Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[KelVarnsen]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

I thought we all agreed to stop with this or move it to different thread.

First day eh?

[Torture]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

Appears that the govt doesnt like Nate Pike very much (the guy that runs The Breakdown and is being sued by Mraiche for 6 million)

Mentzelopoulos's lawsuit notes that Marshall Smith had called her last summer to complain that "powerful people" were angry about an AHS paramedic named Nate Pike, whose webcast and social media account#The Breakdown#has been critical of the Smith government and who has posted often about the Turkish children's medication situation.

The premier's aide warned Mentzelopoulos that Pike was "your employee" and "you're going to look very bad" and there would be "consequences." The AHS leader replied she wouldn't fire Pike, but did urge other executives to speak to Pike about tweeting while at work.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...suit-1.7457785

Also allegations that the UCP hired private investigators and hackers to try to find out the identity of "Hansard the Cat" on Twitter because they didn't like what they were tweeting. And that the Premier's office wanted several AHS employees fired for what they were tweeting, or the tweets they were liking. Lots of doctors, etc coming out on Twitter today saying there's been rumours of PIs for some time.

Apparently free speech only applies to vaccines, convoys, and hitting Ottawa with a stick...you aren't allowed to disagree with the UCP if you work for AHS.

She says she was also previously pressured by Deputy Minister of Health Andre Tremblay, via text message, to terminate “purported critics of the government, including Carmella Steinke, Jeremy Theal and Sherri Kashuba.”

The suit also alleges Smith told Mentzelopoulos the government was using “private detectives, lawyers, and (apparently) hackers,” to discover the identity of another critic, an X feed called “Hansard the Cat.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/artic...act-kickbacks/

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Meh, I've done a super good job explaining it already. I think we're good here.

Haha, I feel your pain!

[Torture]

Also, while Smith claims she wasn't aware until she read it in the newspaper, she also says Lagrange had been investigating or waiting for proof for 8 months.
Which one is it? And you can't seriously expect us to believe puppet Lagrange wouldn't have told Smith before firing the board and CEO.

Also the little tricky fact that the Auditor General says that they notified the Premier's office before the G&M article came out that they were going to be kicking off an investigation. So if she's lying about when she became aware, what else is she lying about?

The level of corruption and interference that is alleged here is staggering and Smith is clearly not being truthful. This needs a full on public inquiry and (won't happen) resignations. We deserve to know what is going on here and how our public dollars are being spent (wasted). We can't have Daniel Smith directing an investigation into her own office's actions.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by Slava

Haha, I feel your pain!

I don’t want to make anyone jealous but Slava you’re my favourite

[puffnstuff]

Like Smith read a newspaper... they arent even trying to make believable anymore

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

Like Smith read a newspaper... they arent even trying to make believable anymore

The Globe & Mail, no less!

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

Like Smith read a newspaper... they arent even trying to make believable anymore

It’s enough for UCP voters, unfortunately. Rampant corruption right from the Premier’s office down and the most corrupt government provincially or federally Canada has ever seen, but hey, they’re investigating themselves, so as long as the findings are as expected, they can still vote UCP and pretend to care about corruption.

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by Torture

Can we take the tax write off debate to another thread or DMs and focus on the ####ing ludicrous levels of corruption that have been alleged here and non response from Smith and UCP?

I find the expense thing way more interesting than the Danielle Smith is a cword in a her 4000th different way chatter.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by fotze2

I find the expense thing way more interesting than the Danielle Smith is a cword in a her 4000th different way chatter.

So with you on that.

Yeah, she sucks. She's corrupt. She's an idiot. She hires idiots. The people who voted for her are idiots.

It's boring, which isn't to say I'm not glad there are people who haven't gotten tired of holding her accountable, but I'm tapped out on talking about her. Not saying keep it out of the thread, obviously, but we can have a couple discussions going on simultaneously.

Also, if you haven't donated to Nate Pike's defense from her bullying a-hole associates, he's doing good work out there with The Breakdown. I shot him $25 last week. https://www.gofundme.com/f/vggge-legal-defense-fund

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by fotze2

I find the expense thing way more interesting than the Danielle Smith is a cword in a her 4000th different way chatter.

We could meet them halfway and start calling each other that when we disagree on the expense claims if that’ll help.

I’m reasonably certain that you, Sliver and I would be down for that. I think Slava will be too so long as one of you tell him that I hate the idea first.

[Amethyst]

Originally Posted by Torture

Apparently free speech only applies to vaccines, convoys, and hitting Ottawa with a stick...you aren't allowed to disagree with the UCP if you work for AHS.

