A couple of months after Mr Kenney lost control of Covid-19, he lost control of his party.
Consequently on Dec 13 Albertans find themselves here: our covid testing system is overwhelmed, contact tracing has collapsed, hospitals are at 120% capacity, ICU beds are filling up, the Red Cross and hospital field tents are on standby and anti-mask, anti-vax, anti-you-name-it protesters are demonstrating all over the province.
Lovely.
What went wrong
Kenney’s demise started in the spring when he decided to deny or soft pedal the virulence of Covid-19 to support the myth that he could control the virus with a “balanced approach” that would protect “lives and livelihoods.” He opted for half measures to fight a virus, the likes of which we had never seen before.
On Nov 25 when it became apparent that “balance” was not within reach Kenney implemented restrictions so pathetic that health writer, Andre Picard, called them “inaction posing as action, a quasi-libertarian Premier bending over backward to do nothing while pretending otherwise.”
Not surprisingly our covid infection rate and death rate continued to climb.
Then on Dec 8 Kenney imposed restrictions he said were necessary but would destroy the hopes and dreams of brave Albertans and violate of our constitutionally protected rights and freedoms.
Finally, when Kenney was asked whether he accepts any responsibility for his government’s inept response to Covid-19 he lashed out, characterizing criticism as “Alberta bashing” and “drive-by smears on Alberta.”
Let’s stop there for a moment.
The allusion that criticizing Kenney is criticizing Alberta—namely “Kenney is Alberta” and “Alberta is Kenney”—echoes tactics adopted by dictators and tyrants across the globe to silence critics. It also reinforces Kenney’s identity politics which are divisive and the antithesis of democracy. (Arguments over who gets what in a democratic context can result in compromise, not so in identity politics where arguments over who we are prevent compromise because compromise is viewed as betrayal.)*
Jekyll and Hyde
What makes Kenney’s position so unstable is he turned himself into Jekyll and Hyde in order to placate his base. Dr Jekyll said he is imposing restrictions to protect Albertans from the virus; Mr Hyde said these restrictions will destroy Albertans hopes and dreams and violate their Charter rights.
It didn’t work.
Moderate conservatives have been drifting out of the UCP tent for a while. Many of the hard right bolted last week. Before they left they flooded Kenney’s Facebook page and various websites with stinging comments. They are angry and disappointed. They made it crystal clear Kenney betrayed them and they would never vote for him again.
This creates an opportunity for other UCP members who are circling like vultures, waiting for the right moment to take the premier down.
One MLA who springs to mind is Drew Barnes. He has repeatedly challenged Kenney’s policies. On the heels of Kenney’s Dec 8 announcement, Barnes issued an “open call to the premier and cabinet” to let gyms, massage therapy, and hair salon businesses stay open.
Barnes cited an article issued by the University of Virginia in support of his position. He said the article stresses the importance of cardio in fighting the virus (cardio in a hair salon?). Unfortunately, the link to the article would not open. However, it’s important to note Virginia is in the covid red zone. It appears to have twice as many covid cases and three times as many deaths (when adjusted for population) as Alberta. The government will ignore Barnes’ suggestion which is fine by him, he’s not really speaking to the government but his cadre of supporters.
Now what
So where does that leave us?
The Legislative Assembly adjourned on Dec 8, and will not return until sometime in Feb 2021. Over the Christmas break the UCP caucus will get an earful from their constituents including the rural UCP MLA who said his constituents would be okay wearing masks until the government told them it was mandatory then they’d rip them off because they’re freedom loving Albertans, or something like that.
Kenney will spend the break dreaming up ways to deflect the outrage directed at him by offering his supporters another enemy to focus on (cue Trudeau’s carbon tax increases).
The rest of us will try to hang on until the vaccine arrives.
2021 will be a harrowing year.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a sensible premier like Rachel Notley, who has the interests of all Albertans at heart, instead of one who morphs back and forth between Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?
