It’s Easter Sunday and the world is a mess.
(Cue brief political interlude)
Here in Alberta we’ll have an opportunity to improve things…if we don’t get derailed in the run up to the NDP leadership race.
We have a lot of policy to debate so let’s not get cross-threaded with fellow party members over:
Who is or isn’t a true NDPer. If the party is serious about expanding its membership, it doesn’t matter when someone joined the party; all that matters is the new guys are here inside the tent building the party, not outside ignoring it or trying to knock it down.
Whether or not membership in the provincial NDP should automatically make you a member of the federal NDP: I get it, this linkage is a barrier for those who like the provincial NDP but not its federal counterpart. We need to sort this out, but we don’t have to do it before June 22 when we vote for a new leader.
My point here is this leadership race has given us a chance to reinvigorate and grow the party, it is incumbent upon us that we (in the words of a famous drag queen) don’t F*** it up.
Because there’s nothing the UCP would like more than to see the Alberta NDP tear itself apart between now and the next provincial election on May 31, 2027.
(Cue Easter message)
Easter, like so many celebrations at this time of year, signals the start of fresh beginnings.
To all of you everywhere, let’s put our petty differences aside and remember that together we can make a difference.
HAPPY EASTER!
Susan on the Soapbox 
Thank you so much for this, Susan! very sound advice! Reminds me of a little note I wrote to myself this morning, which was, “I like the guy who implemented Neighbour Day a lot more than I like the guy who implemented the War Room!”
pclipper2015: Well said. And a good way to judge the quality of the candidates…look for the good they’ve done during their time in public service, regardless of which level of government they’ve served in.
Why is there a sudden song and dance for a password? I never had trouble logging in before?
M
noklebym: I know what you mean. I have to do the same thing every time I come on to the site and it’s MY site!!! I’m thankful you and the others persevere. .
Thank you Susan for the sound advice on choosing a leader for the provincial NDP. I do believe that someone who has entered the race can actually win the next election. It will be a hard fought election and you will need a person with a proven track record in leadership.
Happy Easter to you and all.
brentmcf
Brent: Happy Easter to you as well. I think you’re right, in fact I believe that more than one person who’s entered the race could win, I am waiting for the debates to make up my mind but I have high hopes for at least two candidates.
I agree: waiting for the debates to make up my mind. I am disappointed with Gil McGowan’s invocation of the sainted Peter Lougheed in his platform. Not only has Lougheed been dead for 13 years, he’s been out of office longer thanmost Albertans have been alive. He needs a different strategy, IMHO.
jerrymacgp: I agree with you re: McGowan invoking Lougheed. The NDP tried that off and on for years and it never amounted to anything. So far it appears that McGowan is campaigning as the candidate who’ll stand up for workers and all Albertans (except the ones at the top) are workers. I don’t think that’s going to fly either.
Susan: Thanks for sharing another great blog. I see that Naheed Nenshi has entered the NDP leadership race. He has known Danielle Smith for a long time, and they attended the University of Calgary at the same time, in the early1990s. Naheed Nenshi has exposed Danielle Smith for her lies, and her very costly mistakes. All we get from the media, in particular, Postmedia are a bunch of factless columns. I’ll give a good example of that on this blog. Currently, with the UCP, we see motel medicare, pursuits of things that the UCP never campaigned on, such as the Alberta Provincial Pension Plan, which has very little support, the Alberta Provincial Police Force, which rural municipal leaders in in oppose, because they will have to fork over $1 billion to pay for it, open pit coal mining in the Rocky Mountains, which also has hardly any support, and more very costly debacles, which cost us billions of dollars. Since it’s Easter, I’ll play some fitting music. This is a Bob Dylan composition, from 1979, from his gospel album, Slow Train Coming, Gotta Serve Somebody. Bob Dylan is in my music collection, and I saw him live in 1990.
Dwayne, you always do such a good job of summarizing the litany of god awful horrible decisions this government has made, and your song selection nailed it perfectly. The UCP is serving somebody and I don’t thing it’s the people of Alberta…
You know, I don’t recall every hearing this Dylan selection, but it’s very, very good. Dylan’s voice is a smooth as honey on this one. Lucky you for seeing him live. I’m sure it was electrifying!
