Crash and the next chapter

Crash

She had five acres to roam and call her own. Then, she woke up one day and found herself living in the city.

This is the story of our dog, “Crash,” a Siberian Husky adopted in response to an ad in the Bargain Finder. She is 12 years old now and actually started out in the city, adopted originally by a couple in their “golden years” who expected a polite, cuddly dog to keep them company and sleep nicely in a kennel at night.

Much to their surprise, she turned out to be anything but polite, a bit of a rabble-rouser with so much energy they couldn’t keep up with her. So they decided to find her a younger, more energetic family who could keep up with her. No money changed hands, just a screening interview and our promise that we would ensure she had lots of exercise.

A husky three-peat

Crash’s predecessors.

She joined our family as our third Siberian Husky in a row, a breed of dog we loved because they (theoretically) didn’t bark and would be able to adjust to our active lifestyle of camping, mountain biking, running, cross-country skiing and a lot of “weekend warrior-like” last-minute trips to the mountains. We had two previous huskies, a pair who were much-loved but the male had died of natural causes and the female had recently died of cancer. Our family was feeling a little out-of-sorts without some canine companionship. Full disclosure: I was not as convinced as the rest of the family that a new dog was the best thing for us. With our long commutes to Calgary from Okotoks to work each day, I worried about a dog home alone all day. Perhaps she sensed my reluctance from the start?

Wet and wild.

Siberian Huskies are normally very social dogs, so we quickly began searching for another to keep Crash company as we had found from past experience that they were happier as a pair. Boy, were we wrong.

Rescue us!

It wasn’t long before we found another husky for adoption through the animal rescue networks. Manna came to us, not quite from “heaven” but from a ranch in southern Alberta where she had developed an affinity for chickens, which she stalked and killed with great relish. We didn’t think this would be a problem, since there weren’t many chickens in our neighbourhood. Boy, were we wrong…again.

In the first place, we didn’t realize that Crash was a true “alpha” female. She quickly established that she was the “lead dog,” and answered to only one master (and even that was a hard-fought battle!). Once the rules were established, my husband, Mike was really the only person whose commands she would even acknowledge and sometimes, she would even listen!

Husky hierarchy

The “team” in Kananaskis.

I came to understand that I was lower than her on the family totem pole and after my initial anger and disbelief wore off, I accepted that fighting her on this would be futile. I decided I would be a lot happier if I just got comfortable with the new order in our family. On the positive side, I was released to just enjoy her company and most of the training and discipline was no longer my responsibility–phew!

Unfortunately, that left Manna below even me in the heirarchy and I don’t think she was very happy. Crash was a bully and she made Manna’s life miserable. She guarded both food bowls and did her best to keep Manna away. We had to feed them separately and even access to water was a problem. Crash monitored Manna’s every activity, shadowing her movements and keeping an eye on her at all times. They wrestled and fought, sometimes playfully, sometimes not so much.

Tastes like chicken

An exhausted Manna after a day of biking.

Manna soon began leaping our fence (we were restricted from building a higher fence by community standards related to our house backing onto the pathway system) and disappearing at every opportunity. Not surprisingly, she often jumped the fence and turned up rooting through the garbage at fast food restaurants in Okotoks. When she showed up at the drive-thru staring up at the staff with her beautiful blue eyes, they fed her and had our home number on speed dial. They loved Manna–she was a sweet, good-natured dog with everyone, but she did like her McChicken sandwiches.

Then, her escapes took a darker turn and she began stalking neighbourhood bunnies. We were mortified. I won’t get into the details, but some beloved family pets did not fare so well once she tracked them down in our neighbour’s yard.

Crash having a bad day.

Harnessing her team

After many tears, we decided to find a new home for Manna elsewhere. And, I do believe Crash was not unhappy to see her go. She was happier to have her “team” all to herself, leading us all (except Mike) in the direction she wanted without any competition (she couldn’t stand it when the kids got ahead of her on the trail and would strain at her leash until she got out in front again).

