The Alison Redford transgressions thread. Update- Redford quits.

[crazy_eoj]

Originally Posted by GP_Matt

I like Rob Ford in the sense that he is someone else's mayor and is making a mockery of the system. I wouldn't be happy if he was my mayor though.

I'm not sure about his claims of saving billions of dollars, but if true, that's admirable even if he is a crackpot.

[killer_carlson]

From up here in Edmonton I will tell you this: My belief is that the Liberals will be decimated next election and it will be the NDP who will make large gains.

It would not surprise me to see the NDP win close to half the Edmonton seats (or more), due to the personal popularity of a couple of their MLAs, but also due to:
a) the return of the left wing vote to left wing parties (and not Redford). Libs are not a practical option here.; and
b) the splitting of the right wing vote between the PCs and WR.

I think the overwhelming majority of left wing votes in Edmonton swing to the NDP away from the Libs and Alberta Party if the election were called today.

[GP_Matt]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

From up here in Edmonton I will tell you this: My belief is that the Liberals will be decimated next election and it will be the NDP who will make large gains.

It would not surprise me to see the NDP win close to half the Edmonton seats (or more), due to the personal popularity of a couple of their MLAs, but also due to:
a) the return of the left wing vote to left wing parties (and not Redford). Libs are not a practical option here.; and
b) the splitting of the right wing vote between the PCs and WR.

I think the overwhelming majority of left wing votes in Edmonton swing to the NDP away from the Libs and Alberta Party if the election were called today.

Is there much of a Liberal party presence in Edmonton outside of the election cycle?
In Grande Prairie they don't seem to have a board at all and just parachute a candidate in a few weeks before the election. The NDP though are attending events all year and promoting their party.

[darklord700]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Wait, you like the right wing crack smoking mayor,

I said Rob Ford is sufferable not that I like him. But I do find his outburst and antics entertaining since he isn't my mayor and his actions didn't cost me my tax dollars.

[crazy_eoj]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

From up here in Edmonton I will tell you this: My belief is that the Liberals will be decimated next election and it will be the NDP who will make large gains.

It would not surprise me to see the NDP win close to half the Edmonton seats (or more), due to the personal popularity of a couple of their MLAs, but also due to:
a) the return of the left wing vote to left wing parties (and not Redford). Libs are not a practical option here.; and
b) the splitting of the right wing vote between the PCs and WR.

I think the overwhelming majority of left wing votes in Edmonton swing to the NDP away from the Libs and Alberta Party if the election were called today.

I don't think any reasonable person can call the PC party 'right wing' anymore.

There are 3 fiscally liberal and 1 fiscally conservative party in Alberta. Socially I think all of them are pretty centrist.

[killer_carlson]

The Libs here still have a presence, yes, albeit the enthusiasm is dwarfed by the NDP.

The PCs are a right wing party. Unfortunately they are dealing with the fact that there was a corporate takeover by a left wing leader. The rank and file are still there demanding fiscal responsibility, but Redford knows better.

[darklord700]

The problem with Wildrose is that it's never a good thing to have "wild" in your party name.

[crazy_eoj]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

The Libs here still have a presence, yes, albeit the enthusiasm is dwarfed by the NDP.

The PCs are a right wing party. Unfortunately they are dealing with the fact that there was a corporate takeover by a left wing leader. The rank and file are still there demanding fiscal responsibility, but Redford knows better.

The only way you could consider the PC's a 'right wing' party would be their low-tax stance.

They've been running deficit budgets for almost a decade and have been one of if not the highest spending government in the country for longer than that.

Or do you mean socially which I guess is arguable.

[killer_carlson]

fair point.

[Dion]

Veteran Tory calls for Redford’s resignation

EDMONTON - The president of an Edmonton Progressive Conservative constituency association says if Premier Alison Redford doesn’t resign, the party won’t have “a hope in hell” of winning the next provincial election.

Steve Robson, who heads the Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview association, minced no words when asked Friday about Redford’s leadership.

“I have been extremely disheartened over the last five or six months by my impression of the way (Redford) runs things. I didn’t sign on to be part of something where one person calls the shots and it’s my way or the highway and my impression is (Redford) really is not the least bit interested in what any MLA or his constituents have to say,” Robson said.

Asked if she should resign, Robson said: “She better.”

“If we go to the next election with her as premier, I don’t think we’ve got a hope in hell. I don’t think there’d be a chance,” he said.

Robson said one of the major issues was the $45,000 trip to South Africa.

“The fact that she did what she did was just absurd, in my opinion. “It was a flagrant waste of our money and a lost opportunity that might have benefited the province,” he said.

Robson has been a member of the PC party for decades and worked on Don Getty’s leadership campaign in the mid-1980s.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/ed...622/story.html

[killer_carlson]

Just so we are clear, Edmonton Bev Clairview is one away from me. The riding went NDP last election

[Slava]

Originally Posted by crazy_eoj

The only way you could consider the PC's a 'right wing' party would be their low-tax stance.

They've been running deficit budgets for almost a decade and have been one of if not the highest spending government in the country for longer than that.

Or do you mean socially which I guess is arguable.

And of course the Wildrose with their latest budget were also going to run a deficit, so now who are you left with?

[killer_carlson]

^

So why even bother trying to balance it then, huh?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

^

So why even bother trying to balance it then, huh?

Not at all. I just think that if the only party that he considers to be a good fiscal manager would've wound up with a deficit this year then maybe its time to consider some alternative measures. It seems to be a major concern of his that the budget be balanced, and from their own materials the Wildrose wasn't going to be able to do that. I feel for bad for him to come to the realization that the party he supports is not going to meet that standard. Prepare to be disappointed.

[killer_carlson]

Or maybe it costs more to extract ourselves from some of the spending than it does to cancel or cut it out.

I don't see it as a call for alternate measures, I see it as a sign of just how bad things are

[Slava]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

Or maybe it costs more to extract ourselves from some of the spending than it does to cancel or cut it out.

I don't see it as a call for alternate measures, I see it as a sign of just how bad things are

There are a lot of factors. One of them is that as a province we have our head in the sand; we see that Saskatchewan right next door is able to balance the budget and think that is because they're better fiscal managers at this point. Of course they have a PST and progressive taxation, but I guess we just ignore that fact.

[killer_carlson]

Oh boy, it's on

Doug Griffiths with a series of offensive tweets

http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/201...or-leadership/

Jonathon Dennis and Steve young get into an argument at the bar that witnesses say got the attention of the bar bouncers
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/...244/story.html

[killer_carlson]

I'm absolutely loving this downfall btw. It is because Redford has been so disappointing as Premier and smug

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

Or maybe it costs more to extract ourselves from some of the spending than it does to cancel or cut it out.

I don't see it as a call for alternate measures, I see it as a sign of just how bad things are

If balancing the budget is such a priority (and I think it should be), lerhaps we should consider raising taxes to something approaching the Canadian average?

[killer_carlson]

Raise taxes when we have record, unprecedented revenues?!?!?!?

Tell me why we should raise them?

The problem is administration