Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[redforever]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

I have found that the more money people make, the more they believe that their taxes should go down as they should decide what to do with their money (ie, spend on private healthcare, not needing CPP/OAS, etc). Some even say, and I quote "Why should they take my money, there's nothing in it for me". Being able to afford options seems to make a person want to restrict them for others.

With the salaries being so "high" in Calgary, and with the crap the UCP promises these people, I wonder if that's why Calgary is heavily skewed that direction.

Not sure if I agree with that. I think Calgarians and Alberta as a whole are very giving with their money and I think it shows when Alberta is compared to other provinces in regards to donations. Not that there would not be some who only think of themselves and their tax dollars...but I think they are in the minority.

I don't think it is so much that Calgarians don't want to spend monies and taxes on services they don't use but more that they want those same taxes to be spent prudently.

However, there are always very polarizing topics, like a new Event Center, that bring out the worst in people...and they tend to be very polarizing. Sadly, our whole political structure is like that now too.

I think Canadians as a whole are willing to have their taxes support our many social programs, even if we don't access all of those programs. I think most realize that in order for us to have what I call a "kinder and gentler" society, we must support those in need as well as programs that address the needs of all segments of our society.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

I have found that the more money people make, the more they believe that their taxes should go down as they should decide what to do with their money (ie, spend on private healthcare, not needing CPP/OAS, etc). Some even say, and I quote "Why should they take my money, there's nothing in it for me". Being able to afford options seems to make a person want to restrict them for others.

With the salaries being so "high" in Calgary, and with the crap the UCP promises these people, I wonder if that's why Calgary is heavily skewed that direction.

I’d suspect it better correlates with employment from the Province rather than Salary. Essentially those who are currently employed by the province are more likely to vote for a friendlier employer.

It would be interesting to see a public vs private sector breakdown for each city.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Amethyst

I have SO sick of Alberta politicians who seem to want to do nothing except fight the feds. It's not only a waste of time, it's stupid. The Liberals would love to be able to say they made inroads in Alberta. Why not take advantage of that opportunity to work with them and achieve some good for the province? You can always say that it was your influence that improved what the feds were offering when the next federal election comes along. Right now, your combative stance does nothing to benefit the citizens of this province.

https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?x...473C5C62FBADA1

You mean like this whiny press release from Shandro? Top notch stuff, thanks buddy.

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

This is another problem with Calgarians when I've chatted about it in the last few visits there:

Calgary boomers before UCP election: We're not voting for Danielle Smith, she's to extreme for us. Toews, Schulz or Aheer is fine. They aren't the Wildrose.

Calgary boomers after UCP election: We need to give Danielle a chance, she has great ideas and brings up good points - what's in it for us? Ottawa isn't giving us a fair shake. Do you want a communist government?

My head literally exploded.

I've even seen in this thread with the odd poster or two who when responding to another poster who suggested they may move away from Alberta if the UCP win. While disagreeing with Smith, these posters have stated that it would only be four years and wouldn't likely affect any of us on a day-to-day basis anyway. You can start to see the laying of the groundwork for justifying a vote for the UCP. I'm guessing it must have been the same kind of rationalizing going through the heads of sane Republicans in 2016 and 2020.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?x...473C5C62FBADA1

You mean like this whiny press release from Shandro? Top notch stuff, thanks buddy.

LOL, we want to be treated as equals, but like Quebec and only Quebec. Not like everyone else equal.

Remember all of the Kenny covid press conferences and the never-ending blaming the feds for every little thing?

[Flames0910]

Saying it's only four years kinda discounts the terrible rollercoaster we've been on for the last 3.5 years though. From parks to education to healthcare to financial mismanagement -- it's not "only" four years, it's four more years.

[Locke]

An NDP victory here would be historic.

The last NDP victory was just a fluke of the right eating itself, if it happened now though that would be a real statement. That would be fantastic for this Province.

If I had my way Danielle Smith wouldnt be eligible for EI when she loses her job. The 'Libertarian Code' cuts both ways.

