Alberta Politics Thread v2

[Envitro]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Is it a hill they will die on? Have they released a platform?

No, but everyone pretty much "knows" where they stand on this due to the many previous statements by the leader and many candidates running under the UCP umbrella.

The trust just isn't there on this issue, is my general feeling.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Envitro

No, but everyone pretty much "knows" where they stand on this due to the many previous statements by the leader and many candidates running under the UCP umbrella.

The trust just isn't there on this issue, is my general feeling.

The real key is how they would legislate as a government. We know how the NDP truly feels about O&G but they still have tried to help out while in office recently.

[Envitro]

Originally Posted by Weitz

The real key is how they would legislate as a government. We know how the NDP truly feels about O&G but they still have tried to help out while in office recently.

Agreed. And I don't think that they would actually do anything drastic, but they have a base to placate as well. It's a political calculation of risk vs. reward. We'll see I guess.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by Slava

But the other side of the coin is that I care about social issues. How can I look my kids in the eye and say “well I tied for people who effectively quashed LGBTQ rights because I was worried about the budget.”? So, I just don’t know.

Regardless of if the UCP wins or not, this is 21st Century Canada, we enjoy pretty much the highest standard of human rights ever known in human history. Gay people won't be stripped of any rights. Abortion rights aren't going anywhere. The social issues argument in this election is a massive hyperbole.

The magnitude between the economic argument vs. the social argument is not remotely comparable. Any number of decades in the future I can easily look my kids in the eye and tell them yes I voted the option I thought was best for the province. Sometimes that means voting against the party that skewered billions, even when they are the most left wing on social issues.

[Wormius]

Are ordinary citizens noticing the carbon tax that much in day to day life? I have to admit, it’s not really on my radar at all.

[puckedoff]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

Regardless of if the UCP wins or not, this is 21st Century Canada, we enjoy pretty much the highest standard of human rights ever known in human history. Gay people won't be stripped of any rights. Abortion rights aren't going anywhere. The social issues argument in this election is a massive hyperbole.

I agree with you, which is why I don't understand why the UCP (or any conservative party, really) can't or won't just come out and say this and put the issue to bed.

Re: Wormius and carbon tax - I think I notice the sin tax (beer especially) more. I don't drive much though (on account of the beer) so I'm not at the pump too often.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by puckedoff

I agree with you, which is why I don't understand why the UCP (or any conservative party, really) can't or won't just come out and say this and put the issue to bed.

The reason why is because this country and now this province is so hopelessly left-wing that a conservative party can't get enough votes to form government without capturing a majority of the social conservative vote. So basically they can't be as loud and proud on LGBTQ+ issues without offending that base. Hence they are perpetually vulnerable politically on social issues.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

The reason why is because this country and now this province is so hopelessly left-wing that a conservative party can't get enough votes to form government without capturing a majority of the social conservative vote. So basically they can't be as loud and proud on LGBTQ+ issues without offending that base. Hence they are perpetually vulnerable politically on social issues.

That's their own doing though. If they weren't so hopelessly backwards on social issues centrist Canadians would be far more likely to vote for them. Socially progressive centrists have one choice. It's rather frustrating.

[Fuzz]

I disagree with your assessment that the country and province are hopelessly left wing as well. Canada is far more centrist than the current party balance shows. It's that the Conservatives keep making themselves toxic so there is no choice.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by Envitro

I don't understand how this is a hill that the UCP wants to die on...
I'm a conservative voter (fiscal, not social), and this kind of crap drives me crazy.

Why do parents need to know that their kid joined a gay/straight alliance club in a school? Who gives a crap??
Why should they care if they joined the computer club, or the chess club, or whatever club? If the kid wants them to know the should tell them themselves.

It's not a hill they are dying on. It's not part of their platform at all.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Are ordinary citizens noticing the carbon tax that much in day to day life? I have to admit, it’s not really on my radar at all.

I know that my grocery costs have increased, also my utility bills have gone up. Electricity went for example from $50 bucks a month to $60 bucks a month.

Gas has been balanced off by the drop in the price of oil.

I'm also not eligible for the rebate.

I mean honestly, my carbon signature is so low now that the government should be writing me a reward check.

Just from working from home, I've gone from about $120 a month for gas down to $30 bucks a month for gas.

[White Out 403]

This province is hopelessly left wing? Jesus Christ Cowboy. I think that hat of yours is cutting off circulation to your head.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

The reason why is because this country and now this province is so hopelessly left-wing that a conservative party can't get enough votes to form government without capturing a majority of the social conservative vote. So basically they can't be as loud and proud on LGBTQ+ issues without offending that base. Hence they are perpetually vulnerable politically on social issues.

When your platform isn’t good enough to get you elected without pandering to bigots, you should probably reassess your platform.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

This province is hopelessly left wing? Jesus Christ Cowboy. I think that hat of yours is cutting off circulation to your head.

When you come from a Manitoba NDP perspective, everything in Alberta is right of where you sit, for me it's the opposite.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I know that my grocery costs have increased, also my utility bills have gone up.

Were those bills continually decreasing for you prior to the carbon tax being implemented?

[Oling_Roachinen]

It's not part of their platform!

Just the majority of them voted in favour of a resolution that would force teachers to tell parents, and they challenged Bill 24 in court (and lost). All the while making a huge stink about GSA in school.

But it's not part of their platform!

Good grief. You're right, it doesn't need to be on their platform because it's who they are as people.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

Were those bills continually decreasing for you prior to the carbon tax being implemented?

I'd have to go back in my home finance package. But the one thing that I do know, is I'm pretty consistent in terms of what I buy when I shop and it did increase more then usual inflation after the Carbon Tax came in.


Realistically what makes this tough is that its like the old MST where the Tax is hidden when you buy things.


There's no carbon base slot on the receipt, but costs are being passed on to the consumer.

[OMG!WTF!]

I always think of gas being 5-7 cents more expensive than it should be. It would have been pretty cool paying .79/9 for a minute there.

[Ozy_Flame]

The gas (for your car) argument is a non-sequitur for me. Sure the carbon tax may bump it up a few cents, but we're usually paying significantly less than our neighbors to the West and the East. And the extreme volatility in the price of gas due to markets/holidays/seasons/etc. is so random and sporadic that I just dont see - or care - about where the cost of gas is being driven from, or what portion the carbon tax is.

[wireframe]

I have not noticed the carbon tax affect my expenses at all. I pay a few extra dollars on my utility bill and, I'm sure, some hidden costs in things that I usually buy, but it has not made any impact at all on my lifestyle nor on my savings rate.

I'm surprised that some people that I know pay so much attention to the carbon tax when it's only a drop in the overall taxation bucket. Even a tiny increase in income tax makes a bigger difference.