Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Yoho

https://twitter.com/user/status/1564779133074276353

great. this means half or more of Calgary is going to vote UCP and reelect these clowns.
I'm betting so many people there won't give a crap about anything but oil money rolling in.

[Yikes]

Danielle Smith will do and say anything for a dollar and three times as much for two dollars. Pretty much a failure at most things she attempts. As I understand it, she and hubby are near broke and she needs a job.

[firebug]

THEN

NDP: We will do a royalty review

Conservatives: How can industry ever invest capital into a jurisdiction with so much political uncertainty?

NOW

UCP Leaders: We will pursue Alberta Sovereignty

Conservatives: ...

[calf]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Danielle Smith would have overseen the greatest medical disaster in our history. "catering to small restaurants" would have meant a total collapse of our medical system. But you can't tell her that because she'll "well I don't know about that" and follow with some Libertarian bull####, or even some fake cure we didn't investigate further. She's a simpleton unable to realize the complexities of society.

We were in a #### situation with no good answers, but one clearly very bad one. Yet somehow she gets to stand up there and pretend reality was different.

My daughter's grandparents missed basically the first year and a half of her life while we all did the right thing and stayed home and tried to avoid the spread, avoid getting older/immunocompromised people from getting sick, etc, to keep the healthcare system in tact. It was hard, and sucked for everyone, but was the right thing to do. I also remember how close to the edge everything got during the delta wave (and beyond) where at the time, it was obvious that folks who wouldn't vaccinate were the ones filling up the hospitals and ICUs.

But basically, my family sacrificed and did the right thing (and would do it again), but the covidiots are the ones being pandered too?

#### that.

[edslunch]

It’s Notley’s fault!

[Slava]

Originally Posted by GGG

He is Premier until he loses confidence of the house. So if he refused to leave I’d assume there would be a confidence vote which would be interesting if the NDP voted for or against Kenny or obstained. If he survived the confidence vote then he would remain premier. If he didn’t survive then he could ask the LG for an election bit the LG would like reach out to Parliament to form a new government.

Now if an election was called I suspect that Kenny would not be considered to UCP leader.

He could also call an election before the leadership race is done but that might only defer the issue until the next session of parliament

I don't think this is quite accurate. He's Premier as leader of the majority party, but if he refused to leave that post (as leader) it would come down to the party constitution and their mechanisms to deal with that issue. A government (or in this case the leader) could lose a confidence vote and still remain as leader of the party for a general election.

And likewise, say he called for an election on Tuesday morning. He would still be the interim leader of the party and maybe get re-elected as an MLA...but that doesn't guarantee that he remains leader of the UCP party, which is who would be Premier (in that scenario, assuming the UCP wins this election...which is a whole other debate!)

[Looch City]

She's not going to survive. She's honestly going off the rails at an incredible pace. Slow down and pace yourself Danielle!

Next week, she'll be saying aliens have invaded 'Berta and to watch your neighbours for any woke-like activity. If she's elected, she'll start a woke-hotline to report suspicious woke-like activities.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Looch City

She's not going to survive. She's honestly going off the rails at an incredible pace. Slow down and pace yourself Danielle!

Next week, she'll be saying aliens have invaded 'Berta and to watch your neighbours for any woke-like activity. If she's elected, she'll start a woke-hotline to report suspicious woke-like activities.

The problem is, she's appealing to the rural Albertans that think like she does, oblivious to the needs of the rest of the province. It's a small portion of the population, but it is the contingent who will be voting. For them, the crazier the better.

[Ozy_Flame]

You folks know why she won't call an election immediately if she wins this, right?

She wants the six months in power before April 2023. That's her window - her sliver of time - to get in there and push populist legislation before she gets booted out in the actual election.

She wants this window to claim she made Premier, and its her easiest way to do it.

She's a self-serving opportunist. She trades in snake oil and deceitful information, she farms rage, and she's riding a freedom wave of rural discontent at the cost of moderate conservatives. She cares only that she gets that "Premier" title.

This is a person who not that long ago said herself she's "unelectable".

Now she sees a chance to steal the Premiership.

