Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[calf]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

Quick, somebody send Danielle Smith and her cronies several kgs of brazil nuts!

My grandpa had a much different name for brazil nuts, which I bet some members of the UCP use to this day

[troutman]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

They say a lot of things...

Did anyone ask them specifically why they reopened mining after having shut it down before?
Or why the mining company got to meet with AER in a closed door meeting just before this last approval they gave?

They blamed all problems in the system on the NDP (even though conservatives have held power almost exclusively for 55 years).

1. Mumble, mumble, modernization of mining techniques.
2. Was not asked.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/video...raws-hundreds/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTFILYniqD0

https://calgary.citynews.ca/2025/06/...oal-town-hall/

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by troutman

They blamed all problems in the system on the NDP (even though conservatives have held power almost exclusively for 55 years).

1. Mumble, mumble, modernization of mining techniques.
2. Was not asked.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/video...raws-hundreds/

LOL. Gotta play the classics for the numpties.

[puffnstuff]

I did see clip of her saying she was told by 'someone' they would lose 15 B in lawsuits brought be the coal companies. No word on fighting those suits...perhaps fight them as hard as the one brought by the fired AHS CEO...

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

Quick, somebody send Danielle Smith and her cronies several kgs of brazil nuts!

Preferably out of a canon.

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by calf

My grandpa had a much different name for brazil nuts, which I bet some members of the UCP use to this day

Don't use it but often think of my Grandma when I eat them.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

https://web-cdn.bsky.app/profile/alb.../3lrdrgdnlrk2t

Youth unemployment can be blamed on a lack of a drivers license...

Many youth do not have drivers licenses, particularly in Edmonton and Calgary. I had a young coworker (in his 20's at the time) and he was the only one in his social circle that did have a licence. And of those who do many of them still had a graduated licence. When both my kids were looking for work after graduating university or as summer positions while attending university it was surprising how many positions required not only a drivers licence but a full licence, graduated was not acceptable.

Doesn't explain youth employment fully, maybe not even close. But it may play a factor.

[Mccree]

My kids 20 and 18 do not have drivers licenses. It is very common

[TorqueDog]

^ Having such a cavalier attitude toward getting one's license is so foreign to me. It was a huge deal for us when we were in high school that we get our driver's licenses as soon as goddamned possible. Manitoba allowed you to get a learner's permit at 16, unless you were enrolled in an accredited driver's ed program through your school, which would drop the age requirement to within six months leading up to your 16th birthday. (I know AB allows it even earlier, age 14.)

People who otherwise wouldn't piss on each other if the other were on fire would relay experiences with the road test, strategies for the parallel parking test, 'gotchas' where they failed, etc. It became a massive unifying thing we all wanted to accomplish... almost more important than graduation, and had no correlation to whether someone knew or gave a crap about cars as a hobby or otherwise. A driver's license was a step toward freedom, and autonomy, and adulthood.

For someone in this country to be a fully-fledged adult and not have a driver's license (exempting for extenuating circumstances, of course) is just weird and comes off -- to me, at least -- as someone who doesn't really have their sh-t together. You don't have to plan to buy or own a car, but to not be able to at least operate one in this world should the need ever arise is just not being prepared IMO.

[Bigtime]

My now 16yo will be doing the road test shortly, but from the friend group is one of the only ones actually pursuing a license. And has no problem getting around via Calgary Transit or a bike.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

^ Having such a cavalier attitude toward getting one's license is so foreign to me. It was a huge deal for us when we were in high school that we get our driver's licenses as soon as goddamned possible. Manitoba allowed you to get a learner's permit at 16, unless you were enrolled in an accredited driver's ed program through your school, which would drop the age requirement to within six months leading up to your 16th birthday. (I know AB allows it even earlier, age 14.)

People who otherwise wouldn't piss on each other if the other were on fire would relay experiences with the road test, strategies for the parallel parking test, 'gotchas' where they failed, etc. It became a massive unifying thing we all wanted to accomplish... almost more important than graduation, and had no correlation to whether someone knew or gave a crap about cars as a hobby or otherwise. A driver's license was a step toward freedom, and autonomy, and adulthood.

