Below is my Private Member’s Statement, presented on November 18, 2008 in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta

Longing for Leadership

The song “Waiting for a Miracle” is Leonard Cohen at his most sardonic – a dark view of a people in a hopeless state waiting for someone to save them. I believe we are our own rescuers; we don’t get better lives by waiting, we build better lives by getting involved. The world is at a turning point with serious challenges and different choices to be made if we are to leave a better future for our children. Our economy, environment and civil society are threatened. But people are longing for courageous, honest leadership; too many have given up on our political system in Alberta.

As a physician and politician, I’ve tried to create the awareness of our need for balance – social wellbeing, a protected environment and a healthy economy: the Triple Bottom Line.

People want to see government act with integrity; lead rather than manage; stop abusing power, listen instead of brushing off real frustrations with lack of mental health support or children coming to school hungry; unnecessary red tape for small business.

In this province I have witnessed in the past 15 years a profound decline in public engagement and a loss of trust in the political process. People ask me how we could spend so much more than other provinces and get so little? How we could waste our non-renewable windfall – saving virtually nothing, and fail to see where the world is going in energy conservation and a renewable energy/economy?

Albertans ask me why we have the highest rates of family violence, alcoholism, depression and suicide;
This is not about better management as much as bold leadership – listening to energy producers for a balanced energy future; listening to health professionals about real health care reform; hearing our most vulnerable citizens and their care-givers who plead for dignity.

And it’s time to talk frankly about our responsibilities as citizens. We cannot wait for a miracle. There is no time to lose – we must work together to create a vigorous, centrist politics of the people – a politics that stands for the public interest for the long term. As the Hopi Indian elder counseled his people many decades ago – “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

To my Legislature colleagues, constituents – women, youth, all cultures – all Albertans – if you love this province, end the false humility, the ashen fatalism and join us, with purpose and passion. Let us together create the proud, strong and healthy tapestry called Alberta.