When is a person old enough to know better?
I ask because Danielle Smith was 50 when she said 75% of the public who took the covid vaccine would support a tyrant like Hitler.
She also said she wasn’t wearing a poppy because the politicians “ruined it for me this year” by pretending to care about the freedoms our war veterans fought for.
Smith has said many things over the years but this is one of the most egregious because:
- passing public health restrictions in a pandemic is not an act of tyranny and it does not make those who chose not to get vaccinated a persecuted minority like Holocaust victims,
- no one “ruined” Remembrance Day for Danielle Smith because Remembrance Day is not about Danielle Smith.
Smith apologised for her comment saying covid was a difficult and frustrating time for everyone, including her and “sometimes I let my frustrations get to me during that time.”
Sorry, that’s not good enough.
Grow up
Smith is what a young friend of mine would call a “grown ass” adult, not an immature, self-centred teenager who let’s her frustrations get the better of her.
She’s running for the most powerful political office in Alberta. If elected she’ll be responsible for a $68.3 billion budget and will be able to wield the power of the state over 4.6 million people.
A good premier (like Rachel Notley) possesses maturity, judgment, and good common sense. Smith does not.
It’s not as if Smith is a neophyte. She’s been in politics or following political issues for 25 years.
Here’s a quick recap of her career:
Age 25: wins seat on Calgary Board of Education (1998)
Age: 38: becomes the leader of the Wild Rose (Oct 2009)
Age 41: becomes Opposition Leader (April 2012)
Age 43: crosses the floor with eight WR MLAs to join Prentice’s PC government (Dec 2014)
Age 44: loses bid for PC nomination and temporarily leaves politics. .
Age 45: joins CHQR (2016)
Age 50: quits CHQR because she wants to speak freely and is tired of trolls (Jan 2021)
Age 51: announces she’s running for the leadership of the UCP (May 2022)
Age 51: becomes premier (Oct 2022)
Sadly, despite all this experience, Smith’s career has been nothing but a gong show.
Ignore what I said …
Smith wants Albertans to ignore what she’s said as a talk show host, columnist, or lobbyist.
Okay, let’s play along. She said:
- the unvaxxed are the most oppressed people she’d seen in her lifetime,
- pro-Russia comments about the invasion of Ukraine,
- her great-grandfather fled Ukraine after WW1 to escape communism (he didn’t).
- she has Cherokee ancestry (disputed by APTN)
- the unmarked graves at residential schools weren’t legitimate,
- the Coutts blockade was a “win”,
- Albertans should pay out of pocket to see their family doctor,
- it might be a good idea to sell public hospitals to the private sector
- cancer (unless it’s stage 4) is the patient’s fault,
- 75% of those who received the covid vaccine would support Hitler.
And we should ignore these comments, why?
Because she says her knowledge and opinions with respect to some of them (it’s unclear which) have “drastically evolved” since the time—a few months ago to a couple of years ago—she made them.
Instead Smith wants us to focus on what she’s done.
Focus on what I’ve done…
Okay, let’s do that. Let’s focus on what Smith has done since Oct 11, 2022 when she became premier.
The Legislature was in session for 24 days between Nov 29, 2022 and Mar 23, 2023.
During that time she passed one significant bill, Bill 1, the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act.
Bill 1 was the cornerstone of Smith’s leadership campaign and she watered it down. It still purports to allow the province to ignore federal laws, but it no longer lets the government ignore decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada. She’s never used it and likely never will.
Other than Bill 1, one is hard pressed to find any other meaningful legislation coming out of Smith’s term in office.
There’s a smattering of legislation that attempts to correct the affordability problems created by the Kenney government—a six month $100/month payment for eligible Albertans, freezing car insurance premiums, and a rebate for rebate for sky rocketing electricity prices—but not much else.
Ah, but let’s look outside the Legislature. There Smith has been very busy. As premier she:
- fired the AHS board for creating the healthcare crisis, in the middle of a healthcare crisis
- promoted RStar, a $20 B handout to polluting energy companies (that she lobbied for prior to becoming premier) to entice them to do what they’re legally obligated to do,
- talked to crown prosecutors about dropping covid related charges, then said she “misspoke” and didn’t talk to crown prosecutors (the CBC defamation suit fits in here somewhere),
- talked to a man charged awaiting trial on criminal charges and promised to look into his issues,
- appointed cronies like Preston Manning to useless panels,
- completed a report on the feasibility of taking away Albertan’s CPP and replacing it with a made-in-Alberta pension plan, but refuses to share it with the public prior to the election,
- refuses to discuss replacing the RCMP with provincial police or creating an Alberta tax collection agency, key policies of her Free Alberta supporters, prior to the election,
- discovered she can’t pardon people who violated covid public health rules (alas, she doesn’t have the same powers as a US governor)
- passed a balanced budget (thanks to roaring oil prices) then spent most of the surplus buying our votes,
- appears to have strengthened her relationship with Take Back Alberta who say they’ll dump her the way they dumped Kenney if she doesn’t deliver their populist agenda,
- signed a 10 year healthcare funding deal with the feds (it’s free money, why not)
Ta Da!
Sorry, there’s not much to crow about. But even if it were, the things a politician says matter.
Which takes us back to her position that she shouldn’t be judged on what she said as a talk show host, a columnist, or a lobbyist.
Why not? If she didn’t mean what she said then, why should we believe she means what she says now.
Vote wisely Calgary.
Susan on the Soapbox 
Indeed, vote wisely. Not just Calgary but everywhere in Alberta. D Smith is a rolling disaster for our province. She needs TO BE GONE.
Liz, excellent point. the UCP will likely be shut out of Edmonton but we need the rest of the province to see how unfit she and her party are to govern.
Danielle Smith: more flip-flops than the Havaianas store at the mall.
That’s true, Mm. What’s even more incredible is she expects us to forget or forgive her for what she said a couple of months ago and trust her now.
Susan: Thanks for sharing another great blog. You have made a nice comprehensive list with issues that show why Albertans shouldn’t vote for the UCP. The UCP makes it harder for Albertans. We cannot endure any more of the UCP. Another four more years would be chaos. I’ll play some more fitting music. A well known singer from Newcastle, in England, Eric Burdon, turned 82 on May 12. Here is a Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil composition, We Gotta Get Out Of This Place. Eric Burdon & The Animals released this in 1965. It is in my music collection, and I did see the band live.
Superb choice Dwayne.
mikegklein: Thanks!
Our sentiments exactly… at least if she wins.
jerrymacgp: Ditto.
Oh Dwayne, this was perfect:
“We gotta get out of this place
If it’s the last thing we ever do
We gotta get out of this place
Girl, there’s a better life for me and you
Somewhere baby
Somehow I know it, baby.”
PS I’m not surprised you’ve seen the band. Lucky you!
