The UCP’s “bread and circuses”* approach to government is no longer working. The “bread” (low taxes and high employment) is no compensation for our crumbling healthcare, education, and social services. The “circus” of blaming the federal government for everything is wearing thin.
And to make matters worse, the folks at Take Back Alberta (TBA) and Free Alberta Strategy (FAS) tell us they’re setting Danielle Smith’s agenda, and if she doesn’t play along, she’s out.
The TBA/FAS ploy is a game changer which shifts the UCP government from “bread and circuses” mode to Squid Game: The Challenge.
How you play is who you are
For those who haven’t seen it, Squid Games: The Challenge is a reality TV show in which 456 contestants compete for $4.56 million.
The show’s tag line is: “How you play is who you are.”
It turns out most of the contestants will do anything for money. They rationalize their ruthlessness and lies by saying God made them this way, or they’re in debt, or they have a sick child, or they will give half of the money to charity.
Maybe they believe this, but the audience doesn’t, and the show is a soul-destroying parade of people who’ll abandon humanity for money.
Which brings me back to Smith and the UCP.
By fluke Albertans find themselves sitting on the third largest oil reserves in the world. Fossil fuels have driven our boom/bust economy for decades.
Today we’re in a boom. We have a budget surplus of $5.5 billion. We could tackle the problems of overcapacity hospitals, closed ERs, overcrowded classrooms, rising incidents of mental illness, homelessness, and drug addiction, or we could trickle out a few bucks here and there and call it done.
Smith’s UCP has chosen to do the latter.
She deflects the electorate’s attention from her refusal to shore up public health, education and social services by blaming the Trudeau government which has no jurisdiction in these areas, the NDP who haven’t been in power for five years and the administrators who are expected to do more with less. This is “bread and circuses.”
She promises to make Albertans richer by grabbing 53% of CPP to fund the Alberta pension plan and ignoring federal policies she says will harm Albertan prosperity even if they’re legitimately within federal jurisdiction. This is Squid Game, I’ll do anything for money.
But here’s the thing. Squid Game only works if the audience doesn’t know it’s being manipulated by the show’s creators.
Who’s pulling the strings?
After Squid Game aired some contestants came forward to say:
- It took seven hours to film the five-minute “red light, green light” segment. This allowed certain contestants (favoured by the show’s creators) to cross the finish line when they should have been eliminated.
- The clip of the guy being bullied in the “umbrella game” was heavily edited to make the bullies appear more evil and the victim appear more pathetic.
- The contestants who fell through the glass floor on the glass bridge were replaced at the last minute by a stuntmen to make their fall look even more perilous.
The audience had no idea. Why should it? This was part of the game.
And this is where TBA and FAS made their mistake.
FAS says Smith is doing exactly what they want her to do by enacting the Sovereignty Act and other legislation (including going after CPP) to pull Alberta away from Canada.
TBA says Smith is delivering on their far-right anti-vaxx, anti-LBGTQ, anti-woke (whatever that means) agenda.
Instead of staying hidden behind the curtain, TBA and FAS are at centre stage taking credit for everything Smith is doing.
There are three things wrong with this picture.
First, Albertans (by a slim majority) elected Smith and the UCP, not TBA and FAS, and are tiring of their interference in government.
Second, Smith is making a huge mistake by bending to the will of TBA and FAS because they don’t understand Albertans. We will not choose to enrich ourselves with tax savings at the expense of those who need good healthcare, education and public services and we will not support a government determined to marginalize our LBGTQ community or anyone else they consider “woke.”
Lastly, we will not enrich ourselves at the expense of our friends and family in the rest of Canada, let alone firewall ourselves from the rest of Canada.
We are a community; we will not choose money over humanity.
How you play the game matters.
*Bread and circuses: a situation in which a government tries to take attention away from real problems or issues by providing people with things which seen to make their lives more enjoyable – Collins dictionary
Susan on the Soapbox 
I do so appreciate your clear and succinct comments. Thank you. You give me hope.
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Susan Grieshaber-Otto
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Thanks you Susan, I must admit the events unfolding here and elsewhere can be depressing, but I gain hope and inspiration from my friends and family who through thick and thin continue fighting for a better world.
