Is Alison Redford 'Stelmach, the sequel'?

[troutman]

My prediction - Wild Rose has peaked. This is the most seats they will ever win. The base is increasingly rural, and aging. Younger people skew more liberal. There is not room for two right-leaning parties. Smith was simply awful as a school trustee.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by troutman

My prediction - Wild Rose has peaked. This is the most seats they will ever win. The base is increasingly rural, and aging. Younger people skew more liberal. There is not room for two right of center parties. Smith was simply awful as a school trustee.

thats the thing. they might actually have a shot with Redford's blunders, but they have such an inept leader it will not matter.

If anything Raj Sherman, who is the prob the best of a bad lot, might have a better change at knocking off the PCs than the Wildrose. They just have to change their name to anything but "Liberal"

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Originally Posted by First Lady

Tourism Minister Cusanelli who "accidentally" used a government credit card (31 times from May to Nov) for personal expenses to tune of $10,600.00.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/...531/story.html

The biggest repaid expense was $4,078 for two first-class airline tickets to London during the Olympics, where Cusanelli served as part of a provincial mission to promote Alberta. The tickets were for her mother and her daughter, who was celebrating a birthday at the time.

Fisher said the tickets were all booked on the same government credit card by the former chief of staff, who saw a deal on airfare and didn’t want to miss it. While Cusanelli always intended to pay back those extra two fares, Fisher acknowledged it was not common government practice.

The documents show Cusanelli wrote a $4,078 cheque to the province on Aug. 22, about 10 days after she returned from the trip.

Stupid, yes. Corrupt, no. She wrote a cheque for the flights without any fanfare or calls from anyone - but now 5 months after Smith is floating out accusations of corruption. It appears as thought this is a case of throw as much s*** against a wall as possible and hopes some of it sticks or at the very least leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of Albertans.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Fun fact: The Liberals and NDP both won more seats in Edmonton/Calgary than the Wildrose. When you cannot appeal to the major population centres, you simply cannot win anything. Hence why they got totally roasted in the election. Smith has done well to elevate them from nothing to here, but what is here? Barely relevant? Are they all of a sudden going to become more appealing to people in the cities? I sure haven't seen anything since the election that suggests that.

I don't find either Smith or Redford to be particularly strong or inspiring leaders. The only difference to me between them is Redford is backed by a stronger, more established party. In fact I don't think any of the 4 party leaders in the province are anything other than "Meh".

[GP_Matt]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

Stupid, yes. Corrupt, no. She wrote a cheque for the flights without any fanfare or calls from anyone - but now 5 months after Smith is floating out accusations of corruption. It appears as thought this is a case of throw as much s*** against a wall as possible and hopes some of it sticks or at the very least leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of Albertans.

Have you ever bought personal items with a company credit card?
The last company I worked at fired an employee for putting a bar tab on his corporate card. He claimed that he was going to pay it right back but was canned on the following Monday.

[Tyler]

This is why Nenshi is ripe to lead the Alberta Party after he concludes his next term (if he doesn't step down sooner)

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by troutman

There is not room for two right of center parties.

Two right of centre parties? WR and who else?

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Jacks

Two right of centre parties? WR and who else?

You know what I mean. Right-leaning. Is that better?

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Originally Posted by GP_Matt

Have you ever bought personal items with a company credit card?
The last company I worked at fired an employee for putting a bar tab on his corporate card. He claimed that he was going to pay it right back but was canned on the following Monday.

I have seen it before where people put questionable things on a company credit card. I personally haven't as I much rather prefer to have the costs reimbursed rather than risk it, but as I said - stupid, yes. Corrupt, no. Also she didn't claim she would pay it back. She actually did - which is a pretty big distinction in my mind at least.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by troutman

You know what I mean. Right-leaning. Is that better?

I was just being a smart ass but in all reality Redford has been more of a Liberal than a Conservative.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

Stupid, yes. Corrupt, no. She wrote a cheque for the flights without any fanfare or calls from anyone - but now 5 months after Smith is floating out accusations of corruption. It appears as thought this is a case of throw as much s*** against a wall as possible and hopes some of it sticks or at the very least leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of Albertans.