Susan: This is an example of the garbage that Postmedia publishes. It is very inaccurate.
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/alberta-could-have-a-wealth-fund-like-norways-if-ottawa-stopped-picking-its-pockets
https://energynow.ca/2020/08/a-575-billion-missed-opportunity-haunts-canadas-oil-heartland/?amp
Dwayne: thanks for these two articles.
The lack of logic in the National Post article was astounding. Bewick argues three things:
(1) Alberta is landlocked and captive to US markets because the feds wouldn’t let pipeline companies build pipelines to the sea. Assuming this to be true, Bewick fails to acknowledge that Alberta won’t get world prices for ALL of its output, (eg. Transmountain will transport an additional 590,000 bbl/d that’s just over 10% of our daily production). How many pipelines does he suggest we build to BC to make an appreciable difference in the revenue oil companies receive and the royalties they agree to pay? .So his argument is incomplete.
(2) Alberta is not a sovereign country (like Norway) and pays $15 – $20B annually in taxes to Canada. Bewick rolls out the old argument that we’ve overpaid taxes by $462B but fails to factor in what Alberta would have had to pay if it were a sovereign nation for things like defence, natural disaster recovery, COVID related costs (could Alberta get its hands on a vaccine as quickly, would it be paying for second rate Turkish meds instead?) Again, his argument is incomplete.
(3) Alberta has chosen to keep its taxes low. Bewick says if Alberta paid the same as jurisdictions like BC and Ontario it would have raised $20B more annually. In other words, it shorted the Heritage trust fund to keep taxes low. You’ll note Bewick didn’t say how much more Alberta would have had to pay if its tax regime matched that of Norway which has significantly higher person and corporate taxes and a sales tax of 25%. Even with the additional tax burden Norway outstripped Alberta’s trust fund and did so in less time. So again, incomplete.
Bewick, like many conservatives, cherry picks his way through the facts to support his argument. He didn’t even get the “would-be” Heritage Trust Fund number right. He said it would have been $1.6 trillion. Trevor Tombe put it at $575M (less than half of Bewick’s number).
Bottom line: Alberta conservatives had four decades to get this right. And they failed because they believe they can’t tax rich people and corporations or the economy will collapse.
Happy Easter to you and yours.
Rose: And a Happy Easter to you too…as I said in the post, times are tough but together we can make it through.
And here in essence is what I said, and lost over password concerns:
So long as we donât have to choose silence in order to participate in this leadership debate, there should be no problem. As someone habituated to saying what I think and not what anyone thinks for me, Iâm happy for the membership increase, but also determined to help newbies understand what a party Iâve stuck with since a girl in Saskatchewan, stands for. Iâm opposed to distancing myself from the party that brought the CEASEFIRE motion to the House of Commons, Iâm proud of the NDPâs role in getting an affordable daycare program rolled out nationally, Iâm thrilled with first steps for dental care and pharmacareâ¦â¦â¦â¦.and Iâm on side with the NDPâs ability to acknowledge that climate change is real and that its fossil fuels that are driving that rapid change.
In Alberta, its sometimes harder to see the real elephant in the roomâ¦â¦â¦.but that too has to change. I hope all leadership candidates see that writing on the wall, recognize how hard its going to be to convince Oil and Gas Tycoons that the subsidies to the Fossil Fuel industry makes the carbon tax look puny by comparison. The truth is the truth, however, and the climate emergency canât be air brushed away.
We canât change that with dumb moratoriums on renewables, and even stupider dreams of coal mining the water sheds of our Eastern Slopes
Hopefully the new people flocking to our party have the intelligence/ courage to recognize Albertaâs great need for a rapid and just transitionâ¦.
Everything the UCP are about is protecting an old extractivist economy. Thinking we can build prosperity by continuing down that road isnât thinking worthy of the NDP, federal or provincial.
