Alberta Oil and the Decline of Democracy in Canada

Prior to May 2015, the oil-rich jurisdiction of Alberta had, for over four decades, been a one-party state. During that time, the rule of the Progressive Conservatives essentially went unchallenged, with critiques of government policy falling on deaf ears and Alberta ranking behind other provinces in voter turnout. Given the province’s economic reliance on oil revenues, a symbiotic relationship also developed between government and the oil industry. Cross-national studies have detected a correlation between oil-dependent economies and authoritarian rule, a pattern particularly evident in Africa and the Middle East. Alberta Oil and the Decline of Democracy in Canada sets out to test the “oil inhibits democracy” hypothesis in the context of an industrialized nation in the Global North. In probing the impact of Alberta’s powerful oil lobby on the health of democracy in the province, contributors to the volume engage with an ongoing discussion of the erosion of political liberalism in the West. In addition to examining energy policy and issues of government accountability in Alberta, they explore the ramifications of oil dependence in areas such as Aboriginal rights, environmental policy, labour law, women’s equity, urban social policy, and the arts. If, as they argue, reliance on oil has weakened democratic structures in Alberta, then what of Canada as whole, where the short-term priorities of the oil industry continue to shape federal policy? In Alberta, the New Democratic Party is in a position to reverse the democratic deficit that is presently fuelling political and economic inequality. The findings in this book suggest that, to revitalize democracy, provincial and federal leaders alike must find the courage to curb the influence of the oil industry on governance

Controlling Knowledge: Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection in a Networked World

Digital communications technology has immeasurably enhanced our capacity to store, retrieve, and exchange information. But who controls our access to information, and who decides what others have a right to know about us? In Controlling Knowledge, author Lorna Stefanick offers a thought-provoking and user-friendly overview of the regulatory regime that currently governs freedom of information and the protection of privacy. Aiming to clarify rather than mystify, Stefanick outlines the history and application of FOIP legislation, with special focus on how these laws affect the individual. To illustrate the impact of FOIP, she examines the notion of informed consent, looks at concerns about surveillance in the digital age, and explores the sometimes insidious influence of Facebook. Specialists in public policy and public administration, information technology, communications, law, criminal justice, sociology, and health care will find much here that bears directly on their work, while students and general readers will welcome the book's down-to-earth language and accessible style. Intended to serve as a "citizen's guide," Controlling Knowledge is a vital resource for anyone seeking to understand how freedom of information and privacy protection are legally defined and how this legislation is shaping our individual rights as citizens of the information age

Anatomy of a movement: the environmental policy community in Alberta

Bibliography: p. 140-150

Transboundary Conservation: Citizens, Security, and Cross Border Collaboration

This talk examines the evolution of transboundary conservation initiatives; specifically, initiatives in the Rocky Mountains of southern Alberta and northern Montana. This is the home of the world's first Peace Park, the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. This remarkable park, part of the so-called "Crown of the Continent", is now the epicenter of a far larger transboundary initiative, the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) conservation project. The Waterton-Glacier Park and Y2Y are examples of an ecosystem approach to managing a portion of the northern border of the US; they stand in sharp contrast to other American initiatives that seek to promote national security on its southern frontier by sealing borders, and as a result, dividing ecosystems. While the Waterton-Glacier Peace Park stood in the past as a symbol to the world of peaceful coexistence, its future utility as a conservation management model that promotes collaboration may diminish given the heightened concern for perimeter security after the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the US

Transboundry Peace Parks: Conservation, Collaboration and National Security

Presented paper. While many people are aware of the border controversy that is occurring on the southern border of the US, few know about what is going on at the northern border. Discussants commented that they learned a lot about the problems posed for conservation initiatives by the various walls that are being built in the name of border security.In 2004, the Nobel Peace prize was awarded to a Kenyan activist who is a leader in Africa’s anti-corruption, environmental, and women’s movement. In doing so, the Nobel Committee redefined the concept of peace to emphasize the environment, democracy building and human rights, and acknowledged the work of those within civil society who advocate for social change. Though the decision to honour an environmentalist with the world’s top Peace Prize was a controversial one, the notion that conservation initiatives can be used to promote peace and security is not a new one. Seven years earlier, Anton Rupert, HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, and Nelson Mandela founded the Peace Parks Foundation, with the mandate of fostering the establishment of transfrontier conservation areas. While the primary intention of the Peace Parks is to remove artificial boundaries to allow the free migration of animals and humans within the area, they are also set up to encourage economic development, tourism and goodwill between countries that share a border. Peace Parks scale up biodiversity conservation in order to protect what otherwise would be fragmented ecosystems in order to maintain viable populations of species. In doing so, these initiatives also promote cooperation and the sustainable use of natural resources in politically divided ecosystems. This paper will explore the evolution of the world’s first Peace Park, the Waterton- Glacier International Peace Park. This remarkable park was created in the 1930s, but what is of particular interest is that as the so-called “Crown of the Continent” it is also the centre of a far larger transborder initiative, the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) conservation movement. The Y2Y concept sees the establishment of a 1.2 million square kilometer ecoregion that would stretch from west-central Wyoming to northern Yukon and includes four American states, 2 Canadian provinces and 1 Canadian territory. It is notable that both the original Peace Park and the Y2Y vision emanated from civil society: the rotary clubs in Alberta and Montana in the case of the Peace Park and environmental organizations in the case of Y2Y. The Y2Y transborder network now claims over 800 groups, institutions, foundations and individuals as members. Placed in the context of the larger international movement toward linking conservation to peace and security initiatives, this case study illustrates the increasing importance of civil society in the development of public policy, and, as is the case in many environmental initiatives, the increasing importance of transborder linkages amongst groups within civil society in promoting a particular policy agenda.AVPR Special Research Opportunities & Academic & Professional Development Fund (A&PDF

