Alberta Politics Thread v2 - Page 31 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Slava · 11-05-2018, 01:02 PM

Wow, Calgary East MLA Robyn Luff isn't sitting in the legislature as she's been bullied by the party leadership for the past three years. Her comments are pretty damning and basically amount to a top-down leadership approach where members are told what questions are to be asked and things like that. She was also told that her career was sidelined as a result of not jumping when she was told to.

Oh...and she's with the NDP.

Bunk · 11-05-2018, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slava

Wow, Calgary East MLA Robyn Luff isn't sitting in the legislature as she's been bullied by the party leadership for the past three years. Her comments are pretty damning and basically amount to a top-down leadership approach where members are told what questions are to be asked and things like that. She was also told that her career was sidelined as a result of not jumping when she was told to.

Oh...and she's with the NDP.

Why Party politics, in general, sucks. You gotta stay in line. Always.

Weitz · 11-05-2018, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slava

Wow, Calgary East MLA Robyn Luff isn't sitting in the legislature as she's been bullied by the party leadership for the past three years. Her comments are pretty damning and basically amount to a top-down leadership approach where members are told what questions are to be asked and things like that. She was also told that her career was sidelined as a result of not jumping when she was told to.

Oh...and she's with the NDP.

Quick google didn't turn up anything. Is there a story to go along with this?

Derek Sutton · 11-05-2018, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weitz

Quick google didn't turn up anything. Is there a story to go along with this?

https://edmontonjournal.com/news/pol...ure-in-protest

Erick Estrada · 11-05-2018, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

https://edmontonjournal.com/news/pol...ure-in-protest

Yikes. I'm not pretending that this is only an NDP thing but what's the point of having elected officials if they are forced to just go on a script provided from the powers that be? That's pretty disturbing. The timing of this is not very good for the NDP either. I wonder how they handle this.

Ozy_Flame · 11-05-2018, 02:53 PM

Someone tell the Party Whip he doesn't need to bring a Singapore Cane

chemgear · 11-05-2018, 02:57 PM

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...ture-1.4892787

Luff said MLAs who try to go against these directives face isolation and the fear that their nomination papers will not be signed.

"I have had member's statements taken away, and private members bills edited till they weren't what I intended," she wrote. "I have had to fight for months for the ability to ask my own question in QP, and have been questionably removed from a committee.

"I have been told by a cabinet minister that my career was sidelined for not jumping when a chief of staff told me to and that the interaction was used as an example of what not to do as an MLA."

Luff said she will boycott the legislature until "a resolution has been presented." Her letter did not indicate what that resolution will say or who will present it.

Calgary-MacKay-Nose Hill MLA Karen McPherson, now a member of the Alberta Party caucus, said she faced a similar experience before she left the NDP caucus in October 2017 to sit as an independent. McPherson joined the Alberta Party several weeks later.

"I can certainly understand where Robyn's coming from," McPherson told reporters. "Feeling bullied for sure ... I can certainly corroborate a lot of what she had to say."

McPherson said other NDP MLAs had the same experience.

Fuzz · 11-05-2018, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Yikes. I'm not pretending that this is only an NDP thing but what's the point of having elected officials if they are forced to just go on a script provided from the powers that be? That's pretty disturbing. The timing of this is not very good for the NDP either. I wonder how they handle this.

Blame Kenney?

Cowboy89 · 11-05-2018, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunk

Why Party politics, in general, sucks. You gotta stay in line. Always.

Luff comes off as rather naive in the news article. Basically everything she alleges is essentially standard behavior that reinforces the #1 rule of MLA fight club - everything you say and do at all times is intended for the advancement of your party's chances in the next election.

Nothing you see in question period is ad hoc. Heck federally Trudeau doesn't even pretend he has to give an answer to any questions, he just memorizes a one line response that may or may not actually refer to the questions asked and he just spews that out verbatim.

White Out 403 · 11-05-2018, 03:40 PM

Shocking. Political parties try and shape their messaging. I hope CTV News has enough time on tonights show to properly delve into this complicated drama.

