The Cormac MacSweeney Blog - 660News Calgary

You always remember where you were when major events happen, such as 9/11, or the day John F. Kennedy was shot…well today, I was at work.

It came as a shock to all of us in the newsroom to hear that former Pakistani prime minister and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated.

After giving a speech at a political rally she was getting into her armoured SUV  — that’s when someone shot her in the neck and chest, then blew himself up taking more than 20 other lives with him.

The news of her assassination caused rioting across Pakistan and world leaders to quickly condemn the killing and call for calm in the region.

You may remember Bhutto recently as being the political leader placed under house arrest by the Pakistani president during a declared state of emergency. Bhutto was the figure head calling for peace and democracy during those unstable times.

As journalists, we are all supposed to be on the ball in situations like this, to act quick and get the information to you as soon as possible. But when the news of Bhutto’s assassination came across the newswire all of us seemed to gasp at the same time. I was in the on-air booth with my co-anchor Melissa Ramsay and both of us said a startled “what?” — nearly missing our cue to go back on the air to read you the news we had just received.

Sometimes our shock and sadness doesn’t always come through on the air, but just like you, we are sometimes in disbelief from what we are reading.

The consequences from this assassination may have us all saying years from now, “I remember that day…”

Calgary is the best…in case you already didn’t know.

A new report from the Conference Board of Canada names us the most attractive city in the country. Not only did we top the Canadian list but we placed third in the continent.

Why? Well we *are* the greatest group of people to congregate in one city and our economy is booming…making our quality of life superb.

It was a feel good story for me to do this morning basically repeating and explaining why we are so awesome.

Believe it or not, some people on the street didn’t fully agree with the study. They said there are many problems here and we need some changes before becoming the best.

Mayor Bronconnier though says those people should try living in other cities and then move back. Their view of Calgary will probably change dramatically. Meanwhile all of the politicians I spoke to about this said there is room for improvement…even in a city that’s number one.

What do you think of Calgary?

I’ve lived in three cities in my life so far. I was born and raised in Toronto and a lot of people ask me if I ever plan on moving back there. The answer has always been “not likely”. Why would I leave a beautiful clean city with kind, generous, and gracious people?

Don’t get me wrong, I will always have a love for my home town, but Calgary is now my home and I don’t plan on taking off from the number one city in Canada.

Yet another Progressive Conservative MLA announces he is not going to run in the next provincial election.

Lyle Oberg came out after days of speculation and proclaimed he will not run for re-election in the constituency of Strathmore-Brooks.

The official word came after Oberg sent an e-mail to his co-workers and friends (some of the enemies apparently) in the PC caucus. He explained he is moving on to new challenges and thanked former premier Ralph Klein and current premier Ed Stelmach.

But thanking Stelmach seems a little odd considering insiders are saying it was the Premier himself who squeezed Oberg out of politics. Rumour has it (because these allegations remain rumours until confirmed) that Stelmach explained to Oberg there will be no cabinet position for him after the next election. So our Finance Minister had a choice, he could become a backbencher or bow out. Obviously he didn’t want the embarrassment of sitting in the section in which some may say is reserved for seat warming politicians.

The key issues that lead to this? Apparently the premier and finance minister butted heads on a number of things including the revamping of the royalty system.

Peter McCormick, a political scientist with the University of Lethbridge, believes Stelmach is clearing house and replacing nay-sayers with those who see eye to eye with him. McCormick was a little surprised that Oberg would be one of those to fall considering the Brooks politician was one of the people who threw his support behind Stelmach after being voted out of the PC Leadership Race last year. He was rewarded for his support with the finance portfolio.

Oberg is the latest in a number of MLA’s who say they are not trying to return to government … the other high-profile Tory stepping down is Calgary MLA Harvey Cenaiko who made his announcement months ago.

So who will replace him? Well it won’t be easy to get someone as experienced as Oberg. McCormick doesn’t think it will give Calgary more exposure unless someone in the next election really makes some heads turn. He expects it to be an I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine scenario. That could mean another northern rural MLA gets a nice spot in this government and lead to a cabinet that McCormick has called “revenge of the northern farm boys.”

On a side note, this is a clip reporters love. It is a catchy phrase that makes it’s point in a quick manner. Also it makes people listen…which is what radio is all about.

Back to the point of this story, this Oberg decision could be a good thing for all of us. McCormick says if Stelmach can find the perfect man for the job after the next election we could be laughing all the way to the bank. He believes it will be very interesting to see what moves are made in cabinet following that election and which MLA’s get the good jobs.

Of course all of these scenarios regarding cabinet revolve around the event that the PC’s win the next election whenever it’s called. Political pundits are predicting we’ll head to the polls in March after the writ is dropped in February. If another party surprises the country (not just the province) and comes to power…we’ll have a new finance minister that no one expected.

I couldn’t have picked a better (insert sarcastic tone here) weekend to move.

Not only did we have temperatures hovering around -20C, but it took a full two days to get all my rubbish from one home to the other.

It’s amazing how much junk you can accumulate over a year and not realize how much you own. It was difficult to move all of that stuff and we even had to give some of it away because it was just too much for our smaller place. I’m not a hoarder by any degree…I think I just underestimated my possessions.

My girlfriend and I awoke at 6 a.m. to the frigid weather just to begin moving the mountain of boxes in our living room. We were lucky to only have a moving distance of about 300 feet … but then again that meant a lot of time outside moving heavy objects through the freezing cold.

It also didn’t help that we were constantly in and out of the homes going from hot to cold to warm to freezing our buns off. The wear-and-tear of spending the two days lifting heavy objects was a blast (sarcasm again) as well.

Needless to say I am now sick. Of course since Kevin Usselman is off I can’t exactly take a day off and leave the Morning Show stranded.

I think today I am going take a trip to the Family Leisure Centre and relax in the hot tub for … oh I don’t know … six hours or so.

P.S. Yes, I know this entry has nothing to do with being in the “biz,” but I just needed to vent.