Ted and Doug's Big Adventure
Further to the PC leadership campaign, I neglected to include Doug Griffiths amongst the declared hopefuls; he jumped in with a mid-February announcement from the McKay School in Edmonton, which served as Alberta’s first legislature.
First elected in the Wainwright constituency in a 2002 byelection, Griffiths lives in Hardisty, east of Edmonton, and is a teacher by vocation. He has served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Minister Solicitor General and Public Security. Most recently, he served as Parliamentary Assistant to Department of Finance and Enterprise.
He’s active in the Twitter-scape, with nearly 2,000 followers and more than 2,000 Tweets, putting him well ahead of Redford’s activity.
His campaign, like Redford’s, is in early days, but unlike Redford, he’s a little short on policy specifics. His main aim, it seems, is to set Alberta on the right path to future prosperity:
“This next year will be pivotal in the province’s history as we make important choices that set us on a course for the future of our choosing. We must think large, we must be bold, and we must not be afraid of change, of rejuvenation, of discussing our challenges and possible solutions as we look to create our own future,” Griffiths said. “We own our future, not as a party, not as politicians, but as Albertans. Let us make that choice clearly and loudly, and let’s get on with becoming all that we owe ourselves, our children, and the world.”
Ted Morton is also a little short on policy advice: his campaign website contains only a few print items from last year outlining his position on a national securities regulator (against), CPP reform (in favour, but not the way Ottawa proposes it) and equalization reform (in favour of discussing it).
And he’s woefully absent on the social media front. He has a Facebook page, and while he’s present on the Twitter-scape, he has but 42 followers and has yet to actually Tweet….we’re waiting Ted…enlighten us!
