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There’s sure been a lot of talk about Reboot Alberta lately. But ever since the first meeting in Red Deer last November, much of Alberta’s political chattering class seems completely puzzled over just what Reboot Alberta actually is.

Is it a “standard unite the left” movement? Or maybe it’s a right wing plot?

Is it a bunch of out-of-touch “elitists” as Hugh MacDonald would have us believe? Or is it a nearly irrelevant “debate society” ?

Could it simply be a vehicle for a new political party? Or maybe it’s a support group for those fed up with partisan politics and yet somehow, simultaneously, group therapy for committed partisans?

Is it a group of people focused on democratic reforms that will re-engage Albertans in the political process, or just another division of Alberta’s rapidly shrinking pie of voters?

Alberta's pundits examining the Reboot Alberta elephant

There’s an ancient parable from India about seven blind monks touching different parts of an elephant and jumping to conclusions about what an elephant must be:

“Hey, the elephant is a pillar,” said the first man who touched his leg.

“Oh, no! it is like a rope,” said the second man who touched the tail.

“Oh, no! it is like a thick branch of a tree,” said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant.

“It is like a big hand fan” said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.

… and so on.

The moral of the story is that each monk was partly right, but none could describe the true essence of the elephant.

Reboot Alberta is our elephant.

It began as an experiment without predetermined outcomes or set expectations starting from this simple premise: put a bunch of politically engaged Albertans in the same room for a weekend and encourage thoughtful, respectful discussions about politics and Alberta’s future.

What emerged was a buzz of new ideas, new discussions and new relationships among the politically engaged.

In hindsight, the first Reboot conference was about creating a space for these important conversations to take place. The beauty of this idea was its simplicity. Tapping into a deep desire for renewed engagement, a decentralized community formed around Alberta’s political blogs and the #rebootab tag on twitter.

But who were these people? What bound them together?

Having actively engaged in this online community and participated in both conferences, here are the four things that I believe characterize the Reboot Alberta elephant, as refined by the discussion at my table on the bright Sunday morning of February 28th at Reboot 2.0.

Rebooters are already actively involved in their communities and share a desire to:

1. create a better Alberta -  a place where we all can “live and flourish.”
2. course correct with meaningful democratic reforms to address broken aspects of our system and encourage more Albertans to “dust off their citizenship.”
3. connect with other people who want to foster democracy and establish a new vision for Alberta’s future.
4. link together our existing organizations, communities and political vehicles to work towards these goals, both together and independently.

Some participants’ high expectations for the second conference were not met. And there are some genuine and very legitimate concerns about how to make these in-person meetings more accessible to those Albertans without a few hundred extra dollars to spend on a luxury hotel for a weekend. Yet I remain optimistic about these simple, action-oriented goals for Reboot Alberta.

So if you have something important to contribute to this ongoing discussion, I encourage you to take ten minutes and start a blog, sign up for twitter and start sharing your thoughts on how best to advance these goals.

I’ll be listening.

Adaptability, understanding, and interconnectivity.

That’s a definition of what it means to be a “progressive” that several people settled on at the Reboot Alberta conference several weeks ago.

While it is a reasonable attempt at defining a notoriously vague concept and political label, I’m more than a little skeptical about how these multi-syllable words will resonate with the 1.3 million Albertans that didn’t vote in the last election. Is a vision steeped in words like “interconnectivity” really going to inspire people to shrug off their cynicism, get involved in public and political life and start voting in elections?

I’m not holding my breath.

In the comments on Dave Cournoyer’s thoughtful post speculating on the coming 21st century political tidal wave, Matt Grant makes an excellent point – and quotes from one of my favorite political essays – noting how the wrong choice of words has the potential to lead progressives astray.

“Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble. If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step toward political regeneration.“

So how would *I* define what it means to be “progressive” in Alberta using simple and direct language?

Being progressive is about looking to the future.

It is not an outright rejection of the status quo, but a recognition that our politics will fail to address many of our present and future problems if left “as is.”  It is a hopeful but realistic vision that embraces empathy, inclusiveness and respect for others’ views. It is about starting the “reboot” of our thinking necessary to build a better Alberta.