Crash takes me for a walk.

When we built a home on a rural acreage just outside of Okotoks, Crash settled in nicely, patrolling our fenced property, chasing deer from nibbling on our newly planted trees (at least at first, eventually she gave up) and occasionally tunnelling under the fence to visit the neighbours. She could never be let off her leash to run as she didn’t respond at all to our calls to return and often, she’d just run for the hills, not returning for several hours. Such is the temperament of the husky, we’ve been told.

Life is a highway

Crash with her cast.

Once, she did run towards the highway while the family was out of the house during the day at work (and the kids at school) and sure enough, was struck by a pick-up truck. A woman who witnessed it said the driver didn’t even stop! She loaded our injured Crash into her little car and drove her to a nearby vet, calling the phone number on her dog tag. We were summoned to the vet fearing the worst. Miraculously, the vet assured us that she appeared to be shaken and bruised, but nothing was broken!

He gave us some anti-inflammatories and pain medication and sent her home. Three weeks later, we noticed an odd swelling lump on one of her legs, even though she wasn’t limping or favouring it in any way. We took her to the vet and after an x-ray, we discovered her leg had been broken all along! The bone had healed quite straight already, but she got a cast anyway and then she suffered miserably with it for a short time before it could finally come off and she returned to normal.

Acting out

In the meantime, she struck up a strange relationship with our family cats, who had always avoided her. During the day, they began taunting her by sleeping on her dog bed, even though they had their own comfy cat couches, scratching posts and other feline luxuries. I think they were simply acting out an elaborate drama to entertain themselves, as it seemed she could’ve easily caught either of two cats, but when she got close enough to nip, she’d back off. They all seemed to be enjoying the game more than anything.

Cats and dogs living together…what next?

Then, Emily (just after getting her driver’s license) backed over her in our family pick-up truck. Amazingly, Crash came through it perfectly okay again! Emily was absolutely traumatized, but had the wherewithal to lift her into the back of the truck and drive her to the emergency vet all by herself in Calgary, since both parents weren’t home at the time and it wasn’t during business hours.

Who says cats have nine lives? 

Sadly, both of our cats disappeared not long after a rather large coyote began hanging around on the outskirts of our acreage. Crash had the good sense to retreat into the garage when the coyote got too close, but we suspect, the cats weren’t so lucky.

No one ever really considers the impact a divorce has on the family pet, but in our case, there was never any question as to what was going to happen with Crash. She would not be joining me at my new house in the city. My visits with her have been infrequent and she is always glad to see me. But, I do believe she is quite happy to be “top dog” with no competition.

Respect is key

Inevitably, the family acreage was sold and now she finds herself living in the city. I am responsible for dogsitting when Mike is out of town and it will be a bit of a challenge, given her total lack of respect for my authority. She will walk me rather than the other way around, but I will do my best as always.

And she is doing her best to adapt to the city. I admire her resilience and this may sound like a strange thing to say about the family’s dog–I respect her even if she doesn’t really respect me in return.

Crash in the city.

Tags: cats, dogs, Siberian Husky

Swing Strategies: New post on bridging the communications gap between Millennials and Baby Boomers

Boomers often resist catering to the needs of Millennials. In their eyes, the Millennials are “shallow twits suffering from attention deficit disorder who are simply wasting time, sharing too much and accomplishing very little.” When explaining this generation to Boomers, the most common reaction I get is disbelief.

Read the post here:

http://myswingstrategies.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/lost-in-translation-helping-boomers-communicate-with-millennials/

Tags: "social media", baby boomers, communication, Millennials, technology

Miss Cranky Pants: Woke up with a PC tattoo

Mixing it up.

“Oh my god! It’s the Tuesday morning after and baby, who the hell did I vote for?” (with apologies to Amanda Marshall - http://youtu.be/oxUxIDOOPg0)

Albertans woke up this morning to the same thing they’ve been waking up to for the last 40 years–another Progressive Conservative majority government.

