Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

Alberta’s NDP Party: New Leader, Enhanced Perspective? The new leader of Alberta’s NDP party, Rachel Notley, received 70 per cent of the votes cast on the first ballot, easily defeating two other candidates in the recent NDP leadership race. In her victory speech, Notley promised a viable alternative to the Progressive Conservative, Liberal and Wildrose parties in the next election. The speaker will argue that arrogance, entitlement and the narrow minded vision of days gone by is not the “Alberta Advantage”. "Let's leave the parties of the past behind," she says "This time, let's not forget history. Let's not repeat history. Let's make history." Speaker: Rachel Notley, MLA and Leader of Alberta’s NDP Party Rachel Notley was elected as the leader of the Alberta New Democrats on October 18, 2014. Since 2008, Rachel has served as the MLA for Edmonton-Strathcona, and is known as a strong, effective voice in the Legislature. She was re-elected in 2012, with the highest share of the vote of any MLA in the province. Raised in Fairview Alberta, Rachel is the oldest child of Grant and Sandra Notley. Her father, Grant, led the Alberta New Democrats from 1968 to 1984. Rachel has said that her father’s tireless effort to build the party taught her the importance of hard work, and she shares his vision of building a better, fairer province for all Albertans. Rachel holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Alberta, and a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School. Before entering politics, she worked for a variety of labour unions in Alberta and British Columbia and served as a ministerial advisor to British Columbia’s Attorney General in the 1990s. She currently lives in Edmonton’s Old Strathcona neighbourhood with her husband and two teenage children. Moderator: Keith McLaughlin Date: Thursday, November 13, 2014 Time: Noon - 1:30 PM (30 minutes each for presentation, lunch and Q & A) Location: Country Kitchen Catering (Lower level of The Keg) 1715 Mayor Magrath Dr. S Cost: $11.00 (includes lunch) or $2.00 (includes coffee/tea at the presentation only)

Alberta’s electricity system is at a cross-roads. Coal, which has been the dominant source of electricity in the province for a generation is slowly being phased out, while industrial growth forecasts mean Alberta’s electricity system will double in size over the next 20 years. Rapid price declines in both wind and more recently solar, as well as technological innovation in integrating these technologies worldwide has meant that wind and solar have the potential to displace vast amount of fossil fuels if Alberta choses to invest in them. Southern Alberta has some of Canada’s best wind and solar resources and could play an important role in providing clean, renewable energy for the province. The speakers will discuss the opportunities as well as the challenges for wind and solar in Alberta’s electricity market. Speakers: Tim Weis & Rob Harlan Tim is the Alberta Director for the Canadian Wind Energy Association and Rob is the Executive Director of the Solar Energy Society of Alberta. Moderator: Courtney Rieger Date: Thursday, November 6, 2014 Time: Noon - 1:30 PM (30 minutes each for presentation, lunch and Q & A) Location: Country Kitchen Catering (Lower level of The Keg) 1715 Mayor Magrath Dr. S Cost: $11.00 (includes lunch) or $2.00 (includes coffee/tea at the presentation only)

Alberta’s electricity system is at a cross-roads. Coal, which has been the dominant source of electricity in the province for a generation is slowly being phased out, while industrial growth forecasts mean Alberta’s electricity system will double in size over the next 20 years. Rapid price declines in both wind and more recently solar, as well as technological innovation in integrating these technologies worldwide has meant that wind and solar have the potential to displace vast amount of fossil fuels if Alberta choses to invest in them. Southern Alberta has some of Canada’s best wind and solar resources and could play an important role in providing clean, renewable energy for the province. The speakers will discuss the opportunities as well as the challenges for wind and solar in Alberta’s electricity market. Speakers: Tim Weis & Rob Harlan Tim is the Alberta Director for the Canadian Wind Energy Association and Rob is the Executive Director of the Solar Energy Society of Alberta. Moderator: Courtney Rieger Date: Thursday, November 6, 2014 Time: Noon - 1:30 PM (30 minutes each for presentation, lunch and Q & A) Location: Country Kitchen Catering (Lower level of The Keg) 1715 Mayor Magrath Dr. S Cost: $11.00 (includes lunch) or $2.00 (includes coffee/tea at the presentation only)

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is one of the most remote places of human habitation in the world. It is famed for its iconic statuary and as a tragic example of ecological collapse. This past summer Dr. Kent Peacock travelled to Rapa Nui with his son Evan Peacock and Dillon St. Jean, to photograph, film, and learn as much about the island as a ten-day visit would permit. He’ll recount some of the high (and low) points of the trip, and ask whether it is necessarily the case that planet Earth can be, in the end, nothing more than “Easter Island writ large”. (The trip was made possible by generous support from the Rolof Beny Foundation and the Lethbridge Public Interest Research Group) Speaker: Kent Peacock Dr. Peacock earned his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Toronto in 1991. In 1996 he joined the University of Lethbridge. His research includes logic and the philosophies of physics and ecology. Recently he has devoted a lot of attention to climate change and sustainability, and what he saw on Rapa Nui gave him a new perspective on these related challenges. Moderator: Duane Pendergast Date: Thursday, October 30, 2014 Time: Noon - 1:30 PM (30 minutes each for presentation, lunch and Q & A) Location: Country Kitchen Catering (Lower level of The Keg) 1715 Mayor Magrath Dr S Cost: $11.00 (includes lunch) or $2.00 (includes coffee/tea at the presentation only)

