Our policies are developed based on the six Green principles.
Revised as of February 2, 2019.
The adopted policies are marked with a green border to the left. All other text is background/additional information.
The Green Party of Alberta supports extending formal learning opportunities past high school into post-secondary education and beyond, to lifelong learning for all Albertans whatever their educational needs and desires. The Party recognizes that continuing education is key to ensuring that Albertans are well prepared for the employment opportunities presented by the new, greener economy.
Policies must ensure that people who want to upgrade their education, technical skills or English language abilities can do so without going into burdensome debt.
The Green Party of Alberta supports policies to keep agricultural lands in the hands of farmers and ranchers and to limit encroachment of towns and cities on those lands. The Party would act to encourage the production of organic food by Alberta farmers and ranchers and supports measures that encourage Albertans to buy from local food producers. The Party would also ensure that farm workers were treated with dignity and respect by extending Workers' Compensation coverage to them.
Around the world bees are dying at alarming rates. Beekeepers and farmers are advocating a stop to the use of these chemicals which appear to be strongly implicated in bee population decline.
The Green Party would immediately put a ban on the use of all neonicotinoid anywhere they would be considered dangerous to the health of bees.
A Green Party government will engage in a dialogue with farmers focusing on sustainable agriculture and measures that would contribute to achieving this end, knowing that farmer acceptance and support is absolutely essential for the success of any agricultural policies.
A Green Party of Alberta government will provide assistance to all producers to certify under the existing Alberta Environmental Farm Plan process and to continue applying the prescribed environmental protection measures.
A Green Party government will establish priorities for research focusing on sustainable soil use and cropping practices.
The Green Party of Alberta would engage with producers to restructure the farm product commissions into producer member-led producer commissions to facilitate their voice in policy and advocacy.
The Green Party will seek to improve marketing options for farmers by encouraging competition, increasing training for butchers, bakers, millers and processors, and encouraging local sourcing within publicly run operations (farm to hospital, farm to school, etc.).
The Green Party of Alberta recognizes the harm synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers present to the environment, other species and human health. We would provide a subsidy to farmers to support transitioning to organic/permaculture, agroecology and other sustainable agricultural practices.
A Green Party government will begin immediate funding for publicly available and transparent research into the long term effects of agrochemical weed control, including the effects on human health, soil microflora, nutrient retention, and soil erosion.
A Green Party government will fund projects that bring together agricultural stakeholders in participatory crop development programs in order to work toward cropping systems that maintain soil health in a sustainable manner.
A Green government will create a land bank commission to preserve agricultural land for small, family and locally owned co-op farms, assist retiring farmers to pass on their land to new farming families, support environmental stewardship and ensure resilience of rural communities and our food supply.
The Green Party will ensure soil health including through measures that prevent erosion and degradation.
The Green Party will work with Alberta farmers and scientists to develop mandatory targets to address threats to soil health, including acidification, biodiversity loss, compaction, contamination, salinization/sodification, nutrient imbalance, sealing, organic carbon loss and erosion.
Be it resolved that the Green Party of Alberta will amend the Animal Protection Act to include wildlife.
Be it resolved that the Green Party of Alberta will ban trophy hunting.
Inequality is growing in Alberta and people with lower incomes are falling further behind. Poverty and inequality cause human suffering but also impact all Albertans through less vibrant and inclusive communities, higher costs for health care and the justice system and lost economic opportunity. The Green Party of Alberta will work together with communities to implement a comprehensive strategy to end poverty and to achieve a more equitable distribution of resources.
The Green Party of Alberta supports implementing a Guaranteed Annual Income in this province. Implementing this program would eliminate many of the current bureaucratic, highly administrative interventions that now exist; their ineffectiveness only exceeded by the humiliation they perpetuate. The current income tax system can administer this program without any additional bureaucracy.
The GPA would supplement the guaranteed annual income where needed.
The Green Party supports the creation of a coordinated, publicly-funded and delivered support system for seniors who require care. The system will be based on principles of dignity and respect and will focus on quality of life including emotional, spiritual and social needs of seniors as well as health-care needs. We will expand home care to bring the care people need into their own homes. For people who can no longer remain at home we will provide long term care options in improved facilities that are more home-like and that follow best international practices.
The Green Party will expand and adequately fund comprehensive home care to ensure it is responsive to both health and personal care needs of the patient and the family so that people are able to stay in their own homes as long as possible rather than having to move for care.
The GPA will increase support and funding to provide affordable, high-quality not-for-profit child care and early childhood development spaces as required.
Therefore, be it resolved that a Green Party of Alberta government would set automatic annual increases to all financial social supports, indexed to changes in the provincial Low-Income Cut Off measure (LICO).
The Green Party of Alberta would rethink and restructure the provision of child welfare and youth justice services so as to better accomplish a fundamental task—nurturing a sense of belonging in children who lack a functional family or other intact support system.
Be it resolved that a Green Party of Alberta Government would set automatic annual increases to the provincial minimum wage matching the percentage increase in a cost of living index.
Therefore a government led by the Green Party of Alberta would make adaptation to climate change an integral part of all government decision-making. Where communities suffer damage from extreme weather and other climate related events, a Green government would ensure that they are rebuilt in such a way as to minimize the likelihood that they suffer the same sort of damage again in the future. A Green Party of Alberta government would work with municipal governments to amend the Municipal Government Act so as to ensure the principles of adaptation to climate change are followed by municipal governments throughout the province.
A Green Party of Alberta government will coordinate the production of accurate floodplain maps for the province. It will also produce flood plain maps for projected changes 25 years in the future.
The Green Party of Alberta will actively support dramatic reductions from the shipping and aviation industries, and particularly a global carbon price on shipping and aviation fuels, by consulting with and urging the federal government to take up the policy in international fora and negotiations, and other mechanisms.
The Green Party recognizes that a flourishing cultural scene contributes hugely to the well-being of Albertans, in terms of both quality of life and employment opportunities and other forms of economic development. The Party believes that government has a role to play in supporting culture and the arts.
The Green Party of Alberta is committed to re-invigorating political life in the province by practicing honest, trustworthy politics.
The Green Party supports policies to build confidence in government, such as maximizing the transparency of all government operations and putting in place serious campaign finance regulations with significantly lower maximum allowable contributions.
The Green Party of Alberta supports electoral reform to introduce proportional representation in Alberta.
It is important to reinvigorate politics in the province. One task is to strengthen political parties so they can function better. Annual payments of this kind ensure that funding follows each voter's choice and they encourage more people to cast ballots.
The Green Party of Alberta supports replacing our current winner-take-all FPTP voting system with one that produces results significantly more proportional to the way Albertans cast their ballots.
A GPA government would strike a Task Force to study alternative proportional systems, consult with the public on those options and make recommendations to the Legislature.
The proportional system adopted by the Legislature would be used for at least two general elections after which time a referendum would be held to determine if Albertans are satisfied with the change or want to go back to the old system.
The Green Party of Alberta would lower the voting age in provincial, municipal and school board elections to 16.
Therefore, a Green Party of Alberta government would legislate that the third-party spending regulations for provincial elections be applied to all municipal and school board elections and by-elections, in addition to any further constraints imposed by municipal election bodies.
A Green Party government would make all charges, findings and penalties imposed under the Election Act, as well as any subsequent, related legal proceedings (for example, appeals) publicly available immediately on the web site of the Chief Electoral Officer.
A Green Party government would review and amend the _Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act_ to maximize the availability of government-held information to Albertans and remove all unjustifiable exemptions.
A Green Party government would also amend the _Conflicts of Interest Act_ so that the responsibility for reporting meetings between government officials and others would fall on the shoulders of those government officials. (With this change made there would be no need for a Registrar of Lobbyists.) Government officials would be required to display all such meetings in their daily agendas which would be posted in real time on their web sites. Monthly summaries of these meetings with participants and topics discussed included would also be posted.
With the objective of enhancing the free flow of information to the public about what government is doing a Green government would disband the Public Affairs Bureau.
A Green Party government would establish an independent, non-ad hoc process for setting MLA and Cabinet Ministers salaries, benefits, and compensable expenses. Before making a choice of process, it would review how these issues are handled by other Canadian jurisdictions which use such processes, such as Manitoba, Ontario and PEI.
The Green Party of Alberta would strike a Citizens' Assembly to advise and consult on how all dimensions of provincial government operations can be made more genuinely participatory and transparent to Albertans.
Currently in Alberta the credit for donations up to and including $200 is 75%, from $201-1100 it's 50% and from $1101-2300 it's 33.3%.
The Green Party of Alberta supports tightening up the campaign finance and expenditure rules which apply to school board elections. As a first step, the GPA would make school board elections subject to campaign expenditure rules that are at least as rigorous as those which apply to municipal council elections.
Therefore, be it resolved that a Green Party of Alberta government would adopt the "open by default" approach in the gathering, compiling, and processing, of new data. This would require explicit action to be taken by government workers or officials to designate data to be withheld from public disclosure. In the absence of such action, data systems and practices would be enacted to automatically make the data available through "Open Data" processes in accordance with personal privacy legislation.
The Green Party of Alberta unequivocally supports a strong, consistent public education system, the focus of which is to prepare every child to be an engaged, empowered and contributing citizen of a vibrant, diverse democracy. Indeed, the Green Party of Alberta supports the achievement of excellence in all our public institutions, such as in education and healthcare.