How is that possible, you say?

• FEAR. PC campaign strategists took a page from Tom Flanagan’s playbook and used terror to ultimately secure their victory. With the help of social media, they created outrage and near-hysteria over the prospect of a Wildrose government. Voters flocked to the familiar for comfort and reassurance.
• POLLS. The mainstream media took their cues from polls, rationing their coverage of the various candidates. Early on, parties like the Alberta Liberals and the New Democrats were sidelined. The media, always short of resources and forced to ration, used polls to justify editorial decisions to focus coverage on the perceived frontrunners.
• TIME. During an election, voters have only so much time to spend on understanding the policies and platforms of the various parties. It’s much easier to react to the emotion of the moment than wade through tedious platform documents.
• MEMORY LOSS. Voters seem to have a hard time remembering past grievances when faced with a “clear and present danger.” The no-meet committee, the pay raises and the broken promises were easily erased from the collective memory.
• INCUMBENCY. The reigning Tories have been in government for so long, the electorate has difficulty separating the party from the government. It doesn’t help that the Premier and Cabinet remain active in governing during the election. For loyal Albertans, challenging “the government” seems quite revolutionary and dangerous.
• CASH. The parties that raise the most money receive the most attention. It has been argued the ability to fundraise is an indication of electoral support. This is not necessarily the case. Funders need to be considered in terms of their status (corporate, union or other) and the position they’re advocating.
• CONFUSION: In the final week of the campaign, the Wildrose made a tactical error. They chose party loyalty over good governance. When confronted with two nominated candidates clearly out of step with the times, Danielle Smith decided to back them in the face of growing outrage. This is the Tories’ modus operandi—the Wildrose was supposed to represent a “change.”
• FRACTURES. After so many decades shut out of government, the centre-left parties appear to be destined to fight for table scraps amongst themselves. By refusing to reach out and cooperate, even temporarily to gain an electoral voice, the progressive voices have relegated themselves to the understudy role–permanently.

As soon as the election hangover wears off, Albertans may begin to clear their heads and wonder what they’ve done. Electing a PC government again was a decision many made “under the influence” of some pretty scary ideas—conscience rights, limited access to abortion, threats to gay rights and racial stereotyping. These are all worthy of serious concern, don’t get me wrong, but are the PC’s the party you can trust on these issues? Only time will tell.

Tags: "Alison Redford", abortion, Alberta, Alberta Liberals, conscience rights, Danielle Smith, Progressive Conservative, racism, Tory, Wildrose

Meltdown in Highwood: The floods are coming, but Smith will prevail

Sign welcoming visitors on Highway 2A

This post originally appeared on www.daveberta.ca

Okotoks, the little town with the international reputation for award-winning environmental sustainability, could very well find itself the home riding of the next premier of Alberta, a climate-change denier.

This is just one of many ironies of this 29^th election in the province that birthed the oil/tarsands (depending on where you stand). It’s the first election in more than a decade where the Progressive Conservatives are actually in danger of a meltdown, not unlike the glaciers at the hands of our overheated climate.

Tempers flaring

It’s not only global temperatures that are rising though, the good citizens of Highwood are split and tempers are flaring. In 2008, only 36% of voters bothered to come out and vote and the PC candidate, George Groeneveld, received 65% of the popular vote. It wasn’t exactly a contested race. But, if the two election forums held in Highwood are any indication, the turnout will likely be a lot higher this time.

The first debate was held in Okotoks with PC candidate John Barlow, Alberta Liberal candidate Keegan Gibson and Wildrose candidate, Danielle Smith. Things got off to a cordial start, but soon the accusations were flying. The “conscience rights” uproar had just erupted onto the social media scene.

Questions covered the full-range of issues from the incendiary (abortion) to the benign (whose signs were purchased locally). At the end of the evening, Smith’s closing remarks had a slightly more enthusiastic response from the crowd than Barlow’s. There was a lot of heckling and booing from both sides throughout.