Iâm going to try to pick my leader from candidates who know thatâ¦.after I listen to all the promises each make at candidate forums.
nokelbym: I’m glad you were able to post and I agree with your points re: the NDP having strong values which must be respected. I assume that the newbies support these values because they’re not controversial.
As a point of interest I noticed that Nenshi was the only leadership candidate who included a clip of Tommy Douglas (talking about universal healthcare) in his announcement. I suspect that’s because he was striving to make himself more appealing to traditional NDP voters, whereas the other leadershp candidates were striving to make themselves more appealing to the non-NDP voters.
Like you, I’m going to base my decision on what the candidates have to say about these issues.
Thank you for another thoughtful message. I think we might all be well advised to step past partisan politics and look for policies and plans to make our time together on this earth positive and meaningful. This particular post made me think. Your posts always inform or at least help us to remember there are many strong and wise people here in the province, but this one made me think, it opened my mind. That is a special gift.
Karen Doidge
Karen Doidge: Your second sentence really sang to me: we’d be well advised to “step past partisan politics and look for policies and plans to make our time together on this earth positive and meaningful.”
Thank you!
Susan: I’ll play some more fitting music. This is Santana, live at Woodstock, in 1969, doing a composition written by Clarence “Sonny” Henry, Evil Ways. I saw Carlos Santana 5 times live, and he is also in my music collection. He did do this song, when I saw him live. Gregg Rolie, would later co-found Journey, in the 1970s, with another member of Santana, who was there in the early 1970s, guitarist, Neil Schon (who was in his mid teens when he joined the group). Carlos Santana is an incredible guitarist from Mexico, and he has a large fan base, worldwide.
Dwayne: Santana is one of my absolute favourite musicians. I particularly love this piece. It reminds me of summer.
You know that many of us here wish we could be sitting in the audience (like you were) enjoying this band in person. .
Thank you!
we totally agree with you… let’s not destroy our best chance to grow.
Donna: yes, let’s make it happen.
Amen to working together to make a difference:) Happy Easter to you & yours, Susan. May the bunny bring us treats in the upcoming leadership race instead of little bunny meadow muffins!
Linda, thank you. I’ve never heard the expression “little bunny meadow muffins.” I love it!
If you want a chuckle Susan, look up the lyrics to ‘the meadow muffin blues’. Seriously, it is an actual song:)
Linda: I’m going to do that! 🙂
Susan: Here is my next song pick. This is a composition from Gary Brooker and Keith Reid, from Procol Harum, called Whaling Stories. This was recorded live in concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and the Da Camera Singers, on November 18, 1971. Yesterday, it was another birthday for a past Procol Harum member, Dave Ball. He passed away on April 1, 2015, at age 65. I also saw Procol Harum 4 times live, and met the band members, including Dave Ball. Dave Ball is on this particular album. This album was released in 1972, and it is also in my music collection.
Dwayne, this was an interesting and complex piece. I can see why it was recorded with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Da Camera singers. You’d need them to do the piece justice. Thank you.
Susan: Whaling Stories was actually from a past Procol Harum album, Home, recorded and released in 1970, when guitarist Robin Trower was still in the band. After Robin Trower left Procol Harum in 1971, after the album Broken Barricades was released that year, he went on to have a very successful solo career. In 1971, Dave Ball replaced Robin Trower on guitar in Procol Harum. On this live album, with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Dave Ball was only 21 years old. Apparently, Whaling Stories influenced the Queen Song, Bohemian Rhapsody. I have heard that before.
Susan: This is my final song pick. This is a composition from Jim McCarty and Jimmy Page, from 1968, called Taking A Hold On Me. Jim McCarty is on vocals here, instead of Keith Relf. Keith Relf had his birthday on March 22. Sadly, he passed away tragically, on May 14, 1976, from an improperly grounded guitar he was practicing on. This is when The Yardbirds were a four piece group. Other past members included Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. In this lineup of the group Keith Relf was on vocals and harp, Chris Dreja switched from rhythm guitar to bass, Jimmy Page was on guitar, and Jim McCarty was on drums. In 1968, the Yardbirds split up, and Jimmy Page formed Led Zeppelin. This is another fitting song.
