Raj Sherman is New Alberta Liberal Leader

Last night I attended the Alberta Liberal Party's special event at the University of Alberta to announce their next leader. With slightly more than 54 percent of the vote, that leader is ER doctor and health care crusader Dr. Raj Sherman. It's marvellous that this leadership race attracted more candidates and far more voters than our last race. Kudos to all the candidates, their volunteers, the Alberta Liberal Party staff and volunteers who made this very successful race possible. The hard work continues...

Here are some scenes from yesterday's event:

Edmonton-Riverview ALP candidate Arif Khan and his wife Nausheen.

The awesome Avril McCalla and Lethbridge-East MLA Bridget Pastoor.

The passionately purple "Laurie4Leader" buttons advertising Edmonton-Centre MLA Laurie Blakeman's campaign.

Leadership candidate Bruce Payne.

Renowned Edmonton blogger Dave Cournoyer, aka daveberta, was on hand to chronicle the event.

GQ model John "The" Santos was kind enough to pose.

Bruce Payne campaign slogan on a t-shirt.

Veteran MLA Hugh MacDonald finished a strong second.

PR guru Justin Archer.

Edmonton-Centre MLA Laurie Blakeman and her spouse Ben Henderson, one of Edmonton's city councillors.

Calgary-Buffalo MLA Kent Hehr and a pair of young Bruce Payne supporters.

ALP volunteer and former federal Liberal candidate Zack Siezmagraff was on hand to help ensure the proceedings ran smoothly.

The event's Calgary contingent included Neil Mackie, Jody MacPherson and Kent Hehr.

Josipa Petrunic was instrumental in organizing the race.

Outgoing ALP Leader Dr. David Swann delivered his last speech in that role yesterday, urging everyone to unite behind the new leader.

"Team Raj" supporters reacted with glee to the announcement of their candidate's decisive first-ballot victory.

Dr. Sherman on his way to the stage to deliver his acceptance speech.

Calgary-McCall MLA Darshan Kang seemed pleased with the results.

Media attention was intense, and Sherman was swarmed by reporters after his acceptance speech.

Best of all, I had the chance to visit briefly with some old friends who've moved on from the Alberta Liberal Caucus, including Tanara McLean and Kim Dewar.

All in all, it was an exciting day, the second leadership race I've attended and certainly the most dynamic and competitive so far. I look forward to working with Dr. Sherman, and hope I can remember to call him Raj...

Alberta Liberal Caucus Podcast for December 6, 2010

The fall sitting of the Alberta Legislature wrapped up last Thursday, and my colleague Tanara has created one last Alberta Liberal Caucus podcast for 2010. Listen here.

Most folks tend not to pay too much attention to the length of time legislators spend in the legislature, but I think it's important to note that Alberta MLAs spend less time in the house than any other jurisdiction in Canada save Prince Edward Island; this fall sitting lasted only a few weeks, for example, and each "week" in the legislature only lasts four days. That doesn't leave a lot of time for question period or debate, the cornerstones of our process of democratic accountability. This episode reveals just how little time the Premier devotes to that process.

I greet the end of each legislative session with mixed emotions. On the one hand, I'm disappointed that the time for debate and discussion is cut short in Alberta; on the other, session is pretty exhausting for caucus staff (and MLAs!), so the slightly less hectic pace is welcome.

Kevin Taft's book Democracy Derailed explores the problem of short legislative sessions and  a host of other issues in far greater depth and with more insight than I can offer here. Daveberta posted a good review of the book a couple of years back; you can read it here. Or you can read Calgary Grit's review here.