A Green Party of Alberta Government will amend the Alberta School Act so as to prevent the funding of any school the purpose of which is to serve only certain racial, ethnic or religious groups.
Not all choice-based schools threaten Canadian democracy and civic values, but some do – particularly those that segregate children along lines such as race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or economic status. Respect for diversity is not enhanced by segregation on such grounds. On the contrary, public education celebrates diversity by educating children together so they may come to understand and value everyone's unique individuality.
Race, ethnicity and religion are particularly troublesome in this regard. The history of racial and ethnic segregation and discrimination against gays and women by religious institutions is notorious. None of these practices should be allowed to infect public education.
The GPA supports school programs geared to improving civility and eliminating violence and bullying.
An example of this is The Roots of Empathy program, created by Canadian Mary Gordon. This program facilitates year-long monthly visits by neighbourhood families with new babies to classrooms. The program helps children develop tolerance and respect for others by imagining _their_ baby's perspective.
The Green Party of Alberta would hold a provincial referendum on whether separate school boards in the province should be disbanded and combined with the public system.
Because the special benefit given Catholics through the separate school system in Alberta is embedded in the Constitution, it cannot be ended simply by amending the School Act. Albertans would have to vote on whether the separate school system should be disbanded and rolled into the public system.
A Green Party of Alberta Government would add a requirement to the School Act that every proposal for a new alternate program or school will be subjected to a formal assessment of its impact on Canadian civic values which include democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. Where that impact is significantly negative, and cannot be mitigated, the proposal must be refused. All existing alternative programs shall be subject to periodic review, and, if no longer compatible with Canadian civic values, will be terminated.
Choosing a school or program is not like choosing a product—toothpaste, for example—from the store shelf. It doesn't matter what kind of toothpaste other Albertans use. But taken cumulatively, parents' decisions on schools or programs have a huge impact on the continued well-being of neighbourhoods, the broader community and on public education itself. Much of that impact—for example, of establishing a golf academy within the public system—may be unintended, so all involved need to be more aware of the consequences of their decisions.
In order to minimize fragmentation and segregation, every proposal for a new alternate program or school should be subjected to a formal assessment of its impact on the civic values necessary to keeping Alberta a healthy, pluralist democracy. This impact would be assessed by the relevant school board or, in the case of charter schools, by the Minister of Education.
The Green Party of Alberta would reduce public funding for private schools from 70% (the current level) to 50%, which was the level of funding first introduced by the Lougheed government.
Exceptions would be made only for schools which offer programs that are educationally necessary for disabled students and are not available in the public system.
The money saved by this funding reduction would be earmarked for improvements to the public education system.
The effects of the funding reduction would be studied and further reductions considered on the basis of that study.
Green MLAs will work to develop solutions to reduce costs for students including tuition charges for universities, colleges, and trade schools.
A Green Party government will work to improve affordability and accessibility as we move towards a more equitable system of adequate stable funding of education.
Universal public education has long been the pride of Canadians. Education is an essential building block of our society and a well-educated province will be a top priority for Green MLAs.
Today's education policy reflects yesterday's knowledge and practices and is in need of a significant upgrade. It marginalizes opportunities for the learning disabled, gifted learners, older teens, and Alberta First Nations. It falls short of providing students with the knowledge and experience they will need to meet future environmental and social challenges.
The focus for Greens is on the individual needs of students with different abilities and interests to make sure all students receive a strong education. The Green Party of Alberta supports an education system that develops all Albertans' strengths, potential, natural desire to learn, and curiosity. Lifelong learning and the skills needed for students of all ages to participate meaningfully in society are strong Green Party commitments.
It is unacceptable that students leave higher education with extraordinary levels of debt.
The GPA Government will reinstate funding for extracurricular sports, fine arts, and student clubs that encourage healthy community spirit, creativity, and leadership.
Schools should not be stressful places for children.
Formal instruction will not begin before a child is six years old.
Daycares and early childhood classes will encourage play and outdoor activity when at all possible.
But in Canada even very young students (estimates are 30% or more) are unhappy and under extreme stress. Producing stressed out robots is not beneficial to the students or society. Finland, which follows the principles listed below, tops global educational results.
Special education must be such an integral part of the system that it has no stigma attached. Early identification and resolution of problems will be the focus and necessary support resources will be available.
A Green Party government's required educational outcomes will include teaching tolerance, good citizenship and sustainable, healthy living that includes human sexuality.
The Green Party of Alberta supports transforming schools into community centres offering programs such as libraries, recreation facilities, technology and training areas, fine arts theatres, and studios in partnership with municipalities and the elementary and secondary schools.
The Green Party of Alberta recognizes that for most ordinary Albertans employment – a good job – is key to their financial security and sense of well-being. The Party also appreciates that the move to a smart, greener economy, which it supports, will provide more good work, not less, and thus will improve the lives of Albertans and that of newcomers to the province.
A Green Party government will establish a commission to review the processes whereby foreign-trained and out-of-province professionals are certified to practice in Alberta.
The Green Party of Alberta recognizes climate change as a serious threat to humanity globally. The Party also recognizes Alberta's ethical obligation to contribute to the solution of climate change and supports an orderly transition from dependence on fossil fuel exploitation to reliance on the full range of renewable energy sources available in the province, including wind, solar power and geo-thermal. The Party endorses the fastest possible retirement of Alberta's coal- burning electricity plants and is against any expansion in the rate of production from the oil sands.
The Green Party of Alberta would place a moratorium on development of additional tar sands projects until the impacts of existing and approved projects on the environment, infrastructure and society are assessed and an overall development policy is created.
The Green Party of Alberta is opposed to construction of the Northern Gateway Pipeline.
The Green Party of Alberta is opposed to construction of the Keystone Pipeline.
The Green Party of Alberta opposes the proposed Energy East Pipeline.
The Green Party of Alberta supports the idea that we should live within our existing pipeline means and thus opposes the approval and construction or expansion of any pipeline the purpose of which is to transport bitumen production from Alberta.
The Green Party of Alberta will improve government monitoring of all pipelines.
Although the matter is largely within the jurisdiction of the federal government, the Green Party of Alberta supports the tightening up of all laws and regulations concerning the transport by train of bitumen production and all other hydrocarbons and dangerous goods.
The GPA supports a thorough independent review of the economics of the Northwest Upgrader project and, if so indicated, the termination of provincial participation in it.
A Green Party government would terminate government funding for carbon capture and sequestration.
The Green Party of Alberta supports research into power storage technology that would make intermittent alternative power sources more viable, for example, technology that would store excess wind power for use when the wind is not blowing.
The Green Party supports phasing out the use of coal for electric power generation, with the goal of complete elimination by 2030. A Green Party government would replace coal generation with renewable power, improved efficiency, small-scale cogeneration, demand response, and natural gas peaking capacity.
The Green Party of Alberta supports the introduction of laws and regulations that would create a level playing field for geothermal energy, both for heating and for generation of electricity. In particular, the GPA supports creation of a licensing system for geothermal wells.
The Green Party would set a goal of a 50% renewably powered grid by 2030. It would provide economic incentives for the transition through a combination of carbon taxes, feed-in tariffs, tax incentives, and regulation.
The Green Party of Alberta would re-envision the Alberta electricity grid to give preference to decentralized power minimizing the need for long-distance transport from large, centralized power plants.
Recognizing that the Alberta grid is relatively isolated, the Green Party supports support the development of an interconnected national grid.
The Alberta Greens support the phasing out of coal leases.
The Green Party of Alberta does not support the large scale use of crop land, forest and other vegetation for conversion to bio-fuels.
Since energy efficiency is the cheapest, easiest and quickest way to drastically reduce our energy consumption, the Green Party supports initiatives to facilitate it. For example, the Green Party of Alberta would require all homes to have an energy efficiency rating at point of sale or resale.
The Green Party of Alberta supports the provision of government subsidies, based on income, to offset or pay for installation costs for home based renewable energy technology.
The Green Party supports the immediate implementation of feed-in tariffs. A Green Party government would require power companies to compensate customers for their power input at a substantial premium over the cost they pay for their power and to guarantee such arrangements for a term of 10 years.
The Green Party strongly supports renewable energy, especially solar power. A Green Party government would immediately facilitate the construction of solar power stations.
Further to the goal of encouraging the development and use of solar energy, Alberta Greens would require developers/builders to offer an optional solar package to all new home buyers.
The Green Party recognizes that in the move away from carbon-based energy sources to benign renewables, other values must also be protected. For example, bio-diversity and the agricultural land needed for food security.
The GPA resolves that the province's overall renewable energy strategy be designed to take into account the mix of available local energy sources.
A Green Party government would act to promote research and development of geothermal energy in Alberta, either through the creation of a Crown corporation analogous to AOSTRA or through a much stronger emphasis on geothermal research at Alberta Innovates.
Therefore, be it resolved that a Green Party of Alberta government would establish an EV rebate comparable to that of Quebec, British Columbia, and Ontario. Such rebate be available within a term of 2 years with such term being open to extension by the legislature.
Therefore, be it resolved that a Green Party Government would ban multi-stage, high pressure hydraulic fracturing in Alberta.
Whereas wells which have been fracked have given rise to serious problems, the effects on the environment must be assessed and mitigated to the highest degree possible.
Be it resolved that a Green Party of Alberta Government would require that the concentrations and compositions of all additives to frack fluids be made available on a public data base and easily accessed by legal land description.