*The Economist Nov 28, 2020 p10
Susan on the Soapbox 
Susan: Thanks for another great blog. The UCP are out of their depth on the covid situation in Alberta, as well as with everything else. These measures are far too late to have any real effect on things. Alberta has been crowned the top spot in Canada for the per capita rate of people with covid. The UCP didn’t listen to top doctors, rejected an NDP MLA’s motion to have Dr. Deena Hinshaw be independent, made cuts to healthcare in Alberta, and didn’t learn from the first time when covid arrived in Alberta. The UCP didn’t deal with UCP MLAs, like Miranda Rosin, who was sending out misleading information to her constituents, saying the worst of the covid pandemic is behind us. Cam Westhead, is a registered nurse, with many years of experience, and the residents of Banff-Kananaskis replaced him with Miranda Rosin. It’s not Alberta bashing when the UCP is constantly taking Alberta backwards, and isn’t learning from previous events and mistakes. I don’t think these measures that have been put in place by the UCP will have any meaningful effect on curbing the spread of covid. I think we will see a rough 2021. The UCP will attempt to do something else in January, or in February, but even then, it will be pointless. It will still be the common chorus by the UCP, that someone else is to blame for this. I heard that we won’t see a vaccine until the summer, so we will be in for a bumpy ride. Sooner, or later, the UCP will be gone from power, because on many fronts, they aren’t being of any help to Albertans. I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.
@Dwayne: “I heard that we won’t see a vaccine until the summer, so we will be in for a bumpy ride”. Actually, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is here, at least the first tiny shipment is. First doses are scheduled to be given this week to critical care unit AHS staff at hotspot hospitals in Edmonton & Calgary: https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/topics/Page17295.aspx.
Part of the rationale for this plan is the stringent transport & storage requirements for this vaccine & the logistical challenges of getting it out to continuing care centres where it can do the most good. My guess is they will figure those out in short order & we’ll see immunization of high-risk people by the beginning of a January, if not sooner.
As for the bumpy ride, let’s hope vaccine rollout leads to a reduction in serious illness & deaths, which will ease the strain on our health care system and allow us to breathe a deep sigh of relief. The pandemic won’t be over, not by a long shot (no pun intended), but it will be under control.
jerrymacgp: Actually, I heard that others in Alberta won’t get the vaccine until the summer months. We will wait and see how the UCP deals with this. In the meantime, cases of covid in Alberta continue to go up. I don’t think we are in the clear yet, as the UCP aren’t handling things properly.
Dwayne and Jerrymacgp: On Dec 14 the Alberta government issued a press release indicating 3,900 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be shipped to dedicated vaccine sites and an addition 25,350 doses are expected in the week of Dec 21. As you both said, this is a tiny amount but at least it’s a start. The press release indicates the first group to be vaccinated will be respiratory therapists, intensive care unit physicians and staff, and eligible long-term care and designated supportive living workers
After that the priority is:
Phase 1: “priority populations” (not sure what that means) but it will include residents of long-term care and “designated” supportive living facilities, followed by seniors aged 75 and up, and First Nations on reserve, Inuit and on-settlement Metis individuals aged 65 and up.
Phase 2 is expected to start by April 2021. It will target “the next groups of prioritized populations” but final decisions on who they are have not yet been made.
Phase 3 will provide vaccinations to the general Alberta population. It’s expected “to start later in 2021.”
No where in the press release did the Kenney government acknowledge (let alone thank) the federal government for pushing as hard as it did on this file and getting the vaccine into our hands before Christmas.
Excellent summation Susan !
There entire situation is getting more and more appalling daily with the UCP is floundering badly..I also believe there is symbolism associated with this Corona virus. It is here to disrupt old ideologies, expose gaps and people for who they are or aren’t. The only thing this UCP government has done is make many sit up and pay attention to what we don’t want destroyed and dismantled.
As you note 2021will be a very harrowing and agonizing for many including this government as the “ their party threads” begin to tear and come apart. Blessings of the season to you and your family. Be safe and well
Thanks for the kind words Bota28. You raised a compelling point which may explain why it took the UCP government so long to impose restrictions.
