I guess they're all out buying flowers and chocolate

A fair heads-up: Today appears to be a pretty slow news day, so this post is going to be a pretty disjointed collection of ramblings.

-I know you all visit for provincial news, but it seems a federal election will soon be upon us and I just (literally as I was putting this post together) received some excellent news on that front from Central Alberta.

Many of you many know that Red Deer MP Bob Mills has chosen not to seek re-election. Given that Red Deer has a pretty solid history of conservatism, you know there will be some fine candidates stepping up to the plate.

With that in mind, meet Earl Dreeshen.

I first got to know the Dreeshen family during my time as President of the PC Youth of Alberta. Although I don't get to see them often (mainly conventions), I can tell you that this man is a solid example of everything we should be looking for in a Member of Parliament. He is a dedicated servant to his community and, together with his wonderful wife Judy, has raised two exceptional young Albertans.

If I lived in the Red Deer riding, I can tell you that I would be 100% devoted to seeing Earl succeed in his quest to secure the Conservative nomination. Since I don't, the best I can do is encourage any of you who may live in the federal riding of Red Deer to support Earl. Visit his website, become a supporter on Facebook, buy a Conservative membership and, most importantly, vote for Earl Dreeshen as your next MP. You won't regret it.


-Back on the provincial scene, the Premier came out and announced some important measures to tackle crime in our province. I think this is an underlying issue that may not be making headlines in this campaign, but is something that is definetly on people's minds. I expect reaction to be very positive.


-Don Braid has a piece in today's Herald about Kevin Taft's Big Cities Charter for Edmonton and Calgary falling on deaf ears. It seems that poor Kev can't get a break, doesn't it?

In Calgary, the one man that the Liberals thought they could count on is pretty firmly in the blue camp this election. Up in Edmonton, reaction has been relatively mute.

Perhaps its because their proposed charter doesn't really address the unique circumstances that Edmonton faces with its many surrounding municipalities. I think we'd all hate to see some of this important work made redundant by taking partners away from the table, rather than bringing them together.


-I like Todd Babiak. I find that I usually disagree with him on everything, but he comes across as less smug than his colleague Graham "this IS a smile" Thomson. Perhaps its because Todd DOES smile in his photo... who knows?

Poor Todd, though, isn't on much of a roll these days. He's on the CanWest Election Bus this week and the first stop was Fort McMurray. His piece from my hometown seemed a little disjointed and certainly raised the ire of at least one proud McMurrayite.

Today he blogs about his disbelief that, despite the concerns he's heard from Alberta voters, Albertans are still pretty solid behind the PC Party. This kind of simplistic view shows a lack of understanding of what compels Albertans to vote the way they do. It also shows the media's unwillingness to examine what it is about our opposition parties that is failing to attract the attention of voters.

The good news for journalists, though, is that there's still over half the campaign left. Time to check that disbelief at the door and start digging for some real answers.


-Speaking of people who don't seem to understand Albertans, I noticed a new video of Kevin Taft on the front page of the Liberal website.

Apparently the Liberal war room/phone booth have had their fill of Kool Aid and have bought wholeheartedly into the notion that the more Kevin talks, the more people will like him. I think that's ridiculous and look forward to being proven right on E-day, but I digress.

There's a line that Kevin says that I actually had to rewind and listen again to make sure I got it right.

He actually suggests that Alberta has been the "black sheep of confederation".

If he thinks that that kind of attitude, one that is clearly ashamed of our history and lectures us to smarten up, will win him any votes he'll be in for a mighty shock on March 3rd.