Dwayne, the question posed in this song “What’s the fighting for” reminded me of the recruitment ads we used to see when we lived in the US. Full of good looking young men and women, running around all over the place, using the latest tech equipment, it was as if they were playing a video game, not killing people. One day we should send the people who decide to go to war, out into the battle field. Maybe they’ll develop a different perspective.
Susan: Jimmy Page did the artwork for this album, which is a boxed set. Many years later, after Keith Relf tragically passed away from electrocution, from practicing on an improperly grounded electric guitar in his home in England, former members of The Yardbirds, created a group in the 1980s, called The Box Of Frogs. It included Chris Dreja, Paul Samwell-Smith, and Jim McCarty, with Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and other musicians joing in, including John Fiddler on vocals. In the 1990s, Jim McCarty and Chris Dreja decided to reform The Yardbirds, with other musicians. Currently, Jim McCarty is the longest remaining member of the group, as Chris Dreja had to leave, due to health issues. Jim McCarty was the one who did the song Charmed, from one of his solo albums, that I shared on this blog, not that long ago.
Anyone who doesn’t want change must want to remain in the past.
Amy: I agree. They don’t seem to realize that living in the past is not an option. The future is coming at us hard, we need to be ready to meet it or it will run us over.
Susan: The trash articles keep on coming with Postmedia. Here’s another one. The UCP keeps on doing so many major mistakes, that they want to distract from that. They get columnists to do that for them.Caylan Ford is a known bigot, and can’t get employed, because of it. She wants to sue the NDP for defamation. The NDP and others exposed her for it. The Wildrose and the UCP attracted such people, but sensible people have no appetite for it.
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/the-alberta-ndp-might-not-legally-exist-posing-a-problem-for-naheed-nenshi
Dwayne, this is Postmedia trying its hardest to make trouble.
Just a few thoughts in response:
1.Apparently the comment was identified by PressProgress not the NDP. So why is she trying to sue the NDP?
2. She was removed as a candidate by Jason Kenney, not the NDP. So why is she trying to sue the NDP?
3. If she wants to sue the NDP, and can’t sue the provincial party because it’s a subset of the federal NDP, then she should sue the federal NDP and argue the federal party is responsible for its provincial counterparts.
4.Just because the provincial party is a subset of the federal party doesn’t mean it’s an illegitimate political party. Elections Alberta has rules on this and has let the NDP operate as a political party for decades.
5. Nenshi (and some other NDP candidates) said they would look into disengaging the provincial party from the federal party. If they can’t do it, so be it. It doesn’t mean Nenshi (and the other candidates) have to get off the ballot and slink away
While I have no opinion on the merits of her case, I recall Kenney lauding her as a star candidate. I don’t know what those star qualities are or why they’re not enough for her to find meaningful employment, but that’s something she’ll have to prove.
Bottom line: the National Post trying to make a story out of nothing and the conservatives are running scared now that Nenshi has entered the race.
I think what you said here is so important and I hope those folks running in the Alberta NDP race remember we are at a HUGE PIVOTAL MOMENT in the growth potential of this party in Alberta and how this could greatly shape our future.
Kimberlee, I agree with your characterization. In the last election the NDP asked moderate conservatives to “lend” them their votes to oust Danielle Smith. That may have worked for some voters, but the problem with “lending” someone something is someday you’ll want it back. I prefer this approach which is a sincere bid grow the party by attracting new members who join because they support NDP values, not just because they’re against Danielle Smith and the UCP.
One candidate in the NDP leadership race in sent a message to new members stating in effect that newcomers are not welcome and not worthy. Strange way to solicit votes from new members. May the best candidate win.
Albertarian: I agree. I suspect some NDP members worry that their party is going to be taken over by the purple machine, but it seems to me NDP values run deep. No flash in the pan (and I’m not saying Nenshi is a flash in the pan) leader is going to change that.
Happy Easter Susan!
