Editorial

New man, tough job

Don’t bet money on the Alberta Liberals riding a new wave of popularity behind their new leader to an election victory. On the other hand, your chances might be better on that gamble than investing in the stock market.
Dr. David Swann took over from Kevin Taft as the leader of Alberta’s principal opposition party last week. He inherits a party with a measly seven seats in the legislature, a $400,000 debt and a public that just don’t seem to trust anything with the name ‘liberal’ attached to it. Swann certainly has his work cut out for him if he wants, as he says, to re-invigorate democracy in Alberta.
One might be inclined not to take him, or his party, or indeed the concept of a political opposition, very seriously. Especially if one is among the majority of Alberta voters who a) voted for the Conservatives or b) didn’t vote at all and don’t care much about politics.
But anyone who does take politics seriously realizes that a healthy and energetic opposition is vital to a healthy democracy. Even die-hard Tory supporters should accept that fundamental fact, and hope that Swann lives up to his billing. The man he replaces, Kevin Taft, was a good guy with decent ideas and a keen appreciation of how the Tories under Ralph Klein were getting far too lazy and complacent. Perhaps overconfident is a better term.
Taft was hamstrung by a lack of finances in the last election, among other disadvantages. It’s hard to see right now what Swann can bring to turn that situation around. For starters, how do you ‘engage’ a population that doesn’t want to be engaged?
Swann is also seen as being considerably to the left of his predecessor, which will certainly raise red flags with a goodly portion of Alberta voters. On the other hand, Albertans ought to be able to admire a guy with Swann’s guts. He stood up to his former employer by refusing to back down on his comments in support of the Kyoto Accord on climate change and lost his job because of it. And he’s won a couple of elections in Tory blue Calgary, so that says something.
Anyway, we wish him luck in his uphill battle, if only because Alberta needs a vigorous opposition to keep the Tories on their toes.

Cold enough for ya?
Every cloud has a silver lining, they say, and of course this includes cold weather. It is uncomfortable, yes. Dangerous - it certainly can be.
Expensive? Costs more to heat the house, no question.
One good thing about it is that it kills the mountain pine beetle, especially when the cold comes early. So let’s rejoice in a frigid Christmas, thinking of all those Alberta pine trees that won’t get killed. The cold is doing what it’s supposed to.