Susan: Thanks for another great blog. I truly believe it was a foolish move to re-elect the UCP. The mistakes keep piling on, and cost us so much money, and harm people. I’m very skeptical that the UCP has any surplus, because it is gobbled up by one very costly debacle after another with them, which are far above $5.5 billion. The latest thing is where other coal mining companies are suing the UCP for $10.8 billion, for breaking contract agreements. Oil prices aren’t rising. More foolish finger pointing by the UCP is sure to happen. I’ll share some more fitting music. This is a Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller composition, which was done by Elvis Presley, in 1956, called Hound Dog. Elvis Presley’s birthday is on January 8. He passed away on August 16, 1977.
Dwayne,
I am in awe at your ability to select music that fits the mood of the blog. The line “you ain’t never caught a rabbit and you ain’t no friend of mine” perfectly sums up what the UCP government has done for Albertans (ie. nothing).
Also you make a very good point that the real surplus may be significantly less. Accounting rules, being what they are, will make it hard for the public to understand the real impact of the potential cost of the coal mining litigation, the $1.3 billion investment in Keystone US, the millions wasted in the Dynalife fiasco, the forgone revenue lost in tax breaks and subsidies to fossil fuel companies, etc. But one way or another Albertans will pay for the UCP’s incompetence. We’re already starting to see it in the deterioration of our public healthcare, education, and social services.
Susan: Here is my second song pick. This is from Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam), and is from 1966. It is his composition, Matthew & Son. Future member of Led Zeppelin, John Paul Jones is on bass guitar on this song, and album. In the 1960s, John Paul Jones was a session musician.The late Nicky Hopkins is on piano here. I have Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) in my music collection.
Dwayne, thanks. I really enjoyed this song. I looked it up –it hit the idea of companies exploiting their workers right on the head–and learned it was one of Cat Stevens’ first songs. A nice piece of social commentary. I wonder sometimes how much more income inequity people will take before they say enough is enough.
Happy New Year Ms. W:
Respectfully, I disagree. We are not a community. The majority of voters in this province have proven the last two elections that Albertans will choose money over humanity. You give the people of this province too much credit. Seriously, who can argue that they did not know what they were getting by voting for the UCP with Jason Kenney or Danielle Smith as Premier. The pair of them have been in the public eye for decades showing their true colours.
As an aside, who doesn’t know that “reality shows” are scripted?
Jaundiced Eye: Happy New Year to you as well.
Fair point re: whether we’re a community or not. As you point out the majority of Albertans chose money over humanity. But there’s a significant split between urban and rural voters. I take heart in the fact that all of Edmonton and more than half of Calgary voted for the NDP (the party that would support the needy) than the UCP. It’s as if urban voters are more likely to support their community(who they may not even know) than rural ones who would actually know the members of their community very well.
I loved your aside. Apparently many people don’t know “reality shows” are scripted. Hence the shocked reaction when they discover wrestling is choreographed, and the real housewives aren’t that real. I watched the Squid Game reality show. The contestants were housed in a large windowless dorm, bunk beds stacked five high, for 16 days. The games they played were harsh. I’m amazed some of the contestants didn’t have nervous breakdowns. It really was soul destroying and I asked myself more than once, why am I watching this.
Susan, you need to refer to the UCP by their proper name (Useless Corrupt Prevaricators) otherwise some may mistake your Soapbox Rants against a legitimate political party, instead of a bunch of Red Neck Cowboys with Dark Money and Guns.
—
Dave Clarke dclarke2@telus.net
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I prefer to call them the unhinged clown posse
Dave and Sharon: these are excellent suggestions. I won’t rest until we can refer to them as “the former government of Alberta.” Frankly I don’t think the UCP will survive. The conflict between the TBA/FAS people and the rest of the old style conservatives will continue to grow, eventually fracturing the party, whether that happens before the next election on May 31, 2027 or not remains to be seen.
Dear Ms Wright:
First.
May I wish you-n-family a great safe Happy New Year, despite the
constrictions in your province.
In any event.