Interesting history for a “mouthpiece” for some political movement. Her mouth fails her so consistently. She will come and go. My deep concern is the power behind the talking throne. What is the intent? What is the endgame? What is the point of this action? Who are the players we see and the players we don’t see? This is extremely concerning.
Mikegklein: You’ve made an extremely important point. As the video clips keep emerging, Smith and the UCP’s ties to TBA and Free Alberta Strategy and others like them becomes clearer.
In the past we knew the conservatives were in bed with the corporations (oil, gas, mining, you name it) and we knew who these companies were.
Now we get clips from groups like TBA who make no bones about their socially conservative and regressive agenda and who made it clear Smith will deliver their agenda or she’ll be turfed.
It’s bad for democracy to live in a petrostate, it’s even worse when the petrostate is combined with our own version of the Tea Party.
Sadly, the linking of a petrostates to rightwing political parties is a feature, not a bug. The UCP (just like the Wildrose before it) is THE political party for the small/medium cap OG businesses in Alberta and they provide necessary political cover for the major players.
If you think this is just hyperbole, Dave Yeager said this very thing as one of the chief architects of the Wildrose Party.
Now, this sector is represented by just under 6% of the total Alberta workforce, and it has an albeit outsized contribution of under a quarter of revenue generated. Impressive really.
But that also means 94% of working Albertans don’t work in Oil & Gas and they contribute over 75% of the revenue in Alberta. So where is the advocacy for the majority of Albertans ?
Don’t know about you, but I am beyond tired of the story that O&G are the only show in this province and that all the pubic sector goodies must go to this sector! This story from the UCP (and the Wildrose, and the PCs ) is way past tired and Albertans must recognize Dub-duh Danielle and her party are utterly captured by the O&G sector and don’t care a whit at all for the majority of Albertans.
One and done Folks!
Well said, Lee. Thank you.
Might be wishful thinking but the TBA chicanery in Macleod Livingston has put a lot of orange on a lot of lots. The NDP has fielded a very talented candidate here in Kevin Van Tighem while the United Convoy Party came up with a TBA approved Smith clone with her own bag of bozo outbursts in combination with absolutely zero disclosure on her political positions when asked . TBA buckle bunny? Pig in a poke?
Hope we never find out.
lungta mtn: that’s an encouraging comment.
It’s the height of arrogance for the person asking for your vote to refuse to discuss her position on the issues that matter.
In the old days all the candidate had to do was show up in conservative blue, that’s not good enough anymore.
Update
Not seeing the regular sea of blue and a disenchanted Coutts border attendee Corrie Toone under the Independence Party banner is challenging the UPC choice of candidate i believe he lost to earlier . I have heard many say they will back him rather than Smiths version. What that does to the blue vote….?
Fun times.
She lies whenever it is convenient….nothing can be taken at face value and subject to change at next speak…..this is not the leader we want for Alberta.
Susan: Here is my second song pick. This is an Irving Berlin composition, Always, which was covered by Leonard Cohen in 1992, for his album The Future. I saw Leonard Cohen live, and he is in my music collection. A great Canadian artist.
Thanks Dwayne, Cohen is such an interesting artist. When I was a teenager I played his song Suzanne so many times my mom took away my portable record player. God, that was a long time ago!
LOL 🙂 🙂 – he is amazing and all his songs are fascinating. I also use to listen to him a lot because all his songs in any album were quality music.
Beautiful! Went to that show at the Jubilee! Thanks Dwayne.
A person’s history, which includes their experiences, upbringing, and cultural background, can significantly shape who they are as an individual. Smith’s personal history, stated positions and opinions plays a crucial role in shaping her beliefs, values, perspectives, and behaviors. It should play a crucial role in Albertan’s determining if this is the leadership we want, the direction we want our province to move in and is Smith fit to lead us?
Glenn you are 100% correct.
So what are we to make of a person who’s 51 who asks us to ignore all the offensive things she’s said in the past? We’re not talking about the birth of Venus who rose from the sea a grown ass adult (as my young friend would say), we’re talking about a libertarian politician with a breathtaking record of arrogance and poor judgment.
The prospect of 4 more years with Smith at the helm is unthinkable.
Danielle Smith is unbalanced and out of control.She aligns herself with lawbreakers and communists.
Communists? you mean fascists?
Thanks that too. A vote for Danielle Smith is a vote for an out of control Satan.
Maureen and Fred: unbalanced and out of control. Couldn’t have said it better myself!
Wow Susan. You hit this one out of the park! How anyone can vote UCP is beyond me!
We voted before we left. Now in Wellington NZ. Wonderful city. Had a tour of their Parliament yesterday. Learned about the NZ system of Mixed Member Proportional representation. Very interesting.
Hope all is good with you and Roy and the girls.
Mary
Thanks Mary! I’m glad you were able to vote before you left.
I know you’re supposed to be on vacation but I’ll bet you’ll be searching the web for the election results come May 29.
I look forward to hearing more about the NZ system when you return.
Take care,
Susan
Mary thank you for bringing up the issue of electoral system. The New Zealand Mixed Member Proportional Representation would be much better for us and the future of our province. I really like their system. Our system is totally outdated and needs to be replaced.
Carlos, I agree with you about our electoral system being outdated and in need of replacement. I used to worry that proportional representation could result in far-right fringe parties gaining a foothold in parliament, but what I didn’t factor into my thinking was that the far-right fringe doesn’t have to form its own party, it can simply take over an existing party–like the TBA is trying to do with the UCP–and you’ll have the same result. So I’m behind you all the way on this one.
Susan I am glad that you now agree with me. We need more and more people to know how bad this system is including the NDP that does not have a clue and told me they are not interested. Too bad because that is their responsibility but the parties like this majority garbage and cannot even imagine any cooperation.
Brian Mason says as long as he has known Smith she has ALWAYS been focussed on privatizing health care, so watch out.
Also, she has been focussing on police to a disturbing degree, as in passing Bill 6
https://www.assembly.ab.ca/assembly-business/bills/bill?billinfoid=11991&from=bills
It allowed her to name three members to the Calgary police commission, apparently with no consultation whatsoever.
This story has many interesting features; people were complaining that she was not going to name the appointees until after the election; so Smith named the three but it turned out she had one name wrong. The third person named used to live in Calgary but now apparently is in Houston.
https://globalnews.ca/news/9692256/alberta-named-calgary-police-commission-members/?utm_source=%40GlobalCalgary&utm_medium=Twitter
On the other hand, last year she suggested police officers be charged for enforcing public health orders:
It just never stops…
Thanks Valerie. Bill 6 purports to help citizens with complaints against the police. The Bill is supposed to enhance this process by allowing the government to create “new governance bodies that will give communities greater say in setting policies, priorities, performance targets, building police services that better understand their diverse communities and are more responsive to their distinct needs.”
However, given that Smith’s government will be appointing the members of the governance bodies, they will bear her stamp and carry her agenda.