For someone in this country to be a fully-fledged adult and not have a driver's license (exempting for extenuating circumstances, of course) is just weird and comes off -- to me, at least -- as someone who doesn't really have their sh-t together. You don't have to plan to buy or own a car, but to not be able to at least operate one in this world should the need ever arise is just not being prepared IMO.

We didn't have transit in Canmore at the time, so if you wanted to go anywhere it was walk, bike, or mom and dad driving you there(rare!). Pretty much everyone got their license, because it meant freedom to go to Banff, skiing, Calgary, shuttling bike downhill runs up the Spray...it would have been depressing not having that.


So maybe it's a city thing, but I still can't imagine planning an entire life without a license, so you may as well get it young. And our parents treated the same as swimming lessons and going to school, it was something you really should have.

[Maccalus]

I think that youth in Cities are making the very easy financial calculation that owning a car while they are in school makes little sense for a large number of them. Looking at some math, earning $15/hr x 20 hours per week x 52 weeks per year nets a gross income of $15,600. We will ignore deductions for now and I assume 20 hours per week as I assume that they will be in school.

I ran a new driver quote through TD insurance as an example, 18 years old, no driving experience, 2004 cavalier as a car (my beater of a car, fully owned) 10,000kms of driving per year. The mandatory insurance coverage was $4,317/year.

Adding on $0.55/km (~CRA rate for gas + maintenance) for 10,000km, that is an additional $5,500.

Totaling that up, means you are spending 63% of your gross income on a car.

[MarchHare]

I got my learner's permit literally on my 16th birthday. At the time, I was a high school student in a smallish town in New Brunswick, and my family's home had a Walkscore of 9 (or "Car Dependent"). The only amenity within biking distance was the nearest corner store, but literally everything else required driving. And there was zero public transportation to speak of. Being able to drive and having access to a private vehicle was 100% essential to get anywhere outside of my immediate low-density residential neighbourhood.

Fast forward a few years and I'm now a university graduate living and working in Calgary. I had a rental apartment in Kensington and then later bought a condo in the Beltline. I have since relocated to BC and own a condo in New Westminster that's about a three minute walk from the Skytrain station. All of the homes in which I've lived as an adult have a Walkscore of 90+ ("Walker's Paradise"), and I've never owned a car. It doesn't surprise me at all that many youth who live in high density cities with a multitude of nearby amenities and good public transportation are choosing to forego car ownership.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Maccalus

I think that youth in Cities are making the very easy financial calculation that owning a car while they are in school makes little sense for a large number of them. Looking at some math, earning $15/hr x 20 hours per week x 52 weeks per year nets a gross income of $15,600. We will ignore deductions for now and I assume 20 hours per week as I assume that they will be in school.

I ran a new driver quote through TD insurance as an example, 18 years old, no driving experience, 2004 cavalier as a car (my beater of a car, fully owned) 10,000kms of driving per year. The mandatory insurance coverage was $4,317/year.

Adding on $0.55/km (~CRA rate for gas + maintenance) for 10,000km, that is an additional $5,500.

Totaling that up, means you are spending 63% of your gross income on a car.

But it's not even about 'owning' a car. It's the ability operate one if you ever wanted or had a need to, whether that is renting one somewhere, going on a road-trip and sharing the driving duties with friends....

Or sure, just growing up and having the wherewithal to afford one, requiring one for work, life, etc. It seems so shortsighted not to just get your license early and get it out of the way.


It kind of is like swimming, in a sense... and I can't, which is a huge fail on my part.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

^ Having such a cavalier attitude toward getting one's license is so foreign to me. It was a huge deal for us when we were in high school that we get our driver's licenses as soon as goddamned possible. Manitoba allowed you to get a learner's permit at 16, unless you were enrolled in an accredited driver's ed program through your school, which would drop the age requirement to within six months leading up to your 16th birthday. (I know AB allows it even earlier, age 14.)