Bunk · 11-05-2018, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

Luff comes off as rather naive in the news article. Basically everything she alleges is essentially standard behavior that reinforces the #1 rule of MLA fight club - everything you say and do at all times is intended for the advancement of your party's chances in the next election.

Nothing you see in question period is ad hoc. Heck federally Trudeau doesn't even pretend he has to give an answer to any questions, he just memorizes a one line response that may or may not actually refer to the questions asked and he just spews that out verbatim.

The people I've known in party politics more or less all say the same thing. It's a brutally stifling environment. One can not even publicly signal they agree with someone across partisan lines is saying - let alone vote what they believe. Party discipline is inherently a command and control exercise. It's all strictly enforced group-think. This is why I like municipal politics more - you can actually be an individual critical thinker and actor in your decision making capacity.

Slava · 11-05-2018, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunk

The people I've known in party politics more or less all say the same thing. It's a brutally stifling environment. One can not even publicly signal they agree with someone across partisan lines is saying - let alone vote what they believe. Party discipline is inherently a command and control exercise. It's all strictly enforced group-think. This is why I like municipal politics more - you can actually be an individual critical thinker and actor in your decision making capacity.

And it’s basically all pre-ordained at that level. Question period is for the cameras and maybe your local MP/MLA gets shown on the news, but the questions are basically known ahead and everyone knows what answers are coming back. It’s political theatre.

Locke · 11-05-2018, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunk

The people I've known in party politics more or less all say the same thing. It's a brutally stifling environment. One can not even publicly signal they agree with someone across partisan lines is saying - let alone vote what they believe. Party discipline is inherently a command and control exercise. It's all strictly enforced group-think. This is why I like municipal politics more - you can actually be an individual critical thinker and actor in your decision making capacity.

That must be why it attracts only the best and brightest.

Bunk · 11-05-2018, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locke

That must be why it attracts only the best and brightest.

It's even worse being in opposition. As they say, the worst day in government is still better than the best day in opposition.

Ped · 11-05-2018, 04:59 PM

I thought it was known that Question period and the like is pretty much scripted. The parties spend more time deciding who gets to ask what then actually doing anything useful.

Oling_Roachinen · 11-05-2018, 05:00 PM

While I certainly don't agree with it, I can absolutely see where Notley was coming from.

Last election the NDP and Wildrose were simply filling seats when it came to a lot of the ballots. There was little to no vetting. If you were active in the community, had a large family and friend group with some education, you were a strong candidate. There were a lot of candidates who probably had very little idea of their party's views but thought it would be cool to run.

So outside of maybe a "do you support gay marriage?" question to make sure they were in the right group, there wasn't much of an expectation. Then all of a sudden the NDP is voted in, some candidates win because they were simply not PC and realize that they aren't really having the same ideas as the NDP party does but need to toe the line. And it could be because they were too Green, like say Luff who believes that we needed to stop the "Dirty Oil" or too PC. And Notley needs to keep them in line, make it seem like there's a unified front and the party is one cohesive unit.

Dion · 11-05-2018, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Yikes. I'm not pretending that this is only an NDP thing but what's the point of having elected officials if they are forced to just go on a script provided from the powers that be? That's pretty disturbing. The timing of this is not very good for the NDP either. I wonder how they handle this.

Notley will deflect by showing the UCP did something similar when they walked out en masse during the vote and debate on the abortion clinic bubble zone.

Dion · 11-05-2018, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slava

And it’s basically all pre-ordained at that level. Question period is for the cameras and maybe your local MP/MLA gets shown on the news, but the questions are basically known ahead and everyone knows what answers are coming back. It’s political theatre.

Question is a joke and a waste of taxpayers money. All they do is finger point and insult one another.

SeeGeeWhy · 11-05-2018, 06:44 PM

One of the reasons I liked the Alberta party before Mandel won leadership was that it had no whip. There is room for nuance, which is practical and I wish it happened more. How else does an MLA actually represent her riding?

Roughneck · 11-05-2018, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy

One of the reasons I liked the Alberta party before Mandel won leadership was that it had no whip. There is room for nuance, which is practical and I wish it happened more. How else does an MLA actually represent her riding?

Well there was only one MLA up until a year ago. Don't really need a whip when there's nobody else to worry about.