The charge was made Jun 29 and showed up on the July credit card statement. She wrote the cheque for the trip reimbursement on Aug 22. Two months after she abused the priviledge of having an expense account.

She wrote the last of the 10K reimbursement cheques less than 2 weeks ago. (Understandable, I know I would need more than the 4 months she took to pay back 10K)

And yes, it is now being questioned as it was only released and made public on Wednesday.

[mariners_fever]

That Cusanelli wouldn't misappropriate resources doesn't shock me whatsoever. She's done it in the past. My friends has kids in the school where she was a principal. They were less than impressed that she took a classroom full of kids to campaign for her as a 'field trip' without parental permission. She also famously sent home campaign literature to the kids parents with some handouts one day.

That she'd abuse another office to her advantage doesn't surprise me one bit.

What I question in this one is why did she need to wait until the FOIP request for her expenses to decide to reimburse it? Thought she'd finally get caught for once? I'd call her both corrupt and stupid.

Who encouraged her to run in the first place? She's a long standing friend of Alison Redford.

[mariners_fever]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

thats the thing. they might actually have a shot with Redford's blunders, but they have such an inept leader it will not matter.

If anything Raj Sherman, who is the prob the best of a bad lot, might have a better change at knocking off the PCs than the Wildrose. They just have to change their name to anything but "Liberal"

Really showing your bias here. Raj is a great guy to be in the Legislature. If I simply had to win I would pick Danielle as my candidate over almost anyone I've worked with. I've worked with candidates making them electable for years, and she can win. A leader is someone people can get behind and she simply has all the tools you look for in a Leader when you set out to win. To call her inept as a Leader is wrong, even if you don't like her policies.

Raj does not. His performance during the election did nothing to hold on to the Liberal vote that collapsed to Redford, and her campaign team pounced on that opportunity. To say he'd have a better chance at this point in an election if he drops the word liberal is just plain wrong.

Great guy, incredibly knowledgable, an asset as a resource, right on many things in the healthcare file, congenial, but just not leadership material if you want to win.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by mariners_fever

Really showing your bias here. Raj is a great guy to be in the Legislature. If I simply had to win I would pick Danielle as my candidate over almost anyone I've worked with. I've worked with candidates making them electable for years, and she can win. To call her inept as a Leader is wrong, even if you don't like her policies. A leader is someone people can get behind and she simply has all the tools you look for in a Leader when you set out to win.

Raj does not. His performance during the election did nothing to hold on to the Liberal vote that collapsed to Redford, and her campaign team pounced on that opportunity. To say he'd have a better chance at this point in an election if he drops the word liberal is just plain wrong.

What sort of tools are those? the squinty eyes when she attacks? What on her resume stands out to you as an awesome leader? i think people got so fed up of Farmer Ed, that you could run Rob Anders in there and he would have mild support.

I would never vote for Raj either. all 4 of these leaders suck. I guess it's just reality though after having the 2 best premiers in Canadian history in Lougheed and Klein.

[mariners_fever]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

What sort of tools are those? the squinty eyes when she attacks? What on her resume stands out to you as an awesome leader? i think people got so fed up of Farmer Ed, that you could run Rob Anders in there and he would have mild support.

I would never vote for Raj either. all 4 of these leaders suck. I guess it's just reality though after having the 2 best premiers in Canadian history in Lougheed and Klein.

You've changed to not thinking that Raj is a better leader than Smith?

I'm just shocked you'd love Klein and hate Smith who lists Klein as one of her biggest influences. They are different personalities, though, I confess.

If I'm a coach and my party is a hockey team that needs to win an election, I'd take Danielle Smith and make her my captain. She wouldn't be my Gretzky, but she'd be my Steve Yzerman. A charismatic captain that can win multiple times and is remembered fondly by history, but not the greatest ever.

