Alberta Election Thread - Election Day April 16 2019

[Izzle]

Kenney really had one job (well two):
- Focus on the economy and pipelines as it is the major issue for many Albertans
- when asked about social issues, give a prepared and vetted statement. It acts as a shield when the NDP brings up his potentially socially regressive views

Tha's it. That's all that he needed to do. Drag it out till election day and it's in the bag.

But, no, he decides to bring up these social views (which rely on emotion) and fires up people to potentially vote against him. At this point, do you trust his competence? Do you trust he'd be instrumental in bringing Alberta out of the doldrums?

[Ozy_Flame]

Fair enough, to me this is a matter of interpretation. The comment then becomes sleight of hand, which is just as sneaky to get around the sound bytes.

The reinstatement of the Education Act is technically changing the law/policy to open up the possibility of notification, effectively making it not illegal to inform parents, which is what the School Act accomplished.

Kenney said it would be up to teachers to decide whether it is in the best interest of a child to tell their parents that they are involved with a GSA.

I stand by my ideas that this is a lie; because it opens up a whole shade of grey - through the changing of the law - that now makes it more likely to happen, especially in religious schools which seem to have significant influence in the Kenney base IMO.

I have to wonder if Kenney and his team consulted with the LGBTQ community, as well as teachers, parents of LGBTQ children, and community advocates. I'm guessing not much, if any at all.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Izzle

Kenney really had one job (well two):
- Focus on the economy and pipelines as it is the major issue for many Albertans

He can’t focus on this, because he has absolutely zero pull on this issue until there is a change with the Feds. He has nothing more to offer than Notley on this issue, and if he does PLEASE provide me with this information because I haven’t seen it. I’ve seen the question asked 100 times and never answered.

He gets elected, and Trudeau stays. He fails.
He gets elected and the conservatives take the federal position, he succeeds.

[OMG!WTF!]

Yeah it basically mandates religious schools to allow GSA's in name only. Not too many kids from religious families are going to risk being outed. Same with any kid who actually needs the support of a GSA. It won't be long before religious schools start showing how the power of prayer cures homosexuality....we allow GSA's but no one joined!

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

He gets elected and the conservatives take the federal position, he succeeds.

I don't know. There was a Conservative Gov't in Ottawa for what 10 years while there was a Conservative Gov't in Alberta and no pipelines were built to tidewater.


I have never like Kenney, and I don't trust him or believe that he will be successful.

Thankfully the UCP candidate in my riding is/was a nutcase and stepped down.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by Coach

Especially if Peter has been robbing Paul for generations.

Peter and Paul live in this generation and were not alive for past generations, so the point is irrelevant.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I don't know. There was a Conservative Gov't in Ottawa for what 10 years while there was a Conservative Gov't in Alberta and no pipelines were built to tidewater.


I have never like Kenney, and I don't trust him or believe that he will be successful.

Thankfully the UCP candidate in my riding is/was a nutcase and stepped down.

I agree with this too. I guess I should be more clear. I feel like that would be his only shot at being more successful than Notley when it comes to the pipeline. But it is far from a guarantee.

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I don't know. There was a Conservative Gov't in Ottawa for what 10 years while there was a Conservative Gov't in Alberta and no pipelines were built to tidewater.

Nor was anything done about equalization.

[Joborule]

If the concern of GSA's being handled in religious schools is a concern (which I'll say for myself has merit and is legit), I feel like it brings up a bigger issue of religious schools in general, and should the government be funding schools of that nature anymore? This is public money going to an institution that a large number of the public may not be in support of after all.

[Izzle]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

He can’t focus on this, because he has absolutely zero pull on this issue until there is a change with the Feds. He has nothing more to offer than Notley on this issue, and if he does PLEASE provide me with this information because I haven’t seen it. I’ve seen the question asked 100 times and never answered.

He gets elected, and Trudeau stays. He fails.
He gets elected and the conservatives take the federal position, he succeeds.

I agree with you 100%. IMO, he can yell and yell about holding the Federal Government accountable, but until there is a Conservative Federal Government, he cannot do anything.

I was more talking about his strategy in the Provincial elections. He doesn't need to talk about a variety of social issues. Those two candidates that stepped down, he could have just given a canned answer, "I wish them all the best, but our party had no room for such views." and be done with it. But, no, he has to say that they'd still be members. Similarly, he could have not said anything about GSAs, no need to even bring it up. Yet he does! If you're a competent politician and know that these are troublesome views, it's best to lay low and let the public forget about it before voting time. But no, he just didn't keep his mouth shut!

[Jiggy]

Does anyone know where the Alberta Party stands on getting pipelines built? I couldn't find anything on the Alberta Party website.