Those who scream the loudest about freedom sure have a problem with the freedom of anyone who disagrees with them.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

We could meet them halfway and start calling each other that when we disagree on the expense claims if that’ll help.

I’m reasonably certain that you, Sliver and I would be down for that. I think Slava will be too so long as one of you tell him that I hate the idea first.

That happens anyway. You don’t have to make it a rule. I think it’s called debating around here.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by Goriders

That happens anyway. You don’t have to make it a rule. I think it’s called debating around here.

I think it’s actually one of the few derogatory things I haven’t been called on here. Glad to know I can expect it soon.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Cappy

Office space isnt a tax write off. that's the argument.

Taking your buddies down to Scottsdale on a PJ and golfing Troon for 4 days is a lot different than renting better office space.

Taking a friend out for dinner and marking it down as hosting isnt the same as money spent on a presentation to potential clients.

There is a ton of abuse of this type of expense; but the debate is, as i see it, whether the value of the good outweighs the abuse

How is office space not a tax write off?

Fraud should not be the reason for a tax write off not to exist it either is or isn’t a business expense. If fraud in a category of expense is the problem then increase auditing and documentation requirements.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by GGG

Fraud should not be the reason for a tax write off not to exist it either is or isn’t a business expense. If fraud in a category of expense is the problem then increase auditing and documentation requirements.

Well yeah, but how do you create an appetite for that change if no one brings it up?

[curves2000]

I find it cute that the article kinda made a big deal about some hockey tickets and a luxury box in Vancouver/Edmonton to an NHL game. Not exactly anything jaw dropping or world class here. The odor that this scandal gives off is massive, let's not get distracted or worried about Edmonton playoff tickets.

This story involves ownership of specific facilities from current and former MLA's, rates of pay far exceeding typical market rates for treatments, using charities and other organizations as fronts/cover for the frauds and effectively guaranteeing an income stream to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars annually from taxpayers all across Canada in some cases.

Eye on the prize people! Call your MLA, ask how long they have been on the take. If you see them around town, let them know how you feel and tell them off. We gotta get to the bottom of who's heads are to be on the literal chopping block. Not who and why are some people having overpriced nachos and water down Caesar cocktails at NHL games in Vancouver/Edmonton.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by curves2000

I find it cute that the article kinda made a big deal about some hockey tickets and a luxury box in Vancouver/Edmonton to an NHL game. Not exactly anything jaw dropping or world class here. The odor that this scandal gives off is massive, let's not get distracted or worried about Edmonton playoff tickets.

This story involves ownership of specific facilities from current and former MLA's, rates of pay far exceeding typical market rates for treatments, using charities and other organizations as fronts/cover for the frauds and effectively guaranteeing an income stream to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars annually from taxpayers all across Canada in some cases.

Eye on the prize people! Call your MLA, ask how long they have been on the take. If you see them around town, let them know how you feel and tell them off. We gotta get to the bottom of who's heads are to be on the literal chopping block. Not who and why are some people having overpriced nachos and water down Caesar cocktails at NHL games in Vancouver/Edmonton.

I don’t think the majority of people consider them accepting the tickets as the major issue here. I mean it’s obviously not a good look but it’s small potatoes compared to the other shenanigans.

If anyone thought the UCP weren’t exactly who they’re showing us, welcome to the party!

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by curves2000

I find it cute that the article kinda made a big deal about some hockey tickets and a luxury box in Vancouver/Edmonton to an NHL game. Not exactly anything jaw dropping or world class here. The odor that this scandal gives off is massive, let's not get distracted or worried about Edmonton playoff tickets.

This story involves ownership of specific facilities from current and former MLA's, rates of pay far exceeding typical market rates for treatments, using charities and other organizations as fronts/cover for the frauds and effectively guaranteeing an income stream to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars annually from taxpayers all across Canada in some cases.

Eye on the prize people! Call your MLA, ask how long they have been on the take. If you see them around town, let them know how you feel and tell them off. We gotta get to the bottom of who's heads are to be on the literal chopping block. Not who and why are some people having overpriced nachos and water down Caesar cocktails at NHL games in Vancouver/Edmonton.

The tickets are and were the entry point for this scandal, since they conveniently link multiple key players in the government to the 'serious people'. From there the question of whether tickets are ethical or not pales in comparison to the rest, agreed. But they are still an important chink in Smith's armour of deniability.

[PepsiFree]

The tickets are an important piece of the puzzle because of how they came to be. They fact that the Premier was gifted tickets is not the story, but who gifted those tickets, why they gifted those tickets, and why they were able to gift those tickets in the first place leads into a pretty deep web of corruption that spans years and includes election interference and hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars spent in nefarious, self serving, and deeply corrupt ways.