Why Alberta’s Bill 44 represents a blow for Albertan Democracy

Both Daveberta and Ken Chapman have brought up the possibility that Bill 44 could be some sort of game-changer in Alberta politics. With Web 2.0 technologies like twitter being used to debate legislation with the MLAs sitting on the floor of the leg, the hope is (I assume) that the controversy over the legislation will galvanize people to take a more active role in provincial politics. Sadly, I’m not holding my breath.

Dave brings up the Bill 11 debate over Privatized Health Care from 2000, an event that played a strong role in shaping my future involvement in politics as well. It took 70 days, from March 2nd to May 10th of 2000, for Bill 11 to go from first reading to third. In the meantime, groups like Friends of Medicare sent out fliers, the Raging Grannies sang on the steps of the leg, and Jack Bauer himself came out, waving his Canadian passport, to protect his grandfather’s legacy.

Even the Tories got involved in the debate, sending out fliers to Albertans telling us what a good idea Bill 11 was. Dave Hancock even dropped by my High School as part of a forum to debate the issue, giving the High-School version of myself the option to ask a somewhat pointed question about why was the government spending all sorts of money trying to promote Ralph’s “Third Way” through mailouts, rather than (say) fixing the public system.

Bill 44 is not Bill 11. It’s worse. Bill 44 went from 1st reading to 3rd in just 36 days.

Ed has learned from Ralph’s mistake. He saw first hand with the “no plan” ads what can happen when Alberta’s left is given time to get mobilized. Unlike in 2000, the Tories now try to ram legislation through as quickly as possible before the spotlight can be shone on the province, and before the opposition or civic organizations can mount an effective campaign.

Paula Simons hit the nail on the head in her column in the Journal today. The Tories know they have an overwhelming majority, and as long as they can keep the opposition divided and playing catch-up, it’s going to stay that way.