She did the same thing when she appointed 3 new members to the Calgary police commission. When Calgary’s mayor complained this was an intolerable overreach, Smith said Calgary City Council was playing games because “after all it’s an election”. Yes, it’s an election, but it’s a provincial election, not a municipal election so what’s her point? Frankly I think she’s grandstanding for the law-and-order crowd.
One area where DS’s comments and actions are consistent is in her disdain for public health care. Her comments about selling off hospitals and getting Albertans accustomed to paying to see a doctor are only on the surface. (Can you image what you and staff would experience in a “for profit hospital?) During COVID the UCP government was paying Telus, via the Babylon app $60 for virtual consultations and paying $20 to regular doctors – a slap down of the majority of Alberta doctors and members Alberta Medical Association. Alberta had 22 unfilled medical residency positions at the end of April while other western provinces had zero. Doctors in rural locations are retiring and leaving hundreds without a family doctor. This puts more and more pressure on our ER’s. Thankfully most doctors are committed to serving others but clearly new doctors don’t want to come to Alberta. Our rural UCP voters are the ones most affected by this. While chatting with convoy protestors and hanging out with those who have been charged with criminal activity, we haven’t seen DS stopping by the ERs where people can wait up to 15 hours to see a doctor nor saying a “Thank You” to the exhausted frontline workers.
Here’s hoping for sanity to prevail on May 29 and put an end to the assault on public healthcare.
This is very true Survivor. I was talking to someone earlier today who told me he’s aware of a number of healthcare professionals who will leave the province if the UCP are elected on May 29.
This fits with what I’ve been hearing here in Calgary. Many doctors are either moving to a jurisdiction where they don’t have to worry about the government attacking them whenever they need a scapegoat, or taking early retirement because they’re utterly fed up and can’t take it anymore.
So tell me, how does Alberta attract people to come here when it can’t provide public healthcare and public education?
I can’t fathom how Smith and her supporters think.
Susan: Here is my final song pick. This is a composition written by Jann Arden and Bob Foster, called Good Mother. It’s from her 1994 album, Living Under June. I saw Jann Arden 18 times live, and met her. A great Calgary artist. She is also in my music collection. Since it’s Mother’s Day, I thought I’d share this.
Dwayne, this was a lovely choice. I saw Arden once (unlike your 18!) at the Stampede Grand Stand show. she was electrifying.
American conservative politics were fundamentally altered thanks to a small but effective group of activists who didn’t see their values represented in the Republican party.They were an eclectic mix of libertarians, right-wing populists and Christian fundamentalists who believed in the power of God, lower taxes and smaller government.
My sincere apologies, Susan. My posting did not include the source of my quote: it was from Gary Mason, Globe &!Mail May 11th. He was warning about Alberta’s own Tea Party – the small group, as he described – that has made a former respected Republican into the shadow of a party today.
Thanks Verna. Mason’s comment rings true.
Someone gave me a quote by the Republican writer David Frum from his book Trumpocracy. Frum said he voted for Clinton in 2016, not because he liked her but because he was voting for the American system. He wanted to stop Trump’s attack on democracy. Sadly, Trump won and the Republicans are now the Tea Party on steroids.
Our future will track the same way if we don’t throw Danielle Smith’s UCP out on May 29.
Excellent! I will share!! Thank you
Thank you Gerard, please share far and wide!
Excellent summary of what Smith says and what she does. We require these summaries on occasion as it is so hard to keep track.
Apropos of nothing, did anyone else notice that the people that vote UCP because it “owns” fiscal responsibility gave their homes, pickup trucks and other assorted boy toys back to the various finance companies when they were laid off in the oil patch? I believe these UCP voters do not understand irony.
Jaundiced Eye: your ironic observation brought a smile to my lips. Thanks.
one more she will have to apologize for
https://pressprogress.ca/danielle-smith-suggested-police-officers-could-face-criminal-charges-for-enforcing-public-health-orders/
So Carlos, the question is how many more of these clips do Albertans need to see before they decide Smith and the TBA/UCP party are not fit to lead this province.
Wonderful Question and I have a hard time believing that half our population prefer Danielle Smith who is totally unfit to give us decent government.
Apologists for Daniellezebub & the UCP try to tell us to pay no attention to what she’s said or advocated in the past, only what she says & advocates now. But let us not forget Jorge Santayana’s famous maxim, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Santayana).
Led by former Harper & Ford government strategist Steven Outhouse, Smith is being muzzled by a passel of communications professionals & campaign handlers in a process known in the trade as “message discipline”. But things she’s said outside of the arena of electoral politics, when she wasn’t subject to those constraints, are very revealing of who she really is & what she truly believes & stands for. They do bear close attention & scrutiny, especially since many of them are in the very recent past & not decades ago — after all, probably none of us ought to be held fully accountable for stuff we said in our late teens or early twenties, when we were young & foolish. But in the full flowering of maturity? Absolutely.
So, voters of Alberta, pay close attention to the garbage that has spewed from Smith’s pie hole over the years — and be afraid, be very afraid.
Jerrymacgp: very true. Did you see the press conference where Smith’s teleprompter started acting up. She went dead quiet three times during that media event because apparently, without her teleprompter scrolling by she had no idea what to say. Kind of fits the puppet motif that’s developing around her and the TBA crowd.
If we don’t put our ideologies aside and vote wisely now……perhaps we need the experiential lessons the next four years will provide….and we should also consider, that by year 2 of a Smith led government, the crazies in that big tent will be more engaged in ‘changing the leader’ than governing,.
The die hards can’t get it through their thick skulls that its not the leader….its the lack of good social policies…..that divides them. No party can do what the Take Back Alberta party wants done. We’re a Federal Democracy, and inspite of everything, I believe most Albertans want it to stay that way.
Time for some good governance…and to the scrap heap with alt right ‘ideology’….its idiotoly, and past time we recognized that.
Ingamarie: I 100% agree that if Smith is elected she won’t last long. A number of true blue conservatives (if I can call them that) retired from political life rather than run for re-election with her as leader.
If Smith wins her margin will not be as impressive as Kenney’s margin. Her caucus and cabinet will include proportionately more rural MLAs (beholden to TBA) than Calgary MLAs (not beholden to TBA).
The fracture lines are there and over the course of the next 12-24 months will be stressed to the point where the party implodes.
Nothing much will be accomplished in the interim, which is bad news for public health, public education, and other public services.
ingamarie and Susan, somebody recently pointed out that Ralph Klein was the last Conservative premier to serve out an entire term–until he was punted by his own party, halfway through his third term. Dave Hancock–the “interim premier” who didn’t want the job. Ed Stelmach–kicked to the curb by Calgary businessmen (and threatened with the brand-new Wildrose Party fronted by Danielle Smith). Alison Redford–too snooty for her own party. Jim Prentice–a special case, called an early election to “ask for a mandate” to deal with falling oil prices; quit in disgust when he lost to Rachel Notley. I guess he quit before the Old Tories could fire him. (Did I miss any?)
