My number one reader

Just wanted to thank the reader with the Calgary IP who seems completely enthralled with this site. Obsessed, even.

This person has been known to initiate up to 42 page views here in a 24 hour period. Today, they were even rooting around in the Wayback Machine for archived versions of these pages.

Blogs are meant to be read, and good blogs do develop a following. I must say I never thought these posts were sooooo good that someone would be driven to read them over and over again, but, to each, their own.

So thank you, whoever you are.

Update: Hmmm. It would appear my number one reader is "Knave" from Project Alberta. I thought it was one of my anonymous "fans". I have a couple of people who send me little love letters from time to time, and I got my wires crossed in terms of figuring out the IP for one of them.

A mistake on my part.

Knave is very open about his real identity, so I don't think he would mind me mentioning it here. He is Rhys Courtman. I don't know Rhys, but from what I can see, he is a real pro. I'm glad he stops by here.

Alberta Alliance beats rap

From yesterday's Edmonton Sun:

RED DEER, Alta. — Charges under the Election Act against the Alberta Alliance Party and a company run by its former leader have been dropped.

A trial was to begin this week involving Cascadia Motivation, a company run by Randy Thorsteinson of Red Deer, but charges related to election spending were dismissed Aug. 3. No reason was given as to why.

A $115,000 debt was generated when Thorsteinson led the party during the 2004 provincial election campaign. The party paid Cascadia for brochures, advertisements and other promotional materials. Under the Election Act, a debt needs to be held by a chartered bank, but in this case the money was simply owed to Cascadia.

Alliance Leader Paul Hinman said paperwork had been undertaken to have the debt moved to a chartered bank.

Hinman said the money was reported properly with Alberta Elections, but another party became aware of the situation and complained.

Source (click for full screencap):



Hinman's explanation is worth repeating:

... paperwork had been undertaken to have the debt moved to a chartered bank.

In other words, according to the Alberta Alliance, it's perfectly okay to violate the law, so long as you take steps to bring yourself back into compliance with the law after you have been caught and charges have been laid.

I wonder if Paul Hinman thinks this should be the process for other violations of the law? If a person is caught shoplifting, and gets charged, should the charges be dropped if they go back into the store and put whatever it is they stole back on the shelf?

Perhaps I should send Paul an email after all, and get this cleared up.

Coffee with Paul Hinman?

I found this bizarre:

I just roll my eyes when I read his blog. He writes about things and tries to make them sound like "news".

Like the time he posted that the Alliance had the same address as Cache-flo Synergy Inc. (my office) *gasp*. It was no secret. Yet he seemed to think it was worthy to write about.

His favourite target is Paul, yet he has declined invitations from Paul to meet over a coffee.

I think he likes to see himself as an important "watchdog" and I would agree, likely a PC supporter.

Posted by: Jane Morgan | August 09, 2007 at 05:11 PM

According to Jane Morgan (the Alberta Alliance's Chief Financial Officer and recently defeated candidate in the Calgary Elbow by-election), Paul Hinman wanted to buy this pony a double-double.

I don't recall ever receiving the invites.

Perhaps they got caught in the spam filter, and have long since been deleted.

Jane Morgan's comment did get me thinking about how I would have responded to a coffee invite from Paul Hinman if in fact I would have received one. To be blunt, I am interested only in Paul Hinman's public political positions. A year ago, I may have counter-offered to do an email interview, which would have produced a clear record of my questions, and an equally clear record of Paul Hinman's evasive answers.

Now, it wouldn't be worth the effort.

I have bigger fish to fry.

When you think about it, this is quite a statement. Not even a lowly blogger like moi is interested in expending the minimal time and energy necessary to interview Paul Hinman.

I may be interested in an email interview with Robert Leddy, though. I would like to discuss this.

Jane, if you run into him circulating the Wildrose registration petition, can you tell him I'm looking for him?

What is Robert Leddy up to?

The Alberta Alliance's putative candidate for the next provincial election in the riding of Edmonton Millwoods has a post up asking people to assist the Wildrose Party in getting registered by signing their registration petition:

I have had the chance to meet with representatives of the new Wildrose Party of Alberta who are interested in competing for a chance for the top spot. At this time the Wildrose Party is trying to get 7000 signatures from Albertans to officially register this new Party for the next election.

I strongly encourage people to sign the petition to register this Party. You do not have to join or vote for the Wildrose Party if you do not want to but you would be recognizing this Party's right to exist and to allow your fellow Albertans a choice in the next election.

Given that a strong Wildrose Party would likely wipe the Alberta Alliance off the political map, it would appear that Robert Leddy has unwittingly been drafted to cut his own political throat ...

... unless of course he has secretly decided to seek a Wildrose Party nomination sometime in the future. I'll leave comments open on this post in case Robert Leddy swings by to clarify his intentions.

Paul Hinman: "non-entity"

From the blog Corridors Of My Mind, Objects Of My Interest:

The only obstacle to a major sea change in Alberta is that there are no credible alternatives. Party names notwithstanding, Kevin Taft is too academic to connect with people, Brian Mason is a putz, who probably doesn't even plan to run candidates throughout the province, and Paul Hinman is a non-entity.

Life back on the farm near Welling must be looking pretty damn good right about now.

Calgary Herald ignores Alberta Alliance in latest reporting on poll numbers

There is an old adage in politics: 'Any publicity is good publicity'.

Well, given that this is the case, a July 29, 2007 story in the Calgary Herald on a recent Leger Marketing poll represents more bad news for the Alberta Alliance. A full screencap of the story can be accessed here:



The reporter, Paula Beauchamp, makes absolutely no mention of the Alberta Alliance in the story, even though the AAP has a seat in the house. She does mention the Green Party, however:

According to the poll, support for Kevin Taft's Liberal party is at 19 per cent, while the New Democratic Party sits at six per cent and the Greens at five.

Sad.

I also note that Calgary-based pollster Cameron Strategy has ceased asking about the Alberta Alliance in its polls. Look at the chart reproduced in this post at The Alberta Liberal Archive.

Now, I'm sure some of you Alberta Alliance members will attempt to explain these omissions by conjuring up some whacky conspiracy theory about how the liberal MSM is doing you in.

Grab a brain.

The reason the Alberta Alliance isn't appearing in the reporting is that, on the basis of all the evidence, it has become irrelevant to the legitimate political news organizations in this province. They aren't going to waste space reporting on a party that really doesn't factor in to the electoral picture.