Fresh start wilts fast
February 11, 2008 | 06:08 PM
Kim Trynacity
Monday morning, and a new start I thought. The first Ed Stelmach event of the week was held in the lovely Riverview room at the Shaw Conference Centre.
It was stacked with PC candidates, hangers-on and big pots of Starbucks coffee and hot water for tea.
This was in sharp contrast to a week ago when they held a news conference in the foyer of the University of Alberta hospital, open for all to see. This one was almost cloistered — almost — until a Greenpeace protester infiltrated the media mob.
Paul Baker snagged the first question of the news conference and didn't let go. Later he confessed he was surprised they didn't haul him out of there sooner.
So there he was, one-on-one with Stelmach, almost dumbfounded and certainly surprised. No doubt his appearance caught Stelmach's handlers off guard too. Our TV shots show a perplexed Tom Olsen, Stelmach's press secretary, standing behind the protester wondering what to do next.
Eventually, Baker was sort of escorted out. I guess he wandered in with the rest of us, helped himself to a cup of tea, and waited for his chance. He got it.
Liberal 'quick response' team
Speaking of quick response time, I'm noticing the Liberals have stepped up their game when it comes to media releases and treading carefully on potentially controversial issues.
Last Friday, I almost fell off my chair when I read a news release from the Tories slamming the Liberals idea of a hard cap on emissions. The Liberals responded shortly after, then came out with a full fledged rebuttal Monday morning.
I'm told it's part of their "quick response" team. Who is in that war room after all? I think it could be some help from afar. I'm told the Alberta Liberals had monitors around, when Dalton McGuinty won his latest Liberal majority in Ontario. Hmm.
Deputy minister e-mails
One more before I clock off for the evening, I hear that e-mails have gone out from deputy ministers in the Alberta government telling all civil servants to stay out of the election campaign. Let's see if that materializes.
Comments: (1)
Hi Kim,
I'm a civil servant and I can assure you that you were misinformed. Yes, a letter was sent out from our deputy ministers (I work for Service Alberta) however it in no way told us not to work on the provincial election. It was simply a polite reminder of the rules and regulations that we agreed to when we first took on our posts.
As far the election goes, that means not soliciting money on behalf of any candidate or party and not using any of one's work time to assist any campaign in any way.
We are not being pressured or controlled by our employer. Our free time is our own to use as we like. In my own case, that "free" time has entirely disappeared as I am spending every waking, non-work moment on my wife Christina Gray's NPD campaign here in Edmonton – Mill Woods. All of the hard work is paying off too; people are definitely looking for change here in south-east Edmonton.
All the best,
Neal Gray
Posted February 12, 2008 12:34 AM