And now there’s Jason Kenney, cannibalized by his own party for not being mean enough. Will Danielle Smith break the chain of self-inflicted damage? I can’t see how, since she’s running Kenney’s rage machine. She may become its latest victim.
Susan, you missed a key date in your biographical timeline…Age 26: The CBE Board of Trustees is dismissed by the Government of Alberta after being deemed dysfunctional by the province (1999). Smith was chair of the CBE Board of Trustees at the time and she was trying to destroy public education from within. I am surprised that this doesn’t get mentioned more often in the media. She was fired as a public school trustee because she was so dysfunctional! Since becoming premier, she has implemented several policies to destroy public education, and she will likely do more damage if she is elected as premier. For example, in Calgary where we have tens of thousands of students waiting for a school to be built in their neighbourhoods, the CBE (with 140,000 students enrolled) received $30 million in this year’s capital budget for schools, and charter schools got $117 million, even though they have a fraction of the students that the CBE has. Class sizes have also ballooned under Smith.
Susan, thanks, this is an excellent point. When I think about Smith it seems everything she touches blows up. One can only hope that when she blows up the UCP (as she will) the party will split and a more sane progressive conservative faction will emerge.
Wht happened to my comment, is it in your spam folder?
Valerie, thanks for the heads up. Sometimes WordPress parks comments with links into the pending file and I don’t see it until the next day. It should be visible now.
Another one to apologize so why bother – she will be a saying I am sorry forever
https://pressprogress.ca/danielle-smith-suggested-police-officers-could-face-criminal-charges-for-enforcing-public-health-orders/
Carlos, it’s a never ending story with her.
Thanks Susan,
How can it be lost on any Albertan that the same person who advocated smoking cigarettes, and then suggesting cancer victims are responsible for their own condtition, is also a person who feels you ought to pay over and above your taxes in order to see a doctor?
“Indeed, before tobacco research was corrupted by a political agenda the…evidence was far from conclusive. The evidence shows (sic) moderate cigarette consumption can reduce traditional risks of disease by 75% or more.” – Danielle Smith ( I merde you not)
Now I know Danielle Smith and the UCP ‘guaranteed’ not to introduce user fees for healthcare, but I offer a much stronger guarantee that if elected Take Back Alberta’s puppets will immediately switch to
‘Well, I that’s a mandate to do all the things we promised we wouldn’t do.”
Guaranteed.
Albertan seniors don’t get credit for all their previous decades of healthiness with a ‘health spending account’, so they’ll end up being flat-out robbed by the UCP’s vitally inscrutable privatization partners of all the taxes they paid into the public healthcare system over the course of their entire working lives. Not to mention the aged will be forced to spend on their medical care what’s left of any savings they had so-far managed to keep from the UCP-unleashed insurance companies and hedge funds that bought the conservative’s deregulated and now unconscionably fee’d utilities servicing their homes.
Yah, the UCP want to reduce readily accountable taxes all right, and instead give you (only expensively accountable) unlimited fees. Why? Well, I would imagine it’s pretty tough to get an unnoticed, legal kickback from the public coffers, but private conpanies can sure produce some pretty elaborately woven, legal, back scratchers.
Say, where IS Jason Kenney working these days?
GoinFawr: that Daniel Smith quote re: tobacco just blew me away.
A friend sent me a medical journal article today that discusses a novel disease called EVALI, caused by vaping. It’s reached epidemic levels in the USA and it’s a real concern for young people.
In 2020 the UCP tabled legislation to restrict access to vape produces to people 18 years and over but it refused to ban flavoured vapes because the health minister, Shandro, said flavours were important to adults who were trying to quit smoking. (No mention of kids getting hooked on vaping because flavours made it more palatable).
Alberta was the last province to introduce vaping legislation and took its sweet time to introduce regulations and “monitor” the situation.
The fact that businesses were strongly opposed to a flavour ban was not mentioned in the debate.
Once again commerce, not science, was the driver behind this legislation.
PS one wonders if Smith really believed that merde she was peddling.
Hi Susan. As is typical with Smith, I’m sure she believed what she was saying–while she was saying it. That’s a useful character trait for any politician (it’s called “lying convincingly”) but Smith takes it to dangerous extremes.
Lying Convincingly – this is the synonym of Danielle Smith
Good afternoon!
I hope you are well. Great summation of what my daughter in law calls the “crazy person”.
We voted by mail last week prior to coming down to Arizona for some flight training that Terrance is taking.
The ballots were odd in that they said you could either write in your candidate’s name or the Party you support (when we checked Alberta Elections website our riding only showed Whitney despite the NDP candidate having been long since confirmed). I made a couple of calls and stirred the pot on what was going on so hopefully all has been fixed after the Candidates had to be finalized last week….. another thing I must have missed in social studies – how can candidates still be added after the writ is dropped?
Regarding the “write the name of the party you support” option – how do they know what riding I live in if it is a secret ballot? Who does the cross check between my identification verification and my “party” vote to align it with candidate in my riding? Found that also rather odd.
But I digress.
I wanted to tell you about a conversation I had with the aforementioned Ms Isaac on Friday night when she came door knocking (MIA all through her term when I tried to communicate with her).
My initial point was “you don’t have my support”. I went on to list various reasons from the most offensive RStar program and arena vote buying scheme (which I think officially makes Murray Edwards a true oligarch by definition at this point), to many other items on your list.
Her response was defensive initially with the usual rhetoric “UCP good for business, NDP bad” but when I brought up Take Back Alberta and our premier’s backer Mr Parker she made some comments that I found striking.
“….The forth estate is tired and we will deal with TBA after we get into power. I will be in a much better position as your MLA in the legislature to fight TBA than having a NDP MLA represent you. Parker thinks he is more important than he is…” (my further prompting on this talking point when I mentioned the number of UCP board directors they acquired last fall was not directly answered). Instead I got more of “we were all very tired after the leadership race and didn’t have the horsepower for the AGM.” 🙄
The long and short seems to be that the UCP incumbents still left seem to think they are going to change the party leadership and direction once they are elected….. interesting, when on considers it was their complete submission to Mr Kenney (amazing to see how quickly he was picked up by ATCO and Bennet Jones), how can anyone following along have faith in them to stop this TBA movement.
But alas – how many are actually “following along”? The populace are like sheep at the best of times and I am not sure the post pandemic crowd is any more engaged or prepared to put on a strategic/critical thinking cap.
I was worried with Kenney – but with this TBA team I feel like we may be heading towards a fire at the Reichstag moment. Who needs an Enabling Act when we already have one for Solidarity? Over the top to even muse about perhaps – but since Dani did bring up the Nazis…. 😒
Regardless of the result the end of the month – let’s make a plan to finally sit on our deck and drink some wine!
Have a good week and as always, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Cheryl
Sent from my iPhone
Cheryl thank you for this illuminating comment.