All those acronyms have this ol’ fozzil thoroughly confuzzed, and I gave
up understanding the full meaning.
Let’s just say, that during the era of E.C.Manning, T HE O N L Y
smoke-n-mirrors then was from the C.P.R., C.N.R. and the Northern
Alberta RR.
Right after Lougheed brought in a limited civil rights bill, the
smoke-n-mirrors really began to thicken under Klunker-Klein.
The smoke I mean thickened heavily, maybe not the mirrors since so much
of what went on was closed door and we didn’t get see how many mirrors
were cracked.
Now, its no longer smoke, but, chlorine gas/phosgene gas and cracked
mirrors.
Seems like Alberta is retrograding to the Huey “Kingfisher” Long era,
where the Klan kept law-n-disorder.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_Long
Now, I am N O T suggesting that an assassination is the way to go, in
which Louisianians got that “Long burden” off them, but, something a tad
less drastic is in mind.
Especially, since the haute-coture there is red bandanas, Colt
“Buntline” revolvers on the hip, and, six shot shotguns slung over your
shoulder.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Buntline
Here in Flunky-Ford country, there is a number of people who have heard
the tune……….”Bonaparte’s Retreat”……instead of Christmas Carols.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSDK_XGjGRE
Hmmmmmm.
At least the critters that were in the way are safe for the time being,
and, there is no immediate threat to the farm land, which means that we
will NOT being
paying $5 for one carrot, or,radish.
In the meantime
You have my full sympathy, and, despite all, haffa a great safe week.
Kindly.
Gord – Peterborough
Happy new year to you and yours as well Gord.
I must say the Huey Long stuff was interesting. Politics in the US never ceases to amaze me. It’s a hotbed of grifters and opportunists. Years ago the company I worked for hosted a big expensive dinner with a bunch of Wall Street bankers. One told me that no one with any brains would go into politics because there’s no money to be made. Talk about making the Squid Game choice of greed over humanity. (Having said that there seem to be lots of politicians who’re making out like bandits as a result of their political careers).
We’ve been watching the greenbelt situation in Ontario carefully. I’m so glad you guys were able to put a stop to Ford’s plan to take care of his friends. I’m trying to figure out why the voters in Ontario are better able to control the excesses of their politicians than the voters in Alberta.
I’m trying to figure out why the voters in Ontario are better able to control the excesses of their politicians than the voters in Alberta. Maybe because unlike in Alberta they are using chlorine or phosgenegas in the smike-n-mirrors out there……….or, simply put, the UCP is a terrorist operation, like the Reptile Party in the states, who threaten their membership if they complain. I don’t know the real answer, the above is just a whimsy. That said. Flunky Ford was caught out in public with his hand in the cookie jar, and, there really was N O alternative but to do a Bonaparte’s Retreat. Finally, we have noticed that there is a slow retrenchment in the Pokey Party here and a tendency to distance themselves from Polly
Gord…interesting to hear about the slow retrenchment and efforts to distance themselves from Poilievre. Thanks.
In my humble opinion the reason the voters in Ontario are better able to control the excesses of their politicians is a 3 pronger:
1) Ford is merely corrupt as opposed to being an ideologue like Smith. Ford will back down when his shenanigans are exposed, unlike Smith.
2) Ontario has the Toronto Star which was instrumental along with The Narwhal in investigating the Greenbelt giveaway and Municipal boundary expansions. What are the odds that the Journal, Herald or any of the Suns would dare to expose anything the UCP has done? Can anyone see Rick Bell doing investigative reporting?
3) Alberta voters have an almost childlike obedience to authority figures, especially male authority figures, contrary to the rugged individualist lie. Ontario voters do not.
Jandiced Eye: well said, especially point #3. Thanks!
Happy New Year to you & yours, Susan. Also to your readers:) Another excellent column & yes, I think Albertans are not going to accept the TBA/FAS/UCP agenda. Despite the never ending ‘woe is us’ rhetoric by the UCP vs. the federal government, I think most Albertans are smart enough to know being part of Canada is the best option. I also think most Albertans would strongly object to handing over ‘control’ of their future CPP pension income to Danielle & crew.
