It's Not Just Stelmach - Paula Stein

Edmonton Journal Opinion Piece Oct 12

Not all Stelmach’s fault

There is increasing focus on Ed Stelmach as the main problem in the Conservatives’ inability to provide good government. To place the blame for a faltering government — the destruction of health care; the assault on public education; the travesty that is youth services; the failure to provide seniors with appropriate supports; the mind-numbing deficits; and the financial waste of paying large numbers of high ranking government bureaucrats huge bonuses — at the feet of one man is wrong.

To do so would suggest that if the leader was changed, the entire structure of the government would change. This is untrue.

There are many Conservative members of the inner caucus who hold enormous decision-making powers, as do many Conservative party members who create the policy road maps that the government follows.

In the past, the Conservative party has been shrewd in playing a sleightof-hand game with Alberta voters: change the leader and we have a whole new party.

Yes, the leader sets the tone — to an extent — but Conservative ideology fuels Conservative government decisions, such as turning our healthcare system into a private, for-profit industry.
No matter who leads the Conservatives, that same ideology will still be in place.

Alberta needs a new direction under a new party. Alberta needs a healthy opposition or we lose our democracy. Albertans must take a thoughtful look at other political parties and their platforms and let go of old stereotypes. If not, we just invite the same bad government into our lives under a new leader.