I totally agree with you. Let’s not F*** things up! The challenge is much greater than petty politics. 2027 seems so far away, yet if everyone takes this opportunity to build: policy, credibility, support, a compelling vision for the future (which is actually tomorrow) and a solid TEAM; the NDP will be a positive force for change hard to ignore and the desired choice for all Albertans. Likely not all, but hopefully everyone with a functioning brain that isn’t pining for some imagined past.
Thanks for your posts!
Kathleen
>
Lausmank55 (Kathleen) I really like your comment. We will have 3 years to show Albertans who we are–calm, rational people who think decent healthcare and education are a given, that vulnerable people should be cared for, that the climate should be protected, and that everyone should pay their fair share to make this happen. This isn’t crazy commie talk, this is just how civilized people live.
Well said, thanks!
Keith: thank you!!
I think the “circle the wagons and start firing toward the inside” is a UCP /Conservative party tradition the NDs will studiously avoid. I am hard pressed to imagine the provincial party throwing a history of common sense and clear thinking down the toilet because some drips writing for the PostMedia Group have posted such febrile delusions.
The fantasy of the national RW press to imagine that a member of a provincial ND party would be somehow oooogggaaa-boogahed into political paralysis with the alignment/non-alignment of the Provincial party platform to that of the National ND party - what hilarity!
Talk about a clear case of projection or what! Its the Conservatives/UCP that tear each other to pieces over einsey-weeny doctrinal ideological purity spats.
Got to hand it to the army of PostMedia droidica latching on and foaming away to throw shade, fear, uncertainty and doubt at a simple provincial ND party leadership race.
Imnevillefec9ac2a38: Now there’s a point I hadn’t considered: that the conservatives/UCP would try to turn the ND leadership race into an internecine battle because what they would do in the same situation. Makes sense though given their track record.
It also tells me they’re running scared. The new NDP leader hasn’t been elected yet and already they’re firing shots at the one they think might win.
I realize these sorts of debates about party membership are emotional. Many political debates are and the difficult thing is deciding on one course of action can alienate or upset a significant number of people with a differing view.
So, here is an idea – make membership in the Federal NDP optional, say by checking a box. So those that want to, can continue to be Federal NDP members and those that don’t, do not have to.
I find interesting that due to my ignorance about party structures and rules, I never considered that being an NDP in Alberta meant that one was part of the federal NDP. If that is true I wonder why we elect all MLAs in Edmonton for the Alberta NDP and in federal elections we barely have 2.
I think there are several issues here:
I am old enough to know all Federal Governments since 1981 and I can tell you that in all those years an extremist like Pierre Poilievre would not even be able to stand up to talk in parliament because he would not even be in there. Being a Trump sympathyser is what is dangerous and radical not the federal NDP. Governments were created for us not for companies. We even were forced to accept that they have the rights of individuals. That is extremism and it is growing every year because of lobbyists, propaganda and lies. We have lost that battle but we can still win the war although I think it is almost impossible without a true radical. CEOs, billionaires, businesses have to have a reality check and only us can do it. Governments are already embedded in their Mafias.
Carlos, I really like what you’ve said here. It all aligns very closely with my own beliefs and observations so thank you for posting it.
I’ll take a stab at answering the first question that you posed and suggest that the strong NDP representation in Edmonton may be partially due to the fact that at present there are only two parties in the province with any real chance at forming government. It’s possible that many of the NDP votes may simply be anti-UCP votes. If there was a viable third (or even fourth) option of a party somewhere between left-center and right-center the NDP support may not look as good as it does now. Federally, there are at least four parties that it seems will always receive votes and as a result we ended up with a minority government after the last election. Our provincial political situation may look quite different today if we had enough legitimate options to have elected a minority government as opposed to a winner-take-all majority.