Be it resolved that a Green Party of Alberta Government would require groundwater testing of all public and private water wells within an eight kilometer radius of each multi-stage, high pressure, hydraulic fracked well, including testing for all additives in the frack fluid used in that well. Results of such testing must be made publicly available and easily accessed by legal land description. Be it further resolved that any contamination must be mitigated and remediated to the highest degree possible, and costs levied on the company responsible for the fracked well.
Be it resolved that a Green Party of Alberta Government would require ongoing monitoring and public disclosure and reporting of all monitoring results of all multi-stage, high pressure, hydraulic fracked wells to determine and stop any leaks of contaminants into air, soil, or water.
With ecological wisdom and sustainability two key Green principles, environmental protection lies at the heart of Green Party thinking. The Green Party would beef up every aspect of environmental protection and weave environmental criteria into other policy areas whenever appropriate. For example, when provincial electoral boundaries are next redrawn, the Green Party will urge that ecosystem boundaries be included as a mandatory consideration.
The public, including public-interest advocacy groups, should have the right to greater participation in the regulatory process.
The Green Party of Alberta encourages the Alberta government to press for a change in Federal bankruptcy law to give priority to discharging a bankrupt entity's obligations to reclaim and restore uneconomic industrial sites before dispersing any funds to other creditors.
The Green Party of Alberta calls upon the provincial government to top up the Orphan Well Fund by an amount sufficient to eliminate its backlog of well-sites requiring abandonment and reclamation, and to recover these costs by means of a surcharge on PNG (petroleum and natural gas) and bitumen royalties.
The GPA calls for adoption of an Environmental Bill of Rights (EBoR) for the province of Alberta. Because laws can be passed more quickly than constitutions amended, the GPA would enact an EBoR first as a statute and then, later, move for it to be added to the provincial constitution.
The EBoR would legally enshrine the right of Albertans to a "healthy and ecologically balanced environment" and would impose a duty on the government of Alberta to protect the environment under its jurisdiction for the benefit of both present and future generations.
the interacting natural systems that include" the above mentioned components.
The EBoR would guarantee that neither Indigenous people nor other Albertans would lose any of the legal rights or legal remedies they already have to protection of the environment.
Be it resolved that the Green Party of Alberta supports Ecotourism as defined by The International Ecotourism Society.
facilitate the implementation of those measures.
The Green Party of Alberta would amend the school curriculum to ensure that every child has the knowledge and skills to grow food to feed themselves, and understands the current global food system.
The Green Party is committed to ensuring that Albertans have reliable access to safe and nutritious food, now and in the future by guaranteeing local food production capacity.
The Green Party is committed to enforcing the legal right to food as set out in the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights.
The Green Party of Alberta supports sustainable conduct forest management practices that prioritize the ecological services of forests in water retention and management, air purification and cleaning, and maintaining species diversity.
The economic values of timber extraction, food foraging reserves, and recreational use of natural landscapes will be treated as important secondary considerations.
The Green Party supports prescribed burning as a forest management tool.
Prescribed fire is the knowledgeable and controlled application of fire to a specific land area to accomplish planned resource management objectives. These fires are managed in such a way as to minimize the emission of smoke and maximize the benefits to the site.
Prescribed fire appears to be the most effective means for controlling the rate of spread and severity of wildfires.
A Green Party government would initiate a public education program to inform Albertans about the benefits of prescribed burning, and how a return to it benefits forest health.
Forest fires are viewed negatively, but, fire is a natural phenomenon that rejuvenates forests by promoting new growth, reducing disease and increasing productivity by limiting specific types of reforestation.
Whereas Alberta has seen significant deforestation throughout its existence as a Province.
Whereas trees have significant positive environmental impacts, including as a major carbon-sink and for air quality.
Be it resolved that a Green Party of Alberta Government would ban the practice of clear-cutting of forests.
Be it resolved that a Green Party of Alberta Government would phase out all logging practices that do not meet standards of sustainability and preservation of forest ecosystems.
Green Party policy on health stresses the importance of wellness and prevention of illness through the elimination of poverty and homelessness and the adoption and enforcement of environmental policies that will keep our air, water and land free from contaminants which cause disease. Green policy would encourage an individual, patient-centred approach to the delivery of health services. The Green Party would work to ensure the sustainability of Alberta's universal, publicly-funded healthcare system and to extend the coverage of that system, over time, to cover basic dental care and other critical health services.
The Green Party of Alberta is strongly in favour of maintaining a publicly-funded, government-operated health care system.
The Alberta Greens recognize the overwhelming importance of exercise to the health of Albertans and of the harm to any Albertan denied full opportunity to exercise. The Green Party of Alberta would provide funding to remove barriers to participation such as access to facilities, transportation, childcare and other support services.
The Green Party of Alberta supports a preventative approach to healthcare.
The Green Party of Alberta supports inclusion of basic dental care in the services covered by AHS.
A Green Party government would extend Alberta Health Care coverage to all health professionals falling under the _Health Professionals Act_.
A Green Party government would work to reduce unnecessary and redundant prescriptions, tests and other inappropriate use of health services.
The Green Party of Alberta would investigate the current application within Alberta of Nationally Allowed Guidelines for cadaver organ transplants, in particular the donation after cardiac death (DCD) as well as after brain death.
A Green Party government would work with health care professionals to empower individuals to improve their own health.
The Green Party of Alberta supports increased funding to improve dignified end of life treatment, specifically, to improve palliative care, pain management, community and home care resources and grief counseling.
The Green Party of Alberta supports changes that would see the cost of prescription drugs covered by our provincial healthcare program. The Green Party recognizes that the costs to government of providing pharmacare will be less if implementation of this program is put in place and coordinated across the country. For example, the provinces will be able to get a better price on many drugs if they purchase them jointly rather than province by province. Accordingly, the Green Party strongly supports a pan-Canadian approach to implementation of pharmacare but wants to see the province of Alberta show leadership on this issue.
The Alberta Green Party will work vigorously to bring continuity to our badly fractured mental health system by providing appropriate resources and followup treatment.
One in every five people in Alberta is affected by mental health issues. Bits and pieces of the system work effectively but results are measured by output rather than outcome. Afflicted people and their families are often left in desperate circumstances due to both lack of resources and appropriate followup and treatment.
The GPA will support research into environmental factors contributing to mental illness.
The GPA is committed to high ethical standards and knows that any government will be judged by the way in which it treats its most vulnerable members, including those that face mental illness. The GPA recognizes that mental health services and facilities in the province have long been inadequate and that Albertans have a right to much better, that is, to as good mental health care as our society can collectively afford.
All health care professionals and front line workers in the emergency, health, education and social service sectors—e.g., police, peace officers, teachers, nurses, nurses-aids, doctors, dentists , social workers and others—will be trained to recognize and deal with the manifestations of mental ill-health.
A GPA government will ensure that there are a sufficient number of appropriately trained and licensed mental-health specialists in Alberta to meet the needs of all Albertans.
Greens take very seriously the need of Albertans for affordable, suitable to their needs and sustainable, for example, energy efficient, housing.
The Green Party of Alberta supports the new small house philosophy and will develop policies to help accommodate this style of housing.
The Green Party of Alberta supports adoption of a building code for straw and earth structures.
A Green Party government will revise and update the current provincial social housing regulations, and will develop a long-term capital plan for additions to, and maintenance of, that portion of the social housing stock that is owned by the province and municipalities.
The Green Party of Alberta encourages affordable cooperative housing.
The Green Party of Alberta supports the approach to ending homelessness known as "Housing First." The GPA recognizes that Housing First is an empty slogan and cannot be successful anywhere in the province unless there is an adequate supply of affordable and supported housing for those needing it. A GPA government would ensure there is an adequate supply of both affordable and supported housing and other required resources throughout the province.
Greens would require all municipalities to facilitate alternative approaches to more sustainable housing, such as housing cooperatives and co-housing. The purpose of these facilitators (in essence, case-managers) would be to assist groups wanting to build or retrofit existing buildings for cooperatives, co-housing or other alternative approaches to housing, in getting through the approval process successfully and as quickly as possible.
Greens would require all municipalities to review their bylaws, regulations and procedures so as to remove unnecessary or unreasonable barriers to meeting the need for affordable and alternative forms of housing, including for cooperatives and co-housing.
Respect for human dignity and individuality lies at the heart of human rights. The Green Party of Alberta supports robust legal protection for the human rights of all Albertans. The Party would ensure that the Alberta Human Rights Commission functioned effectively to promote respect for human rights in the province.
The Green Party of Alberta supports amending the _Alberta Human Rights Act_ to require prospective employers to eliminate names, gender, and age from initial hiring and application processes in order to reduce discrimination.
The Green Party of Alberta would amend the _Alberta Human Rights Act_ to make it illegal to discriminate in employment on the basis that a person has been convicted of a criminal or summary conviction offence that is unrelated to the employment, or to the intended employment, of that person.
where an offer is made and a criminal record is shown to exist, it would be illegal for the employer to withdraw the job offer, unless the offence for which there is a conviction is related to the intended employment of that person.
Therefore, a Green Party of Alberta government would mandate all governmental departments and agencies to include an option to specify "other" wherever gender is to be specified in forms or other procedures.
The Green Party of Alberta appreciates that Indigenous people have been treated very badly by all levels of government in the past. The Party recognizes government's duty to help facilitate the reconciliation of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Albertans in every facet of society. This commitment to reconciliation would permeate all policy development, law-making and day-to-day government operations.
