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We Can Rebuild Our Party On Our Original Foundation

Dear Alberta Liberal,

The word Liberaldoes not have to be a dirty word. We have lost our way and need to go back to our roots in this province and build again from the strong foundation that was created by one of our past leaders, Laurence Decore.

Before I expand further on that thought, I want to introduce myself. My name is Bill Harvey and I have been a member of the Alberta Liberal Party for many years. I was the Calgary Campaign Coordinator for Laurence Decore. I ran for the party in the constituency of Calgary East in 2004 where I received 2,357 votes and increased our vote count by 4.71%. I ran again in 2008 where I received 2,433 votes and once again increased the Liberal vote in our area, but, unfortunately, once again finished second to the Alberta Progressive Conservative in the area. I fought hard in Calgary where if you were an Alberta Progressive Conservative you would win, much like the NDP members in Quebec who were in Vegas and ended up winning in the recent federal election for the NDP.

I am married to Marie and we have two adult children and a grandson. I was formerly the Vice President of Security Life, a successful financial services company and am currently serving as Branch Manager for Partners in Planning. I have also been heavily involved in my local community as the Past President of the Taradale Community Association, coaching minor hockey for six years and volunteering at the St. Thomas More Parish and am a member of the Knights of Columbus

Like many of you, I thought long and hard about this party and its direction. I concluded that this party is worth saving. I will not do what some like MLA Dave Taylor have already done and give up and join a fringe party like the Alberta Party.

I also do not feel that simply running under the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party banner just to get elected is the proper course of action. Nor do I feel that the Wildrose Alliance Party led by Danielle Smith is the best option. Do not get me wrong, I respect Danielle Smith and I also respect many in the Alberta Progressive Conservatives and even the Alberta Party. However, in my deep reflection of where I thought this party should be headed, or if I still wanted to be involved in serving Alberta I looked to our roots.

I am so excited to share my conclusions with you and why they are so applicable today. The following is a little synopsis of who we are: The year was 1988 and a man named Laurence Decoreshocked many as he left civic politics to lead the Alberta Liberal Party. The shock was not that he sought to lead our party, but, was seen as a very conservative Mayor of the City of Edmonton. He chose to fight against the Don Getty Tories because he could not stand their tax and spend ways. In the election of 1989 our party doubled its seat count and the tone of the legislature dramatically changed!

You might recall that Laurence Decore traveled with a debt clock, to remind Albertans, just how badly the Tories were putting us in debt. I also know that Laurence Decore would periodically pull out his wallet in speeches to make a point about how the Getty government was taking food off the table of Albertans and mortgaging our future. Did you know that Laurence Decore's constant message of accountability, transparency and fiscal management was embraced by Albertans? This common sense message brought our party from the fringe to 45% in the polls and devestated the governing Alberta Progressive Conservatives to a low of 18%. We forced Getty to resign and we forced Ralph Klein the new leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives to adopt many of our policies.

I do appreciate what all the leaders from our party have done and the sincere sacrifices they have made for the party, for Albertans and for their families. But, I do feel that we must have a blunt conversation amongst ourselves. I want to focus on our roots, but that does not mean that I am belittling anyone that has made sacrifices. I merely think we need to take a few steps back and rebuild our house on a solid foundation that Albertans embraced and Laurence Decore built.

We all know that the biggest threat to our treasured social programs is reckless spending and deficits. We can't continue going down this Tory path of deficits and massive spending. We can't continue to further erode our social programs and mortgage the future of our children and grand-children!

The tax dollars we collect belong to Albertans. In my business, I have experience in managing millions of dollars that have been entrusted to me. There is no doubt I understand business, budgets and economics as I am a business owner. I can manage budgets and people. I also have experience in listening to my customers and that experience will be very useful in listening to Albertans.

Please fill out the survey on the back and mail it in, or email me your thoughts to me at bill@electbillharvey.ca I hope to earn your vote as leader and be a sober voice for fiscal accountability in this province. We can have balance, support the social programs we hold dear, return to the responsible voice of Laurence Decore and secure the future of our children and grand-children. I am looking forward to meeting you on the campaign trail.

Leadership Candidate - Alberta Liberal Party
Phone: 403-726-1345
Website: www.electbillharvey.ca