A little late to the party, but I too am feeling the pain of a Kenney led UCP Party. I have always been concerned with his social views/platform but had thought that the more moderate sections of the party could reign him in (somewhat how I felt about Harper). But his position on education has me completely giving up on the UCP. I can't believe he thinks turning back the clock 40 or 50 years is actually good policy. So now it is either AP or NDP. Hard to believe this is where we are as a province.
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From HFBoard oiler fan, in analyzing MacT's management:
O.K. there has been a lot of talk on whether or not MacTavish has actually done a good job for us, most fans on this board are very basic in their analysis and I feel would change their opinion entirely if the team was successful.
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Then how about this analogy: a person gives 10% of his yearly earnings to an organization that sexually interferes with children. He won't stop giving money to them because he figures hey, his individual contribution makes up such a tiny portion of their total income that it won't make any difference in the amount of children they violate, but he feels he needs to keep sending money because of all the terrible things that he fears will happen to him if he stops sending the money.
What technological miracle are you thinking of, that will offset the effect of coastal flooding worldwide and hundreds of millions of people being forcefully displaced?
Cutting emissions worldwide is absolutely an option. Technological advancement is a big part of that, but so is first world countries cutting back on their consumption, so they don't come across as hypocrites to the rest of the world.
I posted this earlier in the thread, but I'm not sure if anyone saw it, so I'll try posting it again. Did carbon pricing decimate Australia's economy?:
Not to derail this further but
Injecting aerosols into the stratosphere and carbon capture from the air would be two magic technologies that could prevent or delay global warming.
I’m pro Carbon tax. Provided it’s revenue neutral, applied to imports and exempted on exports. It’s a great way to incentivize the type of things required.
However if you read the most recent Climate change report its over. We can not prevent significant impacts from warming by cutting CO2 emmissions. It’s time to make drastic and more risky interventions.
Our province should focus on geo-engineering solutions for the world. Surely, there are some transferable skills, underutilized here that could help lead that effort.
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Trust the snake.
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A little late to the party, but I too am feeling the pain of a Kenney led UCP Party. I have always been concerned with his social views/platform but had thought that the more moderate sections of the party could reign him in (somewhat how I felt about Harper). But his position on education has me completely giving up on the UCP. I can't believe he thinks turning back the clock 40 or 50 years is actually good policy. So now it is either AP or NDP. Hard to believe this is where we are as a province.
It's my first time reading the their education platform, but I don't see anything objectionable here:
A little late to the party, but I too am feeling the pain of a Kenney led UCP Party. I have always been concerned with his social views/platform but had thought that the more moderate sections of the party could reign him in (somewhat how I felt about Harper). But his position on education has me completely giving up on the UCP. I can't believe he thinks turning back the clock 40 or 50 years is actually good policy. So now it is either AP or NDP. Hard to believe this is where we are as a province.
When I look at the path the NDP are looking towards with education, they’re preference is toward a single government run system. Alberta has some of the best school choice in the country, the UCP are defenders and proponents of this. It’s so obviously clear to me which is better for families: options.
As much as the economy is the number one issue for me, making my vote easy. School choice is my number one social issue, which the NDP fails on miserably.
The biggest concern with the UCP Educational platform is that they appear to want to undo what years of consultation and reform has already been accomplished, which is to say bring our system into one of the more successful systems in the world. Doing away with "inquiry" or "discovery" learning is not a positive. Re-instituting younger aged achievement tests is not a positive step forward.
In general, there is a sense that the more recent changes have not been transparent and are failing Albertans. My understanding is that consultation literally included more than 100,000 people (mostly educators, I presume) and that the results are getting better. My wife is a teacher and there is a study which compared Alberta's system favourably with the gold-standard Asian countries such as Singapore and S. Korea, all while dealing with more difficulties in a much more diverse, spread out population. I will need to find a link which I will do so tonight if I am able, but it was a study of OECD countries.
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From HFBoard oiler fan, in analyzing MacT's management:
O.K. there has been a lot of talk on whether or not MacTavish has actually done a good job for us, most fans on this board are very basic in their analysis and I feel would change their opinion entirely if the team was successful.
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I still love how a tax cut from the Carbon Tax is on the docket but no mention of how the federal Carbon Tax for all intents and purposes negates that cut.
UCP wants to go to war with Ottawa and the imposition of a federal tax onto Alberta would play into their hands in that regard.
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Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame
I still love how a tax cut from the Carbon Tax is on the docket but no mention of how the federal Carbon Tax for all intents and purposes negates that cut.
Kenney has offered a different way of dealing with carbon without punishing citizens. That said it would probably not meet Trudeau's approval, hence the provincial fight with Ottawa on how provinces deal with it.