A Green Party of Alberta government would abide by both the letter and the spirit of the constitutional duty to consult and accommodate Indigenous peoples when the Crown's conduct impacts Indigenous or Treaty rights.
A Green Party of Alberta government would negotiate revenue sharing with Indigenous communities affected by resource developments.
A Green Party of Alberta government would negotiate co-management regimes with Indigenous communities affected by resource developments.
A Green Party of Alberta government would enforce compliance with conditions attached to licences and permits, issued by government, that allow projects to proceed.
A Green Party of Alberta government would make loans and advances against shared revenue available to Indigenous communities.
A Green Party of Alberta government would also commission a review of existing Alberta laws and policies to identify laws and policies which are non-compliant with the declaration for the purpose of bringing forward amendments or replacements or revoking such legislation. Such a commission would be constituted of a majority of Indigenous members.
Therefore, the Green Party of Alberta acknowledges and endorses the report of the TRC and the 94 "TRC Calls to Action".
Therefore, a Green Party of Alberta government would mandate that all government properties where provincial or national flags are flown will also fly, not in an inferior position, the applicable Treaty flag and/or flag of the local First Nation(s) on whose traditional territory the property is found.
Be it further resolved that local First Nations elders and leaders shall be properly engaged, with appropriate recognition and compensations (such as, but not limited to, ceremonial tobacco), prior to the first raising of such flags, for the purpose of having appropriate and inclusive ceremonies at the first raisings.
A Green Party government would take proactive steps to determine whether systemic abuses against Indigenous people, such as coerced sterilizations (e.g., against Indigenous women in Saskatchewan) or police abuse of power (e.g., against Indigenous women in Quebec), that are documented to have occurred in other provinces have also occurred in our province.
Be it resolved that the Green Party of Alberta recognizes traditional Indigenous hunting rights and that Provincial Laws and Regulations do not supersede those rights.
The Green Party of Alberta would apply sustainability principles to proposals for new infrastructure. For example, the question of new transmission lines would have to be evaluated in light of the need to transition to production of electricity from renewable sources which by their very nature tend to be more dispersed than huge coal-burning plants. Greater decentralization may mean less need for transmission lines and cost savings.
The Green Party of Alberta vigorously opposes all P3, that is, public-private partnership, initiatives.
A Green Party government would assess and regulate the density of all linear developments (roads, utility corridors, pipelines, railways, power lines, telecom infrastructure, right of ways, etc.) in order to minimize their negative impact on watershed health.
A well-functioning and fair legal system lies at the heart of Canadian democracy, including our democracy here in Alberta. Alberta Greens would be vigilant in keeping our legal system strong where it is still in good shape and to improving it where weaknesses are developing or are already evident.
A GPA government would provide adequate funding for legal aid in this province.
The Green Party supports law and public finance reform that would better recognize the key role that city governments play in meeting the needs of Albertans.
A GPA Gov't will amend the _Municipal Government Act_ to give Alberta municipalities the power to require that developers make a certain percentage of their projects affordable housing. More research would be needed to establish the precise criteria for implementing inclusive zoning.
Alberta municipalities are eager for more authority and greater taxing powers so as to better meet the needs of their citizens. For example, Calgary and Edmonton are in negotiation with the provincial government for city charters which would give them greater autonomy.
But in the meantime the _Municipal Government Act_ needs amending in order that Alberta cities can govern in a more sustainable and fair way. One specific need concerns the provision of more affordable housing units through mandatory inclusive zoning, which as Calgary Mayor Nenshi has explained: "compels builders to apportion a percentage of the units they build to affordable housing (between 5 and 20 percent)." Under current law, Alberta cities do not have the power to make such demands of developers.
The GPA will provide meaningful discussions with the municipalities to develop a definition of grey water leading to further discussions on the secondary use of grey water and storm water runoff.
The Green Party of Alberta would adopt a framework which sets and supports sustainability targets for the province including our municipalities. The framework would be enforced by provincial law, including by means of amendments, if necessary, to the Municipal Government Act.
The Green principles of social justice and sustainability bear on public finance policy. Accordingly, the Party would avoid incurring debt that would limit the ability of future generations of Albertans to meet their needs.
A Green Party of Alberta supports a progressive income tax, in the interests of social justice.
A Green Party government would reinstate the 2001 corporate tax rates which are higher than current rates.
The Green Party of Alberta supports introduction of a sales tax for Alberta.
The Green Party of Alberta supports the imposition of Carbon Taxes on all hydrocarbons, at levels sufficient to discourage consumption of them, and will implement equivalent taxation of other sources of greenhouse gas emissions insofar as evolving technology for monitoring makes it practically possible to do so.
Be based on the intention that the pricing plans will be regularly reviewed to balance achieving required reductions in emissions with the intention of being consistent with the efforts of the developed world in general.
Reduce taxation from other sources.
The Green Party of Alberta believes that Albertans should "act like owners" of publicly held resources and would continually monitor the status of royalties payable to the provincial government to optimize Albertans' share of production.
The goal in 1976 was to contribute 35% of royalties to the Heritage Fund. A Green Party government would settle for nothing less.
Public libraries, accessible to all in the community, are essential if we are to have a vibrant and fair democracy.
As is the case in Saskatchewan and British Columbia, the GPA supports putting into law "specifically and unambiguously" our citizens' rights to free universal public library access.
The Green Party of Alberta supports the immediate restoration of funding to our public libraries to compensate for revenue they would lose by providing free library cards.
Alberta is the only jurisdiction in North America where the majority of libraries charge for library cards. This places an unnecessary burden on many who find it impossible to pay the annual fee for each member of their family.
The Green Party recognizes the importance of flourishing rural communities to all Albertans and believes the pitting of urban Albertans' interests against those of rural Albertans, or vice versa, is unethical and counter-productive.
One of the 6 Green principles is Sustainability. The recognition there is only limited scope for the material expansion of society within the biosphere and the understanding we need to maintain biodiversity through the sustainable use of renewable resources will permeate all policies adopted by the Green Party of Alberta.
Be it resolved that a Green Party of Alberta Government would require all new construction of buildings, as of 2030, to be "net-zero" for GHG emissions.
The Green Party of Alberta recognizes that the heyday of fossil-fuel dependent economies is over and that in order to ensure a prosperous future Alberta must move as quickly as possible to a much greener and more equitable economy. The Party believes Albertans' creativity, training and intelligence can be marshalled to usher in a new era of smart sustainability.
A Green government will follow our 6 guiding principles (ecological wisdom, participatory democracy, respect for diversity, social justice, sustainability and non-violence) to make the difficult choices a society may have to make between material standard of living and quality of life for future generations and, where necessary, will prioritize the latter.
The Green Party of Alberta supports the creation of community-owned renewable energy projects.
The GPA supports creation of mechanisms for financing cooperative businesses.
The GPA would encourage the transition of existing businesses into cooperative businesses when the alternative is closure.
The GPA resolves that the move to renewables be managed with consideration for local social conditions and with as much engagement, buy-in and participation of local communities as possible.
The Green Party of Alberta supports forms of transportation that are consistent with the need to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. The Party is supportive of developing and expanding public transit systems wherever feasible in the province.
Be it resolved that a Green Party of Alberta Government would prioritize the development of low emission ground-based public and mass transportation systems over air and private automotive transportation.
Like other places in the world, water looms as a major and immediate challenge in Alberta. Indeed water is a critical resource in this water-scarce province. We have to deal with both the quality and the quantity of this most amazing and vital resource. The seven watersheds each have their own attributes and requirements. We must protect, conserve, and reuse our water in innovative and socially responsible ways.
Our biggest variable is climate change. Rapid melting of our glaciers and warming temperatures drastically decrease our window of opportunity to divert outcomes that we must avoid. No technological interventions will ever give us the sustainability that fully functioning watersheds have the sophistication and complexity to provide.
The GPA affirms that all water in the Province of Alberta is, and should remain, the property of the Crown, to be managed for the common good. While the Crown may grant licences for the use of water, this does not, and should not, grant title to the water itself.
The GPA affirms that water, being essential to life, is more than a simple commodity and should not be bought and sold as such. Recognizing that the needs of licensees may change over time, the Crown may permit the transfer of water licences in whole or in part, subject to conditions to protect the public interest and promote conservation.
A Green Party government will provide for the review of existing water licences at least every 20 years in order to adapt to climate change, future water needs, and First Nations rights, and will allow increased public participation in the granting of water licences.
The GPA affirms that The Crown should have the right to rescind or restrict existing licences where water is being used wastefully.
The GPA endorses the July 28, 2010 United Nations resolution recognizing the human right to safe clean drinking water and sanitation. This is a foundational principle of GPA water policy.
Water resources should be held as a public trust. This is consistent with the broadly held Canadian idea that water is the property of the Crown. To classify water allocation problems through the public trust lens is to suggest that there are social principles that are based on four beliefs: (1) that the public benefits from private development, but that the public interest is greater than the sum of private interests; (2) a belief that property ownership must be respected but that property rights in water are not absolute but can be regulated and adjusted in reasonable ways for the good of the polity as a whole; (3) a belief that wasteful uses of public resources are wrong; (4) a belief that our water resources are more than commodities; that they are foundational to life and have a touch of the sacred about them.
