[GT] Alberta Votes 2023.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by ikaris

LOL at "I'm leaving Alberta because my political party lost!" whining.

Yeah I'm not a fan of the sour grapes mentality. It's a four year max term, not an eternity. If politics means that much to you that you would actually uproot your family because you don't like the party that just got elected for a term then maybe you should consider getting into politics seeing it's that important to your day to day life and clearly this province and country need better people entering politics given the dearth of quality candidates federally or provincially. If you really want change then get more involved in supporting your party of choice. Or you could maybe focus more on day to day living and the good things in life rather than wasting time being constantly angry about things that are out of your control. I don't like Smith but I also don't like Trudeau and I've still managed to enjoy life under his Liberal government. The worst thing about the US to me is just how consumed the masses are with politics and I see some people here caught in the same trap. Relax. If Smith is truly the disaster many of us think she is, she's not likely to last an entire term as PM anyway.

[Wastedyouth]

My guess is the majority of the people looking to leave will realize very quickly there are not the same job opportunities, low cost of living, and quality of life that Alberta provides.

You don't like the way the politics of this province are moving? Don't tuck your tail in and leave or rant and rave on a message board, become involved. In my opinion.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Hackey

How does making things more expensive help the environment though? You make everyone's cost of living higher which has real impact on people's lives and your emissions decrease by such an insignificant amount it has zero effect on the actual planet.

There is no climate solution that includes continued car-based living, cheap flying, grain-fed beef, gas cooking, unrecyclable plastics, ad infinitum.

Yes, about 100 corporations fuel about 70% of gas emissions. But those corporations treat you as a gas pump. Fill up on your money and keep pumping emissions.

Make personal changes in your life. Stop fueling the machine as much as you can. Money talks.

As for carbon taxes, they force industry to come up with greener technology or new methods to cut their emissions. Do they pass those costs on to the consumer? Probably. But then, they also pass their costs onto the consumer with other things, such as technology, overhead, and payroll. But now there is incentive to reduce greenhouse gas rather than ignore it. Additionally, Canadians will see carbon tax rebates - something that doesn't get mentioned often enough. Doing nothing already costs 10s of billions of dollars a year in Canada.

I think a good assessment of Canada's carbon tax can be found here, warts and all:

The Liberals are losing the carbon tax communication war
Early Estimate of National Emissions shows Canada steadily separating economic growth from emissions

I think, to assume, that improving environmental sustainability and with a willingness to tackle climate change doesn't include a cost on society would be naive. People have to want to help themselves.

If nothing else, tackling inflationary pressure actually helps on the individual level, which is what we are dealing with more than personal climate costs. Being more judicial in what you eat at the grocery store, driving less to save gas and walking/biking more, turning the heat down when not needed, planting gardens to grow your own food and letting the grass grow a bit longer, not taking expensive vacations that use jet fuel to get there . . . These things are making a difference even if you don't notice or pay attention.

[Stewie991]

Originally Posted by Mightyfire89

For my part, I try to stay out of the muck and not hurl insults at folks I don’t know, but I am disappointed in a lot of my fellow Albertans with this result. The reasons have been stated in this thread and the Alberta political thread ad nauseum. Born and raised Albertan and have spent 90% of my life in the province. Voted PC every time in my life except 2019, when I couldn’t stomach Kenney and voted Alberta party. Voted NDP this time (and didn’t have to hold my nose).
My wife and I are currently exploring the possibility/feasibility of moving to another province to try to get away from the insanity.

We’ll help!

[GGG]

The Carbon tax is the market solution to fight climate change. It came out of conservative think tanks as an alternative to government controls to limit carbon. The cap and trade and slowly lower the Cap was the government solution.

It’s funny now that Trudeau’s Carbon tax, an almost fully rebated tax, the exact type of tax recommended by conservative market economists, is so routinely hated by people who claim to be fiscal conservatives.

Secondly the provincial government could create a different version of the tax if it decided the straight federal version was not sufficient which it did for large emitters. So if you find the Carnon tax ineffective for its costs the people to fix that is the provincial government who have a wide latitude to bring in a more effective system.

The mechanism of the carbon tax is a provincial problem not a federal one.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by ikaris

LOL at "I'm leaving Alberta because my political party lost!" whining. Never will forgive the progressive taxes the NDP brought in which brought no personal return for my family and while losing thousands of dollars.

While this iteration of the UCP isn't great, still cannot trust the NDP.

The progressive tax rates are now UCP policy. You’ll notice in the last 4 years they did not reduce minimum wage, they did not go to a flat tax. They did not include immediately going to a flat tax. The current progressive taxation policy in Aberta is UCP policy now. Blaming it on the NDP for bringing it in and not on the party who chose not to fix it seems myopic.

[The Big Chill]

The carbon tax should be gone soon anyway with Smith now in charge. Her ability to stand up to the Feds was one of the main reasons she was voted in, right?

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Dude, my political party has never won in Alberta in all of my 60 years. This is the first time I ever thought about leaving. I imagine it’s the same for all of those people saying this. Think about it. They didn’t say it for Klein, Kenney, et al. They are saying it about Smith. And it has nothing to do with “losing thousands of dollars” which sounds a hell of a lot more like whining than the complaints about Smith.