To be honest, I don’t know much about Jagmeet Singh, which may be due to my own lack of attention or what seems to me to be Mr. Singh’s low profile compared to the other federal party leaders but, to address your points 3 and 4, I agree that he has used his balance of power effectively and has helped to bring about some positive changes that we may not have seen if the Liberals had secured another majority. One of the yardsticks that I like to use to evaluate a government’s performance is how it treats the most vulnerable of its citizens. Plans like the $10/day child care, pharma care and dental assistance and things of that nature are things that I support in society. Rousting homeless people from whatever shelter they have from freezing temperatures at Christmastime not so much.
With respect to your points 1 and 2, my spouse and I have discussed these, or very similar things a few times. As I think I’ve mentioned before, we are rural dwellers and we live in the heart of Redneck Central. I think something like 85-90% of the people around us love the NDP in the same way that Danielle Smith loves vaccinations. The funny thing is that if you ask them they say that they support public education and health and they are happy that one federal program or another, like the ones that you mentioned, work to their benefit. But they’re definitely not socialists. Some weren’t too sure about Jason Kenney and seemed to like Danielle Smith even less. Many around here make their living in farming and ranching and are concerned about the increasing unpredictability of the weather since they rely upon a clean and abundant supply of water for their livelihood (as well as just living, as we all do) but some, when asked will say that they can’t bring themselves to vote for the NDP. If you ask them why not they literally can’t explain it but it’s an invisible bridge that they are unable to cross even though, from our point of view at least, they are clearly voting against their own best interest. And those are the reasonable ones. It’s bewildering.
I feel I’ve rambled somewhat here so I’ll quit now but thanks Carlos for getting me started so I could get few things off my chest. It felt good. Keep well.
Guy Thank you again for your reply. Nothing better than an open respectful discussion.
Yes I fully agree with your comments on the first question. No doubts that my view is simplistic and that what you said is also very true. I just have a hard time witnessing a person voting for Rachel Notley provincially and Pierre Poilievre federally. I mean this guy is the biggest bluff in our political life for the last 40 years. I see that the 19 points he had over Justin Trudeau are starting to move down and so it should. Justin Trudeau is not a genius but I would have liked to see what Pierre Poilievre would have done during the pandemic other than just scream slogans.
As far as Jagmeet Singh, as I said before, he is not a person with the charisma of Jack Layton for example but the fact is that in the last 20 years at least no one has been able to get more power to us than him. When was the last time we even talk about implementing a social program that helps the most disadvantaged in our society? The liberals promised child care for 20 years and nothing got done until Jagmeet Singh pushed them against the wall. If it is to benefit corporations it is almost immediatel. So these days we are ruled by corporate interests and neo-liberals have convinced all of us that social programs or protection is wrong and has been weakened to the last possible level. Our health care is in tatters because it has been challenged with cuts and shocks for decades. Now of course it is basically ready for privatizing and that is what the objective was all along.
On points 1 and 2 I just want to say that I have seen throughout Alberta what you mentioned in your note. Albertans love socialized health care, good public schools and enjoy public parks but vote always for those who have no interest in protecting any of that at all. Like you said ‘it is bewildering’. To be honest I had never seen anything like it until I came to Alberta. I was not raised in North America and as soon as I arrived here I noticed, an almost hate for left politics, I think due to the immense propaganda that people were flooded with during the Cold War. I believe Alberta is the closest province in Western type culture to the US and also one where more Americans came to work in the oilfields. Well I had the pleasure of working with Americans in the Alaska Prudhoe Bay gas /oil development fields and I know from direct experience what these people say and think about anything but their ultra capitalist system. I even remember mentioning the fact, at the time, that Farley Mowat had been banned in an American airport from entering the US and I thought I was going to be shipped back to Canada not by plain but by violence. I was astounded. Apparently he was banned because he was an NDP member.
You know I do not like to preach about left or right wing politics but I think it is advantageous to any of us to know what is the reality of both. Just slogans is not the way to evolve politically. All of the benefits we enjoy today like vacations, sick leave, public health care, public schools and on and on were created by left wing ideology. Had that not happened, we would still be living like trash. People cannot even think of that and that bothers me. Like you said they vote against their own interests. I cannot understand that. It seems to me like a big lack of basic education, which is an individual responsibility to acquire. Is that not what the ultra conservatives always preach ‘Individual responsibility’?