[Yoho]

Originally Posted by Locke

An NDP victory here would be historic.

The last NDP victory was just a fluke of the right eating itself, if it happened now though that would be a real statement. That would be fantastic for this Province.

If I had my way Danielle Smith wouldnt be eligible for EI when she loses her job. The 'Libertarian Code' cuts both ways.

Wait till you see what she has in store for you if she wins and has her way.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by Yoho

Wait till you see what she has in store for you if she wins and has her way.

Not decency, normalcy, prosperity or a hopeful future I'm guessing.

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by Yoho

Wait till you see what she has in store for you if she wins and has her way.

What does this even mean?

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

What does this even mean?

You see, when Danielle Smith tells us all the horrible things she is going to do, we are supposed to give her a chance. She probably just said all those things to get elected, and she'll be a good Premier.

Rachel Notley on the other hand. Well, sure she's been Premier, but what do we really know about her? If she becomes Premier, there's no telling what she would do, but you can count on it being horrible, and designed to do nothing but destroy Alberta, that's for sure.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Yoho

Wait till you see what she has in store for you if she wins and has her way.

Like what?

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

What does this even mean?

Who knows? He’s not even coherent enough to tell if he’s talking about Notley or Smith.

Maybe it’s purposefully vague so he can go back in 8 months and say, “see!”

[TheIronMaiden]

I would take someone spending a little too much on social services over someone who wants to recklessly cut social services if that's the choice.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Yoho

Wait till you see what she has in store for you if she wins and has her way.

That's what we are trying to avoid.

Why would you want what she is selling(and in no way can deliver)?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

That's what we are trying to avoid.

Why would you want what she is selling(and in no way can deliver)?

There is a lot of stuff she is promising (and cant deliver) but why would anyone want it anyways?

[AFireInside]

Originally Posted by Locke

And this sort of goes back to something that Slava touched upon previously and that I've sort of been on about as well.

These issues are not solved with dollars.

These types of systems and processes are endemic in AHS. Believe it or not, AHS is not an underfunded entity, they are given lots and lots of budget, but they dont use it very effectively and to cure most of AHS' ills, just more money isnt going to do it, not on its own. AHS needs serious budgetary and operational reform.

I do however think an element that some people may miss or gloss over is that we do need to pile in a ton of money up-front to keep the thing running while we perform those reforms.

If someone told me that the will and the structure were in place to turn AHS into something better...read: NOT necessarily CHEAPER but BETTER

I would be more than okay with a huge infusion of Tax Dollars for that.

Those are Tax Dollars that are actually benefitting people as long as they're not being swallowed up by AHS middle-management bloat.

There's always ways to do things better, but Alberta typically is the lowest or near the lowest in terms of administration spending for healthcare of all provinces. That will increase with Smith wanting to fire everyone and paying out severance. Alberta is spending just below the national average per person on healthcare this year.

A lot of this starts at the bottom. Making sure everyone has fairly quick easy access to family medicine. This is where you save money. You catch things earlier, and treatments are less intensive, people aren't avoiding going to the doctor because it's a long wait or a hassle, and showing up in the hospital sicker, or needing a specialist. This also applies to cutting services, coverage etc.

Does anyone think that Cochrane, Pincher Creek, or Sundre losing most of their family doctors is going to speed things up? It's going to create far more problems than just family doctor access, it's a ripple effect, specialists, hospital beds, etc all end up affected.

That's the first step.

Then you go from there.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Yoho

Wait till you see what she has in store for you if she wins and has her way.

At this point I don't think Yoho is even a person, it's an AI that's being fed a steady diet of the Rebel and Fox News

[Izzle]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

At this point I don't think Yoho is even a person, it's an AI that's being fed a steady diet of the Rebel and Fox News

Is Yoho one of those memes... " I made an AI read all articles on rebel news... These are the results"

Holy... This makes so much sense!

[PepsiFree]

If Yoho is an example of today’s AI then I have to say I really think they oversold the power of the technology.