Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[Slava]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

Smith said so much crazy stuff her boycott of Remembrance Day poppies flew under the radar.

I have to confess that I don’t really understand that one. I tried to explain it to my son and realized that I have no idea what her point was there?

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Flames0910

Holy crap, this is a startling display of corruption even by Danielle Smith’s standards.

Is it really though? This is exactly the sort of special treatment 4 years of Danielle Smith is going to dole out. She already tried with Artur. Remember, rules don't apply to her.

[Spurs]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Keep calling conservative voters idiots, the ones you are trying to convince, you're not going to get very far. You're going into deplorables territory.

Nobody is going to be ready to vote for NDP but then stop because people call UCP voters idiots. If that is how they make their decisions then the idiot label stands and there will be some other BS reason they still vote UCP.

As someone said there is no rational reason to vote UCP. This isn't a case of it being a difficult choice, anyone left supporting UCP is not doing so based on any rational thought or consideration.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Slava

I have to confess that I don’t really understand that one. I tried to explain it to my son and realized that I have no idea what her point was there?

Her own values were against those of the most of the rest of Canada, including government. She probably confused wearing a poppy with voting Liberal. I dunno, she's just not smart. More evidence.

[Johnny Makarov]

If the NDP lose I blame all the lemmings in Edgemont. Was up there picking up take out and it's Deplorable Panda signs all around.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Kamikaze Candidate.

Regardless out election outcome, she won't be party leader a year from now IMO.

Only if she doesn't kowtow to the crazies, but she has shown no evidence to the contrary, and anyone still running to be part of the UCP caucus are as feckless as ever

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

Smith said so much crazy stuff her boycott of Remembrance Day poppies flew under the radar.

Maybe Don Cherry was right all along?

[Izzle]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Kamikaze Candidate.



Regardless out election outcome, she won't be party leader a year from now IMO.

Probably one of the easiest bets to take. Will D Smith survive the 4 years in Alberta as premier?

Answer: no

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by Dion

Just shut the #### up and go away Danielle!!!

Alberta premier apologizes for comments linking COVID vaccinated to Nazi followers





https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/alberta-p...wers-1.6389731

And her original statement wasn't even about the holocaust. She was comparing the 75% of Albertans who followed her party's rules to Germans who supported Hitler and stating that that's how tyrannies get supported. Which is a different pile of BS.

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Slava

I have to confess that I don’t really understand that one. I tried to explain it to my son and realized that I have no idea what her point was there?

Yeah the logic was... Not exactly clear.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by Izzle

Probably one of the easiest bets to take. Will D Smith survive the 4 years in Alberta as premier?

Answer: no

Pretty low bar...when did the last PC/UCP leader survive a full term? I believe it was Klein's second last term. A better bet is does she last a year.

My guess is, if she wins, she will be coerced (likely willingly) into getting all the bad stuff over-with early...Alberta police force, pension, revenue agency, she will be pushed onto her sword to take the fall, and a rat like Anderson will take over having paved the way to separation during her term.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Graham Thomson, one of the most-connected commentators on Alberta politics....

The knives are at the ready. One UCP candidate, who has been canvassing support in Calgary, told me Smith is the number one issue on the doorstep, and not in a good way.

He said there are already rumblings against Smith among candidates who find themselves on the razor’s edge. A source in the business community told me a cabinet minister expressed to him in so many words, “Don’t worry about Smith, she won’t last.”

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...her-party.html

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Spurs

Nobody is going to be ready to vote for NDP but then stop because people call UCP voters idiots. If that is how they make their decisions then the idiot label stands and there will be some other BS reason they still vote UCP.

As someone said there is no rational reason to vote UCP. This isn't a case of it being a difficult choice, anyone left supporting UCP is not doing so based on any rational thought or consideration.

But if you start the conversation with UCP voters are idiots you aren’t going to have many conversations with reluctant UCP voters.

You are much better off asking them to articulate why they are voting UCP. Most people you won’t change their mind but you might have an interesting conversation that will move that person marginally left.

Not having the conversation further insulated people.

[Dion]

The hits keep keep coming!

Her comments on doctors and the pandemic were equally bizarre.

“The problem with putting doctors in charge is that they seem to be hardwired against criticism,” she said.

“We seem to have a medical system that was almost like a military command structure that the person at the top cannot be argued with, cannot be contradicted, otherwise it’s some crime that’s worthy of punishment. If that’s the way the medical profession operates, then I don’t think we can have them in charge again in a future pandemic.”

And then, having dismissed a military command structure, Smith calls for exactly that.