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is one of the most remote places of human habitation in the world. It is famed for its iconic statuary and as a tragic example of ecological collapse. This past summer Dr. Kent Peacock travelled to Rapa Nui with his son Evan Peacock and Dillon St. Jean, to photograph, film, and learn as much about the island as a ten-day visit would permit. He’ll recount some of the high (and low) points of the trip, and ask whether it is necessarily the case that planet Earth can be, in the end, nothing more than “Easter Island writ large”. (The trip was made possible by generous support from the Rolof Beny Foundation and the Lethbridge Public Interest Research Group) Speaker: Kent Peacock Dr. Peacock earned his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Toronto in 1991. In 1996 he joined the University of Lethbridge. His research includes logic and the philosophies of physics and ecology. Recently he has devoted a lot of attention to climate change and sustainability, and what he saw on Rapa Nui gave him a new perspective on these related challenges. Moderator: Duane Pendergast Date: Thursday, October 30, 2014 Time: Noon - 1:30 PM (30 minutes each for presentation, lunch and Q & A) Location: Country Kitchen Catering (Lower level of The Keg) 1715 Mayor Magrath Dr S Cost: $11.00 (includes lunch) or $2.00 (includes coffee/tea at the presentation only)

The federal government recently approved the pending sale of an Alberta utility provider to an American company. Berkshire Hathaway Energy's application to buy AltaLink in a deal worth $3.2 billion was confirmed by Industry Canada along with several conditions, among them, a commitment to keep the electricity transmission company locally managed with its headquarters in Alberta and to keep a majority of its board of directors Canadians. Critics say the deal is not fair to Albertans as the province's transmission system should not be an internationally traded commodity when electricity is an essential service. They further argue it ought to be owned and operated by Albertans (who have paid for much of the AltaLink infrastructure through delivery charges) not a massive for profit foreign company. With the proposed sale still under review by the Alberta Utilities Commission, many are calling for meaningful public hearings on the deal which is expected to close December 31, 2014. The speaker will weigh in on the details of this controversial transaction. Speakers: Joe Anglin MLA Joe Anglin was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre on April 23, 2012 and has served as deputy chair of the Standing Committee on Resource Stewardship and as a member of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. Anglin served in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam era before becoming a police officer. He then obtained a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s degree in education. As an active member of his community, Anglin served as chair of the Rimoka Housing Foundation from 2010 to 2012 and also served as a town councillor in Rimbey from 2010 until his election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Anglin successfully organized and led the Lavesta Area Group, an association of southern Alberta landowners opposed to the construction of a 500KV electricity transmission line through their area, from 2006 to 2010. Moderator: TBA Date: Thursday, October 23, 2014 Time: Noon - 1:30 PM Location: Country Kitchen Catering (Lower level of The Keg) 1715 Mayor Magrath Dr. S Cost: $11.00 (includes lunch)

The federal government recently approved the pending sale of an Alberta utility provider to an American company. Berkshire Hathaway Energy's application to buy AltaLink in a deal worth $3.2 billion was confirmed by Industry Canada along with several conditions, among them, a commitment to keep the electricity transmission company locally managed with its headquarters in Alberta and to keep a majority of its board of directors Canadians. Critics say the deal is not fair to Albertans as the province's transmission system should not be an internationally traded commodity when electricity is an essential service. They further argue it ought to be owned and operated by Albertans (who have paid for much of the AltaLink infrastructure through delivery charges) not a massive for profit foreign company. With the proposed sale still under review by the Alberta Utilities Commission, many are calling for meaningful public hearings on the deal which is expected to close December 31, 2014. The speaker will weigh in on the details of this controversial transaction. Speakers: Joe Anglin MLA Joe Anglin was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre on April 23, 2012 and has served as deputy chair of the Standing Committee on Resource Stewardship and as a member of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. Anglin served in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam era before becoming a police officer. He then obtained a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s degree in education. As an active member of his community, Anglin served as chair of the Rimoka Housing Foundation from 2010 to 2012 and also served as a town councillor in Rimbey from 2010 until his election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Anglin successfully organized and led the Lavesta Area Group, an association of southern Alberta landowners opposed to the construction of a 500KV electricity transmission line through their area, from 2006 to 2010. Moderator: TBA Date: Thursday, October 23, 2014 Time: Noon - 1:30 PM Location: Country Kitchen Catering (Lower level of The Keg) 1715 Mayor Magrath Dr. S Cost: $11.00 (includes lunch)

