After announcing his plans to leave the provincial legislature, St. Albert MLA Ken Allred painted a picture this week of a building and a process that is unable to deal with major problems facing Alberta.
"That is one of my big disappointments is we don't want to debate the tough issues. There is no debate that goes on in that legislature," he said. "It is just a bunch of silliness, half of it."
Allred, 70, said he has been concerned about the atmosphere in the legislature almost since he first arrived in 2008. He said that, while he at times considered a second run, he always suspected he would be a one-term MLA.
"I have never been a career politician and I was essentially retired when I got into this," he said. "I never really had any intention of being here for a long time."
Allred served several terms on St. Albert city council before moving to the legislature and said he preferred the approach in municipal politics, where issues are debated, decided and then everyone moves on to the next issue. He said that sort of approach doesn't happen in provincial politics.
"We have a democracy supposedly, but debate is a large part of that and I guess that is what I really have a difficulty with, partisan politics," he said.
Allred, arguably the most outspoken government MLA, said when he was first elected in 2008 there was no reason the government couldn't have engaged in a more constructive debate.
"Particularly with the majority we had, we could have had a lot more open, honest debate," he said.
In the partisan environment ideas come from the top and are pushed through, Allred said.
"There is not an awful lot of room for things to come up from the bottom," he said.
As an example, Allred pointed to a private member's bill he tabled that would have created fixed election dates on the third Monday in October every four years. When he first put the bill in front of the legislature, he felt pressure from his own caucus to pull back on it.
"I was basically asked to withdraw it and I said, 'no bloody way, this is a private member's bill. If you want to defeat, it defeat it.'"
Allred said he believes in some level of party discipline and would never reveal cabinet confidences or vote against major government initiatives like the budget, but private member's bills should be free votes.
"That is the idea of them, for gosh sake, but they are whipped like everything else," he said.
While he is happy the government has moved toward fixed elections dates, with the new legislation establishing a three-month window, he ultimately feels his bill was better.
"When I look back at mine compared to this one, I think mine is superior," he said.
In many cases he feels the pressure on MLAs comes not from elected leaders, but from the civil service.
"Sometimes I certainly get the feeling that the tail is wagging the dog," he said.
Outspoken
Fixed elections dates are not the only area where Allred has spoken out. When the government planned to de-list gender re-assignment surgery in 2009, Allred met with a constituent who was going through the process. He then introduced Jamie-Lynn Garvin in the legislature and asked some pointed questions about the issue.
Allred said he felt it was unfair for the government to pull funding while people were midway through a difficult process.
"He basically had a commitment because the program was there — he was halfway through the program and then they wanted to cut it," Allred said. "I stuck by my guns and I said this is not fair."
Allred also called for a registry of underground infrastructure for oil and gas wells and his most recent crusade has been around the issue of video lottery terminals (VLTs).
Allred said he doesn't plan to let that one go in his last few months in office, because the machines are hurting Albertans.
"They are not addicts, they are victims," he said. "We need to really look at this and see what the social cost is of VLTs."
Allred said on all these issues he takes a practical common sense approach, regardless of the party line.
"I guess I feel you are there to represent your constituents and you have to do the best you can and speak your mind," he said.
Fiscal house
One of Allred's biggest concerns in office has been the state of the province's finances. He said he wants to see Alberta save more of its resource revenues and plan better for the future.
Starting the government on a path toward savings will likely require some new taxes and a disciplined approach to spending, he said.
"We are living on our resources revenues and we can't continue doing that, because they are not going to be there forever," he said.
That means making sure the government is doing only what it needs to and doing that as efficiently as it can, he said.
"We have to do some trimming in the civil service, in my opinion," he said.
Allred said it also means talking about taxes and possibly allocating them to specific needs.
"Maybe we need to have something, whether it is an increase in the flat tax or a sales tax, heaven forbid, dedicated to health care so people know what they are paying for," he suggested.
Allred said he doesn't know what the solution is, but he wants to see more discussion.
"I don't have the answers," he said, "but I think they are issues that need public debate."
Change?
Allred is still hopeful there will be a change and that honest debate will return to the legislature. He said Premier Alison Redford promised such a change but it wasn't evident in her first session.
"There was supposed to be change, there might be change, but the way everything happened and having to get those six bills in. It was all top down," he said. "The agenda was laid out."
Changing the situation requires work on the part of MLAs and their constituents, he said.
"I think the public probably needs to get more engaged with their MLAs and particularly on subjects that aren't front and centre," he said.
When he leaves the legislature in the spring, Allred will be ready to step out of political life, but he will still try to have his voice heard.
"I don't think it will be hard to step away," he said. "I think it will be hard to keep my mouth shut."
Outspoken on the issues
During his term in office, outgoing MLA Ken Allred was at odds with the government caucus on some issues. For example, he:
• brought forward a private member's bill that would have set a fixed date, but the government was not interested in the bill at the time. A recently passed bill sets a fixed-election window;
• pushed for an online registration system for underground infrastructure, like oil wells, which the energy minster did not support;
• used his opportunities in question period to ask some pointed questions, including queries about the delisting of gender reassignment surgery and the government's decision to end the Wild Rose Foundation's role in distributing lottery funds;
• voted with the opposition on a proposal that would have mandated emergency room wait times.