“It’s got to be something more like a military chain of command, actually. In a military command structure there’s a top guy but there’s a lot of latitude for people in the field to make their own judgments, because you have to.

“You can’t micromanage every decision from the top when you’re in a combat theatre. And so I think our military is actually better trained to understand the balance between chain of command and front-line decision making.”

If Smith had her way, your care in the next pandemic could come from a sergeant rather than a surgeon.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canad...46190f90&ei=19

[Ozy_Flame]

Watch her ask Albertans to take all the command from the top once Preston Manning finishes his healthcare inquisition.

And if doctors question Preston's crayon logic, she'll tell them there's no room for 'latitude'.

[Ferarri]

At this point in the campaign I would say political ideologies should be secondary to the leader of the party. To put it bluntly, Danielle Smith is a deranged lunatic. I would hope the values she represents are not those of the average Albertan. Sure, people can disagree on policies and whether or not left or right wing governing will be more prosperous for the province, but the core reason to get out and vote should be ensure an extreme bigot does not control the province. I get that Alberta has for the most part been a blue province, but supporters of that party need to denounce this radical extremist and demand better from the UCP. Saying that I’m not voting for the person but rather the party is a poor excuse that lacks accountability. She is as divisive and dangerous as Donald Trump and Alberta should not tolerate this leadership of fringe figures.

Alberta has the opportunity to change the narrative of this election, however I fear the usual blue wave and lack of critical thinking will sweep the UCP to another majority. It will be sad times if true and personally I would be embarrassed for the province (even though a lot of us are trying to break the stereotypical Alberta voter persona).

Please get out and do your best to educate people on the true Danielle Smith and just how dangerous a politician like this can be. There is still time to change minds and hold this joke of a leader to a higher standard.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

If the NDP lose I blame all the lemmings in Edgemont. Was up there picking up take out and it's Deplorable Panda signs all around.

I live in that riding (although you definitely didn't see a UCP sign on my lawn). Anything about Panda specifically deplorable or more just general UCP type stuff?

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Main Street has the UCP up 7 points province wide but the cross tabs are… weird.

First, they are the only pollster that has Notley being viewed more unfavourably by voters than Smith with 42% having a “strongly unfavourable” view of her.

Also, despite a 7 point lead overall, Mainstreet has the UCP trailing the NDP in Calgary? That makes no sense to me at all—if the UCP wins the popular vote by 7 points they should sweep most of Calgary and win in a landslide. When compared to other pollsters, the poll is a slight outlier but also consistent (depending on how you want to look at it, I suppose) with a slight UCP lead.

Link is here, if anyone wants: fair warning though—formatting is bizarre and the crosstabs are illegible.

https://www.mainstreetresearch.ca/po...lling-may-2nd/

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Graham Thomson, one of the most-connected commentators on Alberta politics....




https://www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...her-party.html

When I read this quote

He said there are already rumblings against Smith among candidates who find themselves on the razor’s edge. A source in the business community told me a cabinet minister expressed to him in so many words, “Don’t worry about Smith, she won’t last.”

it doesn’t make me want to vote for a party though. It makes me realize how inept they are at finding good leadership in the first place. They had candidates like Travis Toews last time, and whatever you might think of his politics, he probably would have won this election.

[Spurs]

Originally Posted by GGG

But if you start the conversation with UCP voters are idiots you aren’t going to have many conversations with reluctant UCP voters.

You are much better off asking them to articulate why they are voting UCP. Most people you won’t change their mind but you might have an interesting conversation that will move that person marginally left.

Not having the conversation further insulated people.

I think that if at this point you are still supporting the UCP there is no conversation that is going to change your mind, as stated above you aren't supporting them for any reason other than blind loyalty or the myth that NDP are commies, NDP means Trudeau runs Alberta, #### Trudeau etc.

I say this as someone who was a UCP voter, lifelong right wing voter at all levels. There is nothing the UCP offers to Albertans that is better than the NDP. There is no area which their policies are better not the economy, not Oil and Gas, not Provincial-Federal relations, nothing.

People have repeatedly asked for UCP voters to articulate why they are voting for the UCP as you suggest and there has been nothing but crickets because there is no reasonable answer anyone can give.

I have a very hard time believing there are people out there who are ready to jump from UCP to NDP at this point but will stop because someone said UCP voters are idiots. If that is all it takes I doubt they ever really were going to not vote UCP and are just looking for an excuse to justify what they were doing all along.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

If the NDP lose I blame all the lemmings in Edgemont. Was up there picking up take out and it's Deplorable Panda signs all around.

His team has done a good job. Signs all over in the Hamptons as well. Easily outnumber Hayter signes more than 5-1.