Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by Yoho

“We don’t need more safety” Well unfortunately for you the majority of Albertans that voted for the UCP think different so I guess just sit back and complain about it.

This is the part of the article that hits home and I’m glad they are addressing.

“ Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis told an Edmonton news conference: “You have the right to walk down the street without being violently attacked. You have a right to take transit to work without inhaling second-hand crystal meth smoke, and you have a right to walk downtown without being caught between clashes of violent organized crime gangs.”

Classic Yoho. Responds with a political article. Gets called out by actual statistics, and doubles down on the fact that voters think differently...

[Muta]

There sure is a lot of fear-mongering from the usual suspect in this thread. As usual, you only hear about crimes that happen on LRTs, never the dull and bland times when absolutely nothing happens, which is... 99.9% of the time. You're fine.

Like Pepsi said, I doubt Yoho even rides transit, let alone goes downtown.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Lethbridge is half populated by seniors. So strange to see crime so high there.

Seniors can't be criminals?

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by Muta

There sure is a lot of fear-mongering from the usual suspect in this thread. As usual, you only hear about crimes that happen on LRTs, never the dull and bland times when absolutely nothing happens, which is... 99.9% of the time.

Like Pepsi said, I doubt Yoho even rides transit, let alone goes downtown.

Yoho is like all suburban men who complain that downtown has gone to ####.

Drives his F-350 and complains he can't find parking. Goes and watches MMA for a night out, gets blistering drunk, scores some coke off the local dealer, and then attempts to exhaust all the pent-up homoerotic rage by picking fights with random passerbys

I've seen it a million times

[Yoho]

Originally Posted by Ashartus

How much did the ridership go up though? In 2021 I think ridership on transit was way down due to Covid, and Q3 2022 it was well on the way to recovery.

This is from April of 2023.

“ Police Chief Mark Neufeld said assaults have risen steadily at transit stations this year”

“ “I know there are many folks that are scared to use the train right now, and that is certainly not something that we can turn a blind eye to,” said Gondek. “Council has heard loud and clear that something more needs to be done.”

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...48cdbada5/amp/

[aaronck]

If only there was some sort of competent "Law and Order" party running Alberta right now...

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by aaronck

If only there was some sort of competent "Law and Order" party running Alberta right now...

The best part about this post is Yoho thanking it.


Clueless

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Does this count?

https://globalnews.ca/news/9587772/c...ence-reaction/

Weird, it's almost like there was something going on in the world that depressed rates of basically everything in 2020 and 2021.

Sorry for the sarcasm, but it's getting a bit old seeing every news article or organization that wants to create a dramatic narrative using outlier years like 2020 and 2021 as some sort of baseline. It's sort of like the "shoplifting in Canada has increased by 300% since the start of the pandemic" stat that gets trotted around; yeah, big shock that shoplifting was insanely low in March/April 2020 when stores were seeing about 10% of their normal traffic.

In this specific case, LRT ridership in Q3 2021 was still down dramatically from normal and Q3 2022 saw ridership that was 72% higher than Q3 2021. So is a 45% increase in crime in that context even noteworthy? Not really, as Q3 2022's crime rate at LRT stations was in line with historical data.

[lambeburger]

I swear, some of you close your eyes and plug your ears when someone from outside your tribe points out a clearly observable problem.

Go ahead and ignore all those times when a train station is closed due to a stabbing, ignore all the visible open drug use at stations, ignore what the mayor and the police chief are saying. I guess some of you have to wait until a nerd with a clipboard tells you how to think about it.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by lambeburger

I swear, some of you close your eyes and plug your ears when someone from outside your tribe points out a clearly observable problem.

Go ahead and ignore all those times when a train station is closed due to a stabbing, ignore all the visible open drug use at stations, ignore what the mayor and the police chief are saying. I guess some of you have to wait until a nerd with a clipboard tells you how to think about it.

I know right, what a bunch of nerds wanting to make informed decisions based on facts and information instead of anecdote.

[Tron_fdc]

I was under the impression the Ctrain stations have turned into Beyond Thunderdome since the safe injection sites were closed?

Are they ok to use now? Not that I use them (ever) but my kid comes to Calgary once in a while and I was told not to let him use public transit.

[Wormius]

Far fewer times than my trips have been disrupted by a car colliding with a train or oblivious pedestrians getting themselves run over. I think money would better spent solving those problems than throwing money at a problem to allay the fears of a bunch of perpetually terrified non-transit users who don’t put any weight on what regular transit users say, but will cherry-pick articles about how crime is so horrible that we are living in some kind of Thunderdome / Escape from NY hell-scape.

[Doctorfever]

Originally Posted by Yoho

This is from April of 2023.

