Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Muta

I wouldn't be surprised if more doctors now left the province. As a healthcare worked, I'd hate to be bizarrely demonized throughout a pandemic and even after it, even though all you're doing is helping and saving lives on a daily basis. It's ####ing weird.

I don't blame other provinces from recruiting from Alberta, why would you put up with the hostile workplace environment here in this province.

If politics was your deciding factor to leave I don’t see why you’d leave between now and the election.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by GGG

If politics was your deciding factor to leave I don’t see why you’d leave between now and the election.

Ok? Everyone has their reasons, maybe some have just had enough and have options. Alberta isn't isn't the be all end all, especially for highly educated and qualified professionals.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Muta

Ok? Everyone has their reasons, maybe some have just had enough and have options. Alberta isn't isn't the be all end all, especially for highly educated and qualified professionals.

I mean you went through Covid and didn’t leave, Kenny being turfed was going to lead to a more anti-healthcare UCP party and now you leave? If you stuck it out until now and ####ty government is your reason for staying or leaving what changed? Everyday you are closer to a potential real change so the incentive for a person motivated by politic is dropping everyday.

I agree Alberta is not the be all and end all for highly educated professionals. My point is that deciding to leave today but not 6 months ago makes no sense if your motivation is political.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by GGG

I mean you went through Covid and didn’t leave, Kenny being turfed was going to lead to a more anti-healthcare UCP party and now you leave? If you stuck it out until now and ####ty government is your reason for staying or leaving what changed? Everyday you are closer to a potential real change so the incentive for a person motivated by politic is dropping everyday.

I agree Alberta is not the be all and end all for highly educated professionals. My point is that deciding to leave today but not 6 months ago makes no sense if your motivation is political.

Sure, but everyone has their own reasons and situations. I can't answer for everybody.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

I hope that you're right.

If I were into conspiracies I would suggest that pushing against Ottawa to increase provincial powers would be a crucial step to eliminating universal healthcare. That said, I do think both are political grandstanding.

I think it’s clear that Smiths example of the conditions placed on daycare funding by the feds as unconstitutional is saying the quiet part quiet of one of the goals of the sovereignty act. It’s to get rid of having to meet the requirements of the Canada Health act.

I seem to remember Klein having this fight with Ottawa previously and losing.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Muta

Sure, but everyone has their own reasons and situations. I can't answer for everybody.

Some people overthink an exit from Alberta. And some people just pull the trigger. Politics is certainly a reason why people leave. A pending election next year is no guarantee for improvement, so why wait.

Politics is judged by the sum of a politician's actions and words, and there's more than enough in the last four years to say cya!

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

Just to add, I'm super tired of all of this messaging in Alberta (and most other places as well) these days.
"We need to fight Ottawa"
"We need to fight to get our province back"
"We need to fight, fight, fight"

NO WE DON'T
We need to work with the people and governments around us to find the best possible solution for ourselves.
You want to fight Ottawa? Great, you're gonna lose.
Wait...let me just check Jason Kenney's track record on fighting Ottawa, just to be sure...hmmmm, looks like a big old O-fer...

Enough with this "Fight" BS.
Work together. Find good, novel solutions to problems, and help each other out along the way.

But if they don’t keep a lot of people who would otherwise be able to join others pushing for reasonable changes chasing fairytales we might actually start fixing some of the systemic issues that are plaguing our society and that is going to cost some people a lot of money that they feel entitled to and don’t want to give up.

Divide and conquer for the win.

[RedHot25]

Wait...

what?

From 2014: https://edmontonsun.com/2014/03/10/a...mic-forum-flap

Alberta opposition parties react to World Economic Forum flap

"It seems pretty perplexing that the Premier would give us a black eye like this. It's pretty unprofessional," said Smith.

"Hopefully it will happen but I think we should expect a little more professionalism and a little bit more attention to details coming out of the Premier's office when it's something so important."

[Looch City]

Lol she’s the very definition of a grifter.

It’s sad that so many in Berta give two ####s about what she says.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Yep, the plan is likely to choke the public healthcare system into submission (on purpose) and use that as an excuse to significantly privatize services, saying "see? The system was failing and it needed to be changed". This falls in line with Smith's desire to deliver services privately, give Albertans a GENEROUS $300 for healthcare needs, and allow people to spend that on pseudo-science and alternative medicines like naturopathy and voodoo curses.

Her "open for business" diatribes is very much directed at insurance companies.

This will also no doubt impact staffing at hospitals, clinics and facilities. I am sure she's going to be "there's plenty of doctors from around the world that want to join us", just as Ralph Klein did in the 90s.