Moderates, you can stop this from happening. It's really up to you.

[Yikes]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

You folks know why she won't call an election immediately if she wins this, right?

She wants the six months in power before April 2023. That's her window - her sliver of time - to get in there and push populist legislation before she gets booted out in the actual election.

She wants this window to claim she made Premier, and its her easiest way to do it.

She's a self-serving opportunist. She trades in snake oil and deceitful information, she farms rage, and she's riding a freedom wave of rural discontent at the cost of moderate conservatives. She cares only that she gets that "Premier" title.

This is a person who not that long ago said herself she's "unelectable".

Now she sees a chance to steal the Premiership.

Moderates, you can stop this from happening. It's really up to you.

Amen,

[MegaErtz]

Moderates have no power here. There simply aren't enough of them in the very small pool of voters who will decide the next UCP leader.

Brian Jean is one of the most right wing politicians Alberta has ever seen. He's way to the right of Kenney, Klein, Stelmach, Redford, Preston Manning, Harper, and I'd argue even Stockwell Day. He has no chance of winning this leadership race despite campaigning for it for the last ten years because he's been outmaneuvered to his right by Danielle Smith. We're doomed.

If the NDP are smart, they'll have someone go through the radio show archives and pick out clips of the most off the wall stuff Danielle Smith has come up with and just play those on radio and television ads. I can think of at least a half a dozen off the top of my head, first of which is the time she openly contemplated ON AIR how we could "uberize health care to bring down costs." If they face Smith in the spring and fail to pick up all but a couple of seats in Edmonton and Calgary, I'm really going to be scratching my head. You couldn't dream of a better opponent from an NDP standpoint.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by MegaErtz

Moderates have no power here. There simply aren't enough of them in the very small pool of voters who will decide the next UCP leader.

Brian Jean is one of the most right wing politicians Alberta has ever seen. He's way to the right of Kenney, Klein, Stelmach, Redford, Preston Manning, Harper, and I'd argue even Stockwell Day. He has no chance of winning this leadership race despite campaigning for it for the last ten years because he's been outmaneuvered to his right by Danielle Smith. We're doomed.

If the NDP are smart, they'll have someone go through the radio show archives and pick out clips of the most off the wall stuff Danielle Smith has come up with and just play those on radio and television ads. I can think of at least a half a dozen off the top of my head, first of which is the time she openly contemplated ON AIR how we could "uberize health care to bring down costs." If they face Smith in the spring and fail to pick up all but a couple of seats in Edmonton and Calgary, I'm really going to be scratching my head. You couldn't dream of a better opponent from an NDP standpoint.

I went looknig for the archives of her QR77 days, but they don't have them. I should have saved it at the time...when she had a Frasier Institute "economist" where they compared our taxes to the US, failing to taking into consideration things like healthcare(not adding in premiums paid in the US) and they had the stupidity to claim our highest earners pay 50% of their income in taxes. Nevermind all the tools you can use to lower your taxes, it's also not at all how marginal tax rates work. Yet this "expert" happily went along with the narrative, convincing the QR listening public that we are over taxed.

I'd love that interview to be played over and over, torn to pieces by someone like Trevor Tombe. Show her to be the simpleton she is.

[Monahammer]

Shultz was the only hope but too many moderates abandoned the party. Toews is as looney as Smith, but more subtle. I am confident we will see an NDP government after Smith has chance to fall on her face as premier, but I am concerned with how much damage she could potentially do in 6 months, with literally BILLIONS in unfettered surplus budget to spend.

It's among the worst possible scenarios in terms of grifting potential. A lot of rich people are going to get their pockets lined.

[Yikes]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Shultz was the only hope but too many moderates abandoned the party. Toews is as looney as Smith, but more subtle. I am confident we will see an NDP government after Smith has chance to fall on her face as premier, but I am concerned with how much damage she could potentially do in 6 months, with literally BILLIONS in unfettered surplus budget to spend.

It's among the worst possible scenarios in terms of grifting potential. A lot of rich people are going to get their pockets lined.

Yep, SOMEONE is financing her and it ain't her. Part of me wonders is she and Jason Kenny et al are in bed somehow.