One can only wonder what forecasts Kenney was looking at when he finally cracked and announced the Dec 11 restrictions.
Perhaps it wasn’t even the concern for hundreds and hundreds of needless deaths but rather the realization that his bungling of this file is setting the government up for a lawsuit of epic proportions. If a handful of Canadian diplomats and their families who were stationed in Cuba in 2016 can launch at $28 million lawsuit against the feds, alleging the government (1) failed to protect them, (2) hid crucial information and (3) downplayed the illness (the Havana syndrome), surely Albertans can make the case that Kenney mishandled the government’s response to covid-19. For one thing, it will be a whole lot easier to prove covid-19 is real than it is to prove the Havana syndrome is real.
Thank you for this clear summary of how Kenney brought us to this disaster, or rather to many disasters pkaying out simulateously including the ones his snake-like ministers are conducting quietly out of sight.
Albertans are in a fight for our lives against a govt that is willing to destroy us all in pursuit of riches, power and dictatorship.
Thanks Paula, I couldn’t agree with you more.
Sadly you nailed it again Susan.
Arlene, just when we think it can’t get any worse, it does. What a legacy!
“For weeks, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has preached personal responsibility as COVID-19 cases in his province have climbed.
On Tuesday [Dec. 8], it was a question about whether he would take responsibility — for Alberta’s pandemic situation — that drew his ire.
“That sounds a lot more like an NDP speech than a media question,” Kenney said, speaking to Sammy Hudes, a reporter from the Calgary Herald. “I reject the entire premise of your question.” https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/12/08/jason-kenney-rejects-notion-hes-to-blame-for-albertas-covid-19-struggle.html
The Calgary Herald reported on Dec. 14 that more than 100 Albertans died from Covid-19 just in the past seven days.
The responsibility for most of those deaths, and most of the recent deaths during this second wave rests on the shoulders of Jason (“I reject the entire premise of that question”, so I won’t answer it, or take any personal responsibility) Kenney and the now thoroughly, and rightly, muzzled “Health Minister” Tyler Shandro.
They are all muzzled – where is Savage, Lagrange, Shandro?
The government is Jason Kenney and his brainless ways. I know Susan mentioned some desertions but I have not seen much yet. Amazing all these MLAs approve of this garbage. Another 35 people died on the weekend and it is sounding exactly like disaster capitalism. Are they cleaning up Extended Care and Elder Care? I know this is an awful question but to be honest with this guy I believe anything.
carlosbeca: We also had a UCP MLA, Miranda Rosin, distribute flyers to her constituents stating that the worst of the covid situation is behind us. I don’t understand how the UCP comes up with the things it does.
Idiots that what the problem is – Idiots and lack of humility to learn more rather than open arrogance and packaged slogans.
Carlos, I think you’re right to suspect there may be people connected with the UCP who expect to profit from this mess.
I note for example that in the UCP government’s press release outlining who will get the vaccine in what priority, there’s a reference to “designated” supportive living facilities. Why is the word “designated” used?
Perhaps I’m just jaded but I recall Kenney agreeing to Revera’s request that Kenney drop the 14 day isolation requirement for new residents moving into its retirement homes because the need to isolate was hurting Revera’s bottom line. Revera (a private company that provides supportive living as well as retirement homes) said people were reluctant to move in if they had to isolate for 14 days. Revera provided no evidence in support of this assertion, but Kenney did it anyway.
Mike, like you I find it shocking that the man who preaches personal responsibility is so unwilling to accept responsibility himself. Tells you all you need to know about the man.
I agree with all of has been written here but the facts are that 42% Calgarians approve of this government. This is a awful statistic and very telling.
It is not about Health Care or good government anymore. I am concerned with the lack of everything this government has shown from lies to lack of transparency to bullying to lack of responsibility. Nothing matters apparently. Oil and making money does.
I not only think this government is a disgrace but so are we all. Our future with or without oil is bleak indeed. I am no longer just frustrated but feeling I do not belong here anymore.