People who otherwise wouldn't piss on each other if the other were on fire would relay experiences with the road test, strategies for the parallel parking test, 'gotchas' where they failed, etc. It became a massive unifying thing we all wanted to accomplish... almost more important than graduation, and had no correlation to whether someone knew or gave a crap about cars as a hobby or otherwise. A driver's license was a step toward freedom, and autonomy, and adulthood.

For someone in this country to be a fully-fledged adult and not have a driver's license (exempting for extenuating circumstances, of course) is just weird and comes off -- to me, at least -- as someone who doesn't really have their sh-t together. You don't have to plan to buy or own a car, but to not be able to at least operate one in this world should the need ever arise is just not being prepared IMO.

Yeah, I grew up in a home with both parents working, I played a lot of sports, other activities with friends, my sister was the same so for us it wasn't even an option.

14 - Learner's Permit + Job

You save the job money for the inevitable crap-car you're going to get after you get your license.

16 - License + Car

Mom & Dad: Chauffeuring you around is over. You're on your own now.

My sister got the job of driving me around until I was old enough for my license and car.

It may have helped that my dad was a Professional Driver with Greyhound and for him its a mandatory skill.

But yeah, most of my friend group got their licenses as soon as humanly possible and if you were one of the feckless ne'er-do-wells who procrastinated on getting your license and kept bumming rides you got told to f off pretty damned quick.

[puffnstuff]

https://bsky.app/profile/thebreakdow.../3lrgiahwy622b

Probably a good question here for Jean last night

[troutman]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

https://bsky.app/profile/thebreakdow.../3lrgiahwy622b

Probably a good question here for Jean last night

Jean talked about his Nothern Alberta roots, and progress in cleaning up the oil sands environment. He also bragged about being related to indigenous people.

I forgot to mention - the panel was asked to make a land acknowledgment, and they declined or avoided the topic. Many of the numpties cheered this.

[Mccree]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

^ Having such a cavalier attitude toward getting one's license is so foreign to me. It was a huge deal for us when we were in high school that we get our driver's licenses as soon as goddamned possible. Manitoba allowed you to get a learner's permit at 16, unless you were enrolled in an accredited driver's ed program through your school, which would drop the age requirement to within six months leading up to your 16th birthday. (I know AB allows it even earlier, age 14.)

People who otherwise wouldn't piss on each other if the other were on fire would relay experiences with the road test, strategies for the parallel parking test, 'gotchas' where they failed, etc. It became a massive unifying thing we all wanted to accomplish... almost more important than graduation, and had no correlation to whether someone knew or gave a crap about cars as a hobby or otherwise. A driver's license was a step toward freedom, and autonomy, and adulthood.

For someone in this country to be a fully-fledged adult and not have a driver's license (exempting for extenuating circumstances, of course) is just weird and comes off -- to me, at least -- as someone who doesn't really have their sh-t together. You don't have to plan to buy or own a car, but to not be able to at least operate one in this world should the need ever arise is just not being prepared IMO.

My 20yo daughter gets extremely anxious and is one that shouldn't be driving yet. My 18 y/o son is going thru drivers ed and will try the road test soon. Of the 4 in our family she has her s*** together the most. Done University in 3.5 years off to Grad School with honors, volunteers, saves money, works all while dealing with a pretty serious illness.

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

But it's not even about 'owning' a car. It's the ability operate one if you ever wanted or had a need to, whether that is renting one somewhere, going on a road-trip and sharing the driving duties with friends....

Or sure, just growing up and having the wherewithal to afford one, requiring one for work, life, etc. It seems so shortsighted not to just get your license early and get it out of the way.


It kind of is like swimming, in a sense... and I can't, which is a huge fail on my part.

Or pick up their parents at the bar or a party! 100% number 1 reason to get a licence.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Mccree

My 20yo daughter gets extremely anxious and is one that shouldn't be driving yet. My 18 y/o son is going thru drivers ed and will try the road test soon. Of the 4 in our family she has her s*** together the most. Done University in 3.5 years off to Grad School with honors, volunteers, saves money, works all while dealing with a pretty serious illness.

And hence my "exempting for extenuating circumstances" hedge.