Linda, the ‘woe is us’ rhetoric is really wearing thin. There’s only so much rage farming the public will take before they start asking for Danielle’s solutions. If she’s so enraged with Trudeau’s carbon policies, she should present her own alternatives. So far all we’ve gotten from the UCP is more coal mining in the Rockies, a moratorium on renewables, the promise of a miracle solution in 2050, and kowtowing to the oil companies. That doesn’t cut it.
Add to that Smith’s attempt to grab Albertans’ CPP and you’ve got a first class mess.
Speaking of “woe is us”, Alberta Health Services is now crying poor and has issued an edict to its management to cut overtime and use of agency nursing staff by 10% — this at a time when the entire health system is teetering on the brink of total collapse & relying on overtime and agency nurses to keep it going. It’s a staggering development ahead of what is likely to be a contentious round of negotiations with all three unions representing the four largest bargaining units at AHS.
See https://www.una.ca/1485/una-extremely-concerned-by-ahs-plan-to-cut-use-of-overtime-and-agency-staffing-by-10 for receipts.
[Full disclosure: I’m an RN & a UNA member].
Thanks for this jerymacgp: In the article at the link AHS’s acting CFO proposes four strategies including: (1) no recruiting for any vacant position (except existing non-management positions in clinical areas) without the approval of a VP or member of the executive leadership team, (2) no more discretionary spending on travel, non-clinical equipment, office supplies, etc, (3) no more spending by areas that have not spent their full budget for the year; and (4) a 10-per-cent cut to overtime and agency staffing. Because AH needs to balance its budget.
One wonders how much closer to a balanced budget AHS might have been had Danielle Smith not blown $75 million on Turkish pain meds which proved to be such a risk to children’s health that they stopped using them last July.
I disagree. I think the public is loving the rage farming. Kenney did it for years starting after the 2015 election. That’s a good 8 years and Albertans are still happy to listen and go with it.
I hear you Janna and I agree that a good many Albertans eat this stuff up, but I’m seeing a weariness with the continued onslaught of crap–true it may be me in my bubble–perhaps because there’s just so much going on all around us that people can’t rise to the bait anymore. Hopefully the NDP find a way to capitalize on this to help turn this province around.
Well said!
I am so disheartened by so many people in the world today. Albertans in particular. So many people will say and believe it, that all our problems are from the NDP’s 4 years in government. They will also say and believe that Trudeau is causing so many of Alberta’s problems and that Canada as a whole is just stealing from Alberta all the time.
These are voters. They believe this. It’s shocking to me.
They also don’t believe the climate is warming and because of that, don’t think that we need to stop drilling for oil or whatever we do to the tar sands to extract oil. They think it’s all stupid, switching to low or no emissions energy sources is just a waste of time and money. They think it’s another slam on AB by people like Trudeau.
These people are in their right wing echo chamber. When they google things, it shows them things they agree with because google learns as you search and looks for what you tend to like to see. They follow people who are very unhinged and against any progress in any area whatsoever.
I think the UCP will get elected again. Smith may not be premier, but I think they will get in again because rural voters consistently vote against their best interests all the time.
Janna, I agree with everything you’ve said except that the UCP will get re-elected (fingers crossed I’m right about that). As you point out people prefer to believe garbage that is unsupported by evidence, than evidence of something (like climate change) that they would prefer not to believe. So they fall prey to conspiracy theories and charlatans who tell them they’re special and they deserve this or that and they happily trot off to the voting booth and vote UCP.
All I can say is when they try to blame Notley or Trudeau for the mess the UCP has created and continues to create in healthcare, education, and social services we stop them in their tracks by pointing out that, if nothing else (1) the NDP haven’t been in power for five years and (2) the UCP not the feds are responsible for health, education, social services, housing, etc.
It’s tiring, but that’s about all we can do.
Susan: Here is my final song pick. This is Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck doing a live performance of Further On Up The Road. This is from the early 1980s. It was written by Don D Robey and Joe Veasey. Jeff Beck passed away on January 10, 2023 at age 78. Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck were in the Yardbirds, as was Jimmy Page. I saw Jeff Beck twice live and met him, and I saw Eric Clapton once live. They are also in my music collection. This song is also very fitting.