I believe much of the pent up frustration, cynicism and apathy with politics in Alberta is a reflection of the fact that nearly all of our leaders are silent on two of the most important questions for any leadership position:

“Where are we going?” and “How are we going to get there?”

I have some ideas about how to answer part of these questions, but I’m still considering the best way to present my thoughts clearly.

If you have an idea about how we should be answering these questions I encourage you to participate the #rebootab conversation and join us on rebootalberta.org

The difference between science and ideology is that science tries to explain all known observations, whereas ideology selects only those observations that support a preconceived notion. As world leaders negotiate this week in Copenhagen, let’s hope science, not ideology, guides their discussions.

Thomas Homer-Dixon and Andrew Weaver in today’s Globe and Mail debunking four common nonsensical statements about climate change.

Political hacks, wonks, communicators, bloggers and regular citizens took a leap of faith to come together and discuss a shared vision for a better Alberta this weekend.  Reboot Alberta is the third citizen driven “meeting of the minds” I’ve attended in the last two months, (the other two being Edmonton’s ChangeCamp and Calgary’s CivicCamp) and there is a progression to something tangible forming.

I’ve been impressed by the quality and respectful tone of the discussions at all of these meetings. But at Reboot Alberta there was a remarkable undertone – something compelling the group towards action.

Maybe it was the well articulated collective sense of frustration over the complacency of a 38 year regime that most feel stopped listening a long time ago?

Maybe it was the wine?

In retrospect, it seems like the solution to our collective woes was relatively simple.  Throw a disparate group of slightly nerdish strangers (who feel passionately about the need for change in our province) in room together, have them select and vote on topics / issues and let them loose to have open discussions about what changes are necessary and how to make them happen.

Microwave for 2 minutes on high, et voilà! The birth of a new progressive political movement, a proto-think tank, a newly minted social media community and even a new political party. And to think how easy it would have been for me to spend my Saturday on my couch watching the DVDs of some lame TV show.

I’m very intrigued by the Renew Alberta party – especially with its proposed vision, philosophy and the smart people leading the push for its creation – but I think it’s a bit premature to throw my hat in for any party right now. I like my non-partisan status and the flexibility it affords me. Frankly, I’m not surprised that others are publicly recognizing the same thing. But with that said, I welcome the creation of this party and I welcome anything that brings more people into political life and contributes to a healthy democracy. I will continue to make my opinions known to it and any other political entity that will listen. Oh and in case you somehow weren’t already aware, I’m coming out: I’m a progressive.

We need to start having more of these sorts of important conversations about Alberta’s future – with or without the facilitation of the existing political structures. This is particularly relevant in a time where the some of our political institutions directly benefit from (and even exacerbate) the typical cynicism and political apathy in this province. I think the moment where the public woke up was the night that  Bill 44 was passed earlier this year (or should I say rammed through?) This conversation, facilitated by social media, was the rock that fell on the head of our typically sleepy provincial political scene to wake up some of the 60% of eligible voters that didn’t bother showing up at the ballot box in March of 2008.  The chorus of these newly “awakened” Albertans has only grown since. Which is good because I want these important conversations to grow to the point where they cannot be ignored. Eventually political structures will be forced to recognize the value of bringing regular people that care about their province into the fold and will modify their governance structures to co-opt these important open conversations into their information, communication and decision models. We’re already seeing some small attempts.

In discussions about the Renew Alberta party, Rebooters even recognized that a party built around actually listening to people is radical enough to be a “game changer.” (It’s pretty easy to see why people are frustrated.)

For now, I’ll remain focused on the big picture, our vision for moving forward, and how the “social movement” (those not inside the new party structure) will influence the system and continue to grow the conversation.  And don’t worry, I have a lot more to say about the specifics of what was discussed, but for now I”ll leave you with two comments I heard this morning:

#rebootab was a delightful opportunity to speak with sane people.

We must accept responsibility for what is. You can change it. Lets be proud of being Albertans and accept responsibility for change we want.