[crazy_eoj]

Originally Posted by Joborule

If the concern of GSA's being handled in religious schools is a concern (which I'll say for myself has merit and is legit), I feel like it brings up a bigger issue of religious schools in general, and should the government be funding schools of that nature anymore? This is public money going to an institution that a large number of the public may not be in support of after all.

I think that's really what is behind all of this. The NDP found a wedge issue with which they were ultimately hoping to defund and shut down religious schools altogether.

It's why the Albert Court of Appeal is considering the legality of Bill 24.

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

He can’t focus on this, because he has absolutely zero pull on this issue until there is a change with the Feds. He has nothing more to offer than Notley on this issue, and if he does PLEASE provide me with this information because I haven’t seen it. I’ve seen the question asked 100 times and never answered.

He gets elected, and Trudeau stays. He fails.
He gets elected and the conservatives take the federal position, he succeeds.

The thing is, that the UCP always have someone else to blame. The federal carbon tax will be the feds fault, no pipeline BC's fault, and bad economy the NDP's fault.

I am not suggesting that the NDP are a palace of accountability, they are certainly not.

All the same, excuses from the mouths of politicians has no currency with me. We all know there are challenges, we don't want to here whining about them, we want solutions in the face of those challenges.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Jiggy

Does anyone know where the Alberta Party stands on getting pipelines built? I couldn't find anything on the Alberta Party website.

Here you go:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1075091097288794112

[Ozy_Flame]

From knowing a fair number of people in the LGBTQ circles, it would appear the UCP has all but vaporized their support for him because of the GSA issue with the announcement yesterday. This is a group that is also concerned about jobs, pipelines, and strength of the economy, I hope people don't think this community doesn't care about those issues either and simply focus on the GSA one.

But Kenney really didn't have to do this, and he did. I'm guessing either he is a luddite who doesn't get it, or has so much confidence in his win he can afford to sacrifice the entire LGBTQ vote to appease the religious schools.

For some people, at the end of the day, personal rights mean more than anything else. And that's a fair position to take.

Well, I'm sure Jeromy Farkas will still vote for him. That's probably for certain.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Notley in 2015: "I'll balance the budget in time for the next election. Pinky swear!"

Notley in 2019: "I'll balance the budget in time for the next election. Pinky swear!"

Since patterns seem to repeat with her, I wonder what major tax she plans to introduce if re-elected that she's too much of a coward to campaign on?

There's a 0% chance the NDP improves the government financial situation if given another term. We're running an unsustainable operating deficit right now, and on the capital side they are full steam ahead with spending. On top of all that the NDP's 'solution' is increasing the 'gibs' such as subsidized daycare and I'm sure there's many more spending announcements coming in the remaining days of the campaign. Absolute fiscal failure.

They would have to introduce a PST, hike taxes once more on individuals and businesses. That will pour gasoline on the tire fire that is our current economic situation and high unemployment.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Here you go:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1075091097288794112

Ugh. Since when is Notleys NDP anti-pipeline??

Clearly we have lost jobs recently due to pipeline delays. I don’t see that as NDP Alberta’s fault.

Each party wants pipelines, but have no concrete plans on how they intent on doing a better job than NDP. Just that it’s their fault. I’m not even an NDP supporter necessarily, just tired of this #### argument.

[simmer2]

[Ozy_Flame]

Also, someone went around vandalizing NDP signs in Edmonton-Center last night, including painting profanities, swastikas (drawn incorrectly of course), and crossing out Notley's face.

I was going to post the tweet, but I refuse to give those vandals any further notoriety. Check Twitter, you can find it on there.

Sign vandalism has no place in elections, regardless of parties. People are such neanderthals sometimes.

[AFireInside]

Originally Posted by Ducay

God, if I hear about the GSA thing one more time, I'mma lose it. For the record, I probably think parent's shouldn't need to be notified, but it is such a marginal/niche issue impacting a subset of a subset of the population. Like the US "bathroom" debate in 2016, for the potential impact, it receives far too much attention. I agree it can have a profound impact on those involved, but why is the economy or pipelines (impacts everyone dramatically) having to take the back seat on the media stage with such a niche issue? Makes no sense beyond trying to paint the right as bigots.

I get what you're saying, the problem is it's pretty indicative of how ignorant and backwards that party is, whether you agree with their other policies is irrelevant. I don't disagree with some of their ideas, and I would never vote for a party that has leader like Kenney.

You can look at it another way. If it receives too much attention and affects such a small subset of people then why are the UCP even bothering to mention it at all? Why does it keep coming up in their plans. It shouldn't even be in their educational plans. Period. They keep coming back to it and it's weird.

It gives me insight into their true position on things they have no business being involved in.