Stop the Hogs!

(1) Rachel Notley`s Victory Speech
Orange crush: NDP stomps out 44-year PC dynasty, Jim Prentice resigns | Globalnews.ca
[ http://globalnews.ca/news/1981421/rache ... tion-2015/ ]
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(2) Rachel Notley rides stunning orange wave in Alberta: Tim
Harper Toronto Star - 3 hours ago May 5, 2015
[ http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015 ... arper.html ]
By: Tim Harper National Affairs, Published on Tue May 05 2015
Voters in Alberta made history Tuesday night - and they sealed it with an exclamation point.
Rachel Notley and her New Democrats secured a majority victory in an election that was supposed to be a stroll in the park for a powerful Progressive Conservative dynasty that had all but swallowed up its opposition in the province.
Instead, Jim Prentice rolled the dice on an early election and has found his own place in Canadian political lore.
Albertans gave the middle finger to 44 years of unbroken rule and Prentice resigned, both as party leader and MLA, riding sadly into the prairie night.
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(3) Rachel Notley, Alberta’s new premier is a giant killer with deep NDP roots
[ http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canad ... -ndp-roots ]
EDMONTON - Meet the new boss, nothing like the old boss.
Charismatic NDP Leader Rachel Notley rode an orange tidal wave into office Tuesday night as a dramatic sea change in Alberta politics ended a four-decades old Progressive Conservative dynasty.
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(4) Next premier Rachel Notley takes up father's NDP legacy
[ http://calgaryherald.com/news/politics/ ... ndp-legacy ]
The Canadian Press Published on: May 5, 2015 Last Updated: May 5, 2015 9:32 PM MDT
EDMONTON - Incoming Alberta Premier Rachel Notley made history Tuesday by defeating a campaign of fear and anger with a laser-focused populist message that government is about making life better for Albertans one family at a time.
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(5) New Democrats crush Progressive Conservative dynasty
[ http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Dem ... story.html ]
By Sarah O´Donnell, Mariam Ibrahim and Karen Kleiss, Edmonton Journal May 6, 2015 12:44 AM
"Albertans have voted for change," Notley said to a ballroom packed with jubilant supporters at Edmonton´s Westin Hotel. "One of the changes they voted for is a new kind of respect and a new kind of relationship with their government. "Our legislature belongs to you."
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(6) 'Change Has Finally Come to Alberta': Premier Elect Rachel Notley
[ http://thetyee.ca/News/2015/05/06/Rache ... o-Alberta/ ]
Orange era dawns as NDP slaughters Alberta Tories. By Samantha Power, May 5, 2015, TheTyee.ca
Good lengthy article concludes:
Edmonton-Centre NDP candidate David Shepherd, who unseated Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman, said trust remained a big issue with voters into the last days, "The number of people saying 'Norway' on the doors is huge," said Shepherd, in reference to Norway's resource revenue management. The Scandinavian country has saved $1 trillion from its oil revenues, while Alberta will be $30 billion in debt by 2020. Blakeman represented Edmonton-Centre since 1997, but Shepherd attributed the NDP shift to the strong platform many Albertans recognized as being a solid proposal. "We've put forward a really strong platform in creating jobs and a progressive tax structure, and raising the corporate tax," Shepherd said.
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(7) NDP wins majority government in Alberta, ending PC dynasty
[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/alb ... e24269623/ ]
Albertans have chosen a new political path with the stunning election of a New Democratic government, ending a Progressive Conservative dynasty in power for more than four decades.
The NDP, leading in the polls from start to finish, becomes only the third party to govern the province since 1935. Heading a new majority government, Leader Rachel Notley, who won her seat in Edmonton-Strathcona, now has a mandate to take the province in a new direction but will also inherit tough economic challenges.“I think we might have made a little bit of history tonight,” Ms. Notley said in her victory speech. “I believe that change has finally come to Alberta.”

For Notley, Eight Steps to Reform the Broken Petrostate

[ http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2015/05/09/No ... etrostate/ ]

It may be tricky to tread, but Alberta's path forward is clear.

By Andrew Nikiforuk, 9 May 2015, TheTyee.ca

EXCERPT:

Notley has a difficult road to tread. But the path for reforming a petrostate is clear: she must restore accountability, rebuild public institutions, and reintroduce a representative taxation system. She must embrace more economic openness, and invest in human resources and greater transparency. Last but not least, Notley must also address the province's glaring environmental deficits and pathetic record on climate change.

She might well tack this warning from political scientist Terry Lynn Karl above her office door: ''Utilizing petroleum wealth effectively is not easy.'' [Tyee]

IN SUMMARY:

Andrew Nikiforuk's 8 steps to reform Alberta's broken petrostate:

[1] Behave like an owner: Alberta's oil and gas resources belong to Albertans.
[2] End the government's addiction to oil revenue
[3] Restore representative taxation: Alberta's Tories, just like their copy-cats in the Harper government, have long argued that low taxes for the rich are an advantage, but they are merely a way to take advantage of average Albertans.
[4] Transparent reporting on royalties and income from hydrocarbons:
[5] Save for the future: Norway has saved 90 per cent of its hydrocarbon revenue in a fund that is now worth $1 trillion. Norwegians of both the left and the right have planned for the day when oil runs out, while Alberta's Tories proposed to turn the province into a ghost town.
[6] Review the energy regulator: Industry has had a long, deep hand in energy regulation in Alberta.
[7] Restore transparency: Alberta's Tories, just like Harper's government, cultivated secrecy.
[8] Depoliticize the civil service: The Tories operated as though the government was an extension of a Soviet-minded party.