An orange wave of PCs

High River hosted the second forum last week. Again, the NDP candidate was missing from the debate. Liberal Gibson was a little more prepared this time, having met with local politicians and community members. High River has an older and more rural demographic. It’s also the community where Smith chose to take up residence.  She’s still considered a newcomer rather than the hometown girl, though.

The PC’s packed the conference hall with supporters. One woman told me the seats were filled 45 minutes before the forum began. The PC’s had a highly visible presence with their bright orange t-shirts and it seemed like the Wildrose supporters were mostly left standing along the side or sprinkled throughout the audience.

Barlow was much more prepared this time and took Smith to task on a number of issues of local concern. Smith was thrown off a little by the hecklers and boos as she struggled to explain her party’s position on a number of issues. The social issues were not as much of a concern at this forum. It was all about education, water, property rights and healthcare.

The community is split

It was surprising to see how split the room was, as men in cowboy gear mumbled remarks under their breath, seniors argued with those sitting next to them, and neighbours shook their heads in exasperation. At the end, Barlow received more applause—but my guess is the crowd was mostly comprised of decided voters. The undecideds were in short supply, watchful and solemn.

Given that spring flooding season is looming, this issue was top of mind. Barlow was at a disadvantage, given that his predecessor, Groeneveld’s flood mitigation report was never released to the public. Smith was quick to promise to release the report and even suggested a role for Groeneveld in implementing the recommendations, which went over well. Barlow was left with no response except his own personal opinion that the report should be released, which received awkward applause.

Groeneveld was a well-liked MLA, snubbed by Stelmach and stripped of his cabinet position. The local PC association wrote a public letter of discontent at the time.

In an earlier post, I wrote that it appeared Barlow got off to a slow start with his signs.  According to later reports from Okotoks, he did manage to get some more signs out on lawns.

Green crowd will support Barlow

This riding is by no means an easy win for Smith. She is up against a well-organized, locally focused campaign by Barlow’s team. The Tory establishment backs Barlow and my guess is that fundraising would not have been a problem. The boundaries were adjusted in 2010, giving the two towns a little more sway over the results, which pose an interesting challenge for Smith. With the influx of environmentally conscious urbanites to Okotoks, Smith’s climate change position will hurt her with those voters.

The Tory faithful won’t be budged and Barlow is a fresh, young family man—just the face they need to represent their stuffy, cadre of aging, wealthy landowners looking forward to retirement. The property owners angry about the “bad bills” as Smith calls them, will decide the election. If these angry rural voters make it out in strong enough numbers, she will pull it off.

Smith answers media questions following the debate in Okotoks.

Judging by the level of anger out there on the range, I think they will make the effort. Prior to the writ being dropped, Smith travelled the province and the riding for months campaigning extensively. This will likely hold her in good stead with voters in Highwood. I’m predicting a close race with underdog Barlow putting forward a good challenge, but with Smith edging him out in the end.

Jody MacPherson raised a family in Okotoks, where she has extended family and many valued friends. She has since moved into Calgary and has been active in the Alberta Liberal Party for several years. Coincidentally, she now lives in Calgary-Elbow, Alison Redford’s home riding.

Tags: politics, Alberta, Danielle Smith, Okotoks, Highwood, Wildrose, "Alison Redford", John Barlow, election, Progressive Conservative, Alberta Liberal, Smith, Barlow, NDP

Miss Cranky Pants: The Walk of shame. Don’t do it!

It seemed like a good idea at the time?

This post originally appeared on www.changealberta.wordpress.com.

To be fair, real conversation was drowned out by the noise and the confusion. You could hardly think straight, bombarded with people and the place so crowded — and hot, so hot (like a fiery lake?).  Add to that, the intoxication of the moment. Taps were flowing with liquid bravado and adrenaline was pumping.