Information Access, Transparency, and Good Governance: the Alberta record

This paper was presented at the Canadian Political Science Association meeting in Victoria June 2013. It was part of a panel called: Rights Claims, Identity, and Citizenship in an Oil Economy. This panel explored the impact of having a resource economy on democracy in Alberta in three areas: transparency, culture, and worker safety. A robust conversation ensued after the paper presentations.Access to information is recognized worldwide as a crucial component of a democratic state because transparency helps to expose corruption, ensures due process in law, and encourages the citizen engagement that is central to citizen participation (Stefanick 2011). For newly emerging democracies, the concept of “open government” challenges previously accepted notions that the interests of society as expressed through the power of the state take precedence over the interests of individual citizens. Institutions such as the World Bank and the UN Development program identify transparency as a critical component of good governance (Shrivastava and Stefanick 2011); access regimes are where the “rubber hits the road” for creating transparency. An evaluation of the functioning of access to information regimes provides not only an indicator of the “openness” of any particular government; it also can be used as an indicator of democratic health. Alberta has a long history as an early adopter of mechanisms to support government transparency – in 1967 it became the 3rd jurisdiction in the world to establish an administrative Ombudsman, and it established an access to information law a decade before the UK, Switzerland, and Germany. Nonetheless, the province has not escaped the criticism that it receives poor grades with respect to openness and transparency. This paper will evaluate the success of the Access to Information regime in Alberta in fostering the accountability that is crucial to good governance

"Information Access and Protection of Privacy: Cornerstones of the Democratic Administrative State”

This presentation was made to the Public Administration section of the Western Social Sciences Association meeting. The purpose of the presentation was to raise awareness amongst the public administration community of the importance of access and privacy to healthy administrative organizations and to the paucity of research in this area. A general discussion ensued regarding the phenomenal growth in digitial databases, and the ease with which information is both collected and disseminated. Two valuable contacts were made as a result of this presentation: a professor whose PhD student just defended a dissertation on access to information regimes in developing countries, and a visiting scholar from Korea whose current research is on gaming addiction, but who has a professional interest in IT public policy issues.The protection of privacy has received significant attention recently, particularly the threats posed to privacy by new technologies for mass data collection as well as post-911 security measures. Much less attention has been paid to the flip side of the privacy coin – access to information. Yet access to information in the public sector is critical to government transparency and accountability; both are components of a well functioning administrative state. Surprising little has been written in the public administration literature on either of access to information or protection of privacy, despite the fact they are cornerstones of a modern democracy. Moreover, administrative states worldwide have had to develop access and privacy administrative structures to comply with new legislative standards, with varying degrees of success. This paper seeks to address this gap in the public administration literature. It begins by examining assumptions concerning such concepts as privacy, accountability, democracy. It considers competing perspectives of the proper balance between access and privacy and argues that privileging one conception over the other speaks to underlying values that may or may not be shared. Without “unpacking” assumptions and the ideological baggage that goes with them, decision makers are in danger of pursuing flawed courses of action that could result in undermining democratic institutions

The Search for Paradise: Amenity Migration and the Growing Pains of Western Canadian Mountain Towns presented at the 2008 New Zealand Political Science Association Conference in Auckland, New Zealand, August 28-29, 2008

Presented paper. Few people are aware of the amenity migration phenomenon, though some work has been done in New Zealand by a few academics (though not usually in political science). Fortuitously, a member of the audience happened to be one of these scholars, so I made an important contact for future work in this area. Discussion revolved around the difficulties in doing comparative work (though this was a Canadian case study, the similarities to New Zealand are obvious) and also the impact that the rising price of oil will have.For many years, large Canadian urban centres have grappled with the issue of affordable housing. But in the last decade, this issue has become an acute problem for many small communities in the mountain ranges of Western Canada. “Amenity migration,” or the movement of people for recreational as opposed to economic purposes is putting tremendous upward pressure on housing prices and rental costs. Historically, the well-being of these communities depended on resource extraction activities, and when commodity prices declined, communities were left economically depressed. Recently however, these towns have become magnets for those who are drawn to them from neighbouring cities and from abroad by their natural beauty and outdoor recreational opportunities. Both the province of Alberta and parts of British Columbia are currently experiencing extreme labour shortages, and in mountain communities there has been a huge influx of workers on temporary visas (most notably from New Zealand, Australia, and the UK) into the burgeoning tourism industry. While local economies have been revitalized, soaring housing costs have caused acute problems for both seasonal workers and long time residents with modest incomes. Mountain communities are attempting to devise strategies to ensure both affordable housing and ecological sustainability. These vary with respect to understanding the phenomenon and planning appropriately for it. Moreover, coming up with a comprehensive plan for sustainable local development can be difficult in the face of conflicting values of local residents, temporary workers, and the amenity migrants. This paper will compare the policy responses of a number of mountain communities for dealing with the problems that amenity migration raises. As globalization decreases the isolation of communities worldwide, the lessons learned from these Canadian mountain towns can provide important lessons for previously remote locales in other parts of the world that are blessed with natural beauty and which have been, or soon will be “discovered” by a mobile, affluent global elite seeking to purchase a bit of paradise to which they can either relocate, or recreate.Academic & Professional Development Fund (A&PDF