Her 'squinty eyes' are vastly overshadowed by her other qualities as a candidate. When she delivers speeches, she connects with people unlike anyone in provincial politics. That's what hits the news during an election. That only scratches the surface of her political tools.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by mariners_fever

So now you've changed to not thinking that Raj is a better leader than Smith?

I'm just shocked you'd love Klein and hate Smith who lists Klein as one of her biggest influences. They are different personalities, though, I confess.

If I'm a coach and my party is a hockey team that needs to win an election, I'd take Danielle Smith and make her my captain. She wouldn't be my Gretzky, but she'd be my Steve Yzerman. A charismatic captain that can win multiple times and is remembered fondly by history, but not the greatest ever.

She squints in legislature, so what. When she delivers speeches, she connects with people unlike anyone in provincial politics. That's what hits the news during an election.

Klein was a liberal, and a damn smart one to change parties to become premier. Smith is also a Reform party and Ted Morton lover which i doubt Klein was a fan of.

Smith is Yzerman? hahahahaha. Smith is probably more like Barnaby. She hasn't won anything. First impressions are everything right? So how was she introduced to AB voters? Bus tire Boobs and this

Premier Alison Redford must not like Alberta because she says she wants to change it, Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith told reporters near the Alberta Legislature Wednesday. … With numerous polls showing the two parties neck and neck, Smith lashed out at Redford for saying in a speech to the Calgary Chamber that the province needed change.
“I think Ms. Redford doesn’t like Alberta all that much,” said Smith. “She doesn’t like who were are. She doesn’t like our character. She wants to change it. I think that’s going to be the ballot question. I think that’s the question what people are going to have to ask in the next election. Do we need to be changed. Do we need Ms. Redford to change us? Do we have anything to be embarrassed about. I think the answer is a resounding ‘no.’”

.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

the squinty eyes when she attacks?

Seriously? You are making observations on physical features to determine the quality of a leader?

[mariners_fever]

Originally Posted by First Lady

Seriously? You are making observations on physical features to determine the quality of a leader?

I know, hey! Weak sauce! If we're going on that, Redford looks like one of Cinderella's evil step-sisters, and she still won!

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by mariners_fever

I know, hey! Weak sauce! If we're going on that, Redford looks like one of Cinderella's evil step-sisters, and she still won!

I didn't say i was a redford fan either. Hey when you are in the spotlight you better look the part. EVERY time i see Smith on TV the past month it's that squinty eye attack mode thing hahaha.

I'm a huge Nenshi fan and i think he needs a make over with his eye thing. Good thing he has substance and the background past that look. Smith doesn't.

[mariners_fever]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

Klein was a liberal, and a damn smart one to change parties to become premier. Smith is also a Reform party and Ted Morton lover which i doubt Klein was a fan of.

Smith is Yzerman? hahahahaha. Smith is probably more like Barnaby. She hasn't won anything. First impressions are everything right? So how was she introduced to AB voters? Bus tire Boobs and this

Premier Alison Redford must not like Alberta because she says she wants to change it, Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith told reporters near the Alberta Legislature Wednesday. … With numerous polls showing the two parties neck and neck, Smith lashed out at Redford for saying in a speech to the Calgary Chamber that the province needed change.
“I think Ms. Redford doesn’t like Alberta all that much,” said Smith. “She doesn’t like who were are. She doesn’t like our character. She wants to change it. I think that’s going to be the ballot question. I think that’s the question what people are going to have to ask in the next election. Do we need to be changed. Do we need Ms. Redford to change us? Do we have anything to be embarrassed about. I think the answer is a resounding ‘no.’”

.

Firstly, Klein was a liberal when elected mayor but became the bluest premier of our generation after a run-in with the CTF (the details of which I can't remember). How else do you explain him supporting Morton's ideas of Senate reform? He was a quiet Reform supporter, as well. Not to mention Mrs Klein and his father have both joined Wildrose because the PC's have 'lost his values'. It's not out there to think that someone who identified with the Liberals in 1980 would now identify with a more conservative party as the political spectrum has shifted left over the past three decades.

Secondly, Yzerman didn't win his first 'election' either.