Alberta Provincial By-Elections - Fall 2014 Editions

[c.t.ner]

Originally Posted by Bunk

She's called a press conference for 11am tomorrow apparently. Surely she's not resigning...

That would be one way to shine the spotlight back on the Wild Rose, but I doubt it. But also why would she bother having a press conference so soon, surely an interview with the Sun News or Global would be enough to recap the results.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Minnie

It might be the first time I'd want to hear anything DS has to say.

She did alot of good for the High River community after the flood and is someone I have a great deal of respect for. She did things that never got reported by the media.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Dion

She did alot of good for the High River community after the flood and is someone I have a great deal of respect for. She did alot of things that never got reported by the media.

Of course she did. She's a total opportunist.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by nik-

Of course she did. She's a total opportunist.

I disagree strongly. Staying around after residents were asked to leave so she and some volunteers could go house to house gathering peoples dogs and cats that got left behind. Then there's the countless meeting with residents where she advoacted on their behalf to get the help they needed. Then again you'd have to be a resident of High River to witness this going on.

[nik-]

She sounds like an angel.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by nik-

She sounds like an angel.

LOL! You must be the devil.

[nik-]

No, I'm just not impressed by a politician that's nothing more than whining and soundbites.

[DoubleF]

Unfortunately, this is politics. You don't win with participation medals. This is politics. You find the biggest sleazeball who will likely work for you the voter

If the other parties don't step up their game, PC will likely take back what it lost and more.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by nik-

No, I'm just not impressed by a politician that's nothing more than whining and soundbites.

If you were here after the flood and during the recovery process you would have seen the good work she did for the High River community. Problem is you weren't.

[nik-]

No, I was busy cleaning my home up.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by nik-

No, I was busy cleaning my home up.

I was cleaning 4 feet of sewer and water from my basement. That doesn't mean I didn't have time attend all town meetings with DS. or talk to residents she helped.

Your turn Nik

[nik-]

You're truly a king amongst men. Doesn't change the fact that the WR really don't have a plan for this province. Other than some platitudes of course. Seems like a lot of others realize the same. Which is why her party couldn't even win ridings against a brutally entitled PC party.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by nik-

You're truly a king amongst men.

Care to explain further?

Doesn't change the fact that the WR really don't have a plan for this province. Other than some platitudes of course. Seems like a lot of others realize the same. Which is why her party couldn't even win ridings against a brutally entitled PC party.

I was talking about the work she did in her riding or did you miss that? No where did I make comments about her as the leader of the WRP.

If you must know, I agree that she doesn't have a solid plan and am disappointed with the results of the byelections. I don't think she'll step down but I do expect better from her.

Time will also tell if Prentice and his govt can erase all the corruption and entitlement

[Dion]

Don Braid gives a pretty good assesment of why the WRP doesn't know how to win

Wildrose was expected to capture at least one of these ridings. Defeat in all four is a major blow to both the party and Danielle Smith’s leadership.

Wildrose threw everything it had at the byelections, including a great deal of money, attacking Prentice and the whole PC regime.

That gave the campaign a general-election feeling and sharply raised the stakes for Wildrose.

The failure to win even one seat after using all this ammunition — including far more cash than any opposition party has ever spent on byelections — means there’s some serious thinking to be done, both about strategy and party leadership.

The main problem is that Wildrose has firmly fixed its own image as a negative, attack party. This is far from the entire truth of the party’s policies and activities, but it’s what people perceive. And why wouldn’t the voters think that, given those TV ads?

The party ran those tactics at a moment when many Albertans have become thoroughly fed up with negativity and want to move on. Wildrose no longer reminds people of the Alison Redford era — it reminds them of its own attacks on the Alison Redford era. And the time for that is done.

It wasn’t long ago that Wildrose polled ahead of the PCs all over Calgary, and was even slightly ahead in Edmonton.

Even then there were signs of weakness. Wildrose wasn’t really becoming more popular. The party just looked strong because the government was in free fall. Monday night, it seems, a lot of the lost support came streaming back home to the government.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/po...016/story.html

[ben voyonsdonc]

All around a very good night for Prentice - that is stating the obvious.

The Alberta Party, while they had a good showing in Elbow, is in big trouble. They can't possibly put up that good of a fight against an incumbent Cabinet minister with the dilution of volunteers and resources over a general election. This was their chance and they went all in and it didn't break their way.

The Wildrose had a bad night but I think it was largely due to not quite knowing how to message against Prentice. The "Send the PCs a Message" argument is pretty standard by-election boilerplate and wasn't particularly effective against an amorphous and politically shrewd character like Prentice. He made some pretty smart pre-election moves that he could argue showed that they have already gotten the message. They'll need to go back to the drawing board and devise a message that works. One thing is that the WR is very strong in the Legislature and we'll see if they can regain their footing against Prentice in the Leg.