You can join the conversation at www.rebootalberta.org

I was inspired to sign up and write a post on climate change for Blog Action Day 2009 after reading Alex Abboud’s excellent post entitled “Embracing Post-Modernism.”

My first consideration of the risks of resource depletion, overpopulation and the need for long term thinking and sustainable practices was over a decade ago in grade 10 high school science class. The problem seemed almost as intuitive, even obvious, as it is today.  But for a middle-class 16 year-old eager to begin driving a car, while living in a resource laden country, the problems never seemed as tangible as they are today.

Looking back, it was as clear then as it is now that exponential  population growth in conjunction with an increasing,  resource gobbling,  standard living were leading us down a dangerous road. Advances in technology, medicine and even in social system systems -  the ascendancy of globalized capitalism and its recent failure, for example – are leading us ever closer to a precipice where tough decisions are necessary.

Some are even likening the willful blindness towards living within our means, or more accurately the lack of action taken to rectify our recent collective awakening to accelerating climate degradation, to a massive global ponzi scheme.

I worry most about the cost of inaction, of maintaining the status quo, given the huge uncertainties and potentially destabilizing global security risks we’re all facing as a result of anthropogenic climate change, which is only one of the environmental threats to our continued security and prosperity.

Last night I heard the latest news in what seems to be a perpetual parade of disconcerting stories about the rapid changes in our climate. CBC is reporting that climate researchers now believe we will have ice free summers at the North Pole in only 10 years.  This will have enormous consequences.

So what can we do?

For starters, myopic sloganeering about “local food” as the panacea for addressing climate change is not the magic cure all some make it out to be – though I wish it were.

I recognize that the growing chasm being awareness and action is the real issue here. Most people now accept that climate change is happening and that it is a major problem but few people seem to have changed their behaviour and lifestyles to minimize their impact. As a human being, I am not without fault here either, but I am trying.

So I agree that lifestyle changes are important. When aggregated they can really make an enormous difference. However,  much of the massive change needed to address our climate bankruptcy can only come from new rules, laws and policies on a systemic level.  To put it another way: this is a problem that governments at all levels, from around the world, must immediately work together to address.

A new age of cooperation is required. Right now. Will the COP15 United Nations climate change conference this December be the turning point?

For the sake future generations, let’s all hope so.

Anytime someone puts a lock on something you own, against your wishes, and doesn’t give you the key, they’re not doing it for your benefit.

Excerpted the DRM section of Cory Doctorow’s excellent submission to the Canadian copyright consultation.

Eventhough a Fall election will almost surely derail the Canadian copyright consultation process, it’s positive that the Canadian public is engaged and participating in this needed conversation.

Eventually, Canadian copyright law will be reformed. We need to make sure Canadians’ rights to use, modify and comment on copyrighted materials are not locked up when it happens.

There’s a parade of “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED“  pronoucements about the recession being “over,” which – in case you missed it – includes the Bank of Canada’s very own Goldmach Sachs’ alumni: Mark Carney.  Only if he had made the annoucement on the deck of an aircraft carrier, could it be more farcical.

James Howard Kunstler’s snarky response to the string of  “the recession is over” pronoucements made me laugh:

All this goes to show is how completely the people in charge of things in the USA have lost their minds.  They seem to think this mass exercise in pretend will resurrect the great march to the WalMarts, to the new car showrooms, and the cul-de-sac model houses, reignite another round of furious sprawl-building, salad-shooter importing [AM: I LOL'ed ], and no-doc liar-lending, not to mention the pawning off of innovative, securitized stinking-carp debt paper onto credulous pension funds in foreign lands where due diligence has never been heard of, renew the leveraged buying-out of zippy-looking businesses by smoothies who have no idea how to run them (and no real intention of doing it, anyway), resuscitate the construction of additional strip malls, new office park “capacity” and Big Box “power centers,” restart the trade in granite countertops and home theaters, and pack the turnstiles of Walt Disney world – all this while turning Afghanistan into a neighborhood that Beaver Cleaver would be proud to call home.

Link via @newres