What a strange pitch on the doorstep: elect me and I promise to control the lunatic in charge of my party.
I’ve heard Jeremy Farkas (with Nenshi) on CBC on Friday mornings. Farkas makes the point that no one, repeat, no one can control Smith. I happen to think the TBA gang has a good shot at it though because there will be enough TBA backed rural MLAs in caucus and in Cabinet to run roughshod over the Calgary MLAs. Add that to the fact the TBA say they’ll toss Smith out if she doesn’t do their bidding and what are we left with. A puppet premier.
Nope, that’s not how democracies function.
On a lighter note: All the best to you and Terrance!
Yes, Smith is an adult and has been for a long time. The ridiculous things she said and her history of bad judgment are not something from her youth, unfortunately they span decades and they are consistent.
In a way I do feel for conservatives and their current dilemma. While Smith is arguably the more conservative candidate in this election, she is both unpredictable and seemingly attracted to bad ideas. Some of them might believe they can get rid of her later, like the PC’s did with Redford, but they should also remember, the PC’s did not ever win another election after Redford. So even if that can be done, a lot of damage can be done both to their own party and their province in the meantime.
I suppose Smith could claim she in not a career politician, as her life like her views is a bit eclectic. However, arguably she never really left politics after she lost in 2015. She just carried on in a different venue as a talk radio host to try rehabilitate herself politically, with more conservative voters, with some success.
I do believe many conservatives realize deep down that if Smith wins the election, things will once again end badly. Do they really want that yet again?
Well, isn’t this exciting.
https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/braid-pollster-says-ucp-in-lead-over-ndp
I have a lot of time for Jan Brown, so … ? Hm.
Hi Mike. The poll results just might be less dire than they look. David Climenhaga, my other favourite blogger, spoke to Janet Brown after the “secret poll” results were leaked by some UCP staffer.
Ms. Brown herself isn’t sure her results are reliable, and said she’d like to review them to confirm the message. There’s lots more detail in David’s Albertapolitics blog, here:
https://albertapolitics.ca/2023/05/leaked-copy-of-respected-pollster-janet-browns-clients-only-survey-suggests-ucp-is-on-the-road-to-victory/
BTW, Miz Brown was very upset that her “confidential” work has twice been leaked by some UCP insider. It makes me wonder if she’s rethinking her contract with the so-called law and order party.
Thank you Mike. That makes a lot more sense.
The L&O Party reminds me, we all owe a debt of gratitude to CNN for delivering the disturbing town hall meeting. In case anyone was wondering, a quick referral to Dr Robert Hare’s “Without Conscience” should strongly suggest we were seeing a full blown psychopath in action, not just some wimpy little extreme narcissist.
It seems to me we need to be ever on the alert for people who are in or wannabe in positions of power falling somewhere on the psychopathy spectrum, if there indeed is such a spectrum.
Janet Brown is a good pollster but she is not a chosen one like Daniele Smith so let us forget the polls. Why are they allowed in the first place.
People are so worried with foreign influence but pollsters have way more influence than all the foreigners together.
In my opinion polls should be banned during elections, or at least in the last 3 weeks. People have a mind and they should use it. We are the ones creating the environment for all this polls enhanced by AI and soon elections are useless because they know the winner. This is very similar to what dictators do. They all know better so what is the point.
Good point about pollster influence Carlos. My observation was much less weighty. I was simply concerned about the UCP acceptance in Calgary being greater than I was otherwise hearing or sensing.
Let me try this one more time
Yes I agree but I could not stop to make a comment about something I profoundly dislike. Why? because I work with data and I know exactly how it can be manipulated to serve those who pay the bills for it.
Polls can be as biased as the people that put them together. Furthermore they are now enhancing them with machine learning and AI and supposedly to be more unbiased. The problem is that even collecting data can be biased and the questions can be designed to get what the pollster wants.
Do I trust any of them? NOPE not really. Propaganda pays good money and humans are clearly moved by money more than conscience and trust.
We live in a world were trust is basically extinct. Possible to recover? I doubt it because people flocking into politics already have awful backgrounds.
Lying is now as accepted as Tim Hortons coffee.
Do I trust the NDP or any party for that matter? NOPE.
They all have their hidden agendas.
We find ourselves voting for the least crooked one. Not the best one.
I just got a text last night from the NDP offering me the CHANCE to be one of the first to see Rachel Notley after the election. Seriously? Is this some kind of Hollywood celebrity contest? I do not see politics like that and I think it is silly that they would even advertise it. Why would I want to be some of the first people to see her ? I just hope she has a good plan and that she thinks about Albertans first rather than oil companies. That is all I ask for.
I have no interest in celebrity crap. That is just our evolution into a world of pyrotechnics and sound to enhance the lack of focus and lack of skills to run our province. Everything is now how they look on stage, how they dress how they move their arms blah blah blah. As far as the real value you can see it in Danielle Smith who does not even seem to have a brain. She is not even capable of looking after her own interests.
Mike I forgot to mention that I also cannot believe that Calgary can actually justify their support for the UCP. I cannot let that go and I cannot understand other than just greed for the oil money. I have a hard time accepting that people I respect and admire can actually support this kind of total corrupt thinking. How else can we define the UCP other than real CRAP to use a nice word. Peter Lougheed would fight these people harder than he fought the federal government.
One can just take a look at the list of appalling crap the UCP has done in the last 4 years (Susan took the time and patience to list them) and think how can a city known for its entrepreneurship and as far as I know populated by people like us and still support the kind of lack of everything this party stands for including major lack of ethics and even morals although all done in the name of GOD.
Furthermore, in my modest opinion, if we continue with the type of politics we seem to have dove into very eagerly, we will slowly fall into a level of mediocrity which no developing nations will be interested in. Democracy, or better, what we accept here as democracy is very fast becoming a joke and unwanted around the world.
Is it any surprise that China and Russia are trying to knock us out. Not that they are better than us but surely we do not have a good system to be proud of and their propaganda is way too sophisticated. Democracy in many countries now means corruption and circus.
We need to upgrade our democratic system to serve the public and not the superrich and the business world. It is enough and it is time we take it seriously. We have had 30 years of stagnation while production tripled and the rich saw their gains skyrocketed into a world that to most of us is as weird as the sumptuous empires of the monarchs and emperors around the old world, example the TSAR of Russia which had a fortune of some 90 billion dollars in the 1900s. Jeff Bezos is now being honored as the first human being to have 200 billion dollar fortune. Is this what we are now celebrating?
By the way GoingFawr, you mentioned recently that despite all my posts you have no idea where I stand politically? Well this is just one more example of where I stand. What is it that you do not understand? I am a left wing person and proud of it. By the way real left wing and not the Russian and China’s dictatorship mafias. Real left wing unfortunately is as diluted and almost extinct and with exception of the Nordic countries it was never seriously used.