The reality is that we became too confortable with the consumer society and now we are caught in a consumer mentality that has created the enormous crisis just starting.
Thank you you Guy for your openess and interest for facts and for what is the reality behind this circus we are now embedded in and from which the political system we have will not get us through. In my view the system needs full replacement and with total emphasis on us not power interests and the new super rich class that usually makes comments of the level of Elon Mask that finally seems to be going to where he needs to go.
I hope my reply will make you write more – love it.
The thing that might save the Federal Liberals is that Singh is no Jack Layton, but to give him some credit he has gotten the Liberals to do several things they might not have otherwise. Of course, the government may get most of the credit regardless.
Its hard to say yet whether the current improvement in the polls for the Federal Liberals is lasting, but they seem determined to do things that may get them credit in the year or so they may have left. It seems fairly clear the Federal NDP hasn’t benefited much from the Liberals decline in popularity so far and the Alberta NDP’s coolness towards their Federal colleagues is just another sign of their weakness.
If the Liberals can rebound a bit, they could keep the Conservatives to a minority in the next election. I don’t see Poilievre handling that well as he is no Stephen Harper. It would be very ironic if the Conservatives win a minority in the next election, but people quickly become dissatisfied with them and then re-elect the Liberals after some months. I am getting way ahead of things here and that would be history repeating itself way too much.
Dave, your comment about Jack Layton is spot on. They are indeed lucky. But I think that I give Jagmeet Singh a little more points than you do. Since he became a father he has been less visible and good for him because family is definitely more important than the circus parliament has become and I would not be a bit surprised if he is just done with it.
As far as the difference in popularity, I agree that it is hard to say but the fact is that Pierre Poilievre is full of it and it is becoming clearer that is the case. He really is a good at arguing but what is the real meat? He has no environmental plan at all. He criticises Guilbeaut but that is easy to do and pushing the plan forward is not an easy task. PP would not even think of a plan because he does not even believe in climate change. If he wins the next election I would like to know what is his wonderful plan to make Canada the capital of bitcoin in the world!!!
A conservative minority would be nice and a good protection plan for the rest of us that still believe reality and fact is a thing.
I am sorry but the man makes me sick with his arrogance and the so famous ‘I am the only one that can … blah blah blah. Ay least Harper had some class.
‘So, here is an idea – make membership in the Federal NDP optional, say by checking a box. So those that want to, can continue to be Federal NDP members and those that don’t, do not have to.’
I agree but also read my comment below or above depending on Word Press LOL
Hello Everyone
I did not even know that Cowell was already gone. Another DODO bird. Of course as we all expected he was just like the Australian cookie monster.
Unfortunately I am sure we will have another announcement soon on some other privatizing prophet.
https://albertapolitics.ca/2024/04/no-surprise-albertas-privatized-surgery-clinics-dont-seem-to-be-doing-anything-to-reduce-wait-times/
Susan I could not agree more with you that somehow we are creating too many distractions with discussions that really do not matter.
One that I find childish is the fact that Nenshi is only a recent member of the NDP and so for example Hoffman should have more right to be the leader than him. I think that is a recipe for the party or any party to become stagnant. Hoffman is a very good MLA and it was in my opinion one of the best if not the best Health minister we have had in Alberta for a long time. But honestly a premier has to be more than just another minister and Nenshi has qualities that, in my opinion, will make him a better premier than Hoffman.
I am looking forward to whatever is that they will do for this race but one thing I am sure of, this is an extremely important event and like you mentioned in your post, lets stop with these picky arguments that mean nothing. We need to focus on the real issues and what is good for all of us as citizens of this province.
This thing about the connection with the federal NDP does not even cross my mind. I do not care. If they consider me an NDP federally because I am a member in Alberta then do it. Whether or not I approve of the NDP federally is my personal choice and not the internal structures of the NDP as a party.
Here is an interesting article for those that like to read about Democracy
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2024/04/05/Democracy-Under-Siege-Globally/
It’s a chilling article Carlos. Thank you.