[Monahammer]

There is another problem that we're all not really talking about, but has anyone else taken a peak under the hood of the NDP party lately? Something is seriously wrong over there. Between the volunteer upsets and some very strange dealings at the riding association level... I have heard troubling things from people I considered long time supporters. Bilous choosing to leave is also very strange.

It has me more concerned about the the future.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

There is another problem that we're all not really talking about, but has anyone else taken a peak under the hood of the NDP party lately? Something is seriously wrong over there. Between the volunteer upsets and some very strange dealings at the riding association level... I have heard troubling things from people I considered long time supporters. Bilous choosing to leave is also very strange.

It has me more concerned about the the future.

care to share any of this with us for those of us not in the know?


as for Brian Jean, and the others. They are playing the Stelmach game. trying to be being the person who is the 2nd and 3rd choice on ballots so they can sneak in that way. They're not going to outdo Smith on right wing looney, so they're trying to play smarter.

CBC Opinion piece mentioned this the other day.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...nton-1.6567648

But the dynamics behind it are all about that preferential ballot. Smith and Toews know they won't be relying on each other for support — and thus are free to bash each other. And bash each other they have been doing non-stop. The animosity is so great that Toews has refused to say if he'll run again if he loses the race.

But they are careful about not bashing other candidates, for fear of alienating their supporters. In a preferential ballot, it's not just members' first choice that counts, but their second or third or fourth, etc.

That's pretty much how Ed Stelmach won the Progressive Conservative leadership race in 2006. He won by being the nice guy — everybody's second choice.

In this race, at least three candidates — Sawhney, Jean and Rebecca Schulz — want to be the new Ed Stelmach.

They know they're not the frontrunners and, like Stelmach, are hoping to stay in the count long enough to pick up support from candidates who are forced from the race.

[Harry Lime]

The only thing that this move does is mean that if a teacher is disciplined in 1990, they can correct their behavior and be a perfect teacher for 30 years, only to be cancelled by Karen parents now because of this registry. It's a witch hunt.

The real problem lies in a teacher being removed, or removing themselves, from a school board, and then moving to another school board to continue teaching. This avoids disciplinary action that would show up on this registry, and leaves the receiving school board in the dark as to a potential problem. Real predators and sociopaths know to leave before a paper trail arises.

Useless legislation.

Alberta Education says making this information available is intended to help the public confirm if their teachers were in good professional standing. It says even if a teacher's status is inactive, their former students or colleagues may want to know information about that teacher that is relevant to their own experiences.

You can not teach in Alberta without a valid teaching certificate. This is checked by school boards as a matter of course.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...live-1.6566860

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

care to share any of this with us for those of us not in the know?
[/B]

The one that comes to mind is prospective candidate(s) in the Bowness riding being upset about the process that saw Druh Farrell become the candidate.

Of course, this is the riding association that Deb Drever won, who was a bit of a black mark on the NDP's term. It's probably not fair to be too critical of the candidacy process for 2015, but it's also not unreasonable for the party to make sure they have the best possible candidate in a tough but winnable riding. Although she's a bit contentious, I can see the logic of running a known quantity over another unknown where voters may have felt burned.


I'm sure there is other discontent, but I don't know if it's any more/less than usual for any party as candidates start falling into place (and other people don't get those spots).

On the optimistic side for NDP is the apparent death of the liberal party, and what seems like radio silence from the Alberta Party...google tells me they have a new leader as of Sept 2021...the fact that I didn't know that despite being fairly engaged makes me think that party is effectively dead, too.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by Dion

Smith bashing the NDP for not supporting the little guy

https://twitter.com/user/status/1564632270476288005

Danielle Smith: The NDP didn't stand up for the little guy, because they wanted lockdowns

Everyone in Alberta: Ahhh, I mean sure the NDP were in favour of lockdowns, but wasn't it the UCP that actually implemented them?

Danielle Smith: I'm glad you agree that the NDP made everything worse...

[Yikes]

So if Smith is elected leader and gets to sit in the big boy chair, can she appoint Jason minister of something and second in command? Deputy premier or whatever it is called...