The Nordic countries are now social democracies and some are adopting our awful right wing ideas which will soon destroy what they built. Almost every year for the last few decades they were the best places to live and die in the world and with the best quality standards because they governed for the well being of their people. Money is changing that unfortunately but not as fast as here.
As usual, an excellent post Susan making an excellent point. How anyone running for Premier can ask that what they say not be taken into account is beyond me. The entire point of leadership is that what one says matters.
To be fair, Ms. Smith is simply the public face of a very disquieting element within the UCP. The fact the TBA (Take Back Alberta) & other such elements are stating that if a leader doesn’t do as instructed said leader will be tossed asap does not in my mind bode well for actual government business being attended to in a prompt or orderly fashion. If the TBA & other elements want to run things they should table a party platform so the electorate has some idea of just what they would do. As opposed to the shadowy behind the scenes shenanigans they seem to prefer, probably so they can claim ‘it wasn’t us’ when things do not go to plan.
Perhaps trolls assume everyone will troll them and they’re afraid of the intensely personal attacks they, their families, their employers, their other associations, their friends will be subject, perhaps including grandstanding in front of people’s homes. After all, through their lens that is how one deals with political opponents to wit their actions. Might that explain their seeming shyness?
Mike, I think it’s a bit simpler than that. Trolls and other troglodytes instinctively know they’re safer in the dark. Expose them to the light and they tend to shrivel up and crawl away.
Hi Linda and Mike. I wonder sometimes about Danielle Smith’s motivation. Has she convinced herself she’s “doing the right thing” for the good people of Alberta—at least, the ones she happens to know personally? Does she like telling people what to do and watching them jump to it? Does she even know why she wants political power?
What I’ve read of David Parker in these two articles:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/take-back-alberta-david-parker-control-party-board-ucp-1.6834387
https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2023/05/14/take-back-alberta-pushes-out-one-premier-aims-to-make-its-voice-heard-in-election
…makes me think that Parker hates being told what to do. He’s gathering like-minded people around Alberta and teaching them to take over local-level politics. How much he knows about the laws governing Canadian governments—municipal, provincial and federal—is an open question. But he claims he’s taught himself how to dispose of Conservative leaders he doesn’t like.
There are lots of catchy phrases for what David Parker wants to be: the power behind the throne, the Grey Eminence (though he’s too young for that to be literal), the kingmaker (and king-breaker). Does Parker want political power for himself? I dunno…not if he’s smart. But I remember that end-of-movie scene from Avengers 2; where a gauntlet is propped up inside a vault. The vault opens, and a deep voice, heavy with menace, says, “Fine. I’ll do it myself.” Thanos puts on the gauntlet and gives the camera a knowing, menacing grin.
How long will it take for David Parker to decide he’s the only one who can “save” Alberta for Parker-kind?
Hi Mike. I guess your would be dictator/tyrant has to start somewhere. Try on various ploys for size, see what works, build up a base of support etc. & then, when conditions permit, declare oneself the ‘glorious leader’ of the hoodwinked masses. The problem with these folks is they truly believe what they do & say is right – for them, at least! Because those dictator/tyrants don’t exactly have what is best for the masses in mind. Nope, it is all about them.
That’s a long list of gaffs and misjudgments, but a win for her party in this election will justify every one of those gaffs and misjudgments in Ms. Smith’s eyes–as well every bad idea that happens to pass through her head for the next four years.
Hi Jim. I don’t believe Smith needs to win the election to justify her own opinions and actions. She’s perfectly capable of convincing herself she’s always right, without any outside help at all.
Well Mike in fact I would suggest she does not need convincing at all because she is after all one of the chosen ones.
Danielle Smith is a megalomaniac and she knows she is right. That is the greatest symptom of her affliction. What else can it be?
How can anyone states that cancer is the patient’s fault unless it is level 4? I would like to know the explanation of this brilliant statement.
Never heard something so profound since Einstein theory of relativity.
But hey Calgary seems to love her. Is it because the city is full of geniuses?
“[It] will allow us to save the lives of addicts who are at risk of dying from an overdose and protect those who are at risk of being randomly attacked in our communities. This is actual compassion.”
Danielle Smith, re: Compassionate Recovery bill, Monday, May 15 news conference.
Now take those comments and apply them to the issue of mandatory masking and vaccinations during the pandemic.
“It (mandatory vaccinations and masking) will allow us to save the lives of people who are at risk of dying from catching Covid 19 and protect those who are at risk of being random carriers in our communities. This is actual compassion.”
Remember that Danielle is the one who said that unvaccinated people were the most “discriminated against group that I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime.”
She has also equated folks who get vaccinated to Nazis.
Well seriously people after my comments about politics in general I found this scandal of the day UCP menu.
Is this acceptable in our political system? If it is we might as well just give up because there is no doubts that we are all suffering from brain damage.
Who is this IDIOT? This people have no skills to be politicians or better to resolve any issue in our society. It is time we have minimum standards to be a politician. Insulting people like this is only acceptable for the UCP
https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2023/05/17/alberta-ucp-candidate-says-sorry-for-comparing-transgender-students-to-feces-in-food/#.ZGVX1HbMKUn
Carlos, the UCP are supposed to have a vetting process for candidates; just like every other political party. I can only guess that they either ignore their own rules (shortage of applicants?); or their rules stop way short of catching bozo eruptions on social media; or the selection committee APPROVES OF bozo eruptions on social media. I dunno, go ask ‘em.
Two Conservative stalwarts, Ken Boessenkool and Jeromy Farkas, recently pointed out that Danielle Smith herself would have failed the vetting process if she’d applied as a candidate. In fact, the UCP punted another would-be candidate in 2022 for saying exactly what Smith said later on—the whole vaxxed-are-Nazis thing, I believe. But Smith snuck into the leadership race somehow. I dunno, go figure.
FWIW, I wish we did have minimum standards for political candidates. I think a crash-course in political law should be required for anyone running for public office. Teach newbies the basics of what a government can and cannot do. Danielle Smith is the perfect example of why we need this—and that’s despite her experience as leader of an opposition party.
Apparently, Take Back Alberta is training Scrutineers to sow doubt and dispute votes. Deja vu, all over again. Straight out of the Republican play book.
As an aside, has Alberta appointed Chief Firearms Officer, Teri Bryant, mentioned anything on record about Jennifer Johnson’s feces comment?
I attended an all-candidates’ forum last night at Northwestern Polytechnic (NWP) — formerly known as Grande Prairie Regional College — hosted by the Grande Prairie Chamber of Commerce. All candidates for both constituencies — Grande Prairie & Grande Prairie-Wapiti — were invited. The Green Party candidate for Grande Prairie — Shane Diederich — was a no-show.