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The biggest concern with the UCP Educational platform is that they appear to want to undo what years of consultation and reform has already been accomplished, which is to say bring our system into one of the more successful systems in the world. Doing away with "inquiry" or "discovery" learning is not a positive. Re-instituting younger aged achievement tests is not a positive step forward.
In general, there is a sense that the more recent changes have not been transparent and are failing Albertans. My understanding is that consultation literally included more than 100,000 people (mostly educators, I presume) and that the results are getting better. My wife is a teacher and there is a study which compared Alberta's system favourably with the gold-standard Asian countries such as Singapore and S. Korea, all while dealing with more difficulties in a much more diverse, spread out population. I will need to find a link which I will do so tonight if I am able, but it was a study of OECD countries.
This is actually the exact reason why school choice is so important to me. If something like this is true, and discovery learning and no report cards or whatever is the best way, the school environment in Alberta allows that to emerge as a choice parents can make. The NDP is much more focused though on “one way” for everybody. I don’t see this a positive at all, just one more way for the government to “know best”.
I would think even your wife as a teacher might prefer school choice, if she happened to first hand see that discovery learning is a bunch of crap, or traditionally learning has been surpassed by society she at least has the option to apply at a school with a different philosophy. If the NDP get another 8 years I have no doubt we’d be in for a one system fits all. There’s no way this can be better.
Kenney has offered a different way of dealing with carbon without punishing citizens. That said it would probably not meet Trudeau's approval, hence the provincial fight with Ottawa on how provinces deal with it.
Thanks to our ace government in Ontario - we are getting the federal carbon tax in Ontario. You got $154 back on your tax return this year (if single, add $77 for spouse and more for other dependants). The amount back varies by province and more if you live in rural areas. Depending on your usage - an individual will likely not pay much under the federal program.
My wife is a teacher too. Overwhelming majority of the staff in her school is going to vote NDP, no matter what. Unions will always back NDP, especially, when their party has a decent chance to stay in power. More vocal/active staff members go as far as preaching how NOT voting for NDP is akin to betraying "the progress made". I think it is pretty naive to believe that their motivation is purely education-centered and not financial.
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"An idea is always a generalization, and generalization is a property of thinking. To generalize means to think." Georg Hegel
“To generalize is to be an idiot.” William Blake
My wife is a teacher too. Overwhelming majority of the staff in her school is going to vote NDP, no matter what. Unions will always back NDP, especially, when their party has a decent chance to stay in power. More vocal/active staff members go as far as preaching how NOT voting for NDP is akin to betraying "the progress made". I think it is pretty naive to believe that their motivation is purely education-centered and not financial.
Not all unions are partisan, and there are certainly union members who don’t vote NDP.
My wife, a teacher, has voted conservative, in pretty much every election, so it isn't always a union lock for a vote. I think it is safe to say there can still be diverse political opinion.
Ace, as for the choice issue, I don't know what the NDP's position is on charter schools, but if you have something indicating that they want to eliminate them, I am interested in hearing about it. I personally am not into charter schools to the extent funding may negatively impact public schools, but sure, choice is a good thing.
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From HFBoard oiler fan, in analyzing MacT's management:
O.K. there has been a lot of talk on whether or not MacTavish has actually done a good job for us, most fans on this board are very basic in their analysis and I feel would change their opinion entirely if the team was successful.
Not all unions are partisan, and there are certainly union members who don’t vote NDP.
Fair enough. Those in trade unions affected by less work and job losses in bad economy are likely to favour a party with better economic platform. But most government unions are hard-core NDP, no doubt.
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"An idea is always a generalization, and generalization is a property of thinking. To generalize means to think." Georg Hegel
“To generalize is to be an idiot.” William Blake
Those interested in geo-engineering for Carbon scrubbing you should google Carbon Engineering. Company with a successful prototype in Squamish and one of the main designers of the technology is (was? I think he’s off to go be rich now?) a researcher from the U of C. This tech can be used to bring carbon down from 400 to 100 ppm. The byproduct can be used to be sold to oil and gas for blending solutions or just re-injected into the ground. They charge fees and profit off the sale of some of the material.
Brilliant idea. If unloaded globally will be enormous and is the right answer, in terms of fostering businesses and technology to problem solve rather than praying 250+ countries and 7 billion people can somehow coordinate a return to a zero emission lifestyle like we magically turn the clock back 1,000 years into horrible, disease, war and famine ridden lives.
It’s not just technically right. It’s a fact. Many union members/supporters will vote UCP in this election and you’d probably be surprised by how many more would vote for the UCP if their platform didn’t include promises to repeal pro-union legislation.
It’s not just technically right. It’s a fact. Many union members/supporters will vote UCP in this election and you’d probably be surprised by how many more would vote for the UCP if their platform didn’t include promises to repeal pro-union legislation.