As the hours dragged on, the options dwindled and looking around, things started to get a little fuzzy. The room was spinning and you needed a quick exit.

Suddenly, a familiar face appeared and offered an oily, outstretched hand. But wait, there was s a distant memory there of something nasty—a rank whiff of corruption tickling the edge of your nostril.

But with the money flowing freely and unable to see beyond the immediate crowd, you hesitated. There were promises, strokes of ego and flattery. Your resolve was weakened. You surveyed the seedy-looking crowd on one side and considered your options. There’s no denying they gave you the creeps. You shivered.

The familiar face smiled, enticing you in his direction. Then you were whisked away, caught up in the moment and found yourself—well, in a compromising position.

Afterwards, your head is pounding, your identification is loose in your purse, having freed itself from your wallet sometime during the dalliance with that suitor you vowed not to touch.

Putting on your dark sunglasses, you stumble home, hoping no one sees that your values are all askew. You feel like you need to take a shower. This is a lapse in judgment you’d never intended.

You’ve done the unthinkable and there’s no going back.

You leave the polling station. You voted PC, while under the influence of mass media hysteria over Wildrose. Yes, you will now, forevermore, walk the walk of shame.

So don’t do it. Go home with the best choice. Choose a progressive partner and hold your head high.

Miss Cranky Pants (aka Jody MacPherson) is a communications consultant, politico, soccer mom, divorcee (is it any wonder?) and coffee addict who gets a little testy without regular caffeine. 

Tags: Alberta, election, Progressive Conservative, strategic voting

Twitter the clear winner in the Alberta election debate

This column appeared originally on Troy Media.

There were no truck nuts on this one, but they were all over Twitter during the leader's debate.

Oops. They did it again. And we fell for it. We actually believed the debate was about informing Albertans of the issues prior to the April 23 provincial election. We tuned in to watch an hour-long “debate” expecting an all-you-can-eat buffet of election information and ended up ordering off a pretty limited menu.

The good news is that the debate may have whetted some appetites for further involvement. The bad news is that there was a missed social media opportunity to engage people even more in the political process.

Political debates in 2012 AT (After Twitter)

“How did people watch debates long ago, before Twitter?” tweeted Archie McLean, assignment editor at an Edmonton daily newspaper and with good reason. Watching the Twitter feed was a great way for those of us flying solo at home with popcorn and “refreshments” to feel connected and engaged.

According to AlbertaTweets.com (the experts on social media-related statistics during this election), there were 1,789 unique Tweeters contributing, to produce a total of 5,781 tweets during the debate (see a summary of some of the most noteworthy tweets here). There were likely many more Twitter “voyeurs” watching the Twitter stream.

Unleash the colour commentary from Twitter

Global Television could have followed CBC Television’s lead (most recently during the NDP Leadership Convention) and showed a live stream of the tweets for some added spice. During the marathon NDP event, and through several attempts to crash the electronic voting system, the intrigue created via the ongoing Twitter chatter was a lifesaver. Both the audience and the onscreen reporters were rescued from dead air several times by comments fed to them via Twitter.

Some media were thinking ahead. As the Alberta debate drew closer, national reporter Jen Gerson created a drinking game that further added to the anticipation. The game included rules like this one for Dr. Raj Sherman, “For use of overheated rhetoric, i.e. equating any party to a Soviet-style nightmare, TEAM SHERMAN GULPS A DRINK.”

Nenshi matters

Contributing to the Twitter stream on debate night were notables like Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, “I can’t help myself. After 34 debates in the municipal election, I keep wanting to inject witty rejoinders. I’ll try and stay under control.” Political scientist Emmet Macfarlane (University of Victoria) tried to “poke the bear” from the west coast with, “So, when’s the French debate?”

Remember when a tweeter meant something else entirely?