Dwayne, this is a perfect song. Thanks for providing a little history the songwriters and the performers. I marvel at all of the performers you were able to see in person. What memories you must have.
I do believe the “further up on the road” there will be a reckoning and I take heart in even the smallest signs indicating Albertans are beginning to wise up. The defeat of far-right candidate Benita Pedersen in the Westlock by-election was heartening. Here’s the link: https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/far-right-candidates-defeated-in-westlock-council-byelections
Susan: I heard that the UCP’s pipeline bet is over $7 billion, because there are billions of missing loan guarantees. DynaLife is likely going to cost $1 billion, or more, but we won’t know that, until this spring. R-Star is $20 billion. There are further tax cuts that will lose Alberta $1 billion. There are many more very expensive mistakes than these from the UCP. Here’s a really big one. There is a person who is an expert in economics, and was working with the power generation system in Alberta for many years. He said that the UCP were allowing power companies in Alberta to hold back the power, which allowed them to drive up the costs. This began in mid 2020. He termed it economic witholding. Since that time, it cost Albertans around $100 billion. Danielle Smith had acknowledged this, to a caller on her phone in radio talk show, last August, as to it being the reason why Albertans pay the highest power prices in Canada.The UCP cannot boast about having any surplus. Nor can the UCP blame the NDP for what happened, because the NDP inherited decades of fiscal irresponsibility, and improperly upkept core programs and infrastructure, by the Alberta PCs, who stopped doing what Peter Lougheed did right, before oil prices collapsed in 2014.
https://calgary.citynews.ca/2023/03/18/alberta-ndp-ucp-20-billion-giveaway/
Excellent points Dwayne. With respect to “economic withholding”‘ it’s a legal practice as long as the power companies don’t collude to withhold which would drive the price even higher. The rational stated is the companies need to be able to access short term profit to to cover their initial large fixed cost investment. The NDP introduced a cap of 6.8 cents, the UCP removed that cap and eventually introduced a cap of 13.5 cents, but removed this cap and now prices are up to 32 cents/mwh. All this in the midst of affordability issues and record corporate profits. Something is out of whack.
here’s a good link on the topic https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-electricity-economic-withholding-1.6946797
Susan: In your response to Dave and Sharon, political mergers in Alberta don’t have a history of success. Unite the right attempts don’t, and Preston Manning was behind three of them. Peter Lougheed was actually a centrist, but in the 1960s, he was trying to resurrect the Alberta PCs. Preston Manning was trying to urge him to merge the Alberta PCs with the Social Credit Party. Smartly, Peter Lougheed said no to that. In 2014, Danielle Smith and around eight of her Wildrose MLAs crossed the floor to join Jim Prentice’s Alberta PC party. It was Preston Manning who was behind that move. The UCP are also Preston Manning’s creation. Things are not as rosy as they look for the UCP. They are being taken over by extremists, in an undemocratic way, and the moderates still won’t fit in, and there is the fact of Danielle Smith shooting her mouth off. I doubt that she will endure a full term as premier of Alberta.
Dwayne: I think you’ve put your finger on what will emerge as the UCP’s downfall. They are being taken over by extremists who are unpalatable to many true blue conservatives. I ran into many of them at political fund raisers here in Calgary. I expect to run into even more in the next election. Sadly, Alberta will travel a long and difficult road until we finally get there.
Happy New Year to you and yours.
The UCP is only motivated by the love of money. People not so much.
Should make for interesting contract negotiations with the AUPE this spring.
Public Servant, I suspect they’re going to make things as hard on the AUPE as possible. Unions are always the bad guys…or so they believe.
The other day I was talking to a non-union electrician who said it’s slowly dawning on the trades that they got screwed when the Kenney government overhauled the labour laws and made it so much harder for them to be eligible for overtime. It’s the old adage, if you snooze, you lose.
