Letter to Leaders

2008/03/12

9603 96 Street
Edmonton, Alberta,
T6C 3Z1

Honourable Ed Stelmach, Premier of Alberta, Leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives,
Honourable Dr. Kevin Taft, Leader of the Official Opposition, the Alberta Liberal Party,
Honourable Brian Mason, Leader of the Alberta New Democrats.

Dear Party Leaders in our Legislative Assembly of Alberta,

This letter comes to you as requested by the members of the Seniors’ Action and Liaison Team (SALT).
SALT is a social action group of seniors in Edmonton committed to the advancement of the civil society for people of all ages here in Alberta, in Canada, and beyond. We are not politically aligned and are self financed. We take stances and action on a wide variety of political, social, ecological and other civil society topics. You can learn more about us from a visit to our web site, . The most important thing about us is that we are very passionate about advancing a civil, equitable, just and compassionate society based on lessons we each have learned throughout our lives and on new learning and research.

We are very concerned about the health of our democratic system here in Alberta. Voter apathy afflicts a majority of enfranchised citizens. Our first past the post system means that 53 % of the 41 % who actually voted, or 22 % of all voters, control 72 seats, or 87 % of the seats in the Assembly. Forty-seven percent of voters, those who did not vote for the winning Party, are represented by only 11 seats or 13% of the total seats in the Assembly. While some who wished to maintain a booming economy did not vote, many others did not vote because they saw only futility in doing so. If democratic governance is to be of, for and by the people, these statistics describe a governing system that cannot be called democratic. They create a real dilemma for a government that is supposed to be governing for the benefit of all Albertans.

We ask three things in regard to the above.

First to Premier Stelmach, we ask you to take most seriously the responsibility to govern for all citizens, not just those who voted for you.

Second, we ask all three of you to meet monthly without aides, and in confidence, to discuss how you can be of assistance to each other in advancing the greatest good for the greatest number of Albertans.

Thirdly, we ask that you work together to establish a citizens’ forum employing the same process used in British Columbia to recommend on how to make our system of governance truly democratic, including fairer ways of electing our MLAs, ways for achieving gender equity in MLAs, and ways to implement public financing of public governance.

Enclosed you will find a SALT document on democratic issues in Alberta and Canada. It is titled, “A Little Democracy is a Dangerous Thing.” We await your response to our requests with utmost interest and hope. Consistent with the democratic principle of openness, we plan to share this information with interested citizens of Alberta.

Sincerely,



Brian Staples, SALT Chair