“…42% of Calgarians approve[d] of this government.” I very much doubt whether 42% approve of it now.
Well you just have to read the latest polls last week – this is not fact less I am not part of that or conspiracy theories.
Mike and Carlos, I would love to see a poll conducted now. But regardless of what it says Kenney seems to listen to his hard core base. For example a survey conducted in the last weeks of Nov showed 81% of Albertans supported a province-wide mandatory mask order and 61% supported a “circuit breaker” shut down for up to a month, and yet it still took Kenney weeks to get himself there. One UCP supporter lauded Kenney for standing firm against media pressure for so long. I just shook my head, Kenney has hundreds of experts to guide him, he should be ahead of the media on this issue, not lagging behind it.
Can’t remember where I saw it (CBC?), but a recent poll said Kenney was the second-least popular premier, with 40% approval. The article attributed it to his failures to control Covid-19. Only Brian Pallister was worse, at 30% approval.
MIke this is correct and to me amazing because considering what this premier has done he should not be even at 20%. He lies through his teeth, he cheats and makes up fact less stories, he insults and attacks doctors, teachers and nurses just like his cousin down South. That 40% of Albertans still support this kind of person is very disappointing. Do not forget this is a man that has stopped one investigation on his interference with the election in the UCP leadership contest. We also have not heard about the RCMP investigation on the same issue. WHY?
This man does not deserve the support of anyone who is a decent citizen. My opinion anyway and I will not stop saying this until he gets kicked out of here. He does not have the skills or the ethics to run Alberta or to even think to touch the money that is in my pension. If you agree, write UCP MLAs and tell them that.
Well said!
Great blog
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
Thanks Linda, I hope you and the rest of your family are doing okay.
I have to wonder if Kenney who seems to have clever ways to weasel out of most things, didn’t see the COVID trap coming for him, or if he did, just wasn’t able to come up with a way to get out of it. He is paying a high price now in losing broader public support for his slow response to the second wave of COVID and it is only making his government look worse on health care, which already was very weak point for it. Even worse for him, it doesn’t seem like Drew Barnes or the right wing of his party is any happier with him, for all his reluctance and drawn out half measures.
I suppose a vaccine may help him politically eventually, but I wonder if the strain of everything may cause the UCP to fracture eventually anyways. Kenney who seems to normally be fairly composed and unflappable seems to be becoming a bit unhinged himself lately – lashing out at reporters and calling those that dare criticize him as Alberta bashing, as if he was the state and the state was him. This does not seem like a sign of someone who is in a good condition.
On the whole, the mainstream Alberta media has actually been fairly easygoing on Kenney over the last year, so if he can’t take an occasional tough question, that is really not a good sign for him. I do feel that the start of tough questions could be a sign that his honeymoon with the media is ending, the one with the voters I believe has already ended some time ago. I have observed that there is a mythology about Kenney being some sort of political golden boy, which much of the mainstream Alberta media in particular has bought into. Now that he is looking a bit tarnished, I believe they may start to rethink that assumption. Also, in a province like Alberta that has a history of being a one party state at times, I think there is a reluctance for the media to be too critical of the government. However, when the future starts to look politically less certain for that government, I suspect that reluctance may also start to diminish. Perhaps we can look forward to them asking Kenney more tough questions.
Could not agree more with you Dave but you are a kind person.
Jason Kenney is not in good condition? Anywhere in the Western world except the US, he is nuts and should resign. Maybe also Italy where they like their politicians with brain defects. 🙂
The media, with exception of Graham Thompson is part of him getting elected. They are all owned by Murdochs and Conrad Blacks. I doubt they will go further than a slap in the hand for not being fascist enough.
Dave, thanks for this. Your comment reminded me of the adage “everyone loves a winner.” I was told this is especially true in politics where people want to be able to say “their guy” won. For whatever reason Kenney developed the reputation of being a winner when he was a federal MP. Perhaps it was a combination of his willingness to deploy “tactics” that ensured he’d win whenever he ran, plus his gift of the gab. He sounds articulate even when he’s spouting nonsense (for example he still doesn’t understand the Charter notwithstanding what he or others think).
