PC Leadership Candidate Profiles - Primer

Nation, almost 5 years ago, this blog was born.  The first post was a welcome. The 2nd was a review of the recent PC Leadership Forum. And the third was the first in a series of profiles of the candidates to replace outgoing Premier Ralph Klein (that first profile was long-shot candidate Ed Stelmach. Whatever happened to that guy?).

This blog was, in effect, born to provide coverage that other outlets just weren't providing at the time.

I'm happy to report that the mainstream media have stepped up their game during the 2011 PC Leadership race - in particular, the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald have done some fantastic work. The Journal's "Brady Bunch"-esque videos comparing candidate policies are great, while admittedly a little creepy at times. And the Herald has published some very in-depth profiles of the candidates themselves, along with video.

All that said, though, I'm not abdicating my own responsibility to provide some unbiased thoughts on the 5 men and one woman running to be Alberta's next Premier.  I've drawn names, in the presence of witnesses, from my pith helmet (don't ask), and this is the order of the profiles to be published daily between now and Friday the 16th (the day before the first ballot):

Profile 1: Rick Orman
Profile 2: Doug Horner
Profile 3: Gary Mar
Profile 4: Ted Morton
Profile 5: Alison Redford
Profile 6: Doug Griffiths

Again, I can't stress this enough: One of these 6 WILL be Alberta's Premier. They will, at the VERY least, determine how $35 Billion (with a "B") in public funds will be spent ("public funds" being a political euphemism for "money that belongs to you and me") and heavily influence the timing of the next provincial election. So, I'm begging you: Get informed. Here, and elsewhere. Slap down your $5, even on the day of the voting, and make an informed choice - even if you've never considered supporting the PC's before. This party - heck, ALL parties - determines its policies based on the participation and expressed opinions of its membership. Throw a Laurier down on the table, and you're one of those members, at which point your ideas matter just as much as mine or anyone else's.

You want change?

Don't WAIT for it.

Make it happen.

Vote.





Note: The Journal's above-mentioned videos are a bit tricky to find, so I've posted them below for your viewing pleasure.

"Tell Me About Yourself"

"Health Care"

"Infrastructure Priorities"

"Economics"

"Oilsands Responsibility"