[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[PRC]

The party of Peter Lougheed, Ralph Klein, and Alison Redford.

Doesn't look right to include Redford's tarnished name with the other two.

It helps to explain why it's a former party.

Yep. By the by, speaking of Redford... she is now working as a policy advisor for the Government of Afghanistan:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alison-redford-afganistan-energy-1.4419170

From Calgary to Kabul: Former Alberta premier Alison Redford lands job in Afghanistan
'The reality is that it's certainly a high-risk environment,' she says

Former Alberta premier Alison Redford is now a top policy adviser to the government of Afghanistan, splitting her time between Calgary and Kabul, where she is tasked with helping the war-torn country develop its oil and gas industry, and shake off what she describes as a "war economy."

Redford's new job, which she started this month, is a partnership between the World Bank and Afghanistan's Ministry of Mines and Petroleum. The government department has long been plagued by accusations of mismanagement in a country that consistently ranks on the extreme end of the global corruption index, according to Transparency International.

Much of that corruption is due to the long-term instability of the Afghan government, and a bounty of fossil fuels that remain largely unexplored.

But any Canadian energy firms looking for an easy in on the country's oil and gas wealth shouldn't think of Redford's role as an inside edge. At least, not yet.

"I wouldn't open any doors, at least in the sense that I'm giving independent policy advice to the Afghan government," Redford told CBC News.

"The reality is that it's certainly a high-risk environment," she said. "But one of the reasons the government is doing what they're doing in creating a road map is to try to mitigate some of those risks, so that they're dealing with a clear fiscal framework and a clear regulatory framework to address some of those security issues."

The plan is to shift perceptions of Afghanistan towards an open-for-business approach in anticipation of the hoped-for end to decades of conflict.

As of this month, Redford is leading an initiative to attract energy and mining companies to the region over the next five to seven years. The plan will soon be published in what the Afghan ministry is calling its road map for the extractive sector.

Redford admits that helping oil and gas investors navigate the country's literal and regulatory minefields is no easy task.

Security in Afghanistan has deteriorated remarkably since 2005, she said.

That year, tens of thousands of U.S. and NATO troops struggled to maintain a central government outside the capital of Kabul, a city that today requires living "a very restricted life," she said.

The number of coalition troops in Afghanistan has since fallen off, and the security gap for foreign officials like Redford has widened with the resurgence of the Taliban.

"There's not a lot of ability to move around," Redford said. "There is a very strong and very regimented security regime that everyone basically lives by, and it creates a very odd working dynamic."

That means spending fewer than four hours per day at the ministry office, and dealing with countless meetings cancelled at a moment's notice.

"We live in a secure compound and work in a secure compound," Redford said.

World Bank spokesperson Yoko Kobayashi described the international development bank's role in Afghanistan as "full blown." But a development update issued by the bank this week paints a dire picture of the country's economic future.

"Afghanistan's security environment is continuing to deteriorate," according to the first line of the report summary.

"The increased conflict appears to be holding back business and consumer confidence from recovering fully from the impact of the security transition of 2014."

Redford is optimistic, however, that Afghan Prime Minister Ashraf Ghani and new Mines and Petroleum Minister Nargis Nehan can shake off the yoke of history and build a homegrown energy economy to rival the country's resource-rich neighbours.

"After the Russians left and the transition came with President Karzai, there was work the British geological service did and the U.S. Geological Survey," Redford said. "Some of the reserve assessments have been quite good."

Before looking for international investors, Redford said the Afghan government's first priority has to be restoring the war-ravaged country's electricity grid.

Much like Alberta, the plan is to ignite the country's natural gas stores, once thought worthless, to power a functional and accessible electricity grid.

"It's certainly shifted now to the opportunity to at least develop for domestic use and to put in place gas power plant projects," Redford said. "It certainly will contribute to greater economic activity and greater economic development in the country."

In July, the World Bank announced nearly $500 million in new grants for Afghanistan, citing "security threats" and "political uncertainties" plus the need to "expand electrification" as reasons for the loan.

Back home in Calgary, the picture isn't quite as bleak. But empty office towers and the stirrings of political change have Albertans looking for some sense of certainty.

"As this sector develops new technology [and] new approaches on the exploration side, in terms of how fields are developed and managed, I'd say Alberta is very good at that," Redford said, offering the hope of an economic olive branch to the Alberta energy industry while avoiding the politics that dominate the energy debate.

"My view is that when I left politics, I left, and so I'm really not very close to it."

[Barrister]

Huh.  My first thought was "What the F does Alison Redford know about international development?"

But here's what here Wiki page says about her pre-politics life:

Redford was born March 7, 1965, in Kitimat, British Columbia, the daughter of Helen Kay (née Anderson) and Merrill Redford.[6] Her mother was a Scottish immigrant, originally from Glasgow.[7] Redford's family moved to Nova Scotia and Borneo, and to Calgary by the time Redford was 12.[8] She graduated from Bishop Carroll High School, Calgary, and from the College of Law at the University of Saskatchewan in 1988.[9]

Throughout the 1990s, Redford worked as a technical adviser on constitutional and legal reform issues in various parts of Africa for the European Union, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Canadian Government and the Government of Australia. Her work in Africa focused on human rights litigation, developing education programs and policy reform with respect to gender issues.[9]

One of Redford's most notable appointments was by the Secretary-General of the United Nations as one of the four International Election Commissioners to administer Afghanistan's first parliamentary elections, held in September 2005. Political issues in the elections program within Alberta at that time were under question by the Elections Commissioner. She also served as an adviser to the Privy Council Office on Canada's future involvement in Afghanistan subsequent to the elections. Her work has included assignments in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Namibia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and the Philippines. Before her most current post, Redford managed a judicial training and legal reform project for the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme People's Court in Vietnam.[9]

[Jacob]

Seems like a worthwhile post-politics career. Good for her.