The Libs had a horrendous night. They were weak in all four ridings and didn't show any signs of improvement anywhere. They are on absolute life support as a party. They'll be down to 3 seats after Hehr and Kang jump federally and there is no guarantee they'll hold onto either of those seats. They'd fall to below the NDP in the Leg.

The NDP had an above average night. They had a good showing in Edmonton in one of the least winnable seats in the city for them. It helps establish a message that they are the progressive option in Edmonton and may allow them to gain an extra two or three seats. Calgary is still pretty barren obviously. However, with the AP and ALP looking pretty weak there could be some room for growth with Notley as leader.

[vennegoor of hesselink]

[Minnie]

Originally Posted by Dion

She did alot of good for the High River community after the flood and is someone I have a great deal of respect for. She did things that never got reported by the media.

That's as may be, and I'm certain the residents of High River remain grateful for whatever assistance she may have proffered at the time. However, I find her boorish and lacking substance and her loudmouth snarliness only lends itself towards a portrayal of a one dimensional person, who has nothing to offer this province, but that.

I have 3 relatively new voters in my family - it's quite something to me that the youngest looks at the WR ads and asks why they cannot offer anything other than the same old tired political song and dance of "those people baaaaaaaaaaaaaad, those people really really baaaaaaaad" and nothing else.

As they've all said, they're quite able to draw their own conclusions of what has gone on politically - they don't care to hear only about how bad everyone else is - they want to hear a solid platform of what a party will do for their province; they do not feel the WR offers that. That is where the WR is losing ground.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Minnie

That's as may be, and I'm certain the residents of High River remain grateful for whatever assistance she may have proffered at the time. However, I find her boorish and lacking substance and her loudmouth snarliness only lends itself towards a portrayal of a one dimensional person, who has nothing to offer this province, but that.

A good friend of mine is close friends with Smith and I have seen a side that many have not.

I watch question period during legislature sessions and I see a person who has done a good job of bringing up the corruption in the PC party and trying to make them accountable. Her WRP may not be the best opposition party but it has been alot better than the ones we've had in the past.

I have 3 relatively new voters in my family - it's quite something to me that the youngest looks at the WR ads and asks why they cannot offer anything other than the same old tired political song and dance of "those people baaaaaaaaaaaaaad, those people really really baaaaaaaad" and nothing else.

As they've all said, they're quite able to draw their own conclusions of what has gone on politically - they don't care to hear only about how bad everyone else is - they want to hear a solid platform of what a party will do for their province; they do not feel the WR offers that. That is where the WR is losing ground.

I wasn't a fan of the attack ads and the constant reference to Redford Tories and all the corruption. That was a huge mistake on her part and as the by elections showed, it didn't work. I'm quite sure she'll take responsibility for that (unlike what we have seen with the PC's) and move the party in a different direction.

[Dion]

The PC's win all ridings with 44% of the vote. Not a resounding vote of confidence from the voters.

[Dion]

Looks like some Edmoton Whitemud voters are not happy

Scavenger•7 hours ago
Cheers everyone here's to more study groups and millions wasted.
I guess Whitemud loves higher taxes, cause that's what Mandel does best "spend".

Looks like a easy win for the PC's across the board.

At this rate, you might as well bring back Alison Redford.

The PC's can take comfort that they can rob us blind and Alberta is A-Okay with it.

May I suggest introducing a fleet of Helicopters made of gold.
The next time the Wildrose digs up your latest misdeed, just laugh it off.

As for People left waiting in Hospital hallways to see a doctor, tough luck I guess.

bigshynepo Nick Brown•6 hours agoYeah, well my Grandma is in the hospital tonight, with an illness she caught in the hospital. If patients weren't left in emergency for 4 hours before seeing a doctor, people wouldn't be spreading their contagions to every person they're sitting adjacent too.

I must mention the story about the little girl denied essential surgery twice recently due to lack of resources, but I guess you don't read those articles. I'll also mention the dire situation at the Stollery, where they are overwhelmed caring for children from across Canada but Mandel doesn't think we need a new hospital and AHS doesn't think we need a bigger Stollery. You must be in full support of these decisions to limit healthcare to our most vulnerable, judging by your attitude here tonight.

It's funny though, you mentioning overpaid Gary Mar doing nothing in China. His runaway expenses and salary are almost the highest in our government!. That says enough about your political affiliations for me.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2014/10/2...mud-byelection