Historically, the North-West Irrigation Act vested all water in the property of the Crown. Water rights were allocated on a first-in-time, first-in-right basis. However, rights were not granted to water itself, and water licences did not grant property rights to water. The 1999 Water Act provided for the creation of watershed management plans and permitted the transfer of water licences without the transfer of associated land. The 2002 South Saskatchewan River Basin management plan enabled market transfers of water in southern Alberta, subject to strict conditions. There has been little activity in this market, the most notable being the arrangement between the Eastern Irrigation District and the Cross Iron Mills development.
The GPA will assess and regulate the density of all linear developments (roads, utility corridors, pipelines, railways, power lines, telecom infrastructure, right of ways, etc.) within our watersheds in order to minimize the harm associated with or resulting from these interventions.
Road development can interfere with natural patterns of overland flow through a watershed, interrupt subsurface flow, and increase peak flows. Roads are also one of the most significant causes of increased erosion, as road construction exposes large areas of soil to potential erosion by rainwater and snowmelt while the roads themselves intercept and concentrate surface runoff so that it has more energy to erode even stable soils.
Riparian reserve margins must be designated for all waterways according to size of the stream/river, the fish etc. Management areas will border and protect the reserve areas and must follow specific restricted guidelines.
The loss of riparian borders can change water temperature, increase erosion and sediment and reduce nutrients available from bank areas.
A Green Party government will improve surface and ground water surveys to generate regional modeling of water resources. Survey data and modeling results will be available and actively distributed to interested parties and the general public in the form of Open Data.
A Green Party government will complete a water management plan that identifies and enforces a science based Ecosystem Base Flow (EBF) for all major Alberta rivers at a low—flow threshold.
Because of the increasing demands on water from oil sands development, the lower Athabasca region and the Athabasca River should have first priority for water source modeling and the establishment of an Ecosystem Base Flow (EBF). In the interim the low—flow threshold for the lower Athabasca River will be set to at least 100cubic meters per second.
A Green Party government will restructure the Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program and replace as a comprehensive and scientifically robust monitoring system. This system shall be compatible with and integrated with regional water modeling.
The Green Party of Alberta supports measures requiring the management of the Rocky Mountains' eastern slopes landscape to focus on protection of the headwaters of our rivers.
The GPA supports the creation of an eastern slopes conservation authority.
Greens would drastically reduce the area over which off-road vehicles can be used in the eastern slopes and would strictly enforce laws and regulations on their use.


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Will Scruggs Jazz Fellowship, Song of Simeon: A Christmas Journey
I don't envy creative spirits who decide to do a Christmas/Holiday album. The pressure to follow the well traveled routes through the typical carols is hard to resist, but how many things can you do with "Jingle Bells"? There is probably a finite number. One of the zanier WFMU DJs a few years ago decided to play as many versions of "Jingle Bells" back-to-back as he could lay hands on. I didn't happen to be listening at the time but I do suspect the effect would eventually be something like water boarding. "I am drowning in Holiday Cheer! No I am not!"
So then hurrah for the Will Scruggs Jazz Fellowship and their Song of Simeon: A Christmas Journey (self released). Not only is there no version of "Jingle Bells" whatsoever, the carols chosen include some very old, under-recorded ones like "Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming" and "Song of Mary." And the big band and smaller band within pull out some very interesting arrangements. There are world elements, advanced sorts of things, nice touches like the use of counterpoint, and real modern jazz going on, good jazz. And for you guitarists, Dan Baraszu plays a prominent role in the mix. Just sayin'.
Well I'll confess that Carla Bley's Christmas album pretty much blew my head off a few years ago--those reharmonizations!--but this Will Scruggs album is up there. It's a keeper. It's different. It goes someplace with it all. Cheers!
Posted by Grego Applegate Edwards at 6:43 AM No comments:
Labels: jazz christmas music, jazz holiday music, will scruggs jazz fellowship's song of simeon gapplegate guitar, world jazz christmas music
SH.TG.N, "Sh.Tg.N"
Spooky metal psychedelic jazz-rock? That's what SH.TG.N is about, on their inaugural Sh.Tg.N (Moon June 046). Belgian keyboardist Antoine Guenet, who is also a member of The Wrong Object, put together the band a few years ago and they have a good go of it on this first record.
Antoine joins Fulco Ottervanger, lead vocals, Wim Segers, vibes, Yannick de Pauw, electric guitar, Dries Geusens, bass guitar, and Simon Segers, drums. This is well put-together music with an active comp-arrangement factor and some scary keys, blistering guitar, and rapid sequence vibes adding a distinctive sound.
I've listened to this one five times now and it's growing on me. There is nothing hackneyed or cliched, it's pretty out there much of the time and it has nice energy and plenty of musical content. It feels like a band going somewhere, but where that will be it may take a few albums to reveal. Meanwhile, happy ears from this one.
Labels: avant jazz rock, avant metal, psychedelia, SHTGN's ShTgN gapplegate guitar review
Sao Paulo Underground, Tres Cabeças Loucuras
Sao Paulo Underground takes the fertile and endlessly productive Brazilian strains of samba and other indigenous outcroppings and combines them with modern electric jazz in some very new, creative ways. This you can hear to good effect on their latest, third album Tres Cabeças Loucuras (available as CD or LP)(Rune 325).
The group features cornet-composer extraordinaire Rob Mazurek, who has been doing some remarkable music in and around Chicago as well as around the world in various configurations (covered in these blogs), including his large ensemble Exploding Star Orchestra.
He teamed with Mauricio Takara, initially as a duet, to form the Sao Paulo Underground. The first recording was a duet (Takara is a very together drummer and percussionist, plays the cavaquinho, the small guitar often featured in Brazilian samba ensembles, and joins with Rob in giving the group sound colors from a battery of electronics). By now the band is more fully fleshed-out with the addition of Guilherme Granado (keyboards, electronics, samplers) and Richard Ribeiro (drums).
The third album is an unusual mix of rhythmic excitement, cornet-wielding goodness, hip tunes and neo-psychedelics. It's an excellent listen, modern and electric without a trace of cliche.
Labels: brazilian-american fusion, electric jazz, rob mazurek, sao paulo underground's tres cabecas loucuras gapplegate guitar review, world jazz
Terakaft, Kel Tamasheq
If you like a groove and you dig the blues, you are halfway to liking comtemporary African music. That is, especially in the hands of Terakaft, an electric-trad amalgam that takes traditional Tuareg Shaharan music, adds electric guitars and bass in place of the traditional stringed instruments, and rocks out!
The new one Kel Tamasheq (World Village) is as good or even better than the last. The vocals have soul in the Tuareg definition, and the riffing sounds absolutely hip on electric instruments. They've of course listened to blues and rock and found a way to hit hard with tradition and modernity hand-in-hand.
This is neigh irresistible. It will give guitarists and their friends a real jolt and keep everybody in the pocket who has ears and heart. Don't miss it!
Labels: african music today, contemporary electric world music, terakaft's kel tamasheq gapplegate guitar review, tuareg african meets blues rock, world music, world music guitars and vocals
Linsey Alexander, Been There Done That
The rootsy urban blues lives on. You only have to look to Linsey Alexander's recent Been There, Done That (Delmark 822) to feel it, to know it. Born in Mississipi, Alexander made the trek up to Chicago in 1960, and he is going strong today.
He fronts a hard rockin' soul blues group in the traditional electric groove, playing some tastefully stinging, hard edged guitar lines and singing with soul. He's got the good originals and everybody gets the spirit on this one.
It may be Black Friday in the department stores today, but Linsey's making it Blue Friday for me! Dig on this one.
Labels: chicago blues today, linsey alexander's been there done that gapplegate guitar review, urban blues
The Rolling Stones Under Review, 1975-1983, The Ronnie Wood Years (Pt. 1), DVD
For those into Stones history, there's a new DVD out called The Rolling Stones Under Review, 1975-83, the Ronnie Wood Years (Pt. 1) (Sexy Intellectual SIDVD 575). As the title makes clear it takes a chronological look at the band, its personal interactions, musical output, and general fate in years that were decidedly mixed ones for the band, but perhaps also the last period that the Stones had a direct influence on the rock world through "hit records" and high-charting songs.
It is the time when guitarist Ronnie Wood came on board, they scored a disco hit that somehow managed to be more Stones than disco, and they had perhaps the final prototypical rock success with "Wind Me Up" and the album it came out of. At the same time Keith Richard was in a low ebb, with a major drug bust and a serious addiction problem, while Mick Jagger lived the opulent life style of a posh rock star in NYC.
Through rock critic commentary, footage and a cohesive narrative, the era is given 115 minutes and the full treatment. I found it interesting and worthwhile to experience the summing up of the era. It is rather well done. This is something more for Stone fans than a general audience, but I suspect you can gather that by the title. Still, it's a piece of rock history and there are insights on the aging of rock that any student of the music should appreciate.
Labels: rock history, rolling stones biography, the rolling stones under review the ronnie wood years gapplegate guitar review
Hammer Klavier Trio, Rocket in the Pocket
Today we have the sophomore effort from the Hamburg-based progressive jazz Hammer Klavier Trio, Rocket in the Pocket (Jan Matthies Records). They are pianist Boris Netsvetaev, bassist Phil Steen, and drummer Kai Bussenius. I write "progressive" because that seems like a good word to describe this sort of group. Influenced by Monk, Nichols, perhaps Brubeck, partaking in electrification as it strikes them, combining an improvisational stance with an emphasis on non-traditional compositions-arrangements.