I too hope the press will see him for what he is and start asking him the kinds of questions they should be asking as professional journalists.
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2020/12/10/Jason-Kenney-Take-Responsibility/?utm_source=weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=141220
And the disaster continues
https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/12/07/Threatened-By-Coal-Ranchers-Take-Kenney-Court/?utm_source=weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=141220
Carlos, I found this comment in the coal article particularly troubling: The wife of a rancher says: “The fact that they rescinded the Coal Policy in Alberta without any consultation whatsoever…didn’t give the citizens of Alberta a fair chance to discuss whether they thought it was a good idea. It was just dumped on us.”
The irony here is the UCP’s Fair Deal Panel engaged in months of consultation over Alberta separating from Canada, forming its own police, getting out of CPP, etc etc etc, but when it comes to things that really matter to Albertans like access to water and the ongoing viability of ranching, then consultation is out of the question because hey, an Australian company wants to resume coal mining and the UCP are happy to help out.
Is that lack of character, that lack of understanding, that lack of basic critical thinking and respect for citizenship that amazes me as well.
Albertans are better than this. Yes we have a difficult economy and we may be in one of the greatest challenges of your lives but we do not just simply sell ourselves off to whatever corporation from anywhere and rush to get their dollars. This is our land, this is sacred territory of many indigenous peoples that have been here for thousands of years and it is our obligation to nurture it and sustain it for as long as we can. We should not be trading this beautiful part of our planet and our souls to just be poisoned so that some CEO get millions and get a new mansion at the sea shore somewhere in Australia or anywhere for that matter. We can do better than this. We are not idiots. Jason Kenney may choose that path but not us. It is time for us to make real decisions and not make belief.
I know one more but at least I try to wake up some people – by the way the Tyee is no longer some paper somewhere in BC and run by hippies like I heard once – you just have to look at the awards they have already received and the quality of their articles which leaves the mainstream papers swimming in the dark and you can read it anytime you want and can help independent media which seems to be finally developing strong in Canada
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2020/12/14/COVID-Deaths-Final-Wexit/
Carlos, thanks for providing these links to the Tyee. You’re right, it’s no longer a local newspaper. Well worth a read.
The Tyee is slowly becoming the best online paper in Canada and their articles are causing change which is important. The more people read them and help the better it gets in terms of investigative journalism.
Andrew Nikiforuk who reports on the pandemic has just received the award of the best commentator of the year in BC.
So under my tree i have covid 19, coal in my back yard, water deregulation, broken education, broken healthcare, slashed social programs and a creep show for the kiddies
how this can be the alberta standard is beyond my comprehension
and any political dialog is summed up with “if i don’t vote blue what do you expect me to vote ….liberal? .,..ndp?…green? ……never!”
And don’t forget the Used Car Partiers insurance deregulation: since the removal of the NDP’s protections I am now being gouged to make up for that one, single year private insurance co.s ‘suffered’ a loss because of the FtMac fire, so my private insurance bills have doubled,despite not making a single claim in a quarter century. But not to worry, thanks to bill 41 I may be able to save a bit of money next year, assuming I’m willing to allow the private insurance companies to surveil me 24/7/365..
Of course I am assured that buying such overtly invasive insurance products will be ‘100% voluntary’, unless of course I wish to legally operate a vehicle on the public roadways generations of Albertan’s have already paid for,
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-bill-41-usage-based-insurance-driver-tracking-1.5810597
Well I am sorry lungta but that never is worse than what you describing – why never? are they the so called communists that the UCP announces at every opportunity to scare you to vote for them?