“ Police Chief Mark Neufeld said assaults have risen steadily at transit stations this year”

“ “I know there are many folks that are scared to use the train right now, and that is certainly not something that we can turn a blind eye to,” said Gondek. “Council has heard loud and clear that something more needs to be done.”

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...48cdbada5/amp/

From the article;

“People are gonna end up using drugs in public spaces if they don’t have safe spaces to use.”

While I understand this statement, I think it’s important to keep the transit system safe and clean. People have been using drugs in alleys for years. They can continue to do that, rather than on trains and platforms.

I know “because I don’t see them doesn’t mean it isn’t a problem “. It is a problem. But I would rather have a safe transit system and have people using drugs in an alley, instead of a transit system that ALL people feel safe using. Including 14 year old girls, nobody cares if a middle aged man feels safe on a train or not.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Far fewer times than my trips have been disrupted by a car colliding with a train or oblivious pedestrians getting themselves run over. I think money would better spent solving those problems than throwing money at a problem to allay the fears of a bunch of perpetually terrified non-transit users who don’t put any weight on what regular transit users say, but will cherry-pick articles about how crime is so horrible that we are living in some kind of Thunderdome / Escape from NY hell-scape.

100%. The media does this with its reporting on foreign countries too. If all you did was watch Fox News and was brainwashed to believe that 100% of the time Mexico is a barren wasteland of crime, corruption, cartels, violence and poverty (because that's what right-wing outlets like Fox News does), you'd miss the real on-the-ground experience that Mexico is actually a beautiful country with amazing culture, notable architecture, delicious food and some of the friendliest people ever. You can venture off your resort without getting killed, lol. Sure you have to use street smarts, but that's the case anywhere you go in the world - Canada included.

Fearmongering, particularly a media version that give a narrow impression about what something is like and then continues to hammer in that narrative to scare people, is a real and toxic trait that I wish would disappear or be exposed for what it is through a larger, universal discussion.

[Doctorfever]

Originally Posted by Muta

100%. The media does this with its reporting on foreign countries too. If all you did was watch Fox News and was brainwashed to believe that 100% of the time Mexico is a barren wasteland of crime, corruption, cartels, violence and poverty (because that's what right-wing outlets like Fox News does), you'd miss the real on-the-ground experience that Mexico is actually a beautiful country with amazing culture, notable architecture, delicious food and some of the friendliest people ever. You can venture off your resort without getting killed, lol. Sure you have to use street smarts, but that's the case anywhere you go in the world - Canada included.

Fearmongering, particularly a media version that give a narrow impression about what something is like and then continues to hammer in that narrative to scare people, is a real and toxic trait that I wish would disappear or be exposed for what it is through a larger, universal discussion.

Do you think the mayor and police chief are fearmongering?

[PsYcNeT]

Bring back safe injection sites seems to be the easy win here.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by Doctorfever

Do you think the mayor and police chief are fearmongering?

Yes, I kinda do actually. While crime is (and has always been) an issue on transit, you can ride the train 99.9% of the time without getting harassed, assaulted, stabbed, shot or killed. Fearmongering is a snowball that has rolled too far down the mountain here. Calgary transit isn't some Max Max / Beyond Thunderdome scenario, lol. Not sure the inadvertent tactic to scare riders is a smart one, considering they're counting on increased transit ridership using the City's new multi-billion-dollar Green Line that is currently underway.

[Wormius]

I wonder why the police chief would want to perpetuate the notion that crime is out of hand.

[Doctorfever]

Originally Posted by Muta

Yes, I kinda do actually. While crime is (and has always been) an issue on transit, you can ride the train 99.9% of the time without getting harassed, assaulted, stabbed, shot or killed. Fearmongering is a snowball that has rolled too far down the mountain here. Calgary transit isn't some Max Max / Beyond Thunderdome scenario, lol. Not sure the inadvertent tactic to scare riders is a smart one, considering they're counting on increased transit ridership using the City's new multi-billion-dollar Green Line that is currently underway.

From the article;

The mayor said she and council have made multiple investments into transit safety over the past year, highlighting the budget commitments of $20 million for CPS to recruit 150 new officers and $33 million for transit recovery — more than a third of which was specifically earmarked for safety measures. A few weeks ago, council put another $32 million in operational savings toward transit recovery.

You think they spent this money and put these kind of resources together an an inadvertent scare tactic? Well poke my eyes out, I’ve seen it all.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Doctorfever

From the article;


You think they spent this money and put these kind of resources together an an inadvertent scare tactic? Well poke my eyes out, I’ve seen it all.

People kept bitching and moaning about it to the point they had to say something. And again, police chief will never be satisfied with current funding, so they’ll find some way to get more.