They are in line with other such trios like Bad Plus and even the Necks in the way they genre defy. There's a bit of the classical in there as well as rock influences. To their credit they do not sound like other groups in this progressive trio mold. They have compositions and arrangements that are moving in original directions. Yet they share with other such groups attention to the more advanced ensemble rhythmic feels available out there included meter shifts and unexpected emphases.
They come across as well-directed, musically astute, and well on the way to self-realization as a trio on this second outing. If you are into the prog jazz trio thing you should definitely check this one out.
Labels: acoustic-electric fusion, hammer klavier trio's rocket in the pocket gapplegate guitar review, jazz-rock, progressive jazz piano trio
Efterklang, Piramida
The latest Efterklang album Piramida (4AD) is both a fascinating concept album and a musical triumph of sorts. Essentially they went on a nine-day expedition a year ago last August to the island Spitsbergen, located near the North Pole. They explored the falling-to-ruin ghost town Piramida, which was rapidly abandoned in the '90s and now stands unoccupied.
This trip and the enigma of the ruin, through samples and general inspiration, form the concept around the album.
The music itself is a kind of alternative masterwork. It has the songs, synthetic or otherwise fullness of arrangement, and a haunting way about it. It is a lyrical joy and a definite innovation in the rock-post-prog world.
The music leaves me a bit speechless, so I don't have a lot to say about it right now. It has an elegant emptiness, a hollowed-out feeling of loss to it that reverberates with a world mood, or at least a personal one. It's pretty damned brilliant, I would say. But you listen and judge for yourself.
Labels: alternative rock today, concept albums, efterklang's piramida gapplegate guitar review, post-prog rock, rock composition-arrangement, rock orchestration, singer songwriters
Hush Arbors, Two of Us Riding Nowhere
Today begins coverage of a label known as New Atlantis. They have a very healthy sense of adventure and I'll be taking a look at some of their recent releases.
Up now is singer-songwriter Hush Arbors (aka Keith Wood) and his cassette release Two of Us Riding Nowhere (New Atlantis cas 005). It's Keith running through some of his alt quasi-folkish songs, picking and strumming an acoustic guitar, singing in a personally distinctive high-range falsetto. He is joined quite ably and effectively by acoustic bassist Jason Ajemian, who adds much to the blend with his appealingly fat, woody tone and primal note choice.
It's music that hangs together nicely, where lyrics are unusual and worth listening to, where the acoustic folkie songwriter tradition gets a worthy and worthwhile update.
Labels: alternative, alternative acoustic folk-rock today, alternative folk, alternative singer songwriter, hush arbors' two of us riding nowhere gapplegate guitar review
Michael Feinberg, The Elvin Jones Project
Anyone who has explored Elvin Jones's seminal presence on the modern jazz scene in some depth, live or in recorded form, eventually realizes that an important component of his sound, his groove, his structured sort of freedom, depends upon his interaction with key bassists. His way of taking it further depended on the bedrock of intuitive and perhaps explicit interactive roles that Elvin and the bass players developed in his groups over time.
Young bassist Michael Feinberg in The Elvin Jones Project (Sunnyside 1325) has assembled a first-rate quintet to pay tribute to the master and also highlight his musical relationship with bassists Jimmy Garrison, Richard Davis, Gene Perla, George Mraz and Dave Holland.
Those who care about such things will hear the results in those terms, at least part of the time, because Feinberg and drumming master Billy Hart achieve something of that creative tension that Elvin and his bassists achieved. At the same time all lovers of modern jazz should appreciate what is going on in this set in a wider sense, for it is music of immediate impact.
Feinberg chose his musicians wisely for this project. Hart has the expanded swing feel that is certainly related to Elvin's on the set, but of course he is a master drummer in his own right. Tim Hagens on trumpet, George Garzone on tenor, and Leo Genovese on piano have their own take on the sort of music that Elvin and the Trane/post-Trane players have played with such creativity and conviction over the years. As an added plus, guitarist Alex Wintz fits in well on his two guest appearances.
Like the best of Elvin's outfits this is a group at doesn't just solo over rhythm, the soloing and rhythm-ing are intertwined in involved ways, ways that define the music. And everybody sounds at home and in very active sympathy with the music at hand. Feinberg shows himself a most excellent bassist, up there with some heavyweights and holding his own.
The song choices fit perfectly. There are a couple of Elvin gems, a Feinberg original, then Trane's "Miles Mode," some goodies by Jones sidemen Grossman and Foster and the Trane-Jones associated ballad "Nancy with the Laughing Face."
Of course the joy of this musical outing is countered by the recurring realization that Elvin is no longer with us. A great man, a great musician that changed everything....I'm sure he would have dug this record. Maybe he's somewhere up there digging it now.
Posted by Grego Applegate Edwards at 7:23 AM 2 comments:
Labels: bass player led jazz groups, elvin jones tribute, michael feinberg's the elvin jones project gapplegate guitar review, modern jazz, modern jazz bass
Luce Trio, Pieces, Vol. 1
There are albums that come along to remind you that the creative music scene lives on and "business as usual" is something that may be happening out there much of the time, but not all of the time.
Pieces, Vol. 1 (Musaeum Clausum) by the Luce Trio is one of those. It was recorded in reverberant St. Ann and the Holy Trinity church just about a year ago today. And what comes out of that session is a very ambient improvisational take on early and baroque music.
The trio consists of Jon De Lucia on saxophones and compositions, Ryan Ferreira, electric guitar, and Chris Tordini, acoustic bass. The three have worked on some very moving recompositions of music by Handel, Dowland and Bach, plus De Lucia's own ambient interludes that amplify and expand the mood of the set.
This is not an album where you should expect machine-gunning bop licks at a mad tempo. The music takes its time and sounds sensitively but emphatically in the echoed cathedral. De Lucia's soprano-alto has a lovely gentleness and liquid tone that is well matched by Ryan's subtly adventurous line-cluster creating/part rendering and Tordini's matter-of-fact yet essential lower end.
It's music that will wow you little-by-little. The music moves and so you are moved. A beautiful disk!
Labels: jazz inflected early and baroque recomposition-improvisations, luce trio's pieces vol 1 gapplegate guitar review, sax-guitar-bass trio
Elliott Sharp's Terraplane, Sky Road Songs
Terraplane is Elliott Sharp's blues-rock outfit. It goes way back but has been more active in recent years.
Their new one, Sky Road Songs (Yellowbird), makes an energetic foray deeper into the thicket of possibilities, with some soul-like numbers, some heavier than average blues rock, good guitar work from Elliott and a guest appearance by the late Hubert Sumlin who tragically left us not long ago.
There are very decent vocals by the likes of Tracie Morris and Eric Mingus, sometimes following a more-than-blues song format (soul/rock/out-rock) that should bring this record into the rock-soul radio airwaves orbit.
So it's more than just blues but like anything Elliott Sharp does it's ultra-solid music. And the bluesier old-meets-new kicks are a total post-Beefheartian blast.
For those around the New York City area this weekend, they will be playing a gig this Sunday (November 11th) at Joe's Pub, starting at 9:30 PM. Catch it for good sounds.
Labels: blues rock, blues today, elliott sharp's terraplane sky road songs gapplegate guitar review, soul blues
Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Live at Rockpalast 1982, DVD Set
Funk. Funk. Funk. We took a look in the last two days at two different funk outfits going at it. Today a third possibility: the Afro-Carib-New-Wave-Funk of Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Live at Rockpalast 1982 (MIG 9052). It's a two-DVD set of the band live on the West German TV show-concert in two long sets from June and October 1982. The two DVD set is reasonably priced and gives you lots of music plus an interview with the front liners of the group.
This is a band that benefits greatly from the DVD presence, as they have a vibrant visual impact as well as some strong performances throughout.
It's a band that was pretty big back then, of course. They combined Latin-Carib elements with a kind of New Wave funk that Talking Heads and the B-52s were doing at the time. This is a tight, smokingly large band with lots of percussion, horns, a great guitar-bass-keys-drums underpinning, and the visual-vocal impact of the lovely Coconuts vocal trio, vibist-vocalist Coati Mundi and guitarist-vocalist Kid Creole.
It's some kicking music, fun and rocking out. You might expect any minute that they would break into "YMCA" but thankfully they never do and at the core they were much, much hipper than that. Check it out if you like. I think you'll enjoy!
Labels: afro-carib-new-wave funk, funk, kid creole and the coconuts live at rockpalast 1982 gapplegate guitar review
Lettuce, FLY
As those know who are in the know, there is more than one kind of funk. There's the classic James Brownian kind, updated for today as we saw yesterday in the review for the new Maceo Parker CD, and then there are other offshoots from the branch. Today's CD takes something from the classical Brown variety, then gets a couple of other influences into the mix: the Herbie Hancock Headhunters jazz-influenced funk and the evolved big horn section funk of Tower of Power.
It's not that simple because the band Lettuce have some spacey aspects and they get an updated quasi-big-band sound going, but their album FLY (Royal Family) does its funky thing in fine fashion. It will funkifie you for sure.
Nice tight heft, killer horn riffs, good arrangements and a popping rhythm section. You may have heard it all before but they'll probably make you glad to hear it all again. If you've got the mood, they've got the groove.
Posted by Grego Applegate Edwards at 10:53 AM No comments:
Labels: big band funk, funk today, jazz funk, lettuce's fly gapplegate guitar review
Maceo Parker, Soul Classics, with the WDR Big Band
Funk. Funky. I am talking not of the Horace Silver gospelly thing that directed much jazz into a rootsy zone, but the thing James Brown had so much to do with creating, that still is very much with us, that in the right hands soars and rocks the house.
