Archive for the ‘elections’ tag
Alberta’s new Chief Electoral Officer unfit for the job?
Alberta’s new Chief Electoral Officer, Olaf Brian Fjeldheim, was sworn in today according to the news release I received in my inbox from the government, which is strangely missing from the alberta.ca newsroom. Having already served as the Chief Electoral Officer and the head of Elections Alberta from 1998 until 2005, one would think Mr. Fjeldheim would understand the organization and be ready to hit the ground running.
Not so fast.
Today the Calgary Herald’s Jason Fekete tweeted Mr. Fjeldheim’s comment when addressing the role of the Chief Electoral Officer in encouraging people to vote: “I’m not sure that’s the role of the chief electoral officer.”
Let’s quickly review the vision and mission statements for Elections Alberta:
Our Vision
To inspire and engage participation in the democratic process
Our Mission
“To provide leadership and support to democracy through the conduct of open, free and fair elections, by creating awareness and promoting participation in the election process, and by ensuring compliance with Alberta’s election laws.”
So my question is this: when will Alberta get a Chief Electoral Officer that will work to fufill the mission of the organization he or she leads?
UPDATE: Brian Fjeldheim’s first order of business as the new chief electoral officer was to change these mission and vision statement to a much more wishy-washy stance on encouraging Albertans to vote:
Our Vision
Albertans have confidence in an easily accessible electoral process.
Our Mission
Deliver effective non-partisan services that meet the electoral needs of Albertans.
@BreakenNews has the goods on these changes here.
