Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[puffnstuff]

She has really been beating the 'sovereign Alberta inside Canada' drum, it doesnt satisfy either side. If I had to bet she will just keep doing it even when now faced with the petition and having to actually do something.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

She has really been beating the 'sovereign Alberta inside Canada' drum, it doesnt satisfy either side. If I had to bet she will just keep doing it even when now faced with the petition and having to actually do something.

I wonder if she gives up and turns full separatist, damn the torpedos.

[puffnstuff]

https://bsky.app/profile/ctheriault..../3m6xng5b6mc2n

Here's the statement from Minister Amery on the Forever Canadian petition
"We congratulate the group on gathering so many signatures in support of remaining in Canada. Now that the petition has been verified, caucus and cabinet will discuss how to proceed under the legislation."


Who wants to tell him what has to happen under the legislation because its not what he says here...

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

https://bsky.app/profile/ctheriault..../3m6xng5b6mc2n

Here's the statement from Minister Amery on the Forever Canadian petition
"We congratulate the group on gathering so many signatures in support of remaining in Canada. Now that the petition has been verified, caucus and cabinet will discuss how to proceed under the legislation."


Who wants to tell him what has to happen under the legislation because its not what he says here...

I think they can skip the referendum and just adopt the policy without a referendum (but I fully expect shenanigans). Pretty sure it's a policy proposal but not 100% sure so I'll include both:

https://www.elections.ab.ca/recall-i...ative-process/

As outlined in the Citizen Initiative Act, the following duties will be executed:

Legislative Proposal

1. The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly shall lay the proposal before the Legislative Assembly if it is then sitting, or if it is not then sitting, within 15 days after the commencement of the next sitting.
2. Within 10 sitting days, the Government shall bring forward a motion to have the proposal referred to a committee of the Legislative Assembly.
3. Within 90 days if the Assembly is sitting, or within 15 days after the commencement of the next sitting, the committee may either table a report recommending that a bill be introduced at the earliest practicable opportunity or table a report recommending the Chief Electoral Officer hold an initiative vote.
4. If the Legislative Assembly concurs with the introduction of a bill, the Government shall introduce the bill at the earliest practicable opportunity.

Policy Proposal

1. The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly shall lay the proposal before the Legislative Assembly if it is then sitting, or if it is not then sitting, within 15 days after the commencement of the next sitting.
2. Within 10 sitting days, the Government shall bring forward a motion to have the proposal referred to a committee of the Legislative Assembly.
3. Within 90 days if the Assembly is sitting, or within 15 days after the commencement of the next sitting, the committee may either table a report with respect to the policy proposal at the earliest practicable opportunity or table a report recommending the policy proposal be referred to the Lieutenant Governor in Council for the purpose of a referendum.
4. A referendum must be held on or before the fixed date of the next provincial general election. If that date is less than one year after the date the recommendation is tabled, the referendum must be held before the provincial general election following the next provincial general election

.

[direwolf]

Originally Posted by edslunch

I wonder if she gives up and turns full separatist.

Nah, not after she just signed that pipeline deal with Carney and the Feds.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by direwolf

Nah, not after she just signed that pipeline deal with Carney and the Feds.

Well...if you need to win Calgary to keep your job, that was the way to do it.

[Whynotnow]

Originally Posted by Locke

Well...if you need to win Calgary to keep your job, that was the way to do it.

Or pay for an arena.

[puffnstuff]

Are we gonna get another arena? Or maybe a new football stadium.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Whynotnow

Or pay for an arena.

I'm just thinking Old White guy Oilmen seeing another chance to cash in.

[#-3]

Originally Posted by edslunch

I wonder if she gives up and turns full separatist, damn the torpedos.

She's not really a separatist, she is just dumb enough to think Canada is a vassal state that has fully capitulated to Quebec, and that if she says says the magic words hard enough even with a wink ("I want to separate"), then they will give all of the Albertans a unicorn that farts skittles with some of that sweet sweet Ontario money.

At some point in time 30 years from now, where she has stoked separatist sentiment to the point that our pensions are sinking with the oil industry, our police costs twice as much as the RCPM with the worst outcomes, our scores in public schools are that of a republican state, and health outcomes are plummeting while we recruit people with "MDs" from a beautiful South American diploma mill to doctor us, because Canadian doctors wouldn't work under these conditions.

Once that's the world we live in and still nobody has dropped off her unicorn, she will look back at her life and still be too stupid to realize she was wrong about everything, still with confidence that if she pretends we don't want to be part of Canada, the rest of the country will cower and beg us to stay.

[DionTheDman]

Originally Posted by Captain Otto

Not sure you'd be saying that if it was you that hit someone and they decided to sue you into the stone age.

Just saying it goes both ways.

That's the whole purpose of third party liability insurance.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

I think they can skip the referendum and just adopt the policy without a referendum (but I fully expect shenanigans). Pretty sure it's a policy proposal but not 100% sure so I'll include both:

https://www.elections.ab.ca/recall-i...ative-process/

She would need NDP support to pass that bill (which she would get for sure) but she would have MLAs in her caucus that would not vote for that bill. And it would be tough for her as I believe a majority of her voting coalition support separatism. So hopefully they pick that option, but I highly doubt they will.