If it is you need to confront that delusion and move forward – the NDP was in power 4 years and did much better than this and we did not have scandals and bullying so not sure why you would have so much problem voting for them as an alternative.
carlosbeca: There are Albertans who allege that the NDP wasted all kinds of money, went on a spending spree, and left Alberta broke. They have nothing to back these claims up with. The Alberta PCs weren’t any good, when Peter Lougheed stopped being premier of Alberta. They are the ones who blew Alberta’s money away on the worst kinds of misdeeds, and here we go again with the UCP.
lungta mtn: You know I avoided watching that Santa clip until now.
But even in a red sweater, he just can’t carry off the Mr Rogers thing. Perhaps it’s because one happy-happy video clip does not make up for a year of brutal cuts to AISH, education, healthcare, etc.
[I just said and deleted a whole bunch of things…so I’ll just leave it here.]
.. Watching from Ontario.. though most of my family are Albertans
I find the majority Government of Jason Kenney – UCP truly puzzling. X % of Albertans voted.. and X % voted for ‘him’ .. or did they vote for ‘them’ ie ‘vote the new Party’ ? The rhyme or reason escapes me.. Logic ? What logic ?
Regardless, the Kenney drama unfolds a la Shakespeare. The great little genius man moves on your Canada Pension Funds, your Environment, Healthcare, Education etc etc as COVID-19 kicks his ass & your asses. Abolished the Coal Policy last year.. catering to Australian interests.. and will allow the Oldman River Watershed to be toxified with selenium.. not to worry, just a million Albertans need that water.. and it flows into other major river watersheds
Kenney is a ‘Dominionist’ just like Stephen Harper. Some sort of waiting for The Rapture faux judeo/christo grifter from Ottawa. All ‘big tent circus swindler freak show, big picture’ without a shred of interest in individual Albertans.. just their votes. He sees all of you as heathens needing to behave, be ‘tidy’ & be converted. Just look at his brother to see how warped he is. Gender reclamation or conversion.. whatever.. maybe they can get it into school curriculum.. Some sort of surrender unto jeebuz repent.. whatever. And pass the collection basket and your mortal soul thankee..
UCP majority govt = dictatorship. To be rid of Kenney and the UCP at this point, we would have to stop playing by the very rules of democracy the UCP are not following themselves. We would have to come up with ways to out civil disobedience the UCP supporters who have been enabled by Kenney to engage in civil disobedience (ie anit-mask rallies). I am not unwilling to do this, but what kind of engagement can be used that has a decent chance of succeeding? And are there enough Albertans willing to engage in the paradigm shift needed to embrace such civil disobedience? Personally, I thinkmit’s a strong likelihood that Albertans will pay a tremendous price if we think we can wait until 2023 to remove this mafia of a government. We are faced with a huge dilemma. I’d say all reasonable ideas and strategies would be welcome.
Could not agree more with you Paula and waiting until 2023 is waiting for the destruction of this province the way we know it. I am sure the change will only be better for Jason Kenney and his mafia. The rest of us will be the slaves of a feudal state. But they keep scaring people with calls of socialists and communists to anyone that does not agree with their crap and unfortunately works in Alberta.
Excellent point Paula. I am aware of some well managed citizen groups that are organizing with the sole purpose of defeating Kenney in 2023 and slowing him down as much as possible between now and election day.
I intend to amplify their message in the new year. The more of us who join in, the higher our chances of success.
Diamondwalker, You nailed it.
Just to pick up on Kenney rescinding the 1976 Coal Policy, yesterday we learned Kenney sold the rights to strip mine 18.52 square km of the Eastern Slopes to the Australians for a grand total of $66,563. That’s right, $66,563.
The average bid price was $35.93/ha; but two parcels went for as low as $3.50/ha and $7.03/ha. In return for forking over this ridiculously low sum the Australians got 15 year renewable leases and, of course, and the government’s ongoing pledge to cut red tape (which means god knows what in the environmental context).
In related news: Lloyds of London just announced it will stop providing new insurance cover for coal, oil sands and Arctic energy projects by January 2022 and phase out all existing insurance policies for fossil fuel projects in 10 years’ time.
