The re-invented Alberta Party has moved forward with a new slogan – The Big Listen. It is based on an old idea, members admit.
But it is focused on the people. Listening to what they say and what they need. The Big Listen philosophy promises to foster dialogue between Albertans. From that, say party officials, a policy platform is developed that addresses Albertans’ most important concerns.
This message is put to the people as simple and down to earth. When Penhold’s Danielle Klooster put her ear to the Big Listen she was seized. And today she is the party’s candidate for the riding of Innisfail-Sylvan Lake.
“When you (Progressive Conservatives) have been in government a long time and have no serious challenges there is an opportunity to go off the road and into the ditch,” said Klooster, who originally came from a Tory background. “I think it goes to the culture of the party to have a ‘father knows best’ mentality. They (PCs) really believe they know what is right for Alberta.”
She specifically pointed to the Tory government’s initiative in bringing forward Bills 19, 24, 36 and 50, legislations it requires for future transmission infrastructure inside the province. But the initiatives have angered Albertans by the thousands who maintain they are direct threats against landowner rights.
“Right, wrong or indifferent, Albertans have told the government, ‘Hold up here’. They were very vocal about these bills. People said, ‘Stop, don’t do this,” said Klooster.
“The government says it is listening but the proof is in the pudding. It really goes back to that culture – ‘Regardless of what you think we are going to do this.’
“That is the antithesis of democracy,” she said.
Until the rise of the Wildrose Alliance the Alberta Party was another fledging right-wing political idea trying to find its niche in the province. Following the 2010 merger with the centrist Renew Alberta, the board of the Alberta Party agreed to abandon its right-wing ideology, re-invent itself and create a new centrist platform of its own.
The Big Listen was born. The party created a policy framework based on six key values – prosperity, fiscal responsibility, social responsibility, sustainability, democracy and quality of life. On May 28 of this year Glenn Taylor, a former Alberta New Democrat Party candidate and mayor of Hinton, was chosen by members as leader of the party.
The timing was deemed perfect for Klooster, a former community development officer for the Town of Penhold who left her job in 2007 to successfully run for town council.
By 2010 she admits that she was “politically homeless”, a feeling she says is shared with many Albertans who maintained there were no political options to choose from in the province.
But Klooster liked what the new re-energized Alberta Party stood for. She was especially attracted to the notion that she did not have to fit any political label to be accepted.
“I think labels limit people. I don’t think you can pin me and size me up or down the political spectrum. I don’t want to be put in a box more than anybody else,” said Klooster. “It’s not about ideology. It is about ideas. The Alberta Party resonated with me because of that. They want to take the best ideas from everywhere.
“Everybody fits in,” she added. “It doesn’t matter if one is extreme left, or extreme right or you don’t know where you fit in. The Alberta Party wants to hear your ideas about Alberta.”
For more information on the Alberta Party and its platform visit www.albertaparty.ca
For more on Danielle Klooster visit her web site at www.danielleklooster.ca
