Nation, every so often as you’re surfing through the ether of social networking, you stumble across proof that it is possible to disagree about an issue without coming to blows, putting together a snotty inforgraphic or proving Godwin’s Law. This was the case for me a few weeks ago, when
Continue readingAuthor: Enlightened Savage
The Enlightened Savage: #ABLegCares… it really, really does.
Oh, what a night.Politicos, tweeps, MLA’s, and just general decent folks from all over the place pledged $4,851 last night. The anonymous donor that Shane had rounded up committed to doubling that number, bringing the total donation to Inn From The Col…
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: #ABLegCares… it really, really does.
Oh, what a night. Politicos, tweeps, MLA’s, and just general decent folks from all over the place pledged $4,851 last night. The anonymous donor that Shane had rounded up committed to doubling that number, bringing the total donation to Inn From The Cold up to $9,702. Add all of the
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: Put Your Money Where My Mouth Is
(edited to reflect new participants)Politics is ugly. It’s ugly, and it’s nasty, and it’s dirty.But it can also be a noble and uplifting pursuit, when the right people are involved.With the Christmas season upon us, I’ve been racking my brain trying to…
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: Put Your Money Where My Mouth Is
(edited to reflect new participants) Politics is ugly. It’s ugly, and it’s nasty, and it’s dirty. But it can also be a noble and uplifting pursuit, when the right people are involved. With the Christmas season upon us, I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out how to put
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: To Merge or Not To Merge? – Guest post by Marc Doll
Note: The following is a guest post written by well-known Calgary politico, realtor, and Bishop Grandin graduate Marc Doll. We don’t agree on everything, but we do agree on most things, including the evils of blind partisanship. His text begins… now….
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: To Merge or Not To Merge? – Guest post by Marc Doll
Note: The following is a guest post written by well-known Calgary politico, realtor, and Bishop Grandin graduate Marc Doll. We don’t agree on everything, but we do agree on most things, including the evils of blind partisanship. His text begins… now. – ES [content edited at author’s request – 10:45
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: Dr. Strangevote or: How I learned to stop surfing and love the paper ballot
(Guest Post by Kirk Schmidt) TeH Interwebz are all the rage these days. The kids use the twitter. The facebook is where I go to find the people that my coworkers want to know more about when they find interesting people on eHarmony. In an age where the Internet is
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: Jim McCormick for PC Party President
Nation, in response to the open invitation issues in this space last week, I got a call from Jim McCormick, who is running for the presidency of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta at their upcoming AGM this week-end. The conversation appears below. More information on Jim can be found
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: Open Invitation
Nation, Alberta’s 2 biggest political parties – the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta and the Wildrose Alliance Party – are holding their Annual General Meetings this month. The PC AGM runs November 9th and 10th, in Calgary. The Wildrose AGM is November 23rd and 24th (Grey Cup weekend? Really???) in
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: Zero to Hero
Nation, by now most of you are no doubt aware of the story of Edmonton high school teacher Lynden Dorval, who was fired for violating the “no zeroes” policy set forth by his school’s principal. The firing was upheld by the Edmonton Public School Board in a decision last month,
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: Motivations
Politics is a show. I think, by now, that’s something we all know. At least, those of us who are engaged enough to pay attention between elections – which is a small, SMALL minority of us. (Lucky for me, most of the people who read this blog would fall into
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: Thank-you, Peter.
Edgar Peter Lougheed – husband, father, Premier, statesman, Calgarian, Albertan and proud Canadian, has died at age 84. Few people living today were so responsible for crafting the world in which they live. The modern vision of Alberta – energetic, entrepreneurial, independent, and metropolitan – was the vision articulated by
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: Inexcusable
It should come as no surprise to anyone that I have no patience whatsoever for the politics of the separatist Parti Quebecois. Their success is an affront to the country that I love. With this in mind, you can imagine that I was less than enthusiastic about last night’s election results.
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: Who’s Running Against Nenshi?
On October 21st, 2013, Calgarians will elect a new City Council. That’s 414 days from now. There will, no doubt, be some new faces on council. Some new titles, too: Gone will be the “Vote John for Alderman” signs, replaced either by “John for Council” or “John for Councilor”. Without
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: The Leaders We Deserve
French diplomat Joseph de Maistre once famously opined that “in a democracy, people get the leaders they deserve.” Taken alongside the more esoteric “decisions are made by those who bother to show up”, it’s clear that if we elect poor representatives or a poor government, the fault doesn’t lie with
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: Fresh Air
Hello, Nation. I have to confess, I don’t really know how I want to begin this blog post. After all, I’m a little out of practice. The provincial election was held 130 days ago, and I’ve written one – one – political blog post since. It’s not as though I
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: Thank-you for calling Redford Cabinetry, Alison speaking…"
Nation, with every reason to believe that the new provincial cabinet will be announced this coming Monday or Tuesday, it’s a good time to take a look at how Premier Alison Redford will be constructing her cabinet, the considerations that have to be taken into account, and whom is likely
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: The Race for Calgary-Greenway
Calgary Greenway is a new constituency formed in the redistribution, from sections of the former Calgary-Montrose as well as slices of Calgary-Cross and Calgary-McCall. It includes Applewood, Taradale, Coral Springs… just about everything north of 17th Ave. SE and east of 68th St. as far north as 80th Avenue N.
Continue readingThe Enlightened Savage: The Race for Calgary-Fort
Created in 1997, Calgary-Fort has only ever been represented by one man: Wayne Cao, of the PC Party. A largely industrial part of the city, residents of this section of town are among the hardest-working in Calgary, and also the proudest. Even when they have the chance to move elsewhere,
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