The bankers, the insurers, the stock market analysts, all of them, are running away from fossil fuels as fast as their little legs can carry them. Which brings us back to the fundamental question: what the heck is wrong with Jason Kenney?
Here’s the link https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/dec/17/lloyds-market-to-quit-fossil-fuel-insurance-by-2030
Very well written. You are accurate. You are precise. You are effective. Absolutely nothing is wrong with holding our leaders (or wanna-be) accountable. That is part of healing democracy. Jason Kenny, tends to platform issues that has no relevance to reality. Keep up the good work!
Thank you Gerard. Much appreciated!
It’s a great column, Susan. Now living a distance from Alberta, I can only feel sadness for the consequences Kenney’s ineptitude has inflicted on the people of the province. It’s remarkable to me that Kenney — who has been such a successful political operative (I mean in terms of being able to manipulate political parties and leadership campaigns) — has turned out to be such a very terrible leader once in power. I knew of course that I didn’t share his values or politics, but I did expect more competence from his government. Alas! Not.
Janet, isn’t that the strangest thing. Kenney was touted as such a great politician and yet when he was finally given the opportunity to lead he fell apart. I put it down to the Harper effect, As long as Harper was around telling Kenney what to do Kenney was a success, but now that Kenney is out here on his own, he’s a complete disaster.
Even Doug Ford is a better leader than this guy (and that’s not saying much).
There’s too much in Kenney’s actions and words that sounds like an echo from the Trump White House. I almost hate to say it. I assume others have noticed too?
Like this NYT article about the Trump people always choosing messaging over science on the pandemic.:
Oh Val: that is such a disturbing article…Ivanka Trump and Kelleyanne Conway were the brains behind Trump’s covid response? I wonder whether the Alberta equivalent is John Carpay, the conservative Catholic lawyer who runs the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/12/15/politics-and-religion-are-an-irresistible-mix-for-jason-kenney-even-during-a-pandemic.html
mtngoat51: yes I’ve noticed that too. Kenney like Trump seems to believe if you repeat the lie (or half truth) loud enought and long enough people will believe you. It worked for Trump until he botched the covid crisis. I’m wondering whether the same thing is happening here.
Conservatives are being stopped in their tracks on conspiracy theories due to the pressure we are all forcing on them. O’Toole now backtracked on the Residential Schools as well. At 47 and a leader of the Conservative Party of Canada still is not sure what the schools were for.
Grow up and smell the roses if you wan to govern this country. At your age and with your responsibilities you should at least not try to revise Canadian history.
Canada’s history is not a conspiracy theory it is a reality. If you do not believe it just talk to some of the survivors of those schools that were abused even sexually by so called Christian priests
‘The two largest religious organizations behind the residential schools were the Roman Catholic Oblates Order of Mary Immaculate and the Church Missionary Society of the Anglican Church (the Church of England)’
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/one-in-five-students-suffered-sexual-abuse-at-residential-schools-figures-indicate/article20440061/
Imagine if this had been the other way around? I am sure O’toole would have his history right. One in five children O’Toole – 1 in five.
Carlos, I saw this story unfold on social media before it was picked up by the Globe & Mail. One thing that was interesting was how O’Toole had no qualms about saying the purpose of residential schools was education when he was talking to a group of young conservatives but quickly reversed his position when he was called on it by the Globe & Mail. As one of the Indigenous leaders said, it’s tough to see why anyone should trust him. No kidding!
We need a no confidence vote.
Under our present system, we cannot obtain a ‘no confidence’ vote because the UCP have a majority. We need an aggressive and sustained civil disobedience campaign/general strike that brings govt function and commerce to a standstill. We might have to embrace strategies that may be distasteful in a democratic tradition, but waiting until 2023…well, I don’t think there will be much of Alberta to savage from the ruins.
Could not agree more.
Time to move like they do – Shock and Awe.
Have a general strike and let him fire everyone. He is our employee and not the other way around.