[puffnstuff]

https://albertapolitics.ca/2025/12/c...-happens-next/

Under the act, the premier’s United Conservative Party Government can either take the petition’s question –#Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada? –#to the Legislature for a vote that would probably end the separation debate. Or it can allow it to proceed to a provincewide referendum.

The first course would likely smoke out how many of the UCP’s MLAs and cabinet members are hard-core committed separatists. That would be bad for Ms. Smith and the party. The second course would create uncertainty, possibly drive away investment, and nevertheless result in a decisive loss for the separatists. That would also be bad for the premier and her party. It might drive the UCP separatists to set up their own MAGA-influenced far right party.

Mr. Lukaszuk “I chose the pathway that’s legislative, that gives her the opportunity to not call a referendum,” he said. “Separatists chose the pathway that forces her to have a referendum. I’m giving her an opportunity to do the right thing.”
“I certainly hope there is no referendum,”

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

https://albertapolitics.ca/2025/12/c...-happens-next/

Under the act, the premier’s United Conservative Party Government can either take the petition’s question –#Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada? –#to the Legislature for a vote that would probably end the separation debate. Or it can allow it to proceed to a provincewide referendum.

The first course would likely smoke out how many of the UCP’s MLAs and cabinet members are hard-core committed separatists. That would be bad for Ms. Smith and the party. The second course would create uncertainty, possibly drive away investment, and nevertheless result in a decisive loss for the separatists. That would also be bad for the premier and her party. It might drive the UCP separatists to set up their own MAGA-influenced far right party.

Mr. Lukaszuk “I chose the pathway that’s legislative, that gives her the opportunity to not call a referendum,” he said. “Separatists chose the pathway that forces her to have a referendum. I’m giving her an opportunity to do the right thing.”
“I certainly hope there is no referendum,”

Pretty easy decision for a Premier that is focused on making Alberta better.

[Looch City]

Take it to referendum, ignore the results, and claim proof it's actually a silent majority that want sovereign 'Berta. Gaslight, gaslight, blame the Feds.

Win.

Easy really. Ample grift opportunities along the way.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by edslunch

I wonder if she gives up and turns full separatist, damn the torpedos.

I hope she does. Then the UCP will sink their own ship in the next election. Then the NDP can help organize some buses down the US so these people and their ilk can be the little americans they want to be.

[troutman]

Rath overestimates how much support he has, and underestimates how much he is helping the NDP.

[troutman]

Alberta country music star Corb Lund, launched a citizen’s initiative to force a petition to halt all new coal mining activities within the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

Elections Alberta is reviewing Corb’s petition application now. If and when it’s approved, there will be just 120 days to get the 178,000 signatures needed.

Corb’s petition could be approved at any time. Can you sign up to be a volunteer right now so the coal petition team can hit the ground running? Needed: volunteers to collect signatures, organize canvassers, and support other important tasks so organizers can surpass the threshold for signatures and send a powerful message to the government.

https://forms.fillout.com/t/idmsSXRYSQus

[troutman]

This Wednesday, Dr. Colin Cooke, a Senior Aquatic Scientist with the Alberta Government and Adjunct Professor at the University of Alberta, will be presenting “Coal mining contaminants in the Canadian Rockies” as a part of the U of A’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Graduate Student Society (ATLAS) weekly lecture series. The abstract and a link to the webinar can be found below.
When: Wednesday, December 3, 12:00 – 1:00 PM, Edmonton
Link:#https://ualberta-ca.zoom.us/j/978793...
Meeting ID: 978 7936 5334 (tel:7936%205334)
Password: ATLAS2025

Abstract
The potential for expanded coal mining in the Canadian Rockies has garnered considerable attention in recent years. In the Elk River valley of southeast British Columbia, four large mountaintop coal mines export ~20 million tons annually. The environmental impact of these mines extends beyond BC’s (and Canada’s) border and are the subject of an open IJC (International Joint Commission) investigation. On the Alberta side of the Rockies, new applications to expand existing mines, and to restart mining at legacy sites, have generated considerable debate, public interest, and new research. Dr. Cooke will summarize some of his recent publications examining the impacts of both active and legacy mountaintop removal coal mining in the Canadian Rockies. His results have revealed new insight into how organic and inorganic contaminants are being transported to ecosystems downstream and downwind. The spread of these contaminants, and the potential for more and larger mines, carries important consequences for people and animals living within (and far away from) coal mining communities.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by troutman

Alberta country music star Corb Lund, launched a citizen’s initiative to force a petition to halt all new coal mining activities within the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

Elections Alberta is reviewing Corb’s petition application now. If and when it’s approved, there will be just 120 days to get the 178,000 signatures needed.

Corb’s petition could be approved at any time. Can you sign up to be a volunteer right now so the coal petition team can hit the ground running? Needed: volunteers to collect signatures, organize canvassers, and support other important tasks so organizers can surpass the threshold for signatures and send a powerful message to the government.

https://forms.fillout.com/t/idmsSXRYSQus

I would think that many of the people who are collecting for the private school petition would also be interested in this petition getting signatures... Hopefully many of them will collect for both.

Also, getting each of these petitions through will be another thorn in the side of the UCP so even if you do not really believe in each petition, sticking it to the UCP is worth putting pen to paper and reminding the people running the government how democracy is supposed to work.