Ted Morton: Alberta’s Bright Light

 Neil Waugh methodically chronicles the individual mis-steps and screw-ups of Ed Stelmach’s new-and-improved cabinet. With one exception. In the same way that he has impressed as an MLA (he was selected by the Calgary Herald as the Calgary-area MLA “most likely to succeed”), Ted Morton is emerging as the only cabinet minister that Stelmach can actually rely on:

Morton has proven to be a quick read, especially after the boss feared another spit show in the southern foothills on the Canada Day weekend similar to the Indian Graves fiasco when drunken quadders and mud boggers trashed a swath of pristine wilderness in the Willow Valley.

Morton reportedly lit a torch under his foot-dragging bureaucrats on premier’s office orders to bring in tough forestland use regulations – including a ban on random camping and off-highway vehicles larger than a quad – before the weekend. The plan cleared cabinet late last week.

Ironic stuff, that. Especially given that Stelmach ungratefully assigned Morton a minor portfolio after Morton essentially gave Stelmach the leadership win.

Is Morton headed for a promotion in the short term? If not, then Stelmach really is as slow as many Calgary columnists claim he is.

Update: Rick Bell (!) adds his support for Morton:

In this case, we’re supportin’ Morton. He’s walking the talk and he’s actually going after the idiots.