Robbie, Paula and Carlos: Agreed, unfortunately the UCP have a majority and will defeat a no confidence vote if it is called. Even if some UCP MLAs don’t like what Kenney is proposing it’s highly unlikely enough (19) would break with the party and vote with the NDP. So all that’s left between now and 2023 is what Paula describes as aggressive and sustained civil disobedience. Given how many groups Kenney has ticked off, everyone from doctors to ranchers, this may be quite effective.
The other thing that might slow Kenney down is writing to your MLA and the cabinet minister in charge of the issue as Carlos suggests. The only way our MLAs will take our concerns seriously is if they know we’re angry. I’ve made it my mission to wear out my keyboard writing to my utterly useless MLA until he and his party are gone.
I ain’t anti anything, however I do believe
Particular attention should have been paid to the most vulnerable as soon as we learned “ who that was”! We knew this early. Resources deployed here first.For the rest of us … adherence to masking, sanitation,social distancing etc. With these measures, everything could have “ stayed open” and YES our personal freedoms ,would still be intact!
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/kenney-madu-mask-photo-hinshaw_ca_5fdbc44fc5b6094c0ff07eda
this is a daily gong show
They might as well come out and say they do not believe in any of it and let their supporters go wild and some of them might actually suffer what is like to have this virus and have to be intubated
What a bunch of idiots
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According to The Covid Tracking Project, here is what is currently happening to the daily death rate in the US:
https://covidtracking.com/data/charts/us-daily-deaths
They are up to ~3500 deaths per day. For a bit of perspective, here is an earlier active chart that runs the US daily deaths by covid vs. averages of other causes of death:
https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/1780127/
Note: it only has data to the end of May, where US daily deaths from this disease was around 1500!/day, so not ‘in the lead’. Well, this disease’s deaths/day in the US has been right back in first place, and strongly gaining a lead, since mid November.
Since, despite all their assurances to the contrary, Mr.Kenney, Mr.Shandro and the rest of the UCP healthcare privatization team are apparently only taking their pandemic response advice from private clinic CEO quacks, advice that effectively copies the US non-response, I surmise that that first chart’s CURVE (not the absolute numbers, obviously) is what Alberta will soon be looking at when it comes to deaths/day,
if that hasn’t happened already.
Well while Shandro keeps saying that the Butterdome temporary hospital is just in case the other hospitals are full, the doctors are starting to come out and saying basically – the hospitals have been full for a long time and they are exhausted and need help – of course Shandro does not care because he is not the one that has to do the job he just cuts their contracts and wants to privatize them so that he can with still benefit from the pandemic. It is as obvious as water. The so called disaster capitalism
A new shiny-thing distraction from the UCPS is the opioid death dashboard which minimizes covid death stats. Look over here people, more Albertans died from opioids than covid. Why are you so worried about covid? The UCP death spin doctors are at work again!
One is a pandemic of the younger and the other is a pandemic bad for older people and the UCP does not care about either one. They just like the propaganda that allows them to get what they want. Survival of the fittest is what they care about – too bad they do not have the courage to come out and say it – that would definitely help – that is real courage and decency which does not exist in the UCP. One day it will be the time they have to fight for their survival as well and I know who will win because they are not fit to govern. I am just sorry for all the people that became collateral in this race to nothing of any value at all.
I think you are definitely correct with regards to opioid deaths being a convenient distraction for the UCP. Jason Luan was pouring out the crocodile tears talking about the 904 opioid deaths that have occurred this year, but he didn’t seem as concerned when he was closing the Lethbridge safe injection site, or running an inquiry looking for an excuse to close other sites.
I read a CBC story discussing opioid deaths when Mr. Luan was crying his crocodile tears. It was interesting to see that in 2019 there were 627 deaths without the Covid crisis, so the real concern should be the increase in opioid deaths as opposed to the raw numbers.
Yours isn’t the only Administration that failed dismally during this unprecedented catastrophe! Here in the U.S.A. it’s been a real shitshow Clown Car Circus with an incompetent dangerous Ringmaster who we may have trouble actually ousting after he lost the Election. The World has indeed gone Mad!