The Unknown Studio

Unless you’ve been living under a rock in the province of Alberta, you’ll know that there have been some interesting recent developments in our political landscape. I’m not going to go over a history of those developments, but you’d do best to read Dave Cournoyer’s coverage of the movement, such as it is.

From my perspective, it started with the Reboot Albert discussion, manned by progressive conservatives like Ken Chapman and Chris LaBossiere. Variously disenfranchised with Alberta’s current political mix — particularly in light of Bill 44 — these guys formed part of the movement towards a post-partisan dialogue, founded on the agreement that the party system is far more than simply imperfect: it’s broken, and doesn’t engage citizens anymore.

So they sought to open a dialogue with like-minded progressives. Big “C” Conservatives would have you believe this is nothing more than a bunch of liberals getting together to whinge about politics in Alberta. They’re wrongfully dismissive of something that I believe will become a significant political movement.

That last phrase — “significant political movement” — is why I’ve decided that I will go to Reboot Alberta 2.0 this weekend (26–28 Feb) in Kananaskis.

I’m going into the event with zero expectations of an outcome. I’m trying to keep my mind open to discussion from every corner of the province, from people whose views I do and do not share. And the reason for this is simple: I’m tired of the rhetoric, I’m tired of the naysaying, I’m tired of being one of the people who feels roughed into this arbitrary political construct that doesn’t work for me anymore — that maybe never worked for me.

And I look at it this way: either I can sit idly by and let these discussions take place without me, I can scoff and criticize and speculate about the successes or failures of this new movement. Or I can get off the pot, get over myself, and find a way to contribute to the future of politics in Alberta.

That’s the choice I’ve made. And I’m excited about it.

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