October 24, 2003
And the firewall came tumbling down
By NEIL WAUGH -- Edmonton Sun
http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/waugh_oct24.html

Last night, Premier Ralph Klein was waxing poetic about the four pillars of his new but not yet unleashed 20-year plan.

It's pretty cocky for the premier to impose a double-decade program on the province even though he likely won't be around in five years, never mind the PCs who clearly believe that they, as Alberta's natural governing party, are here to stay.

Ralph's dynasty is founded on a quartet of principles: Innovation, world trade, education, and something the premier defines as making the province the "best place in Canada to live, work and visit." But there's also a fifth leg to Klein's table: "strengthening the province's position within Canada."

"The goal of Alberta isn't to build walls," Klein told his Fort McMurray premier's dinner audience. "It's to build bridges."

This was partly to build up today's premiers meeting in Quebec City. But it was also a shot at the two right-wing political action groups that are running radio ads implying that Klein and the Alberta Tories have gone soft when it comes to standing up to the Ottawa Liberals. These groups are promoting a "firewall" of legislation protecting Albertans from the feds.

"Most Albertans aren't interested in taking their ball and going home," Klein spat in his speech text. "Most care too much about Canada to let a government in Ottawa alienate them from their fellow Canadians."

It looks like the firewall is a non-starter when it will allegedly be discussed at the PCs' policy conference in November. But given the sorry state of the Alberta Tories, that was inevitable.

The political consequences of the premier's apparent indifference to a strong and valiant Alberta could be interesting in the buildup to the 2005 election. The policy conference brushoff is going to leave a lot of unhappy and politically active conservatives without a home. But that's for down the road.

Last night, the premier most wanted to talk about education, and the deeply flawed learning commission report in particular.

The Klein Tories are in a tricky position because they have to both praise the system they have presided over for 10 years, while at the same time promote the report that purportedly is supposed to make it better. In reality, the report is little more than a shallow wish list from the usual powerful special interest groups. There's no evidence that real Albertans were allowed anywhere near the commission.

"Some of their ideas are already in place or being put in place and others are being looked at," Klein beamed.

But there's one that is destined for the same fate as the firewall: the rather timid recommendation to take management out of the the union bargaining unit and actually make them manage.

Earlier this week the Alberta Teachers' Association released a "survey" of school administrators where, surprise, surprise, 91% of principals and other front-office staff declared they would rather stay in the warm cocoon of the union than actually do the management job for which Alberta taxpayers pay them the big bucks.

"Principals expressed a desire to maintain strong collegial relationships and positive teamwork in fulfilling their education leadership," ATA president Frank Bruseker scolded.

At one time, the premier was thinking out loud about breaking up the belligerent ATA into a professional association and wage-negotiating arm. That never saw the light of day in the learning commission report.

The smug Klein Tories thought they bought labour peace when the teachers got a 14% raise. The learning report that ex-ATA president Larry Booi demanded as part of Klein's humiliating terms of surrender to end the 2002 strikes was the icing on the cake.

Three weeks from now, ATA brass will hold what's billed as a "political action seminar" where their 28-member "political action corps" will get energized.

Their apparent mission is to infiltrate the Alberta PCs and neutralize any anti-ATA elements. If that fails, they'll plot the government's downfall through other political organizations. Giving the keynote address at this highly partisan weekend will be the Tories' own Pat Mackenzie, the chair of the learning commission.

It looks like a slam dunk for Frank Bruseker.