Saxophonist Maceo Parker was there in James Brown's band when it all started happening. He's been doing hip things on his own since then. If there are "right hands," Maceo surely is the right hands.
But he can not do it alone. His new live recording with the formidable WDR Big Band, Soul Classics (Razor & Tie), puts all that in place, then steps on it to put it in overdrive.
It's a collection of great old funk numbers by James, Stevie and such, and they kick it hard!
Some beautiful soul sax, hot soloists, a band on fire, nice arrangements, and the rhythm team pushing on it, with soulful vocals from Maceo himself. . . that's what this is all about. It cooks! If you've become a little blase with the funk thing, this will revive you, I am telling you true.
You'll get good and cranked with this one, trust me.
Labels: afro-funk soul roots classics, funk, james brown, maceo parker's soul classics gapplegate guitar and bass review, stevie wonder, wdr big band
Sylvain Leroux, Quatuor Creole, Featuring Karl Berger
Pardon my week-long silence. Hurricane Sandy came to our shores and wreaked some havoc. Almost lost a roof but thankfully did not. Spent six days without electricity, heat, internet or phone, a rather sobering experience I would not want repeated. We are more than ever dependent upon incoming voltage in our everyday lives, which this week underscored bluntly. All sympathy goes out to those less fortunate than I facing the storm and its aftermath.
The week gets off to a suitably bright and upbeat start with an excellent album of Afro-jazz by Sylvain Leroux. Quatuor Creole (Engine 046) puts together a very compatible quartet of Sylvain Leroux on tambin (Fula flute), flute, alto sax, khaen, dozon ngoni, Karl Berger on piano and vibes, Sergo Decius on conga and percussion, and Matt Pavolka, contrabass.
The band works together for a lively Afro groove that will appeal to all with a sense of time. The quartet format gives it an intimate quality but the music rollocks and rocks steadily with tribal and Afrobeat influences front and center.
Sylvain sounds convincing and very together on his instruments; Karl Berger is right there with nicely ethnic touches and his good sense at piano as well as expectedly rangy and compelling vibes; Sergo Decius plays very hip congas and hand drums, making this session pop; and Matt Pavolka gives the groove that all-important woody bottom with taste, drive, dexterity and a nicely fat tone.
Afro-jazz that ranges far and wide, from a Bach quotation to infectious groove-reveling? You'll find it in abundance on this one. It's sheer joy!
Labels: afro-jazz, karl berger, sylvain leroux's quatuor creole gapplegate guitar review, world jazz
Will Scruggs Jazz Fellowship, Song of Simeon: A Ch...
The Rolling Stones Under Review, 1975-1983, The Ro...
Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Live at Rockpalast 19...

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Transdisciplinary Digital Art
Stephen Gibson
This presentation discusses the recent transdisciplinary digital art trends and gives a clear overview of the on-going strength of scientific, philosophical, aesthetic and artistic research and practice that does not confirm to strict disciplinary boundaries. The term Transdisciplinarity can be distinguished from the older term Interdisciplinarity. Interdisciplinarity implies a certain level of detachment across the mediums. A perfect illustration of this is the modernist notion of interdisciplinarity as exemplified by John Cage's Variations V. While not all art termed interdisciplinary is this radical in its separation of roles, there is a general tendency to accept a distinct line of expertise between disciplines in Interdisciplinary work. Transdisciplinarity implies a level of direct connection and cross-over between mediums and disciplines. Most recently we have seen examples of science/art crossover in which artists and scientists not only work together but assist in the others' traditional tasks. Similarly there are projects in which single individuals assume transdisciplinary roles usually reserved for experts in various disciplines. This presentation will present short excerpts from digital artworks that cross boundaries and in which the artist becomes the scientist and vice-versa. Works shown will include the author's piece Grand Theft Bicycle.
Transliteracy Conference - Phoenix Square Digital Media Centre, Leicester
Duration: 9 Feb 2010 → …
Transliteracy Conference
Dive into the research topics of 'Transdisciplinary Digital Art'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Interdisciplinarity Arts & Humanities 100%
Digital Art Arts & Humanities 89%
Transdisciplinarity Arts & Humanities 76%
Interdisciplinary Art Arts & Humanities 38%
Artistic Research Arts & Humanities 32%
Philosophical Aesthetics Arts & Humanities 30%
John Cage Arts & Humanities 30%
Gibson, S. (2010). Transdisciplinary Digital Art. Paper presented at Transliteracy Conference.
Gibson, Stephen. / Transdisciplinary Digital Art. Paper presented at Transliteracy Conference.
@conference{01afb19c39594a7cba4cae2eb8efa90e,
title = "Transdisciplinary Digital Art",
abstract = "This presentation discusses the recent transdisciplinary digital art trends and gives a clear overview of the on-going strength of scientific, philosophical, aesthetic and artistic research and practice that does not confirm to strict disciplinary boundaries. The term Transdisciplinarity can be distinguished from the older term Interdisciplinarity. Interdisciplinarity implies a certain level of detachment across the mediums. A perfect illustration of this is the modernist notion of interdisciplinarity as exemplified by John Cage{\textquoteright}s Variations V. While not all art termed interdisciplinary is this radical in its separation of roles, there is a general tendency to accept a distinct line of expertise between disciplines in Interdisciplinary work. Transdisciplinarity implies a level of direct connection and cross-over between mediums and disciplines. Most recently we have seen examples of science/art crossover in which artists and scientists not only work together but assist in the others{\textquoteright} traditional tasks. Similarly there are projects in which single individuals assume transdisciplinary roles usually reserved for experts in various disciplines. This presentation will present short excerpts from digital artworks that cross boundaries and in which the artist becomes the scientist and vice-versa. Works shown will include the author{\textquoteright}s piece Grand Theft Bicycle.",
author = "Stephen Gibson",
note = "Transliteracy Conference ; Conference date: 09-02-2010",
Gibson, S 2010, 'Transdisciplinary Digital Art', Paper presented at Transliteracy Conference, 9/02/10.
Transdisciplinary Digital Art. / Gibson, Stephen.
2010. Paper presented at Transliteracy Conference.
T1 - Transdisciplinary Digital Art
AU - Gibson, Stephen
N2 - This presentation discusses the recent transdisciplinary digital art trends and gives a clear overview of the on-going strength of scientific, philosophical, aesthetic and artistic research and practice that does not confirm to strict disciplinary boundaries. The term Transdisciplinarity can be distinguished from the older term Interdisciplinarity. Interdisciplinarity implies a certain level of detachment across the mediums. A perfect illustration of this is the modernist notion of interdisciplinarity as exemplified by John Cage's Variations V. While not all art termed interdisciplinary is this radical in its separation of roles, there is a general tendency to accept a distinct line of expertise between disciplines in Interdisciplinary work. Transdisciplinarity implies a level of direct connection and cross-over between mediums and disciplines. Most recently we have seen examples of science/art crossover in which artists and scientists not only work together but assist in the others' traditional tasks. Similarly there are projects in which single individuals assume transdisciplinary roles usually reserved for experts in various disciplines. This presentation will present short excerpts from digital artworks that cross boundaries and in which the artist becomes the scientist and vice-versa. Works shown will include the author's piece Grand Theft Bicycle.
AB - This presentation discusses the recent transdisciplinary digital art trends and gives a clear overview of the on-going strength of scientific, philosophical, aesthetic and artistic research and practice that does not confirm to strict disciplinary boundaries. The term Transdisciplinarity can be distinguished from the older term Interdisciplinarity. Interdisciplinarity implies a certain level of detachment across the mediums. A perfect illustration of this is the modernist notion of interdisciplinarity as exemplified by John Cage's Variations V. While not all art termed interdisciplinary is this radical in its separation of roles, there is a general tendency to accept a distinct line of expertise between disciplines in Interdisciplinary work. Transdisciplinarity implies a level of direct connection and cross-over between mediums and disciplines. Most recently we have seen examples of science/art crossover in which artists and scientists not only work together but assist in the others' traditional tasks. Similarly there are projects in which single individuals assume transdisciplinary roles usually reserved for experts in various disciplines. This presentation will present short excerpts from digital artworks that cross boundaries and in which the artist becomes the scientist and vice-versa. Works shown will include the author's piece Grand Theft Bicycle.
T2 - Transliteracy Conference
Y2 - 9 February 2010
Gibson S. Transdisciplinary Digital Art. 2010. Paper presented at Transliteracy Conference.


The price is 12 Euros for any of the mentioned language couples.
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Our campus is provide with 2 conference halls.Each hall has the seating capacity of 500 members.
The conference hall is spacious, well ventilated and has well furnished.
Departmental activities such as National level events were conducted at the conference hall.
Faculty Development Programme is conducted in the Seminar Hall, to update the Knowledge of our Faculty Members.
The objective behind the Conference Hall is to enhance the quality of education.
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text:
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Jo Kjaer – 2007
Jo Kjaer first visited Norfolk in 1948 when she was five, after living in other parts of eastern England she settled here in the 1990's. During a varied career as designer, restaurateur, nutritionist, tutor, educational advisor and aid worker, articles on the history of food and special diets were published in magazines including Harpers & Queen, The Tatler and The Nutrition Practitioner.
In 2007, she gained a first in the Advanced Poetry Diploma at the University of East Anglia and won the first Café Writers Norfolk Poetry Commission: As the Crow Flies is her first collection. She teaches Creative Writing for the National Extension College and is working towards a second collection inspired by the landscape and history of Norfolk. You can buy it here.
