Education Minister on not hiring drop-outs.

(Calgary Sept 15th, 2008) “The question the education minister should be asking is not whether companies should be hiring high school drop outs, but how this ministry can ensure that the schools are there for the people who need them,” said George Read Leader of the Alberta Greens.

“The department of education has dropped the amounts they collect for schools year over year,” said Read. “They are even proud of it. They brag about it.”

The Alberta government website states that 2008 “… marks the 15th straight year that the education property tax mill rate has been lowered or frozen. In fact, since assuming responsibility for school property taxes, the province has cut school property tax rates by 47.2 per cent.” – Government of Alberta Education website http://education.alberta.ca/admin/funding/tax.aspx

The report on the state of our schools shows a bleak picture of run down schools with neglected repairs. In 2007, twenty nine percent of all schools in Alberta have components that are reaching the end of their lifecycle and require additional expenditure for renewal or refurbishment. http://www.infrastructure.alberta.ca/Content/Publications/production/annualreport.pdf pg 50

“An educated work force drives a green economy. The Alberta Green Party would adequately fund our schools rather than side stepping the problem and bragging about our ability to short the education system money,” said George Read Leader of the Alberta Greens.

Reusable Signs

The Alberta Greens and the Green Party of Canada are the only political parties in Alberta that have reusable signs.


A number of people have asked why we do not have candidate's names on our signs. The main reason is so that we can reuse the signs. There is a space on the signs, beside the word, elect for a sticker to be applied to the sign for a candidate’s name. If you have a Green Party of Canada sign or an Alberta Greens sign, you can put them up in this election. Please let your candidates know so that they can keep track of that sign.


The Alberta Greens have a link on our website so that people can find the Green Party of Canada website. We have done this in the last three elections for the federal party and they have returned the favour during the provincial election.


I am proud to be part of a party that walks its talk. Just say no to dumpsters full of election signs on the way to the landfill and a YES! to reusable signs some of which are as old as 1990 when the Alberta Greens were formed.


George Read

Leader, Alberta Greens

Voting in Alberta

The federal election is on and Alberta is unique among Canada’s provinces in that it is the only province where people vote the same way federally as they do provincially.

Success for the Green Party in the federal election will have a lot of impact on the next provincial election, so it is really important that the Alberta Greens help the federal party to do well.

The Green Party message in Alberta needs to speak to Albertans. We need to let Albertans know that the Green Party is working to ensure they have jobs for the long term. We are the only political party that is talking about transforming Alberta from an oil province to an energy province and this is critical for Alberta’s long term success and prosperity.

What is Alberta going to be like without oil? Is it going to be like Newfoundland without cod? We need to start capitalizing on some of Alberta’s renewable resources. We have great sunshine for solar power, good wind profiles for wind power and the largest concentration of expertise in geology to make geothermal work. The only thing we lack to create long term jobs in energy in Alberta is the political will.

The only way we are going to get that political will is by pulling together.

Realizing the way Albertans vote, we need to work with the people of Alberta to get where we need to go.

Please help me spread the message “Green means jobs” in Alberta this federal election.

George Read
Leader, Alberta Greens

Press Release - Premiers Conference

Water Issues and the Alberta Oil Sands.

(Calgary Tuesday July 15, 2008) George Read, Leader of the Alberta Green Party said, “The oil sands use a tremendous amount of water and the premiers need to be asking Alberta some hard questions about water management,” in response to Ed Stelmach spending two billion on carbon capture and storage just in time for the Quebec City Premiers Conference.

“Carbon capture and storage is not green enough to cover over the water issues.” said Read. “Expanding the oil sands means expanding Alberta’s water use and if I was a premier who was down stream I would be asking Ed Stelmach some questions about the water supply.”

The oil sands consume as much water every year as the city of Calgary; that is the equivalent of filling the Saddledome with water everyday. The oil sands processing sends less than 10% of that water back to the Athabasca river.

Water that is not returned to the river ends up in tailings ponds. Tailings ponds cover over 50 square kilometers and will expand as oil sand production increases. Currently no single reclamation option has been developed that is capable of handling the projected volumes in a manner that is technically, environmentally and economically viable (1). Mr. Stelmach has stated that oil sands production will triple in the next eight years(2).

“Alberta is on the verge of a water shortage. The Alberta Greens policy states that any sensible development of the oil sands must take into account the water usage,” said Read.

1) Information taken from the Pembina Report Troubled Waters
2) http://premier.alberta.ca/speeches/speeches-2008-Jan-16-AB_Enterprise.cfm