Social justice dilemmas are situations in which collective interests are at odds with private interests. Such situations arise when faced with prioritizing either short-term selfish interests or the long-term interests of a group, organization, or society. Many of the most challenging issues, from the interpersonal to the intergroup, are at their core social dilemmas. Conflicts arise when motives concerning the group are overcome by individual motives or vice versa. When this happens in a perfect world, Governments ought to intervene and restore the balance of interest, but is it happening? Speaker: Thomas King Thomas King is a noted novelist, broadcaster, and academic. Some of his most praised works are Medicine River; Green Grass, Running Water; The Truth about Stories; and recently The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America. King became a member of the Order of Canada in 2004, and was awarded the RBC Taylor Prize and the British Columbia National non-fiction award both in 2014. King taught Native American Studies at the University of Lethbridge in the early 1980s. King also served as a faculty member of the University of Minnesota's American Indian Studies Department, and has recently retired from his post as an English professor at the University of Guelph Moderator: Martin Heavy Head Date: Monday, October 20, 2014 Time: 1:00 – 2:00 pm Location: Room TH204, Turcotte Hall, University of Lethbridge Free event, everyone welcome

The ability to change and survive under new leaders and different circumstances are the strength of any long-ruling political party. Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party has successfully rebranded itself in previous years, often using “new leadership” as a strategy. Throwing a former Premier under the proverbial bus seems like a simple solution to dwindling popularity, but have the PC’s used this tactic one too many times for it to be effective this go around? Alberta’s seventh PC Party Premier, Jim Prentice criticized many of the decisions made under Alison Redford and by the government he now leads. The removal of several high profile PC MLA’s from cabinet positions and making questionable ministerial appointments that included members with no seat in the Legislature, could be considered the beginning of Prentice’s “de-Redfordization”. Immediate action on selling the fleet of government planes and cancelling the license plate redesign was a popular no-brainer. Revamping Alberta’s foreign offices, keeping the Michener Centre in Red Deer open and axing some unpopular Bills by proroguing the Legislature until Nov 17 are also consistent with that strategy. But these initiatives are not really addressing the inherent internal challenges the PC Party is facing nor do they necessarily lead to effective change that will keep this party viable in the eyes of the electorate. The speaker will candidly discuss the current strategy taken by Premier Prentice in the first weeks of his reign. Plus she will speculate on the effectiveness of this course of action and make a few predictions of her own. Speaker: Bonnie Farries Bonnie is a Political Scientist and holds a Masters in Political Science from the University of Lethbridge. Although all levels of government are fascinating in how they interact and affect our daily lives, Bonnie’s passion is at the local level, having worked in municipal government for the last 11 years. Moderator: Tad Mitsui Date: Thursday, October 16, 2014 Time: Noon - 1:30 PM Location: Country Kitchen Catering (Lower level of The Keg) 1715 Mayor Magrath Dr. S Cost: $11.00 (includes lunch) or $2.00 (talk and coffee)

The ability to change and survive under new leaders and different circumstances are the strength of any long-ruling political party. Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party has successfully rebranded itself in previous years, often using “new leadership” as a strategy. Throwing a former Premier under the proverbial bus seems like a simple solution to dwindling popularity, but have the PC’s used this tactic one too many times for it to be effective this go around? Alberta’s seventh PC Party Premier, Jim Prentice criticized many of the decisions made under Alison Redford and by the government he now leads. The removal of several high profile PC MLA’s from cabinet positions and making questionable ministerial appointments that included members with no seat in the Legislature, could be considered the beginning of Prentice’s “de-Redfordization”. Immediate action on selling the fleet of government planes and cancelling the license plate redesign was a popular no-brainer. Revamping Alberta’s foreign offices, keeping the Michener Centre in Red Deer open and axing some unpopular Bills by proroguing the Legislature until Nov 17 are also consistent with that strategy. But these initiatives are not really addressing the inherent internal challenges the PC Party is facing nor do they necessarily lead to effective change that will keep this party viable in the eyes of the electorate. The speaker will candidly discuss the current strategy taken by Premier Prentice in the first weeks of his reign. Plus she will speculate on the effectiveness of this course of action and make a few predictions of her own. Speaker: Bonnie Farries Bonnie is a Political Scientist and holds a Masters in Political Science from the University of Lethbridge. Although all levels of government are fascinating in how they interact and affect our daily lives, Bonnie’s passion is at the local level, having worked in municipal government for the last 11 years. Moderator: Tad Mitsui Date: Thursday, October 16, 2014 Time: Noon - 1:30 PM Location: Country Kitchen Catering (Lower level of The Keg) 1715 Mayor Magrath Dr. S Cost: $11.00 (includes lunch) or $2.00 (talk and coffee)