For Grande Prairie, the candidates in attendance were:
– Nolan Dyck for the UCP, as one-term MLA Tracy Allard is not running again “for health reasons”; Dyck is described as a “businessman”, although I don’t know what business he owns. He is also a past-President of the UCP Constituency Association in Grande Prairie-Wapiti, & has been on the staff of the Peace River Bible Institute* in Sexsmith … which is the theological school Travis Toews has a past connection with, having been on its Board of Directors before entering politics in 2019
– Sawmill worker & former GP City Councillor Kevin McLean for the NDP; Kevin is well known in the city, having previously also run for Mayor & been a candidate for the Alberta Liberals in the past, both here & in St Albert
– David Braun for the Alberta Independence Party
– Preston Mildenberger for the Alberta Party
*PRBI had a burst of notoriety back in 2019 when it came out that their student code of conduct contained prohibitions on, among other things, “magic, sorcery & witchcraft”
For GP-Wapiti (my own constituency), the candidates were:
– Dustin Archibald for the NDP; born & raised in the Peace Country (he’s from Hythe), he’s development editor for a tech-focused publisher; he was only named as candidate April 30th; there is no active NDP constituency association in GP-Wapiti, & hasn’t been since the most recent redistribution prior to the 2019 election, although there is one in the Grande Prairie urban constituency
– Ron Wiebe for the UCP; Wiebe is originally from La Crete, but has lived in Grande Prairie since the early 1990s, running his trucking business, Wiebe Transport; he also sits on the Board of Governors of NWP
– Brooklyn Biegel for the AIP; Ms Biegel is a farmer with some very out-there views
The forum format was a bit weird. All seven candidates got three minutes for opening remarks, then they got to the questions from the audience. Questions were submitted in advance, and for every question, three candidates on the stage were drawn at random to answer them. There was no rebuttal and no way to direct any particular question to a specific candidate — so, for example, Mr Wiebe couldn’t be challenged on how the UCP has handled (or failed to handle) the issue of unpaid oil & gas taxes owed to rural municipalities like the County of Grande Prairie or the MD of Greenview.
There were some appalling moments, such as when there was a question on 2SLGBTQIA+ rights that was directed at one of the NDP candidates — I think it was Dustin — & his answer elicited a loud chorus of booing & jeering. The crowd reacted similarly to Kevin McLean when, in answer to a question about the province’s wildfire response, bravely prefaced his answer with “first, climate change is real”. The moderator, Cindy Parks, Chair of the Chamber, did nothing to control the hostility from the crowd.
David Braun of the AIP got some of the loudest cheering, even louder than the UCP candidates. He riffed on the false tropes about equalization, saying a sovereign Alberta could balance the budget by “stopping the flow of money to Ottawa”. Meanwhile, his fellow AIP candidate, Brooklyn Biegel, ranted about a sovereign Alberta never joining any ”globalist” organizations like the World Economic Forum, the World Health Organization or the United Nations. She also quoted extensively from the Bible in both her opening & closing remarks, leading me to wonder if this was a political event or a sermon. “Unhinged” doesn’t begin to describe her.
Just offering a taste of what it’s like for progressive political activists up here in the North.
thanks for your efforts jerry, wow.
My Alberta is not an enclave for nut-bars like Jennifer Johnson, UCP candidate for Lacombe-Ponoka, nor is it an Appalachia of red-neck conspiracy theorists, low-taxxers, anti-vaxxers, home-schoolers, gun toters, high school failures, LGBTQ deniers, and hypocritical “christians”.
Danielle Smith is a sign-post on the road of descent of this province into mediocrity, backwardness, ignorance, racist fundamentalism, intolerance, and failure on every level.
She represents a regression to pre-Lougheed Alberta.
I agree Mike I am shocked at how many people actually support this bull…. ideology. Really ? How is it possible that a fairly educated population some very religious and fairly secure financially even believes in the small brain theories the UCP is selling. What is the real force behind this mediocre thinking
Susan, if you haven’t seen it yet, check out Project Calgary’s latest newsletter piece on Calgary-Elbow UCP candidate Chris Davis and Ward 4 Councillor Sean Chu.
Some juicy stuff on Chu!
Meanwhile even an ethics commissioner who could find no violation with T.Shandro’s vital partner(s) knows as well as you or I that Danielle violated her position as premier.
https://edmonton.citynews.ca/2023/05/18/danielle-smith-conflicts-of-interest-act/
“The commissioner also says Smith’s call to justice minister Tyler Shandro was meant to influence a decision by the Crown.”
? Is that man mixed up in simply everything that comes before the ethics commissioner? I mean, Come. on. Calgary Acadia, get that person gone! Diana Batten would clearly make a much better representative for your riding.
“The commissioner also recommends new legislature members attend training about the roles of the three branches of government.”
Shaking my head with a face palm at you, UCP’ers. You are really into some stupid, cutting-off-your-own-noses-just-to-spite-your-own-faces crud. I hope the ‘savings’ you get (sure you will) in taxes by having your private health information, your public dollars PLUS whatever you may happen to have left in your pockets going to inscrutable, private companies whenever you want to see a Dr. works out for you, your parents, your grandparents, all their families, etc. etc. (sure it will).
Oh right I am forgetting that regardless of everything the UCP have already done and said publicly and privately about how they are absolutely working day and night for their vital partners in order to privatize public healthcare if Albertans give them the mandate…nah, they won’t do those things, guaranteed.
‘Oh right I am forgetting that regardless of everything the UCP have already done and said publicly and privately about how they are absolutely working day and night for their vital partners in order to privatize public healthcare if Albertans give them the mandate…nah, they won’t do those things, guaranteed.’
Goinfawr the last part of your sentence caught my interest.
What makes you believe that if they get the mandate they will not implement what they are promising.
You think they will be afraid to try it?
or Albertans would not allow them to?
I am curious because I have been thinking about it. I am concerned that if they vote them in our lives in the near future could change for the worst. These people have demonstrated over and over that they do not have the skills to control themselves never mind the province affairs.
I find it terrifying that 50 % of our population is very different indeed and backwards and with strong religious connotations. I really do not want to live the limited number of years I have left in an American type gun shooting privately owned evangelic lifestyle. We all see daily what a cowboy capitalism has created in the US. They now kill each other at a higher rate then the total amount of military deaths they have had, and they were in many wars.
Pardon me, forgot the /snark tag. Picture Danielle Smith signing the ~same ‘Healthcare Guarantee’ sign Jason Kenney signed.
I stand by my statement from another comment on this thread that anything the UCP campaigned on a promise NOT to do is at grave risk of becoming government policy they will claim they were mandated to do if they are elected.
Regarding tonight: Ms.Notley finished the debate off very nicely I thought. She should go on offense more often since Danielle Smith and the UCP keep generating so much material.
ok got it
Thank you
Wow, that Ethic Commissioner’s report is something, eh? To be cynical, it will make it easy for the UCP to dump Smith if they are re-elected.
Smith has learned nothing. Just this week she opened her big mouth and talked about another case that is still before the court.
The TakeBalberta and their UCPers are all scrambling to the oily war-vroom-room to cry that the report is ‘all about the emails, and: CBC, eh!’ Weak sauce.
