How Committed are Provincial Leadership Candidates to Fine Arts Education?

by SOFA Fan on May.24, 2011, under Updates

How committed are each of the candidates to public education, specifically fine arts education? If elected, will they provide enough funding to ensure our programs remain vibrant?

To help you determine who to vote for in each of the PC Party, Liberal Party, and Alberta Party leadership races, we thought we would ask the candidates a number of questions. We also asked the current leaders of the Wildrose Alliance and NDP parties.

Letters were sent to each of the candidates via email or fax (if available) on April 22nd. We asked them to respond by Friday, May 6th.

Check out the responses that have been provided below by each of the candidates/parties as of the date of this post.

PC PARTY - website

The PC Party does not appear to have a policy on Education. However, there is a list of education action items they’ve outlined in their “Platform Book.” To view it, CLICK HERE and search for ‘education’.

PC Party Leadership Candidate	Personal Website	Candidate’s Response to SOFA’s Questions	Date Response Received by SOFA
Letter to Doug Griffiths	website	Written Response from Doug Griffiths In addiiton, Mr. Griffiths also provided a video response. To view his video, copy following link into address bar above to view … http://www.youtube.com/user/BetterAlberta On his website (see link) he states, “It is important to have the savings to ensure there is no need to cut essential programs and critical investments, such as in education … and necessary social programs due to a temporary situation.” Mr. Griffiths has a Degree in Education, and taught at Byemoor School in the County of Stettler, Alberta. During the 3 years he taught, he was nominated for a teaching award each year.	May 15th, 2011
Letter to Doug Horner	website	Incomplete Response from Doug Horner. Further, when reviewing his website (see link), please note he does not have a position/policy addressing his commitment to public education. He does state however that, “…the Progressive Conservative party will continue to work aggressively to deliver continuing improvement in education … and other areas of government responsibility.”	May 13th, 2011
Letter to Ted Morton	website	Two email notes were sent to Mr Morton inviting him to respond. No response has been received as of the date of this post. Further, when reviewing his website (see link), please note he does not have a position/policy addressing his commitment to public education.
Letter to Alison Redford	website	Written Response from Alison Redford. If you are interested in reading her policy on education, CLICK HERE	May 12th, 2011
Letter to Gary Mar	website	Written Response from Gary Mar Mr. Mar does not appear to have an education policy. However, when reviewing his blog he does make reference to his position on education. To read it CLICK HERE and scroll down to the heading “Learning, Achieving and Succeeding – An Education Week Message”	May 24th, 2011

LIBERAL PARTY – website

Liberal Party Leadership Candidate	Personal Website	Candidate’s Response to SOFA’s Questions	Date Response Received by SOFA
Letter to Laurie Blakeman	website	Video response provided. Copy following link into address bar above to view … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3pRTmPEOqw	May 9^th, 2011
Letter to Dr. Raj Sherman	website

NDP PARTY

If you are interested in reading the NDP Party’s policy on education CLICK HERE. To read their policy on the Arts, CLICK HERE

NDP Party	Party website	Response to SOFA’s Questions	Date Response Received by SOFA
Letter to Brian Mason, Leader	website	Written Response by Brian Mason.	May 11th, 2011

WILDROSE ALLIANCE PARTY

If you are interested in reading the Wildrose Alliance Party’s policy on education, CLICK HERE

Wildrose Alliance Party	Party website	Response to SOFA’s Questions	Date Response Received by SOFA
Letter to Danielle Smith, Leader	website	Written Response from Danielle Smith.	May 6th, 2011

ALBERTA PARTY- website

If you are interested in reading the Alberta Party’s policy on education, CLICK HERE and look for the applicable section.

Alberta Party Leadership Candidate	Personal Website	Candidate’s Response to SOFA’s Questions	Date Response Received by SOFA
Letter to Glenn Taylor	website	Written Response from Glenn Taylor	May 14th, 2011
Letter to Tammy Maloney	website	No response to SOFA’s questions will be provided. Instead, Ms. Maloney writes, “In my opinion, it would be more appropriate for our newly elected leader to comment on behalf of the Alberta Party using what we have heard from Albertans through our Big Listen process.”
Letter to Lee Easton	website	Written Response from Lee Easton	May 16th 2011
Letter to Randy Royer	website

We encourage our SOFA members and readers of this website to closely examine the above responses and websites to determine how committed each candidate and party is to public education, specifically fine arts education. This will assist you in determining who to vote for in each leadership race and in the next Provincial election.

SOFA would like to sincerely thank each of the leadership candidates and Party leaders who took the time out of their busy schedules to respond to our questions!

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