And, as she stated in a position paper last year, once people get used to paying for services they can expand the list of things they pay for including GP visits (which she stated should be 100% user paid). They will encourage businesses and individuals to invest in their health care savings plans and for those that have more needs there is private insurance. This is absolutely where she wants to go.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by edslunch

And, as she stated in a position paper last year, once people get used to paying for services they can expand the list of things they pay for including GP visits (which she stated should be 100% user paid). They will encourage businesses and individuals to invest in their health care savings plans and for those that have more needs there is private insurance. This is absolutely where she wants to go.

I can think of a few places I want her to go.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by edslunch

And, as she stated in a position paper last year, once people get used to paying for services they can expand the list of things they pay for including GP visits (which she stated should be 100% user paid). They will encourage businesses and individuals to invest in their health care savings plans and for those that have more needs there is private insurance. This is absolutely where she wants to go.

That reminds of the article I saw today about the Doctor I'm BC that wants to charge patients a monthly fee so that they can have access to enhanced services at her clinic.

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/b-c-doctor-ask...bate-1.6019376

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Some people overthink an exit from Alberta. And some people just pull the trigger. Politics is certainly a reason why people leave. A pending election next year is no guarantee for improvement, so why wait.

Politics is judged by the sum of a politician's actions and words, and there's more than enough in the last four years to say cya!

Some people might move because of politics and the number isn’t zero. But really, almost half of us don’t even vote. Something like 2% or less are card carrying members of a political party. And yet people are moving provinces or countries because the premier is going to suck until May?

I think for people who are really “into” politics that we think this is a bigger factor than it is.

[Fuzz]

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she distrusts World Economic Forum, province to cut ties

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...628294?cmp=rss

She bought this weird WEF conspiracy stuff hook line and sinker.

The United Conservative Party premier said she is in lockstep with federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who has stated he and his caucus will having nothing to do with the World Economic Forum.

The deal with Alberta Health Services sees the province share ideas with health researchers at Harvard University and the Mayo Clinic under the forum's umbrella.

The high-profile conference of global political and business leaders has been the focus of conspiracy theories from both sides of the political spectrum.

Hrmm, so we actually lose out on health research? Not that she cares about actual science, but not great for us. I'm sure Theo is happy though, so yay.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Slava

Some people might move because of politics and the number isn’t zero. But really, almost half of us don’t even vote. Something like 2% or less are card carrying members of a political party. And yet people are moving provinces or countries because the premier is going to suck until May?

I think for people who are really “into” politics that we think this is a bigger factor than it is.

You do you. Some people move for politics. Some people don't. And for some, it's multiple factors.

Sunrise, sunset. This isn't a water holding contest and it isn't complicated or worth over-analyzing.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

You do you. Some people move for politics. Some people don't. And for some, it's multiple factors.

Sunrise, sunset. This isn't a water holding contest and it isn't complicated or worth over-analyzing.

It’s not about me doing me. It’s a question of how many people move in the basis of who forms government, which is what you’re asserting. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve voted for the winner of an election across civic, provincial and federal elections. But I can safely say that moving because I didn’t like the government isn’t even a thought that crossed my mind.

Obviously if we were living in a communist dictatorship or something like that, things might be different. But a democracy where things can change in four years? Tough to see how a life changing move is predicated on that. And that’s before you consider where you’re going and what the situation is there. Something, something…always greener on the other side?

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

You do you. Some people move for politics. Some people don't. And for some, it's multiple factors.

Sunrise, sunset. This isn't a water holding contest and it isn't complicated or worth over-analyzing.

Who moves for politics? Really? It’s a really small amount of people that move due to politics as few people will put that ahead of job, family, friends, etc. That’s people that have an unhealthy addiction to politics. As much as I dislike Justin Trudeau he’s had very little influence on my day to day life. If the NDP wins the next Alberta election I won’t be jumping for joy but my life will go on largely unchanged.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Who moves for politics? Really? It’s a really small amount of people that move due to politics as few people will put that ahead of job, family, friends, etc. That’s people that have an unhealthy addiction to politics. As much as I dislike Justin Trudeau he’s had very little influence on my day to day life. If the NDP wins the next Alberta election I won’t be jumping for joy but my life will go on largely unchanged.

I don't disagree with you, but never have I thought about leaving Alberta (other than when I was old and chasing Sun), I suspect I'm like a lot of people. But now you do hear people talking about leaving more than ever before (at least in my circle of friends), and it comes into my mind as well.

Most will never follow through on it (I mean I'd have a number of friends and family from the states living in Calgary if people followed through on those thoughts. Tonnes said they would move if Trump was elected), but people even having these thoughts is sad to me and reflection of how #### the political climate is in Alberta right now.

[Ozy_Flame]

Nah. I know others, particularly physicians, that have left because the politics. Some folks in art and film too (although not as many as before).

And even if not politics, this country is so big. If you get a chance to live somewhere else, do it. There's so much more than just one province. Life is too short to stay in one place IMO.

[blender]

I would suspect that if Smith follows through on her talking points, a healthy chunk of those who do leave could be from the health care sector, which will have an outsized impact on the province.