From what I can tell nobody is having it; their fluffers are getting repeatedly raked over the coals on social media because they never had a leg to stand on.
It seems to me folk are starting to fully understand that supporting DS and TBA UCP means not caring in least about Danielle Smith’s overt lies, the facts, the law, just government policy, or even their own families really, all the UCP/TBA requires is that you revel in the hate they project.
Did you watch the confrontation … er … debate last night? If this 60 minutes was meant to be influential in decision-making, then Jan Brown and Bob Nicholson gave away the election to the UCP. Smith said nothing to disturb her supporters, to shake any of them loose. Notley cemented her supporters to her. The undecided, coming from this political culture, living with this level of economic unease, living with the unease triggered perhaps physiologically by smoke, heard that conservatives are good for the economy, AS A GIVEN. Introductory to the piece on the economy, Nicholson uttered the platitude that conservatives are always seen as better on the economy and Brown simply said yes, no discussion, no qualifier, simply, “Yes”.
A tad disgusting.
Yes, we watched. We didn’t end up seeing much of J.Brown and Nicholson, it sounds disappointing.
Ms.Notley had a strong finish, and content. Her delivery lacked the smoothness of a long time radio host maybe, but she got across an abundance of critically important truths, politely and pointedly. Critically, she defended herself and the NDP’s record using facts, not lies. Like she does and has done for so long (And many thanks to her and hers for that service. May it continue.)
While Danielle Smith relayed most of her made up stuff with a straight face, like she does, she did actually choke on a few of her own lies.
Eg.You could tell when she attempted to turn the tables on the ethics commissioner’s findings of her guilt that the perfidious lie was just too big to regurgitate even for her, and it stuck in her throat. In the news conference afterwards too you could see she knew the writing was already on the wall about it, regardless of her stilted indignance.
Everyone, even former supporters, are calling out Danielle’s bs ‘183000 jobs’ garbage. At the end of the second round of questions Danielle was visibly shaken from having to lie so hard.
Given the fallout I’m witnessing from the deluge of objectively but easily discovered false statments made by Danielle Smith during the debate, I would say that undecided voters are currently making decisions, regardless of Jan and Rob’s coverage.
Wondering to what extent the International Democratic Union is behind and in support of Smith? https://www.idu.org/about/leadership/?_gl=1*1rx0mpc*_up*MQ..*_ga*NDI2NzA3MjQ5LjE2ODQ1MTk5Mjg.*_ga_V0M7WF2MG9*MTY4NDUxOTkyNy4xLjAuMTY4NDUxOTkyNy4wLjAuMA..
They appear favourable to these kind of top down “strongmen” type leadership candidates similar to the likes of Hungary’s Victor Orban. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60981648
Ted, I doubt the IDU has supported Danielle Smith. Their current chairman, as you know, is Stephen Harper. His recent “endorsement” of the UCP was so half-hearted he didn’t even mention Smith.
I suspect that most conservatives view Smith as an embarrassment or even a threat. She’s so far to the right and so erratic that she discredits “real” conservative parties. In Alberta today, that’s Rachel Notley’s misnamed NDP. It should be New Tory Party, in my opinion. Here’s why:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/vote-compass-party-vs-party-supporters-policy-map-1.6847704
Weirdly, the results show UCP supporters are LESS radically-right than Smith’s party; but NDP supporters are MORE to the left than Notley’s NDP. In fact, the NDP platform is almost in the centre of the spectrum, but slightly right on economic issues.
Myself, Vote Compass reports the Green Party is a better fit for my attitudes than any other. I’m voting NDP because I want Smith and her dumpster-fire train-wreck of a party out.
‘ but NDP supporters are MORE to the left than Notley’s NDP. In fact, the NDP platform is almost in the centre of the spectrum, but slightly right on economic issues.’
Try again as the first time failed
I have no doubts that most NDP supporters are more left than the NDP. Easy to know why. The NDP has never really been a left wing party.
I know some people get irritated when I say this but it is true. and their economic issues are not just slightly to the right. They seems very comfortable with new liberal policies.
Every time we talk about raising taxes it is as if we have to apologize. The UCP never apologizes for cutting services because they cut taxes, as if cutting taxes is some kind of panacea.
In Alberta everyone wants the government to do something when there is a crisis but if they raise taxes they get no support. Almost as if money grows on trees.
I heard on the radio people caught by these fires saying the government has to do more. Where is the money to move people to hotels , we cannot afford this. Well then stop voting for UCP because they are the ones who do not want to pay for any of that. Not hard to understand.
Hi Carlos. You’re right, the NDP are no longer a left-wing party (if the Alberta NDP ever were; when we had a Liberal opposition, the NDP was probably further to the left). I wonder sometimes how Rachel’s dad Grant would have felt about her party’s platform. Rachel could probably solve a lot of her problems with anti-NDP bias by renaming it the “New Tory Party.” It’s more accurate and the initials even sound like the old label. There! Fixed it. Instant jump in the polls! (Yeah, I know. But I can dream.)
Lots of people have pointed out that Albertans aren’t so much libertarian or separatist as they are tax-averse. As you point out, nobody wants to talk about raising taxes. Ordinary folks don’t want to pay more, so politicians won’t mention it. Businessmen threaten to kick politicians out and replace them—think Ed Stelmach and oil royalties, the reason we’re now suffering under Danielle Smith’s misrule. That’s why politicians REALLY don’t want to talk taxes—except cuts.
As for “the government should do more,” well that’s cognitive dissonance at work. It amounts to “ I want more free stuff” and no conception of who’ll pay for it or how. Unless a majority of Albertans grow up and realize there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch, we won’t ever have a grown-up conversation about tax levels.
‘As for “the government should do more,” well that’s cognitive dissonance at work. It amounts to “ I want more free stuff” and no conception of who’ll pay for it or how. Unless a majority of Albertans grow up and realize there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch, we won’t ever have a grown-up conversation about tax levels.’
I wished I had written that sentence. I have been waiting for 40 years for a real conversation but it is impossible in this province.
Too bad but somehow with all the wealth that we have had we managed to create people like Danielle Smith. It is heartbreaking.
“… for conservatives out there who think I’m picking on Danielle for being too conservative, please. Listen, these are not conservative values, they’re something else entirely. If Rachel Notley was out there calling you a nazi or disrespecting our veterans by boycotting the poppy like Danielle Smith, you would say that Notley should be disqualified from being Premier. And you would be right. ” -Jeromy Farkas
You forgot about a few things: https://www.theprogressreport.ca/progress_report_317?mibextid=S66gvF&fbclid=IwAR31ZxNSJiI8SgFYdjTMxij6WY1vIJcRKpkjJeTLiEKxXCrzypWZUT6-xkg_aem_th_AeFOYkJH1lyuf4fTjaTv6t0_OpLkDPyHnwVKXgOzCKfihMeFk_PKS-UqfUT71ktRcGs