[Grey Fox]

Viper, VIPPPPPER.

You have a good, real reason to bash the Trudeau government. Come & do it!

[crazy canuck]

BB

What can you tell us about the new Supreme Court justice.

[HVC]

Viper, VIPPPPPER.

You have a good, real reason to bash the Trudeau government. Come & do it!

CdM ran him off

[Barrister]

BB

What can you tell us about the new Supreme Court justice.

Nothing really.  She was a Calgary judge, never appeared in front of her.  Her bio says she was a deputy justice for Yukon since 2009 but I never saw here up there either.

[Grey Fox]

Viper, VIPPPPPER.

You have a good, real reason to bash the Trudeau government. Come & do it!

CdM ran him off

Really? Fuck.

[crazy canuck]

BB

What can you tell us about the new Supreme Court justice.

Nothing really.  She was a Calgary judge, never appeared in front of her.  Her bio says she was a deputy justice for Yukon since 2009 but I never saw here up there either.

From what I can glean from her bio it looks like she spent a fair amount of time in academia and rose fairly quickly to the Alberta Court of Appeal.   A similar background to our current Chief Justice so I am hopeful

[Barrister]

BB

What can you tell us about the new Supreme Court justice.

Nothing really.  She was a Calgary judge, never appeared in front of her.  Her bio says she was a deputy justice for Yukon since 2009 but I never saw here up there either.

From what I can glean from her bio it looks like she spent a fair amount of time in academia and rose fairly quickly to the Alberta Court of Appeal.   A similar background to our current Chief Justice so I am hopeful

Reading her bio I can see why Trudeau picked her.

[crazy canuck]

Please share

[Valmy]

What he means is she is a person of obvious intelligence and integrity and he can see why Trudeau would be unable to resist appointing a person with such an impeccable resume and record to the Supreme Court.

[Valmy]

Viper, VIPPPPPER.

You have a good, real reason to bash the Trudeau government. Come & do it!

CdM ran him off

Really? Fuck.

Yeah. Since he was one of my best buds on the board that has kind of sucked.

[Barrister]

Please share

Sheilah Martin named new justice to the Supreme Court of Canada
Appointment will fill vacancy to be left by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, who is set to retire Dec. 15
By Kathleen Harris, CBC News Posted: Nov 29, 2017 9:15 AM ET Last Updated: Nov 29, 2017 11:42 AM ET

Alberta judge Sheilah Martin has been nominated as justice on the Supreme Court of Canada.
Alberta judge Sheilah Martin has been nominated as justice on the Supreme Court of Canada. (Noel Martin/Pipella Law)

2233 shares
   
Facebook
   
Twitter
   
Reddit
   
Google
   
Share
   
Email
Related Stories

Trudeau to name new Supreme Court judge to replace retiring McLachlin
Stacking the Supreme Court? This isn't the U.S.
Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin retiring from Supreme Court
Candidates from the North invited to apply for Supreme Court seat
An arm of the state should not be forcing lawyers to declare their values: Opinion
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has nominated Alberta-based Sheilah Martin to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Martin was first appointed as a judge in 2005, and served on the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta in Calgary until June 2016, when she was appointed as a judge of the Courts of Appeal of Alberta, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

She has also served as a deputy judge for the Supreme Court of Yukon since 2009.

Her 30-year legal career has focused on Indigenous issues, education, equality rights and increasing the number of underrepresented groups in law schools and the legal profession. A news release from the Prime Minister's Office also touted her awards, including the Distinguished Service Award for Legal Scholarship, the Law Society of Alberta's Certificate of Merit and the YWCA's Advancement of Women Award.

Chief justice retiring from top court
Meet the Supreme Court judges
Trudeau praised Martin's accomplishments as an asset to the top court.

"She has a breadth of experience, is an extraordinary jurist and has experience right across the country, including in the North," he said. "She's going to be a great voice on the Supreme Court."

The appointment Wednesday fills a vacancy on the bench from the pending departure of Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, who retires Dec. 15.

Chief justice to be named mid-December

Trudeau has not yet named a new chief justice, but his office said that appointment will be made in mid-December.

Next Monday, members of the House of Commons justice committee will hold a special hearing, where Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould will explain the selection process and provide reasons Martin was nominated.

Another meeting Tuesday that will be moderated by a law professor will give MPs and senators on the respective House and Senate justice committees an opportunity to ask Martin questions.

'Judicial temperament'

Conservative deputy justice critic Michael Cooper welcomed the "well-qualified" appointment, saying Martin brings both practical and academic perspectives to the bench.

"She has the judicial temperament. She is someone who brings experience. She is someone who is well-respected," he said.

NDP justice critic Murray Rankin welcomed the appointment of Martin, calling her an "extraordinary jurist." But he expressed disappointment an Indigenous candidate was not picked.

"I think all Canadians are disappointed. Certainly the NDP is disappointed that there wasn't an Indigenous person who was appointed," he said.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/supreme-court-justice-sheilah-martin-1.4424318

It wasn't meant as a dig - I can see why that resume would appeal to Trudeau (and, in comparison, not to Harper).

[Malthus]

I don't know much about her, other than what I've read recently.

She seems well-respected across political lines, which isn't unusual for Canadian judicial appointments - we have not, thank goodness, caught the US disease of making each and every judicial appointment into a partisan political battle - yet.

The NDP has cottoned on to the irony of appointing someone one of whose notable characteristics is "Indigenous issues" and "increasing the number of underrepresented groups in law schools and the legal profession" who is not herself indigenous ... and so whose appointment does not, in and of itself, increase the number of the "underrepresented" on the top court ... but their grumbling is pretty muted.