I can tell you after moving to Ontario, the quality of life has not changed in the slightest. In fact it might even be better out here - better weather, better fruit and vegetables, better utility and insurance rates, better access to services and amenities, and generally more stable government here (Ford is likely on his last term).

It's a big country, and I guarantee you will like what you find. There is a country outside of Alberta and it's doing just fine.

[Spurs]

Originally Posted by ikaris

LOL at "I'm leaving Alberta because my political party lost!" whining. Never will forgive the progressive taxes the NDP brought in which brought no personal return for my family and while losing thousands of dollars.

While this iteration of the UCP isn't great, still cannot trust the NDP.

This shows the level of ignorance of UCP supporters when they act as though people are leaving because their party lost and not because of the horrible policies of the UCP that will make Alberta a horrible place to live and have impacts far longer than the 4 years they will be in power.

[Stewie991]

Originally Posted by Spurs

This shows the level of ignorance of UCP supporters when they act as though people are leaving because their party lost and not because of the horrible policies of the UCP that will make Alberta a horrible place to live and have impacts far longer than the 4 years they will be in power.

Only the Trash is Leaving. Good Riddance..

[MRCboicgy]

Originally Posted by Stewie991

Only the Trash is Leaving. Good Riddance..

Don't. Just Don't

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Stewie991

Only the Trash is Leaving. Good Riddance..

That's the thing though, it isn't. The people leaving are things we desperately need, like teachers and medical professionals

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by Yoho

This is the sad deluded world these tax leaches live in. Hallmark ads and catch phrases for the planet to make them feel good about the enviorment while turning their back to obvious misguided realities.

You can’t take them serious it’s about control.

It feels more like pandering to me. Basically we can win over a lot of people by making it seem like we care or that were doing something. But obviously this is what politician do on every side. I just feel the measures they take are a drop in the bucket in terms of this global issue. So yes we can try to do our part but at the end of the day it's more to make us feel good than actuslly having any real impact. So I question if it's worth it when the flip side is actually felt by Canadians. I don't know what the answer is but I'm pretty positive our government doesn't know either and in the end I think these policies hurt Canadians far more than they help anything.

[Stewie991]

Originally Posted by btimbit

That's the thing though, it isn't. The people leaving are things we desperately need, like teachers and medical professionals

If people are leaving based on a 4 year Election cycle, let them leave. We don’t need them!

[belsarius]

Originally Posted by Spurs

This shows the level of ignorance of UCP supporters when they act as though people are leaving because their party lost and not because of the horrible policies of the UCP that will make Alberta a horrible place to live and have impacts far longer than the 4 years they will be in power.

We're leaving 95% for the education system. The fact that the UCP politicized the curriculum review and ignored all of the work from the educators who had been working on the review for years was the line for me. My teacher friends were trying to convince me differently, that the teachers in the classroom would help mitigate the disaster, but now with the libertarians in charge for another 4, I don't want her to be in this system anymore.

[PepsiFree]

You would think that the people who just voted in the UCP wouldn’t need to hit the copium so hard by pretending doctors and other professionals who leave are trash people that will struggle to find somewhere better than Alberta.

Y’all wanted to chase people out of Alberta and make it less welcoming. You got what you wanted. Don’t cry about it the next day lol.

[Yoho]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

You would think that the people who just voted in the UCP wouldn’t need to hit the copium so hard by pretending doctors and other professionals who leave are trash people that will struggle to find somewhere better than Alberta.

Y’all wanted to chase people out of Alberta and make it less welcoming. You got what you wanted. Don’t cry about it the next day lol.

Would love to see these stats on who’s leaving. I hope that it’s not just fear mongering because that’s all you have left when you take your bell and go home.

You lost get over it.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Yoho

This is the sad deluded world these tax leaches live in. Hallmark ads and catch phrases for the planet to make them feel good about the enviorment while turning their back to obvious misguided realities.

You can’t take them serious it’s about control.

Considering I pay more taxes and receive less government handouts than someone like yourself who contributes very little to our economy, who is the tax leach exactly?

To Hackey’s point, you can argue how effective it is at making the change it intends to make, no question. But the original response was to someone who said “it doesn’t lower emissions it just makes things more expensive.” All I did was point out that making things more expensive is how it curbs carbon emissions.

Personally, outside of my gas-guzzler vehicle, I have made changes and chose greener, more efficient things around the house (including AC and Furnace) when they need replacing to reduce the amount I pay in utilities. That’s evidence of the carbon tax working.

Is it working hard enough for the cost on the average Canadian? I don’t know, I doubt it. But if carbon tax-inflated gas prices encourage someone to choose a more fuel efficient vehicle when it’s time to replace their current one, that’s it having a positive impact.

[Doctorfever]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

There is no climate solution that includes continued car-based living, cheap flying, grain-fed beef,gas cooking, unrecyclable plastics, ad infinitum.

Alright. I’ll take the bait.

Source?

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by ikaris

LOL at "I'm leaving Alberta because my political party lost!" whining. Never will forgive the progressive taxes the NDP brought in which brought no personal return for my family and while losing thousands of dollars.

While this iteration of the UCP isn't great, still cannot trust the NDP.

So you’d say the same about businesses that would threaten to leave or not come here if NDP won?