As the conversation turned to what the parties would spend future fantasy surpluses on, the party that was actually a parody, the Wild Boars mocked, “It’s the same sound strategy that most people use when they plan their future based on projected lottery winnings.” The Wild Boars were excluded from the debate along with the Evergreens and the Alberta Party—not for being naughty—just, well…because. (truth is, I’m not really sure)

In other news…the Alberta Party blogged

The Alberta Party, feeling jilted by the debate organizers, decided to take to the web and feature a live/chat with their leader, Glenn Taylor. With the main event going on at the same time on TV, keeping people interested was likely one of Taylor’s most significant challenges to date (next to all that incessant LISTENing he did all over the province).

Amidst the seriousness of the debate and the gravity of the decision facing all Albertans in this election, the Twitterati did provide some much-needed levity, “Let the WRP sit in opposition, we can date them and get to know them. Then let’s really get it on in 2016.” (@buzzbishop).

Truck nut wisdom

One of the most retweeted comments came from the associate editor of Avenue magazine in Edmonton, Omar Mouallem, who says he’s a “writer, rapper and feline biographer.” He observed, “Danielle Smith doesn’t think Albertans will waste their own money? Has she seen truck nuts?” With that tweet, Mouallem catapulted “truck nuts” into a trending topic (which means the term went viral, sort of). After that famous tweet, Mouallem fretted, “I fear I may be a one tweet wonder.”

Fifteen seconds of fame aside, the Twitter crowd was quick to pick up on the fact that not one of the journalists asked a question about the oil sands or the environment.

At a time when the oil sands are both an internationally recognized and reviled resource, the omission was a bit of an embarrassment. Seriously? No one thought it was important enough?

Spanked…by the “greens”

The Evergreen Party was quick to issue a news release, “The urgent need for a plan to deal with climate change was missing. There was no evidence of concern about looming water shortages in southern Alberta. There was zero attention to Alberta’s need to transition away from dependence on non-renewable resources to a green economy that will continue to support Albertans in the decades ahead.”

A quick check with the “crowd” prior to the debate via a Facebook page engagement or even allowing Albertans to vote on the questions beforehand would have been a great idea.

One last plucky comment

After the audience was served up a meal of jabs, insults and accusations, the online polls fired up and verdicts were rendered as to which party leader won. I won’t bore you with the details here, you’ve probably already heard, but one tweet from Brent Hoyland (@bshoyland) caught my eye. “I think Brian Mason’s eyebrow is a clear runner up!”

Now, of course, there is a Twitter account for “Brian Masons Eyebrow” (@BMasons_Eyebrow). The bushy brow tweets that it is twitching, and furrowing.

Jody MacPherson is an Accredited Business Communicator with 25 years in public relations. She graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton University and began her career in the energy sector. In the last decade, she has been working mainly in the not-for-profit and public sector, specializing in social media and digital communication.

Tags: "Alison Redford", Alberta, alberta liberal party, Alberta New Democrats, Archie McLean, Brent Boyland, Brian Mason, CBC Television, Danielle Smith, election, Emmet Macfarlane, Evergreen Party, Glenn Taylor, Global, Jen Gerson, Naheed Nenshi, Omar Mouallem, Progressive conservative party of Alberta, Raj Sherman, Twitter, Wildrose Party of Alberta

New blog post on Troy Media: Twitter the clear winner in the Alberta Election debate

Oops. They did it again. And we fell for it. We actually believed the debate was about informing Albertans of the issues prior to the April 23 provincial election. We tuned in to watch an hour-long “debate” expecting an all-you-can-eat buffet of election information and ended up ordering off a pretty limited menu.

See my latest blog post:

http://www.troymedia.com/blog/2012/04/16/twitter-the-clear-winner-in-the-alberta-election-debate/

Miss Cranky Pants: Seeing STARS, feeling dazed

Today, Alison Redford announced a promise of $10 million/year in funding for STARS air ambulance per year starting in 2013.

The Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service provides emergency health care service to rural and remote communities, a group of voters traditionally supportive of the Progressive Conservatives. Now, this audience is almost downright hostile to the party and the PC’s are fighting to regain favour prior to the election.

The STARS helicopter is an iconic image like no other and so I went to search the #abvote hashtag eagerly expecting some great photos of Redford next to the bright red helicopter. Here’s what was sent out on Twitter from Redford’s Twitter account. Click the photo to see the tweet:

Meanwhile, at almost the same time as the Redford announcement, the Wildrose tweeted out a link to a montage of photos of Danielle Smith during a recent tour of the STARS air ambulance hangar, one of which I’ve included in this post. Click the photo to link to the original images:

No further comment necessary.

Read related post here.

Miss Cranky Pants (aka Jody MacPherson) is a communications consultant, politico, soccer mom, divorcee (is it any wonder?) and coffee addict who gets a little testy without regular caffeine. 

Tags: "Alison Redford", Alberta, Danielle Smith, election, Progressive Conservative, Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society, Twitter, Wildrose

Is social media a new take on politics or a new format for the same old song?

This blog post originally appeared on Troy Media.

Ten days into the Alberta provincial election and social media is responsible for two of the biggest controversies of the campaign.

Or is it?

On the surface, it may appear as though a single rogue tweet or blog post has the power to derail an entire campaign or totally redefine the issues. But a closer look suggests there is more to it than meets the eye.

When that infamous tweet went out from an angry Progressive Conservative staffer questioning Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith’s reasons for not having children, there were dozens of Wildrose supporters patrolling the Twitterverse waiting for just such a gaffe.

The uproar that greeted the “fertility tweet,” was swift and sizable. The Wildrose was quick to pounce on it and connect the staffer back to their chief rival, Alison Redford. What followed was a brisk response from PC “fixers” condemning the tweet, a hasty resignation by the staffer and a humble apology from Redford directly to Smith.

For her part, Smith issued a very personal statement revealing her struggles with fertility and emerged from the whole incident with grace, dignity and newfound sympathy.

Reaction a little too hair-trigger

It may seem as though the whole incident just sprang up out of nowhere and threw everything off track. Chances are good, though, that at least some of this was anticipated. What followed the offending tweet was a hair-trigger reaction.

Any good campaign assesses its strengths and weaknesses in advance and prepares for an attack.  It’s likely the Wildrose had considered the possibility of questions on this front, given their appeal to the “family values” crowd.

Journalists, forever vigilant for signs of conflict on social media, fulfilled their role and ran a story the next day with quotes from other mothers and families who had struggled with infertility. Smith was showered with praise for her bravery.

It’s interesting to note the PC television ads appearing this week in support of the announcement of 140 family care clinics, begin with Redford pointing out that she is both the premier and a parent. This would seem to be a risky statement given the recent uproar, but party strategists must have decided it was worth the risk.

Hidden agendas and conscience rights

The second issue surfaced when a blog post by a self-described feminist and gay rights advocate wrote a personal account of joining the Wildrose. She says she  discovered a “hidden agenda” in support of “conscience rights.” These are the rights of various public servants, like doctors, pharmacists and marriage commissioners, to refuse to provide services that conflict with their religious beliefs.

Of course, this quickly turned volatile, evoking fears of restricted access to abortions, birth control and refusals to perform gay marriages. Various Twitter accounts sprang into action in response to the blog post, sharing it widely.

The original blogger took to Twitter until the wee hours, fending off vicious attacks from Wildrose. She then went on the offensive and demanded a definitive “yes or no” answer from Smith on conscience rights, which never materialized.

Predictably, watchful journalists picked up the story, and Smith has since been forced to discuss the issue publicly. It’s likely they were prepared to defend the policy, but the blog post may have pushed it into the open sooner than planned.

Despite being caught off-guard, the Wildrose are still more skilled at responding than the PC’s. Things took an embarrassing turn when, after initially agreeing to an interview with a reporter, Redford changed her mind and cancelled. An aide sent an email saying, “I have discussed with our team and unfortunately, we are going to hold off on approaching this particular subject.”

