Sometimes he's awkward, and sometimes he's just so delightful

Ms Blakeman: Well, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Again to the Premier: will the Premier join with the Alberta Liberals and finally stand up for Calgarians by recommending that they fully fund the new hospital in south Calgary? Do the right thing.

Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, I don’t have to stand up with the Alberta Liberals. Alberta Liberals aren’t funding the hospital. The money for the hospital and all other infrastructure comes from the taxpayers of the province of Alberta.

So delightful!

Yesterday, I was at this. Harper said, "the era of empty rhetoric on the environment is over!" and I can only hope that this is true. Harper is a surprisingly good speaker, very confident and strong... unfortunately, our own leader is not so confident. He's just such a sweet man though, you can't help but feel for him. When Harper brought up Ernest C. Manning and how he said that Albertans dream of changing the world from their tractor seats... it was heartfelt when Stelmach later added that he was proud to leave his tractor seat and play his part in changing the world.

Yes, there were a whopping six protesters outside (protesters who frequently broke down into giggles at that). However, I think that we have got to start somewhere. We can't fix the environment overnight, but this announcement shows a commitment to change from both governments. I don't believe it's subsidizing the oil companies, you do have to give them a reason to want to change and cut back on their emissions. Besides, money isn't going to the oil companies, it's going to new technology to cut down on greenhouse gases.

Canada shouldn't be reactionary and depend on the rest of the world to come up with solutions. It should be a leader. It's the same sort of thing Dion was talking about during his campaign and his speech at the Liberal leadership convention... it's just a shame that it takes fear of a Liberal government to get Harper to focus on the environment.