Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by edslunch

Another piece from the Western Standard (yes I’ll shower now) claims that Kenney is deliberately trying to hamstring the next premier by using up all the surplus funds. One reader looked a bit farther ahead and figured he is trying to hamstring the inevitable NDP government.

LOL this was exactly the speculation I engaged in last night with my peers. It doesn't make sense for the UCP to spend that money on debt repayment now, unless it's a "screw you I'm going home" type of move by Kenney and co. He doesn't give a #### who wins the next election or the leadership race, he wants them to have a harder time.

[TheIronMaiden]

I don't hate that the UCP chose to pay off debt. That said, I won't accept the argument that Alberta can't afford strong public health care and schools. Obviously we can, we just chose not to.

[woob]

If only there some kind of a tax on purchases or something that would maybe help us smooth out the roller coaster of depending on natural resource revenue. Is there such a thing? Do other provinces do this?

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by woob

If only there some kind of a tax on purchases or something that would maybe help us smooth out the roller coaster of depending on natural resource revenue. Is there such a thing? Do other provinces do this?

What, like a Purchase Sales Tax? hrmm, interesting idea...

[iggy_oi]

PST might be a tough sell given that we just had a $13B surplus

[woob]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

What, like a Purchase Sales Tax? hrmm, interesting idea...

Hey that's a great name! Let's call it that!

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

PST might be a tough sell given that we just had a $13B surplus

True true. It's almost like with this idea of what Fuzz called a Purchase Sales Tax, we could have actual surpluses instead of pay back debt-ses, etc.

(yes, I know PST wouldn't elimanate all deficits/debts, but I'm on a sarcasm roll here.)

[GGG]

Originally Posted by calculoso

So still working 10-hr days but refusing overtime en masse is still a strike?

While I don’t usually side with unions in a lot of areas, having a company force “voluntary” overtime is one area where the company is way offside.

They agreed to a collective agreement which prohibits job action while the agreement is enforce.

They conspired as a group to not work overtime in order to extract benefits from their employer.

So while they are individually allowed to refuse overtime they can’t refuse it as a group and refuse it to demand more compensation for it. It seems pretty reasonable.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by GGG

They agreed to a collective agreement which prohibits job action while the agreement is enforce.

They conspired as a group to not work overtime in order to extract benefits from their employer.

So while they are individually allowed to refuse overtime they can’t refuse it as a group and refuse it to demand more compensation for it. It seems pretty reasonable.

Yeah this all comes down to the fact that their intentions could not be disputed and an illegal strike is an illegal strike. Mentioned it in another thread that this was brought up in but had they not circulated the letter stating their intentions the employer wouldn’t have had any evidence to support their complaint, the letter combined with the employees actively refusing overtime made this case was a slam dunk for the employer.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by belsarius

I'm 100% pro union, but I think the Labour Board is correct on this.

Accountability works both ways.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by edslunch

More than mused….she stated in a position paper that once people get used to paying for things they will make them pay for doctors visits. The spending account would help but $300 doesn’t go very far at all….how many appointments does a couple have during pregnancy for example?

This is such a stupid line of thought and completely counter-productive.

If you want to fix the Health Care system then you have to address it's underlying issues, not attempt to incentivize people to use it less.

That is just straight up stupid.

I dont think people are over-using the Health Care system, except for Fuzz, we put one between Fuzz's eyes and we probably halve AHS' burden, but other than Fuzz its not the users who are the problem here and its not something that can be easily resolved by just shoveling money into the Great Furnace that is AHS.

[InglewoodFan]

Happy Alberta Day everyone, enjoy your made up not-a-stat holiday!

[White Out 403]

Danielle Smith at it again. What a loser. Anyone who votes for this dumb extremist is also a loser

[calculoso]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1565127042609254400

[BlackArcher101]

Finally a good move.

[Kybosh]

Yes, all because of fiscal discipline and relentless focus on economic growth. Nothing else. . .

[Ozy_Flame]

Thread drop.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1565149514729947136

[iggy_oi]

Is Kenney going to send Putin a bottle of Jameson’s?

[Misterpants]

Originally Posted by calculoso

https://twitter.com/user/status/1565127042609254400

Haha, relentless focus on economic growth. Staring at the WTI ticker with your fingers crossed.

[darockwilder]

Originally Posted by calculoso

https://twitter.com/user/status/1565127042609254400

Interesting that he used the same colours as the Ukraine flag here.

[Monahammer]

Hilarious political slant of course, and Tombe easily demolishes it. That thread is well worth a read.

But, as much as I have unbridled hatred for that dumb boob and his troop of clowns, this is another fantastic move for us regular citizens. It keeps it semi locked away from patronage spending, or at least it will create a much more difficult political situation to withdraw it from the Heritage fund to spend it on vanity projects. Kudos for bending over D Smith even more.