Redford waited until a later interview with a national newspaper to say she found the Wildrose position on conscience rights “frightening.” Her original answer wasn’t quite clear in the story, which has since been updated online with a more definitive position opposing conscience rights.

Not responding quickly enough or being vague so as not to alienate anyone is a luxury afforded the frontrunner. It doesn’t work when you are the party struggling to regain lost ground. Perhaps the Tories are in unfamiliar territory these days.

Revolutionary? Not yet.

The reality is that as much as the social media enthusiasts (myself included) like to talk about the revolutionary nature of Twitter and other social networks, there is a lot of “old school” political strategy at work here.

With renewed hype and a different band of haters, the Twittersphere is just a new format for a familiar song—like CD was to vinyl and so on. And some of the same tunes keep playing over and over again.

The mainstream media also continues to provide the same background beat. Where initially, they may have felt threatened by social media, they are now in the business of mining the social network chatter for stories. They filter for their audience by selecting which stories to bring to light. As long as the majority of people can’t be bothered with social media or are plain disgusted by the tone of the conversations (things do get nasty), the media will continue to sift and decide which political songs get played.

Politics might offer up a new song list if more people got involved online and tried to change the nasty tone of the debate. Instead, good people continue to opt out in disgust. And this is nothing new.

Jody MacPherson is an Accredited Business Communicator with 25 years in public relations. She graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton University and began her career in the energy sector. In the last decade, she has been working mainly in the not-for-profit and public sector, specializing in social media and digital communication.

Tags: "Alison Redford", Alberta, Danielle Smith, election, social media, Twitter, Wildrose

Miss Cranky Pants: Who’s on first?

You say Wildrose. I say Progressive Conservative. Who best to defend human rights for all?

I’m increasingly unable to tell who stands for what between the PC’s and the Wildrose. The lines are extremely blurry when you look deeper.

I’ll give you a couple of guesses who said this in a lengthy interview:

Q. But you have no moral objection with the issue of rights being put to a popular vote — gay marriage, swingers clubs?

A. Those aren’t rights, those are rights claims.

Peter Russell did some work that just confirms common sense. What typically passes for rights disputes and rights litigation are disputes about the outer boundary of rights, not the core meaning.

If a country is divided about the core meaning of such things as freedom of religion or freedom of speech, you are probably pretty close to civil war, and judges aren’t going to make much of a difference anyhow.

So what really goes on is a game of rights claiming in which groups try to take their policy preference and, kind of like putting lipstick on a pig, dress it up as a “right” to give it moral authority. Instead of it being just a group interest claim, they try and claim that it is actually a right and it has a certain moral dignity. And it may have some, but the key to the game is to try to turn policy claims into rights claims. I don’t have any trouble with referendums on that.

Basically, what you’re doing is having sort of an ongoing amendment of the Constitution by interpretation. Constitutions are made difficult to amend for a reason, and so to have it easily amendable by judicial interpretation, I think, is wrong in principle.

Q. What about the issue of parliamentary supremacy versus “judicial activism”? If we agree with a court’s Charter decision to overturn a law, then obviously it was the right one — but if we disagree it’s judicial activism. What is the principled position?

A. I think that when courts make a [personal rights] decision they have the right to be listened to and listened to carefully, but not the right to dictate a particular public policy once and for all. Elected governments in the end should have the right to decide how we’re governed or how we’re not governed.

See this link to find out who said it.

I don’t know about you, but I’m voting for real change, here and I’m getting a little cranky again (as usual).

Miss Cranky Pants (aka Jody MacPherson) is a communications consultant, politico, soccer mom, divorcee (is it any wonder?) and coffee addict who gets a little testy without regular caffeine. 

Tags: Alberta, Danielle Smith, election, gay marriage, Progressive Conservative, Ted Morton, Wildrose