Bravo , Susan. Do you wish to remain anonymous? I am a big fan of the discussion on CBC Radio/ Alberta at Noon. Are you ready to pitch the idea of Bread and Circus’ as a discussion idea. You seem ready to go beyond a blog/ weekly soap box. You are thoughtful and articulate. You may have good reason to remain incognito. Please pitch the idea and find a stand in. Not sure too many can raise their voice to quite your level. My request is to broaden the discussion.
Susan in Palliser: thank you for this. In the past I’ve appeared on a CTV panel relating to politics, Danielle Smith’s radio show (before she became a politician), Ryan Jespersen’s show, and I’ve published a few articles on CBC and Alberta Views, etc. There are so many things going on in my life right now, that I really can’t crank back up into other venues. But thank you for the vote of confidence, I appreciate it!
I would like to agree with you but the community really needs some healing because they are very confused. We aren’t working as a community right now. When I talked to people over the phone for a different party during the provincial election particularly about health care was told that they didn’t care about others just themselves and they had the money to pay for private doctors etc. This occurred in many instances not a few. The situation in Alberta has become so stressed people are just trying to live and many don’t have time to care about others. I don’t believe they will give up CPP or agree with Alberta separation but things can happen when people are looking the other way.
Thank you, Hazel Love McLaughlin
Hazel, I agree with your point that people are either (1) naive in believing they can buy their way to the front of the line (not true when you have a stroke at 2 a.m. and can’t find an ambulance or get treatment fast enough in ER), or (2) so fried by trying to eke out a living that they don’t have the time or energy to focus on how the UCP government has let them down. I believe that as the UCP debacles mount up (the APP/CPP mess, coal mining in the Rockies, Turkish pain meds, Dynalife, etc) enough people will realize they are NOT better off under the UCP and will vote differently next time.
Hello Susan,
Unfortunately, I will add my voice to say that many Alberta voters do not share your optimistic views of the limits of toleration of Albertans. They agree with TBA and FAS as they do not understand the reality of what they are offered by these 2 groups. These citizens do not believe in public services and have no concern about the welfare of other Canadians. They feel aggrieved and believe that they deserve a greater share of everything because they have been taken advantage of. This is, of course, far from the truth, but you will not persuade them otherwise.
Christina: I agree with your characterization. What I’m hoping for is this sad group will implode once it realizes their leaders can’t deliver whatever it is they think they deserve. Even the trucker convoy leaders sank into oblivion after they failed to deliver the new nirvana.
Hi Susan,
That probably would be in everyone’s best interest. Except, probably, the rich and powerful corporations and people.
I just read about the Atlas group. There is an item about them on, I think, the Guardian website.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2024/jan/10/ben-jennings-state-nhs-cartoon
Two differences between UK and Oilberduh:
1) different politicians’ caricatures
2) first letter is “A,” not “N”
Loved it Mike J. Absolutely loved it.
Thanks Susan. I’ve often, with sadness, noted similarities between the UK Cons under Boris Johnson and his successors, and the UCP. I’d put Danielle Smith on the same level as Liz Truss, she of the 47-day premiership and utterly disastrous mini-budget.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/oct/20/the-mini-budget-that-broke-britain-and-liz-truss
Sadly, we’ll have to survive another three years of Danielle Smith, and the destruction she’ll wreak on Alberta will be even harder to fix than Truss’s mess.
Thank you for yet another spot on newsletter regarding the state of things in Alberta. I really appreciate it and your excellent analysis.
Thank you so much fambuchart!
Talk about Squid Game
The level of incompetence is so bad that it is impossible to grade it.
We were lucky with this one but what is next?
https://albertapolitics.ca/2024/01/a-potentially-deadly-tyleonot-gong-show-can-albertas-ucp-government-be-trusted-to-do-anything-right/
Thanks for this link Carlos: this debacle boggles my mind, both as a lawyer and as a resident of Alberta. The height of stupidity. .
Excellent observations.
Krieger: thanks!
Hello Gerry Mac,
Unfortunately, this is not surprising. Ralph Klein’s disrespect of RNs and decision to lay off so many of them seems to have started a chain reaction carried on by Jason Kenney saying that he would lay off nurses, even though they are in short supply world-wide and the health care system would be in worse condition. This continues to the present day with Danielle Smith.