Meirion Jordan – 2008
Meirion's inspiration for the commission comes from exploring and responding to the role of outsiders in Norwich, from its beginnings as a Saxon settlement in post-Roman Britain, through to the modern city as home to as substantial international student population. Taking its direction from the museum of the same name, Strangers Hall, in the city centre, the poems are intended to represent the rooms in the house, each from a different period of time and connected to the next in loose chronological sequence but, like any house, in no way insulated from the other rooms whose inhabitants have no quite faded our of earshot. Merion's poems are intended to provoke engagement on a personal level with the history for the reader and to bring the reader forward through their sequence into a present both recognizable and new.
The winning of this substantial award reconnects Meirion with Norwich where he graduated from the UEA Creative Writing MA in 2008. Born in Cwmllynfell, near Swansea, he went on to read mathematics at Somerville College, Oxford. His first collection of poetry entitled 'Moonrise' is published by Seren in October 2008. You can buy it here
Laura Elliott – 2009
Promising young poet Laura Elliott 21, was announced the winner of the first Café Writers Norfolk Graduate Commission in 2009. Also included in the award is publication of a poetry pamphlet by Gatehouse Press and the chance to read at Café Writers and the Poetry-Next-the-Sea festival. Laura's poetry will explore the links between Norwich and its Serbian twin city Novi Sad – represented in the City by the Novi Sad Friendship Bridge; the swing bridge which links King Street to the Riverside Development across the River Wensum. The Novi Sad Association have also just awarded her a travel bursary to help pay for a research trip to Serbia.
Laura, who graduated with a first class degree from the BA in Creative Writing at Norwich University College of the Arts said: "I am still in shock! but am looking forward to exploring the relationship between Norwich and Novi Sad, and also exploring Norwich in more creative depth".
Laura is on the editorial team at Lighthouse.
Angus Sinclair – 2010
Promising young poet Angus Sinclair 23, was announced the winner of the fourth Café Writers Norfolk Graduate Commission. Also included in the award is publication of a poetry pamphlet by Gatehouse Press and the chance to read at Café Writers and the Poetry- Next-the-Sea festival. Angus, who is also professional wrestler Johnny Snott, will write a collection of poems based around the theme of wrestling in Norfolk. The sport has a rich history in the county from Lord Nelson and his sailors grappling at The Wrestlers Inn in Great Yarmouth to the present day World Association of Wrestling (http://wawuk.com/) which brings the sport to local community centres and village halls.
Angus, who has graduated in 2009 with a first class degree from the BA in Creative Writing at Norwich University College of the Arts and has just embarked on the UEA's MA in Poetry said: "I am overwhelmed to have won and delighted to have the opportunity and so much support in writing about a sport I care so much about."
His more recent work centres around questions of our image-world, often incorporating photography as a theme. Some of these poems can be seen in UEA 17 Poets (Eggbox) and Dear World & Everyone In It: New Poetry in the UK (Bloodaxe).
Another use of canvas is available here. His website is here.


text:
CORONAVIRUS: CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION AND HELP RELATED TO COVID-19 FOR NEW JERSEYANS
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Booker Leads 33 Democratic Senators Colleagues in Urging Trump to Reverse his Decision to Withdraw from the World Health Organization
Senators warn the move will set back international coordination to combat COVID-19, put American lives at risk
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) today led 33 of his Senate colleagues in urging President Trump to reverse his decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO). The Senators warned that an American withdrawal from WHO will upend efforts to implement a collective international response to the COVID-19 pandemic, inevitably put American lives and economic interests at risk, and undermines American leadership within the international community, while empowering China.
"As it is now grimly clear, diseases do not respect borders. This is a crisis of global proportions, one that has painfully exposed the vulnerabilities and deficiencies of even the strongest economies and most competently governed societies," the senators wrote in their letter to President Donald Trump. "This means in part continuing to collaborate and support the World Health Organization (WHO), which is coordinating the global response to COVID-19. Currently, for example, the WHO is using its convening power to undertake an unprecedented effort to identify effective treatments and vaccines. The organization's "Solidarity Trial," which includes more than 100 countries, enables research on potential therapeutics to be collected much faster and more efficiently than individual country efforts, dramatically reducing the amount of time to determine effectiveness."
"As it stands, a decision to end our engagement and funding of the WHO may be interpreted as abandoning vulnerable countries in their hour of need, further weakening their ability to identify and stop diseases at their source, before they become difficult and costly to contain. It also plays into the hands of countries, like China, who would seek to distract from their role in the outbreak and could be used to portray the United States as uninterested in helping other countries deal with COVID-19. In short, withdrawing from the WHO makes our country less safe and empowers China within the organization," the senators continued.
"The fact remains that we are currently in the midst of a global health emergency that is unprecedented in our lifetimes; now is not the time to take our eyes off the ball and engage in attacks on the one global institution that is working day-in and day-out to counter the threat posed by this disease. We therefore urge you to reverse this short-sighted and dangerous decision, and to commit to reengagement with the WHO – and Congress - on collective efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic," the senators concluded.
This letter was also signed by Senators Gillibrand (D-NY), Van Hollen (D-MD), Durbin (D-IL), Coons (D-DE), Brown (D-OH), Jones (D-AL), Markey (D-MA), King (D-ME), Warren (D-MA), Wyden (D-OR), Warner (D-VA), Merkley (D-OR), Hirono (D-HI), Blumenthal (D-CT), Reed (D-RI), Carper (D-DE), Casey (D-PA),Bernard Sanders (D-VT), Cortez Masto (D-NV), Cantwell (D-WA), Bennet (D-CO), Heinrich (D-NM), Baldwin (D-WI), Tom Udall (D-NM), Klobuchar (D-MN), Tina Smith (D-MN), Murphy (D-CT), Schatz (D-HI), Shaheen (D-NH), Whitehouse (D-RI), Rosen (D-NV), Cardin (D-MD), Hassan (D-NH).
Full text of the letter is available here.
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... one of my favorite businesses in Chicago.
Kiss 'N Tell is up there with the 1-800-R-U-MY-KID paternity testing storefront in Cincinnati, and the Midwest Gold Fronts emporium of blinged-out grillz in Minneapolis. Do Me Nails (also in Minneapolis) is also a strong contender for Best Signage Of All Time.
Ah yes, Do Me Nails. I feel an obligation to point that out to anyone I happen to be with when we go past that place. But I've not happened across the Midwest Gold Fronts yet.


text:
Snooker's Legacy
by Paul Shadinger
Don't Get Engaged
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My Yoga Instructor is a Vampire!
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Ignite Wellness, Open to Joy
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Beyond Love
Dangerous Doorways are for Elfling Princes
by H.M. Forrest
The Sober Journey
by Dirk Foster
Marrow Charm
by Kristin A Jacques
Brown Bear & Oofie Present: The Lost Identity
by Masami S.C.
Sweet Twisted Pine
by Lori R. Hodges
As The World Falls Down
by Katy Nicholas
The Sorrow's Garden
by Anthony Carinhas
The Road to Easton
by Jordan Richbourg
Roadtrip with a Raindrop
90 Days Along the Mississippi River
by Gayle Harper
Contact Author - Gayle Harper
Trailer - Roadtrip with a Raindrop
Gayle Harper has been a travel photographer and writer for more than two decades. Her work has taken her to exotic places around the world, but nothing has ever captured her heart like our own Mississippi River.
When she learned that a raindrop falling into the headwaters of the Mississippi in Minnesota would travel for 90 days to reach the Gulf of Mexico, she knew she had met her project of a lifetime. She would make a 90-day roadtrip following the entire river, while keeping pace with an imaginary raindrop called "Serendipity."
"Roadtrip with a Raindrop: 90 Days Along the Mississippi River" takes YOU on this adventure. You will see the beauty of America's greatest river, discover its history and place in our very identity and meet some of its most colorful, open-hearted people.
Grab your road snacks and come along!
Roadtrip with a Raindrop: 90 Days Along the Mississippi River is a non-fiction travel book written by Gayle Harper. Harper is a travel writer and photographer who's had a lifelong love of the Mississippi River. While she always had the inkling of a thought about a full-scale adventure on the river, it wasn't until she saw a factoid on the National Park Service's website that her thought bloomed to its full potential. The site said that a single drop of water falling at the headwaters of the Mississippi travels for 90 days to reach the Gulf of Mexico. Harper calculated that that drop would travel about 27 miles a day on its 3-month long journey; then she decided to call that drop 'Serendipity' and to travel along with it, and her project was born.
I settled into an easy chair with a cup of tea and Gayle Harper's non-fiction travelogue, Roadtrip with a Raindrop: 90 Days Along the Mississippi River, and found myself falling in love with the headwaters of the Mississippi and the marvelous natural settings of Minnesota. I had to keep reminding myself that it gets very cold there in the wintertime, and then I continued reading on, and studying one stunningly beautiful picture after another as Harper and her raindrop continued their journey south. There were so many places to see and stories to hear; all quite new for someone who's only ever lived on a coast and barely seen the arch of St. Louis flash by on a road trip. Roadtrip with a Raindrop: 90 Days Along the Mississippi River is an exceptionally good travel book that reads as smoothly as fiction and is filled with history, nature and the warmth and kindness of strangers soon to become friends. It's a splendid read, and it's most highly recommended.